Crimson Highlander (Onyx Assassins 2)

Xavier’s hiss sent chills up my spine. “You have betrayed your own kind. Your king. Your people.”

The shadows moved from the corners of the room, slithering along the floor toward Marcus.

What the actual fuck?

“The one you shelter will be your downfall.” Marcus laughed, high and tinged with madness. “They’ll stop at nothing to have her, and with what they’re offering, I won’t be the last turn from the Covenant.”

Valor. Blues and greens streaked my vision, and my stomach pitched sideways. My fangs punched into my mouth, but my hand felt heavy, my limbs sluggish.

Marcus lunged forward, and I moved to evade, but everything felt slow like he was moving at normal speed, but I lagged at a slower pace. Before I could move my leg, he swiped his hand forward, slicing through my leathers with a taloned claw.

“Fuck!” The sharp bite of pain brought my vision back to normal, and I staggered back, already lifting my Glock and firing off a shot at his hand…which was no longer attached to his body because Hawke had gotten there first with his blade.

He looked over at me with narrow, appraising eyes that told me he’d have something to say about this when we were alone.

“Enough. I’m done with this.” Xavier flicked a hand, and the shadows lunged forward, wrapping around Marcus’s neck. His spine broke with a snap, and his head fell to the side. “Go ahead and feed,” Xavier said.

My mouth opened to tell him that my feeding was none of his damned business, when the shadows covered Marcus’s body.

They devoured him.

It took only a matter of seconds.

“Bloody hell,” I muttered.

“I told you,” Xavier said, already walking toward the door. “You were only here as a courtesy. I kill traitors myself.”

“Remind me not to piss him off,” Corbin mumbled.

Hawk nodded with a pleased smile.

Xavier disappeared into the arms of two mortal women once we entered the club, leaving us to find our own way out.

“I’ve never seen anything like that in my life,” I told Hawke as Corbin and Thorne trailed behind us.

“Me either,” he admitted.

I grimaced at the pain in my leg as I continued on toward the dock. The warm wetness seeping down from my calf combined with the foggy feeling in my brain told me I was losing blood. Fucking demon claws were always a bitch to heal.

“Wend out to the estate,” Hawke ordered Corbin and Thorne once we were out of sight of any humans.

They took one look at his face and obeyed, leaving me alone with Hawke at the end of the dock.

“You need to see Gabriel,” Hawke snapped.

“We’re wending to the rendezvous,” I countered. “There’s a chance we’ll find Daphne in that compound.” I swayed a millimeter but caught myself.

Hawke scoffed. “I don’t give a shit if we found Bella-fucking-Swan in that safe house. You’re not coming. That wound needs to be treated before it festers and takes off your leg.”

“I outrank you,” I ground out through my teeth.

“Not for long if you keep this shit up. You let a chained prisoner slash you, asshole. You’re too slow to react. Too hungry to focus. And at the rate you’re losing blood—I can smell it—you’ll be too dead to help out if we even do stumble onto Valor’s cousin. Go. Home.” He wiped off the demon’s blood on a nearby coiled rope and sheathed it at his chest.

“Damn it,” I cursed, knowing he was right and hating every fucking second of it.

“Can you wend? Or do you need me to call you an Uber?” he asked with a shit-eating grin.

“Fuck off.” I flipped him the bird and gathered what strength I had left to wend back to the estate.

It was time to face the facts—I’d become a liability.

12

Valor

“You’re getting faster,” Olivia said, ducking my second attempt to land a hit to her jaw.

“Not fast enough,” I said, breathless. Olivia was the picture of poise and grace, not even a flinch or flicker of exertion on her smooth features. Once again, I envied the strength and abilities of vampires. Just as quickly, I chided myself for the kernel of jealousy in my chest.

“Don’t do that.” She tipped her chin at me from across the mat. “You’ve never been one to downplay your assets, Valor,” she continued. “Don’t start now.”

I dropped my attack stance, beads of sweat rolling down the back of my neck. The gym had become my second home the last few days—I was in here training almost as much as Lyric was in the library researching. Though, Lachlan’s room had been a close second to my most visited place in the residence.

Warm shivers danced along my already flushed skin, the brand on the back of my neck practically sizzling with the thought of him. It wasn’t just the sex either—though that was something I knew I’d never get tired of—Lachlan and I finally had an understanding. We were…partners.