Skin tingled as adrenaline flooded her system, and she crouched into a fighting stance.
Her gaze scanned her surroundings in search of the enemy as training and instinct kicked in.
Thank God for a human marine colonel father who taught his baby girl to kick some ass when needed .
A pink sizzling bolt arced straight for her, and she rolled to the left. A tingling sensation crackled up her right side, nearly stealing her breath. A rush of pure power—no doubt fueled by adrenaline—surged through her as she completed the roll and landed lightly back on the balls of her feet.
“You did this!” Danen screamed behind her, too intent on his own self-righteous fury to duck.
She shifted her balance and, with one leg extended, swept the man’s feet out from under him, catching his frail form in her outstretched arms before his head hit the blacktop. “Get down, you arrogant ass! I didn’t bring anyone.”
Danen shoved out of her embrace, thumping hard on his ass against the blacktop, and then crab walked away from her. “You’re a traitor, Kiera Matthews!” He pushed up onto his knees and raised his hands, blue energy already sparking from his fingertips.
Without thinking, Kiera straightened, took two running steps and then snapped her right heel forward into a front kick.
The blow caught Danen square in the chest.
The gangly man flew backward to land hard on the rough blacktop. His body bounced once, his skinny limbs akimbo, before he came to rest and lay still.
“Danen!” came a voice from off to her left.
Kiera had no time to check on the old man or even to try to explain. The council guards had a reputation for killing and maiming now and sorting out the truth later.
A pink energy bolt zoomed toward her face before she could do more than close her eyes against the impact.
She held her breath, but other than a surge of power through her entire body, she felt nothing.
Angry shouts and cursing filled her ears, but no searing pain like she had expected.
What the fuck?
Kiera snapped her eyes open in time to see two burly blond guards lunge for her.
She feinted left.
Both guards changed the direction of their attack to follow.
She brought her elbow around, and aided by the first guard’s forward motion, smashed him in the nose.
Hot blood spurted, coating her forearm as she allowed the momentum to bring her full circle.
The injured guard howled in pain and cradled his mangled nose.
With her right foot still planted firmly, she struck out with her left, hitting the second guard just above the kneecap.
A sickening crunch filled the air as his knee dislocated. His ashen features contorted with pain before he crumpled.
She spun around, alert for more attackers, and found only one.
A Klatch—the sworn enemy of her mother’s people. Or at least they had been for the past twenty-four years.
Her fleeting thought of attack was interrupted by his easy, arrogant stance—not to mention he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen.
Lucky for him, unlike most of the Cunts, she attacked only those who threatened her. So she stayed alert and studied the dark stranger.
Mercy, not lust. Yeah, that’s it .
She had seen several half-breed Klatch in her clinic over the years, but had never met a full blood that she knew of—or at least one with this much presence. Power radiated off this man in nearly visible waves, and she had the sudden urge to trace the muscles she saw through his tight black T-shirt.
She knew she should be terrified. After all, this man was an enemy to Cunts everywhere, and yet, all she felt was…safe.
Kiera shoved the disturbing thought aside to study later.
The stranger stood a good six inches taller than her own five-feet-six, with a stocky compact build that reminded her of a boxer. Even when he remained still, he exuded a contained physical energy she somehow knew would be formidable when unleashed.
Thick dark hair fell to his shoulders and shadowed the right side of his face. The left side, which was illuminated by moonlight, was chiseled, rugged and handsome.
His sensual mouth curved into an amused grin, which matched the laughter shining in his dark eyes.
Great. Caught staring like an open-mouthed idiot!
Her mouth went dry and her heart pounded so loud she was surprised he couldn’t hear it. She closed her mouth and moved her balance to the balls of her feet for lack of anything better to do.
“Nice moves.” He held his arms wide as if to show he was no threat. But the sudden wave of heat zinging through her body said differently. “I saw that energy beam hit you in the face.” His voice was rich and dark like decadent chocolate, and she could tell he would have a beautiful tenor singing voice. Hell, just his speaking voice was enough to melt her into a puddle. Kiera wasn’t sure she could handle his singing without experiencing spontaneous combustion—or orgasm.
The thought sent a wave of shivers through her body.
“I have never seen a human survive that,” he continued, thankfully unaware of her thoughts. “Are you all right?”
The word “human” hung in the air between them like an accusation, and the familiar shame of being a half-breed burned inside her chest.
Bastard .
Shame morphed into anger in an instant, and she wrapped it around her like a shield. “No thanks to you, I’m all right.” She stalked forward until she stood just outside his reach. “I spent months getting them to agree to meet, and now the Cunt Council thinks I set them up!”
His dark brow furrowed. “For what—” His gaze snapped to somewhere over her shoulder.
“Look out!” He lunged forward, knocking her over just as a searing wave of heat sizzled past.
Kiera landed on her back, hard. All the air whooshed out of her lungs in a painful rush.
The hot blacktop dug into her skin through her cotton T-shirt, but she barely noticed.
Instead, it was the hard muscles of the very warm male pressing down on her that filled her senses. She raised her gaze and gasped as she nearly drowned in the deep purple—almost black—eyes staring down at her.
A surreal sense of déjà vu and destiny flowed over her, and she frowned against the intense sensation.
His gaze burned into hers for another moment, and then he blinked, breaking the strange spell that held her. He took a deep breath, which only served to press their chests more tightly
