by Brea Viragh
“No, you just wanted to capture me.” We stalked forward. Our fist high, a swell of power stilled the rolling movement of the floor. A second wave, and the light and windstorm of the sylph extinguished. I hoped she was finally free.
The human part of me wondered how Jacqueline knew her name—our name—when I’d never mentioned it to her before.
Knowing filled me at that moment. The demons inside each of us were the same. More than acquaintances, stronger bedfellows than enemies.
“You were always the best of us,” Jacqueline continued, holding up her hands. “Why else would I want you for part of my collection? We could be together again. You’d be free of this human.”
We wanted to chew through our tongue. “You will never collect me. I know you for who you are. Not this meat bag you present to the world, Berith.” The name echoed through the empty space. “I call you out.”
We watched together as Jacqueline’s face shifted and changed. Her eyes were lit with something more than human. Something extra. She lifted her fingers to her chest and they were claws. “I’ve been imprisoned,” she moaned. A guttural utterance. “Trapped for twenty years since we failed. We failed in our mission and this is what he did to us. Look at me! Let’s make something of this world together, my sister.”
If she wanted pity, there was none to give. “I give no quarter to a traitor,” we answered. “You would kill my host. You would kill me.”
“No,” Jacqueline/Berith insisted. “Never.”
“You lied to her and told her our souls are entwined. You wanted to hand her the noose to kill herself. I refuse to let you win.”
“Win? What win? All I want to do is live in peace. I wanted her demon even before I knew it was you, sister.”
“But when you found out, you hatched a plan to silence me. Permanently.” We sent a chilling smile across to the other woman. “You didn’t realize I’ve been one step ahead of you this entire time.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
“We may be trapped together but you forget, dear sister, my human is stronger than you give her credit for. You may have overpowered your host, taken over and extinguished the light of her poor damned soul, but my Mariella? She has something you don’t. Something you never bargained for.”
Our hand reached across and took hold of Jacqueline’s neck. She struggled to free herself when our fingers squeezed, digging grooves into her sensitive skin. Her face turned red as her airway was cut off.
“That’s why she will win,” we finished.
If I expected an impressive display of strength, I was sorely disappointed. Cer needed none of it. She relied on pure intimidation. Her presence was so commanding it sucked the air from the room and turned all attention to her. To us.
Our claws sliced easily through the gold chain at Jacqueline’s neck. “Ol bogira vaoresa elasa. Elasa biab ozien.”
A flash of light exploded from the medallion in my palm. Burning bright to the point where I thought I’d go blind from it. The words imprinted in my mind and I knew what they meant even though it was demonspeak.
I reign over you. You are mine.
The golden threads binding Dax to the medallion, his bottle, slipped away from Jacqueline. They laced around my fingertips and up my arms. A flash of dark tattoos similar to his raced across my skin and was gone within seconds. Though I hadn’t moved, I felt the chain piece itself together around my neck.
“No!” Jacqueline croaked from where she’d fallen to her knees. “What have you done?”
“I take what is mine,” I growled in answer. “The djinn has a new master. He belongs to me.”
Cer snapped our fingers and Dax dematerialized across the room. He reappeared an instant later at my feet, without the chains in his hands. Kneeling. Prostrate before his new master.
He bent until his forehead touched the floor, the palms of his hands flat. He was ready to obey. Part of me really enjoyed the image, I admit. And Cer was positively delighted by the idea of having a servant like him.
Sadly for her, I didn’t intend to leave him that way.
“Rise,” I demanded. “You will not pay tribute to me.”
I felt the struggle going on inside. A keen desire to keep him. To use him for what he represented. For what he could do. What are you doing? Cer wanted to know.
I would set him free. It was an imperative. We do this my way or we don’t do this at all, and I will let her kill me, I replied inside my head.
Cer didn’t appreciate the threat. A wave of fury washed over me and I felt the tip of my nose begin to blister. I pushed back. Refused to back down and refused to let her hurt the man I loved.
Dax watched the battle we raged, his eyes holding mine, his mouth a terse and solid line.
“You can do it,” came his near-silent urging. “Fight her, Mariella. Take back your control.”
“I’m just…not sure I want to.” At once, the oblivion she offered sounded good. Too good. An escape from my problems. An escape from the family who had never wanted me, and the dead-end job. From everything that was wrong with my life.
Dax took hold of my hands and gripped them even when hellfire burnt his skin. “You can do it. Wish for it and it’s yours. I can do that for you. My master.”
But I didn’t want to be his master. I wanted to be his friend. His lover. His partner in life. And I knew I couldn’t have any of those things if I let Cer take over completely.
My hands clenched around his until I was sure his bones would snap. Through lashing tongue and a mouth that didn’t want to cooperate, I managed to say the words he wanted to hear. “Dax Parker. I wish for your freedom.”
The force of the wish—or maybe the implications of it—jettisoned me against the wall. Sparks flew in the open air and a great wind pushed through the hallway. When I fought to open my eyes, I saw Dax, suspended in the air with his head thrown back, his arms flung out to his sides. For a flicker of a second, I saw the manacles on his wrists. Bright pieces of metal keeping him bound. Then they shattered and were gone and he returned to earth, straightening his shoulders and standing taller than I’d ever seen.
His smile, when it came, was unrestricted and open. Maybe even a little cocky.
“Mariella Revely. You are a lifesaver.” He strode across the room and reached out to take hold of our arm. Dragging us to our feet. “Let me do the same for you.”
His lips crushed against ours. It wasn’t an explosion. It was a slow, curling warmth, beginning at my toes and rising until it encompassed the whole of me. Pushing Cer out until there was nothing but deafening silence inside.
Instead of giving in to the fear, I leaned closer to Dax. I felt his arms wrap around my waist and pull me until our chests met. The kiss continued and slowly, slowly, the light of his love filled the empty space.
“You’re free,” he whispered against my mouth.
“I’m free.”
The moment I said the words, realized the rightness of it, my world went white. For the second time.
Definitely not a good day.
CHAPTER 10
“Well, this is awkward.”
The instant the words slipped from my mouth, I was embarrassed.
He chuckled. “Spoken with your typical eloquence.”
We stood in a blank space. Kind of like I’d stepped foot into an empty box filled with possibilities. Then the space took shape into white walls and white carpet and white furniture. We were inside the medallion. Inside Dax’s bottle. At this point in my life, I knew better than to question the will of the universe. Whatever force had sent us here at least gave us the opportunity for a conversation where we wouldn’t be interrupted.
I also didn’t need an introduction to the woman—the demon—in front of me. I would know her anywhere. Blind or deaf or dead, I would know her.
“Cer.”
I stared at her and knew she was trying to look normal. As normal as a demon walking on Earth could look. Her hair was a ghastly shade of white that seemed to absorb t
he light. Caramel-colored skin gave her body definition so she wasn’t just a shadow, a mirage. But it was her eyes… God, her eyes were terrifying. A purple tone with reptilian slits for pupils.
“Why does it smell like sex in here?” she asked.
I grimaced. Oh, great. “If this is your idea of putting me at ease, I’ll tell you, it isn’t working.”
“If what’s my idea?”
I gestured in a circle. “All of this. The questions. Your human form.” I was too exhausted to argue with her, but damn.
Instead of being insulted and lashing out, as I almost expected, Cer threw her head back and laughed. “This is nothing. I thought appearing more humanlike would put you at ease. You should see me in Hell.”
Yeah, definitely not a place I wanted to visit for vacation. And this was putting me at ease? Or how about the bigger question, lurking like a pink rhinoceros in the room: Why did she care?
Cer sobered instantly. I wasn’t sure what was scarier, meeting the demon guardian I’d housed in my body for the last two decades, or the way her emotions turned on a dime. It was a toss-up.
“You did good, Mariella,” she admitted slowly. Her sinuous body wound around the room, plucking at sheets and pillows. “And you freed me. Which was the whole point. Part of me didn’t expect you to succeed.”
I slapped my hand against my thigh. “I knew there was a reason for all of this. I’d almost hoped you were setting me in the right direction so I could meet Dax and fall in love and live happily ever after.”
“I don’t want to burst your bubble by telling you there’s no such thing as happily ever after.” She paused.
“Well?”
“Well, what? That’s it.”
I admit I was a little disappointed. “You trusted me to be strong enough to break your hold before you claimed the djinn’s power for your own.”
“If anyone could,” she said, her face a mixture of pride and disgust, “it’s you. You’ve held a demon inside your soul this long without succumbing to the darkness. Or any of my tricks to try and get out.”
“The time you cursed me and told me to walk into busy traffic?”
“I was bored.”
“Tell me you set all this up for me to meet Dax and use true love’s kiss to free you.”
She shuddered. “True love is a crock. Must I say it again?”
“Aw, come on.” Despite the oddity of the situation, I was pleased. And calm. And exhausted! “You must like him at least a little. Why else would you set me on this path?”
“No. He’s a creep. And worse, he’s a genie. You honestly think I’d pick someone like that for you? Now, if you’d like an audience with one of the demon princes…” She purposely let her voice trail off.
“I can’t tell if you’re joking or trying to make me feel worse.” I stopped, then sighed. “I guess this is goodbye.”
“I don’t want to stick around, and I’m sure you’d like a chance at an ordinary life without me. I just want to go home, Mariella. There is literal hell to pay and I’ve missed it for too long.”
Hearing her demonic voice filled with melancholy wasn’t how I’d always pictured this meeting. I’d hoped that one day I’d find a way to live without her. Faced with the prospect now, the image in my head didn’t quite match up with reality. I wasn’t sure what to say to her. This was goodbye, I knew. Unless she tried to make a deal to claim my immortal soul. I didn’t know if I would be strong enough to resist her if she came back.
Not sure what to do, I held out my hand for a shake. “It’s nice we can part as friends.”
She eyed it for two seconds before slapping it away. A spark of fire popped into life where our skin touched. “We were never friends, Mariella. We were stuck with each other. There’s a difference.” Still, there was a sparkle in her reptilian eyes.
It made me think I’d grown on her at least a little bit. “I have to know. What…what was this? Between you and me? I mean, how did it happen?”
“I’ll tell you if you promise not to say words like fate or meant to be. Really anything other than an accident.”
“I promise, but I’m not sure what you want me to say.”
“My sister Berith and I…we tried to take over Hell. When our plan was foiled, we were banished to Earth and trapped inside two human vessels.”
I pointed to my chest, and she nodded. “What happened?”
“Jacqueline overpowered her vessel within the first five years, and then the human soul died.”
I gulped at the word.
Cer shook her head, eerie white locks wavering in front of her face. “There’s just something about you, Mariella. Something I couldn’t kill.”
“I know you tried,” I accused without rancor. Nothing new.
She nodded. “I did. But you wouldn’t die. I couldn’t stifle the light inside of you. And now, I guess I’m glad. I’ll let you know how it happened when I know. Some things are beyond our control. Beyond even the powers of the Underworld. We met for a reason. You survived for a reason. You’re going to miss me when I’m gone,” she insisted. The know-it-all tone proved she hadn’t lost any of her cockiness.
I smirked. “I’m sure I’ll get used to it eventually.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be watching. We’re a part of each other now. You’ll always have a touch of something demonic inside of you.”
“And you’ll always remember when you were human.”
Cer shrugged. “It won’t stop me from trying to take over Hell again. Or killing my sister.”
“Don’t worry about Berith. I’ll kill her for you and we’ll call it even.”
“You would deny me the joy of brutally taking the life of my own sister?”
“You’re damn right.”
Cer gave me a wry grin then squared her shoulders and breathed in deeply. As I watched, hellfire spread from the top of her head down her neck and torso and arms. “It will be good to go home. Not that this hasn’t been fun, but you’re mortal. You couldn’t understand.”
“I thought demons were constantly trying to escape Hell. Eternal damnation and fire and brimstone and all that.”
She waved a hand airily. “It’s misunderstood. We’ll leave it at that. Keep your promise, Mariella. Don’t make me have to come back.”
“What are you going to do now?” I asked her.
“You know, the usual. Prowl the night hungering insatiably for the blood of children.” Her body outline began to waver.
“Are you…wait, what? Tell me you’re joking!”
“Take care of yourself, Mariella. I’ll be watching you.”
“Not going to help me sleep at night!”
I watched her form disintegrate. The last cells and molecules of my guardian demon went up in a cloud of green sparks. The last thing I saw was her eyes floating disembodied in the open air. One closed swiftly in a whisper of movement. A wink?
My eyes closed and I struggled to keep my heart rate in check. When I opened them again, I was back in the room that once housed Jacqueline’s prized possessions. Surrounded by debris. Jacqueline herself nowhere to be seen.
I drew a lungful of air in through my nostrils, held it for ten seconds, then let it hiss out between my lips. Cer was gone. She was really gone this time. Not just being quiet, lying in wait for the perfect moment to curse me. I had a momentary panic as I wondered what I would do without her. What I would be or how my life would progress now that the only person inside of me was me.
I glanced down at my arm and the line of pale, unblemished skin, then let the fingertips of my other hand trail over the area. There would be no more strange Enochian ropes of scar tissue. No more pain where I felt like I was lit on fire. Beneath my skin, I was human.
A weight lifted off my chest, and for the first time since I was six years old, I could breathe easy. Closing my eyes, I took a moment to enjoy the feeling. A groan had them popping open again.
“Dammit. Dax!”
I tripped on my way over to him, landin
g hard on my knees. Then I scrambled across the broken floor to where he lay on his back. Whatever force sent Cer and me into the bottle had done a number on him.
I knelt above him, one hand holding his and the other pushing the hair out of his face. His skin was warm, his pulse slow and even. But his eyes, framed by long black lashes, were wide open.
“You’re awake. I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened.”
“And you’re alive,” he retorted with a faint scowl. “Funny how things work out. You knocked me on my ass when you popped out of existence.”
I tried not to laugh. “Sorry. But I had this covered. When are you going to learn to trust me?”
“When you stop being so stubborn.”
“Never going to happen.”
“Is she…” He paused. “You know…”
“Gone?” I filled in for him. “Yes, she just left. You missed it. We actually had a moment.”
“Something I’m sure I’ll regret for the rest of my life.”
“Has anyone ever told you what an adorable guy you are?” I whispered to him.
His fingers tightened around mine. “I love you too,” he murmured.
“Come on, let’s get out of here.” I reached out a hand and tugged him to his feet. We managed to jump over the worst of the cracked floor and make it out the door.
I watched the snow from his magically-induced storm begin to melt. Rivers of water flowed from drifts and banks and turned into glittering puddles in the parking lot. We were outside of the same office complex as before, the one that housed the antiques shop. Whatever Jacqueline/Berith had managed to do, whatever twisted spell she’d worked, the outside of the building looked as it had the first day I arrived. It was undamaged.
High in the sky songbirds darted and sang their tunes toward the heavens. I wondered if they sang about us, about a love so true not even a demon could destroy it. I smiled at my djinn.
“We’re free.” I leaned forward and kissed Dax. Very lightly. Very aware of his still-healing arm. “Both of us. Although there is the little matter of a wish you’ve been meaning to give me.”
