Read Embraced (Eternal Balance) for Free Online Page B

away. Seemingly satisfied, the newcomer stood, glaring at Jax, then turned to me.
    “Don’t even think about it,” Jax warned.
    Its gaze lingered on me for a moment longer, lips twisted and teeth bared, before it relaxed and switched its focus to Jax. “Fear not, Lord Azirak. We have dispatched the enemy and mean you no harm.”
    “Could have fooled me,” I mumbled. The place was a mess. Broken furniture and spattered gore decorated a large part of the room. And the smell? It was like a thousand piles of roadkill.
    The demon’s gaze swiveled back to me. “We understand now why Lord Azirak keeps you, but…” It growled and came another step closer. “Maintain your distance. Malphi will not tolerate your stink on him.”
    “Malphi…” Jax tensed. “Is that who sent you? Those two—”
    “Were of Zenak’s clan. I apologize for not arriving sooner.” The demon’s eyebrows disappeared beneath shaggy bangs. Wearing a Yankee’s cap and worn blue jeans, he looked like a college kid ready for the weekend. “As for Malphi…do you remember, my lord?”
    I didn’t need the link to know Jax was two steps away from ramming his fist down the demon’s throat. All that my lord crap.
    Wait…
    My lord crap? Only members of Azi’s clan referred to Jax that way. But it’d mentioned Malphi. Oh my God… Malphi was part of Azi’s clan?
    “I know the name. That’s all,” Jax said, deceptively calm. I had no clue how he held it together. His rage simmered just beneath the surface. I could taste it through the link, a potent, coppery tang that coated the back of my throat.
    “The name…” the demon repeated. If I didn’t know better, I would have said it looked disappointed. There was the slightest twitch of its lip and a subtle slump of the shoulders. “No matter. Malphi knows you—and has asked me to deliver a message.”
    “What kind of message?”
    It turned to me, eerie black eyes boring straight into mine. “Agree to be claimed, or be destroyed.”
    Jax snorted. The spark of fury still lingered in his eyes, but there was also excitement. “You first.” He grabbed the demon’s head between his hands and twisted hard. Apparently the fact that it’d been one of Azi’s demons wasn’t an issue. It fell to the floor in a lifeless heap. With a nod to the last remaining demon, he jabbed a finger at me and said, “Report back to Malphi. Whatever it is you want with Sam, forget it. It’s never going to happen.”
    With one final snap of its teeth, the demon slipped through the broken window.
    “You okay?”
    The cuff on my wrist tightened, and a feeling of dread bubbled deep in the pit of my stomach. In the basement back at the Viking, the guy had insisted I submit . The demon said the same thing a few minutes ago. What the hell was going on? “Claimed? What was he talking about?”
    “I dunno, Sammy. But I bet Heckle has a clue.” Jax watched me with an odd expression. Almost as if he expected me to crack. “We have to find him.”
    “Agreed,” I responded. “But first we should clean up.”
    He was covered in blood. Everything was covered in blood, actually. Rick’s previously beige striped couch was coated in carnage, as were the curtains and carpet. The coffee table was smashed to pieces and scattered around the room. It was pure destruction…which I was becoming strangely used to. Six months ago something like this would have freaked me out. Now it was just another day. There was a strange sense of familiarity in it all and that scared the crap out of me.
    As I shook my arm, Jax looked from the cuff to me. The doorbell rang and he threw up his hands. “I call bullshit here… It’s like two in the morning—who the hell could be out there?”
    “Well, at least we know it’s not a demon. They’re far too rude to ring the bell.”
    He snorted. “Never know.”
    “There really is no such thing as a break, is there?” I said, crossing the room to the door. I had the urge to rub the inside