Page 110 of Evidence of a Folktale

“Oh my god.” She clapped a hand over her mouth to hold in her fear. Eamon had come for her. Somehow, he’d arrived in time, and hell had broken loose on earth. Blood and snow and tree splinters flew on the wind as the Dhampir and werewolf fought. Rollo’s claws dug into Eamon’s side, ripping his shirt clean off his body as they ravaged his flesh, and Bel thought she might vomit at the sight. Blood poured down Eamon’s ribs, and he skidded to a stop, testing the gouges’ severity with his fingers as he settled his weight between Bel and the werewolf.

“Isobel?” he shouted as the wolf stalked him, hunting for an opening.

“I’m okay!” she assured him, but no sooner did the words leave her mouth thanRollo attacked. Bel had witnessed Eamon fight Ewan in his bear form, but Ewan hadn’t wanted to harm them.He wassimplysearching for Olivia, so he’d retreated the first chance he got, but Rollo had no intention of backing down.He wanted death. Bel’s? Eamon’s? Beau’s? He didn’t seem to care, and Bel gripped her stomach as the men turned the snow crimson with their blood. Rollo’s bones broke. Eamon’s flesh split apart until gruesome slabs hung loose, and tears filled her eyes as her beloved’s roar of pain echoed endlessly through the mountains.

“Please,” she begged. She didn’t know who she was asking. All she knew was that she couldn’t bear the sight of Eamon’s skin peeling away from his skeleton.

“Yield,” Eamon growled as he rolled through the snow and landed in a predatory crouch.

“Never.” Rollo gnashed his fangs. “I won’t stop until Draven’s dead.”

“But you made a mistake. You went after Isobel,” Eamon snarled. “This is your last chance to yield, or I’ll kill you.”

“I told her to leave.” The wolf slashed a tree trunk with his claws. “I warned her, but she wouldn’t listen.”

“You put your hands on her. Yield or I will kill you.”

“Then kill me because I would rather die than let Draven live.” And with that, Rollo sprang forward, but the Dhampir expected his attack. With movements almost too fast for Bel to see, Eamon lunged sideways and caught the werewolf’s throat. With a strangled gag, Rollo clawed at Eamon’s fist, but the millionaire held tight, and with a surge of power, Eamon hauled the wolf to his mouth.

Bel increased her palm’s pressure over her mouth as Rollo’s unnatural screams polluted the air. He writhed and screamed and flailed, but Eamon didn’t relent. He trapped him against his mouth, his teeth biting deeper. And then he drank. Blood pumped from the werewolf’s veins passed Eamon’s tongue, and with every swallow, the wolf struggled less and less. His screams quieted. His resistance waned, and with a nauseating punch to her gut, Bel realized Eamon was killing him. A few moreseconds,andRollo would bleed to death, and by the bloodlust flooding her boyfriend’s eyes, he had no intention of stopping until he drained the werewolf dry.

“Eamon, stop!” She raced for him as Rollo’s wolf mutated, skin replacing fur. He was dying, his body reverting to its human form, and Bel fought the deep snow drifts as she ran faster.

“Please,” she begged. “Don’t kill him.” She didn’t want Rollo to die. Despite everything, she still cared for the deputy, and she didn’t want to witness his ending.

“Eamon, stop!” She grabbed his shoulder, and like a man possessed, he dropped the bleeding but very human Rollo and whirled on her. Bel flinched at the hunger in his gaze and the blood coating his mouth. This was how he’d looked a year ago when the curse drove him to try killing her. The death in his black eyes had given her nightmares, and the hazy craze in his expression now yanked her back to that horrifying night. She stepped backward, her heart thundering at the beast before her, and shegot a glimpse ofwho he’d been in the first ages. This is what humanity knew him for, and he was terrifying.

“Isobel.” Eamon grabbed her, and she shrieked at the speed, but before she could register what happened, she was suffocating against his chest.

He cursed, the words ugly and vulgar as they vibrated his ribs against her face, and he wrapped his arms around her head, instinctively burying his nose in her hair.

“Are you okay?” heasked,his concern so at war with his violence that Bel wasn’t sure he’dactuallyspoken.

“Isobel?” he repeated. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” His bloody chest and raging heartbeat muffled her answer

“Oh, thank god.” He kissed a path to her cheek as he forced her to meet his gaze. They hovered wordlessly inside the blizzard, and then his lips met hers, hunger flowing through him in an entirely new way. He was still a predator, but he no longer wanted to kill and consume.

Without warning, he cursed against her mouth, and his almost angry departure confused Bel until she felt his fingers brush against her face. “Sorry,” he apologized as he wiped Rollo’s blood from her lips. “I…” he fumbled over his words, and Bel had the distinct impression he was high. “I’m sorry… I’m just so relieved.” He pulled her back into his arms. “I got here in time.”

“Are you crying?” she asked, shocked by the tremble in his voice.

“I got here in time,” he repeated, and she heard itclearly. He was crying. “Thank you for pressing the button, but Detective, push it sooner. I thankfully realized cell service was down, so I checked your tracker’s location. When I saw you were in the woods, I left the house, but please, for the love of God—or me—push the panic button immediately.”

“I’m sorry. I made a bad judgment call.” She cupped his bloody jaw, not caring that she was now soaked in his blood. It wasn’t the first time, and she suspected it wouldn’t be the last. “When I got here, Rollo was unarmed. I didn’t know he was a wolf, so I didn’t expect to need your help. Thank you for coming for me, anyway.”

“I made it.” He cupped her face in return. “We can do this.We’ll make this work…justpress the button sooner.”

“I told you we’re better together.” She kissed him softly, despite the blood still staining his lips. She loved this man. No… she loved this Dhampir. Impaler or not, Eamon Stone was hers, and she would never give him up.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked when they finally broke apart, and for the first time, Bel registered how little he was wearing. He was barefoot and now shirtless in the snow, and even though she knew he didn’t feel cold like her, she wrapped her arms around his healing waist.

“Physically? Yes,” she answered “Emotionally? Not in the slightest. I like Rollo. I don’t want to arrest him for this. I don’t want Violet to learn she was falling for a serial killer.”

“It’s no different from you loving me,” Eamon said.

“But you didn’t come into my town to slaughter people.”

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