Devil's Punch

It wasn’t until after I spoke that I realized I shouldn’t have known. But I felt him, as if his essence were bonded to mine…like a queen who monitored her minions. The realization sickened me. Her dark tendrils sank deep into my spirit, undercutting my personality and resolve. Soon there would be nothing but echoes where Corine Solomon had been.

“You’re human again.” Disappointment flavored the demon’s tone, and that rocked me.

I had started counting on Greydusk as a true ally, but he served me only because he wanted the dark queen’s favor when she ascended. Destroying me. That meant Greydusk wasn’t mine. He was hers. Much more of this and I’d go crazy.

“If I said I’ll stay, after we save Shannon, how would you feel?”

“Relieved,” Greydusk said at once. “Sheol needs you.”

“Needs her, you mean.”

The demon gave me a unsettling, toothy smile. “That’s semantics, Binder. At this point, you’re as much hers as your own.”

Unwelcome truth, but he was correct. I’m losing this fight.

I glanced at Chance; he was meant for brighter, better things. I wished he hadn’t come back for me with his healed spirit and his grand gesture, ready to love me like I deserved. I wished I’d had the courage to send him away in Laredo, but I had been so hurt that I couldn’t bear the thought of being alone. And now my weakness might destroy him too. With a deep breath, I firmed my faltering resolve.

“Well, guys, how do we deal with the Hazo?”

Best-Laid Plans

“The first question you must ask, Binder, is what Caim wants of you.”

Once, I’d have said revenge. No question. But I’d realized that demons didn’t always react as I expected. I had friends where I’d anticipated persecution and hidden enemies who didn’t dare move openly against me, in case I did ascend. Beyond that, a faction had been spying on me for reasons I didn’t understand, and now I was inside their compound.

“I have no idea,” I admitted after a moment’s thought.

“Would you like me to present a likely theory?” Greydusk asked.

“Go for it.”

“Given what you told me of your prior interaction, Caim is worried that the Hazo will suffer for his role in that debacle. Though he had little control over what the caster forced him to do, the queen is not known for being reasonable or forgiving. I believe he wishes to present your friend as a gift. Amends, if you will.”

“Seriously?” After all this, could it be that easy?

We could walk up to the front gate and get her back? Every nerve in my body insisted that was bullshit. Caim would know I wasn’t the queen—unless I let her drive. Again. I recoiled from the thought, but I wondered if it even mattered now.

It doesn’t have to be like that, the queen whispered. We could bond. Some of me, enough to convince them. And some of you, so you don’t lose everything. It’s a fair deal, your most likely chance of survival.

I stilled. Why would you offer that? Aren’t you going to wipe me out?

There’s a small chance you could win. Smother me forever. This way, I don’t lose everything. It’s a limited-time offer, human. Don’t think about it too long.

When I looked up again, I found Chance and Greydusk regarding me with an odd expression. “Did I zone?”

“For ten minutes,” Chance answered.

“You were with her last night.” Not a question.

But he nodded as if it had been.

“Did she hurt you?”

He replied carefully. “Hurt is the wrong word.”

“Pick the right one.”

Chance cast a nervous glance at Greydusk. He didn’t want to talk about this in front of the demon.

I responded to the cue. “Could you give us a few minutes? I’ll know what I intend to do by then. Go make the arrangements to get us out of here. If Azon asks for another audience, tell him he risks pissing me off.”

The demon inclined his head and backed from the room. Good. He respects you, the queen said with satisfaction. You have made a good beginning even with all the bumbling, human. Your court will not be such a wretched thing after all.

“You said she didn’t hurt you, but…” He was clearly holding something back.

“I don’t have much self-control. She does this thing with her magick, and I respond. I stop being me. Stop caring about anything but pleasing her.”

God, but it was weird hearing that. Because she was me, essentially, and I hated knowing I’d done that to him. “Are you all right?”

He nodded. “I was glad when she passed out. It took more power than she expected to subjugate me.”

“Why?”

Chance hesitated. And then he told me his deepest secret, a truth his mom hadn’t shared. When he finished his quiet summary, I sat back, eyes wide. Greydusk had known Chance carried divine blood, I thought. But I’d imagined he was fucking with us.

“Wow,” I breathed. “Does that change everything?”

“Like what?”

“I dunno, how about your whole worldview?”

Chance lifted a shoulder in a bewildered shrug. “It explains my luck, but I don’t feel any different. I’m still my mother’s son. She’s the one who gave up everything to see me raised right.”

That was why I’d fallen in love with him in the first place. I couldn’t imagine any other guy finding out he was a demigod and not having it impact his self-esteem. But Chance had always been confident, solid in his sense of self. Once I found that certainty comforting…and then upsetting because I couldn’t match it.

“Are you going to try to contact him?”

“If he’d wanted to be part of my life, he would’ve been.”

I smiled up at him. “This takes the deadbeat dad thing to new levels, huh?”

“God, I want you.” The fervor came from nowhere, at least from my perspective, until I remembered that the demon queen had tormented him last night, wearing my face.

I regretted that, but there wasn’t time to rectify the situation.

And why not? she asked. Anything of import waits on our pleasure.

There was seduction—and evil—in such complete self-absorption. I fought her lazy desire, rolling over me in waves. When I made love with Chance again, it would be because we both wanted it more than anything—with no help from outside stimulation. Something about Sheol stirred his sex drive, making him more primitive, and she didn’t help with her teasing.

“Do you think your divine blood might be reacting to the demon magick, in addition to the compulsion as consort?” No wonder he wasn’t himself.

“Probably,” he said, still looking at me as if he wanted to bend me over.

“Dial it down. We have work to do.”

My sharpness returned him to himself and he regained his composure, but his eyes retained that hungry edge. “I’ll find Greydusk.”

While they were gone, I used the facilities, freshened up, and found a change of clothes. These fell between my ornate robes from the Luren and the simple street garb the demon procured for me later. Though this outfit was all black, it had a satiny pattern imprinted on it so that it showed in each flicker of the light. I liked the knee boots that came with it. I almost felt like a queen, dressed like this.