and she fell onto her backside.
“Ana!” Gabriela cried, trying to run forward, but the damned snow made it feel like she was moving in slow motion.
There was another growl, this one much more powerful and from much closer—from Mason. He darted forward, barreling through the snow like a charging rhino, moving faster than anyone as large as him had any right to. His long legs ate up the ground between him and Ana.
The mountain lion leapt into the air with its big paws splayed and its claws extended.
Mason bounded over Ana. But what landed in the snow in front of the little girl looked nothing like the man Gabby knew—he wasn’t even human. He looked like a demon. A red-skinned, horned demon.
The mountain lion collided with him, its front half coming down on his shoulder and its paws slamming down on his back. The animal twisted its head, opening its fanged mouth wide, and lifted its hind legs as though to claw at the demon’s stomach.
But the demon—Mason—seemed unfazed. He lifted is hands quickly, bracing them against the big cat’s midsection, and heaved it off with a mighty shove. The mountain lion’s claws shredded his coat, but it could not keep hold. The beast yowled and flipped head-over-tail before crashing into the snow a good fifteen feet away from Mason.
The cat scrambled onto its feet, huffing and shaking its head. Growling, agitated, and wary, it prowled to the side as though it meant to get behind Mason.
Gabriela stumbled and dropped down into the snow beside her daughter, who was staring up at the huge man standing between her and the aggressive cat. Gabby pulled Ana against her, watching the scene in wide-eyed shock.
Mason held his arms out to either side and stepped forward with one foot. The roar he released was unlike anything Gabby had ever heard; there was a hint of his voice in it, but it was primal, gravelly, bestial, a sound that put the mountain lion’s calls to shame. That roar echoed across the winter sky, strong enough to make loose snow fall from the nearby trees.
The mountain lion’s ears folded back, and it retreated several steps. A moment later, it turned and ran, disappearing into the woods.
Mason stared after the beast for a time with his back to Ana and Gabby. His coat was torn open along his back, but as far as Gabriela could see, there was no blood.
Finally, he turned around to face Ana and Gabriela, his broad chest heaving.
Gabriela’s breath hitched, and she clutched her daughter closer.
The eyes looking down at them glowed a vibrant purple, a sharp contrast to the black sclera surrounding them. Mason’s features were sharp, sharper than they’d been when he looked human, and long, pointed ears stuck out of his dark hair. Even longer black horns protruded from his hair above his temples, curving toward the back of his skull. And his long, powerful fingers were tipped with black claws.
“Are you okay?” he asked, revealing his sharp fangs.
That was what she’d felt with her tongue when they’d kissed—not a canine, but a fang.
The air fled Gabriela’s lungs, coming out in a cloud, as she ran her eyes over him. “M-Mason?”
His expression tightened, and he glanced down at his hands, balling them into loose fists. “Ah, gur’osh brakhan.”
“Are you the devil?” Ana asked, sounding a bit out of breath but startlingly unconcerned.
“Am I—what?” Mason shook his head. “No. I’m… My real name is Broxen kor’Stygos.”
“What…are you?” Gabby asked quietly.
“The same male you’ve known, Gabriela.” His gaze roamed over her and Ana, and his frown deepened. He released a soft huff through his nostrils. “I’ll tell you everything later. When you’re both warm, safe, and indoors.”
Something flickered over his red skin; it was there only long enough for Gabby to glimpse some sort of hexagonal pattern, like a grid projected onto his flesh. Then it vanished, and he was…Mason again. No horns or fangs, no black-and-purple eyes, no claws, no red skin. All of it was gone as though it had never existed.
But now that’d she’d seen the real him, she couldn’t pretend those parts didn’t exist. She couldn’t pretend he was…human.
Mason—Broxen—sank into a crouch, holding out one hand to Gabriela and the other Ana.
Ana leapt out of Gabriela’s arms and threw herself at him. He caught her with one arm, holding her close as she clung to him. He looked back at Gabby.
Gabriela hesitated. Hurt flashed in his eyes, and though they were not his true eyes, the emotion