Embraced (The Eternal Balance #2)(59)

My shoulders rolled and a deep breath filled my lungs. No. She belonged here, exactly like this. With me. “Do not speak like that again. Malphi is mine. As you are. No harm will come to her. Or to you.”

“So you’re saying you love us both?” The venom in her voice needled something deep in me. It chased the spark of consciousness and battled the haze, but wasn’t strong enough. “Because, I don’t know about your demon-bitch, but I don’t like sharing.”

“Love.” The word felt strange as it slipped across my lips. Wrong in so many ways, but right in one. My head moved up and down, slowly. “Yes. I love you both.”

“I call bullshit again,” Sam growled, then cringed. She gasped, twisting the edge of the couch cushion in her palm. “I—oh God.”

“Time slips away. I can offer relief and safety. Zenak will never again darken your world.”

Her eyes squeezed closed. A thin layer of sweat had broken out on her skin, glistening as a single drop trailed down the side of her face. The exertion was too much for a mortal. It wouldn’t be long now.

“You want my power to kill Chase. You know what will happen if you’re all freed,” she rasped. “Everything—Earth, humans, all life in general—will be destroyed.”

“I am…undecided about Zenak’s fate. I wish to restore the clan, but I can foresee complications. However, the power you contain must not be claimed by our enemies. To ensure that, I must obtain it.”

She laughed, disbelieving and desperate, then she gritted her teeth as a whimper followed. It disturbed me to see her in such pain, and I moved to comfort her, but something stopped me. A familiar presence, dark and sensual—one my body desired and my essence remembered in excruciating detail.

The door behind us creaked open. The scent of her filled the air and, like a physical blow, nearly brought me to my knees. I turned and she was there, with her long legs and wild, raven-colored hair, filling up every inch of the doorway.

“My love,” a familiar voice said. She winked. The hum of power filled the room. With each step, the memory of our previous times together grew sharper. I recalled the first time I saw her—both in hell, and here, on Earth. The cuts and bruises from a few days ago had faded from her face, and the limp was gone.

The haze keeping me trapped shifted, and a moment of clarity slammed through me. It brought with it conflicting emotions, most of which I didn’t understand. But there was one that rang fierce, stood out strong and blazing. Rage. For an instant I was able to push Azirak aside. I lunged for her, pushing her hard against the wall and pinning her there, hands tight around her neck. Betrayal burned, a single ember fanning into an inferno, and all I wanted was to feel her blood on my hands. “Malphi…”





Chapter Twenty-Eight


Sam


I’d heard him wrong. That was the only logical explanation.

This woman wasn’t Malphi. She couldn’t be.

In the doorway stood a familiar, black-haired witch. A boyfriend coveting, manipulating woman who’d forced Jax’s hand and tied them together, inserting herself into his life in hopes that she would get what she wanted. Power? Him?

But if she was a demon—Azirak’s demonic booty call—wouldn’t Jax have known? Wouldn’t he have taken Sadie Gray out right when this all started? He certainly would have never linked them.

Jax flew at her, fingers hooked and ready, but he didn’t follow through. He had her against the wall by the neck, had Malphi pinned, but hadn’t moved to finish the job yet.

She chuckled and gently eased him away. With a wink at me, she slung her arm around his shoulder and licked the side of his face slowly, starting at the tip of his chin then running her tongue up his cheek and down again, finishing by biting at his top lip.

Jax simply stood there. Staring at her like she wasn’t real. I didn’t know if it was because Azi was happy to see her, or if Jax was in as much shock as I was, but it scared me. The almost vacant, desperate look in his eyes. They weren’t solid black like they had been a few minutes ago, but they weren’t thinly rimmed with a gray center, either. I had no idea which one of them was in control.

“I bet you have a ton of questions,” she said, turning back to me.

I gritted my teeth and held my breath. With each inhalation, the pain thrived. The cuff was like liquid fire against my skin now.

“How is this possible?” Jax asked. His voice was slightly off key. Deeper than normal and laced with a chill. “I linked to this human body. I did not feel you.”

Sadie—Malphi—gave a throaty chuckle. “I was fortunate enough to be born into the body of a witch this go-around. Her bloodline is very powerful.” She sighed. “But, as you know, part of our banishment was the removal of all power. I was born into the body of a witch, yet had no access to the goods, if you know what I’m saying.”

“But you do have magic,” I insisted.

She laughed again and shrugged. With a quick move of her hand, she reached beneath her shirt and pulled out a long chain. On the end dangled a bright red stone. The one Chase wanted! “This is a powerful stone, created in the fires of our home. You don’t recall, but the Brim Stone was smuggled here eons ago, by your hand, my lord. I was able to use it to tap in to the bloodline’s power. I cloaked myself, and those loyal to me, so you wouldn’t see me coming.” She began to pace. “Of course, I was a bit pissed when you didn’t recognize me after linking us. It made me testy.”