Demon's Caress: Demon Heat, Book 1 (8 page)

The dark-haired demon charged in and grabbed Bruno, twisting his arm behind his back. He whispered something in the human’s ear that made horror and terror flash in his beady eyes. Forcing Bruno forward, Raum duck-walked him out of the room. Both of them choked on the gas, tears rolling down their faces. The demon slammed and locked the door behind them, sealing the girls in for the cops to find when they searched the building. That was the best they could do for them. Now they had to do their real job…divesting Bruno of his blackened soul.

Kobal shut off the flames, and Maron solidified, taking over Bruno from Raum. “We’ll take turns until we’re out of the gas. Ghost ahead and check for roadblocks.”

Nodding, Raum did as he was bid without further comment. The moment the fumes hit Maron’s system, she felt her lungs lock up. Every membrane in her eyes, nose and mouth began to burn. It took everything in her to stay in human form. Her heart hammered, adrenaline flooding her veins as sweat poured down her face. Pushing past the pain seizing her body, she clamped her hand on Bruno’s arm, twisting it higher so he didn’t try anything stupid because she was a woman and shoved him toward the stairs. Kobal swept the hall behind her to watch her back.

“No good.” Raum sped up the steps. “Push him out the window and I’ll catch him at the bottom.”

“If he dies, we can’t harvest his soul.” He might end up in hell eventually, but he might turn into a poltergeist that continued to visit his evil on innocent people. He’d be beyond their reach—not dead, but not alive. And Samael would ship them downstairs for eternal guard duty.

Bruno hacked, spittle dripping from his mouth. “Who the fuck are you talking to, bitch? What the hell are you?”

“I’m your worst nightmare. I’m the bitch who’s going to make you pay for everything you’ve ever done.” She croaked it as matter-of-factly as possible, knowing the human wouldn’t truly believe her anyway. None of them did. She swiped her free hand across her face, wiping away sweat and tears. “Both of you go. I’ll launch him. Don’t miss.”

Kobal didn’t bother protesting about leaving her alone. They just did as they were told, floating out the filth-crusted, broken window at the top of the stairs and down to the ground. She leaned out to gauge where they landed as they flashed to physical form.

Stepping back, she dragged Bruno along with her, both of them coughing and choking on the tear gas. She wiped her eyes again, flexed her knees, lifted Bruno, and launched him through the shattered panes. He screamed the whole way, and when it cut off suddenly, she winced and glanced out to see he’d been caught by her partners.
 

There was no time to breathe a sigh of relief—not that her lungs would have managed relief at that moment—because shouting and pounding feet rang on the stairs. She ducked as more bullets went flying, dispersing her body into the shadows. A shudder went through her as the pain ceased as swiftly as it had begun. The coughing cut off, no more fumes burning her eyes.
 

Leaping forward, she sped through the window and dropped straight to the ground, where she solidified. Her demons were already heaving their target into the next building—a darkened warehouse with hundreds of pallets stacked to the ceiling, packing material scattered across the floor. It would do. A few minutes of cover with no fumes or bullets or cops or mobsters was all they needed to get this done. Finally.

Redness flushed Bruno’s flesh when they were inside, and he cursed and wrestled with the male demons. “I’ll have you all gutted. Slow and bloody. Better yet, I’ll do it myself, motherfuckers. I’ve done it before…my blade’s gonna mess up your pretty faces, and I’ll make you watch while I fuck your bitch.”

He kicked out and managed to catch Kobal in the knee. His leg buckled, and Bruno broke for a door that exited on a wall away from the cops. Raum went after him, and the human swung an elbow back to slam the dark-haired demon in the nose. Blood gushed down his face, and he staggered back.

“Shit,” Maron spat. She and Kobal both groaned. This was such a clusterfuck of a case.

The conduit between her and Kobal opened, and he fed his power through her. Fire whipped out of her, a wave of red and blue flames dancing through the air. He let her take the lead and direct its flow. Lightning strikes hit the ground, driving Bruno back toward them. Then he was inside the ring of fire, and Raum threw his power toward her as well. The vortex of light snapped into place, multicolored flames flashing with forks of brilliant, blinding lightning.

Darkness bled into the fiery funnel, and her ears buzzed from the amount of energy coursing through her body. She focused it, latching on to Bruno’s evil essence and wrenching it outward. It had never been so easy with someone so dark. It took seconds, mere heartbeats with their three combined powers. The vortex burst into a million shards of dancing, skipping light. She shuddered, blinking away the spots in her eyes. The putrid stench of his festering soul cleared from the air, and her belly unknotted for the first time in hours.

Bruno was dead.

Kobal bent forward and braced his hands on his knees. He angled a glance up at Maron and Raum. “Everyone okay?”

“Yeah,” Raum replied, wiping his bloodied nose. Maron just nodded as everything that had happened tonight slammed into her at once.

They had done it. Given her control, listened to her, obeyed her even when it went against their instincts. Something Shax would never,
could never
have done. She had doubted them, doubted they could follow her lead, and guilt washed through her. She had done to them what she feared they’d do to her—pushed them away, never trusting, never allowing them near. Just as Shax had done to her. She had been so unfair to them, too afraid of how good connecting to them felt—better than anything with Shax had ever felt—to believe that they would be any different that him. But as that realization hit her, she also had to ask herself what she was going to do about it. A century of terror closed her throat, her breath hitching hard against her ribs.

She swallowed hard. “Call it in, would you, Kobal? Let’s get out of here before the cops come sniffing around.”

“Of course.” He fished his cell phone out of his pocket.

Within moments, they were dragged into the nothingness between time and space. They appeared in Samael’s office, but he wasn’t there. She could feel him in the room beyond. The hellmouth. Sending Bruno to his final destination.
 

She staggered a little, the sizzle of all the energy still firing in hot pulses. Raum reached out and caught her, drawing her into his arms.
 

“Just relax for a moment.” His voice was rough with concern, not an ounce of patronization in his tone. “That’s a lot of power to funnel, especially with our bond so small. You did damn good.”

Warmth flooded her at his words, his actions, his tenderness. Shax had rarely touched her outside of sex, and she hadn’t realized until right now how much that simple act had denied her. She let herself lean against Raum’s broad chest, relaxing as his hand rose to bracket her neck and massage her tense muscles. Just for a moment, and then she stepped away.

Kobal came up behind her, rubbing her shoulders and slipping his hands up and down her arms. “You were amazing. I was worried we might fry your nerves, but we had to trust you.”

They had to trust her. When had Shax ever trusted her? Never. He’d always doubted her, and made her doubt herself. Their bond had made her depend on his opinion of her. She’d floundered under his lack of faith, making it a self-fulfilling prophecy.

They’d been together for years, and every assignment had made it worse for her, cutting any self-assurance she had out from under her. In one day, Kobal and Raum had shown more confidence in her than Shax had in years. Their actions tonight spoke far louder than words ever could.

Samael was right. They were right. They were the perfect for her.

Chapter Five

Samael stepped out of the room that held the hellmouth. There were explosive flares of light, roaring fire, all reflecting off of obsidian walls. Maron winced away from the noise and glare, turning her face aside until her boss shut the heavy black doors behind him. He looked a little pale, drawn, as though forcing Bruno down to hell had taken a lot out of him. Maybe it had, but Maron was still buzzing from the connection with her partners. It occurred to her that Samael had no one he connected deeply with, despite his efforts to shoehorn his agents into the bonds of Triads.

“Another successful assignment. Nicely done.” He glanced between the two men, then arched an eyebrow at Maron. “Well?”

What was she going to do about her partners, that was what he wanted to know. Accept them or reject them and insist on another female partner? Such a simple question, with such a complicated process to get to an answer. The idea of partnering with anyone besides Raum and Kobal, regardless of their gender, was repugnant. It made her stomach clench in sickened dread. What should she do then? There was only one thing she could live with.
 

She took in a breath, forcing herself to face the one fear she hadn’t mastered in her long existence. Love, and the way it made her weak. Vulnerable. But that was only if the person you loved didn’t love you back. That was only if you let yourself be owned by that love. Raum and Kobal wouldn’t hurt her. Of that, she had no doubt. The very thought of her being harmed had affected them deeply—she’d felt it through the thread of their bond tonight. And yet they’d trusted her to do her job in the face of danger. They’d trusted her. And she’d trusted them. That was what decided her in the end. She couldn’t let fear take this away from her. She’d regret it for the rest of her eternity.
 

She met Samael’s eyes and spoke clearly, so there were no more doubts. “I’ll keep them.”

Kobal staggered, his mouth falling open. “You will?”

“Are you sure?” Raum swallowed audibly, his brilliant green gaze locked on her face.

It floored her to realize how…nervous they had been, how much they’d expected her rejection, and how that rejection would have hurt them both. Somehow in all of this, she hadn’t understood how much this meant to them. How much she meant to them. Well, it was time to find out. She wanted to reach for them, but their boss watched, so she just offered a tiny nod. “Yes, I…Raum, I would…Kobal…”

Raum set a hand on her shoulder, squeezing in silent support. Kobal’s smile was mixture of joy and disbelief. “Let’s find some privacy.”

“Good idea,” Samael replied. “Find it outside my office. I have work to do.”

“Yes, sir,” they chorused.

They filed out of the room and nodded as they passed the pair of guards. They were the same ones that had been there when they left, and it was jolting to realize that not even a full guard rotation had gone by, just a handful of hours.
 

 
“Let’s go to your apartment,” she said. It had the warm memories of their last round of lovemaking. She led the way, and her men fell into step behind her. No, that wasn’t how she wanted to start things. They’d already proven they would listen to her, follow her. She reached back blindly, and they each took one of her hands, moving up to walk beside her. Yes, that was better. Right. What she really wanted. A Triad should be a bonding of equals, a perfect balance of three lives, powers and energies.

She’d never had such a bond, but she was willing to see if it was possible with them. They’d risked everything to help her save the Russian girls from Bruno. If they’d blown the case because of that, it could have ended ugly. Samael didn’t harbor fools. Her partners trusted her to do what she was supposed to, and it would be the worst kind of betrayal to reward that by abandoning them. She’d had that happen to her, and while they may not be bonded yet, she couldn’t do that to someone else, especially two men who had captured her heart in so short an amount of time.

The elevator they’d had sex in earlier carried them up the many floors to the men’s apartment. None of them said a word. Was that a good sign or a bad one? She wasn’t sure.

Kobal prowled nervously once they were inside, going from the kitchen to the living room window and back again. Raum went to the bathroom to wash the blood from his nose and put on a clean shirt. When he returned, Kobal glanced from her to Raum, who dropped onto the couch. He ran a hand through his dark hair, still looking a little shell-shocked. “Are you sure?”

“You don’t have to do this now if you don’t want to.” Kobal gestured at Raum and himself. “I think I can speak for both of us when I say we’re willing to wait.”

His partner nodded in agreement.

She took a deep breath, knowing she was going to have to explain her sudden change of heart before they’d understand that she meant it. It was one thing for them to be open to the bond, but they had to worry that she’d be open to it after what she’d told them about her past. The way to put it into words eluded her. It didn’t make sense. It was a gut-level, emotional response. She’d felt love before, but had been so swept up in her newfound connection that she’d loved the wrong kind of man. The logical side of her had decided that to avoid that pain again, she had to deny love. But they’d changed that. They’d changed everything, just by being themselves.

But how to express it in a way that made any kind of sense? She opened her mouth. “I love you.”

She shocked them. She could see it in their expressions. Hell, she’d shocked herself. She hadn’t expected to say it—holding back, what she hadn’t been able to do with Shax. But they deserved better than that. A bond shouldn’t start with distrust.
 

She knew herself better now—she wasn’t the same demon she was when she’d first come topside. Trial by fire would do that to a person. She was a lot stronger, tempered by that fire into something unbreakable. She was strong enough to give herself to a bond again. The essential part of her would be the only thing she kept back. The rest she’d offer in the bond. Yes. That was right. It felt good. She could do this.
 

Fear would no longer rule her life, stunt her growth, keep her from experiencing everything she truly wanted. A weight that had rested on her chest for so long she’d forgotten what it was like not to have it pressing down on her crumbled to nothing. Her own self-doubt. She was strong enough, confident enough to let go of control.