Free The Witching Hour (The Grim Reaper Saga (Urban Fantasy Romance)) by Marie Hall Page A

positive…
    With a growl he covered himself in stealth and moved quickly through the club.
    Death.
    He stopped and turned.
    Lise stood toe to toe behind him. She’d moved so quick she hadn’t even blurred.
    Lise.
    She smiled. You should hurry. Gray wisps of hair curled around her delicate face, giving credence to the illusion of frailty.
    He frowned.
    Then she was gone. Not even a trace of her remained. Cian shoved blunt fingers through his hair and refocused on his witch’s lifeline.
    He wasn’t sure when he’d started thinking of the dark witch as his, but somehow it seemed right.
    Then a sudden, ripping sensation of panic gnawed at his brain. She was in trouble. He felt it. In his heart. His soul. Her fear hammered at him.
    Running wouldn’t get him to her in time. He opened the portal between the here and there with a swipe of his hand.
    Immediately he was engulfed by color. The shifting lights a dizzying blur as he attuned himself to her spirit.
    Fire rammed through his body, down his skull and into his hand, turning it skeletal.
    Not now. Please.
    He moved quicker than he’d ever dared before. He fell out the portal to his knees, landing in a putrid, brackish puddle of water.
    Vertigo slammed through him. The world shifted out of focus. Dark fear, sick and twisting filled his nostrils, his head. A carnivore devouring his soul, driving out all sanity, all reason, until only a mad desperation remained.
    She needed him.
    Now!
    That thought gave him impetus enough to stand and fight off the overwhelming sensations. What he saw made his insides clench.
    Bezel was crouched before her fallen body. Her sisters were thrown aside, their bodies contorted into unnatural positions. They didn’t look broken, just unconscious. The Were was slumped half in a dumpster.
    The prickle of another reaper shot down his spine. He turned to see Frenzy in shadow.
    Stupid, Cian. You failed her. You should have sensed the trap.
    He clenched his jaw as the dark haze of fury blanketed his mind. He ran, slamming his shoulder into Bezel’s, throwing the demon to the concrete.
    Bezel hissed, his lavender eyes swirling with needles of red. The demon was mad with the taste of blood. One drop was all it took to bring out their baser instincts.
    Cian stood in front of her prone body, his arms outstretched, his legs bent into a fighting stance. “Bezel,” he growled, “she’s mine.”
    The demon jumped up, his normally gregarious face split into one of insanity. He licked his incisors. “Cian, move aside. I’ll kill you if I must,” his voice was hollow and gravelly.
    Cian glanced at Frenzy, and that’s when he noticed the silvery thread of illusion netted across the alleyway. Frenzy had cast a chimera and incited Bezel into the fury.
    “Frenzy, quit the chimera,” Cian barked at the silent figure.
    Frenzy shook his head, his silver eyes sparking with amber flame. “I’m sorry, Cian. I cannot.”
    His hands clenched. Normally one touch from his skeletal hand would be enough to incapacitate. But not with a demon, they were cursed to an existence of neither death nor life. His hand was useless against Bezel. Which left one option, battle the demon and fight off the illusion through pain.
    “Move, Cian!” Bezel howled.
    When Cian didn’t move, Bezel pounced on him. The demon was in a rage, ripping and clawing at his face.
    He hissed as a talon tore through his cheek. Warm blood oozed from the wound into his mouth.
    Cian grabbed Bezel around his scrawny farm boy neck and squeezed. Appearances were deceptive though, the scrawny neck was tough as steel, refusing to give way under his grip.
    Bezel’s wrapped his legs around Cian’s waist, constricting like a python’s deadly squeeze.
    “Wake the hell up, Bezel.” Cian repeated over and over, trying to snap the demon out of the chimera.
    The demon snarled, and slammed a fist into Cian’s chest, taking the breath from his lungs. He dropped to his knees, bringing Bezel down with him. Yet