“Smart question,” Jon said, his eyes more amethyst than reddish-purple now. “I was starting to doubt your intelligence. I’ll explain this to you as if you didn’t know any of it, which is often possible, except you’ve brought out an immortal’s mating mark, so I think you might be playing a game.” He didn’t sound too put out by the idea, though.
She shook her head. If the guys at the door would go back outside, she could kick Jon in the face and run for it. Oh, chances were slim that she’d make it, but it was her only chance. Wait a minute. “Where’s my purse?” Her gun was in it.
Jon tilted his head toward a few bags in the corner of the hangar. “It’s over there with my equipment, and your weapon is still inside your bag. I’ll need to confiscate it, though. Sorry.”
“Right.” Should she go for the gun or the door? Probably the gun. “You were saying?”
He stood and stretched his back. Man, he was tall. So were the guys at the door. “There are different species in the world besides humans, but some human females are enhanced with otherworld abilities like physic powers, empathic powers, telekinesis…there are many.”
Mariana moved to the edge of her seat. “You’re saying I’m psychic?” She wasn’t. Not at all.
“No. I’m saying you have an ability beyond human. The most common is empathic powers, and since you’re a psychologist, perhaps you felt that deep down in choosing your career.” He shrugged as if it didn’t matter much.
Yeah, she’d always felt empathic to a small degree but had just figured she was sensitive to others. “So this ability makes me…enhanced?”
“Yes, and enhanced human females can mate an immortal,” Jon said casually.
“Mate?” She jumped to her feet. “No. Absolutely not. Not a chance. I am not mating anybody.” She sidled away from him.
He pivoted and put his body between her and the corner. “Your agreement isn’t necessary but I’m sure would be appreciated. We have a war coming, another one, and we’re gathering as many enhanced females as we can before the well is depleted, so to speak. You have a new future. Life is easier if you just embrace it.”
Oh, she was going to embrace his face with a bullet. Was he actually believing this stuff?
“We found you because of the ‘tattoo’ the police in Dallas ran through a database. It’s actually a mating mark. We traced it back to you, and here you are.”
A mating mark? “Wait a minute. You’re saying that Raine’s tattoo led you to me? That he’s a Kurjan, too?” Was Raine involved with these weirdoes?
“Did he look like a Kurjan? No.” Jon’s red lips turned down. “Since he has a mating mark, which arose on his skin when he met you, he has demon blood in him somewhere. Oh, he may be mainly another species like witch or vampire, but anybody with demon blood gets the brand. It’s supposed to transfer to you during the mating process.”
She swallowed. This was insane. “Do you have a mating mark?”
“No. There’s no demon blood in me.” He grimaced as if the mere thought was distasteful. “When you mate a Kurjan, it’ll happen with a bite and sexual relations. No branding. So that should make you happy.”
“None of this makes me happy.” She turned as if to retake her seat and instead leaped around him and ran as fast as she could toward the corner and her purse.
He snatched her out of the air by her hair, whipping her up. Pain raced along her scalp, and she screamed.
The door burst open, and two male bodies barreled in.
“Mariana!” Raine bellowed.
Relief caught her a second before she plowed her fist as hard as she could into Jon’s eye. He yelped and dropped her. She landed on one knee, and pain ricocheted up her leg.
Raine ran toward Jon as the guy at the door started fighting with the two guards.
Jon punched Raine in the face, and Raine punched him back, moving so quickly he was only a blur.
Mariana swung around and pushed to her feet, running for her purse. The sounds of punches, kicks, and grunts filled the space behind her, but she yanked her weapon free and turned around to aim.
Raine took Jon down to the cement floor, whipped a knife out of his boot, and plunged the blade into Jon’s neck.
Mariana faltered. Her stomach lurched.
One of the guards tackled Raine from behind and sent them both sprawling across the vacant hangar. They punched and grappled on the cement, fighting for purchase.
The two at the door battled furiously.
Mariana tightened her grip on the gun and tried to point it at one of the Kurjans, but everyone was moving so quickly.
Jon gurgled and reached for the protruding knife handle to yank it out of his neck.
Mariana stepped back. How had he done that? He’d bleed to death now. Yet he sat up, fury dropping those fangs to his lips.
She retreated a yard.
He stood and turned toward her, looking nothing like a human. Slowly, the wound on his neck healed.
She gasped and then stopped breathing. How had he done that? He stepped toward her, and she lifted the gun automatically, firing several times. She hit him dead center in his chest, and he winced but kept moving toward her. She fired again.
Nothing. He didn’t even wince this time. The four bullets popped out of his chest and fell onto the cement floor, pinging loudly. “That’s impossible,” she whispered.
He reached for her, and Raine manacled him around the waist, the momentum propelling them into the solid block wall. The cement crackled from the impact and shards rained down.
Mariana turned to see the Kurjan soldier Raine had fought down on the ground with his head cut off. She gagged. Panic seized her, and she ran toward the door, skirting the battling men and yanking it open. Rain slashed her as she ran outside, desperately looking around the quiet airport.
There were several hangars and one long landing strip all surrounded by forest land. She rushed toward a Camaro parked near the SUV that she’d been kidnapped in and jumped inside, searching wildly for keys. They had to have left the keys. No.
Damn it. She hurried out and ran toward the SUV when the door banged open.
Raine stood there with blood on his face and rips through his dark shirt. His eyes were an unreal green—definitely not human.
It was true. Somehow, it was all true. She took a step back.
He moved toward her with his friend behind him. “We have to go. Now.” His voice was grittier than she’d ever heard it.
She shook her head wildly as the rain poured over her face.
He grasped her arm and pushed her into the back of the Camaro before taking the driver’s seat and shutting the door. It was only a two-door. She couldn’t get out. Just as she scooted to the other side, the passenger door opened, and the other guy got inside. He shut the door.
Raine accepted the keys from the guy and ignited the engine, quickly turning around and driving away from the hangar. “It’s still storming, but we have to hurry out of here before their reinforcements arrive.” The rain hadn’t washed all the blood off his face, and he looked deadly in the rear-view mirror. “Put on your seatbelt, Mariana.”
She did so immediately, her mind almost blanking. It was too much. All of it.
The other guy turned. “Hi. I’m Cade.” He had light blue eyes, a rugged jaw, and dark hair. The resemblance to Raine was unmistakable. “I’m Raine’s much younger brother.” His smile would’ve been charming had he not had a healing hole in his neck and lower jaw.