Free Dark Knight of the Skye by Robin Renee Ray

a golden ring with a silver cross melted into it to put on her finger.
    “Are you already giving me jewelry?” D`nae jokingly asked, taking the ring from Grady.
    “Have you been paying attention? These thing can save your life, D`nae. You put that on and don’t take it off for any reason… do you understand?”
    “Yeah, breathe, okay? I’m the one that should be biting people’s heads off right about now. No pun intended,” she said giving him a look that said “well”, with one brow raised high.
    “Do you always have to be so damn cute? I know better than to ask if you always have to be right, I’m pretty sure I already know the answer to that.” They both smiled at one another, him looking at her more like a woman he could see himself with for the rest of his life, and her seeing more of a dear friend in the caring eyes that looked back at her.
    “Any questions?” he asked.
    “About what?”
    “The stuff I just showed you, everything we’ve gone over?” he replied shaking his head in slow motion.
    She giggled. “Sorry, I guess getting told that a bunch of blood suckers want to kill me didn’t stop my blond roots from slipping through.”
    “I can’t believe you just popped off a joke. I almost asked if you were really a blond,” he laughed. “We’ve got to take off. I’ll make sure the area is well checked before we hit our leads.”
    “When will you be back?”
    “Soon, but if you need me for anything, you hit those two numbers on the phone I gave you and I’ll be here.”
    “Just in case, I want you to know that I appreciate what you’re doing for me,” she said, taking hold of his hand.
    “First, there’s no ‘in case’,” he said wrapping his arms around her. “And when are you going to learn that I would do a hell of a lot more than this… if you would just let me.”
    She nodded against his chest and stepped back. He walked over to the door, stealing one more glance at her before stepping out and secured the door from the outside. The first thing D`nae did was pick up the phone and hit the two numbers that he had instructed her to and the back door flew open.
    “Just checking,” she said with a smile as wide as she could get it. He smiled back. “I should’ve said emergency only.” He winked and was back out the door as fast as he had come in.
    D`nae had been asleep for a good three hours when she woke all of a sudden. She rolled over on her cot to look at the time and saw that it was fifteen after two in the deep morning. She sat up, stretched her arms above her head then got up to see what there was to drink in the small portable fridge. No sooner than she stood something hit the back door with enough force to crack the wall that it was attached to. She screamed and ran for the phone. The first number she tried out of pure fear was her mother’s. When nothing happened, she franticly started hitting the end button. Bang! Something crashed into the window and she screamed again, almost dropping the phone.
    She had punched the first number when the window and a form crashed through, shards of wood and metal slammed into the wall behind her. She dove to the side, landing hard on the floor and when she opened her eyes, to her own amazement the phone was still in her hand. She did not hesitate to hit the second number. She felt the pressure around her ankles seconds before her body was being yanked to the middle of the floor. The creature that stood above her knocked the phone out of her hand. D`nae saw one of the small bottles of holy water laying on its side not two feet from her. She rolled for it and was immediately swung back over onto her back. She popped off the small top and gave her attacker a face full.
    The male creature started to scream, grabbing at the skin that now sizzled and melting from its face. The back door came down like it was hit by a steamroller and what she saw next drove her insanity to a whole new level. Two young men walked around the fur-covered