"Ms. Michaels?" a deep, masculine voice called through the door.
Susan started toward it only to have Ravyn pull her to a stop. "No."
"No?" she asked, her voice frigid. "Boy, I'm not your bitch or your ho. You don't order me about. Ever." Susan twisted away from his grip.
Ravyn cursed at her stubbornness. Something wasn't right. He could feel it with every heightened sense he possessed.
Susan ignored him as she opened her door to find two uniformed police officers on her front porch. One of them was incredibly tall, probably around six six or so, with short blond hair and dark brown eyes. The other officer was a brunette who only stood about four inches taller than her.
"Can I help you?"
The brunette looked up at the blond as if he were the one in charge. "Are you Susan Michaels?" the blond officer asked.
She nodded.
"Were you at the Seattle Animal Shelter a short time ago?"
"Is there a problem?"
The blond gave her a smile so fake that someone should post it in a toothpaste ad. "No problem. You just left the facilities with a cat that wasn't meant to be adopted. We're here to collect him."
Every nerve in her body rang out with suspicion. Why would two cops-
Oh wait. Jimmy. He'd probably put them up to this just to get her goat. Susan stared blankly at them. "Don't you guys have something better to do, like actually investigate real crimes or something?"
"This is a matter of public safety, ma'am," he said seriously. She had to give him credit. He was much better at acting than Angie had been. "That cat is extremely feral and might be rabid."
Sure it was. "Well, I'm afraid you're too late. The cat has already turned into Mr. Supermodel and has now taken up residency in my home. I don't know what Jimmy paid you guys for this, but whatever it was, I'm sure it wasn't enough. Have a nice day, gentlemen." She closed the door.
But before she could step away, she heard a faint voice through the door. "It's her and he's here in human form. She won't hand him over, so what do you want us to do?"
Susan scowled as she heard a voice answer him, but she couldn't make out any of the words.
"Yes, sir." There was a brief pause until she heard footsteps on her porch. At first, she thought it was the police leaving. But the sound was getting closer, not farther away.
"He said to kill the Dark-Hunter and take the woman back to the shelter for questioning. If she gives us any problems, kill her, too."
Her heart shrank at those words. They had to be joking... right? This wasn't real. It couldn't be.
"I told you not to answer it, didn't I?" Ravyn snarled as he pulled her away from the door.
Two seconds later the front door flew open. The two uniformed officers angled guns at them. "Don't move."
She raised her hands up as fear gripped her hard. They were going way out of line on this one. "What's the meaning of this?"
They didn't answer as she saw two more men in street clothes coming in behind them. Large and tough, they each looked like they had a rap sheet to make Scar face proud.
Ravyn silently debated on how to handle this. The tall blond was half-Apollite without a doubt, but the other three were humans. By Dark-Hunter code, he wasn't allowed to harm humans. Then again he'd never lived by anyone's code but his own.
For now, he had to move quickly to keep Susan safe and himself alive. "Susan..."
She looked at him as he reacted instinctively.
He dove for her at the same time the cops opened fire on him. Ravyn cursed as the bullets sliced into his flesh. They wouldn't kill him, but it didn't mean they didn't hurt.
Susan was momentarily stunned by what was happening. This wasn't a practical joke. They were trying to kill him and take her. The horror of it all held her immobile as she stared at the blood pouring out of Ravyn's body while he shielded her from the gunfire.
"He's still moving," one of the thugs said to the blond officer.