Jessie screamed and struggled against the arms that held her close when they landed on the large, flat top of the Basilica’s portico. The arms that pinned her weren’t a man’s if he could fly, but he was taking the shape of one. That included the enormous erection pressed against her bottom. “Please, let me go,” she whispered, eyes widening at the Marilyn Monroe breathless quality of her voice. Oh, he smelled divine. She shivered and half-clawed, half-pulled the arms tighter around her. What the hell?

“Halt your fightin’, lass, and enjoy the show. It’s not often we get front row seats to a beat-down between a Guardian and a Hell Prince.” He spun her around to smile into her eyes. “And it’s all for you, my sweet. How important you must be, no?”

Lachlan. His name filtered through her consciousness. Her knees softened, and she wanted nothing more than to melt into him. Her hand lifted to trace that stubbled, square jaw, the soft, full pads of his lips that were descending—

BOOM!

A blast of energy ripped Jessie from Lachlan’s hold, hurling her spread-eagled against the Basilica’s round, stained-glass window before she plummeted back down onto the platform. Pain washed through her shoulder, but her head was now clear of the sex demon’s influence. Lachlan rolled his neck and stepped toward her. She dug inside her pocket, uncovered the flask, and flung a stream of holy water on the incubus. Lachlan bellowed in a voice that seemed to come from the pits of Hell. Then he vanished. She exhaled, shaking all over. Now what? If she jumped from here, she’d either break her neck on the concrete steps or…

Oh Lord, oh shit, oh heavens.

…expose herself to the growing number of black-eyed demons gathering around on the lawn below. Dorian and Jawahar fought back to back with ninja-style precision, but there were so many. Nate was shredding Asmodeus’ chest with a weapon she’d never seen before. Looked like two crescent blades tied together so there were four points. Nate sliced several more horrible cuts, blood spurting everywhere. Then he looked up, locked eyes with her, and then at the tree nearest the steps. Before she could tell him to watch out, the tree stretched its branches toward the platform where she stood and Asmodeus rolled sideways, wrapping Nate’s legs in his own, slamming him back to the ground.

“Nate!”

Use the tree. Get ins—

The crunch of bone and the slippery sound of blood. Jessie’s gorge rose and tears blurred her vision. Hurry. He’d left himself vulnerable to move the tree for her. The least she could do was keep it together and get inside the church.

She brushed at her eyes, picked out the widest branch, and bent down on her hands and knees to distribute her weight. She closed her eyes as she moved onto the branch, then started breathing again when it held her. Quickly she maneuvered her way down the tree, dropping to the concrete steps when she was close enough.

Right in front of a pair of black, soulless eyes.

The demon raised a blade with a snarl, but before she could reach for her holy water, his head went sailing sideways.

“You’re welcome, my darling.” Lachlan grabbed her before she could scream, bringing his lips to hers forcefully. She beat and scratched and pushed at him until she forgot why she was fighting. No fighting. More kissing. A warm hunger. The sounds of fighting and horror faded. A tender hand at her breast, kneading.

Jessie, no! You’re mine!

A roar in her head. She started to draw back from the powerful body that held her close.

Jessie! The voice, louder in her head, but distracted. Fight…fight for us.

She shook her head, the cool night air caressing her skin when firm hands pushed her sweatshirt up, a man on his knees, his tongue laving her belly. She frowned and brought a hand up to caress the golden head.

Gold hair.

Not Nate’s.

Sex demon, Jess! Fight him with the rosary—

She stumbled back with a gasp, her head fuzzy, so terribly disoriented. Like trying to see through the windshield at night during a driving rainstorm. She fell as though in slow motion, twisting away from the large hands that reached for her. Pain bursting as her skin peeled on contact with the concrete.

White hot pain ripped away the confusion.

“Stay away from me, you devil!” She scrambled toward the door of the church. Lachlan grabbed her ankles and pulled her away from the church. Her breath came hard and fast as he pushed her back to crawl on top of her. He smiled, and he was so beautiful. Don’t look at him. She didn’t know what to do.

Nate and the archdemon were making sounds that would never leave her head.

Lachlan trailed a hand down her cheek. “I’ll take you away from here and give you the best night of your life. But first, you have to look at me, my sweet.”

She couldn’t help the moan that slipped from her lips at his husky voice. His evil touch. She needed to do something before he completely fried her brain again. But what? Her body went soft as his hands cupped her breasts, the rosary sliding across her heated skin…

The rosary! Her eyes opened. “You will never know how to kiss like Nate.”

Lachlan smiled arrogantly. As he leaned down to kiss her, she shoved the crucifix against the side of his throat. He seized, then began to quake violently, his skin sizzling, flashing red and blue as his screams echoed off the church doors. She pushed out from under him as another white-blue blast of energy heaved everything every which way, shoving her to her knees. She shook her head, glancing to where Nate now tottered, bloody, unsteady on his feet in a shallow crater.

Alone.

Where the hell was the archdemon? Even Lachlan had suddenly disappeared.

“Jessie, get up, move!”

She got to her feet, glancing toward the vicious sounds to her right. The tree she’d shimmied down earlier bent again, its branches spiraling around three demons who ran toward her. Nate launched himself at her attackers, his crescent blades raised overhead. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe as he beheaded the demons with three furious swipes. Filled with raw power, he didn’t even look like himself anymore. He was almost as scary as those he’d vanquished. Her legs wobbled, her head pounded even though the demons—all of them—were gone.

She backed away from Nate. “You f-fight as viciously as they do.”

“Stop being a child. What do you think this is? A polite debate among dinner guests? These bloody demons will suck out your soul while they watch the light die from your eyes. After that they’ll leave your carcass for wild animals to fight over for their nightly entertainment. If you give quarter to a demon, you won’t have the chance to fight the next one.”

“Did you kill the archdemon?”

“They cannot be permanently erased, only sent back to Hell. But no, I didn’t do that either. He’s just playing with me. He—and the rest of his horde—will be back.” Nate brushed his bloody blades on the side of his pants. “This is war in all its horrific reality, Jessica. Now let’s get the fuck out of here.”

With that stinging rejoinder, he turned and walked toward Jawahar, his blades glinting as his arms swung at his sides. She would have never guessed demon blood would be red. Shouldn’t it be black or at least something other than the color of human blood? She was trying to make sense of something that she would probably never understand. Meanwhile the man who’d saved her was walking away, and her heart felt like it was drowning. Something was crushing her chest. She wanted to cry and the tears were right there, but she couldn’t let them fall. She couldn’t let him get away because what if…

“Nate!” Don’t leave me.

He stopped and turned to look at her. His eyes were different than they’d been this morning. Everything about him communicated distance. “I won’t let harm befall you.” His voice was slightly less distant, but still husky-harsh from the recent violence.

She pressed her hands together under her chin, her lips beginning to wobble. “I don’t know how to do any of this.”

He didn’t say anything, just shifted both blades to one hand, then raised the other one to her, his eyes still bright with battle adrenaline.

She should run away. He was scary on so many levels. And it seemed like he was pulling away emotionally, even as that hand beckoned her closer.

Run.

She ran. To him.

It would probably be the worst decision of her life.