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She followed quickly with her right hand, sweeping the curved blade of the Damascus dagger clean across his throat, landing silently on one knee. The deadly edge slid smoothly through glamor, demon hide, and bone.

Quick. Clean.

Landing in a crouch, Evie held her breath and watched him through the strands of her hair, which had escaped its bindings at the back of her head. It had happened so fast.

Too quickly for the demon to defend himself. His body fell slowly, heavily to his knees, then crumpled awkwardly onto his back until he landed beside her. Evie met his eyes. And sucked in a breath. An unconscious pause as she waited to see the last emotions fly across the demon’s face.

~~~

"Don't move. Don't even blink," Evie whispered, her face an inch from his. "It's your lucky day, Ren. All I want to do is to talk."
Renfru blinked at her in spite of Evie's instruction. She refrained from killing him for his error.

"Get up and get inside." Evie moved off him and allowed him to rise and walk toward the house, all the while holding the blade to his neck. And she was not surprised when he charged away, despite the viciously sharp blade at his neck.

Typical male, no matter the species. Always had something to prove. Especially when it came to being beat by a girl.

~~~

The hand at her throat didn’t allow her to defend herself. Or speak in her defense. So drastic action was required or she would be dead before she got any information from her captor.

Evie shut her eyes and concentrated.

A fullness spread along her back. Her shoulder-blades rose and pressed against the skin of her back as her wings poked through the glamored slits in her upper back. In an instant, both Evie and Baa’ruk were enveloped by a pair of shimmering white and silver wings. Foot-long feathers sent wisps of silvery white dust floating around them.
She had hoped for a strong reaction. Perhaps the fear of God? Or maybe shocked, awed reverence. Certainly not an ear-shattering fit of sneezing.

The Head Demon now stood, hands over his nose, mouth slightly open, eyes scrunched up in silent expectation of the next bout of ground-shaking sneezes. Little blades of grass peeked out from between the flagstones, shivering in the wake of the thunderous sneezes.

Eva flapped her wings, which was unavoidable when folding them up behind her, and in a blink, both magnificent silver-tipped wings were gone.

Of course, she felt bad that she’d now started another fit of sneezes with a second breeze of wing dust. And of course, the whole thing wasn’t really that funny especially when she’d so recently almost met her maker. But Eva couldn’t help it. The first giggle that escaped her was tentative, mild. The next second she was having a full-blown giggle-fest.

~~~

“What exactly are you doing here?” Julian turned to Evie, an edge to his voice.

She backed away and ended up against the wall, again.

“Ask yourself that.”

“What’s that suppose to mean?” He took another step closer leaving not an inch of space between them.
Evie’s breath came in short bursts. Her hands went to his chest and she felt the steady strong beat of his heart. She wanted to push him off but more than anything she wanted him closer. Her body hummed with awareness but she forced herself to concentrate on answering him. “Just that is was you who got me down here in the first place. If you’re trying to kill me, I’m sure there are better ways than sending me to be chimera-chow.”

“I didn’t ask you to come here.” Julian was frowning. The beating beneath her fingers sped up. “Flavia said you did. Covering your tracks now, are you?”

She raised an eyebrow, trying not to think about the heat that simmered between them. From Julian’s rapid breath it was clear he wasn’t immune.

“Don’t be silly. This reeks of Persephone.” When he spoke his lips were so close she just had to lift her head a fraction of an inch for them to touch hers. The heated brush of his breath called to her. Instead, she remained motionless while trying to force her heart to return to a more decent rate. “I thought so too.”

“Then why did you accuse me?” Julian’s glared at her, although she was sure she saw amusement in his eyes. Evie lifted her chin, even though the action brought her mouth way too close to his. “How was I to know you wouldn’t defend her and think I’m making all of this up? And how am I to be sure it wasn’t really you in the first place?”
Evie’s eyes narrowed as she met his eyes. He stared back at her, blinking so slowly, so lazily that she wondered how it was possible when his heart raced wildly beneath her fingers.

It was inevitable that their lips touched. Evie breathed and leaned into Julian as his hands went around her waist. Just one kiss made her world turn on its head. They dragged apart just for air, while Julian took her lip between his teeth. Evie shivered as her body answered, her need hot and visceral.

“Julian.” His lips took hers again. He kissed her deeply, wildly and she drowned in the intoxicating scent of him. And then he moved away, the air a cold blast of reality. Julian shook his head, his eyes one moment burning with need and the next black with iron fury. “Let’s get out of here before I throw you to Chimera myself.”

I have been a writer from the time I was old enough to recognise that
reading was a doorway into my imagination. Poetry was my first foray
into the art of the written word. Books were my best friends, my escape,
my haven. I am essentially a recluse but this part of my personality is
impossible to practise given I have two teenage daughters, who are
actually my friends, my tea-makers, my confidantes… I am blessed with a
husband who has left me for golf. It’s a fair trade as I have left him
for writing. We are both passionate supporters of each others loves – it
works wonderfully…My heart is currently broken in two. One
half resides in South Africa where my old roots still remain, and my
heart still longs for the endless beaches and the smell of moist soil
after a summer downpour. My love for Ma Afrika will never fade. The
other half of me has been transplanted to the Land of the Long White
Cloud. The land of the Taniwha, beautiful Maraes, and volcanoes. The
land of green, pure beauty that truly inspires. And because I am so torn
between these two lands – I shall forever remain crosseyed.I love talking to my readers so email me if you have any questions or even if you just want to chat…
Email: tgayer@xtra.co.nz or tgayerauthor@gmail.com