Demon Bound

to say it. He’d found nothing in the prophecy.
    Her body was rigid. She would not fall. There must still be something . “May I see?”
    The sheet of paper appeared in her hand. It fluttered, and she had to force her fingers to cease their shaking. The words blurred in front of her. Dragons and blood. Caelum’s voice. They meant nothing, there was nothing here—
    “Oh, dear God.”
    Upon the destruction of Michael’s heart, Belial will ascend to the Morningstar’s throne.
    She read the line again. Jake’s hands circled her waist, steadying her. And she knew his tormented expression was not because the prophecy contained nothing to use as an exchange.
    It was because Teqon would never accept any replacement.
    “Jacob.”
    Jake pulled her against his chest as he turned to face Michael. Her arms trapped between them, Alice crushed the paper in her hand, vanished it. She would study the rest of the prophecy later. She could not read another word without screaming.
    And she could not let herself give up.
    But at this moment, she needed to push it away. She closed her eyes, and listened to the rumble of Jake’s deep voice.
    The nephilim were searching for Anaria. Earlier, Michael had not even blinked when she’d told him about Zakril’s lie. His reaction to Jake’s news, and the announcement that he and Alice would look for the temple, was just as flat.
    “Very well. I will continue hunting the nephilim.”
    She felt Jake’s nod. “And what about Khavi?”
    “We must wait. If Belial is still with her and we appear, he will kill her rather than let her leave.”
    Sensing Michael’s hesitation, Alice looked up. Reluctance cast a shadow over his features.
    “The symbols were to keep you there, Alice. Belial cannot lie. He would have used Jacob to teleport, and formed a bargain to keep you both in service.”
    Alice frowned. Both in service? What could she do—direct spiders to devour Lucifer’s armies?
    The muscles against her forearms hardened. Jake’s arms tightened around her, and fury heated his reply. “What—he hasn’t had a Guardian to try it on? Would all of them get in on the action? What’s the fucking deal with demons thinking they should have kids?”
    Oh, dear heavens. Alice touched her stomach, felt sick.
    Bitter humor twisted Michael’s mouth. “It is an act of creation. They believe it will bring them closer to Glory.”
    But it was not all terrible. Not when it had been willing. It had created Michael. And yet Belial also looked forward to Michael’s destruction, because he believed it would gain him a throne.
    Jake shook his head, anger still sharpening his voice. “All I know is, if that’s the path to Glory, I’m hopping off. And leaving a few land mines behind.”
    “If you give me notice, I will help you bury them.” Michael smiled slightly, then gave a short nod. “Find me if you need anything.”
    A soft sound filled the air when he disappeared, like the pop of a champagne cork.
    Jake’s arms were still around her. She didn’t want to pull out of that strong embrace. Didn’t want to return yet to the prophecy, and her bargain.
    “ ‘Jacob,’ ” she echoed, smoothing her fingers from his collar to his shoulders. Her eyes were level with his clenching jaw. How cowardly she was. “Is he the only one who calls you by that name?”
    “Yeah. Unless my grandma is in the Guinness Book for ‘oldest woman.’ ” The shadows on his face deepened when he tilted his head forward. “Listen, Alice—”
    “Please!” Her fingertips covered his lips. “Don’t say anything. Let’s not either of us speak.”
    He dropped his brow to hers. His eyes were closed, and she shut hers, as well. “No talking at all?”
    “None.”
    “For how long?”
    “I will tell you.”
    His breath moved over her mouth in a silent laugh, and he nodded. Content, it seemed, to hold her and wait.
    That would not do at all. In the silence, her mind was already leaping where she didn’t want it to go.
    But there was another leap she could make. And he would not ask questions she wasn’t prepared to answer.
    Such as why, when she knew it was best to shun intimacy, she wanted to lift her lips to his. And she would not have to look within herself to discover what had changed in the past week—would not have to find an answer to how “you must see that I can’t” had become “please” and “now” and “quickly.”
    No gentleness. She didn’t need it, didn’t want it. Jake would never