Embraced (The Eternal Balance #2)(18)

I jumped. Lounging across the backseat was Heckle, dressed in a ski jacket and boots, and holding a ski pole.

“Where the f*ck have you been?” Jax snapped.

Heckle, as usual, was unaffected. “I wasn’t aware that I needed to report to you when I went out of town.” His gaze swung in my direction. His eyebrows rose slightly, and his lips melted into a grim line. “Is there a shortage of space in the car?”

I pulled away guiltily.

“We didn’t do anything,” Jax said tightly.

Heckle kept his eyes on mine. “But you were going to—which is part of the reason I’m here.”

This was nothing compared to what we’d been doing in the basement at the Viking. Or in my room. He couldn’t have chosen then to pop in?

I’ll admit it. The guy creeped me out sometimes—and not because I knew who he really was.

My aunt Kelly raised me after my parents died, and she’d never been an overly religious woman. We went to church on the holidays. Your typical fair-weather Catholics. But I knew the story of Cain and Abel. Cain killed his brother Abel out of jealousy, bringing darkness to the world. What the Church doesn’t tell you is that after his untimely death, Abel went on to bigger and better things.

Oh, and he’d changed his name.

To Bel Heckle.

Heckle waggled a finger between Jax and me, narrowing his eyes. “Have you figured out how to break the link?”

“No,” I said, trying hard to keep my tone even. Heckle might play the part of the wise-cracking, quirky bartender at the Inferno, but I’d seen the power he could control with a simple snap of his fingers. I didn’t even want to think about what he could do to a smart-mouthed girl who was pissy because she and her boyfriend couldn’t get freaky. “I’m working on it.”

Ever since I’d unknowingly linked Jax and me, Heckle had been on my ass about breaking it. He hadn’t told me why, or more importantly, how, but never failed to harp on it every chance he got.

“Well, work harder. You—” He leaned over the seat and seized my hand. His eyes widened. “Why are you wearing a Fakori cuff?”

“A gift from my brother,” Jax said coolly.

His grip around my wrist tightened, and I bit back a yelp. “Chase is here?”

“He came to the Viking last night.” I yanked my hand from his, cradling it to my chest protectively. “Gave us an ultimatum.”

“What kind of ultimatum?”

“Apparently there’s a big bad demon trolling the town. He said if we took it down, he would remove the cuff.” I peered at Jax from the corner of my eye. “He said something else, too.”

I hesitated, and Heckle tapped his finger against the seat. “Well?”

“He told us you owed us, Heckle. What was he talking about?”

Heckle didn’t say anything. He was still staring at the cuff.

“Well?” Jax prompted. His patience was waning and I didn’t blame him.

Nothing.

“Heckle?” I tried, doing my best to keep the irritation from my voice.

“What demon did Chase tell you to kill?”

“A demon called Malphi,” Jax responded. “Any idea why?”

More silence. I wasn’t sure if it scared me or made me angrier. Considering the simmering vibes I was getting from Jax through the link, I was leaning toward pissed. “What’s a Pure?”

If I hadn’t been staring right at him, I would have missed it. A flash of surprise, there and gone, in his eyes.

“You have ten seconds to start answering questions.” There was ice in Jax’s voice, and if the twitching fingers and tense set of his jaw were any indication, he was fast approaching the point of no return. “Tell me how to get this thing off her.”

“You can’t.” Heckle finally lifted his gaze from the cuff and fixed his attention on me. “If Chase put it there, I’m fairly certain he’s the only one who can remove it. Personally, or by his death. Since killing him isn’t an option, you have one choice. Do as he says.”

“Because Chase is a man of his word, right?” I couldn’t believe I was hearing this. “Do either of you really believe he’s going to remove this thing if we hold up our end of the deal? This is a trap!”

Heckle sighed. “Yes. I imagine that it is.”

Jax took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, they were rimmed with black. “Enough of the cryptic bullshit.”

I grabbed his hand as he reached for Heckle. “Please. You have to give us something.” Desperation found its way into my voice, and I dropped Jax’s hand in favor of Heckle’s. Squeezing tight, I said, “He told us you owed us. If that’s even a tiny bit true, then help us. Please.”

He pulled away, and with a sigh said, “Maintaining a balance between good and evil is not an easy task. There are millions of variables, and, of course, free will to contend with. I try my hardest, but the scales have been tipped, this time by my own foolish choices. I am truly sorry, Sam.”

“Sorry?” Jax slammed his hand against the dashboard. “Sorry about what? What are you not telling us?”

“When I agreed to bring you back after dying in order to sever the link with Chase, I didn’t know what would happen.”