Page 109 of Nightshade

Laughter burst from my chest on broken gasps of air, as I leapt and ducked, under and over branches, in my attempt to dodge the dogs, who remained hot on my trail. The trees broke for the open meadow, and when the dogs finally caught me, Fenrir nudged my behind with his nose, and I let out a squeal. It wasn’t until I nabbed a stick from the ground and tossed it off a short distance that the dogs abandoned their chase after me for the new target.

Bending forward, I rested my palms against my thighs, while deep breaths sawed in and out of me. I turned to see Van Croix strolling up, one hand tucked inside his slacks, casual and attractive in a way I didn’t want to admit.

“It seems you’ve misunderstood the object of this game, Miss Ravenshaw. You’re the one exhausted and out of breath.”

“Out of shape,” I clarified, straightening my stance. “I can’t remember the last time I played chase. Or ran, at all, for that matter.” A few years prior, I’d gotten into the addicting habit of running without consuming enough calories, which had put me in a dangerously unhealthy lifestyle. Part of it was that I could think clearer when I ran, and the more I ran, the more I thought, the less I paid attention to for how far, or for how long, I’d run. I once trekked thirty miles in a single day.

One of the dogs trotted up with the stick and dropped it at my feet. Smiling, I picked it up and handed it to Van Croix, who stood wearing a frown, as usual, when he accepted it.

“It’s called fetch. Surely, you’ve played this before.”

“I haven’t. I never understood the point of repeatedly tossing an object for the same monotonous outcome.”

“Does everything have to have purpose? The dogs love it. That’s the point.”

“Without purpose, everything becomes pointless.”

“Let’s see how far you can toss the stick.”

His brow quirked, and he tapped the stick against his palm, then he drew back, and all I saw was a dark flash streak across the sky toward the woods at the opposite side of the meadow. It’d gone so far, I lost sight of it in the overcast sky.

“What the …”

The dogs raced toward where it must’ve landed, while I stood dumbfounded.

“What just happened?”

“Did I not do as you asked?”

“Yes, but … that’s … not possible. For a human being.”

“In your world, perhaps.”

I didn’t bother to look at him as I asked the next question, “Are you one of them? The Fallen?”

“Not quite.”

“An angel?”

“I wouldn’t call myself that, either.”

“Human?” At the slight crack of my voice, I cleared my throat.

A long pause followed, and I turned to find him unapologetically ogling my legs. “You ask as if you don’t really want the answer to that.”

“At least tell me if I should be frightened to be alone with you.”

One slow trek up my body, and his gaze met mine. “Yes. You absolutely should be.”

I shook my head, slowly, absorbing his words. “If you were capable of harm, you would’ve done it by now.”

“Perhaps, like the dogs, I enjoy a chase.” For a man with only one good eye, he surely packed the intensity into his stare.

“I’m not afraid of you,” I bluffed. Of course I feared the man. He was the most intimidating creature I’d ever met, and I’d known some surly tenured pricks at the university.

He lifted his chin into the air before lowering his gaze on me once again. “And yet, I can hear your heart pounding inside your chest. Can sense the racing of your warm pulse. I would venture to say that if I laid so much as a finger on you right now, you’d tremble with my touch.”

“Is that something new for you?”