Demon Chained (Shadowfae Chronicles) (33 page)

Not as much, anyway. My lashes still stick together with grime. I blink, and a white plastered ceiling mists into view, a golden downlight shining in my eyes.

Kane's house.

I jerk upright, scrabbling for the lamp. Here it is, condensation beading on its surface in the air-conditioning. I grab it, and swiftly glance around. Pale curtains, sun shining in the window, TV black and silent. She's not here.

Kane smiles faintly at me from the couch, his golden hair gleaming. "Have a good time?"

Ice threads through my veins. I lick my lips, and I can still taste her in the salt. God, if you're there, let her not have damned herself for me.

I scramble up and back away, shielding the lamp against my shredded shirt. Blood smears, green with remnants of Joey's poison. That seems so long ago. So unimportant.

My voice is thick. "Where is she?"

"Why don't you ask her?" Kane shrugs, that expectant smile curving his lips, like he's waiting for me to get the joke.

My split knuckles itch. I just want to punch him. But I don't know what else to do but take the bait. I cough to clear the muck. "Jewel, come out, darlin'."

I wait for that sweet puff of smoke, the too-pleasant warmth of seeing her again, a dirty, wonderful piece of her mind.

But she's still not here. It didn't work. She's gone.

Horrid cocktails stir in my guts. Huh? Maybe she's still free, and doesn't have to appear when I ask. A tingle of regret sweeps my spine, and I hate it. I should be pleased for her . . .

Kane giggles, wicked. "Oops. Let me try that. Jewel, come see."

The lamp heats in my hands, warming my ripped palm. Smoke hisses from the spout, misty and white, and begins to thicken.

Fuck.

I swap things
, she said, what seems like a hundred hours ago at her place. And now she's swapped herself for me.

She's Kane's, just like I am, and for her that doesn't mean eternity in a fire-charred plague landfill. It means back into the lamp. Kane's lamp.

Watery spew churns in my stomach. I want to be sick. I want to smack her pretty face, shake her, scream
what the fuck have you done?
I want to kiss her until I suffocate and promise her on my knees that I'll never forget this.

But all I can do is watch her coalesce.

She shakes that inky hair, blinking. "Tam? Where are we? What the— oh." She swallows, her smudged face paling. "Shit."

Kane stands fluidly, sparks jumping from his hair. He doesn't have to say anything. He just extends his hand to me.

My arm's never been so heavy. I have to force it to move. The summer sun runs a cheeky glint around the lamp's brass rim, like a sly magical wink.

Unwilling, I drop the lamp into his palm.

Kane holds it aloft, admiring the light gloating on the brass. "A little late, Tam. But I'll forgive that. Seeing as I like you."

Jewel straightens her spine, squares her shoulders, takes a deep breath. But her gaze seeks mine, wide, and something wild and besotted fizzes over in my heart. She doesn't let fear stop her, this girl who was mine. God, I like that about her.

My chest hurts, like my lungs are about to explode into my throat, and uselessly I search for something to say that'll help her. "Look, I—"

"If you apologize to me one more time, I'm gonna punch your face in." She strides up to Kane and folds her arms. "Kane, I presume."

He shrugs, never taking his gaze from the lamp.

"Okay, then. Here's the rules, so it doesn't get tedious. I don't do world domination or holocausts. No cosmic stuff, either, no weather or eclipses or plagues of locusts. Basically I do persuasion and stealing. Things and people. Anything beyond that, you're wasting your time. And if you want any dirty stuff, just remember, I have teeth—"

"Noted." Kane strokes the lamp with a covetous blue fingernail, sparks dancing. "You can go now."

I want to grab her, put my body between her and him. He's up to something.

Jewel gapes, ash falling from her hair. "Come again?"

Kane's brows flicker, and purple flame licks his fingers. He lowers the lamp. "Just get out of my house before I get annoyed."

Don't need to be asked twice. I slip my hand into hers and tug. "Great. We'll be off. See ya."

But she shakes me off. "I don't get it. Did I miss something? Is there a problem?"

Kane sets the lamp carefully on his coffee table. His hair floods azure, and his nails darken to black . . .

I force a smile. "C'mon, baby. Time to go."

Kane blinks. Lightning flashes, shattering the air with thunder.

My pulse jerks awake, and my bowels squeeze like I'm about to piss myself. Before I know I've moved, I'm halfway into a mad scuttle for cover. Holy Christ. That frightened the crap out of me.

Jewel yelps, and jumps backwards into me. I wrap a shaking arm around her from behind. Me, I think he's made his point.

He doesn't need her. She can't do anything that he can't do himself. He's just collecting. Hoarding. Hiding her away from his enemies.

And now he's letting her go. Sweet Jesus, I think it's finally my lucky day.

Kane's blue hair shrinks back to blond. He flicks his fingers together, and a locust jumps out, hopping across the floor with its long green legs twitching.

Weather, locusts. Show-off. "Show us the eclipse, then," I mutter. "I'd like to see that."

A black stare. "Careful what you conjure."

Jewel grips my arm with both hands. I can feel her pulse, her breathing against my chest. "Let me get this straight, Kane. You're letting me go?"

"Think of it as a holiday," replies Kane smoothly. "One day, I'll call for you, Jewel. And you'll come. Until then . . ." He waves a hand, and turns aside to pick up the TV remote. "Do what you like."

"I don't get it—"

"It's empty in there." Kane pokes listlessly at the remote, snowflakes drifting from his hair. "Lonely. Not nice. But if you'd rather . . ."

Well, I'll be damned. He finally gets it.

"Oh, no." I push in front of her, guarding her with my body. It's all I've got, and you know what? For all its issues, it still works okay. "This is just fine. If you don't mind. C'mon, baby, let's go."

Jewel swallows. "Then why? What did you even want me for?"

Kane flicks his shiny black gaze at me and back again. "He knows."

And I guess I do. Someone tells you to. Or you want the money, or to stop someone else getting the loot. But sometimes it's just for the sheer hell of it.

Sometimes, you just want things. And that's when it's the most fun of all.

I turn her around, and slide her hand into mine. She looks at Kane for a long moment. Then she lifts her chin. "Fine. Be seeing you." And she lights a brave grin at me, and together we walk out.

***

Chapter Thirty-Four

Kane's courtyard is humid and bright, the sun leaching moisture off the lawn and sparkling in the fountain's spray. I push the gate open, and once we're outside I relax my hand in hers, so she can let go if she wants to.

She doesn't.

We wander up the street, cars flashing by, a warm breeze freshening the air. A kid skating past on rollerblades gives me a funny look, and for the first time since I got back, I look down at myself. For a guy who's spent the morning in hell, I don't look so bad. My skin's spongy, and that damn hole in my side is weeping again, and bits of goo crust my T-shirt. I could use a shower. But I don't want to leave her. Maybe I can get one at her place.

Maybe she'll walk away, and I'll never see her again.

For a while, we don't speak.

"Been a few hours." She studies the street. "Gavain should be back soon."

I squint, unsure. There's a distant strawberry ache in my heart that wasn't there a few minutes ago, like an echo that's almost faded away. Somehow, I know Gavain's not coming back. Not today. Maybe never. "Or maybe . . ."

"What?"

"Nothing. Five bucks he's drinking himself sick at the early opener."

She laughs, that crystalline tinkle I love. "He's already sick, Tam. For you."

That discomfort again, curling in my guts like a beat-up snakeshifter. "Look, about him—"

"It's okay." She flicks a little scowl at me. "I meant what I said. I'm not your problem."

I make up my mind, and it's like my muscles grew twofold, the weight of gravity seems so insignificant. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"In that case—" I stop, and pull her into my arms. She giggles, but she doesn't wriggle free. I kiss her sunshine smile, and she kisses me back, long and warm and wonderful.

Cars sweep by. Pedestrians hustle. No one gives a shit. Except us. Except me.

"In that case, here's what we'll do, witch girl." I don't want to move my lips away from hers, so I talk between kisses and she doesn't seem to mind. "We'll go home. I'll have a shower so I don't bleed slime all over the fucking place. And then—"

She twines her fingers in my hair and gives me that sexy little grin. "And then?"

I cup her bottom in my hands, so smooth and pretty beneath the silk. "Then, we're going to have a long, thorough discussion about what to do next."

"Jesus, you never quit. I don't do french fries, okay?" She sighs, mock exasperation. But by the twinkle in her eyes, she catches my drift.

What a wonderful woman. "Then I'll buy you some. Come on."

*********

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Check out the rest of the series.
The other books in this series are:

Hellcursed
(a short free prequel)

Shadowfae

Shadowglass

Poison Kissed

Blood Cursed

Cherry Kisses
(a novella)

Keep reading, because there's an excerpt from Shadowfae after this.

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***

Shadowfae (excerpt)

The dark shape in the bed didn't stir.

I trailed tingling fingers over silken sheets, carpet soft and luxurious beneath my feet. I inhaled crisp male cologne and sweat, and it made me drunk with excitement. The French window lay open, city lights glittering beyond, citrus summer breeze teasing the pale lace curtains. They drifted over me like a lover's sweet touch, and I burned. If I didn't have this man soon, I'd spend the night sick and sorry. And I didn't even know who he was.

Sometimes I feel so cheap.

My demon lord, Kane, calls it
rapture
. Our victims, if they live long enough, call it the sexiest thing they've ever seen, which of course, is the point. It's easier to suck out someone's soul if their attention is elsewhere. Only problem is, it's the succubus equivalent of a raging hard-on, and frankly, it's humiliating to slaver like a sex-starved ghoul over some fat chauvinist gangster or unwashed backroom drug dealer just because they were foolish enough to cross Kane and his charming minions, the Valenti crime family.

But it's my job. I'm in thrall to Kane for a thousand years. I was just glad no one could see me this time.

I crawled toward him, arousing my scent so it drifted over him like a sweet cloud. The sheet slid off his massive shoulder, baring his chest, and I bent to sniff his stubbled throat, my hair brushing his face.

He didn't stir.

The dark smell of his skin made me moan, and I slid my tongue along his warm collarbone, desperate to taste him. My breasts ached as I pressed into him, only my thin tank top separating us.

He didn't even twitch.

I dragged my fingers through his lank fair hair, and his head fell sideways, limp, no breath forcing from his slack mouth.

My racing heart missed a beat. I fumbled on the bedside table, switching on the dim lamp. His hard features lay softened in death, his tanned skin already pale.