Blade Song - By J.C. Daniels Page 0,58

guy. Blond, dirty. Looked like he hadn’t bathed in a month. Stank like it, too.

“Maybe she hid up there, thinking to throw them off.”

Dirty-Blond sniggered. “Won’t work. I bet she tried the swamps next. Hope not, though. Gators don’t like cats being around them. If they get a bite of her…”

Another one, short and stumpy with stringy hair, shook his head. “She’s still too strong. She won’t get caught by a gator.” A smile split his face. “We’ll be looking for her for a while. And if we catch her before the other team…”

Teams.

I studied each face. Committed them to memory.

I didn’t mess with humans. I stayed away from them because they could bring too much trouble down on us.

But these weren’t humans. Not if they were hunting kids.

That made them monsters.

“Come on. We need to get moving. If somebody else finds her, we have to pony up the dough. Not this time.”

They moved off into the woods. I settled deeper into the tree and drew my knees to my chest. Part of me wanted to climb down and go after them. If it hadn’t been for the dogs, I might have.

I could take five humans.

But the dogs evened the odds in their favor just a little bit.

Too bad I hadn’t brought my bow and arrow.

I wouldn’t make that mistake again. Of course, if I’d realized we’d be dealing with something like this, I damn well would have brought it.

Live and learn, Kit. Live and learn.

Night was falling by the time I saw the brush and branches swaying. It had been a couple of hours, easy.

If this wasn’t Damon, screw him—

Rising, I stared down as the trees parted and I found myself staring down into feline eyes that reflected the fading sunlight.

He was searching the tree for me. I faded back into sight with a sigh and groaned as a headache slammed into me. Swaying a little, I started to work my way down. “It’s about time,” I muttered.

Exhaustion made my hands clumsy but I determinedly kept on climbing. By the time I stood on firm ground, my muscles were trembling and my head was pounding in time with my heart.

“When you said wait, I didn’t think it would be for hours.” I shoved my blade into the sheath, staring at his alien face.

He was silent.

Not like him.

I couldn’t be a total bitch to him without him mouthing off right back.

“Ah…Damon?”

He took a step toward me.

I backed away.

Fur and muscle melted away and I found myself staring at a much more familiar face, into storm-cloud eyes.

“The girl is okay, right?”

He gave a short, single nod. “With the witches. Called Es—played up on her duty to the Assembly.”

Okay, so he’d spoken two sentences there. “Okay…so what’s with you?”

His hand shot out and I found myself plastered against him two seconds later. “You stayed.”

“Damn it,” I snapped, shoving against his chest. Hard and hot, my hands slid against the smoothness of his flesh without budging him an inch. “What did you think I was going to do? I barely even know where I am.”

“You’re a little fool,” he muttered.

Then he buried his face against my neck and I shuddered.

“I never know when you’re going to show sense or do something that will end up with you dead…or worse.”

I could feel the heated puff of his breath against my skin and damn it, that shouldn’t feel so good. It shouldn’t feel so good at all.

Asshole. Territory. He was asshole. Territory.

I couldn’t…

My breath hitched in my chest as he lifted his head, staring down at me with eyes that burned. Storm clouds shouldn’t burn so hot. But his eyes did.

Couldn’t breathe, couldn’t breathe—

He dipped his head.

Oh, shit—

But he didn’t kiss me.

Instead, I felt the hot brush of his lips moving along the skin at my throat. Starting just under my ear, moving along the flesh, slowly, thoroughly, until he had kissed, stroked, marked.

“The bruises are pretty much gone, Damon. Don’t you think it’s a little late to try and kiss it better?” I managed to squeeze out.

“Can’t do it anyway,” he rumbled. “Damage done can’t be undone. But I can sure as hell regret it.”

A few seconds later, he let me go.

I stumbled away and turned my back, shoving my hands through my hair. Shit. My brain was a whirled-up muddle and I didn’t even know how to process this.

Swallowing, I decided the best way to handle it was not to think about it. At all.

If I didn’t think about it, then I could