Lover Eternal

abductor fell on her, a heavy, smothering weight. Panic and terror gave her the strength to heave him off.

His body rolled over limply. Hal's dagger was through the man's left eye.

Too shocked to scream, Mary surged to her feet and took off as fast as she could go. She was sure she would be caught again, convinced she was going to die.

But then the glow from the lights of the restaurant finally came into view. When she felt the parking lot's asphalt underfoot, she wanted to weep in gratitude.

Until she saw Hal in front of her. As if he'd appeared out of nowhere.

She skidded to a halt, panting, dizzy, unable to comprehend how he'd gotten back before her. As her knees gave out, she caught herself on a random car.

'Come on, let's go,' he said roughly.

In a cold rush, she remembered the snap of a man's neck. And the black blade through the attacker's eye. And Hal's calm, vicious control.

Hal was… death. Death in a beautiful package.

'Get away from me.' She tripped over her own feet and he reached out for her. 'No! Don't touch me.'

'Mary—'

'Stay away from me.' She backed toward the restaurant, hands raised to ward him off. For what little good that would do against him.

Hal tracked her, moving with powerful shifts of his arms and legs. 'Listen to me—'

'I need…' She cleared her throat. 'I need to call the police.'

'No, you don't.'

'We were attacked! And you… killed someone. People. You killed people. I want to call the—'

'This is private business. The cops can't protect you. I can.'

She stopped, a nasty shot of truth putting who he was into sharp focus. Everything made sense. The menace he hid behind the charm. His utter lack of fear as they got jumped. His determination not to involve the police. God, the fact that he'd cracked a man's head loose with such ease, like he'd done it before.

Hal didn't want her to call 911 because he was on the other side of the law. No less a thug than the men who'd gone after them.

She grabbed under her arm to hold her purse, about to make another run for it. And realized her bag was gone.

Hal cursed, quick and hard. 'You lost your purse, didn't you?' He looked around. 'Listen, Mary, you need to come with me.'

'The hell I do.'

She made a break for the restaurant, but Hal leaped in front of her, blocking the way, taking her arms.

'I'll scream!' She eyed the parking-lot attendants. They were probably thirty yards away. 'I'll scream my head off.'

'You're life's in danger, but I can protect you. Trust me.'

'I don't know you.'

'Yes, you do.'

'Oh, you're right. You're handsome, so you can't possibly be evil.'

He jabbed his finger toward the park. 'I saved you out there. You wouldn't be alive right now if it weren't for me.'

'Fine. Thanks a hell of a lot. Now leave me alone!'

'I don't want to do this,' he muttered. 'I really don't.'

'Do what!'

He passed his hand in front of her face.

And suddenly she couldn't remember what she was so teed off about.

CHAPTER 19

Standing in front of Mary, her memories at his mercy, Rhage told himself to finish the job. Just wipe himself from her like a stain.

Yeah, and how was that going to work for them?

He'd left at least one, maybe two of the lessers alive in the park when he'd had to go after her. If those SOBs nabbed her purse, and he could only assume they had, she was in the crosshairs. The Society was already abducting civilians who knew nothing about the Brotherhood; she'd actually been seen with him.

But what the hell did he do now? He couldn't leave her alone at her house because her address would be on her driver's license and it would be the first place the lessers would go. Taking her to a hotel wasn't an option, because there'd be no way to be sure she'd stay put: She wouldn't understand why she needed to keep away from home because she wasn't going to remember the attack.

What he wanted to do was take her back to the mansion, at least until he could figure out how to handle this shit storm. Trouble was, sooner or later someone would find out she was in his room, and that would be bad news for everyone. Even if Tohr's command to scrub her didn't stand, humans were prohibited from their world: Too dangerous. The last thing the Brotherhood needed was for the race's existence and the secret war with the lessers to get out among Homo sapiens.

Yeah, but he was responsible for Mary's life. And rules were meant to be bent…

Maybe he could get Wrath to allow her in. Wrath's shellan was half-human, and ever since the two had gotten together, the Blind King had softened on the subject of females. And Tohr couldn't override the king. No one could.

Except while Rhage tried to make his case, Mary needed to be kept safe.

He thought about her house. It was off the beaten path, so if the shit hit the fan he could defend her without worrying about a lot of interference from the human police. And he had plenty of weapons in his car. He could get her settled, protect her if need be, and call Wrath.

Rhage released her mind, cutting off her memories just after they'd gotten out of the car. She wouldn't even remember their kisses.

Which, all things considered, was a good thing. Damn him. He'd pushed her too far, too fast, and he'd almost cracked himself. While his mouth and hands were on her, that hum in his body had risen to a scream. Especially when she'd taken his palm and put it between her thighs.

'Hal?' Mary stared up at him in confusion. 'What's going on?'

He felt god-awful as he looked into her wide eyes and finished burying the images in her mind. He'd scrubbed clean the memories of countless human females before and never thought twice about it. But with Mary, he felt like he was taking something from her. Invading her privacy. Betraying her.

He dragged a hand through his hair, grabbing onto a hunk and wanting to pull the stuff right out of his head. 'So you'd rather skip dinner and go back to your place? That's fine with me. I could use some chill time.'

'Good, but… I feel like there's something else we have to do.' She looked down at herself and started brushing off grass. 'Although considering what I did to this skirt as we left my house, I probably shouldn't be out in public anyway. You know, I thought I got all the lawn stuff off—Wait a minute, where's my purse?'

'Maybe you left it in the car.'

'No, I—Oh, God.' She began to shake uncontrollably, her breaths getting rapid, shallow. Her eyes became frantic. 'Hal, I'm sorry, I… I need… Oh, hell.'

It was the adrenaline racing through her system. Her mind might be calm, but her body was still flooded with fear.

'Come here,' he said, taking her against his body. 'Let me hold you until it passes.'

As he murmured to her, he kept her hands in front so they didn't find the remaining dagger under his arm or the nine-millimeter Beretta at the small of his back. His eyes darted around, searching the shadows of the park to the right and the restaurant to the left. He was desperate to get her in the car.

'I'm so embarrassed,' she said against his chest. 'I haven't had a panic attack in a long time.'