Demon Night

have forced her into almost anything just by overpowering her. He wouldn’t have needed a bargain.
    “I reckon. It’s peculiar that a demon who suffered such a terrible insult in Eden would be willing to forgo the easy opportunity to kill me—particularly as he doesn’t gain anything by letting me live. Unless I have something he wants. And as he was preparing to bargain with you, Charlie, it must have been something he thought you’d be able to get him.”
    Her fingers twisted together on her lap. “Breaking through the spell?”
    “Word travels awful fast,” Ethan said softly. “But I’m wondering why he wants through it so bad—though I can figure one reason right quick.”
    A strange hope lifted through her. “Jane?”
    Ethan’s left elbow lay easily on his thigh, and his hand had been relaxed and open beside his knee. A gun appeared in his grip, and he added its threat to the crossbow’s.
    Oh, Lord . If Ethan was only now using it, had he not been able to before? How badly was he still injured?
    However badly, he didn’t show any sign of it. His voice was low and speculative, with no suggestion of pain. “I reckon so, Charlie. Jane’s locked herself away from him—or maybe one of his demons or vampires double-crossed him. Either way, he needs us to get to her. Which puts us in a mighty fine position.”
    She felt a slight movement behind her. The pressure at her throat increased, forcing her to tilt her head back against Sammael’s shoulder. The skin around Ethan’s mouth paled.
    The demon’s breath was hot against her neck. “My life for hers, Guardian. If I won’t live to see Jane, then it hardly matters to me if Charlotte lives to free her.”
    Charlie closed her eyes, her heart pounding sickeningly in her chest. Sammael was going to force him into a bargain.
    Ethan was silent for a long moment. “Your life for hers ain’t good enough,” he finally said. “You’d best sweeten the deal, demon.”
    “Not good enough?” Sammael stiffened, and disbelief added a sharp note to his reply. Then his laughter, hard and contemptuous. “No, perhaps her life isn’t worth much. What else do you have in mind, McCabe?”
    That couldn’t have been what Ethan meant, but her nerves were stretching thin. Air whistled from her throat; Charlie made herself stop breathing, concentrated on the non-rise of her chest.
    “That it ain’t enough for you not to kill her now . I reckon that ought to be permanent.”
    Sammael didn’t hesitate. “As long as it is equal: I will never kill her, if you never do the same to me.”
    “That’s acceptable,” Ethan said, and Charlie squeezed her eyes more tightly together. He’d agreed so easily, but it must be tearing at him to give up any chance to avenge his brother. “But it still ain’t enough. You demons are right sneaky bastards, and your promise not to kill her wouldn’t prevent you from asking any of your subordinates to carry out the same. So what we need here is a promise that, for as long as you live, you’ll protect Charlie from all harm, and that you’ll do everything within your power to prevent any hurt from coming to her. And, should an occasion arise where she needs something from you, you’ll provide it to her.”
    “And you’ll do the same for me?” Sammael’s voice still held laughter, but triumph threaded through the tones now. “You’ll protect me from other Guardians?”
    “No,” Ethan said flatly. “You ain’t just asking for your life; this bargain is assuming we’ll retrieve Jane. And what you’re hoping to get is a lifetime of living with Jane, protecting and providing for her. So if we give you that, then it’s equal that you’re giving Charlie the same.”
    Charlie swallowed. “What if Jane dumps him?” she rasped.
    Sammael hissed in her ear; the sting of his blade was followed by the cool slide of blood down the front of her throat. She stopped breathing again.
    “Bargain or not, that’s the last hurting you’ll ever get in on her.” Ethan’s statement was delivered softly, but with an edge as sharp and dangerous as the blade. Gooseflesh rose over her skin. “And if Jane leaves you, that’ll be of her free will—but you’ll always be bound to protect Charlie from any threat, except for those threats that are from humans. In that way, human free will is honored on both sides of the bargain, and you won’t be required to break the Rules.”
    Sammael’s hand lay still and burning against her neck