Vixen (Dark Protectors #11.5) - Rebecca Zanetti Page 0,18

water up his nose. “You mated a human male?”

She gulped. “Yeah. I think so. I mean, I’ve never done it before, but I bit him and I think I marked him.” She held up her hand to show her family marking on her palm. When a demon found their mate, a marking appeared with the first letter of their surname, kind of like a family crest. The marking transferred during the mating.

“You think?” Raine snapped, stepping into the room. He stopped cold. “Wow. That’s a bucket full of power coming from that bed.”

The wooden floor was cold on her feet but solid. Very solid. “I know,” she admitted.

Raine shook his head and continued forward, looking down at the burning-up male on the bed. With one finger, he slid the sheet down to reveal Evan’s hip and the perfect branding of the Rusko marking. “Yep. You sure branded him.”

Tabi’s eyes widened as she studied the marking. It was far more delicate than the military tattoo on Evan’s shoulder. “He bit me, too.” Her neck still hurt, and she sent healing cells to the injury. “Does that usually happen when an immortal mates an enhanced human?”

“I don’t think so,” Raine said, tugging the sheet back into place. “But we don’t know much about enhanced males, since there aren’t supposed to be many, if any, still alive.” He stepped away from the bed, leaned against the wall, and stared at the silent male still sweating profusely.

“What now?” Tabi asked, her legs weak again. What had she been thinking?

“Hell if I know,” Raine admitted. “You’re young to mate, and he’s a human who was dying of some sort of disease that I could sense.”

“Huntington’s Disease,” she confirmed. “But mating should cure him, right?” Although she wasn’t as strong as she’d be one day, once she’d lived a century or two. Surely that couldn’t hurt Evan. Or could it? Yeah, she should’ve done a lot more research, somehow, before she’d risked his life like this. She was so impulsive sometimes.

“Shit,” Raine said. “You might’ve just created a monster. We really don’t know much about enhanced males. There’s even a theory that they’re more related to dragon shifters than witches.”

Tabi coughed. “There’s no such thing as dragon shifters.”

Raine crossed his arms. “Yeah, there is. I guess it’s a big secret, but it’s getting out these days. Secrets never stay for long, you know.” He shook his head. “We need to find out more, just in case I have to put him down.”

No way. Tabi shook her head. “You will not harm him.”

“Might not have a choice,” Raine said. “Either way, we have to make a call.”

Tabi’s eyes widened. “No. Please.”

“Yeah. We’re calling the queen.” Raine reached for the phone in his pocket. “God help us.”

* * * *

Evan burned from the inside out. So this was what dying felt like. It hurt.

He tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids stayed shut. Lights swirled behind his closed eyelids, white and bright, muted and colorful. Pain took him, head to toe, centering in his chest like a ball of fire. Memories assailed him. His childhood, his parents, even his football coach. He relived his time in the military, made friends, lost brothers, then got sick.

Finally, the night with Tabitha.

At the thought of the stunning woman, he growled.

“What the fuck was that?” a male voice snapped.

Everything inside Evan bunched and coiled. He opened his eyes and jumped out of the bed, looking for the interloper.

Raine Maxwell leaned against his bedroom wall, a phone in his hand, his eyes a piercing green.

The smell of woman caught Evan’s attention, and he swung his gaze to Tabitha. His.

She stared at him, her eyes a wide black catching all the light in the room. “Evan?” she asked.

The rumble of her voice spurred the beast suddenly inside him, and he reached for her arm, jerking her behind him. She fell against the bed and sputtered, standing up. “What the heck?” she whispered.

Evan turned to face Raine, his chin going down. He clenched his fingers into fists and prepared to charge.

“You’re naked,” Raine said reasonably, slipping his phone into his front pocket. “I’m ready to go if you are, and it’d be a good fight, but you are buck-assed nude. If you want to grapple, that’s fine, but I’d really appreciate it if you’d at least put on some jeans. Dude.”

Evan looked down at his nude body. His very hot, sweaty, tingling body. The room began to spin around him, and he staggered. He