Embraced (The Eternal Balance #2)(49)

“How come they’re blue?” Truthfully, I didn’t give a crap about the color. They could have been neon tie-dye with rainbow colored cows. But keeping up the conversation might stall whatever she had planned.

“The color is representative of my rank.”

“Rank, huh?” I swallowed the bile creeping up my throat. “So blue stands for, what? Kitchen staff?”

She didn’t answer.

“Oh. I know. You’re heaven’s Chief toilet scrubber?”

“I am a general in the Army of Heaven” She said tightly. “Enough of this banter. You will consent to be claimed. I will leave you no other choice.”

“That sounds like a threat,” I said, doing my best to keep my voice from wobbling.

“Merely a fact.”

“So the torture thing. That stands, huh?”

The angel stood and took two steps forward until she was towering over me. “We will do what’s necessary.”

I swallowed back a lump of fear. Jax would find me. I had complete confidence. The question was, would he find me before or after this woman made mush of my brains?

“So…that’s a yes on the torture, then?”





Chapter Twenty-One


Jax


As soon as I was able to stand, I pulled open the car door. The female demon behind the wheel stared straight ahead, her eyes glazed and unseeing. At her throat, a wicked gash still oozed blood. I unfastened her seat belt and jerked her from the seat, then slid behind the wheel and cranked the engine.

I drove until I couldn’t stand it anymore. Azi, like me, was worried about Sam. Whether it was because of its feelings for her, or because it was worried she’d be claimed by someone else, I didn’t know and didn’t care. Right now, we had a common goal—just as soon as I calmed the thing down. Rage seeped into the air all around me, and eventually I had to pull the car over just to keep from ripping off the steering wheel. I was driving in circles with no clue where the f*ck to go, or what the hell to do next.

Feed. The single word nearly shattered my skull.

Just seven hours on the clock. I didn’t want to waste time, but I felt the need as strongly as the demon did. Just as it fed off the pain and anger of others, I’d come to realize, I did the same. Not in exactly the same way, but the demon’s moods influenced me more now that I’d embraced it. Its weakness was mine.

I pulled into a Quick Stop parking lot, and the moment I stepped from the car, I smelled it. Fear. It was easy to track, around the side of the building to a single car parked at the far end of the row. I crept along the shadows, waiting. Watching.

The man in the driver’s seat was screaming at a small boy. He grabbed the kid by the hair, shaking him roughly before leaning across and opening the door to shove him out. The child had to go to the bathroom. The bastard didn’t like stopping. He was going to miss the start of his favorite television show.

The kid closed the door and scurried around the building, presumably to get the restroom key from the clerk inside. Azi shuddered in anticipation. I did, too. My feet carried me from the shadows, across the lot, and to the man’s car. He was looking down at his cell phone so he didn’t see me approach. It made yanking the door open and dragging him out that much sweeter.

“What the—”

I shoved him up against the hood. My fingers dug into skin, through the thin material of his shirt. The sensation sent a ripple of contentment through me. “You think hitting a kid makes you a big man?”

His breath reeked of alcohol and his colors swirled crimson. No fear. Anger. He was pissed I’d had the nerve to step in.

This was just what I needed. Moments like these made me sick. I wanted to give in. Craved the feeling that came over me when the demon fed. It was a high like no other, filling me with an unparalleled sense of exhilaration.

He pushed off the car and swung out hard, but I stepped to the side, missing the blow easily, and followed through with one of my own. A kidney shot, it landed with precision, and Azi went wild, greedily sucking down the man’s rage.

He recovered, stumbling a little, and tried again. This time he rushed me, intent on grinding me into the brick wall at my back. I pivoted and changed position, and he flew right past, crashing into the wall instead of me.

I grabbed a handful of his hair, like he’d done with the kid, and shoved his face hard into the bricks. “Touch him again and I’ll kill you. We clear?”

The man didn’t answer. Instead, he struggled against my grip, still trying to free himself and get in a good shot. More. Azi wanted more. It wanted pain. So that’s what I gave it. I pushed, dragging the side of his face along the wall for about a foot. He screamed, leaving a trail of skin and blood where the stone grated him. “Asking again—we clear?”

“Dad?”

I spun to see the kid standing by the car with a look of horror on his face.

“Go get the cops, Kenny,” the man sputtered. He still struggled, but more weakly. He knew he was beat.

I let go of him and stepped away. With a nod to the kid, I said, “No need to do that, Kenny. Your dad and I were just having a chat about how he treats you.” I turned back to the guy. “That right?”

The man narrowed his eyes but said nothing.

“He’s gonna be nicer from now on,” I said, walking back toward my car.