“We hit ’em with everything we had and they just disappeared,” Ryder said. “Vanished.”
“Pussies. They couldn’t handle the heat,” Punk added with a satisfied nod.
“They’re not defeated,” Michael said, his brows knit in a tight frown. “They never are.”
“They’ll be back?” Trace asked.
Michael shook his head. “For now, no. They’ve done what they came to do.”
Angelique didn’t understand Michael’s words.
“There’s really a demon in the black diamond?” Mandy’s gaze was focused on Lou. “What’s he doing with it?”
“I have no idea,” Angelique said.
The black diamond’s light grew, seeming to glow beyond its surface now, the hum growing louder until her ears hurt. The light it put off was blinding-still blue, but now more luminous, so bright Angelique had to shield her eyes from the intensity.
The area around them grew colder. Lou’s hands were covered in ice and the ground around him was sprinkled with white crystals.
“Is that thing trying to get out?” Trace asked.
“Yes,” Michael said. “The demon is attempting to break free.”
“What kind of demon is it?” Angelique asked, unable to tear her gaze away from it.
“Powerful.”
“As strong as the Sons of Darkness?” she asked.
“More so. Why do you think they wanted someone or something that would activate it?”
“So why now? Isabelle spent all that time with it. I thought she was the trigger.”
“Isabelle was the catalyst to bring it out of dormancy,” Michael said. “Keepers have the power to actually release the demon from the black diamond.”
Angelique’s jaw dropped. “Why would we want to do that?”
“Just watch,” Michael said.
The blue light surrounded the outside of the black diamond now. Lou moved his hands, palmed the bottom of the diamond and raised his hand over the top of it. As he did, the light lifted to meet his hand, seeming to dance underneath his palm. He crouched and laid the diamond on the ground, then slowly lifted, the light following his hand as he stood.
It was like watching a genie appear from a bottle, a sinuous, seductive dance against Lou’s hand, swirling between his fingers, wrapping around his forearm.
Angelique was transfixed. This was the demon that had been hiding inside the black diamond? She had been carrying a demon around with her all that time after she’d escaped the caves in Australia? She shuddered at the realization.
The light began to materialize into shape, grow larger and form into a body, blue mixing with white as the object undulated before Lou’s raised hands. Legs, hips, the curve of a waist, long, blue-white hair. .
The demon inside the black diamond was female!
“Do you see that?” she asked Ryder.
“Yes.”
“I’ll be goddamned,” Derek muttered. “It’s a girl.”
“Most definitely feminine,” Gina said with a nod.
“Did you know this, Michael?” Angelique asked.
“Yes.”
She supposed it didn’t really matter what gender the demon was. Or maybe it did matter. It was just damn odd that the demon inside the black diamond was female.
And did it ever seem to have a thing for Lou. Or maybe Keepers in general? As soon as its arms and hands materialized, it reached out for him.
Shockingly, Lou held his arms straight from his sides as if in surrender. It came toward him, floating like a ghostly specter, surrounding him, touching his face, his shoulders.
She was beautiful, her face like porcelain, her features perfection, as was her body. Angelique held her breath as the demon caressed Lou’s face, pressing herself against him in a way that could only be described as. . affectionate, almost like a hug.
What on earth was going on?
Lou wore no expression, just nodded, his arms still outspread as the demon held on to his shoulders.
“I don’t like this,” Derek whispered.
Lou closed his eyes, and a strong wind kicked up, blowing his hair back, pressing his clothes to his body. The demon mimicked Lou’s stance and it was like looking at two mirrored objects.
Suddenly, the demon moved closer to Lou, then against him. They were face-to-face now. Lou’s eyes were still closed, their noses were almost touching.
