Break This! by Tasha Black

Author:Tasha Black
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: 13th Story Press
Published: 2016-06-18T04:00:00+00:00

16

Chance awoke to the twinkling of stars in the night sky.

Outside?

He sat up quickly, wondering where he was and how he’d ended up outdoors.

Soft, velvety throw pillows slid away. He wasn’t outside at all, but on the floor of the hotel, under the room’s immense skylight.

Everything slammed down on him instantly, the demon, the cold, the door opening…

“Thea,” he cried hoarsely.

The reassuring sound of her footsteps wrenched his heart, and relief washed over him.

“I thought you were out for the night. I couldn’t get you to the bed, so I tried to make you as comfortable as I could,” she explained.

Chance studied her face. Thea was calm and lovely as usual. She certainly wasn’t looking as freaked out as she should be.

For a long moment he wondered if he really was going crazy, if the whole shadow thing was in his head. Was the 300th moon making him see things?

“That… thing, whatever it was, really did a number on you,” she remarked, seating herself on the floor next to him and handing him a mug of something hot.

The warmth of the cup soothed him, but her scent, so crisp and refreshing, made it hard to concentrate on what she was saying.

“I felt like I should have called someone,” she continued. “But what would I have said? My pretend husband was attacked by a living shadow, and now he’s fallen and can’t get up?”

Well, at least he wasn’t crazy.

“Are you okay? How are you so calm right now?” he asked, scanning the room for signs that the thing might still be here. What could have happened to it?

“Weirdly, that was not the strangest thing I’ve ever seen,” she assured him. “And I’m fine. It took off as soon as I came in. No sign of anything strange since then.”

How could that not be the strangest thing anyone had ever seen?

Chance decided not to push the issue. He looked up at the clock. Wow. He’d been out for almost two hours.

He shivered, and took a sip from the mug. Tea. With honey and sugar, just the way he liked it.

“Thanks,” he told her, feeling a little sheepish about the fact that she had saved him instead of the other way around.

“It’s just Earl Grey,” she shrugged.

“I meant for saving me. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t come back when you did,” he said.

He didn’t know exactly what would have occurred, but Chance had a distinct feeling that he owed her his life.

“Thank goodness I forgot my phone, then,” she smiled, looking down at her own cup of tea.

Chance noticed the way her hair fell to cover her cheek. She seemed almost shy in spite of being a beautiful bad ass.

Then he remembered.

“About earlier… I’m sorry I got mad at you,” he told her. “It’s not your fault.”

“Well, I’m sorry I stuck my nose where it didn’t belong. It’s a bad habit,” she said, looking him in the eye. “I just hate to see good people get hurt.”

Good people.

Her clear-eyed gaze told him she meant what she said.

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