[Southern Arcana 2.0] Crossroads (35 page)

BOOK: [Southern Arcana 2.0] Crossroads

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She didn’t know what to do, what to say, and she wasn’t sure if she had the words anyway. It wasn’t possible—at least it wasn’t supposed to be possible. A human taking on a pack of werewolves, it was too much like an urban legend. Managing to escape them, certainly, but actually taking them down…

Impossible. To her knowledge it had never been done, though her father had conjectured about how it might be possible.

“You should go home.”

His voice was deep, slightly sharp, the gravel in his tone strangely soothing and electrifying all at the same time.

She couldn’t stop the snap of her words as she pocketed her spray. “That’s where I was headed. I certainly wasn’t going clubbing at this time of day.”

She could have sworn she heard a chuckle before he replied. “You should let your boyfriend walk you everywhere.”

“I don’t have a boyfriend.” She stared at him a moment, trying to decide if he’d just given her a horribly cheesy pick-up line, or if he was making assumptions. From his expression, she decided he wasn’t trying to scope her out. “Besides, I’ve seen most grown men scream and run when they’re confronted with Shifters. I could do without the hysterics.”

“True, but two are less likely to be attacked than one.”

“And one shouldn’t even be attacked at five in the afternoon. They shouldn’t be shifting until moonrise.”

There was a soft whoosh of air as the shadow shifted his weight. “You have a good point. They shouldn’t be able to… Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

He turned and took a step into the watery light of day, pausing as he waited for her. She stared at his wide shoulders and decided his offer had to be one of the most interesting proposals she’d ever had. She

wondered if he ever thought of hiring himself out as a bodyguard. She knew she’d be one of the first in line to pay for his services.

“You shouldn’t walk home alone,” he repeated, his back still to her.

Sighing, she shrugged and made her way out of the alley, carefully stepping over the lifeless bodies of the wolves. She knew that in the next hour, their tissue would begin to break down and their bodies would shift back to human form, leaving them naked and mangled. There had been a time when she’d pitied them, but she had been very young then.

In the soft light, she could easily see the muscled physique and proudly held body of her rescuer. His dark brown hair was worn in a severe crew cut, a look that hadn’t been popular in the civilian sector for years. She noted his urban camouflage, from his broad shoulders all the way to his large feet, and felt suspicion crawl up her spine. There were two guns strapped to his side, and she was sure each was filled with wolfsbane bullets. If the bullet itself didn’t kill the animal, then the concentrated liquid at its core would poison the blood as well as cause excruciating agony. Only certain government-sanctioned agencies were allowed to carry such things, though she knew civilians had ways of purchasing the bullets underground.

When she finally reached the stranger, she stopped directly in front of him, determined to see the face of the man who had saved her life. Government or not, she had to concede she owed him more than she could ever repay. What she saw when she finally laid her eyes on him sent her back a quick step.

He was gorgeous. There was no way around it. This man was a fine specimen of the male species.

From behind she could see that he was well muscled, but a nice body did not an interesting face make. And his face was more than interesting, it was enthralling.