As if he wanted to be here.

Only Aimee had continued to whisper comfort to him. Take your time, Fang. Sleep well. When nothing else could reach him, he’d felt her gentle hands on his skin.

And that kindness had kept him going and made him weak as he longed for a world he wasn’t sure he’d ever reach again.

But she wasn’t there tonight. He didn’t feel or hear her at all. And that emptiness was far worse than the horrors that made up this netherworld.

Fang cocked his head as he heard the Reaper approach. Glancing about, he tried to find a better place to hide.

There. To his left was a cave.

He headed for it, hoping there wasn’t something worse inside it, waiting to attack. But as he neared the opening, a sharp white stab hit him straight in his chest. The pain was so severe it sent him skittering to the ground where he tried to rise again.

He couldn’t. The agony was paralyzing.

The Reaper honed in on him.

Fang cursed. He reached for his sword, but another stab caught him and pinned him to the ground.

Unable to bear it, he screamed out and as he did so, he felt a jolt inside. Warm and fierce, it spread through him like lava.

It was his powers.

Gasping, he threw his hand out toward the Reaper and sent a blast straight at it. The demon screeched as it was fried on the spot.

Fang let out a victorious cry as he realized what had happened.

Aimee had killed one of the Daimons and freed part of his soul. Though he still wasn’t whole, he at least had something better than his own two hands to protect himself with. For that he owed her everything.

“That a girl. Baby, I could kiss you!” He held his hand up and saw the small glow of power emanating from his fingertips. He threw his hand out and blasted the tree where he’d been a few moments before.

It went up in flames.

Clenching his hand into a fist, he had one more thing he was dying to try.

Fang closed his eyes and tried to shift forms so that he could be a wolf again.

Nothing happened.

“Damn it.” He was still human.

It was okay. At least he had some of his powers back and right now that was worth everything to him.

“So you have a helper…”

He spun around to find Misery there. How the hell was she able to do that? It was like she had a beacon on him.

On instinct, he shot a blast at her. She rolled away from it and returned it with one of her own.

Fang twisted away before it struck him and bent down to retrieve his sword. He slashed at her feet, but she was as quick as the wind.

Her laughter rang in his ears. “Cey! We have a new victim!” She smiled brightly at Fang. “By her actions tonight, you’ve opened the door for us. Thank you, wolf.”

Fang lunged at her. “Don’t you touch her!”

Laughing, she vanished before he could make contact.

He howled in frustration. “You bitch! Come back here.” But he knew it was no good. Misery didn’t listen to him.

“Aimee,” he whispered. “Please guard your back.”

Aimee!”

Aimee cursed as Dev snatched her back. “What?”

He pointed to the piece of missing sidewalk at her feet. “You were about to trip.”

“Well, you don’t have to scream at me. Sheez!” Her heart was pounding from the scare he’d given her. Here they were hunting Daimons and he was afraid she’d trip on a piece of sidewalk?

The bear was out of his mind and had a most screwed-up sense of priorities.

He flashed her a taunting grin. “Yelling at you is what I do second best.”

She snorted. “I would ask what your first best is, but I don’t think I want to know. Man-whore that you are, I’m sure it involves women somehow.”

He laughed as he led her down a side street. “I’m not sure we’re going to find any more of your Daimon friends tonight. Looks like they’re fat and happy and hiding.”

She hated to admit it, but he was probably right. They’d been searching for hours. “We’re lucky we got the one. There’s no telling where the others are.”

“How many are we looking for anyway?”

“Nine. Well, eight now.”

He gaped indignantly at the number. “Eight? Are you out of your friggin’ mind? Nine? How do you propose we find eight unknown Daimons?”

She shrugged. “We could always invite them to Sanctuary and kill them out back.”

He rolled his eyes at her. “You’ve gone mental, haven’t you?”

“Well, I’m out here with you. It kind of says it all.”

He let out a long-suffering sigh as if she were torturing him. “And to think I could be at the door right now, checking out long legs and short skirts.”

She gestured toward the street. “Don’t let me keep you.”

Dev’s face went pale as he looked past her.

Aimee turned her head to see what he was looking at, then froze as she saw the shadows stepping out of the walls. These weren’t Daimons.

They were demons.

And they were coming for them.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“No!” Fang shouted as he saw images on the cave’s wall of Misery and company surrounding Aimee and Dev.

He slammed his fist against the rock, ignoring the pain, as he realized he was about to be the death of another woman. It was just like Stephanie all over again. His enemies had found her because of him.

When will I learn? Women were to be protected and he was cursed where they were concerned. It was why he’d tried so hard not to get close to another one.

Aimee shouldn’t mean anything to him, but she did, and the thought of her dying tore him apart.

Growling in frustration, he threw his back against the wall so that he wouldn’t have to watch her die. But it didn’t work. In his mind, he saw what was about to happen and it sickened him.

What could he do? He was trapped here with hardly any powers or much strength. There was nothing here but soul-sucking demons.

Demons…

In that instant he knew what he could do to save her. There was one thing a demon and a Daimon had in common. One thing they both needed to thrive and survive.

A soul.

And while he may not have all of his, he had enough of one to entice them.

Fang threw his sword down into the black water. “Demons!” he shouted. “I have a soul for you! Come get some.”

No sooner had the words left his lips than the sound of a thousand wings filled his ears. The stench of sulphur and demon body odor invaded his nostrils. He hated this. But he had no choice.

It was him or her and he wasn’t about to let it be her.

“Are you out of your ever-loving mind?”

He scowled as a tall, lean man appeared beside him. Dressed in a bloodred cloak that covered black spiked armor, he had eyes so light a blue they were piercing. His brown hair was shoulder length with the front of it falling into those eyes that seemed to hold the wisdom of eternity.

And a cruelty that was unrivaled.

Completely calm against the invading horde, he cocked one finely arched brow. “What are you trying to do?”

Fang refused to answer. “Who are you?”

One side of his mouth quirked up into a hint of a taunting grin. “At the moment, the only friend you have.”

“Yeah, right.”

The demons came rushing in.

Fang braced himself for their attack. “My soul is-” A muzzle appeared over his face.

The man winced. “Don’t even say it, kid. You have no idea what it means to have your soul sold. Trust me. It ain’t pleasant and you really don’t want to offer it up to this bunch. Not when you can do so much better with it.”

Fang glared at him as he blasted him.

He absorbed the blast without flinching or moving. “Don’t waste the energy. It takes something a lot stronger than you to budge me.” Turning around, he shot a bolt of fire at the demons.

Screeching, they retreated.

His face a mask of utter irritation, he pulled a small cell phone from his right greave and held it like a walkie-talkie. “Break them down and send them back.”