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whatever Red Eyes had done to her. It infuriated her that she had been unable to control the need pulsing within her. That had to be the reason she had missed—again—when trying to stab the stranger.
    Granted, she hadn’t recognized him when she defended herself, but it didn’t help her self-confidence any.
    She looked at the stranger with his dark hair that hung to his shoulders and his brown eyes that were so dark they were nearly black.
    He wasn’t as pretty as the Red Eyes, but his ruggedness, the sheer masculinity he exuded was hard to dismiss. In fact, it was difficult for her to look away.
    How could a man appear sensitive and ferocious at the same time? And yet, he did. Lexi had the insane urge to rest her head on his chest. A chest on which a black shirt was stretched tight over hard muscles.
    She had to look up at him, he was so tall. Lexi frowned as she noticed his incredibly long, dark eyelashes. Then she made the mistake of looking lower.
    He had a mouth that made her dream of spending hours kissing him. His lips were wide and captivating. Perhaps it was the effects the Red Eyes had on her that made her examine him with such longing.
    But she had a suspicion that the stranger was always charming and fascinating. She had noticed it the first time. Only she had refused to acknowledge it. This instance, she couldn’t help herself.
    His gaze watched her as if he were waiting for her to come to a conclusion. Her stint in Edinburgh had proven that she couldn’t trust anyone. Handsome or not, strangers were enemies.
    â€œI’m trying to help,” he said and took a step toward her.
    Lexi had turned her head to the second man right before them. She was so wound up that she reacted before she thought twice about it and stabbed him.
    â€œDammit,” he said between clenched teeth. His fingers tightened around her wrist. “Stop doing that.”
    Lexi blinked in confusion. He acted as if she had actually hit her target. That couldn’t be right. He would’ve reacted with pain, not stood there as if nothing had happened.
    She glanced down at her knife and felt as if she had been knocked flat on her back. There was blood on the blade. Her gaze jerked to his left side where she saw a dark, wet stain on his sweater.
    Lexi took a step back, suddenly more afraid than she had been before. “Leave me alone,” she said and held up the knife.
    â€œI would, lass, if you would but come to your senses and stop following the Dark around.”
    Following the dark? What the hell was he talking about? He was insane and probably high on drugs. That was the explanation for him not reacting to being stabbed—twice.
    She backed across the narrow street, keeping both men in sight. The second one had killed the Red Eye he had been fighting. For just a moment, Lexi thought about thanking him, then thought better of it.
    When she reached the corner, she turned and ran, tucking her knife back up her sleeve. She was halfway home when the rain began to come down in a torrent.
    Everywhere Lexi looked, she saw the Red Eyes. Her brain felt as if it were in a fog. She was so disoriented that she almost didn’t notice the two Red Eyes stationed outside of her flat.
    Lexi immediately turned the other way, mumbling a string of curses as she did. What rotten luck. It took everything she had to keep going when all she wanted to do was get out of the wet clothes and into a hot shower to warm up.
    She had to get out of the rain and find shelter so she could stop the chills that seemed to have settled deep in her bones.
    *   *   *
    â€œWell, that didna go well,” Darius said when Thorn came to stand beside him.
    Thorn glanced down at his side. “You could say that.”
    â€œYou let her stab you? Twice in one day?”
    â€œI didna let her do anything.” It was a lie, and both of them knew it.
    Darius watched her run down the street. “She held her own