Blood of the Demon Read online

  “That looks great on you,” she said.

  Laughing, he paid the man at the booth. He led her away from the huge, swaying mass of people on one end of the street. When they approached another crowd pocket, he grabbed her hand, and this time he didn’t let go. He told himself it made sense, given the amount of people on the street. But he didn’t try to fool himself—touching her felt good. Her cool hand warmed in his, and he envisioned what it would feel like for her soft fingers to caress other parts of his body.

  Cursing inwardly, he forced himself to think about something else. He scanned the crowd, searching for any signs of danger, but found nothing. “Maybe Ronin was right about hiding out here.”

  Her glance was curious. “Why do you say that?”

  “The crowd—not to mention the masks—should provide more than enough safety.”

  “Ooh, does that mean I actually get to leave the hotel room?”

  Keegan laughed at her eager tone, squeezing her hand. “As long as one of us accompanies you, I don’t see why not.”

  They walked for several long minutes, taking in the craziness around them, before he paused in front of a restaurant with only a small line of people waiting to eat.

  “Do you like French cuisine?” he asked her.

  “Love it.” She practically skipped to the end of the line.

  Later, when they’d sat at a private booth and ordered their food, she asked, “So do you need to eat, just like huma—you know, just like we do?”

  “Not quite the same. Our foods are similar, but I could get by eating once a month if I had to.”

  “Weird.” Brynn blinked. “How about liquids?”

  “Same.” She opened her mouth to ask another question, but he decided to beat her to it. “Do you find it difficult to restrain your natural abilities in crowds like this?”

  “Huh. I never thought about it.” Her gaze tilted upward while she mulled over his question. “No, I suppose not. My powers are hidden, waiting to be called out. But for the most part, I control them, and not the other way around. What about you, with your powers?”

  “Same.”

  Brynn studied him carefully. “What is it that you can do, anyway? You never told me.”

  Damn. He hadn’t considered his question might lead to this. He tapped his fingers on the table as he considered how best to answer. “It’s my blood that has the ability to heal, and it happens quickly.”

  “Can it heal just you, or others, as well?”

  “It can heal others, too.”

  “Impressive. So how does that work? People don’t have to drink it or anything, do they?”

  “The blood is simply placed on the wound and it heals. Works on bruises, too.”

  “Bruises? Oh, so that’s why I didn’t have a sore jaw when I woke up in your apartment?”

  He winced. Now that he knew her, the memory of striking her filled him with shame. Wordlessly, he nodded.

  “Huh.” Her face took on a considering expression. “Okay, what else can you do?”

  Keegan shrugged and shifted in his seat. He briefly considered not answering at all, but knowing her, she would keep asking. “Demons are generally stronger and faster than humans, which is why they can be such a danger to them.”

  “Yeah, but why come here, anyway? I mean, why not stay in Infernum? Is it that bad?”

  She had no idea.

  “It’s not exactly welcoming. It’s barren and primitive in many ways. Desolate, like your deserts, and always dark, but constantly hot, even at night.”

  “And you work there as a... Detainor?”

  Keegan nodded. “I hunt down treaty violators from Infernum who flee the Council.”

  “How did you get the job of capturing Mammon on Earth?”

  He couldn’t very well tell her the truth. At least not all of it. But she deserved to know something—it was her life that was in danger—so he settled for bits and pieces. “Mammon is a special case. He was a well-respected scientist back in Infernum, and had a position as a high- level adviser to the Council.”

  Brynn blinked at that. “A... a demon scientist?”

  “Yes.” He chuckled. “Why so surprised? Our world studies science, like yours.”

  “I don’t know. I guess I assumed from your description that it isn’t very advanced.”

  “As it happens, Mammon is a brilliant demon. The Council used to send him on missions to other worlds, to catalog the different species and study their biology.”

  “You’ve said worlds several times. Just how many are there?”

  “Dozens. Thousands. Who knows for sure, other than at the highest level of the Council?”

  “Thousands?” She gaped at him, wide-eyed. “You’ve totally blown my mind.”

  “It’s a large multiverse, Brynn.”

  “Why does the Council want to catalog species?”

  “It’s made up of males and females from a variety of worlds, and I suspect its members don’t trust each other. That’s why someone from Infernum was sent to catalog humans, whereas someone from Earth might have been sent to Infernum to catalog demons and angels. We—”

  “Hold on, hold on.” Brynn lifted both hands. “Did you just say angels?”

  “Again, not quite the same as what you humans have imagined. They are a species of beings that can fly. They fancy themselves the royalty of Infernum, living in castles built into the sky, far from the mayhem located on the ground.”

  “Why call them that, then? Why angels and demons?”

  “More than likely, human perceptions of angels and demons have been borrowed from prior interactions with both species, stretched and twisted over time, idealized into notions of good and evil.”

  He reached across the table and took her hand in his, giving it a squeeze. Even though he knew better, he couldn’t help but want to comfort her. “I know this is difficult for you. I’m impressed with how you’ve been handling things.”

  “Yeah, that’s me”—Brynn gave him a trembling smile—“totally unflappable.”

  He chuckled, letting go of her hand when the waitress arrived with their food.

  “So,” she asked once the waitress had left, “the Council members didn’t know Mammon was dangerous?”

  “Oh, they knew he was capable of evil.” They knew it all too well. “But to them, evil is relative. As long as he did his job—and did it well—they overlooked some of the less savory things he did.”

  “Which were?”

  “Doesn’t matter now.” Hopefully she’d get the hint and drop it. He didn’t want to go into this. Not now. Not ever.

  “What?” she insisted. “I want to know.”

  Of course, she would. And she deserved to, never mind how much he didn’t want to speak of it. “He had a weakness for kidnapping females in the worlds he visited and raping them.”

  She gasped. “And the Council knew about this?”

  “Yes.”

  “And they did nothing to stop him?”

  He couldn’t mask the bitterness in his tone. “As I said, to the Council, evil is relative.”

  “Unbelievable,” Brynn muttered, fury written all over her face. “How can you stand working for people like that?”

  “Things aren’t always as black and white as they seem. There is one good thing that’s come of all this, though—once the Council learned of Mammon’s latest scheme, they couldn’t pretend it wasn’t happening. This time, they had to act.”

  “So you and your brothers were sent here to stop him.”

  “Exactly.”

  When she opened her mouth to speak again, he motioned to their food. “Let’s eat.”

  Sighing, she nodded. They ate the rest of their lunch in companionable silence, and started back toward their hotel with their masks back in place.

  A few blocks from the hotel, Brynn asked, “What are your lives like at home?”

  What could he say to that? It was dangerous, but she wouldn’t want to hear that. And unfulfilling, to be sure.
“Me and my brothers mostly work, and we’re lucky to have jobs. There isn’t much in the way of occupation in Infernum.”

  “Really? What does everyone do then?”

  He snorted. “Every demon’s occupation is to avoid getting killed, and for many of them, to find a way off the damn world.”

  “So, you don’t have anyone waiting for you back at home? A wife? Children?”

  Now her questions were becoming too personal for his comfort. “No.”

  Brynn quickly averted her eyes. “Oh.”

  They entered the lobby, and he followed her into the elevator, taking off his mask. She did the same. When her gaze didn’t meet his eyes, he realized she was embarrassed.

  Shit. He hadn’t meant to make her feel bad about questioning him. It wasn’t like she’d known she was going to hit on a sore subject.

  “I would like to have a family,” he grudgingly admitted. “But my world is too dangerous.”

  She met his gaze, not bothering to hide her surprise. “Have you ever thought about leaving?”

  Had he ever thought about? Sometimes it was all he thought about.

  “I’ve requested clearance, but it’s been continuously denied. One of the hazards of being a productive citizen of my world, I suppose. Those who don’t benefit Infernum are generally the only ones granted visits to the other worlds, since so many of them fail to return.”

  “But then don’t you have to track them down?”

  His lips twisted into a brief smile. “Only the dangerous ones.”

  She didn’t seem to notice when they got to their floor, not until the elevator door began to close and he stuck his hand out to stop it. He held it open for her, trying in vain to ignore the way the perfume of her essence wrapped around him. But when her arm brushed against his chest while she exited the elevator, he couldn’t ignore how his skin heated and his heart thumped.

  This woman was dangerous, and not just to the world.

  Alarmingly out of control, he edged in front of her and walked toward their suite, his legs not moving fast enough. Ronin would provide just the buffer he needed. And now. By the time Brynn caught up with him, he’d already reached the door and retrieved the key card from his pocket.

  She closed her fingers around his arm. “Keegan, did I say something wrong?”

  Damn it. She’d touched him. He glared at the hand that rested on his arm, then slowly brought his gaze up to her face. Something in his eyes must have frightened her, because she inhaled, her pupils large and unfocused. The air around them changed, grew heavier. Blood rushed into his ears with a low, roaring sound, overpowering all his other senses.

  “Keegan?” Her voice came out breathy as she tilted her head in question.

  Fuck it. He couldn’t hold back anymore. He needed to know what she tasted like. Just once.

  He grasped her hand, pulled her forward so that her back hit the door to their suite, until she fully faced him. Even over her heavy coat, he felt the rapid beat of her heart, like a frightened rabbit. Moving slowly enough to give her a chance to turn away, he bent his head toward hers.

  Her lips curved into a smile, clearly welcoming him. He groaned and crushed her to him, claimed her mouth in a kiss that was hauntingly familiar, while at the same time completely new.

  She moaned, flicking her tongue against his lips as she molded her body to his.

  Devil, but she was intoxicating. She tasted of the most exotic essence of fruit, as if she was meant to be devoured. Right now, that was all he wanted to do—peel the layers of clothes off her body and taste every delicious inch of her bare flesh. He would wrap her legs around his waist, sink into her warm flesh, and pound away inside her until he took them both into oblivion.

  No. He couldn’t do this. It was wrong, like the worst sort of betrayal to her, and his brothers. To the damned Council, even.

  Aw, hell.

  Brynn whimpered in protest as he broke away. Muttering an oath, he hit his fist against the wall, leaving a dent.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “We can’t.” He turned around to face her. “No, we can’t do this.”

  “I don’t understand.” Her face, still softened with desire, took on a pleading expression. “So what if things become more complicated? They already are more complicated.”

  She was right. She didn’t understand, didn’t know what was at stake here. And he would never tell her. Damn Mammon. Damn the Council for putting him in this position.

  There was only one way to push her away: lie to her.

  He shook his head, letting out a bitter laugh. “You don’t understand. I’ve already got enough problems having to babysit you all over the fucking place. You think this is fun for me?”

  She stared at him, stunned. “I thought—”

  “Yeah, you thought,” he bit out. “For one second, maybe you should think about something besides yourself. I’ve got enough to deal with right now. I don’t need any more complications.”

  Her eyes went round as saucers. “But... ”

  Stomping forward, he swiped the key card across the lock, then pushed the door open. “Get inside.”

  She obeyed, turning to look back at him. The confused, hurt expression on her face almost destroyed him. “Keegan, I—”

  Without another word, he yanked the door shut.

  §

  Brynn stared at the door for several long minutes, blinking back the frustrated moisture that threatened to leak out of her eyes. What was that all about? He was the one who’d pulled her in for a kiss. Then he’d broken away all offended, like she’d stolen it from him or something. Was he out of his mind?

  She stalked into the parlor, throwing the mask to the floor.

  Where did he get off treating her like that? It wasn’t like she’d begged him to kiss her. He’d been just as willing a participant as she was in the whole thing. She didn’t understand him at all.

  She moved out to the balcony and looked below to where crowds of people still milled about, many of them probably headed toward the next parade or to one of the numerous novelty shops. Her body was a mass of quivering nerves, fury blending with the remnants of sexual desire. What a mess her life had become.

  Random spots of color caught her eye as she looked down into the crowd. All the chaos down there was beautiful, in its own strange way. Her fingers itched with the sudden urge to paint. But she hadn’t packed any art supplies when she’d been at her apartment. The demons had attacked before she could decide what to bring, and afterward... well, she hadn’t thought much of anything other than the monsters lying in her living room.

  She could really use her paints now. It was the one thing she could always count on to calm her down. Biting her lip, Brynn glanced back inside the suite. Keegan had stormed off somewhere to do God knows what, and Ronin was apparently still holed away in his room researching. Her gaze moved down to the mask lying on the floor. She wouldn’t foolishly put herself in a dangerous position just because she was angry, but Keegan had said they should be safe enough on the streets wearing their masks.

  She’d find some supplies, maybe even be back before they noticed she was missing...

  He would kill her if he found out. But right now, she didn’t care. Taking a deep breath, she went inside and grabbed the mask, then snatched a spare key card and some money from the coffee table. After a quick peek outside the door to make sure Keegan wasn’t still there, she put on her mask and left.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “You’re such a dick, Keegan.”

  He’d been called a great many names in his life, but none as bad as what he was calling himself right now. He leaned against the side of the hotel building. What a tool he was. He’d been a total ass to Brynn. And what had she done, other than allow him to kiss her?

  “Fucking douchebag,” he muttered.

  The guy in front of him heard, and must have thought Keegan was talking to him because he whirled around, an indignant look on his face. From the way he stumbled a
nd almost fell, it was obvious he’d drunk way too much. But not enough that he didn’t see the deadly glimmer in Keegan’s eye and backed down.

  “Sorry,” the guy mumbled before rushing away.

  How could he treat Brynn like that, all because of his own attraction to her? Because of his own weakness? When she had touched his arm, questions written all over her face, he’d been unable to stop himself. He’d had to kiss her, and damn the consequences.

  It was all his fault.

  He banged his head against the building. If he was going to blame others for his own shortcomings, he was no better than his father.

  He refused to be like him. Would never be like that.

  Keegan pushed away from the wall and strode back into the lobby. He rode the elevator, wondering how he would apologize to her. He’d be lucky if he could spit the words out without her taking a swing at his head. And if she did, he wouldn’t blame her. In fact, he’d probably let her.

  He entered their suite and walked to Brynn’s door, rapping lightly. “Brynn?”

  When there was no answer, he knocked again, repeating her name.

  Again, no answer.

  He hovered at the door, uncertain if he should open it. What if he caught her in a state of undress the way Ronin had earlier? He didn’t want to intrude on her privacy. But at the same time, he had to make sure she was okay and tell her he was sorry.

  Keegan slowly swung the door open and poked his head inside. “Brynn?”

  Her bathroom door was wide open, and the light off. He went inside and peeked around. Anxiety gripped him when he realized she wasn’t there. After jogging to his and Ronin’s room, he opened the door. His brother sat at the small desk, tapping away at his laptop.

  Ronin didn’t bother looking up. “What’s up?”

  “Where’s Brynn?”

  “What?” Ronin jerked his head up. “I thought she was with you.”

  “Oh, shit.” He turned and ran to the parlor, then the balcony.

  Ronin followed, not far behind. “I don’t understand. You two went out a few hours ago.”

  He turned to face his brother and admitted his failure. “I dropped her off here, and left about half an hour ago.”