She suddenly knew what a mouse felt like when staring at a housecat. It was both scarier and, weirdly, more comforting than the brute force attack the monster dog things had thrown at her.
He moved like a predator. It was a phrase she read all the time in the romance novels Crissy kept giving her, and she had always thought it was a sort of ridiculous way to describe someone's walk. Moved like a dancer would be better she had always teased her sister, who scoffed and said that's only because you've never seen it! The familiar, friendly argument played through her mind in fast forward and all she could think was that Crissy was right.
The man was tall, with dark brown hair and bright green eyes, and while he had muscles to spare he wasn't bulky like he spent too much time in a gym. Dressed in loose black pants with pockets everywhere, a black t-shirt, and a leather jacket, he could be any dangerous biker she had ever seen in the movies. It was something in his dark eyes that said clearly that he was not just dangerous. This man was lethal. And those eyes were aimed right at her.
"It got quiet, Aunt Faith, are they gone? Can we go home now?" Kaylee asked her hip, not looking up at all.
The man's eyes flicked down to take in the small body, and she moved to try to block Kaylee from his sight.
"Magaestra," he said, his voice pitched low and gentle and deliberately non-aggressive. A shiver slid down Faith's spine.
Damn, even his voice is dangerous. like steel wrapped in silk and chocolate and hot bubble baths on cold nights.
"I will not harm you or the girl, Magaestra. I swear it," he said. The man sounded slightly awestruck, not that Faith could understand why. He stopped right in front of her and held his hands out, showing that they were empty. It seemed like he was trying to be non-threatening, but she had seen what he did to those monsters. There was no way he wasn't extremely dangerous.
She flicked her eyes over to the pile of monster bodies and gasped.
"Look out!" Faith didn't think, just reached out with her free hand and yanked the man to them, throwing the shield back up just before the beast slammed into it, pushing her back a step from the impact on her magic.
It landed on three legs, visibly favoring a serious injury, and before she even knew what was happening, the man was standing over the creature again, his knife in his hand and buried in the thing's neck, up to the hilt. Now there was no question that both the monsters that had come inside were dead.
"Holy fuck," she said. "What are you?"
The man turned and blinked at her, his own shock clear. "You... you protected me."
It was her turn to blink. Huh, she had, hadn't she? She glanced at where her magic shield glimmered faintly in the air between them once more. How did he get through it? He was going the other way, not the way I was stopping. I guess that makes sense. I wasn’t trying to keep us from getting out. And now I’m rambling in my own head. Focus, Faith!
"I can't imagine anyone deserves to be attacked by..." she wasn’t entirely sure how to finish that sentence. She eyed the man warily. “Not even whatever it is that you are, yourself.”
Kaylee stirred behind her and tried to peek around at the mystery man, but Faith held tight. Her niece did not need to see any more of those monsters than she already had.
"You have my thanks," he stopped in front of her again, his hands again held loose at his sides. "Even before you did that, I was going to tell you that you are safe with me. Now, I offer my protection. I swear to you that I will keep you and the girl safe. You risked your safety for mine. I will protect you with my own life, if necessary."
She blinked at him. She was so damn tired. She knew that she couldn't keep the shield up for much longer, and her choice seemed to be: trust this stranger, or... trust this stranger.
Hell.
"Where's my sister?" she asked.
The man shook his head with a frown. "I haven't seen any others. Only more of those." He gestured over his shoulder. "But I haven't seen anyone else.” He glanced down at Kaylee's head and back up to meet her eyes, and she knew what he wasn't saying. He hadn't seen anyone alive or dead.
Double hell.
"Please, Magaestra. We should go. I don’t know if those things were part of a larger pack or were just a small group of rogues, but either way it’s not safe here now.”
"Oh God," she tried not to cry. She had to be strong for Kaylee, and she had to find Crissy.
“I will protect you. But we should go."
His steel-silk-chocolate voice was far more soothing than it should be from someone so deadly. Still, she found herself nodding.
"Okay. Yeah. Let's go, Kaylee," she said. She felt Kaylee start moving, and warned, "Don't look, sweetheart. Keep your eyes closed and hold onto me while we get out of here, okay? We'll call your mom when we get someplace safe.”
"Okay." Kaylee slid her small hand into Faith's own and she lowered her arm, the shield shimmering away into nothing.
"Oh. That... that was holding me up." As soon as she released her hold on the magic shield she felt like all the energy was drained from her body, like a plug was pulled. She felt herself crumpling to the floor and her own voice sounded like someone else was talking, and the last thing she felt was strong arms catching her and a warm
