Bound by Caine’s magic, the vampires lurched, bodies contorting in pain. The horrifying crunch of vampire bone echoed through the room. She released a breath. As long as he was chanting, he had the vampires under control.
She cut a glance to Bileth, and terror crawled up her spine. His dark, wide eyes were fixed on her, and he ripped the poker from his ribs. She needed to get out of here now.
Leaping onto the tables, she crashed through champagne flutes of blood in a frantic rush to the door. “Caine! Let’s go.”
His eyes met hers, and he broke his spell over the vamps.
Rosalind flew, bursting through the door, and Caine followed in a black blur.
Once outside, he flicked his wrist, and the door slammed shut. Enraged shouts reverberated through the walls as demons pounded on the door. Her heart leapt into her throat. Bileth was still in there, and it couldn’t be long until he tore through the rickety walls.
Caine glared at her. “Do you realize that you just impaled one of the most powerful demons in the world? There was a reason I didn’t slit his throat.”
The blood drained from her head. This “master your fear” thing wasn’t working out so well. Maybe she still needed to work on distinguishing bravery from flat-out stupidity.
This time, she wasn’t going to wait for Caine’s instruction to run.
She took off in a sprint over the pier, charging for the bike. Somehow, Caine was already there by the time she arrived, waiting for her on his bike.
She jumped on, gripping his waist. He revved his engine, peeling off into Salem’s narrow streets. His magical aura rippled over her skin. Dizzy, she watched her body disappear as the street sped by below them.
She tried to control the shaking in her hands so Caine wouldn’t notice. The way Bileth had controlled her mind made her sick. That was a demon’s true nature—the reason that Hunters had been fighting evil for centuries.
She clamped her eyes shut. Here she was, clinging to a demon as though he were any different.
Caine roared through Salem’s winding streets and up a dark hill—away from his apartment. Where exactly was he taking her? For all she knew, he could be dragging her to Nyxobas as punishment for assaulting Bileth. He could be sentencing her to the shadow hell.
Fear tightened her chest as they sped past tiny wooden houses on a tree-lined street. She still didn’t trust Caine, and the recent display of his power told her just what she’d be up against if she stopped being useful to him.
He pulled off the main road into a parking lot, slamming to a stop near the wooded edge of the pavement.
Rosalind shot a nervous look to the darkened pharmacy nearby. What the hell?
He stepped off his bike, and she followed, taking a tentative step away from him. They were completely alone.
He stepped closer, casting a scrutinizing gaze at her neck. When he touched her skin with his fingertips, she flinched.
“Did Bileth bite you?” he asked.
“No. He didn’t get that far.”
“Good. If he had, you’d die an agonizing death in the next hour.” He frowned. “But you realize you just got me barred from my favorite drinking hole when you lit the bartender on fire.”
“I was revolted by Bileth’s magic in my mind. It disgusts me that demons want to control humans’ minds. We’re just their toys.”
“You think that’s how I see you?”
The question caught her off guard. “I don’t know yet.”
“It should be obvious that I don’t, or our interactions would be very different. Anyway, Bileth isn’t an ordinary demon. He commands eighty-five legions, and he reports directly to Nyxobas. He’s as ancient as the god himself, a fallen angel from the celestial wars several millennia ago.”
She swallowed hard. “But you held a blade to his throat.”
“That would be difficult to fix diplomatically, yes. But I’ve angered him before, and I could usually make amends by supplying him with expensive vodka and a particularly stunning courtesan or two. Plus, I’ve never actually stabbed him. I don’t think he’ll forgive impalement with a fireplace poker so easily. You should have run.”
“I did tell you that something was coming. But you wanted to finish your drink. Plus, I wouldn’t have made it out fast enough.” She couldn’t tell him the truth—that she’d needed to save him to atone for what she’d done.
“You had a second chance to run.”
Her legs were still trembling, and the memory of Bileth’s complete control still haunted her. “I wanted to hurt him. He deserved it. And anyway, I thought you needed my help.”
“I don’t see how that would be any of your concern. According to you, I’m a monster. And more than that, I told you I’d handle it.” His voice had a razor-sharp edge; his eyes were dark storm clouds. “And I would have. Aurora ran when I told her to.”