Raging Hearts. Amy Blankenship

as it landed a good twenty feet from the still twitching body.

      Before the dust settled, Toya turned back to Kyoko to check on her, not realizing the demon wasn’t dead yet. He hadn’t remembered to remove the talisman from its neck and he never saw the huge claws coming at him from behind. Hearing a roar, Toya felt the deadly claws slice into his back and slam him into a nearby rock, knocking the daggers from him.

      Kyoko fought the darkness off. Opening her eyes, her vision cleared quickly but the sight that met her made her gasp in horror. Toya’s blood was spraying the air behind him as he was thrown through the air colliding into a giant rock. Swinging her gaze back to the demon, she watched in dismay as it grabbed its head from the dirt and placed it back where it was supposed to be. The demon turned to her, a rumbling sound came from its chest like a demented growl while baring several rows of sharp teeth.

      The smell of Kyoko's fear brought Toya out of his daze and he opened his eyes in a haze of pain. Ignoring the pain, he raised himself up just in time to see the demon charging at her. He could feel his demonic blood surface… and this time… he let it take over. Toya's body began to hum with a force of its own. The only rational thought left in his mind was that no one was to touch her… if they did they died.

      Kyoko was reaching for her crossbow but knew she would be too late because the beast was almost on her. So close, she could smell its nasty breath reaching her. She screamed, raising her arm to shield her face, thinking this was the end… But nothing happened. She heard a grunt and the ground shook. Kyoko opened her eyes, but couldn’t see anything for the debris flying at her from where the demon had fallen, blocking her vision.

      As the debris began to clear, she saw the back of Toya as he stood in front of her facing the demon. She hissed seeing three long jagged wounds across his back. His midnight hair and silver highlights were still blowing in the wind created from the fallen demon. She glanced at the demon to see again that its head was severed and its arms were laying a good distance from its body.

      She frowned as it again opened its crimson eyes, intending to use the power of the talisman to heal itself. Not wanting that to happen, Kyoko reached behind her and grabbed the small crossbow, a spirit dart quickly forming from her priestess powers. Cocking it tight against the string she whispered, "Hit," releasing the string and sending the spirit dart straight toward the talisman, knocking it from the demon’s body.

      The demon slowly crumbled in on itself, turning to dust and catching in the breeze. Most of the dust drifted away, leaving only yellowed bones in its wake. Still feeling evil close by, Kyoko looked up and saw one of Hyakuhei's demonic changelings. It slithered down from the sky looking like a ghostly serpent, picking up the talisman within its pointed teeth before scurrying away so fast she couldn’t even tell which direction it had went.

      She felt like groaning knowing they’d just fought the demon for nothing since the talisman was stolen. Kyoko slowly pushed against the ground to stand, stopping midway when she noticed Toya hadn’t turned around yet, his clawed hand still curled in anger at his side.

      She tensed up realizing what was wrong… he was in his cursed form. A curse Hyakuhei had placed on him long before she’d ever come to this world. In this state, he was unpredictable, out of control… and very dangerous.

      With an unsteady voice, Kyoko whispered, "Toya?”

      She stood up the rest of the way as he turned around, his crimson eyes staring back at her. His chest was still rising and falling rapidly as he breathed heavily from the force of the attack he’d just used to kill the demon. ‘The daggers,’ Kyoko thought trying to stay calm, ‘she needed to get the blades back to him.’ She looked toward the rock he’d been thrown against and spotted one of the daggers laying there. She slowly started edging in the direction of the blade.

      Toya took a step forward and growled. He felt a blinding rage for the demon he’d just killed and waited to see if there were more to kill or if the demon would get back up. Then he heard someone behind him whisper his name. Turning to the sound, he saw the girl there, slowly trying to stand up. He smelled the fear emanating from her as she slowly tried to edge away from him.

      He issued a low growl of warning for her to stay and took a step toward her. She stood still for another moment staring at him as if she couldn’t decide if he was friend or foe. He could smell her fear rise and it made him angry. He growled again and she took off running.

      Kyoko's heart was pounding. He’d growled at her. Was he going to kill her? The daggers, she had to reach at least one of them. They were a part of him and helped to seal away the demon blood Hyakuhei had cursed him with. Kyoko took off as fast as she’d ever run in her life.

      She had to get the dagger to him. Her hair flew out behind her and she knew he was coming after her. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as if he’d already caught her. Five more feet… just about there. A blur moved in front of her, between her and what she was so desperately trying to reach.

      No. She would not run from him. She was his. He stopped in front of her to halt her flight, and she crashed into him with a startled yelp. On contact, he could feel his blood calming and he gave a softer growl to let her know to stay this time. When she still tried to move past him, he crushed her to him, wanting this woman to feel that he would destroy anything that came near her.

      He looked down into the wide emerald eyes staring back up at him. Toya could feel her trying to lower herself to slide out of his arms. No, he’d never let her go… the demon blood within him had already claimed her. He watched as a tear slipped from her lashes to land on her creamy cheek. He leaned forward and licked the tear with the tip of his tongue, drawing a startled gasp from the girl.

      She renewed her struggle, wiggling out of his grasp and slid to the ground, throwing herself past him and grabbing at something lying there. He growled at her defiance as he turned and dropped on her, holding her to the ground. He pinned her wrist above her head and the weight of his body held the rest of her immobile. She tried to throw him off her but he wanted her to know just who she belonged to.

      Lowering his mouth to hers, he growled low in his chest. The girl stilled as his lips slashed across hers in a possessive kiss. He forced her lips apart with the pressure and deepened the possession. He wanted her and she would be his. His hands slid up from her wrist to take her fingers in his when he felt his hand come in contact with the thing she’d grabbed from the ground.

      He licked at the inside of her mouth wanting to taste everything that she was. He could feel his thoughts slowly coming back to him, things he should have not forgotten. He calmed, but the kiss didn’t. His mind flickered. He could feel the heat in his lower regions and he ground his hips against her in hunger. Then something clicked inside him and the red haze in his mind disappeared.

      Toya became aware of everything, the soft body under him, the taste of honey and the blinding need coursing through his veins. As much as he didn’t want to, he released her lips from his and raised above her a fraction to stare down into the eyes of Kyoko. He had just been kissing her and really wanted to continue.

      Kyoko couldn’t help it as fiery lightning bolts shot through her body. She stopped struggling as he deepened the kiss. The feel of his lips dominating hers with such passion was a heady sensation. Then she felt the evidence of his arousal press hard against her thigh and that shot another round of heat through her.

      She felt him slowly shift and rise above her as he ended the kiss. What she saw nearly stopped her heart. His eyes were golden, all traces of the demonic bloodlust gone. She glanced toward the dagger she still clutched in her hand and noticed that he was touching it. She sighed with relief realizing Toya was back.

      Toya watched Kyoko as she glanced toward the blade and his gaze followed hers. So that’s what happened. He had changed, and then he’d tried… He knew she would be mad at what he’d almost done. Even his out of control side had chosen her as its life mate.

      He sat up, trying not to look at her as he rolled off her body. Only after he was completely off her did he trust