Embraced (Eternal Balance) (12 page)

“I’m sorry. That won’t be possible.”

“What?” Sam and I both exclaimed. She looked from him to her arm. “But you said—”

“I said I would help you. And I will. I cannot remove the cuff, but under the right circumstance, one of you can.”

“You bastard!” Sam started forward, but I grabbed her arm and dragged her back.

“I mean you no harm, and I do not wish to see you fail in your quest, but you must understand something. Despite what the bible, Heckle, or anyone else tells you, free will is an illusion. You humans are free, but you’re nothing more than pawns laid out on a chessboard between good and evil. Heaven and hell. You think the moves you make are your own, but really, you’re being nudged and twisted for millions of otherworldly purposes.”

“I don’t believe you,” Sam said, shaking her head slowly.

“No? Heckle is all the proof you need. He tricked you. He knew all along what would happen if he returned the Pure soul to your body.”

“Then why do it?” I challenged. From what I knew of Heckle, it went against everything he stood for. “He said it unbalanced things.”

“I believe he sees it as a means to an end. You take it far too personally. More than likely, Heckle did what he did to right an imbalance. I imagine he already knows how this will end. Who will claim you.”

Sam jerked out of my grasp and stalked forward. Inches from Michael’s face she said, “No one is claiming me.”

Michael fixed a pitying frown on her. “It is inevitable. There’s no place for you to hide now.”

I stepped between them. “Not going to happen.”

“I suppose only time will tell.” He leveled his gaze at me and I fought back the urge to lash out. “I think you would be surprised at the kind of motivation that comes with her kind of power. I imagine after twenty-four hours of torture, most humans would agree to anything.”

Michael snapped his fingers. There was a weight in the room, followed by an echoing clap as darkness settled over us. The absence of light, of sound, was nearly crushing. But just as fast as it began, it was over. When it lifted, we were back outside the cabin.

I scanned the area around and sighed. “Guess he’s done with us.”

Chapter Sixteen

Sam

W
e were back on the steps, the huge white house again in its original, shack-like form. I let out a frustrated scream. The sound bounced off the trees and echoed through the woods with eerie resonance.

“Feel better?” Jax, unfazed by my uncharacteristic outburst, took my hand and tugged me down the steps.

“No,” I replied, following. We’d just wasted a chunk of time and were still sitting on square one. One of us could remove the cuff under the right circumstance? What the hell was that supposed to mean? If at all possible, Michael was even more cryptic than Heckle—and that’s something I didn’t think could happen. “Now what?”

“We’re running out of time. I’m not sure we have a choice anymore.” He glared down at my wrist and then back at me, studying my face with concern. “How do you feel?”

I flexed my fingers. Pins and needles shot up my arm, all the way to my shoulder. My hand was cold, like I’d been keeping it submerged in ice water. And every once in a while the cuff would constrict, sending a deep, throbbing pain rippling throughout my entire body.

“I’m tired,” was my response. “That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the cuff. It’s been a long day.”

Jax didn’t answer. Instead we started back down the mountain. I wasn’t sure how long we’d been inside Michael’s freaky
blast-from-the-past
, but the moon was high in the sky and the temperature had dropped.

The car came into sight before Jax spoke again. “I’ll do whatever I have to, Sammy. You know that, right?” He stopped walking as we cleared the path, and grabbed both my hands.

I knew he meant it, but that wasn’t the issue. It wasn’t just the two of us involved in this. There was a third party to consider. One with more pull than either one of us wanted to admit. “I know. But you need to consider the alternative.”

He pushed me away and closed the distance between him and the car.

“Jax.” I followed.

“Don’t.” He yanked open the door and threw himself into the driver’s seat. “Whatever defeatist crap you’re going to spout, just save it.”

Somewhere in the world pigs were cleared for takeoff and cats were dating mice. Jax was being the positive one?

I slid into the passenger’s seat and closed the door. As he stomped on the gas pedal, I said, “I’m going to ask you a question. Just one, and then I won’t bring it up again. Tell me the truth.”

“Okay.”

“Are you one hundred percent sure that you can take out Malphi?”

Without looking my way, he let his lips twist in a grin made of his trademark confidence. “Of course I—”

“That’s not what I mean.” I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. “Are you certain that Azirak will
let
you take Malphi out?”

He clenched his jaw and gave the car more gas. We lurched forward and took the next turn fast. What bothered me most wasn’t his silence, but the feeling of utter despair I felt radiating from the link.

J
ax pulled over about three miles into Harlow. We’d driven all night and made great time, but hadn’t said much to each other during the trip. In all fairness, I slept a chunk of the way. I was tired and my muscles had begun to ache. The chill that had been confined to my hand now seemed to have spread outward, enveloping both arms, my chest, and the right side of my neck.

It was a little after nine in the morning. I stretched and shifted in the seat as Jax killed the engine. For some reason he’d pulled into a park and ride on the edge of Flossmoor camping grounds.

He didn’t say a word as he undid his seat belt and threw open the driver’s side door. “Jax?”

No answer.

He slammed the car door and started for the woods. I fumbled with my own belt and hurried after him.

He must have walked a half mile into the brush before stopping beside a large boulder. Running his hands through his hair, he stalked back and forth in front of the rock, the gleam in his eyes so much more than haunted. Pausing, he threw back his head and let out a roar that was about as far from human as you could get.

“Jax…” I said again. I took a step toward him, then froze. His eyes flickered black for several seconds before returning to their normal, stormy gray. “Please.”

“What?” His voice was laced with acid, razor sharp and full of fury. “I can feel the demon fighting me, Sammy. It—”

I grabbed either side of his face and tilted his head down so that I could look him in the eye. “So? Fight back. It’s what you do—what
we
do. Focus. Focus on me.”

His breathing, which had been harsh and uneven, stilled. With a flurry of movement and a barely audible growl, I was off the ground and pinned against a large pine tree a few feet away. Jax’s hands on either side of my shoulders trembled slightly. “That’s a bad idea.” His eyes flashed again. Black. Gray. Black. Gray. They settled on a gray center rimmed in thick black. “Focusing on you unsettles us both.”

He leaned into me, nuzzling my neck with the tip of his nose. I wrapped my legs tight around his waist. There was a sharp inhalation followed by a warm puff of breath and the smallest nick as he nibbled my ear. Under normal circumstances, I’d be able to see the precarious balance we were literally tripping over. I was standing at the boarding gate for a permanent vacation, for Christ’s sake. But these circumstances weren’t normal. They weren’t even manageable. I was a slave to my emotions. To his. And right then, the vibes he was giving off were heady and undeniable.

Still, I tried. “The cuff,” I rasped, as his lips brushed my collarbone and my toes just about curled. “Malphi—”

One of his hands came up to close around my neck. The pressure was firm, but not to the point where air was impossible. But the look in his eyes, now blacker than they’d been, replaced the heat and chased a cold shiver down my back. “—is none of your concern. As you, Samantha Merrick, are none of hers.” For an instant Jax’s fingers tightened, closing off my airway. Azi. The demon was in control. I panicked and thrashed. The reaction seemed to please it. When it released its hold, Azi wore a wicked grin. “He will never admit it, but my human likes that. The taste of your fear. He craves it in the darkest parts of his soul.”

The demon pushed into me, letting go of a guttural growl.

I couldn’t help it. I whimpered. Good sense told me to scream at the top of my lungs and hope to God that there was someone nearby.

“I could take you now. I am within my rights to claim you…” It brought Jax’s lips back to my ear, and this time when the demon moved in, I cried out, sure that teeth had broken through the skin. “…in every way possible. Let me show you how a true demon
fucks.
”

“Please,” I said, barely above a whisper. A pathetic protest, but all things considered, a win. “The cuff… It’s killing me.”

Azi murmured against the sensitive skin of my neck, words I didn’t understand. Shifting back just enough so that I could see Jax’s eyes, still so black, it whispered, “Allow me to remove it. Let me take you and—”

A dizzying oscillation from gray to black. With his lip curling upward, Jax’s hand tangled through his hair and pulled savagely at the roots, as if trying to yank the demon from his body. With another bellow, he pulled away from me and sank to his knees.

I landed hard on the ground then stumbled upward, putting some distance between us. Just in case.

“I think…Sammy…” He lifted his head as his fingers knotted in the material of his T-shirt, above his heart. “I can’t…”

The change was complete. Like someone had held a dropper of ink up to his eyes, they clouded over, blackening throughout, and stayed that way. The demon’s gaze traveled over me, the scrutiny with which it examined me would have made me hot as hell if it had been Jax. “The sand in your hourglass is nearly drained. The cuff must come off. Now.”

Some of the tension left me. “I know.”

The demon said nothing as it rose, but continued to stare. Black eyes were hungry, and every few moments, it looked like it was trying to hold back. Like it wanted to finish what it had started a few moments ago.

“There’s only one way that’s going to happen,” I prompted softly.

The expression on Jax’s face remained unchanged. “You wish to trade your life for Malphi’s.”

It was my turn to remain silent.

Azi sighed—an act that was so Jax, and yet so alien.

“You would have me destroy my mate in favor of my human’s.” It took a step toward me.

It wasn’t a question and I had no idea what to say.

Another step. “I
could
do it,” it said, placing a finger beneath my chin and lifting my head.

Under Azi’s control, Jax’s lips brushed mine. Soft at first. A barely-there tease. Then, a second later, more aggressive. His hand snaked around to the back of my neck, and with a sudden jerk, the demon pulled me flush against him. Tongue skating along my bottom lip, it paused for a moment before nipping hard. I gasped and Azi chuckled. Jax’s voice, yet different. Darker and inhuman. Confusion settled over me. It wasn’t Jax in control, but it was his body pressed against me. It was still him that teased the heat to my skin.

With a single, powerful thrust of Jax’s hips, the demon ground his body against me, then pulled away. “But I will not.”

The heat that threatened to ignite me just seconds ago fizzled, leaving only ice in its wake. “Will not what?” I asked.

“I will not trade Malphi’s life for yours.” Azi tilted Jax’s head as though listening to something only it could hear. “My human is angry.”

“Can’t say I blame him,” I mumbled, taking a step away. My voice wobbled and I fought to maintain control over the emotions raging inside me—everything from the most profound terror to unparalleled rage over his admission. “I’m fairly annoyed, too.”

The movement was quick. One moment the demon was standing in front of me, the next it was behind me, the fingers of Jax’s hand wound tight around a chunk of my hair. “I believe you misunderstand,” it whispered at my ear. Warm breath tickled my neck. “I will not trade Malphi’s life for yours, and I will not trade your life for Malphi’s.”

I wanted to move away. Unfortunately, the iron grip held me securely in place. Jax’s lips skimmed the side of my neck, then worked their way across my cheek. The demon let out a contented sigh. “I will not see either of you perish.”

Okay. Not what I’d expected, but still not hopeful. “It’s not going to work that way.” I held up my wrist and gave it a good shake. “This needs to come off. The only way that’s going to happen is if Chase gets what he wants. So, yeah. One of us has to die.”

Azi leaned a little closer. “Possibly not.”

I didn’t want to get my hopes up—I was talking to a demon after all—but I couldn’t help it. “What does that mean?”

It pulled away and turned me around, and with a grin that looked so misplaced on Jax’s face said, “There is a chance someone else can remove the Fakori cuff.”

I snorted. We’d heard that before. “Michael said Jax or I could remove it under the right circumstance, but we have no idea what the hell those are. If that’s what you’re talking about, then I’m all ears.”

“A descendant of the creator may also remove the cuff.”

“A descendant?” I repeated. “Of Fakori?”

“Yes,” was all it said.

“Well, tell me where to find him and give Jax back the steering wheel. The clock is ticking.”

“I have a condition, Samantha Merrick.”

Ding, ding ding
. There it is. “The answer is no.”

“I have not asked yet.” It was eerie the way the demon stood there just watching me, his only movement the slightest flutter of Jax’s eyelids.

“I already know what you want. The same thing Chase does. The same thing the angels do.” I leaned closer, pinning him with what I hoped was my best intimidating glare. “The same thing your demonic bitch wants.”

“Your power, you mean.”

I folded my arms and shook my head. “Not going to happen.”

“While your power would please my clan and enable my victory, it is not what I ask.”

That surprised me. “What then?”

“Until the cuff is removed, I retain complete control over the human’s body.”