Let the selfish pricks have it their way. A deeper chill was sinking into my bones that had nothing to do with any shadowkind.
“Omen,” I said. “At least one of the guards who saw me use my magic got away last night. I didn’t worry about it because Thorn was too injured to go after him—with everything else destroyed, I didn’t think it would matter. But if he tells everyone else in the Company… At the very least, they’ll be ready for it next time.”
“One more in a whole heap of worries. We’ll deal with that along with the rest.”
Someone cleared their throat. Omen turned and scowled as he noticed the Tech Dude standing nervously at the base of the RV’s steps, not having left with the others. “What?”
The guy bobbed his head. “I thought you’d want to know… I think the being you were hoping to find on the Bane estate, the devourer? It looks as though they did capture him—or one of very similar description. Whichever it is, they shipped that shadowkind to Chicago yesterday afternoon. Maybe they were worried you’d be able to trace his presence if they kept him too close.”
My throat closed up. “Snap.” He was in one of those cells after all, pinned by the silver and iron and the searing lights—and whatever else they were already using to torment him.
“Thank you,” Omen said, and the computer guy darted off after his boss. The hellhound shifter pressed his hand to his forehead. “When I get my claws into the rest of these people…”
Thorn’s shoulders flexed. “It’ll be a pleasure to tear them limb from limb.”
“We have to get to them all first. Seven cities.” Omen’s mouth tightened. “Well, maybe if we shatter what they have in San Francisco, that’ll be enough…”
His gaze slid past us, over the few rescued shadowkind who were standing uncertainly at the fringes of where the crowd had been, and stopped on Bow, who was just walking up to us with Gisele still cradled in his arms.
The unicorn shifter, not the centaur, was the one who spoke, her voice reedy but still silver-bright. “I think we might be able to help you out a little bit more—as a thank you for bringing Cori back to us.” She shot a smile over Bow’s shoulder at their friend.
“You can’t try to fight when you’re still recovering,” I protested, but she waved me off.
“Not like that. We only… We only need the Everymobile while we’re here in the mortal realm. The dryad was right—I’ll heal faster shadow-side. If you can drop us off at the nearest safe rift, we’re happy to lend her to you as long as you need her.” She rested her hand against the vehicle’s side. “Maybe I’ll even bounce back fast enough to jump back into this war of yours.”
Omen considered her for a long moment. Then he dipped his head, just slightly but with obvious respect. “Thank you. You’ve already contributed more than most would have.” He swiveled back to face Thorn, Ruse, and me.
The words tumbled out before I’d thought them through, but I wouldn’t have changed them anyway. “We have to get Snap back. We can’t leave him in the hands of those assholes when we’ve got no idea how long it might take to shatter the whole Company.”
I braced myself to have to argue practicalities on my lover’s behalf—to point out how much he’d already contributed to Omen’s cause and how much more he might if he got the chance, as if that mattered more than the fact that he was now facing who knew what kind of torture because of the hellhound shifter’s crusade. But I didn’t need to.
A tense smile curved Omen’s lips. “I agree. It looks like we do have a road trip in our immediate future—and head of the Company be damned, our first stop will be Chicago. We’re not leaving our devourer behind.”
* * *
What has Snap faced during his captivity—and how will Sorsha and her monstrous crew take on an enemy so much bigger than they expected? Find out in Dusk Avenger, the third book in the Flirting with Monsters series. Get Dusk Avenger now!
Want access to early cover reveals, exclusive teasers, and more? Join Eva’s reader group, the Minions of Magic!
Next in the Flirting with Monsters series
Dusk Avenger (Flirting with Monsters #3)
A little pyromania can go a long way…
The Company of Light had already made my shit list before they kidnapped one of my monstrous lovers. Now? I’m ready to send the whole lot of them up in flames. Especially when it turns out they may have damaged my demon sweetheart beyond repair.
Trouble is, those flames aren’t playing nice. After its taste of freedom, my inner fire seems intent on having a full-on scorch party, and that includes burning me up while I’m burning down the baddies.
If I’m going to get a handle on the dangerous power within me, I need to understand where it—and I—came from. But finding the answers I’m searching for could be worse than staying in the dark.
My enemies are multiplying by the minute, and the worst of them… might be standing right beside me.
Get it now!
Dragon’s Guard excerpt
Did you know I have a reverse harem shifter series with another heroine discovering and gaining control over unexpected powers? Here’s a sneak peek inside the first book, Dragon’s Guard.
The last dragon shifter meets her four hot alpha mates—and life is about to get dangerous.
DRAGON’S GUARD
1
Ren
“Are you waiting for someone, honey?” the bartender asked.
It was a reasonable question, considering that I’d been perched on one of the leather-cushioned seats at the bar for ten minutes without ordering anything. If the place had been any busier, he’d probably have pushed me a lot sooner. But there was only one other patron down the counter from me, a grizzled dude who was glued to his beer and the burble of the football game, and a handful of people scattered around the wooden tables in the rest of the room.
I’d picked this bar for exactly that reason. If she came, it’d be somewhere low key, not too noisy or crowded. At least, that had felt like the right idea. It wasn’t as if she’d shown up anyway.
“Not exactly,” I said to the bartender, leaning my elbows on the counter. The smell of wood varnish and booze tickled my nose. “And if you’re going to call me anything, call me Ren.” Most of the times I’d heard “honey” in the last seven years, it’d been followed by a leer and a grope.
The bartender didn’t take offense, just grinned. “No problem, Ren. Can I get you anything, while you’re ‘not exactly’ waiting?”
I was feeling too restless to want a drink for pleasure, but maybe that was why I should have one. It’d take the edge off my nerves. “I’ll have a Bloody Mary.”
“That I can do.” His grin turned apologetic. “I do have to ask for ID. Take it as a compliment?”