Embraced (The Eternal Balance #2)(46)

“If we fail and you die—” Jax’s cell sounded, a heavy, grinding guitar solo from one of his favorite bands. Azirak fished the phone from his pocket and put it to Jax’s ear. The call was short, and the demon said nothing to whoever was on the other end. When he hung up, he turned to me. “You will not die, Samantha Merrick. They have located the human, Fakori.”





Chapter Nineteen


Jax/Azirak

The Fakori descendant wasn’t far from Harlow. After Azi hung up with its informant, it dialed another clan member and told it where to pick us up. The car had just arrived, driven by a blond-haired female demon who looked extremely unhappy. It wasn’t the only one.

“I can’t believe I’m willingly getting into a car driven by a demon,” Sam said as the vehicle pulled over to the side of the road. “Somewhere in hell, it’s snowing.”

“It does not snow in hell,” Azi retorted.

Idiot. I gave a verbal sneer. It’s an expression.

“I am aware,” it responded. Stepping up to the car to open the door, the demon moved aside and gestured for Sam to get into the backseat.

She hesitated, probably wondering why the demon was talking to itself. “Huh?”

“Jax,” it said. I felt the awkwardness as it said my name. “He finds me—”

“Annoying?” Sam supplied as Azi lowered my body into the passenger’s seat. “Foul, manipulative, murderous?”

Azi laughed. “I imagine so.” The car rolled back onto the road. “You forget that I did not ask for this. I am imprisoned here. Shackled to this plain, to this mortal, until he dies. And then, the cycle will begin again. My torture is unending.”

“Torture which you deserve,” she said, justified.

Anger flooded me, and I worried Sam would push the demon too far. My own rage was tenuous, balanced on the edge of a knife at any given moment. Azirak’s was far more combustible. Easier to incite.

“It is my nature to conquer. To dominate. You know nothing of the war or the incident that caused it. We were justified in our attacks.”

“To be honest, I couldn’t care less. What matters to me is Jax and the affect you have on him. I know it’s not your fault—that you had no choice. And from what I’ve seen, you’re not the most horrible demon in the world. But you hurt him. Whether you mean to or not, you cause him pain.”

“That is not my intention. I simply desire to exist.” The demon cast a sidelong glance at the female driving the car. “And to see my clan flourish.” It wasn’t the truth, yet it wasn’t a lie, either.

Sam must have taken the hint. With one of Azi’s clan members in the car, bringing up the future, or its plans about what to do with her, was a bad idea. We needed their help.



We pulled up alongside the curb of a small yellow Cape Cod style cottage just after one in the afternoon. Chase put the cuff on Sam somewhere around midnight. That left eleven hours. If this went off without a hitch, then we were golden. Sam would be fine, and Malphi could live.

For now.

“This is it?” Sam whispered as she got out of the car. “This is where Fakori’s descendant lives?”

Azirak nodded in confirmation, then turned to the female demon. “Wait for us here.”

We made our way up the foliage-lined walk. When we reached the door, Sam went to knock, but it was already opened. A tendril of gray rose into the air as Azirak shouldered her aside and pushed into the house.

With each step my sense of dread grew. I wasn’t alone. Azi was agitated, what I’d come to interpret as the demonic equivalent of worried. Through the living room and into the hall, there was nothing obviously out of place. No signs of struggle—until we reached the kitchen.

Sam let out an anguished howl and threw herself forward. She landed on her knees in a growing pool of blood beside an older man. “Do something,” she screamed. She lifted the man’s shoulders off the ground, pulling him up and cradling him close. “Don’t let him die!”

The demon knelt across from her. I felt its remorse. “It is too late. The human is dead.”

“Find another,” Sam demanded. Tears streaked her face. “Get on the phone. Call your clan. Find another Fakori.”

The demon shook my head. “There is no other. David Fakori was the last of his line.”

Sam opened her mouth but no sound came. The tears began streaming freely down her cheeks and I lost it. Agreement forgotten, I pushed for control. I couldn’t see her like that, on the verge of falling apart, and do nothing. She needed me.

The demon fought me at first, but it didn’t last. Sam let out a wail and fell back against the counter, and Azirak moved aside. It hated that she was in pain, and knew I was the only one who’d be able to help.

“Sammy.” I dove forward, my knee slipping in the blood, and caught her before she toppled sideways. “Don’t,” I whispered, pulling her close. “We still have time.”

“There’s time,” she agreed, between sobs. “But no options. This was my last feasible chance.”

“No. Michael said—”

She pulled away and faced me, eyes cold and full of fury. “You had him killed,” she spat.

“Sammy, what—” And then I understood. Azirak. She was talking to the demon. I shook my head and grabbed her hands. “It wasn’t Azi. I’d know. It wasn’t—”