As long as I was in the enemy’s home, I might as well make the most of it. Perhaps I would learn something I could use against Shya later. The demon party below scared the hell out of me. However, despite the dark parts of me, I was a creature of light. I must tread in dark places to make that light shine.
That’s what I told myself as I got ready to walk into the fire. When Falon led me from the room thirty minutes later, I prayed for the strength to face down the demon who dared to use me as a pawn in his vile game.
“I’m sure you’re smart enough not to run,” Falon said, gesturing to the dragon on my forearm. “You won’t get far.”
I followed him down the hall that overlooked the living room and descended the stairs. “Did you just call me smart? Hold on while I file that away. I want to remember it later.”
Falon ignored me. Strutting along with his long trench coat flowing behind him, I could easily forget what he was. His human façade was so convincing at times. No wonder people were so easily misled by these creatures.
The living room was empty. Everyone was outside. As we crossed through to the patio door, my pulse raced. Many of the demons crowded onto the patio couches looked up as we stepped out of the house. They eyed me up with keen intrigue before commenting to one another on my appearance.
“She’s smaller than I expected. Petite.”
“I thought her eyes were blue.”
“Do you think she colors her hair?”
“Only a fool would mess with a Hound of God.”
That last comment was spoken in a furious whisper. A black-eyed demon leaned in close to another, proclaiming in hushed words that Shya would be made sorry for his sins.
I hid a smile. So not all the demons present supported Shya’s decisions. Interesting.
Another interesting thing I noted was that they were all men. Falon ushered me away, guiding me around the pool to where Shya stood near the flaming pentagram.
“Why are they all male?” I asked Falon. Being on the ground level enabled me to feel the mix of human and demon energy. Every female present was undeniably human.
“Female demons are very few in number, as are female angels. Most of them are hybrids of a sort, nephilims and the like. Lilah and her kin are among the only true female demons.”
“Why?”
“You’re asking the wrong person.”
Before I could question Falon further, he shoved me toward Shya and promptly turned away. Shya’s red gaze landed on me, and his lips curled up into a sadistic grin.
“Alexa, I’m so pleased you could join us.” He spoke as if I hadn’t been forced into it. “I’m sure you understand why you’re here. It’s in everyone’s best interest for now.”
“You mean it’s in your best interest. Being your hostage doesn’t do me a damn bit of good. I have a wedding to attend. If you think I’m missing that, you can think again.”
“Let me fetch you some wine. It will loosen you up.” I gawked at him, finding the charming host act to be a true indicator of how mad Shya was. Was there such thing as a sane demon?
“Fuck your wine,” I snapped. “Why am I here? I’d be perfectly happy to stay locked upstairs watching television.”
Shya’s gaze narrowed. “It’s bad manners to be so ungracious to your host, Hound. Are you sure you want to piss me off?” The fake charm was gone, replaced with venom in the blink of an eye.
I swallowed hard. Incurring his wrath was not going to work in my favor. I knew that, and still it was so hard not to tell him to go fuck himself.
“Why am I here?” I repeated in a softer, more complacent tone. I’d play along for as long as I possibly could. It was going to be damn difficult. “I don’t need to witness another of your…events.”
“Of course you do. You’ll be the guest of honor at one of them. Once I find that scroll.”
The heat from the flames warmed my face. I stared at the man bound in the center of the fire. He was human, and he was giving off enough fear to make even the most well controlled vampire come apart.
I gave up. Talking to him was useless. So I reached out to Arys instead, letting him see what I was seeing.
‘Just play along,’ he told me. ‘I’m not leaving you there.’
‘Don’t come here,’ I pleaded. ‘He could hurt you. Or take you prisoner too.’
‘He can try.’
‘Arys, don’t.’
“Why so quiet?” Shya interrupted, giving me a knowing look. “Communicating with your vampire? He’s coming for you. I wouldn’t expect otherwise.”
“No, he isn’t,” I lied. “Look, Shya, I can appreciate the dramatic imprisonment. But this is ridiculous. You already grounded me to the city. Let me go home.”
Shya stared into the flames. There was an eagerness about him that disturbed me. “Help me find the scroll. As soon as we get this all over with you can have your life back.”
Hooking his arm through mine, he pulled me along beside him. We walked the perimeter of the pentagram. I couldn’t tear my gaze from the quivering man in the middle. I had a bad feeling I would watch him die tonight.
“Shya, please. My best friend is getting married. I’m supposed to be in the wedding.” Trying to appeal to a compassionate side that didn’t exist was an exercise in futility I knew. Still, I had to try.
He appeared thoughtful. “I understand that’s important to you. Perhaps I’ll make an allowance for that occasion. Falon can accompany you there. If things go well tonight that is.”
“Wait, what?” I stopped walking, but he jerked me along, making me stumble. “What happens tonight?”
He put a finger to his lips and shook his head. “One thing at a time. I must see to Gabriel. He’s eager to feed.”
The thought of a blood-hungry, black-magic Gabriel scared me. Sure there were several humans present, but my werewolf blood would smell like premium compared to their regular.
Shya met my frown with a tight smile. His grip on my arm tightened painfully. I steeled myself, refusing to show weakness of any kind.
“I hope Arys arrives soon. It wouldn’t be quite the same without him.”
I knew better than to take the bait. Talking to Shya was getting me nowhere. Staying silent was my best option.
We circled the pentagram, coming back to the pool. It was impossible not to look. Several people had exited the pool to crawl all over each other on the grass. It was hard to view them as people. They were just bodies, writhing and squirming.
I hated myself for reacting to the lusty energy tainting the atmosphere. It was my succubus nature. The various powers possessed by vampires came from demons according to a wise, old vampire I’d met in Vegas. At times like this, I didn’t doubt that for a moment.
How could it be that I was a Hound of God with vampire power rooted in demons? It was hard to wrap my mind around. I wished I could ask Willow. Hell, I wished I could be anywhere else in the world than here with Shya.
Shya dragged me over to the patio and forced a glass of red wine into my hand. “Humor me,” he said when I tried to refuse. To a tall demon with long scraggly hair, he said, “Bring Gabriel out.”
“So what’s your plan? Are you just going to set him loose on the naked, sex-crazed humans?” I was leery of seeing Gabriel as a vampire. It wasn’t going to be good.
“Yes, there will be some of that.” Shya waved Falon over. To the fallen angel he said, “Keep Alexa close. Let her go only at the right time.”
Then Shya was gone, moving through the crowd to await his vampire prodigy, pausing to make small talk with those who pulled him aside. Something big was about to happen, and I wanted to know what it was.
“What is he talking about?” I demanded, tugging on Falon’s coat to make him look at me. “What’s going on here, Falon?”
For a moment it seemed like he wasn’t going to answer me. Then he grabbed my arm and dragged me away from the patio, off to the side where we could see the entire yard without being too close to anyone. I cursed when he caused me to spill half the wine in my glass.
“Brace yourself, wolf. Shya has plans for you.”
“Please tell me he doesn’t have the scroll.” I closed my eyes and whispered a prayer beneath my breath.
Falon shook his head. “He doesn’t. Yet.”
“Then what’s going on?”
“If I told you, it just wouldn’t be any fun for me.”
It was childish, and I regretted it the second I did it. I gave in to the need to lash out and kicked Falon in the shin. Since that wasn’t enough, I followed up with a fist aimed for his face. It never landed. He caught my hand and twisted until I yelped.
He gave me a shove that was stronger than it looked. I landed on my ass on the yellowed grass. Wine soaked my jeans, and I threw the glass aside in a fit of anger.
“Stay put,” he snapped. “It’s not time for you yet.”
I started to get up, but he shoved me back down, holding me there. A tirade was brewing on the tip of my tongue. It died when Gabriel emerged from the house. Shya must have kept him in the basement safely out of the sun’s reach. Gabriel seemed to glow with the pale beauty of the undead. His shock of long, black hair shone, and his eyes shimmered with bloodlust. Nothing human remained within them.
Even from where I sat, I could feel the buzz of vampire power emanating from him. It was a sensation I knew well. Our bloodline was very strong in him. Shya had known exactly what he was doing by choosing Arys to be Gabriel’s sire.
Shya stood at Gabriel’s side. The demon waved a hand toward the pool and the bodies fornicating there. “For you, my friend,” he said to Gabriel. “Consider it a gift.”
It dawned on me then that the orgy wasn’t merely for the benefit of the demons but to appeal to the incubus nature now commanding Gabriel. Shya had more or less provided him with an all you can eat and fuck buffet.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I murmured, receiving a sharp nudge from Falon.
Gabriel didn’t waste any time. He surged forward with inhuman speed, driven by a brand new hunger. And the blood began to spray.
Chapter Twenty
I didn’t want to like it. Watching Gabriel tear through human after human while the demons looked on in glee sickened me. But not nearly as much as I wished it had. I couldn’t deny the bloodlust that made me its bitch. I sunk claws into the ground, plunging them into the earth in a desperate attempt to remind myself who I was.
It was no use. The vampire side of me reigned. As long as Falon held me back, it would be ok. I couldn’t hurt anybody that way.
As if he’d read my mind, Falon released me. I couldn’t make sense of it. Why?
Shya caught my eye and winked. Then he held out a hand, indicating that I should join Gabriel in his slaughter. The demon was beyond mad. He was a sadistic son of a bitch that deserved the hell that awaited him.
I shook my head, a silent refusal. Still I trembled with the effort it took to hold back. Gabriel was a reckless newbie. He tore viciously into his victims, spilling blood while they screamed. It would take him a while to learn how to control himself, to manipulate the moment so that he could feast on their lust as well as their life.
Falon pulled me to my feet and pushed me forward. “Go on. Show him how it’s done.”
“Why?” It hurt so much to fight the bloodlust that I thought I might throw up and pass out.
“Look at him. He’s a total mess.”
“I’ll kill him.” I uttered the oath beneath my breath, but Falon heard. Once the idea took root in my mind, I wanted very badly to do it. That would teach Shya to fuck with Arys and me.
“Kill him, and Shya will never let you leave here. Do you want to spend centuries as his prisoner? Don’t be an idiot.”
Falon’s warning faded away on the night. I knew what I had to do. Maybe Shya wouldn’t let me kill Gabriel tonight, but there was something else I could do. I approached Gabriel, forcing myself to take small, calculated steps. Rushing into that mayhem would be the end of me. Falon shadowed me, a constant presence at my back.
Ignoring him, I stopped several yards from Gabriel and dragged a claw over the veins in my wrist. It was a shallow cut, just enough to produce a few drops. But it was enough.
Gabriel’s head snapped up, and he looked at me with wild eyes. No longer could I see the naïve teenager in them. That person was long gone, eaten alive by a power too dark to be contained by him. He rushed me as I’d hoped he would. Holding up a hand, I grabbed hold of his vampy energy and brought him to a halt. By the time Shya realized what I was doing, I’d already pressed my bleeding wrist to Gabriel’s lips.
With a push of power, I sought to twine our two energies together, to create the force that would make him mine as I had with Kale and Jenner. Shya would be sorry for messing with me when I had more control over his prodigy than he did.
Gabriel’s tongue flicked over the wound. It wasn’t the most moral way to deal with this situation, but since nobody else was playing the game with morals intact, they left me no choice.
The slap of burning hot demon magic broke the spell. I cried out and grabbed my head as Shya’s power sought to find its way into me.
“Did you just try to do what I think you tried to do?” Shya was suddenly there, standing between us, holding Gabriel off even as he struggled to get to me.
The pressure in my head eased off, and I pulled myself to my full height to face him. “If you think I just attempted to bind him so he’ll crave me and do anything I want, then yeah. I did. Thanks to you, it didn’t work.”
I never saw the backhand coming. Shya’s slap was no mortal slap. My head snapped sideways, and I went down hard. I tasted blood, having cut my tongue on my fangs. There was no way in hell I was giving him the satisfaction of acting wounded. I glared up at him with vehemence blazing in my eyes.
“You’re going to be sorry you tried that,” Shya seethed. “I hadn’t planned to torture you, but I just need you alive. I don’t need you sane.”
“Joke’s on you,” I laughed, risking another smack. “I haven’t been entirely sane for a while now.”
“Keep fighting, Alexa. I do love a challenge. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t fantasized about breaking your rebellious spirit.” Shya became aware of the demons’ curious attention as they gathered. He couldn’t lose face now. “I got my vampire from Arys. Now you’ll give me a wolf.”