Binding Fire: Paranormal Romance (Bad Boys of the Underworld Book 3) (9 page)

More gunshots; this time one hit him in his thigh. Muriel cried out in pain and he knew she felt the same pain as him. Apparently it was enough pain to wake her. Fresh anger filled him and he knew his eyes glowed with fire. “Fuck off,” he screamed back, not sure and not caring whether his pursuers could hear him.

He didn’t even know how many there were. There had been two in the cruiser chasing them, the telekinetic who had totaled Muriel’s car, and at least one other driver who had contributed to the roadblock.

Another bullet went through his knee, and his weight crashed to the hard earth. He landed on his good knee, Muriel still clutched close to his chest. He tried in vain to push himself up through the pain, but it was no use. The bullet had torn through something that was apparently necessary for standing.

One look at Muriel’s tense expression and he knew that the same agony he felt shot through her as well. They were surrounded and immobile. In other words, they were dead.

As he heard them approach, he gripped Muriel tighter. Her eyes revealed her pain, but her face remained calm. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as guilt flickered behind her lashes.

He was amazed. He had single-handedly destroyed her chances of becoming an angel ever again and he had done it with a smile. She should feel completely justified at his pain. She should revel in it, not regret it.

“I’m not.” He had to admit, if her face was the last thing he ever saw, his death wouldn’t be half bad.

“Drop the girl and step away,” said the man again.

Muriel’s eyes widened. “Samuel,” she whispered. Then louder, “Samuel! Don’t shoot!”

Samuel?
Fuck.

“Muriel, are you okay? Has the demon hurt you?” asked Samuel.

“Don’t shoot him anymore!” She spoke loudly, but Kier could feel the toll that the effort put on her.

“Lower your weapon,” Samuel said to his partners.

Kier shuffled his weight around to face the infamous Samuel.

He didn’t know much about the man. He had never cared enough about the apocalypse to find out more than the basics that every demon knew. It was prophesied that Samuel must live to prevent the premature apocalypse, and before finding out about his supernatural destiny, Samuel had been a high-level black-ops agent for the government. A lost soul from Purgatory was sent to watch over him after the prophecy was first revealed; after protecting him for the summer, she fell in love with him and now they fought against the apocalypse and Azazel together.

Oh, and the small fact that Muriel had gladly given up her wings for him.

That irked him more than he would’ve liked to admit. Was the lost soul the only one who had developed feelings for this Samuel? Had Muriel’s feelings for him clouded even an angel’s judgment?

Like Kier, Samuel was tall, with dark hair and brown eyes, but that was where the similarities ended. Samuel was loaded with muscle that came from a rigorous and brutal workout regimen. His skin was a light bronze, a combination from various ethnicities and lots of sunlight. If needed, he could pass as Arabic, Latino, or African-American. Ideal for a former spy and mercenary.

“Why can’t you stand? Did the demon do something to you?”

He was really hung up on the demon thing. Muriel opened her mouth to speak, but Kier knew that the pressure on her lungs hurt. “You just crashed her car and shot at her two dozen times, you idiot. Did you ever stop to think that the problem might be you?”

Samuel’s eyes narrowed and he gripped his gun tighter, though he didn’t raise it. “I’m bound to him, Samuel,” said Muriel. “Whatever happens to him, happens to me.”

“God damn it!” Apparently Samuel was only now concerned with the three bullet wounds that gushed blood from Kier’s torso and leg.

“Now he gets it. Fucking moron,” muttered Kier, earning him a soft punch on the arm from Muriel that hurt him much less than the pain they both felt from her moving her arm. “I’m worried about those ribs,” said Kier in a tone low enough that only she could hear.

“I would be more worried about convincing Samuel not to kill you. Play nice,” she warned.

Kier looked over to GI Joe.
Fat chance of that ever happening.

Suffering from three bullet wounds and a couple broken ribs in the middle of nowhere would’ve been preferable to the hell that Muriel was currently in the middle of.

She was the only thing keeping Samuel and Kier from murdering each other, and she was already tired enough from her wounds. Playing referee to their bickering was positively exhausting.

After Muriel convinced Samuel that Kier couldn’t be hurt without suffering the pain herself, he called off his men—well, two men and one woman—and quickly helped Muriel into the police cruiser to get medical attention.

The ride had been full of quiet tension. Muriel didn’t know the people with Samuel and did not want her secrets out in the open. She promised him that she would tell him everything as soon as they were alone.

Samuel spent most of the ride on the phone trying to locate a doctor used to the ways of the supernatural. One who wouldn’t run screaming when they saw Kier’s rapidly healing wounds and the handcuffs that caused Muriel to share his injuries.

She knew that he also shared the constant ache in her chest. Because it hurt her to talk or take deep breaths, Kier answered all the questions directed at her, usually with sarcastic or rude comments. He wasn’t winning over any friends.

Samuel led them through an abandoned office building until they reached what used to be a break room. Muriel hadn’t been paying attention to the road, so she had no idea where they were. They had driven about an hour. They were probably still in Texas, but pretty close to the New Mexico border.

Once inside the makeshift doctor’s office, Muriel saw a fit, middle-aged man waiting for them. Judging by his bag of equipment and stethoscope around his neck, he was the doctor. Muriel had never been to the doctor in the five years she’d been living among humanity, but she was pretty sure that most of them didn’t wear leather chaps and steel-toed boots.

She would have protested him treating her, but it hurt to speak, so she figured beggars couldn’t be choosers.

Kier was no beggar, though. “Does this guy even have a medical license? We can just take our chances at the hospital.”

His leg was better but it still hurt to walk on. Making it worse, Muriel leaned on him more than she would’ve liked and the added weight put pressure on his wounds. Even so, that pressure was still less than the ache in her chest.

“Well, you should have thought about the possibility of her getting injured when you bound her to you,” snapped Samuel.

It was just Kier, Samuel, the biker doctor, and her in the room, so Samuel was not holding himself back anymore. “I swear to God, the second I get those cuffs off her, your head is going to be rolling on the ground at my feet.”

Muriel felt the blood rush from her face at the thought. “It’s me who did it. Not him,” she defended weakly.

“Damn it, Muriel. How hard is it to not talk?” said Kier in response to the shot of pain.

In response, she lightly punched his bicep and raised an eyebrow, silently saying, “You don’t want me to express myself physically.”

His lips curled into a subtle smile at the threat.

Samuel obviously missed the playful undertones. “Don’t you talk to her like that, demon!”

The doctor cleared his throat. “I was called here for a reason?”

“This is Muriel, and the monstrosity she’s attached to is a demon. Those handcuffs linked them together somehow so they can feel each other’s pain. She might have some broken ribs and he has a few bullet wounds. We need to help her get better as quickly as possible and get the cuffs off. If we can’t get the cuffs off, we need to help the demon with the pain.”

“It’s nice to know you care.” Kier smirked, which earned another annoyed look from Samuel.

“Okay,” said the doctor. “I see that you like to aim high.” He turned to Muriel. “I’m James. I gather that it hurts to talk?”

Muriel nodded.

“How did she get hurt?” asked James.

“Dumbass over there had his telekinetic witch crash our car,” said Kier.

“Theory number two is that the demon did it,” shot back Samuel.

“It’s theory one,” said Muriel. “Well, not the dumbass part.”

“Stop talking,” said Kier and Samuel in unison. She could see the guilt pass over Samuel’s face at the confirmation of how she was injured.

“How did you even know where we were?” asked Kier. Muriel had wondered the same thing.

“A witch did a locator spell. We were just getting to the hotel you had her at when we saw you shove her into your car. We followed until we could push you into a roadblock, but you were supposed to stop, not go plowing into it.”

James interrupted. “Muriel, I’m going to apply pressure to various areas around your ribs and back. On a scale of one to ten, rate the pain.”

As the doctor’s hands started slowly to torture her, Kier did the talking, or screaming depending on the level of pain. “Fucking ten! Get your hands off her!” was the signal of the end of the test.

James stood back. “Well, the good news is that only one rib is broken. Normally, a good few weeks of bed rest would be the best medicine.”

“We don’t have a few weeks,” said Samuel.

What the hell does that mean? I don’t really have any plans coming up
. It was disturbing how rapidly her life had changed in the last few days. She expected Kier to ask, but he remained curiously silent.

“Well, there’s not much that I can offer. I’m only human. He, however,” he motioned to Kier, “could cure her in a heartbeat.”

Kier snorted at the implication as Muriel paled. “It will be a cold day in Hell before she drinks any more of my blood.”

“What the hell do you mean by ‘more’?” asked Samuel.

Muriel’s panic rose as she shot an accusing look at Kier. “He doesn’t know?” asked Kier, honestly shocked.

“Know what?” said an even more agitated Samuel.

She’d never been able to bring herself to admit just how thoroughly she had been defeated that night. Samuel and Ava had been trapped by the demons when Muriel located the small exit they could sneak out of. She promised them she could handle the demons on her own, knowing Samuel had to survive no matter what happened to her. If Ava had not been there, he certainly would have stayed and fought, but he was driven by the need to get his mate to safety.

She didn’t mind dying for Samuel. Besides, her self-sacrifice would result in her getting her wings back.

Samuel and Ava had already been far out of hearing range when the truly savage beating began. They never knew how close she had been to the death she craved.

Then Kier had crushed her.

The defeat made her embarrassed and bitter. Pride was hard enough to get used to, but the idea of wounded pride was a shattering blow to her psyche. She couldn’t bring herself to tell Samuel the full extent of her failure. As far as he knew, she’d barely made it out from the demons alive. Her unscathed appearance was curious, but Samuel was too grateful that everyone was alive to ask how Muriel survived. Instead of confessing what happened, she said her abrupt good-byes and set out on her own.

Kier didn’t have the same qualms as she did. “When she was trying to save your sorry ass five years ago, demons beat the shit out of her until she was within an inch of her life and then forced her to drink their blood as an added humiliation. That way they could ensure that she would never get back into Heaven. You seriously never even said thanks?”

“Kier, stop,” pleaded Muriel, but she could see by the stricken look on Samuel’s face that the damage had been done. “Don’t let him get to you, Samuel.”

“Is he telling the truth?” The silence in the air was answer enough. “How could you have kept this to yourself?”

“It’s not like it’s your fault. Don’t let him make you feel bad. He’s the one who forced his blood on me, so technically he’s the only one who should feel guilty.”

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say because Samuel immediately turned around and punched a hole in the drywall behind him. As he tore his hand from the crumbling drywall, he screamed, “I swear to God, demon, that will be your head one day!”

Kier was unfazed. “I’m shaking,” he dryly replied.

“Only a coward would hide behind a woman.” Samuel was dead serious as he said the words, not realizing how hurtful they were to Muriel.

Before she even spoke to defend herself, Kier stepped in. “This demon isn’t hiding behind anyone. A pissed-off fallen angel kidnapped me and used a spell to suck away my soul. Feel free to remove the handcuffs.”

“What does he mean by stealing his soul?”

“Not stealing as much as destroying.” As if there was really much of a difference. “As long as he’s attached to me, his soul is degrading.” She decided to leave out the part where Kier apparently didn’t believe it was working and was using the bond as an excuse to try to get into her pants.

Samuel calmed down upon hearing this, but he still muttered, “That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard.”

“Well, things weren’t quite going as planned. I was going to cut him loose before we, um, ran into you.”

“She doesn’t need you bitching at her,” asserted Kier. “We’re out of here. Are you giving us a car or am I stealing one?”

“Kier, would you just cut him some slack for one minute?”

“No. He’s been nothing but a dick to me. He shot me, broke your ribs, and accused me of hiding behind a woman to protect myself. I’m still not sure who should be more insulted by that one—you or me. So, please, let’s go and find some other way to heal you. You can’t possibly consider these people friends.”

~~~~~

Samuel was prone to rage. He knew it and everyone around him knew it. The amount of self-restraint required to keep from punching the demon in the face was monumental. His fist still hurt from punching the wall, yet he couldn’t stop his fingers from clenching in anticipation of feeling the demon’s smug-looking face crunching under his knuckles.

He was a protector by nature. He joined the military to protect the country, and now it was his sole job to protect the world. He couldn’t stand this cocky son of a bitch telling him that not only had he failed to protect Muriel but that he was the reason she was in pain.

He’d never been close to Muriel. She never allowed it. He saw her in brief glimpses throughout his life in times of heightened danger but never spoke to her until the demons came for him five years ago.

He’d known nothing of the underworld, demons, angels, and various other supernatural beings before Muriel. She had protected him through the darkest parts of his life. Even more than that, she’d brought him Ava.

Ava was unlike anyone he had ever met. She knew no fear for men or demons alike and had a staunch moral code. Sure, her moral compass hadn’t always pointed true north, but she made up for it.

Ava had been born in France two hundred years ago during the French Revolution. She had little but was resourceful and smart enough to con and thieve her way to a modestly comfortable existence. At least until she was murdered in her own home by a business owner who was threatened by her sway over his customers.

For her ambiguous nature, she was sentenced to serve two hundred years in Purgatory, assisting the angels in whatever they needed until she proved herself worthy of redemption. Muriel gave her one last mission. Protect Samuel.

Ava protected him, but he protected her as well. Together they traveled the world, researching the meaning behind the prophecy that had brought them together.

Muriel had come to him shortly after Ava had been sent, worried that Samuel and Ava alone were not enough to fight off the demons coming for them. She had been right.

After killing the human who had been sent after him, Muriel had been rendered mortal herself as punishment, though this never seemed to bother her. She was convinced that she would soon be back in Heaven.

Once again, Muriel had saved him when Ava had been taken. Muriel had begged him to let Ava go and keep himself safe, but he knew that he couldn’t go on without Ava. She was his soulmate. Muriel helped him save Ava but had never been the same after that mission. He only saw her once after that night when, a week later, she knocked on his door to say good-bye, refusing to offer any explanation.

He knew that as long as he was being hunted, he couldn’t stay in one spot for long. He made sure that he could contact Muriel by phone and email and let her go.

He assumed she was searching out some way to gain back her status as an angel. It had never occurred to him that she needed his help. He had never considered that she could be driven by vengeance. It seemed like such a human emotion.

It was too much to take in. He couldn’t allow himself to accept that her pain was his fault.

“Muriel, I need you to be straight with me. Do you want my help?”

“Samuel, I really don’t know if you can help me. I was about to release Kier anyway and then I was going back to my life,” she maintained.

“What about the prophecy?” he asked. The demon stiffened at the question.
What did he know about it?

“I’m mortal now. There is nothing I can do to protect you,” she said with a sadness poorly hidden behind her eyes. It was a familiar sadness for him. It was the sadness of a former soldier who no longer had the ability to fight during a battle raging around them. How had he never seen this before?