Demon by My Side(28)

Flipping the case open, she looked down at the small colorful vials hidden inside. She might not be a witch but every hunter knew how to use potions when they had to. Darcy selected a dark blue vial and held it up to the light. The shimmering potion was a powerful sleeping draught. Any skin contact and the victim would be down for the count. She’d used it once on a particularly troublesome demon, but never on someone as strong as Jaral.

“One shot,” she whispered. If this didn’t work she was sunk.

Footsteps sounded in the hall, signaling that whatever spell Jaral had cast was gone. Darcy stuffed everything back into her bag before hiding the vial in her pocket. She’d just lurched to her feet when the door opened.

Jaral entered, looking a far cry from the lustful man she’d tangled with earlier. Shadows filled his eyes and his face was carefully devoid of any revealing emotion. What had happened?

“How’d your secret meeting go, Your Highness?” she asked, purposefully baiting him in hopes of seeing some life back in his eyes.

For a moment he was silent before his lips curved in a ghost of a smile. “Good, all things considered. I have a new job for you.”

She crossed her arms, trying to hide her nerves. “Why am I not surprised?”

“We need to find a girl named Sarah Cohen. She’s the last of the Whitney line.”

“And her blood will close the rift,” Darcy said, trying to mask her disgust.

Something flashed in Jaral’s eyes but it was gone too quickly for her to name. “Hunters protect their own. You will be able to find this girl quicker than I.”

“Score one for Team Human.”

“I’ve never denied you have your uses,” he replied, his gaze running down her body.

And there is was. All he had to do was look at her with lust and her body was more than ready to play. Darcy gritted her teeth at the unnerving feeling. How could she know the truth about who he was and still want him this badly? Even now their last kiss played through her mind on repeat. Her body didn’t care that he might have ulterior motives for touching her. All it wanted was satisfaction.

Then again, she did need to get close to him. She hesitated, butterflies in her stomach. Playing with a demon had been one thing, messing with the son of Abaddon was another. This was not a man she wanted to tangle with.

Seeing the heat in his gaze, however, went a long way to calming her nerves. If he could use her desire against her, surely she could do the same to him. Fair was fair.

“You haven’t seen half my skills, demon,” she purred, moving around the corner of the bed. She kept an easy smile on her face and prayed her eyes didn’t give her away.

Jaral made no move to come closer, letting her come to him. There was no mistaking the interest that banished the hollow, blank look he’d worn when he entered.

“I’d love to see a demonstration.”

She grinned at his words. “I’m sure I can come up with something that surprises you,” she assured him, conscious of the potion in her pocket.

“Does this mean you trust me?”

Darcy stopped just short of arm’s reach. “Your father is the king of demons,” she said. “I will never trust you.”

He watched her with his dark, unreadable expression for a long moment before reaching out and pulling her into his arms. “We are more than our blood,” he told her.

She looked up at him and wished, not for the first time, that his words were true. That they were more than simply a hunter and her prey. A demon and his toy. If he’d been human, nothing would have kept her away from him.

But he wasn’t. He was dangerous and sly. Never to be believed.

“If I asked,” she whispered, “would you tell me everything you and your father discussed?”

His silence was damning enough.

“Some people might be more than their genetics, but not us.” She lifted a hand to his cheek, marveling at his perfection when she knew what sort of creature lurked beneath the beautiful surface. “We weren’t made to trust.”

“Opposite sides.” He sighed.

She nodded, wishing there was any other way.

“Let’s just find this kid and then take it from there,” he offered. “Put our differences aside until then.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she lied.

“Then we should get going.”

“Soon.” Darcy stood up on her tiptoes and even then she didn’t match his height. “Kiss me first.”

Instead of taking her up on her offer, Jaral simply studied her.

Panic sliced through her. Had she overplayed her hand? Maybe she should take her chances and dump the potion on him here and now, to hell with a distraction.