Page 62 of Moon Kissed

A hard force tackled me from behind. Nyx and I rolled across the floor—every intimate bit of our bodies banging together, and startling Mason. I threw Nyx off as the others pummeled each other forcing their way in.

“Get off of her!”

Mason arched a brow at me, his surprise fading. “Whoa, girl, calm down.” Shaking his head, he resumed rolling on the condom. “There’s plenty of me to go around.”

Nia bent over the stove, naked as the day she was born, and eerily still. Her arms flopped across the countertops. Her body was noodle-limp. She didn’t move. She didn’t twitch. She didn’t look like she was breathing too hard. You could almost believe she was fine, if not for the terror in her wide, bulging eyes.

Badr, Orion, and Edric sliced off whatever they’d been about to shout at me. Nyx’s grip on my shoulders fell away. An edge I’d never heard before, not even when he was speaking to me, laced Badr’s voice.

“What the fuck are you doing, Mason?”

Mason laughed. “Damn, you don’t know? Best not to let anyone else know, bastard. Your old man doesn’t have time for weak-ass virgins. Now if you don’t mind, we’re busy.”

“Nia, can you move!” I shouted over Mason’s bullshit. “Can you speak?”

Tears leaked down her cheeks—her only reply.

“Kill him.”

I don’t know who said it, maybe it was me, but it sounded the call better than a trumpet. We surged forward, maws elongating and fur sprouting—launching at the vile, smirking piece of trash.

Mason slashed the air and a wall of flames erupted between us, blowing me and my fates back. The others tumbled ass over head. In a flash, I phased and bolted at him—running through the fire.

Mason spun, fur sprouting as he tried to shift. I slammed into him, throwing him off his feet, then fell on Nia.

I grabbed her up and pulled her away. She was dead weight in my arms, bringing us both down to the floor. Best I could, I covered her as I tugged her away—pulling her far from Mason.

The flames were dying down. I spotted an apron slung over a deep freezer and snatched it up, using it to cover a still-and-limp Nia.

“Guys!” I shouted to Nyx, Edric, Badr, and Orion. Orion was racing to turn on the lights while the others—a mix of changed and unchanged—righted themselves. “Do something!”

Edric realized what I was asking right away. “Nia, move! Speak!”

Nia came to with a scream that flattened my ears. Kicking free, she scrambled back until she hit the fridge. Clutching her scant cover, she screamed.

I approached her slowly. “Nia,” I whispered, reaching out. “Nia, I’m so sorry. I’m going to get you help.”

“Guys,” Nyx said.

“That bastard won’t get away with this.” She flinched when I touched her knee, dissolving into tears. “I promise, I—”

“Guys,” Nyx called louder. “Look.”

The strange note in his tone drew my eyes up and across the room.

Mason lay on the shining tile—a growing pool of blood staining it red. Riddled in his chest were the knives that tipped and fell on him when my hit sent him flying.

Mason gasped, blood gurgling from his mouth. His head flopped back and he stilled—dead.

Silence spread through the kitchen, heavy and choking for all but Nia’s hiccuping sobs. Slowly, achingly, the guys turned to me.

We stared at each other for a long, tense moment. They were likely wondering what was going through my head, but I didn’t need to ask what was going through theirs.

“You killed him,” Orion said, voice flat.

“Clothes,” I rasped.

Badr’s brows crumpled.

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