Torn(18)

I knew damn good and well that he had no intention of destroying them, and his smarmy “beat the demons” attitude made me want to gag. At the same time, it occurred to me that Kokbiel and Penemue probably weren’t the only ones looking. Surely there were other big-shot demons looking to be king of the universe. An inconvenient fact that still brought a smile to my face. Bring them on. The more I killed, the more powerful I’d become.

Except how did those demons know where to look? The question turned my smile to a frown, and I posed my question to my demonic froggy handler. “I mean, they don’t have my arm,” I said in conclusion. “So what are the demons using to find the relics of the key?”

“You,” he said. “The demons will seek out you.”

I swallowed. I was strong—and getting stronger—and I had that nice immortality thing going for me. But that didn’t mean I was invincible, or impervious to pain. And being immortal didn’t mean I couldn’t lose. It only meant that if I did lose, I’d have a long, long, long time to think about it.

Not that I intended to show any fear or doubt in front of Clarence. Instead, I shot him my best haughty look. “I’m ready.”

“Probably,” he agreed. “But we’re not taking any chances. You’re too important,” he added. “That’s why you’re not doing this solo. Lily, my girl,” he said, his eyes bulging with pleasure, “from here on out, I’m teaming you up with a partner.”

SEVEN

“A partner,” I raged, bursting into the cheap motel room. “I can’t pull this off with a partner watching my every move.”

Deacon and Rose both looked up at me, his face hard behind dark glasses, hers soft and worried.

I focused on Deacon. “You’re here.” I’d expected him to be gone. I’d expected to walk into a room with a mouthless Johnson and my possessed sister.

As pissed as I’d been at him, I have to admit I was a little relieved. “Is she—”

“Normal,” he said. “Right now, anyway. Hasn’t said a word, but she’s awake. Alert. And I haven’t seen a hint of our friend since you left.”

I snorted. “ ‘Friend.’ Yeah, right. Yours maybe.” And though it was a joke, I was certain I saw Deacon flinch.

On the bed, Rose shifted. “Lily?”

I rushed to my sister and pressed my hands to her cheeks. I almost looked into her eyes, but at the last moment remembered and shifted my focus, staring instead at the pattern of six freckles on the curve of her nose. For a second, I considered going for it—peeking inside her mind. But I feared that if Lucas was in there, he would share the vision. Might even be able to get a grip on me mentally. I didn’t know if that was an ability the demon bastard had, but I did know it wasn’t a risk I was prepared to take. I was sickened enough that he’d gotten his hooks into Rose. No way was he getting them into me, too.

“Lily, what’s going on? What’s wrong with me? What did he do to me? I can feel him, in there, in me, and it’s . . .” She trailed off into sobs, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do except hold her and pat her and promise it would be okay.

I’d made promises to Rose before. Promises I hadn’t been able to keep. About this, though, I was determined.

“Where is he?” I asked. “Is he listening? Is he inside, watching it all? Laughing at us?”

“He’s dormant,” Deacon said. “And there’s no way to know if he hears.”

I squeezed my sister tighter, determined not to treat her differently. Determined not to think about the fact that when I was touching her, I was touching Lucas Johnson.

As she pressed her face against my shoulder, I looked up at Deacon, suddenly realizing who we were missing from our little party. “Where’s the rest of him?”

“Gone,” Deacon said, his expression as dark as his tone.

“Are you insane? You let him go?”

He pulled off his glasses, and for the first time I saw the dark bruise rising over his left eye. “I didn’t.” He shifted his steely gaze from me to Rose, and as he did, my stomach did a complicated acrobatic move as I realized that Rose—or rather Johnson—had freed the mouthless body.

“Out of respect for you, Lily, I didn’t hurt her body. But rein in your new pet, because if that prick touches me again, I swear I will tear through the body to get to the beast inside.”

I shivered, because I believed him. I even sympathized with him. But if he touched a hair on Rose’s head, I knew that I would end him.

Impasse, much?

I blew out a noisy breath, then pressed a kiss to Rose’s forehead before getting up and pacing. Because I had to move. I couldn’t think if I didn’t move, and right then I really needed to think.