Morgan blinked and, this time, she did look back over her shoulder. "Tell him it"s not true, Devon," she demanded. "Tell him you didn"t-"
"Try to burn her to ash while she was still in my bed," Jace finished, his claws stretching. It would be so easy to kill that b.a.s.t.a.r.d. One stroke from his claws, and the vampire"s head would hit the ground.
"We merely...tested," Devon said quietly as he shrugged. "It was necessary."
Morgan rocked on her heels, then spun around and caught the vamp b.a.s.t.a.r.d by his throat. "Run that by me again."
Devon blanched. "Ah, Morganna..."
"You tested me? With fire?"
He tried to talk, but no sound emerged from his lips.
"She"s startin" to remind me of someone..." Louis murmured from beside Jace.
"Morgan?" Jace called out.
Her hold tightened on the vampire.
"I don"t think he can speak," Louis shouted, probably in what he thought would be a helping way.
Morgan"s hold eased a bit.
Oddly enough, the other two vampires didn"t move to restrain her. Smart of them, because if they"d touched her, Jace would have ripped them apart.
They just waited. Watched. One even glared at Devon Shire, Council-f.u.c.king-extraordinaire-member.
Jace had come across Devon before. Almost killed him twice. Third time will be the charm.
"You drank his blood." Devon"s voice held a distinct wheeze now. "We had to see...had to make sure it was making you stronger..."
"So you set me on fire?"
But Devon didn"t back down. "If you"re going to shut the doorway to h.e.l.l, you have to be able to withstand the heat, Morganna. We have to test your skin, see how it"s holding up against the flames-"
She punched him, a hard right cut that took the vampire down.
"Looks like your strength"s improving, Morg," one of the other vampire"s said, lips twitching.
f.u.c.k this. "Kill them," Jace ordered.
Morgan whirled around, eyes wide. "Wh-what?"
The wolves were already shifting.
"Come." He held his hand to her. "No sense in you watching them get ripped apart."
The smiling vampire lunged forward then. A tall bloodsucker, with pale green eyes and a sloping scar that wrapped around his chin. One made, not born, or he wouldn"t be sporting that scar.
The blond made the mistake of putting his body between Morgan and Jace. "We"re not your prey," he snarled.
Morgan put her hand on his shoulder. "Paul..."
Fury pushed through Jace"s body. There was something between them, he could see it. Smell it.
Morgan"s blood, in the vampire. She"d made him.
Oh, the f.u.c.k, no.
His claws burst from his fingertips as he prepared to attack.
The wind whipped around them, blowing hot and hard. Wait, hot?
He glanced up at the sky and saw the creatures coming. Flying toward them. f.u.c.king flying in daylight.
Demons.
"They are the ones we need to fight!" Devon screamed as he scrambled to his feet. "Not each other!"
This from the a.s.shole who"d torched his place?
But then Devon surprised him. The guy grabbed Morgan and hauled her back toward the house. "You"re not strong enough yet. We can"t let them get you!"
Now the a.s.shole was protecting her?
Jace"s men spun around, snarling at the new threat. A threat that smelled of brimstone and death. The demons looked like humans, for the most part. Their faces appeared human, their bodies shaped like men. But they had claws that sprouted from their hands, claws even sharper than a wolf"s. Big and strong, demons had eyes that blazed as red as h.e.l.l and skin that was twisted and marked with scars that sliced across their flesh.
Demons could fly. Demons could control fire. And, most days, demons could kick a.s.s.
Not today.
His gaze met Morgan"s. A vampire in the sunlight. Even with his blood, how strong could she be?
He shoved back the one she"d called Paul. "Get inside."
Paul didn"t move. "We fight, we don"t flee, we-"
The demons. .h.i.t the ground and came running. The wolves turned, holding their line, not attacking, not yet.
Not until Jace gave the word.
"I"m the one who gets to rip you apart," Jace promised. "Not them." Demons... "Now get Morgan inside."
"Jace!"
He didn"t turn at her cry. He grabbed Louis, stopping his friend before he could change. The heavy metal door swung shut behind the vampires.
The demons were smiling, showing fangs as sharp as a vampire"s.
"Guard the door," Jace ordered. "Nothing gets to her." No one.
Louis nodded.
"Send them back to h.e.l.l," he told his men as his bones began to shift. The change didn"t even hurt, not anymore. All he could think about now was the battle. "In pieces."
The wolves attacked.
"They"re fighting for us," Devon"s voice trembled. "They"re actually honoring the agreement."
Morgan paced. She"d quickly changed once she"d entered the compound. No longer over-exposed in Jace"s shirt, she now wore jeans, a t-shirt, and her boots. As she paced, the sounds of battle seemed to burn her ears. Howls. Screams. "We need to be out there!"
But Paul shook his head. "The demons came at us in the daylight. They knew we"d be weak." The sun would set soon, just not soon enough for them.
"They didn"t know we"d have the wolves with us!" Devon was all but crowing. "The b.a.s.t.a.r.ds can fight and kill each other off, and when night comes, we"ll be stronger than them all."
She was tired of the Council leader"s bulls.h.i.t. Jace had fed her twice. He had to be weak from that loss, and now he was out there, fighting, while she stayed safe inside?
No.
"What if I"d died this morning?" She"d never forget waking to that blaze. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d must have planted one of his bombs. She knew he"d taken out other enemies that way over the years.
Am I an enemy?
"It was merely a test, Morganna. Merely-"
More howls from the wolves and screams from the demons. A demon"s scream sounded like nails ripping down a chalkboard. "What if I"d died? Jace had to pull me from the fire. He could have left me there. I would have burned."
Devon just stared back at her with his soulless blue eyes. "Then we would have known the plan wasn"t working."
The big plan. To mix the blood of a vampire and a werewolf. To create a being strong enough to shut the doorway to h.e.l.l, a being who"d be able to survive the fires of h.e.l.l long enough to make sure that doorway stayed closed. Forever.
A vampire couldn"t do it on her own. Fire killed vamps too easily. At least, it had before. But today, the fire hadn"t destroyed her. An inferno that should have killed her had only left her with blisters.
"You just need more blood from him," Devon said with a nod. "More blood, and you"ll be strong enough for the job."
Paul had moved to peer through the series of spy holes located along the room"s perimeter. "Or he will be."
Now Devon finally showed emotion. Confusion. "What?"
Paul whistled. "That wolf is cutting right through the demons. Slashing every last one. Never seen anything like this..."
She shoved him aside and stared through the spy hole. Her gaze locked on the wolf, a wolf that was bigger than he had been last night. The giant black beast turned around and Jace"s bright stare flew past her as he snarled.
His teeth and claws were covered with blood.
"He"s not supposed to be that big," Devon muttered. "I"ve seen him shift before, he"s not-" Devon broke off as he caught her arm and jerked her toward him. "You let him drink from you."
Her shoulder seemed to burn, and she remembered his bite. "You know the rules of a werewolf mating. He had to drink."
But Devon started shaking his head. "I didn"t realize...the b.a.s.t.a.r.d knew!"His hands wrapped around her shoulders, and he hauled Morgan off her feet. "Don"t give him anymore blood." Spittle flew from his mouth.
"What? Look, you know you don"t have to worry about me turning him. Werewolves can"t become vampires."
The transformation from human to vampire was brutal. The victim had to be near death, a heartbeat away from the afterlife. The vampire had to drain her prey and then force him to drink her own blood.
Only...werewolves had never transformed. Vamps had tried to change a few of them, centuries before, but it hadn"t worked. Their beasts were too strong to die. They couldn"t transform.
Devon had told her that. He"d been the one to "experiment" on those unlucky wolves in the past.
Did Jace know? Did he realize that Devon had captured wolves over the centuries and sliced them apart to see how much pain they could take? To learn how fast they"d regenerate?
Know your enemy. One of Devon"s favorite phrases.
a.s.shole.
He"d ruled the vampires in this area for too long. But now he wasn"t the strongest vamp in the room.
I am.
Devon didn"t even seem to see her as he said, "They can"t become like us..." His gaze stared at the past. "f.u.c.king animals...should have seen it...didn"t think..." He spun around and his fist slammed into the wall. "They can become more."
The screams stopped, but the howls didn"t. They grew louder. Wilder.
The wolves had won. Vanquished the demons.
"More will come," Paul said and she knew he was right. The flood of demons wouldn"t stop, not until that doorway was blocked.
Time to shut that door. If a demon was left alive, they could force him to show them the entrance to h.e.l.l.
"You can"t, Morg. You"re not strong enough," Paul said. Ah, Paul, he knew her so well.
She glanced over at him. "Guess we"ll see about that."
He flinched and there was no missing the worry on his face.
It had been three years since she"d turned him. He was the only human she"d ever turned. Sometimes, she wondered...did he wish that she"d just left him to die?
"You can"t let him drink from you again!" Devon was still screeching as she marched away from him. "Morganna! Do you hear me? You can"t?"
She threw a hard glance back at him. "You forget yourself, Devon. You can no longer tell me what I can or cannot do." She bared her teeth at him. "I"m not part of the vampire nest anymore."
His lips parted.
"I"m wolf." So shove that down your throat and choke on it.
"You don"t understand. I didn"t realize-he"ll become more!"