Noah took my hand and pulled me through the main room of the club. “Door to the back?”
“Yeah,” I said, clinging to him. I admired Noah’s calm as we made our way through the den of the enemy. My own heart was thudding at a rapid, frightening pace, and my body still throbbed despite Noah’s loving. That meant that the Itch was going to rear itself again very soon. My hand clenched against Noah’s at the thought.
I forced myself to focus on the situation, since no mean, nasty vampires were flinging themselves at us. Yet. “Gee, it seems like everybody went to bed already. Maybe we should come back later-”
“Don’t chicken out on me now, Jackie,” Noah warned, pushing through the door that led to the dark room where I’d met Zane last time.
It shouldn’t have surprised me that Zane was still there, smoking a cigarette and leaning against a table, looking as calm as could be. Perhaps a little sleepy, but I doubted that made him less dangerous. In his dark trench coat and his sexy, tousled hair, he looked like a movie star slumming it in the bad part of town.
Until he smiled, baring his fangs. “Back with reinforcements, I see. One visit a night wasn’t enough for you?” He took a long drag on the cigarette and then ground it out underneath his thick boot. “You must have a thing for fangs.”
I flushed and stepped closer to Noah, letting his broad form protect me. “We’re here to get Remy, so you might as well tell your queen that we want her back.”
Ohpleaseohpleaseohplease, don’t make me see the queen again.
Zane laughed aloud and arched a brow at Noah. “And what brings you here?”
Noah squeezed my hand to silence me, and gestured to the door that Zane was blocking. “Is the queen still in the building?”
“She is. What makes you think that she’d be interested in seeing one of your kind?” Zane crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head at Noah, still amused by the two of us.
“I have a deal to offer her.”
Huh? I jerked Noah’s hand and tried to whisper quietly, “What sort of deal?”
His dark eyes focused intently on Noah, Zane acted as if he hadn’t heard me. “What sort of deal?”
“I’m afraid that my business is hers alone,” Noah replied stiffly, hostility radiating from his body.
They were locked in a stare-down.
Zane shrugged at last. “Suit yourself. I’ll take you to her.”
Noah gently touched my cheek. “Stay here, Jackie.”
“Stay here? Are you on drugs?” But my feet stayed planted as he went to the other door and knocked quietly. Zane opened it, flashing a quick smirk my way.
“Noah,” I protested, “don’t leave me here with him.” I pointed a finger at Zane. “In case you hadn’t noticed, all these vampires want a bit of Suck action, and it makes for awkward conversation.”
Noah laughed and returned to kiss me on the mouth possessively, no doubt trying to brand me as “his” in front of Zane. “He’s going with me. You’ll be here by yourself.”
“Oh.” So I wouldn’t have to see the scary demon queen. Relieved, I went to a booth to wait. “Don’t take too long, okay?”
The smile Noah sent in my direction was slightly wistful, his gaze lingering on me. “I won’t.”
Both men disappeared through the door that led to the lower chambers, leaving me to wonder.
Time passed with excruciating slowness.
I couldn’t tell how much time had passed, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, anyway. I felt like a huge coward for allowing Noah to go see the scary queen by himself, and tried not to think about what was going on. What sort of deal could Noah make with a vampire queen? Blood? Money? Both?
I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and jumped to my feet.
Dear lord, don’t let it be the queen.
The door opened and I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Jackie?” Remy asked. “What are you doing?”
My eyes flew open in surprise. “Remy! You’re free!” I leapt up from the booth to hug her.
She stood there silently, letting me hug her without moving. I pulled away questioningly. “Remy?”
She moved for the door leading out, ignoring me. As she reached for the doorknob, I glanced back and saw Zane in the doorway that led downstairs, watching us. I scowled at him and turned my back. The sooner I was out of his presence, the better. “Remy,” I said again. “Where’s Noah? Is he coming?”
“No,” Remy said, her voice soft and exhausted. “He’s not.”
Fear trickled through me. I turned to Zane in disbelief. “He’s not? Why not?”
“You a little slow on the uptake, Princess?” Zane looked me up and down, then gave a small shake of his head. “He offered a trade to the queen. Himself for your friend.”
I went numb. “He did?” I turned to Remy, seeing Noah’s protective smile in my mind. The way he held my hand to reassure me. His gentle caresses. “He gave himself to her?”
“I told him not to,” Remy said, her normal ebullient personality vanished. “He wouldn’t listen. At first she wanted you in exchange for me. Her plan was to get a new succubus under her wing to train as she liked. She knows she can’t do much with me, since I have a long-standing agreement with my master. But you’d be perfect for her plans.” Remy’s bleached eyes met mine, and I realized what she’d been through.
The fear that had been trickling through me turned into a full-blown panic attack. “Me? Why does she want me?”
“She doesn’t. At least not now.” Zane strode forward, shutting the door behind him. “Once your friend Noah heard that, he offered himself in your place. Nitocris didn’t waste any time-she’s waited centuries to get her hands on another angel, even a fallen one.”
I was going to be sick. “What do we do now?”
Remy snorted angrily. “We go find the damn halo and bring it back to her.”
I put a hand to my forehead, trying to will my racing thoughts into order. “Right. Halo. Crap, we can’t give it to her, Remy.” That would be disastrous all around.
“That’s why you’re going to give it to me,” Zane said, his mocking voice close to my ear. “I’m coming with you. Queen’s orders.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Excuse me?” I stared at Zane. “You’re not coming anywhere with me, jerk-off. Got that?”
“You don’t have a choice,” Zane said, and I felt his hands encircle my neck.
I froze, but he only began to rub my shoulders, as if trying to relax me. Relax? Ha! I skittered away from him, shooting him a scathing glance.
“If I don’t come back with the halo, the queen’s going to destroy your friend. If she catches wind that you’ve abandoned me, left me behind, or worse, conspired with the Host rather than her, your friend bites it. Understand?” He leaned toward me, that arch smile pulling at his mouth.
“Yeah, I got it. Let me guess, the queen has spies everywhere, right? This is like a bad B-movie. I’m waiting for Bruce Campbell to come rushing through the door, trailed by zombies.” I rubbed my forehead, feeling the onset of a headache.
“Your friend is very flippant, Remy. She must get that from you.” Zane sounded amused. Did nothing get under this asshole’s skin?
“Trust me, Jackie was like that long before we hooked up.”
I would have been offended if I hadn’t heard the thread of amusement in her voice. It sounded like the old Remy I knew, not the shell-shocked, exhausted one who had emerged from the dark depths.