Alastair kept his dead eyes centered on me. “Perceptive.”
Every muscle in Chase’s body stiffened, and I knew there was going to be a fight—probably a bloody one, because he wasn’t going to let me go easily. Somehow he had managed to maneuver so that his body was shielding mine. I hadn’t even noticed until now. “Why would Hell want her?” he demanded.
Alastair laughed, the sound lacking humor and life. “Wouldn’t you like to know, son?”
I felt Chase jerk. That was it—off with his head. “Call me that again and I’ll send you back to the underworld.”
“Hmm, I can see she is a touchy subject,” he said, not appearing in the least bit put off. “She is special—thanks to you. And Hell always pays attention to its special protégés.”
Chase’s eyes narrowed. “I just bet they do.”
Alastair began to pace in front of us in leisurely steps. “You know, I wasn’t sure that you had it in you, but it’s nice to be proven wrong. Though you sure did make me wait. However, I’m still having a hard time understanding what she sees in you.”
Chase rocked back on his heels, flashing a killer grin. “You haven’t had sex with me.”
I tugged on the back pocket of his jeans. He did not just say that.
The glossy black eyes darkened to frightening levels. “Ahh. Now that brings us to the whole reason for my little visit. Two of the three—impressive and just ripe for the picking.”
Awkward.
What did that mean? I really hoped he didn’t want to talk about our sex life, too. That was just going too far. I had to draw the line somewhere.
“It’s not your business,” Chase seethed. “Now let’s cut the BS. No more games or we’re leaving.”
“Hmm, well that might be a problem. You see, that little stamp of Hell you bare, makes you mine. You can’t leave until I allow it.”
Gulp.
Chase ground his teeth.
Alastair turned those pitiless eyes to me. I wanted to shrink. “Now, Angel. I’ve heard a lot about you. My…employees say that you also adorn my mark, so I am assuming that my offspring has been very busy where you are concerned. That makes me very happy. I’ve waited a long time for this.”
I shot him a dirty look. “Employees? Is that what you call those spineless assholes you sent after us?”
Someday I am going to learn to zip my lips shut and throw away the key.
All in one mind-blowing blink, Chase was sailing through the air, and I had old creepo in my face, breathing his stench on me. I shuddered. “Don’t. Question. Me,” he warned, grabbing my chin with one hand.
“Screw off,” I said, my cheeks stinging from the imprint of his fingers. My eyes darted, trying to find Chase, an unmanageable task with the ironclad grip he had on my face. It didn’t stop me from trying.
His cold hand clamped my jaw, keeping my head in place. “You have such a pretty mouth for such ugly words.”
I tried to twist and wiggle my chin out of his hold, a waste of energy. And my entire face was starting to throb.
“I’d be careful what you say about her mouth,” Chase warned behind him in a voice low enough to freeze Hell.
Relief flooded me. He was unharmed and seriously pissed off.
Hello, demon Chase. He finally came out to play—code for kickass.
Alastair cocked his head, peering over his shoulder. “You are going to be a problem, aren’t you?”
“You bet your deadbeat ass I am.” A low guttural rumble started deep in Chase’s gut, and it just kept going, growing stronger. I thought this might be a good time to seek cover, for fear of the poop storm that would rain down on us. Chase cracked his neck. “Let’s see what you got, dirtbag.”
“It would be my pleasure.” Alastair crooked his finger, signally for Chase to bring it on.
One mention of my mouth and Chase had gotten all huffy. We were so dead. I mean Alastair was a higher-demon. That had to be really, really bad.
Outside the air was cold, but the chill that chased through my blood was like ice. His fist slammed into Alastair/Eric’s face, sending him backward and sprawling on the blacktop.
“That was just a love tap,” Chase said boldly.
No sooner had he finished being a smartass and Alastair was back, breathing down on top of us. I always thought Chase was extraordinarily fast, but Alastair was wicked fast.
FML.
I didn’t want us to die out here in this craphole. I certainly didn’t want whatever plan Alastair had in store for me. What I needed was to cook up my own escape plan.
Yippee.
I don’t cook.
Alastair craned his neck, a scary grin on his ghostly face. “I guess we have to do this the hard way.”
Chase crouched on the balls of his feet, prepared to strike. “Angel, run!” Chase yelled, and then everything went atomic.
I was tired of hearing those words, and to make matters worse, my legs didn’t obey. They were super glued to the asphalt, figuratively speaking. I stood there in the middle of an epic demon debacle unable to do a damn thing. My mind raced, searching for some kind of answer to get us out of here alive.