Released (The Eternal Balance #3)(7)

Azi turned to me slowly, Jax’s eyebrows rising. “This female attacked you. Harmed you.”

I managed to pry the demon’s grip from Kelly’s neck, but I wasn’t able to nudge him back. “It’s fine.” I held up my wrist and wedged it between them. “I’m fine. She didn’t hurt me.”

The expression on Jax’s face was so alien. It was his features—strong jaw, generous lips, and stormy gray eyes—but there was something not quite right. Something that belonged to Azirak. “She struck you.”

I snorted and forced a laugh. Kelly was white as snow and hyperventilating, and I was worried she might pass out for real. “She barely grabbed me! A love tug. Nothing more.”

Jax’s body turned away from Kelly, and the top right corner of his lip pulled upward. “You dare lie to me? Do you forget that I have his memories?”

“Memories? What—” Shit. Of course. Kelly had hit me. Just once, when I was a teenager. Jax and I had wrecked one of his Uncle Rick’s old cars, and to keep Jax out of trouble, I’d taken the fall. Kelly had known I was covering for him, and she’d slapped me—assumedly to knock what she considered to be sense into me. I’d never breathed a word of it to Jax, but a few weeks ago, he’d seen it during a forced shared memory—a lovely party favor from the Archangel Michael. “That was a long time ago, Jax.”

“Should that matter?” It was still so strange to hear such venom in Jax’s voice. It wasn’t like I’d never seen him angry, but with Azi in control, it was more than that. There was an underlying menace, the sense of a fury that didn’t even touch on the anger issues he had.

“Samantha,” Kelly said with a whimper. Her gaze flickered between Jax and me. “Call the police. Call them before he kills me. Do something!”

“He’s had a little to drink,” I said, hoping it was a sellable excuse. “But he’s not going to kill—”

“Of course I was,” Azirak said matter-of-factly. “You are mine. I’ll allow no harm to come to you.”

“Drugs!” Kelly exclaimed. “He’s high, isn’t he?” She clutched her neck and threw her head back with a wail. “Oh, Samantha. What have you gotten yourself into?”

“He’s just had a bit too much to drink,” I replied, eyeing the demon living in my boyfriend’s skin. “But we need to borrow your car. Unless you want us to crash here for the night…”

Kelly propelled herself toward the end table beside the couch and fumbled with the drawer for a moment before straightening and producing the keys to her brand new Ford Explorer. She thrust them at Azi. “Take it—but Samantha stays here.”

I groaned. “He’s not going to hurt—”

“Out of the question,” Azi said with utmost calm. It took the keys from her. “She remains with me at all times.” The demon turned to me, the smallest hint of a grin on Jax’s face. “Her words, of course. Not mine.”

Before I could protest—even though he was technically telling the truth that I’d said exactly those words—Azi grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out Kelly’s front door.





Chapter Three


Azirak/Jax

Sam insisted on driving, which was fine with Azi. The encounter with Kelly, and having been deprived of feeding, had made the demon angry—not to mention hungry. The growing itch made me worry about the thing’s control.

“We need to get something straight,” Sam said, changing lanes to pass the car in front of us. “That shit you pulled back at Kelly’s? That can’t happen again.”

Irritation surged in Azi, but more than that, confusion. It genuinely didn’t understand what she was pissed about. “You chastise me for protecting you?”

“Damn right,” she snapped. “Because no matter what you say, that’s Jax’s body you’re temporarily squatting in. He has to live with the fallout after I find a way to evict your ass. Besides, that’s not what that was all about anyway.”

“Oh?” The demon’s irritation turned to amusement. It didn’t bother correcting her on the temporarily bit. Azi had me locked down tight and wasn’t the least bit concerned about her—or me—turning the tables. And even though I had complete faith in Sam—if there was a way to fix this, she’d find it—even I had to admit I was pretty much f*cked.

“You’re the equivalent of a demonic spoiled brat. Any time you don’t get what you want, you throw a fit. That doesn’t work in this world, buddy. You need a little more self-control if you want to pretend to be a real boy.”

I worried the demon’s temper would flare, but instead of anger, I felt a swell of admiration from it. “You know what I am,” Azi said. It shifted around in the seat so that I was facing her. “You know what I am capable of. And yet you still speak to me as you would a lowly human?”

“Lowly human?” She shook her head and stomped on the gas. Kelly’s Explorer surged forward. I cringed internally. I’d seen Sam drive angry. It wasn’t a pretty sight. “No, no. You’re totally misunderstanding me. I’m speaking to you as I would an asshat.”

If Sam wasn’t careful, she’d push the demon too far. Despite knowing it wouldn’t work, I tried to take back control.