What if he couldn’t? The beast wanted Jackie. What if after the killing was done, it took what it wanted from her?

He didn’t dare take the risk.

Iain moved forward to meet their charge, giving himself enough room so that he wouldn’t step on Jackie, but not so much that any of the demons would have a chance to sneak in behind him to get to her. He started cutting them down, giving up all finesse for the sake of raw, brutal power.

The demons leaped at him, two and three at a time, their serrated teeth bared and their claws extended. One larger one with silvery spines started to vibrate to his left, as if preparing to do something.

Iain wasn’t taking the chance that it could launch those spines—not with Jackie in jeopardy of being hit. He left his right side open, hoping his coat would absorb the worst of any blows, and cut the demon in half.

Silver spines exploded out in random directions, bouncing off Iain’s armored coat and hitting the rotting wood with a hollow thwack. Three catlike demons got hit in the bargain, skewering them, making them scream and roll in pain.

While he’d been busy dealing with that threat, a pair of larger Synestryn had slipped past him, zeroing in on Jackie.

He was out of position, too far away to make it to them in time.

Fear and rage detonated in his chest, and without his permission, the monster inside of him broke free, taking over his body. He felt muscles bunch, heard a roar tear from his throat, saw the world blur by as he sped over the ground. The first demon slammed into him, knocking him back. It seemed surprised that he’d appeared, skidding on its paws to face the new threat.

The second demon was a split second behind and jerked back in time to avoid a collision. Dried weeds and clumps of dirt flew up from where its powerful claws raked the ground.

Iain regained his balance and slammed his left fist into the side of the demon’s head. It spun around, yelping in pain. His body moved without thought, his blade slicing through the air fast enough that it made a whooshing sound. He cut through the thing’s head, lopping off its eyes and snout. It continued to thrash and claw as it bled out among the weeds.

The second demon was smarter, keeping its distance. It waited for an opening as the smaller creatures threw themselves at Iain.

As fast as he moved, as strong as each strike was, there were simply too many of them. He couldn’t keep them all away. One latched on to his leather coat and began crawling up his back toward his head.

That’s when the bigger demon made its move.

There was no time to fight it off and remove the threat from his back, so he focused on the bigger one, urging his monster to hurry the hell up.

His body flowed through the moves easily, and for a moment, he enjoyed the sheer power he housed. The tip of his blade caught the foreleg of a smaller demon as it zeroed in on his real target. The slight hesitation in his strike that contact caused had been planned, allowing him to hit the larger demon in just the right spot. He severed an artery, and blood pumped out, arching several feet into the air.

Iain shifted his body and spun, letting the blood hit his back, rather than landing on Jackie. He couldn’t feel the little demon on his back anymore, and as he glanced at Jackie, he realized why.

She had pushed herself up so that she was sitting against the barn’s foundation. Her hand was raised, and smoldering at his feet was the corpse of the demon that had hitched a ride.

Weariness hung around her, making her shoulders droop and her eyes burn an angry red. She was panting with effort, but there was no sign she was giving up.

A potent wave of desire hit him out of nowhere. The monster forced Iain to inch closer. It wanted her. Iain’s mouth was watering for a taste, his hands eager to feel her bare skin.

“Behind you,” she gasped.

Iain swung around, instincts guiding him. He lifted his sword, and the demon flying toward him split in half on his blade as it hit, splattering his face mask with black, oily blood.

He whipped off the mask, which now prevented him from seeing anything, and searched the area for more demons.

In the distance, there were faint howls of hunger and excitement, but the ones that had left the cave to chase them were now gone.

“I’ve shielded my wound so they can’t smell my blood,” she said.

He tried to tell her how smart that was, but when he went to open his mouth, nothing happened. The monster was still in control.

He stalked toward her, hunger and desire growing with every step. The beast intended to take her here, on the ground, surrounded by leaking demon corpses. Iain could feel its intent as clearly as he could his own heavy pulse.

Iain struggled to regain control. Fear for Jackie made him desperate and the monster knew it. His head began to pound, and his steps slowed as their internal battle raged. Every time he thought he’d won, the beast would have a surge of strength and shove itself away.

“Iain? Are you okay?”

No, he was so far from okay it was laughable. It would be so easy to just let go. Let the monster win. He’d still be here, able to feel what it felt. He’d finally know what it was like to feel the heat of Jackie’s body as he shoved his cock inside of her, over and over. He’d still get to feel the rush of orgasm and the thrill of conquest.

But what about Jackie and her feelings? She wouldn’t want what his monster had to offer. It would be hard, fast, and brutal—likely exactly the kind of thing she’d been forced to witness while held by the Synestryn.

“Iain?” Her voice was worried now, tinged with growing concern and fear.

He couldn’t let this happen, no matter how easy it would be to simply let go. He had his honor, as dented and tarnished as it was. It was all he had left, and he wasn’t going to shatter it by letting some fucking monster win.

With an audible snarl, he forced the beast deep inside of himself, burying it under the rubble of his soul. The monster howled and fought, but in the end, it was locked away, trapped. At least for now.

“I’m okay,” he said, taking several steps away from her. He didn’t trust himself to look at her again so soon. His cock was still hard, and his blood was still pounding with the need to take her. The adrenaline rush of battle wasn’t helping matters, either. He needed a minute to gather his tattered control and mend it.

“We need to move. Help me up?” she asked.

He couldn’t touch her now. Not yet.

“In a minute.”

“I don’t know how much longer I can hold them off. We need to move now.”

Without looking at her, he asked, “Hold them off?”

“I put up a wall between us and the cave. It’s keeping them away, but it’s really hard to do, and I’m so tired.” She was panting. He could hear that now, along with the strain in her voice.

He had no choice. They had to move now, before it was too late. His tattered control was going to have to be good enough.

Iain pulled her to her feet and stepped back. She wobbled unsteadily, threatening to fall over into the bloody grass.

With a curse under his breath, he hauled her up against his side, draping her slender arm over his shoulders. He wrapped his arm around her waist and took some of her weight off her feet.

“This way,” he said. “I saw lights over there.”

She nodded and did her best to keep up with the pace he set. Her body shivered along his side, reminding him just how vulnerable she was.

“Are you cold?”

“I’ll be fine.”

Which wasn’t a no.

They hiked for about half a mile when he felt Jackie stiffen in his hold, and the constant tug on his power suddenly vanished.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I couldn’t keep it up any longer. They’re coming.”

“If you can, try to keep your wound sealed. Maybe they won’t be able to smell us.” He wasn’t counting on it, but it could buy them some time.

They came to a house with the lights on inside. He could see the colorful flashes of what he guessed was a TV screen, and saw a shadow moving around on the far side of the blinds. There was a beat-up car parked on the gravel driveway. Its paint had long ago lost its shine, and there was more rust than metal left, but when he looked inside, the keys were in the ignition.

He helped Jackie into the front seat, and put the car in neutral, pushing it toward what passed for a road out here. As soon as he was far enough away he didn’t think they’d get shot if the owner caught them stealing his beater, he started it up and drove away as quietly as he could, keeping the lights off.

Jackie fumbled with the heater controls. “So cold.”

“I know. Just give the engine a minute to warm up.”

Worry nagged the back of his mind. It wasn’t that cold, even for humans. Chilly, but not dangerously so, which made him wonder if she wasn’t suffering from something else—maybe some kind of poison.

“Did you get hurt?” he asked, glancing her way.

Her eyes were closed and her head was lolled back against the seat. “My head.”

“Anywhere else?”

She said nothing, so he reached out into her thoughts, despite her very explicitly stated instructions for him to stay out of her mind.

She was freezing, not just cold. Her muscles were tight, spasming in a futile attempt to create heat. Weariness weighed her body down, pinning it in place. Even speaking was difficult.

He didn’t sense any pain besides that in her head, and some discomfort where his shoulder had dug into her stomach.

A glowing band of power streamed between them, much wider than he would have guessed. She was still using it to seal her head wound, despite how much effort it took for her to retain that level of concentration.

Iain turned up the fan all the way, which made a horrible whining noise before coming to a clunking stop. Smoke drifted out from the vents, smelling like burning rubber.

“Shit,” he spat, then regulated his tone so it was more gentle. “We’re not far from a safe place. Just hang in there and I’ll get you warm soon.”

She said nothing, so he stayed in her mind, gauging her well-being as he sped over the gravel roads.

She was struggling to maintain even the small flow of power needed to shield her wound. If he didn’t do something, that was going to go down, too, and they’d be right back where they started, surrounded by demons hunting her blood.

“I want you to lay your head down in my lap, okay?”

“Why?” she mumbled.

“Just do it, please?”

She kind of toppled over, and he had to keep her from hitting the steering wheel, but he managed to get her safely settled, and wrapped his hand around her throat. The two parts of the luceria connected, locking together. He felt the flow of power ease, and heard Jackie let out an audible sigh of relief.

Her body shook violently, and he wished for a way to warm her up. They were less than an hour away from a Gerai house, but he couldn’t stand to think of her suffering for that long.

He pulled the car over long enough to strip out of his coat and drape it over her. The second he broke the luceria’s connection, he felt her struggling to keep up the shield, so he hurried and settled her back where he could touch her again.

The miles seemed to drag by, no matter how hard he pushed the accelerator. Without thinking about it, he began to stroke her neck, reveling in the feel of her smooth skin under his fingers.