Released (The Eternal Balance #3)(5)

The carnivus snarled and snapped its teeth. In slow, measured movements, it stepped from Jax’s chest and crept toward me. It was all we needed. Dead eyes on me, focused and feral, it never heard Azirak come from behind. The demon grabbed the dog-creature around the neck and gave a violent twist. The thing made a gargling sound, then went limp in Jax’s hands.

Azirak dropped it to the dirty concrete. “Are you harmed?”

I shook off the lingering adrenaline surge and brushed a piece of wilted lettuce from the edge of my shirt. My mouth was dry, and my pulse had surpassed light speed, but I pushed it aside. “Getting Malphi’s half of the stone from Chase isn’t going to be easy, but the other half of the Brim Stone? How the hell are we going to find it? The damn thing could be anywhere on the planet.”

“There is a way to track it.”

Really? It was just telling me this now? “You can do that?”

Gray eyes regarded me carefully for a moment, unblinking. “There is a way.”

“Then let’s get to it. The sooner we get that stone someplace safe, the sooner I can evict you from Jax’s body.” It wouldn’t be that easy. Unless I devised a masterful plot that tricked the demon into vacating the premises, Azirak would stay put. It’d said so itself. But I was nothing if not determined.

The demon didn’t argue. Instead, it snorted and flicked a glob of carnivus drool from Jax’s arm. The slime hit the dumpster to my left with a splat and lingered for a second before sliding to the ground with a soft squish. “Tracking the stone will not be simple or without peril. There will be obstacles.”

It was my turn to snort. “Aren’t there always?” Every minute we stood here yapping was another we weren’t out hunting this thing down. And every minute we weren’t out hunting this thing down was another chance for Chase to send something nasty our way. “Where do we start?”

The look I got in response was all ire. “We must gather our strength, and a single ingredient.”

“Ingredient,” I repeated. That was suspiciously vague—even for the demon. “Guess we’re not talking eye of newt, huh.”

“The thing needed to track the stone is far rarer than the eyes of a small amphibian.”

I opened my mouth—but closed it without answering. The demon had been born into a thousand different humans. If it didn’t get sarcasm by now, there was just no hope. “Is this…ingredient…hard to get?”

It thought for a moment before shaking Jax’s head. “Not really. Not for me.”

“That doesn’t fill me with confidence,” I said, worried.

“We’ll need to acquire a particular skill set.”

“Skill set? What kind of skill set?”

“One that borders on dangerous.”

“I’m betting the alternative to this skill set is more dangerous.” I moved to the mouth of the alley and peeked around the corner of the building, half afraid to find another drooling beastie waiting to pounce. Thankfully the street was silent. “If you’re not willing to kill Chase—not that I’m complaining—then letting him get his grubby fingers on the other half of the stone would be bad.”

“We’ll need to get to the Brim Stone first,” the demon agreed.

I stuffed my hands into my pockets and followed Azirak out onto the sidewalk. His pace was brisk, and I had to hurry to keep up. “And in order to do that, we need to…?”

The demon flashed me some major side-eye, but said nothing. It continued walking, if possible picking up the pace just a bit.

“You’re going to have to let me in on the plan. There’s no way in hell you’re waltzing out of my sight while in possession of that body.”

Azi came to an abrupt stop and turned to me very slowly. “You will need to come to terms with something, Samantha Merrick. This is no longer his body. It belongs to me.” A slow smile spread across Jax’s lips. One that would have normally turned me to pudding. The demon leaned in and brought his face inches from mine. “I am more than willing to allow you to use it, however. I see the way you look at it when you think I’m not watching. I know what you wish to do…”

I swallowed back a rush of heat—and more than that, of shame.

The demon brought Jax’s lips to my ear. Warm breath fanned my skin, making the hairs on my body jump to attention. “I would make it interesting, I promise you.”

My pulse kicked up, heart hammering into hyperdrive. If I didn’t know any better, I would have sworn we were having a freak heat wave. “You’re right,” I said, swallowing hard. I couldn’t fake it, couldn’t pretend I didn’t feel a certain way when looking at the demon—at Jax—but I had no intention of acting on it. Not until the rightful owner of those skilled hands was securely back in place. “I do look at you. All the time. Wanna know why? Because I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

The demon snickered. “Whatever lies you must tell yourself.”

It turned and started walking again, and I had to gnaw on the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming as I followed. I could do this—get through this and get Jax back. I just needed to bide my time and find a way.

Find a way…

And like a strike of lightning, the solution was so damn obvious. This Brim Stone thing was powerful enough that Heckle was worried about the serious advantage it would give to Chase. That fact made me think that maybe I could somehow use it to evict Azirak—that I could gain an advantage. I just had to tread carefully until I could get my hands on it.