Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Sam lunged forward, only to find Keenan moving to stand in his damn way. He leveled a glare at the Fallen. Old ties would only bind so long. “You don’t want to come between me and Seline.”
“She wants to get away from you.”
“We don’t always get what we want.”
The black shadow of Keenan’s wings stretched out behind him.
Sam fought for patience, something he’d never really had. “If she goes out there alone, she’s just a target. Rogziel will find her, or Az will go after her. Seline needs me.”
“Bull,” said the pretty little vamp who had a possessive hold on Keenan. “I think you’re the one who needs her. She’s your addiction, isn’t that what you said?”
He almost winced. “Bad fucking word choice, all right?”
“If she controls a hound…” Keenan rolled right over his snarl. “Then I don’t think she needs a Fallen watching her back.”
The front door slammed. Seline was gone .
He hadn’t actually expected her to leave him. And she was hurt. He’d done his best to repair her shoulder and tend the cut on her head, but she still had to feel weak. She couldn’t just prance up and down the town of Monclova without expecting to attract attention. The woman attracted attention wherever she went.
“Unless you’re using her as bait,” Nicole murmured.
His mouth tightened, and that was definitely guilt that bit into him.
“Ah.” Keenan nodded. “Already done that, have you? And how’d that work out for you?”
Worse than my nightmares. “Az had to pull her out of a burning motel.”
Nicole’s eyes raked him. “No wonder she’s so eager to get away from you. I would be, too.”
But Keenan was frowning. “Az saved her? Az doesn’t save anyone.”
Enough of this shit. Sam shoved Keenan out of his way. “Not without an ulterior motive, he doesn’t.” Seline wouldn’t have gone far. He was sure she was just pacing outside and cooling down. Seline knew she needed him. She’d said herself there was no way she’d be strong enough to defeat Rogziel.
He kicked open the front door. “Seline, dammit, let’s both just—” Calm down.
Only she wasn’t there. The street looked deserted. No, no damn way could she vanish that quickly.
Then he saw the disappearing taillights at the end of the road. Sonofabitch.
A hard hand slammed down on his shoulder. “I’ve been thinking about this,” Keenan began.
He was going to hurt the guy. “Think later. I’ve got to track Seline.” Good thing Keenan had brought him a motorcycle. He’d cut through the narrow streets and alleyways of the town in no time.
You can’t leave me.
“I don’t think Seline realizes just what she can do.”
Keenan’s words made Sam pause and glance back.
The Fallen stood in the small doorway, with his vampire right at his side. Figured. Nicole always liked to watch her man’s back.
“She said the hound smelled her.”
Sam waited, his whole body tensed to attack. No, to hunt.
“Rogziel summoned the beast, but maybe Rogziel wasn’t that particular hound’s master. Maybe your girl was its true master, and the hound recognized her scent.” Keenan shrugged, but his intent gaze belied the casual gesture. “That would explain why the beast didn’t try to make a meal of her.”
It sure as shit would. If Seline truly hadn’t known… I have so screwed this up.
Sam jumped onto the motorcycle and revved the engine.
“Better be careful,” Keenan called out to him. “Once a hound gets its master’s scent, there’s no severing that tie. It’ll track her and destroy anything or anyone who tries to hurt her.”
Sam spared a glance for the claw marks that still hadn’t completely faded on his arm. “I won’t hurt her.”
“Yes, you will.” Nicole’s quiet voice was certain. “Maybe you should just let her go.”
Not an option. The motorcycle roared forward, and he chased after those disappearing taillights.
Getting a ride had been easy. Too easy. She’d stumbled outside, walked right into the street—and nearly been run over by a Jeep.
Luckily, the driver had stopped in an instant. Then the tall, dark male with the quick grin had offered her a ride.
His eyes had offered more.
She’d taken the ride. As for the rest, even though her power was burning low, she couldn’t stand the idea of actually touching anyone right then.
No, there was only one man she wanted. He was an undeserving jerk, and he’d seriously screwed her for others.
“Just drop me off at the nearest bar,” she told Javier. Javier Martinez. He spoke perfect English and had a light, rolling accent. He really seemed to fill the interior of the vehicle. She had the impression of raw power and energy and…something more. A wild scent clung to him. One that made her a little uneasy.
“Why?” He tossed her another smile. “You won’t find anything at a cantina that I can’t give to you, cari?o .”
Right. But in a bar, she could just soak up the sexual energy in the air without actually having to touch anyone.
She needed a boost, but she’d be damned if she would seduce in order to get it. The daughter of an angel forced to seduce and tempt in order to survive. Her whole life had been nothing but a sick punishment.
And Captain Horny over there, driving the busted-up Jeep, might think he’d just found a grand old time with her, but he couldn’t be more wrong. “Trust me,” she muttered, rolling her shoulder to relieve the ache. “You can’t handle me.”
He spun the Jeep to the left and killed the ignition. She instantly became aware of the thick silence outside, and she noticed there were no lights around. No houses. Nothing. Civilization had vanished in an instant.
Her night truly just couldn’t get any better.
Claws burst from Javier’s fingertips. “Trust me,” he growled right back at her. “I’m not going to have a problem.” His canines were stretching, sharpening up, even as his cheeks seemed to hollow out.
Oh, perfect. She’d hitchhiked with a shifter. “Coyote?” she guessed because she’d heard the stories about the coyotes running wild in Mexico. Not pack, not anymore. All free. All fighting for survival of the fittest. And all vicious.
His grin widened. Not a friendly grin anymore, not even close. “I’ll be real careful…” He leaned forward and his claws slid down her arms. “Not to cut you, too much.”
Wasn’t that gentlemanly of him? Seline took a deep breath and fought to control her racing heartbeat. She might not like what she was, but she still knew how to use her strength to protect herself.
Instead of trying to push away from him, she let her body relax as she leaned forward. “Do you know what I am?” she whispered, and used the last of her sensual energy to entice him to her.
She saw his eyes widen. He licked his lips and inhaled deeply. “You smell like fucking sin.”
Because that’s what she was. Seline didn’t flinch. “I enjoy men like you,” she murmured and let her fingers rise to his chest. She kept her eyes open and on his—the better to hypnotize. That was what her kind did. Kind of like a cobra with its prey. You lock eyes and you don’t let go—not until you strike. His heart thundered beneath her hand. “Men who are strong and dangerous.”
“You’re not scared of me?” Surprise roughened his voice as lust burned in his eyes.
“No.” This time, she was going to let the beast she kept inside out of its cage. How many women had this bastard picked up and then used his claws on? How many? Punish. Rogziel had taught her a few things, after all. “But you should be scared of me.” Then before he could react to her words, she put her lips on his. She kissed him, and his hands tightened on her. His claws scraped over her skin.
No, coyote, I’m the one in charge. She let her precious control shatter. She took his energy. Took and took and took.
Because she truly could kill with a kiss.
The coyote shifter gave her all of his power. Too weak to resist, he slipped right under her spell. When he went limp, she lifted her head and smiled. “That was good, but I’m gonna need more.”
It looked like he didn’t have more to give.
He fell back, and his head slammed into the steering wheel. The long honk filled the night. Seline shoved him out of the way—right out of the Jeep. His body hit the ground with a thud. She climbed into the driver’s seat, yanked the gear shift into reverse, and spun the Jeep around. Gravel and dust kicked into the air.
The shifter didn’t move.
“Now to figure out where the hell I am.” She knew the shifter wouldn’t be the biggest threat she’d face that night. Not even close.
He’d just been her warm-up.
Javier stared after his Jeep. Gravel dug into his palms and knees. He’d been trying to rise, but the puta had drained his energy.
With a kiss.
Fucking succubus. He should have known better. But she’d looked so sexy in his headlights. Lost eyes. Trembling lips. Wild tangle of hair. She’d appeared so human and weak.
A perfect snack. Or plaything.
He still couldn’t rise. His whole body felt weighted down and moving made his head ache. He’d find her. If there was one thing he knew how to do, it was track. He’d find her, and he’d make her pay.
A low growl came from the darkness.
Javier tensed. The last thing he needed was to face an attacker. He was so weak that his claws wouldn’t even come out.
When I find her, I’ll cut every inch of skin off her body. She’d beg for death, just like the others.
Another growl, but this one sure was much closer. “Back the fuck off!” Javier tried to roar, but the words barely rumbled out of his throat. He tilted back his head. No way would he bow before another shifter.
No one was there.
His eyes narrowed. His sight was five times better than any other coyote in the area. But right then, he didn’t see a damn thing.
But I smell fire. Ash.
Death.
The ground began to tremble. Fear had his heart racing too fast, and his blood chilling in his veins. Javier opened his mouth to beg?—
But invisible claws ripped into his throat.
Sam stared at the body on the ground. The blood puddled beneath the man, dark and still so fresh. The scent of death hung heavily in the air.
So did brimstone. Seline and her hound had been at work.
His gaze slid over the dark earth. He’d learned to track long ago when he studied with a Native American hunter who could find anyone, anytime. Sam had followed the Jeep out to that desolate spot and found death.
Not what he expected. Had the hound been protecting Seline again? Had she summoned the beast?
He stared at the markings in the dirt. Seline had turned the vehicle around here, then she’d driven north toward the lights of the town. His eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out what her next move would be.
If you were a succubus low on energy, where would you go?
To the loudest, raunchiest bar you could find.
Seconds later, the motorcycle hurtled toward those shining lights.
The bouncer didn’t make the mistake of trying to keep Sam out of the club. He just wisely stepped to the side, and Sam followed the pounding music into El Diablo. Fitting name. The place was packed with Other. Shifters—he caught the flash of their claws. Vamps—two were drinking in the back corner. Demons—so many black eyes filled the room.
Humans mixed with them. Aware? Or just blind? Maybe both.
Dancers twisted in cages that rose above the wooden floor. Lights flashed in a swirling circle. And he didn’t see Seline.
Fuck. He’d been so sure she’d come here. A dozen clubs lined the strip. He’d found the abandoned Jeep, so he’d known that she came this way. He just didn’t know exactly which bar she’d gone into once she’d gotten off the street.
The couple on the right began to claw at each other’s clothing.
The man and woman on his left were nearly fucking right in front of him.
Sam stilled. Damn that was sure one whole lot of sexual energy. An unnatural degree, even for the Other.
Seline.
He looked upward again and stared harder at the woman who’d just entered the cage lined with steel bars.
She was alone in the cage. The other dancers had vanished. She wasn’t dancing. Her long hair hung loosely around her shoulders. Her arms were up, and she seemed to be pulling energy right from the crowd.
Because she was.
He grabbed the ladder that led to that cage. The music kept pumping behind him, and now he could feel the sensual power in the air. Not normal. Far from it.
Her. Something was different about Seline tonight. He’d never felt this particular rush of power around her. His body was suddenly on edge. His heart raced too fast in his chest.
He leapt into the cage. She didn’t whirl to face him. Didn’t do anything but stand there with her arms up. This close, he could see that her hips were swaying softly in a sensual flow that made him ache.
He stepped toward her.
“Leave, Sam.” She spoke in a way he’d never heard before. Pure sex. Temptation. Sin.
She might have just ordered him to leave, but his body was determined to stay.
“Seline.” Her name came out raw and hungry.
The music flared louder.
Slowly, so slowly, she turned to face him. She looked different. Eyes smoky. Lips plumper, redder, and skin that seemed to glow from an inner fire. He looked at her and wanted.
But that part—well, the want wasn’t exactly new for him.
“I’m not playing tonight,” she whispered, but he could easily hear her over the crowd. “Tonight I’m taking all the power that I want, and if you come any closer, I will drain you dry.”
This wasn’t the Seline he knew. “You don’t drain people, remember?”
But she smiled, and an evil grin should never have been so sexy. “Why don’t you find the shifter who gave me a ride and see what he has to say?”
Sam blinked. “I already found what was left of him.” And he hadn’t expected that.
“He wanted to cut me open.” Her chin lifted. “Coyotes always think blood and sex mix.”
Fury spiked his power and sent the cage rocking on the narrow chain that held it secured to the ceiling. “So you cut the bastard open in return?”
She blinked, and some of the glow seemed to dim from her skin. “Cut him? I-I didn’t cut him!”
“I found him with his throat torn open.”
Shock rippled across her face, and she stumbled back.
She hadn’t known. That definitely put a spin on things—and made it look like Keenan had been right.
“I didn’t…” She shook her head. “I just…I kissed him.”
A snarl broke from Sam’s lips, and in an instant, he was before her. He grabbed her arms and pulled her onto her toes. “Did you fuck him?”
“Didn’t have to. Didn’t want to. I can drain with a kiss.” Then she leaned up and kissed him.
Lust roared through his blood. His head swam with a burst of euphoria. Want, need, pleasure—the rush of sensations filled his body, and he kissed her harder. Deeper.
She pushed against him, her nipples tight, her body soft. And still she kept kissing him. Hot, openmouthed, drugging kisses.
I can drain with a kiss.
He couldn’t hear the music anymore. Couldn’t hear the thunder of the crowd. She was the only thing he knew. The only thing he wanted.
Her tongue slid against his.
He wanted her naked. He wanted to drive into her and make her forget anyone that had come before—any man who’d had her before.
There will be no other.
He caught her hips and lifted her up against him. Her legs wrapped around his waist as she rubbed against his erect cock. Not enough. Not even fucking close.
The floor swayed beneath them. Not the floor…the cage .
Seline’s lips lifted slowly from his. Sam’s eyes opened. Her mouth was wet from his. The darkness of her eyes reflected the same lust that he felt but…
Sam saw confusion in her gaze.
She shook her head and said, “You should be weak.”
He was so hot that Sam felt close to exploding. His cock was so full that he ached. Want. Need. “You’re not taking, sweetheart.” Didn’t she realize what she was doing? “You’re pumping me up.” With lust and with power.
Her eyes widened as she tried to push against him. “No, no, I’m?—”
A succubus didn’t always have to take power. He knew that. He also knew that a succubus usually only shared her power with one person.
Even a succubus could mate. In fact, if she wanted to have children, a succubus had to find a mate. One man she could share her power with over her lifetime. Otherwise, there would be no births for her. Reproduction wasn’t just about sex with a succubus—it was about mating. Life, love—forever. Did Seline even know that? Because he was betting Rogziel hadn’t shared that information with her.
“Let me go!” She wrenched back, but he held her tight.
“No, you’re not running again. We’re settling this.” Anger and lust battled in his blood. “You’re not?—”
The screams reached him. High. Full of terror. Then he caught the shattering of glass. More shouts. The thunder of footsteps.
Through the bars, he looked out over the club. Chaos reigned as the humans and Other rushed for the exits.
Then he heard the growls. Smelled the brimstone. No wonder the shifters were at the front of the fleeing mass. They would’ve caught the scent first.
“What’s happening?” Seline’s stare followed his.
Sam saw the deep claw marks that scraped across the table tops. Fuck, fuck, fuck. “Are you afraid?”
“Yes!” she yelled immediately as she wrestled away from him. Sam let her feet touch the bottom of the cage, but he held tightly to her hand. “Something’s coming this way!” Seline cried.
“Not just something. Sweetheart, your hound is coming.”
She stilled and stared at him with dazed eyes.
“When we were kissing, were you afraid?” he demanded. “Were you scared of me?”
She nodded, and it was like a punch to his chest. Fear and desire. They shouldn’t have merged for her. For them.
They had, and now hell was coming.
The other cages were falling from the ceilings. Most of the folks had already fled El Diablo. Some stragglers were hiding behind the bar or crouching under tables.
Those claw marks were heading for Sam. For the cage that swayed drunkenly on a chain that looked ready to snap at any moment. Too much power in the air.
“The hound’s protecting you,” Sam muttered as he grabbed the nearest steel bar with his left hand and fought to steady them. “That’s why it went after the shifter and tore his throat out. That’s why it came after me when we were in the truck. The hound fucking thinks it’s protecting you.”
A whoosh of wind came at them. Something— the fucking hound in question —slammed into the cage. The cage rocked hard to the right, to the left, and then that chain snapped. They fell to the floor with a bone-jarring crash. Sam twisted and tried to cushion Seline’s body with his own.
His hands held her tightly to him. He was sure that if he’d been human, his back would have broken when the cage pounded into the floor. As it was, the fall hurt like a bitch.
Then the cage bars started to snap. No, the hound snapped them.
Seline stared around with wide, stunned eyes.
Sam hurried to his feet. He still had his hold on her. No way was he letting her go. “You don’t know how to send the hound back, do you?”
She shook her head. “I don’t even know how it got here!”
She didn’t know yet only she could send the beast back. Talk about being screwed. Sam took a deep breath and tried to think of a way to survive.
“Are you going to kill me?” she asked as fear flickered in her eyes again.
Sonofabitch. Hissing out a furious breath, he pulled her even closer. His lips crushed down on hers. He tasted her, kept his mouth on hers, and drank her in, even as claws raked down his legs. “No,” Sam promised, his voice gritty as he lifted his head. “But when we get out of this, I am going to fuck you again.”
She blinked. He would have said more, but the hound’s teeth bit into his ankle and the beast dragged him away.
The hound’s image was slowly coming into focus. In that instant, it looked like a beast made of smoke. Pale, hazy, but with really big teeth. Sam kicked, but the beast didn’t let go of him.
Fire won’t work. Rogziel had been right. Fire only made hellhounds stronger. Bullets wouldn’t keep the beast down, either.
Sam reached out and grabbed one of the cage bars. Metal snapped and popped. He shoved the bar right into the hound’s side.
The beast cried out and backed off.
Sam rose to his feet. Seline was behind him. “I’m not hurting her,” he said to the beast. Right, like reasoning with a hellhound was the way to go. “She’s mine, got it? So you’d better get used to seeing me with her!”
The hound—still with that pole sticking out of its side—lunged for Sam. The breath of hell came at him.
“Stop!” Seline screamed, and she pushed Sam to the side. Pushed him with that power she’d absorbed from the bar, then put her body in front of his. “Stop!”
It figured the woman didn’t know you were never supposed to come between a hellhound and its food. Especially not once that hound had gotten a taste of its prey’s blood.
The hound snarled and tried to lunge around her. It didn’t look so ghostly anymore. The beast’s thick, matted fur was a mix of black and blood.
Seline’s fingers sank into the matted fur. “I said, stop! ” Her voice had risen to a scream. “Don’t hurt him!”
The hellhound stopped. Its great body shook, as if holding back was an enormous effort.
Sam stood as frozen as the hound. Even masters couldn’t usually call back their hounds once the beasts had a taste of blood. Nothing stopped them but the prey’s death.
Seline caught the hound’s great head in her hands. The beast’s teeth were longer than her fingers, and the hound was way too close to her throat.
“Seline.” Sam inched closer to her.
The hound growled.
Screw that. Sam kept closing in on her.
“You’re so sure I’m its master.” Her voice was quiet and void of any emotion. “Let’s find out if you’re right.”
The woman obviously didn’t understand the rules about hellhounds. They had been known to bite off the hands that summoned them. They could never be fully controlled.
Which was why they were always sent right back to hell when their job was done. That was the prime rule with the hounds— always send them back fast.
The hound’s teeth snapped together.
“Easy.” Seline didn’t look worried. She was frowning as she stared at the hound. “You’re a big, ugly bastard, aren’t you?”
The hound blinked.
Her left hand smoothed over its side. “This is gonna hurt,” Seline warned. She grabbed the bar and yanked it out. Blood gushed and sprayed into the air.
But almost instantly, the wound began to heal. Seline dropped the bar.
The hound’s thick, raspy tongue came out and licked her shoulder.
“Uh, let’s not do that, again, okay?” Seline said softly. This time, Sam caught the faint tremble in her voice and saw her wince. “But you’re welcome.”
The hound’s head began to lower. Subservience. Acknowledgment that she was its master.
Well, damn.
Seline glanced at Sam. “I don’t think it’s so bad. Just a big dog, really.”
Bullshit. Sam reached out to touch Seline’s shoulder. In an instant, the “big dog” lunged up and slammed its claws into Sam’s chest.
“No!” Seline’s snapped order.
The hound froze.
“Tell the beast to go to hell,” Sam said. He wished he understood how to send a hound back, but that was one power beyond him.
“Go to hell,” Seline told the hound instantly.
The hound didn’t vanish. In fact, the beast appeared to be getting bigger. Possibly stronger. Not good.
When they weren’t in hell, the hounds survived by drinking blood and fear. They weren’t some cute freaking pets. They were monster minions for the devil.
But Seline was petting the thing now.
Sam risked a fast glance around the club. The stragglers were rushing for the door. Smart. But even as those people pushed out, two familiar figures hurried forward.
Keenan and his vampire.
Keenan took one look at the hound and froze. He grabbed Nicole and tried to push her behind his back.
Fuck.
Too late. Over the centuries, hounds had developed a particular taste for vampire blood.
Seline’s hound whipped around and leapt into the air. The floor shook as the beast hurtled toward its new treat.
“No!” Seline’s shout, but this time, the beast didn’t slow. Claws swiped out and cut into Keenan’s chest, but the Fallen didn’t move.
“Run, Nicole,” he choked out, “run!”
Wrong advice. The hounds liked the chase. Keenan should know that.
Keenan grabbed the hound’s paws. Sam rushed to help him, with Seline right by his side.
With a howl, the hound shook off Keenan, and Sam saw that Nicole hadn’t run away. She started kicking and clawing at the beast. Her fangs were out, and she was screaming for the hound to get away from her fallen angel.
Before Sam could reach her, the hound tackled her and the beast’s teeth went for her throat.
Nicole stopped screaming, but the whole room vibrated with the sudden wild rush of fury that Sam knew came from Keenan.
Sam and Keenan grabbed the hound. They dragged it off Nicole even as the hound snapped and bit.
Then Seline was there. Her hands locked around the hound’s body. “Leave her alone! Leave them all alone!” Fury hardened her words. “Just get away from us. Go back to hell !”
The hound whined. Its head lowered.
Then the beast vanished in a blur of smoke.
About fucking time.