Damian's Assassin

Before she could ponder too long on her weakness, she was yanked out of the car by Talon's lackey. The thick Miami heat had never felt so good! The cool energy her body produced when she healed streamed through her, rousing her as it repaired the latest damage. By the time they entered the building, her arms and legs were responsive again.

The lackey tossed her onto a hard couch in the rear of the house opposite a closed patio door. She pushed herself up when Talon snatched her.

"Keep her drained and weak," he ordered the lackey.

Pain shot through her as Talon bit into one arm. The lackey bit into her other arm, and she cried. Blackness crept into her vision. Talon shoved her back onto the couch.

"Put her in the garage," Talon said.

The lackey picked her up and carted her to the garage, which served as a makeshift barracks filled with cots and sleeping men. He flung her to the ground near the far wall. She landed on a topless bottle of oil and spit the fluid out as it sprayed across her face. She squeezed her eyes closed, unable to move once again.

She felt the poison in Talon's blood, but whatever poison ran in the devil's body was inseparable from him. She couldn't cure whatever it was, and she couldn't make sense of it. There wasn't something wrong with him; he was wrong!

Just like this place, filled with people who hurt her.

Just like being with Aaron.

The thought distracted her, and she both yearned to be with him and hated herself for not being able to shake the thought of him. Still, a life of betrayal with Aaron was nothing compared to a life as Talon's slave! He really wasn't so bad, when compared to here. Maybe, if she made it out of here, she'd go to lunch Sunday and do whatever felt right, like spend her life with him.

Or tell him to go to hell and never come back to Miami. She groaned. Was he really worth her attention on what may be the last day of her life?

The ground rumbled suddenly and the garage walls shook. Silence fell, and the scent of blood and fire wafted into the garage. The men around her were roused by the sensations. None had time to grab the weapons under their cots before gunfire exploded through the garage door and slammed into them. Blood splattered her as someone dropped from the cot beside her to the floor.

She closed her eyes and held her breath against the smells of sulfur and blood. She couldn't run, couldn't move and she tried hard to convince herself to pass out as the garage door was wrenched open.