Embraced (Eternal Balance) Read online

  The demon pushed into me, letting go of a guttural growl.

  I couldn’t help it. I whimpered. Good sense told me to scream at the top of my lungs and hope to God that there was someone nearby.

  “I could take you now. I am within my rights to claim you…” It brought Jax’s lips back to my ear, and this time when the demon moved in, I cried out, sure that teeth had broken through the skin. “…in every way possible. Let me show you how a true demon fucks.”

  “Please,” I said, barely above a whisper. A pathetic protest, but all things considered, a win. “The cuff… It’s killing me.”

  Azi murmured against the sensitive skin of my neck, words I didn’t understand. Shifting back just enough so that I could see Jax’s eyes, still so black, it whispered, “Allow me to remove it. Let me take you and—”

  A dizzying oscillation from gray to black. With his lip curling upward, Jax’s hand tangled through his hair and pulled savagely at the roots, as if trying to yank the demon from his body. With another bellow, he pulled away from me and sank to his knees.

  I landed hard on the ground then stumbled upward, putting some distance between us. Just in case.

  “I think…Sammy…” He lifted his head as his fingers knotted in the material of his T-shirt, above his heart. “I can’t…”

  The change was complete. Like someone had held a dropper of ink up to his eyes, they clouded over, blackening throughout, and stayed that way. The demon’s gaze traveled over me, the scrutiny with which it examined me would have made me hot as hell if it had been Jax. “The sand in your hourglass is nearly drained. The cuff must come off. Now.”

  Some of the tension left me. “I know.”

  The demon said nothing as it rose, but continued to stare. Black eyes were hungry, and every few moments, it looked like it was trying to hold back. Like it wanted to finish what it had started a few moments ago.

  “There’s only one way that’s going to happen,” I prompted softly.

  The expression on Jax’s face remained unchanged. “You wish to trade your life for Malphi’s.”

  It was my turn to remain silent.

  Azi sighed—an act that was so Jax, and yet so alien.

  “You would have me destroy my mate in favor of my human’s.” It took a step toward me.

  It wasn’t a question and I had no idea what to say.

  Another step. “I could do it,” it said, placing a finger beneath my chin and lifting my head.

  Under Azi’s control, Jax’s lips brushed mine. Soft at first. A barely-there tease. Then, a second later, more aggressive. His hand snaked around to the back of my neck, and with a sudden jerk, the demon pulled me flush against him. Tongue skating along my bottom lip, it paused for a moment before nipping hard. I gasped and Azi chuckled. Jax’s voice, yet different. Darker and inhuman. Confusion settled over me. It wasn’t Jax in control, but it was his body pressed against me. It was still him that teased the heat to my skin.

  With a single, powerful thrust of Jax’s hips, the demon ground his body against me, then pulled away. “But I will not.”

  The heat that threatened to ignite me just seconds ago fizzled, leaving only ice in its wake. “Will not what?” I asked.

  “I will not trade Malphi’s life for yours.” Azi tilted Jax’s head as though listening to something only it could hear. “My human is angry.”

  “Can’t say I blame him,” I mumbled, taking a step away. My voice wobbled and I fought to maintain control over the emotions raging inside me—everything from the most profound terror to unparalleled rage over his admission. “I’m fairly annoyed, too.”

  The movement was quick. One moment the demon was standing in front of me, the next it was behind me, the fingers of Jax’s hand wound tight around a chunk of my hair. “I believe you misunderstand,” it whispered at my ear. Warm breath tickled my neck. “I will not trade Malphi’s life for yours, and I will not trade your life for Malphi’s.”

  I wanted to move away. Unfortunately, the iron grip held me securely in place. Jax’s lips skimmed the side of my neck, then worked their way across my cheek. The demon let out a contented sigh. “I will not see either of you perish.”

  Okay. Not what I’d expected, but still not hopeful. “It’s not going to work that way.” I held up my wrist and gave it a good shake. “This needs to come off. The only way that’s going to happen is if Chase gets what he wants. So, yeah. One of us has to die.”

  Azi leaned a little closer. “Possibly not.”

  I didn’t want to get my hopes up—I was talking to a demon after all—but I couldn’t help it. “What does that mean?”

  It pulled away and turned me around, and with a grin that looked so misplaced on Jax’s face said, “There is a chance someone else can remove the Fakori cuff.”

  I snorted. We’d heard that before. “Michael said Jax or I could remove it under the right circumstance, but we have no idea what the hell those are. If that’s what you’re talking about, then I’m all ears.”

  “A descendant of the creator may also remove the cuff.”

  “A descendant?” I repeated. “Of Fakori?”

  “Yes,” was all it said.

  “Well, tell me where to find him and give Jax back the steering wheel. The clock is ticking.”

  “I have a condition, Samantha Merrick.”

  Ding, ding ding. There it is. “The answer is no.”

  “I have not asked yet.” It was eerie the way the demon stood there just watching me, his only movement the slightest flutter of Jax’s eyelids.

  “I already know what you want. The same thing Chase does. The same thing the angels do.” I leaned closer, pinning him with what I hoped was my best intimidating glare. “The same thing your demonic bitch wants.”

  “Your power, you mean.”

  I folded my arms and shook my head. “Not going to happen.”

  “While your power would please my clan and enable my victory, it is not what I ask.”

  That surprised me. “What then?”

  “Until the cuff is removed, I retain complete control over the human’s body.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jax/Azirak

  “Not a chance,” Sam cried. She took a menacing step forward, then hesitated and moved back several feet. “It’s not gonna happen.”

  I opened my mouth to protest—no fucking way was I riding shotgun in my own damn body—but of course no sound came. The demon was amused by my anger, though. I felt it.

  “Come to terms with the inevitable,” it said. “This is your only option.”

  I realized the demon wasn’t talking to Sam. It was addressing me. And it had a point. Without offing Malphi, Chase wouldn’t remove the cuff—and that was assuming the bastard kept his word at all. And Azi had already announced it wouldn’t let me kill its mate. Letting Sam die was out of the question. Since my biggest obstacle was technically living in the same body as me, this was the only path.

  Fine. You get control, but only until you do what needs to be done. And so help me, you hurt her in any way, I’ll take us both out.

  The demon chuckled. “My human agrees.”

  “Bullshit,” Sam spat. “I’m just supposed to believe you? Jax would never let you take over.”

  “He knows that your survival will only be possible through cooperation.”

  “Sounds like blackmail to me.”

  More amusement from Azirak. It held out my hand to Sam. “I am allowing him to remain conscious. He will have the ability to…keep an eye on things.”

  Sam hesitated then after a moment sighed. A spark of sad acceptance in her eyes made me think she felt guilty, and I wanted to set her straight. Giving the demon control was like sacrificing a piece of myself. A small part of me that, up until now, had been mine alone, untainted by the thing that lived inside me. What I wanted her to know was that I didn’t care. It was worth it to me.

  She was worth it.

  Sam had been behind the wheel for almost two hours. Her s
houlders were beginning to slump, and her eyes kept drooping. She needs to rest, I said to Azi. Make her pull over and you drive.

  Azi shifted my body toward her. “Pull over,” it demanded.

  When she didn’t respond, a wave of anger erupted, and the demon latched on to the wheel, yanking it hard to the right. Sam screamed as the car jerked hard sideways. She slammed the breaks, bringing the vehicle to an uneven stop on the side of the highway.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  “I commanded you to pull over,” it said.

  “I’m not one of your demons,” she snapped. “You don’t get to command me to do jack shit.”

  Her words annoyed the demon, but it didn’t respond. Instead it studied her intently.

  Watching Sam from Azi’s perspective was strange. Since embracing the demon, all my senses had been heightened. But with Azi in control, my vision was even sharper. More detailed. Each strand of her hair had multiple layers, with millions of different colors all blended to make perfection. Her lips, slightly parted with the right corner pulled up slightly in irritation, were composed of thousands of superfine strands of color—reds, pinks, and just a hint of blue. In fact, her entire body was a beacon of assorted colors, all shifting slightly from dark to light, oscillating between degrees. She was brightness and beauty personified, from the top of her head right down to the soles of her shoes. Every place except a small section of her chest above her heart.

  The small area was muddled, a lot like the murky swirl emanating around her—jumbled and dark.

  The demon chuckled and Sam snorted. “Something amusing about that?”

  “My human,” Azi responded. “He finds your appearance disconcerting.”

  “My appearance?”

  Don’t fucking say it like that!

  Of course the bastard ignored me. It ignored her, too, getting out of the car and coming around the front. With an agitated jerk, Azi pulled open her door and said, “Out.”

  “Out? Why would I—”

  The demon’s impatience grew. It grabbed Sam’s arm and hauled her unceremoniously from the seat. She stumbled sideways, catching herself just before losing her balance. “I will drive. You will sleep.”

  “Sleep,” she shouted. “How the hell do you expect me to sleep?” Sam adjusted her jacket and stalked toward Azi. Giving him a shove, she added, “I know this whole ‘living on planet Earth’ thing is new for you, but let’s get one thing straight. I’m not leaving you alone with him for a single minute.”

  She doesn’t trust you, I told it.

  This confused the demon for some reason. It didn’t understand her tone, or the rigid set of her shoulders. It was puzzled by her expression and the volume of her voice. A rush of images bombarded my mind. Sam and I, the first time we were together. The scene played out as though I was a third party watching from the outside. It focused on the times where my eyes were dark. When the demon was in control.

  “You find me repelling.” A statement. Not a question.

  Sam snorted. “You’re basically blackmailing us. Damn right I find you repelling!”

  “I am not hurting my human.” The confusion faded, replaced by a rush of logic. Azirak really didn’t see the problem here.

  Sam stomped her foot. She stalked forward, bringing her face inches from mine. “Jax,” she spat. “He’s not your human. He’s Jax.”

  There was a long moment of hesitation before the demon stepped away from her. My head nodded slowly, and the demon repeated, “Jax.” It opened the car door and gestured for her to get inside. “We should go. Time runs out.”

  For a minute, I was sure Sam would turn and walk the other way. She had that look about her. Eyes narrow and lips pressed in a hard line, it was the expression she wore just before engaging in a fight. But she surprised me. With a sigh, she pushed past the demon and slid into the passenger seat, slamming the door behind her.

  “She is an unusual human,” the demon said as it moved my body around the car. Pausing with my hand on the handle, it added, “It is not surprising that you find her alluring.”

  Don’t get any ideas, I growled. I was tempted to push for control, to fight the demon and take back what was rightfully mine, but Azi turned to look at Sam. Beneath all the vibrant colors, she was pale. The distorted mass over her heart seemed bigger than it had before, and her posture was slumped. That cuff needed to come off and we only had a short time left to do it. You better not be bullshitting us. Find Fakori’s ancestor and get that fucking thing off her.

  “I will do as I promised,” it said out loud.

  Sam, not realizing the demon was talking to me, huffed and shifted in her seat. She yanked the seat belt out and jammed it into the lock, then turned to face the window. “You better.”

  We drove for several hours. Sam dozed in and out. Azi kept our speed at a maximum of five miles an hour above the limit. Its reasoning was that we didn’t want to waste time with the authorities. And while I agreed, the fact that we weren’t moving as fast as possible pissed me off.

  This was the longest I’d spent as a spectator. I had no love for the demon, but could almost understand its anger. I felt helpless. Weak. I was caged, and everything, even the simplest things like scratching an itch or shifting around in my seat, was beyond my control.

  “I probably should have asked this up front,” Sam said after a while. “But how is it that you know exactly where to find this guy?”

  “I have an entire clan eagerly awaiting my return. I had but to ask, and they fell in line.”

  “What does that tell me?” she fired back.

  “While you were sleeping I called my clan. They are searching for the Fakori descendant as we speak.”

  Sam looked from me to her wrist and grimaced.

  I wasn’t the only one who noticed. “Does it pain you?”

  She didn’t answer right away, and when she did, it wasn’t to answer his question. “Can he hear us? Jax, I mean?”

  “Of course. I gave my word. He is able to oversee our journey.”

  She sighed. “No. It doesn’t hurt.”

  The demon studied her for a moment then let out a growl. “What is the purpose of that?”

  “Of what?”

  “Of attempting to deceive him?”

  Sam snorted. “I’m not—”

  “Do not lie to me!” Azirak bellowed. My body shook with a flash of anger. It was potent. The sting of it flooded what little sense I had and momentarily blocked out what was going on in the car.

  “Fine,” Sam snapped. “It hurts like hell.” She made a fist and slammed it against the dash. The sound of it echoed through my body, the demon’s heightened senses making it seem like a bomb had gone off inside my skull. “It feels like something is trying to squeeze my hand off with a pair of bolt cutters. Oh. And my body temperature? Dropping lower than a frat boy’s IQ. This thing is killing me. Why don’t I want Jax to know? Maybe because he’s got enough to deal with right now, what with you hijacking his body, his brother trying to end the world—oh, and your demonic bitch looking for a hookup.”

  The demon seemed to consider her words for a moment. “I have lived a thousand lives and I still do not understand humans.”

  “What’s not to understand?” Sam asked. Her voice softened a little. I knew the tone. Irritation blended with sympathy. “When you love someone, you want to keep them from pain.”

  “Demons do not love like humans. The word does not exist within our vocabulary.” A long, deep breath filled my body. “Yet I do not like that you are in pain.”

  “That makes two of us.” She shifted around so that she was sitting sideways, facing me. “If we can find this guy, this relative of Fakori, and he can get the cuff off, then what? You’ll hand Jax’s body back over?”

  “I said I would.”

  “Just like that?”

  “Unlike Zenak, I am honorable. A downfall, my clan says.”

  “And me?”

  “What of you?”

 
“You’re going to simply hand Jax back his body and let him walk away with a Pure?”

  “Samantha Merrick, the hum—Jax—will never be able to walk away with you. I will always be present.”

  “I mean, you’re not going to claim me?”

  The demon chuckled. It was my voice, but it wasn’t. “Would you let me?”

  “Nope,” was her reply. “But that hasn’t seemed to stop everyone else from trying.”

  “While your power would be an asset to my clan’s cause, I am able to see what the others cannot.”

  “And that is?”

  “Going home will serve no purpose right now.”

  “But it will someday?”

  “There is something you need to remember, Samantha Merrick. I am, and always will be, a demon. Despite whatever human-tainted feelings I may have for you, I am dangerous.”

  Sam’s face filled my vision, her expression a mix of surprise and fear.

  As if the universe was enforcing Azi’s words, everything shifted. There was a deafening sound—shattering glass and the scream of twisting metal.

  Sam’s cries of terror echoed through my head.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Sam

  One minute I was staring into the face of the demon-infested guy I loved—the next, my entire world was spinning out of control.

  I was beginning to notice a disturbing pattern.

  I called for Jax, but it was drowned out by the cacophonous sound coming from all around us. My stomach lurched and my body was momentarily weightless as my hair obscured my vision. There was no up or down because the earth seemed to have disappeared, allowing gravity to use us as toys.