“Ready to go to that place you dreamed of?”
He nodded and his smile curled once more, looking even more sinister than the last time I saw it.
An impending sense of doom crept over me.
This is the last thing you should be doing.
The realization came on a plane I rarely traveled.
The thought was nothing but a swift parting of the thick mist, a momentary drift in a snowstorm.
Even if I was having doubts on some level, I couldn’t see through that dense cloud.
I was as helpless as a deep-sea fish mesmerized by a bright light in the infinite darkness.
I knew the situation was dangerous but I was powerless to prevent it.
His cock tightened in my grip and I lowered myself toward it.
Crash!
The door flew inward so hard it smashed against my desk.
A shard of wood splintered off and sailed across my narrow room.
A shadow stood in the doorway.
He was tall and broad and from the little light that filtered into the room, I would have sworn he was Iav’s twin.
The stranger raised a hand.
Moonlight glinted off something metallic.
My stomach fell through the floor and, in the presence of imminent death, my fear blew the mist aside.
He held a weapon.
It was aimed directly at us.
He fired three times, and every shot hit its target.
Vai
I ran for the door, pulled my leg back, and snapped at it.
I didn’t want to waste time checking if it was already unlocked.
The door flew open, the latch catching on the edge and sending a shard of splintered wood to one side.
Time seemed to slow as I drew my blaster pistol and took aim.
My heart was in my throat as I raised my eyes and locked onto the demon clutching her naked form.
His quivering member stood extended and long, prepared to dive deep inside her velvet folds and claim her for himself.
The creature turned, his grin broadening at the sight of me there, his teeth gleaming sharp in the moonlight as he grabbed Emma’s hips and drew back to slam inside her.
My blaster pistol was already aimed at his chest.
All I had to do was pull the trigger.
I did it without hesitation.
Once, twice, three times.
Every shot hit home.
The creature’s torso jerked one way and then the other as a bolt of plasma took each of his shoulders.
The third hit him full bore in the sternum, knocking him off the bed.
He slammed into the floor with a heavy thud.
The world turned silent, save for Emma’s panting breaths, her breasts rising and falling with each intake and expulsion of air.
Her eyes were fixed on the fallen figure on the other side of the bed.
I drew up to her, pistol focused on my Shadow, his leg still curled around the bed’s corner.
Emma’s eyes filled with tears and rolled down her cheeks.
She gibbered something unintelligible and shook her head in shock.
“Hey,” I said. “Hey. Everything’s going to be fine.”
She turned to look up at me.
When our eyes met, I felt a click, and a look of confusion came over her face.
Her eyes moved between me and the creature lying on the floor at the foot of her bed.
And her confusion deepened.
I lowered the pistol but kept it at the ready.
“It’s okay,” I said, approaching her slowly. “You’re safe now.”
Emma shuffled backward to avoid me touching her.
She wrapped an arm around her chest, covering her nakedness.
The poor thing was terrified.
This was the very last way I wanted us to meet for the first time.
I scanned the floor and found her clothes.
I scooped them up and handed them to her.
“Get dressed. We need to get as far from here as we can. Trust me. I’ll protect you.”
Emma just stared at me, the shock already beginning to wear off.
She slid her dress on over her head.
She blinked, and the mist of confusion that’d descended over her eyes began to dissipate.
“What… What’s going on?”
Where did I even start to answer that question?
I’d rehearsed this moment a thousand times but in all those instances the situation never looked anything like this.
“There’s… a lot going on here you don’t know… things that might sound outlandish unless you know the whole story. If you come with me, I promise they’ll make sense.”
I extended a hand to her.
She eyed it uncertainly, glancing once more at the creature on the floor.
She took my hand in hers.
Her skin was so soft, so smooth.
I smiled and nodded comfortingly at her.
“We need to leave right away. We don’t have time to pack your things—”
I stiffened my arm to help pull Emma up onto her feet but she pulled me forward.
I leaned over to cater to her movement.
She raised her other hand.
Moonlight winked off something sharp and metallic in her hand.
I said, “No—”
I barely managed to turn my head as she swung the blade around and sliced me across the cheek.
I released her hand and pressed my fingers over the wound that spurted blood.
Emma bolted up onto her feet and ran for the door.
“Wait! Emma! Wait!”
She didn’t so much as turn to glance back over her shoulder as she disappeared down the hallway.
I ran to the door and caught sight of Emma as she slipped on a pair of sneakers and disappeared into the night.
“Emma!” I bellowed.
I was too late.
She was gone.
Emma might have slipped through my fingers but at least part of my plan had come to fruition.
I wanted to get her out of this apartment.
It might not have happened the way I had hoped but the important thing was she was getting as far away from here as possible.
As far from him as possible.
It had been close.
Too close.
Within inches of him claiming her for himself.
Then the bond between us would have been broken and she would have belonged to my Shadow for all time.
Then I would have been doomed to a life of solitude for the rest of my days.
Just the sight of him naked with her was enough to make me sick to my stomach.
My Shadow must have given her a powerful dose of
