Page 16 of Wicked Bite
“Dice,” I whispered in a voice that didn’t sound like my own.
My body slumped to the side and my gaze fixed onto two glowing points in the darkness. They moved closer and closer, yet I felt no fear, only comfort. A low feral growl filled the air and it sent tingles down my spine. I wanted to move, to get away, but I couldn’t. I felt broken and bloody. Bruises were already forming, and I was sure my arm was broken. Yet, the assault had stopped.
Those glowing eyes came closer, and I drew in a sharp breath. This wasn’t right. It couldn’t be right. I’d cracked my head too hard. I was hallucinating. A lion, a freaking lion the size of a hippo emerged from the shadows. Its mane was so thick and full of deep browns, sandy blondes and striking black. Every muscle rolled and moved like the predator that it was. It rolled back its lip, exposing its long fangs. Whatever my attacker saw had it scrambling back against the brick wall at the very end of the alley, trapping it there.
I dragged myself a few feet away off to the side. The lion moved past me with not so much as a look. Its tail swished and flicked from side to side, and that continual low growl rumbled deep in its chest. When it got closer to the huddled ball that was my attacker, it froze, the growling going completely silent. I glanced from the lion to the shadows. Please eat it and not me . . . please, please, please. Just when I thought it would spring forward, a gust of wind came from just above me. Not the kind that came off the water. This was like I was being fanned.
My eyes snapped up to find a man with hulking black wings landing just beside the lion. “What are you waiting for? Kill it.”
He was beautiful, more beautiful than anything I’d ever seen. Even more so than Grayson. I found myself wanting to get closer, like with him here nothing could or would touch me. His hair was a silvery color that seemed to catch the moonlight. His body was all long, lean muscle and there were long swords strapped to his back between his wings. Loose leather pants hung from his slender hips. He was shirtless and even in these freezing temperatures, he didn’t look cold.
He held his hand out toward the lion. “Slow down. I can’t understand you when you go that fast. No, my lion does not suck! Maybe you just speak to it like shit.”
Then the lion’s body seemed to melt into a ball, contorting and twisting into something else. Gone was the lion and in its place was a huge man. He was taller than the other, with bulkier muscles and even larger wings. His hair fell in a sandy mess over his eyes. He motioned to the ball against the wall. “Taliam, look!”
I’m going to die. In a puddle here while hallucinating a shape-shifting lion.
I followed his gaze and for the first time I really looked at my attacker. This wasn’t some big man. This was a girl. A tiny girl, with wild blond ringlets falling around the sides of her angelic face. Small fangs bit into her bottom lip, and her eyes glowed an emerald green as she cowered away from them. She wore nothing but an oversized T-shirt and a thick black trench coat that was about five sizes too big. Mud covered her feet and up her legs.
The slim, silver-haired one, Taliam, eyed her closely for a second longer than I had. “Well, shit. Collias, what the hell are we going to do?”
The other one, Collias, ran his hand through his hair. “Shit.”
“Just . . . really . . . shit.” Taliam nodded.
A gust of wind filled the alley once more, and another angel landed beside the two of them. She was much smaller. She’d be almost delicate looking if it weren’t for the swords strapped to her back, the knives on her hips and thighs . . . and boots. She wore a dark brown leather bustier that had crisscross straps down her back and across her stomach that matched her brown leather plants. She drew one of the swords from her back and spun it at her side. “What the hell are you two waiting for? We’ve got heirs to watch over. Kill the demon and be done with it.”
Collias pointed to the small girl. “Shiiiitttt.”
The woman’s eyes widened, and she drew a phone from her pocket. With the flick of her thumb, the phone rang once, then a deep voice rumbled something. She cleared her throat. “Matteaus, we’ve got a problem.”
I wanted to let the darkness take me, so I didn’t have to feel the numbing pain or cold of the ground. A moment of peace where there was only me and nothingness. Either long moments or short ones passed by, I didn’t know. I reached up to my head and felt the warm blood sticking in my hair. When I pulled my hand away, I glanced at my crimson covered fingers.
“No, don’t think about it.” The women came to my side and wrapped her fingers around mine. “All will be well.”
A groan escaped my lips, and I didn’t know how I would survive this. Pain lashed through my body, and I wanted to let go. Not to fight anymore. I was so tired. The wind kicked up once more, and it cooled the blood coating my body, sending a deep chill into my bones.
“What the fuck is this?” a voice boomed, and heavy footsteps moved closer to me.
I didn’t flinch away, instead I felt . . . safe. Like this man would protect me even through his voice was gruff and harsh. There was something aethereal and warm about it, like if I just followed him I would leave this world and move on to the next.
“We found her like this,” the woman answered. “Because of that.”
She pointed to the figure huddled in the corner. The man groaned. “What the hell did the damn Royals do now? Aidenuli, aren’t you supposed to be watching them?”
“All of them?” a deeper voice sounded.
He leaned over Matteaus’s shoulder, and his face came into view. He was hulking, with long, wild, black hair that fell from his head past his shoulders. His skin was tan, like he’d spent days on the beach. A thick scar ran through his eyebrow, and a dark goatee surrounded full lush lips. Black wings with purple-tipped feathers spread from his back and were nearly as big as Matteaus’s.
He reminded me of Jason Momoa, but in a much hotter kind of way. “Matteaus, come on. Have you met them?”
Matteaus let go of a heavy sigh, and when I looked up at him, he stood over me with wild multi-colored hair that held blonds, browns, and even some red hues. Even in the dark of night, I wouldn’t forget the intense sapphire color of his blue eyes. He was deadly harsh and beautiful. He leaned in closer to me.
“I’ve seen worse.”
I chuckled and it was a horrible sound that hurt my ribs. “Everything hurts.”
“I know, little one.” Black wings spread out behind him, and they blocked out the light of the moon and Aidenuli’s face. I wanted to run my fingers over the thick oily feathers, but I just lay there, not moving.
