"Ahhh!" Blinding pain exploded in her head, and Emily fell to her knees. Jake’s dark power poured through her, ripping apart her mind, taking her memories, stealing her power-
"Not gonna happen, bitch," he snarled. "Tonight you die."
Just like before. The pain was the same. He was forcing his way into her mind, using his magic against her, hurting her.
"Stop!" She pushed the flow of her psychic energy back on him, digging just as hard into his mind as he was hers. She’d burn the bastard out, just like before.
Or she’d fucking die trying.
The images began rolling in front of her mind’s eye. Faster, faster…
"It’s over, Jake…"
A dark alley. A woman in a red dress.
A scream.
The woman dropped to the ground. Throat slashed. Blood all around.
Oh God. The pain was ripping her apart.
A circle of men, all in black, stood glaring next to an abandoned building. "You didn’t tell us he was a shifter," one snarled, lifting his hand and pointing his finger straight ahead. A snake tattoo bared its fangs on his wrist. "We ain’t fuckin’ with no shifter again-"
A shot rang out. A circle of blood appeared on his chest. Three more shots.
Down, down go the demons.
Emily bit her lip, tasted blood as she fought to force the psychic power back on him.
"What the fuck do you want?" Darla frowned, her brows drawn low. "You know I’m working on the story about-"
Her blood sprayed on the wall behind her.
So much blood.
Emily grabbed her head, screaming. The pain was too much. She couldn’t fight him much longer.
Break, you sonofabitch!
Before she did…
A young boy, with the claws of a wolf and the eyes of a demon. He walked up to an old man, shuffling through the park and pushing a buggy of cans…
The blood sprayed onto the snow-covered ground.
The taste…so good…more
More…
More…
Emily fell onto the floor, her body shaking, twitching.
Too much. She couldn’t fight anymore.
Colin snarled. She forced her heavy eyelids open, saw him above her, jaws open.
No, not Colin.
She’d…loved him… as much as she could love anyone.
Maybe this was the way she would die…she hoped he made it quick. She stared into his glowing eyes, her body and mind shuddering with agony and she waited.
Her lips parted, "Love…" It was all she could manage. But she needed to say it, even though he wouldn’t understand. She had to say it once in her life, dammit, and actually mean it.
Colin sprang forward, jaws open, claws outstretched.
He flew right over her and barreled into Jake. The demon screamed in fury-but the sound ended in a sudden gurgle of pain.
The agonizing torture in her mind ended. Vanished in an instant. Emily pushed up on her knees. Jake’s body was twitching. She squinted in the darkness, trying to see more.
The wolf was over him, teeth lodged in the hybrid’s throat.
Looked like Jake hadn’t been able to control her wolf after all.
He shifted back into a man with the taste of Donnelley’s blood still in his mouth. The shift came easier because the beast was satiated.
His hands clenched and the claws slowly receded. For a time there, he knew Donnelley had tried to get him to attack Emily.
He’d seen the fear in her eyes, and there hadn’t been a damn thing he could do about it.
Then she’d started fighting, and he’d sensed her energy in the air around them. He’d realized that Emily and Donnelley were locked in a psychic battle, and when his mate had fallen to her knees, he’d understood that she was fighting for him, struggling to give him the time he needed to attack.
He wiped the back of his hand over his mouth. Blood coated his fingers, still dripped down his chin.
Part of him wished he’d made the bastard suffer more. You died too easily. You should have screamed for death.
Donnelley stared sightlessly up at him, blood pooling beneath him. His throat was ripped wide open, his head barely hanging on.
Not even a full-blooded shifter could heal from a wound like that.
A soft footfall sounded behind him. He didn’t glance back. Emily shouldn’t see him this way. He didn’t want her to see him this way. Not with the blood of the kill on him.
For one terrible moment, he’d wanted to feel her neck beneath his claws and teeth.
For that, he wanted to kill the bastard all over again.
"Colin…" Soft, husky. "A-are you all right?"
I nearly killed you. No, he wasn’t fucking all right. A growl rumbled in his throat.
A quick inhalation of breath. "H-he’s dead."
Unless Donnelley could somehow breathe without a windpipe, yeah, he was dead.
Colin stared down at Donnelley’s face. His eyes were wide open, his mouth twisted in a snarl. Didn’t think you’d die, did you, asshole?
His hands clenched into fists and he forced himself to look at Emily. He could still smell her blood. The blood that had tempted him.
"We need to get you to a hospital."
She was squinting down at the body, trying to see clearer with her human eyes in the darkness.
"No, I’m okay, I just-" Her hand lifted, brushed against her stomach, and a hiss of pain slipped past her lips. "It’s bloody as hell, but I–I don’t think it’s too deep. I–I’ll be all right."
He reached for her, pulling her against him and cradling her carefully. He’d come too close to losing her. Too close.
A sudden scream shattered the silence.
Smith.
Colin looked up, found her standing in front of him, clad in her underwear, blood smearing her body. She had a gun in her hand, Emily’s gun, and she was shaking and pointing it straight at him.
"Monster!" The cock of the hammer was too loud. "I saw you change! You’re like him, just like-"
The shock and the horror had gotten to her. She was going to fire, Colin realized. She was going to-
Emily shoved him to the ground. Her soft body fell onto his, and he heard the whoosh of the bullet fly past them.
Sonofabitch. Why did every human try to shoot him when they found out what he was?
He carefully pushed Emily to the side. Scanned her body to make damn sure the bullet hadn’t touched her. Then, satisfied but seriously pissed, Colin sprang to his feet. "Dammit, I saved your life!" Didn’t that count for anything? Or was he just another monster to her?
She stared up at him, mouth agape, gun still trembling in her fingers. Then her lips began to quiver. The gun fell to the floor and great, gulping sobs burst from within her.
Smith threw herself into his arms, pressing her wet face against his neck.
Humans.
Colin awkwardly stroked her back.
"Smith." Emily’s soft voice. "How badly are you hurt?"
The ME lifted her face. Blinked. "I–I-"
"What did he do to you?" Colin asked, pitching his voice low. He didn’t want to set her off again.
"B-bit. Cl-clawed." A shudder of revulsion swept over her.
Emily pulled out her cell phone. Quickly dialed and then asked to speak with McNeal. Colin heard her tell the captain the killer had been contained and that they needed an ambulance, ASAP.
She disconnected the call and then looked back at Colin. Smith was still pressed against him, still crying, but softly now. Almost whimpering.
"Smith, before the others arrive, we need to talk." Emily’s voice was calm, soothing. The professional psychologist was back in place.
If he hadn’t been there, he never would have known the lady had just come moments away from death.
That was his doc. Core of steel.
Being as gentle as possible, Colin pushed Smith back until he could look into her eyes. "You know what I am." And she’d tried to kill him. So what is new?
She nodded. "W-werewolf."
Not exactly, but close enough for the time being.