They never age.

They must be angels.

Even their home is creepy-straight out of a horror movie. Hidden on a hilltop, shadowy corners, and d.a.m.n, even the birds won't go near it.

Should we kill them?

Previous Top NextThey're magical. They eased my torment.

So many people, present and past, evidently believed these men operated beyond human ability, that they possessed extraordinary skills. Was it possible the men could help her? Eased my torment, someone had said.

"Maybe they can ease mine," Ashlyn muttered now. Over the years and in all corners of the world she'd listened to rumors of vampires, werewolves, goblins and witches, G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses, demons and angels, monsters and fairies. She'd even led the Inst.i.tute's researchers to many of those creatures' doorsteps, proving they did, in fact, exist.

The whole purpose of the Inst.i.tute, after all, was to locate, observe and study paranormal beings and determine how the world could benefit from their existence. And for once, working as a para-audiologist might prove to be her salvation, as well.

Oddly enough, she hadn't led the Inst.i.tute to Budapest, as was usually the case with a new a.s.signment. She hadn't heard a word about Budapest, in fact, in any of the recent conversations she'd tapped into. But they had brought her here anyway, asking her to listen for any discussions about demons.

She knew better than to ask why. The answer, no matter the question, was always the same: cla.s.sified.

When she had done as ordered, she'd learned that a few of the locals considered the men living atop this hill to be demons. Evil, wicked. Most, however, considered them angels. Angels who kept to themselves-all but one, that is, who reputedly liked bedding anything female and had been dubbed the o.r.g.a.s.m Instructor by a giggling trio who had spent a "single, glorious" night with him. Angels who, through their presence alone, kept the crime levels low. Angels who poured money into the community and made sure the homeless were fed.

Ashlyn herself doubted such do-gooders were possessed. Demons were invariably malicious, unconcerned with those around them. But whether the men were angels living on earth or simply ordinary people capable of doing extraordinary things, she prayed they could help her as no one else had been able to. She prayed they could teach her how to block the voices or even help strip her of her ability completely.

The thought was intoxicating, and her lips lifted in a slow smile. That smile quickly faded, however, as another blast of wind cut through her jacket and sweater and seeped into her skin. She'd been out here for more than an hour, and she was chilled to the bone. Stopping to rest (again) hadn't been the smartest of plans.

Her gaze climbed the hill. Through a break in the clouds, a sudden ray of amber light poured down and illuminated the ma.s.sive charcoal-colored castle. Mist curled from the bottom, beckoning her with ghostly fingers. The place looked exactly as the voice had said, she mused, shadowed and spiked along the top, a horror movie come to life.

That didn't deter her. Quite the opposite. I'm almost there, she thought happily, once again trudging uphill. Her thighs already burned from dodging limbs and jumping over elevated roots, but she didn't care. She kept moving.

Until, ten minutes later, she found herself stopping for the thousandth time, unable to walk another step as her shaky, tired thighs morphed into blocks of ice. "No," she moaned. Not now. Rubbing her legs to warm them, she studied the distance again. Her eyes widened when she realized that the castle didn't appear any closer. In fact, it might have been farther away.

Ashlyn shook her head in astonished despair. d.a.m.n it! What did she have to do to reach the place? Sprout wings and fly?

Even if I fail, I don't regret coming here. The no provisions and no planning part, yeah, she regretted that, but she'd had to try. No matter how foolish, she'd simply had to try. She would have made the journey naked and barefoot if necessary. Anything for a chance at normalcy.

She loved that she helped safeguard the world with her-gag-gift, but the torment she endured was too much. Surely there was another way for her to help. With a little silence, she might be able to think of how. Deep-breathing exercises and meditation only did so much for her peace of mind.She rubbed her legs more frantically, the ministrations finally melting some of the internal ice and spurring her back into motion.

ok itt. Tudom ok, she heard as she stepped past a hunched, gnarled tree. They're here, her mind instantly translated, I know they are.

Then someone else said, Aren't you a pretty thing?

"Yes, I am, thank you," she said, hoping the sound of her own voice would overshadow the others. It didn't. Deep breath in, deep breath out.

As she continued to slog forward, different conversations from different time periods drifted into her awareness, stacking one on top of the other in her mind. Most were spoken in Hungarian, some in English, and that made them all the more jumbled.

Yes. Yes! Touch me. There, yes, there.

Barhol as en kardom? En nem tudom holvan.

One more taste of his lips, and I'll forget him, I just need one more taste.

Ashlyn stumbled over twigs and rocks, the words blending together, growing louder. Louder still. Her heart drummed in her chest and she barely refrained from screaming in frustration. Deep breath in, deep breath- If you knock on the door, you'll be f.u.c.ked like an animal and I guarantee you'll love every minute of it.

She covered her ears, even though she knew that wouldn't work, either. "Keep going. Find them." More wind. More voices.

"Keep going," she repeated, the words chiming in harmony with her footsteps. She'd come all this way; she could make it a little farther. "Find them."

When she'd told Dr. McIntosh, vice president of the Inst.i.tute as well as her boss and mentor, what she'd learned about the men, he'd given her a brief nod and a brisk "Well done"-his highest form of praise.

Then she'd asked to be taken to the chateau atop this imposing hill.

"Not a chance," he'd said, turning away from her. "They could be the demons some of the locals paint them."

"Or they could very well be the angels most of the locals consider them."

"You're not going to risk it, Darrow." That's when he'd ordered her to pack her bags and readied a car for her departure to the airport, just as he always did when her part of the job-providing the ears-was done.

It was "standard agency procedure," he always claimed, yet he never sent the rest of the workers home. Just her. McIntosh cared about her and wanted her safe, she knew that. After all, he'd seen to her care for more than fifteen years, taking her under his wing when she'd been a scared child whose parents hadn't known how to ease their "gifted" daughter's torment. He'd even read her fairy tales to teach her that the world was a place of magic and endless possibilities, a place where n.o.body-not even someone like her-had to feel odd.

While he did care, she also knew her ability was important to his career, that the Inst.i.tute would not be half as effective without her and that as a result, she was something of a p.a.w.n in his eyes. That's why she didn't feel (too) guilty for sneaking here the moment his back was turned.

Fingers numb, Ashlyn once again smoothed her hair from her face. Maybe she should have taken the time to ask the locals for the best route, but the voices had been too loud, too incapacitating in the heart of the city. More than that, she'd been afraid an Inst.i.tute employee would see her and take her in.

Might have been worth taking her chances, though, to avoid this debilitating cold.There's one way to learn the truth. Stab one in the heart and see if he dies, a voice said, snagging her attention.

Oh, that feels good. Please, more!

Distracted, Ashlyn tripped over a fallen limb. Down she tumbled, landing with a pained gasp. Sharp rocks abraded her palms and scratched at her jeans. For a long while, she didn't move. Couldn't. Too cold, she thought. Too loud.

As she lay there, her strength seemed to drain completely. Her temples throbbed, the voices still bombarding her. Closing her eyes, she pulled the lapels of her jacket tight and managed to crawl to and huddle against the base of a tree.

We shouldn't be here. They see everything.

Are you hurt?

Look what I found! Isn't it pretty?

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" she shouted. Of course, the voices didn't listen to her. They never did.

Dare you to run through the trees naked.

ehes vagyok. Kaphatok volamit eni?

A pop and whiz suddenly sounded, and her eyelids sprang open. Next there was a tortured scream. A man's scream, quickly followed by three others.

Present. Not past. After twenty-four years, she knew the difference.

Terror snaked her in an iron grip, squeezing the breath out of her. Even through the chattering of voices, she heard a sickening thud. She tried to stand, to run, but a sudden whoosh of air held her in place. No, not air, she realized a second later, but a blade. Her entire body jerked in surprise as the hilt of a blood-coated knife swayed just above her shoulder, embedded in tree bark.

Before she had time to scramble away, to scream, there was another whoosh. Another jerk. Ashlyn's attention swung to the other side. Sure enough, a second blade was rooted just above her left shoulder.

How-What-The thoughts hadn't yet fully formed when something burst from a nearby thicket. Brittle leaves clashed together in an ominous dance, the snow that had covered them sprinkling to the ground as limbs slapped and shook. Then the something raced past a ray of moonlight and she caught a glimpse of black hair and radiant violet eyes. A man. A big, muscled man was charging toward her at top speed. His expression was pure brutality.

"OhmyG.o.d," she gasped out. "Stop. Stop!"

Suddenly he was there, right in her face. Crouching, pinning her in place, sniffing her neck. "They were Hunters," he said in lightly accented English, his voice as harsh and rough as his rugged features. "Are you?" He grabbed her right wrist and peeled back the material of her jacket and sweater. He ran his thumb over the pulse there. "No tattoo, like they had."

They? Hunters? Tattoo? A tremor cartwheeled down her spine. The intruder was huge, hulking, his muscular frame surrounding her with menace. A metallic tang drifted from him, mixed with the fragrance of man and heat and something she couldn't identify.

Up close, she could see the splatter of red on his too-harsh face. Blood? The biting wind seemed to slither past her skin and into the marrow of her bones.

Savage, the look in his violet eyes said. Predator.Maybe I should have listened to McIntosh. Maybe the men really are demons.

"Are you one of them?" the man repeated.

Shocked to her core, frightened beyond belief, it took her a moment to realize something was...different. The air, the temperature, the- The voices had stopped.

Her eyes widened in astonishment.

The voices had stopped, as if they were actually cognizant of the man's presence and were as afraid of him as she was. Silence enveloped her.

No. It wasn't utter silence she experienced, she decided a moment later, but rather... quiet. Magnificent, blissful quiet. How long since she'd known such a thing, untainted by conversation? Had she ever?

Wind rustled and leaves smacked together. Snow hummed softly as it drifted through the air, a tranquil melody meant to lull and relax. The trees breathed with life and vitality, branches waving gently.

Had anything ever sounded as magnificent as nature's symphony?

In that moment, she forgot her fear. How could this man be possessed by a demon when he came with such lovely quiet?

Demons were a source of torment, not peace.

Was he an angel of mercy, then, as the locals a.s.sumed?

Closing her eyes in delight, she drank in that peace, reveled in it. Embraced it.

"Woman?" the angel said, confusion radiating from his voice.

"Hush." Contentment skipped through her. Even at home in North Carolina, in a house that had been built by construction workers forbidden to speak more than necessary, she always heard the echo of deep-rooted whispers. "Don't speak. Just enjoy."

For a moment, he didn't reply. "You dare tell me to hush?" he said finally, angry surprise in his tone.

"You're still talking," Ashlyn admonished, then pressed her lips together. Angel or not, he didn't strike her as the kind of person she should scold. Besides, angering him was the last thing she wanted to do. His presence brought silence. And delicious warmth, she realized as the chill rapidly left her body.

Slowly she cracked open her eyelids.

They were nose to nose, his balmy breath trekking over her lips. His skin glowed like smooth copper, almost otherworldly in the moonlight. All hard angles and fierce planes, his face boasted a sharp blade of a nose and black-as-the-devil's-heart eyebrows.

Those predatory purple eyes bored into her, somehow all the more menacing framed as they were by long, feathered lashes. I'll kill anyone, anywhere, his expression seemed to say.

Demon. No, not a demon, she reminded herself. The silence was too good, too pure and right. But he was not an angel, after all, she decided. He'd brought the quiet, yes, but he was clearly as dangerous as he was beautiful. Anyone who could throw blades like that...

So what was he?Ashlyn gulped, studied him. Her pulse should not have fluttered just then, and her b.r.e.a.s.t.s should not have ached. But it did. They did. He was like the dragons in the fairy tales McIntosh had read her: too lethal to tame, too mesmerizing to walk away from.

And yet, she suddenly wanted to bury her head in the hollow of his neck. Wanted to wrap herself around him. Wanted to hold on to him and never let go. She even found herself leaning toward him with every intention of giving in to those wants.

Stop. Don't.

Most of her life, human touch had been denied her. At five, she'd been sent to the Inst.i.tute, where most of the employees hadn't concerned themselves with anything other than studying her ability. McIntosh was the closest thing she'd ever had to a friend, but even he had not hugged or touched her often, as if he feared her as much as he cared for her.

Dating, too, was tough. Men sort of freaked when they learned of her ability. And they always learned. There was no way to hide it. But...

If this man was who-what-she thought he was, he might not care about her little talent. He might let her touch him. And touching him and his heat might very well prove to be as potent a sensation as the silence, yet so much more- "Woman?" he repeated, the word husky now, wine-rich as it cut into her thoughts.

She froze. Gulped again. Was that...desire flickering in his icy violet irises, completely obliterating that must-kill glaze? Or was the desire she saw born of pain and brutality, her death imminent? A swarm of emotions bombarded her: another clap of fear, morbid awe and yes, feminine curiosity. She had little experience with men, and even less with desire.

What had she been thinking, leaning toward him like that? He might have viewed her touch as an invitation. Might have touched her in return.

Why didn't the mere thought send her into hysterics?

Perhaps because she might be wrong. Perhaps he wasn't a dragon after all, but the prince who stayed the dragon to save the princess. "What's your name?" she found herself asking.

A tension-filled second ticked by, then another, and she a.s.sumed he wouldn't answer. Lines of strain bracketed his rough features, as though being near her was a ch.o.r.e. Finally he said, "Maddox. I am called Maddox."

Maddox... The name slipped and slid through the corridors of her mind, a seductive chant that promised unimaginable satisfaction. She forced herself to smile in greeting. "I'm Ashlyn Darrow."

His attention deviated to her lips. Despite the snow, beads of sweat broke out over his forehead, glistening. "You should not have come, Ashlyn Darrow," he snarled, losing all hint of the desire she'd both fancied and feared. But he traced his hands up her arms, surprisingly gentle, and stopped at the base of her nape. Gingerly his thumb tripped over her throat, lingering on the wildly thumping pulse.

She sucked in a breath and swallowed it, his fingers moving with the motion. An unintentional yet wholly erotic caress that liquefied her entire body. Until, a moment later, his grip tightened, almost hurting.

She gasped out a raspy "Please," and he released her completely.

Ashlyn blinked in surprise. Without his touch, she felt... bereft?

"Dangerous," he said, this time in Hungarian.

She wasn't sure if he meant himself-or her. "Are you one of them?" she asked softly, not switching languages herself. No reason to let him know she spoke them both.Astonishment darkened his gaze, and a muscle ticked in his jaw. "What do you mean? One of them?" English this time.

"I-I-" The words refused to form. Fury was blanketing his features, more fury than she'd ever seen another person project. It radiated from every contour of his hard body. She drew her arms around her middle. No, not a prince after all. A dragon, definitely, as she'd first a.s.sumed.

Remaining on his knees, he inched away from her. He drew in a measured breath and slowly released it, the air misting around his face. His hand hovered over the opening of his boot, as if he couldn't decide whether to reach inside or not. Finally, he said, "What are you doing in these woods, woman? And do not lie to me. I'll know it, and you will not like my response."

Ashlyn somehow found her voice. "I'm looking for the men who live at the top of this hill."

"Why?" The single word was spat.

How much should she reveal? He was one of the men with strange abilities, had to be. He was too vibrant, too powerful to be solely human. But more than that, his mere presence had somehow chased the voices away, something that had never happened to her before. "I need help," she admitted.

"Do you?" There was a conflicting mix of suspicion and indulgence in his expression. "With what?"