Demon Moon

every worthless one of them for her.” His gaze shifted to the side. “Darkwolf knows this well.”
    “Yes.” Disappointment roughened Darkwolf’s reply. “We have no use for such as you.”
    “You’d best run; you’d best go far. The foxes are inside the warren; there is no protection here for you and your partners, and no help will arrive. He will kill anyone who witnessed his humiliation, or he will force me to do it.”
    The warren? Savi forced herself not to think, not to give anything away.
    A breathless silence hovered between them; then the sound of Darkwolf’s boots as he turned and left. Arwen’s soft slippers. Gina’s heels. Dalkiel’s laughter filled in the rest.
    “You don’t seek to control us,” Colin said. “You allowed the nosferatu to murder two vampires; you cannot rule over those who are dead. What is it you truly want?”
    Ariphale spoke for the first time, its voice guttural. “Chaos.”
    Savi was certain she misinterpreted the emotions that flashed over Colin’s expression: surprise and dismay, she understood—but relief? How could it be anything but disastrous for a demon to know Colin was anchored to that realm?
    Oh, god. Because he did have something Dalkiel wanted—and it gave Colin room to bargain.
    “Eavesdropping,” Colin murmured with a smile, “is a rather boorish activity. Don’t you agree, sweet?”
    She nodded as best she could, though her heart pounded an unnatural rhythm. Don’t bargain .
    How much had Ariphale heard through its cell walls? How much had it told Dalkiel?
    Apparently enough.
    “An open portal to Chaos,” Dalkiel said. “Lucifer derived so much of his power from the dragons in that realm before he lost access to it, I’d be a fool not to take advantage of it. Five hundred years will be time enough to learn to wield it. When the Gates open, Hell will be mine, and I’ll leave the Earth to Ariphale, and free his imprisoned brethren.”
    The nosferatu’s eyes burned. Impatience surrounded him, like an electric blue fog. Not much trust existed between the two, Savi realized, but they’d formed a partnership out of necessity.
    “You’ll need Savi alive.” Colin’s gaze held hers. “The portal opens when her shields fail.”
    “Yes, but we don’t need you,” Dalkiel said. “Only your blood. If the other nosferatu were anchored to the realm by drinking it, so will Ariphale be. And so you will submit to him. Here, standing before those weaker than you. If your blood kills him, she will die. If you struggle before he’s drained you, she will die.”
    Savi fought to speak. The demon had it wrong. The imprisoned nosferatu had taken Colin’s blood, but it had been shed in a ritual, from specific symbols. And the portal depended upon the both of them—Ariphale couldn’t have heard that. The room had been shielded when they’d realized it.
    But Colin wouldn’t correct his misassumption, as it probably rendered useless whatever bargain the nosferatu and demon had made. Their misconception that Savi alone was the key prevented Dalkiel from killing her.
    From killing them both.
    Colin shook his head—a tiny, almost undetectable movement.
    And what came out instead was her laughter. “You’re afraid of him,” she realized. “You have to threaten me to control him? You can’t forget what he did to you on the roof, can you? He humiliated you.” Dalkiel’s claws pierced her side…and dug deeper as she continued, “You don’t know what the hell he is, and he frightens you. Does he remind you of what you used to be? Two times you fought him, and two times you ran like a fucking cow—”
    “Stop, Savi,” Colin said desperately. “Stop.”
    She had to anyway. The pain swamped her vision, blinding her with crimson.
    “Take him,” Dalkiel said.
    And she saw that, somehow. Though the red haze, saw Ariphale’s fangs rip at Colin’s neck, his mouth cover the wound. She scented the rich flavor of his blood.
    Her blood, too. It leaked out of her, wet and sliding, and all of her seemed to be sliding and moving and pushing the wrong way.
    “Hold on, sweet.” He was losing strength, losing blood, but even now he was thinking of her, thinking…
    Think, Savi .
    Dalkiel’s hand twisted before he yanked it from her flesh and slapped it over her mouth. Was she screaming?
    Colin’s knees buckled; the nosferatu held him up, sucking and sucking.
    Oh god. Think . What did she have? No venom or hellhound.
    Should you leave and Sir Pup stay,