Free Seducing the Demon Huntress by Victoria Davies Page A

it from his throat, slicing through muscle and skin in the process.
    Agony to match her own filled his eyes as he flickered from view. With a spray of blood the demon king vanished, banished back to his own realm for another year.
    Without his support, Kerilyn crumpled to the ground.
    “Kerilyn!” Arawn thundered, leaping to catch her.
    She forced herself to keep her eyes open. Time was not something she had in spades and she didn’t want to waste a second of her last moments.
    Arawn looked wild in a way she’d never seen before. The lord she knew was calm and collected. He never wore the panicked, desperate look she now saw in his eyes.
    “You fought with me,” she whispered, coldness creeping into her body. “I didn’t really believe you would. Sorry.”
    “Fool,” he charged without heat.
    Kerilyn raised a weak hand and touched his perfect face. As last sights went, this one wasn’t bad.
    “Looks like it’s our last Halloween after all,” she told him.
    He caught her hand, pressing a kiss into her palm. “You’re going to let a demon get the best of you?”
    She laughed painfully. “Don’t think I have much choice this time.” Blackness edged her vision but she didn’t want to close her eyes. Not yet. “Sarah,” she said, trying to force her lips to form the words. “Help her. Please.”
    “Your niece has nothing to fear from me,” he promised her solemnly.
    She tried to smile her thanks. There was so much she wanted to say. Apologies for not trusting him as she should have. Confessions of feelings she’d kept secret for too many years. But her tongue felt heavy in her mouth.
    “Cold,” she whispered weakly, unable to express herself better.
    Slowly the panic in his eyes was replaced by something else. His face filled with a strange expression of determination.
    “I rule the dead,” he told her. “And I refuse to let you cross that line.”
    Laying her on the ground, he grabbed her shirt and ripped it open, exposing her wound.
    “I’m human,” she forced herself to say.
    “I know,” he assured her. Turning his attention to her wound, he laid a cool hand over the torn flesh.
    “What...?” Kerilyn tried to ask.
    “Shhh,” he whispered. “Sleep.”
    Kerilyn saw his hand start to burn with black fire before she lost her fight with unconsciousness and slipped into the darkness.
    * * *
    When she opened her eyes the first thing she realized was she was warm. The dead weren’t supposed to be warm. Her vision was still hazy, but she dimly made out the installation tubing running across the ceiling. Kerilyn twitched her fingers to make sure she still could. Surprisingly, there was no pain. Instead she felt someone’s arms wrapped around her as she was hugged tight against a chest.
    Slowly, she twisted her head until she could make out the outline of black braids hanging beside her face. Raising her eyes, she saw a familiar face.
    Arawn’s head bent toward hers, his eyes closed as if in pain.
    Kerilyn had to swallow twice before she forced out one word. “Arawn.”
    The arms around her stiffened and his dark eyes opened in shock. For once, his thoughts were not a mystery. Kerilyn had never seen such incredible joy before. Relief relaxed his face as a true smile curved his lips.
    “I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered.
    Weakly, Kerilyn smiled. “Me too.”
    The memory of her wounds flooded back to her and she glanced over his shoulder. But instead of the army of demons she expected to see, the warehouse was empty.
    “Sarah,” she breathed in panic.
    “Shh,” Arawn replied. “She’s right here.”
    With Arawn’s help, Kerilyn managed to sit up. Arawn had moved her closer to her niece and when she turned, there was Sarah huddled in her salt circle. The little girl watched her with large eyes, the salt container clutched to her chest. Kerilyn could only imagine the nightmares the child would suffer after this night.
    “You’re alive!” Sarah exclaimed, scrambling to the edge of