Demon Bound

must.”
    The demon turned his back on her as he led the way outside. Rage and shame burned in Alice’s throat. Any other demon would have been in pieces on the floor after offering such an easy target.
    She swallowed it down, and sat gingerly on the edge of a stone bench. Jasmine spilled over the giant urns at each end. Behind her, a date tree bent under the weight of the fruit on its branches.
    Alice smoothed her fingers over her skirts. In the hollow of her knee, she felt Lucy anchor a dragline and begin to descend along her calf.
    At the fountain, Teqon turned to face her, a frown marring his handsome features. “I do not remember you being so rigid, Mrs. Grey. I chose you because you chafed against structure—against authority. It made you more likely to carry out your task.”
    “After one hundred and twenty years, perhaps I have been chafed smooth.”
    “I doubt it.” He slipped his hands into his pockets. “You must have received my message.”
    He did not, she noted, ask about the demons who had delivered it. “I did.”
    “And you intend to follow through.”
    It wasn’t a question. Because she hadn’t attempted to slay him, he must have been certain of her answer.
    “Is there nothing else you want? There must be something that would make you reconsider.”
    “And release you from your bargain?” Teqon laughed, a short and hard sound. “No.”
    “What of the prophecy?”
    His dark eyes began to glow crimson, but his hard smile remained. “That prophecy is all the more reason to fulfill your part.”
    Lucy reached the ground, and Alice felt the widow’s indecision. Alice hesitated, too, for just a moment. But she had nothing that might sway Teqon now, and she doubted he would deal on speculation. Their interview here was at an end.
    Alice stood and lightly opened her Gift, urging the spider toward the date tree. Be safe, little one.
    Teqon’s hand was around her throat an instant later. Her boots left the ground as he lifted her.
    “You used your Gift.” His fingers shape-shifted, became talons. “What is your Gift, Mrs. Grey? What have you done?”
    She pushed Lucy faster. Climb. Climb and hide.
    The demon tried to dig his claws in. His eyes widened with surprise and anger as they scraped across her collar without tearing through.
    He settled for crushing her throat. Pain screamed, left her dizzy.
    “Is it impervious to everything?” Teqon studied her dress, then casually slipped a dagger between her ribs. Something inside tore, collapsed.
    Alice beat back her panic, and the black wave that threatened consciousness. He hadn’t aimed for her heart. Just her lungs. He wasn’t going to kill her. He couldn’t risk killing her.
    He smiled. “It’s not.”
    She only needed to break his hold. Needed to focus through the agony, and call for her weapon so that she could cut through his arm.
    “Let her go, demon.”
    Oh, dear heavens. Jake. He’d teleported behind Teqon, his sword against the demon’s neck.
    Teqon tightened his grip on her throat, gave her a shake. He spoke in English, just as Jake had. “Do you think slaying me would save her, Guardian?”
    Alice recognized the victorious glint in Jake’s eyes. It was an easy kill. Jake had the advantage of surprise, of Teqon’s neck already on the edge of his sword, of Alice being in a position that—though she was injured—wasn’t mortally dangerous.
    And any other time, she would have told him to take it. Alice lifted her hand and signed, Don’t kill him. When Jake frowned and the edge of his blade drew blood, she frantically added, I beg you, please.
    His jaw tightened, but he moved toward her, keeping his sword at Teqon’s throat. His arm circled her waist. “Let her go.”
    Teqon unclenched his hand, and Alice’s head fell back against Jake’s shoulder—her muscles too damaged to hold it up.
    “Only because she cannot serve our purpose if she is dead. We are fated to take the throne in Hell and return to Glory—”
    “Yeah, yeah. Save it,” Jake said, backing up. “I’ve heard it before from your buddy Sammael, and thought it was bullshit then, too.”
    “I wonder if you’ll say that when I take your heart, fledgling.” Teqon’s gaze shifted to her face. “You will pay your debt, Mrs. Grey.”
    With a shudder, she called in the demon’s heart from her cache. It was still as warm as when she’d cut it from his chest in the temple.
    She tossed the organ, and it landed with a plop at Teqon’s feet.
    Its