"Sabian, break the circle," the prince, nowfree of the charm, stood and stared at me in his close to human aspect. Relativelyshort, dark hair, dark eyes, the hint of horns peeking out from the curls,dusky skin, a suit. Why did the princes always wear suits?
"Save her." I winced as I realized I'd basicallygiven my prince an order.
"You know how it works, Sabian. I can't save herunless I get something in return. She won't want to sell her soul, nor is shein any position to sign a contract. It's the rule and magic binds me. I can'tbreak it." He actually sounded unhappy about it.
"You still owe me something for my service inthis. Save her. Quickly." This time I left the honorific off on purpose.
"I was prepared to reward you extremelyhandsomely. You would give up everything I'd offer for a mortal's life?"
"All I need is her."
He raised his eyebrows before turning to look atChris, prone on the ground, more blood outside than in at this point. She wasquite dead, but not yet gone. We had only moments, though.
"I'll have to possess her."
"Fortunately, I know a couple of good exorcists.They might even be gentle with you if you save her life."
The prince barked laughter before he nodded. "Verywell. Your reward then."
I sighed in relief. He hadn't told me it was too late.We'd save her.
Darius came back in at that moment and shoutedsomething inarticulate as he saw the demon swirl into black mist before itsoaked into the prone exorcist.
"What did you do?" He grabbed my shoulderand jerked me around to look at him.
"Saved her life, Darius," I replied quietly.I really hoped he would understand.
"Possession isn't life," the Priest snarledback, and I swore he was about to send my ass back to hell.
Fortunately, Aaron was likely more team Sabian than hewas team priest, and I could probably get him to stop Darius long enough for meto explain if he tried it. Chris was worth the risk.
Aaron had managed to get back to his feet and hadapproached us warily.
"Darius," I pleaded. "He'll leave.Willingly. He owed me and there is no debt that Chris will have to pay. She wasdead. They killed her." I wiped a few tears from my eyes, startled attheir appearance.
The priest glared at me.
Aaron's eyes were wide as they darted between me, thepriest, and Chris, who was still dead on the floor.
I could sense the energy the prince used to repair herbody and how he held her spirit. Thank the abyss, she would wake up beforelong. Prince Ezra was using a lot of energy. I hadn't realized how much thiswould cost him. He must really have felt he owed me. Or perhaps he felt itabsolved some of his debt to Chris, though he would still owe her the favor hehad promised.
"Where is Mal?" Aaron asked when Darius didn'treply.
Darius frowned and glanced around the room, before hiseyes widened. "That's kind of fucked up."
None of us had noticed the vampire bound to a chair inthe corner. He was slumped over, a shaft of something shoved through his chest.That's how they'd done it. They must have seriously gotten the drop on Chrisand Mal to have managed to stake him. I took a step toward Mal, then hesitated,turning toward Chris. I wanted to go to both of them, but I couldn't helpeither at the moment. At least I wouldn't have to tell either one of them thatthe other was dead.
"Chris is going to be pissed." Dariussighed. "She really liked him."
I was really starting to get a sense of why Chris didn'tfully trust Darius anymore. He seemed to have forgotten some of his humanity. Iwas more affected by the idea of Chris losing Mal than he was, and I was a damndemon, and I knew Mal would be okay once we could figure out how tosafely wake him up.
The hellhound whined and I turned my attention back tothe circle. Chris groaned, fingers twitching. She climbed to her hands andknees, resting as if getting used to her body again.
I really hoped she wouldn't send me back to hell forthis.
"Mother fucker," she blurted as her eyessnapped open and they zeroed in on me.
My heart sank.
Chapter 15
Price
Price... Thefamiliar voice hissed through me, both filling me with warmth and grating on myears.
I turned to see a man standing before me. He washandsome, dusky skin, dark eyes that seemed to contain the universe, thoughtwin horns curved up through his wavy black hair.
"Yeah, mate?" Well, shit. Not exactly what Ihad hoped for, but probably what I deserved.
The demon chuckled. "I'm not here to claim yoursoul, Price," he said. "I'm here to save your life. If you'll let me."
Ahh, that's why I recognized his voice. It carried thesame intonations as the demon who had spoken through Sabian. This was our prince.Ezra. The one I had thought they'd bound.
Some of my confusion must have shown through.
"Sabian and your friends showed up in time tothwart the other humans. We do not have much time, however. Sabian hasrequested I save your life as the reward I had offered him. You must stillchoose, and you must do it quickly." He held out his hand.
A warm, comforting something tugged at me,summoning me, promising me peace, but I didn't turn. I'd never had much use forpeace anyway. At least not that kind. And I still had shit to do. Yet, Ihesitated. Would this choice cost me in the future? I imagined if I asked, theprince wouldn't answer. Could almost feel that the question was beyond hisknowledge. I could have peace. Or I could continue to live.
I supposed it wasn't really a choice, after all.
"This going to cost me anything?" I slid myhand into the demon's. His hand was shockingly warm, and I had to keep myselffrom pulling away as his power burned into me.
"Sabian paid the price. He gave up...quite a bit.Though, I suppose I can see your appeal."
I raised my eyebrows but didn't know how to
