Free Beast of Fire -- a Demon Hunting Sexy Romance by Lisa Renée Jones Page A

“She’s gone!” Kresley shouted from behind him. “This way, Lucan! This way!"
    Lucan turned to find Kresley holding open the drape. Another forceful blow hammered the door behind him; more wood splintered. Whoever wanted in was damn close to making it happen.  
    Adrenaline charged through Lucan as he shoved Kresley behind him, cursing his lack of weapons.
    Anticipating the enemy's next action, Lucan charged toward Kresley, reaching her side a moment before the door exploded behind him.  
    He grabbed Kresley by the shoulders. “Go! I’ll meet you at your apartment.”
    “No!” she said. “I…I can’t leave you!”
    “You can and you will!” he shouted, a moment before someone grabbed him from behind. Lucan screamed at Kresley. “Go!” Then he whirled around and grabbed his attacker, praying silently that Kresley listened. And he was almost certain she would not.  
    ***
    The sound of Lucan doing battle with numerous attackers ripped through the air in thunderous crashes, grunts, and curses. Kresley’s chest heaved as she leaned against the wall in the narrow hallway in a secret passage of some sort. Her heart raced, her mind slowed, reached for options to save Lucan, but to no avail. She simply didn’t know what to do. She had no swords, no chance of producing them.  
    He was outnumbered, and her fire seemed the only answer. But did she dare risk setting the building on fire? What if it spread to other structures? Think Kresley! Think! She inhaled.   Tried to get some air. Sucked in a breath. Let it out. Reached for rational thought. She’d practiced using her fire with precision back at the ranch, worked to make it a weapon without catastrophic results.  
    She could do this. Right. She kicked off her shoes to allow more agility, and silently willed herself to move. Move! She shoved off the wall, no time to second-guess her actions, and charged back toward the room, back to Lucan.  
    What she found forced a barely contained gasp. The table was now a pile of wood, pieces tossed to the side. Lucan was on his knees, ropes around his wrists, the ropes held by a man on each side, with Lucan's arms pulled open as far as they would extend. There were at least four other large men crammed in the tiny room, one of which stood with his back to Kresley, a sword in his hand, and she’d been around the Demon world long enough to know why. Beheading was an easy, certain way to kill any creature, be it Demon or other being.  
    Suddenly, Lucan maneuvered somehow, jerked the two ropes, yanking the two men attached to them toward him. In a flash, the rope was around one of their necks. The others closed in on him, the swordsman yelling for them to hold Lucan down.  
    Kresley darted forward and raised her hand toward the swordsman’s back. Using one finger only, she let her fire loose, reaching for exactness in her targeting, for control. One short shot of fire rocketed through the air and did exactly what she'd hoped – it singed the swordsman's back without sending the room into flames. He screamed, his sword falling to the ground in a loud thud.   He dropped to his knees and then rolled, snuffing the flames at his back with the impact of the floor. The other men stood in stunned silence. Then, without warning, they departed, streaming one after another, out through the cracked door. Kresley frowned at the fleeing wolves. That had been too easy. Something had spooked them, and Kresley had a feeling they didn’t want to stay around and find out what.  
      Lucan struggled to rip the ropes from his wrists even as he sidestepped the injured swordsman who was still crumpled on the ground.  
    “Go!” he shouted, his long legs eating up the short space between them. Kresley raced for the door, this time confident that Lucan was on her heels. She darted through the door, and shot down the hallway, scooping up her shoes in a smooth move that barely slowed her pace.
    Kresley shoved open the back door, bursting into