Embraced (Eternal Balance)

by Jus Accardo

  “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.

  My 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?”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Jax

  As soon as I was able to stand, I pulled open the car door. The female demon behind the wheel stared straight ahead, her eyes glazed and unseeing. At her throat, a wicked gash still oozed blood. I unfastened her seat belt and jerked her from the seat, then slid behind the wheel and cranked the engine.

  I drove until I couldn’t stand it anymore. Azi, like me, was worried about Sam. Whether it was because of its feelings for her, or because it was worried she’d be claimed by someone else, I didn’t know and didn’t care. Right now, we had a common goal—just as soon as I calmed the thing down. Rage seeped into the air all around me, and eventually I had to pull the car over just to keep from ripping off the steering wheel. I was driving in circles with no clue where the fuck to go, or what the hell to do next.

  Feed. The single word nearly shattered my skull.

  Just seven hours on the clock. I didn’t want to waste time, but I felt the need as strongly as the demon did. Just as it fed off the pain and anger of others, I’d come to realize, I did the same. Not in exactly the same way, but the demon’s moods influenced me more now that I’d embraced it. Its weakness was mine.

  I pulled into a Quick Stop parking lot, and the moment I stepped from the car, I smelled it. Fear. It was easy to track, around the side of the building to a single car parked at the far end of the row. I crept along the shadows, waiting. Watching.

  The man in the driver’s seat was screaming at a small boy. He grabbed the kid by the hair, shaking him roughly before leaning across and opening the door to shove him out. The child had to go to the bathroom. The bastard didn’t like stopping. He was going to miss the start of his favorite television show.

  The kid closed the door and scurried around the building, presumably to get the restroom key from the clerk inside. Azi shuddered in anticipation. I did, too. My feet carried me from the shadows, across the lot, and to the man’s car. He was looking down at his cell phone so he didn’t see me approach. It made yanking the door open and dragging him out that much sweeter.

/>   “What the—”

  I shoved him up against the hood. My fingers dug into skin, through the thin material of his shirt. The sensation sent a ripple of contentment through me. “You think hitting a kid makes you a big man?”

  His breath reeked of alcohol and his colors swirled crimson. No fear. Anger. He was pissed I’d had the nerve to step in.

  This was just what I needed. Moments like these made me sick. I wanted to give in. Craved the feeling that came over me when the demon fed. It was a high like no other, filling me with an unparalleled sense of exhilaration.

  He pushed off the car and swung out hard, but I stepped to the side, missing the blow easily, and followed through with one of my own. A kidney shot, it landed with precision, and Azi went wild, greedily sucking down the man’s rage.

  He recovered, stumbling a little, and tried again. This time he rushed me, intent on grinding me into the brick wall at my back. I pivoted and changed position, and he flew right past, crashing into the wall instead of me.

  I grabbed a handful of his hair, like he’d done with the kid, and shoved his face hard into the bricks. “Touch him again and I’ll kill you. We clear?”

  The man didn’t answer. Instead, he struggled against my grip, still trying to free himself and get in a good shot. More. Azi wanted more. It wanted pain. So that’s what I gave it. I pushed, dragging the side of his face along the wall for about a foot. He screamed, leaving a trail of skin and blood where the stone grated him. “Asking again—we clear?”

  “Dad?”

  I spun to see the kid standing by the car with a look of horror on his face.

  “Go get the cops, Kenny,” the man sputtered. He still struggled, but more weakly. He knew he was beat.

  I let go of him and stepped away. With a nod to the kid, I said, “No need to do that, Kenny. Your dad and I were just having a chat about how he treats you.” I turned back to the guy. “That right?”

  The man narrowed his eyes but said nothing.

  “He’s gonna be nicer from now on,” I said, walking back toward my car.

  Though not as potent as a demon kill, the violence settled Azi enough for me to focus. Sam and I were linked. That had to mean I could find her. I just had to try.

  Once I was back in the car, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Azi flashed an image of her face and my heartbeat went into overdrive. In the vision, she was bruised and bleeding, with a busted lip and a wide gash on her right cheek.

  “No,” I snapped, shaking the likeness from my mind. “She’s okay. I would know if she wasn’t.”

  The demon wasn’t convinced, but it settled down to let me concentrate. I’d never tried using the link between us. Up until now, it’d been more of a hassle than anything else, making me hyperaware of every detail about Sam. Her moods and emotions. Her body… I’d hated it because it rubbed my nose in the one thing I wanted but couldn’t have. Now I had to rely on it. Talk about fucked up.

  I sat behind the wheel with my eyes closed. It took a while, but I finally felt her. Felt her fear. It was just as potent as if she were sitting beside me. She was someplace dark. And cold. But other than that, I had no clue.

  “Shit!” I slammed my hand against the dash, leaving a fist sized indentation. I had no way of finding her. There wouldn’t be a ransom. No one would call for a trade. They had exactly what they wanted. They held all the fucking cards.

  Azi sent more images of her, a dizzying mix of jumbled moments from over the years.

  I gripped the wheel hard and closed my eyes to stop the spinning. “How,” I growled. “How the fuck am I supposed to find her?”

  Another rush of pictures came, so strong I almost puked. They went too fast to make out much detail, but I did notice a common thread. Azirak’s demons.

  “They won’t help me,” I said, twisting the ignition key a little too hard. “I screwed them over by letting Chase walk away. Cheated them out of their power.”

  Azi wasn’t deterred, and they kept coming. Sam. Azirak’s demons. Sam. Demons. The wheels in my head started turning. We had several common enemies in Zenak, his clan, and the angels. If I sought them out and said I wanted to gain a Pure with the intention of hunting down Zenak, they might be forgiving. They were desperate to regain their power. A few hours ago it’d been Azirak in control of my body. He’d called his clan to locate the Fakori descendant. All I had to do was keep them thinking the demon still had the wheel. The only bump in the road would be Malphi.

  As if in response, Azi communicated a scene of me embracing the dark, faceless female, and then another, of Sam wrapped tightly in my arms. The feeling that came with both was the same. Need. Desire. Longing. Getting close to Malphi was risky, but I had no other choice. I had no intention of losing Sam again.

  “How do I find them?”

  A single picture. The Inferno.

  Getting back to Harlow took forever. At least, that’s how it felt. Each second was one I wasn’t trying to find Sam. Every minute was one that they might hurt her. If anything happened, I would bring hell to their doorstep in ways they couldn’t possibly imagine.

  It was almost three by the time I pulled up in front of the bar. The place was fairly empty, as usual, and the bartender—a demon I’d never seen before—gave a slight nod as I walked in.

  “Heckle here?”

  The bartender shook his head. “Nope.” He looked me up and down. “Out of town.”

  I didn’t give a shit what the euphemism was for. I only wanted information. “I’m looking for one of Azirak’s clan.”

  “Never heard of ’em,” he replied, and nodded to the liquor shelves. “What d’ya want?”

  I leaned forward and inhaled. The bartender wasn’t Zenak’s. Not Azirak’s. Definitely a demon, though.

  Factionless. I had no idea where the word came from, but knew without a doubt I was right. This demon was neither mine nor Chase’s.

  I reached across the bar and grabbed its shirt, yanking forward. The demon dropped the bottle in its hand, the glass shattering against the edge of the counter and dumping vodka all over the floor. “I’ll say it louder, just in case you didn’t hear me the first time. I’m looking for one of Azirak’s clan.”

  It wasn’t until the demon looked at me—more specifically, my eyes—that he realized who I was. His head dipped and he opened his mouth, but someone else spoke for him.

  “I am of Azirak’s—”

  I turned to face it.

  Tall, with dirty blond hair and narrow shoulders, the newcomer curled its lip back and tensed, ready for a fight. “You!”

  Time to put my game face on. I had to sell this shit good. “I have control of the body,” I said with a subtle nod. I let go of the bartender and leaned back against the bar.

  It wasn’t a demon I recognized, but obviously it recognized me. “You betrayed us!”

  “The human betrayed you,” I corrected, hoping Azi went along with the charade. “Who’s your leader?”

  “You are,” it said angrily. The demon’s eyes narrowed as it regarded me with caution.

  “I’ve been otherwise engaged. Who was in charge in my absence?”

  “Ranook,” it said, almost hesitantly. I’d expected the answer to be Malphi. “Why?”

  “Take me to Ranook.”

  It blinked, staring at me for several more seconds. “Why would I do that?”

  I offered it a wicked grin. “Because I’ve got information that will change everything.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Sam

  She’d been sitting across from me, just staring, for almost twenty minutes now. Normally I could pull a stare down with the best of them, but something about the angel’s eyes creeped me the hell out. “Are we going to do this all day?” I asked. “Gaze into each other’s eyes? Because I’ll be honest with you…you’re not my type.”

  “Ahh, yes,” she responded with a grimace. “Your type is a bit darker, isn’t it?”

  I shrugged. “All girls love the bad boys.
”

  “And I wasn’t gazing into your eyes. I was gazing into your head.”

  “My head?” Not exactly something I wanted to hear.

  She stood and came closer, head cocked to the side. “Trying to see your fears. The things you hold dear. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ve been rude and I apologize. I never introduced myself. My name is Anella.”

  “Well, Anella, I’m Sam, and I’d like to go home.”

  “You are brave for a human.” She laughed, and I tried not to take it personally. “Or foolish. It’s so hard to tell with your kind.”

  I shrugged, doing my best not to cringe when the bindings on my hands pulled tighter. “What can I say? Probably a little bit of both.”

  “Agree to be claimed,” she said, bending down so that we were eye to eye.

  “Let me go and I’ll think about it?” It was worth a shot, at least.

  Anella sighed. I had a feeling I was grating on her patience. She placed a hand on either side of my neck. I could feel her touch through my clothing. In fact, it was really warm. Hot.

  Scorching.

  “What—? Oh my God.” I gasped. The pain increased until I was nearly blinded by it. There was a smell in the air. Singed hair and what I guessed was my burning flesh. I tried to hold back, but it was impossible. A deafening scream spilled from my lips.

  The music was loud. I felt it thumping in my bones. A steady, hypnotic rhythm that made me want to move my body. Or, maybe it was Jax, pressed close behind me and swaying his hips in a way that made my mind wander to dark, forbidden things.

  We were in the middle of the dance floor at the Viking. Alone. A nagging voice whispered in my ear that this wasn’t right. We shouldn’t be here. Not like this. But as the beat intensified and the lights dimmed, I let it go. All that mattered was now. This electric, alive feeling.

  “I love the way you move,” Jax whispered in my ear. The sound of his voice, oddly clear over the rumbling beat, was like a flamethrower to my skin. His tongue flicked out, skimming the edge of my earlobe just a second before he nipped it.