LITMIR.BIZ

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to head back to the kitchen to eat his dinner. All the way there, he was sure that she’d gotten the upper hand on him. She was much too calm and reserved about the whole thing. But, as he ate his spaghetti, he couldn’t figure out why.

      Once he was finished eating, he returned to the basement with his book of Latin rites. Daeva was standing, her empty plate right on the edge of the pentagram. She must’ve pushed it as far as she could without crossing the lines.

      “Okay. You ready?” she asked.

      “No, but I guess at this juncture I don’t have a choice.”

      She smiled. “You always have a choice Quinn. You’re human. You’ve got free will.”

      He didn’t say anything else on the subject. He didn’t feel like having an ethical or theological discussion with a demon right now. “Once I release you from the pentagram, will you have powers?”

      She nodded. “Although I’ll be losing some because of the bargain we’ve made. I won’t be able to zip through the ether with a snap of my fingers. For all intents and purposes I will be human. Well, a human with super strength and other goodies. Not sure what, though. Need to test them out.”

      Quinn was nervous. He’d never released a demon from a bound pentagram before. That was how his father had died. On the job, after releasing a demon he thought he could trust. Demon and trust were two words that didn’t go together.

      He’d dealt with demons when they’d been bound inside a pentagram and when they’d been possessing someone. But he couldn’t think of another way to find the chest. He knew that Daeva, alone, had hidden it a hundred years ago. If he didn’t bind her with an agreement, he was certain someone else would. Like Richter Collins of the Crimson Hall Cabal. Once the sorcerer found out that the demon was the only one with that knowledge, he’d be looking to make a deal with her. And he wouldn’t bother with ethics.

      Quinn opened the book to the right page and, holding his hand out toward the pentagram, began speaking the Latin words of the ritual.

      When he was done, he took his ceremonial dagger and cupped it in his hand, slicing his palm open. Blood dripping onto the cement floor, he held his hand out to Daeva.

      “Now yours.”

      Palm up, she offered her hand to him. He quickly drew the blade across her skin. Instantly, blood welled to the top.

      “Until the bargain is complete, Daeva, Seductress of Shadows, you are bound to the Earth and to me.”

      They shook hands, their blood mixing, the power of the bargain sealing them together. He could feel the potency of it sizzling the hair on his arms.

      Quinn pulled his hand away first and quickly wrapped it with gauze. Daeva squeezed her hand tight, but blood dripped from the corners.

      “You aren’t going to heal as fast,” he offered. “Give me your hand.”

      Daeva stepped out of the pentagram to stand beside him. She looked around, seemingly surprised to find herself unbound by the blessed lines. She smiled and took in a deep breath. “Finally.”

      He saw the extreme relief on her face and he wondered if this was her first time being free. Well, not completely free—she was bound to him, which meant no matter where she went he could find her or compel her to return to his side. She was also free from exorcism. Which meant no one could send her back to hell. Except for him, that was.

      “You’re bleeding all over the place. Give me your damn hand.”

      She held her hand out to him. As quick as he could, he cleaned her up and wrapped her wound.

      She tested it by clenching and unclenching her fist, then nodded. “Thanks.”

      As he’d doctored her hand, he’d noticed a few scars on her arm. They’d looked fresh and sore. He wondered what they were from but didn’t want to ask. He didn’t want to seem as if he cared.

      “Okay, before we go on this little adventure, we need to set some rules.”

      Smirking, she shook her head. “You and your rules.”

      “I just want to make sure I don’t end up with a knife in my back and you on the run.”

      She pinned him with her gaze. He had to suppress a shiver. “Despite everything, I can’t believe you’d even think I would do that to you.”

      Her words gave him a slight pause. He had to keep chanting in his mind, she’s a demon, she’s a demon, and not the woman I fell in love with. But her gaze was fierce and hard and serious. As if he’d actually hurt her feelings by even suggesting she would betray him like that.

      “Wouldn’t you?” He met her gaze right on. He wasn’t about to back down, to cower before her.

      She took a step away from him, then licking her lips, she glanced up the stairs. “I’m earthbound to you, Quinn. I couldn’t run even if I wanted to. And for the other part, quit being a dick and maybe I won’t consider it.”

      He laughed at that. He couldn’t help it. In the past, the insult had been one of Rachel’s favorite things to call him when he was being difficult. It had always made him laugh when she said it.

      Surprised, she looked at him and smiled. “Oh, so there is a human being in there somewhere.”

      “Yeah, deeply buried.”

      “I knew it.”

      His laughter died down and he set his shoulders straight. They had to get to work. He suspected the Cabal would be on his ass soon. Once they found out that Daeva had been called out of hell, and by whom, they would have little time.

      “So, where are we going?”

      “Well, we’ll need a car, lots of gas and supplies.”

      “Where are we going, Daeva?”

      She sighed. “Look, I can’t tell you that. It’s for your own safety. If you’re captured and questioned, you can’t give them the location.”

      “And I won’t be able to ditch you, either.”

      She ran her tongue over her top lip. “There is that, too.”

      He nodded, resigned to having to do it her way for a while. He just wanted to find the chest. If he had to follow her directions he’d do it. “Fine.”

      “Great. Now that that’s solved. I need to clean up.” She pushed past him to go up the stairs. “Do you have any bubble bath?”

       Chapter 7

      “No, I don’t have any damn bubble bath,” Quinn growled at her as he mounted the stairs behind her.

      From the stairs she came out into the kitchen. It was small and cozy with a compact island in the middle. The scent of the sauce he’d made for the spaghetti still clung to the air.

      She looked left then right. “Where’s your bathroom?”

      “Upstairs.”

      She moved through the kitchen and into the living room. She took in the destruction. “Maid’s day off?”

      “Courtesy of your goblin friend, again, and the Cabal.”

      She didn’t comment as she strode across the room and up the staircase, Quinn right on her heels.

      “We don’t have time for your frivolous needs, Daeva. We should be on the move.”

      She found the bathroom, but turned toward him before entering. “Look, I’ve spent the last few years in a stinking cesspool of misery and mayhem, thanks to you no less. I’m taking time to wash off the smell.”

      “Well, since I’m the one that called you forth and released you, I think

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