Make Me (18 page)

“You got it.”

I hung up and hit the buttons to listen to Micah’s voice mail. Only, it wasn’t Micah’s voice. “Hello, little Slayer,” the man said, almost playfully. “This is Asmodeus. I have your cousin and your roommate. If you ever want to see them alive again, meet me at Club Purgatory in Austin at noon, with the books in hand. We’ll trade.” He paused, then his voice turned more serious. “Oh, and in case you’re wondering if this is a hoax, take a look at the attached picture.”

Fear chilled me. Frantically, I thumbed through the necessary buttons to see the picture. Sure enough, it showed Micah looking angry and Gwen scared. Both were handcuffed to something behind them, Princess huddled beside Micah’s leg. This was real.

Oh, crap. What time had he called?

I checked the time and froze. He’d left it this morning. Noon had come and gone. What was I going to do?

And how was I going to tell Fang?

She nodded. “Wishful thinking… I know how futile that is.”

Damn it, Micah thought he’d distracted her for a while, but now she was sad again. “Gwen—”

She made an abortive gesture. “Not now, Micah, please. No platitudes. And, uh, I need to use the bathroom. Can you… ?”

“No problem.” He gave her the slack she needed to reach the facilities. Then, to give her as much privacy as he could, he turned his back and closed his eyes. His mind drifted to the upcoming vote of confidence. Talk about wishful thinking. After this mess—if they ever got out of it—the Underground would probably vote unanimously to kick him out altogether. Not that he’d blame them right now.

But he hadn’t been a bad leader. Maybe he’d relied too much on using the only role model he’d had as a guide, but who wouldn’t? His father had done a great job of keeping the Underground together—everyone said so. He’d made a lot of improvements to help demons and keep tabs on the vampires. And he’d done a lot of good for the community. If his father had failed to keep his people safe, surely it wasn’t intentional.

The chain attached to his handcuff jingled as Gwen flopped down on the mattress again. Micah opened his eyes a fraction. Gwen sat huddled at the opposite end, hugging her knees and rocking.

“Are you all right?” he asked. She’d held it together far better than he’d expected. Then again, she was an ER nurse, accustomed to dealing with horrible things on a daily basis.

“No,” she said in a small voice. “I’m scared.”

“It’s okay,” he reassured her. “I’m scared, too.”

“He’s been gone a long time, and Val was supposed to meet them at noon.” Gwen checked her watch. “It’s way past that now. What do you think is going on?”

“I have no idea.” Though he did have plenty of guesses, none of them good.

“What if Val doesn’t show up? What if she doesn’t give that monster the books?”

He’d run that scenario through his mind many times, and he didn’t like it at all. “Hey, look at me.” She turned to face him, worry on her face. “It’s okay. I’m sure Val and Fang are doing everything in their power to find us.”

MY HUMAN, TOO, Princess said.

“Yes, Shade, too,” Micah repeated for Gwen’s benefit. “Probably the whole Demon Underground.” He wanted to hug Gwen, comfort her, but that would bring her inside his personal field, and he knew it disturbed her when his incubus made her feel an unwanted pull toward him.

“Do you think he’s going to kill us?” Gwen whispered.

“No.” He toed the burger bag Asmodeus had brought them earlier. “Why would he bother to feed us and give us access to a bathroom and water if he intended to kill us?” Gwen had refused to eat, though Princess had no such problem, claiming she needed to eat for her puppies. Micah shrugged. “Maybe he gave Val the address and it’s taking her awhile to find us.”

“Which do you want?” Gwen asked.

“What do you mean?”

She paused, raising her head to study him intently. “Would you rather Val give in to his threats so he’ll release us and put the whole world at risk, or refuse him?”

Micah noticed she left off the obvious corollary—that their chances of living through this would be drastically reduced if Val refused to trade the books for their lives. He gave Gwen’s question some serious thought. Put the whole world in jeopardy or save the three of them? He’d come to respect and admire Gwen as he’d listened to her talk, and he had no desire to die, but… “I’d have to choose the rest of the world.”

Gwen sighed. “Yeah, me too.”

The question was, would Val see it that way?

NO, Princess declared. THEY WILL SAVE ME AND MY PUPPIES.

Maybe. “When he shot us the last time, why didn’t you run and get help?” Micah asked Princess. She could have saved herself, which was what he’d expected her to do.

Princess snuggled up to Gwen and licked her hand. MY HUMAN SAID TO PROTECT HER.

The mothering instinct, probably. Micah suppressed a sigh. Running away probably wouldn’t have done any good anyway, since she wouldn’t have been able to tell anyone where they’d been moved to. Micah assumed they were in Austin, since Carla and Asmodeus would want to be near the books and Val.

He relayed Princess’s thoughts, and Gwen stroked the hellhound’s ears. It seemed to make Gwen feel better. How could he help? Platitudes wouldn’t help, but maybe a viable alternative would. “Knowing Val, she’ll probably try to save everyone.”

“How?” Gwen asked.

Micah leaned his head against the wall and sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe give Asmodeus the books so he’ll release us, but follow him and stop him before he can use them—or they use him.”

Gwen gave him a crooked smile and raised her hand. “I vote for that plan.”

He tried to smile back, though he wasn’t sure how genuine it appeared. “Yeah, me too.” Her stomach growled and he picked up the burger bag and tossed it to her. “Here, eat something. It might make you feel better.”

She shook her head. “No. My stomach is churning so much, I don’t think I could keep anything down.”

How could he help her? There was one way. “Would you—” He stopped, not sure if he should ask this question. “Would you like a hug?”

She cast him a wary glance. “You mean you want to use my energy?”

“No, nothing like that. I can inspire desire in you, but I can also use my ability to make you feel calmer.”

She hugged her knees harder and darted a glance at him.

“I would never do anything to harm you,” Micah assured her softly. Then, hoping humor would help, he added, “Val would kill me if I did.”

Gwen hesitated for a moment longer, then said, “Okay, why not?” and scooted close.

He drew her under his arm, firmly controlling the incubus urge to draw on all that tempting feminine energy beside him. “Go ahead, relax.”

She sighed and put her arms around him, laying her head on his shoulder. He caressed her chakras with his power, sending calming energy through her body. He felt her tension ease, and was grateful he could do something to help her. Princess cuddled up against them, partially on his lap, partially on Gwen’s. The little spaniel had her own kind of calming influence.

They stayed that way, sharing each other’s warmth and comfort without saying a word until Micah heard footsteps upstairs. He jerked upright.

“What is it?” Gwen asked, looking besotted.

Princess scrambled off his lap and he untangled himself from Gwen’s arms, getting his personal field as far away from her as he could. “Someone’s upstairs.”

She rose to her feet and hugged herself. “Who? Val? Or
Carla
?”

“I don’t know.”

Micah heard someone start down the stairs. Hope and dread warred within him. Who was it?

BAD MAN, Princess declared.

Damn. Hope faded. Maybe he could wrap this chain around the demon’s neck and—

“Don’t try any funny business,” someone bellowed outside the door. “Or the girl and dog will regret it.”

The door slammed open and a large, powerful man stood there, glaring at them, pointing that damned dart gun.

“As—Asmodeus?” Gwen asked on a shaky breath.

“You got it, lady. Carla won’t be back. I don’t need her anymore, and she failed me too many times.”

Damn. Unlike Carla, this guy didn’t look like he had any weaknesses. Micah stood there, tense and ready for action if the opportunity presented itself.

“Guess the Slayer doesn’t think much of you two,” Asmodeus bit out, looking thoroughly pissed off. “She didn’t show up for the meeting.”

Gwen backed away and Princess stayed with her, growling a warning.

Fear for them surged through Micah, sickening and searing. “Maybe she didn’t get the message.” Micah needed to keep the guy talking and convince him not to do anything rash.

“I stayed for an hour,” the demon spat out. “She didn’t show.”

“Val sometimes forgets to charge her phone,” Gwen said, sounding frantic.

“Or she leaves it behind,” Micah added. “Or turns the ringer off so it won’t distract her. She hasn’t had one for very long so she forgets about it.”

When the demon frowned, Micah said, “Try calling her again. You wouldn’t want to miss out on trading us for the books, would you? Or I’ll give you the names of other demons who could track her down.”

Looking suspicious, Asmodeus said, “I don’t think so.”

Damn. How could Micah convince him. “Maybe—”

“Shut up,” the demon said. “Let me think.”

Well, if he was thinking, maybe he’d be smart enough to see that dead captives weren’t good bargaining chips. Micah exchanged a worried glance with Gwen.

Finally, Asmodeus raised his head, grinning. “I know what I’ll do.”

“What?” Micah dreaded the answer, yet needed to know.

Asmodeus laughed. “Give the Slayer more incentive.”