Read Online In Pursuit of Prey: Of Gods and Consorts, Book 1 by Savannah Jordan - Free Book Online Page B

tail falls from her short skirt. Her high-heeled shoes morph into clawed talons, and her face is a mix of demon and human when she looks at me. The one thing missing is surprise on her angular features.
    “I wondered when you would show up.” For Naami, possession is the only law. As if to emphasize, she pushes the clawtip of each toe into Mace’s skin. “I smelled you all over him the other night.”
    Her bravado is short-lived. She hisses in pain. Foul stink and smoke rise from her toes, and Naami jerks her claws back out. Now the tattoos make perfect sense. They are his subconscious trying to protect him from soul-sucking predators like Naami. They create a map of protection, keeping away those who would take what he doesn’t willingly give.
    Still, she squats on him, eyeing me, her black aura buzzing in greed and hate.
    “He asked for me,” she lies. “I told him I could take his hurt away and erase you from his life.” She strokes a hand with unnaturally long claws over his face, not scratching him, but threatening me with it all the same. “His last thought before sleep? Me.”
    “You will leave him now, succubus,” I command, “or I will make you leave this realm entirely.”
    “Oh,” she sighs, “I think not.”
    Her fingernail grazes his cheek, leaves a bloody welt on its way to his throat.
    “Get off my man!” I roar. I may not be lion anymore, but I kept all its power.
    “Who’s sitting on him?” She waggles one claw at me, keeping the other above his throat. “Possession is everything. And I will have his life. His siren essence is so much more powerful than his human blood. But I will have it either way.”
    Her black threads scrape his skin everywhere.
    And I can’t allow that.
    Snarling, I fling myself at the succubus. She grunts when I slam into her, and then we pitch over the side of the divan and crash onto the floor.  
    “I had him first,” she barks, snapping her jagged teeth at my face. “He’s mine.”
    Hot pain tears across the skin of my arm when she slashes her claws across my human flesh. I smack her face in answer. Crimson trickles from her lip, and she smiles. Her eyes roll to completely black, lid to lid, and when she lunges I know this will end in someone’s death.
    I fling my arms around her, clenching her scratching, biting demon form to me and pull us into the in-between where Mace won’t be harmed or be aware of the battle for his soul.
    Black light surrounds us, muting my all too human sense of direction. The succubus lets out a shriek when I cling to her writhing body and scrabble for a hold on her neck. Her claws swipe and puncture, my blood runs. When she sinks her teeth into my wrist, I find her throat. Grabbing her chin with my captured hand, I drive my other fist into her face. Hot, wet stench fills the void when her nose breaks and gushes blood.  
    Forced to gasp for air, the succubus relinquishes her grip on my wrist. I spin in her arms, slick with my own blood, and clamp both hands around her neck. She writhes and bucks, claws and slams my back with her knees. Pain and hurt flood my human body, her demon ichor setting my skin and vessels afire. Shaking my head, determined to end this cycle, I slide to a sitting position on her chest much like she’s done to her victims. Despite the weakness weighing my limbs, I intend to take her life too, even if it kills me. Mace will be safe from her, either way.
    I squeeze until Naami’s cheeks puff and breath whistles. I squeeze until her black eyes bug like insects. I squeeze until I feel all the stolen lives bleed from her.  
    “He’s mine,” I snarl.
    Her body goes limp. And the fight leaves mine. I remain upright on the force of my will alone. Soon, Naami’s body will fall to ash and her soul can flee. Channeling my magick into action, I drive her own claws into her chest and tear out her demon’s heart.  
    Struggling to remain conscious, I squeeze her heart too. The chambers burst, and the organ