Embraced (The Eternal Balance #2)(11)
Forearm braced behind Jax’s neck to keep him down, it delivered a series of harsh blows. “Take her outside,” the demon snarled.
I spun to see that a second demon had appeared and stepped between Jax and me. Its eyes—narrow, soulless black orbs—traveled over my body, from tip to toe, hungry and assessing. “Submit, or spend an eternity in agony,” it said.
I had no idea what the hell it was talking about and didn’t care. I ducked as it made a swipe in my direction, then spun away, losing my bearings for a moment. I’d managed to avoid it, but the demon wasn’t giving up. Another attempt and its hands wrapped like a vise around my arm and dragged me close. Putrid breath wafted around me.
“Sammy!” Jax yelled. He pushed off the floor, throwing the other demon off balance. But it recovered quickly, and just as he got to his feet, it charged. They both went down again.
“He will not stop us from taking you,” growled the demon attached to my arm. Its grip bit into my skin, bringing involuntary tears to my eyes. If it squeezed much harder, my arm was likely to pop off.
“News for you, *.” I struggled—in vain—and it tightened its grip. “You’re not taking me anyplace.” I had no clue why I was suddenly catnip to these things, but I had no intention of submitting to a damn thing.
“I killed a Son of Cain a hundred years ago.” The thing faced me and with a wicked sneer. “They break as easily as humans. You have no choice.”
Anger welled up inside me, and even though I knew it was pointless, I lashed out with my free hand, punching and clawing at whatever I could hit. One of my flailing blows caught it in the eye. The demon cursed and stumbled back, releasing my arm, and I tore across the room.
As I neared him, Jax was climbing to his feet again. He ducked, missing what looked like a powerful blow by inches, and pivoted, bringing both fists upward. The motion connected with the underside of the enemy’s jaw.
He readied, probably expecting it to come at him again, but it didn’t. It recovered and charged me instead. Jax bolted forward, but the demon was closer.
Everything went silent and the entire room slowed. A single blow. I felt the impact, felt my feet actually leaving the floor, then my body shot sideways and hit the wall with brutal force. Everything grew hazy. A sound split the air, a horrible noise that could have scared the devil. It shook the walls and rattled the fixtures, and when my vision cleared, I got chills when I spied the source.
It’d come from Jax.
He was on the demon that threw me in an instant. Everything was tearing flesh and splatters of gore. Eerie sounds of destruction followed on the heels of that agonized howl. The thing put up a fight, but was no match for his unadulterated rage. When he was done there was nothing left. The demon was a pile of unrecognizable pulp.
Satisfied, Jax whirled on the next one. It watched me with a hungry gleam and an excited shiver. I scooted backward as the demon lunged, and Jax charged. They crashed to the ground, narrowly missing me as I stumbled up and dove behind the couch for cover.
But the demon wasn’t interested in Jax. It wanted me. Badly. Bucking Jax off, it made another attempt to grab me, launching itself over the couch and latching on to a handful of my hair. It jerked back hard, and I couldn’t help it. I screamed.
“It belongs to us,” the thing said with a growl, giving another, brutal yank. I had no choice other than to follow the momentum, rising to my feet as tears stung my eyes.
“She belongs to me,” Jax roared. There was a rush of air, and a half second later the pressure at my temple disappeared. He grasped the demon’s head on either side and twisted. One good snap and its hands fell slack as it crumpled to the floor. Jax opened his mouth, but something charged between us, knocking us apart.
“Death belongs to you, traitor.” A new demon barreled into the fray, snarling at Jax. Jesus. These things just kept coming.
It traded blows with him halfway across the room. Jax threw his whole body forward, forehead crashing into the demon’s with a resounding crack. It stumbled back, and he followed through with a blow to the side of its head, then another one, even more brutal than the first, to its throat. But just as Jax was about to deliver the deathblow, something exploded through the large picture window in the dining room.
A blur streaked across the room. I cried out a warning—it was headed for Jax—but it moved too fast. It collided with him and the other demon and knocked them apart. The newcomer pivoted and turned on Jax’s attacker. “We are not here to harm our Lord,” it growled.
The first one made a sound deep in its throat but backed away. Seemingly satisfied, the newcomer stood, glaring at Jax, then turned to me.
“Don’t even think about it,” Jax warned.
Its gaze lingered on me for a moment longer, lips twisted and teeth bared, before it relaxed and switched its focus to Jax. “Fear not, Lord Azirak. We have dispatched the enemy and mean you no harm.”
“Could have fooled me,” I mumbled. The place was a mess. Broken furniture and spattered gore decorated a large part of the room. And the smell? It was like a thousand piles of roadkill.
The demon’s gaze swiveled back to me. “We understand now why Lord Azirak keeps you, but…” It growled and came another step closer. “Maintain your distance. Malphi will not tolerate your stink on him.”
“Malphi…” Jax tensed. “Is that who sent you? Those two—”