Where Demons Fear to Tread (26 page)

The sensation of a hand brushing her arm stopped her cold.

“I knew you would come.”

When she saw Nick, she knew immediately. He was no longer human. He had become a demon. Physically, he had not changed at all, even though she knew that his body was now virtually indestructible, just as hers was. From one glance into his eyes, the change was apparent.

His eyes had been soulful when he’d been human, their warm brown depths had held a range of emotions that changed from one moment to the next. Now, they had the cast of a demon’s eyes, a fixed stare of pure hatred that Julian and the older demons kept masked with their practiced expressions of boredom.

Evil emanated from him, an energy surrounding him that was invisible yet wholly tangible. The kind of energy that older demons knew how to hide, as well. With Nick, that malevolence was so fresh, so new it was almost electric, and it chilled her to the bone.

“Where’s Andrew?” she managed to squeak.

Nick laughed. “I have no idea. Probably at home.”

“But I just heard him call for help,” she said.

“I’m a very talented actor. My impersonations are second to none. But then, you wouldn’t know that, would you? Because you never cared to ask,” Nick said, his stare holding steady as he moved closer.

“How did you know Andrew was my brother? And how did you get in here?” she said, anger rising within her. She had only ever tried to help Nick, had only ever wished the best for him. Now, he had tricked her.

“I know a lot more than I did before,” he said carelessly. “Now I have help.”

In the darkness, she heard another movement, the touch of feet so light on the floor it was barely perceptible. The air beside her shifted, and suddenly he was there, beside her.
Corbin.
Her body froze as he circled around her. Overhead, a woman’s laugh echoed. The dim light flickered, and Luciana descended a metal staircase, coming toward Serena at a frightening speed. As the demoness drew nearer, Serena saw the knife glinting in her hand.

“Nick?” Serena asked. “What have you done?”

“I’ve finally realized how to get what I want.” There was bitterness in his voice, unshielded by any artifice now. “You care more for that asshole of an Archdemon than you do for me. You may be in love with Julian, but I can still have you. I know what you are now, angel.”

“I’m sorry, Nick. I never meant to hurt you. But whatever the demons told you, I wouldn’t believe them. They’re full of lies.”

“And you’re not? You lied, too, even though you were supposed to guard me. Oh, I think you made a genuine effort at the beginning. Then you started sleeping with Julian. I had to find guidance elsewhere.”

In that instant, Serena glanced downward, her gaze catching on Luciana’s black satin shoes. The ones she’d seen kicked off inside the door in Nick’s hotel room the night they had left Vegas.
Nick and Luciana.
Her mind struggled to process it.

“So Luciana was in your room when I came to get you?” she asked.

“She told me to go with you,” Nick said. “Said you needed my support. Luciana’s not the jealous type.”

Serena didn’t believe that for a second, but she bit her tongue. Instead, she asked, “How long have you been…with them?”

“Not long at all,” said Nick. “This is a new beginning for me. And it will be for you, too, Serena.” The three demons laughed, the sound roaring in her ears and sending her pulse rocketing into panic mode.

“We’ll show you the error of your ways, m’dear. No more of this angelic nonsense. You’ll have much more fun with us,” Corbin said.

“We can all be together,” said Nick. “The way it was meant to be. Don’t worry. We know how to share.”

Corbin interjected then, pushing the younger man aside so hard that Nick fell to the floor. “You’re wrong about sharing, my young friend. You haven’t earned that privilege yet,” the Archdemon said blandly. He reached out to run his hand down the front of Serena’s body, squeezing her breast and slipping his hand between her legs. She slapped him hard across the face, the
crack
of it resounding in the empty space. For a long, terrible moment, he held his hand to his cheek.

“Feisty little thing, aren’t you? Not scared of death, I see. What more will it take to teach you to fear me?” Corbin asked her.

Oh, God, please keep me safe.

Luciana danced around them, gleeful. “We’re going to throw you to the Gatekeepers after we’re finished with you,” she crooned. “By then, you’ll be a shred of a woman. And when the Gatekeepers have had their fill, I’m going to drain you. Virgins’ blood is the best beauty secret. You’re far from a virgin, but your blood might do just as well.”

Corbin said in a disapproving voice, “We’ll do no such thing. We’ll keep her as a pet, chained to the bedroom wall.”

Serena shuddered. She didn’t know which was worse. At least if they killed her, she would probably start the recycling process again. The pain of it would be hideous, but at least there would be an end to it. But if Corbin kept her…there could be nothing closer to hell on earth than being a demon’s slave.

“Please,” she said. “Don’t hurt me.”

“Oh, I won’t hurt you, dear,” Corbin said. “I promised Julian I wouldn’t harm a hair on your head. You’ll love it when we fuck. But I can’t vouch for what Luciana might do.”

The demoness held up her knife. The silver blade gleamed, picking up a shard of light in the darkness of the nightclub. She ran it along Serena’s cheek. Blood seeped out. Luciana drew her finger along the cut, stinging. Serena felt the vomit rising in her throat, threatening to spill out.

She closed her eyes and prayed.

God in heaven, protect me.
…
Please, God. Send help.

There was one last obvious place for Julian to look, and a phone call from Harry confirmed it.

“They took her,” his assistant said, breathless on the other end of the line.

“Who?” Julian demanded.

“Corbin, Luciana and Nick. They killed the Gatekeepers you sent to watch her. One of them managed to get us a message before he died.”

“Where is she?” Julian asked. His gut began to churn. What a fool he’d been. He’d broken the cardinal rule of the demon world. Never underestimate your opponent. Worse, he’d underestimated his own attachment to the girl. Even Corbin saw what Julian couldn’t. That she was the only thing in the world that would bait Julian into a trap.

Love had blinded him. By fearing to ruin her himself, he’d pushed her away, into a danger worse than he ever could have inflicted. His mind began to run through all the possibilities. He shut his eyes and shook his head, willing the gory images out of his head.

Harry said, “We’re not quite sure yet. But somebody phoned in a bomb scare to Devil’s Paradise. Cleared the place out. It’s empty. I’m sending over a team of Gatekeepers as we speak.”

“I’m going now,” Julian said.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on Los Angeles, on his West Hollywood nightclub. He arrived in front of the carved wooden doors of Devil’s Paradise. And as he had last night, when he thought he had lost Serena to Corbin, he prayed. Prayed for guidance. Prayed for assistance. Most of all, he prayed for Serena’s safety. Not knowing whether his prayers would be answered, he did it anyway.

He hauled the doors open and entered. In the darkness, he navigated from memory, visualizing the space he knew so well, his steps echoing in the massive room.

Light flooded the dance floor, illuminating two figures there. Corbin and Serena. He’d tied her to a post, and her once-bright hair was dulled, matted with blood. Good God, what had Corbin done to her? Julian would kill him. But first he would torture him, frighten him as much as Corbin had frightened Serena. He would sever Corbin’s genitals from his groin, and make him bleed like he’d made Serena bleed.

A third figure huddled on the floor, cowering in terror.
Nick.

“Ah, Julian,” said Corbin. “The knight in shining armor, come to rescue the damsel in distress.”

Serena looked up then, shock in her wide blue eyes. Corbin had stuffed a gag in her mouth, but she screamed anyway, a muffled sound of frustration that stoked Julian’s rage to a white heat.

“Let her go, Corbin,” Julian growled. “You win. Take me instead. Take the hotel. You can have whatever you want.”

“Thanks to our young friend Nick, I already have what I want. I want her,” Corbin said easily.

“Let her go. She’s innocent,” Julian told him.

“All the better. It’s not as much fun killing guilty people all the time. I enjoy a little tragic injustice once in a while. Don’t you?” A trace of satisfaction glittered in Corbin’s cold blue gaze. “In any case, why should I let her go when I can have both of you?”

The older demon moved toward Serena. At the side of her throat, he held the blade of a knife. As Julian walked closer, he saw that her face, her neck, her arms were covered with thin cuts.

“Don’t worry, I promised I wouldn’t hurt her. This is all Luciana’s handiwork,” Corbin said. “So don’t come any closer. I wouldn’t want to break my promise.”

“Coward,” Julian ground out. “Why don’t you fight me, like a real man? Instead of torturing an innocent girl.” He squared his stance, ready to take on an attack.

Serena shook her head, and screamed again. Julian could see the message in her eyes:
Get out. Save your self. Leave me here.
As if he would ever do that.

Corbin held the knife at her throat, and Julian could see the blood that dulled the sheen of the blade. “Shall I cut the jugular or the carotid? It would be so easy to slice right through either. And wouldn’t that be a pity, if she bled out here? Rather ironic. Devil’s Paradise, the final resting place of an angel. It’ll make your club even more popular,” he said.

Julian’s blood raged. “You can’t kill her. You know the rules.”

“Perhaps you’re right. But we can certainly cause a great deal of pain.”

We?

Out of the corner of his eye, Julian saw the flash of black hair beside him.
Luciana.
She came toward him with all of her pent-up vengeance, two centuries of rage that had grown into an uncontrollable force all its own. He dodged and she swept past, overshooting him in her fury. As she spun to face him again, he grabbed her sideways, wrestling a knife out of her hand. It clattered to the ground, and he kicked it away.

He wrapped his hands around her neck. “Let go of Serena. Or I’ll send Luciana straight back to hell.”

Corbin just stared at him with that inscrutable gaze. “Go ahead. You’ll be doing us both a favor.”

“
Arrogh’e merda,
Corbin, you piece of shit,” Luciana shrieked. “How dare you?”

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you, sweetheart? Never bet the devil your head. He’ll screw you every time,” Julian said, thrusting her away from him. “Come on, Corbin. Fight me. Show me what kind of a man you are. Just the two of us. I’m the one you want. I’m the one who took your hotel. I’m the one who made a fool out of you. Crushed your reputation. Usurped your power.”

What happened next seemed to occur in slow motion. Corbin dove at Julian, just as he’d done in the high-stakes room at the hotel. Julian feinted, knocking the knife out of his hand. But this time Corbin’s weight caught him square in the chest and sent the two men crashing to the floor. Pain seared through Julian’s back as they landed, Corbin’s body crushing him as they fell.

Beneath them, the floor of the material world gave way and they continued to fall, spiraling down into emptiness. Down into hell.

They were gone. Julian and Corbin had disappeared, leaving Luciana gawking in their wake. The demoness turned, fixing her serpentine gaze on Serena, still bound to the post. Their heads turned in tandem. On the ground between them lay a discarded knife, still wet with Serena’s blood.

Luciana smiled as she bent to pick it up. “Now, where were we?”

In that instant, half a dozen burly Gatekeepers lunged through the door, scattering as they entered the club, their eyes adjusting to the darkness. They paused, glancing at the two women with some confusion.

God in heaven, help me
…

“Take her!” Luciana ordered, pointing at Serena.

But the Gatekeepers did not move. They took their instructions from Julian, and in Julian’s absence, they hesitated. Then one of the Gatekeepers advanced, not toward Serena, but toward Luciana.

“
Maledizione!
You’re demons, aren’t you? She’s an angel! Idiots, why won’t you listen to one of your own kind!” Luciana screamed. She held the point of her knife at Serena’s neck, its tip pricking against her skin. “Stop right there or she dies.”

Serena felt her pulse beating against the metal edge of the knife. A strange calm came over her, knowing that even if she died, she would be safe. Luciana yanked loose the rope that bound her to the post, freeing her and shoving her forward.

The doors to Devil’s Paradise swung open on a gust of cool wind.

In the doorway, Arielle stood, her blond hair blowing around her, bright as a halo. Behind her, half a dozen members of the Company stood, their presence radiating strength. The supervisor stared down Luciana and said, “Harm Serena and you will never know a moment’s peace again. The Company will hunt you down. We will find you. And you will understand the consequences of killing an angel.”

The two women stood, glaring at each other. Time seemed elastic, and in the moment that they stood transfixed, Serena sensed the power struggle between them, a showdown of unspoken threats in the space between their locked gazes.

“Let her go,” Arielle ordered.

The demoness’s breath hissed through her throat, the steam of her fury escaping through a pressure valve. She still had the potential to blow. Finally, with a vicious thrust, Luciana hurled her captive into the heavy doors of Devil’s Paradise. Serena’s head connected with the wooden door frame. Pain splintered through her skull. She felt Arielle’s arms catch her as she fell, cushioning her descent.

“Luciana’s getting away!” someone shouted.

It was the last thing Serena heard before she passed out.