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’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that I’m honoring our agreement and I’ll let you go with a fat check for your help getting Hazael out of our friends. The bad news is that’s all you’re getting, because you’re not taking her with you.”
Then I handed the squirming rat to Spade, who took it with a distasteful expression.
“I need you to fly this thing at least a mile away.”
Spade had dealt with demons before, so he flew off without questioning the directive. No other boats were around, so, in a few moments, there would be nothing else available for Hazael to jump into once she was forced out of Wraith. Ian and I had our warding tattoos, Denise’s brands made her scorched earth to a demon, and all the other vampires and marine life in the near vicinity were filled with salt water.
There would be only one place Hazael could go—straight down to the fiery pit, and no demon I’d ever heard of went there willingly. It was the one place every demon seemed to truly fear.
Balchezek began to struggle. “You can’t do this to me. I already told my boss that I would come back with her!”
“Then you should have made that part of our deal instead of lying,” I replied coldly. “You know the old saying. Don’t bitch about the terms after the bill’s come due.”
The demon shot me a dirty look at my paraphrasing of his former words, but then quit struggling when Ian pulled out the bone knife and held it near Balchezek’s eyes.
“Don’t make me use this, I still quite like you.”
He continued to glare at me, but now stayed silent and complacent. I met Bones’s gaze and curled my hand tighter around the silver knife. “Let me handle this,” I said low.
He looked at the vampire that was his brother. From Wraith’s widened eyes, I could tell the demon inside him was struggling with all her might to get free, but Mencheres’s power was too strong for Hazael. Considering the scent of anger that was palpable even with Mencheres floating in the ocean, he wasn’t the slightest bit conflicted about ending Wraith’s life if it meant harming the demon who’d controlled him for weeks.
Then Bones looked back at me and his mouth twisted. “No, luv. He’s the last of my family. It’s my responsibility to do this one final deed for him.”
He took the knife from me, staring into Wraith’s vivid blue eyes as he waded through the water to him and then set the tip against Wraith’s exposed chest.
“If underneath her you can hear me at all, brother,” Bones said softly, “know that I am truly sorry I never knew you.”
Then he shoved the blade down to its hilt. A hard, efficient twist, first to the left, then the right, extinguished the light in Wraith’s eyes. Very slowly, the vampire’s skin began to shrivel as true death started the aging process that had been delayed hundreds of years.
And right after that, a roar filled the air, sounding as though it came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. The wind coming from it stank like sulfur and blasted the wet hair back from my face. It increased, whipping the waves to white caps and chasing away the ghosts that had lingered around us. My eyes stung from the bitter gale and the growing shrieks made my head throb, but the demon still wasn’t done. Pressure built until it felt like my insides would pop from the strain.
But I wasn’t afraid. I knew what this was—Hazael’s last moments on earth, and I shouted into that indistinct whirlwind with all the anger left in me.
“Say hi to hell for me, bitch!”
That disembodied howl grew to a thunderous crescendo, exploding my eardrums. A blast of power hit me with the effect of a swinging wrecking ball. But then, abrupt as a lightning bolt, there was nothing but silence. The wind and pressure vanished, the seas around us ceased their frothing, and though I felt blood trickling out of my ears, I smiled. My eardrums would soon heal, and thinking about what Hazael was going through now made that small pain feel sweet.
Bones swam closer to wrap his arms around me. “You all right, Kitten?”
His voice sounded faint from my still-healing ears, but I leaned into his arms with a profound sense of relief. Everything was all right now.
“You can let Balchezek go,” I told Ian. Then, to the demon, I said, “You’ll get your check when I get my ring back.”
Twenty-Four