“How nice to see you, Claire,” he spoke, a low hissing sound underlying his voice.
Claire reached down and gripped my shirt in her fist, slowly pulling me up behind her. “You just missed Jared, Shax.” Claire said.
My blood ran cold. A Duke of Hell was standing just feet from me in my home. I gripped Claire’s arm and she reached around to pull me against her back, slowly side-stepping until we were standing exactly between the kitchen and the front door. Shax watched us shift with his shark’s eyes, as if he were alert to our every breath.
“Jared is looking for me?” he said, dropping his chin to look straight at Claire. “How interesting.”
The iron stairs clanged with heavy footsteps, and five men encroached upon the doorway. Shax took a few casual steps forward as the men positioned themselves in a half-circle behind him. I dug my fingers into Claire’s arm when I saw a familiar pair of eyes. It was Grahm.
“Nina,” he nodded with a smug smile.
“You take one step near her and you’re a dead man,” Claire seethed.
A wicked smirk twisted Shax’s mouth. “Now, now, Claire. That’s no way for a young lady doing His work to behave.”
“What do you want, Shax?” Claire snapped.
The demon looked down, and then his eyes shot up to target me from under his thick, black eyebrows. “I think we all know what I want, Claire. Nina’s father took something from me,” he tilted his head and stretched his long neck, “it’s quite an embarrassment for a thief to be stolen from—especially the greatest thief that’s ever lived.”
Claire laughed without humor. “You’ve never lived, Shax. And it’s nice to see that you’ve developed some humility.”
“I want the ring, Claire,” he hissed.
“You don’t need the ring. Jared has your stupid book.”
Shax’s beady eyes narrowed. “Where is he?”
Claire shrugged, slowly pushed me back as she took a half-step forward. “He took it to you. I’m sure he’s in your building as we speak.”
“And why would he do that?”
“He didn’t want a filthy demon for a house guest,” Claire growled.
Shax eyed me with curiosity. “Or was he trying to avoid us coming near his Taleh? I understand he’s fallen in love with her. How precious.”
“You can leave, now,” Claire said, more of a demand than an offer.
Shax’s crooked mouth pulled up into a half-smile. “Thank you, Claire. We were just on our way out. But we’ll be taking Nina with us. Jack owes me that.”
“And I owe Jared one,” Grahm said with a smirk.
“I’ll rip out your throat before I’ll let you touch her!” Claire snarled. The guttural sound that came from her throat when she spoke was frightening.
Grahm signaled his men, and they walked cautiously past Shax. Claire gestured behind her for me to stand back as she crouched slightly, set to defend me. One of the men lunged at her, and so quickly that I missed some of her movements, she incapacitated him without effort. The second man tried to swing at her, but she jerked to the side just as two other men rushed from the side. I took a few more steps back as I watched her head butt one of the men, blood spattering in the air, and then strike another in the throat with her fist. The man made a horrific gurgling noise before falling to the ground.
Just as Claire turned to face Shax, Grahm pulled out a gun and held it to Claire’s forehead. She froze.
“I was just going to take Nina, but I think it would better settle the score if he came home to see your pretty face blown away and a sweet little note to let him know we’re violating his girlfriend in a hundred different ways before we kill her.”
I felt my legs disappear, and I reached back to steady myself against the table as Grahm gave me a lewd once-over with his eyes.
Claire smirked. “You’ll fit right in where Jared’s going to send you, Grahm.”
Grahm cocked his weapon, and I felt a solitary tear seep from my eye and trickle down my cheek. Time passed in slow motion as I looked at Grahm’s arrogant expression and then back to Claire. The scene was surreal: Full grown men sprawled on the floor in pools of their own blood, and tiny Claire, a fair-haired teenaged-girl moments away from execution. I held my breath as I watched her slowly close her eyes and wait for the bullet to leave its chamber.
In the same second that Grahm’s finger pressed against the trigger, Claire’s body blurred. The bullet from his gun whirred past me and into the tile above the stove, and Claire rammed her elbow in Grahm’s face, sending blood exploding from his nose. The blow sent him flying through the air, landing at Shax’s feet. Grahm sat up on his knees, teeth gnashing in pain. The blood pooled in his palms and dripped through his fingers onto the floor.
“Enough!” Shax commanded.
Claire immediately backed up against me. She turned her head slightly, still keeping her eyes on Shax. “I’m going to hold him off, Nina…you’re going to have to run. Jared will find you,” she whispered.