Embraced (The Eternal Balance #2)(13)

“Clanking and clattering,” Sam repeated, nodding her head.

“Is he manipulating you?” Kelly dropped her voice. I couldn’t see around Sam, but I’d bet she was squinting. The damn woman loved to squint. “Making you pay your rent in the form of favors?”

Sam nearly choked, and I snorted. “Is he…favors? Are you insane? Where do you come up with this shit?”

A gasp. “Language, Samantha!” She paused, then let go of an overly dramatic sigh. “I told you he was trouble. I warned you—”

“Sex!” Sam blurted out. “We were having sex. Wild, crazy, animal-like sex.”

I would have given both nuts to see Kelly’s face.

“Yep,” Sam continued, running with it. She shifted her body to block the possibility of even a pinhole view. “It got a little intense. He’s into some kinky stuff. You should see his—”

Kelly gasped again, and a moment later I heard her footsteps as she power-walked away.

“Thank God,” Sam said, closing the door. She turned back to me, cringing at the mess. “So what now?”

I folded my arms and leaned back against a clean spot on the wall. “You didn’t finish your conversation with Kelly. See my what, exactly?”

“Your ego,” Sam fired back. “So damn big it barely fits in the door.” She wiggled her hand. “Can we focus here?”

“Okay,” I said, giving up and stepping away from the wall. The ease with which she was taking all this worried me. Sam was a tough cookie, but she seemed unfazed by the carnage. Strangely detached. “We need to find out what the hell that thing is on your wrist. I don’t love the idea, but if Heckle can’t remove it, we might have to hunt this Malphi down…”

“Agreed.” She nodded and stuffed both hands into her pockets, avoiding my gaze. “But, mess first. Let’s focus on that. Okay? We can’t risk someone finding bloody corpses in your living room.”

I studied her. The colors dancing above her head were a strange mix, a swirl of conflicting hues. Sam was usually fairly even. Mad, sad, happy. Her emotions were always clear. Now though, she seemed muddled, all over the radar, despite her eerily calm demeanor. “Are you okay?”

Her eyes darted from me to her wrist, then back again. She smiled, but it was forced. “Totally okay.”

I nodded. What else could I do? She’d just lied to me.



I tried again to get hold of Heckle, but he was still conveniently unreachable. Since we lived in a semi-rural, developed area, carting corpses out to the car wouldn’t go unnoticed—especially since Kelly was probably camped out at her bedroom window with binoculars glued to her face.

We only had one choice.

“Knock, knock,” a sultry voice said from the back door.

Sadie Gray was a witch Heckle had referred us to a few months ago, but our connection was complicated. Hell, all my relationships were complicated. She limped through the door, and when she entered the room, Sam gasped. I understood why. Sadie looked almost as bad as the living room. Bruises covered her face, and a nasty gash—one that started at the right corner of her lip and disappeared behind her ear—seeped blood.

She noticed us staring and waggled her fingers in my direction. “Oh, this? I’d assumed you pissed someone off, or possibly took up cage fighting as a hobby.”

Despite my contempt for the witch, a ripple of guilt washed over me. I’d forgotten about the effects of our link. “Shit.”

In order to help thwart the control Chase had over Sam, Sadie offered me a special stone that had allowed Sam enough leeway for her to get away. But not without the witch demanding something in return. For reasons we still hadn’t figured out, she’d forced me to link us. Unfortunately, unlike the one Sam forged, a demonic link was mainly beneficial to the demon. If I was harmed, Sadie was the one who took most of the damage. I’d warned her, but she hadn’t cared.

“Aww,” Sadie said, winking. “Don’t go worrying about little ol’ me.”

“I wasn’t,” I said. “Just surprised. You asked for this, Sadie. Don’t expect me to feel sorry for you.”

She shrugged, not the least put off—which only made the whole thing more suspicious. Sadie had her reasons for wanting the link. I hadn’t trusted her then, and I sure as hell didn’t trust her now, but what was done was done. “Wouldn’t dream of it, handsome. So, why the summons?”

Sam shifted from foot to foot in the doorway. The look of disdain in her eyes was unmistakable—not that I blamed her. Sadie had made her desire for something more from our relationship crystal clear, and even though Sam knew I had zero interest, she still hated the witch.

“I need you to ward the house,” I said, wasting no time. She’d made her bed and now she’d have to bleed in it.

I’d dragged the bodies—what was left of them—into the corner of the dining room and covered them with a tarp while Sam pulled down the curtains and replaced them with clean ones, but the place was still a mess.

“Ward the house?” Sadie repeated, taking another unsteady step inside the room. “Exactly what do you mean?” She examined the stains on the floor, eyebrows rising slightly. “I assume this little mess means you were attacked?”

“I mean magic,” I said, ignoring her question. “Some kind of protection spell. Strongest you have.”