Life Cycle

She batted her eyelashes. “What the fuck was what?” Okay, so the innocent damsel routine didn’t come off quite as credible when she was dropping F-bombs. Still. She should get points for effort.



“Interfering with my business with the other demons makes it look like I have a woman fighting my battles.”



“Oh my God. You’re an even bigger Neanderthal than Anna’s mate.”



“I’m eight thousand. Things are done how they are done.”



She rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m two thousand, and I managed to evolve. What’s your excuse?” She changed tactics and pressed herself against him. If all she did was piss him off, he might just snap her neck, and that would do her no good. She needed to remind him why he liked her in an adult form. “Do you like my dress?”



He gripped her wrist and placed her hand over his erection. “What do you think?”



She smirked. “I think you’ll kill me this time. I don’t get why you haven’t. Maybe you have sparkly romance dreams? If you do, you can tell me, it’ll be our little secret.” She never got tired of taunting him. Soon he would snap. She’d alternated between pissing him off and seducing him every opportunity she got. She’d be out of here before the next full moon, before the next body hit the ground, and Jack’s game would be over.



The Cycler would still have enough power to start gathering an army to move forward with his plan, but this time she wouldn’t help him. Her conscience would be clear, and she’d escape his grip forever. She had no intention of leaving Heaven until things were put right. Her gods were in another dimension. She’d been faithful to them. She’d petition them to let her into the proper world for her next incarnation. Then she’d be off Jack’s radar forever. Truly free.



When Cain released her, she didn’t waste the opportunity to unbutton his jeans and slide her hand inside.



He growled. “I won’t lose control. I’m not letting you out of my world. I told you, you’ll be my toy until I get bored with you, or until you beg me to keep you—and mean it.”



“I think that’s bullshit. I think you like me. You don’t want to kill me. Just admit it. Don’t you normally get bored by now?”



“Go to the caves.”



It was as good as an admission from him.



“We never do it in your tent. Are you ashamed of me? Afraid we’ll get interrupted?”



He’d allowed her to continue stroking him, but he hadn’t fallen completely under her spell yet. “I’d be greatly amused if we got interrupted. What about you? Does your little friend know you’re screwing the demon who tried to kill her and would have succeeded if she hadn’t given her soul to my brother?”



Tam pulled away. “Anna wouldn’t understand this. I know I shouldn’t act like she’s a child. She’s got all her memories from her other lives, but it’s not the same. They’re isolated episodes of experience. It’s different being in one body for as long as you and I have.”



He laughed. “Are you saying I complete you?”



She rolled her eyes upward. “Hardly. I’m saying she doesn’t understand what it’s like for me. She thinks she does, but she doesn’t.”



The demon pointed at the door. “Caves. Now. I’ll be along shortly.”



She sighed and turned to leave.



“And to answer your other question”—his words stopped her—“the reason for the caves is that tents are completely useless if I want to fuck you against a wall.”



Her back was to him so he didn’t see her facial expression. Given that edge, she wasn’t about to turn around or pause, but she knew he had to sense the wave of desire his words had caused. Or maybe he’d done it with demon thrall. Her shields had weakened in the time she’d been with him. It was too exhausting being on guard twenty-four-seven, and if she wanted him to break the cycle, shields were pointless. Shields were to protect her, and she didn’t want to be protected from him.



***



Cain watched her go. He’d let her stew in the caves waiting for him like a schoolgirl. She was right, he should be bored with her by now. He didn’t want to dig too deeply into his motivations. But he most certainly didn’t like her. She was confusing him with someone who still could dig up those sorts of feelings. Killing her was the prudent choice. It was what she wanted, and it would make it easier to kill The Cycler if he didn’t have her power absorbed into him, too.



But a woman had never beaten him at his own game, and it wasn’t going to happen now. If she didn’t want to die, she’d be easier to kill, but he still resented giving her the opportunity to escape the immortal bed she’d made.



When he reached the cave, she was sitting on the ground. She probably couldn’t see him, but with his acute night vision, he could see her.



“Why are you in the dark? We have torches.”



“I have energy balls, not fire, and all my tools are locked in a pod. You do the math.”



“Surely there is some chant you could use. How hard can it be for a witch of your caliber to produce fire?” he taunted.



“I don’t waste energy on things like that.”



Cain lit the torches and sat beside her on the big rock. He began to stroke her back and pushed aside one of her straps to kiss her shoulder. She did look lovely in that dress, as if she could rule beside him. He cringed at that thought.



A suspicion eased into his mind, and he gripped her throat, his voice low and deadly. “If you’ve done any magic against me, you will live to wish you hadn’t.”



She struggled for air, and he loosened his grip a fraction to allow her to speak.



“If you kill me, and I revert to a younger body, I will seal you in a jar so fucking fast your head will spin. Don’t threaten me. If you plan to take me out, take me out the right way so I can leave this forsaken place.”



He couldn’t say what kind of magic he thought she’d done. Accusing her was as good as admitting she was having unforeseen effects on him. She’d take it as him admitting he liked her, then he’d have to kill her just to shut her up. If he was wrong about her using magic against him to soften him up, then he wasn’t giving her that weapon—not when he’d already said how things would go between them.



“I could lock you in one of these pods. You’re immortal, sort of, you’d survive it.” He wasn’t sure why he added that. What did he care what she could survive? “I could leave you in there until the Jack problem is solved.” He let go of her and stood, her nearness starting to unhinge him.



He shouldn’t have put that much space between them, because she hauled back and tossed an energy ball at him, clipping him in the shoulder before he could go noncorporeal. She was so fast with those things. Two could play this game. He tossed a fireball, and she ducked behind the rock they’d been sitting on.



Then she started chanting.



“Tam, stop chanting. You start using magic against me, and all bets are off. You have no idea the hell I can make your life.”



She ignored him, continuing her incantation. The air charged around them, and she stepped out from behind the rock that had been shielding her and threw a ball of energy at him.



“Don’t ever threaten me like that again. I’m not one of your goons. If you even look like you’re contemplating putting me in one of those pods for any reason, you will be sorry. I promise you. Like you said, the accommodations in little glass jars are less roomy than pods.”



She threw another energy ball. This one he saw coming and dodged. He tossed another ball of fire, but it sizzled and bounced off an invisible bubble she’d put around herself. He was so caught off guard by the new protection that he didn’t get away in time when it came hurtling back toward him, burning him in the stomach.



“Oww... Goddamnit, Tam!”



“Hey, you’re throwing fire. What I’m throwing won’t kill you. You want to burn me alive and send me back to a lesser form. I don’t appreciate it.”



He growled. “That’s not my intention.”



“Or am I too much of a temptation for you? Do I have too much power in this form?”



She dropped the straps of the dress and the material fluttered to the ground. God yes, she had too much power in this form, but he’d never say it. He stalked her and reached out to stroke her skin, glowing in the torchlight. His hand bounced off the barrier.



Cain’s voice dropped an octave. “How can I help you if you won’t help me? I thought you wanted me to fuck you.”



She shrugged. “It seems pointless, doesn’t it? I mean, what are the odds you’re going to kill me this time?”



“You gotta play to win, sweetheart.”



As soon as she dropped the shields, he backed her against the wall and ripped his pants off. “Be a good girl and wrap your legs around my waist.”



“Good girl? You must have me confused with somebody else.”



But she did as he requested, and he lifted her like she was nothing. As he impaled her, she let out a gasp that drew a satisfied laugh from him.



“You really want to die and leave all this? That’s a solid death wish you’ve got there,” he said.



“Don’t flatter yourself,” she tossed back.



But she’d dropped her shields, all of them, and he knew the effect he was having on her. She wanted him almost as much as she wanted death. If he just held out a little longer, she’d beg him to keep her, he was sure of it.



Chapter Seven



Tam tried to catch her breath. He’d weakened her when he’d fed, but he hadn’t killed her. That would be too much to hope for. He seemed committed to this battle of wills. But she would win. If he thought she’d ever willingly ask another monster to keep her, he didn’t know her. And that was the point. He didn’t know her. Though he knew Jack had been her lover, the realization that she wouldn’t fall for that charming evil shit again hadn’t penetrated his massive Neanderthal ego.



Cain wasn’t a big cuddler. After he’d finished with her, he’d left her in the cave. Another woman might have been emotionally devastated or felt horribly used, but Tam was just annoyed he was holding out. She could attempt to use magic to get what she wanted, but there was a part of her that did genuinely fear him. The only kind of magic she’d feel safe using against the demon was the kind that sealed him somewhere far away from her. And with her life span, even that wasn’t a safe bet. Curses could be broken.



She pulled the dress on and made her way back into town. A few demons held her gaze then looked away quickly to whisper amongst themselves. She didn’t have to hear them to have some idea of what they were saying. It was such cruel irony. Every single one of them wanted her dead because they felt she was compromising Cain and their kind. If only that were the case.



Many of them were probably old enough and strong enough to kill her, but even if she could get an accurate list of all their ages and strength levels, not one of them would double-cross Cain and get sent to the caves. He’d been pretty intense about his threat.



His disdain for vampires ran deep. He wanted to use her in a future war with Anthony if it came to that. She had enough contacts that with her, her current coven, and the other magic users she knew, Anthony’s victory wasn’t a sure thing. In fact, between all of them, Cain’s demons, and the Cary Town wolf pack, it would be a slaughter, no matter how many vampires the king recruited to fight his battles.



She was kidding herself if she thought Cain would put a petty vendetta against her above his personal ambitions. He had more self-control than she’d anticipated. He was a complicated demon, and getting him to kill her involved more issues than she’d wanted to admit. Plus he couldn’t stand to lose ever, for any reason. But really, were they any different? They were both ruthless in their own ways. She should have known she wouldn’t get him to snap and kill her. Damnit.



She was lost in her own world and didn’t notice when Anna crossed her path.



“Tam?”



She’d been avoiding Anna because she was afraid if they spent too much time together, her friend would learn about her suicide mission. Plus, things felt distant now. Anna was so wrapped up in her new mate that things weren’t the same anymore, no matter how much they’d tried to force it or fake the easy way that had once been between them.



“Hey,” Tam said, trying not to look guilty.



“Where have you been? I hardly ever see you.”



The witch shrugged. “I wander a lot. I’m pretty bored being stuck here.” That much was true. Though she suspected a big part of the boredom was depression. Why else would she have such a death wish? Even if Jack could be caught and destroyed, and the threat from her life erased, she’d hit her breaking point this time. The idea of sticking around sounded awful. She couldn’t stand admitting that the brightest spots of the past week had been in Cain’s arms. What did that say about her?



She couldn’t allow herself to fall down that well again. He was just like Jack. He’d turn on her and everyone she loved. There were no true consequences for him outside the inconvenience of a curse here and there. No one to answer to. No laws that bound him or his power. In a way, he was worse than Jack.



Anna stared at the dress. “Why are you wearing that?” She asked the question as if she already knew but wanted to torture out a confession.



“Not out here in the middle of the street,” Tam hissed.



They were still surrounded by too many demons, and she didn’t exactly want to have this conversation with an audience. She tried to grab Anna by the elbow to steer her toward her tent but her hand went through.



“Damnit. I keep forgetting about this ghost-form thing. I’m glad you’re not really a ghost, though.”



“Me, too. I guess I thought since I gave Luc my soul and died, that I wasn’t real or something. Now what about the dress?”