Demon by My Side(18)

Once again he was doing something she’d always believed impossible. Only Terag demons had the ability to manipulate air particles with such precision control that they could lift themselves from the ground. But Terags couldn’t command fire the way Jared could. And fire demons couldn’t freeze someone’s breath in their lungs as he’d done. What was he?

The wind rushing past them slowed and Darcy realized they were losing altitude. Gripped by the bloody poison, she was helpless to do anything but watch as Jared circled a hotel once before landing on the top balcony. The doors opened with a wave of his hand and he strode into the waiting room.

An elegant living room sprawled out around them, everything decorated in bland shades of beige. Jared didn’t pause as he marched through the room and down the hallway.

She barely registered being gently laid out on a massive bed before Jared moved into her line of sight. Her body would have tensed had it been able.

Jared studied her, his gaze roving over her helpless frame. Finding herself trapped in a demon’s lair with a man who’d already made his desire for her clear, all while being more vulnerable than she’d ever been in her life, was dangerous. She tried to tell him with her eyes that if he so much as touched her she would drive a dagger into his heart.

But Jared made no move either to harm or help her.

“I wonder what thoughts are running through your mind,” he mused. Reaching out, he smoothed away a stray lock of hair that had fallen over her eyes. She blinked at the consideration of the gesture, and the gentleness.

Any kind thoughts about the demon, however, were obliterated when he leaned down. His mouth hovered a second over hers before he leaned farther to whisper in her ear.

“I could do anything I wanted right now,” he told her, as if the knowledge wasn’t the only thing she could think about. He drew back slightly to meet her gaze. “Remember when you wake, hunter, that I chose to protect you instead.”

He laid a hand over her eyes and she heard him command, “Sleep.”

She wanted to protest but the one word slithered into her mind. Magic, she realized as her eyelids dropped. Whatever spell he’d cast, there was no escaping the insidious order. Cursing her vulnerability, she slipped into sleep.

* * *


His gaze never left the woman sleeping in his bed. Jaral leaned back on his chair, one hand running through his hair. What the hell was he doing? Protecting a hunter? Madness. His brothers would be so disappointed in him. Hell, his father would strike him down.

But staring at her still form he’d been struck for the first time by how vulnerable her kind truly was. And for some godforsaken reason, it troubled him.

His lips curved as he thought of how Darcy would react to his musings. His hunter never retreated or backed down. She was so very breakable, yet there was a strength in her that drew him like nothing he’d encountered before. The passion, the violence, in her appealed to the demon within. Here was a woman he’d never have to coddle.

He shook his head in disgust. She was his tool. His bedmate if he could woo her there. Any relationship beyond that was out of the question. Once she figured out how the rift worked he’d be gone.

Except when he’d seen the spirits creeping toward her frozen body, he hadn’t fought to protect a tool. Rage had flooded him, so powerful it shook even him. He never backed down from a good fight, but this had been something else. He’d killed the spirits not because they were messing with his plans but because he wanted them to feel pain. He’d wanted retribution for their audacity to hurt something that was his.

Jaral pushed out of the chair and moved to the end of the bed. Darcy still slept, the poison slowly working out of her system. She’d feel like hell when she woke but at least she was alive.

“Mine?” he murmured, tasting the word. He liked it. The idea of anyone else touching her made his claws curl in anger.

On silent feet he walked around the bed. Reaching out, he ran a finger down her smooth cheek. Why was one small human woman claiming more of his thoughts than any other female had in centuries?

The loud shrill of the doorbell broke through his musings. With a last glance at the woman he shouldn’t want, Jaral left the room. When he opened the door of his suite he was less than surprised by the man who greeted him.

“Bringing a hunter into the Rex?” Liam stalked across the threshold.

“Please, come in,” Jaral said to the empty corridor.

“You know better than to bring her here. Hell, Jaral, you’re going to drive all my business away.”

“I’ll take her away as soon as I can.” He eyed his friend as the other demon headed toward the bedroom.