But just as Hank’s huge fist started its inevitable journey towards her already-wounded face, the front door of their house burst open and in came a seven-foot-tall Kindred warrior with Kaylee right behind him.
4
“Stop!” The warrior moved so fast he was just a blur, Mia thought dizzily. He was at Hank’s side and holding back his arm, keeping the knuckles—already bloody from the first blow to her face—from landing again.
“What the fuck?” Hank turned to see the warrior, who Mia was staring at, too. There appeared to be two of him because of her dizzy, double vision but she could still pick out the details.
He was blond and had long fangs that were extended in anger and his piercing blue eyes had gone red for some reason. He was also holding Hank back from hitting her with what appeared to be little or no effort.
It was Talon, Mia realized at last. The Blood Kindred warrior who had come for Kaylee. She had only seen him the one time, but she remembered him now—mainly because her best friend was right behind him, her hands fluttering in agitation and an expression of horror on her face as she looked at Mia.
“What the fuck are you doing in here?” Hank demanded, glaring at the Kindred warrior, who made even him look small by comparison. “This is my house! Get out—you’re trespassing!”
“Not until you release the little female.” Talon was still holding Hank’s arm, keeping him from hitting Mia again. “Gods, man, what’s wrong with you? She’s your mate! You ought to be protecting her—not hurting her!”
“Not your fucking business!” Hank snarled. “Get out of my house now before I shoot!”
He dropped the front of Mia’s dress abruptly and reached for his gun, which he always wore in a holster on the right side of his belt.
“Watch out!” Kaylee shouted, as she rushed to put an arm around Mia, who was swaying unsteadily on her feet, more dizzy than ever. “He’s got a gun, Talon! Don’t let him shoot you!”
“Oh, I’m gonna shoot you all right—gonna fuck you up, both of you!” Hank snarled. His hand was already on the butt of his weapon as he looked at Kaylee. “Always knew you were trouble, you bitch—putting ideas in Mia’s head. Well, we got Stand Your Ground laws here in Florida! I’ll shoot you both and they’ll give me a goddamn medal for it!”
He drew his gun, a big, ugly thing that Mia had always hated. But before he could so much as point it at any of them, Talon did another one of those too-fast-to-see Kindred moves and suddenly Hank’s hand was empty.
“Hey!” He looked at his hand, as though wondering where the gun had gone. Then he saw that Talon was holding it over his head. He reached for it, but the Kindred warrior was taller by far and held it easily out of his reach. “Hey, you can’t do that! This is my house and you’re trespassing! Give me back my gun!” he demanded.
“So you can shoot us? I don’t think so,” Talon said dryly. He looked at Kaylee, who was cradling the still-dizzy Mia. “Is your friend all right, sweetheart?”
“I don’t know.” Kaylee was crying, her blue eyes filled with tears.
I must look pretty bad for her to be so upset, Mia thought woozily.
“Fine. ‘m fine,” she mumbled, though it wasn’t true at all.
“Well, come on—we’re taking her to the Mother Ship where she can get some proper medical care,” Talon gestured. He was still holding Hank’s gun, up out of reach of the other man.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Hank demanded, glaring at the big Kindred as Kaylee started leading Mia out of the house. “That’s my wife! You can’t just take her!”
“So I should leave her here for you to beat some more?” Talon spat at him. “What’s wrong with you? How can you hurt the one female the Goddess set aside for you to love and protect?”
Hank’s face got even redder, if that was possible.
“I told you, it’s not your fuckin’ business, you alien freak! But believe me, she had it coming!”
Talon only shook his head.
“You disgust me,” he said. “And I’m keeping this so you can’t use it on any other helpless victims.” He tucked the gun into the waistband of his black leather trousers and then gave Hank a shove that sent him tumbling backwards. He landed on his ass, a surprised look on his beefy, red face.
It would have been a comical sight if Mia hadn’t been seeing two of him and the left side of her face hadn’t felt so strange and painful.
“Come on, sweetheart,” Talon said to Kaylee. “Bring your friend and let’s get out of here.”
As they left, Mia heard Hank shouting behind them.
“You’ll be sorry for this! I’m an officer of the law! You can’t just come in here and snatch a man’s wife and take his gun and expect no repercussions! You’ll be sorry!”