That had been close. Too close.
He blew out a breath, watching the cold fog rush out. She had seen him, and his blood had rushed excitedly to the surface. It hadn’t been the smartest idea, hanging out in the woods behind her house, but he just wanted to make sure she was safe. And you wanted to see her, said a voice in the back of his head.
True, he just had needed to see her faerie-like features. Just one glimpse he had told himself, but then she had come outside and danced. To danced in the freshly fallen snow, with big white flakes falling from the sky and landing in her hair. Her beautiful green eyes stood out like glittering gems.
Enchanting.
He was damn lucky that she had noticed him when she did. He had been on the brink of doing something utterly foolish and stupid, like exposing himself from his hiding place, or one of the other crazy thoughts that had been controlling his body.
That would have been just stellar. She would have thought he was a raving lunatic, a stalker and who knew what else. Definitely not the impression he was looking to make.
Obviously he hadn’t been in control, and that was a problem.
Where Emma was concerned, his demon was always to close to the surface. And that frightened him, as much as it intrigued. Never before had there been a girl who affected Travis the way Emma did. Most importantly, she didn’t treat him like a leaper or shrink from him like most people did.
Wasn’t it bad enough that he had reduced to peeking through her windows just to make she was safely at home? This fanatical obsession for her safety couldn’t possibly be healthy.
It probably bordered on neurotic.
Just great, he was turning into a freaking neurotic stalker. How the hell had he let this get so extreme? It had to stop.
For God sake, he hadn’t even really talked to her. She probably didn’t even remember his name. Wouldn’t that be his luck?
Seeing the soft yellow glow of her bedroom light, he turned to head home. Lex was probably having a hissy fit over his missing dinner… again. Well he couldn’t help it.
Just as he was about to go all demon-light-speed, he got the tingling down his spine, the warning of trouble. The nasty kind.
A lesser demon.
Joy. Won’t this be fun?
His own fault, he scolded.
Ugh. Why had he let himself become so consumed with the snow princess? It was going to cost him dearly now.
Totally worth it, he thought smirking. But then he remembered how close he was to Emma’s house.
Not cool. His blood froze.
The demon was on Travis like white on rice, and man was he ugly. Travis had barely enough time to defend off the attack. He had just figured out that he wasn’t alone in the woods when the lesser demon in a bitch move pounced on him from behind. The impact took them both to the frozen ground. Pine needles stuck him in all kinds of uncomfortable places from under the newly packed snow.
This was going to be dandy, just the thought left a metallic taste in his mouth. The ground was slippery and was going to make keeping the upper hand on his opponent difficult, if not nearly impossible. On a good day, he wouldn’t have had a problem with just one lesser demon, but these weather conditions did nothing in his favor.
The sickly grey skinned demon hovered above him. “Let’s play half-breed.”
Man he had a warped sense of fun, but Travis was game. “Bring it,” he taunted. Two could play this game.
In one smooth motion, Travis flipped the demon off him, sailing him through the forest into a nearby tree trunk. It cracked with the sound of thunder at the impact. Lower demons in their true form were brawnier and heavier falling like a giant.
“Is that all you got brute?” Travis asked, cocking his head.
With lightning speed the demon was in his air, pounding his rock solid fist into Travis pretty boy face. His head rocketed back from the force, little stars danced behind his radiant eyes. Spitting blood, Travis’s eyes glowed like fireworks on Fourth of July.
“There’s more where that came from. That’s a promise,” the demon spat.
That was what Travis was afraid of. Dodging the next blow, he got low and bum rushed the being from hell. With a roaring grunt, he slammed him full force against an oak tree.
Christ. He was like an ogre cracked out on speed. He just kept coming and coming. Travis rammed his fist into the gut of the demon like a bullet. The skin on his knuckles broke and blood gathered at the joints. But he ignored the pain.
The forest quickly began to darken, and Travis welcomed the biting breeze, flexing his muscles. His strength only increased with the darkness. Like most things evil, night was when the demon he had inside thrived. Giving up most of his humanity, he let his demon swim to the surface keeping just a thread of his humanity in-check.