Page 28

Mere minutes later, Daniil teleported Luka and the twins to the underground vault. Luka took the lead as they strode down the passageway, making a beeline for Iain’s cell, allowing the relative darkness to envelop them.

If Iain was on the verge of turning rogue, it could mean two things. Either his psyche was splintering, or he was prepared to willingly surrender control to his entity as a means of escape. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had left their demon to deal with the consequences of their actions.

Whatever the case, this wasn’t good.

The only thing stopping a person’s inner entity from giving in to their unfeeling nature was the balance they received from sharing their soul with someone. When a demon took over, they had no balance.

To turn rogue wasn’t to lose your sanity. It simply meant that a demon would lose any and all interest in reason or rationality. They would kill because they could, no motive required. And they would not stop until somebody killed them .

Nearing Iain’s cell, Luka saw the prisoner leaning against the bars, each hand loosely clasping one. Raiden watched him uneasily from a short distance away.

A flickering bulb cast light over Iain’s face, giving Luka flashes of pure black eyes. It was then he realized that Iain wasn’t in charge at that moment.

Luka stopped a mere foot from the cell, meeting the entity’s probing gaze head-on. His own inner demons stirred, watching it very carefully.

It glanced around. “If it were not for the bars keeping me prisoner, I would like it here,” it said, its voice cold and flat. “So much pain and blood and fear—the emotional echoes are strong.”

Luka tipped his head to the side. “You’re going to take advantage of Iain’s fractured mental state?” Entities were protective of their human half, but that wasn’t to say they wouldn’t commandeer full control if they could.

“He thinks he is fighting by sticking to his claims. It is not fighting. It is refusing to allow himself to see reality. That is weakness ,” it sneered.

“So you yourself know that he isn’t—”

“Deeply, madly in love with the siren? Yes, I know that. So does he on some level. He just will not face it.” Its lips momentarily curved. “It infuriates him that you now bed her.”

“I don’t much care. What I want to know is if you are going to retreat.”

The demon straightened, pushing away from the bars. “He needs to see the bigger picture.”

Luka narrowed his eyes. “You mean to scare him into realizing what will happen if he doesn’t pull his head out of his ass.”

“Nicely put.”

So Iain wasn’t on the verge of turning rogue; wasn’t having a psychic breakdown due to the strain of fighting his demon’s insistence for dominance. It was simply that his entity wanted him to wake the fuck up and accept reality. “Will it work?”

“Perhaps. The thought of being lost forever terrifies him. That terror is fueling him to rise. He needs to find his strength. If he does, I will subside. If he does not, I will reign.”

Luka twisted his mouth, trying to think of how he might aid the entity. “Would seeing his sisters help him?” he asked, knowing the siblings were tight; that there was a chance Iain would listen to them.

The demon pursed its lips, considering. “Their encouragement may make a difference, yes.”

“Then I will have them brought here.”

“It would be best that you do not stay,” the entity recommended. “Your presence enrages him far too much. It will make him less reasonable and receptive.”

Luka had already concluded that much for himself. “If you choose to reign, you will die,” he warned. “I cannot, will not allow you to live.”

The entity’s bored expression didn’t change in the slightest. “Which is why I would prefer that he feel spurred to fight me. No one wins if he does not.”

Having tossed back the last of her smoothie, Naomi set the empty bottle on her coffee table.

“I can’t imagine what Iain’s going through right now,” she said to Luka, who sat beside her on the sofa.

“To have your own entity keep you suppressed like that . . .” She would for sure feel betrayed in his position.

Angled in his seat to face her, Luka gave her a severe look. “Do not feel guilty. None of this is on you. And if Iain doesn’t choose to fight his demon, that won’t be on you either. He’s a big boy; siren song or no, he can make his own decisions.”

“I know that. I just can’t quite believe things have gone this far.” She crossed one leg over the other and slipped her joined hands between her thighs. “What do you think the outcome will be?”

“Iain held out against me and Belial, but that was more to stubbornly get across that he believed himself to be right in all he claimed. His entity may have more success with him. He doesn’t want to die; he will if his demon takes over.

I can’t allow a rogue to live unless I keep them permanently in my vault. ”

“Which is no life.”

“Exactly. The demon wouldn’t wish for such an existence anyway.”

She sighed. “It must really be pissed at Iain to pull this move.” A person’s inner entity wouldn’t easily do something that would upset them.

“Oh, it is. It’s very sure he’s fooling himself, and it doesn’t like that vein of weakness in him.” Luka draped an arm over the back of the sofa. “Has no other man taken so long to snap out of their obsession with you?”

She shook her head. “My song affected Iain on a level that it didn’t others. I keep wondering if maybe I should have reported the problem to Jolene sooner; if he would have shaken it off by now if you’d intervened at an earlier point.”

“Either way, you still hold no blame here.”

“It sucks that sirens have no way to unravel the metaphorical spells we unintentionally weave over people. It doesn’t seem fair that we don’t have that inborn power.”

“Ella did attempt to find a literal spell that would release Iain from your song’s thrall. Unfortunately, none exists.”

Kind of curious about his relationship with his anchor, she asked, “How did you first meet Ella?”

“I needed new wards for Infernal—the others were suffering from wear and tear. I heard she was the best at constructing them. I wanted the best. While she was outside the club building wards, I telepathed her from inside to ask how long she’d be.

As soon as our psyches touched, I knew she was my anchor. ” He paused. “What about you and Tobe?”

“I’ve known him since we were kids, but we never had cause to touch minds until one day eight years ago. He’d telepathically reached out to tell me to be careful; that I was being followed.”

Luka tensed, squinted slightly. “Followed?”

“It was an ex. I dealt with it. Haven’t seen him since.” Naomi paused. “Has Tobe contacted you at all?”

“No. Why?”

She gave a stiff shrug. “No reason.”

“Let me guess . . . he isn’t pleased that you’re in my bed, and you’re worried that he’ll eventually come to me about it?”

“It’s not a jealousy thing, if that’s what you’re wondering. He’s just hyper-protective, and you’re a man with a whole lot of enemies.”

“He thinks you’d be safer away from me and that you can do better?”

“Yes, pretty much. Why are you half smiling?”

“I said similar things to Ella regarding Viper.” Luka thought it ironic that he’d now be hearing the same said of him.

“I didn’t want Viper in the picture. He and I had some unpleasant conversations in the beginning.

” As such, Luka really wouldn’t be able to judge Tobe if he did choose to make his reservations clear in person.

“Ella’s mother and aunt weren’t crazy about her involvement with him either.

Are your family on the same page as Tobe regarding me? ”

“My mom isn’t bothered by it. My stepfather has his reservations but only spoke of them once.”

Luka twined a strand of her hair around his finger. “He runs the pizzeria where you work, right?”

“Right.”

“You live an unusually quiet life for an imp.” Even he had heard the note of suspicion in his voice, so it was no surprise that she stiffened. “Why do you only work part-time?”

Her casual shrug seemed a little forced. “Alfie doesn’t need me full-time.”

“Hmm,” Luka responded. “Is that the only reason?”

“Why? What’s with all the questions?”

He blinked at her defensive tone. “I want to know you.” He almost smiled at how she eyed him, wary and uncertain. That was Naomi, he’d come to learn. Always cautious of people’s motivations.

“Why?”

“Because,” he replied simply.

He couldn’t pinpoint why curiosity clawed at him often around this she-demon. He’d known many women. Bedded many women. Until her, none had intrigued him beyond a surface level. He found himself wanting to pierce the guardedness she wore like a layer of perfume.

It was really no wonder that his defenses had steadily grown to read her as a threat. She was . . . not quite under his skin, but scratching at it, demanding entry. An uncomfortable feeling. “I didn’t anticipate that you would matter to me, but you do.”

She swallowed. “Maybe you’re just caught up in the siren spell.”

“You know that isn’t true. You’d be able to tell if I was.

” It would be a lie to say that her song hadn’t impacted him.

The pull she gave off was pure sexual magnetism, so it had of course contributed to his attraction to her.

But she was so beautiful, sensual, and compellingly self-assured that she would have snatched his attention with or without it.

“There were sirens in my past,” he added. “I felt their call, just as I feel yours. But the effect of their song wore off fast, and none of them kept my interest.” He gently tapped her nose. “You’re a different matter.”

“And you’re not sure how you feel about that, are you?”

“No, as it happens, I’m not. I generally don’t like to find myself in unfamiliar territory.”

“So why aren’t you ending our arrangement?”

“I really can’t say, because I don’t have an answer.”

Finding herself at a loss here, Naomi stared at him in silence for long moments.