Page 14 of Beneath My Skin

CHAPTER 4

Consciousness was a long time coming. At least, I think it was a long time. Hard to be sure when your soul is crushed into a miniscule box in your mind and you no longer have control of anything. It wasn’t painful so much as lonely. There was nothing there, nothing to keep me company. No sound or light or movement.

I came back to myself slowly, and it was like swimming upward through cement. Wiggling one finger at a time and feeling the cold floor beneath me.

“What in the…” I trailed off on a groan, tasting blood in my mouth.

A sharp pressure on my elbow brought me fully awake. My eyes blinked through layers of grit to focus on a dark-skinned man. An angry one to boot.

“Get up,” Dax demanded. His fingers tightened on my arm.

How could I get up when I couldn’t move?

“Mariella, now! You have to get your ass in gear before she wakes up.”

Before who woke up?

I let him drag me into a standing position. Unfortunately, my balance was shit, and I stumbled against him. Where I’d been lying, the floor was black in an outline of a woman’s form. Mine?

“Give me a second to get my bearings, will you?” I had enough wherewithal to run a hand over my front to check for injuries or wounds. To check and make sure I’d come back together in one piece. “I just let a demon take me over.”

“Yeah, I know what you did.” His tone brooked no argument. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“I was saving my life! Obviously. Or did you miss the part where your boss tried to kill me? In fact—” I slammed my hands into his chest with as much force as I could. Which didn’t amount to much. I was still too swimmy-headed. The movement tipped me to the side and I would have fallen if he hadn’t retained hold of my shoulder. “Don’t touch me, you prick. You were in on this the whole time. Was the accident even an accident? Or did you run into my car on purpose?”

He dropped his hand to run both through his hair in agitation. “Are you dense? I had the situation handled. Damn, this is bad.” He stared around at the devastation, and only then did I focus on the repercussions of what I’d done. Of what she’d done.

What had Cer done?

There was nothing left in the room. Furniture was reduced to splinters and toothpicks. Smoke drifted lazily toward the open hole in the ceiling, and the only light still attached swung in a crazy circle.

“Oh my God,” I murmured. My stomach tilted, unsettled.

“Yeah, you made a crater. Good for you. Happy?”

“I did what I had to do to survive.” I swallowed over the boulder blocking my throat. “Cer saved me. Don’t you understand? This is a good thing.”

“No, you don’t understand. You made the situation ten times worse. Do you have any idea of the kind of danger you’re in? How could you come in here and let that thing out?” Dax asked, looking as though he wanted to strangle me. I wasn’t so sure he’d resist the urge. “Now she knows.”

“Knows what?”

“How powerful your demon is. This was a test, and let me tell you, you passed. Jacqueline will do anything to get her hands on it now. You thought she was bad before? You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

That took me aback. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. At least I’m upfront about what I am,” I whispered.

“I’m not going to pretend everything is okay. It’s not the kind of man I am, and I won’t make an exception for you. We don’t want to risk anyone else getting hurt because Jacqueline wants you.” Dax shook his head solemnly.

“Here’s the plan, okay?” I backed away from him in slow, measured steps. The dude was obviously a nut. I swiped my sleeve beneath my nose and it came away smeared in rust-colored blood. Dried and crusted. At least it wasn’t broken. “I’m going to leave here and forget about this. Like you said earlier, remember? Let’s say our goodbyes and I’ll be seeing you.”

Dax reached out to grab my shoulder before I had a chance to bolt. “You’re coming with me.”

“Oh, come on,” I cried out. “We both know you’re the worst villain ever. Let go of me and I won’t have to use my demon on you. This time, I have a feeling, she’ll manage to kill you.”

He brought his face close to mine. “No, you come on, Mariella. You walked into something much larger than you. Much larger than me. We’re nothing but pawns, and at the moment, the queen is out cold, thanks to you and your guardian.” He said the word with enough sarcasm to have my hair standing on end. “When Jacqueline wakes up, she’ll be furious. If either one of us is within ten feet of her when that happens…” He snapped his fingers.

“That…doesn’t sound good.”

“No, it’s not good. Which is why we need to scram. Pronto.”

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