Embraced (The Eternal Balance #2)(28)

It wasn’t fair to involve him. He was human and had no idea what he was up against, but my terror made me selfish. I was apparently the Holy Grail for both heaven and hell. I had no idea what they would do once they got their hands on me, and I had no desire to find out.

The motel employee grabbed the guy’s arm and tugged back. “I don’t think the lady wants to go with you, man.”

With a single shove from the fiery-eyed man, the Good Samaritan flew across the parking lot. But when my abductor tried to move forward, he ran into a small roadblock. Well, not really so small. Jax was there, cloaked in shadow and larger than life. He stepped forward, a single move that shifted him into the beam of light coming from the streetlamp a few feet away. If I didn’t know him—if I had no idea what a good man he was—I would have been terrified by the deranged look in his eyes.

They were black. Not rimmed in inky darkness like they had been recently, but solid and bottomless. Usually that meant Azi had taken control. Usually. This time, it was all Jax, I was sure. The actions were different, the way he held himself and the way he moved. I saw the rise and fall of his shoulders as he breathed, and the subtly twitching muscle in his neck. When the demon seized control, it was eerily still.

“Mind jacked or not, if you don’t let her go now, I will kill you.” His voice was low and dangerous. He leaned forward a bit, and the grin that split his lips made me shudder with trepidation. “And I promise you, I will love it.”

“You cannot kill this human,” the man said. His grip on my arm tightened. “He is an innocent.”

Jax laughed. “Someone’s been feeding you bad info. I can, and will.” He came a step closer. “And innocent? I don’t think so. He’s latched on to my girl. That’s as far from innocent as you can get in my eyes.”

“Do not pretend you want this human for anything other than to use her, demon.”

Another step. “Power means shit to me. She’s important to me. The most important.”

“Hell will not gain her power.”

“No, it won’t. Because hell ain’t getting its hands on her.” Jax shot forward. “And neither are you.”

The man didn’t flinch. Pivoting, he avoided Jax and spun me out of reach. I tripped, going down hard on my knees. “You cannot fight us,” the man said with complete calm. It was creepy. His expression never changed, and his movements, so controlled, were like the precise mechanics of a machine.

Jax roared and made another swipe. This time he caught the man’s head between his hands and, without hesitation, twisted. It happened so fast yet at the same time was so incredibly detailed. The man’s neck rotated at a wholly unnatural angle and the orange light in his eyes flickered then died, leaving behind a dull, lifeless brown. His grip on my arm fell away and his hand went slack just before his body crumpled to the concrete. It was soundless, like something from a dream, or a scene on the television with the volume turned off. It stayed like that. Eerily quiet, just Jax and me standing there staring down at the dead man—until a shrill scream shattered the silence.

On the sidewalk, a woman with a small suitcase stood, her mouth open in horror.

“Let’s go,” Jax said, grabbing my arm and dragging me away. All our stuff was still in the room, but there was no time to go back. Jax had the keys, and we were in the car in moments and peeling from the parking lot.





Chapter Eleven


Jax


The sun was up before we stopped again. The car needed gas, and thankfully Sam had kept her credit card and license in her jeans’ pocket. The motel was a close call. I wouldn’t make that mistake again. I didn’t care if I had to keep her locked in the car from here to the mountain. No one else was taking a crack at her.

“You’re quiet,” she said, stretching her feet. “You need to talk to me.”

I kept my eyes on the road. Chancing a look in her direction could be disastrous. Even while that man at the motel had been holding her, trying to take her away from me, my eyes caught on the curve of her neck. The way her shirt pulled taut with every breath. Her lips… I may have embraced the demon, gaining more control over its natural power, but I’d sacrificed something of myself as well. I’d fought for Sam before. Had killed without remorse. But they’d all been demons. I’d never been forced to go this far with a human. “About?”

“You killed—”

I tightened my fingers around the wheel. “I know what I did, Sammy. And if you think I regret it, you’re wrong. I did what needed to be done to keep you safe, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.” And I would. Sam was the single most important thing in my life.

“Then why do you look…I dunno…upset?”

Upset was a serious misinterpretation, but I was glad. I was trying hard to keep my emotions in check. “I’m thinking,” I replied. Easy. Innocent. She didn’t need to know that my mind was playing out a scenario where I pulled the car to the side of the road, ripped every scrap of clothing from her body, and showed her just how much she belonged to me.

Azi rolled with it and communicated in its own desires. The pictures and feelings that came were so graphic, I flinched, and the car jerked to the right, skidding into the gravel on the side of the road before I managed to right our course.

“Jax?” came Sam’s worried voice. “What’s wrong?”