trees, and I rub away the chill on my arms. Even in my leather jacket, I’m cold.
“Here.” Arcayos puts his arm around me, pulling me into his warmth. He wraps his huge cloak around my shoulders. The material is surprisingly soft, like velvet. He bends, and his warm breath fans my cheek, chasing off the chill. “Better?”
“A little.” My teeth clatter. “Sorry. Me and my fragile humanity.”
He makes a reassuring noise in his throat and draws back his hood, exposing his face. The heat of his cheek presses into mine.
He’s not wearing his demon face, because his skin is smooth. There’s not even stubble on it. I smile, for some reason having trouble picturing him shaving. The action feels too human, as if he should just be able to magic hair off his face.
I rest my head on his shoulder, burying my face in his neck. He’s so warm that it’s making me sleepy, chasing away my nerves.
Arcayos’ arm tightens around me, and he turns his head, kissing the top of my hair.
“You wouldn’t be so bad if you weren’t so backward in your thinking, Champion,” I murmur, looking up at him.
“Backward, hmm?” He smiles.
“I mean the sexism. And by the way, I’m not quitting my job.”
He rubs my arms without answering.
“Are all Tae’agul as old-fashioned as you?”
“No. Most are much more so. Most of them think I have become corrupted by human thinking. Much too… modern. Especially Hazuldar.”
“They’re worse than you?” I snort. “That’s hard to believe. I—”
A branch snaps and I startle, sitting up.
Arcayos grabs my arm and springs to his feet, easily pulling me up with him. Pushing me behind him, he jerks his hood up, obscuring his face. His other hand flexes. There is a flash of light, and the Sword of Shadows appears in his grip.
A large shadow stalks toward us through the trees, low to the ground. Yellow eyes shine in the black.
“A wolf?” I whisper.
“Yes.”
Out of the corner of my eye, what I can see of Arcayos’ smooth profile shifts to that strangely cracked, blue-gray skin. His demon face.
I reach for the gun holstered at my hip. Without even looking down at me, Arcayos stays my hand. I reluctantly release the gun’s grip.
The wolf stops while still at a distance from us. I can barely make out his shiny gray coat.
There is a pained growl, and a few loud snaps break the silence. I gape. A large man bends and retrieves something from a log near him, then prowls through the trees, stopping ten feet from us. Ropes of muscle cover his arms, and a broad chest bears no shirt. Jeans cling to his powerful legs. Blond, curly hair covers his head, and a short beard frames his face. His big feet are bare. There is a large axe in his hand, the wide blade glinting sharply in the scant moonlight.
The werewolf’s yellow eyes fade to dark gray. They alight on me. His face is a hard, cold scowl. “Put away your sword, Champion.”
There isn’t as much hatred in Arcayos’ title as I hear when demons say it, but he says the word with obvious dislike.
“I am not the only one who came to this meeting armed, Damon,” Arcayos says tightly.
“No harm in being prepared. Can’t be too careful with demons.”
Wow. Arcayos wasn’t joking. He really doesn’t trust him. One false move on either of their parts and there’s going to be a battle here.
“If you know something about the girl who was kidnapped, Damon, I need to know what it is.”
“First…” Damon nods to me. “Step forward.”
I tense under his cold stare.
“Tell me what you know, Damon,” Arcayos says.
“Still presumptuous, aren’t you? Ordering me about in my own woods. I want to look into the face of a human who trusts your kind. When I see she is not being Compelled, we will talk.”
Arcayos relaxes his grip on my arm.
I swallow, looking up at the warrior at my side. Arcayos gives me a nod. “It will be all right. He just wants to see that I’m not forcing you to be here.”
If this is what it looks like when he has a good rapport with a wolf, what would it look like if he didn’t? And what the hell did he do to the wolves to piss them off this much?
I step forward, letting Damon see me clearly. “Look, sir, I promise you, I’m here of my own free will. I—”
“He has not used one of those rings on you?”
“Rings?” I glance