Velvet Haven

knew he should be thinking about how he was going to get rid of the hounds, but all he could think about was Mairi and the disappointment he felt at not having been inside her. He wanted her, energy or not. He just wanted to know what it would be like to feel all that passion in her wash over him.
    Fucking Morgan. She really knew how to torture him.
    “The hounds have reached the Cave of Cruachan,” Keir announced as he flashed back into the room. “There’s a pack of them guarding the entrance to Annwyn and I smelled them outside as well. I have no idea where they’re hiding. But they’re out there.”
    “How did the woman know?” Bran demanded.
    Keir’s hands went up in the air. “How the hell would I know? From the minute I first saw her, I knew she wasn’t completely human. That’s why I’ve been going to her shop every week, to see if I could learn more. I haven’t.”
    “Well, maybe her mortal ancestor got it on with a Sidhe, too,” snapped Rhys. “And now she’s a half-breed like me.”
    “Shut it, MacDonald,” Bran growled.
    “I’ll take this one, now.”
    Bran struggled to show no outward sign that he cared that Mairi was leaving. When the Wraith flashed with her, Bran felt his knees weaken. He needed energy, and soon, but the thought of pleasuring another woman after tasting Mairi made him feel ill.
    Striding to the window, he looked out at the parking lot and the little blue car beneath the glow of a streetlight. Something moved, and Bran froze. Two red dots glowed in the dark from the roof of the car.
    “On their car,” he roared, running for the door. Hell, they’d be torn to pieces by the rabid animals.
    “It’s a trap,” he heard Sayer cry.
    Ignoring him, Bran ran to the car, and watched the huge dog jump from the roof to land in a crouch before him. Another one came, growling, showing teeth that were dripping with saliva. Its eyes glowed red and the throaty growl warned that the hound would take great delight in ripping out Bran’s throat.
    A car engine roared to life, and he watched it reverse out of the parking spot. The red taillights shone over him and he wondered if Mairi noticed him standing there, or if the remnants of Sayer’s spell made her mind cloudy.
    Most of all, he wondered if he would ever see her again. The first hound lunged at him, knocking him off balance with its huge paws. Teeth tore into his forearm and the pain was excruciating.
    If he had enough power, he could shift into his raven form and fly away, but his magic was too weak for that. It would take everything he had to change, and that would leave him vulnerable. He was in the mortal realm, where his magic was naturally weaker. He couldn’t afford to use it all at once. He needed a reserve in case that bitch Morgan came calling.
    With a rush of adrenaline, he reached for the hound’s head, placing a palm by one of its ears. Despite the fact that its teeth were sunk deep into his arm, so deep its canines scratched against bone, he endured the agony, knowing the dog’s bite anchored it to him. With one strong shove, Bran twisted the hound’s head, breaking its neck. Its mouth went slack and it dropped to the asphalt.
    Panting, he squared off with the hellhound that had been atop Mairi’s car. This one was bigger, wiser. The alpha of the pack. And Bran was wounded. Already he could feel the venom of the dog’s bite poisoning his blood.
    They watched each other, two predators circling, waiting for the other to make a mistake. He was aware of the others watching him from the window of the office. They were as powerless as he in this mortal realm. Outside the walls of Velvet Haven, their magic was weak. His friends could not help him, at least not out here. If he could make his way to the office, he might be able to gather enough strength to conjure the magic he needed to fight off the remaining hounds. Then he needed to get back to Annwyn, where Cailleach could heal him of the poison that was now coursing through his bloodstream. If only he could inch back five steps. But the hellhound knew what he needed, and signaled another of his pack to guard the office door. There was now a rabid animal at his back and his front.
    Morgan had trained them well. They knew his weakness and that pissed him off. He despised being weak.
    Bleeding, he swiped his brow with his arm, feeling his blood trickle down his temple as he watched the alpha pace back and forth, waiting for his moment to strike. Bran pulled a