Page 34

I let my magic flow through me, building and growing as best I could in my panicked state while frantically looking around the parking lot for help, for anyone to help me, but there was no one.

“Let’s go,” he said and started pulling me around to the other side of the car.

It wasn’t enough power, not nearly enough, but I fired my magic at him, letting it pulse through me into his hand.

He jerked and growled but didn’t release me.

His chuckle grated over me.“That all you got?Aw, sweetheart, I’m kind of embarrassed for you.”

I scowled up at him.

Excitement filled his eyes again.“So, I take it we’re doing this the hard way?”

There was no getting out of this, and fighting would only make this worse for me.“Fine, let’s go see your boss.”

“Shame.I was really hoping you had a bit more backbone.”He snatched my keys out of my hand, shoved me into the passenger seat, and shut me in.I didn’t bring Boo with me to work, thank the goddess, at least he was home safe with Pheebs.Poe got in, started the engine, cranked up the stereo, and tore out onto the street.

I gripped my bag so tightly my knuckles ached as he drove farther and farther away from Ashborne house, taking streets I’d never been down, in a part of the city I’d never ventured to.

I’d expected him to take me to Seventh Circle, where most of the demons above ground were permitted to reside—as long as they toed the line and followed the rules; namely, don’t mess with humans.No killing, torturing, or eating them.If they behaved, they were left to their own devices.Instead, we drove until we reached the edge of Roxburgh and headed for a big old house right out of a horror movie.It was surrounded by acreage and trees that stood like a huge misshapen army of spindly monsters lining the long driveway and ready to pounce.

Gravel crunched under the tires as we rolled to a stop outside the front of the house.

Poe got out of the car, strode around, opened my door, grabbed my bicep, and marched me up the stairs.

The main door opened before we even reached it, and the demon who stood inside was as tall as Poe and just as freaky looking.I didn’t know what kind of demon he was, but he had the same dead eyes and sharply angled features.Only when this one smiled, he flashed viciously pointed teeth.Poe had obviously filed his down to appear more human.

I doubted the creepy one staring at me as Poe led me inside ever left this place.He couldn’t pass in the human world, not with those teeth.

The walls were a deep hunter green and there were small ornate lamps on the walls, glowing pale yellow and doing little to illuminate the space.My boots thudded against the deep red rug swirled with black and gray.It looked expensive and good if you needed to disguise, I don’t know, blood stains, for example.

I shuddered.Whoever lived here was playing at being the Lord of the Manor instead of the demon thug he actually was.

We stopped at a set of doors, and Poe knocked lightly, respectfully, on the dark wood.

A harsh voice called from inside, telling us to enter.The urge to pull away from Poe’s tight grip, to run, to get the hell out of there, was hard to control.My flight instincts were in full red alert.Poe opened the door and dragged me in after him.

The room was just as dim as the entrance and main hall but not so dark I couldn’t make out its contents.My gaze instantly went to the male standing in front of the fire.His hands were clasped behind his back, and he stared into the flames while the silence stretched out between us.The cold and unwelcoming vibes that filled the room made me tremble.

“What am I doing here?”Panic had settled in, and I was struggling to breathe properly.My vision washed with red and my claws slid from the tips of my fingers as I transformed, I was honestly surprised it hadn’t happened earlier.

His head jerked my way, a sneer on his very unpleasant face as if my voice offended him in every possible way.

“Did I say you could speak?”he said, proving I was right.

Poe squeezed my arm tighter, telling me without words to shut the hell up.I did, snapping my mouth shut and biting my lips together.Whoever this demon was, I didn’t want to be on his bad side, at least not more than I already was.

He turned his entire body slowly, oddly, as if his joints worked in a different way than any other creature who stood on two legs, before moving toward me with weird, gliding strides that lifted goose bumps all over my body.He didn’t stop until he was mere inches away.Looking down at me, with those hate-filled eyes, he smiled.

The sight was utterly chilling.

“We’ll get right to the point, shall we?”

I was too scared to answer, so I bit my lips harder and nodded.

He grinned wider, obviously pleased that I’d learned my lesson.“Very good,” he said.“Perhaps we can come to an arrangement after all?”He lifted a hand, and I flinched as he took my jaw in his cold, clammy fingers, tilting my head from side to side, taking in my demonic transformation.His gaze slid to my mouth, then back up, holding my eyes captive in his dead-man’s stare.“I had been prepared to retrieve what was owed to me in…other ways, but I see now that you’re a very smart little…” He flashed his teeth.“Demon.Maybe we won’t have to go to such extremes quite yet?”

For once, the way I looked might have actually helped me.