Mark of the Sylph (Demons of Infernum, #2)

by Rosalie Lario

  She would make sure those demons never hurt anybody again.

  Oh man, she was actually going to do this.

  Her stomach flip-flopped as she tiptoed back to the bed and slid the bag holding the sword out from under it. She underestimated its length and its tip rapped against the bottom of the footboard with a low ding. Heart in her mouth, she froze in place as Taeg mumbled and flipped onto his back. But when he didn’t move again after that, she let out a relieved breath.

  That was close.

  Hefting the bag over her shoulder, she crept to the door and—boots in hand—opened it wide enough that she could slip out. She closed it behind her and paused. Things were quiet as a tomb out here. Good. She hadn’t been sure everyone else would be asleep.

  She made it all the way down the corridor without incident. The office was the final door on the end, right before the hallway led out to the foyer. The door was closed but there was no light visible from under the crack.

  What if Keegan was in there? He would know something was up. But then, what was her alternative? Biting her lip, she turned the knob and pushed the door open. Moonlight filtered in through the window and illuminated the space. Empty.

  “Thank God,” she whispered as she snuck inside. She slid the bag off her shoulder and onto the desk, unzipping it before she removed the sword. Then, after scanning the room, she dragged one of the chairs behind the desk to the sword on the wall closest resembling Excalibur. Sliding it from its scabbard, she examined its sharp blade. It wasn’t an exact match, of course.

  “But it’ll do.”

  After hastily packing it in her bag and sliding on her boots, she lifted the bag over her shoulder and made her way to the front door. Oh shit. She froze in place when Bram—or was it Reiver?—looked up at her from where he sat on the chair in the foyer, holding an e-reader. How could she have forgotten about him?

  He cast her a questioning glance.

  Maya forced herself to stand up straight and tilted her head toward the door, motioning for the both of them to go outside. She didn’t want to risk waking someone by speaking with him inside the apartment. He rose and unlocked the door, then stepped aside for her to walk out, and she quietly waited for him to shut it.

  “What are you doing?” he asked her.

  She did some hasty thinking. “I have to be at work early today.”

  “You have to leave at four in the morning?” Reiver asked, glancing at his watch.

  “Well, I need to go home and change first.”

  He cast her a dubious frown. “By yourself? Does Taeg know about this?”

  “Of course.” She forced a reassuring smile to her face. “We discussed it. I’d better go. See you later, okay?”

  “Okay.” He let her leave, though he still wore a frown.

  Maya kept her steps slow as she walked to the elevator, praying he wouldn’t comment about the bag on her shoulder. Had he seen Taeg bring it in earlier? She made it all the way to the elevator and, once the doors opened, stepped inside. Sighing with relief, she pressed the button for the ground floor.

  “Wait, Maya,” Reiver called out from down the hall.

  Shit! Reaching up, she jammed on the button that closed the elevator doors.

  His footsteps grew louder as he raced toward her. “Hey!”

  The door slid shut seconds before he came into view.

  Whoa, that was too close, and she hadn’t even exited the building yet. It would be a miracle if she made it to Central Park without dying of a heart attack. But when she cleared the building without any commotion, she became all too aware of another fact.

  She was about to meet with an evil demon and try to pull one over on him.

  Lord help her.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Terror and uncertainty gnawed at Maya, rolling around in her stomach like a flesh-devouring parasite. Too late to back down now. She was already here. There was a time when she would have welcomed facing down a demon. Just a few days ago, in fact. She would never have been foolish enough to be obvious about it, but, oh yes, she would have relished the chance to destroy him.

  But then she’d met Taeg. He’d made her feel alive for the first time in so many years. Had made her dream of a future. With him. Maybe it had all been a lie, but he had changed her forever. She no longer wanted to live that reckless existence. She just wanted to live.

  Dew-covered grass crunched under her feet as she made her way through Central Park, until finally Bow Bridge loomed in the distance. The city lights illuminated the trees and foliage, etching the stark figure of a man who stood along the edge of the bridge. The figure turned to face her, his emerald green eyes flashing in the dark. The temptation to retreat was almost overwhelming, but she fought it, continuing forward until she was about twenty feet away from him.

  Revenge. She focused on that, used it to feed her emotions. To turn her into the mindless demon-killing machine she’d once been.

  Show no weakness.

  “You came.” His lips curved into a smile. “And alone, as we agreed.”

  “The way I see it, we didn’t agree on much of anything.” She scanned the dark, looking for the figures of other men he might have brought with him. But she found nothing. “What about you? Are you alone?”

  Leviathos’ gaze flitted from her face to the strap on her shoulder. “Is that the sword?”

  She ignored the clenching of her stomach. “Yes.”

  An unholy light glazed his eyes. He held out his hand. “Give it to me.”

  Maya let out a snort. “I wasn’t born yesterday. The names first.”

  “So smart, are we?” He grinned. “Let me see the sword first, then you’ll have the names.”

  That wasn’t anything she hadn’t expected. She held her breath and dropped the bag, keeping her eyes on him the entire time she unzipped it. When she held up the sword and scabbard, he looked at it for a long moment.

  He sneered, his disbelief obvious. “That’s it?”

  “What did you expect, for it to glow?” she countered. “It’s a sword.”

  “This is the famed Excalibur?”

  “Yes.” Please, oh please, don’t be able to tell I’m lying.

  Leviathos stared at the sword as if enthralled. She held her ground, prepared for anything, but after a long moment he whispered, “They are called Vestin and Neros. Two maliki demons who were in Mexico at the time of your family’s slaying. They have admitted to slaughtering several families while there.”

  Vestin and Neros. Maya sucked in her breath. After all these years of pointless research, she now knew something about the evil demons who slaughtered her family. Finally.

  “You know, a little bit of research and Taeg could have found this out, too.”

  “Enough.” She gritted her teeth. “I get it.”

  He let out a laugh and raised his hand again. “Now, give me the sword.”

  This was it. The deciding moment. What should she do?

  She stared at the sword in her hands as if it could give her the answer she sought. Should she surrender the sword to Leviathos and hope he bought the ruse long enough for her to report back to Taeg? Or should she try to kill him herself? True, she was no match for a demon’s strength. The demons she’d killed had all been unsuspecting. But would Leviathos expect her to attack him? It might work.

  Undecided, she edged closer to him. The fingers of one hand crept up to the scabbard, readying to take the sword out. Her heart pounded in her throat, so loud she feared it would give her away. She was close, a few feet away from him now.

  A familiar voice cut through the relative still of the night. “Maya, no!”

  What the hell?

  She swiveled to see Reiver running toward them, his phone up to his ear.

  “You lying bitch,” Leviathos snarled behind her. “You brought someone with you.”

  Before she could turn to face him, Leviathos snatched the sword out of her hands. “Garin,” he yelled toward a patch of bushes. “Get him.”


  Something that looked like a wolf leapt out of the shadows and ran toward Reiver, drool dripping from its lips as it snapped and snarled. Reiver dropped the phone and began to shift, his flesh and bone popping and reforming itself in grotesque angles. In less than three seconds he changed from man to panther, but he still had time to yell out one last warning before he fully shifted. “Maya, behind you!”

  She whirled to face Leviathos, just in time to see that he’d ripped the sword from its sheath. The sharp blade sliced downward, headed straight for her neck.

  “No!”

  Amazing what thoughts flashed through one’s mind when facing imminent death. When she was younger and the demons had come for her, it was that her parents would be so angry with her for drawing the killers there. Now, it was that she still wore yesterday’s underwear. She didn’t want to die wearing day-old underwear.

  No.

  She wasn’t going to go down. Not like this. Not now, after she’d learned the names of the demons she’d sought for so long.

  You can do this. For your family.

  With the sword mere inches from her flesh, she made her legs collapse underneath her while arching her body backward. Instead of striking her, the sword made a whirring sound as it cleaved through the air above her head. A long lock of her hair floated down to the ground in front of her, proof of how sharp the blade was.

  The ground in front of Leviathos wasn’t the most advantageous spot to be, but then he didn’t know much about her and he probably wouldn’t be expecting this.

  She snuck her dagger out of her right boot, jabbing it into the side of the demon’s leg. The weapon sliced through his flesh with a sickening thwack that confirmed she’d hit the bone. Leviathos screamed and dropped the sword, bending forward to yank the dagger out. That gave her enough time to hop to her feet and kick the sword farther away from him.

  “You bitch!”

  He gritted his teeth, gripping her dagger in his hand. Blood dripped down the tip, falling in heavy drops at his feet. The wild look in his eyes told her he’d gladly return the favor, if given the chance. “You’ll pay for that with a pound of flesh.”

  She’d truly pissed him off now, hadn’t she? She edged around Leviathos, pausing long enough to retrieve the dagger from her other boot.

  He noted it and smiled. “You came prepared. How many more of those do you have in there?”

  “I won’t need any more than this,” she said, unable to help herself from taunting him. He didn’t need to know about the dagger strapped to her waist.

  “True,” he agreed easily. “Since you’ll be dead.”

  With those words he lunged at her, aiming the dagger toward her stomach. She edged to the right, then spun around in a reverse roundhouse kick that caught him on the side, sending him flying.

  Leviathos straightened and, with a muffled groan, whirled back around to face her. Rather than the rage she expected to see, his expression was thoughtful. “You surprise me. You’ve got a lot of spirit for a human.”

  That calculating look was a hundred times more frightening than seeing him angry. It made her skin crawl. She fought back an involuntary shudder and braced her weight on both feet. “Want to see what else I can do, demon?”

  Before he could reply, she leapt toward him, pointing the dagger at his jugular. But he was ready for her this time. He reached out with his empty hand, swatting the side of her head with a loosely closed fist.

  Madre de Dios, that hurt.

  She staggered back and shook her head, trying to clear the shrill ringing from her ears.

  “Give it up. You know you’re no match for me,” Leviathos said with a laugh. He punctuated his words with a lunge and she spun to the side, barely avoiding his grasp. Just as she prepared to strike again, she heard footsteps pounding across the bridge.

  “Maya!” The familiar sound of Taeg’s voice echoed in the night, coming from the same direction from which Reiver had approached.

  Taeg? What on earth was he doing here? Distracted, she swiveled her head in his direction. Before she could process it, something knocked the dagger out of her hand and a rough tug at her wrist jerked her backward. She slammed against Leviathos’ chest. There was no time to react when his arm jerked around her throat, cutting off her circulation. He lifted the hand holding her dagger to her sternum, digging the tip between her breasts without breaking the surface of her skin. Stars blurred her vision and she desperately tried to suck in a breath.

  “No,” she heard Taeg cry, closer this time.

  “Relax,” Leviathos called. “She’ll be fine as long as you stop right there.”

  The pressure eased around her throat. After several blinks her vision cleared enough to see Taeg. He stood no more than thirty feet away. Clad in nothing more than jeans that hadn’t been buttoned properly, with his cell phone hanging limply from his fingers, he seemed impervious to the cold. The look of abject horror on his face made her throat constrict and a curious pain hit her chest.

  “Try flashing and she’s dead,” Leviathos said in a tone cold as steel.

  Taeg ignored him. “Why, Maya?”

  “I’m sorry,” she choked out, willing him to understand. “I didn’t think I had a choice.”

  “I can’t believe you gave it to him.”

  The sword? He thought she’d brought Leviathos the actual sword? Oh Lord, he believed she’d betrayed him and his family.

  Taeg turned to Leviathos, his face contorting into an expression of pain. “Let her go.”

  Suddenly she knew. Maybe he hadn’t kept his promises. Maybe he had deceived her. But Taeg cared for her. The desperation on his face was proof enough.

  “I don’t think so,” Leviathos spat, tightening his grip on her neck.

  “Please.” Taeg’s voice cracked a little.

  There was a moment of marked silence before Leviathos chortled. “You know, I thought you were using her to get to the sword, but now I realize it’s another thing entirely.”

  “I don’t know what you mean,” Taeg replied.

  “Don’t you?”

  Taeg’s eyes narrowed in on Leviathos. “We used to be best friends. We grew up together. Isn’t there any shred of decency left in you?”

  “Decency?” Leviathos let loose with a disbelieving laugh. “I lost my decency right about the time you fucked the woman I loved. Don’t talk to me about friendship and decency. I trusted you, and you betrayed me.”

  Taeg pressed his lips together. “I tried to apologize to you a million times. My actions that day are one of my biggest regrets. I was stupid and careless, and I’m sorry I hurt you, man. I loved you like a brother.”

  Leviathos laughed. “I know all about you and your fucked-up family. If that’s the way you would treat a brother, it’s no wonder your father used to beat the shit out of all of you.”

  Taeg stiffened, anger flickering in his eyes. “Okay, let’s put the past aside. Why are you doing this, Leviathos? You know it’s a fool’s mission. If we don’t stop you, the Council will.”

  Leviathos shifted behind her, increasing the pressure on her throat. “Not once I use the Book to resurrect an army. Now that I have the sword, nothing can stop me.”

  Taeg gave Maya a pained look before turning back to Leviathos. “Fine. You have the sword. Take it and leave. Just let Maya go.”

  She couldn’t hold back the gasp that tore from her throat. Had he really said that?

  Leviathos laughed, his voice silky. “You’d give the sword up for her? How human you’ve become.”

  Taeg pressed his lips together, not bothering with a response.

  Oh God. Oh God.

  Taeg cared enough about her to give up everything he’d been fighting for.

  Tears overwhelmed her vision. If he was willing to give everything up for her, then she could do the same for him. She was going to end this. Now. She poured all of her emotion into willing Taeg to understand. I love you.

  For the second time today, she was about to do some
thing very stupid. Slowly, she moved her hand to her front and slid it under her shirt.

  Taeg noticed. His eyes widened and he shook his head almost imperceptibly. We’ll find another way to defeat him, his eyes seemed to say to her.

  No. They were going to stop Leviathos once and for all.

  Maya closed her fingers around the hilt of her dagger.

  Here goes everything.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Taeg watched in silent horror as Maya slid her hand toward her dagger. No, slayer, don’t risk your life. The bastard held a knife to her chest, for devil’s sake. So close to her heart. And damn it, he couldn’t even flash over there to stop him. The one time in his life when he really could have used that ability and he didn’t have it anymore. Just his fucking luck.

  But of course, Maya didn’t listen to him. She kept digging her hand under her shirt.

  “Let her go,” he repeated to Leviathos. “You have everything you wanted. You don’t need her anymore.”

  Leviathos grinned, and a crazed look crept into his eyes. When had he become so mentally unhinged? Or had he always been that way, and Taeg had never noticed?

  “I don’t think so. See, there’s one more thing I want. Revenge.”

  Taeg’s breath hitched in his throat. “Take me. I’m the one you have beef with.”

  “That’s funny. Hilarious. I don’t want you.” Leviathos slid the dagger toward Maya’s face, running it across her cheek. Not hard enough to cut, but it was still terrifying to see how fragile her life had become. “Your human, on the other hand, is far more intriguing than I’d originally thought. I’ll take her with me—”

  Taeg read Maya’s intent in the narrowing of her eyes, a split second before she yanked the dagger out of its hidden compartment. “No!”

  The words choked out of him involuntarily. What if Leviathos rammed the dagger into her throat, or the side of her face? But he needn’t have worried. Before Leviathos knew what hit him, she’d slammed the dagger into his side, then taken advantage of his shock and pain by grabbing the wrist that held the dagger and twisting it, wriggling underneath his arm.