Demon Bound

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—
    Oh, shit.
    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