Bear's Baby (Bear Heat Book 4) by Natalie Kristen Page A

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