Come Hell or High Water Read online

  “Stop!” he demanded.

  Berith and Connor ignored him. The meaty slap of fists connecting and low grunts permeated the kitchen. Nicor turned toward me. “You do not understand what you are doing.”

  Emotions rioted through me, with fury in the forefront waving its torch. “I know that I’m gonna kick your ass, elf boy.”

  Nicor glanced at Pith and shook his head. The giant stopped creeping toward me and stayed in the foyer, staring at me through the massive hole, which, FYI, was right next to the swinging doors. If I’d aimed better, I could’ve knocked ‘im through there instead.

  Nicor looked as though he were contemplating crossing the distance between us. If he did, I’d shoot two fireballs at him.

  “Berith! Enough.”

  Connor had broken Berith’s nose, and I took a perverse satisfaction in seeing the blood dribbling down his face. Connor backed away, his gaze on Berith as he joined me. I grabbed his wrist and we continued going backward until we hit the counter.

  I jumped up to sit on the countertop and reached for the canister I kept near the sink. It wasn’t easy to do with my hands flailing behind my back, but I knew its location, and better yet, what was in it.

  Connor glanced at me, frowning. Then he looked at Nicor. “You’re too late,” he said.

  “You still need the other half of the talisman,” said Nicor. He laughed harshly. “You are a fool if you think Lilith will let her live.”

  “Why do you care?” asked Connor softly. “I warned you all, and you did nothing. The blood of those who’ve died is on your hands.”

  “You speak to me of blood!” Nicor’s eyes flashed with fury, and Connor tensed.

  I was feeling a little bit rattled by this turn of events. Because, hel-lo, Connor knew these guys, and in a bad way. And I was somehow part of it now.

  I sidled a glance at Pith. The demon hadn’t moved from his position in the foyer, though his gaze was trying to drill holes through me.

  Connor brushed against me, offering strength as well as trying to better cover my movements.

  Two against the world, that was us.

  “Sorry, chérie,” said Nicor. “This is necessary.”

  He extended a hand toward me.

  Connor shouted, “No!”

  A red beam shot out from Nicor’s palm. I threw my arms up, an automatic gesture of protection. The whole world went red. I squeezed my eyes shut, heard a sizzle-pop, then nothing.

  “Did you see that?” asked Nicor, his voice filled with awe.

  I cracked one eye open. Whatever Nicor had aimed my way was an epic fail.

  Nicor and Berith both looked stunned. Connor’s gaze was on me; his eyes glittered with a mixture of pride and astonishment.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Have I told you how amazin’ you are, lass?” He grinned, and I grinned back. Then I grabbed the canister of rock salt, flung off the lid, and scooped out a handful.

  I threw some at Berith, at Nicor, and at Pith. With my vampire speed it was quick – a second, maybe – and then I said, “You sons of a bitches, don’t come back here.”

  One by one, they popped out of my house. I jumped off the counter and flung more salt around the room, then some by the front door and at the back door.

  “What just happened?” Connor asked.

  “Hoodoo,” I said. “My mother was kinda into it. I learned a few things from her journals.”

  I put the canister down. Connor pulled me into his embrace and kissed me so tenderly my heart ached.

  “I wish I deserved you,” he said.

  I laughed, even though foreboding squiggled across my stomach. “What does that mean?”

  “I dinnae want to tell you.”

  His voice held secrets and regret, and I felt unnerved by what lay unspoken between us.

  “They came here for you. Why?”

  He let me go and then knelt to the floor to start picking up the broken dishes. Unsettled by his words and the sudden coolness of his manner, I got out the broom and swept up the congealing food.

  “What would’ve happened if Nicor had zapped me?” I asked.

  “Think of bein’ trapped inside glass.”

  “Yeesh. Doesn’t sound fun.”

  “It isn’t.” The tone of his voice suggested he’d had experience with Nicor’s prisons.

  “C’mon, Connor. What’s going on? I mean, have you been hiding out here or what?” I emptied the dustpan. Then I dropped it on the floor and rubbed the base of my spine. It was still tingling like a mo-fo. Why hadn’t the smell of sulfur dissipated yet? I sniffed, gazing around the kitchen to see if there was an alternate source. When was the last time I cleaned out the fridge?

  “I’m surprised I was able to hide it for as long as I did,” Connor murmured, defeat in his tone. “Nera asks a high price, but at least she guarantees her work.”

  “Nera?”

  “A month,” he said. “That’s all I had.” He was explaining things to me, things I didn’t understand, but I had a very bad feeling I would. “I sent the hunters on a wild-goose chase. I was out of time even then, but I couldn’t just… take you. And then… Well, it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s done.”

  “You’re scaring me, Connor. What the hell is going on?” I turned and saw his gaze. Pure black. No iris, no whites, just… demon. Oh, fuck. The broom slid out of my limp fingers and clattered to the floor, crunching against the rock salt scattered on the linoleum.

  My undead heart offered phantom beats of panic as I stared at Connor. “You’re not Ghillie Dhu, are you?”

  “Oh, but I am,” said Connor. He blinked, and the inky black faded until he had human eyes once again. His smile held no warmth. “My mother was Ghillie Dhu. And my father was a demon.”

  I swallowed the knot crimping my throat.

  “You’re half demon?” I asked in disbelief.

  Most demons were born in the Pit, which was another plane of existence, one that had many layers. “Born” was a kinder term than the reality of their creation. It wasn’t a pleasant place or a nice life. Demons didn’t have souls, but, as the goddess Brigid explained to me once, they had purpose.

  It just wasn’t a very nice one.

  I’d been told demons weren’t all that fertile, and if they did manage to breed, it was with a magical being. Still, finding a willing lover wasn’t easy, much less one thrilled to carry around demon spawn. Demons seduced humans all the time, but couldn’t procreate with them.

  “I’m an anomaly,” he said, as though I’d spoken my thoughts aloud. “My mother was a nymph. And my father was a demon lord who liked to come and play on the earthly plane. ‘Twas her nature to be sensual. ‘Twas his to be deceitful.”

  “Looks like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” I said bitterly. I gathered my magic and snapped out a binding coil. I dropped it over him, tightening it quickly.

  He quirked one eyebrow, and then he wrapped his hands around the glowing rope of magic and yanked on it. I flew across the kitchen and into his arms.

  My magic snapped and dissipated.

  “Trained properly, you would’ve been able to hold me,” he said. “Might’ve even trapped me.”

  Just how much did I not know about my powers? And why the hell hadn’t anyone told me or taught me?

  His palms cupped my hips, his grip just loose enough to give me hope that I could escape. Except that I couldn’t and we both knew it.

  I hadn’t had my pint, and I could smell Connor’s blood pulsing like sugared poison in his veins.

  “You want to sink your fangs into me, lass?” He grinned flirtatiously, as if he hadn’t betrayed me. As if we were still lovers. I felt shattered, and I wanted to cut him with the pieces of me that were left.

  “You’re a bastard.”

  “I know.” For a moment, he dropped the cynical-asshole act and let me see his pain. Despite all he’d done, I knew that pain, whatever its source, was real.

  I wanted to believe that the man I’d
known for the last month, the man who’d loved me so well last night, was the true Connor.

  But demons were liars. They were also charming beyond belief – until they got what they wanted. I’d fallen for his act, as easily duped as an innocent human instead of a demon-hunting vampire. I was so ashamed.

  “We’re bound!” I couldn’t even wrap my brain around the concept. I’d mated. With. A. Demon.

  The true horror of my situation hit me. Bile rose in my throat. Danny. How could I raise my kid married to a demon? Even a half demon was bad. Connor’s lie – and, let’s be honest, my stupid, impulsive nature and rusty goddamned libido – had stripped me of motherhood privileges.

  “I’m going to kill you.”

  “You can’t. And if you could, would you really rob Danny of his mother?”

  “You already did!”

  His cool expression slid away as regret filled up his gaze. “For that, I’m sorry.”

  “Right. I’m sure it’s tearing you up inside.” Rage burned through me. Whatever happened to Connor happened to me now, too. The vampire marriage curse was absolute. We were mates, bound for the next century, and there was nothing I could do.

  Despair wound through me.

  “Why, Connor?” I whispered. “Why did you do it?”

  Chapter 4

  “To protect you,” Connor said quietly. Wow. He was good. I almost believed him.

  “Yeah. ‘Cause you’re such a nice guy.” I yanked out of his embrace and he let me. I stumbled back, feeling so vulnerable, so overwhelmed.

  What have you done, silly little girl?

  It was my mother’s voice, so gently chiding, and she was unable to keep the sparkle of humor from her eyes when trying to berate me. Even now she was the small, still voice in my head. Oh, Momma. This isn’t shoplifting a candy bar at the Thrifty Sip.

  “I don’t know what’s going on, but I know this is about you. So our mating wasn’t some altruistic scheme to protect poor ol’ me. You’re protecting yourself. You’re the bad guy here.” And I’d probably ousted the good guys. Nicor had certainly danced around the subject enough. If he’d said, “Hey, you just boffed a demon…” I heaved an internal sigh. No. I wouldn’t have believed him.

  I wondered if I could get back to my phone and call Damian. He was in charge of security. And I was in charge of demons. I just couldn’t get my hands on this one.

  Oh, you know what I mean.

  Connor glared at me, but he had no right to be offended. If he didn’t like the sarcasm, then too damned bad – it wasn’t the worst he was gonna get from me. I pressed my hands against my cheeks. I felt hot even though I didn’t have the capacity for heat to flush my skin. Usually after imbibing a pint, I could mimic responses. I felt nearly human. For a short while.

  I scrubbed away the feeling. Maybe it was the flames of hell licking at me for binding myself to a demon.

  What really sucked was that mates couldn’t live apart – not for long. We didn’t have to be in each other’s presence every second of the day. However, the longer the amount of time mates were apart, the weaker they got.

  “We need to go,” he said.

  “Um, no. You need to go.” Only I knew he wouldn’t. He couldn’t.

  I needed to get away from him for a minute, to think. To plan. In the history of vampire bindings, there had been only one known breaking – and it had taken a very rare fairy wish. The world had been losing its magical beings – just look at how giants and pixies had disappeared. It still blew my mind that humans and paranormals used to know of each other, used to live together, if not in harmony, then at least with the certain knowledge that the world belonged to more than just one dominant species.

  I circled back to my original thought: How could I get a fairy wish? And what else might break a binding?

  I might as well try to find Atlantis.

  “The demon hunters will return.” His gaze flicked away. “And others will find us. Nicor gave away our location.”

  “Oh, boo-hoo,” I said. Then, because I couldn’t help it, “You’ve hidden your demon-ness from them for a month. Why’d they figure out it now?”

  “Don’t you know?” he asked, knowing full friggin’ well I didn’t. He shook his head. “Family Durga vampires are trained since their Turning to fight demons. But not you, Phoebe. Why is that, I wonder?”

  There was something knowing in the tone of his words, and underneath that thin veil of arrogance I sensed he knew things about me, about my undead life, that I didn’t. Other than a few terse lessons from the Family founder, Durga, who betrayed Broken Heart a couple years ago and ended up banned with her cohort, the Ancient Koschei, I hadn’t had any contact with other Family Durga members. I was the only one who lived in town. And though we’d gotten plenty of new residents, we hadn’t gotten any new vampires from my Family line. I’d learned how to fight, though, and how to access my magic. Until this moment, it had been enough. I was angry that he was right, and curious about what else I should know. Damn it. If I’d known those secret things Connor hinted at, I would’ve pegged him for a demon before I’d slept with him.

  “How’d he find you?” I asked again.

  His lips thinned. “The transmogrification spell ended. They know my magical signature. Most demons have a unique pattern. If you know what you’re doing, you can use it to track them.”

  I was surprised he’d actually told me, and I wasn’t sure how to handle the dichotomy of truth wrapped in lies. Or lies wrapped in truth.

  “What do the demon hunters want?” I asked. “Better yet, what do you want?”

  He studied me, and then shook his head, as if he’d found me unworthy of the truth. “Get dressed.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  “You are,” he said in a hard voice. “Willin’ or not.”

  My belly squeezed and it took every ounce of willpower I had not to take a step back.

  “You threatening me?” I asked, trying to keep a bold tone. I wouldn’t turn away from his gaze, which glittered like gemstones.

  “Why wouldn’t I?” he asked coldly. “I already lied to you.” He crossed the room in the blink of an eye and clamped one of my wrists. “I already fucked you.”

  I slapped him, which made my hand sting and his cheek go red. He had blood pressure, and a heartbeat. Still, the smack had been a reaction born from shock, and there’d been no real power behind it. Certainly no vampire strength: I could’ve knocked his head off his shoulders.

  Satisfaction glowed in his eyes, and there, too, was the shadow of that unimpeachable sorrow of his. I’d made the bastard feel better, less guilty, because he’d far prefer to deal with my anger than with my wretchedness.

  “Get your clothes, lass. Or you’ll go as you are.”

  “Where?” I said, frustrated. “Where are you taking me?”

  Connor didn’t get a chance to answer the question.

  The entire room shook – and I thought, Earthquakes in Oklahoma? – and a roaring sound like thunder blasted through. I covered my ears, but it didn’t help much. Jesus. That was some noise right there.

  The roar turned into a loud crack, and light flickered like a crazed disco ball.

  The silence was sudden.

  In front of us stood a woman and a demon. The demon had marbled skin, which made it look as though an emo kindergartner had painted it from horns to claws. It was seven feet tall, maybe taller, and had creepy yellow eyes. Granted, all demons in their true forms had creepy eyes. Actually, they had creepy everything. This thing had wings, too, not leathery like bats’, but like an angel’s – huge and filled with soft black feathers.

  The woman was another story.

  She looked sixteen, all fresh-faced and innocent – an impression furthered by her outfit: a red T-shirt with HOT scrawled in gold across her pert breasts, a pair of faded denims, and red Converse sneakers. Her silky black hair was pulled into a sassy ponytail. She wore no makeup, but with her looks, she didn’t need any. Her b
one structure was pure supermodel. Only her eyes, which glowed red, gave any indication she was demon.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “I’m Lilith, sweet cheeks. Aw. You the new bride?” She smiled indulgently, but her gaze was filled with knives. She turned her cutting gaze to Connor. “Think you’re clever, don’t you?”

  She raised her hands and two binding coils shot out and wrapped around us like crazed pythons. Mine tightened painfully, cinching my arms to my sides.

  Oh, for fuck’s sake! I was sick of people just popping into my house whenever they felt like it. And these were demons. Had the Devil’s Shoestring stopped working? No. More than likely these two were more powerful than a crazy woman’s hoodoo.

  “You can’t hurt her,” said Connor. His voice sounded pinched, and I realized his bonds had tightened even more than mine. I also realized that Connor had been right about others coming for us. For him. It wasn’t my fault he’d dragged me into this mess. Still, if I’d been a little less stubborn, I might not be making the acquaintance of more demons.

  “You really think your mating with her will offer her protection?” sneered Lilith.

  “You know it does.”

  She shrugged. “You really should stop listening to Astria Vedere. She’s crazy.”

  “She’s a prophet.”

  “Yeah. Like I haven’t seen one of those before. Real party killers, those people.” She stared at Connor. “Give me the talisman, and I’ll let wifey go.”

  “I am the son of Asmodeus, and my mate falls under the protection of the demon lord.” He sucked in a strained breath. “You can’t kill Phoebe.”

  “I can’t,” she agreed.

  Oh, crap. I did not like the sound of that, and neither did Connor. He looked warily at the demon waiting patiently behind Lilith. Its yellow eyes were on me. Its beaklike mouth clicked and a split tongue wiggled out, flicking at me.

  Yech.

  Had Connor really tricked me into mating to protect me from this really scary lady? Right now, I hoped so.

  Connor said nothing, but his expression was pure hatred. He didn’t like this woman. I’d known her for only a minute, and I didn’t like her, either. He watched her carefully, the prey gauging how soon the predator would attack. Fear skittered through me.