“No.”
My demon shifted inside me, a curious resettling as though she were satisfied. I was not yet convinced. “No? Then why did you keep the truth from me?” I dropped my gaze. “About Sam.”
“I couldn’t trust you. If you cared for Akil as much as I thought you did and I told you he’d killed Sam, you wouldn’t have believed me. I tried to call you after it had happened. To warn you… but you’d have gone straight to Akil. I’m sorry I kept it from you—I am. But the only way you would believe me was to see it for yourself.”
The white noise on my answering machine—the silent messages from Monday morning. They’d been from Stefan. That didn’t explain why Stefan had been there, in my vision. Why he had smiled when Akil had tossed him the sword. “I saw your expression. When I looked into that blade… You were there, right by Akil, when he killed Sam.”
Stefan stabbed the spoon into the ice cream and left it there, leaning back in his chair. “I didn’t know who Sam was. I’d been about to leave—our business transaction was over with—when Sam arrived. I was late—he was early—whatever. Akil thought it would make the ideal opportunity to test my allegiance. I had no idea he was going to kill him in front of me.” Stefan rubbed a hand across his face. “The plan was to infiltrate Akil’s operation. We’d set up the assassin identity and put the word out, knowing he’d eventually bite.”
“You and Ryder did this? You set Akil up from your garage and Ryder’s kitchen? I find that hard to believe. Akil’s got people everywhere. He’d have checked you out.”
Stefan crossed his arms and leaned back. “It’s not just Ryder and me. There are others. The Enforcers don’t stop with me. You think Akil’s got people everywhere? You don’t know the half of it.”
It was a great deal to take in, and I wasn’t entirely sure I believed any of it. I set my spoon down on the table, wondering what other secrets were out there. I’d been sheltered by my demon owners—I knew that—and later by Akil. Frankly, I hadn’t gone looking for trouble.
“Why me?” I asked. “Akil hired you to kill me, right? So… Would you have done it? How far were you meant to go?”
“When he told me you were a half-blood… I knew—I knew I couldn’t hurt you.” Stefan’s chair scraped back as he stood. He moved to the kitchen cupboards where the view captured his attention and held onto it. “I had no intention of hurting anyone. It was a ruse to get in…”
I waited, sensing he had more to say. He turned and rested back against the countertop, facing me. “I’ve not met a half-blood before—someone like me.” The perpetual smile had vanished, and I realized he felt the loneliness as keenly as I did. A lifetime of persecution. I had no idea what he’d been through, but being different was never going to be easy. He might not have suffered as I had, at least not physically, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t hurting.
I’d spent so long believing him to be a pillar of strength that I hadn’t even considered the cost to him. He’d become tangled in a battle between a Prince of Hell and little old me, and yet he’d stayed. He could have walked away. He should have.
“Do you see now why I had to know I could trust you?”
I nodded slowly. “You’re taking a big risk, telling me all this. We don’t know one another, not really. I could go to Akil and try to use this information to save my own ass.”
“True.” His smile was back. “But I think you’ll find your ass is beyond saving.”
He was right about that. “Well then.” I replaced the lid on the ice cream. “You’d best teach me how to raise hell because we’re going to need it.”
Chapter 18
Stefan stood in front of me, just within reach. The pine trees surrounding us blotted out most of the dense gray sky. Pine needles blanketed the forest floor. The rich smell of wood sap and pine permeated the air, cleansing the city smog from my lungs. It was cold, the breeze bitter, but all that was about to change.
Apparently the lack of heat in our surroundings would restrict how much of my element I could summon, rendering this experience fairly safe. Or so Stefan assured me. It wasn’t my element we wanted to call. It was my demon. In theory, she would need to manifest, and I would learn to maintain control. From there, the two of us combined, sharing the same space, time, and reality, could draw upon the heat—my element —beyond the veil. I had never attempted such a thing and wasn’t entirely convinced it was even possible. To draw power from beyond the veil would mean stabilizing a link between the two realities. Demons could hop through, but the journey was static. A to B. I was going to summon my element through the veil while keeping the link open: destination B coming to me.
“Don’t look so worried.” Stefan grinned.
He wore his infamous red coat with the buckles strapped closed, pulling his coat tight across his chest. The breeze teased his hair across his face, whipping it in front of his dazzling eyes. Whether he knew it or not, his presence alone made my demon restless. I didn’t know if it was the cool surroundings or just the nerves getting to me, but I felt the chill of him even at arm’s length. From the eager smile, the glint of mischief in his eyes, and the quiver of excitement in his voice, he clearly thrived in this wilderness. Some of that enthusiasm must have rubbed off on me. A trickle of delight shivered down my spine.
“They lied to you, Muse. You’ve spent so long hating half of yourself that you’ve stifled your abilities.” The words rushed from his lips.
“I don’t hate that part of me.” From the twitch of his smile, I knew he saw through my lie. I’d spent my entire life holding her back. She was a part of me, but she’d always been the darkest part, the shadows in the back of my mind, the horror in my depths. I summoned her when I had no other choice because I was afraid of her, scared of the chaos, the undeniable desire for the madness that overwhelmed me every time she broke my surface. Stefan had told me I needed to embrace her, to let her have all of me, to drop the reins and trust her entirely. He made it sound easy.
He nodded once, my cue, and I relaxed the mental barriers that held her back. I closed my eyes, shaking out my hands. There was nothing I could do about the trembling. She would know I was afraid no matter how hard I tried to hide it. This wasn’t about hiding. I had to reveal everything to welcome her in.
A flicker of panic snatched at my breath. What we were doing was dangerous. She could easily smother me, swat my attempts at control aside, and do whatever the hell she pleased. Hence the uninhabited location. She could also turn my efforts against me. Without a specific outlet, the result was always the same. She’d drown me in my element, my punishment for calling her and not releasing her.
So many things could go wrong.
“It’s going to be okay.” Stefan’s voice was laced with a confidence I didn’t share.
The breeze filtered through the branches of the trees. The sound of the wind rose and fell like waves caressing a beach. Slowing my breathing, calming my mind, I called to her. She immediately stretched inside of me, her power flexing beneath my skin. A ripple of heat rode over me, chasing away the bitter mountain air and flooding my body with warmth. Cocooned by her touch, I felt her crawl into my skin, layering her existence over mine. I smiled. With no rage, no resentment, only curiosity fuelling us, her explorative approach felt almost welcome, like an unexpected hug at a family reunion. It felt as though she too was surprised, and it occurred to me that I’d never really been alone.
I tilted my head, eyes still closed, as I felt her fill out my body. Then her warmth broke over my skin and explored. Curious tendrils sought an elemental source. The trees fencing us in, the ground beneath my feet, all held residual warmth but nothing like the potential we found in the city.
“How do you feel?” Stefan asked.
I opened my eyes, fixing him in the center of my gaze. “Good.”
“Okay. Take her to the next level.” His broad grin mirrored the thrill strumming through me.
This was where it got tricky. Usually by now, I’d be experiencing s
ome sort of emotional burst. Rage often sparked the next level, but resentment, fear, and desire all served as triggers. I had none of those things. I would need to invite her to manifest.
I closed my eyes again, shutting out all exterior stimuli. Stefan hadn’t said exactly how I was meant to invite her, but I figured it was like anything when it came to Demons. Intention was enough. I simply focused on relaxing, chasing away every ounce of fear and dread, leaving my mind clear of the resentment I’d harbored for my demon half.
She laughed, the sweet chuckle spilling from my lips as though it were mine.
The only chance you have of defeating Akil is to wield every ounce—every fragment of power you have, and to do that, you must have full control of your demon. Stefan had made it sound so simple.
I snapped open my eyes, fixing my stare back on Stefan. His image shimmered in the heat rolling off me in a haze. She was coming, and my doubts about my own capabilities were beginning to undermine my confidence. My control wavered. I staggered a little as my demon breeched my physical form. She became me. Her ethereal form superimposed itself over my human flesh. Lifting a hand, I saw her blackened skin stretched over mine, her fingers tipped with sharp obsidian claws. My wing opened behind me, stretching upward with a refreshing flick.
Stefan’s expression had hardened. A slight smile still played across his lips, but he’d wisely adopted caution. Once manifested, I am a wild and unpredictable force of nature. Chaos personified. Chaos spiraled at my core. Blazing heat radiated through my chest.
“Summon your element,” Stefan said. “All of it. Reach beyond the veil, and call it to you.” He took a step back, then another, but he kept his eyes on me.
My demon watched his retreat keenly. I felt her measuring him, trying to decide if he was friend or foe. I lifted a hand, letting her trail an explorative ribbon of power from my fingers in his direction. It shimmered in the air with intangible heat. He wouldn’t react well, of that I was sure, but curiosity prevented me from pulling it back. Stance rigid, Stefan let the ribbon of heat twist around his ankle. His opposing chill spilled over my fingers as though my hand touched him. The cool bite of it felt sharp, but it didn’t hurt.
“Muse…” he growled my name, eyes narrowing.
I got the message: stop getting distracted and get on with it. As the power spooled into me, I breathed in, summoning the warmth from everything around us. I called it all forth, gathering it against me, but it wasn’t nearly enough. There was only one other source. The veil. Beyond it lies the netherworld, a place of extremes, a home I’d run from long ago. My brother would sense me the second I breached the veil.
Thoughts of Val turned to niggling doubts and became obstacles. My demon reared up, sensing my weakness, and then she plunged forth, her will overriding mine. The veil tore open between Stefan and me, a ragged wound in the fabric of reality. Beyond it, the heat was immeasurable. My element flooded through the veil into this reality, spiraling around me. I couldn’t catch my breath, let alone control the rush of raw energy spilling into me. The wild element whipped around me, searing nearby branches and burning the ground at my feet. I stood in the center of a molten maelstrom, in the eye of a firestorm, my body alight with heat and flame. It just kept coming, gushing through the veil, over and into me.
I threw open my arms, back arched, wing held high behind me, and summoned it all. Swelling with power, my blackened skin simmering with energy, I heard my laughter twist in the madness. My physical body shone like the center of a star. The tumultuous heat built, fire rushed like liquid through my fingers, my hair, and across my flesh. Limitless power dripped from my flesh. A nuclear reaction charged my demonic core. I felt alive, connected to the source of creation. My humanity melted away. The demon rode high.
The veil began to shatter. The wound broke and disintegrated, its edges flaying, peeling away. I sensed the change. I wanted more. All of it. I wanted to taste the chaos, to swallow it whole and let it consume me.
The gap in the veil failed, collapsing in on itself. Immediately, my source of power vanished. I felt the break like a sword through the chest. Bathed in flame, I raged at the world and flung the heat away from me. Fire rushed outward in a tumbling blast, flattening everything in its path. A whoosh in the negative space behind the tidal wave of flame dropped me to my knees.
It took a few breathless moments for me to ground myself back in reality. Perspiration hissed against my demon skin. Steam rose from my flesh. Wood smoke twisted in the air around me. The ground beneath my feet was scorched to cinders. Hunched over, my wing hanging limp against my back, both my demon and I were spent. I barely had enough energy to lift my head and see Stefan crouch in front of me, drenched from head to toe. His hair clung to his face. His multifaceted ice-wings streamed with rivulets of water. He mustered a smile, but it barely reached the corners of his lips. As he reached out, ice sparkled on his fingers. He shook his head and swept a hand back through his wet hair, fracturing the accumulated ice.
I took his hand firmly in mine and gasped. Power lanced up my arm, a fizzling, darting, pins-and-needles kind of power. Instinct told me to pull away, but he leaned in close, capturing my surprised stare with his iridescent eyes. As I clutched hold of his hand, the curious touch of ice laced its way up my arm, threading through and around the wavering ripples of heat. It should have hurt—in a way it did—but such was the mischievous intensity in Stefan’s expression that I wanted the brittle ice against my sweltering flesh. I wanted to know how it would feel to have those quenching chills writhe over me. It was wrong. Our opposing elements clashed, but it felt so right.
He stood and tugged me to my feet. I stumbled against him, sucking in a gasp as his chill wrapped around me. Shivers sped down my body. I lifted my gaze to his as my demon slipped away, satisfied and exhausted on so many levels. Stefan fought back a smile. He opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it and looked away. Following his gaze, I saw the destruction I’d wrought upon the forest. The pine trees stood naked, their bark black against the gray sky, needles scorched from the branches.
Stefan extricated himself from my grip, taking with him the cool wrappings of power. He rolled his shoulders, and the glorious sculpted wings dissipated into flakes of snow before fizzling against the hot earth. He glanced back at me. “You are capable of great things,” he said with conviction.
If by great things, he meant complete destruction, then yes, it would seem so.
I couldn’t sleep. Not surprising considering how I’d torn a hole in the veil and sucked heat out the very fabric of the netherworld. The remnants of adrenalin chased through my veins. My mind buzzed from the overdose of power. Sleep was the last thing on my mind as I lay in the dark, watching the moonlight cast swaying shadows across the walls. My demon sat smug and satisfied inside of me, I felt her languishing in the afterglow of the power she’d tasted.
I tossed aside the sheets and tugged on Stefan’s shirt. The clothes I’d worn in the forest were in the wash. They’d survived, in the same way that my human flesh survived the blistering heat whenever my demon manifested. I can only put it down to the fact that, when my demon stepped into my skin, she protected my fragile human flesh, protecting herself in the process. That didn’t stop her from tearing into me mentally when she didn’t get her way.
I padded barefoot downstairs, startled to find Stefan seated on the couch in near darkness. He saw me and leaned forward to place the photo-frame he’d been holding on the coffee table. When he looked up, the smile didn’t lessen the distant look in his eyes. I lingered on the bottom step of the stairs, hand resting on the banister.
“I couldn’t sleep.” I explained awkwardly, getting the distinct impression I’d intruded on a personal moment.
Elbows on his knees, shirt sleeves rolled up, he bowed his head, rubbing his hands together as if he sought to regain some composure. When he looked up, a few locks of hair had fallen over his face, forcing him to sweep them back. “It’s okay.”
I contemplated returning to the guest bedroom. Half-dressed and intruding on his personal time, I felt a little awkward and out of place. “Erm… are you okay?”
“Sure.”
Clearly, he wasn’t. I’d been expecting some sort of witty comeback making light of our situation. A ‘sure’ wouldn’t cut it. Now I was concerned. It wasn’t like I knew him well, but up until then, he’d pretty much made it all look like a breeze. As though this sort of crap was his day job. His unrelenting confidence had shored-up my complete lack of it. I sat on the edge of the couch across the coffee table from him, tugging the edge of the shirt over my thighs.
“I was wondering something…” I hesitated as his gaze followed my efforts to cover my legs. He quickly flicked his attention back to my face, then elsewhere, anywhere but my eyes. “You’re the same as me, right? I mean. We’re different elements, but you’re powerful too?”
He nodded and settled back in the couch, draping an arm across the back.
“So why do you need me? You started this to get to Akil… Set it all up to get close to him before you even knew who I was. You must have had a plan. An end game?”
“The end game was to catch Akil out. We know he’s overstepping the boundaries here, breaking the laws. We just need to catch him in the act. Hiring me, among other things, was part of that. But you’re right… We didn’t know about you—although I’d heard of a half-blood that Akil ‘kept’.”
I winced a little at the word ‘kept’ and saw Stefan flinch in return. “It became clear, early on, that I’d need your help.”
“Why? What can I do to him that you can’t?”
“You’re his weakness.”
I didn’t understand. Akil was a Prince of Hell. They don’t have weaknesses, at least none that I was aware of. “What does that even mean?”
“He’s obsessed with you, Muse. I don’t know why—no offense, you’re easy on the eye, but he’s a pure-blood demon, a Prince, and you’re what they class as… filth.”
Demons & Djinn: Nine Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Novels Featuring Demons, Djinn, and other Bad Boys of the Underworld Page 157
