Embraced (Eternal Balance) (14 page)

Chapter Nineteen

Jax/Azirak

T
he Fakori descendant wasn’t far from Harlow. After Azi hung up with its informant, it dialed another clan member and told it where to pick us up. The car had just arrived, driven by a blond-haired female demon who looked extremely unhappy. It wasn’t the only one.

“I can’t believe I’m willingly getting into a car driven by a demon,” Sam said as the vehicle pulled over to the side of the road. “Somewhere in hell, it’s snowing.”

“It does not snow in hell,” Azi retorted.

Idiot.
I gave a verbal sneer.
It’s an expression.

“I am aware,” it responded. Stepping up to the car to open the door, the demon moved aside and gestured for Sam to get into the backseat.

She hesitated, probably wondering why the demon was talking to itself. “Huh?”

“Jax,” it said. I felt the awkwardness as it said my name. “He finds me—”

“Annoying?” Sam supplied as Azi lowered my body into the passenger’s seat. “Foul, manipulative, murderous?”

Azi laughed. “I imagine so.” The car rolled back onto the road. “You forget that I did not ask for this. I am imprisoned here. Shackled to this plain, to this mortal, until he dies. And then, the cycle will begin again. My torture is unending.”

“Torture which you deserve,” she said, justified.

Anger flooded me, and I worried Sam would push the demon too far. My own rage was tenuous, balanced on the edge of a knife at any given moment. Azirak’s was far more combustible. Easier to incite.

“It is my nature to conquer. To dominate. You know nothing of the war or the incident that caused it. We were justified in our attacks.”

“To be honest, I couldn’t care less. What matters to me is Jax and the affect you have on him. I know it’s not your fault—that you had no choice. And from what I’ve seen, you’re not the most horrible demon in the world. But you hurt him. Whether you mean to or not, you cause him pain.”

“That is not my intention. I simply desire to exist.” The demon cast a sidelong glance at the female driving the car. “And to see my clan flourish.” It wasn’t the truth, yet it wasn’t a lie, either.

Sam must have taken the hint. With one of Azi’s clan members in the car, bringing up the future, or its plans about what to do with her, was a bad idea. We needed their help.

W
e pulled up alongside the curb of a small yellow Cape Cod style cottage just after one in the afternoon. Chase put the cuff on Sam somewhere around midnight. That left eleven hours. If this went off without a hitch, then we were golden. Sam would be fine, and Malphi could live.

For now.

“This is it?” Sam whispered as she got out of the car. “This is where Fakori’s descendant lives?”

Azirak nodded in confirmation, then turned to the female demon. “Wait for us here.”

We made our way up the foliage-lined walk. When we reached the door, Sam went to knock, but it was already opened. A tendril of gray rose into the air as Azirak shouldered her aside and pushed into the house.

With each step my sense of dread grew. I wasn’t alone. Azi was agitated, what I’d come to interpret as the demonic equivalent of worried. Through the living room and into the hall, there was nothing obviously out of place. No signs of struggle—until we reached the kitchen.

Sam let out an anguished howl and threw herself forward. She landed on her knees in a growing pool of blood beside an older man. “Do something,” she screamed. She lifted the man’s shoulders off the ground, pulling him up and cradling him close. “Don’t let him die!”

The demon knelt across from her. I felt its remorse. “It is too late. The human is dead.”

“Find another,” Sam demanded. Tears streaked her face. “Get on the phone. Call your clan. Find another Fakori.”

The demon shook my head. “There is no other. David Fakori was the last of his line.”

Sam opened her mouth but no sound came. The tears began streaming freely down her cheeks and I lost it. Agreement forgotten, I pushed for control. I couldn’t see her like that, on the verge of falling apart, and do nothing. She needed me.

The demon fought me at first, but it didn’t last. Sam let out a wail and fell back against the counter, and Azirak moved aside. It hated that she was in pain, and knew I was the only one who’d be able to help.

“Sammy.” I dove forward, my knee slipping in the blood, and caught her before she toppled sideways. “Don’t,” I whispered, pulling her close. “We still have time.”

“There’s time,” she agreed, between sobs. “But no options. This was my last feasible chance.”

“No. Michael said—”

She pulled away and faced me, eyes cold and full of fury. “You had him killed,” she spat.

“Sammy, what—” And then I understood. Azirak. She was talking to the demon. I shook my head and grabbed her hands. “It wasn’t Azi. I’d know. It wasn’t—”

“You never did like playing by the rules, brother.” From the other end of the room, Chase walked into the kitchen. The front of his shirt and jeans were covered in blood. “I couldn’t allow cheating.”

Sam let out an agonized howl and launched herself upright. She dove for him, and, surprised, I wasn’t able to grab in her time. “The world ends if Jax kills you,” she screamed. “I’m free to do what I want.”

Chase let her pin him against the counter. He even let her grab the butcher knife next to the sink and hold it to his throat. With an amused chuckle, he said, “Looks like the cuff is doing a number on you, Samantha.” He pointed to the clock above the door. “Time’s running out. You should focus on Malphi—something you should have done in the first place.”

The knife broke through his skin as Sam shook with rage. Part of it was mine, feeding her actions through the link, but there was a portion of it that was all hers. After years of carrying a feeling of helplessness, reliving the night her parents were killed, she’d reached a breaking point. Pushed by the situation, or simply by the culmination of everything that had happened over the last few months, the seams of her control were ripping.

“Take it off,” she growled.

Chase only laughed. “This side of you is damn sexy, Samantha, and while it’s hard to resist you, I’m going to have to decline.” In a swift movement he had their positions reversed, minus the knife. “But if you don’t wish to eliminate Malphi, you can allow me to claim you and I’ll remove the cuff.”

I jumped to my feet and wrapped my fingers around a handful of his shirt. Hauling him back, I slammed him into the far wall.

He clucked his tongue, never losing his smile. “Don’t do it. You might not care about the fate of the world, Jax, but you kill me and she’s dead, too.”

Azi raged inside me, flashing scene after scene—multiple, bloody ways to take Chase out. I felt the urge hum through every part of my body. It vibrated deep inside, waking something I kept buried deep. The borderline euphoric feeling that his death promised lingered just within my reach. All it would take was a single move. An instantaneous act that meant freedom from the pain and guilt I’d grown up with. Forget about Zenak. Screw Azirak. Chase might be my brother, but he was a bad person. And I fed on bad people, right? A part of me was terrified at the ease with which my mind justified it all. But it was more complicated than that.

If I killed him, Sam would die.

If I didn’t kill him, Malphi would have to die.

“Jax!”

My grip loosened and I stepped away. Chase beamed, an expression full of smug satisfaction. He was untouchable and knew it. “That’s better,” he said, glancing up at the clock. “There’s still time, Jax. You can still save her.”

I backed away, feeling more helpless than I ever had. I would find Malphi. I would try to kill it. But I wouldn’t succeed. I knew now that the hold Azirak had over me wasn’t something I could compete with. I could fight the monster. Most of the time, I could win. But when it came to Malphi, I had no delusions. Azirak would not allow its mate to die.

“Sammy,” I said. My throat felt thick. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Twenty

Sam

J
ax took my hand and led me through the house. It was all a blur. I looked down at myself and saw that my jeans were stained with red. The blood of a stranger, someone like me, caught in the crossfire of a war we had no stake in. He’d been killed simply because the blood that flowed through him could have saved my life. He hadn’t deserved this…

We emerged from the house to find the female demon still waiting. The last thing I wanted was to get in that car. I was out of options, hours away from dying. I didn’t want to spend my remaining moments on Earth with a demon.

At least, not that demon.

When we reached the car, I stopped and turned to Jax. “I don’t want to die.” The words came out so low that I thought maybe he didn’t hear me. “Please, don’t let me go. I just—we—I’ll do anything to stay.”

The agony in his expression stole my breath. The corner of his eyes glistened as he sucked in a breath. He grabbed my face, fingers digging into the skin. “I’ll kill the bitch, Sammy. I will.”

It wasn’t me he was trying to convince though. It was himself. I shook my head. “No, Jax. You won’t.”

I watched it happen. He shattered before me, throwing his head back and letting out a scream that could have chilled the arctic. The sound blasted right through me. I felt it from the tips of my toes to the bottom of every strand of hair. Balling his fist tight, Jax slammed it down against the roof of the car, caving the side in almost a foot. Our demonic chauffer said nothing.

I waited for his breathing to even out then gingerly took his hand. He was bleeding. The torn metal had sliced the pinkie side of his palm in an ugly gash. “I don’t know much about being a Pure.” My heart thundered inside my chest. The words came without thought. “I’ve seen what—what they can do. Demons. The ways they try to break you down to get what they want.” The memory of what I’d watched them do to my mother when I was a child was permanently burned into my brain. “I can’t—if they find me before I… Whoever gets to me will have the ability to lay claim. I don’t know if I have the strength to hold out. You should do it first. Before it comes down to torture…”

His eyes widened. “What—”

“The angel said she would remove the cuff if I allowed her to claim me. That she
could
remove the cuff.” I moved closer to him, taking comfort in his warmth. “You can get this thing off.”

“If the situation is right.” He repeated Michael’s words. A small ember of hope burned inside me. But Jax didn’t share my enthusiasm. He shook his head and took a step away from me. “Don’t forget that if I do it, Azirak gains control over you. We don’t know what will happen. You could—”

“Die?” I finished for him. “That’s going to happen anyway. At this point there’s nothing to lose.”

“Except giving a shitload of power to a demon.”

It was my turn to take a step back. A sharp pain cut through me, and I found it hard to breathe. I forced the air into my lungs and cringed. “So you’d rather watch me die?”

His expression was stricken. Good. I knew exactly how he felt. He slammed his hand down again and the car groaned in protest. “Fuck! Sammy, I didn’t mean—”

“For you to die would be a terrible waste,” a new voice said.

We spun around. Standing on the pathway was a woman I’d never seen, with long, side swept brown hair and vibrant green eyes. She wasn’t alone. With her, on either side, were two identical men, both total chrome domes,
a la
Mr. Clean, wearing white suits and sour expressions.

“And you are?” Jax asked, stepping between us.

“Her new master,” the woman said.

“Like hell,” he fired back. He turned to me and opened his mouth, but no sound came. He tried again, this time grabbing his throat and staggering back. It was like he couldn’t breathe.

The woman turned to me and smiled. “Do you agree to be claimed?”

Jax’s knees buckled as he fought for air. His eyes went wide, and his head shook vigorously. Seeing him like this, suffering, was enough to rip me wide open, but once I agreed, there was no coming back. Moments ago, allowing someone to claim me had seemed like my only option, but something told me these guys wouldn’t play by the rules.

I squared my shoulders and stood my ground. “No.”

The woman—angel or demon, I had no idea—didn’t expect that answer. She faltered for a moment, surprised, but finally nodded. “I see,” she said, placing an arm on the shoulder of both men beside her. “Then I suppose I will just need to convince you.”

The two men came forward. I could have tried to run, but I knew it was pointless. Angel or demon, they would be on me faster than flies on shit. They grabbed me, and as Jax finally climbed to his feet, dragged me away.

M
y head hurt, a needle-like jabbing pricking my skull from the inside out. I opened my eyes, but there was only darkness. The air was musty. A basement or cave. There was mildew, too. I was allergic and my nose itched something fierce. My last few hours on Earth and I was going to spend them in an allergen induced haze.

I brought my hand up to scratch, but nothing happened. I was restrained. My hands and my feet. Huh. I’d only been tied up a couple of times before this. Both those activities had been more than fun. It was less interesting when done out of the bedroom.

I managed to wiggle my fingers, which was good since pins and needles had set in. I’d been out awhile. My legs were asleep and my neck ached.

Jax. He would have been fine after we left, right? Been able to breathe?

I flexed my foot and twisted my ankle. The ground was gravely, like loose rock and pebble or something. I could have tried calling out, but the chances of someone other than one of my captors being within hearing distance was probably one in a billion.

Tugging and twisting, I yanked hard on my restraints. Whatever they were made of, they were smooth and cold—not metal, but just as strong. Breaking them wasn’t an option.

“While it amuses me to watch you struggle, it wastes time,” a woman’s voice said from the darkness.

Light flooded the room, and when my eyes finally adjusted, she was settling in a chair a few feet in front of me. I’d been right. We were in some kind of basement. Boxes covered in dust, shelves with old books, nothing special or out of the ordinary. Nothing useful.

“The house belonged to the Kendal family,” she said, tapping her head. “I can hear your thoughts.” She frowned, watching me intently. After a few moments, she sighed. “Yes. They’re dead. Regrettably it was our only choice.”

“Of course it was,” I said drily.

She leaned forward, elbows balanced on her knees. “Do you agree to be claimed?”

I stared at her. “Seriously? Why would my answer have changed between now and the last time you asked?”

She sighed. “Do you know what you are?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what hell could do with you? The damage and pain they could inflict?”

“Oh,” I said, flashing her a concerned frown. “I get it now. You’re worried about humanity. Is that right?”

She looked insulted. “I am a child of God.”

Well, that answered the angel or demon question. “If you’re an angel, where are your wings?”

A burst of wind rolled over me, and with a loud whooshing, the angel’s wings unfurled. Beautifully colored, in vivid hues of blue and green, they filled half the room.

“How come they’re blue?” Truthfully, I didn’t give a crap about the color. They could have been neon tie-dye with rainbow colored cows. But keeping up the conversation might stall whatever she had planned.

“The color is representative of my rank.”

“Rank, huh?” I swallowed the bile creeping up my throat. “So blue stands for, what? Kitchen staff?”

She didn’t answer.

“Oh. I know. You’re heaven’s Chief toilet scrubber?”

“I am a general in the Army of Heaven” She said tightly. “Enough of this banter. You will consent to be claimed. I will leave you no other choice.”

“That sounds like a threat,” I said, doing my best to keep my voice from wobbling.

“Merely a fact.”

“So the torture thing. That stands, huh?”

The angel stood and took two steps forward until she was towering over me. “We will do what’s necessary.”

I swallowed back a lump of fear. Jax would find me. I had complete confidence. The question was, would he find me before or after this woman made mush of my brains?

“So…that’s a yes on the torture, then?”