Jewel Of Atlantis. Gena Showalter

yet, was just in front of it, in fact. If he fired now, he might barbecue himself. He aimed and fired anyway, diving for the ground.

       Boom!

      The impact threw him backward, and he covered his head with his hands. Waves of heat rolled over him, hotter than before, burning his clothes, his skin. A loud thump, then a gasp for breath echoed in his ears.

      Unfolding from the ground, Gray readied his knife. He raced to the demon. The ugly bastard had slammed into another tree and now struggled to right himself. His eyes glowed a bright, eerie red. Horns protruded all over his scaly body. Without pausing for thought, Gray raised the blade and struck. Blood splattered.

      Silence greeted him as the scent of rotting sulfur filled the air.

      Remaining in place, Gray moved his gaze through the clearing. The smoke was thicker now, heavier, and billowed around the remaining trees like angry clouds. Bits of bark and foliage continued to fall from the sky. His goggles had come off sometime during the fight, and his eyes watered. His nostrils stung, but most of all his joints ached.

      He jerked the bandana from his head and smoothed the material over his nose, blocking the foul, heated air.

      You won, the woman said, awe and joy laced in the undercurrents of her voice. You really won.

      “I never doubted it,” he lied. Without any hint of emotion, he carefully stretched every vertebra of his spine, working out the kinks and bruises. He was getting too old for this shit.

      After replacing the camouflage bandana, he kicked through the rubble until he found the GPS system, his goggles and his backpack. Each was burned around the edges, but essentially unharmed. He flipped the safety on his gun and stuffed it in the holster at his side before hooking the pack over his shoulder. That done, he cleaned his machete and sheathed it at his side, as well.

      “Now,” he said, knowing his adrenaline rush would soon wane. Best to finish his business with the woman before he crashed. He leaned against a thick, splintery tree trunk and rubbed the throbbing wound on his neck. “Let’s you and me have a little chat, shall we? I want to know who and where you are. I want to know the real reason you helped me. As much as I hate to admit it, there’s got to be more to it than you like the look of me.”

      She sighed, the sound heavy and long. This isn’t the time.

      “Sure it is.” Patience was for priests. Gray damn sure wasn’t a priest.

       I’ll tell you anything you want to know. Later.

      “That’s what you said before. And by the way, I’m not sure I like this role reversal thing we’ve got going on. Woman love to talk and share every detail of their lives. Men don’t. But look at us? I’m wanting to talk and you’re wanting to shut me out.”

       I’m sorry, it’s just…Gray?

      “Yes?” he prompted when she slipped into silence. He shifted from one foot to the other, not liking how quickly she’d lost her happy timbre.

       That was only the beginning.

      Chapter Two

       THAT WAS ONLY the beginning.

      The warning echoed through Gray’s mind, ominous and dark. A malevolent tempest gusting straight toward him. He forgot his need to question the woman, to know her name and her true reasons for helping him.

      “What do you mean that was only the beginning?”

       Danger still lurks here. You need to reach the safety of the streets.

      “What kind of danger?”

       Other demons are nearby. Vampires, too. Once they learn of their friend’s death, you will once more be a hunted man.

      His inner child perked up immediately, thinking: all right, I get to blow more stuff up. His adult self groaned in protest, suddenly too fatigued and too sore to play anymore, wanting only to take his toys and go home.

      “This jungle is a real who’s who of Atlantean crap, you know that?” As he’d feared, his adrenaline rush was quickly dissipating, the explosions and heat taking their toll. He needed to find a safe place to crash.

      For some dumb-ass reason, though, he didn’t want the woman to know how winded he was. He wanted her to think of him as strong and invincible. So he kept his breathing slow and even, kept his shoulders straight and his expression firm.

      “Can you get me out of this jungle?” His fingers flexed around the machete’s hilt.

       North. Head north.

      His feet heavy, he plodded through the ash, rocks and twigs until he came to a grove of white trees. They swayed like ghosts. He didn’t recall seeing them before. He plucked one of the white leaves, the woman’s sexy voice leading him past them. Soon he found a pair of footprints and realized someone else had once taken this same path.

       Those are your footprints.

      “No way,” he said in disbelief.

       Take a look.

      He bent down and studied the dirt etchings. Sure enough. They matched his size and shoe type. He scowled. He’d been here before, but he’d obviously gone the wrong way. “How close is this to the exit?”

      You’ll see, she laughed.

      He emerged five minutes later.

      Gray cursed under his breath. He stood at the edge of a cobbled path, winding away from the forest. So simple. So easy. The darkness was growing thicker, but without the density of trees hovering around the road, ribbons of the crystal dome’s soft golden glow slipped free.

      Frowning, he released his grip on the machete and fisted his hands at his sides. It had only taken him three miserable days, three explosions and a goddamn Invisible Woman to get out.

      “I could have found it on my own,” he mumbled for pride’s sake.

      The woman laughed again, a sound so lush and sexual his body instantly responded. Most likely she could have cursed him to everlasting hell and he would have lusted after her. Would have hardened for her, ached to touch her. She sounded that sexy.

      He didn’t like how quickly and easily she affected him. Wasn’t used to it, in fact. As much as he loved and treasured women, as much as he enjoyed savoring and pampering them, they always came to him, had to work to gain his interest. He’d never responded so potently to a specific one; there were just too many to choose from.

       The only way you would have made it out of that jungle without me, was if your dead body had been dragged out between that demon’s teeth.

      “Smart-ass,” he said, but he found himself grinning.

       The creatures never would have found you if you hadn’t doused yourself in insect repellant.

      “You’re kidding me? That repellent is supposed to be scentless.”

       For insects, perhaps.

      He lost all remnants of his grin. If the label had said one word, one freaking word about attracting demons and vampires, he never would have used it. Disgusted, Gray stopped and sipped from his canteen, the coolness of the water soothing his ashy throat.

      “Where do I go from here? I need a hot meal—” the energy bar in his bag wouldn’t cut it this time “—a bath and a soft bed.” A willing woman wouldn’t be amiss, either. Preferably the one eavesdropping on his thoughts.

      She cleared her throat. Yes, well, just follow this path.

      He chuckled and jolted into motion. Perhaps it was folly on his part to trust her so completely, but trust her he did. She’d saved his life. Twice now.