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M adeline screamed when they slammed into an invisible wall. Though they tumbled through the air ass over foot, she remained tight in Dom’s iron grip, his wings working overtime. Her stomach tossed with each roll until she was again upright.

Finally in control of his flight, Dom leveled off, rose, and headed toward the gateway once more.

“W-w-what’s wrong?” she stammered.

Too focused on the mission, he ignored the question. He inched forward, his wings pounding downward.

She held her breath this time while he approached the shimmering pathway shoulder first.

When he struck the invisible barrier, his body bounced away slightly. He frowned. Still determined, Dom tried once more. Same result.

“What’s wrong?” asked Madeline, her voice strong despite her concern over the puzzling situation.

“I can’t get through.” He arrowed toward Angor’s surface, nose down, wings angled, aiming for a sandy shore.

With the wind of their descent blowing Maddy’s hair, she glanced at Dom’s face. His lips were a grim slash. “Can we take a different route?”

“This is the only one. An impenetrable barrier surrounds Angor, and the gateway is the only exit.” He slowed, preparing to land.

“Is it broken?” Automatic doors malfunctioned on Earth. Why not here? An Immortal glitch.

Dom shook his head. “The gateway doesn’t break, but I’ll test it.”

Once the sandy floor was close, he curved his wings, parachuting them to the ground. He set Madeline down, her stiletto boots sinking into the soft surface. She wobbled until she found her footing.

Silent, Dom took flight, leaving her behind. She watched as he sped toward the shimmery passageway. Upon reaching the spot where they’d been stopped, he disappeared as if exiting through a magic door.

Cupping a hand above her eyes to minimize the glare, she waited until Dom reappeared. He seemed to pop out of nowhere and zip toward her. At the last moment, he floated down to join Madeline.

“Well?” she asked.

He rubbed the patch on his eye. “I got through.”

“Great. It’s fixed. Let’s try again.”

“Yeah.” He didn’t sound very sure.

Madeline moved closer, waiting for Dom to lift her. When he did, he gripped her ass and heaved her high. Her legs locked around his waist while her fingers cupped his neck. They flew to the pathway once more.

Her gaze flicked between Dom’s unsure, grim expression and the shimmer of the gateway over her shoulder. She twisted around to keep an eye on their progress.

He slowed, inching forward. Once he stopped, she felt a wall at her back. No leaving.

When Dom returned them to the shore, Madeline slid down his leg.

The puzzled, winged assassin snarled, one side of his mouth sliding into a frown. It was an expression she’d seen often, probably the one that had earned him the grumpy title from his brethren.

Maddy remained silent, allowing Dom to think for a few moments. She patted her arms. They were tender. Removing her gloves and jacket, she looked at them. They were sunburned. She glanced at the sky. No sun. A thin layer of clouds. Even when there had been sun, she’d been wearing a coat.

That wasn’t her only problem. She hesitated to interrupt Dom while he considered the dilemma of the gateway. But scratching at the irritation, she finally said, “My back hurts. Take a look.”

“Huh?”

“My back.” She turned around, lifting her cropped tee, exposing her skin to the air.

After Dom stared at her sunburned flesh, he rubbed a hand down her spine.

She jerked away from his touch. “Stop. That hurts. Do I have a rash?” Madeline twisted to glance over her shoulder at Dom.

“No.” His green eye caught the sun which shone once more as the clouds retreated. His lips were a cruel, thin slash.

“You’re making me nervous. What’s wrong?”

“Is your mouth still sore?” He spun her toward him, his hands squeezing her arms where she was bright pink.

“Ouch.”

Dom relaxed his grip. “Let me see.” He motioned for her to open wide.

She did. First, a little. Then more.

“Fuck.” He turned from Madeline and began to pace, his boots kicking up sand.

Stomping toward her again, with thumb and index finger, he lifted her upper lip. He released it.

“Fuck what?” Maddy swallowed. Had she caught some horrible disease in Angor?

“You’ve got tiny fangs.”

Stunned, she stared at the Immortal. Once Dom’s words sank in, she shook her head. “Impossible.” She stuck a digit in her mouth to explore, snagging it on a sharp tooth. Popping the finger out, she sucked on it. Blood. “And my back?” Maddy wanted to know because head-in-sand was not her style.

“Wing nubs. Well, slightly larger than nubs. Growing.”

Madeline’s breath hitched. Then she embraced Dom, her cheek to his chest, mumbling against him, “Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry...”

Life wasn’t fair. Maddy knew that. Hell . Her childhood proved it. But really. Kidnapped. Tortured. Made a Sycophant. And now trapped in Angor, a goddam alien dimension. Somehow, all those occurrences were a tad beyond the life-isn’t-fair concept. Then fangs and wing nubs? She couldn’t even think about those.

Unwanted and useless tears flowed, soaking Dom’s shirt. She held on, seeking comfort despite the weirdness of the situation. She noticed his arms hung loosely at his sides. But give the man a prize. He hadn’t pushed her away.

Right now, she needed the comforting, supporting Dom. Instead, she got the grim warrior.

Sniffling in tears, she drew back, wiping her cheeks with a palm. The boo-hoo-hoos never solved a problem. And this one ranked as a biggie. “I don’t get it. What’s going on?”

Dom scrubbed a fist across his jaw. “No idea.”

“Have you heard of this happening before? A human getting wings and fangs?”

“No.”

The skin above Dom’s nose wrinkled, suggesting there was more. Madeline wasn’t certain she could handle more. Though she loved flying with Dom and suspected she was falling in love with the assassin, she did not want wings of her own. She wanted to go home, featherless and fangless. She wanted her life back, her dull, predictable, orderly human life. “I’m getting wings like yours.”

“Not exactly.” He distanced himself, pacing again.

She needed information, tilting her chin in defiance. “Enough with the tight-lipped man-talk. What’s wrong with the wings?”

He sighed, his muscled arms at his sides. “They have leathery feathers.”

She blinked. “Like a fucking Scourge?”

“Close enough.”

Madeline twisted her neck, trying to see what Dom saw. When that didn’t help, she patted her back, feeling nothing because she couldn’t reach the right spots. “Are you sure?”

Dom nodded, his throat bobbling as though he’d swallowed a boulder.

“No. Not happening. I’m going home. Let’s try again.”

“It won’t work, Maddy.”

“Once. More.” She faced off against the stubborn Immortal, fists on her hips. “Don’t you dare tell me no.”

Dom boosted her into his arms before soaring into the air. Again, they were unable to get through the barrier.

When her skin sizzled hotter, she gritted her teeth against the painful burn. “There must be another way.”

“There isn’t. Only one pathway in and out of Angor.” He hovered in place, his black wings thrashing up and down.

“Something’s wrong with it then. An electrical glitch. Equipment malfunction. Again.”

“No. Your skin is on fire. Besides, I got through without you. And don’t forget the fangs and nascent wings. Scourges can enter Angor, but if they try to escape through the passageway, their flesh fries.”

No. No. Un-uh.

“I am not a Scourge. Maybe my newly acquired bling will go away once you figure out how to get me to Earth.”

Dom remained silent as he floated them to the surface of the shoreline again, letting her slide to her feet.

Madeline crumpled to the sand, her legs folded beneath her ass. “How can this be happening to me? I’m human.”

Dom flopped to the ground, snapping his wings into his spine. “You have all the signs of becoming a Scourge.”

“That’s impossible.” Madeline closed her eyes. Computer Science, Information, and General Works. Philosophy and Psychology. Religion. Social Sciences. Language...

Dom interrupted her calming recitation. “Yet here you are.”

Drawing a deep breath, she slid her lids open. “Your pragmatism is grating on my nerves. I don’t want to be a Scourge.”

Dom’s wings shot out and snapped back into his spine. “Your body doesn’t care.”

“There it is again. Facts. Facts. Facts.” Pausing, she inhaled. Her slight outburst over, she asked, “What kind of Scourge?” She clamped her hand over her mouth. “No. I know the answer. Leech. I’ve got fucking fangs. I don’t like blood. My knees get weak at the sight of it.” Dom, not paying attention to her, looked distracted. “Dammit, what are you doing?” she asked.

He raised a digit. Then he answered. “Contacting the Feard. They’ll join us at home.”

“Give me a few minutes here. I need to clear my head.”

He nodded. They waited in silence.

When Madeline had left the library to walk to her orderly apartment after work, she’d been snatched. Then she’d been thrown into chaos, losing control of her mind, thanks to Praevus. Now, she’d lost control of her body.

She had been safer when her alcoholic mother went on a rampage or invited over unpredictable, handsy visitors. Though she, Fia, and Darya had practiced what-ifs to deal with those perilous situations, they’d never prepared for this kind of event.

Arching her neck, she glanced up at Dom’s expressionless face. Would she become his enemy? As an assassin for the OneCreator, he extincted Scourges.

Damn. Just ask.

“What are you thinking about, Dom?”

“My past. How life repeats itself.”

Madeline didn’t understand his snarly response because she was too focused on her own problems to pursue it.

Dark clouds and fog blew in, followed by pouring rain. Her wet, stringy hair hung limp. “I hate this weather. I hate this place.” Water sputtered out of her mouth.

Without a word, Dom cupped a wing above their heads. When she rested her damp cheek on his pectoral muscle, he flinched. She didn’t imagine it. She was becoming what he hated. A Scourge.

“You’ll extinct me,” she mumbled. He scooted away from her, rejecting her, not even wanting to touch.

When he didn’t answer, she added, “I’ll hurt people.”

“I won’t let you.” He gritted his teeth.

“Swear it.”

“I swear it,” he said, not looking at her.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He spoke the right words but without warmth, this man she had begun to love.

With her eyes closed, she pictured him fighting off the attackers. His midnight wings had launched blades as he spun and dipped. He was a fearsome, deadly sight, a god gone mad. He was beautiful. And he didn’t need the problems she’d brought to him.

Under the protection of Dom’s extended wing, Madeline sat cross-legged, elbows on her knees. Chin on her chest. “My life ... if it can be called mine ... is shitty. It’s unpredictable. It’s disordered. It’s my worst nightmare. And I’m growing wings. Not the nice ones. Oh, no. Bat wings.” She glared at Dom. “Just jump in if you have something to add.”

He growled, “Can’t think of anything.”

“No. I suppose you can’t,” she snapped.

He nodded, and they returned to silence. After a while, Dom suggested they leave to meet his friends in his salon.

“I need another moment. Maybe longer. I want to scream, to cry, to run across the sand until I drop from exhaustion, too tired to think. I want to hit someone.” She gasped. “God. Soon, I’ll want to bite somebody. I’ll be the worst Dracula ever.” Madeline raised her hand, stopping Dom from throwing in his thoughts. “I know. Blood Leeches aren’t really vampires.”