Blaze of Fury by Storm Savage Read Free Book Online Page B

One guy pulled a gun on him. I jumped the
prick to try and stop him. But another dude shot the professor
point blank. I think everyone went into complete shock at that
point because the men opened fire before any of us gained the
presence of mind to run.”
    “Oh my god…I am so sorry,” she muttered.
Tears welled in her eyes over such tragedy and needless loss of
life.
    “They left us for dead, but I was the only
one still alive. That’s when it happened.”
    “What?” She hung on his every word and her
eyes remained locked on the hard lines of his face.
    “I drifted between worlds…you know, like one
of those near death experiences where people see loved ones,
angels, or something supernatural.”
    “Yes, I have read those kinds of stories but
never met anyone who’d actually experienced one.”
    “Well now you have.” He lifted one corner of
his mouth in a derisive manner. “While in that realm a spiritual
being approached me. I saw myself lying facedown in the grass but
at the same time I was suspended in the most peaceful space of time
I’d ever known. The spirit-woman identified herself as the Goddess Shae from the Shasta Realm and told me I was
favored by the realm because of my brave act. She explained that I
had arrived at the place between mortal and immortal worlds where
the spirits of all creatures converge. In that gap, those chosen
are given a new name, a single name, which embraces the nature of
their animal spirit. She gave me the name Ice , because when
I returned to my body I would be the avenger …void of feeling
when called upon to kill. I was given the ability to shift and my
chosen animal is the hawk.”
    Sasha was speechless. This savage-looking man
who she’d deemed nothing more than a cold-blooded killer actually
had been specially selected for a higher purpose.
    “My first assignment was to track down all
the men who took part in that massacre. After fulfilling the
mission a sentinel was appointed to me, a person who watches with
sharp eyes for those in need.”
    “Wow…” she said with a soft gasp. “That is
incredible. Had I not seen you shift this would be a very hard
story to believe.”
    “You believe me?” He sounded surprised.
    “Why wouldn’t I? At least now I understand
you a little better. Is this why you are so outwardly cold? Because
you saw your friends brutally killed?”
    “Perhaps. I shut down that day. I never left
the forest.”
    “Didn’t you need a doctor?”
    “We had learned extensive first aid by then.
I tended my wounds with what nature offered.” He made a sweeping
motion with one arm. “There is life everywhere in the serenity of
these woods. All one needs to do is draw on the sources naturally
available.”
    “How does your shifted form help you? A bird
of prey is not a great threat to humans.”
    “My gift enables me to travel quickly, do the
job, then disappear without a trace. I have extraordinary eyesight
so I can spot the targets from far away. Nobody can catch something
that doesn’t exist.”
    “But you must have to become human to kill.
Do you worry someone might see you?”
    He gave a light shrug. “Sometimes, but not
for reasons you might think. I don’t want to force anyone to live
with what I live with. Witnessing violence is a tough scene to
forget…I know firsthand. I have never killed in front of a witness.
I am fast and precise.”
    She picked quietly at her food while
processing everything he said. They finished their meal in awkward
silence.
    “I have to ask…” She finally spoke up yet
kept her voice soft. “Do you make love to all the women who
contract you?”
    For an instant she thought he might explode
in anger, but an intriguing softness returned to his intense eyes.
“No,” he replied. “You are only the second.”
    “Oh.” She hesitated, wanting to inquire
further but unsure of how.
    Ice released a heavy sigh. “One of my first
assignments was similar to yours except she only needed one target
taken