He dived. His hands crushed; his mouth suckled. I used his inattention to shove the gris-gris into my front pocket.
I must have made all the right noises, all the right moves, because Mait never hesitated in his adoration of my breasts. I retreated to my special place, one I’d fashioned when I was young and there’d been times I’d had to check out or lose my mind.
I’d learned I couldn’t check out completely. Monsters—be they half demon or entirely human—liked to get some response. If they didn’t, they only tried harder and kept at it longer.
Mait began to slide his erection against the skin-tight crotch of my jeans. I gasped at the sudden rush of nausea. But I’d had practice; I could make the gasp sound like anything. My head fell back as if I were in the throes of passion, when in truth I couldn’t bear to see his face.
Mait’s hands left my chest and grabbed my ass, lifting me onto his thigh. He held me there as he rocked his leg to the rhythm of his mouth at my breast. Jimmy’d better hurry up or I might nail this guy one way before he nailed me in another.
My jeans vibrated. Mait lifted his head. His mouth was wet, his eyes slightly unfocused, their brilliant green exquisite against the mocha of his skin.
“What is that?” he murmured.
“Oh.” I smiled, though the expression felt as if it would crack my frozen face. “Cell phone.” The prearranged signal. Jimmy had the book. Time for me to end this guy and run. “I’ll turn it off.”
Slipping my fingers into my pocket, I clicked the off button. When I brought them back out, I held the dagger just out of sight.
“Would you like to come in?” Mait asked.
“Definitely.”
Better to kill him out of sight than right in the doorway. The longer the Nephilim remained unaware that we had their book, the better.
Mait flexed the muscles in his thigh. They rolled against my clitoris. My stomach clenched so hard I nearly doubled over. I’d thought I might have a problem sticking him in the eye with the dagger. I didn’t think so anymore.
I climbed off his leg, glanced toward the church, and saw Jimmy through one of the holes in the crumbling walls. So did Mait.
“Who de hell are you?” he demanded. Then his eyes narrowed, and he roared, “Sanducci!”
Mait started forward. I brought the knife up toward his nearest eye. I might have made it if I hadn’t at the same moment registered what Jimmy was doing.
Burning the Book of Samyaza.
The realization caused me to hesitate, and that hesitation cost me. As Jimmy had said, Mait was a big guy and he fought dirty. He didn’t even look in my direction as he backhanded me across the cheekbone. Pain exploded. It felt as if he’d just poked out my eye.
I stumbled, disoriented, and he spun, catching me in the chest with his bare foot. I flew into the doorjamb. The force snapped my head against the corner and down I went. I didn’t get back up.
“What have you done?” Mait shouted.
“It’s obvious,” I mumbled as the whole world spun. “Bastard burned the book.”
I should have seen it coming. Would have if I’d trusted Sanducci less and touched him with the intent of picking his brain a little more. That’s what I got for being polite.
Dizziness washed over me, and I thought I might pass out. I wanted to. Then I wouldn’t have to think about what Jimmy had just done.
Destroyed the only hope I had of getting Sawyer back alive.
CHAPTER 30
I was supposed to have a dagger in my hand, but I didn’t. I glanced around; I couldn’t see it anywhere. Checked my back pockets. Nothing. Front pockets. Nothing.
Huh.
Spots flickered in front of my eyes. White. Black. Red. They chased one another like amoebas across a microscope slide. Watching them only made me dizzier, so I turned my attention to Mait just as he let out a furious shout and sprinted for Jimmy.
“No,” I whispered. I didn’t seem to have any volume to my voice or strength in my limbs. I’d been hit harder than this before. What was wrong with me?
The two men came together like deer during rut. Though they didn’t butt racks, they did slam chests, then they wrapped their arms around each other and grappled.
Mait was a hair taller, a tad wider, and while he might be strong and fight dirty, Jimmy fought dirtier and had been doing so since he was very young. Mait, on the other hand, had been relying on magic for too long. It showed.
Jimmy wrestled him to the ground and attempted to get his arm around Mait’s neck. Not that it would do much good. Jimmy had no weapon, or at least none that would work.
“Lizzy!” Jimmy shouted. “The dagger!”
I shook my head hard enough to rattle my brains some more. The pain sobered me, and I began to crawl, first looking then feeling for the missing knife. I couldn’t find it.
“Lizzy!”
It was hard to tell who was winning; they looked like a double man pretzel, all wound together, fingers searching for a better hold, arms bulging, legs flailing.