"You do, and you'll have to answer to me," I said, driven to an unreasonable outspokenness by my irritation with my own fear of Bael. I've never been afraid of anything before, and it galled me to find myself almost sick with terror.
He ignored my outburst as if it wasn't worthy of his attention. "You know, really, it's a shame nephilim are protected under the treaty. We have need of your kind in Abaddon."
Theo looked utterly bored. I wanted to cheer at such a brave act in the face of the bad-ass demon lord. "Punish me, if you will, but make it quick. We were pleasantly engaged when your demon fetched us."
"Full points for such eloquent acting," Bael said, laughing, but the amusement didn't reach his eyes. They were flat, glittering, brittle blue lights, absolutely devoid of all emotions. I shivered in response, wanting desperately to be away from him. He didn't make any overtly menacing moves, but there was something around him, an aura of peril that made my flight instincts kick in.
Bael's cold gaze flickered to me. "It would be so much more fun with just the lady…ah, well. Another time, perhaps?"
"I would just about give anything to make sure that doesn't happen," I said, my mouth suddenly dry.
He smiled, but said nothing before turning back to Theo. "As for you—I believe I have a solution to my quandary. It is a bit extreme, but then, I've found that people learn so much better if the punishment is suitably harsh."
Theo's body tensed next to me as Bael put his hand on Theo's forehead, leaning close to say in a voice filled with so much evil portent that I had to put my hand over my mouth to keep from vomiting, "I curse thee, Theondre North. As you spend the centuries alone, shunned, and empty, remember me."
A golden light burst forth from Theo, surrounding us until it blinded me. Theo was wrenched from my side with such force that I fell to my knees. The light was all around us, brilliant, warm, and so wonderful, I wanted to weep with joy at it.
"Theo? Are you all—"
A man screamed at that moment, a hoarse, gut-ripping sound that seemed to come from the soul. I knew it was Theo. I thrashed my arms around, desperate to find him in the blinding light. "Stop hurting him!" I shouted into the light, lunging to the side where Theo had stood. The light disappeared, leaving me unable to see.
"You are dismissed," a harsh voice growled behind me. Before I could turn around to see who it was, I was picked up and thrown into a brick wall. At least that's what it felt like, but as I shook the stars from my head and raised myself up off the ground, I realized that the demon who had yanked us from my hotel room through the tear in the wall had evidently returned us the same way.
Vision slowly returned to me. "Theo! Sweet mother of reason, are you all right?" I crawled over to where Theo lay facedown on the floor next to my bed. "Where did he hurt you? Is anything broken? Are you bleeding?"
Carefully, I pushed over Theo's unresisting body until he lay on his back. I quickly checked him over for injuries, but found none. "Theo? I can't find anything wrong with you. What did the demon lord do?"
"I'm all right." His eyes opened slowly.
I sucked in my breath, unable to believe what I was seeing. "Your eyes…they're grey."
Theo frowned. "Pardon?"
"Your eyes are grey. They aren't black anymore. Here, I'll show you." I helped him to his feet and opened the door to the wardrobe so he could see. He stared at himself for a moment, then turned back to me, despair and anguish welling up inside him.
"Salus invenitur," he swore.
"Latin was never my strong point. What exactly does that mean?"
"Salvation is found."
I raised my eyebrows in question.
A mirthless smile graced his lips. "It's the nephilim's equivalent to a self-depreciating 'fuck me!'"
"Ah. I like your version better. Why did Bael change your eyes?"
His jaw tightened. "That is merely a side effect of the curse."
"I heard him say he was cursing you," I said slowly, watching him carefully. So far he seemed perfectly normal, except for the profound sadness that seemed to leach from within him. "But I don't quite understand what happened. What exactly are you cursed with?"
To my amazement, Theo's eyes grew brighter until they were almost white. "He took my soul."
"He what?"
"That light you saw—that was my soul being ripped from my body," Theo said, his face flushed with fury. "The bastard took my soul and left me an empty shell."
"Sweet mother," I whispered, wrapping my arms around him, holding him tight against the sorrow and anger and frustration that filled him. The pain eased a little. I poured into him every molecule of comfort I possessed. "I'm so sorry. I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am that you got involved in this. I will feel guilty for the rest of my life."
"It's not your fault, sweetling," he murmured, nuzzling my neck. His anger and anguish melted away even more, and something hot and potent filled him instead. "I knew the risk when I offered myself as your champion. Di immortales, you smell good."
A little shiver of excitement skittered down my back as he kissed the hollow behind my ear. "Yes, but if I hadn't been so stupid about believing you, none of this would have happened. I would have been paying attention rather than fighting you every step of the way."
"Mmm. You smell sweet and spicy, like a woman waiting to be satisfied." He pulled back enough to look into my eyes, which were brimming with tears of guilt. "Portia, I forbid you to feel guilt at what happened. There was no avoiding this. Bael cannot punish you without bringing the wrath of the Court down upon your head, and he would not risk such an action."
"Your eyes are almost black again. That doesn't make any sense. How can eye color change? Never mind, it's not important. What is important is the fact that you've lost your soul because of me."
He laughed and nipped my earlobe, his hands roaming over my back and behind. "You never cease to amaze me. I'm surprised that given your skeptical nature and scientific training, you believe in souls."
"I'm agnostic, not a solipsist," I said, a familiar tension building within me at every nibble of his teeth, every touch of his hands. "Logic dictates that if there is a way for your soul to be taken from you, there must be a way to return it. I swear to you now that if it's the last thing I do, I will get you back your soul."
"Smart, sexy, and so delicious," he murmured against my shoulder as my bathrobe parted and slipped down my arms. "I hunger for you, sweetling. Tell me you still want me."
He was hungry. It was growing in him, an unnamed hunger for me, for something that only I could give him. It swelled and spilled out until I shared the hunger, shared the need for physical relief. I ripped his shirt off, heedless of the fact that I was destroying an otherwise nice shirt, rubbing my hands on his chest as he sucked the spot behind my ear that made me see stars.
"Theo, I hate to bring reality into…oh, yes, right there…but I don't have any condoms. I'm all right as far as birth control goes, but do you have any health issues I should be aware of?"
"No. So good," he said against my skin, his breath ragged. As if I wasn't aroused enough, the sound of his harsh breathing pushed me higher. "You taste so damned good, I want to…I don't know what I want. More. I want more."
"You can have all of me," I said in between kisses to his bare shoulder, my hands busy on his belt buckle and zipper even as his hands slid down my behind to the crotch of my teddy. His fingers brushed heat-soaked, sensitive flesh as he undid the snaps. I writhed against him as he peeled the silky teddy off, tormented not just by his burning touch, but by an overwhelming need so foreign, so different, that it shocked me.