Soraya’s mind went quiet as tiny sparks shot through her veins, flooding her body with energy. The shriek echoed into the deepest corners of her subconscious, forcing the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end.

Every cell in her body shouted danger. But that wasn’t going to stop her. She tried calling Jesmine back, but it went straight to voicemail. Not good.

Not good at all.

It was like she was on autopilot as the pads of her fingers pulled up Jesmine’s location on her phone screen. She forced herself through the overwhelming fear coursing through her—Jesmine needed help.

Alkimos was towering beside her, and she could hear his deep voice asking her something, but it was as if he was speaking from yards away.

Ignoring him, she focused on the screen, watching Jesmine’s little blue dot rapidly moving down W Jefferson Street. It was heading toward the entrance to their college, just a couple of blocks from where they lived.

She must be in a car. Whose car would she be in? None of them owned a damn car.

A large hand gripped her upper arm, but before she had time to snap at Alkimos, the soft, crystal-like sound of ringing filled the apartment. Suddenly, he let go of her.

Already on the move, Soraya headed straight to her room, her ears pounding. She yanked open her nightstand drawer, pushed her vibrator aside, and reached toward the back to grab the gun she kept there. She tucked it into the waistband of her pants before locating her running shoes and slipping them on.

It was like she was outside her body, watching her hands and feet take over for her. All the while her mind stayed blank. Not a thought passed through her head.

“Where is the sluagh now?” Alkimos’s voice rumbled as Soraya stepped back into the living room. He wasn’t speaking to her; his back was turned, his wrist raised to his mouth as he spoke.

A slight shiver ran down her spine, but even his voice wasn’t enough to distract her from reaching the door and slipping out.

“Soraya?” She heard his alarmed voice call out, but the door clicked shut behind her as she took off down the hall towards the stairs.

The sound of her heartbeat pulsed in her ears as she pushed herself to run faster. She was out of the building and on the sidewalk in the blink of an eye. Her feet pounded the pavement as she raced for the intersection blocks ahead. Her eyes flicked down to check Jesmine’s location. The dot had stopped, straight ahead, just across the intersection.

She was at the intersection, faster than she expected, and just as she was about to leap off the curb, a large hand gripped her upper arm. Flinging her backward against a hard body.

“Soraya, stop,” Alkimos ordered.

Chest heaving with heavy breaths, Soraya looked up at him, anger bubbling in her chest. “Let go,” she snapped through clenched teeth.

“Forgive me, little one, but no.” The bastard didn’t even sound sorry—or even out of breath. He had caught up so quickly, and she didn’t even hear his approach. And he wasn’t even winded as she was. Jackass.

Frustrated, she attempted to break his hold on her to no avail, and a second after she realized she was no match for his strength she started to shout. “Jesmine!” She looked wildly across the street to see if she could catch any glimpse of her friend, but there was no one in sight.

Alkimos large, slender hand clamped over her mouth. A muffled noise of outrage escaped her as she thrashed against him.

“Stop fighting me, Soraya. You can’t help your friend if you put yourself in danger as well,” he said, his voice hard and unyielding.

How did he know she was looking for Jesmine?

“I need you to go back to your—” his steady voice broke off in a hiss. His hold on her tightened as her teeth sank into the flesh of his palm.

His blood flooded her mouth, and the moment the taste of him touched the tip of her tongue, Soraya’s mind went completely blank.

Her erratic heartbeat fluttered in her chest, making her tremble as a wave of desire— or was it completion?—flooded her system. It was like her whole body was experiencing extreme whiplash as it went from pure adrenaline to pure want. Her skin flushed and tightened over her bones. Her lungs felt like they were on fire, and she, and she…

Alkimos low laugh vibrated from the chest as he felt her body trembling against him. “Did you like how I taste, little mate?” He pulled his hand from her mouth. “Once I bring you to safety—“

“Not without my friend,” Soraya interrupted between panting breaths, fighting the heady weightless feeling pumping through her. “Please, do you know what happened to her?” She choked out.

His voice hardened again. “Soraya— “

“She’s here. I tracked her here. Please! I need to know she’s okay.” She hated to beg, but it was all she could do, trapped tightly in his arms. She wasn’t going anywhere without his permission, and—against all logic— she trusted this stranger. Fuck if she knew why, but she trusted him for now.

A heavy sigh left him “Okay, Soraya. Keep quiet and don’t leave my side.” He sat her down and released her. “You said you tracked her?”

Soraya, with shaking hands, unlocked her phone screen and it still showed Jesmine’s location in the same spot she had seen it a minute ago.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Across the street.

Looking up, she squinted into the vegetation surrounding the gated entrance. Was Jesmine hiding? Soraya took a step down into the deserted street.

When school was in secession, the four-way crosswalk was a hub of activity, but with move-in a week away, that meant the campus was eerily silent.

It was only them. Not even a car passed by.

“Soraya—,”

“Did you hear something?” Soraya interrupted, not ready for him to drag her back to the apartment, or wherever this dominant stranger deemed safe.

Alkimos fell quiet.

Silence settled around them, broken only by the rustling of trees lining the sidewalks.

She glanced westbound, searching for any sign of Jesmine, but nothing. Some of the streetlights were taken over by overgrown tree branches that encased the light between their leaves. Causing flickering shadows of light to dance across the street.

A creeping awareness blossoms at the back of her mind.

Something was watching her.

Soraya stiffened, her gaze darting around. She didn’t see anything, but her entire body became hyper-aware that something—or someone—was there.

“Soraya. Don’t move,” Alkimos ordered, his voice barely a whisper.

That’s when she heard a series of clicking noises coming from where Jesmine’s last location pinged. The clicking barely registered above the rustling trees, but it was there. She was sure of it.

A large object moved out of the corner of her eye. Flicking her gaze to the left of the gate, where a planter of vegetation sat, her eyes blurred. Blinking her gaze into focus, she stared and stared at the foliage, trying to understand what she was seeing. There was an object deep in the hedges.

Something big.

Before Soraya could fully register the sight, her entire body became weightless as she was yanked back against a solid, unyielding chest.

A high-pitched shriek tore through the air, so loud it rattled her skull and threatened to burst her eardrums. Clapping her hands over her ears, she pressed back into Alkimos, her breath hitching as her gaze fixed on the source of the noise.

A massive figure crept out from the shadows beneath the trees, its movements slow and deliberate. It stopped when it emerged fully onto the sidewalk, bathed in the dim glow of a street lamp.

At first, Soraya couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing. It looked like a bush—a tall, hulking bush—standing at the edge of the sidewalk. Her eyes throbbed as the shape shifted before her, the branches transforming into limbs, and the green leaves molting into a grotesque patchwork of decayed, rotting skin.

Eyes. The bush had milky white eyes, and they were staring straight at them.

Soraya gulped as she beheld the face of a thing of nightmares as it continued its slow, deliberate advance toward them. Twigs turned into wicked sharp teeth that were set into a mouth with no lips.

Clicking sounds were emitting from it, as it continued to stare at them.

It was a monster. Its body reminded her of a deformed frog. A mutant, giant frog. That was all Soraya could think as she looked at it. Not even Alkimos comforting scent or touch could stop the way her heart flipped, dousing any sense of heady desire from her, turning back into adrenaline. Her heart started to pound a mile a minute.

Its jaw fell open, saliva dripping from the sharp points of its teeth as it let out a wretched shriek. Soraya clapped her hands over her ears again, her heart racing, as the monstrosity leaped into the street, aiming right for them.

Alkimos shifted behind her just as the monster prepared to leap again, its gaping mouth hanging upon, teeth gleaning in the streetlights—

A sedan came careening around the corner, slamming right into the monster with a sickening thud and sending it flying up the street.

Mouth agape, Soraya snapped her gaze back to the sedan that now had its hood bent to hell and engine steaming. The car door groaned open, and Jesmine, out of all people, stumbled from the driver’s seat.

She was still in one piece.

“Jesmine!” Soraya shouted, as she pushed out of Alkimos’s embrace and ran for her friend.

Soraya gripped Jesmine, looking her over for any signs of injuries.

“I’m okay, Soraya,” she said wide-eyed.

Soraya felt her body sag with momentary relief when a shadow passed overhead. She snapped her head up and felt her mind do a somersault at what she was seeing. It looked like a man—a man that was flying.

“Alkimos! We’re going to track the sluagh and bring it back across the lei line. Watch over our female for us,” shouted the flying man with white hair.

“For the last time, I am not your female asshole!” Jesmine shouted at the retreating…flying…form.

A man was flying.

Soraya’s mind struggled to process what she was seeing. A man was soaring through the air like it was the most natural thing in the world. What was even more odd were the transparent black wings attached to his back.

An angel. No. Angels don’t look like that. Do they? Dressed in all black with…a sword in hand.

Blinking rapidly, Soraya asked, “Am I dreaming?”

Jesmine looked back at Soraya about to answer her when another shriek rents the air.

“Fuck, there’s two of them,” an unknown male voice called from above, as a second flying man soared by. He had black hair.

“Where the hell are they coming from?” The first flying man shouted as he circled back around.

“Soraya, take your friend and go back to the apartment, wait for me there until I return,” Alkimos commanded as all hell broke loose.

Soraya’s gaze snapped to a second mutant frog as it leaped over the ten-foot gate and charged straight for Alkimos—only to crash into an invisible barrier. The monster screeched in pain as it was thrown backward, colliding with the metal gate.

“Soraya! Behind you!” Jesmine shouted.

Everything happened too fast. Soraya barely had time to look behind her when a shadow came streaking out from behind the fountain on the corner.

Fangs, milky white eyes, and claw-tipped fingers came hurtling toward her. Soraya instinctively reached for her gun, even though she knew it was too late to fire.

Before the creature could reach her, a wall of dark water crashed down, slamming into the monster. The sounds of bones breaking and rushing water had her taking a step back as the monster was washed down the street.

“What are humans doing here?” a cold voice demanded. “Send them away, before we have to clean their bodies off the street.”

Turning her head toward the right side of the intersection, Soraya watched as a man with long, clipped strides emerged from the darkness, heading directly for her. When his eyes locked with hers, pain burst behind her pupils. She clutched at her eyes, desperately trying to keep them from exploding out of her head, but just as quickly as the pain came, it subsided into a pulsing ache. She looked back up in time to see the new stranger stop directly in front of her.

Without warning, his hand locked around her neck in an iron grip, tilting her face up to meet his piercing gaze.

Her body instantly turned to liquid as she beheld him. His face was that of a cold savage beauty that made her breath catch. His nostrils flared, and all she could do was watch as his gaze flicked back and forth between her eyes.

“I will be back, Alkimos. Try not to die while I’m gone,” he said in a voice like ice.

Alkimos rang out in response, shouting, “Makoto! She’s—“

Whatever Alkimos was about to say was drowned out by the sudden sound of rushing wind. In the next instant, Soraya felt as if she had simply winked out of existence.