Authors: Karin Shah
Chapter 26
“Now, now, you crazy kids, there’s no need to get nasty.” The demon bared Beth’s small white teeth in a smile so horrible the back of Devon’s knees quivered.
“I hear one tiny word of Latin or that awful name”—The thing inside Beth shuddered—“and I’ll give this weak heart more than it can stand.”
“Beth, what the hell are you playing at? Stop fooling.” Hands still raised, Matt shifted his weight as if he didn’t know whether to advance or back away.
“I’m not playing, but hell has everything to do with it.” The chuckle rising from Beth’s chest made the hair at Devon’s nape stand up straight.
She grimaced inwardly. How had coming home to regroup turned into a mess the size of the Empire State Building?
She glanced at Ethan. Even his training as a Navy SEAL couldn’t account for the dazzling speed he’d just displayed. Funny how seeing him in lion form hadn’t thrown her, but his
Bourne Legacy
speed left her reeling.
John thankfully took that moment to take charge. “Why don’t you tell us what you want?” he said to the demon.
“What makes you think I want anything?” Beth smirked. “Maybe I just want a body.”
John folded his arms. “If you just wanted a body you wouldn’t have picked one with a flawed heart.”
Beth’s canines flashed as the demon sneered. “Well, needs must when the devil drives.”
“What?” Devon asked.
“Needs must when the devil drives? It’s an expression. It means—” The fiend gave an exasperated sigh. “Never mind.”
“Ah”—Matt cleared his throat—“I hate to interrupt this fascinating conversation, but can I put my hands down and talk to Beth?”
The fiend rolled Beth’s big brown eyes. “Beth’s not here right now, but if you leave a message at the beep, she’ll get back to you. Beeeeep.”
“Okay.” Matt turned to Devon, slashes of red staining his cheeks. “This is crazy. Can’t you see she’s had some kind of—of psychotic break? We’ve got to get her to a hospital.”
“All right. All right. If no one’s going to shut this wanker up, I guess I’ll have to.” The demon chuckled, then flew, chair and all, into the air, and rocketed at Matt.
“Holy—!” Matthew dove to the ground, covering his head with his hands.
Devon muffled her surprised squeak with her hands.
John, Jake, and Ky rushed the fiend, snagging the chair before it could plow into the terrified man, and wrestled it to the ground. Even with three super-human men holding it down, the fiend made the chair shake and bounce along the polished hardwood floor.
Devon shook her head at the demon’s tremendous strength. How in God’s name could they fight something so powerful?
“Wait a minute,” Ethan told his brothers. He glanced at Matt with an assessing gaze and lowered his gun. “I think it’s made its point.”
The police officer nodded his sandy head, eyes wide, the corners of his wide mouth peeled back.
Ethan placed the gun on the top of a high shaker-style cupboard and showed his empty hands to the fiend. “If we let go, will you stay still and tell us what you want?”
The demon stuck out her lower lip, then shrugged. “Fine. This is getting a bit boring anyway.”
The vibration stopped. Jake, Ky, and John released the chair.
“Well,” Ethan prodded.
It sighed. “As it happens, I do want something.” The demon paused and passed its flat, shark-like gaze over everyone in the room.
Devon rubbed her neck, feeling her stomach roll as she remembered the punishing force of invisible hands on her throat.
It smiled. “The Santa Florentina didn’t give up all her secrets. There’s a Queen’s seal, and I want it. Get it for me, or no amount of salt, sage, or holy water will stop me from destroying this bag of meat and bones you call Beth.”
Devon bit her lip and glanced at Ethan. Her rusty medium skills were no match for this demon. Sure, she could try to force it out, but could Beth’s weakened heart take the strain? As much as she hated to rely on someone else, treasure was his bailiwick.
He stood, arms loose and ready at his sides, with his legs braced apart as if he already stood on the deck of a ship. He nodded. “It’ll take some time, but I’ll get it for you. Now, release Beth.”
Another malicious smile tugged the demon’s mouth. Its eyes were calculating. Devon’s chest tightened. What other tricks did the fiend have up its sleeve?
“Oh, no. I’m not done. There’s a deadline.” It laughed. “A pun. How cute. You have less than three days to get me the seal. I’ll leave this body for good when its in my possession.” A small huff escaped its chest. “Oh, another pun. How scrummy.”
Ethan rocked back, shaking his head and crossed his arms. “Three days? There’s no way. I’ve got to get my crew together. And I’ll have to sell some things to get the money.”
Ky held up a hand. “Money’s not a problem.”
Ethan stiffened. “You’re right. It’s not. I have a cache near the coast. As soon as I sell it, we’ll hire a ship and get on our way.”
“Ethan. there’s no need to sell anything.”
Ethan glared at his older brother. “I can get the money.”
Men
. Devon restrained herself from searching the ceiling for salvation from stubborn males.
Ky’s eyes flashed gold. “It’s not necessary.”
Devon stepped between then. “Boys! Now is not the time for a pissing contest.”
Ky closed his eyes and when he opened them they were green. “I meant it’s not necessary, because you own shares in Mythic, Inc. I’ll just take the money from the safe and we’ll do a full accounting later.”
Ethan opened his mouth as if to argue and Devon reached up and put her fingers on his lips. She’d intended to stop his protests, but the feel of his firm lips beneath her fingers sent a ripple of heat through her. The searing look he gave her said he’d felt it too. God, to be back in the guest room with nothing to worry about, but devouring each other.
She cleared her throat to stay on task. “You can settle the rest on the way.” She looked at Beth. Though everything in her told her to go with Ethan, seeing her friend overshadowed by the demon made her sick. “I’ll stay here with Beth.”
“No.” Ethan glared at her. “I don’t want you alone with that thing.”
“Don’t worry.” John stepped closer to Beth. “I’ll make sure Beth and everyone else is safe.”
Matt looked like he’d swallowed a hot chile. “I’m her boyfriend. I’ll stay with Beth and Devon.”
John disappeared and re-appeared in front of Matt. “I really think I’m the one who should stay.”
Mouth agape, eyes bulging, Matt looked for all the world like a fancy Goldfish Devon had had as a child. “What in Christ’s—?”
“Ahh!” The demon put Beth’s hands over her ears. “La, la, la. I told you not to say that name. Perhaps you need a lesson in how serious I am.”
As soon as she stopped talking, Matt began to convulse.
Chapter 27
Son of a bitch
! Rage clouding his mind, Ethan turned to Beth and grabbed her arms as the young man rolled and twitched on the floor. “Let him go, you bastard.”
Beth blinked at him, dazed. “It’s not in me anymore. Help him!”
He released her, as if burned, hoping he hadn’t bruised her, then spun back. Before he could move, Devon rushed to Matt’s side and it was all Ethan could do to bite back a growl as she put her hands on another man’s body. He quieted his lion. Devon was
his
, no matter whom she touched. He gazed down at Beth. “Is he epileptic?”
Beth shook her head, her eyes big, brown saucers. “This has never happened before.”
John grunted. “It’s the demon. He’s jumped bodies.”
Matt continued to seize, body thumping against the slick, hardwood floor. Devon attempted to hold him down, so he wouldn’t hurt himself, but the force of his convulsions was too strong. The helpless gaze she shot Ethan made him want to plant his fist in the wall.
“Stop it! Stop it!” Beth begged. “We’ll do what you want!”
As her words died in the air, Matt expelled a long rattling breath and lay still.
“Shit!” John folded his lean frame beside the young man like a collapsible ruler and searched for a pulse. The hopeless glance he swept over the five of them sent Ethan’s stomach rolling even before the rough-hewn half-demon spoke. “He’s dying.”
Devon wrung her hands. “Can’t you get in there and, I don’t know, jumpstart him?”
John closed his eyes for a second and shook his dark head. “I’m not the possessing type of demon . . .” He stared at the body. “but maybe . . .” He lowered his eyelids and filled his lungs with air like a man running into a burning building. He stayed like that for one second, two, three.
Without warning, Matt’s body jerked.
John pressed his fingers to the policeman’s throat. “I got him, but something’s not right. I can’t find his entire soul. Part of it’s missing.” He swept another heavy gaze over the group. “I’m sorry. I don’t think he’s going to wake up.”
Beth buried her face in her hands and shook. Her shoulders moving with sobs too bone deep to emit sound.
Devon ran to her friend, wrapping her in a hug. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she rubbed Beth’s back. The lion in Ethan growled, helpless to soothe his mate’s obvious pain.
She turned her gaze to John. “What if you find the lost piece. Will he wake up then?”
John’s mouth stayed a grim line. “I don’t even know where to start.” He stood and crossed his arms over his chest, a resolute look on his stony face. “I think our best bet is to find the seal. The demon damaged him. He may be the only one who can fix him, but even that may have a limitation.”
Devon sniffed, her nose pink. “What kind of limitation?”
“Spirits can’t stay separated forever. The missing piece will degrade.”
Ethan cupped a hand over his eyes.
Shit.
Beth’s eyes widened with fear. “How long does he have?”
“Only the demon can tell us exactly. My guess, two or three days at the most.”
Kyle straightened. “Then we’d better make plans. Meanwhile, the best place for him is a hospital. They can keep his body going while we do our part. This is going to be close.”
Devon’s throat ached with unshed tears as the ambulance came.
God, how had things gone so wrong?
In minutes, the EMT’s had loaded Matt into the vehicle and taken off, siren blaring. Beth had insisted on going with her boyfriend, so John, after taking Jake back to NYC, had no choice but to follow them to the hospital. “No way, I’m letting a demon loose on an unsuspecting hospital,” he’d said.
Ethan spoke in low tones with Kyle in the living room. She traced his powerful form with her eyes. Only twenty-four hours earlier, she’d believed him dead. Now, here he was, solid and real. They’d made love, but with everything that had happened, her mind spun.
He glanced up and sent her a reassuring smile. One thing she knew. Mating bond be damned, she’d never met a man who cared more about others. He’d given up his livelihood to keep his friends safe. Vowed to protect her when she’d been little more than a woman living in his house. Comforted her when he was in enormous pain. The question wasn’t why did she love him? It was how could she not? But how did he feel?
Men were hard enough to fathom, case in point that bastard Mordechai, but chimeras? Ethan was her mate, but what did that mean to him? She’d been his first lover. According to him, he’d never even really wanted anyone else. Was it just sex for him?
Ugh! She turned to the stove, grabbing a paper towel and wiping away a spot of egg left from breakfast. Enough! Beth and Matt needed that seal. A spasm of pain ripped through her and she dropped the crumpled towel, grabbing the cool granite counter to stay on her feet.
Ethan was suddenly there, turning her around, his strong arms around her, and her earlier misgivings faded. He was her mate. That was enough. For now.
He brushed her hair back from her damp face. “Are you okay?” His thumb stroked her cheek. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
Now, there were words that put confidence in a girl’s heart. What else could there be to discuss? She threw back her shoulders, ignoring another small spasm. She glanced at the old-fashioned wall clock. Time to head to the airport. “We can talk on the way. Let’s get cleaned up and get out of here.”
Ethan turned toward his brother, his brows lifted as if making some kind of appeal.
Kyle shrugged. “You heard the lady, time’s ticking. Let’s get going.”
Devon reclined back in her plush leather armchair and looked out the window of the jet at the bank of clouds beneath them. She wiggled her shoulders in the buttery leather. How could she ever go back to flying commercial?
She glanced at Ethan. His phone was tucked between his ear and his neck as he sipped scotch from an icy glass then placed it on the small table beside his chair, his brows lowered as he listened to his colleague on the other end.
She pressed her lips together and tried to focus on the ebook on the tablet in front of her, but the tiny numbers displaying the time kept drawing her eye. They’d already wasted a couple hours arranging for the flight and getting to the airport, and they still didn’t know just how much time Matt had. She drummed her fingers, thinking of Beth’s stricken face as they’d loaded him into the ambulance. If Matt died, Beth would be devastated and the whole thing was Devon’s fault. She swallowed the bitter lump in her throat. If only she could have banished the demon before anyone else was involved.
They couldn’t land soon enough.
Devon stretched the muscles of her neck and closed the ebook, sneaking another peek at Ethan.
He’d been on the phone since they’d boarded. They were alone in the plane, since Kyle had decided to check on John and the others, before “stretching his wings.”
Devon thumbed the base of her index finger. She wished Ethan would hang up so they could have that “talk.” The idea of it made her so antsy she was ready to jump out of the jet without a parachute. Better to get the damn thing over with.
Finally, Ethan hung up, his face tight and resigned. “We’ve got a problem.”
Really?
A dry, half-laugh escaped her. “And we didn’t before?”
He opened his firm mouth, seemed to re-think what he’d been going to say, then shook his head. “The seal is no longer at the bottom of the ocean.”
Devon spread her hands. “Well, that’s good, isn’t it?”
He rubbed the bridge of his nose with those long, dexterous fingers, reminding her how sweet they had felt moving across her skin. “Long story short, a former business partner of mine went back and found it.”
“So we buy it from him.”
“I tried. We’re not exactly friendly and he spent thousands proving the wreck wasn’t military—”
She raised her eyebrows.
“—which would have made anything recovered the property of the country of origin. In this case, Spain. Anyway, apparently he’s got it on display in his office and he won’t part with it at any price.”
Devon stuffed her hands in her hair. “Oh my God. That’s it then. What are we going to do?”
Ethan groaned.
A sound that, talk or no talk, curled in her chest and urged her to lean over and cup his lean cheek, to soothe him with her touch. She reached out.
He caught her hand, folded it in his. The gesture lit a tiny glowing bubble in her chest. He opened his mouth to speak, his hazel eyes glinting green, and glanced at the closed cockpit door. “I think we’re going to have to steal it.”
Oh, crap.
Almost two hours later, Devon glanced up at the vast, brick warehouse in front of her, then at Ethan and John. The breeze, cold and damp from the nearby river, tangled her hair and slapped her cheeks, no doubt turning them fire-engine red.
Kyle had met them at his building in NYC, asked her if she could do him a favor while they waited to hear from Harvey, and before she could say more than “sure,” he’d bundled them into a shiny, black town car with John without explanation.
He’d stayed behind, watching from the curb as they drove away. A lonely figure hunched into his black wool pea coat, the stone skyscrapers towering over him like medieval battlements.
Devon reached out and clasped Ethan’s warm hand. He’d looked like that in his photo, isolated, his expression closed as if concealing a hidden pain. He would never look like that again, if she had anything to say about it. She turned to John. “So, where are we?”
His mouth twitched, as if he considered what to say. Finally, he shrugged. “It’s easier if I show you.”
He lead them through a heavy security door with a digital combination lock. The first room they entered was set up like a lab. Microscopes and sciency-looking equipment lined shelves and long tables against the walls. A huge bank of windows let light in the back wall, but there was no way the light came from outside. The room was far too small. John went to a glass door in the center and punched in another code.
What the hell did they have in here
?
The mystery almost took her mind from her jangled nerves. She slid out her phone and noted the time. Five hours and they hadn’t heard. The demon knew the stakes, was toying with them.
She tucked her phone away, shook her clammy hands and pinned them under her arms.
On the other side of the door was a space maybe three foot wide running the length of the building. And in front of them stretched a glass, or maybe Plexiglas, wall that ran all the way to the high ceiling, possibly four-stories high or more. The scene before her reminded her of exhibits in the natural history museum, but the scale was vast, like a museum with only one gigantic exhibit. Tall grass waved gently in some breeze, no doubt from a massive HVAC system. Natural light poured down from a mondo skylight that took up most of the ceiling.
There were no outside windows. The walls had been painted to look like an African vista complete with blue skies, distant trees, wispy clouds, and birds.
The earthy aroma of living things said the trees and grass inside the space were real.
So not an exhibit. Then what? A conservatory?
A flash of movement near a stack of rocks in a stair-step arrangement caught her eye. She looked closer and a shape on the sandy rock resolved into a tawny-furred animal.
What in the world
?
Ethan who’d stood as dumbfounded as she, turned to John. “Why does Ky have a lioness?”
“Forget that!” Devon shook her head. “Why is he keeping her in a warehouse in Manhattan?”
John’s sigh held a wealth of fatigue and resignation. “Because, she’s not a lioness. She’s a female chimera, gone feral.”
Devon glanced at the patchwork of autumn-blue sky pressing down through the massive skylight. “Let me get this straight. If she’d been male you would’ve killed her, but since she’s not, you’re just going to keep her in this . . . private zoo for the rest of her life?”
“The hope is one of the boys will be her mate and be able to bring her out of it.”
Ethan raised a dark eyebrow. “That ever happened? A mate bringing a chimera back after its gone feral?”
“Not that we know of. But, the truth is, since your parents were killed when you were all small, we know shit-all about chimeras.”
Devon scanned the enclosure, multi-level and complex, noting each detail. The expense must be staggering. What wouldn’t Kyle do to help his brothers? “How did Kyle find her?”
“While searching for the boys, we’ve kept our ears open for unusual news.” John rapped a knuckle on the glass.
Devon noticed a door she hadn’t registered before cut into it. The door had a slot she assumed was for feeding, and a clear handle.
“A traveling carnival in the Midwest had an curiously elaborate lion act, until the lioness attacked the tamer.” John laid his hand flat on the plexi as the lioness stirred, stretched, jumped down from the rock and sauntered toward them. “She was supposed to be put down, but Ky—” John’s gaze flicked up as if he fumbled for a word. “—persuaded the owner to sell her to him.”
Ethan wedged his big hands in his jean pockets, the light playing over his broad shoulders, emphasizing the muscles under his gray, long-sleeved Henley. “This is all very interesting, but why’d you bring us here? I have a mate.”