Demon Bound

by Meljean Brook

  Even Irena appeared troubled by that.

  Alice drew in a short breath, as if her throat was hurting. “It may be that Teqon will only take her to kill her. I do not know.”

  “Since when do we let demons carry out Guardian executions? Or trade the life of one Guardian for the soul of another?”

  Since that had come from one of the pricks Jake wished was swimming, he didn’t even let Alice take time to acknowledge it. “There’s something else. Khavi said that if Alice doesn’t fulfill her bargain, I’ll be killed.”

  Michael closed his eyes. Jake wished he could do the same, and shut out the second round of exclamations and comments, questions and guesses. But no goddamn answers.

  And Alice must have been on the verge of screaming. His chest was tightening along with her fingers, and he thought, pretty soon, something was going to snap.

  But it came quietly. In a sudden lull, Alice asked softly, “Michael . . . what choice would you make in my place? What is best?”

  He shook his head. “There is no ‘best.’ This cannot be decided to everyone’s satisfaction, yet someone must decide. And as it is your soul at risk, Alice—that decision must be yours.”

  CHAPTER 23

  Alice was cutting the webs from the frames in the Nephila room when she heard Jake return. After the gathering, she had come back to her quarters, but he’d been responsible for taking a third of the Guardians back to their assignments.

  One look at him told her how that had gone. She hadn’t missed the hostility or the sympathy, and she imagined that there had been many vocal in both as he’d teleported them wherever they needed to go.

  Michael had made it her decision, but whatever her decision, it would not please many. She cared for some of their opinions—and though there were some she did not, she did care if her decision endangered their lives.

  But she would think no more of a disapproving glance than Remus and Romulus did her smile or her frown.

  It was Jake, she thought, who would bear their anger—and, because of his association with her, be a target for it. He would be judged for her actions, blamed for her decision.

  She took in his clenched jaw, the flat stare he directed at nothing. Anaria was still in her box, and already, she thought, some of the blame had begun.

  Carefully, she cut the tether lines of the next web, then vanished it into her cache. When she glanced back, Jake was watching her hand.

  “How long does it take them to make a new one?”

  Was this curiosity—or a safe zone? Her throat tightened. “Only a few hours. I harvest them every couple of days. I could more often, I suppose, but it seems rather cruel to force them to always be spinning.”

  “Would they care?”

  Alice shook her head.

  He tilted his head back, as if looking through the ceiling. “And the widow babies you brought back from Teqon’s? They’re, uh . . . settling in?”

  “Some of them. Some will be killed by the other widows.”

  “Nature taking its course?”

  “Yes. I once tried to stop them with my Gift. It was painful.”

  He was quiet, then said, “Listen, Alice. Michael said this decision could only be yours, so I’m pretty useless around here right now. And you won’t need me to help you out anymore, since Michael can teleport you—and if you decide to make the trade, he can open the sarcophagus. So maybe I ought to start working with Drifter again.”

  “I see,” she said evenly. “Yes, I suppose that is for the best. Ethan is such an agreeable companion.”

  “Yeah, everyone likes him. And you and me—well, we can remain friends.” Nodding, as if in agreement with himself, he repeated, “Friends. Yep. Just like Irena and Alejandro.”

  The wretch. “Very well. Do have a nice life. I hope that you think well of me.”

  “Could you say that again?”

  She faced him, frowning. “What?”

  “The ‘I hope you think well of me’ part.” His hands slid into his pockets, his shoulders hunched in that very tall way. He was, she thought, laughing to himself. “I’m thinking that’s pretty close to you saying you love me.”

  “I suppose it is.” She sighed, and threw her knife to the floor.

  His brows rose. “Your hammerspace is full?”

  “There are times when it is just so much more satisfying to throw.”

  “I bet. Especially when you think you’re going to do what’s best for me, again, and—”

  “I love you,” she said crossly.

  Jake drew in a breath and appeared in front of her, cupping her face in his hands. “Yeah?”

  Her tone softened. “Yes.”

  “I know.”

  “How irritating you are.”

  He grinned. “And now I’m looking forward to when you say it without screwing your face up like you’ve been sucking—”

  “Do not say lemons.”

  “I wasn’t going to.” His grin faded. “So, some Guardians aren’t going to like what you decide. I’ll deal with it. No sweat.”

  Alice closed her eyes, nodding. “I don’t doubt you can deal with it. But I did not want to be the reason for it.”

  “I get that.” With his thumbs, he smoothed her hair back from her temples. “So what’s the plan?”

  “For you to hold me while I try to think.”

  He pressed his lips to her brow. “I can do that.”

  Jake held her until she rose to her feet, began pacing through her rooms. The movements of her legs and arms were jerkier than usual, her eyes unfocused. Completely lost in thought, he realized.

  He sat up and she shrieked, hopping back with her hand covering her mouth. He tensed, but her expression faded into a laugh. Just startled, then.

  “I guess that you aren’t trying to think anymore.”

  She nodded, resumed her pacing. “Yes, but I have not completely determined how it will be done.”

  “How?” There wasn’t much to it, was there? She only had to decide whether to release Anaria or not. “Are you going to release her?”

  “Yes,” she said, and his gut twisted into a knot.

  He dreaded what might happen with Anaria out—but more than that, how much Alice would blame herself if anyone died because she’d been released.

  But there was no real choice; given her options, she’d chosen the best one.

  And maybe after two thousand years in a sarcophagus, Anaria wouldn’t be a psychopath.

  Yeah. He could keep telling himself that.

  “Will you need anything?”

  She paused. “Do you still have the box?”

  “I dumped it into the sea. Off the Boreas edge.”

  Amusement rolled through her psychic scent. “I will need it.”

  And so he was going swimming.

  It took five jumps before Jake saw it, and only a second to pull the giant cube back into his hammerspace.

  So she was freeing someone from one box and taking along another. He floated in the water, considering that, and the sick knot in his stomach slowly unwound.

  It wasn’t just a decision she was making, then—it was also a plan of attack. Hot damn.

  And releasing Anaria meant that she’d need Michael in the temple—which also meant Jake had a trip to Hell coming up.

  Jake found Drifter walking with Irena not far from Odin’s Courtyard. Maybe they’d both go; Alice couldn’t scream at him for two backups.

  On the other hand, he liked her screams—and judging by the vicious anticipation glittering in Irena’s eyes, he thought either she or Khavi wouldn’t be coming out of the encounter alive.

  “Jake.” Drifter nodded, his jaw tight. “We were just coming looking for you.”

  Yeah. This was not good, whatever it was. He’d fought alongside Drifter enough to know when the man was out for blood. The question was, whose?

  “Funny,” Jake said. “I was just looking for you. You need a ride somewhere?”

  “Egypt.”

  His b
lood cooled. He knew what was coming up. God damn, he should have seen it coming. “Oh, yeah?”

  “I’m thinking we need to have ourselves a little talk with Teqon.”

  “And would that talk involve knives, swords, thumbscrews?”

  Irena tilted her head, studying him. “You want to join us?”

  “Maybe I would if I could see the point.”

  Drifter frowned. “The point is, it ain’t Anaria that’s our problem. She’s doing just fine where she is. But Teqon’s given Alice no choice but to let her go.”

  “And Alice does not have the stomach for what must be done.”

  No question that Irena did. Jake looked to Drifter. “And you do?”

  “I’ve got Charlie, and I’ve got Alice. I’d kill for either one, and this’ll be providing help to both. I figure that measured against Charlie’s safety and Alice’s soul, I can stand bringing a lot of hurt onto a demon.” There wasn’t any eagerness in his voice, just resolution. “In any case, I’ll mostly just be there to make sure Irena doesn’t kill him too early.”

  “It won’t work,” Jake said. “He won’t break. All you might do is destroy any chance Alice has of getting out of her bargain.”

  “We will see. Will you take us, or will we find Selah?”

  Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. But he didn’t see a way out of it.

  “Yeah,” he said. “I’ll take you.”

  Jake took them about ten feet deeper than where he’d found the box, and got the hell out of there.

  Still sopping wet, he jumped into the air above Khavi’s bathing chamber. Tattooed breasts floated in the steaming water below—

  Oh, shit.

  He didn’t see her move. His back slammed into the ceiling. Ribs cracked against her hands. Her roar echoed through the chamber. Her black wings whipped furious gusts around them, swirling steam.

  Her hand caught his chin, and his head whacked stone. Pain burst behind his eyes like flashbulbs. For an instant, another face shimmered beneath hers—reptilian, patterned with iridescent scales. Then the stars faded and she was just Khavi again.

  “Stu . . . pid,” he wheezed. “Knock . . . next time.”

  The pressure against his chest eased. Khavi blinked up at him, and her wings slowed to a steady beat. “This is strange. I did not see this.”

  “Yeah. Great. Lucky me.”

  “Your heart will still be pierced by Teqon’s sword. And Alice will ask you to change your shirt.”

  Fuck this. “Did you remove the spell that prevents Michael from entering the temples?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you sure? You didn’t just see yourself do it?”

  Her withering stare was pure female. No dragon.

  “Okay. Hold on. I’ll be back.”

  With his heart in one goddamn piece.

  Alice almost could not comprehend what she saw. Jake’s lip was bleeding, his clothes were soaked and carrying the faint odor of Hell. “Oh, dear God. What in heaven’s name . . . ?”

  “We’ve gotta go quick, all right? God knows who else is thinking the same thing and heading out for Selah.”

  “What?” She pulled in a handkerchief, dabbed at his lip. The cut had already healed. “Why?”

  “I need to know before we go—are you done thinking?”

  “Yes, yes. Now—”

  “Tell me what it is.”

  “We release Anaria, and give her to Teqon. My bargain will be fulfilled. Anaria Fell, so she can’t jump anymore; she and Teqon will have to be teleported out of the temple. And so you will take them into the box instead, leave them inside, and we will use your rocket launcher on the dome.”

  “Jesus Christ, I love you.” His mouth covered hers, fierce and hot. It only lasted an instant. “I just did the same damn thing to Irena and Drifter. Only, I left them in the sea.”

  The laugh that burst from her was half-disbelief. “Why?”

  “They were going after Teqon. We need to get to him first.”

  “Yes,” Alice agreed, her heart pounding. “Yes, yes. What of Michael?”

  “I can’t jump to him. He must be blocked or behind the shielding spell. But we’ll get Teqon down there and wait as long as we have to. And I’ll keep trying. You have everything you need?”

  She took his hand. “Yes.”

  “Okay. Shit, I’m soaked. Hold on just a sec while I—” He vanished his clothes, instantly replacing them with a dry shirt and jeans.

  Then he stilled, as if struck by a thought, and looked at her.

  Alice could not tear her gaze from his chest and the Styx logo. “Not that one,” she whispered. “Change it.”

  “Alice—”

  “I saw it. Khavi saw it—showed it to me when she said that you would . . .” She had to swallow past the ache in her throat. “Change it.”

  He did, into something blue. She couldn’t read his expression when he kissed her softly, but she couldn’t miss the resignation that filtered through his psychic scent.

  “Don’t think it,” she told him. She placed her palm over his heart. “It won’t happen. Not today. Not ever. We’ll beat the odds.”

  Jake nodded. And then kissed her again before they jumped.

  Passing time with a demon was much worse than with the Doyen. She and Jake did not speak much, either; she had learned more than a hundred years ago that it was best not to reveal your heart to a demon, and so they maintained a physical and emotional distance that was almost painful. So much of their future depended on the minutes after the sarcophagus was opened, and yet she could not spend the minutes leading up to them with Jake.

  Perhaps it was a small price, however, compared to the prize of success.

  She busied herself with sketching some of the less intimate friezes: a group of Guardians in Caelum, battle scenes, a celebration. Either Michael had worn a smile more often then, or Zakril had preferred to carve him that way. And yes, she thought as she filled in a shadow at the curve of his mouth—there was something a little wicked about it.

  The sarcophagus was not any different than those in the nephilim prison, and the same frustration rose up in her as she looked at it. How very maddening those symbols were. Given their potential power, she understood why Michael had never taught Guardians to read them—but it seemed such a waste. How much time had they lost, how many missteps could have been avoided if they’d only had the ability to read them?

  At the very least, to speak the demon language. It was the height of foolishness to have two demons talking in front of a Guardian, and the Guardian ignorant of what was said.

  And she would tell Michael so at the next opportunity.

  Or, perhaps, slightly after. She glanced back at Jake when he sent out another pulse of his Gift. He would disappear when Michael’s psyche was no longer shielded, and lead the Doyen back. She wiped a drop of water from her cheek and turned back to the sarcophagus. Hopefully, it would not be too long—

  Another drop. Then a fine mist. Oh, dear God.

  She looked up as the burst of power slammed through the chamber. Alice staggered, caught herself before she fell.

  A crack split the dome. Chunks of marble rained down on a thin sheet of water.

  Teqon was in the air, his wings holding him aloft. “Earthquake?”

  Alice met Jake’s eyes. No. No, they’d felt this before. The nephilim’s ritual opening—not a burial chamber this time—but the temple.

  The psychic thrust of Jake’s Gift hit her, harder and harder, as if desperately trying to find Michael. Then chunks of marble became slabs, the noise of the water and breaking stone deafening.

  Jake appeared in front of her; they jumped to Teqon, and then again.

  Cold water surrounded her; a current pushed at her back. Below them, a female nephil lay dead inside a ring of four. Her body suddenly rolled over, buoyed by a bubble of air escaping the cracking bedrock beneath.

  Horror clutched at Alice’s throat. The bubbles were a steady stream now. Her fingers tightened on Jake’s. Tha
t wouldn’t have to matter. They didn’t have to breathe. The chamber could fill with water, and they could still return for Anaria.

  The crack became a fissure.

  It was my Gift, Jake said against her hand. His profile was hard as stone as he stared at the ground. They found us because I was pulsing my goddamn Gift.

  The bedrock tilted at a drunken angle. The nephil’s body rolled into the fissure. Air belched from the crevice, and the ground collapsed.

  Through the cloud of debris and churning water, Alice could make out the edges of a sinkhole as large as the temple beneath.

  Numbness settled into her limbs, her chest, her mind. Her horror was gone. There was nothing but cold despair.

  The nephilim swam into the murky depths.

  Teqon’s eyes glowed crimson as he turned to them. If the sarcophagus survived, it is buried under tons of rubble. There is only Michael’s heart now, Guardian.

  She looked up at Jake, her fingers squeezing his. Do you see any way? I will do it. I will cut Teqon to pieces and leave only his heart. I must try.

  No, goddess, he said, and touched his lips to hers. Not that way. I’ll fix this.

  How?

  Jake turned to Teqon, and signed, I will bring Michael to you. You will soon have a heart, demon.

  Alice yanked on his arm. Jake!

  He touched Teqon and, a moment later, left her alone with him in the demon’s courtyard.

  The problem with Guardians was that they’d stop. Each one of them cared about Alice too much to really threaten Teqon—and Teqon knew it. They killed him, and she was fucked.

  And the only way to win this was to make sure Teqon knew he was fucked twice as hard.

  Jake strode through Caelum, his Gift ripping through the realm so hard that Guardians were flying over him to see what was happening.

  Nothing was fucking happening. They needed to put a fucking bell on Michael so that he couldn’t—

  Jake jumped to the Boreas shore. Michael stood between Drifter and Irena, as wet as they were.