Xanthus paced around his Harley-Davidson motorcycle and suppressed the urge to hit something. He’d been tracking the half-human and her male companion all evening. He shook his head over the name he’d heard the human call her. Sara. In Atlantian, that name meant princess. Right. She was no princess. She was a criminal.
Xanthus growled like a trapped animal as his eyes once again shot over to Sara’s building. The adrenaline-rich blood pumping through his body told him something was wrong.
His brain didn’t know what to think.
He’d followed Sara most the night. Ron turned out to be full of surprises. After the concert, he’d taken Sara to a club filled with retched humans. Xanthus had barely escaped the place with his shirt on. The human women were so persistent, pressing in on him. He’d barely glimpsed Ron leaving with Sara—nearly losing them as they left. When they’d reached her apartment, Ron carried her into the building as she slept.
Xanthus’s instincts had been in overdrive the entire night. Ron’s hands had been on her, touching her, holding her, and that had driven Xanthus to the brink of madness. It took a concerted effort not to seize the human by the throat and rip out his windpipe, but that had been the hormones talking. Sara was his target, not Ron. Why couldn’t he remember that? He had been consumed with irrational thoughts all evening.
From what he could tell, Sara didn’t seem to like Ron. She’d worn a sour expression the entire night, but she’d fallen asleep in his car. She may not like him, but she must trust him enough to sleep in his presence.
Still, human men could be unpredictable.
Ron should have simply put her in bed and left. Xanthus had been waiting for that opportunity. This chance would not slip by him. This honorable soldier had an execution to carry out. He wouldn’t hesitate again.
If only the human would leave.
Xanthus glanced at his watch. It’d been five minutes. Ron should have been out by now, shouldn’t he? Hades. Xanthus didn’t know. Maybe he was overreacting, but as the time ticked on without Ron leaving, Xanthus’s animal instincts clawed at him. He took one more glance at his watch. Six minutes. He couldn’t wait any longer.
He was going in.
Xanthus stood in front of Sara’s apartment door and knocked. Her scent filled his nostrils and his mind. Then he caught another scent—much milder, but it had him nearly blind with rage. A male pheromone. Ron was aroused. Depending on what he found, Xanthus might have to kill the both of them tonight.
He nearly splintered the wood as he pounded his fist on the door.
“Who is it?” Ron asked, clearly annoyed.
“Open the door.”
Ron yanked the door open, his eyes burning with fury. “What…” His voice choked off as he saw Xanthus’s hulking figure fill the doorway. Xanthus ducked under the doorframe and stepped inside, his eyes searching, trying to catch a glimpse of Sara. Ron stumbling as he stepped back.
“Who do you think you are? You can’t just barge in here.”
“Where’s Sara?” Xanthus said, towering over Ron.
“She’s in bed.”
“Are you sharing the bed with her?”
“That’s none of your business. You’re not her father. Sara’s an adult. She can have whomever she wants in her apartment and in her bed.”
“Your kind is not worthy to be in the same room as her, much less in her bed.” Xanthus snarled while he pushed through her bedroom door.
He looked down at her lying across her mattress. His breath caught at the sight of the Dagonian woman this close. She was beautiful, stunning. Black hair haloed around her head and across the pillow. Her shirt lay open, exposing flesh covered with reddened splotches and reeking of Ron’s scent. Yet, somehow, she slept peacefully—no, she was unconscious. Xanthus growled at that realization. She was innocent in this situation and it appeared her innocence remained intact. Her wrap and skirt still covered her—untouched. He sighed in relief.
Xanthus heard Ron scrambling through the kitchen in an attempt to make his escape. Less than a second later, Ron yelped as Xanthus seized him by the hair.
“You think you can commit this crime and go on your way?” Xanthus thought of the many ways he would love to hurt this foul creature, but he knew he’d have to answer for his actions. By being here, Sara herself had broken the law. If her secret had been discovered, he would have had nothing restraining him from killing this man, but her secret remained safe. Regretfully, that fact kept Ron safe from permanent arm.
Still, Xanthus could frighten him—give him a reason to fear coming near her again. That would be justified.
Fifteen minutes later, Ron was sobbing like an infant and cowering on the linoleum floor in a puddle of urine. Xanthus tired of the stench, more than ready to let the sniveling coward go. “Ron, I’m going to allow you to leave. But if I ever see you near Sara again, even if it’s unintentional, you’re a dead man. And it won’t be quick—I’ll make you suffer. Do you understand me?” Xanthus clutched Ron’s shirt, twisting it so hard that it cut into his neck.
“I understand,” Ron sobbed. “You won’t see me again.”
Xanthus released him and Ron scrambled out the door.
Xanthus shook his head when he realized the idiocy of his threat. It was pointless. He would be killing Sara in a moment. She would be dead and gone before the night was through.
Xanthus stepped into her bedroom. Light from the kitchen spilled onto her bed, draping across her sleeping form. Her chest rose with every breath. She slept, unaware of the predator stalking her. Xanthus’s heart pounded and sweat broke out across his forehead as he looked down on her angelic face.
Now was the time. He had to do it.
Breaking her neck would be the best option. Her death would be quick, painless, and not a drop of blood would spill.
He moved to her side. The swells of her breasts rose and fell in her peaceful sleep. His looked her over and struggled to keep his mind off the fact that she was a helpless woman. Her face, her body, everything about her looked delicate, breakable. Out of all the criminals he’d killed in his lifetime, he’d killed very few females. Especially not lush, beautiful…
Hades, he couldn’t kill her… not with her looking like this.
He moved closer and leaned forward. His fingers fumbled with her buttons. He just needed to close her shirt, and then he’d kill her.
He’d just fastened the last one, when her eyes fluttered and then flew open wide as she gasped. She frantically searched the room and then his face. Her tiny hands clasped around his forearms. “Help me! Please don’t let him hurt me. He drugged me. He’s going to…” Her words turned into a heart-wrenching sob as she threw her arms around his chest. Xanthus jerked back, startled at her sudden embrace. He sat frozen for just a moment before his arms pulled her trembling body against his. Her quiet whimpers cut through to his heart. “Shh. It’s okay,” he found himself saying.
“He’s going to hurt me,” she quietly wailed.
“No, Sara. I won’t let him hurt you. It’s okay. You’re safe.” He held her tight, stroking her hair and mumbling words of comfort as she wept against his chest.
Sara’s cries soon quieted as drug-laden sleep overtook her again. Still, Xanthus continued to hold her, continued to caress her. He shouldn’t have let the filthy human go. He should have broken his neck after he stuffed his beating heart down it.
Xanthus lowered Sara’s limp, slumbering body onto her bed and pulled a blanket over her. Raking his fingers through his hair, he stood. Tears sparkled on her cheeks. Without a thought, he brushed them away with his thumb.
Several minutes later, Xanthus returned to his motorcycle. “Well, that didn’t exactly go as planned,” he said. Now he’d never have the heart to kill her. Perhaps he never had.
He sighed in defeat.