Shadow man indeed; the fucker was full of powerful mojo, even though he was nothing more than a wall of mist. Bitterly, she shook her head as an image of the demon, Tag, dissolving into a puddle of crap entered her thoughts. He’d done that.
Disobey me and the jaguar dies.
A whisper of blackness flew through the room and Azaiel smiled at her, his lips slowly parting into a grin that left her feeling sick to her stomach. She whipped around, her fingers still massaging her sore throat and froze at the sight before her. Shadowy figures bent over Jagger, gray visions of evil that hung in the air, waiting to pounce. She had no clue what the hell they were, but their presence was enough.
The threat to Jagger was real.
“I’ll do whatever you want,” she croaked, her voice coarse from his attack. “But you have to promise me, Jagger will be safe.”
He smiled at her, and she blinked as his features began to solidify before her eyes. They wavered for a second before blurring into mist once more.
You’re in no position to ask for anything.
He held his hand out again and she shuddered as his eyes slowly drifted over her nakedness. When she felt the cold touch of him on her skin she hissed and stepped back.
His eyes burned heavily, the black depths sinking into a rush of gold.
Cover yourself and follow me.
Skye hesitated as panic began to join in the fun. If only she could find a way—
I will kill him, slowly, and take you regardless. Do not test me. I’m giving you a choice, which is not something I do lightly.
His voice was amplified inside her skull and she wanted nothing more than to rip him from her brain, but she bent her head instead.
Skye quickly gathered her clothes, slipping them over her limbs as her mind raced ahead, trying to figure a way out of this.
None of this made sense. The fucking portal was missing, she’d just had the best sex ever with a man she could envision spending the rest of her life with, and the demon Azaiel, the one who’d visited her in her dreams and nightmares for decades, was nearly corporeal.
Giving her orders. Telling her he’d lead her to the portal. What the hell was in it for him?
“Why is it you’re willing to lead me to the disc? How do you even know where it is?” she asked once she was dressed. “Seems to me you’d want it to remain hidden.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t get it. You must know I plan to seal it forever.”
Azaiel stared at her for several long seconds and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. His silent stare made her uncomfortable, nervous.
A cold, dead smile drifted over his handsome face and she felt a ripple of alarm slide through her veins. Skye took a step back as the power inside of him slithered across his shadowy form, draping him in another layer that solidified him even more.
I’ve been waiting years for this moment, millennia, in fact. You’ll find out soon enough.
He turned and his laughter echoed inside her head once more. The alarm bells were ringing and the intensity of it all was giving her a headache. His cryptic words did little to shed light on the situation. In fact they scared the crap out of her, but at the moment she had no choice but to obey.
Skye was gonna have to play fast and loose. There were too many balls in the air, and at the moment she didn’t want to catch any of them.
She followed Azaiel out of the stone structure and didn’t look back at Jagger. She couldn’t. To do that would break her, and she had a long road ahead.
Chapter 24
Dark and light mixed together to form a low-lying fog that clung to the jungle floor like a silk blanket. It ebbed and flowed with the rain that had been falling steadily ever since the night before. Alas, it seemed the rainy season had finally found its way to Belize.
Skye was soaked, her hair plastered to her skin, and though it was warm, unbearably so, it only added to the misery she felt inside. They’d been walking for hours, it seemed, and after everything she’d been through over the last several days, Skye could feel her strength waning. She gritted her teeth as she pressed on. She had to keep her wits about her.
Yes, we’re nearly there.
Once more Azaiel’s voice penetrated her mind and she grimaced, ignoring him completely. She’d studied him closely as they moved through the jungle, her shadow man from hell.
He confused her and she didn’t quite know what to make of him. Oh, he still scared the crap out of her and she tried to avoid his gaze. His eyes were dark, opaque, almost dead-looking. When they were focused on her, there was an intensity about him that made her very nervous.
There were many layers to her dream demon, and her gut was telling her that he was not at all what she thought he was.