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the better.

Chapter Four
     
    Jaxon was on the hunt for evildoers. He’d left Chyna at her apartment with a promise they’d get together sometime the next day. He’d actually had a hard time forcing himself to leave her. The idea of holding her through the night as she slept had been a temptation he’d wanted to act on. And it was a first. He never wanted to spend a night in a woman’s bed unless it involved a marathon of sex.
    He walked down the sidewalk, waiting for the familiar pulling sensation that meant his prey was nearby. Most nights he never experienced it. It was a good and bad thing that San Diego’s crime rate had become so low. It was great for the mortals but not so much for him. He’d been created to send evildoers to the underworld to be judged. Without them, he didn’t have a real purpose.
    Jaxon had thought of talking to Anubis about being given another city to watch over, one that would keep him busy, but Jaxon liked San Diego and didn’t want to leave it. And now that he’d met Chyna, there was no appeal in leaving it at all. He shook his head and snorted to himself. Two days. That was all it had taken to have him feeling closer to Chyna than he’d ever been to another woman. He just had to wonder if it would last.
    The sudden strong pull of evil had Jaxon coming to a standstill as he tried to focus on where it came from. It was so intense, he knew if he didn’t get out of sight right now he’d shift out in the open.
    Following the pulling sensation, he all but ran into the dead-end alley it led him to. The change tore through him the instant he was no longer so exposed. Jaxon gritted his teeth at the pain of his bones and muscles shifting and realigning. Once it was over and he was in his half-human and half-jackal form, it didn’t take him long to spot his prey.
    A man stood at the very end of the alley, appearing as if he only waited for Jaxon. His prey didn’t have any kind of reaction to seeing the creature Jaxon had turned into as he came closer to the male. When dealing with mortals and prey alike, it was normal to have them almost pissing themselves in fear once they saw him. This man was different. The scent of fear didn’t emanate off him. All Jaxon smelled was the rank scent of evil. It was so thick he almost had a hard time breathing past it.
    Jaxon walked toward his prey in long strides, determined to “see” the evil within the man. He’d come within a yard of the evildoer when the man spoke some words in a language Jaxon did not know, and Jaxon found himself slamming into an invisible barrier. He took a step to the side and ran into the same obstacle. Same with the other side and at the back of him. It was as if he’d been trapped inside some kind of invisible force field.
    The evildoer laughed, the sound full of malice. His prey’s eyes glowed red as he approached Jaxon. Whatever this man was, he wasn’t human. Jaxon beat at the invisible wall but it held, keeping him in place.
    “I have you right where I want you, warrior of Anubis. There’s no escape. So you might as well stop trying to get free.”
    “What are you?” Jaxon asked.
    “I’ve become your hunter, warrior.” He circled Jaxon. “My brethren and I have been hunting down each one of your kind, those of you who vowed to serve the god of the underworld. We escaped to the mortal realm to put an end to Anubis’ warriors so the souls you send to him end up with us, where they belong.”
    Jaxon now knew exactly what this creature was. Anubis had told him to be on the lookout for one since a couple of the other warriors had had attempts made on them recently.
    “You’re a demon,” Jaxon said with a growl.
    The demon stopped in front of Jaxon. “Very good. But knowing what I am isn’t going to save you now.”
    The creature lunged through the invisible barrier that kept Jaxon trapped. The demon took hold of Jaxon’s lupine head with his hands coming to rest on either side of it. Jaxon let out a howl