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Jewel&039;s heart thundered in her chest as she raced behind Gray through a maze of darkened rooms She remained alert, ready to lash out if someone tried to hurt him More than once, she&039;d attempted to take the lead, but he kept her firmly shielded by the width of his body
Her satchel of stolen goods was tied to her waist, and the heavy burden banged against her thigh with her everythe walls, offering momentary visions of crimson remains
Gray&039;s steps were eerily quiet a deht not have known he was there if she hadn&039;t been able to smell thefro her
He stopped abruptly, pivoted, and leveled her with a hard stare He towered over her, the size and width of hi her whole She&039;d known he was tall and big, but not like this Seeing hiht the sheer reen-black painted lips, he
One of his arms wrapped around her and pulled her deeper into the shadows, deeper into his body This was her first true contact with hier lurked all around the to melt into him, to wrap herself around him and slide her Lips over his skin
"Stay here" His warm breath fanned her ear "I&039;ll be back" Truth His words held only truth He would be back
Her gift to hear beneath the actual words and know beyond any doubt the speaker&039;s true intention was usually a curse Not today When Gray slinked away in the next instant, she didn&039;t race after hi him would have proved impossible, anyway He was like a mist, barely visible one hts coed wall behind her Where had he gone? What was he doing?
Seconds dragged by, and a slow panic began to burn in her belly as a sickening thought occurred to her Gray intended to return, true Soh, intentions ulped Killed After the pre hurt, why had she let hi tide of terror, she tried to open her uide his steps, but she continually stuainst a mental barrier and saw only darkness Was it his barrier? Or her own? Having never encountered this type of resistance before, she didn&039;t know the answer Frustration joined ranks with terror, heating her panic to boiling
She drew in a long breath, hoping to cal her nostrils,Bands of fiery heat perht continued to illun of Gray Instead, she saw the headless de
A noxious breeze ruffled her hair when a hissing de frantically The creature didn&039;t spare her a glance, but she caught the feral, pained glaze in his eyes, the wildness of his expression
She quickly untied her satchel, dug inside, and yanked out a jeweled dagger she&039;d stolen fro her, the deer washing over his features Marina&039;s minions were never to hurt or touch her without permission, but Jewel doubted this one cared about such an edict now He craved blood and death Saliva dripped fros, as heits frantic tempo In her visions of Gray&039;s life, she&039;d seen hiht She&039;d seen hiility, never questioning his choices I can do this I can Nothing mattered except survival Deter her intent, the de and launched himself at her
Her mouth went dry and tiated, preparing to rip through her, she sank to the ground, shoved her knife up and into his stomach An unholy screech vibrated in her ears
"Bitch!" He spat the profanity, hissing wildly His body jerked and spass kicked out
She rolled away froh His foot slas and doubling her over Panting, she jolted to her feet The derip on the handle He thrashed and moaned and writhed
Run, her mind shouted Hide She didn&039;t Couldn&039;t
Very soon Gray would return here, and she couldn&039;t leave this deer A weapon She needed another weapon Jewel sprinted through the hallway, searching for soreeted her
Gray suddenly appeared at the opposite end of the hallway like an avenging angel, his features hard and cold His legs were braced apart, and his hands fisted at his sides
He spied the infuriated, injured de, narrow space until he saw her His eyes inged with soot,the silver irises appear all the more steely and as dark as a winter sky
"Stay where you are," he co his attention to the creature He still held his knife, the silver now drenched with crimson Steps slow and sure, he approached, his muscles clenched and ready for attack
As Jeatched hier Blood Death No No! "Stop," she screa toward hiained his bearings, had waited until Gray drew close enough, and used his wings to vault forward Before Gray could dodge his into Gray&039;s upper arm
Gray howled in surprise and pain "Motherfucker!" He slashed at the derip, buried deep
The moment she ithin reach, Jewel kicked up and struck the demon dead center in the face His head whipped to the side, and his teeth tore out of Gray, dripping with blood
With a growl, Gray leapt to the creature and sliced its throat When it stopped thrashing, when its screams died, the room too became still Silent
"Want to touch her now?" Gray barked, kicking it Then he stopped, shook his head and seee of his fury He jerked her blade from its belly, wiped the tip on his pants and handed it to her
"Thank you" She sheathed the weapon at her side with a shaky hand and fought the urge to throw herself into his arms To slather his face with kisses He was so fierce, so much a warrior
He wiped a streak of red froed to smear it further "Were you hurt?" His voice was hoarse, cracked and layered with tension
"No" Her gaze dipped to his neound, watching the slow trickle of blood pooling at his elbow "But you were I&039;ht ever know If not for the vao, he would be fine Because of that bite, his blood was already tainted When the demon and vampire saliva combined, they acted as a deadly poison
Gray had one hour, maybe two, before his body reacted and he collapsed
This is what her preain She had to get him out of this palace
"I&039;ve had worse," he said dryly
He wasn&039;t thinking of the vampire who had bitten him, but of the women he&039;d bedded, the woh his mind, blondes, redheads, brunettes, their bodies open for hies, too, the block froone Her sympathy and concern for him dwindled The debauched He had the dirtiest mind she&039;d ever read Motions stiff, she bent down and retrieved her satchel, then retied it to her waist
"Let&039;s go" Gray grabbed her hand and tugged "I found a clear pathway that leads outside"
Incredulous, she ground her feet into the nored the delicious tingle racing from her hand and up her ar "Now let&039;s go" "Escape routes are my specialty"
His brows arched, two sandy slashes on his forest-colored forehead, and he offered her a sexy grin A born rogue and charmer, he was He released his hold on her and spread his arms wide "Then lead the way, baby I&039;ll follow"
"I will need a hed "Take all the ti need to save our lives or anything"
"I will, thank you," she responded pri closed, she pictured the palace, sweeping every corner and hollow She saw exactly where the demons lurked, where they donned blade-resistant arered for human blood Smelled it Craved it
Were determined to have it
You, to the front entrance, Marina coest minions You, to the back I want that human snack captured immediately Do not let hi her eyes "We o that way" She pointed in the opposite direction
"You sure?" "Very"
He didn&039;t ask how she knew, but intertwined his fingers with hers The feel of his callused hand once again tingled up her ar her ever-present awareness of him as a male He pulled her behind hiht the demon without me," he threw over his shoulder
In her shock, sheher an apology He&039;d co, while she owed hi? Are you hurt?" He didn&039;t wait for her answer; he whipped around, bent until his shoulder made contact with her belly, then effortlessly lifted her
Jewel gasped "What are you doing? Put me down!" He shot back into motion "You&039;re too slow"
"This puts you at a disadvantage" She slapped at his hard, muscled bottom "Put me down this instant or I&039;ll stab you in the back!"
"I hadn&039;t realized you&039;d be so bloodthirsty" He chuckled "You wouldn&039;t let me hurt the centaur or the nymph, but you yourself attempted to kill a demon, and now you want to draw oing to bruisesound in the back of his throat, and his feet nearly tripped over themselves "Watch your mouth, Prudence You shouldn&039;t talk like that"
Watch her mouth? Watch her mouth! "Penis, penis, penis," sheover his shoulder
Stone chips were scattered across the floor, and Gray kicked past theed hole that used to be a wall He settled into the shadohenever a de his best to keep theain, he would jump back into motion Her satchel pressed into his stomach She directed him toward the center of the palace, toward the demon queen&039;s private pool
Three sentinels awaited them
Gray spied theetting sick of those words
He sprinted in front of her The guards&039; evil red eyes narrowed hungrily He didn&039;t slow Gray grabbed a small, round object fro thin and silver out of it with his teeth, then tossed it at the creatures