Page 3 of Awaken the Dragon
She had been warned of the demonic presence in the world, but had not seen any up close back home. The Western World was very different from her secluded village. She was getting an early glimpse of just how much.
“Listen to me closely,” the bodyguard said. “I’m going to get off this bike, and when I do, I want you to run into that building to my right.”
She saw the building less than ten feet away, but she had no plans to run.
“Do you understand?” His tone was condescending and instantly annoyed her. But now was neither the time nor place for her to address that.
She did not get a chance to offer a pleasant retort either, because the demonic in the center of the line lifted his hands to show blue rays of light shooting from each finger.
When the other demonics lifted their hands to send streaks of blue light filtering through the air, the bodyguard cursed. Power pulsed through Shola’s veins as training scenarios played in her mind. This was not her job, not what she had been sent here for, but something needed to be done, or she would never make it to fulfill her destiny.
With moves that were faster than the light cutting through the air, the bodyguard kicked one demonic until it dropped to the ground. He never looked behind, but reached an arm back to punch the next demonic coming for him. Then he pulled a dagger from the back of his pants and stabbed the first demonic in the center of its chest. It disappeared in a puff of blue smoke. The next one bold enough to approach him from behind caught the dagger in the throat, his body also going poof.
Although he fought like a highly trained warrior dressed in all black, his body whisking through the night in powerful motions, she didn’t believe he could stop the demonics. Not by simply using hand-to-hand combat. She had to do something. Her mind centered on the earth and all that surrounded it before she slowly lifted her arms to call for the wind. It tickled along the line of her fingers, easing up toward the tip where it stung with urgency to be released. Wiggling her fingers sent the air around them into a frenzy, paper from gutters rose to twirl on the breeze, windows on all the buildings rattled and a soft whistle shot through the night.
The blustery air threw the remaining demonics off balance while the bodyguard continued to pounce and strike them down as they tried to attack on wobbly legs. With each swing of his dagger, blue smoke swirled into the whistling wind. And when they were all gone, she dropped her arms to her side just as the bodyguard turned to face her.
“I told you to get inside the building! Did you not understand that?”
Again with that irritating tone. Either he thought she was an idiot or that she could not decipher English—which was silly because she’d spoken to him before she climbed onto his bike. It didn’t matter and she wasn’t going to reply to his rudeness.
He didn’t seem to care because he stalked past her to his bike. Kicking the stand that held the bike up, he straddled the seat and started the engine.
“Get on and hold on tight. We’re getting out of here before more of them show up,” he commanded.
She acquiesced because he was right, they needed to leave this place. Shola climbed onto the back of the bike again, pushing her dress between her thighs once more. Only this time when she did that, on impulse, she moved her hands back farther until the bunched-up material pressed into her core. She held it there for what seemed like endless moments praying the throbbing that increased in that area each time the bodyguard looked at her would stop.
It didn’t.
He pulled off. The bike moved much faster than it had before, like it was flying on the wind. The air burned against her cheeks now, and when he took the first turn this time, she almost slipped right off the seat. Her arms went around his waist, the front of her body slamming against the back of his.
“Glad you understood that time,” he said when he looked over his shoulder at her again.
Shola bit back another snappy comment. The only thing she understood was that this was probably a bad idea. She wasn’t totally certain because sexual activity had not been high on the training schedule for her, but the instant tightening of her nipples as she pressed against his strong back was definitely a sign.
A very bad sign.
Chapter Two
Burgess, Pennsylvania, was once a small mining town situated adjacent to a larger area once known as the Smoky City. Now, two hundred years later, Burgess was the equivalent of hell with a rainbow on top, the place where preternatural evil had chosen to nestle itself among humans, and therefore, it was where Theo belonged.
At its max, his bike wasn’t going fast enough. The dual wheels in the front took the corners much smoother than was probably expected but he wasn’t worried about expectations, not at this moment. He was much more concerned with what had just happened. Why had tracer demonics attacked him?
Nobody in Burgess knew who or what Theo was. During his time in this place he’d owned a mining business, founded a private school and now ran a specialized security company. He walked, talked and assumed the role of any other human in this realm...if any other human could live for three hundred years.
Gloved fingers gripped the handles of the bike as his teeth clamped down tightly. There’d been no need for an attack. They’d been riding in a fully occupied district during a common time at night. There was no sign of any preternatural behavior, no soul identities appearing on his radar. And yet, the tracers had appeared in numbers and attacked. Pissed off didn’t accurately convey how he felt about that.
Seconds after that thought, Theo’s vision blurred. It was quick and sudden, and before he could readjust, the beast’s pupils switched places with the human’s. The streets of Burgess became a colorful maze that Theo navigated on instinct alone. The GPS nor his memory were guiding him at this stage. The beast was in charge now; the human didn’t have a choice. Demonics had a tendency to change the rules whenever they came on the scene.
Theo didn’t like his plans being changed.
As a matter of fact, he’d never stood for any alteration to his agenda. Tonight wasn’t going to be any different.
He turned down a dark street, passing abandoned buildings and all that inhabited them. Unlike the other structures in Burgess, the dwellings on this block had no exterior lighting and the street lights which normally lined the curb in narrow strips as it stretched from one corner to the next, had been disabled. Pitch black engulfed the bike and its riders, but the beast could see just fine.
Unfortunately, his client wasn’t as at ease.
Her arms tightened around his waist and she moved closer. His body reacted instantly. With her breasts pressed against his back and her crotch nestled up to his ass, the beast bristled with conflict. On the one hand, it was determined to get to its destination and find the answers at the forefront of its mind. On the other, it had been a very long time since it last gave in to primal urges. The human had much better control over that aspect of their being and apparently much more willpower than the beast.
