“Yes.”
“But this is beyond simple manipulation of energy. How can you do this?” Ronin asked.
“Easy. With some assistance, I’ve been able to take the life essences I absorb from my bed partners and twist the abilities that come with them into something of my very own. The fae can charm others into doing their will; I can physically maneuver them. Vampires suck blood; I boil it. Wolf-shifters can turn into wolves at will; I can do this.” He grinned and his face transformed into something large and hideous. Like the worst, scariest distortion of a wolf one could possibly imagine.
Taeg made a sound of disbelief. “You’ve made yourself into a superspecies?”
“Superspecies. Yes, I like that.” Asmodeus shook his head, and he morphed back into his familiar form.
“Who’s helping you?” Keegan asked. “I know of no one that powerful.”
Asmodeus laughed. “Nice try, but I’m afraid I can’t tell you.”
“But why do this at all?” Ronin asked. “You must have known what you were doing would eventually attract the Council’s attention. Why subject yourself to imprisonment or possible death in order to be a bit more powerful?”
“A bit?” Asmodeus’s eyes blazed with fury. He waved a hand and Ronin broke into a loud yell, his back arching in agony.
Ronin. She resisted the urge to call out to him. It would only make things worse.
Finally, after several horrifying moments of torture, Asmodeus halted.
“Soon I’ll be strong enough to take on the entire Council. No one will be able to stop me. No one. All I need are a few more abilities, a few more powers to distort. That’s the only reason the four of you are still alive.”
Amara gasped. This time she couldn’t stop herself. Asmodeus planned on having them killed so he could absorb their energy in some crazed effort to become stronger? “No.”
Her protest caught Asmodeus’s attention. “And you, my pet.” He crooked his finger and she flew toward him. His hand closed around her throat, and the invisible cords immobilizing her body vanished, leaving her choking under his grasp. She flailed and lifted her hands, trying to pry free, but he was too strong. Ronin and his brothers yelled something at them, but she couldn’t make out their words over the loud roar of blood rushing in her ears. Blinding spots erupted in her vision, telling her she was seconds from losing consciousness.
So this is how I die. She couldn’t say she was surprised.
Right before she passed out, Asmodeus flung her away. She hit the wall next to him hard, sliding down onto her side. Placing her hands over her bruised throat, she gasped for air.
“Sorry, pet, no checking out early for you. I still need you.” His grip tight on the silver ball in his hand, he leaned over her. “I’ve decided that as part of your punishment, you’ll be the one to relieve them of their life essence. I think I’ll let your lover watch as you deliver his brothers unto their death.”
Amara gasped at the implication behind his words. He really thought she would do that? But then...
If he could control her body, she didn’t have to agree, did she?
Bile rose in her damaged throat, making her gag. What worse punishment could there be than making her a prisoner to her own body, forcing her to commit crimes against the family of the man she loved? Regret filled her—she never should have asked Ronin to come here. Now he would be forced to suffer through watching his brothers die.
“Get away from her, you sick fuck,” Ronin roared.
Asmodeus laughed, turning to Ronin. “At least you can agree it will be a sweet way for your brothers to die, correct? Too bad you don’t get to do the same, since you’re immune to her poison.”
Immune? He thought Ronin was immune?
“Not to worry,” he continued. “I have far more interesting uses for you.”
Even though Asmodeus had the ability to spy on her through her bracelet, he clearly didn’t know everything that had happened. Did he know what she’d done to Gofrey? Could she do it again? And, strong as he was now, would it even have any effect?
“By the way.” Asmodeus cocked his head. “I want to thank you for your contribution. I must say I experienced unexpectedly pleasing results when I absorbed your angelic essence. Care to see?”
Before Amara could straighten, Asmodeus crossed the room and came to a stop in front of Ronin. He placed his free hand over Ronin’s throat, and Ronin yelled. Steam rose through Asmodeus’s fingers and the noxious stench of burning flesh filled the air.
“In my hands, your healing ability has been transformed into the power to burn. And since you’re immobilized, you can’t even use your power to heal yourself. Poetic, isn’t it?”
Amara read Keegan’s widened eyes a second before the full impact of his words hit her. She stared down at her splayed hands, her mouth dropping open in shock. So that was how she’d hurt Gofrey.
Somehow, while Asmodeus had been busy absorbing energy from her, he’d also transmitted to her some of his morphed abilities. And it seemed clear that he had no freaking clue about it.
Holy hell, what other powers might she have absorbed from him?
An exciting thought, but she didn’t hold out any hope it would be of use to her now. Now was too late to experiment, and something told her Asmodeus would be able to fight her off way too easily. She was only one person, and she wasn’t strong enough to take him in a fight.
Unless...
Ronin’s yells and his brothers’ screaming curses filled the air, twisting her stomach into knots. The likelihood of success for what she considered was probably slim to none. She had no idea if it would work, but she didn’t have any other options. She couldn’t just sit here and listen to Ronin be tortured. Or worse, allow Asmodeus to use her to orchestrate the deaths of Ronin’s brothers.
It was this or nothing.
Amara took a deep breath and slid up the wall, slowly and quietly. Lucky for her, if not Ronin, the incubus fully enjoyed inflicting pain. She inched toward the long hallway leading out of the kitchen.
Keegan’s eyes met hers and he mouthed the word Go. With a nod, she obeyed.
She managed to back out of the kitchen without Asmodeus noticing. That was when she turned and ran toward the front of the house. The exit beckoned her with its promise of freedom. A false promise. She would never be free of Asmodeus, not while he lived. The door was not the way to her salvation.
Amara ran up the staircase to the second floor. She passed Karen’s and Briana’s rooms, flinging the doors open. They were empty.
The next room after her own was Solara’s, and when she opened the door, she was half surprised to see the other succubi in there. Briana, Victorine, Karen, and Lynn all sat on the bed.
“Amara!” Karen cried, shooting to her feet. “What are you doing here?”
Amara ignored her as she took stock of the figure in the bed. Solara. An agonized quiver wrenched her guts at the sight of her mother. She was beaten and bruised all over, her entire face swollen almost beyond recognition. Demons healed fast, so Solara’s original injuries must have been far, far worse.
“Mother.” The word choked out of her, her tongue tripping over the unfamiliar sound. She hadn’t called Solara that since she was a child. Since her mother had told her not to.
Solara’s eyes fluttered open. One of her eyelids barely lifted, it was so swollen. She saw Amara, and a grimace crossed her face. “Amara? What the hell are you doing here?”
Amara pressed her hand to her stomach, trying to calm the roiling. “I...”
Her movements clumsy and slow, Solara sat up. “I hope you didn’t come back for me. I thought you’d broken free.” She shook her head. “I’m so disappointed in you.”
So what else was new?
Amara fought back her familiar feeling of dejection. What had she hoped for
, a teary-eyed family reunion? That had never been Solara’s way. Why would she start now?
“No.” She prayed for strength, and much to her delight, when she next spoke her voice was surprisingly firm. “I’m here for all of you.”
The brief flare of hope in Karen’s eyes morphed into bleak acceptance of her fate. “We can’t escape. We’ve tried, many times.”
“We’re not escaping.”
“Then what?” asked Victorine.
Amara took a deep breath. “Ladies, we’re going to save the day.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ronin screamed and waited for his body to shut down from the agony. In the whole grand scheme of things, he’d been tortured far worse before. The agony Mammon had inflicted on him and his brothers when he’d captured them last year made this all seem like a day at the park. Still, when one’s body was in excruciating pain, it didn’t really care that this wasn’t the worst sort of torment it had ever suffered. Either way, it still fucking hurt.
The smell of his singed flesh suffocated his nostrils, making him gag on the stench. And the scalding heat of Asmodeus’s hand burning through layer after layer of skin and sinew was mind-wrenching. At this rate, he’d resemble a well-done steak within minutes flat. It was enough to make him vow to become a vegetarian. Not that he’d likely live long enough to fulfill that vow.
Why couldn’t he fucking pass out already?
Keegan, Taeg, and Dagan yelled at Asmodeus, alternating curses with pointed taunts. Trying to take some of the heat off him. Literally. But Asmodeus didn’t seem to hear them.
“Who’s the puppet now?” Asmodeus muttered, his eyes crazed. “Who’s the pawn?”
He clearly had something against Ronin. Maybe his feelings for Amara were more complicated than Ronin had surmised, and he was angry that she cared for Ronin. Or maybe he was pissed that Ronin had stolen his favorite toy. Who the hell knew?
At least she got out. Thank the devil for that. When he’d seen her retreating out of the corner of his eye, his heart had practically stopped out of fear for her. He’d drawn out his screams, making them louder and more pronounced with the hope that it would egg the evil incubus into continuing his torture. Keep him from peering back. It had worked. Too well. Now it was all he could do not to beg for death.
Amara. Please, please let her survive this. Let her get away. That was all he asked for. But his brain wouldn’t let him forget that no matter how far she tried to run, she was trapped inside this shield. No way out. No way for the others to come in.
Oh damn, what a mess he’d gotten all of them into. And Keegan, on the verge of fatherhood. The thought of Brynn’s child growing up fatherless was enough to make him howl in agony. So he did. Seemed the thing to do right now, anyway.
How the hell had the incubus gotten so strong? It just didn’t make sense. Not even the dark fae were this powerful. At least, not any he’d ever known.
Keegan shouted curses at Asmodeus. “Get off him, you evil fuck.”
“Yeah, is your dick so small that you have to get your kicks from torturing the injured?” Taeg said. “Why not try it on me, you piece of shit? Or are you afraid to get too close?”
“Hell, I bet he can’t even find his dick with a magnifying glass.” This from Dagan. “No wonder he’s such a fucking asshat.”
Ronin would have laughed if that had been at all physically possible. I’m sorry, my brothers. So sorry. They had been the only family he’d known after he’d been taken from Flavia and Lina. Together, the four of them had been through a lot of shit, and they’d come out stronger for all of it. I love you. He willed them to hear the words they could so rarely say to each other. I love all of you.
His heart broke for Lina. He’d only now found her, and here he was about to abandon her again. If only he could guarantee that she would be watched over and protected. Be safe, sis.
And Amara. He couldn’t even continue that train of thought. They’d had so little precious time together. Every moment with her had been one of joy and discovery, and he didn’t regret a single minute of it. Loving her had been worth every ounce of pain he now endured. I’ll love you always.
The pain began to numb now that Asmodeus’s hand had practically incinerated his entire throat. For all Asmodeus’s talk about not killing Ronin, he was too caught up in the pleasure of torturing him to realize he was almost gone.
Fuck. Oh, fuck.
His last thought before he closed his eyes was that he hoped someone took the sick bastard out. Please.
When he heard Amara’s voice, he thought he’d finally gone and done it. He’d died, and he was in his own personal brand of heaven. But then her words registered.
“Get off him, you stupid, no-good-for-an-excuse-of-a-demon prick!”
The burning pressure on his throat eased and the invisible bonds holding him in place broke, dropping him to the ground. Gagging, he brought a hand to his throat. His muscles gave a painful twinge as they wove themselves back together.
With a growing sense of horror, Ronin opened his eyes. Amara stood at the entrance to the kitchen, her arm around a badly beaten woman who resembled her enough for him to conclude she was Solara. The succubus he’d encountered at the club supported Solara’s other side, and three other women stood beside them.
Oh, no. Oh, hell no.
All this time he’d thought she was trying to escape, but in the end she’d walked right back into Asmodeus’s grasp.
What the fuck was she doing?
§
Amara had done a lot of frightening things in her life. Coming back to Asmodeus’s residence at the end of every night hadn’t exactly been easy. She’d done it, though, because she knew she had to. Still, she’d never been as frightened as she was now.
Asmodeus turned and noticed the other women surrounding her. His back straightened and he released Ronin. For one horrifying moment she thought she was too late, that Ronin was dead, but then he lifted a trembling hand to his throat.
Oh thank you. Thank you, thank you.
“Good, you’ve brought the others to witness the deaths of the Detainors.” Asmodeus snickered and turned, dismissing them as inconsequential.
“Stop!” Solara’s voice rang out stronger than Amara had ever heard it. Her limbs shook and her hand shot out in front of her. Asmodeus’s body whirled to face them, as if someone had grabbed and swung him around.
“What the hell?” he said.
Solara appeared no less surprised than Asmodeus. She leaned over and whispered to Amara, “Was that me?”
“Yes.”
Yes! It was working. She hadn’t known if it would.
Asmodeus scrunched his brow and raised his hand. Energy coursed out of it and raced toward them, causing the tiny hairs on Amara’s arms to stand on end. Solara raised her hand again, and a current of power streamed out, clashing with Asmodeus’s in midair. The static electricity crackled the air and made Amara’s whole body tremble.
Asmodeus’s eyes widened with unmistakable panic. “What is happening?”
He flicked his hand and Amara’s body temperature rapidly rose. On impulse, she lifted her arms and examined the veins. They glowed red, and burning pain raced through her entire body. Oh hell, he’s boiling my blood.
She screamed and doubled over, but she couldn’t escape the sensation of being boiled from the inside out.
“Amara!” Ronin yelled in a gurgling voice. Hand over his throat, he tried to crawl toward her.
“Stay there,” she ordered, gritting her teeth against the pain.
Keegan’s eyes grew wide. “What’s happening?” But he, Taeg, and Dagan were still immobilized against the wall. They couldn’t help.
Brianna collapsed on the floor. “No!” She flicked a shaky hand toward Asmodeus and he screamed.
Amara’s pai
n receded. She straightened to see that his veins were now glowing. Wide-eyed, she stared at Brianna.
“I can’t believe it,” Brianna whispered.
Amara didn’t bother to fight the grin that crept to her lips. Ronin hoisted himself up and exchanged an amazed glance with her. He’d figured out what was going on.
“How is this happening?” Asmodeus panted as he stared at his veins, which were now losing their red glow.
“Guess what?” Amara said. “All this time you thought you were simply taking from us, but you were also giving. Your sick, twisted powers are part of us now.”
“And we’re pissed,” Victorine said in a voice threaded with steel.
Wow, that was very impressive coming from the submissive Victorine.
Asmodeus shook his head in utter disbelief. “No. That’s not possible. No.”
“Why not?” Amara’s hands clenched into fists. “If you could do it, why not us? I wonder if your precious dark fae even bothered to think about the possibility.”
“No!” The silver orb in Asmodeus’s hand pulsed with light when he raised his hand and shot another round of energy at them. This time Solara was quicker in blocking it. The currents of power clashed and melded. They fell to the ground and then spread out. Electrifying heat shot through the room before the energy zoomed back toward Solara and slammed into her.
“Solara!” Amara reached for her, but the energy Solara emitted was too intense for her to get close. Her mother’s hair stood on end and electricity sparked from her fingers. She was frightening. Powerful. Her hand raised and Asmodeus slowly dropped to his knees. He tried to speak, but his mouth wouldn’t seem to cooperate.
Solara had paralyzed him.
The ball clenched in Asmodeus’s hand stuttered once and then blinked out. As if a switch had been flipped, Ronin’s brothers fell to the ground. They raced to Ronin’s side. Keegan picked up a discarded knife from the floor and sliced into his palm, spreading his dragon blood, with its restorative properties, all over Ronin’s ruined neck. Combined with Ronin’s own healing powers, it restored his flesh in less than five seconds. Keegan then repeated the process with Dagan and Taeg.
Touch of the Angel (Demons of Infernum, #3) Page 28