Page 37 of Bond of Passion

The vamp clacked his teeth at her again, being all flirty and showy. “You know it. But do kill him quickly. I don’t want him to bleed out before I can drain him.” He looked over at Tavin and pouted dramatically. “Not that there’s much left.”

“I’m curious,” she said, as much to kill time as because she actually did wonder. “How did Tavin kill you?”

“Me?” The vampire laughed. “He didn’t. Anius and I operate a revenge business. We arrange the whole event. We used to track down assassins and notify their victims’ families, but now we locate the victims themselves. Ever since Azagoth went nuclear and brought back the dead, business has been booming.” He winked at her. “We also handle smaller jobs with our on-call vengeance demon, and we do kids’ parties too. I’ll give you my card when we’re done.”

“Thank you,” she said with her most charming, fake smile. “Your entrepreneurial spirit is something everyone should aspire to.”

He beamed at her. “I’m curious, how did you hear about Tavin’s Dar’grut? We didn’t track you down.”

Her smile faltered, but she quickly recovered and cleared her throat to buy some time. If he ran a business, he probably had a website and means to advertise.

“I think I saw an ad. Maybe something on a message board. I decided to come at the last minute.”

“Well, stick around afterward. We’ll get your payment then.” He looked down at his stopwatch, and she let out a relieved breath. “You’re up.” He hit the timer. “Your fun begins now.”

Fun. This was supposed to be fun. This was what she’d wanted for so long.

But as she dragged her feet toward Tavin, weighed down by dread, it didn’t feel so fun.

Think. Think! There had to be a way out of this. If she could free Tavin, they might stand a chance.

But realistically, they’d both die. And she had no way to free him from his shackles unless—

Unless the shackles they were using were Bracken Cuffs.

Yes! They were! Her people had freaking invented the things. They could be locked and unlocked with multiple options depending on price. The most basic needed physical keys. Others used a spoken word. Still others needed a precise touch.

But every cuff would respond to a Neethul. It was a built-in failsafe and a closely guarded secret that no Neethul could be held by Bracken Cuffs so long as they were able to touch an inner edge with their fingers while bound by them.

Now, she just had to hope that her Neebless touch would work as well as a Neethul’s. And that Tavin would have a plan to escape. Because even if he were in good enough shape to fight, they were outnumbered. Right now, there were five demons gathered around, plus the vampire. The fallen angel was missing but probably close, and at least four more demons were outside.

Inhaling deeply, she squared herself in front of Tavin.

And hoped they’d both make it out of this alive.

* * * *

Tavin was pretty sure his eyelids were open, but he could barely see Deja in front of him. And he had no idea what was about to happen.

His vision sucked, but he was certain that none of the jackasses hanging around in his living room were his friends or Underworld General colleagues. Not that he had any friends outside of Underworld General. He’d cut off all ties with everyone from his past after being freed from his assassin contract. New job, new life, and all the other flowery shit he’d read about in one of the self-help books he’d picked up on impulse at a coffee shop bookstore in London.

He was also supposed to be more positive.

Perfect. Because he was positive that he was going to die today. Even if Deja wanted to save him, she couldn’t. Not without help. So, by his calculations, he had approximately fifteen minutes to live.

He blinked a few times to clear his blurry vision. Better. A little. His peripheral was gone, but aside from the black floaties, everything else worked enough to see that Deja was staring at him. Just…staring.

Was this part of the rescue plan?

Please let there be a rescue plan.

“Get on with it!” someone called out.

A grunted, “Yeah,” followed.

Then, “Hey, female. Want my mallet?”

“Here,” a guy shouted, “take my cheese grater!”