“And you wanted me to leave you there.” I grinned. “After everything you’ve done for me, that wasn’t going to happen.”
He tried not to smile, then gestured at the bandage on his shoulder. “Could have been worse.”
“You’re lucky he missed. He never misses.”
“He won’t again, especially now that he believes we’re lovers.”
I snorted a laugh as though such an idea was ludicrous. Fire and ice? Impossible. I must have done a good job at dismissing the idea because Stefan’s smile fell short before he turned away and buttoned up his shirt. “Did they introduce you to my father?”
The man in the photo. I was right to guess he was Stefan’s father. “Adam? Yeah…” I stopped short of telling him what I thought. “I was told he was dead.”
“He likes the world to think so. I often wish he was. He and I… We don’t get along…” Stefan slid a glance my way. “Ever.”
Oh. “Good, ‘cuz I don’t like him.” I looked at the door, wondering whether the guard was still outside, then searched the generic landscape pictures on the wall and the cheap ornaments for any sign of cameras or microphones. I couldn’t see anything, but that was the point of hidden surveillance. I had so many questions burning right on the tip of my tongue and couldn’t ask a single one.
“Am I a prisoner here?” The weary undertone in my voice surprised me. I hadn’t realized how exhausted I was, not just physically but mentally too. It had been one hell of a week.
“No.” But he nodded contrarily, which threw me. He gave me a sheepish smile, as though he were responsible.
Clearly there was more going on here than I had any hope of understanding on my own. “What is this place?”
“The Institute. The human response to demon occupation.”
Never heard of them. “Since when are demons occupying this realm?”
He gave a slight shake of his head, implying he couldn’t explain. Then without a word, he took my hand and opened the door, startling the guard outside. As the guard moved to stand, Stefan waved him off. “We’re good.”
“My orders are to watch her,” the guard grumbled.
Stefan, a head taller, straightened up to him. “I said I’ve got this.”
“You can strut all you want, but I’ve got orders, and I’m following those orders, Demon.”
Stefan was on him in one swift lunge. Hand twisted in the guard’s jacket, he rammed his arm under the guard’s chin and slammed him back against the wall. “Call me that again, and I’ll show you exactly how demon I can be.”
My breath misted in front of me as the temperature plummeted. Stefan was calling his element, and if the guard reacted like they had with me, then Stefan was better off backing down. I lightly touched his wounded shoulder, briefly feeling the full force of his arctic glare on me before he blinked and loosened his grip on the guard.
“Fine.” Stefan backed off, striding down the hall, so I had to jog to keep up. I gathered his reaction hadn’t been personal and suspected he was as frustrated at the whole situation as I was. We walked in silence. The guard lagged behind.
Only after it felt as though we’d walked the length of the warehouse four or five times, through various corridors, passing through a cafeteria, did Stefan slow. A little out of breath, I stopped beside him, catching sight of the guard weaving his way through people loitering in the hall behind us. Stefan opened the door into what I assumed was the Institute’s library but felt more like a storeroom. Freestanding metal book shelves created a dozen or so rows dividing up the windowless room. As we entered, the lights above flickered on, detecting our presence. We were the only two visitors, besides the guard who followed dutifully behind us.
Stefan left me beside a bookcase. He returned to the guard and muttered a few words. They both glanced my way, sharing a conspiring smile. I frowned, wondering what they were up to and then ran my finger down the spines of the books. They weren’t like any books I’d seen at the local library. Some were stained, their foreign titles barely decipherable. Some were the size of concrete blocks, great tomes that I’d struggle to lift. I’d recognized Latin, but couldn’t speak or read it. Another had been written in what I assumed was Cyrillic.
Stefan slipped an arm around my waist, startling a gasp from me. I twisted around to face him, surprised to find him so close. He leaned into me, backing me up against the books. “Go with it…” he whispered, a seriousness on his face where I’d expected to see mischief.
The guard had dropped into a chair, facing the opposite direction while absently thumbing through a book. Stefan bowed his head. I felt the abrasive stubble of his chin brush against my cheekbone and his cool breath teasing through my hair. I could blame surprise for my racing heart, but it would’ve been a lie. I rested a hand on his lower back, then moved it awkwardly to his hip. A deep chuckle rumbled through him. He took my hand and placed it on his lower back.
“You could at least make it believable,” he whispered.
That wasn’t my problem; the wicked thoughts running through my distracted mind were. Without my demon, my element didn’t flush through my skin, but a different kind of heat had begun to pool inside me. Without realizing it, I’d blamed the demon part of me for the attraction I’d felt toward Stefan ever since he’d first walked into my workshop. I’d told myself she’d wanted the opposing power coiled inside of him, but it hadn’t been just that. Now my demon was trapped, out of reach, and yet as he stood close against me, I couldn’t think clearly through the rising thrill of desire.
“This place, the Institute, is where I trained.” Stefan’s whispered words tickled my ear. “They deliberately created me as a weapon. That’s all I’ve ever been in my father’s eyes. If you ask him, he’ll tell you I’m not his son, I’m an experiment. They’ll use anyone, exploit everything, to get what they want.”
I shivered. “What do they want?”
“They protect this side of the veil, our reality. They’re the reason there aren’t more demons on this side. They monitor all demon activity. If one steps out of line, they’re quick to dish out their idea of justice.”
I swallowed, flushed and light-headed. “Why did Ryder bring us here?”
“Because this is the only place Akil can’t get to us. The graffiti on the walls outside —you must have seen it—creates a void. This place is a demon blind-spot. No full demon can pass those symbols.” Stefan teased my hair back from my cheek. “Like you, I’ve spent much of my life trying to escape my past—this place.”
“They aren’t the Enforcers you spoke of?” I was following the conversation. Barely.
“Yes and no, the Enforcers are the soldiers on the front line. We’re trained to kill demons. Ironic, considering I’m half demon. The irony is lost on my father.”
I could see the guard from where we stood. He’d picked up a magazine, not in the least bit interested in what we were doing.
“Why are they watching us? Why don’t they trust me?”
“You belong to a Prince of Hell. You’re powerful, volatile, and ill-informed. I’m not sure I trust you.” He pulled back just enough to look down at me.
“The feeling’s mutual.” I pressed my lips together. “At the house by the lake… For a minute there, I thought you were going to hand me back to Akil.”
He tilted his head, and a curious smile betrayed a wicked flicker of mischief. His eyes narrowed. Those eyes had a magic that held me spellbound every time I met his gaze. If an ice-demon could have a heated gaze, he had one.
I dropped my head back and closed my eyes, trying to escape his intensity without succumbing to the building urge to grab him with both hands and devour him. My world was falling apart around me, and I could do with the distraction. A distraction; yes, I could tell myself that lie. Stefan was a welcome distraction. That’s all.
“You’re trembling.”
“I’m cold,” I lied, then added with a sigh. “I want my demon back. I don’t feel… right, without her.”
/> “I can take your mind off her,” he said softly, “off everything.”
Opening my eyes, I found him watching me, lips slightly parted, raw hunger in his gaze. I could pull him against me and drown in desire. I glanced at the guard, who now rested his head on a propped up hand, bored and probably dozing. Stefan turned my face toward him, his fingers trailing down my cheek to skip across my mouth. I parted my lips a little, breaths coming too quickly to hide. He knew what he was doing to me, but the smug humor had vanished. The severity in his expression only served to further enflame the hunger inside me. He leaned in, and I closed my eyes, expecting the kiss to come, but he deliberately avoided my lips and brushed his cheek against mine. I groaned, left hand clutching his shirt.
His rapid breathing tickled my neck as he bowed his head. Had my demon been present, I was sure I’d already have lost myself to desire. I felt the crawl of his element, the explorative touch of it, but it was gentle, nothing like the bold approaches of before, as though he knew I was lacking half of myself and was holding back.
The door to the library opened. Adam strode in. Just a few moments more, and I’d have had Stefan against the bookcase, shirt open, and been trailing kisses down his chest.
On Adam’s arrival, Stefan tensed. The growl that rumbled from him perversely further aroused my already overly sensitive body, but the desire I’d seen in him had quickly been replaced by anger.
“Stefan, you and Muse need to join me in the prep room,” Adam announced, oblivious to the moment he’d destroyed. “Now.”
The guard had found some enthusiasm and was on his feet, acting the part of model sentry.
I didn’t want to let Stefan go. He moved away so that I had no choice but to release him. I wanted to gather up that shirt in my fists and pull him into a kiss so hungry he wouldn’t be able to escape. Neither of us would. But that moment had been dashed. It was only when he’d moved away that I’d realized how much I’d ached to have him. My legs were weak, and it took me a few moments to find my strength.
Stefan flung a knowing glance over his shoulder, eyebrow arched. The promise to finish what we’d started rested silently on his lips.
Chapter 21
The Prep Room—or Preparation Room as the sign on the door read—appeared to be a room bristling with flat screen TV monitors. Behind the bank of monitors, each showing a different news channel, CCTV feed, or webcam footage, sat an empty meeting table with enough places for fifteen or more people. Ryder was already in the room, leaning against the far wall, arms crossed over his chest, hands gripping his upper arms. He wore the same un-tucked crumpled shirt, same threadbare black jeans. He grunted a hello, back to his surly self. Tufts of unkempt hair stuck out at all angles. He made the fell-out-of-bed look all his own.
“Your man is lighting up the town,” Ryder grumbled, nodding toward the monitors.
I followed his gaze and saw several TV screens showing news footage of South Boston, or Southie as my neighbors fondly referred to it. I recognized my home neighborhood from the eclectic mix of terraced houses, cream clapboard facades, and leafy streets. The footage showed the same brownstone building on fire from different angles. Then I recognized the street, the buildings opposite bathed in fire-light, the same buildings I’d woken to each morning. The blazing building was my old apartment building. My heart sank. “Were there people in there?”
“No, but it’s lost. The fire department is letting it run its course—too dangerous,” Ryder explained. “That’s your apartment building, right? One damned coincidence, Muse.”
It wasn’t a coincidence.
Stefan stepped forward, concern etched across his face. His father hung back by the meeting table, watching our reactions. “It’s a warning. Akil can’t find you, so he’s sending a message.”
I scratched at my arm, grimacing. “He could have killed someone.” I had a moment of panic as I wondered if my cat Jonesy was okay, but there was nothing I could do. On the screens, flames licked from the arched windows, and black smoke bellowed skyward. The last part of my normal life—Charlie Henderson’s life—had just gone up in smoke.
Ryder watched my reaction. “He will kill if you don’t go to him.”
“I can’t.” They were all looking at me, waiting for me to make the call on what to do. “I can’t go to him. He wants to take me home, to the netherworld. I can’t… I won’t go back there.” The thought alone turned my stomach. The world works differently there. My human half wasn’t cut out to survive among the demons, especially considering what Akil had planned. I looked at each of them, my frown deepening with each disapproving stare. “He wants my demon. He wants her out of me…”
Adam shook his head as he perched on the edge of the meeting table. “It can’t be done.” Briefly, he flicked a glance at Stefan who ignored him. “Half-bloods are irrevocably one and the same, demon and human. He can’t separate your demon from you.”
I grinned and threw a hand in the air. “Right. Are you going to tell him that? Because he’s going to try. If he takes me back there… Either he’ll kill me, or Val will. The second I step through the veil, I’m demon-bait.”
Stefan spoke up. “You have the strength to fight them.”
Sure, if this were fantasy land. “Not all of them, Stefan. I’ve barely begun to experiment with what I’m capable of. I could maybe fight off one or two, but…” I didn’t need to finish the sentence. I was as good as dead if I stepped through the veil, and everyone in the room knew it.
I glared at Adam. “You need to give me my demon back.”
“I can’t do that. Not while you’re under our roof. You’re too dangerous.”
“And he isn’t?” I flicked a gesture at Stefan.
“Stefan has control,” Adam said calmly. “You do not.”
Maybe he was right, but without my demon, I was vulnerable. “You have to give her back to me.” I crossed the room and stopped in front of Adam. He looked back at me without an ounce of fear, so complacent in fact that he just about dared me to lash out at him. “Please.” I didn’t want to beg, but I needed her back in my skin. She was my strength, my soul, my fire.
“There is a way.”
“Please. Anything.” I despised the desperation in my voice.
“You stay here. Work for us.”
I blinked, as taken aback as though he’d struck me. He noted my reaction and smiled. “We can always use half-bloods like you. Properly trained, you’re valuable assets.”
Stefan stepped between us at about the right time. He eased me back a few steps, perhaps sensing I was about to leap at Adam to try and shake the antidote out of him.
“I’m not working for you,” I snarled. Stefan held me back. “Give me my demon back! You had no right to take her! Who do you think you are?”
“Muse,” Stefan warned.
“I don’t care.” I tried to step around him, and he caught my arms. “Let go of me. He’s putting this right. He has to give her back. I need her.” An unexpected sob choked me, and with a sneer, I broke free of Stefan’s grip and lunged for Adam. He lashed out before I could reach him, the back of his hand striking me across the face with enough force to fling me down against the table. Blood pooled in my mouth.
I pushed down on the table and flicked my hair out of my face, pinning him with my stare. His expression had barely changed at all. Stefan saw me tense and grabbed me from behind, pulling my arms behind my back as I struggled to get free.
I spat blood at Adam’s feet, fighting against Stefan’s vice-like grip. “If you don’t give her back, I’ll tell the world where this place is. I’ll tell Akil.”
Adam sighed and removed his glasses, rubbing at his closed eyes. “Take her away.”
Stefan swung me around and shoved me toward the door and then rounded on his father. “This is all your doing.” He jabbed a finger at Adam. “Don’t make an enemy of her.”
Adam stood slowly. “Like I did you?”
Stefan clenched his right hand. His knuckles whi
tened, and then he spun around to escort me out of the room. In the hall outside, I shook off Stefan’s grip. “I need her back, Stefan. They don’t understand. You don’t understand…” A few passing employees gave us a wide berth.
Stefan pulled me along a few steps until I managed to yank my hand free again. He glared at me. “How do you think they came up with the poison they injected you with? Who do you think they tested it on?” He saw the horror on my face. “I understand more than you know, but lashing out at him won’t get you anywhere. We’re prisoners here until he says otherwise.”
I sunk a hand in my hair. Panic began to steal away my rational thoughts. I needed my demon back. With every hour that passed, her absence damaged me. An ache had begun to spread outward, a terrible heartfelt ache, like grief. On top of everything else, it was almost enough to flip me over the edge toward insanity.
Ryder emerged from the Prep Room and froze midstride. Stefan waved him back. I darted my gaze between them. A sickly wave of fear washed over me. I had to get out of this prison, get away from these people. I wanted to go home, to my apartment, to my cat, to Sam. None of those things existed anymore, and besides, the Institute wouldn’t let me go. If they did, I’d be walking straight into Akil’s arms. Oh god, I didn’t want to do this anymore.
Bumping against the wall behind me, I slid down to the floor, pulling my knees up and scrunching myself into a ball. “He’s going to kill me.”
I heard Ryder tell someone to keep walking and felt Stefan’s warm touch on my back.
“Akil…” I lifted my head. “He won’t stop. I can’t escape him, and I can’t stay here. What am I supposed to do?”
“We can stop him.” Stefan slid his hand down my arm and took my hand, lifting me back onto unsteady legs. “There is a way.”
We were back in the little-used library with books strewn across a coffee table. I sat in one of the comfy armchairs, knees drawn up, hands clasped around a Styrofoam cup. I listened to Ryder and Stefan talking. Ryder sat on the arm of a chair while Stefan paced. He collected and deposited books as he voiced various plans. I hadn’t said a word in at least twenty minutes. My coffee was cold, but I didn’t notice. The shock of the events over the past week had finally caught up with me. I’d showered, thinking it might help me feel half way to human again, but not even the hot water could banish my trembling.
Demons & Djinn: Nine Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Novels Featuring Demons, Djinn, and other Bad Boys of the Underworld Page 160
