Hunter's Salvation by Shiloh Walker Read Free Book Online Page B

swung around. The grip Nate had on her arm had her spinning around with him, and Jess found herself staring at the newcomer. If she thought his voice was a welcome intrusion, then actually seeing him was double the pleasure.
    Oh.
    Oh. Wow.
    Even though some bastard was forcibly taking her someplace she really didn’t want to go, even though not one person had looked her way when Nate dragged her out of the bar, and even though she had come thisclose to having to use her talent to save her neck, the only thing she could think was…
    Wow.
    He looked like a warrior angel. Thick, raven black hair fell past his shoulders. There was a small braid at each temple. His face was strong, commanding, with high, arched cheekbones, a mouth that looked almost too soft, a squared chin. She could just barely see a glimpse of rawhide around his neck—some sort of necklace. His skin was a dusky gold color that she suspected he’d been born with. And his eyes…even from ten feet away, she felt the power of his eyes.
    They were gray. Like the color of thunderheads, surrounded by thick, spiky lashes. They gleamed like jewels against the warmth of his skin. As she stared at him, mouth agape, those fantastic gray eyes began to glow.
    Her skin crawled from the power she felt coming off him, and before she could stop herself, she muttered, “Shit.”
    Her soft gasp sounded terribly loud in the silent hall. The warrior angel looked at her briefly. Damn, but he was amazing. He didn’t belong in here, wearing jeans and a faded, too-tight black T-shirt. He belonged on some mythical battlefield, carrying a sword in his hands.
    The hand on her arm tightened, and the pain of it jerked her attention away from the warrior angel and back to Nate. “This is more trouble than you want to mess with, so just leave now,” Nate said, his voice arrogant, confident—and oh so very wrong.
    A faint smile appeared on the man’s lips. In a calm, level voice, he said, “If you let go of her now, you might have two seconds to try to run for it.”
    Nate laughed. “Funny. You don’t look like the stupid sort. But you must be.” Nate reached inside his jacket, and Jess felt her heart freeze as he pulled a gun from inside his jacket. “Too late now, buddy. Say good—”
    That was as far as Nate got. The rest of his words were lost in a strangled gasp. His grip loosened marginally, and Jess jerked once more against his hold.
    This time she got away. Arm throbbing and sore, stinging a little. She glanced down and saw that her arm cuff was gone.
    It fell from Nate’s hand with a thud, but she never once considered getting close enough to grab it. With wide eyes, Jess stared at Nate. All the while, she backed away slowly, one step at a time.
    As she watched, Nate lost his grip on the gun, his fingers going slack. It fell from his fingers and hit the floor with a thunk. Oddly, though, Jess wasn’t so worried about the gun anymore. That gun could be cocked and loaded and pointed at Jess, and it wouldn’t be the most dangerous thing in the room.
    Jess knew, realistically, that there was magick in the world. She hadn’t run into it much—there had been a girl in college who had a minor magick talent. And Jess thought she might have seen a vampire one night when she had been in New York City a few years back.
    But she hadn’t ever seen anything like this guy. Or felt anything like him.
    There was so much power inside him, it made her skin feel tight. He had it banked down and shielded, in much the same manner that Jess shielded herself, keeping all that power under tight wraps. But with his using his power this close to her, there was no way she could miss sensing it.
    From what Leanne had told her daughter about witches, Jess had expected a woman. She wasn’t sure whether she expected some old crone type or a New Age sort who talked of auras and chakras. But she sure as hell