Embraced (Eternal Balance)

by Jus Accardo

  The other demon’s fear flooded the room, and the sensation it brought—the sickest, most electric feeling—obscured everything. It was the best high coupled with the most sensual encounter of my life. I was instantly hard. Excited. Charged and ready to take on anything from heaven to hell. I didn’t care what Azi did with my body. It didn’t matter who it hurt or what the demon destroyed. As long as this feeling never faded.

  Slowly, I set the offending demon down. “Leave us.”

  “Lord Azirak.” Ranook started forward. “Considering the history between the two humans—”

  “LEAVE US,” I roared. The sound shook the walls and rattled the glass.

  The three demons cringed and inched toward the door. “As you wish, my lord. But know that I will have your guard stationed at all exits.” They scurried out of sight.

  I settled into the chair across from Sam and sighed, struck by the strangeness of the sound. Me, yet not. Still heady from the fear though, I didn’t care. There was nothing wrong with this. Things were as they were meant to be. Azirak and I shared this body. We shared a common goal.

  “We have a problem,” I said.

  “Please,” Sam begged. She leaned forward. “Let me talk to Jax. Get me the hell out of here. The cuff—” With a sharp inhalation, she doubled over, arms wrapped tight around herself.

  “You’re in pain.”

  She nodded without looking up.

  “The cuff’s power has almost come to fruition.”

  She lifted her head, gaze locking on mine. It stirred something deep in my gut. A spark of…of what? Something about this wasn’t right. We should leave. I knew there was a reason, but as hard as I chased the thought, it stayed just out of reach. Uncatchable.

  “It’s going to kill me. If we don’t find Malphi and get Chase to remove it, I’m going to die.”

  A wave of sadness came on strong, but dissipated. “I can make it stop. I can remove the cuff.”

  Her skin paled. “You—” She jumped from the couch.

  “I am Jax, Sammy. I’m also Azirak. Trust us.”

  “No!” She tossed her head and let out an anguished cry. A moment later she launched herself off the couch at me. “You’re not the same. Give him back to me! You promised.”

  “It’s time you stopped viewing us as separate entities.” I stepped to the side, grabbing her around the waist as she flew past. It was strange to see the contrast, pale skin against my darker complexion. Delicate and breakable. So breakable… “If you allow me to claim you, I will have the power to remove the cuff. The pain will end.”

  I let her go and she stumbled away. “Go to hell.”

  “You have no choice. Allow me to claim you. I swear on my royal blood that no harm will ever befall you.”

  She stumbled away, shaking her head. “Royal blood? You don’t have royal blood.” Legs spread, like she was preparing for a fight, she said, “Get over this, Jax. You’re in there. I know it. You would never let them take me.”

  “This is a complicated situation. I understand your confusion, and I sympathize. You must know that is unprecedented. My kind, we care not for the fates of humans. But you… My concern for you…”

  “If you care about me, then get me the hell out of here.”

  “What you ask is impossible. Even if I conspired to remove you from this place, the others would never allow it. Your fragile body would be mortally damaged in our attempt.”

  “Bullshit,” she spat.

  “Please. You have little time left. I do not wish to see you expire. I—” My body stiffened. A new presence—not here, but close—set my insides on fire. “Malphi is near.”

  “Good,” Sam cried, throwing herself forward again. She grasped my hands and squeezed tight. “I know you’re in there, Jax. Kill Malphi and let’s get the hell out of here!”

  There was a spike of rage. I pushed her. She flew back, landing on the couch with jarring force. The spark grew bigger, and some of the haze lifted. Sam. Sam shouldn’t be here. Not like this…

  My shoulders rolled and a deep breath filled my lungs. No. She belonged here, exactly like this. With me. “Do not speak like that again. Malphi is mine. As you are. No harm will come to her. Or to you.”

  “So you’re saying you love us both?” The venom in her voice needled something deep in me. It chased the spark of consciousness and battled the haze, but wasn’t strong enough. “Because, I don’t know about your demon-bitch, but I don’t like sharing.”

  “Love.” The word felt strange as it slipped across my lips. Wrong in so many ways, but right in one. My head moved up and down, slowly. “Yes. I love you both.”

  “I call bullshit again,” Sam growled, then cringed. She gasped, twisting the edge of the couch cushion in her palm. “I—oh God.”

  “Time slips away. I can offer relief and safety. Zenak will never again darken your world.”

  Her eyes squeezed closed. A thin layer of sweat had broken out on her skin, glistening as a single drop trailed down the side of her face. The exertion was too much for a mortal. It wouldn’t be long now.

  “You want my power to kill Chase. You know what will happen if you’re all freed,” she rasped. “Everything—Earth, humans, all life in general—will be destroyed.”

  “I am…undecided about Zenak’s fate. I wish to restore the clan, but I can foresee complications. However, the power you contain must not be claimed by our enemies. To ensure that, I must obtain it.”

  She laughed, disbelieving and desperate, then she gritted her teeth as a whimper followed. It disturbed me to see her in such pain, and I moved to comfort her, but something stopped me. A familiar presence, dark and sensual—one my body desired and my essence remembered in excruciating detail.

  The door behind us creaked open. The scent of her filled the air and, like a physical blow, nearly brought me to my knees. I turned and she was there, with her long legs and wild, raven-colored hair, filling up every inch of the doorway.

  “My love,” a familiar voice said. She winked. The hum of power filled the room. With each step, the memory of our previous times together grew sharper. I recalled the first time I saw her—both in hell, and here, on Earth. The cuts and bruises from a few days ago had faded from her face, and the limp was gone.

  The haze keeping me trapped shifted, and a moment of clarity slammed through me. It brought with it conflicting emotions, most of which I didn’t understand. But there was one that rang fierce, stood out strong and blazing. Rage. For an instant I was able to push Azirak aside. I lunged for her, pushing her hard against the wall and pinning her there, hands tight around her neck. Betrayal burned, a single ember fanning into an inferno, and all I wanted was to feel her blood on my hands. “Malphi…”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Sam

  I’d heard him wrong. That was the only logical explanation.

  This woman wasn’t Malphi. She couldn’t be.

  In the doorway stood a familiar, black-haired witch. A boyfriend coveting, manipulating woman who’d forced Jax’s hand and tied them together, inserting herself into his life in hopes that she would get what she wanted. Power? Him?

  But if she was a demon—Azirak’s demonic booty call—wouldn’t Jax have known? Wouldn’t he have taken Sadie Gray out right when this all started? He certainly would have never linked them.

  Jax flew at her, fingers hooked and ready, but he didn’t follow through. He had her against the wall by the neck, had Malphi pinned, but hadn’t moved to finish the job yet.

  She chuckled and gently eased him away. With a wink at me, she slung her arm around his shoulder and licked the side of his face slowly, starting at the tip of his chin then running her tongue up his cheek and down again, finishing by biting at his top lip.

  Jax simply stood there. Staring at her like she wasn’t real. I didn’t know if it was because Azi was happy to see her, or if Jax was in as much shock as I was, but it scared me. The almost vacant, desperate look in his eyes. They weren’t solid black like t
hey had been a few minutes ago, but they weren’t thinly rimmed with a gray center, either. I had no idea which one of them was in control.

  “I bet you have a ton of questions,” she said, turning back to me.

  I gritted my teeth and held my breath. With each inhalation, the pain thrived. The cuff was like liquid fire against my skin now.

  “How is this possible?” Jax asked. His voice was slightly off key. Deeper than normal and laced with a chill. “I linked to this human body. I did not feel you.”

  Sadie—Malphi—gave a throaty chuckle. “I was fortunate enough to be born into the body of a witch this go-around. Her bloodline is very powerful.” She sighed. “But, as you know, part of our banishment was the removal of all power. I was born into the body of a witch, yet had no access to the goods, if you know what I’m saying.”

  “But you do have magic,” I insisted.

  She laughed again and shrugged. With a quick move of her hand, she reached beneath her shirt and pulled out a long chain. On the end dangled a bright red stone. The one Chase wanted! “This is a powerful stone, created in the fires of our home. You don’t recall, but the Brim Stone was smuggled here eons ago, by your hand, my lord. I was able to use it to tap in to the bloodline’s power. I cloaked myself, and those loyal to me, so you wouldn’t see me coming.” She began to pace. “Of course, I was a bit pissed when you didn’t recognize me after linking us. It made me testy.”

  Azi, now in control, lifted Jax’s hand to her face, a tender gesture that incited a raging spark of jealousy in me. It wasn’t Jax really, but seeing his hands on another woman stole the air from my lungs. “But why?” he asked. “Why hide from me? Why not reveal yourself?”

  Her expression darkened. She flicked a finger in my direction. “Because of that thing. Your human half is so enamored with it. It clouds your judgment and snares you with humanity. It keeps you tethered. I knew you would never take Zenak’s life. If I revealed myself to you, I would have been in danger, not only from our enemies, but from your human.”

  “It is true that I struggled with my task. But the reasons are not as simple as you state.”

  “Yes,” she purred, running her hand across his cheek and down to his shoulder. Skimming her nails across his arm, she said, “They are. Mate with me. Consummate our union and I will do the task for you. Once I am of royal blood, the weight will not fall on your shoulders alone. It will be my…gift to you.”

  Her hands dropped to the button of Jax’s jeans, deftly slipping it through the hole. When there was no protest, she raked her fingers up his chest, across the thin material of his T-shirt. Gripping it at the neck, she ripped it like tissue paper, the remnants slipping from his shoulders and falling to the floor at their feet.

  “Jax,” I cried. I wasn’t sure what scared me more. Having to watch the only man I’d ever loved have sex with another woman right in front of me, or the world-shattering chaos that would come as a result of it. “Don’t let them do this. It’s your body! Take control of it.”

  Sadie howled—a vicious, angry sound—as she launched herself at me. She grabbed my wrist, squeezing so hard that I was positive my hand would pop off. “That fool Zenak gambled on the human’s love for you. But he should have known better. My lord would have never allowed harm to come to me!”

  “Jax, do—”

  She grabbed my chin with her free hand and squeezed, nails digging in and breaking the skin. “I’ll enjoy watching you squirm as he takes me.” She leaned closer. All I could see was the dark onyx of her irises. “And then take pleasure in the pain you feel as you die.”

  Malphi jerked me across the floor and forced me down at Jax’s feet. She grabbed a handful of my hair and gave a vicious twist. “Feed, my lord. Take in her anguish and pain. Then take me and we will claim her together. The power will enable us to destroy our enemies and take our rightful place in this world and the next.”

  It was Jax’s face that looked down at me, but his eyes were like Sadie’s. Solid and soulless. “Allow me to claim you. I will remain true to my word. No harm will ever come to you.” Azi lifted me off the ground. “I will make it painless.” Ebony eyes skimmed the length of my body, catching on my chest for a moment before settling on my lips. “Pleasurable, even.”

  The demon leaned in and brushed the softest of kisses across my forehead. I froze, too terrified to even breathe.

  “What are you doing?” Malphi bellowed. It wrenched me backward and I stumbled, falling onto the coffee table. It cracked in half. Splinters and pieces of wood littered the floor. “You owe her no mercy. Claim her by force.”

  “I am fond of the human and will cause her no unnecessary pain.”

  “Fond?” Malphi screamed. “You’re fond of it?”

  That answered that. Apparently the demoness wasn’t the sharing type.

  “I demand that you claim it. Claim it and kill it. We have no use for it.”

  With each moment, she grew angrier and angrier. Her fury was terrifying, but I also saw it as a possible opportunity. Struggling to my feet, trying to push away the crushing pain from the cuff, I said, “I’ll consider it, but I have a condition.”

  Azi’s eyes met mine and I suppressed a shiver. “What do you wish, Samantha Merrick?” It sighed. “Sammy…”

  This was a dangerous plan, considering how Malphi reacted to even the lightest show of kindness by Azirak, but I was out of options. The cuff was close to killing me. I had moments left. I still wasn’t convinced, even if this worked, that it would save my life. Even if we managed to take Malphi down, how could I get to Chase in time?

  “You won’t let me speak to Jax.” I took a step forward. “I know that. But physically, you’re him.”

  “More than that,” the demon said. It followed my every move, gaze all but devouring me. “We are the same. I feel his desire as he feels mine.”

  I fought a shiver and snuck a peek at Sadie… Malphi. Her lips were mashed in a thin line, and judging by her body language, there was very little keeping her from ripping out my throat. Good. “Then kiss me. You can take away the pain, make this pleasurable? Prove it. Show me.”

  Fire sparked in those inky black eyes and the demon wasted no time. It crossed to me in two long strides, gathering me into Jax’s arms. The kiss was like an internal meltdown. Basic and primal. Vehement and possessive. Azirak wound Jax’s hands through my hair, fingers tangling around large sections and tugging forcefully. It murmured something inaudible, dropping Jax’s hands down to my waist for a moment before slipping them to cup my backside. A second later my legs were around his waist.

  An unearthly roar shattered the room. My head snapped back, and the warmth from Jax’s body disappeared, replaced by sharp pain as Malphi dragged me backward. “You dare to take this wretched creature in front of me? Before consummating our union?”

  “You will release Samantha Merrick,” Jax said, voice like ice.

  Malphi laughed, the sound like scraping rusted metal. Harsh. Angry. Unforgiving. “Do you favor this insect over me, my lord?”

  “I favor her.” It was very matter of fact. “Not above you. I believe—I believe I favor her the same as you. She is mine.”

  Malphi’s face twisted into a mask of rage. Her fingers closed around my neck, and the pressure increased. “That is the human stain speaking!”

  I gasped. The pain from the cuff was nearly blinding now, a red hot poker jabbing at me from the inside. My legs were numb. Even if the demoness were to let go, I wasn’t confident that I could run away.

  Her hand tightened. “You must choose—this abomination or me!”

  “You are rash,” Azi said, still eerily calm. It came a step closer. “As you have always been. But this will not aid our cause.”

  “Our cause?” She shook me. “This is not about our cause. You have no intention of destroying Zenak.” Her grip loosened and her voice became somewhat softer. She sighed, looking and sounding more like the simply annoying witch I knew and hated. “I have seen it grow worse
in you over the centuries, Azirak. It’s a disease. One I will free you from. We will claim the Pure and kill it. Then we will mate and I will kill Zenak.”

  My breathing grew labored. The rasping as my lungs fought to fill with air echoed in my ears.

  “I will not say this again, Malphi. Release her unharmed.” I could see it in his eyes. Jax was in there. He was fighting. Unfortunately it seemed as though it would be a losing battle.

  “Who do you prefer?” Malphi demanded. She gave me another furious jostle.

  “I desire you both.” Azi’s confusion grew. “Is this a problem? Did we not have multiple consorts in hell?”

  “This thing is more than a consort to you,” she growled. “It is more than a source of power. You—” She choked on the rest of the sentence before trying again. “You love it.”

  The demon came several steps closer to where we stood. “By human definition, I love you as well.”

  Malphi’s face contorted. “By human definition?” She shook me again. “You are a royal. A god among our kind. Finish this and take your rightful place!”

  The expression on Jax’s expression was thoughtful. Azi remained where it was, gaze alternating between Malphi and me. She took it as a green light. Turning me to face her, eyes raging with madness, she said, “The cuff is about to kill you. This is your last chance. Agree to be claimed or die.”

  My body was mostly numb now, the strange, intense pain radiating from inside me the only thing left. I didn’t feel Malphi’s hand around my neck, and the only indication that she was squeezing off my air was the difficulty I had filling my lungs.

  But for some reason, I was unafraid.

  A thought sparked, deep in the back of my mind. An ember that bloomed into a raging inferno. In an instant my outlook changed. The mere possibility of hope kept me balanced on the edge, not alive, but not yet dead. It was that moment that brought clarity. The answer to my current predicament was suddenly so incredibly clear.

  I turned my head so that Malphi and I were face to face. “Fine,” I said, my voice eerily calm. Somehow I knew, deep down, that it was too late to save my life, but I could still stop them from making my last moments torture. I could have the last word. “I agree to be claimed—by myself.”