KAIAH

If I killed him, then I’d be fine. Running would be unnecessary. But, better safe than sorry. If I hadn’t killed him, then I’d like a head start.

Sure enough, I heard heavy footfalls behind me, along with a low, masculine growl of frustration. I sped up, my feet barely kissing the ground as I flew down the path, trees and sky blurring around me.

I was far faster than any of my siblings, and I had a head start. This particular brother of mine would soon learn that the hard way, when I was riding my bike miles ahead of his sorry behind.

My smug train of thought halted abruptly, giving way to shock and horror when a large, heavily muscled forearm looped around my waist, swinging me hard to the right, using my own momentum to slam me into a rough tree trunk. The breath left my lungs on impact, my face pressed hard against the craggy bark, and I managed zero power on my counter strike as I slashed out behind me. The blade was swiftly and efficiently twisted from my grip, thudding to the dirt lightly several feet from us.

“Gods damn it, woman!” The mystery man growled, half irritated and half impressed, “I just very nearly shattered your bones there, and you still tried to stab me?”

I heaved a rattling breath, pain lancing across my ribcage.

I didn’t bother to reply, kicking out behind me and connecting solidly with a random, yet effective, body part. There was a low, male grunt of pain, managed to twist around in the male’s iron grip to face him.

I froze.

I expected the crimson eyes, of course. And the pale skin. But this…this was not one of my siblings.

None of my brothers would ever, ever make me feel…like this.

He was tall-well, everyone was tall next to me, but still, he must’ve been just over six foot. His forearms flexed and rippled as they worked to restrain my wrists, his hips and chiseled body easily pinning me between him and the trunk of the spruce tree. His hair gleamed like the metal of a warrior’s blade, even in the dim light of the almost set sun. It was shorn close to his scalp on the sides, yet long and wild on the top. His cheekbones were so high and sharp that he easily put Benedict Cumberbatch to shame. As his utterly kissable lips parted in shock, he revealed glimpses of a terrifying set of fangs, far larger than any my siblings possessed.

“Mine.” He growled, his deep baritone low and possessive. I pretended the bone-deep shiver that followed was due to the cold of the evening rather than him. I was quite good at being delusional.

He appeared just as awestruck as I was. But, luckily for me, I snapped out of it first.

I smiled sweetly at his perfect face, all the while hooking my calf around his thigh and, in a sudden burst of movement, jerking it inward to force him off-balance. His grip on my wrists slackened slightly, but it was enough. I slipped from his grip and threw myself to the side, rolling and coming up into a defensive crouch. I had planned on running, but to my dismay, he’d recovered just as quickly. He was on his feet, tossing my dagger lightly from hand to hand, regarding me with amusement.

If he seriously thought that was my only weapon, he was in for a rude awakening.

“Who are you?” As I spoke, I drew another blade from the sheath at the back of my neck, which didn’t anger him as it should. He looked at the weapon, almost…amused? My eyes darted behind him quickly, looking for his companions.

They never came alone. They wouldn’t be so stupid. They knew it took more than one to take me on. He seemed to be alone, but I couldn’t trust that. He may be alone now, but I simply couldn’t allow myself to believe that it would remain that way. For all I knew, he had an army coming this way, ready to jump out to subdue me at any moment.

I would’ve been flattered if it weren’t so terrifying.

“That’s a good question,” the male mumbled, before adding in a normal voice, “put the dagger down, Nephilim. Make this easier for the both of us.”

I snorted in derision.

“I have no interest in making anything easier for you, stranger. And I have a sneaking suspicion that surrendering wouldn’t do me any favors.”

As I spoke, my eyes never ceased their movement, searching for any weaknesses in his guard.

There were none. In fact, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he had negative weaknesses. He also smelled like an intoxicating mixture of spruce needles and cinnamon; perhaps a distracting mechanism? As much as I hated to admit it, everything about this stranger was distracting-no, captivating.

Pity I had to kill him.

“Perceptive,” the stranger drawled, his mouth pulling up into a stupidly attractive smirk. “When I came to find Michael’s favorite, I had every intention of taking your head. But,” his eyes dragged their way slowly from my toes to the top of my head, “you aren’t Cursed, are you? You’re Blessed.”

What the hell was he blabbering on about? I certainly didn’t feel blessed. Anyone who knew my father would know God was bullshit. I shuddered to imagine the evil that would create a creature like my father and allow him to run wild.

No, I was the opposite of blessed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but if I’m not who you’re looking for-”

“I didn’t say that, sweetling.” The stranger purred, his voice dripping with honey, “I’d planned on taking your head with me-but now? I’m keeping all of you.”

I opened my mouth to deliver a suitably scathing reply, when my breath froze in my throat. Behind the stranger, Josiah’s cold, black eyes glared hatefully at me.

Josiah, Malcolm, and Kane were triplets, and the only siblings of mine that truly made my blood run icy with fear. Because all my brothers and sisters wanted to kill me. That no longer scared me. It was a fact of life. But the triplets planned on “enjoying” me first.

Father, despite every terrible thing he’d done, protected me from their twisted desires.

Father wasn’t doing that anymore. I had to protect myself now. And the very thought was terrifying.

I threw my dagger over the stranger’s shoulder, but the triplets were some of the most powerful of my siblings, and Josiah dodged the blade like a viper.

A noise on my right alerted me to another triplet’s presence. I turned just in time to see Kane emerge, a fist headed towards my face. I stepped to the side, drawing another blade from my side and slashing upwards. I heard a chilling roar and felt my strike connect before I turned to run.

I couldn’t, of course. The stranger was in my way, his smirk now disappeared from his annoyingly attractive face. Somehow, he still managed to look casual for a male with his foot planted into the throat of Malcolm, the third triplet. My brother clawed at his calf before the stranger bore down, crushing his windpipe with frightening ease. When Josiah let out an irate cry and launched himself at the stranger, he simply unsheathed a sword at his waist and removed my brother’s head as if it were nothing.

“You little bitch!” An enraged snarl escaped from Kane as his brothers took their final gurgling breaths.

The stranger was a blur, moving so fast that my hair blew up in the rush of air he created as he passed me.

Before I could so much as blink, he had Kane by the throat, his pale face inches from my brother’s shocked one.

“I would tell you to mind your tongue, but if I’m being honest with you,” the stranger’s voice was calm, but obviously furious, “you won’t live long enough to take my advice.”

I saw the stranger reach up-likely to break Kane’s neck-and I knew how this would end.

I whirled and took off, leaping over the bodies of Malcolm and Josiah without even a twinge of remorse. They had had it coming, and if I wasn’t positive it would land me a lifetime of torture, I’d give the stranger one heck of a hug. As it was, I’d settled on running to my bike and booking it out of this town.

I just prayed I’d gotten enough of a head start on the stranger. He’d proven himself far faster than me before, a situation I was unaccustomed to and decidedly uncomfortable with.

I leaped and dodged over fallen trunks as I veered off the path on a more direct route to my bike. One stray branch whipped across my cheek sharply, making my eyes water and my vision blur, but I didn’t slow down. I couldn’t afford to.

My bike had just come into sight, causing a flicker of hope to come to life behind my ribs, when a wall materialized in front of me.

By wall, I, of course, meant the stranger.

I didn’t have time to slow down, colliding at full-tilt into his hard chest. Surprisingly, he didn’t topple over as I expected, but absorbed the shock of my charge with only a slight masculine grunt. I didn’t react quickly enough, and burly arms looped around me, pinning my arms to my sides. My thrashing didn’t so much as budge him. In fact, he had the gall to let out a deep chuckle at my attempts.

“With daggers and knives in hand, you’re a force to be reckoned with. But,” he grinned roguishly down at me, “in a contest of strength, I’m afraid I have you beat.”

No, really? I hadn’t noticed.

I glowered up at him. His arrogance would be my ticket to freedom. I just had to buy some time.

“Kill me then, and get it over with.” I snapped, refusing to give into the fear that coiled deep in my gut. Emotion was weakness your enemy could use against you. So, I repressed it, no matter how much I wanted to curl into a ball and cry.

As my father said: crying was for children and weaklings, and I was neither.

“Kill you? I thought I made it clear I wanted to keep you, babygirl.” That voice. So soft and deep and rumbly; it was made to make a girl swoon.

As he spoke, I twisted my hand carefully, and little vines slowly began to emerge from the soil, wrapping around his calves lightly. The dirt began to close over his boots, ready to solidify into solid rock on my command.

“Keep me? So you can, what? Torture me…you…you sick fuck?” I renewed my efforts to escape. I spat the poisonous words, but it left me feeling empty. That was what would happen if my attempts didn’t succeed. At my accusation, the stranger frowned, his silvery brows crashing together in displeasure.

“Now that was rude, sweetling. I’ll let the language slide, because I know you’re scared-”

“I’m not scared!” I interrupted, baring my teeth at him. His mouth firmed into a hard line of displeasure.

Then, an arm that was holding me lifted briefly, and crashed down on my bottom. I yelped and jumped forward, my eyes widening in shock.

“I don’t interrupt you when you speak, and I expect the same courtesy from you, sweetling.”

I was struck speechless, my cheeks heating with an unknown emotion. He looked pleased at my reaction, a genuine smile lighting up his face and further taking my breath away.

“You respond so beautifully to discipline. What a good girl,” he crooned, making my body squirm oddly and shivers run down my spine.

“As I was saying, I don’t plan on harming you. No one will ever hurt you while I’m around, babygirl.”

Lies. Being hurt was my life. It could never end.

The sharp reminder of reality brought my cement wall crashing down again, and I glared up at the stranger venomously.

“Let. Me. Go.” I managed from between clenched teeth. The stranger smirked arrogantly.

“Not happening,” He replied, and now it was my turn to smile, a smile devoid of mirth.

I drove my knee into his thigh, (which is an area of the body more tender than most gave it credit for) and he winced, loosening his grip slightly. It was enough. I twisted away, waving my hand to tighten the vines and turn the soil to rock. He grunted in frustration, but I didn’t stay around to gloat. I sprinted through the trees, his furious roaring far behind me.

When I finally got to my bike, I almost cried with relief. Swinging my leg over and starting the engine, I sped away, leaving the stranger behind.