Embraced (Eternal Balance) (4 page)

Chapter Five

Jax

“N
ot good…” Sam yanked the curtains back into place and spun around. The link between us surged to life, a fresh wave of panic flooding through it.

I frowned. The last thing we needed with a house full of corpses was an uninvited visitor. “There was a lot of noise. Did someone call the cops?”

“It’s Kelly!” she said, stomping her foot. “
Kelly
is standing on the front porch.”

Perfect fucking timing, as usual. I scanned the living room. The place looked like the set of a high budget slasher flick, blood and bodies strewn all over. “Get rid of her,” I snapped. We didn’t need Sam’s nosey aunt poking around right now. Or ever. She didn’t know about me and I intended to keep it that way.

Sam took a deep breath and opened the door a crack. “Kelly,” she said, voice ringing with forced cheerfulness. Kelly should have been able to see through it. She’d raised Sam, after all. But she was as clueless now as she had been when we were young. “It’s after midnight. Are you okay?”

“I heard loud noises.” The elder Merrick tried to push into the house, but Sam blocked her.

“Noises? What kind of noises?” When Kelly found out Sam moved from her apartment and in with me, her head exploded. There was yelling and screaming and large amounts of dramatic bullshit. She’d never been a fan, always pushing Sam toward my brother Chase who, ironically, was the real bad seed. Usually I never missed an opportunity to rub our living situation in her face, but I kept quiet now. “I haven’t heard any noises.”

Kelly tried to push past her again. “Don’t play games with me, Samantha. I know what I heard. Things falling and breaking. Clanking and clattering. It sounded like a war over here.”

“Clanking and clattering,” Sam repeated, nodding her head.

“Is he manipulating you?” Kelly dropped her voice. I couldn’t see around Sam, but I’d bet she was squinting. The damn woman loved to squint. “Making you pay your rent in the form of
favors
?”

Sam nearly choked, and I snorted. “Is he…favors? Are you
insane
? Where do you come up with this shit?”

A gasp. “Language, Samantha!” She paused, then let go of an overly dramatic sigh. “I told you he was trouble. I warned you—”

“Sex!” Sam blurted out. “We were having sex. Wild, crazy, animal-like sex.”

I would have given both nuts to see Kelly’s face.

“Yep,” Sam continued, running with it. She shifted her body to block the possibility of even a pinhole view. “It got a little intense. He’s into some kinky stuff. You should see his—”

Kelly gasped again, and a moment later I heard her footsteps as she power-walked away.

“Thank God,” Sam said, closing the door. She turned back to me, cringing at the mess. “So what now?”

I folded my arms and leaned back against a clean spot on the wall. “You didn’t finish your conversation with Kelly. See my
what
, exactly?”

“Your ego,” Sam fired back. “So damn big it barely fits in the door.” She wiggled her hand. “Can we focus here?”

“Okay,” I said, giving up and stepping away from the wall. The ease with which she was taking all this worried me. Sam was a tough cookie, but she seemed unfazed by the carnage. Strangely detached. “We need to find out what the hell that thing is on your wrist. I don’t love the idea, but if Heckle can’t remove it, we might have to hunt this Malphi down…”

“Agreed.” She nodded and stuffed both hands into her pockets, avoiding my gaze. “But, mess first. Let’s focus on that. Okay? We can’t risk someone finding bloody corpses in your living room.”

I studied her. The colors dancing above her head were a strange mix, a swirl of conflicting hues. Sam was usually fairly even. Mad, sad, happy. Her emotions were always clear. Now though, she seemed muddled, all over the radar, despite her eerily calm demeanor. “Are you okay?”

Her eyes darted from me to her wrist, then back again. She smiled, but it was forced. “Totally okay.”

I nodded. What else could I do? She’d just lied to me.

I
tried again to get hold of Heckle, but he was still conveniently unreachable. Since we lived in a semi-rural, developed area, carting corpses out to the car wouldn’t go unnoticed—especially since Kelly was probably camped out at her bedroom window with binoculars glued to her face.

We only had one choice.

“Knock, knock,” a sultry voice said from the back door.

Sadie Gray was a witch Heckle had referred us to a few months ago, but our connection was complicated. Hell, all my relationships were complicated. She limped through the door, and when she entered the room, Sam gasped. I understood why. Sadie looked almost as bad as the living room. Bruises covered her face, and a nasty gash—one that started at the right corner of her lip and disappeared behind her ear—seeped blood.

She noticed us staring and waggled her fingers in my direction. “Oh, this? I’d assumed you pissed someone off, or possibly took up cage fighting as a hobby.”

Despite my contempt for the witch, a ripple of guilt washed over me. I’d forgotten about the effects of our link. “Shit.”

In order to help thwart the control Chase had over Sam, Sadie offered me a special stone that had allowed Sam enough leeway for her to get away. But not without the witch demanding something in return. For reasons we still hadn’t figured out, she’d forced me to link us. Unfortunately, unlike the one Sam forged, a demonic link was mainly beneficial to the demon. If I was harmed, Sadie was the one who took most of the damage. I’d warned her, but she hadn’t cared.

“Aww,” Sadie said, winking. “Don’t go worrying about little ol’ me.”

“I wasn’t,” I said. “Just surprised. You asked for this, Sadie. Don’t expect me to feel sorry for you.”

She shrugged, not the least put off—which only made the whole thing more suspicious. Sadie had her reasons for wanting the link. I hadn’t trusted her then, and I sure as hell didn’t trust her now, but what was done was done. “Wouldn’t dream of it, handsome. So, why the summons?”

Sam shifted from foot to foot in the doorway. The look of disdain in her eyes was unmistakable—not that I blamed her. Sadie had made her desire for something more from our relationship crystal clear, and even though Sam knew I had zero interest, she still hated the witch.

“I need you to ward the house,” I said, wasting no time. She’d made her bed and now she’d have to bleed in it.

I’d dragged the bodies—what was left of them—into the corner of the dining room and covered them with a tarp while Sam pulled down the curtains and replaced them with clean ones, but the place was still a mess.

“Ward the house?” Sadie repeated, taking another unsteady step inside the room. “Exactly what do you mean?” She examined the stains on the floor, eyebrows rising slightly. “I assume this little mess means you were attacked?”

“I mean magic,” I said, ignoring her question. “Some kind of protection spell. Strongest you have.”

Sadie stepped over to one of the dark spots on the carpet and nudged it with the toe of her shoe. “Protection against what?”

“Demons.” I pulled back the tarp covering the corpses.

If Sadie was surprised or sickened, she didn’t show it. She studied the pile of bodies with nothing more than clinical interest, then shrugged. “Well, warding might be a problem.”

“Problem? Why?” I snapped. Azi’s patience—and mine with it—was wearing thin.

Sadie flicked a red-tipped finger in my direction. “Because
you’re
technically a demon?”

Shit. I hadn’t thought about that.

“Obviously it matters?” Sam asked tightly. A wave of contempt rushed through the link.

“It does unless he plans on moving out.” Sadie pulled the tarp back over the bodies and placed both hands on her hips. She glared at Sam. “If I ward it against demons, Jax won’t be able to come in. So, unless you’d like him to move in with me…”

“Pass.” The turbulence in her voice went right through me. She pulled her hair back into a tail, eyes following the witch wherever she went. “If you can’t ward the place, then what do we do?”

Sadie shrugged. “Not a thing. Not here, anyway.”

“If there’s no way to keep them out, then we can’t stay.” I turned away. The red haze bleeding into the air trailed behind Sam as she moved, like a snake waiting to strike. If Sadie wasn’t careful, she was going to pounce. Azi shifted, excited. The prospect of violence was even more alluring than her anger. “Not willing to risk it.”

For a minute, I was sure she’d argue. She knew damn well the
it
I didn’t want to risk was her. Reluctantly though, she sighed and held up her wrist. The metal bracelet glinted in the light. “What about this? Can you do anything about it?”

An expression of pure horror slipped across Sadie’s face. She grabbed Sam’s wrist and wrenched her arm closer, nearly pulling her over. “Where did you get this?”

“Why?” I was beside them in an instant. The markings on the cuff gave a flash. “Do you know what it is?”

“It’s a Fakori Cuff,” Sadie said. “Known in darker circles as a demon’s cuff.”

Sam looked like she was about to deck the witch, so I stepped between them. If there was a chance she could remove the thing, then it was best not to piss her off.

“What do you know about it?” I repeated.

Sadie sighed. “Fakori was said to be an alchemist, having imbued a number of bracelets with powerful curses of demonic nature.”

“Curses of demonic nature?” Sam asked. She looked a little pale. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing good. Each cuff does something different.” Sadie’s eyes were trained on Sam, full of awe. “That thing is humming.” She took Sam’s hand again and ran her pointer finger along the underside of her wrist. Closing her eyes, her lips began to move. Chanting. Every few seconds, her brow furrowed, like she was concentrating extra hard.

After a moment, Sam gasped and tried to pull away, but Sadie wouldn’t let go. Her grip tightened, knuckles going white as the symbols along the metal glowed bright red. A second later, the witch let out a scream and shot backward across the room.

“What did you do?” I asked, going to help her off the floor.

Sadie grimaced as she struggled to her feet. “Not even going to ask if I’m okay?”

“Nope.” I didn’t have time for her dramatics. When she’d bargained for the link between us, she’d essentially forced me to do something against my will, taking advantage of our bad situation. I wasn’t about to pity her for it. “Don’t care.”

She bristled, then shrugged it off. “Honesty. That’s sexy.”

Sam made a fist again then flexed her fingers. “I’m guessing the unplanned display of acrobatics means you can’t take this thing off.”

“That thing isn’t coming off unless the person who put it there takes it off.” Sadie sank onto the couch—the end not covered in blood splatter—wincing with every move. “It might help to tell me where you got it.”

“Someone bad,” I said.

She thought about it for a minute before flashing Sam a grin. With a waggle of her fingers in my direction, she said, “Well then, in my professional opinion, you’re well and truly fucked.”

I was on my feet and dragging her off the couch by the front of her shirt in a half beat of her heart. “You’re going to fix this,” I snarled.

As unflappable as ever, Sadie simply shook her head. “Sorry, baby. There’s nothing I can do. Only the one who put it on her can remove it. Dead or alive.”

“Dead or alive?” Sam’s colors swirled, still muddied and thick.

“There’s a rumor that if a person places a demon cuff, its power is tied to them. If you kill them, it might release Sam as well. In the meantime, I
might
be able to track it.”

“Track it?” Sam was fidgeting, clenching her hands and digging her fingers into her palms. She glared at Sadie. The look made me think she was having a flash of her own. Possibly of beating the witch to a bloody pulp.

“All magic leaves a trace—even alchemy. The
bad person
who put it there may not be an alchemist, but the power will leave its mark. A good witch”
—
she winked—“and I
am
good—can possibly track the source. Maybe you can use your own special brand of
persuasion
to get them to remove it.”

She made a show of straightening her shirt then turned back to the tarp. With a snap of her fingers, the whole pile disappeared, along with the remaining mess in the room. The couch and carpet were spotless, and the splatters decorating the walls and the ceiling were gone. Even the glass was back in place. I did my best to hide my surprise. I hadn’t dealt with other witches, but if they were all as powerful as Sadie, they could give the demons a run for their money.

I doubted there was anything I could do to
persuade
Chase to remove the cuff. Other than doing what he wanted, anyway. But having her track him down would provide a failsafe. I’d kill him if I had to. Fuck the rest of the world. Let hell come. Sam was all that mattered to me. “Do it.”

“I’ll work my magic.” She limped toward the door and paused with her hand on the knob. “No promises though. In the meantime, you should probably lay low. Fakori cuffs, whatever their individual purposes are, are dangerous.”

S
am insisted that Sadie ward Kelly’s house before leaving. I wouldn’t admit it, but it was a good idea. Sam had gone over, introduced her as a friend, and kept her aunt busy while Sadie did what she needed to. After that, we’d each packed a bag and gotten in Rick’s old car. It was almost nine in the morning when we pulled up outside the Inferno.

I parked in front of the bar and killed the engine. Sam hadn’t said a word since we’d left the house. She’d spent the entire drive staring down at her wrist. The demon got frustrated when she was upset. Sometimes downright violent. I felt it welling up and clenched my fists tight to keep from smashing them against the dashboard.

“We’ll figure this out.” I unfastened the seat belt and got out of the car as she did, hurrying to the door of the bar. When I pulled on the handle, it didn’t open. The place was dark.

“Not a good sign.” Sam cupped her hands against the glass to peer inside. The smallest flutter of gray rose from her shoulders, sticking out against the still swirling muck of her emotions. “He’s always here.”