Embraced (The Eternal Balance #2)(61)

“You will release Samantha Merrick,” Jax said, voice like ice.

Malphi laughed, the sound like scraping rusted metal. Harsh. Angry. Unforgiving. “Do you favor this insect over me, my lord?”

“I favor her.” It was very matter of fact. “Not above you. I believe—I believe I favor her the same as you. She is mine.”

Malphi’s face twisted into a mask of rage. Her fingers closed around my neck, and the pressure increased. “That is the human stain speaking!”

I gasped. The pain from the cuff was nearly blinding now, a red hot poker jabbing at me from the inside. My legs were numb. Even if the demoness were to let go, I wasn’t confident that I could run away.

Her hand tightened. “You must choose—this abomination or me!”

“You are rash,” Azi said, still eerily calm. It came a step closer. “As you have always been. But this will not aid our cause.”

“Our cause?” She shook me. “This is not about our cause. You have no intention of destroying Zenak.” Her grip loosened and her voice became somewhat softer. She sighed, looking and sounding more like the simply annoying witch I knew and hated. “I have seen it grow worse in you over the centuries, Azirak. It’s a disease. One I will free you from. We will claim the Pure and kill it. Then we will mate and I will kill Zenak.”

My breathing grew labored. The rasping as my lungs fought to fill with air echoed in my ears.

“I will not say this again, Malphi. Release her unharmed.” I could see it in his eyes. Jax was in there. He was fighting. Unfortunately it seemed as though it would be a losing battle.

“Who do you prefer?” Malphi demanded. She gave me another furious jostle.

“I desire you both.” Azi’s confusion grew. “Is this a problem? Did we not have multiple consorts in hell?”

“This thing is more than a consort to you,” she growled. “It is more than a source of power. You—” She choked on the rest of the sentence before trying again. “You love it.”

The demon came several steps closer to where we stood. “By human definition, I love you as well.”

Malphi’s face contorted. “By human definition?” She shook me again. “You are a royal. A god among our kind. Finish this and take your rightful place!”

The expression on Jax’s expression was thoughtful. Azi remained where it was, gaze alternating between Malphi and me. She took it as a green light. Turning me to face her, eyes raging with madness, she said, “The cuff is about to kill you. This is your last chance. Agree to be claimed or die.”

My body was mostly numb now, the strange, intense pain radiating from inside me the only thing left. I didn’t feel Malphi’s hand around my neck, and the only indication that she was squeezing off my air was the difficulty I had filling my lungs.

But for some reason, I was unafraid.

A thought sparked, deep in the back of my mind. An ember that bloomed into a raging inferno. In an instant my outlook changed. The mere possibility of hope kept me balanced on the edge, not alive, but not yet dead. It was that moment that brought clarity. The answer to my current predicament was suddenly so incredibly clear.

I turned my head so that Malphi and I were face to face. “Fine,” I said, my voice eerily calm. Somehow I knew, deep down, that it was too late to save my life, but I could still stop them from making my last moments torture. I could have the last word. “I agree to be claimed—by myself.”





Chapter Twenty-Nine


Azirak/Jax

Everything went silent. There was a static in the air, coupled with the fury radiating from Malphi. The muddled colors that surrounded Sam dispersed, leaving an emptiness that needled the deepest parts of me. Of all of me.

A scream filled the room. The human girl, Samantha Merrick’s—Sammy’s—eyes rolled back, then closed. The sound of her breathing ceased.

Malphi let the body fall to the floor and stepped away. “You have damned us,” she spat, turning on me. “Your diseased human half has betrayed us.”

Something built inside me. I ignored my mate and focused again on the girl, so small and still, lying at my feet. Her lack of movement, of vitality, only added to the turbulent force stirring.

“Have you nothing to say?” Malphi shouted. “No words to defend yourself?”

There were words. Things I wanted to say. Feelings I needed to somehow express. Human emotions. But they were buried. Bogged down by the weight of the massive force building inside me. My human, Jax, was silent as well. I felt his sorrow, a nearly overpowering boulder that threatened to crush all that I was. I shared his pain and found myself surprised that it was not only for the loss of power, but for the girl. A human woman.

Sammy…

Hands gripped my shoulders and spun my body around. Malphi and I were face to face. “This is salvageable,” she growled and began to unbutton my pants. “We will consummate and I will destroy Zenak.”

She slid her hands up my chest, then threaded them through my hair. Warm lips caressed a trail up my neck. The sensation was anything but pleasurable. The stink of lust turned my gut. I shifted my head, gaze finding the girl again. As Malphi did her best to further her cause, my attention would not be torn from the woman on the floor.

It wasn’t long before Malphi noticed.