Demon from the Dark

Have to get control of myself.

Surely she would cry now. Damn it, if she cried, it should not be by his doing. Nay, he dreamed of collecting her in his arms and comforting her. He would ask her if she wanted him to take away her troubles, and she would softly nod against his neck.

She could give him purpose.

Yet he didn't have a way of asking her that.

Do I not ... ? He'd once known her language but had buried it so deeply. He couldn't remember it without recalling his torture—and his childhood. Centuries had passed since he'd spoken it.

With a swallow, he concentrated, staring at her lovely face while struggling to recall words from a language he associated with torment and misery. How to tell her that he didn't wish for her to cry? That he needed to see her safely to his home?

That he would endeavor not to hurt her again?

When she squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her hands, he realized this female wasn't on the verge of tears.

She was on the verge of attack.

And he suspected she'd just become even more powerful than the night before.

Once she opened her eyes again, they were glittering with wrath, brilliant starbursts flashing.

Glorious female. And not a little fearsome.

When she raised her glowing hands, he exhaled, tensing his muscles, bracing for his woman's unholy pique....

Chapter 11

Slaine's bite hadn't been horrible. And that made Carrow furious.

Luckily, she could now vent her fury because she'd sucked in his happiness as if through a straw. Power! A swift, scorching infusion of it. She was even stronger this time.

'You shouldn't have done that again.' Was she just like the bite whores in New Orleans who got off on having their blood drunk?

The bite whores Carrow loved to ridicule.

With a wave of one of her glowing hands, the rope around her ankle disintegrated, allowing her to stand. Another wave brought her missing ring flying to her as though magnetized. As she slipped it on, she gave him a cruel smile. 'Double, double toil and trouble,' she murmured. 'Where do you want it this time?'

His tone stern, he said something in Demonish that sounded like an order. Carrow didn't like orders, was accustomed to giving them.

So she fired on him, propelling him across the clearing. He staggered to his feet, looking disappointed with her.

'You think I should respond differently?' She fired again. 'Though I warned you to keep your fangs to yourself?'

When he growled at her, frustration stamping his rough features, she cried, 'Then treat me differently, goon! I'm as simple as that.'

On her third strike, he tensed his body, bowing up to take the hit directly in the chest, almost proudly. Then he narrowed his gaze on her neck and smirked, as if to say, It was worth it, honey.

Her eyes went wide. 'Oh, you are so dead,' she vowed. 'You don't even know how dead you are!' Using the last of her strongest magic, she launched another shot and heard something snap that time. Maybe his ribs? A collarbone?

Yet he was still standing! She'd tapped herself out—no more spells, no more cloaking or firing—and for what?

Gnashing his teeth, he held out his hand to her. As if with great difficulty, he sounded out, 'Home.'

Though shocked that he knew even one word of English, she said, 'Go home with you? Not likely.' But her curiosity got the better of her. 'Oh, so now you know English?'

He frowned.

'Heh. Or not.'

Still he tried to communicate with her. He waved a hand at the surrounding area, then ran his finger over his neck.

'You're telling me there's danger around here? Duh! How about danger with you? You bit me twice, broke my wrist, and bruised my sternum—all in twenty-four hours!' At the memory of each incident, her temper rekindled. 'Why would I ever voluntarily go anywhere with you?'

With obvious irritation, he made a dampening motion with two flattened hands—to tell her to shut up?

In a tone as dangerous as she was feeling, she bit out, 'Did you just shush me?'

He put his finger over his lips, then motioned around them again.

'You did! You freaking shushed me? Word to the wise, demon ...' She trailed off when something rustled the brush nearby. Pointing in that direction, she asked, 'What the hell is that?'

He glowered at her, as if he'd already explained this.

'Yet another thing that can kill me? Besides Cloverfield monsters and demon rapists—present company not excluded.' Yet as she spoke, she recalled how he'd saved her from the monster Xs and Asmodel's gang.

With difficulty, she acknowledged that she wouldn't have lasted the day without him—and likely wouldn't survive a second night with no magic for a cloaking spell.

She remembered him warning her to run before his first attack. He'd wanted to spare her.

Unless, of course, he merely liked the chase.

Maybe he lost control solely in the heat of battle? Perhaps it wasn't Carrow who'd triggered him last night and today, but the clash with those demons and then the monster X attacks.

More scrabbling sounded, this time accompanied by a new sucking sound—from above. Of all the creatures she'd heard, the calls and cries at night, she'd never heard anything from the sky.

'Alton, ara.' He held out his hand for her.

What would Ripley do? She'd face the known rather than the unknown and accept help from unlikely allies. An extra gun was an extra gun, no matter who was pointing it.

Still Carrow was hesitant, absently reaching up to feel the demon's bite. Then she asked herself, What's more dangerous than Malkom Slaine biting and claiming me?

Answer: Everything—else—out—here.

Case closed.

She had two goals. To stay alive and to free Ruby. Carrow needed him for both. But she knew a male like him would expect sex from the female under his guard.

She would have to manage him, appeasing him short of sex. She ignored what might have been a flutter of excitement at the idea.

'Home,' he repeated.

I'll try to establish some ground rules. 'No biting.' She pointed at her neck, then at his fangs while vigorously shaking her head. 'Biting ... nooo.'

He gave her a look of disbelief, clearly taking her meaning—and not liking it. A spate of stern Demonish followed. Was he justifying it? To argue his point? She knew he'd enjoyed drinking her, but was it this important for him not to give up?

She made a peace/viper fangs hand sign, tapping her neck while shaking her head. 'No biting, demon.'

He flung his hands out in a What gives? gesture.

With her palms on her head, she mimed that the bite had made her woozy and her head hurt.