1
The back of my neck prickled, as if I were being watched.
That feeling again.
It wasn’t the first time. Not by a long shot.
I shivered and ducked deeper into the shadows of the dive bar. The whole place was cast in shades of gray and black—plenty of places to hide. Just how the clientele liked it.
Which was why I was here.
My target—a demon who stole the bodies of other supernaturals and wore them as skin suits—was supposed to be here tonight. As a mercenary for the Order of the Magica, it was my job to send him back to the hell from which he’d come.
It was supposed to be another normal night. Hunt, kill, have a pint.
But that feeling…
I scanned the bar, my gaze passing over the usual rabble of demons and other dark magic users. Mages, shifters, witches, and even a few vamps.
When my gaze snagged on the figure tucked into the shadows of a recessed doorway, I gasped.
He was not the normal clientele.
I could only catch half his face and one shoulder looming in the darkness, but the sight took my breath away. The man had to be well over six feet, with broad shoulders that filled the doorway. He would be impossibly handsome if he weren’t so damned terrifying. His posture screamed lethal grace, while his ice blue eyes just screamed lethal.
And they were riveted right to me.
He didn’t so much as blink.
Death.
My heart thundered, and my flight or fight instincts jumped into full gear.
Flight.
I had to run.
My mind buzzed with the certainty that the only way I’d survive was if I got the hell out of there.
No.
Not a chance in hell.
I was overreacting. I’d run far enough. I was safe here. Safe from my past. Safe from the one who hunted me. The town of Magic’s Bend was a good hiding place, and I had a job to do.
Just because the deadly, handsome man was staring at me didn’t mean anything.
Unease tightened my skin.
That kind of attitude wasn’t going to keep me alive. My brother, Connor, and I had survived precisely because I saw everything as a threat and acted accordingly.
Movement to the left caught my eye.
The skin suit demon.
He was tall and slender, with narrow horns pointed toward the sky. Yellow eyes bisected by a snake’s pupil scanned the crowd, looking for his next victim.
The sight snapped me back to the present, away from the man who continued to stare at me. If I didn’t act now, another supernatural would die tonight. And it would be on me.
No way I could live with that.
I lunged from the shadows, going straight for the demon. His snake-like gaze snared on me, and his eyes widened.
He saw what I was.
Death.
He spun and shoved his way through the crowd. I raced after him, slipping between bodies like the wind, using my unnatural speed and grace to my benefit. It was a legacy from a past that I’d run from, but I’d use it now.
He headed straight for the back entrance, and I chased him out. Cold wind whipped across my face as I rushed out into the darkness of an abandoned alley.
A flash of movement caught my eye.
There.
The demon had gone left.
I raced after him, grabbing the back of his shirt and slamming him into the brick wall. The golden glow of an overhead lamp gleamed on his narrow face as I crowded him, shoving him against the rough brick.
He was a good foot taller than me, strong and wiry.
But I was stronger. I shoved him harder as his gaze searched my face. He licked his colorless lips, a snakelike tongue darting out like a threat.
“You’d be pretty to wear.” His gaze dropped to my shoulders and arms. “Strong.”
“You better believe it.” I pressed my palm against his chest, calling upon the fire within me.
Much of my natural magic was repressed, but not this.
I let the flames rise inside me, burning bright. It brought with it pain, but I welcomed it. A memory of my past.
I used it now, feeding the fire into the demon.
His gaze widened and he hissed. “What are you doing?”
“Sending you back to hell.”
He thrashed, kicking up. I blocked his leg, stomping on his foot as I pushed the flame into his chest. He grabbed for me, his strong hands wrapping around my biceps.
I winced as his magic cut through me, slicing like knives.
“You’ll be mine,” he hissed.
“I am no one’s.”
I ignored the pain of his magic and forced my own into him. His eyes began to glow red as my fire filled him up inside. His mouth gaped on a silent scream, his fangs glinting in the light.
“Say hi to the devil for me.” I grinned.
In a poof of dust, my flame consumed him and he disappeared. Panting, I stepped back and stared at the ashes.
He wasn’t truly dead—not forever. In a little while, he’d wake up on the other side, back in whatever afterworld he’d come from. There were dozens of afterworlds—hundreds, probably. One for each religion that claimed a heaven or a hell.
That hell could keep him, as far as I was concerned, but I had no doubt he’d find a way to get back to earth. They always did.
I bent down and swiped my finger through the ashes, then stood and opened the small golden locket at my throat. I dragged my finger against it, depositing some of the ashes inside.
I snapped the locket shut.
It was morbid to record my kills this way, but everyone needed a hobby. And one day, when I most needed it, this locket would become a weapon against the monster who hunted me.
I turned to face the alley and head home.
A figure stood in the shadows, just two feet away. He’d moved so quietly that I’d never even heard him. Shock lanced me. I was never caught unaware.
But he was there—the man who’d stared at me from the shadows.
He stepped forward, looming over me. Heart pounding, I stumbled back until my shoulders were pressed against the brick wall. He moved with such silent, lethal grace that I barely processed the movement. But suddenly, I was trapped. His strong arms and massive shoulders formed a cage around me, his head bending over mine.
My heart leapt into my throat and my skin iced. He didn’t touch me, but I could feel his heat like a brand over all my skin. Hot and cold, it chilled me to the bone.
Up close, he was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. Impossibly perfect features—sharp cheekbones, full lips, ice blue eyes, and longish dark hair that was perfectly disheveled.
His gaze searched mine, brow creased and jaw tight. He was looking for something, and I wasn’t sure if he’d found it.
I was very afraid that he had.
He leaned closer and tucked his face against my own—not close enough to touch, but enough that when he inhaled, he probably got a really good whiff of my magic.
Heat surged through me at the proximity, clashing with the icy fear. His magic swamped me, hitting all five of my senses. He’d tried to suppress his signatures—and he’d done a damned good job—but a supernatural as powerful as he was couldn’t hide all of it.
And damn, was he powerful. The scent of his magic rolled over me, the smell of a storm at sea. Saltwater, lightning, the ocean.
His magic sounded similar—the crash of ocean waves. A cold breeze rushed past me, followed by the sense of water brushing against my skin. The bite of salt exploded on my tongue, and his ice blue aura flared.