Storm and Fury (The Harbinger 1)

Fury exploded inside me. My grace burned through my veins, but I pushed it down. Even though they knew what I was, I didn’t need to broadcast it to any other nearby demons. Gripping the meaty wrists, I pulled my legs up and used the Hellion’s chest as a springboard. The action broke the creature’s hold, and I rolled into the fall, springing back to my feet.

Zayne rushed across the platform, jumping over the guardrail. He hit the stunned Hellion in the back, knocking it down. They both fell to the hard cement floor and rolled, coming dangerously close to the edge of the platform and the tracks below.

“Don’t kill it!” I shouted. “He knows about Misha!”

“No promises.” Zayne swung, catching the Hellion in the jaw.

For a moment, I was a bit entranced by the brutality etched into Zayne’s striking face as he reared back to deliver another punch. Maybe it was because this was the first time I’d been out here, fighting like this. Misha and I had trained for this day, but outside of the Ravers and the attack when he was taken, I’d never experienced this.

The Hellion popped out of existence, and Zayne hit the floor, catching himself before he face-planted on the cement.

Reappearing above him, the Hellion grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and lifted him. Arching his back, Zayne swung his legs backward, locking them around the Hellion’s waist as he used both arms to break the Hellion’s hold. He swung down and planted both hands on the dirty floor. Using momentum and the Hellion’s weight, he flipped the creature head over heels.

An icy cold breath danced along my bare neck. Swinging around, I found myself face-to-face with another Hellion.

This one had skin the color of red coals. It shimmered and turned into another inhumanly stunning man—who was also supernaked.

“Grab her!” yelled the first Hellion.

“Done,” the one in front of me replied, its voice also deep and guttural.

“Do you guys not have clothes in Hell?” Letting instinct take over, I ducked under the Hellion’s arm and wrapped my arm around its neck, squeezing as one of the subway trains blasted its horn in the distance.

The Hellion laughed. “You like what you see?”

“Sorry,” I grunted. “Not interested.”

“Oh, but I am.” The Hellion swooped down, tossing me over its shoulder.

I hit the edge of the platform back first. Pain exploded through me, momentarily stunning me. In an instant, the Hellion was standing above me. I rolled, but not fast enough. Its foot landed a direct hit to my back, and before I could catch myself, I toppled over the edge of the platform.

The fall was only about four feet, but the landing still hurt like Hell. It wasn’t the third rail, however, and the blaring horn from the quickly approaching train washed away the pain. Springing to my feet, I ignored the pain and gripped the edge.

“Where do you think you’re going?” The Hellion was behind me, pulling me away from the platform. “Thought we were going to play?”

I briefly caught sight of Zayne moving behind the other Hellion, shoving his clawed fist deep into its back. Dark, oily blood gushed from the Hellion’s chest as a hole formed where the heart—I assumed they had one—would be.

The Hellion’s roar of agony told me that I’d been correct, and, well, I wasn’t going to get any info out of that one.

Zayne released the Hellion as it burst into flames. Within seconds nothing remained but scorched cement and a smell of sulfur.

He lifted his head and saw me. “Shit!”

A second later, he landed on the tracks beside me in a crouch. “Back the Hell off,” he warned.

The Hellion shifted back into its true form and laughed. “Step aside or I will spread your entrails over this yard and feast upon your heart, Warden.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“I’d like to see you die,” the Hellion snarled, baring fangs.

Light swallowed them as the train rounded the bend about half a mile down the tracks. My heart rate spiked as the Hellion disappeared.

“Behind you!” Zayne shouted.

I whirled around and swung, but the Hellion caught my fist. It tipped its head to the side. “Or perhaps I will just make you relive your worst memory over and over again until you claw at your own skin and beg for death. Ah, yes... Mommy? Care for me to remind you how she died? How you—?”

Rage, potent and lethal, rolled through me in poisonous waves and I felt my grace burning at my skin. “Screw you.”

I stopped thinking. Twisting, I bent at the waist as the Hellion closed in and kicked out, my boot catching the creature just below the chin. Its neck snapped back, and I spun around, slamming the blade through its neck first, just to hear its guttural scream. “Where is Bael?”

“Kill me now.” Blood sputtered from its mouth. “Because I’ll never tell.”

I lowered the dagger and pressed the weapon into its chest, piercing it. “Tell me where in the Hell is Bael!”

The Hellion lowered its head, let out a bloody laugh and then shoved itself fully onto my dagger. As sharp as it was, it sank deep into its chest.

“Dammit!” I shouted, yanking my hand back. It, too, burst into flames and then was no more. I started to turn toward Zayne—

He shot forward, pressing his body to mine and holding me against the stone wall. There was no space between us. A deafening roar filled my ears as the train barreled past us. The high-pitched shriek of the wheels rolling over the tracks pierced me. I could feel Zayne’s body tensing around me as my fingers dug into his arms. It felt liked the train would never end. The wind from its speed beat down on us, whipping at our clothing and hair.

Finally, the last car passed us, and with the threat of being run over by the train gone, I became aware of every place that part of his body touched mine. Neither of us moved. I couldn’t. Not with his body pressed so tightly against me.

Not that I really wanted to.

Zayne was still in his Warden form, his shirt shredded from the change, and the heat of his body seared through my clothes. The skin of his arms under my hands was rock hard and smooth, just like the skin of his chest pressed to my cheek. His head was still pressed against mine, his hand still around the back of my head. I hadn’t realized he’d done it when he leaped toward me, but he had gotten his hand between my skull and the wall, protecting me as he’d forced me against it.

He smelled... God, he smelled amazing. That winter mint scent invaded every pore of me, and with each breath I took, I could taste it on the tip of my tongue.

My lips parted as I shut my eyes, surprised that he was still holding me and suddenly, desperately, afraid that if I moved or did anything, he’d let go.

I didn’t want that.

I wanted him close. I wanted him closer. My pulse started thrumming wildly as I became aware of his heart pounding against my cheek. The hand at the back of my head spasmed, his fingers tangling in my hair, and a shiver rolled down my spine.

Zayne’s warm breath skated over the side of my neck as he slowly lifted his head. I forced myself to be as still as possible as his breath now danced over my cheek, and then I couldn’t be still any longer.

I shifted my head, chasing his warm breath and stopping only when I felt it on my lips. My eyes opened, and all I could see was those pale wolf eyes, heated and consuming. My gaze dropped, and I saw the thin slice of fangs parting his lips, but I wasn’t afraid.

I was enthralled.

I wondered what it would feel like to kiss him in his true form, and something I’d never, ever experienced before swept through me. Potent, paralyzing desire blossomed, leaving me feeling out of control and dazed and like...

Like I’d been waiting forever for this—for him.

Zayne suddenly broke contact and leaped onto the platform, leaving me cold in the absence of his body heat and wondering what just happened.

“Trinity,” he said, extending an arm as he crouched down. He hauled me up, and we ended up on our sides, facing one another.

I rolled onto my aching back and bent my knees. “Sweet Jesus.”

“Yeah.” He exhaled heavily. “Did it bite you?”

“No,” I answered. Hellion bites were extremely venomous. They would kill a human within seconds and could paralyze a Warden for days. “You?”

“No. You okay?”

“Just dandy.” I winced as I sat up. “Well, that was fun. They were looking for me. The first one said...”

“I heard what he said. He could’ve been lying.” He turned his head and looked at me. “Just to mess with your head.”

“Maybe,” I whispered, but I knew better than that. So did Zayne. “Did you see what that Hellion did? He impaled himself on my dagger.”

“I saw it.”

“He killed himself rather than tell us where Bael is.”

“Not at all surprised.” Zayne knocked a strand of hair back from his face. “You know what that means, right?”

“What?” I groaned, trying to knock the dust off me with no luck. I looked like I’d fallen into a pile of powdered sugar.

“Bael knows you’re here.”

24

“He knows I’m here,” I told Jada as I lay in bed the following morning. As promised, my phone was propped against an extra pillow and we were FaceTiming. She looked amazing, all bright-eyed and snuggled into her pink-and-gray paisley comforter. I, on the other hand, was half-hidden by Zayne’s blanket and was beyond grateful that I couldn’t see myself in that tiny square at the top of my phone. “Bael sent two Hellions after me.”

“Holy crap,” she said.

“Yeah.” I held the blanket against my chin. “I didn’t even feel them until they popped out of thin air. I forgot that they could do that. We tried to keep them alive, but Zayne had to kill one and the other impaled itself on my dagger.”

“God, Trin, that’s not good for your first night out there.” She reached out and adjusted her phone, bringing it closer to her face. “He has to know what you and Misha are.”