Marisa Chenery - Embraced by a warrior

Darius headed in the direction of the bar he inevitably arrived at once his night was just about over. This habit of getting a drink before he returned to his home had started six months before. Out of the last five years hed lived in Miami, not once had hed been drawn to a place as he was to the White Sands Bar.

He knew exactly why he went there night after night. It had nothing to do with the bars atmosphere. To be honest, Darius really didnt pay much attention to the mortals who sat around him. No, the other patrons would never hold his interest as one mortal in particular would. The image of the woman bartender rose in his mind.

Before Darius let his thoughts wander down a path they shouldnt, he felt a familiar pull on his senses. It was something he couldnt ignore. Something that had him out walking Miamis streets once the sun went down each night.

Changing direction, he followed the invisible trail that tugged him closer to its source. His nose picked up the scent of evil, something only he could smell because of what he was. Ducking down a dark alley, Darius prepared himself for what would play out when he arrived. Even though hed been through it thousands of times, it still wasnt pleasant to experience.

He reached the end of the alley and turned the corner into a shorter one that dead-ended. And there was the source of the pull. A man had a woman up against the brick wall, a knife held to her throat while he groped her, tearing at her clothes. The womans whimpers of fear reached Darius ears.

He walked closer, the man oblivious to Darius presence. As he did so, Darius felt the change start to take him over. His eyesight was keener, heralding the shift. It happened quickly, but it didnt mean it was any less painful. He growled as his bones realigned themselves, growing larger. He grew taller to stand at almost seven feet. His body shifted to his half-human and half-jackal form, his muscles becoming bigger. Black fur sprouted from his skin until he was completely covered from head to toe. Gold armbands appeared around each of his thick biceps, and last, a snow-white Egyptian-styled kilt formed around his hips to fall to the middle of his thighs.

Having finally caught sight of him, the woman let out a scream. Darius pointed ears on top of his head twitched, but he ignored her and focused his sights on the man assaulting her. The scent of evil seemed to ooze out of every one of the mans pores. He was Darius prey. The man didnt know it yet, but he was about to finally get his comeuppance for every evil deed hed ever done.

Darius grabbed the man by the back of his shirt collar with one furred hand and threw him. A loud growl rumbled out of him as the man sailed across the narrow alley and slammed into the opposite wall before he slumped to the ground. Darius only took the few seconds needed to snag the frightened womans gaze and wipe her memory of him before he sent her on her way.

He turned to the man to find him slowly regaining his feet. Darius moved in to subdue him. His prey slashed out with the knife he still held. Darius blocked it with a sweep of his arm and knocked it from the mans hand. With a snarl, he took hold of his prey by his throat and lifted him off the ground with one hand, the mans feet dangling in the air.

What the fuck are you? the man gasped as he struggled for breath.

The one who sends you to be judged, Darius said, his voice deeper and gruffer in this form.

He pushed into the mans mind, not caring the pain he caused. Scenes of each crime and assault his prey had ever committed flashed through Darius head. The screams of the mans victims echoed inside it. Darius lived each one as if hed been the one on the receiving end. He felt their pain, their terror.

Seeing all he could, Darius definitely knew this one was for Anubis. He willed a gold dagger into his hand. The blade had hieroglyphs carved on itthe spell Anubis had infused into it to send evildoers to the underworld. All it took was one cut to do its job. Darius sliced it across the mans chest, cutting through his shirt to his skin. His prey gasped some more, clawing at Darius hand.

But it was already too late. The dagger had already done its magic. The mans body lost its solidity, then he was gone. Sent on his way to face the god of the underworld. There, Anubis would weigh the mans heart on the Scales of Justice. If he was evil, his heart would be fed to Ammit to be consumed.

Lowering his arm, Darius willed the dagger away. The shift took hold of him. He growled as the familiar pain tore through him once again. After it was over, he stood in human form, wearing his black jeans and t-shirt. Hed become one of Anubis warriors back in 1218, as a dying German soldier lying on the banks of the river Nile, having fought in the fifth crusade to Egypt. Only Anubis had answered his call, not the god Darius had worshipped.

He pushed the thoughts of that fateful day aside. His work done, he headed out of the alley. Once he hit the sidewalk he backtracked to where hed been. This time he reached the bar with no interruptions.

Inside, Darius scanned the place with his gaze as he felt it out. If there happened to be prey there, hed have no choice but to act quickly to get that individual outside before Darius shifted. As long as the person wasnt in the middle of an evil deed, the change could be held at bay for a short period of time.

Not feeling a pull, Darius walked farther into the bar and sat at a table at the back corner of the room. Hed learned long ago if he wanted to be around mortals without being set off, he had to choose places where evil did not go. The White Sands Bar was such an establishment.

After a waitress took his order for a beer, he ignored the mortals who sat nearby and focused his gaze across the room at the bar. She was there, working. Darius followed her movements, able to see her face clearly even from this distance with his sharper-than-normal eyesight. His gaze touched on her long black hair, which hung to the middle of her back. He watched her hazel eyes crinkle as she smiled at his waitress when she came up to the bar to place his drink order.

Darius could stare at her beautiful face all day. And her slim, curvy body heated his blood, making his cock hard with thoughts of how good shed feel under him as he took her. Even now he was getting an erection. He let out a deep breath, sighing silently. He wanted her, but wouldnt approach her. She wasnt the type of woman hed be able to have a one-night stand with and just walk away. Hed become too obsessed with her. One taste and hed crave more, which wasnt something he could do. What he was, what he did, left no room for a woman in his life. Besides, he doubted one would be able to accept his being a warrior of Anubis, and what it entailed. No, he was better off alone, only finding a willing woman to slake his lust when his need became too great, then leaving her behind.

Brisa took the cap off the bottle of beer she held, knowing it would go to him. She snuck a quick look across the room at the large man who sat at the back corner of it, alone. He was always alone.

When hed first started coming to the bar, shed noticed him right away. What hot-blooded woman wouldnt? The man was sinfully gorgeous. Besides being at least six-foot-five and having a build of a bodybuilder, he had the sexiest longish, light-brown hair with blond highlights. It was the type she wanted to run her fingers through. Having never gotten close enough to see his eyes, shed found out from the waitresses who had served him that they were a piercing blue. And his face, god, the man would make any woman wet just from looking at him.

Are you done staring so I can go give him his beer? Janey, her friend and waitress, asked.