Page 26 of The Demons in the Deep: Extended Edition
Mai’s knowledge of human biology kicked in, gauging the position of his hands, the angle and force he would need to accomplish the threat. Yes, he had the right leverage to snap her spine.
Rake kept pacing forward, and the sailor kept backing away, pulling Mai along until they were nearly in the shipyard. Hairy-Chest bumped into something solid and swore. The next second he let Mai go, and he ran.
She nearly fell over, but she braced herself against the wall he’d bumped into, the back of a weather-beaten shed. Rake was already rushing past her, a flash of pale skin and lithe limbs. He caught the escaping sailor, sinking all ten claws into his spine.
The man choked, his limbs sagging, paralyzed.
And then Rake did something Mai would never have imagined him doing.
He snapped back his head, his jaws gaping wide, and he plunged down, sinking all his teeth into the side of the sailor’s neck.
It was over in a moment. Rake carried the bleeding body to the pier and tossed it in, along with the head. He knelt, reaching down to cup a little water in his palm, and he splashed the liquid across his bloody mouth, rinsing away the gore.
Mai stayed where she was, gasping, barely upright on quaking legs.
Rake.
Rake hadbittena man. Torn through the neck with his fangs. He’d killed two humans in the space of a few minutes.
If this was really him, it was a different version than the gentle, curious one she knew.
“Are you alright?” Rake stepped forward, reaching a taloned hand to her.
Mai shrank from him, her heart throbbing painfully. “You’re dead.” Her voice was a grating whisper.
“Not so dead after all.” Rake smiled, and every one of his sharp teeth glinted in the faint light. But his smile faded as Mai backed away another step.
“What have I done to make you fear me?” he said. “I swear I am real, not a ghost of the deep. I would never hurt you.”
You did. You hurt me when you died.“You killed those two men.”
“I believe they were going to force you to mate for their pleasure and your pain. They deserved death.”
Mai released a hoarse laugh. “Yes, maybe they did—but you—you can’t do that again, all right? Not here. You can’t go around killing people, Rake.”
“I don’t intend to.”
She was fighting the alcohol, fighting her exhaustion, struggling against the creeping suspicion that he was a hallucination. She ground the heel of her hand against her forehead. “You’re not real. You can’t be here. Kestra saw you get eaten.”
“The Horror saved me and healed me. My body was so ruined that it took a long time. But afterward the Entity released me, and I went to see Jewel. Then I followed your ship here. I have something I need to tell you, Mai.”
“Something you need to—” She broke off, laughing hysterically, and each laugh had a sob in the middle. “Mother’s bones, Rake, you were dead. And Jewel—poor Jewel—”
“As I said, I’ve been to see him. He knows I’m alive.” Rake was coming closer, his tall form towering over her. She could barely inhale; her pulse skittered frantic.
She scrambled for something to say and blurted out, “You’re naked.”
“You’ve seen me naked before. In fact you’ve inspected me quite closely in that state.” His lips curved up on one side.
“For science,” Mai breathed. “I like studying creatures—animals—monsters.”
Something flickered in Rake’s gaze—resentment mixed with shame. “Monsters,” he repeated, softer than ever. “You study monsters like me.” He placed a hand against the wall near her and leaned there, watching her.
Mai was having trouble looking only at his face, not at his lean torso, blue-tinted and ridged with muscle. She struggled not to let her eyes dip to the male parts hanging so large and visible between his thighs.
“We should get you some clothes,” she managed. “You can’t be seen walking about the docks like this.”
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