by Jus Accardo
Heckle turned and sighed. “I’m going to introduce you to Havat Doyle. Remember?”
“What exactly is this War Zone thing?”
“Demons are a nasty, volatile bunch.” Heckle tapped Jax on the shoulder. “But like you, they have their limitations. They’re bound by the frailties and boundaries of a human body. Maybe not to the same extreme as you—full-blooded demons weren’t born into their humans, they were forced into them. They still retain some of what they were.”
“So what does this all have to do with the War Zone?”
“Like I said, volatile bunch. They need to let off steam. That’s what the War Zone is for.” Heckle glanced back at the house. “Are we done playing twenty questions?” he called over his shoulder, walking away.
We had no choice but to follow.
Around the house and past a set of rusty cellar doors, Heckle led us through a wine cellar that would have made Kelly drool all over herself. We snaked down the aisles, stepping over forgotten bottles that had fallen from collapsed shelves, and when we came out on the other side, there was a door that opened to a narrow, unlit staircase.
Once we arrived at the bottom, Heckle turned and prevented us from going any farther “A few things before we go in.” Gaze swiveling to Jax, he frowned. He cringed a little. “I can only take one of you in. It has to be Sam.”
“What?” we exclaimed in unison.
“You’re out of your fucking mind,” Jax raged. He tried to push past Heckle, but the smaller man, surprisingly strong, shoved him back with ease.
“I’m sorry,” Heckle said. “There’s no choice. It has to be her.”
I was terrified of slipping into the unknown darkness ahead with only this weird stranger as a guide, but if the answer to this whole mess was in there, I had to at least consider it. “Why? Why does it have to be me?”
“I know what he is,” Heckle said, sniffing the air in Jax’s direction once. He scrunched up his nose as though he’d just caught wind of something foul. “So will the others. You’re going to have to trust me when I tell you that this is not the place you want to be.”
Jax snorted. “I’m a demon,” he said with a grin that made the butterflies rage in my stomach. “I think I can take care of myself.”
“Technically you’re a human with a demon. That makes you, at best, half a demon.” If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn Jax actually was insulted. “You’re big and bad, sure, but there are too many to count down there. Unfed demons might be easy for you to take down, but with sheer numbers on their side, you’d be toast. There are demons beyond this hallway that would rip you to shreds at first whiff just for being what you are. “
“Why?” Jax asked.
Heckle shrugged. “Purists. You’re a human—something they consider nothing more than a means of sustenance. Yet you’ve been gifted with the great power of a demon.”
Jax’s eyes widened and I forcibly bit back a giggle. He looked like a cartoon character who’d just received the surprise of his life. “Gifted?”
This was getting us nowhere. Gently, I pushed Jax aside and focused on Heckle. “If I go in there with you, what’s to stop them from feeding on me like the other demon did?”
“You will be under my protection. They will have no claim to you,” he said solemnly. I didn’t know him from a hole in the wall. He could be an excellent liar. Still, something about the intensity in his voice made me believe him.
Jax, on the other hand, wasn’t convinced. “Your word?” He grabbed my hand and tried tugging me up the stairs. “Let’s go, Sammy. This is a waste of time. I don’t trust this guy as far as my demon could—”
“Fine,” I said, pulling away. “I’ll do it. I’ll go with you.”
“The fucking hell you will.”
“Sorry, but I’ve got a little news flash for you, Jax. You don’t own me. Last time I checked, I was free and clear to do whatever the hell I wanted. And right now, I want to go with Heckle.”
“Fine. Then I’m coming, too.” Jax turned to Heckle. “You can’t stop me.”
“No,” Heckle said. His voice got cold, and the look in his eyes, a spark of dominance mixed with anger, chilled the air. “But you can’t enter without me, and I simply won’t take you. Either of you. I take Sam. Alone. Or I take no one. I leave it up to you. It makes no difference to me either way.”
Jax wasn’t going to budge. That much was clear. I turned to him, and with one final plea, said, “It’s this or nothing. You said you didn’t think this thing would stop until I was dead. If that’s true, then we need to find it, and whatever connection it might have to you, and we can’t do that alone. We need to know what this Havat knows.”
He didn’t answer.
“Jax, think about it. You can’t watch over me every second of every day for the rest of my life. You don’t plan on sticking around, for one thing. We need to finish this.”
He was quiet for the longest moment, turning from me to Heckle with an angry scowl. “If anything happens to her, I won’t kill you.” His voice was low, dangerous. “I’ll leave you alive. I’ll torture you in ways you can’t possibly imagine.” He tapped the side of his head and gave the other man a wicked grin. “This demon is very creative.”
Heckle nodded and returned Jax’s smile with one of someone humoring a spoiled child. “No harm will come to her. I give you my word.” Turning to me, he held out a hand. “This is very important. Take my hand, and whatever you do, do not break contact. Not even for a second. Do you understand?”
I wound my fingers through his and nodded. His skin was cold. Not corpse-cold, but not normal body temperature, either. I fought back a shudder. “Yeah. I understand.”
And with that, we stepped into the darkness. I didn’t look back. Seeing Jax would only twist the knife. To be told he had to wait this round out was bad, because he felt responsible for the situation, and therefore, me. Having no control had to be killing him.
We reached the end of the hall and came to another door. Heckle wordlessly pushed it open and what waited on the other side stole my breath away. The War Zone was a perfectly accurate word for this place. A sea of bodies fanned around a sunken circle where two hulking men—demons, I guessed—fought in the middle. One brutal blow after another, the men slugged it out with vicious enthusiasm.
A chorus of cheers and boos filled the room as Heckle tugged me along, heading for the far end where a tall black man sat in an ornate chair. A scantily clad blonde girl on either side watched the room with a bored expression, rubbing the man’s shoulders every so often. The girl on the right was breathing heavy, running her fingers down her right thigh repeatedly like she was trying to wipe something away.
“Havat,” Heckle said, stopping in front of the chair. “Might I have a word or two?”
Havat narrowed his eyes, but nodded. Obviously he wasn’t thrilled about the interruption.
“We’re looking for a demon. One that fed from this human girl.”
“And you’re asking me this, why?” Havat grabbed the girl on the right, yanked her down hard, and kissed her. When she pulled away, there was a thin trail of blood, and an angry-looking wound on her bottom lip.
My stomach roiled and bile rose in my throat. He’d bitten her. The girl didn’t seem to mind, which made it even worse. Her tongue darted out, licking at the blood, as a twisted smile spread across her lips. With a low giggle, her eyes rolled back like she was deep in the throes of passion, and she ran her hands down the length of her body before crumbling to the ground and rocking softly.
“Because you have the best nose this side of hell,” Heckle said. “Are you going to tell me you can’t smell it on her?”
Havat laughed, and for the first time, turned to me. His eyes skimmed my body with an appreciative gleam as he took a deep breath. Instead of an answer, the demon laughed.
I opened my mouth to ask what the hell that was supposed to mean, but Heckle cut me off. “Who was it?”
“We do not give in
formation for free here. You of all people should know, Keeper.”
“What do you want?” I blurted before I could stop myself.
Havat smiled. “And she has the nerve to speak to me. This gets better and better.” He leaned back and swung his right leg over the arm of the chair. “I would like a stone.”
“A stone?” That seemed harmless—which probably meant it was anything but. “A particular one, or will just any rock do?”
Heckle squeezed my hand, and Havat looked angry for a second before bursting into laughter. “I don’t meet many humans with your…charm. It’s amusing.”
“Glad I could entertain you. Now, about the stone?”
“It’s called the midnight stone and it was taken from me by a witch named Sadie Gray. Retrieve it for me and I will tell you the name of the demon that fed from you.” He turned to Heckle. “I assume my acquiring the stone will be fair. Am I correct?”
Heckle nodded. “It’s acceptable.”
Havat clapped his hands together and stood. He held out his hand, and said, “Then we have a deal.”
It was an unconscious gesture. Something society had ingrained at an early age. Without thinking, I let go of Heckle’s hand and reached for Havat’s. The room went silent, and for a moment, no one moved.
Then all hell broke loose.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jax
There was a crash at the other end of the hall. But even with the demon’s improved vision, I couldn’t see what it was right away. I took two steps forward, and that’s when I heard it. A dull roar, followed by a chorus of footsteps pounding against the concrete. A few seconds later, Sam and Heckle came barreling out of the darkness.
“Go! Up the stairs. Fast,” Heckle huffed as they dashed toward me. Behind them, the roar grew louder and the sound of two racing footsteps became many, many more.
I took Sam’s hands and propelled her up the steps, Heckle on our heels. “What the fuck did you do?” I growled as we crashed into the cellar at the top of the stairs. “Rip you to shreds. Make you wish for death. Any of this ringing a goddamn bell?”
“It was her fault,” Heckle yelled. “She let go of my hand. The moment she did, they all smelled her.”
“No blame,” Sam huffed, breathing fast. “Spank me later.” She must have realized what she said, because out of the corner of my eye, I saw her cheeks redden. “I—”
“No, it’s fine. I’m more than happy to spank you later.”
And that was it. All the air we could expend. Now was all about running. A single glance over my shoulder revealed that the large group that had chased Sam and Heckle from the basement had splintered into several smaller ones. Heckle glanced back, but he wasn’t quite as graceful as me. He tripped, going down hard in the mud. It was horrible leaving him behind, and I’d regret it later—maybe—but I held tight to Sam’s hand and kept going. The crowd wasn’t after him. It was after her. He’d be fine.
Angry yelling grew closer and something crashed into me from behind. I went down hard, just enough air to yell to Sam, “Keep going! Don’t st—” Something hit my jaw, and stars exploded in my eyes.
I managed to dodge the next blow, rolling over to see a blond demon’s feral expression. It swung again, this time catching me in the gut. Azirak stirred and fury spread like fire. With renewed strength, I bucked the demon off and jumped up.
I was about to throw myself forward, but another demon came charging up, knocking my opponent down with a brutal blow. A quick twist, and the other demon’s neck lolled at an unnatural angle as its body hit the ground. Climbing to my feet, my unlikely savior flashed a disturbing smile. “Hurry, my lord.”
It reached for me but I jerked away. “Your lord? What the—”
“You need to—”
Another demon came up behind him and, in a move I’d never forget, twisted and pulled, removing my ally’s head clean off its body. Fuck! I started running. Azirak didn’t fight it, either. It seemed as eager to get away as I was, and that scared the shit out of me. It didn’t run from fights. It ran toward them.
It flashed an image of the decapitated demon, and then another of Sam. Sam. It wanted to find Sam.
The crowd had thinned, fights breaking out among the ones that had been chasing us. It seemed the crowd had split into two distinct sides. Ones who wanted us, and ones who, oddly, wanted to help. Ahead, a small circle gathered around something. As I got closer, my heart sped up. It was Sam. Heckle was in the middle trying to hold them back.
“Sam!” I yelled, bolting forward. I expected the demons to turn on me, hoping it would give her the chance to make a run for it, but instead the crowd split, clearing a path. Carefully, I moved forward as the crowed—a group of ten—whispered and stared. Several even stepped back.
A second later, they all fell to their knees.
“Azirak,” one of the male demons said. He was the only one to then rise and come forward. “It is not safe for you here. Zenak’s army is close.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” To Sam, I said, “Are you okay?”
She nodded and made a move to come closer, but the crowd was on its feet and closing in a heartbeat. Heckle threw up his hands. “It’s okay. The human means him no harm. She, um, belongs to him.”
Sam started to protest, but I shushed her. “What the hell is going on here, Heckle?”
The same demon that stepped forward first held his ground, eyes on Sam. “She is not his. She stinks of Zenak.”
“Whoa.” I whirled on Heckle. “Zenak? Is that the name of the demon that attacked her?”
“She has been tasted by one of his clan,” a demon wearing a young woman’s face said. She bowed her head and flashed a tentative smile. “My lord.”
“Your what, now?” Sam squealed. At the sound of her voice, the crowd tensed.
“Be calm,” Heckle warned her. “No sudden movements.”
“Who is Zenak? And you’re the second one to spit that lord shit at me. What the hell is going on?”
“Zenak is the leader of our opposing faction,” the female demon supplied. “He has, apparently, turned your human against you.”
“No, he hasn’t.” Sam shouted. “And just so we’re all clear, I’m not his human.”
The female demon looked confused. “Not his? Isn’t that your attachment to each other? To mate? I mean, humans are amusing, but that’s all. Sustenance and toys, really.”
“A toy?” Sam let out a strangled cry, and I was sure she’d launch herself at the female demon, but Heckle grabbed her arm and slowly shook his head.
The female demon glared at Sam. “Please, my lord. If you would step away from the human, we would all feel more at ease.”
My patience was wearing thin and I wanted answers, so to humor them, I stepped to the outside of the circle. Azirak rumbled, but I stuffed it down. “Someone better start talking.”
The male demon bowed his head. “Do you not smell the link on her?”
The female smacked the male in the back of the head. “Fool. It’s obvious that Azirak’s mind is clouded. He doesn’t remember who he is and what he must do. Do you really think he’ll be able to smell a link?” The female bowed her head and sighed. “I’m sorry, my lord. There are rules we are bound to. I can say no more.”
“Say no more?” I roared. Azirak raged, flashing pictures too fast for me to really understand. There was blood, and an uneven, rocky terrain. One I recognized from earlier flashes the demon had shown. Thousands of bodies strewn across a blood-soaked field. Fire burned on scattered patches on barren land, the smoke drifting toward a pale gray sky. When it ended, I felt like someone had punched me in the gut.
“Are you well, my lord?”
“If you call me that one more time without telling me what the fuck it means, I’m going to rip your goddamned heart out,” I spat.
The demon cringed, nodding enthusiastically. “Yes, my—Azirak.”
“We want nothing more than to tell you of the glorious pas
t, and of the future we plan to forge, but it is physically impossible. The words will not spill from these pathetic human lips.”
I took a deep breath in an attempt to stay calm. “Okay. So what can you tell me? Anything useful?” I turned to Sam. “Anything about the demon that fed from her? Or how about this link you’re talking about?”
“We do not know the name of the demon that has fed from the human, only that he is one of Zenak’s—your enemy. There is one among us who might be able—”
“Havat,” Heckle interjected. “That’s why we’re here. He’s offered an exchange.”
The male demon nodded. “As expected. When some demons feed, they have the ability to create a link between themselves and their prey. Think of it as a symbiotic relationship that’s beneficial to the demon.”
This sounded bad. “Beneficial how?”
“The linked human is like a limited extension of the demon. It’s the part that takes all the bad so the demon doesn’t have to. If the demon is injured, the linked gets the wound.”
“What about the human?” Sam asked. The crowd turned, surprised. It was almost like they’d forgotten she was there. “What if I got hurt?”
The male demon kept its eyes on me. “It might feel pain, but it’s not going to do the demon any real damage. However, if the demon dies, the feed dies.”
“And the reverse?” Sam asked. “If I die?”
“If the reverse were true, and your death would kill our enemy, you would be dead already,” the female replied with a steely grin.
The idea of Sam taking physical damage because this demon, whoever the hell it was, had fed on her made me sick. We had to find a way to break this link.
“You said something about using Sam against me.” I had to keep my head in the game. “How do you mean?”
“If the demon is strong enough, it can actually control the feed. Make it do what it wants. Hurt itself—or someone else.” The male demon gave me a pointed glare. “If you have an attachment to this particular human, then it is no wonder Zenak sent one of his stronger soldiers to feed from her. I could easily have her attempt to assassinate you while you are using her.”