was and why he didn’t sense it. He’d survived all this time by learning and adapting, by growing and honing his skills, new and old.
“Roving band of idiots at two o’clock.” Sure enough, just off to their right and angling toward them were a group of young human males. They swaggered down the sidewalk, their laughter rolling before them. They were taking advantage of the power outage to wreak some havoc.
One of them held a bat and smashed several store windows as he passed. They hooted and hollered when the glass shattered. Morrigan was right in her assessments—idiots. But they were still dangerous and likely armed with a lot more than just a bat.
“Hey, big guy.” The man in the lead proved his assessment by whipping a gun out from under his T-shirt and pointing it at Maccus. “Give me your wallet.” He glanced at Morrigan and let his gaze travel over her body from head to toe, lingering the longest at her breasts. “And we’ll be taking your bitch, too.”
Maccus stepped in front of her and simply stared at the man. His friends had gathered around him now. Humans or demons, get a group of males together, throw in some alcohol or other substance, and they inevitably looked for trouble. This crowd reeked of whiskey and beer.
“You deaf?” the man demanded, taking another aggressive step forward. “Gimme your fucking money.” He waved the gun in the air, assuming it gave him control of the situation.
Maccus sighed. He preferred to choose his victims on his own terms, not to be forced into it. Every death at his hands dimmed what little remained of his soul.
Morrigan stepped out from behind him. “I may be a bitch, but I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Standing beside him, she was magnificent with her shoulders back, stance relaxed, and hands loose by her sides ready to draw her weapons. She could draw them faster than any human could shoot, but he still didn’t like her exposed like this. A bullet could kill her.
“Leave or die.” He gave them an ultimatum, tired of simply standing around. They should already be home with him losing himself in her sweet body. Or maybe he found himself there. Whatever was true, his priority was getting her alone and naked. And these men were in the way.
“Big words, big man,” the leader taunted. He waved the weapon in the air before leveling it at Morrigan.
He could kill them all without breaking a sweat. Still, he hesitated. It was likely Lucifer or Gabriel had a hand in this. Not directly—they were forbidden from direct involvement in the fate of man—but they could give the men’s instincts toward violence a little push and send them in his direction.
Was he so close to the edge? Maybe so.
A man eased from the shadows. Morrigan startled and had her gun drawn in the next heartbeat. Maccus grabbed her hand and pushed the barrel down. “No.”
There were questions in her eyes, but she gave him a curt nod and tucked the weapon away. The humans appeared confused. Their leader tracked his gun over all three of them, not quite sure who to settle on.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Asher?” He didn’t like surprises, especially not ones like this. “How did you find me?”
It was bad enough he’d sensed Asher’s presence in the alleyway earlier. The Brotherhood generally stayed out of one another’s way, but Maccus had crossed paths with Asher more than a few times, and they stayed connected by email.
In fact, the Forgotten Brotherhood had been born out of their first meeting. Since they hadn’t tried to kill each other—except for that first time—they were practically friends.
“I admit I was curious when you sent out feelers for information. I had to find out what was going on. Call it curiosity. Since I was in the area and know where you live, I thought I’d keep an eye on you.”
“You shouldn’t have come.” Maccus didn’t need anyone else involved in this battle. And how had the vampire found his home? He kept that information well-guarded.
There was also the concern that one of his enemies