Demon Bound (49 page)

Teqon was in the air, his wings holding him aloft. “Earthquake?”

Alice met Jake's eyes. No. No, they'd felt this before. The nephilim's ritual opening—not a burial chamber this time—but the temple.

The psychic thrust of Jake's Gift hit her, harder and harder, as if desperately trying to find Michael. Then chunks of marble became slabs, the noise of the water and breaking stone deafening.

Jake appeared in front of her; they jumped to Teqon, and then again.

Cold water surrounded her; a current pushed at her back. Below them, a female nephil lay dead inside a ring of four. Her body suddenly rolled over, buoyed by a bubble of air escaping the cracking bedrock beneath.

Horror clutched at Alice's throat. The bubbles were a steady stream now. Her fingers tightened on Jake's. That wouldn't have to matter. They didn't have to breathe. The chamber could fill with water, and they could still return for Anaria.

The crack became a fissure.

It was my Gift,
Jake said against her hand. His profile was hard as stone as he stared at the ground.
They found us because I was pulsing my goddamn Gift.

The bedrock tilted at a drunken angle. The nephil's body rolled into the fissure. Air belched from the crevice, and the ground collapsed.

Through the cloud of debris and churning water, Alice could make out the edges of a sinkhole as large as the temple beneath.

Numbness settled into her limbs, her chest, her mind. Her horror was gone. There was nothing but cold despair.

The nephilim swam into the murky depths.

Teqon's eyes glowed crimson as he turned to them.
If the sarcophagus survived, it is buried under tons of rubble. There is only Michael's heart now, Guardian.

She looked up at Jake, her fingers squeezing his.
Do you see
any way? I will do it. I will cut Teqon to pieces and leave only his heart. I must try.

No, goddess,
he said, and touched his lips to hers.
Not that way. I'll fix this.

Jake turned to Teqon, and signed,
I will bring Michael to you. You will soon have a heart, demon.

Alice yanked on his arm.
Jake!

He touched Teqon and, a moment later, left her alone with him in the demon's courtyard.

 

The problem with Guardians was that they'd stop. Each one of them cared about Alice too much to
really
threaten Teqon—and Teqon knew it. They killed him, and she was fucked.

And the only way to win this was to make sure Teqon knew he was fucked twice as hard.

Jake strode through Caelum, his Gift ripping through the realm so hard that Guardians were flying over him to see what was happening.

Nothing was fucking happening. They needed to put a fucking bell on Michael so that he couldn't—

Jake jumped to the Boreas shore. Michael stood between Drifter and Irena, as wet as they were.

Irena's mouth drew back in a snarl, but dropped open when Jake said, “Alice is with Teqon. And you're coming with me, Michael.”

Michael's eyes turned black. “Very well.”

Jake pulled Alice's black hair ribbon out of his hammerspace, tied it around his wrist. His arrowhead went into his pocket. Of all the stuff he had collected over the years, those were the only two things he cared about keeping. He gripped his swords and dumped the rest of his shit in a huge pile on the ground.

“No,” Drifter said, his voice hollow. It filled out as it rose in volume. “Hell, no. You son of a bitch. What the ever-fucking hell do you think—”

“I think I'm taking Michael with me this time instead of waiting for him. I think that Alice had a damn good plan, a way to get out of her bargain and to keep Anaria imprisoned. I think that if you and Irena had asked her about that plan instead of trying to do what you thought best, we could have taken this slowly, so there wouldn't have been any fuckups. I think maybe the nephilim wouldn't have found us.”

He sent them images of the temple, of the cracking dome, of the sunken bedrock.

“And now I think Alice doesn't have any choices left. But I do. And I think that if I go at him fast, Teqon won't notice the difference in me until it's too late for him. His sword will be though my heart, and then
he
won't have a choice—except letting Alice go. But that'll be up to Michael, because Alice won't be in a place to bargain with him.”

“Yes,” Michael agreed.

Jake was shaking, with relief and a whole load of other emotions he wasn't taking the time to name. “And if I make it through, Alice is going to kick my ass after. Anything she does to me, it's of my free will. She won't be breaking the Rules.”

“Christ Jesus, Jake,” Drifter said.

“Well, yeah. We do whatever it takes, right? And if I do live through this, you have to kiss my hot ass.”

“I'll kill you, more like.” Drifter strode forward.

Jake hadn't known hugging could be manly, but he felt more like a man after. Then even more so when he survived Irena's crushing embrace.

She drew back, said fiercely, “Do not let her make your sacrifice worth nothing.”

“I won't.” He gathered his breath, looked at Michael. “Okay, then. Let's get this rocking.”

 

Though she'd only taken her widows out of the courtyard that morning, three new spiders had already moved in. Alice sat on the bench near the date tree, sliding her Gift around them and doing her best to ignore the demon who stood on the other side of the fountain. Jasmine scented the air, the sun was warm, the fountain pleasant. If she could disregard everything else, this was actually a lovely day.

Until Jake and Michael teleported in—so close to Teqon—and everything became a nightmare.

Jake strode forward, his gait looking oddly heavy, and he held his swords out to his sides like a cocky, stupid novice. A black ribbon—

Alice shrieked a denial and leapt forward, calling in her naginata. Michael appeared in front of her, and she crashed into him. She fell, screaming, and he held her down.

“You want a heart, demon?” she heard Jake challenge. “Come and fucking get it.”

Teqon's sword appeared in his hand as he thrust it forward.

“No!”
Too late, too late, too late—

The point of the blade speared through Jake's back. Made a short slice upward.

No, no, no.
She tried to scrabble forward, her nails ripping on the flagstones. Her shrieks weren't even words anymore. She heard Jake's strange “Gotcha.” Saw Teqon's eyes widen, and she was going to kill him, blast her soul and her bargain and the frozen field.

Jake staggered backward off the sword; Michael let her go and she caught him. Oh, sweet heavens. He was . . .

Jake was
human
.

Michael spoke, but she barely heard him.

Only the thin breath that bubbled in Jake's lungs. Saw only his face. Felt only the weight of his shoulders on her lap, and his hand weakly clasping hers.

“You have Fallen? Why have you done this? You foolish, stubb—” Her voice cracked like an old woman's.

Hold on, goddess,
he said, and it was so slow.
You won't have to fulfill your bargain.

“I don't care. Do you know what you have done to me?” she whispered, and kissed his cheek, his brow, leaving streaks of tears. She could feel herself slipping away with him—back to that place without hope. A future without him was a slow descent to Hell. “I love you. Please. Please, you cannot do this to me now.”

She did not care what Michael was doing, what Teqon was doing. Her breath coming in sobs, she gathered Jake close—but she did as he asked.

And listened.

“When Jacob dies, the nephilim will come for you, Teqon. And they will show you no mercy.” Michael's words raced—a human couldn't have understood anything spoken at that speed. “You have not much time to decide.”

Time ... to decide what?

“Heal him,” Teqon said, and she heard the panic beneath his voice. “He is human. You can heal his injuries. You can prevent his death.”

Oh, sweet heavens. Hope surged through her. Teqon was right. Jake
could
be healed.

“I can,” Michael said. “But you must release Alice first—”

“No,” Alice interrupted, her voice hoarse, her words quick. “Now. Heal him
now
.”

She would Fall, and live with him. And she would cherish every moment she had before death, before she went into that frozen field.

Michael's reply was cold, hard. “Will you make his pain worth nothing, Alice?”

Teqon didn't give her time to respond. “If the nephilim kill me, Mrs. Grey will never fulfill her bargain. She will be damned.”

“She will also be damned if you do not release her. There will be no difference in her fate if the nephilim come; the only difference is that you will be dead.” Michael paused, and she felt the searching touch of his healing Gift. “He has but seconds to live, Teqon. Release her, or die by a nephil's hand.”

“You won't let
him
die.”

Michael's tone chilled Alice to her bones. “You forget who I am, demon. And what I am capable of.”

Alice held her breath, tucked her face against Jake's cheek.
Please, God. Please—

“A new bargain, then,” Teqon suddenly babbled. “If I release her, you will heal him. You will not let him die. And you will not kill me, you will never lift a hand against me.”

Michael's silence and the pounding of Alice's heart filled an endless second.

“Accept it, grigori! Accept!”

“It is done,” Michael agreed.

Teqon's psychic scent swelled with palpable relief. “Then I release Alice Grey from her bargain. Now heal him!”

She lifted her head, kissed Jake's mouth. “Thank you, you wretch.” She turned to Michael. “Heal him. Heal him now.”

“Not yet, Alice,” Michael said, crouching and placing his hands on Jake's shoulders. “You sacrificed your life for the soul of another, Jacob Hawkins. Do you willingly accept the transformation?”

Alice gasped her shock; Jake's eyes opened wide. His breath was gone, but his lips moved in an unmistakable “Yep.”

She laughed, bent to kiss him again, but Michael signed against Jake's chest,
Alice. There is a demon who almost killed a human, but I cannot slay him. You know what you must do.

Yes. She reached out with her Gift, and didn't have to look away from Jake as she called in her whip, lashed it behind her. Teqon's body and head thumped to the ground at the same moment she was blinded by the whitest, most incredible light.

She kissed him and kissed him and kissed him again. He grinned, blast him.

A shadow fell over his face when Michael stood, and Alice looked up.

An odd expression crossed Michael's features as he vanished Teqon's body and head. “I am fortunate, I think, that you did not want to kill me, Alice.” His gaze fell to Jake. “This is your second transformation, and so there will be changes. You will be stronger and faster. You will develop another Gift.”

Jake sat up and disappeared. He was back beside her a moment later.

“
Another
Gift,” Michael said. “Not a different one.”

His jaw slackened. “Hot damn.” Then he frowned, twisted, and rose to his feet. Alice put her hand in his, and he pulled her up. “How many Gifts do you have?”

Michael smiled, and it was slightly wicked, Alice thought. “Several.”

Alice slid her fingers against Jake's. “You have Fallen?”

“And sacrificed my life again, and been transformed. Several times. In all my life, do you think I have never broken the Rules or taken time for myself?”

Apparently, he had. Her brows drew together. “Who transformed you back? Who was the Doyen, if you were not?”

“You have met her.” Michael formed his black wings, exchanged his tunic and pants for a toga. “And I believe it is time to bring her home.”

 

How very odd.

Khavi and Michael faced each other for the longest time, simply staring without speaking. Then Khavi laughed and spoke in the demon language. Michael sighed and bent his head, and let Khavi rub her hands over his shorn hair.

“It's the Twilight Zone,” Jake said.

Friends, do you think?
Alice signed with an arch look.

Alice felt a little faint at the thought—but she supposed everyone else felt the same at the thought of Nefertari.
I wonder if Khavi will teach—

“Yes,” Khavi said. “You will learn from me. The symbols, the magic. The demon language.” She frowned, and looked to Michael. “I can already see that she will be a challenge.”

“Oh, dear. How lovely my future seems.”

“Yes.” Khavi's gaze didn't move from Michael's. “But not yours. The nephilim will find Anaria. I believe they already have.”

Michael nodded, touched her forehead, then a glyph on her cheek. “We will not falter.” He turned to Jake. “Will you please ask Alejandro to come?”

“He does,” Khavi said. “Very quickly.”

 

Alice gave Khavi the same strip of leather that Irena had given her; long before Michael called a halt to the cleansing, Khavi had bitten through it.

And they had not removed even a significant percentage of the symbols from her skin—only those that prevented her from teleporting and altering her human appearance. Now Khavi could shift and conceal the symbols remaining on her skin until she was ready to cleanse them.