CHAPTER ONE
EIRIENNA
Eirienna dodged the strike of a barbed, venomous scorpion tail, and lunged for the seven-foot centipede-like creature's soft underbelly as it reared for another attack.
It wasn't intelligent, but she wasn't complaining. This was her ninth battle in the last two hours, and even Riders of The Wild Hunt didn't have limitless energy.
Demi-demons like the centipede-scorpion were fodder. Nothing more than foot soldiers and minions. If they didn't pose a deadly threat to oblivious humans, she'd ignore them and save her magic.
Something else had come through the gateway tonight. A powerful demon. She sensed it in the prickle down her spine and raised hairs on the nape of her neck. And she wasn't going home until she'd hunted down that monster and killed it, no matter how many demi-demons it tossed in her way.
Her wooden sword slid into the demi-demon's flesh, and she used her magic to extend limbs from the blade, so her sword resembled a spiky tree. The branches tore through the demon's body as they grew.
There was no telling where it stored its life source. These mishmash creatures were all assembled differently, but somewhere, it had the equivalent of a heart. She just had to find it, and pierce it.
The demi-demon screamed as a sharp branch tore through something vital.
Found it.
Orange blood bubbled onto the sidewalk as the creature writhed in its death throes. The monster collapsed, and died with a sound like a deflating balloon.
Eirienna wrested her blade out of the corpse and shook globs of sticky gore onto the pavement. It would all vanish. Without a constant source of magic, whatever the demi-demons were made of couldn't exist in this human world.
She still hadn't tracked down the rift -- an invisible hole in the barrier that should keep the demi-demons in the dimension they thrived in.
The portals had shifted again, expanding the ongoing war between demons and the Fae into other worlds, and that meant The Wild Hunt had new territories to defend.
Retracting the branches of her sword until she held a single stick that resembled a walking cane, Eirienna strolled out of the alley onto crowded sidewalks.
Humans were everywhere, oblivious of the threat. With all their technology, few believed in Other World magic, and couldn't see what was right in front of their faces. For the most part, she ignored them.
Eirienna walked through the city, letting instinct guide her toward her ultimate prey. Being surrounded by tall buildings of concrete, steel, and far too much iron for any Fae to be truly comfortable, made her twitchy. She wanted to kill the real threat and go home.
A full demon was powerful. Most likely out of her league. It bordered on foolish for her to fight one alone. The prospect sparked danger over her skin like tiny bolts of lightning. Eirienna liked nothing better than a challenge.
Sweat trickled down her back inside her leather armor, soaking her shirt, and she lifted her damp red braid from her neck.
Halfway through this world's winter season and no sign of cool weather. Demon incursions did that, bringing the heat of their realm through the rifts, especially when she couldn't find them to close. The city reeked of brimstone, sulfur, and ozone.
Some of her fellow Riders in The Wild Hunt said the damage to the portal was no accident. That traitors had infested the Wild Hunt -- Fae who used their magic to weaken the portal rather than repair it.
Eirienna was Earth Unseelie, a Dearg Due, and had caught suspicious, if surreptitious, glances directed her way. Seelies were so hypocritical. She didn't try to hide her bloodthirsty nature under pretty disguises like they did.
They'd be better off looking elsewhere. Eirienna was no betrayer. She wanted to experience every moment of her life packed with excitement or pleasure, and only hunting made her feel alive.
She licked her fangs.
The Wild Hunt's rules -- so many pointless rules -- prohibited mixing business and pleasure. Like it was a bad thing that she loved her job. Only a fight sharpened her senses like this -- every sight, scent, and sound a spike of delicious sensation.
And demons were evil, homicidal monsters who delighted in tormenting their victims. They deserved to perish. Was it wrong that the danger turned her on? Did that make her a bad girl?
Oh, how she wanted to be bad. Sex was a close second to fighting for bringing her body to life.
A whiff of sulfur carried to her on a breeze, and she adjusted her course toward the park. The smell wasn't all putrid this time. The scent of lust and hot male flesh conjured images of entwined limbs and the feel of silk sheets sliding over her skin, catching on hard nipples, and making them ache.
Hot breath drifted over the shell of her ear and across her cheek. Needy tension coiled deep inside her. Her steps halted and her breath hitched as she grew slick between her legs.
Sharp teeth nipped a path up her inner thigh. She arched, pushing aching flesh closer to that mouth. Strong hands held her in place. The fleeting flick of a tongue against her swollen clit did nothing but increase her torment.
Beg for me, Hunter.
Eirienna growled and closed her hand around the talisman hanging from a leather cord around her neck. The stone heated against her fingers, sending a pulse of energy through her. The boost to her innate magic was her secret weapon, and the reason she could
probably
take on a full demon by herself.
The stone was a lucky find on another world. Its magic had practically screamed at her, though no one else sensed it. Not only did it give her magic a supercharge, sometimes it felt alive and like a companion rather than a mere magical amulet.
"Incubus," she muttered, banishing the naughty visions and sensations from her mind. Whatever had come through the rift tonight was at least part sex demon, and his seductive magic was potent if he could affect her at a distance.
Well, he'd played his cards too soon. A distraction like that could have gotten her killed during a battle, but now she was forewarned.
She wanted him all right.
Dead at her feet.
Toy with her, would he? Demons were filth. He deserved an ugly fate. And she was just the Hunter to give it to him.
CHAPTER TWO
SCATHE
The Fae of The Wild Hunt were formidable, but like most, didn't look up as often as they should. In shadow form, Scathe drifted above Eirienna's head, a silent wisp of blackness in the night.
Invisible.
Deadly.
Fascinated.
The magic in her spell-wreathed sword-branch mesmerized him. She had the muscles of a fighter, and the curves of a woman, displayed to perfection in leather. Such a beautiful, powerful enemy.
Her lean shadow slipped along the moonlit pavement like a wraith as she followed the trail he'd left for her. The energy in the soulstone at her throat made him tingle.
He'd watched Eirienna every night for a week. Stalking the stalker. Tracking her sweet Fae scent through streets as she killed demi-demons, lethal blade flashing.
The lower-level minions, mere lumps of flesh and hatred, were expendable, and easily replaced. Well worth the sacrifice as he studied her. She was interesting. And irresistible. He wanted to know everything about her.
He drifted nearer, ghosting shadowy fingers over her braided red hair, and his shadow form shimmered, aroused. Eirienna smelled tantalizingly of sunshine, female sweat, magic, and blood -- hers and that of her prey.
He'd known she was Fae, of course. Demons and the Fae had been at war for thousands of years, but she was Dearg Due and fed on blood like he fed on souls.
He wanted her to bite him.
Scathe was incubus like she thought, but only part. He was also a shadow demon, ancient and powerful. A shiver down her spine. A whisper in her ear. A tendril of darkness in the night.
