Free DANCE WITH THE DEVIL by Sherrilyn Keynon Page A

solid hit the wall next to her.
    Sasha yelped.
    Terrified of what Zarek had done to her companion, Astrid knelt on the floor and felt her way over to where Sasha was lying before the hearth.
    "Sasha?" She ran her trembling hand through his fur, seeking wounds.
    He didn't move.
    Her heart stopped beating as terror filled her. If anything had happened to Sasha, she would kill Zarek herself!
    Please, please be all right…
    "Sasha?" She held him close and reached out with her thoughts to his.
    "I'll kill him. So help me, I will."
    She shook in relief at Sasha's anger. Thank Zeus he was alive!
     
    Zarek pulled his torn shirt off and used it to contain the blood on his right arm, neck, and shoulder where the pooch had shredded his skin with its claws and teeth.
    He barely contained his fury. He hadn't been wounded this many times in a single hour since the day he'd died.
    Snarling, he stared at the swollen red flesh. He hated to be wounded.
    It was all he could do not to go back to the den and make sure that damned dog never attacked another living thing in its life.
    He wanted blood. Wolf blood.
    For that matter, he wanted human blood. One quick nip to calm his fury and remind him of what he was.
    Just one taste of her…
    Astrid came inside the bathroom and ran into him.
    He growled at the warm sensation of her body slamming into his.
    Without comment, she pushed him away from the sink and knelt down to retrieve a first-aid kit.
    "You could have said 'Excuse me.' "
    "I'm not talking to you," she snapped.
    "Love you, too, babe."
    She froze at his sarcasm and glared in his general direction. "You really are an animal, aren't you?"
    Zarek ground his teeth at her words. It was all anyone had ever seen him as. He was too old now to change his ways. "Woof, woof."
    Huffing at him, she started to leave, then stopped. She turned back toward him with a snarl. "You know, I have no idea where you come from and I don't really care. Nothing gives you the right to hurt other people or Sasha. He was only protecting me, while you… You're nothing but a bully."
    Zarek stood immobile while vicious, horrid images tore through his memory. The sight of his village in flames.
    Of bodies lying scattered all around.
    The faint sounds of people screaming.
    The fury inside his heart that demanded blood…
    He winced as pain lacerated him. He hated his memories almost as much as he hated himself.
    "One day someone needs to teach you some civility." Astrid turned and headed back toward the den.
    "Yeah," he said, curling his lip. "Go tend your dog, princess.
He
needs you."
    Zarek, on the other hand, didn't need anyone.
    He never had.
    With that thought in mind, he went to the room where he'd awakened.
    Storm or no storm, it was time for him to leave.
    He pulled his coat on over his bare chest and buttoned it. It too had been damaged by the gunshot and would leave his healing back exposed to the weather. So be it.
    It wasn't as if he could freeze to death anyway. There were some advantages to immortality.
    The hole would just make for a nice cool breeze to run down his spine until he could find more clothes.
    After he was dressed, he headed for the door and did his best not to notice Astrid, who was on her knees in front of the warm fire, soothing and consoling her pet as she tended him.
    The sight made him ache in a way he wouldn't have thought possible.
    Yeah, it was time he got the hell out of here.
    "He's leaving."
    Astrid started at the sound of Sasha in her head. "
What do you mean, he's leaving?"
    "He's behind you right now, dressed and headed outside."
    "Zarek?"
    She was answered by the slamming of her door.

Chapter 5
    Zarek froze outside the door. Literally and figuratively. The bite of the wind was so harsh that it took his breath and sent a fierce shiver down his entire body.
    It was so cold outside that he could barely move. The snow was falling fast and furiously, and was so dense that he couldn't see more than about an inch from the tip of his