Page 16 of Gray
She leaned closer. “You think I’m beautiful?”
No. I think you’re an evil witch who needs to be sun-roasted.“Yes. Very.”
“One drink won’t hurt,” she said. “Nothing will happen. I promise. I only want some company, David.”
“Just one drink.” I cut the ignition and withdrew my keys.
She grinned. “Perfect.”
Would she wait for us to get inside the house before attacking me? Or would she attack right when I stepped out of the truck?
I slid my silver dagger into my inner coat pocket as she turned to get out of the passenger seat. I hopped out and closed the door. As we approached the front porch, her pace slowed.
“You okay?” I asked, stopping on the bottom step.
Lily smiled at me. Said nothing.
“Lose your key?”
“I usually don’t do this.” She tilted her head to the side, gaze unwavering. Her voice was deeper now, not nearly as airy or flirtatious.
“Do what?”
“Act so quickly.” Her smile widened. “There’s very little in this life that’s sweeter than seducing a man who’s promised to another. Getting him to break his vows and commitment just to have one taste of me before I then have a taste of him. But you…” Her head twitched as she stepped forward. Her eyes turned pitch-black, no whites showing. “You’re a delicacy all your own, aren’t you,Hawk? Isn’t that what the woman called you? The one you pretended was your fiancée?”
Ah, fuck.Cover blown.
“Clever.”
“I’ve never eaten a hunter before.”
“Well, you aren’t starting today.” I pulled the dagger from my inner coat pocket.
Lily’s features distorted; her eyes sunk deeper into her head, mouth stretched wider, and her limbs lengthened, becoming bony. The lower half of her body slunk to the ground as she shot into the air from the torso up. Thin, batlike wings protruded from her shoulders, and her teeth elongated, turning to sharp points. Flaps of flesh hung down where her hips used to be. She looked like a gargoyle but way more revolting.
And the smell… like body odor mixed with decay.
A single second of hesitation could be the difference between life or death. I dove in for the kill, tackling the demon and thrusting my dagger into her heart. She screeched and batted me with her wings. The things were sharp and sliced down my cheek. I stabbed her again in the chest, then again.
“Foolish little boy,” she rasped, digging her claws into my neck. “That can’t kill me.”
She knocked me backward and took flight, hovering over me. The nauseating scent of her skin flaps turned my stomach.
I heard it then—the flutter of wings. But it didn’t come from the flying beast in front of me. The sound grew louder until someone dropped down in the grass. At first, all I saw were large black wings. But then he came into view.
He was short and had wild blond hair. He was also shirtless. Something inside of me thrashed around at the sight of him, but I had no idea why.
“Hey, ugly!” he said to Lily. “I’d get away from that human if I were you.”
Taking advantage of the distraction, I rolled to the side and jumped to my feet. Blood trickled down my face and neck, but they were only minor wounds. I’d had worse.
“You may want to stay back,” he then told me. “We got this handled.”
“We?”
Two other men dropped down in the grass. They had black wings like the first guy, but the feathers varied in shape. One of the men was huge, way bigger than me—which didn’t happen often in my life. It was too dark to see clearly, but red colored some of the feathers in his wings. The other man was big too, but his goofy smile as he looked at me took away some of his intimidation factor.
“’Sup?” he asked, unsheathing a sword. Something flickered along the blade, like rippling flames. “The name’s Raiden.”
