salt all over his head.
She stood back waiting for the wailing and the skin bubbling to begin. But nothing happened.
He just looked at her, a rather pissed-off look in his eyes, then wiped at the water dripping off his chin. The glass of the ampul made a nick in his skin. Blood beaded to the surface. He dabbed at it with his thumb.
“You’re not melting.”
He ran a big hand through his tousled dark hair, and then said, “Yeah, about that.”
Chapter 2
Ronan Ames knew exactly who he was standing in front of. Ivy Strom was legendary. Especially in the demon world. She looked exactly how everyone described her.
Gorgeous, with silky black hair, luminous blue eyes and a dynamite body, but as cold and razorsharp as icicles.
She’d removed one of her blades and had it pressed against his neck. “Are you a demon?”
He had to think about his answer. Because he knew if he gave her the wrong one, she’d slide that blade right into his throat.
“No,” he said, and then added, “Not really.”
She frowned, pressing the tip into his flesh. “Is it no, or not really?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Well, you better explain it before I run you through.”
“How about lowering the knife, and then I will explain.” He put his hands out to the side to show her that he wasn’t holding a weapon. He had a bunch strapped to his body, though, but he didn’t need to tell her that.
Ice-blue eyes narrowing, she lowered the knife and took a step back. He noticed she made no move to sheath her blade. He wasn’t surprised. She was infamous for being cautious to the point of paranoia. Probably how she’d stayed alive so long.
“Speak.”
He lowered his hands. “Before I tell you, I want you to know that I am not your enemy and, in fact, we are after the same demon.”
She cocked one eyebrow but remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
“I have demon blood in my veins.”
She flinched, and her blade came up.
But he was prepared this time.
He blocked her arm and quicker than she could see he grabbed her other arm, swung her around and pressed her tight to his body, effectively pinning both arms to her sides.
She struggled against him, cursing up a storm. There were even a few choice words he’d rarely heard before, especially from female lips.
“Stop,” he grunted. “I told you, I am not your enemy.”
“Then why are you restraining me?” She tried to dig her boot heel into his shin, but he moved his leg in time.
“Because you’re trying to hurt me.”
That seemed to give her pause and she ceased struggling.
With her still in his arms, he became acutely aware of her tantalizing scent and the way her hard body fit against his. Heat from her form spilled over onto him and sent a ripple of pleasure over him.
Ivy Strom was enticing to say the least, distracting at most. Just from their brief struggle, he could tell how strong she was, how agile and fierce. He didn’t have to see under her clothes to know that she’d be well muscled and toned. The delectable swell of her behind rubbed him in all the right places at definitely the wrong time.
Despite his demon blood, he was also a man, and he couldn’t help his reaction to her.
She must’ve noticed because she shook her head and growled, “Release me now. Before I cut it off.”
Ronan released her, pushing her forward and taking a distancing step away. “I apologize. It’s just you’re, ah, attractive.”
She smirked. “And you’re obviously still in high school.”
He gave her a small smile. “Evidently.”
Her lips twitched at that, but she fought it before they could form a smile. He did notice the playful glint in her piercing eyes, though. Interesting. Something he might have to consider later.
“So you’re a cambion,” she said.
He shrugged. “Yeah. My lot in life.”
“I’ve heard of them existing. But it’s pretty rare. Don’t most die when going through the transformation?”
“Yup. I didn’t. Lucky me.”
She studied him for a moment, and then shook her head in anger. “Yeah, well, thanks to you, I lost my mark.” She sheathed her blade. “I’m going to have a hell of a time finding him again.”
“I think I can help with that.”
She eyed him warily. “How?”
“I know where he lives.”
“Where?”
He shook his head. “It’s not going to be that easy. I want to team up with you.”
“Forget it.” She turned to go, but he grabbed her arm. She glared down at his hand.
“We’re both after the same thing. Makes sense to team up.”
“Maybe to you, but not to me.” She lifted her gaze to his. It was intense and fierce and he sensed that she was grinding her teeth to stop from ripping off his arm and beating him with it. “Remove your hand.”
He did. “Fine. Good luck trying to track him down again.”
Ronan straightened his leather jacket, then turned to go back down the alley. He walked maybe ten feet before he could sense her watching him. His spine actually tingled. It was weird. No woman had given him a reaction like that.
He made it to the mouth of the lane and was about to turn left to go back to his car when her voice reached him.
“Wait.”
Ivy grimaced at the thought of working with this man, but she was desperate enough to consider it. She’d labored for this tip for months to lose it in a matter of seconds. Who knew how long it would be before she received another reliable one? In the meantime, the demon would kill another woman or two. She didn’t know if she could handle that, recognizing she could’ve done something about it.
She didn’t know a lot about cambions. They were rare because it was extremely unusual, if not impossible, to survive a demon attack. It was like being infected with a virus. A fast-acting virus that radically changed your physiology. Thankfully, it could only be passed through blood transfer. According to myth, cambions possessed many of the
