Touch of the Angel (Demons of Infernum, #3) (21 page)

She was so intent on watching Gofrey that she barely noticed when someone walking past the bar bumped into her leg.

“Sorry,” the familiar voice of a woman said, and a second later a piece of paper was pressed into her hand. Her fingers wrapped around it. She turned to watch the figure retreat, and then she realized who it was.
Karen
, one of Asmodeus’s succubi and the closest thing to a friend Amara had. She wore a silver metallic skirt and tight white top, and her wavy brown hair swung from side to side as she sauntered toward the bathroom. A wide silver bracelet decorated her wrist.
It’s disguising her gold band.

Amara peeked at Bram, who was so focused on the conversation between Gofrey and Ronin that he hadn’t noticed anything. Surreptitiously, she unfolded the paper in her hand and read it.

Meet me in the bathroom in five minutes. Quietly. I have word of Solara.

Her heart let out a solid thump. Crumpling the paper into a tiny ball, she let it fall to the ground. It was incredible how much dread those simple words pumped through her body. Was Solara still alive? What had Asmodeus done to her?

She waited a few minutes before sliding off the barstool. Bram straightened. “What’s wrong?”

“I have to go to the bathroom.”

“
Now
? Can’t you wait a few minutes?”

“I really have to go. I’ve been holding it for the past hour and I can’t do it anymore.”

“I don’t believe this,” he said, then let out a beleaguered sigh. He closed his fingers around her arm before leading her to the hallway containing the restrooms. He came to a stop in front of the ladies room. “Two minutes, tops. After that I’m coming in.”

She arched a brow. “I can’t go that fast.”

“Fine. Five minutes.”

With a nod, she headed into the bathroom. It was empty except for Karen, who sat on the counter swinging her legs. When she saw Amara, her eyes widened. She hopped off and raced toward Amara, throwing her arms around her. “I’ve been so worried about you. We all have. At first we didn’t know what happened, and then Asmodeus said you’d been kidnapped by Council employees. We feared the worst. I can’t believe they haven’t turned you in.”

Amara pulled out of her embrace. “How’s Solara?”

Tears pooled in the corners of Karen’s eyes. “Oh, Amara.”

The constant dread that had resided in the corner of her mind ever since Ronin had taken her came rushing to the forefront. “What did he do to her?”

Karen’s face crumpled. “He’s going to kill her. A few times I thought he had.”

“No.” Amara was hardly aware of grasping her by the arms and shaking her. “No, he can’t!”

Though, really, she knew he could. All too easily.

“He sent me here.” Karen’s tears now rolled down her cheeks. “He wants you back. Tonight. If you’re not, he says he’ll kill her this time.”

Amara’s stomach flopped.

“Not only that. If you don’t go back, he’ll kill the Detainors.”

No.
“They can handle anything he sends their way.”

Karen tilted her head and squeezed Amara’s hand. “He says he’s got a large contingency of demons ready to go, as well as the aid of a powerful dark fae. You know Asmodeus. He’ll fight to the death for what belongs to him and, as far as he’s concerned, we’re his possessions. He won’t stop until you’re back with him, and he doesn’t care how many people he has to kill to do it.”

Amara fought back her panic. That would do her no good now. Karen was right. Asmodeus would never give her up. Would never stop hunting her. Every moment she spent with Ronin, she was endangering his life. Risking her mother’s life. It was beyond selfish of her. She couldn’t let everyone she loved suffer because of her.

“I’m being guarded,” she said to Karen. “How am I supposed to get to him?”

“Gofrey is meeting with one of the men you came with, and Victorine is here. Once I give her a call, she’ll distract the other one. All we have to do is make it out of here and a couple of blocks down the street. There’ll be a car there waiting for us.”

Amara’s body trembled with a sense of impending doom. She’d always known it would come to this, that he’d find a way to get her back. That she’d let herself believe otherwise, even for a moment, proved what a fool she was.

How would Ronin react when he discovered her missing? He would blame her, of course, for allowing herself to be taken. Her heart broke at the thought, but she couldn’t let that distract her. There was no choice to be made. She had to go back. If she didn’t, her mother would die. Ronin might die. If anyone could understand that, she would hope it was him.

Please let him understand.

“Amara, I’m so sorry,” Karen whispered, her voice shaking. “I wanted so badly for you to break free. Solara did, too.”

“I know.” Amara released Karen’s hand and squared her shoulders. “I’m ready to go.”

Karen nodded and dug her cell phone out of the tiny evening bag hanging from her wrist. She dialed Victorine’s number and held the phone to her ear. “We’re ready...Yes, thirty seconds...Okay, bye.”

After counting down the seconds, Karen grabbed Amara’s hand and slid the door open a fraction. Amara could barely make out the hint of Bram with his back against the wall. Victorine sauntered by, her tall, lithe form encased in a sequined black minidress that complemented her raven-colored locks. She wore wide, sequined black cuffs on each wrist. Victorine pretended she didn’t see Bram and slammed into him, her purse falling to the ground and its contents spilling out.

“Oh, sorry.” Victorine bent over to pick up her items. Her generous breasts practically burst out of the top of her low-cut garment.

Bram admired them for a moment before shaking himself out of his haze. “Here, let me help.”

Once he lowered onto his knees, they slid out and rushed down the hallway. He didn’t even lift his head. After they entered the main part of the club, Karen took off fast toward the exit.

Amara allowed herself one last glance at Ronin, where he stood with Gofrey. Her eyes stung and her lungs ached so badly she feared she’d pass out, and that had nothing to do with the quick pace they’d set. She was going to miss him. Horribly. These past few days with him had been the only ray of sunshine in a lifetime of pain and sorrow. Somehow he’d broken past all her barriers. He’d made her a better person. Made her believe there was some good in her. And now, she would probably never see him again.

Oh, he would get Asmodeus. Eventually. But whether she’d still be around when he did was another story. Asmodeus wasn’t a forgiving man—she didn’t kid herself there.

He was going to kill her.

Good-bye, my demon angel. Be safe.

They made it all the way downstairs and outside without incident.

“Come on,” Karen said, keeping her grip firm on Amara as she led her through the alleyway and down the empty streets.

A ragged lightning bolt illuminated the sky, making the peach fuzz on Amara’s arms stand on end. Rain began to fall in soft droplets, but she ignored it. This felt so wrong, but what else could she do? She couldn’t abandon Solara or risk Ronin’s life.

She couldn’t.

They went several blocks before Karen came to a stop at a corner. The streetlight had gone out, and a skinny man who appeared an awful lot like a pimp leaned against a building on the other side of the street. His gold teeth flashed in the night while he eyed them with interest.

Amara fought back a nervous shiver. She turned her attention to Karen. The man wasn’t a concern. He might want to start some trouble, but he appeared human. She was far stronger than him. “Where’s the car?”

“It’s coming.”

Karen smoothed her skirt down and anxiously peered left and right. Amara watched her with a niggling sense of foreboding. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. The atmosphere, I guess.”

But Karen wouldn’t meet her eyes. The feeling of intense unease increased. It didn’t make sense. She was already going back to Asmodeus. He would be beyond angry. No doubt he’d find new and inventive ways to punish her. She was walking into a hell on Earth. So what could be worse than that?

“Let’s wait here.” Karen pulled her around the corner so their back was to the building. That put them in line with the pimp’s view, and he grinned at them. The man watched them for several long moments before pushing away from the wall. He was about to step onto the street when footsteps sounded around the corner. The pimp looked that way, stopped, and then backed up toward the building once again.

“Do you know who’s coming?” Amara whispered to Karen.

Karen shrugged.

Amara shoved her wet strands of hair behind her ear and peered around the corner. It was Victorine, rushing down the street while being pulled. By Gofrey.

Her sense of unease built into a heavy cloud of dread that left her breathless. How had Gofrey managed to get away from Ronin so quickly? And Victorine was here, too, so did that mean Ronin and Bram had already figured out she was missing?

Since he’d been meeting with Ronin, she hadn’t expected that Gofrey himself would be accompanying her back to the townhouse. The thought of riding all the way over with him made her stomach churn and her hands shake.

At least Karen and Victorine would be with them.

Steeling herself, Amara turned to face him. She waited until he was no more than a few feet in front of her before saying, “How did you get away so quickl—?”

Gofrey rushed her and struck the left side of her cheek. Hard. Her head snapped to the side and bumped into something, causing pain to spiderweb down her face. She was so dazed it took a long moment to register that she now lay on the ground, with blood dribbling from her lips. The inside of her cheek ached from where she’d bitten it while falling. She blinked and tried to refocus, but Gofrey kicked her side before she could. One of her ribs cracked and shards of agony imploded inward.

“No,” Karen cried. “She’s agreed to go with us. You don’t have to do that.”

“Shut up or you’re next,” Gofrey growled. He wrapped his hand around Amara’s hair and dragged her up with her back to him. The pimp across the street, who’d been watching the entire exchange, backpedaled and hurried away. Apparently he’d decided there was nothing here for him but trouble.

“Someone’s been a very naughty girl,” Gofrey snarled into her ear. “You need to be punished.”

“Let me go.” She tried to ram her elbow into his stomach, but he anticipated the maneuver and slid out of the way. He yanked her hair back, forcing her to meet his eyes.

“Asmodeus has given me special leave to see to your punishment.
Off
premises.”

Amara didn’t know what that meant, but from the way Karen stiffened and whispered “No,” she could guess it wasn’t good.

“Take me to see him,” Amara demanded.

Gofrey laughed and shot his fist toward her face. The answering pain made her cry out, as much as she tried not to give him the satisfaction. For the millionth time since Asmodeus had bound her to him, she wished she’d learned how to fight. To do
something
to hurt him, however minute. But learning to defend oneself hadn’t been on Solara’s radar. She’d been too focused on her boyfriends and on flirting with every man who breathed.

“Gofrey, come on, let’s go,” Victorine chimed in, sounding unsettled.

He cursed at them. “You two get out of here. Now. Go back to the townhouse. Tell your master I’ve got Amara, and that I’ll bring her back once I’ve seen to her punishment as ordered.”

“But, Gofrey,” Karen said.

“Leave the fuck
now
.” He raised his hand toward her.

Karen flinched and backed away. She looked at Amara, her lower lip trembling. “Amara, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Amara could see how torn up Karen was about her part in all this. But she was nothing more than a victim. “Go.”

Karen and Victorine fled down the street, in the same direction where the pimp had retreated earlier.

“Now you’re mine.” Gofrey wrapped his free arm around her waist, his hand grazing her breast.

Sudden fury burst through Amara at the thought of what Gofrey planned to do to her. She might have given away her free will, but she would sooner die than have his hands on her. Not now.

Not after Ronin.

Amara forced her body to relax. When Gofrey loosened his grip on the arm that encircled her waist, she dug her nails into it and spun away from him, ignoring the stabbing pain as a chunk of her hair tore off in his hands. “Go to hell, you evil piece of shit.”

Amara’s hands balled into fists and she swung out hard without even realizing what she was doing. Her fist caught him in the jaw, snapping his head up and making him stagger backward. He slipped on a patch of ice and went down on one knee.

Oh shit!
She turned and ran down the street, back toward Opiate, but she didn’t make it half a block. Between her three-inch heels, his longer stride, and the slick ground, she never really had a chance. He tackled her from behind, hitting her so hard that she skidded on the icy concrete, tearing ragged bits of flesh from her arms and legs. She would heal, but it was still painful.

Gofrey’s hands closed over her neck, cutting off her circulation. She flailed and tried to buck him off, but he was too strong. Too fucking strong.

I never told Ronin how I felt...

With one last gasp for air, she surrendered to blissful unconsciousness.

Chapter Twenty

With a heavy heart and an ominous sense of doom, Ronin searched the entire club for Amara. Only a few minutes ago, he’d been deep in the middle of heated discussion with that evil fuck Gofrey when he’d spotted Bram wandering through the club. Alone. Excusing himself, he’d headed for Bram, only to discover the shifter had lost her.

“She had to go to the bathroom, but she never came out,” Bram had mumbled, his cheeks turning red. “A woman dropped her purse and I helped her pick her stuff up. I think maybe...”

No. No. Fuck no.

Ronin had growled before he could stop it, and, with a sudden curse, had turned back to where he’d left Gofrey.

Gone.

The suspicion of what had happened kicked his heart into overdrive. He’d ordered Bram to search one side of the club while he combed the other, but nothing. No Amara, and no Gofrey.

No, damn it. No.

How could he have been so stupid? He walked right into this. Played directly into Asmodeus’s arms. What a stupid fuck he was.

Ronin met Bram back in the middle of the club. “He’s taken her.”

“Who? Gofrey?” Bram surveyed the room before apparently realizing there was no sign of the incubus. “Oh, shit.”

“You stay here. In case one of them returns.”

Bram nodded, then grabbed onto Ronin’s arm when he started to turn. “Where are you going?”

“Outside.” He didn’t think she was here anymore. Some vague instinct told him she wasn’t.

Noch wasn’t at his usual post at the entry desk, and the bouncer was off making his rounds. Ronin wasted no more time in leaving. Rain drizzled from the sky, blanketing the narrow alleyway with a thin film of water. Enough to wash away any hint of Amara’s scent.

“Fuck!” He kicked at one of the large Dumpsters that lined the building. It dented like it was no more than a soda can. How could he have let this happen? He should have said no when she’d insisted on coming. Locked her in his apartment. Tied her to the bed. She was what Asmodeus had wanted all along. And now...there was no telling what he’d do to her.

How badly Ronin had failed her.

He dug his cell phone out of his pocket and called Keegan, filling him in on what had happened.

“You check the area, and I’ll fly over to Asmodeus’s townhouse,” Keegan said. “If she’s being taken back to it, odds are I’ll beat them there.”

“Okay.” But something told Ronin they wouldn’t be that lucky. Asmodeus would know that would be the first place they searched.

“I’m leaving right now. And Ronin?”

“Yeah?” he said, his voice hoarse.

“We’ll get her back. Promise.”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, all right.” He hung up, then, with a flex of his back muscles, grew his wings without bothering to take off his shirt. Fuck it.

Soft drops of rain pebbled off his wings as he flew upward in between the two buildings. He circled the neighborhood, searching for any sign of suspicious activity, but other than the occasional pimp or street bum, there was nothing. Hell, she was probably gone by now. If a car had been waiting for her, they would have had at least a five-minute head start, and it wasn’t like he could pull over every car in a three-mile radius.

Where are you, Amara?
She must have been taken by surprise, or coerced into going along. Fear for her tensed his body so tightly that he had to force his wings to keep flapping, lest he go crashing to the ground.

Asmodeus no doubt had something planned for her. Based on everything she’d told him, and on the things she hadn’t said, he knew it would be bad. Torture. Rape. Even the thought of it made him want to scream. If Ronin couldn’t get to her in time, he could only pray she would survive it.

I’m going to tear him apart
.
Slowly. With pleasure.
Then maybe heal him so he could do it all over again. But first he had to find them.

After twenty minutes of fruitless searching, he headed back to Opiate. He didn’t know what the hell else to do. At the very least he should question the other patrons. Maybe someone had seen something that would be of help to him. It was better than doing nothing.

Drops of rain beaded down toward his mouth. He absently rubbed them away.

Devil, he’d gone and done it. After all these years of telling himself that love wasn’t in the cards for him, that it wasn’t worth the potential pain of losing a loved one, he’d let a woman become his whole world. And he’d only known Amara a few days. But it wasn’t as if he could take it back now. Hell, he didn’t even want to. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him. She made him feel
—
really
feel
.

She made him complete.

He landed in the alleyway leading to Opiate and went back inside to see Noch had returned to his post. “The woman I came with. Did you see her leave?”

Noch flushed and let out an uncomfortable shrug. “Took a fifteen-minute break. Only now getting back. ’Sides, I don’t ever pay attention to who’s leaving. It’s the people entering that interest me.”

Stupid piece of shit.
Ronin resisted the urge to crush him like the bug he was and headed back upstairs. Crazy how surreal everything seemed now that he was here without Amara. Perhaps he was in shock, because the people seemed to float around as if he were in a dream. Everything moved in slow motion. So many faces, and none of them the one he wanted to see.

Bits and pieces of random conversation drifted to him. “She never even knew what I was...I ate one of those yesterday...I’d sooner sleep with a satyr than a vampire. The blood drinking freaks me out...”

Then, the distraught voice of a woman. “I feel so bad. We led her right to him. You know what he’ll do. Gofrey’s a monster.”

Ronin stopped, certain he hadn’t heard correctly. He turned around, searching out the owner of the voice, and his eyes landed on a brunette with a silver skirt who was being consoled by a woman wearing a black dress.

“We didn’t know,” the woman in the black dress soothed. “Besides, it’s not like we had a choice.”

Son of a bitch.
He paced toward the women with a mindless sense of purpose. “You’re talking about Amara,” he said when he got close enough to them.

Both women whirled to face him, their eyes widening. The woman in the silver skirt stammered, “Wh—what...uh, who?”

He grabbed her by the arms. “Cut the shit. I heard what you said. Where is she?”

The woman in black made a sound of distress and fled, but he paid her no mind, keeping his focus on the lady in his grasp.

Her lips trembled, but she said nothing. She wore a silver cuff on her wrist, but he made out the glint of gold metal. He tore off the cuff to reveal a gold band, an exact match to the one Amara wore. He held it up to her face. “Don’t tell me you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

The woman’s face crumpled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I feel so badly, and he’s going to hurt her.”

Ronin’s fingers tightened on her arm. “Where is he taking her?”

“Gofrey keeps an apartment downtown. Asmodeus lets him slip away to bring the woman he wants to feed from there. I...” Tears leaked out of her eyes and crept down her cheeks. “Most of Asmodeus’s employees don’t know about it, but last month I really upset him and he let Gofrey take me there for my ‘punishment.’”

A wave of pity struck him at the abject horror on her face, but he didn’t have the time to indulge it. Not when Amara would be next. “Tell me exactly where it is.”

§

Amara regained consciousness when her back came into contact with a soft surface. A heavy film of white covered her vision, and she blinked several times to clear it. Gofrey’s cruelly handsome face came into view, and it all rushed back to her. Opiate, Karen, what had happened on the street. He’d knocked her out and brought her
here
, to what appeared to be a small studio apartment. Across from her was a tiny kitchen, and she lay on a bed.

A bed? No fucking way.

She tried to sit up, gasping when a sharp pain stabbed her ribs. That was right—he’d cracked one. It felt like it was in the process of healing, but still not good enough for her liking.

“Oh, don’t get up,” Gofrey said. He shoved her down onto the bed, throwing a leg over her thighs. “Can’t tell you how long I’ve dreamt of getting you here.”

“Where am I?”

“An apartment I keep for special cases. Like you. Scream all you want. The walls are padded.”

“You’re crazy,” she gasped.

He laughed. “You have no idea.”

She screamed and shoved at him. Amazingly, he moved far enough for her to slide off the opposite side of the bed. She ran for the door.

Gofrey caught her by the hair, dragging her back. “You’re only making it worse for yourself.”

He was right, but no way she’d give up without a fight. She whirled and raked her nails down his cheeks, drawing blood. He only laughed and licked the droplets that formed.

Bile rose in her throat.
Damn
Asmodeus. Killing her wasn’t easy enough. He’d had to give her to Gofrey, a fate worse than death.

Gofrey struck her across the face, sending her sprawling. She tried to rise to her knees, but he got to her first. His hand wrapped around her hair and he forced her up, sending her flying to the bed. She fell on it and he pounced on her, turning her onto her back.

“Fuck you!” She dug her nails into the same spot she’d gouged before.

He let out a sound that was half-grunt, half-laugh. “Now you sound like your mother.”

Amara sucked in her breath. He’d touched Solara?

“Want to hear what else she said?” He caught her wrists and dragged them over her head. “She said it’d never hurt so good before.”

“You’re a sick bastard.” She tried to buck him off her. “I’m gonna kill you.”

“You’ve got a lot of fight. I like that.”

“Go to hell.”

He only smiled as he straddled her and, transferring his hold on her wrists into one hand. He slid the other one under the top of her dress, coldly caressing her breast. When she tried to bite it, he lifted a brow. “No reaction? You must be quite well fed.”

“You could
never
turn me on, you sick fuck.”

“I’m sure you know that’s not true. Get hungry enough, and you’d be begging for it. Lucky for you, I don’t have the time to test that.” He grabbed the fabric at her cleavage and tore, ripping it all the way to her navel.

“No!” She lifted her hips and slid to one side, trying to escape him, but he hung on. She rapidly shifted her weight, knocking him off balance. He cursed and steadied himself with his free hand. His hold on her wrists loosened and she tore one free. She jabbed it upward, stabbing him in the eye.

“Ow!” He reared back, covering his eye. “You bitch!”

When he lowered his hand, she got no more than a glimpse of his red and oozy eyeball before he punched her hard. Her head jerked to the side and her cheek shattered. She spat blood across the floor, then gagged as more of it pooled in her mouth. He rammed his fist into her stomach, and a lightning bolt of agony ripped through her body.

“You’re going to pay for that one.” He made a fumbling motion with his free hand that she barely caught from her viewpoint. She turned to see him undoing his belt.

“No,” she whispered.
No.
Suddenly she knew that she couldn’t bear this. Not after everything she’d been through with Ronin. She’d had enough. Enough of being used. Enough of standing by and meekly accepting her fate. Enough of being
weak
.

Ronin had done that. He’d made her stronger. He’d believed in her when no one else had.

This couldn’t stand. She might die protecting herself, but she would die doing what was right.

Amara tried to move the hand that had limply fallen to the floor after Gofrey had struck her. It twitched and lifted an inch before dropping down again, refusing to obey her brain’s command.
Move, damn it. Move!

With more effort than she’d thought possible, her hand rose. She willed her upper body to rise off the floor and, while he was preoccupied with unzipping his pants, she clenched her hand around his throat. A strange burning sensation pulsed through her fingers, and the compulsion to tighten her grip was overwhelming, so she did.

“What—?” He gasped and released her other wrist, using both of his hands to peel her fingers from his throat. To her utter amazement, a smoking, festering burn in the shape of her hand covered his neck.

Gofrey crawled off her and scuttled backward like a crab, regarding her with shock that must have matched her own. “What the
fuck
?”

Her thoughts exactly. If she hadn’t seen it for herself, she would’ve never believed it. She’d burned him with her fingers. How in the hell?

For a long moment they stared at each other, utterly silent. Appraising each other. Fear permeated the air, rising up in almost palpable waves. Hers...and his.

And his?

He feared her. He feared
her
.

A sense of purpose like she’d never felt before filled her. She didn’t stop to ponder things any further. Not now. Forcing her battered body to move, she pushed off the ground and lunged at him. He lifted his hands to fight her off and ended up falling onto his back. She landed at his side with her palms on his stomach. When he closed his fingers around her arms, the burning sensation exploded through her palms.

Gofrey screamed and the smell of seared flesh filled the room. He tried to pry her fingers off but it was like they were glued to his skin.

How was this happening? She’d surely never been able to do this before.

“Get off,” Gofrey yelled, flopping around like a fish. “Get
off
!”

“No,” she took great delight in saying. She was going to kill him. She’d keep going until there was nothing left but a burnt-out pile of bones. And if every muscle in her aching body protested her movement, then that was too bad.

For once in her life, she wasn’t going to be a victim.

A loud thump practically shook the entire room. For a moment she thought it was Gofrey trying to break free. But then the front door burst inward, pieces of wood splintering everywhere.