Reaper (Dark in You 8)

Hands clamped around his upper arms. “You’ve got to get up,” said Larkin as Knox raced past them. “Now, Levi. Up.”

Her nerves wracked by fear and dread, Piper restlessly paced up and down in front of the bed, her demon equally hyper-edgy. Even as she knew that Levi, Knox, and Larkin could take out Enzo without her aid, she hated not being part of the battle. It galled her to sit it out. But she hadn’t objected. It would be stupid, given she wasn’t at her best right now. Expending so much psychic energy fruitlessly fighting the hold that … whatever his name was … had on her mind had left her woozy.

Still, having no idea how the battle was going made it hard to stay put. She wished she could at least see what was happening. Hearing the sounds of complete chaos didn’t help in the slightest. “You have to go out there, Keenan.”

“The others have this,” he assured her, leaning casually against the wall, though anyone could see he didn’t want to be holed up in here anymore than she did.

“But Enzo can conceal himself, and he bought a gift he seemed eager to use that could cause a lot of pain,” she said.

He gave her a stubborn look. “I promised Levi I’d ensure you stayed here. He was terrified that you’d be killed, so his head was already a mess before the battle even started. If you go out there, you’ll distract him—he can’t deal with that right now. And you admitted you’re not feeling at your best.”

She exhaled heavily and halted in front of him. “I didn’t say I should go out there. Yeah, my pride is suffering here, but I’m not going to let that lead me to make dumb decisions. I’ll stay right here. You, however, could go out there.”

His brows snapped together. “What? No way. I’m staying.”

“Did you promise Levi you would?”

Keenan hesitated. “No, but I said I’d ensure you didn’t leave this room.”

“And I won’t, I swear. Help them, Keenan. Enzo obviously isn’t making this easy or it’d be over by now. He’s fought often enough with you guys to know how you fight. He’s exploiting that. After all Enzo’s responsible for, I’d say Levi might just use the death touch. I want to save him from that, because I know he’ll never forgive himself. Except I can’t do that personally. I’m asking you to do it for me. To do it for him. Please, Keenan, I’ll—”

An animal sound of pain ripped through the air.

The bottom fell out of Piper’s stomach as horror punched through her. “Levi.” Without thought, she raced to the door, yanked it open, and stumbled out into the hallway … just as footfalls came toward her. There was no one in sight, but she knew … Enzo.

Piper didn’t bother hitting him with hellfire. Instead, she yanked up her tee, exposing her stomach. She could only assume that Enzo’s eyes landed on the death ballad brand, because footfalls stumbled to a halt and then a male humming filled the air. His body flickered into view like a faulty light bulb. His dazed eyes were locked on the music score, and he didn’t seem to sense Knox coming up behind him.

She jumped as Enzo slammed face first to the floor. He was somehow flipped onto his back, and then his hands and feet were pinned in place. It was only then Piper remembered that Knox had psychic hands.

Her only concern for her mate, she dropped her tee back in place and was about to shrug past her Prime when she noticed Levi and Larkin prowling down the hallway. Relief fluttered through Piper. Both demons looked a little worse for wear. Okay, a lot worse for wear, but they were alive and in one piece—that was what mattered.

Levi’s gaze raked over her, thoroughly scrutinizing her from head to toe. In a minute, I’m gonna kiss the breath from your lungs. Right now, I’m going to deal with this piece of shit here.

She had no objections to any of that.

Twisting his mouth, Levi glared down at a still-humming Enzo. “Let’s snap him out of his daze, shall we?” He crouched down and briefly touched Enzo’s leg.

The humming abruptly stopped, and awareness bled into the male’s eyes. He blinked a few times, taking in the scene. Pure fright lit his gaze, and his entire body tensed. He jerked upward—or tried. Knox’s psychic hands held him down, but that didn’t stop the idiot from writhing and squirming so intensely his face reddened.

Piper felt a smile curve her mouth. “Doesn’t feel so good to be helpless like that, does it?”

Enzo bent his head back and tossed her a sneer even as he continued to struggle.

“I can’t tell if he really thinks he’ll get free or if he’s just trying to entertain us a little,” said Levi, a taunting note in his voice.