Consumed

  “That’s the thing about demons,” I began, “they hide in plain sight. You won’t find them dressed in leather, holed up in bars. Demons like power and control and challenges. A lot of them are CEOs, politicians, bankers, lawyers, police, and people in the media.”

  “What’s The Underground?”

  “A subterranean location that’s apparently like Vegas on steroids. I’ve heard that they’ve got casinos, bars, fighting rings, bistros, and clubs down there. My friend said they even hold concerts in The Underground.”

  “And if I had teleported to their personal playground with an injured demon, they would have pounced on me,” Jared realised. “What about demons themselves? What are they like?”

  “They aren’t naturally evil, if that’s what you mean. They can be good, bad, or something in between. They’re notoriously sexual, they have addictive natures, and they enjoy adrenalin rushes. Like with us, there are different breeds. I’m talking lots of different breeds: reapers, harpies, incubi, succubae, hellcats, hellhounds – the list goes on.”

  Appearing pretty fascinated, Sam tapped her chin. “Which breed is the most powerful?”

  “From what I learned, none are more powerful than the other. Whether a demon is powerful or not depends on the individual.”

  “You said they’re not evil, but the thing we saw in the attic – that was fucking evil,” maintained Salem.

  “Demons are a lot like shifters; they have a dualism to the soul. Whereas shifters share their soul with an animal, demons share their soul with an entity which is – essentially – a psychopath. Their eyes turn black when the inner demon surfaces; that’s what we were dealing with in the attic. Some do hand over full control to their inner demon, become rogue, but they’re quickly dealt with. Demons police their own pretty well.”

  Jared took a moment to digest that before speaking again. “What about their hierarchy? Where does Thorne sit in it?”

  “Their hierarchy isn’t like ours, they don’t have an overall leader. Demons belong to different ‘lairs’, and each lair has a dominant figure. Thorne’s the leader of his lair, which is a pretty large one. That means he has more influence than most. He’s widely respected amongst his kind.”

  “Great,” mumbled Sam. “We couldn’t have pissed off a lowly lair, could we?” She sighed. “What’s he like? I want to know who I’ll be meeting.”

  “In a word, daunting. Seriously, I’m not easily intimidated or freaked. But that guy scares me – mostly because he’s not trying to be scary. He’s really smooth and charismatic, but you can just feel that his calm can change in the blink of an eye. And he’s really…” I hesitated, knowing this wouldn’t wash down well with Salem.

  “What?” Sam prodded.

  I turned to Salem. “Don’t get mad, I’m just objectively stating a fact.” He narrowed his eyes but said nothing. I returned my attention to Sam. “Thorne is devastatingly good-looking.” As I’d expected, Salem growled. “I’m just saying so she’ll be prepared! Demons are like vampires, they have natural sex appeal. His is really potent – enough to throw someone mentally off-balance. You should probably also know that a lot of people believe he’s one of the most powerful demons in existence, but no one seems to know what type of demon he is.”

  Jared ran a hand through his hair. “This keeps getting better and better.”

  Sam frowned thoughtfully. “I think you should come to the meeting with us, Ava.”

  Yay! “Happy to.”

  Of course, Salem’s entire body went rigid. “You can’t be serious, Coach.”

  “It makes sense. Ava has a better understanding of these creatures than we do. She’s met Knox Thorne before, and the presence of a mutual acquaintance might help keep things calm. Besides, she’s part of the legion now. We’ll call it ‘work experience’.”

  A muscle in his jaw ticked. How cute. “For all we know,” growled Salem, “the meeting could be a trap.”

  “I’ve already considered that, which is why we’ll be taking plenty of back-up. Obviously we won’t take all of the squad into the hotel itself – that will look like a challenge. But we’ll keep them close by. And Jared can teleport us out of there if necessary.”

  I soothingly patted Salem’s arm, knowing it would swing his focus to me. “Big guy, if we’ve got any hope of making this work, you need to stop interfering when it comes to my assignments.”

  “She’s right,” said Sam, amused.

  Salem moved his gaze back to Sam. “I stay with her every minute. She doesn’t leave my side.”

  At her nod of agreement, I clapped a little. “This is going to be fun.”

  Growling, Salem turned to Jared. “The female has no fear. It’s not natural.”

  Jared sighed, sharing a look of understanding with him. “Welcome to my world, Salem.”

  The hotel, which was situated in the heart of Vegas, was absolutely amazing. And it was swarming with demons. What made them stand out to us was their preternaturally alluring sex appeal – all demons were built for sex, sin, and seduction. The doormen, concierge, receptionists, and general manager were clearly sentries. While some of the guests were demons, others were totally clueless humans.

  Sam, Jared, Salem, and I waited at the reception desk to be ‘given clearance’ to go further. Chico, David, Denny, Max, and Butch were ordered to remain in the sitting area, but they weren’t happy about it. They couldn’t be more pissed than the rest of the squad, though, who Sam had told to sit in the restaurant opposite the building.

  “You’re humming,” Salem told me. Oops. He cupped my elbow as he then whispered into my ear. “Remember to stick close to me.”

  I might have teased him, but this wasn’t a time to be glib. We were surrounded by potential enemies, and the meeting could go either way. “Okay, okay.”

  “Mr. Thorne is ready to see you now,” the receptionist suddenly announced, signalling for the concierge.

  Without a word, the concierge escorted us through a ‘staff only’ door to the far right, and then led us down a long hallway. On reaching an unmarked door that seemed to pulse with power, he knocked and announced, “I’ve got your visitors.”

  “Then you’d better let them in,” called out a deep, throaty voice that I recognised. The concierge opened the door, but he didn’t come inside.

  Knox Thorne stood between his desk and the window, his powerful build accentuated by his black suit. Dark eyes measured every one of us, giving away nothing. His body language was cool, relaxed. It was probably genuine. I’d gotten the impression that he wasn’t fazed by much. Considering he was without any guards despite being in the presence of four vampires, I was most likely right.

  Of course, he was as compelling as always. He projected a raw sexual magnetism that could ensnare any female and reduce her thought processes to mush. However, I wasn’t as affected as the first time we’d met. Maybe that was because Salem’s arm was brushing mine; the skin-to-skin contact had my body attuned to him and him alone.

  I was guessing that Sam’s metaphysical bond with Jared made her immune to Thorne’s natural appeal, because she was the image of composure. No one spoke for a few moments, too busy sizing each other up. It was Jared who, being a fairly impatient person, broke the silence.

  “Demon,” was all he said in greeting.

  “Vampire. Quite an entourage you have.” Thorne slid his gaze to the restaurant across the street where the rest of the squad waited. He was no idiot. Sadly.

  If Sam was surprised, she didn’t show it. “Would you expect us to go to unfamiliar territory without back up?”

  Thorne didn’t answer her. Instead, he moved his attention to me. “Miss Sanchez…good to see you again.”

  I guessed that the only reason Salem didn’t bristle was that there hadn’t been anything suggestive in the demon’s tone. Despite that Knox made me uncomfortable, there was one thing I liked about him: he wasn’t a flirt. Oh, he was charming when he wanted to be, but not in a way that was designed to provoke o
r taunt; he didn’t seem to play those kind of games. “It is,” I said.

  “You’ve come up in the world since we last met, if you’re working directly for your Grand High vampires. I’m betting they hoped that a ‘friendly face’ might help keep things calm.”

  “People don’t come much friendlier than me.”

  Amusement very briefly glinted in his eyes. “True.” Thorne shifted his gaze to Sam and Jared, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Now that the preliminaries are over” – yeah, that was about as polite as it was going to get between the two species right now – “you can tell me why one of my demons ended up in one of your brothels.” His rage seemed to thicken the air, but he appeared totally composed.

  “It wasn’t our brothel,” denied Sam sharply, her distaste clear in her voice.

  “But it was run by one of your kind.”

  “And now it’s burned to the ground. We’re no happier about this than you are. We dealt with it as soon as we discovered its existence. And we won’t leave the matter unpunished.”

  Cocking his head, Thorne narrowed his eyes at her. “What are you? You’re not like any vampire I’ve seen before.”

  Sam’s smile was flat. “I’ll tell you what I am if you’ll tell me what you are.”

  Apparently he wasn’t that curious, because he returned to the matter at hand. “What do you know about the owner of the brothel? My demon met her, but for some reason we don’t understand, she has no real memory of this female vampire. Why is that?”

  “It seems that this vampire’s ability is to remain untraceable,” revealed Jared. “It protects her identity to the extent that a person is left with only a vague impression of her in their memory.”

  “What about the staff? What did they have to say?”

  “The only one we allowed to live is the keeper. Nothing she told us will help find this vampire.”

  Thorne’s eyes seemed to bore into Jared. “You’re not telling me the entire truth are you, vampire?”

  “Did you expect us to?”

  “No. In your position, I’d deal with the matter myself.”

  “So you understand.”

  “I understand. It doesn’t mean I won’t track down the vampire responsible and give her exactly what she deserves.” Thorne’s eyes briefly bled to black: his inner demon was seriously pissed, and it wanted us to know that.

  “We’ll find her, and we’ll deal with it,” Sam assured him.

  “No, vampire. We’ll find her, and we’ll deal with it. We have our ways of finding things out.”

  “Let us handle it.” It wasn’t a plea from Jared, it was a demand. “I can guarantee that she’ll pay for what she’s done.”

  “I want blood, vampire. The only reason I’m not gunning for yours is that you saved my demon’s life and returned her home. But I will have vengeance on the person who deserves it. You don’t know the havoc I’ll reek to make sure she pays.”

  Sam slowly shook her head. “We can’t let you have her.”

  Thorne’s smile was pitiless. “I guess then, it will be all down to who finds her first. Don’t expect there to be anything left of her by the time we’re done.”

  Due to it being a somewhat unproductive evening, nobody was happy as we later discussed the matter in one of the conference rooms at The Hollow. It was clear that both Salem’s squad and mine were feeling the pressure of finding the bitch before the demons did.

  Having dismissed everyone at the end of the meeting, Sam called out, “Ava, can I talk to you for a second?”

  I halted midway through the room while the others continued to file out. Salem unsurprisingly remained, the nosy bastard.

  Sam smiled at him. “You can wait outside.”

  I had to bite my lip to stop from laughing at the disgruntled look on his face. The fact that I was amused only seemed to aggravate him more. Such fun.

  “We won’t be long,” Sam assured him, shooing him away with her hands. After a moment, he grunted and left, but planted himself by the door to wait for me. How cute.

  Sam turned to a very amused Jared and said, “You too.” That wiped the smile from his face and, sighing heavily, he went to stand with Salem outside the room. Only then did Sam round the table and come to stand before me. “I just wanted to check if you were all right; that Gina hasn’t been bothering you.”

  “Actually, I haven’t heard or seen anything of her.” Which had surprised me.

  “Good. I can’t promise that will last. Some people seem to take extreme delight in taunting their exes’ new partners. It’s weird and pathetic, but it manages to achieve the desired effect and drive you insane. Gina had that same glint in her eyes that I often saw in Magda’s.”

  “I heard Magda was bad.” She’d even given Sam up to her enemies, which was undoubtedly one of the reasons why Sam had eventually killed her.

  “She was Jared’s Maker as well as his ex, so she thought she had a very big claim on him. She was determined to stop me from Binding with him out of sheer spite. I don’t think Gina sees you as a threat.”

  “That’s what Fletcher said.”

  “Then I must be right. The thing is, once she realises she’s wrong and that Salem’s serious about you, then you’ll have some problems. It will all be petty and vindictive crap, but it will often hit you where it hurts. If it gets too much, come to me. Personally, I think you’ll be able to handle it just fine, and that will piss her off much more than you coming to me.”

  I smiled. “That’s what I’m thinking.”

  “Then feel free to torment her in your own special way.”

  My laugh was embarrassingly close to a cackle. “Oh, I will.”

  “Nothing will piss her off more than you and Salem Binding.”

  I snorted. “That’s not going to happen.”

  She frowned at me…like I was a little slow on the uptake. “Why would you think that?”

  “Um, because it’s true.” Did she even know Salem?

  “It’s obvious that you two are serious. You’re moving into his apartment, aren’t you?”

  “Is nothing private on this island?” I groused.

  “Not much.” She cocked her head, her gaze now studious and daring me to lie. “Don’t you want to Bind with him?”

  I shifted uncomfortably. “We haven’t been together long enough to be talking about Binding.”

  “That’s a human answer, Ava. We’re not human anymore. It doesn’t work like that for vampires. We’re immortal. Time comes to mean something different when it’s not running out. How many times in your human life did you stress over something because ‘the time’s not right’, or ‘it’s too soon’, or ‘it’s too late’? None of that applies now. So, I’ll ask you again: don’t you want to Bind with him?”

  “No, I don’t.” At her doubtful look, I added, “It’s not something Salem would ever be comfortable with. I couldn’t yearn for something that would make him unhappy.”

  “Fletcher’s right; you are too nice,” she mumbled, making me giggle. “I have another question. What makes you think that it would make him unhappy?”

  Surely that was a rhetorical question. But when she looked at me expectantly, I explained. “Salem’s not the type to expose himself. You know that Binding with someone means being completely naked to them; it’s about being willing to share every single part of you, including your soul. Salem guards his soul, and refuses to be vulnerable to anyone.” I shrugged, trying to seem aloof about it when in reality the emotional distance hurt. It wasn’t something I took personally, though – it was just the way he was. “And let’s face it, he’s not the romantic type.”

  “No, but neither is Jared.”

  “What made you so sure about Binding with Jared? From what I heard, you two hadn’t been together that long when it happened.”

  “Well, like I said, we’re not on a timescale anymore. When it comes to making decisions about taking huge steps, there’s no timescale to measure against. It forces you to rely on your instin
cts. We’re predators now. Predators possess and guard what’s theirs. I just…felt like Jared was mine. And I accepted it.” She paused. “For the record, I happen to think you’re wrong. I think Salem would feel good about Binding.”

  “As you often say…bollocks.”

  She laughed. “You were right in all the other things you said about Salem. He’s very self-contained and private. But he’s open to you. He treats you differently than other people – he has since minute one.”

  “You mean he acknowledges me as an actual person,” I joked. Sam seemed thrilled with the answer, though.

  “Yes, that’s exactly it. See, Salem’s only interested in the people who he considers important to him on some level. In that sense, everyone else is pretty much interchangeable to him, so he finds it easy to keep them out and ignore them.

  “But you’re not the kind of person anyone could fail to notice. You’re pretty, and shiny, and loud. You grabbed his attention straight away. It was strange to watch his reaction to you. Like a kid that’s spotted something new, interesting, and possibly fun to play with, but who’s too unsure to reach out and touch it – still, he ain’t gonna let anyone else touch it.” Her smile widened. “Trust me, it’s only a matter of time before you two are Bound.”

  Yeah, and I would start farting rainbows.

  Not gonna happen.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  (Ava)

  I sighed tiredly. “They’re just cushions.”

  Salem was looking at them like they were ticking bombs. “They’re pink. And they have sequins. And they have diamonds. And they’re frilly.”

  “What’s your point?”

  “They’re girly.”

  “I’m girly.” I wondered if I should point out that the current flush on his cheeks perfectly matched the shade of the cushions. It had appeared the moment he entered my apartment to find all the things I was taking with me stacked in the living area.

  “I’m not putting them on my sofa.”