Released (Eternal Balance) Read online

  “Because it’s the stone that enabled Malphi to tap in to the Gray line’s magic.”

  “Wait.” Sam’s eyes grew wide. “If it’s the stone Malphi had, and Malphi is dead, then who has the stone?”

  Heckle pinned her with a pitying frown.

  Sonofabitch…

  She blew a stray hair from her face and rolled her eyes. “You’ve gotta be shitting me…”

  “I wish I were.” He sighed. “I’m afraid a grievous oversight on my part allowed Malphi’s stone to fall into the enemy’s hands.”

  Sam’s eyes widened, and she opened her mouth, but Azi wasn’t interested in anything she had to say. Suspicion swelled, and the demon focused on Heckle. “And what do you want with the stone?”

  “As you can see…” Heckle hitched a thumb over his shoulder at the carnivus. “Something is just a bit off.”

  He was right. Azi’s memories swirled, and I knew that carnivi, like most other creatures that inhabited hell, were unable to cross to this plane. At least, not on their own. “How did it come to be here?”

  “You can thank Zenak,” Heckle said. He flicked a finger at the beast, frowning. “And there’s plenty more where that came from. I’ve gotten reports from all over Harlow. These things have been running rampant around town for the last few days.”

  Sam snorted. “I call bullshit. If that’s true, how did we not know? I work in a bar for crap’s sake. If there are rabid dog-beasts the size of Toyotas running around, people are gonna talk.”

  Heckle rolled his eyes and fixed his gaze on me. “You’ve been a bit preoccupied lately…”

  Asshole has a point…

  Azi ignored me. “And you believe this is Zenak’s doing?” My muscles tensed, my body’s natural reaction to the apprehension the demon felt. I still hadn’t gotten used to it, the way my body betrayed me by reacting to the whims and desires of another. “That my enemy has stolen the stone and is using it to call forth an army?”

  “I’m afraid it is, indeed, now in Zenak’s possession. While one half of the stone doesn’t give the demon access to all of his inherent abilities, it does give a dangerous edge. It can’t travel home, but it appears that it can call reinforcements.”

  “Wait—half?” Tendrils of worry rose from Sam’s shoulders, polluting the red. Her pulse increased, heartbeat racing. “He doesn’t have the whole thing?”

  Heckle shook his head. “Sadie only had half the stone in her possession. I don’t know what became of the remaining part. You’ll have to find it, though. It’s far too dangerous to leave it floating around.”

  She frowned. “But if Zenak has an advantage with just half the stone, why hasn’t it come for us yet?”

  “It’s not immediately clear what Zenak’s plans are. But knowing what we do—that it wants to destroy Azirak and control Sam—I believe getting to the other half of the stone before it does will benefit us all.”

  Azi bristled, and I felt a mix of anger and concern from the demon. “And the half of the stone that Zenak already possesses? What of that?”

  Heckle stepped back and folded his arms. With a confident nod he said, “Once you retrieve the stone—both halves—I will dispose of them.”

  That wasn’t going to happen. I didn’t know why, but the stone was important to the demon. Azi had no intention of handing either half over to Heckle.

  “Zenak has brought over the carnivi—and I assure you, there are more roaming the streets of Harlow as we speak. It is feasible that it has brought others as well. The Tracker, perhaps?”

  The shift in Azi’s mood was violent. My body tensed, limbs itching to tear into something—anything. “I see,” came the demon’s deceptively calm response. “I suppose that escalates things.”

  Heckle, seemingly satisfied, gave a short nod. “In the meantime, I suggest you deal with this.” He took two steps backward, melding into the darkness. A moment later, the previously frozen carnivus leaped from the shadows.

  Chapter Two

  Sam

  Azirak struck out, knocking me sideways as hell’s twisted version of Lassie crashed into Jax’s body. I hit the building and the breath was expelled from my lungs in a single violent whoosh. The racket that followed was unlike anything I’d ever heard—an otherworldly, scratchy howl mixed with the frenzied snapping of a deadly jaw.

  The beast had Jax pinned. Well, it had Jax’s body pinned. The demon was in control, and though I hated the idea of the guy I loved being trapped, in a sick way I was glad. Azirak was better equipped to deal with this threat. Stronger and far more knowledgeable, it had ruled in hell for eons, a demon royal with a massive army under its command.

  Several times the monster’s teeth chomped a little too close to home, once grabbing a mouthful of Jax’s T-shirt. Azirak shimmied to the left to avoid a more fatal outcome. Demon or not, it was limited by Jax’s humanity. While sturdier than most humans, a mortal wound still would kill them both.

  That was not something I could live with.

  I climbed to my feet, searching the alley for something—anything—I could use as a weapon. It was no use. Other than bits of unrecognizable trash and some discarded coffee cups from the joint a few blocks down, there was nothing in sight that might help fend the beast off.

  Fine, then. I’d work with what I had.

  “Hey!” I kicked the metal dumpster to my left, hard. The sound echoed off the buildings and the carnivus’ head swiveled, a la The Exorcist, in my direction. “Come munch on me.”

  One might argue that what I was doing was insanity—or, worse, suicidal. I mean, obviously I hadn’t learned my lesson after throwing something at the thing. But if Heckle was right, and it was Chase and his demon pulling this puppet’s strings, then it would never kill me. I was far too valuable. The power I had inside me, power I was now the master of—regardless of the fact that I had no idea how to use it—was one of the most coveted things in heaven and hell.

  I kicked the dumpster again, hoping the distraction would give Azirak the edge it needed—preferably before I became a hell-beast chew toy. I banked on it not being able to kill me, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t maim me just a little bit.

  The carnivus snarled and snapped its teeth. In slow, measured movements, it stepped from Jax’s chest and crept toward me. It was all we needed. Dead eyes on me, focused and feral, it never heard Azirak come from behind. The demon grabbed the dog-creature around the neck and gave a violent twist. The thing made a gargling sound, then went limp in Jax’s hands.

  Azirak dropped it to the dirty concrete. “Are you harmed?”

  I shook off the lingering adrenaline surge and brushed a piece of wilted lettuce from the edge of my shirt. My mouth was dry, and my pulse had surpassed light speed, but I pushed it aside. “Getting Malphi’s half of the stone from Chase isn’t going to be easy, but the other half of the Brim Stone? How the hell are we going to find it? The damn thing could be anywhere on the planet.”

  “There is a way to track it.”

  Really? It was just telling me this now? “You can do that?”

  Gray eyes regarded me carefully for a moment, unblinking. “There is a way.”

  “Then let’s get to it. The sooner we get that stone someplace safe, the sooner I can evict you from Jax’s body.” It wouldn’t be that easy. Unless I devised a masterful plot that tricked the demon into vacating the premises, Azirak would stay put. It’d said so itself. But I was nothing if not determined.

  The demon didn’t argue. Instead, it snorted and flicked a glob of carnivus drool from Jax’s arm. The slime hit the dumpster to my left with a splat and lingered for a second before sliding to the ground with a soft squish. “Tracking the stone will not be simple or without peril. There will be obstacles.”

  It was my turn to snort. “Aren’t there always?” Every minute we stood here yapping was another we weren’t out hunting this thing down. And every minute we weren’t out hunting this thing down was another chance for Chase to send something nasty our way. “W
here do we start?”

  The look I got in response was all ire. “We must gather our strength, and a single ingredient.”

  “Ingredient,” I repeated. That was suspiciously vague—even for the demon. “Guess we’re not talking eye of newt, huh.”

  “The thing needed to track the stone is far rarer than the eyes of a small amphibian.”

  I opened my mouth—but closed it without answering. The demon had been born into a thousand different humans. If it didn’t get sarcasm by now, there was just no hope. “Is this…ingredient…hard to get?”

  It thought for a moment before shaking Jax’s head. “Not really. Not for me.”

  “That doesn’t fill me with confidence,” I said, worried.

  “We’ll need to acquire a particular skill set.”

  “Skill set? What kind of skill set?”

  “One that borders on dangerous.”

  “I’m betting the alternative to this skill set is more dangerous.” I moved to the mouth of the alley and peeked around the corner of the building, half afraid to find another drooling beastie waiting to pounce. Thankfully the street was silent. “If you’re not willing to kill Chase—not that I’m complaining—then letting him get his grubby fingers on the other half of the stone would be bad.”

  “We’ll need to get to the Brim Stone first,” the demon agreed.

  I stuffed my hands into my pockets and followed Azirak out onto the sidewalk. His pace was brisk, and I had to hurry to keep up. “And in order to do that, we need to…?”

  The demon flashed me some major side-eye, but said nothing. It continued walking, if possible picking up the pace just a bit.

  “You’re going to have to let me in on the plan. There’s no way in hell you’re waltzing out of my sight while in possession of that body.”

  Azi came to an abrupt stop and turned to me very slowly. “You will need to come to terms with something, Samantha Merrick. This is no longer his body. It belongs to me.” A slow smile spread across Jax’s lips. One that would have normally turned me to pudding. The demon leaned in and brought his face inches from mine. “I am more than willing to allow you to use it, however. I see the way you look at it when you think I’m not watching. I know what you wish to do…”

  I swallowed back a rush of heat—and more than that, of shame.

  The demon brought Jax’s lips to my ear. Warm breath fanned my skin, making the hairs on my body jump to attention. “I would make it interesting, I promise you.”

  My pulse kicked up, heart hammering into hyperdrive. If I didn’t know any better, I would have sworn we were having a freak heat wave. “You’re right,” I said, swallowing hard. I couldn’t fake it, couldn’t pretend I didn’t feel a certain way when looking at the demon—at Jax—but I had no intention of acting on it. Not until the rightful owner of those skilled hands was securely back in place. “I do look at you. All the time. Wanna know why? Because I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

  The demon snickered. “Whatever lies you must tell yourself.”

  It turned and started walking again, and I had to gnaw on the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming as I followed. I could do this—get through this and get Jax back. I just needed to bide my time and find a way.

  Find a way…

  And like a strike of lightning, the solution was so damn obvious. This Brim Stone thing was powerful enough that Heckle was worried about the serious advantage it would give to Chase. That fact made me think that maybe I could somehow use it to evict Azirak—that I could gain an advantage. I just had to tread carefully until I could get my hands on it.

  The demon slowed its pace, stopped, and turned to me. It was still grinning, and that made me uneasy. “Do not worry about the plan,” it said. “You have a part to play.”

  “A part to play?” I repeated. I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of that. “Meaning?”

  “Gather your things.” It began walking again and disappeared into the shadows ahead. From the darkness I heard it add, “We are going to the edge of the world.”

  …

  Azirak wouldn’t answer any of my questions. Obviously we weren’t going to the edge of the world, but a little info wouldn’t have hurt. Like what was my part in all this?

  The demon had given me barely ten minutes to get my things together before demanding that we leave. I had to bite my tongue and remind myself that I was doing this for Jax, that seeing this thing through would get me closer to getting him back. Spending time in close quarters with Azi was necessary.

  I slung my duffle bag over my shoulder and followed Azirak out the front door. “So, now what?” I said, locking up the house. “Because wherever your super special items are, something tells me we won’t get to them by walking.”

  “Are you not related to the human female in the next house?”

  I glanced across the way at my Aunt Kelly’s house. Stark white siding with perfectly trimmed holly hedges lining the entire driveway. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “She has a vehicle, does she not?”

  “Um, yeah. But I don’t see how—” Then I understood what it was getting at. I threw up my hands and backed away a step. “No way in hell. Forget the fact that I refuse to ask that woman for a favor, she’d never let me take the car. She just traded up for a brand new Explorer. She thinks I’m a horrible driver.”

  Jax’s head tilted sideways, and the demon studied me from beneath his hooded lids. “I do not understand the problem. She has a vehicle. You need one. Simply take it. You are more than capable. It is the way of nature. The strong take what they need from the weak.”

  “Take it?” I squealed. The demon was obviously blocking out Jax’s memories of my aunt. “From Kelly? Um, no.”

  Azirak let out an exasperated sigh. It was so like Jax that I almost forgot who—or what, rather—I was dealing with. But when the demon stalked forward, unceremoniously nudging me out of its way, it all came rushing back.

  “Don’t you dare,” I spat, hurrying to catch up as the thing directed Jax’s body toward Kelly’s house. Azirak used his long legs to its advantage, maintaining a significant enough lead to land square on my aunt’s doorstep with time to pound on the door before I could stop it.

  It was pointless, but I tried anyway. Twisting and grabbing and—I even sank to a new low—hair pulling. I was desperate, but no matter what I did, Azirak was unfazed. The demon stood its ground, and my attempts to dislodge it from Kelly’s porch barely jostled the hair on Jax’s head.

  There was a commotion inside, and a few moments later, Kelly stumbled to the door. Her long brown hair in rollers, and a pink polka dot bathrobe tied around her waist, she blinked several times, gaze bouncing from Jax to me. “Samantha? What are—”

  “Give me the keys to your vehicle,” Azirak demanded.

  Kelly glared at him then turned to me. “Are you two drunk? I—”

  Azi lashed out, and with Jax’s booted foot, kicked the door open. Kelly gasped as the demon pushed its way inside. It stopped in the center of the room, Jax’s hand extended and palm turned up. “The keys. Now. I will not ask you again.”

  My aunt’s face turned an amazing shade of scarlet. Really. It was impressive. Then again, Kelly always did have a flair for the dramatic. When I brought home my first fairly dismal report card, she fainted after a lengthy speech on how I was wasting my time and would never get into a good college.

  I was ten.

  She clutched her robe tighter and stepped from the doorway. “First you corrupt my niece, and now you’re robbing me?” Arms folded, Kelly shook her head. “No. It’s time someone stood up to you, Jax Flynn. You’ve been a thorn in the side of this family for far too long, and I’ve had enough.”

  I sighed and rolled my eyes. “We just need to borrow the car.”

  “No. This ends now, Samantha.” Kelly bravely darted forward, grabbed me by the wrist, and dragged me close. With a determined nod, she said, “You’re moving back in with me.”

&nb
sp; I opened my mouth to protest—and to remind her that I wasn’t a child anymore—but never got the chance. Azi moved across the room in a flash, and before I could even take a breath, pulled me to its side. “If you ever lay a finger on Samantha Merrick again, I will flay you from head to toe and feed your remains to the dogs.”

  Kelly’s mouth fell open and a small sound escaped her lips. For the first time in as long as I could remember, it wasn’t an act.

  “I can smell your fear,” the demon said. Jax’s lips twisted into a cruel grin, and Azi maneuvered his body closer to Kelly. It took a deep breath and let go of a small sigh of contentment. “You have no idea how alluring it is. I wonder…” Jax’s arm shot out as the demon grabbed Kelly around the throat.

  “Whoa!” I lunged forward. This was tanking south. Fast. “No need for that.”

  Azi turned to me slowly, Jax’s eyebrows rising. “This female attacked you. Harmed you.”

  I managed to pry the demon’s grip from Kelly’s neck, but I wasn’t able to nudge him back. “It’s fine.” I held up my wrist and wedged it between them. “I’m fine. She didn’t hurt me.”

  The expression on Jax’s face was so alien. It was his features—strong jaw, generous lips, and stormy gray eyes—but there was something not quite right. Something that belonged to Azirak. “She struck you.”

  I snorted and forced a laugh. Kelly was white as snow and hyperventilating, and I was worried she might pass out for real. “She barely grabbed me! A love tug. Nothing more.”

  Jax’s body turned away from Kelly, and the top right corner of his lip pulled upward. “You dare lie to me? Do you forget that I have his memories?”

  “Memories? What—” Shit. Of course. Kelly had hit me. Just once, when I was a teenager. Jax and I had wrecked one of his Uncle Rick’s old cars, and to keep Jax out of trouble, I’d taken the fall. Kelly had known I was covering for him, and she’d slapped me—assumedly to knock what she considered to be sense into me. I’d never breathed a word of it to Jax, but a few weeks ago, he’d seen it during a forced shared memory—a lovely party favor from the Archangel Michael. “That was a long time ago, Jax.”