Azirak struck out, knocking me sideways as hell’s twisted version of Lassie crashed into Jax’s body. I hit the building and the breath was expelled from my lungs in a single violent whoosh. The racket that followed was unlike anything I’d ever heard—an otherworldly, scratchy howl mixed with the frenzied snapping of a deadly jaw.
The beast had Jax pinned. Well, it had Jax’s body pinned. The demon was in control, and though I hated the idea of the guy I loved being trapped, in a sick way I was glad. Azirak was better equipped to deal with this threat. Stronger and far more knowledgeable, it had ruled in hell for eons, a demon royal with a massive army under its command.
Several times the monster’s teeth chomped a little too close to home, once grabbing a mouthful of Jax’s T-shirt. Azirak shimmied to the left to avoid a more fatal outcome. Demon or not, it was limited by Jax’s humanity. While sturdier than most humans, a mortal wound still would kill them both.
That was not something I could live with.
I climbed to my feet, searching the alley for something—anything—I could use as a weapon. It was no use. Other than bits of unrecognizable trash and some discarded coffee cups from the joint a few blocks down, there was nothing in sight that might help fend the beast off.
Fine, then. I’d work with what I had.
“Hey!” I kicked the metal dumpster to my left, hard. The sound echoed off the buildings and the carnivus’ head swiveled, a la The Exorcist, in my direction. “Come munch on me.”
One might argue that what I was doing was insanity—or, worse, suicidal. I mean, obviously I hadn’t learned my lesson after throwing something at the thing. But if Heckle was right, and it was Chase and his demon pulling this puppet’s strings, then it would never kill me. I was far too valuable. The power I had inside me, power I was now the master of—regardless of the fact that I had no idea how to use it—was one of the most coveted things in heaven and hell.
I kicked the dumpster again, hoping the distraction would give Azirak the edge it needed—preferably before I became a hell-beast chew toy. I banked on it not being able to kill me, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t maim me just a little bit.
The carnivus snarled and snapped its teeth. In slow, measured movements, it stepped from Jax’s chest and crept toward me. It was all we needed. Dead eyes on me, focused and feral, it never heard Azirak come from behind. The demon grabbed the dog-creature around the neck and gave a violent twist. The thing made a gargling sound, then went limp in Jax’s hands.
Azirak dropped it to the dirty concrete. “Are you harmed?”
I shook off the lingering adrenaline surge and brushed a piece of wilted lettuce from the edge of my shirt. My mouth was dry, and my pulse had surpassed light speed, but I pushed it aside. “Getting Malphi’s half of the stone from Chase isn’t going to be easy, but the other half of the Brim Stone? How the hell are we going to find it? The damn thing could be anywhere on the planet.”
“There is a way to track it.”
Really? It was just telling me this now? “You can do that?”
Gray eyes regarded me carefully for a moment, unblinking. “There is a way.”
“Then let’s get to it. The sooner we get that stone someplace safe, the sooner I can evict you from Jax’s body.” It wouldn’t be that easy. Unless I devised a masterful plot that tricked the demon into vacating the premises, Azirak would stay put. It’d said so itself. But I was nothing if not determined.
The demon didn’t argue. Instead, it snorted and flicked a glob of carnivus drool from Jax’s arm. The slime hit the dumpster to my left with a splat and lingered for a second before sliding to the ground with a soft squish. “Tracking the stone will not be simple or without peril. There will be obstacles.”
It was my turn to snort. “Aren’t there always?” Every minute we stood here yapping was another we weren’t out hunting this thing down. And every minute we weren’t out hunting this thing down was another chance for Chase to send something nasty our way. “Where do we start?”
The look I got in response was all ire. “We must gather our strength, and a single ingredient.”
“Ingredient,” I repeated. That was suspiciously vague—even for the demon. “Guess we’re not talking eye of newt, huh.”
“The thing needed to track the stone is far rarer than the eyes of a small amphibian.”
I opened my mouth—but closed it without answering. The demon had been born into a thousand different humans. If it didn’t get sarcasm by now, there was just no hope. “Is this…ingredient…hard to get?”
It thought for a moment before shaking Jax’s head. “Not really. Not for me.”
“That doesn’t fill me with confidence,” I said, worried.
“We’ll need to acquire a particular skill set.”
“Skill set? What kind of skill set?”
“One that borders on dangerous.”
“I’m betting the alternative to this skill set is more dangerous.” I moved to the mouth of the alley and peeked around the corner of the building, half afraid to find another drooling beastie waiting to pounce. Thankfully the street was silent. “If you’re not willing to kill Chase—not that I’m complaining—then letting him get his grubby fingers on the other half of the stone would be bad.”