by Weil, J. L.
“Alastair.” He said his name as if it should have some kind of effect on us, like instilling the fear of God or making us drop to our knees in praise.
Well, I was already pretty freaked out, and I might very well have dropped to my knees, but for an entirely different reason. Terror.
Eric’s ghastly looking mouth thinned into a leer. “I’m sure you’ve heard of me.”
Dear God, he was as bad as Chase.
Alastair.
The name rang a bell. Then it hit me. I’d never thought I would hear that name again. Flashbacks of homecoming swarmed in my head. It had been some time since I had thought about that night. I could still feel what it was like having a lower-demon latch onto my life-source and steal it from me. It was a sensation I would just assume never to feel again.
A new onset of fears filled me, thanks to that little jog down memory lane.
Chase ran the pad of his thumb on the inside of my palm, sensing the jackhammering in my chest. “Great. Now that we have the formalities out of the way, what do you want?” he asked.
It was obvious that neither of us wanted to linger longer than necessary. I just hoped that we would be able to leave. If Alastair could force Chase to come to him, what was stopping him from exercising that power to do other things? The thought made me quiver.
Alastair’s eyes glossed with longing, and he stepped forward, crushing a pinecone. “You have something that belongs to me.”
“Oh yeah, what might that be?” Chase asked, beefing up the sarcasm.
I suddenly got this sick feeling in my gut. My throat went dry, and the demon mark at my hip was pulsating like crazy. “He wants me,” I croaked.
Alastair kept his dead eyes centered on me. “Perceptive.”
Every muscle in Chase’s body stiffened, and I knew there was going to be a fight—probably a bloody one, because he wasn’t going to let me go easily. Somehow he had managed to maneuver so that his body was shielding mine. I hadn’t even noticed until now. “Why would Hell want her?” he demanded.
Alastair laughed, the sound lacking humor and life. “Wouldn’t you like to know, son?”
I felt Chase jerk. That was it—off with his head. “Call me that again and I’ll send you back to the underworld.”
“Hmm, I can see she is a touchy subject,” he said, not appearing in the least bit put off. “She is special—thanks to you. And Hell always pays attention to its special protégés.”
Chase’s eyes narrowed. “I just bet they do.”
Alastair began to pace in front of us in leisurely steps. “You know, I wasn’t sure that you had it in you, but it’s nice to be proven wrong. Though you sure did make me wait. However, I’m still having a hard time understanding what she sees in you.”
Chase rocked back on his heels, flashing a killer grin. “You haven’t had sex with me.”
I tugged on the back pocket of his jeans. He did not just say that.
The glossy black eyes darkened to frightening levels. “Ahh. Now that brings us to the whole reason for my little visit. Two of the three—impressive and just ripe for the picking.”
Awkward.
What did that mean? I really hoped he didn’t want to talk about our sex life, too. That was just going too far. I had to draw the line somewhere.
“It’s not your business,” Chase seethed. “Now let’s cut the BS. No more games or we’re leaving.”
“Hmm, well that might be a problem. You see, that little stamp of Hell you bare, makes you mine. You can’t leave until I allow it.”
Gulp.
Chase ground his teeth.
Alastair turned those pitiless eyes to me. I wanted to shrink. “Now, Angel. I’ve heard a lot about you. My…employees say that you also adorn my mark, so I am assuming that my offspring has been very busy where you are concerned. That makes me very happy. I’ve waited a long time for this.”
I shot him a dirty look. “Employees? Is that what you call those spineless assholes you sent after us?”
Someday I am going to learn to zip my lips shut and throw away the key.
All in one mind-blowing blink, Chase was sailing through the air, and I had old creepo in my face, breathing his stench on me. I shuddered. “Don’t. Question. Me,” he warned, grabbing my chin with one hand.
“Screw off,” I said, my cheeks stinging from the imprint of his fingers. My eyes darted, trying to find Chase, an unmanageable task with the ironclad grip he had on my face. It didn’t stop me from trying.
His cold hand clamped my jaw, keeping my head in place. “You have such a pretty mouth for such ugly words.”
I tried to twist and wiggle my chin out of his hold, a waste of energy. And my entire face was starting to throb.
“I’d be careful what you say about her mouth,” Chase warned behind him in a voice low enough to freeze Hell.
Relief flooded me. He was unharmed and seriously pissed off.
Hello, demon Chase. He finally came out to play—code for kickass.
Alastair cocked his head, peering over his shoulder. “You are going to be a problem, aren’t you?”
“You bet your deadbeat ass I am.” A low guttural rumble started deep in Chase’s gut, and it just kept going, growing stronger. I thought this might be a good time to seek cover, for fear of the poop storm that would rain down on us. Chase cracked his neck. “Let’s see what you got, dirtbag.”
“It would be my pleasure.” Alastair crooked his finger, signally for Chase to bring it on.
One mention of my mouth and Chase had gotten all huffy. We were so dead. I mean Alastair was a higher-demon. That had to be really, really bad.
Outside the air was cold, but the chill that chased through my blood was like ice. His fist slammed into Alastair/Eric’s face, sending him backward and sprawling on the blacktop.
“That was just a love tap,” Chase said boldly.
No sooner had he finished being a smartass and Alastair was back, breathing down on top of us. I always thought Chase was extraordinarily fast, but Alastair was wicked fast.
FML.
I didn’t want us to die out here in this craphole. I certainly didn’t want whatever plan Alastair had in store for me. What I needed was to cook up my own escape plan.
Yippee.
I don’t cook.
Alastair craned his neck, a scary grin on his ghostly face. “I guess we have to do this the hard way.”
Chase crouched on the balls of his feet, prepared to strike. “Angel, run!” Chase yelled, and then everything went atomic.
I was tired of hearing those words, and to make matters worse, my legs didn’t obey. They were super glued to the asphalt, figuratively speaking. I stood there in the middle of an epic demon debacle unable to do a damn thing. My mind raced, searching for some kind of answer to get us out of here alive.
I just came up blank.
And while I was picking my empty brain, Chase was fighting for his life. Great time to go spacey.
Chase grunted as he took a massive hit from Daddy Dearest, and when I looked beside me, he was no longer there. Franticly, I spun in circles, scanning the murky parking lot for any sign of Chase. The pounding in my ears beat in time with my thundering heart.
Out of thin air, the two of them materialized, very much still engaged in beating each other to a pulp. Chase’s leg kicked out, catching a battered looking Eric/Alastair in the chest, and he barely flinched.
“You’re good, I’ll give you that,” Alastair commented, a deranged pride in his voice. “But I have a few tricks up my sleeve. No good demon is without them, and I am the best.”
Chase wasn’t in the mood to shoot the shit—him and his demon were on fire. I had no idea how long the two of them could go at, kicking the crap out of each other. Neither of them seemed winded, but I didn’t have to wait long. Chase was charging, and by charging I mean he was flickering in and out of my eyesight. Then—
I stared wide-eyed as he hit an invisible barrier, with him on one side and me and Al
astair on the other. I half expected to hear a loud thump as he face planted air, knocking him back a step or two. My mouth opened, screaming his name, but it was pointless. I ran. It took seeing Chase helpless to get my feet moving, but I didn’t get far.
Alastair plucked me off my feet as if I weighed nothing. No amount of struggle was going to release me from his confines. So I ceased, because with each attempt, Chase and his demon went wild. He pounded his fist on an invisible wall, trying to find a weakness, a way to crack the barricade. I knew that he would do more damage to himself than he would to whatever was holding him at bay.
In the meantime, Alastair turned me around with a sickening grin on his lips. “I can see how deep the bond runs. I’m thinking that maybe you would prefer a different form; let’s say one younger…” I didn’t like the gleam that dashed into his black eyes.
With a snap of his fingers, I was staring at Chase.
Chapter 12
Suddenly everything around me stopped. The sight of the tall dark evergreens vanished. The winds weren’t whistling. Most importantly, I felt empty. The bond that I so often cursed was gone. No longer could I sense Chase’s rage, his worry, his need to hurt Alastair, and it was the worst feeling ever—losing the tie to Chase.
For a heartbeat, I was stupefied, staring at this replica of him. The same cocky smirk, an uplifted eyebrow—those were Chase’s. His mannerism down to a T. But no matter what he made me see, no matter that he managed to mask my feelings, there was just one detail he couldn’t disguise. He didn’t have the eyes I adored. The ones staring at me mockingly were solid black, uncanny, and made my skin crawl.
There was only one Chase.
Really, I was surprised that Alastair had thought that would work on me. Chase and I weren’t just some couple; we had connections I think the universe had yet to understand. Nothing any lower-demon, higher-demon, or human could change for that matter. Not by force. Not by deceit. And surely not by manipulation. What I felt for him ran deeper than the surface, our souls, our spirits, our bodies, our hearts.
And as soon as I realized that, the illusion began to shimmer and the world came back alive—piece by vibrant piece. I busted his bubble, bringing back the biting winds, the hooting of a night owl, and the panting of my breathing. Just like that, I saw Alastair for what he truly was—a disgusting being from Hell.
And a butt ugly one at that.
Why were they always so gross in their true forms? I tried not to embarrass myself, but I screwed up my face anyhow. His black lips and sickly skin were causing a royal rumble in my belly. Narrowing his glower, he noticed the change in my eyes and brought his face down to my level. With more willpower than I knew I possessed, I held steady when every muscle in my body wanted to flinch.
“What are you?” I asked. “Some kind of shifter?” I met his gaze head-on, acting a whole lot braver than I felt. My goal of distracting him was going only mildly well.
Alastair scoffed, clearly offended. “I am not a low-life demon,” he hissed. “I’m the real deal, toots.” When he talked, he no longer sounded human.
Umm. Excuse me. Did he just call me “toots”? Demon or not, I was no one’s toots. I wanted to chuck something at his head. My hands balled at my sides, knowing I didn’t stand a chance up against him. There wasn’t much I could do, and I was starting to prefer him as creepy dead Eric. This whole eyes-wide-opened gunk sucked; maybe it was better to not be able to see the demon for who he really was.
Running a sharp, jagged nail down my cheek, he hissed, “You are more powerful than I imagined. I am very pleased.”
I looked around to see whom he was talking about, because he couldn’t possibly mean me. I hadn’t done squat. “Are you smoking crack?”
“Angel,” the real Chase growled in warning, still behind the invisible shield and still very much trying to break down the wall.
He was no fun, but the sound of his voice and the bright glow of his eyes brought on a wave of courage.
Fine. So he didn’t want me to do anything stupid, but I had to do something, right? “What makes you think I’m so special? Because I don’t feel special.” I said, trying to ignore the stank of Alastair’s fiery breath.
He tsked his forked-tongue. Ick. “Not yet, dearie. You will be. You just need to have patience. Chase and I both want the same thing.”
“Right. Me. I got that. There is just one teeny tiny problem. I don’t want you.” I might have just issued my death sentence, but no matter what mask this demon wore, he would never be my Chase.
Alastair grabbed the back of my head, clutching a handful of my hair. The pain registered, harsh and brutal as he yanked. He lacked a gentle touch—douche. His face was inches from mine, our noses practically touching, and I held my breath, wondering what he was going to do next. He closed those awful eyes and inhaled a long drawn-out breath, smelling me.
Gross.
Finally, from somewhere in all that useless crap floating around in my head, I pulled out an idea as old as time. Love. There was no way I could defeat a demon on my own. I lacked Chase’s superpowers, but I believed in him, believed in us. Love was supposed to be the greatest power and all that mushy crap, so what I needed to do was get back my connection to Chase, and then maybe we had a chance.
He had severed our link for a reason, so it must be important.
Just how was I going to get it back?
I figured I was over thinking this. It was probably a simple solution. Here goes nothing—literally.
So I did the only thing I could think of. I concentrated on that feeling I got when he walked into a room. On his one-sided smirk that made my belly go topsy-turvy. On how much I loved the moron; we are taking about an unhealthy amount of love here.
It was a total longshot, but, hey, it was better than letting some demon lick my face off, or whatever crazy ideas Alastair had running amuck in his yucky head. If I could break through his shifter charm and see the real demon, then maybe I could break the rest of the illusion he had over me. I really missed being able to feel the jerk’s emotions. Chase gave me strength.
Closing my eyes, I shut out the sight of Alastair’s face and focused everything I had on how Chase made me feel. The light that burst inside me when I first saw him. The way he kissed me in his toe-curling way. The way he looked at me as if I was the only girl in the universe. His emotions were as much a part of me now as my own. I loved what we shared even when he was acting like the biggest butthead this side of the Midwest. No amount of power, fear, or intimidation from Hell could change that.
With each memory, I felt lighter, and the demon breathing down my neck seemed to travel farther away in the distance. And just like that, Chase’s emotions slammed into me, rolling and tumbling with mine. A smile touched my lips.
I freaking nailed it.
My celebration was short-lived, because it became too much.
A sudden darkness rushed me, void of feelings and thoughts. Chase bellowed my name as I sunk into its murkiness, unable to do anything else. There was no fighting something that powerful and out of my control.
~*~*~*~
“Hey there, sleeping beauty.” Chase’s voice penetrated through my cloudy thoughts.
My head was in his lap, and he was running his fingers through my hair. If I didn’t have these utterly messed up imagines spiraling in my head, I would have stayed just like this forever. “Please tell me that was a really bad trip, and someone slipped me a shroom.”
“Afraid not, Angel Eyes.”
Sighing, I pushed myself up. “Couldn’t you just tell me that anyway?” I mumbled, trying to get my eyes to focus. We were sitting on his couch, and slowly my brain started to function. He brought me here just in case my mom showed up, fewer questions. I struggled to remember what day it was and whether or not she was working.
He snorted. “I could, but you’d still remember, and I doubt that will stop him from coming back.”
I rubbed the back of my stiff neck. “How long have I been out?�
��
He shrugged. “An hour or so.”
“An hour!” I ran a hand through my tangled hair. “What happened anyway? We’re still breathing, so that’s a good sign.”
His eyes ran over my face with the tiniest smile playing on the corner of his lips. “I’d like to think so.”
“Did you a least catch me before I face-palmed the ground?” I asked, rubbing the side of my head.
He gave me a lopsided smirk. “Have I ever let you fall?”
His stupid grin made my heart patter. “There is always a first.”
A hand shot to his chest in a wounded gesture. “If it involves you, I’ll never fail.”
Holy smokes. When he said stuff like that, my insides went haywire and my body flushed. I didn’t know what to say, so I moved to a topic less stimulating. “Are you going to tell me how we ended up here, because the last thing I remember, your dad was doing a bang-up job of scaring me to death.”
His eyes sparked. “Honestly. I haven’t a clue. When you went down, the wall that was holding me back dissolved. I reached you before you cracked your head open, and when I glanced back up, he was gone. It was just you and me alone in an abandoned parking lot.”
“That’s it?”
“You got it, toots.”
I gave him a bland look. “Call me that again and I’ll be forced to kill you.”
He chuckled for a moment before those silver eyes got stony. “I always wondered if he would show his face, but I never imagined it would be because he wanted my girlfriend. That’s some pretty messed up crap. But really, when dealing with Hell, messed up is the only option.”
I rested my head on his shoulder. “What do you think he wants with me?”
His arm went around me and cuddled me close. “I’m afraid to find out.”
“And that invisible wall he put up, that was new.”
“I’m sure higher-demons have a more tricks than we care to know. He was the first one I’ve ever seen and hopefully the last. I’d be totally cool with him never showing his dead face again.”
I couldn’t agree more. “Speaking of face…he was an ugly SOB.”
