Black Magic

and a pushed-in face full of razor-sharp teeth. It rushed forward with a screech and she ran toward Kalen. But she moved too late.

Pain blossomed in her shoulder as the thing struck, knocking her to the ground. She hit hard on her hands and knees with a cry, hearing Kalen’s angry yell over the creature’s roar. Kalen hauled her up, gave her a shove toward the SUV.

“Get in!”

She ran, but the thing was right behind her, swatting Kalen to the ground as it took off in pursuit. Oh, God! Please, please let him be all right!

Reaching the back of the Escalade, she barely had time to dive underneath the back end before the creature hit, shaking the whole vehicle violently. Crawling to the middle, palms stinging, she drew in her arms and legs as much as she could considering there wasn’t much clearance between her body and the undercarriage of the SUV.

Panting hard, she saw the shadow of the thing’s bulk as it crouched. One yellowed eyeball peered under the bumper at her and she whimpered, heart pounding. With another shriek, it swiped its arm underneath over and over, trying to get at her. One pass sliced a tire and it began to hiss, losing air.

“Hey, you ugly bastard!” Kalen yelled. “Eat this!”

A bolt lit up the night, and Mackenzie heard the creature scream in pain this time, saw its bulk leap away from the back end. The thing scrambled away from the vehicle and she was terrified it was going for Kalen. Moving as far from safety as she dared, she looked from under the SUV and her breath caught.

Kalen and the creature were locked in battle, the Sorcerer’s duster lying discarded on the ground, she guessed so he could move more easily. Blood ran down one arm from a deep gash. The silver pendant gleamed on his chest, and his hair tumbled wildly about his face, which was twisted in a feral snarl. He was completely focused on destroying their enemy. Confident. In that moment, she had little doubt he’d succeed.

But she was still afraid. This creature was an unknown, and his brethren had wiped out half of Alpha Pack six months ago, right before Nick took over as the team’s commander. Since then, they’d failed to learn what these creatures were, where they came from and who they answered to, if anyone.

This one wasn’t any more inclined to share than the others had been. His only focus seemed to be annihilating both of them.

The creature lunged at Kalen, and he jumped out of the way, a glow of blue light appearing in his palm. He hurled the sphere and it exploded in the beast’s face, causing it to roar in pain and rage. Slivers of what she could only describe as electricity spread in jagged fingers from the point of impact to encompass the entire beast. Power sizzled over the creature’s hide and it began to leap from foot to foot, shrieking, eyes wide.

The pungent stench of burning flesh reached her nostrils. The shockwaves of electricity vanished and the beast slumped to the ground, panting. Then a long Sorcerer’s staff appeared in Kalen’s right palm and uttering a spell in Latin, he pointed the end of the staff toward the creature that was struggling to rise. It never got the chance.

A single bolt of brilliant orange-red light shot from the end of the staff, blasting the beast in the chest. The torch-like fire ate through its chest, incinerating what she assumed to be the heart and in seconds, it fell. This time it was dead. Smoke rose from the creature in wisps and she felt an inexplicable wave of sadness.

Kalen shared no such sentiment. Nudging the beast with his toe, his expression was cold. “Good riddance.”

She crawled from underneath the SUV as Kalen began a chant. The creature’s body began to break down, shrivel, until finally it disintegrated. Another whispered word from the Sorcerer, and the ashes swirled into the air and vanished into the night. His staff disappeared and he strode for her, closing the distance quickly.

Grabbing her upper arms, he began to check her for injuries, patting her limbs. “God, Mackenzie,” he rasped. “Are you all right?”

Suddenly she became aware of the burning pain in her left shoulder. She’d forgotten about it, but now that the adrenaline rush was over, it totally eclipsed the stinging in her palms and knees from sliding on the concrete when she dove under the SUV. “My back. I think it scratched me.”

Moving around behind her, he cursed. “The fucker got you. Looks like he caught your shoulder with a claw. We need to get you back so Dr. Mallory can take care of it.”

“Hey, I’m a doctor,” she said.

“But you can’t reach your back, and it’s not smart to treat yourself. You know that, but I think you’re in a bit of shock.”

“You think?” she retorted.

“Come on,” he said, taking her hand and pulling her toward the SUV. “Let’s go. We’ll have somebody come and get your car later.”

She shook her head, tugging him in the direction of her car instead. “The beastie slashed one of the tires on the Escalade. We’ll have to take mine.”

“Goddammit.” He sighed. “Nick’s gonna shit monkeys.”

“It’s not your fault some ugly-ass bat decided to try and eat me for dinner! Hell, if you hadn’t come to fetch me home, he would’ve succeeded!” She actually felt the shudder that went through Kalen.

“Don’t remind me. Keys?”

“Right—oh, crap. My purse.”

During her getaway, it had gone flying. Kalen found it near one of the SUV’s back tires, where it had no doubt fallen when she’d dived under headfirst. He handed it over and she found the contents intact, including the keys, which she handed to him.

After retrieving his duster from the ground, he shrugged it on and opened the passenger’s door, waiting for her to climb in before closing it. A normal thing for a man to do, but it made her feel warm. Cared for. Just like him coming to her rescue, battling the deadly creature. She shouldn’t read anything into it, though—any of the men of the Pack would do the same for a friend and comrade.

Was Kalen a friend? At the very least, she hoped so.

He pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the compound. The drive would take almost half an hour, and she selfishly wished it was longer. She stared at his profile in the darkness, drinking in the gorgeous man beside her.

“Jesus, I can’t believe nobody heard the noise and came out back, or just happened along.”

“Well, the music is pretty loud in there,” she said thoughtfully. “Besides, the whole thing lasted maybe five minutes, tops.”

“I guess you’re right. We got damned lucky, all around.”

They had, and the close call hit home, making her shiver.

A hand found her knee. “You want my coat, honey?”

The softly spoken question, the endearment tinged with no little concern, made her heart do a funny flip. He’s just being nice. “No, I’m okay. I’ll feel better after a hot shower and a couple of ibuprofen.”

He shot her a look rife with concern, and he didn’t need to voice what they were both thinking—Melina Mallory, the other doctor at the compound, might want to throw in a rabies shot and a whole kitchen sink full of other vaccinations as well.

“We both need these scratches looked at,” he said.

“How’s yours?” She couldn’t have seen the slice on his left arm from here, even if he hadn’t been wearing his coat.

“Not too bad.”

He didn’t seem inclined to elaborate, so she dropped the subject. For now. The doctor in her was much more worried about his wound than her own, and she would examine it, whether he wanted her to or not.

Unwillingly, her mind turned back to the moment she’d seen the creature standing there, death in its eyes. God, she’d been so terrified. And then Kalen had rushed right in, taking on a monster many times his size, placing his life on the line.

For me.

That thought led to another one.

“How did you know that thing was around? Or did you just come there to see me and—”