Bron had never kissed a woman like that before.

Oh, he’d kissed plenty of women. Their lips yielded under his, their legs trembled around his middle, but none of their kisses were anything like Adele’s.

It had nothing to do with her lips, or her hands, or any one part of her. It had to do with all of her. Everything that made her who she was. Her emotions, and her strength.

The way she cared about him.

And she did care. He didn’t know how, but he felt the truth in her touch.

She had kissed him—Bron Douglas. Not Bron the hunter. Not Bron the lover. Not Bron the exile.

Just him.

A man. A man she cared for despite his flaws. Despite his bloody past.

His emotions had always run to the primal—anger, desire, joy—but the feeling clutching at his heart was something else altogether. Something that went beyond mere survival or need.

Something that made him not think twice when she’d asked him to stop, even though desire burned bright in her eyes. Even though he could lift her to heights of pleasure that she’d never known.

When it came to Adele, he’d never be content with simple seduction. He didn’t want stolen moments between her thighs. He wanted her love.

Just like he wanted to give her his.

Maybe that was the emotion pulling at his heart. Maybe that was the reason he was willing to put her needs above his. Maybe that was why he knew deep down he would fight to the death for her.

Not the phoenix she wore around her neck. Not for the other exiles.

Her.

Adele. His Adele. The only spot of sweetness he’d found in this miserable world.

He loved her.

The realization hit him like a blow to the belly as he walked them back through the woods. And just like the books he’d read described, he would do anything for her.

Even if it was the last thing she wanted.

* * *

“You know I really hate this place,” Adele said, walking up to the metal door of the pump house.

Maybe it was the way she had to keep her body pressed against Bron’s in order for the sylph eye to work its magic, but she couldn’t manage to inject the same venom into her voice that she had the last time they’d snuck into the shipyard.

“I know,” Bron said.

Adele craned her head around his side, trying to get a good look at his expression. He hadn’t said much since leaving Muir Woods. She tried telling herself that he was just upset at having to return to the city, but deep down she feared he was upset with her for cutting their make out session short.

She tried not to worry too much. After all, he’d assured her he wasn’t—quite convincingly—but old habits died hard.

His expression didn’t give her any answers. He seemed as far off and distant as he had been in the car, like his thoughts were somewhere far away.

A place that didn’t have much to do with her.

Once inside, Bron slipped the invisibility relic back into its protective box. Adele let out a breath and moved deeper into the pump house.

“At least we only have one night here,” she said, walking over to their makeshift bed.

Bron stopped halfway over. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Actually, there’s been a change of plans.”

Her shoulders dropped. “Please don’t tell me we’re staying an extra day,” she said.

“No,” he said. “We’re moving out tonight.”

Well, that was an unexpected bit of good news. “Where are we going?”

“You’re going back to Emily’s.”

Adele stopped cold. “I am?” she asked. “As in, just me?”

“Yes,” he said. “Merlin will pick you up there and deliver you to Fenrir. He’ll keep you safe just as well as I did. Better, probably. ”

She shook her head. “No.”

No. No. No.

“I wasn’t offering it as an option, Adele.”

“I don’t care.” She refused to go along with this plan. She wasn’t about to be left behind by him, handed off like an inconvenient package. “I want to know why you’re doing this. Is it because I don’t want to sleep with you yet?”

His jaw hardened. “You know it’s not. I made my desires perfectly clear back in the woods.”

She rushed up to him. “Then what?”

He rolled his gaze up to the ceiling as his chest expanded with a sharp breath. Whatever was bouncing around in his head, he obviously was worried about saying it out loud.

“Just tell me,” she pleaded.

“You are an amazing creature,” he said. “The most amazing I’ve ever met, and you deserve better than running from sanctuary to sanctuary for months or maybe years.”

A bolt of fear shot down her spine. She prayed he wasn’t telling her what she thought he was. She grabbed his hand, lacing her fingers with his.

“Please,” she said. “Don’t tell me that you’re planning on doing something stupid.”

“I intend to find the Redcap and kill him.”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I meant by something stupid,” she said.

Bron shook off her protest. “It’s the only way you can live your life without fear.”

“You don’t have to do this for me,” she pleaded. “I don’t want you to do this. He could kill you.”

“And he could kill you if I don’t.” He raised a hand and caressed her cheek.

A footstep broke the silence of the moment.

“How about I save time and kill you both.”

Goosebumps sprung up on Adele’s arms as his cold voice echoed through the room.

The Redcap.

He was here. Just a few steps behind her.

She barely had time to process what was happening before Bron pressed something hard into her hands and thrust her behind him.

“Run,” he shouted.

She must’ve been getting used to this life and death stress because this time she didn’t have any trouble moving. Her instincts took over, and she ran like hell for the door. She’d made it halfway there before she bothered looking at what he’d given her.

The sylph eye gleamed at her.

Bron had given her the means to escape. To disappear and get to safety.

She slowed.

Or he’d given her the means to save his life.

She turned around just in time to see the Redcap fly at Bron. Two steel daggers gleamed in the goblin’s hands, and he brought them down in a sweeping arc…right at Bron’s chest.

Adele screamed. The sound took the Redcap by surprise. He turned his head, searching for her, giving Bron the opportunity to duck out of the way.

Adele made up her mind right there. She couldn’t leave him. No way.

The Redcap scanned the room the second his feet hit the ground, but his gaze passed right over her.

“You should have run like the hunter told you, mortal,” he growled. “That way, I would have had the pleasure of sniffing you out.”

Adele’s blood froze. She tried to swallow but her throat was too tight. Her stomach twisted into a knot.

But she pushed away the feelings. She couldn’t afford to panic right now. Not when Bron needed her.

She tried not to gasp when Bron pulled his own wicked-looking blade out from the back of his pants. Had he had that in there all day? Looked like keeping herself from rounding third base was a good idea after all.

The Redcap didn’t give Bron much time to get into a defensive position. He wasted no time striking again…and again.

The sharp clash of metal resounded through the room, and Adele jumped every single time. She was terrified one of those hits was going to find a way through Bron’s defenses and the Redcap would plunge the blade into his heart.

But not if she got there first.

Keeping her footsteps as quiet as possible, she snuck toward Bron’s duffel. She’d seen him pack some scary-looking weapons before they’d left the Tenderloin hotel. Surely, she could use one of them to kill the Redcap, or at the very least slow him down long enough for Bron to finish the job.

Adele made it to the bag just as Bron let out a groan. She snapped her head up and as Bron’s small sword was pummeled with the Redcap’s dagger blows. The Redcap went at him hard and fast, with all his unnatural strength. The constant pounding was enough to knock Bron down to his knees.

This was it. She was out of time. She let go of the sylph eye and grabbed the first weapon her hand came in contact with—a foot-long gold dagger with a jewel-encrusted hilt.

That ought to do it.

Without another thought, Adele sprung to her feet and rushed forward, bringing the dagger down as hard as she could.

The tip plunged into the center of the Redcap’s back. A high-pitched shriek echoed through the room and hot crimson blood gushed out of the wound.

Adele instantly let go of the blade and skittered back a step.

Dear God, she’d done it. She’d killed him.

Except, she hadn’t.

The Redcap spun. His eyes burned bright with a mixture of surprise and pure hatred. He shuffled toward her, one bumbling step after the next. She stumbled back, her feet tripping over themselves to stay out of his reach.

“You.” His voice crackled, bubbling with blood and rage. He pointed a pale, bony finger at her throat. “Before this is over, I will eat your heart. I will wear your bones. I will bathe in your blood.”

She shuffled back another step, and her heel hit something hard. She caught herself before she toppled and looked at the dusty floor. An iron pipe.

For once, she was grateful for the decrepit state of this old building. She quickly bent over and swept it up. Then she raised her chin and met the monster’s frigid gaze.

“B-But not today,” she said, and swung the pipe with all her might.

The heavy metal tube connected with his temple hard enough to send vibrations down her arm. A sickening crunch reverberated through the air.

This time, the goblin crumbled to the ground and stayed there.

She dropped the pipe and let out a shaky breath. Then she ran like hell back to Bron and wrapped her arms around him the moment she was at his side.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

He nodded, but didn’t look especially grateful as he rose to his feet.

“I told you to run,” he said, lifting himself off the floor.

“And I told you no,” she said.

“You could have been killed,” he said.

“And you were just about to be,” she shot back. “I wasn’t going to let that happen. At least you don’t have to worry about having to hide me anymore.”

A scratch sounded behind her. Faint, but definitely there.

Oh, no. Why did she have to talk so soon?

She spun around as the Redcap pushed up from the floor. Blood poured down, creating a puddle. Too much blood. It wasn’t possible he was still moving.

But he was.

Bron pulled her closer, his arm banding around her protectively, as the goblin struggled to push his hand into his pocket.

“Sh-should’ve run while you st-still could, mortal,” he said, pulling out a pulsating yellow stone.

Bron’s grip around her tightened. He raced toward the door. He didn’t even give her feet a chance to touch the ground. And he didn’t stop once he was outside. He kept going, sprinting away from the pump house… until a blistering hot shockwave hit them in the back and knocked them off their feet.

Adele landed hard on the pavement. She struggled to draw air into her battered lungs as she looked back at the pump house. Going by the power of the wall of heat that had hit them, she expected to find the building blown to pieces.

But it wasn’t.

It was standing strong as ever, but now it glowed with an ethereal blue light she could feel from eighty feet away.

“What is that?” she asked.

His jaw tightened.

“Hellfire.”