A Demon in Dallas (5 page)

“Connor,” I breathed, reaching out to touch his cheek.

“Raven, don’t. Please.” The agony in Connor’s eyes stole my breath and it wasn’t difficult to miss the bob in his throat as he swallowed. I pulled my hand away before it reached him.

“We’re nearly there,” he said roughly. “Prepare yourself for a fight. There never used to be guards at this entrance, only a few people know of it, but like I said, it’s been a while since I was down here last. Darius might have changed his routine.”

I nodded and put all thoughts of our strained relationship out of my mind. I needed to get my head back in the game. I’d be no use in a fight if I was distracted.

When we reached the end of the tunnel, we walked up a steep flight of stairs and stood in front of a small wooden door. A lock and chain secured it, but Connor wrenched the chain free as easily as if he were snapping a strand of cotton. The door creaked ominously on its hinges as he pulled it open, letting in the stuffy night air. We slipped out into the night and climbed a few more steps before pausing and listening for sounds of life.

“I think the coast is clear,” Connor said after a short time. “Let’s keep moving.”

The exit led us out to the far side of the woods behind Darius’ mansion and, just as Connor had remembered, there were no guards patrolling the area. It was pitch black at first, and I had to take a moment to let my night vision kick in. But when the trees became sparser, the eerie darkness in the forest growing less oppressive, I looked up at the sky and realised why. There was a full moon. That meant everyone in Darius’ pack would be unable to resist its pull. They’d shift and they’d hunt. The wolves never strayed this far from the property—Darius wouldn’t allow it. But that also meant…

I took a good look at Connor. His hands were curled into fists at his side and there was a stiff set to his shoulders. He was clenching his jaw so much he had to be grinding his teeth. His eyes had taken on their wolf form and he was scenting the air, his gaze lifting to the black sky, reacting to the moon’s pull. Guilt ate at me. How the hell had I failed to notice the signs?

“Connor?” I asked cautiously. “How are you feeling?”

A low, harsh-sounding growl was his only reply. I started to back away slowly, but I only made it a few steps before Connor spun around and pinned me in place with a fierce glare, the pupils of his eyes glowing amber in the light of the moon. His long, sharp incisors were visible through his fleshy pink lips.

“I need you to breathe deeply for me, Connor,” I instructed. “You can fight it.”

“I’m fine!” His curt reply came out as a growl—the deep baritone of his voice far more animal than human. “Let’s keep moving.”

As I watched, a thick sprinkling of dark hair began sprouting from his arms—even the hair on his head began to grow out at an alarming pace. It was too late. Partial shifts were commonplace and could easily be reversed, but Connor’s had already gone too far. When wolves reached a certain point in their shift, there could be no going back—whatever they might happen to believe. Connor clearly thought he was in control of his wolf side, but, in actual fact,
it
was controlling
him
. He couldn’t fight this. I knew enough about wolves to know I shouldn’t run. It would only provoke the predator within. Connor’s wolf would give chase and I had no doubt he’d catch me.

During the two years we’d spent together, I had never seen Connor’s wolf. He’d insisted the animal would never hurt me, but I’d had too many bad experiences with shifted wolves to want to risk it. Wolves were essentially wild animals, which made them unpredictable. If his wolf were to attack, I’d have to defend myself and I didn’t want to have to hurt Connor—or, worse, kill him. I could tell the exact moment he realised that there was nothing he could do to prevent the shift. His wolf’s amber eyes widened and he took a few steps back, putting more distance between us.

“You don’t need to be afraid of me.” The words were little more than a growly rumble and the pain in his voice tugged at my heartstrings.

“I’m not afraid of you, Connor. But if your wolf attacked, you know I’d have to defend myself.”

Connor shook his head resolutely. “It won’t come to that. I promise you.”

I squared my shoulders. “You can’t know that for certain. I don’t want to hurt you, but I would.”

Even though he was fighting to keep control of his body, his lips twitched and a husky laugh tore from his throat. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys, tossing them at me. I caught them deftly and raised my brow in question.

“Car’s parked on Jefferson Street, right by the entrance to the woods. Go on, take it. If I get out of here alive, I’ll find you.”

The idea of never seeing Connor again made a rush of panic race through my body, immobilising me just as a sharp pain lanced through my chest, stealing my breath. I tried to get my legs to work, but they wouldn’t budge. It would seem my body knew better than my fool mind what I had to do.

“I’m not leaving you,” I divulged resolutely. “You’d better be damn certain your wolf won’t see me as a threat because if he loses it while I’m driving, we’re both going to die.”

A flash of raw emotion flicked through Connor’s eyes. “My wolf would never hurt his m—” The rest of his sentence was lost as he cried out and dropped to his knees, curling in on himself as pain overloaded his senses.

As his bones began to realign, lengthening and breaking as more hair sprouted from his skin, his clothes ripped apart at their seams. Connor tore at his shirt then threw his head back and let out an almighty howl. The deafening sound pierced through the calm stillness of the night. It took only a few seconds before dozens of wolves answered the call. Each and every one of them sounded way too close for comfort. If Connor’s shift took too long, we were going to be surrounded and neither of us would to make it out of the forest alive.

I looked into the trees behind us, concentrating not only with my eyes, but also with the sharp sense of hearing that all hunters are born with. More howls sounded in the distance. There were a lot of wolves—too many to fight. We had to get moving—we had no other choice. If we could make it back to the car, we had a fighting chance at survival. I would have to deal with Darius another time. My priority was getting Connor away safely and saving Matt. I also needed to deal with that damned demon in Dallas before Malaki exacted his wrath. And that would be bad. You didn’t mess with angels. Not if you were partial to breathing.

My body stiffened when a low, menacing growl sounded behind me. With aching slowness, I turned to look at Connor, but when I caught sight of his large, magnificent wolf, I realised he wasn’t growling at me. He had his gaze fixed on the tree line, his lips peeled back to reveal an incredibly sharp set of teeth. He was both beautiful and terrifying, but strangely compelling. I couldn’t tear my eyes away, even though my every instinct told me I had to run.

Chapter Five

“Connor,” I said cautiously. “It’s me, it’s Raven.”

Instantly the wolf’s head turned in my direction and, as he stared at me, I lowered my gaze, afraid he might take the direct eye contact as some kind of challenge. Even with my eyes to the ground, I could tell the wolf had moved a few steps closer and my acute hearing picked up on him scenting the air between us as though he were trying to determine who I was. While I waited to see what he would do, the wolf whimpered, moving another few steps nearer, and I couldn’t resist lifting my eyes to look at him. He had his head tilted to the side in an incredibly human gesture and his tongue was lolling out of his mouth. With a deep sense of relief, I grinned and put one foot in front of the other, but before I reached Connor, another howl ripped through the night air. The sound was close, too close. The wolves had caught up to us.

Connor moved to take up a defensive position in front of me, but I shook my head and carefully reached out to touch the fur on his back. It was softer than I’d expected and my fingers glided through it as though I was touching fine silk.

“No, Connor. We need to get out of here, now.”

I didn’t know if Connor was lucid while he was in his wolf form or could understand anything I was saying so I began walking, hoping he’d follow. To my surprise, he trotted along amiably at my heels. Sounds of the wolves closing in behind us spurred me to pick up my speed, but my ridiculously high heels prevented me from moving as fast as I needed. With a silent curse, I kicked off the stilettos and when I was finally free from the constraints, I lifted the hem of my insanely tight dress and broke out into a run. Connor stayed at my side as we circled the edge of the woods and headed for the road beyond. If we could just get out to the street we’d be safe. The wolves would never venture out into the open where there was a chance humans might see them. Darius would never allow it. I’d just have to take my chances with Connor shifted to his wolf form, even though I knew the consequences of humans seeing him. The council would be furious, but we didn’t have a choice.

From the trees to our right, another howl sounded, but the road was in sight—just a few hundred yards more and we’d be home free. As the thought entered my mind, a large, grey wolf leapt out of the tree line, blocking our path. It was huge, nearly twice the size of Connor, and when it took a few steps closer, it snarled viciously, causing us to skid to a halt. I’d been in my fair share of fights with shifted wolves, but I’d had a weapon then. There was no way I could take on a fully shifted wolf with my bare hands—it would tear me to shreds. I looked around frantically, searching for a way we could escape, but there was nowhere to run. More wolves were closing in behind us, blocking every conceivable exit. And if we ran, the wolves would be sure to give chase.

Connor peeled back his lips and bared his fangs, putting himself between me and the ferocious-looking creature—protecting me from it. I appreciated the gesture, but my own protective instincts screamed at me to find a way we could escape so that Connor didn’t have to fight, even though he didn’t seem to have any of my reservations. He stalked forward fearlessly, matching the larger wolf snarl for snarl. As they neared each other, both wolves began to circle, their gazes locked, each waiting for the other to make the first move, to attack.

While I waited to see what would happen, dozens of wolves padded out into the clearing. Panic engulfed me and I braced myself for the attack, but it didn’t come. The wolves took up positions around Connor and the larger wolf and waited for the coming battle. Why weren’t they doing anything? Werewolves were unpredictable, more so when the moon was full, and I was to all intents and purposes an escaped prisoner, but they weren’t paying me even the slightest bit of attention. They were focused on Connor and…

It was then that I realised who the large, grey wolf had to be. Darius—their alpha. That could be the only reason the wolves weren’t attacking me. They were waiting for the fight to play out between Darius and Connor, because essentially any wolf that dared to stand up to the alpha, to fight him, was challenging his position as leader of the pack. And there could be only one winner in such challenges because it was a fight to the death. If Connor was unsuccessful in the challenge, it would be game over for him and I would be next on Darius’ hit list.

Turning my attention back to the ensuing fight, I watched along with the other pack members, hoping that Connor was strong enough to beat his alpha. He was nowhere near Darius’ fight class, but he was strong and incredibly fast in his human form. The fact that he was lithe and nimble might prove advantageous. More circling and posturing ensued then abruptly they stopped, their bodies becoming still and tense. Their snarls grew louder and fiercer with each second they faced off, poised and ever mindful of the other.

Darius was the first to attack. He lunged at Connor, his jaws snapping and going straight for the jugular, but Connor managed to sidestep the charge. As he moved out of the way, his front paws slipped on the grass and he lost his balance, falling heavily on his side. Darius was quick to punish the mistake. He turned, his jaws snapping, the sound overly loud in the silence of the clearing, and he sank his teeth into the flesh on Connor’s hind leg. The agonised yelp from Connor was a sound I never wanted to hear again. I had to fight with my body to stay upright when all I wanted to do was sink to my knees. The sound had the opposite effect on the wolves that were watching, however. It excited them and several howled out their delight to the moon.

Connor turned his body, his jaws working to get at any inch of Darius they could reach, but his teeth couldn’t find purchase. The counterattack was enough to make Darius let go of his leg, but when Connor sprang to his feet, the hind leg Darius had bitten into could barely support his weight. The bite must have gone deeper than I’d first thought, causing damage to the muscle tissue and possibly the tendon and bone. Wolves were fast healers, but severe damage required more time—time Connor didn’t have.

There was no more posturing. Now that the fight had begun, it moved at a rapid pace. When Darius next attacked, Connor was ready for him. He leapt to the side awkwardly, just as Darius reached him then sank his teeth into the back of the alpha’s neck. It was Darius who yelped that time and the wolves that were watching the fight all responded to their alpha’s cry. They began to circle nervously, whining and yipping, and scenting the blood in the air. Their amber eyes remained excited and they kept them constantly trained on the battle.

The fight didn’t let up for a single second. Connor met each attack by Darius with an equally challenging counterattack. Even though Connor was the smaller wolf, he appeared evenly matched in the fight, but it was clear that both wolves were tiring. Blood coated their fur, turning the sleek grey coats into a muddy red-brown. I could smell the copper tones of it in the air as easily as any of the wolves present. The sweet, sickly scent was overpowering and enough to trigger my gag reflex, but I couldn’t move away, too afraid take my eyes off Connor, as if watching the fight play out might change its outcome for the better.