Carpathian 09 - Dark Guardian

into the stones, allowing the animal to leap at Lucian in an attempt to tear at flesh and arteries.
    Lucian burst into the air so swiftly he was a mere blur. Jaxon tried to compose herself despite the bizarre phenomenon, sighting on the terrible beast. Its fangs were dripping saliva, and the eyes were glowing red with hatred. Thunder was cracking so loudly it was hurting her ears as bolt after bolt of lightning lit the sky. Even as she thought Lucian would come crashing down to the hard stones and the wolf would tear him apart, he landed easily, almost casually, on top of the beast, his hands twisting the head savagely. The crack of its neck was loud in the night air. Then Lucian leaped away from the animal.
    It bellowed loudly, shape-shifting again so that it was once more a man, its head flopping hideously to one side, its discolored teeth snapping and gnashing at Lucian. Jaxon could see that Lucian's powerful hands had broken its neck, yet the creature was somehow still extremely dangerous. She squeezed the trigger and saw the hole blossom in the center of the repulsive forehead even as Lucian seemed to disappear for a moment.
    Jaxon nearly fainted when she saw Lucian appear right beside the creature. She wanted to scream at him to get away from the awful thing, but her throat was closed with terror, and no sound emerged. To her horror, the beast was still ripping at Lucian with the grotesque talons he had for fingernails. Lucian thrust one arm forward, a powerful blur that buried his fist deeply in the creature's chest cavity. Jaxon heard a terrible sucking sound, and when Lucian withdrew his hand, in his palm was the creature's pulsating heart.
    Lucian leaped back as the body flopped to the ground with a high-pitched scream. Impossibly, the creature wriggled around, the hands stretching greedily toward Lucian. It began to pull itself relentlessly across the cobblestones.
    Intellectually Jaxon knew none of this could be happening—all of it was beyond the scope of reality—but she aimed her gun squarely on the repulsive creature dragging itself toward Lucian. She could see its dark blood spreading like a stain across the cobblestones. Without warning a fiery ball slammed from the sky onto the ghastly, nightmarish figure flopping about in the courtyard, incinerating it.
    It completely consumed all evidence of the creature and the blood that had been spilled. She watched as Lucian casually tossed the heart into the flames and then held his hands over the fire. The blood staining his skin was gone as if it had never been, yet, miraculously, he was not burned. Jaxon stared down at the scene below. The storm was passing, the wind carrying the ashes off to the south. And then there was only Lucian standing alone in the courtyard. He turned and looked straight up at Jaxon.
    She couldn't breathe. She could only stand there staring at him with her mouth open. She realized she was still aiming her gun. The thought entered her head to shoot him. Had she gone crazy, or had he done impossible things? She was already backing into the house. It would take him only a few minutes to make his way from the courtyard back into the house, and he knew the grounds and the layout of the building, while she did not. Jaxon ran lightly down the stairs and turned in the opposite direction from the courtyard. Almost immediately she spotted a door. Jerking it open, she ran out into the darkness of the night. She sought high ground, somewhere she could conceal herself but observe if he was moving Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    toward her. But she ran straight into what appeared to be a solid wall.
    Instantly she was steadied by two strong hands. Lucian was standing in front of her—another impossibility. No way could he have gotten from the courtyard to where she was that fast. The whole house had been between them.
    Jaxon attempted to bring the gun around to point at him. She heard his soft laughter very close to her ear.
    "I do not think that is a very good idea for either of us, honey." He swept the gun from her hand, taking possession easily, and swung her into his arms, cradling her against his chest, his upper body leaning forward to shelter her from the rain. "You do not obey very well, do you?" He asked it with that same note of mild amusement that always did something peculiar to her heart.
    "I want to leave." She was trembling so hard her teeth chattered, uncertain whether it was