"I can't believe you went to Spice," he said through clenched teeth, "after what we talked about before."

My heart slamming against my ribcage, I snarled at him, "One, we didn't talk about Spice before. You'd arbitrarily decided that I wasn't going to dance anymore. That's not a talk. And two, you also said that it was my decision to make."

"Right. Just like it's your decision to kiss whoever you want, or to not call me when I asked you to call."

"It's not like that! And you're the one who didn't believe me when I told you who I was, what I was!"

"Don't change the subject." His voice was quiet, level, even as his eyes screamed at me. "You kissed some guy who you say you know, but you won't tell me who he is, and he makes it clear he's seen you b.u.t.t naked. And then you walk away from me, don't call me, and go off to Spice. Give me a f.u.c.king break, Jesse-what'm I supposed to think? How'm I supposed to trust you?"

"You didn't believe me before, when I told you what I was," I said, tears stinging my eyes. "Seems like I'm not the only one with trust issues."

We stared at each other, the air between us charged with a tension that bordered on hatred. After all I'd done for him-after I'd chosen to live for him-how could he treat me like this?

"You want me to trust you? Fine. Stop stripping."

Grinding my teeth, I said, "I'll do that when you stop being a cop."

"When h.e.l.l freezes."

A bare second after that, a smoky vapor shot out of his eyes, his ears, his mouth, surrounding him like a black nebula. I blinked and it was gone.

No. No, no, no.

That had to be me projecting my anger and despair. I hadn't seen what I'd just seen. A trick of the light, I told myself, that was all.

But I knew in my heart, in my soul, that I was fooling myself.

"I'm going to sleep on the couch."

For a moment, his words didn't make any sense, and then I realized he was still talking about our fight. Our stupid, human fight. "But aren't we not supposed to go to sleep angry? That's one of the rules. This is the part where we're supposed to kiss and make up."

"Jesse, the way I'm feeling right now, I don't want to touch you."

My breath hitched. The demons of Pride with their instruments of torture couldn't have hurt me more. What he was saying wasn't real.

What I saw wasn't real.

"Please," I whispered, reaching up to touch his cheek, "let's go to bed."

He pushed my hand away.

"Come on, Paul, I'll make you feel good, I'll show you how much I love you-"

"s.e.x isn't going to fix this, Jesse." His voice was as soft as decay. "I need s.p.a.ce tonight."

Biting my lip, I looked down at my feet as the tears spilled down my face. "Want me to leave?" I asked, dreading the answer.

The silence between us grew until I wanted to scream. Finally he said, "It's late. I don't want you walking out there alone."

"Then..." I took a deep breath. "Then shouldn't I at least take the couch? It's your apartment."

"Take the bed. I'll be quiet in the morning so as not to wake you."

Always the White Knight.

I heard his footfalls padding away, down the hall, and then I heard the bathroom fan turn on before a door closed, cutting off the sound. It was as final as a guillotine's blade hitting home.

Paul hated me.

All of this-falling in love, getting a soul-was for nothing.

But even worse than all of that, worse than balking the will of h.e.l.l, the black ring of his aura meant only one thing. I sank down to my knees and sobbed, my head pounding in time to my wails.

Paul Hamilton was going to die.

PART TWO.

THE FURY AND THE DEMON.

Chapter 9.

Paul's Apartment A hint of eggs... frying, maybe... Breakfast?

The press of lips against mine... a tongue prying my mouth open to dance over my teeth.

Paul.

With an ummm sounding in my throat, I surrendered myself to that kiss, let that tongue slice me, attack me. Not soft and loving... something hard. Something raw.

Desire.

Paul... love, I knew you'd forgive me...

I tried to open my eyes, but they were caked with old makeup and restless sleep, and they preferred to remain firmly shut. Besides, the kiss worked better with my eyes closed.

My mouth locked against his as my tongue joined in the action. His cologne filled my nose-a spicy, primal scent that screamed male. Eau d'Aphrodisiac. My back arched, pushing my b.r.e.a.s.t.s against the silk of his shirt, offering them like fruit from a tree, ready to be plucked, sucked, squeezed. A delicious tingle of wetness down low, followed by a growing warmth between my legs. As my body woke up-very, very happily-my brain was still wrapping its mental arms around the concept of no longer being asleep. And something else.

The hungry kiss... the cologne...

... were wrong.

Paul?

Stop that, my body told my brain. s.e.x! s.e.x! Let's have s.e.x!

My brain told my body to go f.u.c.k itself, and commanded me to wake up. Now.

I tried to say something, but that's tough to do when you're already speaking in tongues. So I broke the kiss, forced open my eyes.

"Hey babes," Daun said. "Miss me?"

Oh f.u.c.k.

All the sweet warmth pulsing through my body instantly coated with ice. I scrambled backward and up, stopping when I felt the cool wood of the headboard pressing against my back. Daun's amber gaze lingered over my bare b.r.e.a.s.t.s, traveled down to my pubic hair. In my effort to backpedal away, I'd kicked off the comforter.

Mental note: Wear pajamas.

"Missed you," Daun said to my crotch. "Been thinking about you all night."

"I'm nattered."

"You been thinking about my offer?" His heated gaze rested on my face, and I squirmed as I felt his power, his presence, caress my jaw. "You ready to come back with me, get the orgy started?"

"I..." Black dots swam in my vision, so I closed my eyes. Marginally better-now the black dots were purple, and sort of lit up the backs of my eyelids. I wasn't in any shape to fend off a h.o.r.n.y demon.

Especially when I wasn't completely sure I wanted him to leave. "I don't know."

A pause, then: "You don't know? I'm offering you the best s.e.x of your existence, and you don't know? What's there to think about?"

"h.e.l.l's sort of a one-way trip now that I've got a soul."

"Please, that thing? A few months with me, you'll be back down to demon standard. If it could happen to your old Queen, it could happen to you."

Maybe. But Lillith had been the First Woman (the pre-Eve model), not to mention cursed by G.o.d. Those things had helped her morph into the first mortal demon. All I had were my good looks and charming personality. "The King wouldn't exactly welcome me back with open arms."

"The King's got other issues on His plate right now. He's making waves, and a number of the old G.o.ds are grumbling. He'll be too busy to notice one former Seducer returning to the fold." Daun paused, and I heard the smile unfurl across his face. "You and me, and lots of s.e.x. What do you say, babes?"

Thinking of Paul, I said, "No."

"No," Daun repeated, as if he didn't understand the word. Then he let out a throaty chuckle that was the stuff of s.a.d.i.s.tic villains. "Jezebel. You really think that love will save you, don't you?"

My eyes opened with a will of their own. Daun still wore a human costume-round face, curly brown hair, no horns-but beneath the sh.e.l.l of flesh, his power swelled, rippling through his form. Raw s.e.xual desire, sensuality dripping like honey, thick and clinging and oh, so very sweet... All I needed to do was open wide, and he would fill me, thrill me, take me to places I've never imagined...

I clamped my teeth down on my bottom lip. With the pain came the clear thought: No.

His power reared back, settled down. And waited.

Oh, f.u.c.k me, that had been so close. It would have been so easy to just let his magic roll through me, drown me in a sea of mindless pa.s.sion.

"Yes, love," Daun said, as if nothing had pa.s.sed between us. "You and your flesh puppet with the shoulders, you have such an adorable routine going. You're just too cute. I watch you, you know. It's better than listening to pundits argue politics." He leaned in close, wrapped in the smell of s.e.x and brimstone. "I watch you play at this love thing. And babes, you give me such a laugh."

All the blood in my body pooled in my ankles as his words. .h.i.t me. "A demonic voyeur," I heard myself say. "My, my."

"Come on, babes," he said, his voice a low purr. "Forget about your meat pie. I'll give you something much better to stick your fingers in." His teeth flashed as his grin stretched impossibly wide.

Shivering, I grabbed the comforter and wrapped it around my body. "I said no."

"No? Why? Because of your meat pie? That mortal piece of flesh?" The grin slipped, leaving his mouth a horrific snarl. "You think you love him, Jezzie? You think he loves you? Where is he now?"

"At work."

"Did he wake you with a kiss, like always? Did he stare into your sleepy green eyes and tell you he loves you? Did you smile at him and tell him the same?"

My eyes widened as Daun threw the morning ritual in my face. He had it down pat-before Paul would slip away to work, he'd do the whole demonic Sleeping Beauty thing, and then, my kiss fresh on his lips, he'd go off to save the world and I'd go back to sleep.

Daun really had been watching us.

s.h.i.t.

"Did he f.u.c.k you last night?" he asked, his eyes shining. "f.u.c.k you good and slow, getting your sweet spot and licking your candy from his lips? Or did he tell you that he doesn't trust you?"

A soft keening sound escaped from my mouth before I whispered, "Stop."

"Did he tell you he couldn't bear to touch you?"

I turned away as my eyes brimmed. "Please. Stop."

"Love sucks, Jezebel. It's complicated and stupid. It plays head games with your heart and heart games with your head. Walk away from it, babes. Come back to the Pit. Together," he said, "we can raise h.e.l.l. The fun way."

Bless me, I hated feeling so lost. "I... I don't know."

"You think about it. As your man makes you feel like s.h.i.t for being who and what you are, you think long and hard."

Something thick lodged in my throat, and I swallowed it down, tasting rotten plums and old pennies.

"Oh, one more thing."

My eyes burning with unshed tears, I looked up at him.

"That heart on the floor in the other room? It's glowing." An ugly smile played on his face. "You might want to think faster. Because Jezebel, I guarantee, whatever it is the Erinyes wants with you, s.e.x is nowhere on the list."

f.u.c.k.

"When you finally see the dark, all you have to do is call my name. Bye, babes." Daun dropped me a wink, and he vanished in a puff of sulfur.

I scrubbed away my tears with the back of my hand. I'd have time for self-pity over what happened with Paul later. Maybe. For now, I had to think about my immediate future. Worrying my lip between my teeth, I wondered what to do.

Option A: Tell Alecto and Daun to f.u.c.k off. But that meant leaving Meg to rot. And no matter how angry and confused I was over how she could have chosen duty over friendship, I loved her still. So Option A meant spending the rest of my life wondering what torment Meg was suffering. Leave the lifelong guilt to others; me, I seriously meant to avoid it. Guilt was murder on the complexion.

Option B: Agree to go to h.e.l.l with Alecto-for whatever reason she wanted me to go in the first place. Find out the truth about Meg. Subject myself to unknown torture, evil, and overall misery for the foreseeable future, and probably longer. Meh. Pa.s.s.

Option C: Agree to go to h.e.l.l with Daun. On the plus side, s.e.x. On the negative side...