Darkness Unbound Read Online Free Page B

most points on any girl’s check-off list. She should be interested. An image of naked male perfection blazed through her mind, an instant replay of the asshole that ruined her life.
    Mr. Cool-wannabe raised his beer in a silent invite. She shot him a clear not-interested.
    The dance floor DJ announced a dance-off competition. Two semi-naked girls flashed thongs between limber-defying leg kicks, which drew the interest of all around, including the wannabe from the table over.
    She relaxed into her aloneness. How she’d love to tell Zannis to take a one-way trip to hell. Right now. A bravado she hadn’t felt in years pushed her to confront this demon. Energy crackled through her chest. Shut this down or you’ll open one of those magikal doorways again.
    Heat pulsations zipped down her spine and through her arms until her fingertips tingled. She slammed her eyelids shut, fighting the liquor woozy to get control. She had to contain the energy and tamp it down. Focus on anything else.
    Too late.
    The energy expanded the air around her, shooting up the barometric pressure. She pressed on her sinuses.
    The wall beside her disappeared. She should be alarmed to have inadvertently opened the doorway that she’d avoided for almost twelve years—ever since the incident. Once she’d learned to recognize the revving buzz, she extinguished the energy storm by concentrating on anything else.
    Tonight, fortified and filled with alcohol confidence, she could do this, at least she pep-talked herself to believe she could handle it. Finally, she would stop avoiding and close this chapter of her life. She would release the past and start fresh on a new team, fighting daemons—or whatever. Deep down she hoped daemons was a metaphor for evil things in the world. Not real demons. At least all the Scimitar guys seemed to be well-trained soldiers. That kind of mentality she understood and respected.
    As the portal widened like the curtains opening on a stage, she pulled herself to a stand using the edge of the table and faced the doorway. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest to the point she could barely breathe. There he sat.
    Zannis.
    He rested at a heavy solid-wood table whose top was made of a single slice of the widest trunk she’d ever seen. His dark gaze swung her way. His eyes widened. Her chest clenched even tighter. Dark eyes met hers. The arctic blue she remembered didn’t dominate his irises. A sludgy black substance swirled like a lava lamp over the blue, but the whites of his eyes were still visible. No black shield occluded his eyes. His sandy blond hair was longer, cascading well past his shoulder blades.
    Air whooshed from her when her brain forced her to breathe.
    He unfolded to his full height.
    She’d forgotten how colossal he was. He moved like a predator. Lethal, focused. Like the last time, the only time, she’d seen him, he wore all black, which just made him seem larger. The guy had to be six foot five or taller.
    Holy shit, was he gorgeous. Somehow she’d suppressed that part. Her body swayed toward him as he moved close. A shot of pure lust had her body burning hot, and wet instantly.
    She reminded herself, You’re not going there! He rammed a sword through your chest. He’s probably pissed that his attempt to take you out of this world failed.
    He halted at the invisible doorway, which separated them by only a few feet of air. With a hesitant hand he reached toward the void that divided them, and quickly yanked the appendage back. Yeah, can’t cross unless I allow it , she thought and bit her lip.
    His dark eyes snapped to hers as if he’d heard.
    Crap. She’d forgotten he could eavesdrop in her mind.
    They remained locked into a silent stare down. Her body crackled with anticipation, zinging with more life than she’d felt in…she stopped that pitiful analysis of the past twelve years.
    How could she still feel connected to him after what he did? She screamed at herself mentally, careful not to