Ruined (The Eternal Balance #1)(66)

My jaw tightened. The demon pushed harder.

Chase laughed. “Go ahead. I know you want to take me out. Give it your best shot. But keep in mind it won’t end well for her.”

Jax held his breath and stood his ground. Poker face. This had to go down smooth. “So?”

Chase was silent. He smiled and stepped to the table where the pen sat. Grabbing it, he positioned the point at the hollow of Sam’s throat. “You can’t bluff me, Jax. We both know you can’t touch me without touching her—and there’s no way you’re willing to do that. You don’t have the balls to make that kind of sacrifice.”

Chase winked and, before I could blink, he pulled the pen away from Sam’s throat and jammed it into his forearm. She gasped and shuddered as blood began to drip from her own arm—not his. “Oh my God,” she breathed, clutching her bleeding limb close.

“I think I made my point,” he said with a grin. He threw the pen at my feet and started to back away, dragging Sam with him. “And I think it’s time to finally end this thing.”

The intention was to lunge forward and somehow get Sam away from my brother, but like a baseball bat to the gut, the breath left my lungs and in an instant staying upright became impossible. Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one. Beside Sam, Chase also dropped to the ground.

“Sam,” Heckle’s voice boomed from the doorway. His eyes were closed while his hands made odd gestures. Air traffic control or magic. I didn’t know, and didn’t care—as long as it gave Sam a chance to run. “Come over here. Bring Jax with you.”

Small arms slid beneath mine and lifted. I tried to help her, but the energy had left my body. It took several tries, but Sam finally managed to drag me to the door.

Chase, still crumpled on the floor by the couch, lifted his head to glare at Heckle. “You can’t kill me. It’s against the rules.”

“But I don’t have to let you kill them, either.”

Chase chuckled. “You think that’s going to change the outcome of this? I’ll just get the f*cker tomorrow.”

Heckle shrugged. “Maybe. But you won’t get him tonight.”

“We need answers.” We were back at the Inferno, Heckle’s bar. I felt better, but had yet to get a straight answer as to what the f*ck happened at the house. “What the hell was that whammy you hit us with?”

“Just a little something I picked up along the way.”

“Magic?” Sam asked. Her eyes were wide.

Heckle laughed. “I suppose by the human definition, you might consider it that.”

Sam rested her injured arm against the bar. Heckle had cleaned and dressed the wound, but from the way she kept wincing, I knew she was in pain. “What about breaking the link? Did you find an alternative?”

“Other than what we already know? Nope,” Heckle said. He put a glass down in front of himself, and then another in front of me. Leaning across the counter, he winked. “Sorry. None for you, girly.”

Sam slammed her fist against the bar. “There has to be something we can do.”

“The only way that link is coming off is if you bite the big one or the demon chooses to let you go. Something tells me that ain’t happening. Put your head tween your legs and kiss your ass good-bye.” He paused, frowning, poured two shots of vodka. “Or at least, until Azirak’s clan comes for you. There’s that, too.”

“What about that thing you were looking into? A way to dampen the effects? Will distance help? Or wearing some kind of…talisman?”

Heckle blinked twice, then fell into a fit of hysterical laughter. He grabbed the bar, chortling and stomping his foot so hard that the glasses on the shelf behind the bar started to rattle. “Talisman? What do you think this is? The movies?”

Sam’s eyes narrowed and her small hands curled into tight fists. She reached across the counter, taking the bartender by surprise, and grabbed a handful of his shirt. Holy f*ck, it was hot. With a hard yank forward, she said, “You can do better than that. Give us something useful or else.”

Heckle’s eyes widened—and he started laughing again. The guy was going to piss himself if he wasn’t careful. “Or else what? You gonna pull my hair or something, girly?”

Sam’s expression bounced from frustrated to furious before settling on vindicated. She let go of his shirt and grabbed my arm, tugging him close. I nearly fell off the damn stool. “Or else he’ll eat you.”

“Sammy, demons don’t really eat other demons. Don’t eat people either.”

“Oh. Well…”

I grinned. Rick once said I looked 100 percent hell-spawned when I did it. I’d worked hard to perfect it, too. “But we do love to inflict pain. My demon thinks you look like a screamer. Are you a screamer, Heckle?”

Heckle hesitated. He was holding back. It was evident in the slumping posture and fidgeting fingers. “There might be something… But, and I know this sounds callous and I apologize, I wouldn’t do it.”

“She’ll die,” I snapped.

“Azirak’s clan won’t like it.”

“If Chase doesn’t kill her, the other demons will—not that anyone has told me why. You’re all acting like I’m their demon Dalai-f*cking-Lama.”

“You are,” Heckle said with a frown. “These demons are at war. Right now, the playing field is neutral. Neither side has an advantage over the other—it must stay that way at all costs.”