- •Home for the holidays
- •I waved a hand, not wanting to spoil the festive mood. “Nothing. Annette must be running behind.”
- •Ian left, chuckling to himself the whole time.
- •I leaned in to whisper my reply. “Tell me later, when everyone’s gone.”
- •Ian stood in the far corner of the room, his normally mocking countenance drawn into harsh lines of anger.
- •I immediately jumped to my feet, going to our nearest cache of weapons. Ian didn’t seem interested in armoring up first. He started toward the door.
- •In that moment, seeing their faces so close together, the first inkling of realization slammed into me. It seemed impossible, but. . .
- •I linked my arm with his, hoping to help calm his whirling emotions. “You say Annette knew about this?”
- •I slid my thigh between his, brow arching in challenge. “So, you ready for your other present? Or now that you’re almost a quarter-millennium old, maybe you want to take a nap instead?”
- •I waved the ghost over. “Fabian, what do you think?”
- •I stared into Bones’s eyes and made him a silent promise. I’ll fix this and get the real you back. I don’t know how yet, but I will.
- •I sat back and asked the most obvious questions. “Why do you have a tattoo that wards away demonic influence on your groin, Ian? And what does this have to do with Bones and the others?”
- •Ian set Denise in the tub and then looked up at me, smiling wolfishly as he pulled out a silver knife.
- •Ian snickered. “For that much money, you could’ve had a few lap dances.”
- •I reached into my jacket and pulled out a long, thin knife, holding it near the demon’s eye.
- •If these were my last moments on earth, I’d spend them fighting to save him with everything I had. If our roles were reversed, I knew he’d do the same.
- •I didn’t really need proof to know that Bones was possessed, but if making out with Ian gave Bones the chance to stomp on top of the demonic bitch inside him, then I’d do it with gusto.
- •I didn’t point out that he was a demon, so lies went with the territory. He was our best source of information and I didn’t want him leaving in a huff.
- •I grabbed his hair less roughly than I had Ian’s a few minutes before. “But you stopped her when she put that knife in my heart. You stopped her!”
- •Ian gave Bones a languid smile. “No worries, Crispin. Our sulfur-smelling mate has more pedestrian reimbursements in mind for any assistance he gives us.”
- •I didn’t glance behind me to where we’d stacked the guns, but they were within easy reach. “I won’t, but let’s not talk about that now. You should try to get some sleep.”
- •I bolted upright, startling Bones. “What?” he demanded.
- •I said nothing, but my jaw clenched, the only outward sign of the roiling emotions that crested through me.
- •Ian yanked the hood off him and began to undo his chains.
- •Ian descended to where Wraith was with the demon still tucked under his arm like a large football. When Wraith saw them, he tried to slip back into the ocean to get away.
- •I briefly closed my eyes. I’d hoped to have this part done before Bones resurfaced so it would be too late for him to be involved, but I hadn’t had the chance.
- •I nodded at Ian, who pulled Balchezek out of the water. Enough of it soaked his clothes so he wouldn’t be able to dematerialize, but that also meant his skin still looked like it was being cooked.
- •I smiled back with nothing close to humor. “Oh, I can deliver, all right.”
- •I mentally braced myself and then picked up the charred piece of fabric first.
- •I’d heard parents scold their children more harshly, so I didn’t expect the torrent of fear that flooded over Raziel.
I didn’t glance behind me to where we’d stacked the guns, but they were within easy reach. “I won’t, but let’s not talk about that now. You should try to get some sleep.”
“No,” he said at once. “She wants me to sleep so my resolve will be weakened and she can take me over again.”
Anger burned through me, fueled by my love for Bones and the territorialism that was passed down from every vampire before me. This demon wasn’t going to win. She was going to pay for picking my husband to possess. I’d chase her all the way to hell and back if that’s what I had to do to get my revenge.
“Well, then she’s got a long damn wait,” I said, forcing my rage back enough to smile. “You rarely sleep as it is, and that’s when you’re not trying to squash a hell-bitch.”
He touched his forehead to mine, closing his eyes. “You sleep, Kitten. You know I love holding you while you dream.”
He couldn’t touch me with his hands, but further waves of power cocooned me, somehow more intimate than flesh. I hated that he thought this might be the last time I fell asleep next to him, as the emotions brushing mine told me. With the demon lodged in him, Bones felt like every moment between us had an expiration date if he wanted to keep me safe. But I was equally stubborn about saving his life. This demon didn’t know it yet, but she’d picked the wrong couple to fuck with.
I slid my arms around his neck, shifting until I was draped across his lap instead of straddling him. Then I closed my eyes, sighing as I got as comfortable as possible. I wasn’t afraid to fall asleep next to him, demon-possessed or not. Nothing in this world or under it would make Bones drop his guard and endanger me while I was vulnerable.
“I love you,” I whispered, tucking my head under his chin.
Something teased at my subconscious right as I felt myself drift off. Balchezek, talking about the intricacies of simultaneous possession of vampires. The upside is that if you pull it off, you’re not limited to only possessing your anchor’s human family. You could also go up to the third or fourth generation of your anchor’s siring bloodline. . .
Wraith was the female demon’s anchor, but that meant she should only have been able to possess Bones first. Once in Bones, she could have split off into the other vampires when they fell asleep; everyone at the cabin except Denise was within the required first four generations of the same vampiric bloodline. But it wasn’t Bones that the demon had mutilated in that hotel room in order to force her first simultaneous possession. That had been Annette, yet Wraith and Annette weren’t related as he and Bones were, so that shouldn’t have been possible, unless. . .
I bolted upright, startling Bones. “What?” he demanded.
“Bones. I— I think Annette might be the person who changed Wraith into a vampire two centuries ago.”
The sun was just starting to set when Balchezek suddenly appeared in our underground hideout.
“Got some news,” he announced. He might disparage ghosts, but he had a lot in common with them when it came to unexpected entrances. “Let’s talk topside so we can have some privacy.”
“Go,” Bones said when I hesitated, hating the need to treat him this way because of the enemy inside him. But I pushed that back and threw on some clothes, then met Balchezek outside by the side of the road, where it was impossible for Bones to overhear us. Ian was there, too, eyeing the demon expectantly.
“I did some digging about how you boot the demon from your pals,” Balchezek started. “I was right! There is a way aside from the bone-knife-to-the-eyes approach, and the only person who has to die is the demon’s main anchor.”
“Wraith,” I said, feeling torn. “We’d have to kill Wraith?”
Balchezek beamed. “Who’s your favorite demon, huh? Told you I’d earn the revoltingly high check you’re going to give me.”
“But you said before that you could save Bones and all the others without killing them,” I reminded him.
“Yeah, your other friends.” A shrug. “Didn’t think you considered Wraith your friend.”
“I don’t, but if he’s possessed, an innocent man who happens to be my husband’s brother is still in there somewhere,” I replied sharply.
Balchezek sighed. “If you believe in the naïve idea that anyone’s innocent, then that’s true. Look, I hate to use a cliché, but you can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs, okay? You have to cem"hoose between the lives of all your friends or the life of one stranger you just happen to be related to.”