Arand growled as a dark emotion filled it. It took him a moment to recognize it—jealousy. He was jealous of the trust she gave her friend. He shook himself and shrugged off the feeling. It didn’t matter if she trusted her friend more than him.
And he was lying to himself.
“You okay?” Sabrina asked, her green eyes filled with concern.
“Fine. Tell me more about her.”
“Jessica came over to my house last night and cleansed it.”
Arand remembered the salt barrier at the door and was impressed. There was real power behind it. Not enough to keep out Hades indefinitely, but more than enough to annoy him and stop some of his lesser demons from entering her home. “She was the one who put down the salt.”
“Yes.” A strand of her red hair escaped her braid and she tucked it behind her ear. He loved her hair, the color full of fire and passion. It suited her.
He looked away, scanning the surrounding area. It was so strange to be outside after all these long years, to feel the cool breeze against his skin, to see the night sky overhead. Not that he could see too many stars with all the city lights giving off their illumination, but he knew they were up there. And he would see them. He would run free in the forest, the joy of simply being alive coursing through his veins. Once he defeated Hades he would give himself this gift.
The world was such a different place now. So many people living in such cramped quarters. The buildings were made from brick and wood and were stacked close together like stalks of grain in a sheaf. But there were still untamed places in the world, places perfect for him and his wolf.
His wolf snarled a warning and Arand whirled around to find the two men from the alleyway following them. They were both tall men and stunk of stale sweat and desperation. One of them pulled a knife. “Give us your purse, lady.”
Arand wrapped one arm around Sabrina and tucked her safely behind him. The second man drew a knife as well, the blade about six inches long. “You heard the man. Give us your money.”
They were both young and he could smell the alcohol and some other taint seeping from their pores. His brain computed the scent—drugs. Some things never changed. Males were often aggressive and stupid for no real reason. But if there was one thing that Arand couldn’t stand, it was when they preyed on those they perceived to be weaker than themselves.
The first man, his long blond hair tied back at his nape, waved his weapon, coming closer. “Don’t make me cut you, man. I will.”
“You are welcome to try.” Arand raised his right hand and his sword appeared.
“What the fuck?” The second man stumbled back, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.
Arand allowed his face to morph until it was more wolf than man.
“Werewolf!” the first man yelled before he turned tail and ran. His friend joined them, both of them stumbling over the curb before they righted themselves and kept going.
Arand lowered his sword and it winked out of sight. His face was morphed back into that of a man by the time he turned to Sabrina to find out if she was all right. If they’d frightened her, he was tempted to track them down and teach them a lesson they wouldn’t soon forget. He had their scent now and would be able to find them no matter where they tried to hide.
Sabrina stared up at him, a half smile on her face. “Guess I don’t need to worry about walking the city streets alone at night with you by my side.”
Her praise pleased him, but he didn’t show it. “We cannot waste any more time.” The night was waning and he wanted to be out of the city before daybreak.
Her smile disappeared and was replaced by worry. “Tilly’s place isn’t much farther.” Sabrina hurried down the sidewalk, turning onto another street.
Arand frowned. “I thought your friend’s name was Jessica?”
“It is. Tilly is another friend. She’s the only one of us with a car.”
“So many people should not know what is going on. They could betray us to Hades.” Most people would tell the god anything when face-to-face with him. He was intimidating and held great power.
“Deal with it.” She made another turn, her gait increasing with each step. “And Jessica and Tilly would never betray me.”
He envied her the innocence and naivety she possessed. Arand too had once assumed none of his friends would betray him, but Mordecai had. It had taken him years to realize it. At first, he’d mourned his fellow warrior as he grieved for the loss of Stavros, the jaguar, and Phoenix. But after a woman released Roric, the white tiger, Arand had learned that Mordecai had joined Hades.
The betrayal was especially bitter for him as he and Mordecai had been close friends. Or, at least he’d thought they’d been close. Obviously not, since Mordecai had gone over to the dark side rather than fight and face an honorable death.
“You okay?” Sabrina reached out and rested her hand on his bare arm. The warmth soaked into his skin, reminding him that she was his priority now. There would be time to mourn his lost friendship when this day was done. Maybe.
“Yes.”
She removed her hand and he wanted to grab it and bring it back. Her touch eased the pain inside him, soothed the harsh betrayal. Still, he didn’t reach for her when they continued their trek.
Instead, he watched as she took the lead. His senses were on alert and he knew they were alone except for a woman waiting down the street. Sabrina began to run when the woman stepped out to stand by the streetlamp. The woman was tall, her skin dark, her hair black as night. A faint whiff of power encircled her. She opened her arms to Sabrina and she hugged her tight.
There was no denying the bond of friendship between them. He was glad she had that kind of closeness in her life. She would need it when this ordeal was over and he was gone.
His chest ached and his steps slowed. He didn’t want to leave her, but what choice did he have? Maybe the Lady would allow him to stay with her for the next forty years or so until Sabrina passed from this realm. He would petition the Lady if they survived Hades for the next twenty-four hours.
He glanced at the sky. Probably twenty hours now. Might as well be a lifetime. It was much too long. “We need to go.”
Sabrina had never been happier to see a familiar face in all her life. With everything that had happened lately, being involved in an attempted mugging on the way here was anticlimactic. She hadn’t even been scared for a second, not with Arand standing next to her. It had almost been comical to watch the two men falling all over themselves trying to get away from him. Hopefully, they’d think twice before they tried to rob someone else.
Tilly held her close. “You okay, sweetie?”
“I’m honestly not sure.” What else could she say? The last few weeks of her life had been crazy, but tonight topped them all put together. And she had the deep sense of dread that this was only the beginning. Things were going to get much worse.
“What did Jessica tell you?” Sabrina cringed at the thought of that conversation. It was a wonder her friends didn’t think she was nuts.
“Enough.” Tilly’s dark eyes found Arand lurking in the shadows beside them.
Sabrina cleared her throat. “This is Arand.”
Tilly released her and stepped back, sizing Arand up from head to toe. “So this is what an immortal warrior looks like. Not bad, girl.”
For some unaccountable reason, Sabrina felt her cheeks growing warmer and prayed it was too dark for Tilly to notice she was blushing. There was no way for Tilly to know she’d had sex with the guy, and even if she did, so what? They were both adults.
Arand’s voice was low and gruff. “We need to go.”
“This is Tilly.” Why she cared if he liked her friends was beyond her, but for some silly reason she wanted Arand to like Tilly.
Her friend held out her hand. “Pleased to meet you, Arand. Jessica’s told me a lot about you.”
Arand started to take Tilly’s hand, but Sabrina didn’t like the look in his eyes and stepped in front of her friend. That didn’t stop Arand. He simply lifted her off her feet and set her aside before facing Tilly. “What do you
