Page 55 of Bedeviled

“Adan Quintana.” The name rips from his lips.

My eyes rise and meet Memnon’s, who still lingers close, a look of abject hatred in his eyes as he stares at the demon.

Does that name mean anything to you? I ask. I don’t recognize it myself.

Only that Adan Quintana is living on borrowed breath, Memnon says ominously.

I turn back to the demon. “What was the command Adan gave you concerning me?”

“Torture Selene Bowers, then kill her.”

A wave of nausea rolls through me. Demons are terrifying enough as it is, but to command one to torture a person first? Sick.

A massive wave of Memnon’s magic rolls through the forest, and certain sections of that billowing blue power light up, as though a storm brews from within. I know that this is when my husband’s magic slips its leash. I doubt I have much more time to interrogate the demon before Memnon insists on his vengeance.

“Why would Adan want to hurt me?” I ask the demon.

He spits in my face.

I was wrong about having more time for interrogation. I’ve barely reared away from the demon when Memnon’s magic shoves me to my feet and back into the sorcerer’s arms. In the chaos of the moment, I think the creature answers the question, but his words are lost to me.

My soul mate holds me close for a single, possessive moment, a softer burst of his magic cleaning away the spit that hit my cheek.

He presses a kiss to my temple, his lips skimming my ear. “My turn.” My flesh pebbles at the low, inhuman tone of his voice.

Memnon moves around me, toward the trapped demon, his hair billowing about him. He crouches down at the creature’s side just as Nero comes to mine.

The demon is struggling in earnest to free himself, but the Hungering Ones still hold him fast.

“Do you know who I am?” Memnon asks almost conversationally.

The demon tries to spit again, but the sorcerer was ready for it. He grabs the demon by the jaw and digs his fingers into either side of it, forcing Maelverynox’s mouth open.

“I didn’t think so.”

He reaches into the demon’s mouth and grips a canine. Using magic and force, he rips a tooth out.

The demon screams, the sound echoing in the woods. Ignoring Maelverynox’s cries and the black blood seeping from the corner of his lips, Memnon pulls out the other canine.

Once the demon’s shouts die off, Maelverynox begins to laugh. “You think to scare me, mortal? I have lived in hell. I’ve endured things that would make your gods quake.”

My husband leans forward, and though his power is nipping at him, he seems to have some semblance of control. “I’m going to behead you, demon, and then I will bury your body so deep in the fucking ground that, undying or not, you won’t be able to claw your way out.” He leans in closer. “I’m sure it will remind you of your home—just a little less hot.”

I have to swallow my bile. Instead, I place a bracing hand on Nero, who sits protectively close to me.

The demon growls, pulling against the earth restraining him. At any moment, the Hungering Ones could release Maelverynox. But they don’t.

“And while you struggle, there in the deep earth, I will hunt your Adan down, and only once I end him, will you know any semblance of peace.”

The demon is fighting to pry himself free of the earth.

“But first, I will see every thought that has crossed your mind, concerning me and my mate.”

Does Memnon’s magic even work on demons?

Around us, flashes of light illuminate the clouds of Memnon’s power as he tips the demon’s head back. I can see his arms trembling with the effort it’s taking him to keep his power in check.

It’s hard to tell through the thickening clouds of his magic what’s happening between the sorcerer and demon, but Maelverynox shrieks and writhes, and then he subsides, growing almost peaceful, and I think that Memnon must be deep inside his mind.