She gulped a mouthful of what felt like sand. «And what do you mean by ‘some other means’? We’re supposed to ride them to safety?»
To her surprise, Amun chuckled softly.
«William?»
«Our» side. As if they were partners rather than enemies. As if he trusted her completely. As if he no longer saw her as a Hunter responsible for his friend’s murder, but as a woman worthy of him. Inside she glowed, tendrils of his warmth traipsing through her.
«So, if the Horsemen are related to this William person, who’s on
For some reason, that wasn’t promising.
A shriek sounded at her left, and she stopped to wheel in that direction.
That was all? The beings here weren’t playing with darts, balloons or plastic balls — and the prizes weren’t stuffed animals. Severed heads were being tossed at boiling tubs of oil, and though the heads were bodiless, their mouths still managed to scream in pain when splashed with the oil, skin melting away.
The little boy who’d just won jumped up and down, clapping, his hoofed feet clomping hard into the ground and spraying dirt in every direction. The proprietor handed him a beautiful golden bird trying desperately to escape the string around its neck, wings flapping erratically, glitter raining from them like fairy dust.
The loveliness of the bird was surprising, considering the ugliness of everything else down here.
The little boy gently held the bird in both hands, muttering soothing words. Those golden wings gradually stopped flapping. Of course, that’s when the boy shoved the tiny creature into his mouth and bit off the head.
Haidee gagged and quickly looked away — right at a group of men who’d locked their sights on her and Amun. Those men were striding toward them, closing the distance. Damn it. She never should have paused to watch the games.
«Amun,» she whispered fiercely.
As if. But rather than tell him she planned to stay and help, possibly distracting him, she remained silent and palmed two blades in each hand. The men were almost upon them…they were big, bigger than Amun, with paper- thin skin that draped loosely over pitted bone, their eyes merely sunken holes of black…and still they drew ever closer…
Just as he’d done with the ticket handler, Amun stiffened. And not in preparation for battle.
«Can you read their minds?» she asked.
He said no more, but then, he didn’t have to. The men intended to do something vile. To her, she was sure.
«Six against two. Let’s see if we can even out those odds.» Haidee threw two of her weapons. The first hit the biggest of the men in the jugular, and he instantly toppled. The second hit the man next to him right in the eye socket. He screamed as he fell.
The other four paid their fallen comrades no heed, continuing forward.
She didn’t.
Okay. She had to tell him. «I’m not letting you fly solo on this. I’m here. I’ll help.»
He growled.
The men reached them and formed a circle around them, effectively surrounding them with a wall of muscle and menace. Wouldn’t have been so bad, except the two men she’d felled suddenly rose, jerked the weapons from their bodies and took their places in the circle, far angrier than they’d been before.
Oh…shit. They couldn’t be killed. Dread slithered through her, choking her.
«We want the girl,» one of them said, and all of them gave her a once-over, lingering on her breasts, between her legs, mentally stripping her and making her shudder in revulsion.
«Well, news flash. You can’t have me,» she snapped. She would rather die. Again.
«Wasn’t talking to you, bitch.» The shithead’s gaze never left Amun. «Give her to us, and you can go on your way. Alive.»
That, she obeyed. And as her words echoed between them, an almost visible wave of fear swept over the men. They began to tremble, their skin taking on a grayish cast. The Horsemen were so depraved they frightened even psychos, huh? Awesome. Then the fear turned to anger, and the men scowled at Amun with more fury than before, as if they blamed him for what they’d felt.
«Forget those that shall not be named and tell us what you want for her,» one of the men said.
Those that shall not be named?
A muscle ticked below Amun’s eye as he took each guy’s measure.
«Can’t you talk, demon?» another growled. «We want the woman. Now.»
So they recognized what he was, but they weren’t scared of him as they evidently were of the Horsemen. If that was the case, though, why didn’t they simply attack him?
«You can have her back when we’re done,» still another said.
They laughed in eerie unison.
«’Course, she’ll be in pieces, and we’ll probably keep the good ones, but you can have what’s left.»
The men converged on him with the same eerie unison in which they’d laughed, kicking at him, swinging their arms like clubs. She couldn’t throw herself into the fray because there was no way to tell which body parts belonged to Amun and which to the shitheads. Their positions changed too swiftly.
Blood sprayed, some red, some black. Grunts and groans resounded. Then Amun landed at her feet, wheezing, his face already sliced to ribbons. The men were on him an instant later, their momentum shoving her backward.
She righted herself, that image of Amun filling her with a rage so potent, her blood began to thicken with ice. No one hurt her man. No one. Mist formed a cloud in front of her nose each time she exhaled. She knew anyone who looked at her would see actual crystals glinting in her hair, on her skin. This strong a reaction hadn’t happened in so long, she’d almost forgotten she was capable of it.
Hate filled her, joining the ice. So much hate. She hated these men, hated what they’d planned. Hated that they lived.
She couldn’t allow them to live.
Amun managed to throw the bundle of bodies off him and jump to his feet. His weapons had been ripped from his grip, so he used his fists now, pummeling with all his might. But every time he cracked one of those fatheads to the side, breaking the spinal cord, the men would shake off the blow and attack with new fervor. Then one of them realized Haidee was alone, seemingly unprotected and disengaged.
His grin was evil.
Hers was worse. «Come here,» she said with such calm even she was surprised.
Those black eyes narrowed, a forked tongue swiping over too-thin lips. Though he was obviously suspicious
