Life Cycle (13 page)

He shouldn’t have put that much
space between them, because she hauled back and tossed an energy
ball at him, clipping him in the shoulder before he
c
ould go noncorporeal. She
was so fast with those things. Two could play
this game. He tossed a fireball, and she ducked behind the rock
they’d been sitting on.

Then she started chanting.

“Tam, stop chanting. You start using magic against
me, and all bets are off. You have no idea the hell I can make your
life.”

She ignored him, continuing her incantation. The air
charged around them, and she stepped out from behind the rock that
had been shielding her and threw a ball of energy at him.

“Don’t ever threaten me like that again. I’m not one
of your goons. If you even look like you’re contemplating putting
me in one of those pods for any reason, you will be sorry. I
promise you. Like you said, the accommodations in little glass jars
are less roomy than pods.”

She threw another energy ball. This one he saw coming
and dodged. He tossed another ball of fire, but it sizzled and
bounced off an invisible bubble she’d put around herself. He was so
caught off guard by the new protection that he didn’t get away in
time when it came hurtling back toward him, burning him in the
stomach.

“Oww... Goddamnit, Tam!”

“Hey, you’re throwing fire. What I’m throwing won’t
kill you. You want to burn me alive and send me back to a lesser
form. I don’t appreciate it.”

He growled. “That’s not my intention.”

“Or am I too much of a temptation for you? Do I have
too much power in this form?”

She dropped the straps of the dress and the material
fluttered to the ground. God yes, she had too much power in this
form, but he’d never say it. He stalked her and reached out to
stroke her skin, glowing in the torchlight. His hand bounced off
the barrier.

Cain’s voice dropped an octave. “How can I help you
if you won’t help me? I thought you wanted me to fuck you.”

She shrugged. “It seems pointless, doesn’t it? I
mean, what are the odds you’re going to kill me this time?”

“You gotta play to win, sweetheart.”

As soon as she dropped the shields, he backed her
against the wall and ripped his pants off. “Be a good girl and wrap
your legs around my waist.”

“Good girl? You must have me confused with somebody
else.”

But she did as he requested, and he lifted her like
she was nothing. As he impaled her, she let out a gasp that drew a
satisfied laugh from him.

“You really want to die and leave all this? That’s a
solid death wish you’ve got there,” he said.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she tossed back.

But she’d dropped her shields, all of them, and he
knew the effect he was having on her. She wanted him almost as much
as she wanted death. If he just held out a little longer, she’d beg
him to keep her, he was sure of it.

Chapter Seven

Tam tried to catch her breath. He’d
weakened her when he’d fed, but he hadn’t killed her. That would be
too much to hope for. He seemed committed to this battle of wills.
But she would win. If he thought she’d ever willingly ask another
monster to keep her, he didn’t know her. And that was the point.
He
didn’t
know
her. Though he knew Jack had been her lover, the realization that
she wouldn’t fall for that charming evil shit again hadn’t
penetrated his massive Neanderthal ego.

Cain wasn’t a big cuddler. After he’d finished with
her, he’d left her in the cave. Another woman might have been
emotionally devastated or felt horribly used, but Tam was just
annoyed he was holding out. She could attempt to use magic to get
what she wanted, but there was a part of her that
did
genuinely fear him. The only kind of magic she’d feel safe using
against the demon was the kind that sealed him somewhere far away
from her. And with her life span, even that wasn’t a safe bet.
Curses could be broken.

She pulled the dress on and made her way back into
town. A few demons held her gaze then looked away quickly to
whisper amongst themselves. She didn’t have to hear them to have
some idea of what they were saying. It was such cruel irony. Every
single one of them wanted her dead because they felt she was
compromising Cain and their kind. If only that were the case.

Many of them were probably old enough and strong
enough to kill her, but even if she could get an accurate list of
all their ages and strength levels, not one of them would
double-cross Cain and get sent to the caves. He’d been pretty
intense about his threat.

His disdain for vampires ran deep. He wanted to use
her in a future war with Anthony if it came to that. She had enough
contacts that with her, her current coven, and the other magic
users she knew, Anthony’s victory wasn’t a sure thing. In fact,
between all of them, Cain’s demons, and the Cary Town wolf pack, it
would be a slaughter, no matter how many vampires the king
recruited to fight his battles.

She was kidding herself if she thought Cain would put
a petty vendetta against her above his personal ambitions. He had
more self-control than she’d anticipated. He was a complicated
demon, and getting him to kill her involved more issues than she’d
wanted to admit. Plus he couldn’t stand to lose ever, for any
reason. But really, were they any different? They were both
ruthless in their own ways. She should have known she wouldn’t get
him to snap and kill her. Damnit.

She was lost in her own world and didn’t notice when
Anna crossed her path.

“Tam?”

She’d been avoiding Anna because she was afraid if
they spent too much time together, her friend would learn about her
suicide mission. Plus, things felt distant now. Anna was so wrapped
up in her new mate that things weren’t the same anymore, no matter
how much they’d tried to force it or fake the easy way that had
once been between them.

“Hey,” Tam said, trying not to look guilty.

“Where have you been? I hardly ever see you.”

The witch shrugged. “I wander a lot. I’m pretty bored
being stuck here.” That much was true. Though she suspected a big
part of the boredom was depression. Why else would she have such a
death wish? Even if Jack could be caught and destroyed, and the
threat from her life erased, she’d hit her breaking point this
time. The idea of sticking around sounded awful. She couldn’t stand
admitting that the brightest spots of the past week had been in
Cain’s arms. What did that say about her?

She couldn’t allow herself to fall down that well
again. He was just like Jack. He’d turn on her and everyone she
loved. There were no true consequences for him outside the
inconvenience of a curse here and there. No one to answer to. No
laws that bound him or his power. In a way, he was worse than
Jack.

Anna stared at the dress. “Why are you wearing that?”
She asked the question as if she already knew but wanted to torture
out a confession.

“Not out here in the middle of the street,” Tam
hissed.

They were still surrounded by too many demons, and
she didn’t exactly want to have this conversation with an audience.
She tried to grab Anna by the elbow to steer her toward her tent
but her hand went through.

“Damnit. I keep forgetting about this ghost-form
thing. I’m glad you’re not really a ghost, though.”

“Me, too. I guess I thought since I gave Luc my soul
and died, that I wasn’t real or something. Now what about the
dress?”

You couldn’t sidetrack Anna.

Tam glanced around. She wasn’t sure if the demons
edged nearer in fascination over the conversation in general or due
to the upcoming big reveal over why she looked like she’d joined a
harem. Now that she thought about it, Cain probably had a harem.
She had no delusions he was only sleeping with her, nor did she
care. All she wanted was to wear him down to make him give her what
she wanted—a free ticket out without unnecessary horror or trauma.
She’d do anything he wanted to get that, though she wouldn’t come
right out and say it. It was smart to keep a few cards close to the
chest. She was sure Cain could get extremely creative if he knew
she’d do anything.

“Let’s talk in my tent where the peanut gallery
can’t eavesdrop.” She had half a mind to take Anna to the caves,
but it could get her friend in trouble with Cain. He might see it
as undermining his authority with the demons—inviting them back to
the punishment caves like it was an open house with tea and
crumpets.

“Sure, no problem. I didn’t mean to put you on the
spot out here.”

The guards each arched a brow when they got to Tam’s
tent. She hadn’t given them a backward glance when she’d left.
They’d probably been waiting hours for her return so they could
sneer and smirk at her.

“What are you? Twelve?” she asked. “Grow up.” In
point of fact, she probably was much older than her demon
guards.

She motioned her friend into the
tent. Once inside, Anna crossed her arms over her chest, her
suspicion growing, waiting to explode like fireworks. They weren’t
going to be able to escape the elephant. “In the entire time I’ve
known you, I’ve never seen you in a dress. Especially not one like
this.”

“You’v
e
only known me a couple of decades. I used to wear dresses all the
time. It used to be the only fashion option for women before they
got all liberated. I just went for a change of pace this cycle.
It’s no big deal. Besides, I don’t exactly have a washing machine
here, do I? I’m not allowed to leave the dimension. Do you think
I’m going to go scrub my clothes on a rock in the
stream?”

Tam wouldn’t be out of clean clothes for another week
or so, but it might come to that. She shuddered at the idea.
Nothing sounded less appealing than her boobs falling out of one of
these dresses as she bent over a rock in the stream while angry
demons loitered, making snide remarks. If that happened, Cain
couldn’t hold her responsible for what she might do to them.

Anna didn’t seem convinced. “You’re sleeping with
him, aren’t you?”

“What? He tried to kill you. What kind of friend do
you think I am?” It was a fantastic question, actually.

“That was going to be my next point. Just don’t lie
to me again.”

Tam became fascinated with the embroidery on a
pillow. “I’m sorry. I could have told you about the cycling thing,
but I was so used to keeping my secret. The last person I told was
Henry, and that was a few centuries ago. And it was less telling
him than explaining to him what he’d just seen when a woman he’d
befriended died and came back to life younger.”

Technically that priest vampire a few decades ago and
his insane sire fell into that category as well, but it wasn’t like
they’d had a sit-down about it or anything. Certainly not the kind
of heart-to-heart she’d had with Henry, or the kind Anna was hurt
she hadn’t gotten.

Anna reached out to put a hand on Tam’s shoulder.
When it passed through, she cursed. “Just tell me the truth. I
won’t judge.”

“Okay. I’m sleeping with him.”

“What?! How could you sleep with him? He’s a demon,
a monster—”

“Good job not judging,” Tam said,
though it was hard to get mad at Anna’s theatrics. She was used to
them by now, and they could be somewhat entertaining. Even with her
memories of her previous lives, she’d remained Anna, clinging to
her most recent incarnation as
who she
was
.

“I was waiting for you to reassure
me I was wrong. I didn’t think you’d sleep with
Cain
. Holy God. Of all the monsters
to go to bed with.”

Now Tam
was
mad. Anna had slept with Luc.
Wasn’t he a monster? Hadn’t he killed humans on a routine basis for
centuries before he’d hooked up with her? Was he not a demon as
well? The hypocrisy was so grating, it pushed Tam to drop another
bomb.

“I also slept with Jack.”

Pin-drop silence. Maybe someone had sat on a remote
control and hit the mute button, but finally Anna spoke, destroying
that theory.

“As in...
the Ripper
? As in, the guy we’re
trying to find to kill right now? Mr. All-powerful Crazy Magic Man
who is killing everybody in the original coven, with you on the hit
list? The guy who wants to expose us all and bring destruction upon
the whole planet? That Jack?”

Tam shrugged. “He was our leader, and he wasn’t
always like this. We had a really long relationship before he
turned so dark I couldn’t ignore it anymore. And if I hadn’t slept
with Jack, you and I never would have met. Do you think he would
have saved me for last if he and I hadn’t been lovers for so
long?”

She was dropping a lot of revelations on Anna, things
her friend couldn’t be expected to jump on board with. Especially
the Cain thing. Sleeping with him was a betrayal of their
friendship after what he’d done to Anna, but it wasn’t like Tam was
doing it because she was into him. But explaining that would only
make the situation worse.

“You can’t sleep with Cain. He’s dangerous. He’s not
like Luc. Do you have him under a spell or something?”

“No, of course not.”

“Maybe you should. For your own safety.”

Tam didn’t have the heart to tell her how badly such
a spell would backfire and move her further from her goal.

“Considering how using magic ended for you, I can’t
believe you’d say that. You want me to end up mated to him?”

Anna made a face. “Of course not. He hasn’t even put
a mark of protection on you. If he’s supposed to be protecting you,
why hasn’t he done that?”

“It wouldn’t work against Jack, and the demons are
afraid to defy him. Nobody thinks killing me is worth an
indeterminate amount of time locked in the caves. Trust me. It’s
hard to hate somebody that much.”