Page 19 of Black Hand
Even kill innocents.
I could taste my own blood in my mouth, but acid burned the back of my throat from those thoughts. My eyes squeezed shut by default when Dominic pounced at Noah’s back, his paw the size of my head slashing the air with wicked, deadly claws. I might not have to kill the shifter if he killed me first. It was all about perspective, and if I didn’t get my head out of my ass I was going to end up too weak from blood loss to protect Alice, let alone all my secrets.
Noah moved to the side to avoid the claws that tried to rake his back. My eyes locked on Dominic’s and I stared unblinking at death for a split second that lasted too long for my sanity. His front leg jerked to the side and missed my neck by a mere inch before they sunk into the floor by my head. One of the sharp claws caught the chain holding my pendant around my throat, but it didn’t break it. The momentum flung the panther forward, sending him sailing over me so close I felt the heat of his body warm my blanched face. He twisted in the air, the muscles under his shiny black fur bunching before he landed on his feet facing Noah again. Head lowered and ears pinned to the back of his head, the sound coming from deep in Dominic’s chest was the most terrifying thing I’d heard in my life.
Goosebumps popped out over my arms and a shiver spread over my back and up my spine, but I took the moment for what it was: an opportunity to get rid of Noah. Scissoring my legs, I flipped my body over as well and landed in a crouch next to the panther. Every broken bone screamed in protest as they tried to mend, but I clenched my teeth and endured it silently. My balance suffered a little and I tipped to the side for just a second, which didn’t go unnoticed by either male.
“I will skin your cat after I’m done with you.” Noah sneered, pulling out a carved dagger from the back of his pants. Dust and animal hair covered him from head to toe, probably from rolling on the floor with me. It messed up his pristine appearance, for sure. Dominic’s shoulders hunched much too close to the ground, so I knew he was about to attack.
“I wouldn’t call him a cat, either. He gets edgy.” Proud that I wasn’t hissing the words because of my pain, I slowly stood and faced him, warily eyeing the dagger in his hand. “He might cough out a hairball at you.”
Dominic paused because of my movement, and that gave me some time to think. There was something about the weapon that was sounding alarms in my head, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why. I’d never seen anything like it before, but my skin crawled just thinking about it getting anywhere near me. Which was stupid if I looked at it rationally. For anyone to kill an Atua, they had to rip out our throat and take out our hearts. Noah couldn’t kill me with the weapon alone. I knew that, I just doubted that fact because of the way its steel blinked at me as if trying to get my attention. Or warn me.
“You like it?” The corners of Noah’s lips slowly tilted up when he noticed my gaze darting to the blade a few times. Twirling it in his hand, he took up a fighting stance and grinned menacingly. “It used to belong to your father.” What little blood I had left in my veins turned to ice. “He didn’t get much of a chance to use it with his sentimentalities and dreams of living peacefully among those inferior to us. Luckily, I took it off his corpse before the rest arrived. It’s spelled, you see. It doesn’t miss its mark. Better suited for a warrior than a spineless maggot like him.”
My mouth opened but no sound came out. I was so taken aback by his comment that I only realized he’d moved when blinding pain ripped a scream from my throat and warmth spread down my left side. My fingers came out red when I pressed my hand there, and Dominic shocked me by placing himself between Noah and me. I knew he wanted the Atua dead; he made no secret of it. Fighting alongside me was no surprise at all, either. Not if it helped remove one of us from the face of the earth. But to protect me? That I wasn’t expecting, and it left me stunned while I stumbled back to lean on the wall.
“See? It always finds its mark.” Gloating, Noah lifted the dagger to his mouth and licked my blood off the blade, closing his eyes blissfully.
Dominic pounced.
The panther collided with the Atua, his jaw clamping around the wrist holding the blade. Dominic’s weight took both of them to the ground with a loud crash and a roar that came from Noah’s mouth. The panther was shaking his head venomously while doing his best to remove Noah’s hand from his arm, and I was unable to help him. Every time I tried to push off the wall it felt like my knees would give out. I knew what I had to do, but I still couldn’t get myself to do it. Keeping it hidden for as long as I remembered, it felt like all the secrecy was for nothing if I gave myself away now.
The sky opened outside dumping a torrent of rain out of nowhere. It splattered everywhere through the broken front doors, and the darkness lit up when lightning split the air and cast eerie shadows across the room. Thunder that rattled the windows and the foundation of the flimsy building followed. The panther and Noah were wrestling on the floor, the continuing lightning snapping across their features like the flash of a camera. Dominic was still chewing for all he was worth on the Atua’s wrist. I took a deep breath, but a movement from the corner of my eye made my head turn in the direction of the hallway.
Alice’s pale face poked from behind the wall, her wide eyes barely visible through the fogged-up glasses perched on her nose. Her mouth was open in horror and she clutched the wall in a white-knuckled grip like it was the only thing keeping her sane. I pushed off the wall and stumbled toward her, while her gaze flicked to me before doing a double take. I must’ve been a sight, all bruised and bloody with fangs sticking out from under my upper lip, because she screamed and bolted down the hallway again. What sounded like the human arguing with herself drifted from the back of the house a moment later, and holding onto the wall with one hand, I released a deep sigh. What a nightmare.
The males were now locked in twisted limbs, with Noah cuddling the panther by wrapping his legs around him. His free hand was jammed in Dominic’s jaw as he tried to pry it open, but shockingly the Atua was still stubbornly clutching the dagger in his mangled hand. Squeezing my fist, I did what I’d never done before if there would be any witnesses left alive.
I spoke.
“Noah, stop.” The tone of my voice changed into something sultry with a soft husk to it, the words rolling off my tongue with a subtle lilt that happened only when I used this gift, as Veronica liked to call it. “Release the dagger.”
The Atua shook his head as if to clear it, but his body froze and the cluttering of the weapon on the floor chimed through the room. Dominic didn’t waste time releasing the wrist from his jaw, and right after that he jumped on top of the dagger, kicking it behind him with a swat of his paw. Noah was still on his knees on the floor, a deep frown twisting his features while he fought the command. But I wasn’t watching the Atua. I knew he wouldn’t do anything I didn’t allow him to do. My eyes were on the panther, who was looking at me like he had never seen me in his life.
It was not a common thing for Atua to be able to compel humans. Those that could were so few and far between that it was almost a myth that they boasted about. We were predators, after all, and that was just one more weapon in our arsenal that nature had given us. It was impossible to have that gift unless you were in the close circle of the Syndicate, in which case all bets were off and you could do whatever you wanted. Those who could were picked off quickly to join the Council, but they never survived very long. Cruelty was a virtue in the Syndicate. This new expression on the panther’s face, more importantly his narrowed eyes, was because it was unheard of an Atua to compel one of our own. Or any supernatural for that matter.
Unless you were me, obviously.
Adrenaline made me shaky and my stomach was somersaulting like crazy while I held his gaze. The old fear of the cages clawed at my insides, and the room spun peculiarly. Bile burned the back of my throat. Dominic twitched slightly, just a slight shift of the muscles in his body, but by instinct my mouth opened in preparation to hold him back if he was planning to attack. His eyes turned to slits daring me to say something, and I had no doubt in my mind I’d have a good fight on my hands if I did. What stopped me was not the promise of violence. It was the fact that he stood his ground against someone like Noah. I wanted to bring down the Council. There was no way I could do it alone, and I needed him on my side. The fact that he was easy on the eyes was a bonus I chose to ignore.
Another boom of thunder rattled the windows and the buildings, and that broke my concentration on Dominic. It interrupted my focus on Noah as well, who used that to his advantage. As if forgetting all about killing me and the dagger, he was out through the broken doors faster than my eyes could track him. My hips turned so I could dart after him, but Dominic shifted back to his human form and blocked my way. His size and aura alone made him intimidating at the best of times. Standing naked with the rain splattering behind him and the lightning throwing silver shades over his glistening muscles was intimidation of all new proportions.
I swallowed thickly, unable to hold my eyes on his face. They roamed over his broad shoulders, wide chest, and washboard abs as I hungrily drunk him in. I felt his glare burning a hole in me, but my gaze glided lower to trace the V lines shooting down like an arrow from above his hip bones. Catching myself in time, I snapped my head up and locked my gaze on his now-amused face. It took effort to close my mouth, my tongue sneaking out to wet my suddenly dry lips.
“Noah …” I croaked through my perched throat.
“I’ll track him.” The hormones must’ve hit me hard because I could’ve sworn his deep voice sounded huskier than before, the rasp in it sending a thrill slithering through me. “You stay here and keep an eye on the human. You lost too much blood.”
My ego reared its head. I had less blood left in me when I clawed my way back from the cages. Noah had to die or I was doomed. Shoulders snapping back, I glared at him. “I’ll be fine. He needs to die before reaching the Council.”
“He will not reach your Council.” Turning around, he faced the night through the broken doors. I had to strangle the whimper trying to escape my throat when his back and glutes were presented to me like an offering. Graceful like a cat—pun intended—he strode forward, stopping on the threshold to look at me over his shoulder. “When I get back, we need to talk.”
“Hmm?” It took a second to unglue my eyes from his flexing ass to look at his smirking face. “I lost a lot of blood,” I blurted out in my defense when I realized I was caught ogling. Again “And be fast.” Frowning at him like it was his fault he was built like a statue meant for a museum where he could be freely worshiped, I folded my arms across my chest, wincing from the pain the ripped through me.
“We are in a rush?” One of his eyebrows cocked up, the look turning his face roguishly handsome as a lock of hair fell over his forehead. My fingers itched to reach out and smooth it away.
I fisted my hands.
