After setting out some water and scraps of food for the three coyote pups, Dena picked through her smashed cabinet and supplies for gauze. Behind her, Taurian's nearness unsettled her. She wanted to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him, yet at the same time dreaded what would happen after they had sex. Taurian was too intense and she feared she'd lose herself and her heart to him. And what if 'mating’ as he'd called it was all he was looking for?

“Can you at least go put some shorts on or something?” she asked looking over her shoulder at him. “And wipe that smirk off your face, I haven't forgiven you yet for turning me into...whatever I'm going to morph into.”

“Renjerian.” He nodded, not at all concerned that he stood before her naked. “I should teach you our language.”

“Maybe later.” How could she concentrate on anything when a sexy unclothed seven-foot tall man was close enough to touch? But he’d taken her freedom away, her home planet. Now she didn’t feel like she really belonged anywhere.

When she continued to ignore him, he let out a chuckle, then disappeared into the back bedroom.

She let out a shiver and salvaged a box of gauze and burn cream. Her hand still throbbed, but she peeled back the gauze to look at it. The wound was puffy and bruised, but there were no angry blackish-green lines squiggling through it. Taurian had removed the demon’s virus or possession or whatever it was. What would’ve happened if he hadn’t been here to help her? Would the infection have taken over her body or worse, killed her?

Did he have any other options? She wrapped an arm around her middle remembering the conviction in his sapphire-silver eyes when he told her the news of what he’d done. Maybe it had been the only way to save her.

What was taking him so long? “You okay back there?”

No response.

She made her way down the hall, her heart hammering in her throat. “Taurian?”

In the spare bedroom, he stood surrounded by splinters of the bed and strips of clothing tossed everywhere like a mini cyclone had exploded in here.

Her hand flew to her chest. “Wha-what happened?”

Taurian frowned. “My guess is the Tryn. Probably scented me in here.”

“Okay, but why trash everything then? I can understand the bed, but why everything else?” Dave, her ex. Shit, she never wanted him to become some serpent thing or die. Her stomach rolled. What about his fiancée, Nichole. Dena needed to call her, but what could she say? Sorry, Dave was turned into a monster and was killed?

Dena shook her head. No, as hard as it would be, she needed to offer her condolences to the woman.

“Tryns have an excellent sense of smell...better than me.” Taurian bent and fingered a rock T-shirt with claw marks through it. “The beast must have scented your ex and tracked him.”

“Why would it go after Dave?” A sinking sensation hit her and she leaned against the wall to keep from falling. The demon’s broken words filtering through her mind. It had mentioned having a legion of demons with her.

“Because it saw him as competition.” Taurian faced her, his brow pinching. “It plans to come back here and impregnate you.”

She lurched out of the room to the hall bathroom and vomited.

Behind her, Taurian mumbled soothing words she couldn't make out and held her hair back out of her face. When she finished retching, he pressed a cool rag into her hand, then ran his hand up and down her back.

“It's all right, I won't let the bastard touch you.”

If the demon got to Dave what about Nicole? “We have to leave...now.” She stood on wobbly legs.

“Got something for me to wear?”

“Nothing in here.” She moved to leave the tattered bedroom when Taurian grasped her hand.

Before she could protest, he pulled her into a hug. “We'll get the bastard and make the demon pay for what it has done.”

Despite the fact she was still pissed at Taurian, her body and heart softened. She remained in his arms for a few moments, closing her eyes, trying to pretend everything would be okay. But the nagging in her mind continued. She pulled away and headed to her bedroom. After rifling through the back of her closet, she pulled out her pink jogging pants she'd worn when losing weight after her depression of Dave leaving her gained her fifty pounds. Then she added a tank top she'd ordered online that was two sizes too big for her and she never got around to returning.

“Here.” She pushed the clothing into his hands. “Get dressed. We're leaving in two minutes.”

“I don't think this is a good idea.” His brow furrowed.

“Then stay here if you like.” She straightened. “But if I was Nicole, I'd want someone to tell me about Dave and ensure that I was okay.”

“Not that.” He closed the distance between them and sparks of electricity arced between them.

Her breaths turned raspy. Was he going to kiss her?

Instead, he cupped her face with one hand. “I would never allow you to step into danger without me at your side.” His palm warm against her cheek. “For as long as you'll have me, I will give my life to protect you and all you hold dear.” He stepped back and held up the pants. “But pink?”

A laugh burst from her lips and some of her tension lessened. “It's pink or nothing and we don't have a nudist colony near here and Mardi Gras is months away.”

His eyebrows rose. “What is this Mardi Gras?”

“I'll tell you later. Now hurry.” Dena rushed to the bathroom and brushed her teeth and hair. The urge to reach Nicole burned a hole in her gut. She grabbed her phone and dialed her number. This wasn't the kind of thing to tell anyone over the phone, but she at least could let the woman know they were coming over.

Nicole's voicemail answered. “Leave a message after the beep and I'll buzz you back.”

“Hey Nicole, it's Dena.” She frowned. What do you say to someone whose fiancé was turned into a monster and now was dead? Her stomach flipped and Dena swallowed back bile. “Um...just wanted to let you know I was going to stop by...check on you. Call me when you get this.” She clicked end call and let out a shuddering breath.

“Ready?” Taurian asked from the hallway.

She scrubbed a hand down her face and stepped next to him. “Yup. Let's go.”

* * *

Outside Dave and Nicole’s townhouse, the stench of rotting meat and burning sulfur choked her.

“God, what's that smell?” She covered her mouth and nose and rang the doorbell.

“Tryn...your senses are growing more acute.” Taurian nodded.

“Ugh, so you have to deal with this all the time?” How did he handle it? The odor was enough to make her run the other direction to get away from it.

No one answered Nicole’s door and worry gnawed at Dena's insides. She banged on the door when it collapsed from her touch. “Did I do that?” Her cheeks heated.

“Afraid so. One of the many advantages of being Renjerian.” He winked then frowned as the entrance inside dripped with blood. “Let me scope out the place before yo—”

Dena pushed past him into the townhome. “Nicole?”

Farther inside, the stink gagged her, but she pressed on. There on the kitchen table lay Nicole. Her body ripped open and her mouth frozen in a scream.

Dena gasped, her stomach clenching and she couldn’t breathe. She turned away, unable to look at the horror. When Taurian hugged her shoulder, she leaned into him, her tears of outrage sliding down her face.

“Wh-why?” she choked out.

“The Tryn are monsters or true demons as your ancestors called them. They used the murder here to twist your ex into the creature that attacked you. It was able to keep his human form for a time, but shifted to the serpent form when it needed to.”

And what would've had happened if it had succeeded? Would she be ripped open like Nicole and dead after birthing a legion?

“Come, we have to find the hive and destroy it.” Taurian guided her away from the body deeper into the house.

She stopped. “Wait, are you saying the Tryn is here still?” Where was a weapon? She was going to bash in the creep’s head. Make sure that it never hurt anyone ever again.

“Maybe.” He clasped her hand and warmth spread up her arm. “There will be thousands of them. My guess is they'll be the size of large...what do you call those bugs y'all have...the ones with a stinger?”

“Scorpions?” She really hoped he was wrong about how many there would be. Insects were so not her thing. She was a vet, not an Entomologist.

“Yeah, I think that's right.”

Bile rushed up her throat, burning. “And just how big do these offspring get?”

He gestured to his thigh, “About that high. Then they gorge on blood and flesh and turn into the hairy Tryns, but much smaller than the one that leaped here on the lightning bolt with me.”

“Is that something I'll be able to do? Ride lightning?” She let him lead her deeper into the home. Her body shook, and she couldn't stop talking. The silence pressing in on her and the feeling that the walls watched her itched along her skin. Her past nightmares as a child had her recalling her dad helping her through them after her mom died.

“Why are you talking so much?” He gave her a smile and squeezed her hand. “It’s cute, I like it.”

“Funny, when I was a kid, my dad said I would talk about whatever popped into my head when I was scared.” Dave had been annoyed whenever she did it around him. “Said the monsters couldn't attack whenever someone was talking ‘cause that showed you weren't afraid.”

They turned down a hallway that was cloaked in darkness.

“Your father is a very wise man.”

“Yes, he was.” Until cancer took him from her two years after her mom died. “He'd have liked you.” Her dad had been fascinated with alien movies. What would think about her being partly one?

“I wish I could've met him.” Taurian squeezed her hand gently.

A scuttle broke across the wood floor ahead of them. Taurian tensed and she grabbed his arm. Then hundreds or more skitters sounded around them.

“What is it?” she asked. “They're surrounding us?”

Taurian cursed under his breath. “Yeah. I was wrong about their timeline. Looks like we're the blood and flesh they've been waiting for.”

“Holy fuck!” How were they going to fight a thousand giant demon scorpions?