Page 57 of A Velvet Kiss After Dark

Holy hell, this was bad.

Kane felt a lick of fear course through him. His mate had gone insane.

"Who was it, sweetheart? You're hallucinating, all right? This isn't you. You're Tabitha Burke and you reside in St. Louis, Missouri. Do you remember that?" Kane asked gently.

She shook her head vehemently and bit down hard on her lip. She gazed around her manically as if looking for an escape.

"There's nowhere for you to go, sweetheart," he said.

"Stop calling me sweetheart!" she roared, and then wind suddenly swept up in a fierce gale and smacked into him so hard he fell down to his knees.

Well, that wasn't good. Her screaming rage seemed to stir up the natural elements. He squinted through the gritty sand that spewed at his eyes and watched as his fellow team members toppled over from the sheer force of the gale.

The fierce stream of hot air continued. Kane held a hand in front of his eyes. "Tabitha, stop it! You're not right in the mind."

She tossed back her head and laughed mockingly. "Me? You're the crazy one roping me up like some animal!" She screamed the word and then the air struck him so hard, he fell backward and began to slide across the sand like a piece of paper blowing in a breeze. Suddenly, the rope caught tight, and she began to skid along with it.

Yelping as she toppled over too, the gale suddenly stopped and the sand drifted back to the dune they stood on. Panting, Kane stood shakily and eyed his future prize.

"Tabitha Burke, you are under my protection in this realm, and nothing you say will make me separate from you. I suggest you get over it. From here on out, we move, and fast. If it's the relic you want, then it's the relic you'll get as that's what we've been searching for the whole time," he said in a commanding voice meant to make her pay attention.

Some of the madness seemed to clear from her gaze. "Fine," she said. "Help me to find it, and I won't wipe you from the face of this earth."

Threats from Little Miss. Five-Foot-Nothing would be laughable, but the manic look on her face revealed that she meant it, and Kane (for once) didn’t know what to make of it.

So he scrubbed away some sand from his temple to give himself a moment to think.

"No, I won't," he replied finally. "Now get up. It's time to leave."

She snarled at him as he grabbed hold of the rope and yanked, jolting her toward him. "I despise you!"

Kane shrugged. "Yah, don't care," he said flippantly. "The sooner we find the castle, the sooner we get the relic and out of his hell realm. Okay?"

Tabitha looked away sharply, like a petulant child refusing to meet his stare. He gritted his jaw and clambered atop the camel-creature and held out his hand to lift her up. He tugged her up in front of him, her posture stiff and unwelcoming.

This whole mission was turning out worse than he thought.

21

The climate changed as did the atmosphere in the air.

The sky darkened with incoming storm in Hell. Dark clouds of judgment and menace covered the sun as thunder boomed overhead. An ominous feel embalmed the land, and Tabitha knew they were near to their rightful designation.

The troop of strange beings, werewolves and humans that had captured her and were holding her against her will were like strangers to her, foreigners in her mind. The aggressor at her backside menaced her the most. He dared to pepper her with sweetness as if she'd melt like putty in his palm. Wretched, foul oaf. She'd succumb him to the wind again if she must. A power she now harbored? How?

Her distant vision was nearly completely vanquished from her memory. All that remained was images of golden speckles and icy-cold fingers emanating from a ghostly figure caressing her face. She knew only one thing—she must find the relic of souls and give the sacred object to this being—or he'd wreck the whole world and kill everything she knew along with it.

The arm around her waist gripped her more tightly as they trudged up a sandy incline.

"Can you please stop touching me," Tabitha hissed and smacked Kane's hands away from her waist.

"I am merely trying to keep you from falling off," he bit out, anger effused his words.

The sky darkened by the second as the aroma of ozone filled the air.

"You're a werewolf," she stated flatly, the idea repulsed her.

"That I am." Kane sent Graham a sidelong glance and the other werewolf merely shrugged. She couldn't stand their secretive exchanges. "And you've been in my home and I in yours, so this should hardly be a surprise, Tabitha. Do you recall drinking an alcoholic beverage at the inn? I witnessed your eyes rolling back in your head, and when he came to only moments later, you've been maniacal ever since."

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