Demon Bound (48 page)

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 blood 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—

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.