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protect her, with his life if need be. He owed her that much.
Dane jumped down from the stage. I m out of here.
Wait, Tynan reached out and grabbed his arm as he walked past him. Dane growled,
baring his teeth. Will you stay and guard the place? I need to talk to Moon.
Dane looked at him and then down at Moon held tight in his arms. Tynan saw a strange
look cloud the man s dark eyes before he nodded his assent.
~* * *~
Moon allowed Tynan to lead her up the dark stairs at the back of the youth club, his
warm hand engulfing her cold one. He was a near black outline moving before her and an
ominous thought flitted across her mind. What if he was one of the sinister shadows that
lurked in the dark and was able to turn into the stuff of her nightmares?
His hand tightened on hers, and he stilled on the stair above her for an instant, as if
sensing her apprehension. She sucked in a shuddering breath and continued to be led
upstairs. Her body was now numb from shock, though her mind was racing a million miles
an hour.
Tynan opened the door to the room she d led him to the first night she met him. The
bright pink sheets were still strewn across the bed from where he d slept. He released her
hand, and she walked straight over to it, sitting down to grab the material and twisting it
between her fingers. Her legs trembled as the shock of what happened finally began to
register in her brain. She was glad to sit. She didn t think she had the strength to stand
anymore.
Tynan paced in front of her, running his hand over the back of his neck. Up here, in the
quiet sanctuary of the room she could almost believe that what happened downstairs had
been her imagination. But she could feel tension coming off Tynan, and it fed her own.
Downstairs, she had looked in his eyes and saw the man who d made love to her. The
man he said only she knew. She desperately wanted to believe that all this had a rational
explanation. Wanted to believe him. But did she really know him? How could she believe
anything? Everything she ever took for granted as a functional reality had just been blown
to smithereens.
I m sorry, said Tynan, stopping his pacing to face her. I didn t want you to get
involved in this.
Sincerity dripped from his every word, and the knot in her chest relaxed. Involved in
what? I don t understand any of this.
72
Tynan expelled a long sigh and came to sit beside her on the bed. The warmth of him
seeped into her. His leg pressed against the length of hers; his muscular arm wrapped
around her shoulder. Up here, alone with him, she felt safe and protected instead of the
insanity of downstairs. Fear trickled down her spine. She didn t want to need a man to feel
safe, especially when men weren t always men. She wanted Tynan for who he was, not for
what he could give to her. She only hoped that he was a man.
There are worlds within worlds. Humans believe they re the top of the evolutionary
chain. That their world, the one they choose to see, is the only world. He ran his fingers
through her hair. That s not true. There are things people don t understand, don t see and
don t want to know about. That s my world. That s where I live.
Where hell has frozen over? she asked, remembering his words.
Yeah, he laughed before sobering again. The top of the chain in my world are called
Versipellis. It translates to shape shifters. It s where humans got their myths about
werewolves and monsters that lurk in the dark. They are both human and animal at the
same time. Like Dane, downstairs. He s a polar bear and a human. The worst of them feed
off the blood of true humans.
She tensed in his arms, his words making their way to her brain. What he suggested
seemed incomprehensible.
And that s where we come into it. The Venatoris Versipellis. The hunters of the shape
shifters. I m a venator. I hunt those who prey on the humans.
She turned to face him. Why are they here now?
They re always here, but the Dark Moon is nearly upon us and it calls to them, making
them congregate in greater numbers.
Dark Moon? She lived here all her life, and she d never heard the term before. But
then again, she never knew the most influential businessman in the city, Zale Saffron, could
turn into a wolf either.
When the sun doesn t rise for twenty four hours, the darkness reigns and the shifters
come out to party. They go into a feeding frenzy, and I don t know if they feed off each
other s energy or if the magic of the Dark Moon gives them additional powers. But they are
always stronger, more vicious around this time.
Moon reached out and ran a finger down his hard jaw line where his open wound
festered only days before. Are you human or not? Is that why your wound healed so
quickly?
Yes, I m human. But different too. We re stronger than humans, and we have powers
to heal ourselves. We can t do our job if we re injured. Some of us have powers to heal
others as well. I don t know how it all works. The venator brotherhood guards their magic
well.
A thought occurred to her. Was Rory a venator?
He nodded.
73
And did a shape shifter animal kill him? She wasn t sure why she needed to know,
but all of a sudden it seemed vitally important, like a missing piece of a puzzle that had
finally been found.
Tynan nodded.
It was why Tynan was here and why they were after him. And now they were after her.
74
Chapter Sixteen
Searing agony sliced through Tynan s mind. He cried out, grabbed at his head and
doubled over in aguish.
Tynan, what s wrong? Moon s concerned voice made its way through the fog of his
brain, and he felt her small cool hands against his arms.
The voice he always tried to block out of his head snarled to life. It had been many
years since he d last heard his sire s deep vibrating voice; the last words he d uttered had
been damning him to hell.
So now you know my little secret. Pity you found out a little earlier than I d planned. Still, I did
have fun this evening and I met your pretty little friend.
Tynan grimaced and fought with all his willpower to block Zale out of his mind.
I smelled your scent all over her. She seems very tasty. I think I ll come and get her like you did
to my wife? But maybe not as quickly. I do like to play with my food first.
Red rage flashed across Tynan s mind. Touch her and I ll kill you, he gritted his teeth
and tried to block off his thoughts. Get out of my head you bastard.
Zale laughed and it threatened to splinter Tynan s head. He screamed and fell to the
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