Demon Huntress

Next time, she might not be so lucky.

"Good evening." A petite blonde woman in godawful fuchsia scrubs stood next to the bed. How she got there without her hearing, she had no clue. "You look better than you did when you came in, what with all the blood and bite marks and Anzu demon bits splattered all over. And you really should rethink the red leather. It clashes with your hair."

"The red hides the bloodstains, and who the hell are you? The fashion police?" Her voice sounded scratchy, unused.

The air-headed twit shook her head as if shu lan had been serious. "Nurse Hui yin. I brought food, but you can't eat until Dr. Ming jie removes the restraints." She smiled, revealing shiny fangs. "Obviously, the restraints are necessary, seeing how your kind are merciless murderers and all."

Shu lan stared. "Pot, meet kettle."

"Thanks, Hui yin. I've got it. Go home. We'll see you tomorrow." The masculine voice shivered through Shu lan like a forbidden p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. Vodka for the alcoholic. Cheesecake for the dieter. O.r.g.a.s.m for the monk. "Hello, Shu lan"

"Hey, Dr. Evil." She didn't look. What if she'd dreamed up his good looks? What if he had horns, hooves, and porcupine quills?

Hui yin's bubbly laughter followed her out the door, and what kind of vampire chatted and giggled like a brain-dead cheerleader? Didn't really matter, though. The vamp would die in a rain of embers and ashes just like any other bloods.u.c.k.i.n.g fiend. shu lan just wished the remains weren't so greasy. Washing that crap out of clothes was a bitch.

But then, such was the life of a member of The Berus, the unsung protectors of the world. The secret guardians of humanity. The Hunters of demons and things that went bump in the night.

And all the other bullshit that was supposed to make Shu lan feel warm and fuzzy, but that only reminded her how she had nothing better to do with her life than hang out in monster-infested alleys that smelled like rancid piss.

After all, it was hard to find a legitimate job when you had an arrest warrant for murder hanging over your head.

Then again, even if she had a perfect record and a freakin' doctorate to her name, nothing would change. She'd still spend her nights patrolling the Linzhou City underground she knew more intimately than anyone should, searching for evil filth to squash.

Evil filth like the doctor whose footsteps grew louder as he approached. She closed her eyes, still unable to face him. It wasn't until she felt the head of the bed jack up that she dared to peek.

Chills shivered over her skin. Dressed in green scrubs, he was just as she'd remembered, all muscle and angular features and brown eyes that flashed with intelligence and confidence. That wicked tattoo on his right arm shimmered, its sharp, curved lines blurring when she looked too closely.

She'd fought demons for eight of her twenty-four years, but never had she encountered one whose devastatingly powerful presence filled her with a sense of awe. It was as though he was pure s.e.x.u.a.l energy contained in a wrapper of smooth, bronze skin, and damn, it wasn't fair that a demon should be so cover-model handsome.

Too bad she'd have to ruin his looks with the bruising end of her right hook.

"I'm going to release your wrist restraints so you can eat. Don't try to fight me. The hospital is under the protection of an antiviolence spell."

Sure. She waited until he'd freed her hands. Then she smiled. And took a swing at his jaw.

Pain nearly sheared off the top of her skull. She fell back, clutching her head with both hands.

"I warned you."

"My a.s.s," she g.r.o.a.n.e.d. "You wanted me to try something."

"Maybe a little."

When the pain dimmed, she narrowed her eyes at him. "That's why I'm still alive, isn't it? The spell. You probably want to kill me but can't."

He shrugged and marked something on her chart. "I also want to be inside you again, so I wouldn't read too much into my instincts."

She nearly choked on her own saliva. "I could have done without the reminder."

Did he mean what he'd said? About being inside her? Not that it was a possibility, because clearly, she had to kill him at the first available opportunity.

"Oh," he said, his voice rumbling through parts that had no business being rumbled, "you remembered all on your own." He set aside the clipboard and put his long, slender fingers to the pulse in her wrist.

"You didn't come, but you wanted to. And I wanted to make you come. Wanted to feel you spasm around me."

His eyes darkened as he took in her face, her throat, her br**sts beneath the hospital gown. "I can still smell what we did. Smell your d.e.s.i.r.e." He pressed more firmly against the skin of her wrist, where her pulse throbbed harder with every word. "I can feel your d.e.s.i.r.e."