I don’t know what in Satan’s name I was thinking giving her control, but it’s not like there was much I could do about it now. With my out of control magic and never-ending fever, we were safer with her in charge. As odd as that may sound. She at least knew how to control the flames. That was more than could be said for me. Last time I tried, the best I could manage was not spreading the fire and my track record wasn’t exactly stellar.

Bandit let out a chittering noise, drawing my attention to them because she was heading into a pretty shady part of town. Covered by nothing more than a thin film of obsidian ash, the beast strutted forth with a self-assured confidence, paying no mind to those on the street who passed her.

“Where are you going?” I probably should have asked that before now, but I guess it was better late than never.

“I’m hungry.” Umm…there was two ways to construe that and I wasn’t very comfortable with either. “I expended a lot of energy breaking the binding.”

The binding they shouldn’t have been able to create as demons. Best not to forget that. Only the Unseelie had blood magic, and while the Horsemen weren’t any old demons, they weren’t Fae either. Something wasn’t adding up here.

“How were they able to cast that in the first place?” I wondered.

“I don’t know.” Her body did not react, but I sensed her displeasure. Not with me, but with the unknown. With the things that neither of us knew or understood because of the roles we’d played for twenty-three years. Her, the prisoner waiting to be released. Me, the ignorant half-demon that didn’t want to believe the truth when it bailed me out of jail. Neither roles left us well-equipped for what we would become. Good thing I was a quick study and she could simply use brute force.

She rounded a corner, ignoring the damp air that embraced her like a lover. It may have been December, but we weren’t in Oregon any more. Here you didn’t just drink your water. You inhaled it. And judging by the thick clouds looming in the night sky, tonight was going to pour. The wispy base of the clouds lit in shades of purple and pink from light pollution, casting a glow over the crescent city. Meanwhile, soft music drifted from somewhere in the distance. Calling to us.

The beast lifted her head and parted her lips, inhaling the stray gust of wind that broke through the heavy atmosphere. Scents of sweat and blood filled her nostrils, along with something else…the barest hint of kama.

“Dinner,” she surmised, following the wind. It led in the same direction as the music.

“I’m not fucking anyone but the four males we left back there, so if that’s your great plan—” I started to protest.

“We’re not fucking anyone,” the beast replied. She didn’t give any further explanation as to what we were doing, but as long as I was in the backseat, I guess the best I could do was watch.

She strolled through the brightly lit streets with purpose, tracking that infinitesimal fleck of kama. Several men hooted and hollered, women too, but she paid them no mind. As Allistair would say, they were beneath her attention.

The beast purred at the thought of him. Not because she missed him. Oh no. She was more fucked up than that. She purred at the fact that they were probably going out of their minds trying to find us, because she wanted them to earn their spot. It was going to be a fun game of cat and mouse as they tried to catch us, and she repeatedly slipped through their fingers.

They wouldn’t catch her and keep her until they got smarter and learned we would go where we pleased. That we wouldn’t be locked away.

We could hold our own in every way and they needed to fucking realize that.

She laughed as she came to a halt in front of a door. Outside, two men—no, two demons—stood with their arms over their chests. A line wrapped around the block, consisting of both humans and demons. Internally I frowned, until I realized the only people they were turning away at the door were humans.

She glanced up, a smirk coming over her lips at the name of the club.

The Lotus.

This sounded like a bad idea if I ever heard one.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing here?”

Instead of answering me, she walked up to the front of the line and took a slow breath. This was indeed the place. Kama flowed into our lungs, both sating the succubus side and luring her deeper. My thoughts scattered, slipping through my grasp as I tried to cling to a reason for why we shouldn’t enter.

Not that the beast cared whether I did or didn’t have a reason. She walked forward to stand at the rope, and both the bouncers, as well as most of the line, took notice. Hard not to when there’s a naked girl covered in glittery black shit.

I really hoped she chose to find us some clothes soon, because the two large blokes looked like they might eat me.

“What do we have here—”

“Move,” the beast cut him off. There was such darkness in her tone. An inkling as to what they would find if they disobeyed.

The larger of the two demons peered down at her, his glamor non-existent to her eyes. Bright red skin and a tail. He was a rare form of monster, exceptionally useful for guarding things, but not the smartest of demons. The rubrum were born with skin the color of bone, but as they proved their battle prowess and bathed in their enemies’ blood, it gradually turned red or blue, absorbing the pigment. Judging by his skin at this unknown hour in the night, I’d say he was middle of the way.

That his skin was red and not blue like demons’ blood spoke volumes as to what most of his kills were. The beast did not shy away.

The rubrum was not who answered her, though, but instead an imp with hard features and a vicious smile. He didn’t know that we had history with his kind, and that if he didn’t watch himself, he’d end up Bar-B-Que. Or raccoon food. It was a toss-up at this point.

“That’s not how it works, little lady.”

Why was it that males loved to use pet names? I sighed internally, and the beast cocked her head.

“You will move, one way or another.”

With that, she held up her hand where both humans and demons could see and snapped her fingers. A small blue flame appeared, spreading to her fingertips. She took a step forward and the imp took a step back. That made her smile.

The humans started running.

The demons in line had the good sense to either back away slowly or stay still, lowering their gaze in a sign of submission.

“Whoa…we didn’t mean—”

“I know what you meant.”

Bandit’s claws pricked at her arms as he arched forward and let out a growl. Clearly, he wasn’t a fan of the demon either.

Fortunately for them, that was the moment the imp decided to make this easy. He unclipped the rope and stepped aside, lowering his head slightly. The beast walked forward and unflinchingly gazed up at the rubrum who was still trying to decide whether he should attempt to take us on. The imp elbowed him in the side and flicked his eyes down, trying to give the other bouncer the hint.

She waited, her eyes staring past the black irises of the lesser demon, straight into the fiery pits of his soul.

Broken loves and stinging losses filled the empty void in front of us where the rubrum stood. His soul was marked by pain that was used in an attempt to make him pliant.

Abuse. He suffered from extreme abuse at the hands of other demons. The beast took this in, staring at the angry red light from within his chest. While my own internal light was a bright blue that flickered like flames, his was dark. Dangerous. The rubrum were a loyal lot, but someone had hurt this one inexplicably.

I don’t know what possessed her to do what she did next. That’s not true. I knew it was me. What I didn’t know was that I possessed any power over her. However, it seemed that our body was always at odds in trying to balance us, and neither one was completely in control.

Either way, I acted on instinct, just like I had with Moira. Leaning forward, I pushed the beast to place her hand on his chest, driven by an urge I didn’t understand and had no hope of controlling.

Her fire-tipped fingers splayed across the cheap material, burning straight through his tight t-shirt. The rubrum did not scream or lift a hand against her. He was better trained than that. His muscles clenched tightly as the fire licked at his chest. She pushed the heat inward to burn at the festering wounds around his soul. It hurt more in the moment as the fire burned away the dead and dying parts. I could sense his pain, feel it, searing through his chest. He thought he was being splayed open before the world, but really, the demons around us had no idea.

Fire was destructive. Deadly. But if used right, fire could heal. As the most brutal form of cleansing, it had the power to wipe clean the stains. Our fire ate through the diseased parts of his soul that held him down, cauterizing wounds that were slowly killing him.

He burned in an inferno that others couldn’t see.

And then it was done.

The beast pulled away, not bothering to avert her eyes from the charred handprint she left on his chest. But there was no pentagram like there had been with the others she’d claimed. The beast was careful to heal, but not to bond in any way.

Which was good. The Horsemen might’ve killed him if they thought otherwise.

The beast stepped away and turned for the door, even more depleted than when she’d walked up. Internally, she was grumbling something about me being allowed to make requests. It wasn’t her I was really listening to.

“Hey—hey—” A warm hand wrapped around her arm. She turned slowly, her dark gaze falling on him like the chill of death. The rubrum had the good sense to drop his hand. An almost sheepish look crossed his face as he sank to both knees before her. “You…you healed me. How can I repay you?”

The beast stared on impassively. “You have nothing I desire.”

The rubrum frowned, running his hand across his five o’clock shadow. “Nothing?”

His brows inched up as she repeated, “Nothing.”

I didn’t get the impression he was used to other demons not wanting anything from him. That’s how it was with most of our kind.

“That won’t do,” he mumbled, his tail shifting back and forth as he frowned to himself, thinking in silence. “Surely there’s something I can give…” He trailed off, almost like he was distraught. I hadn’t met any rubrum before, but he definitely wasn’t panning out like the stereotypes.

The beast cocked her head, pursing her lips. “What do they call you?” she asked.

“What do they call you? Really? This is the twenty-first century. No one talks like that,” I sniped at her. She didn’t reply.

“The name’s Eugene McGee. My friends call me Gene,” the rubrum answered, almost chipper. That was…unexpected.

“I need to replenish and then I need a guide. Do you think you could handle that, Eugene McGee?” she asked him in her heartless voice. I wanted to bang my head against the wall, but it would do no good. Whatever power I momentarily took from her to heal him was already gone and she was firmly in control with a plan that was batshit crazy on a good day.

“They’re going to go insane looking for us. You know that, right?” I asked her. The beast smiled outwardly as Eugene McGee got to his feet to escort her in, ignoring the annoying imp who couldn’t stop gawking.

“I’m planning on it,” she replied as she stepped into the strip club.

When they finally caught up, she had every intention of going with them, but that didn’t mean she was going to make it easy. She’d waited a long time for this, and she was going to make the most of it.