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monster every time you feed or am I just lucky?'

      `On my world, I would have your head for such rudeness!'

      `Why have my head when you can rip out my heart?'

      She froze to her seat. Air hissed from her lips.

      Regret cut him deep. `I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. You've done so much to protect me. I just need you to know we're friends. I'm here for you and we're in this together.'

      `We are not in this together and how can you claim me as your friend when we have known each other less than a day?'

      `Sometimes you just know.'

      `You think you know, Max McCalden? Do you know what it is like to rip out a heart and eat it while it's warm? To recoil because the blood on your hand rouses, not repulses? To know even a horror of killing will yield to pleasure and gratification?'

      His stomach roiled, not because of her savage analogy but because of the hatred smoking her eyes. And not hatred for him but herself. `It's okay. I understand.'

      Did he glimpse tears in those glassy eyes?

      `If I took my own life, it would end. I would never need to resist the temptation again.'

      `But you pray to a god. I've heard you. What's his name?'

      `Danu, the Mother Goddess.'

      `You live your life according to a goddess and you're trying to save your kingdom. That's more than most humans do and you're only half-human. You will find the Elnara and save your people, but you can't do that if you're dead. I really believe you will achieve this.'

      As her lips parted, their eyes met and he felt her fear. He knew she'd never admit it, but she was scared of failure, of who she was and of the monster she could become.

      `You've a courageous heart, Shahkara, stronger than most humans I know.'

      She blinked and her vulnerability fled.

      Uh-oh. The warrior girl was back and ready to whip him for sneaking behind her defences.

      `Are you finished?' Her venom no longer rattled him. He knew her poise and sharp tongue masked her own fear.

      `Absolutely.' He flashed an accommodating smile. Two could play at this game, and he didn't mind if she set the rules. `Do you need help with your seatbelt?'

      `No.'

      `Have you still got my phone? You can use the internet on the way home.'

      `I'd rather you taught me how to drive.'

      `No can do. You need a licence which would require a birth certificate and you weren't born in Australia. Or anywhere here.'

      `But foreigners must be allowed to drive on your roads.'

      `Funny that. They all have documents from their country of birth, because they were born on Earth.'

      `Can you not procure me false documents? It has been done on my world before.'

      `Me? I don't even know how to photocopy my school grades. There are people who can forge that sort of stuff, but it's illegal.'

      `Your kingdom chokes on its laws.'

      `Don't worry. When you see what our roads are like, you'll be grateful you can't drive.'

       You're trying to save your kingdom. That's more than most humans do and you're only half-human.

      His words stayed with her long after they returned to his house where, thankfully, they found no intruders lurking. Max offered her a guest bedroom to sleep in, but she refused, insisting the lounge was more central and would allow her to hear any disturbances.

      His face pale from fatigue, he fetched a pillow and blanket for her and cleaned up the dusty remains of what had been Jack's blood, before retiring to his room.

      Shahkara stayed awake for a few more hours, reading information on his phone, eating meat from his refrigerator and contemplating this boy-man whom she had snared for selfish needs. She had thought him weak, possibly incompetent, when they first met but her opinion had shifted within the space of a few hours.

      She had lashed out at him after returning from her hunt, when her senses were heightened by feeding and her conscience was strangled by the guilt that assailed her whenever she took a creature's life. But her feeding had induced neither fear nor pity in him. He had thwarted her temper with patience and sage advice.

      A frown twinged her forehead. Despite his weakness for liquor and his limited abilities, he demonstrated wisdom. Could it be that the years he endured in his father's household had forged an inner strength, a resoluteness?

      Now, more than ever, she needed to keep her distance. The possibility of friendship could only lead to danger or, worse, death.

      You've a courageous heart, Shahkara, stronger than most humans I know. If only he knew! Jada's scent haunted her like a punishing wraith and she yearned for absolution.

      A tinny melody blasted through the room and she reached for Max's phone before realising the tune was generated elsewhere — from beneath the couch. She bent down and discovered a different phone. Blocked call flickered across its screen as she retrieved it. She pressed the green receive button as Max had shown her earlier and waited for the person on the other end to speak.

      `Jack?' The Australian male accent sounded vaguely familiar. `Is that you? Is Max there?'

      `Who are you?' she asked.

      The phone clicked off. The screen beeped: Five missed calls. This was the the dead Taloner's phone. She must have knocked it from him during their fight. Come the morrow, Max might be able to use it to discover the caller's identity and pinpoint his potential killers.

      No. Her spine stiffened. His assassins were not her primary concern, and wanting to protect him complicated her mission. The sooner they left the city, the better. She did not want Max dead, but he could not disrupt her plans. He would be safe if he came with her, but if he proved difficult and she was forced to discard him, it would be his fault. She could not forsake her people just because of his tawny eyes, kind words, and his rich, thudding heart.

      His life-force.

      Even from the living room, she could hear its beat and sense the pleasure it promised. A human heart was like a fingerprint: intricate, unique. She had sensed the goodness in him long before he saved her from Jack's talons.

      She tiptoed towards his partially-open door and inhaled his scent. Closing her eyes, she imagined his heart beating against hers and blood rushed through her veins. She trembled as her heartlust swirled like a heady potion and she imagined touching his skin, tasting his blood…

       Beg Danu! No!

      Her talons snapped out from beneath her knuckles, ripping her skin and firing her desire. Frustration stabbed her. It was her curse. Every time she unleashed them, they cut her skin and drew blood, but the physical pain was nothing to the emotional toll. She had learnt to live with claws, but not the darker instincts lurking within. She had to be more disciplined. She refused to make the same mistake twice.

      Maybe it was better to escape tonight, to ditch this boy-man before complications arose. She could find another.

      But not in three days. She was loathe to admit it, but she needed him. After all, it was not her life but her people's lives at stake.

      Her hatred for the Taloners burnt brighter at the thought of her own sacrifice. Since her escape from the dungeons on Gorias, she had embraced this quest as one of redemption, and almost craved the release that her ultimate death would bring. But now, for the first time since Jada's passing, she wished she could expel her death-wish and savour her life through to old age.

      All because of this boy-man.

      Bone weary, she curled up on the large, padded couch and prayed herself to sleep. He would not distract her. Too much was at stake.

      

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