Released (Eternal Balance) (10 page)

I threw up my hands. “Nothing at all. You can take it back, toss it down a drain somewhere, or use it in some new age jewelry setting. I honestly don’t care. I have one goal and only one goal.”

She watched me and gnawed on the corner of her bottom lip. For an endless minute, she said nothing, only stared.

When I couldn’t take it anymore, I said, “Please. I think…I think you’re my last hope to get him back.”

She looked from me to Azi, who was finally picking Jax’s body off the coffee house floor under the watchful eye of the other two witches. When she turned back to me, I saw sympathy. “Fine,” she said after a moment. “I’ll help you. But I want something in return…”

“Anything,” I said. And I meant it, too. Teaming up with Van was just what I needed. With her help, I’d be able to free Jax. I’d be able to save him. For the first time in weeks, it felt as though I could breathe.

Chapter Fifteen

Azirak/Jax

Azi didn’t trust the exchange that was taking place outside, but it had no choice other than to remain where it was. The two witches that stayed behind—the redhead who had removed the spell, and a tall blonde who regarded us with barely contained contempt—stood guard.

Sam and Van were outside for close to ten minutes, and when they came back into the building, Sam was smiling. Van pushed past her and waved to the two women. “We’re good here.” They stepped away, their reluctance like a ten-ton weight in the air, and disappeared around the counter.

She turned to me. “I’m agreeing to help.”

Neither Azi nor I missed the not-so-subtle flicker of her gaze in Sam’s direction, and I had to wonder if they’d made a deal to double cross the demon. Azi wondered, too, but wasn’t concerned. It would keep the stone regardless of the witch’s plan. “You will return the stone to me?”

“I’ll take you to where the stone is being kept. It’s protected.”

“Protected how?” the demon asked, wary.

Van rolled her eyes, and I couldn’t miss now how much like Sadie she looked. Azi noticed, too. The demon flashed the image of her lying at my feet, eyes wide and blood pooling beneath her, followed by a spike of rage. “Duh. By magic.”

“And in exchange?” Nothing was free. The demon had learned that through the hard lessons I’d picked up on the streets. On my own at seventeen, surviving had taken compromise and sacrifice.

Van looked at Sam. “In exchange, I want protection. From these things you say are coming after me.”

“Of course,” Azi said. “If I let them kill you, I wouldn’t find the stone.”

Sam’s disgust was obvious. It floated off her, thick tendrils twisting into the air. Van, on the other hand, was smug. She grinned and winked. “There’s something else.”

“Such as?”

“I want my magic back.”

“I don’t understand.”

“When Sadie—” Sam cringed then went on. “When Malphi attacked Van to steal her magic, she didn’t finish the ritual, obviously, but she did get a good chunk of her magic.”

Van folded her arms and fixed me with a determined stare. “You want what belongs to you. Then I want what belongs to me.”

The demon’s irritation was like a brick tied around my neck.

Don’t say anything stupid…

“Well?” Van pressed.

A barrage of images stormed through my head. Most came too quickly to make sense of them, but one stood out. It showed Azi, still in control of my body, standing over Van as she clutched her bleeding throat and gasped for air.

If I didn’t do something, that vision would become reality, and we’d lose whatever chance we had at getting the stone. I couldn’t let that happen—even if it meant doing the unthinkable.

Agree with her for fuck’s sake. She doesn’t need to know everything. You have no intention of giving the stone back to her? Big fucking deal. You don’t need to advertise it.

The demon’s shock hit me hard. It couldn’t believe I’d suggested it lie.

We’ve got a common goal. Sam. This is going to help her. To keep her safe. From here on out, we have to work together. As much as I hate you, it’s time for a truce.

“Agreed,” it said, and I knew it was talking to not only Van, but me as well. I’d just made a deal with the devil.

…

I was in the white room again. Van insisted we get a full night’s sleep before venturing out, saying the stone wouldn’t be easy to get to. She even let us crash at her friend’s place.

I had no concept of time while locked inside, but it felt like an eternity when Azi finally showed himself to me. “You are restless,” it said. The shadows wafted from its vaguely human form.

“Ya think?” I snapped. I had a flash of my own—my hands wrapped around the demon’s smoky neck as they choked the life from it and took back my body.

“Your thoughts are pointless. You cannot kill me.”

“Stay out of my fucking head.”

It regarded me for a moment and settled in the corner, once again beside the pencil. “You are growing weaker.”

I wanted to argue, but the truth was, it was right. I sensed it. It was like I’d gone days without eating or sleeping. There was a heaviness in me, the kind that came from mental and physical exhaustion. “Sorry, shithead. If you think it’s going to be that easy to get rid of me, think again.”

The demon sighed. Its form solidified for a second—just long enough to give me a peek at my own shadowy face—before reverting back to smoke. “I take no pleasure in your pain,
Jax
.”

“I’m not in pain.” It was a lie and we both knew it. The demon felt what I felt, just like I felt what it felt. It’d started earlier this morning. A slight tremor in my gut. The intensity had been slowly increasing. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

“I wish that were true. Contrary to what you might think, I will miss you when you perish. I do not wish to be rid of you. If there was a way to stop it, to keep this from happening and spare her the pain—”

Fucker. I’d never wanted to hit anything as bad as I did right then. “Maybe we should focus on the stone? On keeping Sam safe?”

“Agreed.”

“You don’t trust the witch.”

“Of course not. Witches are not to be trusted.”

“Sadie was a witch,” I said with a sneer.

A rush of anger, followed by the smallest burst of sadness. “Then I suppose it was appropriate that Malphi was born into the body. She was not to be trusted, either.”

I balled my fists tight and held my breath for a moment before blowing out slowly. “If Malphi was so untrustworthy, why the fuck am I being punished for taking the bitch out?”

The demon’s anger spiked. Its shadowy form shot forward but stopped abruptly, inches from my face. “Mind your tone, human.” It let the threat hang before backing down and retreating to the other side of the small room. “It is true that Malphi was rash and unpredictable. She had betrayed me in many ways through the years. But, as I said, she was mine. You cannot take what belongs to a demon and not pay the price.”

“What about Sam,” I countered. “This is killing her. What is she paying for?”

“Sadly, Samantha Merrick suffers because of the connection between you. It has nothing to do with me locking you away.”

“The hell it doesn’t!”

The demon sighed. “I told you, it would have happened anyway. There is not enough space in this body for both of us indefinitely. It is regrettably unavoidable. You will fade.” It leaned a little closer. “If I were merciful, I would destroy you now instead of letting you linger, but I will not.
That
is your punishment.”

Azi was in for a surprise if it thought I was going down without a fight—and it did. I felt its conviction with every pump of the heart within my own body. With every word. I didn’t know if it was something I could fight, but I’d be damned if I didn’t try. Still, I couldn’t rule out the possibility all together. It wasn’t just me I had to worry about. “And let’s say you’re right. That I do fade. What happens to Sam?”

“I will watch over her for as long as she stays neutral.”

“Neutral? What the fuck does that mean?”

I couldn’t see the details of its face, but I got the impression that the demon was frowning. “If there is a chance she could be used against me…”

“What? What happens if someone tries to use her against you?”

Azi turned to me, and it was my own face, so much clearer through the shadows than it had been, that frowned back at me. “Please pray that doesn’t occur.”

Chapter Sixteen

Sam

The first thing I was aware of when I woke was a horrible kink in my back. Van had given me the couch to sleep on, and as far as furniture went, it was the least comfortable place I’d ever crashed. Springs poked up through the worn cushions, and the smell emanating from the fabric vaguely reminded me of wet dog and stale cigarettes.

But while the abused muscles and less-than-pleasant scent were disturbing, the dream I’d been having more than made up for that. Jax and I had been on a beach, and things had just started to get interesting. God. The things that boy could do with his hands…

Unfortunately, along with the increasing pain in my back, I got the distinct impression someone was watching me. I forced my eyes open and met a familiar pair of gray peepers.

“What the—” I scrambled back and smacked up against a barrier—the arm of the couch.

“You were dreaming,” Azi said. It watched me for a moment before leaning forward again, this time coming so close that Jax’s lips nearly touched mine. It inhaled deeply and smiled. “I wonder,” it whispered, Jax’s voice low and seductive. “What were you dreaming about?”

“I—” It wasn’t Jax hovering close enough to smell—to taste—but it was his body. And his body had always wreaked havoc on my central nervous system. My heart pounded, about a million miles a minute, and my throat was suddenly dry as dust.

“As I said before… I could help, you know.” The sparkle of mischief in its eyes combined with Jax’s airy, playfully seductive tone, blotted out everything. “Scratch the itch you can’t quite get to.”

I opened my mouth, but the words wouldn’t come. That wasn’t to say I was soundless. A small whimper escaped, and it was obvious Azi found it amusing.

“I’ve always preferred anger. It has such a satisfying aftertaste. But you…” It inhaled again, letting Jax’s eyes flutter closed with a low moan. When they opened, they were filled with a hunger that stole my breath away. “The lust you give off for this form is delectable. I can barely contain myself.”

I swallowed hard and sat up, laying my hand flush against Jax’s chest. With a shove that took more willpower than I was proud of, I said, “Any attraction I feel is for Jax, not you. Not that
form
.”

The demon chuckled and moved in close again. The action was equal parts desire and dominance. “If that is true, then your attraction is for me, as well. You desire the human, but my presence contributes to who he is. Are you so confident that you would feel the same way had I never existed?”

“One hundred and twenty percent.” It made a logical point. Azi and Jax were so tightly wound together, but I could always tell where one ended and the other began. The way they looked at me, their expressions—the way they each kissed…

A wicked grin spread across Jax’s lips. “You’re thinking about the hotel.” It brought Jax’s hand up and played with the edge of my T-shirt, slipping his index finger beneath the material to trace small circles against my skin. I couldn’t help it. Goose bumps jumped to attention all over my body, and instead of leaning away, I pushed forward.

The one and only time we’d been together, I’d basically had to accept them both. Together. As a whole. I’d willingly submitted to having a freaky, supernatural three-way just to get a fix of Jax.

But that was fine. I knew what was Jax and what was Azi. I knew how to separate the two. The question was, how desperate for Jax was I? Obviously very, since I hadn’t been able to—or maybe I hadn’t
wanted
to—make the distinction at the cabin.

“The girl is asleep.” It brought Jax’s lips to my ear. The tip of his tongue skimmed my lobe, and the warmth of his breath streamed along my skin. The sensation nearly sent me rocketing off the couch. “I can scratch that itch of yours.” A volcanic sensation erupted across my skin. “I’ll even let him
watch
.”

Reality slammed into me like a semi doing ninety down the highway. The warmth that had only seconds ago flooded my entire system turned to ice, and the air took on a stale quality. Despite the tremor of anger and disgust, I kept it together. With a forceful nudge, I said, “I think I’ll have to pass.”

Jax’s mouth quirked, and his head tilted just a hair. With the same level of cocky confidence I’d seen in him his entire life, the demon said, “For now.”

“If you two are doing anything funky over there, I’m going to turn you both into frogs.”

Across the room, Van was standing in the doorway. She had her right hand up to partially obscure her eyes. The demon flashed me one last smoldering gaze, then turned to our host. “I thought you had no magic.”

“I don’t have much. But I promise, I have enough for that if it’ll shield me from watching you two screw.”

I nudged the demon away a little more and threw my legs over the edge of the couch. “I think you’re safe. Until there’s a human driving the bus, I’ve got no interest.”

“Good.” Van dangled a set of car keys and grabbed her jacket from the back of one of the chairs. “Then I assume you’re ready to rock and roll?”

Ready? I was past ready.

…

Van’s car was a tiny, ancient two door Ford with no bumper and huge burn holes in the seats. We’d elected—okay, it was my choice—to take her car and leave Kelly’s behind. The less I drove it, the more of a chance of it being returned in one piece. The demon grumbled from the back, where it had wedged Jax’s large body. There was a smell, too. I couldn’t quite place it, but it reminded me of the old cheese in the back of our fridge.

I shifted and leaned to my right. “So where exactly are we going?”

“Duh.” Van rolled her eyes. “To get the stone, remember?”

Between her and the demon in the backseat, I was going to lose my mind. “And
where
would that be, exactly?”

“Not far from here.”

“You said it was protected. By magic,” Azi said. “How do you mean? What type of magic?”

“If you’re subtly asking if you can steal it out from under me as soon as I’m not looking, then the answer is no. Only I can remove it.”

Azi gave a soft chuckle then leaned between our two seats. To Van, it said, “I’m fairly certain I could remove you.”

“Okay,” I snapped and pushed Jax’s body into the back. “No one is stealing anything or removing anyone. Can we at least try to keep this civil?”

With a slight huff, Van stepped harder on the gas and sent the small car surging forward.

We drove the rest of the way—about an hour and change—in silence and without bloodshed. When the car finally stopped, we were in the parking lot of the Pennington State Park. It was just after three in the afternoon, and the sun had long since ducked behind the clouds, making the chill in the air more prominent.

Azi extracted Jax’s body from the backseat with a grumble. “Now what?”

“Now…” Van closed her own door. She pocketed the keys and pulled out her cell. With a quick glance at the screen, she sighed. “We have to wait.”

“Wait?” I was confused, not to mention annoyed. We didn’t exactly have an abundance of time to play with. “Wait for what? You said the stone was here.”

“Technically, I didn’t say that.” The grin Van flashed was mischievous, but if the expression of fury on Jax’s face was any indication, the demon wasn’t amused.

“Van,” I warned, and I grabbed a handful of Jax’s shirt. I yanked back as hard as I could. I did manage to move his body, but the demon held its ground.

“Relax.” She waved her hand in the direction of the main trail. “The stone itself isn’t here, but the key to unlocking it is.”

“All right,” Azi said. I could hear the skepticism in Jax’s voice. “Then let’s stop wasting time and get it.”

“Yeah. See, there’s a little catch.”

“Catch?” If she wasn’t careful, I wouldn’t be able to spare her Azi’s wrath—not to mention my own.

“I told you, the stone is protected by magic—that includes the stone itself and all ways to
get
the stone. We can retrieve the key tonight, after dark, but the stone can only be removed on the first day of the full moon.” I started to protest, but she held up her hand. “The full moon is in less than two days.”

I glanced back at the gate, at the sign with the hours and cringed. “They close at dusk.”

“Then we should probably get in there and find a place to lay low for a while.”

…

Van had taped a sign to her car window stating that it had broken down and that she’d return in the morning with a tow truck. After that we hunkered down in the Out of Order bathrooms at the other end of the park. The sun was almost down, and Azi was restless, pacing from one end of the bathroom to the other. Not that I could blame it. I felt the same way.

As if the smell wasn’t bad enough, being cooped up with Azi and Van was more than enough to send me binge drinking for a year. It was a constant back and forth of barely veiled threats.

“So when it’s dark, then what?” The silence was starting to get to me, the tension in the small space thick enough to smother what little patience I had left. Van was acting strangely. She kept sneaking glances at Azi and me when she thought we weren’t looking. I started wondering if maybe she planned on screwing me over. “How do we get the key?”

She hesitated, and I saw it. An unmistakable flinch. “The key should be fairly easy to retrieve. It’s in a hollowed out tree just north of here.”

I wasn’t the only one who saw it. Azi growled and grabbed the witch by the front of the shirt, spinning her back against the closed stall door. The sound echoed in the small space and made me cringe just a little. “What are you hiding?”

Van’s face paled. Her mouth fell open, and her shoulders shook with a sob. She twisted her head in my direction. “Sam…”

“Don’t look to me for help. Azi is right. You’re hiding something,” I said, doing my best to keep calm. I was furious that she’d lied about something, but I was also worried about what the demon would do. It was livid, barely refraining from tearing her head from her shoulders.

“I’m—”

The demon gave her a good shake. “Answer me!”

She threw her hands up in a show of surrender. “Okay! Okay…”

Azi let go of her but didn’t back away. “Speak.”

“There is no key.”

I didn’t know Van. We weren’t friends or anything. But for some reason, I still felt betrayed. “Why the hell would you lie about that? I told you how important this was. And your magic—”

“That’s why we’re here,” she said, pleading. “I didn’t lie about helping you. I
will
. But I told you, I want my magic. There’s a locket hidden in that tree I was telling you about. I need it.”

“Why wouldn’t you just say that?” I glanced at Azi, who still hadn’t backed away. If it wasn’t careful, the demon would give Van a heart attack.

Van’s expression hardened. She turned from me and fixed her gaze on the demon in Jax’s skin. “I wasn’t sure you’d let me come here. You’re obsessed with what you want. With getting the stone. This has no bearing on your task.”

“I made you a promise,” I said, annoyed.

Van was still looking at Azi. “And you? Would you have let me come get it, knowing that it was the only way to get my magic back?”

Without hesitating, Azi shook Jax’s head. “Of course not. I do not care about you or your magic. Only the stone is of importance.”

Van glared at me, justified, and I sighed. I yanked hard on the back of Jax’s shirt and dragged the demon away from her. “No one is double crossing you,” I said, gently pulling her away from the stall. “You have my word. Now can we please just be honest with each other?”

She watched me for a moment, then nodded slowly. Just once. “Okay. Fine. I wasn’t lying about the other parts. There are certain conditions under which the stone can be removed. It’s at the Dandus Nature Preserve, tucked away in an underwater cave, removable on the first night of the full moon.”

“Underwater cave?” While I’d never been terrified of the water, semi-recent events—almost drowning while trapped in my car the day Jax came back into town—had made me a little gun shy. “How underwater are we talking here?”

“The cave itself isn’t actually submerged. Just the entrance. It’s not hard to get to, but like the locket, it can only be removed after dusk—and by a select few.”

“And what does this ‘selection’ entail?” Azi took a menacing step toward Van.

“First off, you have to be human to remove the stone, so don’t go getting any ideas, demon-boy.” She pulled her jacket tighter.

“And second?” I asked.

“There are specific requirements.”

“Which you have no intention of telling us about,” Azi finished for her with a growl.

“Sorry, demon-boy. Don’t trust you as far as I could throw you—especially since you just admitted to not caring about our agreement. If you want that stone, you need to keep me close—and alive.”

I had no intention of screwing Van over, and I intended to make sure Azi didn’t either. “So what do we have to do now?”

She walked to the door and leaned around the corner. When she pulled herself back inside, she was wearing a wicked grin. “Now we go get ourselves a locket.”