Bear's Baby (Bear Heat Book 4) (10 page)

The stench hit him the moment
he stepped out of the stairwell. His hand flew to the hilt of the
silver dagger.

“Demon,” he
hissed.

The sulfuric stench was
unmistakable. The demon hadn't bothered to mask his scent here.

Baxter's blood chilled.

The demon had Lindy.

His mate was in the hands of
a bloodthirsty, vicious demon.

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

Lindy opened her eyes and
recognized Ross's apartment immediately. He had invited her to
dinner once at his place. She felt a sharp, throbbing pain on her
forehead and lifted her hand to feel the dried blood on her head.

She was lying on the sofa in
Ross's living room. At the corner of the room, she thought she saw a
raw, reddish lump lying on the floor. Her vision was still blurry
and when she tried to sit up, the whole room tilted and spun in front
of her.

Lindy pushed herself up and
blinked repeatedly until her eyes could focus again. She stared at
that lump on the floor until she could make out the exact shape and
size. She stuffed her fist in her mouth to stopper her scream.

It was a human body.

The skin had been stripped
from the body, exposing raw muscle and bone. The face was gone and
the eye sockets were hollow.

Lindy took a deep breath and
forced herself not to retch. She closed her eyes then forced them
open again. She would not show fear and revulsion. That was Ross's
body. There was nothing repulsive about Ross. She would not be
sickened by her friend's body. The demon had left the body there so
that she would see it once she opened her eyes.

The demon wanted fear. She
would not give it to him.

“Oh, Ross,” she
whispered. “How long...”

She turned away. She didn't
want to think about how her friend died and how long he suffered
before he died.

She heard a cough and saw a
blond, young man leaning against the kitchen doorway. He was wearing
only a pair of track pants and his upper body was bare. He had the
physique of a surfer, toned and tanned. He smiled easily at her as
he strolled towards her.

But Lindy saw the uneven
texture of his skin and the cruel twist of his lips. She could see
the ripple on his face, as though there was something slithering
slowly just under his skin. “Palli,” she said without
inflection.

“Clever girl,”
Palli smiled. “But it's not so hard to see through this
disguise. Nothing beats real human skin. It's uncomfortable, but it
keeps me hidden longer.” Palli bent and picked something
hanging off the back of a chair.

Lindy realized with a shudder
that it was Ross's skin. Palli began to put on Dr. Manolo's skin,
shrugging carelessly into it as though he were pulling on an outer
coat.

The demon spread out his arms
and turned around. “There. Much better.”

Lindy forced her face to
remain impassive as Ross walked towards her. The demon was very
convincing. He managed to imitate Ross's gait and manner of speech
perfectly.

“Miss your friend?”
Palli said, pushing his face in front of her. Lindy stared into
Ross's kind face and scowled.

Palli laughed. “You'll
join him soon enough. He was a good man. They were all good, so
full of goodness and courage and strength. But their strength has
become my strength. And when I kill you,” he curled a finger
under her chin. “I will become even more powerful.”

He chuckled and began ripping
off Ross's skin violently, viciously. The demon used his claws to
rip and shred the human skin off him, making Lindy watch him tear
Ross's face into ribbons.

He kicked away the shredded
skin with his clawed foot. Lindy kept her eyes on him, staring at
the boils on his red skin and the pus running down his bald,
misshapen head. He walked on two legs, adopting human posture, but
his features were beastly and his mouth were filled with gnashing,
pointed teeth.

Those black eyes were like
the darkest pits of hell. Lindy saw nothing in them, no light, no
spark, not even her own reflection.

Palli turned to her, and
something that looked like amusement flickered across his hideous
face. “I think I'll enjoy walking around in your skin for a
while,” he said. “I'll be able to lure more good men to
their doom if I wear your soft, female skin.”

He laughed and stalked
towards her. “Let's get started. I'm sure your eyes and
tongue taste delicious.”

Lindy grabbed a vase and
hurled it at him. The vase broke over his head but it didn't slow
him down.

Palli lunged at her but Lindy
had already scrambled to the other end of the room. She grabbed a
pen off the table and held it out like a knife. The demon smiled and
prowled slowly towards her. His movements were slow and deliberate.
He wanted to see the growing fear and helplessness in her eyes. Her
terror and desperation amused him. She would fight him. They all
did. They would go down fighting, and it made his victory all the
sweeter. Cowardly humans were worth nothing. It was the defeat of
the brave that was priceless.

Palli crouched and crawled
towards her. Lindy backed away, raising the pen to stab him in the
eye.

With a cry that sounded like
a scream and a roar, the demon rushed at her. Lindy tried to run but
those clawed hands held her fast. She kicked and stabbed the pen
wildly, but the demon's thick, red hide was impenetrable. When those
vicious jaws clamped around her arm, she dropped the pen and screamed
in agony.

“I'll let you watch
while I tear out your tongue,” Palli said. He pressed his
mouth to hers in a grotesque parody of a kiss. Lindy pressed her
lips tightly together and thrashed madly, crazily.

Palli reared up and pressed a
hand down on her chest. “I can feel your heart, Lindy. Your
strong, brave heart. Beating wildly against your chest. Perhaps I
should take your heart first.” He smiled and raised his claws.

Lindy saw no chance of
escape. She closed her eyes and braced for the shock and pain.

An explosive roar, and she
felt the shock.

But there was no pain.

The weight lifted off her
chest and she gasped as someone grabbed the demon and slammed the
fiend into the far wall.

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

Baxter threw his entire body
against the demon and pummeled the demon's red, snarling face. The
demon covered his face with his hands and when the demon lowered his
hands, Baxter blinked in disbelief, his fist suspended in the air.

He was staring into the
innocent face of a young child. “Please, please don't hurt
Palli,” the child whimpered.

Baxter began to lower his
fist, but he heard Lindy scream behind him. “Palli is a liar!
He's a demon! He killed Ross, and he wore his skin to fool everyone.
He killed all those innocent people...” Her scream broke into
hysterical sobs.

The sound of his mate crying,
the scent of her tears, fear and rage pushed his bear to the fore.
He shifted into a big, black bear and attacked the demon
relentlessly, mercilessly with his claws and teeth. But the demon's
hide was thick and tough, and despite using all his strength, he only
managed to inflict thin scratches on that blistering red hide.

Palli laughed and kept
changing faces to confuse and taunt Baxter. When the demon took on
Lindy's appearance, Baxter staggered back. Then he shook his head
hard, and charged. That wasn't Lindy. It was the demon who had hurt
Lindy.

The demon was a cunning,
cruel and remorseless killer. But he seemed to be indestructible.
Every blow and bite glanced off his tough hide, inflicting only
minimal damage.

Shit! Baxter suddenly
remembered the dagger.

He had to use the dagger to
destroy the demon.

Baxter shifter swiftly back
to human form and reached for his dagger on the floor. But Palli
kicked it out of his reach and skidded forward to snatch up the
dagger.

“A dragon dagger,”
Palli mused, turning the dagger over. “You carry a powerful
weapon, bear shifter. And you came here thinking to destroy me.”
The demon bared his serrated teeth in a smile. “But I'll use
this to cut out your bear heart. This blade will cut through your
bear skin like butter.”

Baxter snarled, crouching
slowly. He had to get the dagger back. Without it, he couldn't
destroy the demon.

And what the hell was taking
Dylan and the rest so long?

They would have gotten his
alert and location by now.

From the corner of his eye,
he saw that Lindy was crawling to the broken door. She seemed to
have twisted or broken her leg, and she couldn't stand. He could
hear her panting in pain as she dragged herself along the floor.

Hurry, he urged her silently.
Go, Lindy.

Baxter turned at the flash of
silver. The demon flew at him, with the dagger raised high above his
head. He was aiming for Baxter's heart.

Baxter rolled away and the
blade stabbed into the marble floor. The demon wrenched the blade
out and spun to attack again.

Baxter let Palli pin him down
and let his body go limp. When the demon howled in triumph, he
slashed his claws quick and hard across the demon's face. The demon
jerked back and Baxter used all his strength to throw him to the
ground.

Palli turned the blade
towards Baxter's throat and pushed. Grunting, Baxter fought back,
twisting the silver blade slowly, tortuously towards the demon's
chest.

The dagger shimmered and
shivered between them as they wrestled furiously.

Baxter heard footsteps and
voices, and he smirked. His backup had arrived.

“Now!” Baxter
yelled.

Two blades flashed above him
and plunged down.

With a forceful shove, Baxter
pushed the dagger straight down.

The three silver blades
pierced the demon's heart together. Baxter looked up into Dylan and
Luke's grim eyes as they held on firmly to the hilt of their daggers.
They weren't going to let go until they were sure the demon was
thoroughly, completely destroyed.

The demon's body arched off
the floor. With an eerie, high-pitched wail the body disintegrated
into smoke and ashes.

“What took you so
long?” Baxter snarled at Dylan.

“Traffic was a bitch,”
Dylan deadpanned as he picked up the three daggers from the pile of
ashes.

Baxter turned and saw Thor
and Aidan supporting Lindy between them. A team of Black Bears
stormed into the apartment, weapons drawn.

“It's done. We got
him,” Dylan told them. “Call off the other teams.”

“Yes, sir.” The
team leader barked his command into his watch immediately.

Baxter took a dazed, weeping
Lindy into his arms and held her tightly. “It's over now.
You're safe,” he said, kissing her face, her hair.

She was shaking but she
managed to give him a smile. “I thought of you the whole
time,” she said. “I never stopped thinking of you.”

He smiled back. “I
love you, Lindy. I...” He closed his eyes briefly. “I
could have lost you. I don't...”

“Shh.” Lindy
pressed a finger to his lips. “You could have, but you didn't.
I could have forgotten you, but I didn't.” Her voice was
soft, and it seemed to be fading. “I could have said I love
you last night, but I didn't. You didn't lose me, Baxter. You
found me. And I finally found love.” She smiled as her body
began to sag in his arms. “So little time, Baxter...so little
time...” she whispered.

“Lindy...”
Baxter roared. “Get out of the way! I have to get her to the
hospital! Lindy, hold on, just hold on!”

“I love you,” she
said just before her eyes closed.

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

Lindy felt something warm and
heavy in her hand. She turned and saw Baxter's cheek pressed against
her palm. He seemed to be sleeping but he kept her hand firmly
pressed to his face.

Lindy studied his handsome
face for a long while. Was this real? Was Baxter really here,
holding her hand, murmuring indistinctly while he slept? Was he
dreaming? Or was she?

Lindy reached out and
smoothed over the furrow between his thick brows with her fingertips.
At her touch, Baxter stirred and muttered her name.

“Lindy...” He
blinked and met her eyes. “Lindy!” He jerked upright.
“You're awake...how do you feel? Can I get you something?
Tell me what you need. Anything...”

She laughed. Her voice
sounded scratchy and unused, but it was a laugh nevertheless. He
looked so flustered and relieved and bewildered. His huge hands were
shaking as he poured her a glass of water and helped her sit up.

She took a sip and felt
better. She looked around and realized that she was in a hospital.

“The doctors said you
hurt your ankle, and you got some nasty cuts but you're okay,”
Baxter said, answering her silent question as he took the glass from
her. “You just need to rest. Lots of rest, and lots of good,
healthy food and fluids.”