Wicked Bite

by Jeaniene Frost

  “Not like Dagon.” The grin never left Ian’s face despite his gaze hardening into turquoise-colored diamonds. “He absorbs souls to burn through them as power sources when needed. Ask Ereshki if she has nightmares of being drowned in darkness. That’s from being one of Dagon’s former soul batteries.”

  Ereshki’s hand flew to her mouth. “I do,” she gasped.

  “’Course you do,” Ian said, showing his teeth the way a tiger did before a kill. “I, too, was trapped inside Dagon that way. Then Ariel arranged for all of us to be yanked out of him and resurrected—”

  “How?” Yonah interrupted.

  I didn’t mind revealing my secret to Yonah, but I had no intention of telling Ereshki. “Do you know what Ashael is?”

  Yonah’s expression shuttered like a house battened down for a storm. “Assuming I know what you’re speaking of . . . what of it?”

  Yonah might be protecting her, but he was being careful with what he revealed around Ereshki. Good. And he absolutely knew what Ashael was. He wouldn’t have reacted this way otherwise.

  “Ashael and I have much in common,” I said, and pulled a small trickle of bloodied water from the palm of Yonah’s hand. With my other nature so close to the surface, it barely took any thought at all, and that worried me as much as it should.

  Yonah’s eyes widened as he felt the water being pulled from his skin. He didn’t look down, though, and his fist closed, hiding it so Ereshki didn’t see. Ian noticed, however. His nostrils flared as he scented it.

  “Ah,” was Yonah’s only reply.

  Ereshki looked even more confused, not that it mattered.

  “As I was saying,” Ian went on. “Dagon’s coming for Ereshki because he wants to reclaim the power she consumed from him when she was released and resurrected. He’s coming for me, too, which is why I’ll do you a favor and remove both of us—after the smallest of favors. You’re right: a normal demon is of no concern, but one who’s hyped-up on souls for extra power?” Ian tsked. “That’s no fun, is it?”

  “Assuming I’d agree about the danger,” Yonah said, holding up a hand at Ereshki’s frightened squeak. “What is the favor?”

  Ian’s smile was charming and lethal at the same time. “So glad you asked.”

  Chapter 29

  Ereshki was no longer in the drawing room. It was just me, Ian, and Yonah. The former demon prince’s wings were clearly visible now, the obsidian arcs made of something that was neither shadow nor night but whatever darkness had existed before those. They grew and stretched as Yonah poured the largest amount of power I’d felt on this side of the veil into the blood-drawn symbols before him.

  The blood was Ian’s, pumped out directly from his heart. I’d done that myself after Ian stripped off his tuxedo jacket and shirt so only his gleaming, bare upper body bore the stain. He’d taken the horn off, too. It stood upright in the corner of the room the way it had the last time he’d removed it, though this time, it was swaying as though in approval of Yonah’s power.

  At a nod from Yonah, I drew another stream of blood from Ian’s heart so he could paint it over the last of the symbols. “Now,” Yonah said without looking up. “Use some of the power you stole from Dagon, Ian.”

  How? He couldn’t teleport with the wards here and . . . oh!

  Not a muscle on Ian moved, but his whole body began to shimmer until it looked like he’d been bathed in a silver haze. New magic filled the room, twining around Yonah’s power until it felt like I was watching an invisible dance. Nothing on Ian moved, so this wasn’t a tactile spell. He also wasn’t speaking. Not even breath escaped Ian’s lips. Still, the power grew until it grated across my skin. I half expected dents to appear in the floor from the weight of it.

  With a sense of awe, I realized that Ian could now create spells by drawing from his power alone. Or, more accurately, by drawing from Dagon’s stolen power in him.

  Yonah gave Ian a surprised, if satisfied, look. Then he began chanting in a language I’d never heard before.

  With a snap, all the blood-drawn symbols suddenly caught fire. Then they lifted into the air, their shapes now drawn by fire instead of blood. That fire brightened, merging with Ian and Yonah’s power, before it coalesced into a long single swirl that suddenly rammed into Ian’s chest with enough force to drive him more than a meter through the demon’s hardwood floor.

  “Ian!” I gasped, about to run to him when one of those long wings blocked me. Its weight belied its non-corporeal appearance and touching it felt like plunging my arm straight into hell.

  “Don’t,” Yonah gritted out. “Not yet.”

  Ian’s body bowed while muscles stretched and tore as if trying to contain something fighting to get out of him. That shimmering glow turned to fire and a shout tore from Ian that had me beating against Yonah’s shockingly immovable wing despite the burns that ate through my skin.

  “Stop it, stop it!”

  “Too late,” Yonah said in a pitiless tone. “Ian will either absorb the spell or it will kill him.”

  Why did we ever trust a demon? This was the second time one was putting Ian’s life in danger!

  Another howl tore from Ian as blood suddenly coated him as if his capillaries had erupted violently enough to burst through the surface of his skin. Then he shuddered with such violence, I could hear as well as see his bones break.

  I let my other half free with a ferocity that made my vision turn black and my own skin feel like it had split open. For once, my other half and I were in complete agreement: If Ian died, Yonah was going to die with him.

  I spread out the darkness haloing me until I felt its width surpassing the demon’s curious wings. Then my power sought the energy in the water surrounding this island. Once it found it, I felt the Leviathan, their sinuous bodies cleaving through the sea as if they were lethal, sentient waves. But something else felt me touching them, and it snapped back my power like the retracting coil of a whip.

  Ah, the Leviathan had a ruler. One that walked on land, too. Intriguing but at the moment irrelevant. There was more than enough water on this island to fuel my power, and . . . had my vampire finished screaming? Good. The sound had been grating.

  I opened my eyes. The demon had stayed in his corner, his wings now tight against his body as if he were about to charge me instead of run. A worthy opponent, then. Did I owe him death?

  I glanced at Ian. My vampire no longer shuddered from agony and his bones no longer broke. He lay still, eyes closed, that former silvery glow and the fiery one now nowhere to be seen.

  “Are you alive?” I asked, crossing over to nudge Ian with a foot. No answer, but he wasn’t shriveling into a state of true death. Then again, being killed by magic might preserve his body. I’d seen that before. My nudge turned into a kick.

  “Stop,” Ian muttered, opening one eye. Then both eyes opened and widened. “Why hallo, my lovely demigod,” he said in a careful tone as he slowly sat up. “We’ve never been properly introduced. I’m Ian.”

  Did he think me simple? “I know who you are,” I said, giving him a raking look. “And you should be running. Didn’t she make you promise to flee if you saw me?”

  Ian held out a hand to Yonah, who started to circle me in a predatory way. “I’ve got this,” he told Yonah in a crisp tone.

  His confidence was amusing, if misplaced.

  “If she breaks free and threatens any of my people—” Yonah began, stopping when I swung to give him an icy smile.

  “She won’t,” Ian said with that same confidence.

  My gaze swung back to him. “You believe you could stop me?”

  Ian smiled, lifting himself out of the hole in the floor with surprising grace. Then he brushed the shards and splinters from his bloodied torso as if dusting lint off a suit.

  “I won’t have to.” Another smile, this one crafty as well as charming. “It’s also why I lied when I promised to run if I ever saw you. There’s no need. You quite like me.”

  Impertinent. Perhaps I
should rip the blood out of his body and slap him with it. “Do I?”

  He came closer, that smile never slipping. “Oh, you do. You burst free whenever I’m in danger, and I also see you lurking behind Veritas’s eyes when she loses control in other ways.”

  His caressing tone left no doubt as to which ones. Then he reached out, trailing his hand down my arm. The sensations that followed weren’t unpleasant, so I allowed it.

  “She thinks you’re not her, but you are, aren’t you?” Almost crooned as he continued to stroke my arm as if gentling a wild beast. “You’re just another side to her. We all have our different sides. Yours is simply more . . . well-defined.”

  “She thinks me evil.” Saying it made something sting as if I’d been poked with a clumsy stitch. Bitterness, she’d call it.

  “I’ve seen evil.” Now his hand was in my hair. I tilted toward it to see if I enjoyed that more. If I didn’t, I could always rip his hand off. “You’re not even close.”

  I did enjoy his hand in my hair. It was even more pleasant than the strokes on my arm. His body would be more pleasant, too. I knew that because he was right—I had, on occasion, watched through her eyes when she shared her flesh with his.

  “You may leave,” I said, flicking my fingers at Yonah. “Or you may stay. Either way, he will pleasure me now.”

  The demon muttered something I didn’t care enough to catch. Then he left. Ian laughed, a low, sensual sound that—surprisingly—affected me as much as his touch.

  “Saucy little half-celestial minx, aren’t you?”

  I pressed my mouth to his before he could say anything else. Yes, very enjoyable. His tongue was even more so, and his body created sensations I wanted more of. I had only watched this before. Now, I wanted to feel it.

  I let out a hiss of disapproval when he caught my hands before I could rid him of his unnecessary pants.

  “Hate to disappoint,” he murmured, “but we can’t do this.”

  “Why?” To see if I’d misunderstood his interest, I grabbed his cock. Harder than a block of ice. Certainly no impediment there. “You want this.”

  Another laugh, this time edged with something rough. “Oh, I want this all night and into next week, but your vampire half would object, so it’s not happening.”

  “You said I am her,” I argued, not liking the feeling of being denied. “Begin the copulation!”

  He brushed my hair back before tracing my lip with his thumb. Somehow, I felt that touch deeper than my skin. Sorcerer.

  “You are,” he said softly. “One day, she’ll realize that, but right now, she still sees herself as two separate people. She’s wrong, but until she realizes that, I can’t accept your invitation. So again, with regret, this isn’t happening.”

  Then he kissed me, ending with a nip that was hard enough to draw a drop of blood that he caught with his tongue. I liked that as well, which made his refusal all the more frustrating.

  “Now,” he said thickly, “show her she’s wrong about you by willingly relinquishing your control back to her.”

  I shoved him away, feeling stabbed by an enemy I could neither see nor destroy. This must be what betrayal felt like. “She will cage me again.”

  “For a while,” Ian agreed. “She was taught to fear this half of herself, but what was learned can be unlearned. Besides,” his voice deepened, “the cage is only an illusion. You’re always there, aren’t you? When she frees you, she’s really only freeing herself.”

  A sigh hissed through my lips. If he knew that, why did she not know it, too? Even still, I debated ignoring his counsel, but with each brush of his hands, her power grew. Soon, she would break free unless I stayed away from him.

  Did I want to do that? My jaw tightened.

  No. I did not. Sorcerer.

  “Very well,” I said, and let her rise.

  Chapter 30

  I snapped forward as if I’d been slingshot back into control. For a moment, I could only stare at Ian. His hands were still in my hair and he was standing so close I could feel the heat from his body, elevated from the stress of fighting for his life in Yonah’s dangerous spell.

  “You talked her out of it,” I finally said in disbelief.

  Ian’s mouth curled in a knowing smile. “No. I talked you out of it.”

  I realized with a jolt that he was probably right. I’d experienced decades of extreme trauma by the time Tenoch saved me, and he’d been adamant that I keep my other half locked away because it was too dangerous. Anything Tenoch feared, I feared, too, so I’d spent my life shunning that part of myself. It wasn’t such a stretch to imagine that my past trauma combined with incessant self-alienation resulted in a partial other identity, which was really me trying to continually disassociate from the parts of me that my beloved sire had feared.

  If so, I had a lot of therapy in my future. But first . . .

  “Does the spell work?” I asked, trying to stuff down my rage over how Yonah could have killed him with it. That rage was like rolling out the welcome mat for my other half . . . or the part of me I felt more comfortable calling my other half even though it really wasn’t? Gods, this was confusing.

  If Ian sensed any of my inner battle, he didn’t comment. All he did was take my hand while also holding out his other arm. The horn flew over to wrap itself around his bicep as if it were a giant slap bracelet from the nineteen eighties.

  “Let’s find out,” he said.

  The spell embedded in his body led us out of the drawing room and all the way down to the basement level of the house. We were only a few doors away from the room we’d stayed in when Ian stopped and opened another door. Yonah, Ereshki, and Katsana were inside, and from their expressions, only Yonah wasn’t surprised to see us. He merely gave Ian a sardonic look.

  “That took much less time than I expected.”

  Ian ignored the slur to his supposed sexual stamina. “This proves what I warned you about,” he said. “This spell traced Dagon’s power right back to Ereshki. What’s to stop him from using one just like it to find her and the others he’s seeking?”

  “It also proves Ereshki is telling the truth,” Yonah countered. “She doesn’t remember Ariel or any of her former crimes despite being one of the souls Dagon hoarded inside himself, which she must be or she wouldn’t have specks of Dagon’s power in her for the spell to trace now.”

  I hated that I agreed with the demon. I might not be capable of believing Ereshki after what she’d done to me, but spells didn’t lie. The question was, where did that leave me and the many, many other people who had only me left to speak for them? Should this Ereshki pay for the crimes of her former self? Or did having all memory of that Ereshki ripped from her mind make the woman standing before me technically innocent?

  I was still wrestling with that when Ian said, “It also proves Ariel’s version of events, so we’ll take Ereshki and go now,” with such deadly silkiness, it was clear he wasn’t suffering from a crisis of conscience.

  Ereshki burst into tears. Hearing it tugged at a place in my heart I’d thought was long dead when it came to her. Even Yonah gave her a sympathetic look. Then he stared at Ian.

  “Unaccept—”

  He never finished the word. The floor heaved, then a huge crack appeared that the sea immediately filled. Water was up to my knees before I could even react.

  Silver! If I didn’t get him out of here, he’d drown! I dashed out of the room, then ducked because Yonah flew over me with Ereshki clasped in his arms. That’s right; she was human again so she was susceptible to drowning, too.

  I flew down the hall, ignoring Ian’s shout to stop. By the time I reached our room, the water was already higher than the doorknob. I kicked it open right as a tremendous quaking caused multiple cracks to appear in the ceiling. Silver flew out as if he’d been fired from a canon. Now, the only dry space left was around my head. I clutched him to that while fighting to fly above the water line. More horrible crashing sounds above had me glancing worriedly at the
ceiling. Whatever catastrophe had happened—an earthquake, maybe?—it sounded like the roof would cave in any moment.

  “Ian!” I shouted, not seeing him in the hallway with its rapidly rising water and ominously increasing roof debris.

  I thought I heard his voice farther ahead, but I couldn’t be sure. The water was now so high, I could no longer fly, and walking through it while holding Silver’s nose above the water would take too long. More collapsing sounds proved that. We only had seconds before this entire hallway crashed in on itself.

  I yelled, “Hold your breath!” to Silver, prayed he understood me, and dove beneath the water, holding him.

  I kept one arm in front of me to punch aside any debris as I swam as fast as I could. My other arm protected Silver’s head and the rest of him was tucked against my body. I fought panic as new crashing sounds reached me even through the churning water. More debris began to pile up, blocking my path. Silver could be dying right now, and where was Ian? Vampires couldn’t drown, but he could be trapped under something while the house collapsed upon him with enough force to rip him apart—

  Something hard slammed into me, yanking me up. I thought I felt someone’s body next to mine, then there was nothing except pain from the multiple concussive impacts and noise that made the previous sounds pale by comparison. When I could see again, it was through a sheen of blood that turned my vision red.

  Red Ian had me clutched against him while flying us free of the house, which pancaked onto itself with horrifying rapidness. Red Silver coughed out water while blood dripped from his soaked feathers. Then red sand met our feet as Ian set us down on the beach, which heaved from the aftershocks of whatever had brought the house down.

  “How did you find me in all that wreckage?” I gasped out.

  “Locator beacon in Silver’s collar,” he replied. “Slipped it on him back at that villa in Athens.”

  I choked on the laughter that bubbled up. “That’s how you found me at the Mycenae ruins.”