Ruined (The Eternal Balance #1)(30)

The intruder backed away. “Son of Cain—”

“My name is Azirak.” A low, primal growl followed, and I backed away as well. He turned, and to me said, “Samantha Merrick.” And that was it. Nothing less. Nothing more.

Jax—or Azirak—refocused on the enemy, and took a step closer. The bald guy, who a minute ago was ready to kill me, was now on the verge of pissing himself. He backed away, then snapped his teeth twice in Jax’s—Azirak’s—direction. A strange language spilled from his lips. When he finished, he turned to me with a wicked grin and said, “I’ll see you again, pretty thing.”

The window behind us exploded as he crashed through.





Chapter Thirteen




Jax

Until I knew exactly why these demons wanted Sam dead, and how much they knew about her, staying at her apartment wasn’t an option. I’d brought us to the hourly motel by the highway on the outer edge of town.

I shifted, twisting my body toward the door. I hated being here with her right now. So soon after reclaiming control from the demon. From Azirak… The thing inside had a name. Funny, how all this time I’d never given it any thought.

After I fell, it had forced its way into the driver’s seat to deal with the other demon. When the bastard fled, to my surprise, the demon—Azirak—willingly relinquished its hold, but it still squirmed, hungry and desperate for violence.

Too bad. Feeding wasn’t an option just yet. I needed to help Sam. My priority was keeping her safe and getting to the bottom of this mess. Demons. For some reason, demons were hunting her. Demons that knew what I was. More specifically, who I was.

We’d been in the motel room almost an hour and she still hadn’t said a word. She sat in the chair by the door, tense and watching me as though any moment I’d sprout a tail and horns. Thick gray tendrils rising to mingle with black—confusion—was the only evidence I needed. She was in shock.

The silence tore at me. If she was going to scream or cry, or cast me off as the disgusting thing that I was, it needed to be now. “Say something, Sammy. Please.”

“Something,” she mumbled absently, fiddling with the hem of her shirt without looking away.

“I’m serious.” I crossed the room and knelt in front of her chair. It was impossible to miss the way she tensed, shrinking away as though I might try to take a bite out of her. I adjusted, rocking back a few inches to give her some room. “You’re worrying me.”

That got her attention. She rose from the seat and moved closer to the door. “I’m worrying you? Really?”

I stood. This was better. A fight I knew how to deal with. “You know what—”

She held a hand up. Some of the fear in the room dissipated and I fought a grin as the gray quickly turned to all crimson. How many girls—hell, people—would hold their shit together after what had just happened? Sam was strong, but it wasn’t until that moment that I realized how strong. She called herself a coward, so ashamed of her darkest fears, but obviously she didn’t see things clearly.

“I’m going to ask questions. You’re going to answer. We clear?”

I nodded. The truth. It was something I feared and revered. On one hand, it might make her stay away. That’s what I wanted. To shield her from the thing that lived inside of me. On the other hand, even though it was selfish and irresponsible, I wanted to find some way to keep her in my life. That alone proved what a bastard I was. If I cared about her at all, I’d never look back.

“That man that attacked us—his eyes were—” She took in a shaky breath as a spike of fear rose from her shoulders. Not a clouded smoky gray, but a dark ash color. Terror. “Was he human?”

Again, she caught me off guard me. Here Sam was pulling the short straw of crazy—and doing it with a straight face. “No.”

If the answer surprised her, it didn’t show. In fact, she seemed oddly vindicated. “If he wasn’t human, what was he?”

“A demon,” I said without hesitation. There was no point in sugar coating things. Sam was a big girl and she was in over her head. It was only fair to let her know how far. The quicker she accepted it, the easier it would be to get to the bottom of this shit.

“A demon,” she repeated, starting to pace. The set of her shoulders turned rigid and worry creased her forehead. “You’re saying that man—”

“It wasn’t a man, Sammy. It wasn’t a he. It was a demon.”

She stopped pacing and whirled on me. “This is insane…”

Might as well let her have all of it. “It’s all connected. I think the attack at your apartment, and all the others, were related to what happened on the Huntington campus. You’re under attack, but I don’t believe it’s just one person.”

She froze, her expression a mix of bewilderment and fear. “You just— A demon— No. Just, no. You can’t possibly know that for sure!”

“I do—”

“You’re insane.”

Time for blow number two. I reached into the pocket of my coat and pulled out the bracelet I’d taken from the demon’s apartment. Setting it down on the table, I took a step away. “You lost that the night you were attacked, didn’t you?”

Six deep breaths. I watched the rise and fall of her chest, and the flutter of her eyes as she pinched the bridge of her nose. The ashen cloud swirled frantically above her head. She crossed the room and stopped a few feet from the table, eyes glued to the delicate red-and-black leather jewelry on its surface. Picking up the bracelet, Sam held it as though at any moment it might come alive and take a chunk out of her. “I—where did you find this?”