I swore under my breath. Past our circle, Piscary waited. Even if I managed to escape, Piscary would walk. It wasn't as if I could ask Algaliarept to testify.
Eyes widening, I looked up. 'Time?' I asked.
The vision of Kist looked at its wrist, and a watch twin to the one I had smashed with my meat tenderizer appeared about it. 'One minute, thirty.'
My face went cold. 'What do you want for you to testify in an I.S. or FIB courtroom that Piscary is the witch serial killer?'
Algaliarept grinned. 'I like the way you think, Rachel Mariana Morgan.'
'How much?' I shouted, looking at the sun creeping down the side of the buildings.
'My price hasn't changed. I need a new familiar, and it's taking too long to get Nicholas Gregory Sparagmos's soul.'
My soul. I couldn't do it, even if it would satisfy Algaliarept and ultimately save Nick from losing his soul and being pulled into the ever-after to be the demon's familiar. My face went slack and I stared at Algaliarept so intently that it blinked in surprise. I had an idea. It was foolish and risky, but maybe it was crazy enough to work.
'I'll voluntarily be your familiar,' I whispered, not knowing if I could survive the energy it might pull through me or force me to hold for it. 'I'll freely be your familiar, but I get to keep my soul.' Maybe if I retained my soul, it couldn't pull me into the ever-after. I could stay on this side of the ley lines. It could use me only when the sun was down. Maybe. The question was, would Algaliarept take the time to think it through? 'And I want you to testify before my end of the agreement becomes enforceable,' I added in case I managed to survive.
'Voluntarily?' it said, its form blurring at the edges. Even Piscary looked shocked. 'That's not how it works. No one has ever willingly been a familiar before. I don't know what that means.'
'It means I'm your damn familiar!' I shouted, knowing that if it thought about it, it would realize it was only getting half of me. 'You say yes now, or in thirty seconds either I or Piscary is going to be dead, and you will have nothing. Nothing! Do we have a deal or not?'
The vision of Kist leaned forward and I shirked away. It looked at its watch. 'Voluntarily?' Its eyes were wide in wonder and avarice.
In a wash of panic, I nodded. I'd worry about it later. If I had a later.
'Done,' it said, so quickly I thought for sure I'd made a mistake. Relief filled me, then reality hit with a soul- shaking slap.
I jerked back as it reached for my wrist.
'We agreed,' it said, snatching my arm with a vamp quickness.
I kicked it square in the stomach. It did nothing, rocking back with the transfer of momentum but otherwise unmoved. A gasp slipped from me as it scratched a line across my demon mark. Blood flowed. I jerked back, and making shushing noises, the demon bent its head over my wrist and blew on it.
I tried to pull away, but it was stronger than me. I was sick of the blood, of everything. It let me go and I fell back, sliding down the arch of its barrier, feeling my back tingle. Immediately I looked at my wrist. There were two lines where one had once been. The new one looked as old as the first. 'It didn't hurt this time,' I said, too strung- out to be shocked.
'It wouldn't have hurt the first time had you not tried to stitch it up. What you felt was the fiber burning away. I'm a demon, not a sadist.'
'Algaliarept!' Piscary shouted as our agreement was sealed.
'Too late,' the grinning demon said, and disappeared.
I fell backward as its barrier vanished from behind me, shrieking as Piscary lunged. Bracing myself against the floor, I brought my legs up into him, flipping him over me. I scrambled for my bag and the vial. My hand dove into my bag, and Piscary jerked me back.
'Witch,' he hissed, gripping my shoulder. 'I'll have what I want. And then you'll die.'
'Go to hell, Piscary,' I snarled, thumbing the vial open with a soft pop and throwing it into his face.
Crying out, Piscary violently pushed away from me. From the floor, I watched him lurch away, wiping at his face with frantic motions.
Heart in my throat, I waited for him to fall, waited for him to pass out. He did neither.
My gut tightened in fear as Piscary wiped his face, bringing his fingers to his nose. 'Kisten,' he said, his disgust melting into a weary disappointment. 'Oh, Kisten. Not you?'
I swallowed hard. 'It's harmless, isn't it.'
He met my eyes. 'You don't think I survived this long by telling my children what can really kill me, do you?'
I had nothing left. For three heartbeats I stared. His lips curved into an eager smile.
I jerked into motion. Piscary casually reached out and grabbed my ankle as I tried to rise. I fell, kicking out, managing to hit his face twice before he pulled me to him and immobilized me under his weight.
The scar on my neck gave a pulse, and fear surged through it, making a nauseating mix.
'No,' Piscary said softly, pinning me to the carpet. 'You will be in pain for this.'
His fangs were bared. Saliva dripped from them.
I struggled for air, trying to get out from under him. He shifted, holding my left arm over my head. My right arm was free. Teeth gritted, I went for his eyes.
Piscary jerked back. With a vamp strength, he grasped my right arm and snapped it.
My scream echoed against the high ceilings. My back arched and I gasped for air.
Piscary's eyes flashed black. 'Tell me if Kalamack has a viable sample,' he demanded.
Lungs heaving, I tried to breathe. The wave of misery thrummed from my arm and echoed in my head. 'Go to hell…' I rasped.
Still pinning me to the carpet, he squeezed my broken arm.
I writhed as agony sang through me. Every nerve ending pulsed into a burn. A guttural sound escaped me, pain and determination. I wouldn't tell him. I didn't even know the answer.
He leaned his weight onto my arm, and I screamed again so I wouldn't go insane. Fear made my skull hurt as Piscary's eyes flashed into hunger. His instinctive need had risen high, triggered by my struggles. The black of his eyes swelled. I heard my sounds of pain as if outside my head. Silver sparkles from shock started between me and Piscary's eyes, and my cries turned to relief. I was going to pass out.
Piscary saw it, too. 'No,' he whispered, his tongue making a quick pass over his teeth to catch the saliva before it fell. 'I'm better than that.' He took his weight from my arm. A groan came from me as the agony dulled to a throb.
He leaned to put his face inches from mine, watching my pupils with a cool detachment as the sparkles disappeared and my focus returned. Under his impassivity was a growing excitement. If he hadn't already sated his hunger with Ivy, he wouldn't have been able to keep from draining me. He knew the instant my will returned, smiling in anticipation.
Taking a breath, I spit in his face, tears mixing with my saliva.
Piscary closed his eyes, his expression showing a tired irritation. He let go of my left wrist to wipe his face.
I swung the heel of my hand up to smash it into his nose.
He caught my wrist before it hit. Fangs glinting, he held my arm. My eyes traveled down the scratch he had cut in me to invoke the amulet. My heart gave a hard pound. A ribbon of blood trailed slowly to my elbow. A drop of red swelled, quivered, and fell to land upon my chest, warm and soft.
My breath was shaking. I stared, waiting. His tension rose, his muscles tightening as he lay atop me. His gaze was fixed to my wrist. Another drop fell, feeling heavy against me.
'No!' I shrieked as a carnal groan slipped from him.
'I see now,' he said, his voice terrifyingly soft, harnessed need pulsing under it. 'No wonder Algaliarept took so long finding out what frightens you.' Pinning my arm to the floor, he leaned closer until our noses lay side by side. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. 'You're afraid of desire,' he whispered. 'Tell me, little witch, what I want to know or I will slice you open, filling your veins with me, making you my plaything. But I will let you remember your freedom—mine forever.'
'Go to hell….' I said, terrified.
