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  “Don’t tell me.” She could hardly breathe. “You’re already a dog.”

  Agent Lightfeather’s smile appeared on the stranger’s mouth, and her heart dove a million miles straight down. He bowed his head and, using his injured arm because he was still holding her wrist, he took off his contact lenses and tossed them. When he lifted his head his eyes weren’t brown. The light was uncertain, so maybe she was wrong about the color. They looked pale and more yellow than brown. Amber. His eyes looked like faded amber. She knew those eyes.

  “You’re the DX.”

  He shrugged his uninjured shoulder.

  “All this time it was you. Not Elijah.”

  “So?” He picked up his shades and tucked them into a pocket.

  Fight or flight. And then there was choice C. Paralyzing fright.

  He examined his wounded arm. Moving it had restarted the bleeding. “Hurts like a bitch,” he said.

  “No duh.” Out of pure instinct, she checked her tourniquet. His fingers clamped around her wrist radiated heat.

  “Setonian bastard,” he said. He muttered something else and a penumbra of pale yellow-gold appeared over his arm. When it faded, his arm was whole. Except for the now dried blood, there wasn’t a mark on him.

  “Well,” she said. “If I’d known you could do that, I’d have saved my shirt.”

  His attention lingered on her brassiere. She’d done laundry recently and had on a purple silk underwire designed to improve one’s cleavage. Judging by his expression, it was helping. A lot. He untied her ruined shirt from his arm. “Thank you,” he said.

  “You’re welcome.” She heard sirens far away but coming closer. Of more concern was that two armed men were heading for their corner. The sirens faded. “Shit.”

  “I promise I will keep you safe, Hell.”

  She remembered West’s warning about Bak-Faru demons. “Oh, fuck,” she said.

  “Look at me. Look,” he growled. He grabbed her chin and turned her face to his. Fear shivered down her back when she met his amber eyes. “Hell, I promise I will keep you safe.”

  She swallowed hard. “If you’re a demon, you have to keep that promise, right?”

  “Yes.” He let go of her and frowned. “We need to get off the street.”

  She nodded. From the graceful way he got up, you’d never know he’d been torn up by a werewolf. Since he still had a grip on her wrist, guess he didn’t trust her, she didn’t have much choice but to follow him past the dogs he’d killed and down the street to the shadow of a broken stoop where the smell of garbage scented the air.

  While she and Jaden plastered themselves to the side of the stucco building, the two men, both with large guns strapped to their backs, approached the dead werewolves. Beside her, Jaden felt hot. Burning hot. The men were too far away for her to overhear their conversation, but before long, one of them pulled out a cell phone and made a call. His companion scanned the street, said something, and pointed in their direction. She and Jaden were standing on one of those metal doors that lead to a basement. She slid off and pulled Jaden with her so she could yank on the handle. It creaked but refused to budge. One of the Cazadores heard the noise. The man touched his companion and pointed again. Jaden let go of her wrist to open the door. He made it look as if it didn’t weigh a ton and a half. Metal stairs led into gloom.

  Jaden went down first, keeping her at his back before he climbed up to pull the door closed. At the bottom again, he said a series of words. Her breath about stopped when she heard the Cazadores on the sidewalk above. One of them had a flashlight because electric light streamed through the crack where the halves of the door didn’t meet. “I told you,” one said. “I saw something.”

  Jaden pushed her to one side and stared up. Metal groaned as the men yanked on the handles. The doors refused to open. “Not down there,” said a disembodied voice.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered when they were gone. “I thought we were dead.”

  “I would not have allowed them to harm you,” Jaden said.

  She whipped her head around to his, and she knew the minute their eyes met he meant it. “Yeah,” she said softly. “I guess not.”

  Now that she wasn’t praying for a miracle, she took in their surroundings. One of the foundation anchor bolts had sheared off, and there were cracks in all the walls. The smell of dirt and dust overshadowed the decay down here. Fist sized pieces of mortar and concrete covered the floor. She leaned against the wall, but the rough-finished brick scratched her bare back , so instead, she stood by the stairs, a hand on one of the metal rungs. Jaden stripped off his tattered, bloody tee-shirt and stood there like some kind of girl’s wet dream.

  Knowing what he was didn’t change the fact that he’d saved her life and, since Hell was terminally addicted to dangerous men, it didn’t change the way her body reacted to him either.

  “If you’re the DX,” she said, “why aren’t I dead?”

  “I promised to keep you safe.”

  She clasped her arms over her chest, rubbing her upper arms. “For now. What if later I piss you off?”

  It was hard to see, but she thought he smiled. “Try not to.”

  “Mind telling me what happened back there at Mimouza?” She looked into his real eyes, his real face. She ought to be terrified, and she wasn’t. Which didn’t mean she could reconcile the killer from the video with the man who’d kissed her like nobody’s business, not to mention saved her life three times already. She couldn’t. “How about why a Bak-Faru demon is masquerading as I-Ops covert? Or why you saved my life tonight when you should have been doing your demon-fu on me?”

  He kept his distance. Just as well. “Ask Milos Sanders those questions.”

  She drew her eyebrows together, keeping her arms tight around herself, and not for the warmth. “What does Milos have to do with you?”

  Jaden walked toward her, and she backed up until she hit the wall. He couldn’t kill her, he’d promised. But that didn’t mean she wanted him near her. “Milos Sanders had my true name.” His voice sounded different, deeper, rounder and with an edge of darkness that did, after all, send fingers of ice down her spine. “Because of this, he was able to summon me from Orcus.”

  “Milos did what?”

  “Since then, he has compelled me to do as he wishes.”

  “Jaden, that’s—” But his voice sounded so desolate, she wanted to cry. “You cannot be serious.”

  “Among other things, I was compelled to attack Tuan Ng. And to pass as human and deceive you.”

  She went hollow inside. “Milos is my friend. He’d never do that. And he wouldn’t have anything to do with demons. Not like this.” He couldn’t be summoning demons. He couldn’t be. “How do I know you’re not lying?”

  “Look at me, Hell.” He put a hand under her chin and lifted her face to his. She knew she shouldn’t look a demon in the eye. If you weren’t careful, you ended up obligated to give away your first born child. But this was Jaden, and she didn’t want him to be evil. Their eyes locked. “On the subject of what I have done in the Overworld, Helen Marshall, I will tell you the truth. And I will answer the question you mean, not the question you ask.”

  “There has to be a catch.” She was in so far over her head it wasn’t funny. She stared at his mouth and tried to figure the angles. “With demons, there’s always a catch, everybody knows that. So, you’ll tell me the truth— in return for what?”

  “Listen to what I say.” He stepped back, two, maybe three, feet from her. “Hear what I ask of you.”

  Oh, Milos, she thought. What have you done? “Deal.”

  His eyes shifted with color, eddies of pale gold. “Helen Marshall,” he said, moving close again. “It is done.”

  “Is what you’ve already told me the truth?”

  “Yes.”

  “What else?”

  He drew a long breath. “Milos Sanders ordered me to give you to Elijah Douglas.”

  “Give,” she said slowly. “Not take me t
o.”

  “Yes.”

  Hell chewed on her lower lip. From her position, she had a distracting view of his shoulder muscles. You’d think pale eyes would seem washed out or unfinished, but his didn’t. The color shifted, as if something deep and mysterious floated beneath the surface. “But you didn’t. Why not?”

  She caught a glimpse of orange in his eyes, a hot and fiery color that settled back to pale amber. A smile flashed over his face, grim and desperate. She felt cold at the sight. “But, I did,” he said.

  “Explain that.”

  “The werewolf Elijah is no longer in control of his body or his will. I gave you to the Setonian demon who possesses him, as Milos ordered. You felt him, Hell. He took possession of your will.” He put a hand on the wall above her shoulder. A demon. She was inches from a Bak-Faru demon. “I did what Milos commanded, and then I took you away from him.” He sneered. “I knew the Setonian was not strong enough to keep you.”

  “What happens when Milos finds out?”

  “He will correct the error of his command.”

  She swallowed hard. “But, why?”

  “In return for my true name Milos promised the Setonian a human female.” Jaden put a fingertip to her forehead. Her skin reacted to his heat. “Someone close to him. Someone important. Someone he loves.”

  “That’s crazy,” she whispered.

  “Milos chose you.” He leaned closer to her, and she remembered kissing his soft and tender mouth. Except, she’d thought he was Agent Incredible Hunk. All the time, she’d been kissing a demon. “If Milos does not keep his promise, the Setonian will kill him.”

  “This gets better and better, doesn’t it?” She looked at the ceiling. “So this wow between us. Was that all pretend?”

  “No.” The demon’s fingertip moved down her face along with a searing glance, tracing a line from her throat to the top of her breasts. She could have stopped him. She didn’t. When he hesitated, when his eyes asked what he should do next, she didn’t pull away. He watched his finger moving over her skin and the shiver of arousal that followed. He fingered the front clasp of her bra. His knuckles brushed against her. Hell’s pulse raced, and it wasn’t with fear.

  “There is one more thing you must understand. I do not care if humans go to war with werewolves or vampires or among themselves. My only wish is to be free of Milos Sanders.” He popped her bra open, and cool air swept over her. His hand moved in to cover her, to gently hold her. She drew in a breath. Her life was out of control and headed for disaster, but she didn’t want him to stop. “I would rather die, Helen Marshall, than remain subject to his will.”

  The tingle in her spine spread to her belly. He looked into her eyes while his fingertips brushed over her nipple. She was wet, ready for him, in need of him. The malign presence from Mimouza probed around her. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry he did that to you.”

  He smiled sadly. She watched the pale shades of color shifting in his eyes, knowing there was something more, something she was missing. “I have promised to keep you safe, but Hell, what Milos tells me, I must do, even if it means breaking my promise to you.”

  “Then why did you promise?” Their eyes met, and she felt the malignant shadow of him.

  “Milos Sanders is a fool,” he whispered. He grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head with one hand, then gazed at what that did to her torso. She felt his presence nudging at her thoughts. “He should have fought for your heart. I would have.” Jaden bent his head for a moment, eyes closed. Then he looked at her again, and she was struck anew by how fiercely beautiful he was. The knot in her stomach eased. His darkness reached into her and touched her until she quivered with relentless longing.

  He cupped her, and she couldn’t stop herself. She arched into his hand, and he accepted the offer of her body. He pushed aside the halves of her bra, let his fingertips pluck at her nipples. She moaned softly. In her head, the video of Jaden in the Golden Wing played over and over. He had killed easily and with enjoyment. Did it matter that he was forced when he liked it so much? Did it matter that she liked what he was?

  “There is a way for me to keep my promise to you when Milos orders me to give you to the Estonian. Again.”

  She tried to focus on what he was telling her, but it wasn’t easy.

  “A demon male bonded with his mate protects her with his life. His mate will always come before any promise. Always. There can be no exception. He lowered his head and kissed her breast, one then the other with a soft butterfly lift of her into his mouth, a tongue circling her nipple. He raised his head long enough to say, “Let me bond you to me, Hell, and I will protect you whatever Milos does.”

  Her thoughts scattered, and she had to draw them back from what his hands and mouth and the blackness of his energy were doing to her. She liked what she was feeling. She liked it too much. “I thought demons didn’t have any choice in their mates.”

  He let go of her wrists. He stopped touching her, too, and it was all she could do not to pull his head down and demand more. Instead, she let her arms drift down until they landed on his shoulders.

  “If you don’t,” Jaden said in a low voice, “I must do what Milos orders. Even if he tells me to kill you.” He dropped his head to kiss the underside of her jaw. She angled her head to give him access. He whispered, “I do not wish to harm you, Hell. Please. Agree, and I will keep you safe.” Hands sliding down her sides, he leaned against her. His bare chest brushed hers. “Agree, and I am bound to give my life for you, even before Milos.”

  “Can you undo it afterward?”

  He raised his head. The color of his eyes shifted toward golden-red. “No.”

  She bit her lower lip. She wasn’t so far gone that she didn’t understand how dangerous he was. “There has to be another way.”

  He shrugged again. “You are human.” His fingers touched her arms and stroked gently. “You are unlikely to feel the bond as a demon female would, and demon females rarely feel the bond as deeply as their mates.”

  “I’m the kid whose Cracker Jacks didn’t have a prize.” She worked her fingers around to the back of his neck and then underneath the black silk of his ponytail.

  Jaden smiled softly. “I can bond you so it is the same as if you are my vishtau mate.” He curled a hand around her waist, sliding his fingers downward.

  “Why not just do it, whether I tell you yes or no?”

  “To do that, Hell, I would have to harm you.” He touched the ring through her navel, tugging gently. “You must agree.”

  “You’re a demon, Jaden. What happens to me if I do?”

  He turned his head to kiss her fingertips. “You would become my heart.”

  “I felt you. I can feel you now. What you are.” She licked her lips. “At Mimouza. I felt what you are, and you are dark and frightening. You felt evil, Jaden.” Her hands slid over his torso, over his silken skin, the muscles and sinew of his chest. “I wouldn’t convert for Tuan and you’re a thousand times more intense. You would overwhelm me. Look at me,” she whispered, still touching him. “I can’t keep my hands off you. You’re beautiful.” Her hand slid down to his belly and then lower, over his erection. A growl rumbled in the back of Jaden’s throat. “If this is what you do to me now, what happens if I let you bond me? What happens if I feel more for you than I already do?”

  He tipped his pelvis back and, his ponytail falling over one shoulder, unfastened his pants. What would he look like with his hair loose? she wondered. She slipped a hand lower on his belly and curled her fingers around his penis. Jaden undid her zipper, pressing against her while he pushed her pants down her legs. She ached for him.

  Something heavy landed on the metal doors above them. Boom-kaboom. They froze.

  “Hell?” called a familiar voice.

  She closed her eyes. “Shit. He’s always had the worst timing. It’s Tuan.” While she put her clothes to rights, he zipped his pants and rebuckled his belt. “Don’t let him see you like this, Jaden,” she said
. He morphed to his human form. The transition was smooth and nearly instantaneous. She shook her head. “Somebody in I-Ops is feeding him information. You don’t know what he’s like. He smart, Jaden. Chances are he’s figured it out already. He shouldn’t see you at all. Not in any form.”

  “I will kill him if necessary.”

  “Hell?” The metal door started to open.

  She grabbed Jaden’s arm, and decided she’d gone freaking insane. “Can you do what the Setonian did to Elijah? Possess me? So he wouldn’t know you’re here?” His eyes widened, and her heart misgave her more than a little when she saw his anticipation. “If you can, do it now.”

  “I know you’re in there, Hell.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Tuan Ng had never been a fang to embrace the +1 look. No Armani or Versace for him. He wore his wealth in more subtle ways, like the diamond stud in his ear, or the cars he drove. His hair was rough cut and short enough that it spiked across the top of his head. He liked his enforcers to wear leather, and he’d been known to go out for the night wearing leather himself. Right now, however, he was wearing baggy tan shorts that hit mid-thigh, a pink-and-grey bowling shirt and a pair of leather flip-flops. He was tall for a Vietnamese, five-ten, maybe five-eleven and had broad shoulders and smoldering black eyes. She’d always liked the casual beach look on him.

  “What are you doing here, Tuan?” she said to him from the basement floor. Tuan had lifted the doors and streetlight and moonlight poured into the basement. She gripped the metal railing of the ladder because otherwise she’d have keeled over from the disorientation of having a second person in her body. This possession stuff was wild. Jaden was inside her, experiencing her consciousness, her emotions and her sensations and his own, too. She felt the malevolence of his energy vibrate through her.

  “Hell. Come up here. We need to talk.”

  There was a moment of confusion while Jaden adjusted to the different physics of her body, then she climbed the stairs on wobbly legs. At the top, Tuan leaned a shoulder against the wall and eyed her, pausing at her brassiere-clad torso. She liked it better when Jaden ogled her.