by Lexi Blake
He leaned over, and his lips brushed my forehead. “I have never wanted a woman the way I want you, Zoey. I knew it on our first date. I knew it the first time I saw you. Why do you think I made such an idiot of myself the first time I met you? You make me feel alive. I can’t believe you’ve spent our time together thinking I was only interested in sex with you. How hard up do you think I am? Sex with you meant having every vampire in the world wanting to kill me.”
“I rather thought that was part of the allure,” I muttered.
Dev chuckled, a self-deprecating little laugh. “Well, at least you know me. I might get off on the danger a little, but I assure you, knowing that you’ll eventually leave me for your husband doesn’t do anything for me. Since we’re mentioning your spouse amid my confessions, let me warn you. If Gilliana did bear a child from that night, my mother would likely declare us to be married. My absence at the ceremony wouldn’t mean a thing. The queen wouldn’t want her new Green Man to be illegitimate. I should have told you, but we had enough roadblocks. Besides, it’s not like she’s going to show up and demand her wifely rights. The woman hates me. She has everything of me she will ever get. Everything else I have is yours.”
“Do you wonder?” I asked because I sure did.
“If she got pregnant and the baby was like me, my brother would have done his duty,” Dev said solemnly. “My brother cut off ties with me when I left, but not before making a promise. If Gilliana’s child was a Halfling, he was to smuggle the baby out. If the child was a full Fae, then it doesn’t need anything from me.”
I could have argued mightily with him, but it wouldn’t do any good. Dev was probably right. The Fae world was harsh, and the child would have been raised to despise weakness. I promised myself if I ever met Dev’s mother, she would get the same treatment as Neil’s dad. My father might not have been the most conventional father, but he’d always loved and protected me. I’d been lucky to have him. A thought occurred to me.
“If we survive this, Albert and I are having a major discussion about your wife.” I was greatly looking forward to the conversation. The half demon had spent much of the last seven months scowling at me disapprovingly for tempting his master into adultery. It would be nice to see those judgmental eyes turn to Dev.
“I might not be married,” Dev pointed out.
“That probably won’t come up in the discussion,” I admitted.
“You’re such a bitch.” His eyes became very serious. “I love you, Zoey. I’ve never said those words before this moment. I love you, and if you leave me for that blood sucker, I’ll lose the best part of me. I promise you, if by some miracle we survive this, I’ll be a better boyfriend. Up to this point, I’ve concentrated on the lover part because it was easy for me and I really like that part. But I can do the other part, too.”
“I love you, Devinshea.” The truth settled around my heart. Daniel might be my first love, but Dev held a chunk of my soul in his hands. Daniel protected me, but Dev let me fly.
The door above us opened, and the Renfros walked down the stairs. Mary Jo was dressed to impress in black robes and a really well-done bouffant. Even Mr. Renfro had dressed for the occasion.
I covered my complete terror with sarcasm. Maybe if I was really bratty, no one would notice the pounding of my heart. “What’s up? Is this not a family affair? Where are the rug rats?”
Mary Jo smiled, showing her even white teeth. “Like I told you, you slut, they’re with their father. In Hell.”
John Renfro pulled me to my feet while three other coven members undid Dev’s cuffs. He struggled, but they were too much and had his hands back in the cuffs before he could fight his way out. He looked at me as they began to drag him up the stairs. “Stay alive, Zoey. Daniel will find a way. Just stay alive, do you hear me? I love you, Zoey.”
I let my body go limp because I would be damned if I walked to my own execution.
Chapter Fourteen
I forced the fuckers to drag me all the way out of the barn and to the clearing they had designated for the ceremony. Night had fallen, and the forest around us looked foreboding and ominous, shadows clinging everywhere. The full moon had passed the night before, so the werepigs wouldn’t be running. They would be meeting with Daniel. It could be hours before he thought to come to my window and find out how my day had gone.
I’d rather thought the coven would wait until midnight or three a.m., the preferred times for calling a demon. I started to panic. Daniel would wait, thinking Dev and I were on some errand. The upshot being that Dev and I would be cooling corpses by the time Danny thought to look for us.
They dragged me out into the open field. Orange light sparked off several torches held by coven members. Two altars dominated the field, one for me and one for Dev. As they pulled my limp body along, they were already chaining him to the first one. Two of the black-robed members fought to hold Dev down, and then two more came over to help. As he struggled, one of the coven members shoved a needle into his arm. Fear sparked through me. What the hell had they just given him?
“Stay still or you’ll get the same and I know our demon lord would rather have a screaming victim than one who just laughs when he eats them,” the man dragging me along said.
I relaxed a little because they wanted us alive. Whatever they had given Dev shouldn’t kill him.
After a moment, Dev went limp, and I vowed I wouldn’t struggle because I needed every faculty if there was any way to get us out of this. If this coven was for real, there would be a demon coming. Demons liked to make deals. I had a couple of things to offer. I would invoke Daniel’s name. I would bring up Marcus Vorenus. Hell, I’d call the fucking Council in if it meant that Dev was alive at the end of the night. It wouldn’t be the first deal I made with a demon. I seriously doubted it would be the last.
The altars were circular and man-sized, or regular man-sized. Dev kind of hung off it. The good news was I would fit just fine. They shoved me down on the pentagram. It was upside down and perverted, just the way black magicians like them. The pentagram is a sacred symbol to witches. In the white witch world, it’s a symbol of man in spiritual harmony with the natural world around him. The inverted pentagram says screw the natural world, I’d like demons to come and fuck everything up.
I was placed on the pentagram, my arms and legs reaching out from my torso. I was passive, allowing the witches to do their work. I needed to keep the one with the needle at bay. They did their job, making sure I couldn’t move, and then they stepped back.
“Zoey,” Dev yelled, his head coming off the altar, trying to find me.
“Yes, baby.” I could see him if I really stretched. He was smiling, his eyes a little bit glassy.
His laughter filled my world. “I’m really high, sweetie. That’s some good shit they have. You should try it.”
He would have been a blast in Vegas if we’d made it there. Mary Jo came into view, her pinched face looming over me. “You should be ashamed of yourself, trying to force an angel to fall.”
“That’s rich, lady, considering you’re about to sacrifice him to a demon.”
That brown bouffant shook. “Do you think crops just grow themselves? I don’t particularly like having to do this, but if the okra doesn’t come in, what is our community going to do? The demon is just going to eat the angel. I’m sure he’ll float back up to Heaven. If you had your way, he would fall.”
“This isn’t going to go the way you want it to. I’m not who you think I am, and trust me, there isn’t a demon around who wants to mess with me.” I didn’t mention that it was my husband they didn’t want to mess with. It tends to take a little of the “badass factor” out of the speech. “Whatever demon you’re about to call, once I tell him my name, he’ll kill you.”
I hoped that was true. Demon kind wasn’t allowed to write contracts with anyone considered the property of Vampire. It really only made sense that they weren’t allowed to eat us either. I thought I was fairly safe, but I had some fast talking to do if I wan
ted to save my supremely stoned lover. He was giggling as a couple of coven members made sure the symbols on his chest were properly drawn.
“Stop it. That tickles,” he said.
“You aren’t an angel.” Mary Jo stared at me like I was a piece of trash.
“Neither is he,” I told her. “You have no idea what you’ve gotten in the middle of.”
Mary Jo laughed. “The truth is I’m saving him. He was going to fall if he stayed around your kind. This way his soul will go to Heaven, and my master will be happy. Your soul, if you even have one, will go with my master.”
I lifted my head as far as it would go. “I’m a companion. Do you understand what that means?”
Mary Jo’s eyes widened. “A companion? Like a vampire’s companion?”
It wasn’t shocking she was surprised. She could be surrounded by witches and demons and werepigs and it would never have occurred to her that I could be a companion. We’re extremely rare, and as such, very few companions live outside of vampire society.
“Yes, I am.”
“You’re lying.”
“Then why were there vampires in your woods last night?”
“It’s a coincidence.” But she looked around as if wondering what was hidden beyond the light of the torches.
I made one last try at reason. “Do you understand the nature of a vampire, you crazy witch? Do you think you can take me from him and he’ll let that pass? Do you have any idea what he’ll do to you?”
She stared down at me, her face lit with pride. “I am protected. I have given four innocent souls to the lord Nemcox. He won’t let some nightcrawler harm me. I’m important.”
I laid my head back down because there was no point in talking to the clinically insane. “Then bring him on because I bet he’s more rational than you are.”
The witches gathered in their circle, and after settling some coven business like nailing down the date for the next potluck, they finally got around to the business of chanting. Chanting is very important to witches. They take it seriously. They also take their damn time doing it.
“Zoey.” Dev called to me as I was trying to see if I could tell anything from the Latin they were chanting. “Zoey, I had a thought. I’ve never done it on a black altar right before a coven calls a demon. We could check it off.”
I groaned because Dev’s sexual bucket list was getting longer by the minute. I knew we were getting closer to the grand finale when the name “Nemcox” was chanted over and over again. I hoped this was the real thing and not some group of deluded asylum escapees. I might have a shot dealing with an actual demon. If they were all just taking a little of what they gave Dev and spilling some blood and calling it a ritual, then we were screwed.
The thought also occurred to me that I might be overestimating my celebrity. What if this Nemcox hadn’t been reading the demonic version of People and had no idea who I was? I was certain it wouldn’t be the first time some poor sacrifice had tried to talk him out of his dinner by claiming they were too important to eat.
The chanting reached a crest, and Mary Jo held her hands up as she finished the incantations from the black leather book.
The minute I smelled the brimstone, I knew I was in luck. I forced my head off the wooden altar, and sure enough, there was a medium-sized, red-skinned demon looking around. When I say medium-sized, I mean for a demon. They can run to the extra-large, so I was less intimidated by this one than I had been by Lucas Halfer. Of course, I was really intimidated by Halfer, so it’s all relative.
The demon roared, greatly impressing the coven. They were effusive in their praise for their master. There was a lot of butt kissing inherent in this ceremony. Mary Jo was particularly good at telling the demon how much she worshipped him and how devoted she was. Apparently, she and Mr. Renfro were trying for innocent sacrifice number five. I was really going to have to kill her if I got the chance.
“Great Nemcox, we have not one but two souls for your pleasure this evening,” Mary Jo stated grandly, her hands gesturing toward the altars. “I’ve used my special divining necklace to bring an angel to feed your hunger.”
The demon turned his head toward the altars, suddenly very interested in what was on the menu. I strained to try to see him. His dark eyes looked at Dev, and then he took a deep inhale, scenting the air. I expected him to leap onto the altar and begin the bloodletting, but that great horned head was thrown back, and a menacing laugh filled the air.
“You really are a stupid bitch,” the demon said in a very familiar British accent. My heart sank. He was walking my way. “There are absolutely no angels here. You managed to bring me something even better.” The demon smiled down at me, his fangs shining brightly. “Zoey Wharton, what a surprise. Long time no see.”
Of all the demons in all the planes, Mary Jo had to sacrifice me to Stewart. He was the one demon who had a personal beef with me, well, besides Halfer. He’d tried to ruin a job I ran earlier this year, and Daniel had broken his neck and then shot him and then Dev had killed him, too.
“Hey, Stewart.” I tried a bright smile. “Nice to see you survived. I knew you would pull through.”
“No thanks to you, love. I don’t suppose you brought along your sweet little puppy, did you?” Stewart had been very impressed with Neil. Not that it helped us since Stewart had then sicced a weretiger on him. “And where is that nasty vampire you married? Felicitations on your wedding, dear. So sorry I haven’t sent a gift yet. I’ll have to remedy that. Let’s see who you did bring with you.”
The demon jumped from my altar to the one holding Dev.
Dev looked up at him and laughed. “I don’t think that’s Stewart, Zoey. He looks weird.”
Dev had never seen Stewart in his demonic form. Unlike Halfer, Stewart couldn’t change forms at will. If he wanted to look human, he had to possess some poor sap. He liked to call it his meat suit. It usually ended poorly because Stewart didn’t take great care of his clothes.
Stewart grinned as much as someone with enormous fangs can grin. “Maybe I should have a little of what he’s having. Hello, Fae creature. Your mind is so open right now. You’re a dirty, dirty boy. He’s about to die and would you like to know what he’s thinking about?”
I could guess. Stewart was an empath. He picked up on emotions and could magnify them for his own use. It was important to remain calm around Stewart or he could learn things you didn’t want him to learn.
I needed to bring his attention back to me and away from the never-ending porno that likely played in Dev’s brain. “Leave him alone, Stewart. You deal with me.”
One of the witches slapped me hard across the mouth. My head snapped back and hit wood. Pain ripped through me. I managed to maintain consciousness, but I could feel he’d drawn blood.
“You do not talk to the Dark Lord, bitch,” he snarled.
Stewart looked at the witch, his face darkening. “Don’t you touch her.” Stewart hopped off the altar, stalking the witch who struck me. His cloven hoofs stirred up dirt. He hauled the witch up with one hand, and I could see the witch start to choke, his legs twitching. “She’s worth a hundred of you. She’s a companion. Do you know how rare a creature she is, you mundane idiots? Even the ridiculous Fae creature is worth more than all of you put together. Her value is immense, and if one of you harms her again, I will kill the lot of you.”
Stewart let the witch drop to the ground, but I didn’t think he would get up again.
“Thank you.” I was polite because I needed him. I didn’t do defiance when courtesy would work just as well.
“Don’t thank me, love,” he replied shortly. “If anybody is going to hurt you, I want it to be me.”
“Great Lord.” There was a tinge of hysteria to Mary Jo’s voice, as though she was just figuring out I had told her the truth. “How can you choose some human slut over your devoted followers?”
The demon rolled his dark eyes. “Yokels,” he muttered. He waved his hand. “Witches, silent.”
&
nbsp; The witches found themselves robbed of the power of speech. They touched their throats trying to speak but nothing would come out.
He looked back down at me. “So, I was looking forward to seeing you at the ball, love. What were you going to wear? I was thinking Brad Pitt. I don’t know though, he’s getting a bit long in the tooth. If I wanted to be terribly ironic, I could wear that boy from the Twilight films. Note, dear, I am using the past tense since you won’t be going to the ball anymore.”
“You aren’t going to kill me, Stewart,” I said with a surety I wasn’t feeling.
Stewart smiled and walked slowly around Dev’s prone form. “He thinks I am. It’s just now penetrating his drug-addled brain. He’s very upset.” Stewart ran a finger over Dev’s sculpted chest. “He really is lovely, dear. You have excellent taste in men. You are fucking him? These images I get from him aren’t just his fantasies? You must tell me what you’re doing to these men to keep them in line. This one could screw anything he wanted. He’s descended from an actual sex god, but he follows you around like a pathetic lapdog, and then there’s the vampire. He should have killed this one the instant he looked at you with those covetous eyes of his. Yet the Green Man lives and shares your bed. Seriously, companion, what’s in those pants of yours because I need some of that.”
“Cut the crap, Stewart,” I said flatly, not willing to engage him. “Do you really want to deal with the Council? It didn’t go so well for Halfer.”
“It wasn’t the Council that tripped up old Brix, love. That was you.” Stewart was still running his hands over Dev’s body, caressing him like a lover. Stewart did love a hot boy. “I should have sent you a thank you note. Sometimes I forget my manners. You really did set Brix back, and that helped me immensely. He’s making a bit of a comeback, though. I really would like to know how he’s doing it. But I digress.”
Suddenly one the witches decided this game had gone far enough. The witch came at the demon, a ceremonial knife held above her head. She probably thought that little piece of engraved silver was defense against a Lord of Hell. I had no doubt that whoever had sold it to her had promised a demonic killing machine. Unfortunately, you can’t get something like that off the Internet or at a little shop that sells incense and herbs.