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with that, but she feared one day he would follow through. Having to endure Asmodeus’s touch was more than enough. She didn’t want to be forced to accommodate his lackey, too.
    “No.” She cursed the tremor in her voice. “I’ll complete my assignment tomorrow. I promise.”
    “Good,” he said with marked satisfaction, “because if you fail me again, you won’t like the consequences.”
    He rose to his feet and turned his back on her in a gesture of clear dismissal.
    Amara rose and concentrated on placing one foot in front of the other. She closed her hand over the antique crystal knob.
    “Oh, Amara.”
    She stilled, her hand tightening around the knob. “Yes?”
    “You know, you should be happy you’ve found a home here with me. Who else would welcome a succubus like you?”
    Unbidden, the memory of turquoise eyes flashed into her mind. Of an intriguing demon with olive-toned flesh, a strong, chiseled face, and shaggy hair that fell close to jaw-length. The eyes were obviously glamoured, but she’d instinctively known that the rest of him was just as handsome. The way he’d regarded her that night—like she might be his salvation. He was the only man who’d ever managed to touch her heart, however brief their acquaintance.
    “Well, for more than one night, at least,” Asmodeus amended wryly.
    He was right. The man who had consumed her thoughts for the past several weeks—he was dead. And she should know.
    After all, she’d been the one to kill him.
    §
    Belpheg sat in his ritual chamber, meditating in an attempt to center his powers. His hands shook from the effort. It was getting more and more difficult to ground himself, and a month had passed since he’d ordered Asmodeus to obtain the life essence of the bounty hunters. The fact that he hadn’t yet done so displeased Belpheg. If he didn’t have a use for Asmodeus, the incubus would be dead by now.
    He closed his eyes at the memory of the life essence he’d felt through his soul connection with Asmodeus. An angel-demon hybrid whose rare blood combination had made the transference of his powers to Asmodeus easy. From there it had been a simple matter of twisting those abilities into something far more...useful. Even better, he’d recognized that life essence. He’d felt something similar to it before, in an old acquaintance.
    Mammon—the man who had once saved his life.
    Belpheg had known Mammon’s sons now worked as interdimensional bounty hunters in New York City. He was also aware that they had captured Mammon and turned him in to the Council. The demon had been so cocky that he’d never even requested Belpheg’s assistance. He’d thought he would be able to take control of Earth by himself. How wrong he’d been, and Belpheg had been content to let him suffer for it. But he should have considered learning a bit more about his old friend’s progeny—he’d never bothered to discover what their mothers were. Had he known, it might have saved him some time.
    He would use Mammon’s sons, use the strength that Mammon had bred into them. Once Asmodeus absorbed their energies, the incubus would be allpowerful. And Belpheg would have at last completed the circle of twelve men he’d worked for years to collect.
    Twelve men with twelve powers each. That was the magic number. Their powers would be at their zenith when they completed a magical circle on the equinox, and with Belpheg in the center of that circle—with all that energy focused on him—things were bound to get interesting.
    Damn Asmodeus. He should have trapped the brothers by now. The March equinox was less than two weeks away. If Belpheg didn’t make the timeline, he would have to wait until the summer solstice, and as unstable as his powers had grown, he didn’t want to wait any longer.
    He’d have to pay Asmodeus a visit.
    Belpheg concentrated on mentally stroking the cord that bound his soul to Asmodeus’s. When it hummed in response, he let his spirit float out of his