Into the Darkness (Darkness #1)(34)

“Well cut it out! I’m in the same room, for God sakes. What’s wrong with you?”

“For one, I have to do this myself. What has my life come to that I can’t get someone to play with my bells and whistle? Wait, speaking of whistle, didn’t you say you had one? ‘Cause I bet this blows the same as that. Care to try it out?”

I couldn’t stop a crooked smile from working up my face. “Just…cut it out, okay? I don’t need you jacking off in here.”

“It turns you on…”

“Everything turns me on lately. I have no idea why, but only animals succumb to it.”

“Animals obviously have more fun. Seriously, I can prove it—“

“Gross!”

“No! You took that wrong. I meant, like, I was wild ‘n shit. Not that I’d done it with an animal. Gross. Although—“

“Stop right there!”

“No! I was just—” Charles cut off, his expression melting from humor to slightly concerned.

That was when I felt the chill descend, settling firmly into my bones. “Please, no. Not again!”

Charles was up in a second, braced in front of me with an erection and a glowing orange blade. I didn’t even have time to wonder where the weapon came from before my door burst inward, catching me with a corner and hurling me off the bed.

I popped up from behind the mattress, my hand antsy to grab a weapon. Instead, I only had that Goddamn whistle! I snatched it anyway as a glowing blue blob filled the doorway.

“They didn’t send the heavy artillery, but why did they send anything at all?” Charles mused, his blade whirling so fast all I noticed were streaks of orange cutting through the dark room.

“Is it just the one?” I asked with an even voice.

Why the hell wasn’t I scared? I’d almost been captured by a couple of these things not that long ago.

“Charles, are you scared?”

Charles leapt forward, his sword slicing through a projectile object separating from the blob body in the rough shape of a claw. The severed tentacle poofed into blue vapor, wafting through the air before disappearing.

“Don’t ask…” He lunged again, his blade whirling, slicing a chunk out of the entity before it could form another claw. “...stupid questions.”

A third slice had the thing cut in half, the pieces not able to slide apart before two more slashes carved it out of existence.

Charles stepped back, wiping his forehead with his forearm.

I stared at his glistening body, droplets of sweat working down his corded muscle, identifying each grove with precision. My mind slipped to the Boss without my control.

I registered a phone ringing as Charles slowly turned to me, his manhood starting to rise again. His eyes burned into me as his head tilted to the side. “For a prude, you are sure turned on a lot.”

That snapped me out of it. I deflected immediately. “You’re freaking na**d while fighting monsters and swinging a sword. You have all that bare muscle!” I stabbed a finger at him in accusation. “How is that my fault?”

A smile wormed up his face. I registered my phone ringing again.

“Aren’t you going to answer it? Or are you ready to give me a go?” Charles’s expression was gleeful.

“Oh, shut up.” I snatched my phone out of my handbag, registering the name as Jared.

A jolt of fear pierced my gut. I gouged the phone as I raised it up to my ear. “Jared?”

“Sasha, help! Something is trying to get in!”

Charles stood right in front of me, bent at the waist, his ear angled to my head. After hearing Jared, his body straightened with a jerk. His eyes bored into mine, the shadows sprinkling across his face, one smoky gray eye standing out.

“I have to go.” I threw the phone back into my bag.

Charles shook his head slowly. “You have magic. He doesn’t. I can’t let you.”

“They’ll kill him!” Heat engulfed my body, my awareness now recognizing that as magic. My limbs tingled, my chest felt like it flexed, then opened, the magic coating my skin and branching out, at my beck and call.

“Sorry, Sasha, I can’t let you go.”

His hand grabbed my arm so fast I didn’t see it coming. Which didn’t change the result. As his fingers clasped my skin, the tiny sound of skin searing had him flinching away a second later.

“What the—“

I was running before he’d finished the sentence.

Bare feet slapping on pavement, my handbag flapping at my side, I flew to my car in desperation, knowing that Charles would be right behind me. Sure enough, just as my door closed, his giant fist smashed through the window.

“Same side!” I screamed, fragments of shatterproof glass raining in on me.

I slammed the car in reverse and stomped on the pedal. The car lurched backward, Charles falling, naked, onto the empty parking space. I flung the gear into drive and punched the pedal again, taking off as Charles started sprinting after me.

Another thrill of fear slammed into me, only this time, it energized me. My smile took up my whole face as Charles chased me, butt-ass naked, sprinting with bare feet on concrete, muscles rippling, a phone to his ear.

He grabbed a phone but no shoes? What was the story with his priorities?

He was quick, but he couldn’t match the speed of my Firebird. Especially when I’d been given a green light to go fast. Recklessly fast.