I stood up and let go. Turning to him I surveyed his face. There wasn’t a hint of activity going on behind his glazed eyes. So I called upon every iota of womanly instinct I had and pulled back my open hand to let fly a resounding slap. I think I might have given him whiplash.

The slap worked. His eyes blinked once, then again, as he suddenly seemed to come alive. I grabbed him by the shoulders to focus his attention on me—it wouldn’t do either of us any good if he chose that moment to panic. The Alfar had sped up their barrage, and smaller explosions were detonating all over the hall. We had to get out of there, tout suite.

“Hey, buddy,” I said, loud enough so he could hear me over the noise but trying to keep my voice calm at the same time. “What’s your name?”

“Ed,” he said, nonplussed. “Where am I?”

He started to look around but I put my hand to his cheek to keep his gaze on mine. “Ed,” I advised. “We’re somewhere neither of us wants to be. So let’s get out of here, okay?” I took his hand and tried to pull him up, but he still wasn’t moving.

“There was a woman,” he started to say.

“Yes,” I interrupted. “There was a woman but she’s gone now. You’re safe as long as we get moving. Like now,” I added, my voice starting to crack from stress. A flurry of activity had started up to our right and creatures were launching themselves out of the way. Something was coming.

I pulled harder on his hand, and he looked into my face. As if sensing my anxiety, he started to get up. I backed away, signaling for him to hurry. He nodded as if he’d made a decision and got to his feet resolutely, leaping away from the dais to land behind me. He nodded at the door. “Get going,” he said, and I had just started to turn when I felt something wet splatter against my cheek. The man’s expression changed, very slowly, from one of determination to one of confusion. We both looked down, equally astonished at the sight of the blazing sword protruding from his chest. The light died from his eyes as he crumpled to his knees. I realized I was screaming.

A movement from behind the man’s body drew my eyes. It was Jimmu. He’d thrown the sword—either at me and the man had gotten in the way or at the man to get him out of Jimmu’s path. Either way, there was now nothing standing between me and the naga’s murderous rage.

I backed away, fighting Jimmu’s paralyzing gaze and wishing I’d had the chance to call my father. I hadn’t even thought of it—I’d been too swept up in events to put my affairs in order. But I guess people in their twenties don’t normally think in terms of ordering their affairs. A mistake I wouldn’t make again—quite literally.

And just think, a few days ago you were worried about living forever, I thought, as Jimmu’s snarling face came to within an inch of mine. He obviously wanted to look me in the eyes when he killed me.

But before the dagger Jimmu was holding could reach my throat, Ryu was upon him. My lover was bleeding profusely from a terrible gash on his cheek, and he seemed to be favoring his left leg, but he still managed to propel Jimmu to the ground and away from me. The knife was knocked aside and Ryu took that opportunity to begin pulverizing Jimmu’s face with his fists. Knowing that I was still not exactly safe, and not wanting to see anyone ground into a bloody pulp no matter how much I disliked them, I left Ryu to it. With one last look at the dead human I’d tried to save but ended up killing, I fled through the door.

I found myself in another of the Alfar Compound’s interminable hallways. This one was narrow and lined with dark stone, and only a few doorways appeared to interrupt its flow. I gave my eyes a moment to adjust to the lack of light before I set off down the hall. After a few seconds I heard a noise that gave me pause, until I realized that the sound was one of my own making. I was crying—all of tonight’s various shocks reverberating uncontrollably through my system. But as long as I kept walking, I decided not to worry about the tears.

Which meant I never heard my attacker’s footsteps. One minute I was walking forward, the next I was pinned up against the wall, a hand around my throat crushing the breath from me.

Oh nuts, I thought, as everything went gray. I should have seen that coming.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Jarl was definitely not happy with me.

“You bitch,” Jarl hissed, his face broken with grief. “You stupid half-breed bitch. You’ve ruined everything.” He was almost sobbing.

He really loved them, my analytical self observed. Ryu was wrong. Jarl genuinely considered the nagas his children. And Ryu and I are responsible for their deaths.

Overwhelming my analysis of tonight’s events, however, was my body’s response to the fact that it was about to die. Jarl was not content with merely suffocating me; he was slowly increasing the pressure on my windpipe, watching my eyes as he approached the point where he crushed the life from my body. He was going to enjoy every second of my death.

My vision was fading as the pain in my throat increased. I wish I could say that my life flashed before my eyes, or that I saw a vision of our maker, or that I had some other kind of epiphany about the meaning of life. Perversity, however, seems to be my middle name, and all I could think of was how exactly Wally had kept all that stuff in his pants. Especially the swords. Surely that was dangerous.

Just before everything went black, a shadow flashed in my peripheral vision and Jarl suddenly released me. I sat down with a whoosh, as oxygen flooded my system. Breathing through my crushed throat was agony, but pain wasn’t going to quell my body’s need for air. I felt myself slide down the wall, till I was lying on my side. I could see Jarl’s booted feet and huge paws dancing around in front of me as my vision came and went. One second everything was black, and then the lights went up and the boots were dangerously near my face, before everything went black again. Then the paws were between me and the boots, then they were shimmering, and everything went black. Suddenly there were two pairs of feet, one pair booted and the other bare, until darkness again whisked me away. A flurry of sound brought back the light, and I thought I saw Jarl flying through the air to land with a resounding crash against the wall. Then everything was black again, but I could feel someone easing me up to a seated position. Hands were at my throat, but gently this time, and a voice that sounded like it was underwater was telling me to hold still, that he’d make it better. Warmth suffused my system, and my vision returned enough for me to register a blurry face in front of mine. I closed my eyes in relief as my agony receded, my brain scrambling to catch up with events.

Jarl, it reminded me, with a kick, and I looked over to where the Alfar was still lying against the wall. I blinked and whimpered when I saw his huddled form twitch.

“Shit,” the voice cursed, obviously seeing what I was seeing. Where the stranger’s hands were as gentle as a mother’s, his voice was as rough as a dog’s growl. “We’re going to have to finish this later, Jane. Let’s get you somewhere safe.”

Strong arms picked me up and flung me over a wide shoulder. I struggled, finally registering that I had no idea who this man was. I thought I recognized the voice, but what I thought I recognized wasn’t possible.

“Keep still,” the man growled, gently. “Until we get you out of here.”

I know you, an eighth of my brain argued, while another eighth told me I was nuts. The last three-quarters were still reeling from my near-death experience.

Suddenly, my addled mind comprehended that the guy holding me was completely naked and, with the way he was carrying me, I had a good view of a rather splendid backside. He’d picked up the pace till he was trotting, and we were bumping through the Compound at an impressive speed. Which meant that I’d slipped down, somewhat, so he was holding my thighs tight over his shoulder and I’d come nose to cheek with a single formidable buttock.

Trust no one, Ryu’s voice again reminded me, just as we went through a set of doors and into the cold air of the night. The evening’s chill and the burst of fresh oxygen crashed through my system, enflaming my senses and putting my own consciousness firmly back into the driver’s seat.

I began to struggle in earnest, still unsure of the intent of the buck-naked stranger. He’d saved me from Jarl, but for what purpose? Why hadn’t he put me down, or brought me back to Ryu? Panic rose as my body managed to dredge up another burst of adrenaline from somewhere. Staring at the muscles rippling in front of my face, I made a spur-of-the-moment decision. I wanted down, and I wanted down now. So I bit, hard, at the first thing my teeth found—which was, of course, the vulnerable keister of my captor.

The man roared, and I slipped precipitously toward the ground. I could see from the Celtic mosaic that we were in the little courtyard right beside the grotto. Swearing like a sailor, the man caught me just before I crashed into the very painful looking cobblestones. Strong arms pulled my legs down his chest, till he could get his hands around my waist. He pulled me off his shoulder and sat me down against a wall, where I stared up at him mutinously. He was standing with his back to me, twisted around so that he could peer at his own backside. Where I saw, to my pleasure, a rather perfect set of teeth indented in his smooth flesh. A dentist could have taken a molding from his ass, I’d bitten him so hard.