Demon Marked

pushed through the doors leading onto the balcony, where she had a better angle on the winding street leading to the house. His headlights swept across the snow as he rounded the final curve. He wasn’t even to the driveway yet. Minutes might pass before he arrived at the mansion and walked up the stairs.
    Ash couldn’t wait that long.
    She dropped from the balcony, landing in a knee-deep pile of snow. Behind her, light from the dining room spilled across her body, casting a long shadow. She didn’t give anyone eating inside time to see her. Up on her feet, she sprinted across the unbroken blanket of white. It should have been harder, she thought, but her legs churned a trail through the heavy snow, strong, unstoppable. Within seconds, she was at the driveway, racing in front of Nicholas’s vehicle and into the splash of his bright headlights.
    He slammed on the brakes. She heard his shouted curse—though she supposed even a human might have heard that. Rushing to his door, she pulled it open.
    Nicholas was still yelling. “Jesus, Ash! What? Are you being chased?”
    “No,” she said, but he must not have believed her.
    Grabbing a crossbow already in the passenger seat, Nicholas jumped out of the car. He turned, searching the empty field, then looked up at the sky. As if satisfied that no one was after her, he finally looked to Ash again.
    “What the hell?”
    He couldn’t guess?
    “I need to know,” Ash said. His expression changed suddenly—and she knew. She’d been right. Oh, God. Pain hit her gut again, ripping, tearing. “What happened?”
    “One of Rachel’s old boyfriends did it.”
    “What did he do?” She didn’t really need to ask. The blood had said it all. And a boyfriend had done that? “My God, did she just attract the psychos?”
    Surprise and pained humor flashed across Nicholas’s features. “Apparently.”
    No. No, not him. He wouldn’t have done this. He wouldn’t have torn them apart. Maybe a demon, but not a human. What kind of person did that?
    Not the kind that deserved to live.
    The stabbing pain hardened into something else. Ash didn’t know what. But she knew what she had to do. “Where is the boyfriend at now?”
    “They caught him. He’s in the county lockup.”
    “All right. Move aside, and give me the keys.”
    Nicholas frowned at her. “Why?”
    “Because I’m going there to kill him.”
    “What?” His confusion changed to disbelief as he looked at her face. “You’re serious.”
    Completely. And since he wasn’t getting out of her way, she went around him, reached for the driver side door. He caught her wrist.
    “You can’t. He’s human. It’ll break the Rules, and the Guardians will have you. You’ll be the next one dead.”
    “I don’t care.” She didn’t.
    “Then care about this: You’ll be breaking your bargain. Getting killed isn’t helping me find Madelyn.”
    “Fuck that.” The response sprang so easily to her mouth. “Release me from the bargain.”
    “Fuck that .” His hold tightened and he whipped her around, shoving her back against the side of the SUV. “You break away, you break our bargain, you’ll end up in that frozen field. You want that, Ash? Tortured for eternity, all for a little piece of shit?”
    Not for the piece-of-shit boyfriend. For the parents. Not even her parents. Ah, God—and the pain was coming back now. She could feel it welling up, closing her throat and stinging her eyes.
    A wail of grief poured out.
    Nicholas’s eyes widened. He clapped a palm over her mouth, cutting it off. “Stop that.”
    She couldn’t. She stared at him over the top of his hand. Heat itched over her cheeks. Crying. Crying. Why?
    Nicholas jerked his hand away as if her tears burned. He stared at her in shock.
    “Let me go,” she whispered hoarsely. If he didn’t, something was going to break. Maybe his hold on her. Maybe the Rules. Maybe just something inside her.
    “Shut up.”
    He set his crossbow on the hood and shoved her face against his neck. Hard warmth wrapped around her shoulders. Was he holding her? Nicholas? The kindness hurt almost as much as the rest. She let it come up, the inexplicable rage, the grief, sobbing it out against his throat.
    And when it was over, she was exhausted again. Her body strong, but something inside her just . . . tired.
    She tried to pull away, but Nicholas wouldn’t let her. Still afraid she’d take off for the county jail? That had passed. Now she just felt the cold coming in