Blood of the Demon (27 page)

No matter. He would find her sooner or later. Or he would find a way to make her come to him.

Mammon strode out of his tent, ignoring the guards that snapped to attention as he sought a good view of the Great Pyramid. When he was king, he would use his slaves to build a monument ten times larger than this. It would become the symbol for his might, an object that struck fear in the hearts of all Otherworlders. Because they would know that, eventually, he’d be coming for them, too.

Mammon smiled.

It wouldn’t be long now.

Chapter Twenty-Two

When Brynn awoke, she was lying in bed alone. But the door to the bedroom was open, and Keegan’s whistled tune carried all the way from downstairs. He sounded happy. Arching her back into a deep stretch, she let out a wide grin. She could relate.

Her achy muscles protested when she sat up. Lord, she was tender.

Keegan had felt badly about the way he had awoken her last night. He thought he’d been too rough with her, no matter her assurances to the contrary. In fact, he’d only become convinced otherwise after she’d thrown him onto his back and straddled him, riding him so hard that they’d both almost passed out.

That was fun.

It took her a few minutes of searching before she remembered Keegan had discarded her robe outside yesterday. She quickly retrieved it. Even though she knew no one was around to see, it still felt scandalous to parade outside naked. Tugging on the robe, she made her way downstairs, where Keegan stood in front of the stove, flipping something in a pan. The smell of pancakes scented the air, eliciting a low growl from her stomach. How long had it been since her last meal?

He must have heard her soft steps, because he turned to grace her with a sexy grin. “Morning.”

He’d borrowed a pair of pajama bottoms from the home’s owner. They were light blue and a little too wide for his frame. Even though he’d tied the drawstring tight, they still rode low on his hips, in danger of sliding down his body.

“Yummy,” Brynn said, though her gaze was stuck on his chiseled torso and the faint trace of hair beneath his belly button that disappeared into the waistband of his bottoms.

Keegan sobered, devouring her with his hungry gaze. “Stop that, or we’ll be having more than pancakes for breakfast.”

“Sorry.” She diverted her gaze with a blush. When had she become such a hornball? They practically made love all night and it was still all she could think about.

“Me too,” Keegan said.

Was he reading her mind?

“This is all new for me too,” he clarified.

“Oh.”

Keegan laughed, then turned to load a plate with pancakes. “I thought we could eat outside on the veranda. It’s beautiful today.”

“Sounds wonderful.” She grabbed a plate and headed outside to the cozy dining table. The sun blazed down on them, a perfect complement to the soft, cool breeze. For the first time she noted that it was more like afternoon than morning. But then, her conception of time had been all screwed up since they’d arrived.

Keegan sat across from her, appearing more relaxed than she’d seen him... well, ever.

I did that
, she thought with a burst of pride.

“How’d you sleep?” he asked. “No dreams about Mammon, right?”

“No dreams at all lately, that I can remember. Do you think he’s tried?”

“Don’t know.” His brow creased. “I wish I knew more about this ability, but I don’t.”

“It’s nothing you’ve ever heard of before?” she asked.

“No.” Keegan sighed. “I need to speak with my brothers, tell them about it. I’ll head over to the mainland later today and borrow someone’s phone.”

Though he didn’t say it, he was worried about talking to them. Brynn clasped one of his hands. “I’m sorry.”

He squeezed. “I know you are. None of this is your fault.”

That was true, but for some reason she still felt guilty. He’d chosen her over his brothers. Over his duty to the Council. It wasn’t fair that he’d had to, but she was sure glad he had. “Thank you.”

Keegan opened his mouth, as if he was about to say something. But in the end he just smiled. Somehow, it managed to convey all the wicked things he was thinking about doing to her.

Sucking in her breath, she did everything she could not to read his thoughts. If she did, they’d end up in bed again, and there was still so much they hadn’t talked about.

“Do you think the Council knows yet?”

“Don’t know,” he said evenly. “Doesn’t matter either way.”

“What will they do when they find out?”

He gave her a reassuring smile. “It’ll be fine.”

“They’ll order your death, won’t they?” Somehow, she knew that would be the end result, and it frightened her.

“It’ll be fine,” he repeated. When she didn’t respond, he tugged on her hand. “Come here.” She rose and sat on his lap. He enclosed her in his arms and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll be okay. I promise.”

Wrapping her arms around Keegan, she buried her face in his neck. He smelled like soap and spice and the indescribable scent that was unique to him. So warm. Wrapped in his arms, she almost believed it would be okay. Almost.

“We can’t run forever,” she said.

He tugged her head backward so he could stare into her eyes. His gaze was bright and earnest. “Brynn, I can fly. We’ll soar all over this world, if that’s what it takes.”

Wow, that was the most romantic thing anyone had ever said to her.

She stroked a hand through his silky hair and traced her fingertips down his straight nose, to the center of his full lips. Her heart swelled and filled with emotion, burning a hole in her chest until she could no longer hold back the words that longed to escape. “Keegan, I want you to know I—”

He cut her off, his lips crushing hers, devouring her with his heated kiss. One hand deftly untied the sash of her robe and he pulled it open, baring her breasts to the gentle breeze. “I could never get tired of looking at you.”

As if to prove it, his gaze warmed her, and her nipples hardened even more under his stark perusal. He lifted his fingers to pluck them, and lowered his head to lap at the stiff peaks. One hand crept down to her waist and he lifted his gaze to hers. An unspoken question glimmered in his eyes.

He wanted her. Again. And God help her, she wanted him too. Desperately. After all, who knew how long they would have together? They had to savor every moment.

Keegan’s eyes narrowed in on her as if he could read her thoughts. His thumb reached out to brush across her taut nipple. “Tell you what. Why don’t you eat something first, then come back inside with me?”

“What about... ” She couldn’t even think when he touched her like that. Didn’t want to think. Only wanted to feel. “What about the mainland? Your brothers.”

His eyes flashed with equal parts promise and desire. “They can wait.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Full dark had fallen over the Valley of the Kings some time ago. Tents had been set up along—hell, even
through
—the archaeological dig sites. Mammon must have greased a lot of human palms to get this setup going without being questioned. He already had security measures in place, too, like wards that prevented Taeg from dissipating or flashing. Just as they’d expected.

Taeg adjusted his earpiece from his spot at the highest cliff overlooking the Valley. “Can you hear me, Cresso?”

“Loud and clear,” Cresso’s voice called over the earpiece.

Taeg used his binoculars to look down to the cliff below, which jutted out directly over the Valley. “I see ten rayamaras, all keeping watch. Who knows how many demons there are on the ground.”

“Gotcha. I’ll send the ishtari demons in now.”

Ishtari demons could fly. Female ishtari had large breasts and were a particular weakness of male rayamaras, especially since the ladies loved to play hard to get. Luckily, Cresso knew two of them, and they’d agreed to fly in to play a couple of horny demons looking for a good time. He’d also flown in a group of succubi from London, and at this very moment drove them toward the entrance to the Valley.

“Where are you?” Taeg asked him.

“Should be pulling up with my lady friends in about five minutes.”

Taeg watched through the binoculars while the two ishtari made an entrance, flying onto the cliff where the rayamaras patrolled. They touched down and sauntered to the nearest demons. The remaining rayamaras took note and, like flies scenting honey, flew to their side.

“Are you sure this will work?” Doubt and concern colored Ronin’s tone as he paced back and forth between Taeg and Dagan. “I mean, isn’t it a little obvious, sending horny chicks to the flying demons and to the ground demons all at the same time?”

“Of course it’s obvious,” Taeg said. “And of course it’ll work. There’s nothing like a smoking-hot, horny chick to make a guy’s big brain check out and his little brain take charge. As Dagan can attest with that haknasa demon that got him the other night. Isn’t that right, baby bro?”

“Fuck you,” Dagan grumbled.

Taeg snickered, while keeping his eyes on the scene below. Sure enough, the rayamaras surrounded the two ishtari, watching them with singleminded intensity as the ishtari flirted and struck poses intended to show off their generous curves.

“We’re here,” Cresso whispered into Taeg’s earpiece.

Taeg shifted his binoculars downward and saw the RV pull up to the front gate. The guards at the entrance rose to attention, prowling toward the vehicle. Cresso opened the door and exited, looking for all the world like a friendly tourist.

Taeg heard one of the guards growl to Cresso. “What are you doing here?”

“Hey, I was just driving through the area with the ladies here, and we figured we’d stop by to see the pyramids,” Cresso said, adopting a carefree tone. “You got something special going on here?”

“Don’t mess with me,” the guard snarled. “I can feel that you’re all demons.”

“Yeah.” Cresso chuckled sheepishly. “Fire demons. We do a traveling show, you know, fire and acrobatics and all that shit. Humans love it. They think it’s some crazy magic act. Makes us tons of money.”

“Fire demons, huh?” the guard said dubiously. “Why don’t you
show—?”

“What do we have here?” a woman’s coy voice crooned. One of the succubi scrambled out of the vehicle, her long, blonde hair flowing behind her. Taeg recognized her as one of the demons from back at Cresso’s place. She sauntered up to the guard and trailed a finger down his chest. “Hello there, handsome.”

The guard lost his defensive posture. He let out an uncertain chuckle. “Hi.”

Taeg laughed to himself. “See? Nothing like a hot piece of ass to make a man go brainless.”

Cresso cleared his throat, silently warning Taeg to shut up lest he risk being heard over the earpiece.

The other guards surrounding the RV shuffled in place as the remaining succubi piled out, cooing about how excited they were to be at the site of the pyramids. The succubi approached the guards, engaging them in conversation. Sure enough, within less than five minutes, the place more resembled happy hour at a singles bar than a heavily guarded entrance. And Mammon was no doubt sitting imperially in his tent, dreaming about what he’d do once he ruled the world, clueless as to what was going on outside. The ass.

Cresso covered his mouth and murmured, “Sublime.”

The code for them to proceed.

Taeg glanced toward the rayamaras, who were still preoccupied with the ishtari. Dropping his binoculars, he clicked off the earpiece and turned to Ronin. “Showtime.”

Ronin nodded and sprouted his wings, flicking them open. Full, soft, and white, they were pretty damn spectacular, though Taeg would sooner die than admit that to his little bro.

“I can’t believe I have to stay here,” Dagan grumbled.

“Ronin can’t carry the both of us down there.” Taeg clapped him on the back. “Besides, we need at least one person to report to the Council, if we don’t make it out alive.”

“Don’t say that, jerk,” Dagan said. Despite his angry words, an undertone of fear colored his voice.