“How about the truth?”
That pissed me off. “Truth? I’ve never lied to you. Except for the demon, I’ve never lied to you. In fact, you’re the only person I’ve never lied to.”
“You did,” she insisted. “You told me you loved me and that you would always have my back.”
Of course I loved her. Loved her so much that it was in danger of killing me. It was in danger of killing us. But I’d never told her how I felt. Sure, she knew I cared, but the L-word had never been spoken out loud.
“Trying to remember? Don’t bother.” She shifted back until she was facing forward. There was a cold edge to her voice. Hard and broken. It was almost enough to make me pull the car over. “It was the night before you left. The night before we kissed. We were in Rick’s living room, watching a movie. You were half-asleep.”
I should have been surprised, but I wasn’t. I’d loved Sam from the moment we met. Holding a large umbrella over her head as the priest said kind words beside her parents’ graves. We’d never spoken. Hadn’t even been introduced. Rick had gone to support his friend and neighbor, Kelly Merrick, whose brother and sister-in-law died in a tragic home invasion.
Standing beside Rick and Chase, I’d watched the girl with the long brown hair stand eerily still. She didn’t cry. Didn’t speak. Only stood there staring at the ground as her parents were lowered into the cold, wet earth. Even then, so early in my life, I saw pieces of myself mirrored in her eyes. Lost. Alone. Separated.
Ruined.
It was another one of those defining moments. I’d known, even then, that this girl would play a monumental role in my life. We’d grown up close. Inseparable, really. Friends. Partners in crime. It was that last step—love—that pushed me to leave her behind.
There was no stopping it. The words came tumbling out. “The night I kissed you—I almost killed Chase. That’s why I left, Sammy. I knew I was too dangerous.” I kept my eyes front and center, afraid to see the expression on her face. “I think I knew even back then that you were a trigger. Being with you, it made me happy. The demon doesn’t do happy. It needs despair and rage.”
“Jax—”
I kept going. Had to get this out before I lost the nerve. “Kissing you…it was the most amazing thing, but it hurt. The pain was unlike anything you can imagine. Physical, mental, emotional… But I could have sucked it up. I would have. For you. But when I left you that night, the demon was going nuts. I ended up standing over my brother’s bed with a blade. Everything became so clear. You’ve seen enough violence and death in your life. I won’t be the one exposing you to more—especially when it’s all my life is now.”
“You have no right to decide what I should and shouldn’t have in my life.”
“Maybe not—but it doesn’t change things. It won’t ever change things. I am leaving when we clear things up. Everyone I care about is at risk when I’m here.”
“Fine,” she snapped. “Then I’ll go with you. Not like you can stop me. I’ll just keep following you until you cave.”
I shook my head. “You’d never be able to follow me.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Sam
We drove the rest of the way in silence, pulling up in front of the address we’d found for Sadie Gray just before noon. There was a part of me that dreaded what we were about to do. This woman wasn’t going to just give us what we wanted. Not without something in return. I didn’t have anything left to give.
The house was a modest Victorian with a well-manicured lawn and a tire swing that hung from a sturdy-looking oak tree.
“What’s the plan?” I unbuckled the seat belt as Jax killed the engine. “She’s not just going to cheerfully hand the stone over. If it was that easy, Havat wouldn’t need us.”
“She’s going to give us the stone,” Jax said, getting out of the car. He slammed the door as I did the same. “Whether she wants to or not.”
It was moment likes these, despite the deeper feelings between us, that I was truly afraid for Jax. There was no doubt he’d do whatever it took to get what we’d come for, and that worried me. I followed him up the walkway, cringing when he assaulted the door with enough force to rattle the windows.
A woman appeared. Tall with wild raven hair and exotic features, dressed in a low-cut top and long, curve hugging skirt. “My, my, my,” she drawled with an accent I couldn’t place. One part Southern drawl, one part European—equal parts annoying. Her eyes skimmed Jax’s body from head to toe, lingering just below the waist of his jeans. Bitch! Obviously I had no official claim on the guy, but come on. A man shows up on your doorstep with a girl in tow and you proceed to drool rivers on him? “I didn’t realize Chippendales delivered.”
“Sadie Gray?”Jax asked. If he noticed her appreciation, he was polite enough to ignore it.
Sadie leaned against the doorframe, stretching like a cat on a couch and puffing out her chest. Admittedly, I was a little jealous. I couldn’t pull off sultry like that. With women like this throwing themselves at his feet, why the hell was Jax interested in me? Of course, that train of thought brought up how many others were there while he was gone? Which led to a round of mental flogging.
“For you? I can be anyone you want,” Sadie purred.
“Good,” he said, pushing her aside and stepping into the house. “I need you to be a witch.”
With a wink, she said, “Whatever floats your boat, baby.”
I snorted in disgust as Sadie attempted to let the door conveniently close in my face. “Do you moonlight as a prostitute, or are you just really skanky?”
The witch’s lips twisted into a scowl. “Pissing me off isn’t the way to get what you want.”
“Then what is?” Jax asked.
She eyed him. “Depends. Tell me what it is you want.”
“We were sent here by a demon named Havat Doyle. He said you have something he needs.”
She threw back her head and laughed. “Are you blind, baby? I’ve got what every man needs.” Her eyes met mine and she winked. “Some women, too.”
“Actually, this dude Havat is looking for something you stole from him. The stone of midnight. Ring any bells?”
Sadie circled Jax, and said, “I can ring whatever bells you’d like.”
“Oh, Jesus Christ,” I snapped. My patience with the porn-star princess routine was officially gone. The witch had done everything except strip and wiggle her ass in his face. “You have it or not?”
“Maybe,” Sadie said, eyes growing as cold as her voice. “But I have no intention of giving it to that bastard, Havat—or you. I acquired it fair and square. Not my fault old Havat is a sore loser.”
Jax was across the room in the blink of an eye. “I could make you give it to me,” he seethed, pinning her against the wall. “And I would enjoy every last second, I promise you.”
I would, too, because something told me it would involve a serious hurt.
For a woman facing down an extremely pissed-off demon, Sadie Gray wasn’t the least bit flustered. She chuckled and leaned in close. “I bet I would, too.” She did a little shimmy, laughing. If it weren’t for the fact that both our lives were on the line, I might have shot forward and yanked out all the woman’s hair. “Maybe we can work something out. It wouldn’t come cheap, though.”
“Name your price,” he said, letting go.
She backed away with a not-so-subtle shake of her ass and crossed the room. There was an old chest in the corner. The wood was warped and the hinges were rusted. Pulling it open, she rummaged around for a moment before exclaiming, “Aha. This is what you’re looking for, yes?”