Demons (Darkness #4)(3)

“Would it kill you to be nice?”

“Yes.”

Tim fell silent as I came in sight and turned to me expectantly. Being in his late twenties, Tim was the youngest alpha for his pack in nearly fifty years. The fact that he led a giant, North American faction made him an anomaly. He’d gotten the title the same way Stefan had gotten his leadership role, by fighting for it. He was tough and robust, only about six feet tall, but powerfully sculpted ,with thick cords of muscle running the length of his body. When he looked at a person, they wanted to take a step back from the power blasted at them. Under it all, though, he was a sweet-tempered guy.

Until he turned into a Kodiak bear, obviously.

“Hi Sasha, good to see you.” Tim opened his arms for a hug.

His people were huggers and handshakers, which I loved. I hadn’t gotten a lot of that growing up, so I took advantage of it. I gave him a big squeeze, having really gotten comfortable with him these last couple months. He always made time for me, pleased that I wanted to get to know his people and personally thank his fighters for keeping me alive when we battled Trek, the white mage, in the woods.

He also understood that sometimes I needed to get away from Stefan’s people, who thought humans were mostly worthless. Granted, when you could manipulate and control most of the species, and were simultaneously kept down by them—having to skulk off to the shadows—yeah, I got it. But still, hanging out with other humans, regardless of if they turned into soft creatures with wet noses, kept a girl sane.

He turned to his left and motioned for two others to get up. “This is Jack, the tiger you rode like a horse.”

I felt my face flush. “More like a gurney,” I mumbled.

Jack stepped forward with balanced grace, something I didn’t expect from a stocky, barrel-chested man swinging muscular arms. His gold-hazel eyes connected with mine, giving me a weird kind of thrill—like being stalked on a prairie somewhere. “It was a pleasure fighting beside you.”

“Or under you, like a pony,” Jonas rumbled from beside the door, staring straight ahead in his “I am ignoring all things human or Mata” default pose.

I rolled my eyes. To Jack I said, “Don’t mind him, he’s just mad no one likes him.”

Jonas clenched his jaw.

“And Ann, whom you know, I believe,” Tim went on with a smirk.

Ann stepped forward with a beaming smile, her customary shock of blue hair, and a hug. “Hi! Long time no see.”

“It’s been a week,” I laughed.

“Yeah. A week without a girl my own speed to talk to. I just have these grim party poopers.”

Tim cleared his throat, eliciting an evil smile from Ann.

“Well, cool,” I said, bobbing my head, happy to be alive. I had friends, a clan, a handsome boyfriend and a guy that wanted to adopt me—my life was turning out a-okay.

To Ann I said, “At least I have someone that gets my sense of humor.”

“Everyone else will come around, trust me,” she replied.

“Doubtful.” Jonas stepped forward, suddenly action. “Let’s get going. I got things to do.”

“I am your things to do,” I shot back as Jonas grabbed me by the arm and hauled me toward the door.

“I know. And you’re getting behind.”

“Our working relationship is not exactly professional,” I muttered as Jonas walked me out of the house and left me at the driver’s side door of a giant black Hummer.

“What, not going to open the door for me?” I asked sarcastically as I pulled open the door and scrambled up inside. The responding glare shut me up.

We rolled up to a decrepit building in the industrial part of town. The structure stood in the middle of the run-down block, crumbling and abandoned. Jagged windows dotted the face, littering broken glass on the dirty sidewalk lining its front. Boards covered the doors and graffiti marred the pockmarked brick.

We got out of the car and surveyed the building for a moment, waiting for Tim and the others to pull up. “Quaint,” I said in a hush, scooting closer to Jonas.

Jonas stalked toward the boarded front door, his feet crunching glass and debris into the hard pavement. The sounds echoed along the quiet street, pinging off the walls and disintegrating into the silence. I followed, knowing that with him around, the only people in their right mind who would pick a fight with us were his kind of people. I could handle magic workers; it was the gun carriers I was concerned about—my kind.

“You okay?” Tim asked, stepping beside me and rubbing my back to calm my nerves.

“No sweat. Kinda. So…why are we here, again? Territory breach?”

Jack and Ann split up, each walking in a diagonal line toward the opposite corners of the building.

“Stefan had reports of a breach, but we have two pack members missing. Last we know, they were in this part of town. We’re wondering if the two are related,” Tim informed me, his acute focus scanning the building in front of us.

A loud screech echoed down the street as Jonas ripped off the board across the front entryway. His arms and back bunched with thick, lethal muscle. The wood groaned as it bent, hanging on with steel claws. It was no match for Jonas’ strength, though. A moment later, the board flew to the side, jarring my teeth as it banged off the concrete and slid to a stop.

I took two loud breaths as silence once again descended on our surroundings. If anyone was around, we’d just made our presence known.