him,” the demon said, his glance indicating Ian. Then he laughed, a dry, crackling sound. “You’re not supposed to be here . . . halfling. We heard . . . you’d left him.”
“Halfling. How marginally insulting,” I said mockingly. “Don’t tax yourself thinking up something better, though. You’ll need all your wits to tell me everything Dagon is up to.”
“Kill . . . him,” the demon repeated, his one eye glaring at Ian.
My other nature hit the bars of her cage hard enough to make my vision briefly go black. I kept her down, but I was shaken. Was it always going to be like this? Fighting my other half when my stress levels were high?
“I could rip the last of your water out of you and choke you with it,” I said in a dispassionate tone. I might not let my other nature get control again, but I could pretend I would. “Or, you could tell me what I want to know.”
“Dagon is . . . weaker.” The demon’s voice cracked even more. Talking must be hard on his shriveled vocal cords. “Needs to slaughter . . . souls that got away . . . to take back power they stole from him. Why Dagon killed . . . the woman in Egypt . . . and others. But he really wants . . . him.” Emphatic nod at Ian. “Used . . . the blood he’d collected from . . . an old amusement park . . . to cast spell to find him—”
I shoved the blade through his eye. It was that or let my other nature rocket back on top. Hearing how meticulously Dagon had plotted Ian’s death shredded my control.
“That was premature,” Ian remarked, yanking his blade from the now dead demon’s other eye. “He might have had more information.”
“Maybe you don’t realize it,” I said between clenched teeth. “But I’m having a problem at the moment.”
“Does that problem have eyes that shoot silver beams while darkness billows behind her like a cape?” He grinned. “Made me rock hard seeing it.”
He was aroused by my supernaturally sociopathic other half? “Fuck. You,” I bit out.
He nodded. “Solid plan.”
He snatched me close, murmuring, “Don’t,” when I tried to shove him away. “Your other half never fights for control when you’re in my arms, does she?”
Damn his selective memory! Yes, I felt too much when I was in Ian’s arms. Those feelings might lock the bars on her cage, but oh, how they ripped at my heart now.
One crisis at a time.
With that in mind—and yes, some personal motivation—I wrapped my arms around Ian and kissed him with everything I’d been holding back before.
His grunt of surprise turned into a groan of pure lust. When I pulled away, his lip was bleeding. He grabbed my hair, stared into my eyes, then kissed me with such savage passion, my whole body vibrated from desire.
“Veritas!” I faintly heard. I pushed past the erotic fog enough to hear Leah say again, louder, “Veritas!”
“Sod off, ghost,” Ian growled.
I dragged my mouth away to see Leah hovering over Ian’s shoulder. “You are getting carried away,” she said in a tone that reminded me she’d been a Puritan when she was alive. “I’ve already seen too much with the two of you.”
I glanced at Ian . . . and Leah hadn’t exaggerated. His umber shirt was in tatters from where I’d torn it in blind need to touch his skin. His jacket had fared better, but not by much, and one more rip at his waist would have his pants off. As it was, they appeared held up more by Ian’s erection than by their remaining fabric. Add that to the blood covering him from the red wave I’d hit him with, and I’d seen people mauled by mountain lions that looked in better shape.
“Oh,” I said, mildly embarrassed. On the plus side, I didn’t feel my other nature at all anymore.
“Quite,” Leah said in an acerbic tone. “I don’t dare leave to give you privacy, either. I left for that reason earlier, which is why I wasn’t there when the demons first attacked you. It’s also unwise to continue your tryst in the exact same spot the demons found you at, don’t you agree?”
I did, and if I’d been thinking with my brain instead of my lower parts, I would have realized that.
“She does have a point,” Ian said. “Hold on.”
I didn’t have a chance to say anything else. Ian’s arms tightened, then