Page 40 of Bond of Passion

Chapter 14

She’d almost killed him. Sixty seconds ago, she’d been on the verge of plunging her knife into Tavin’s heart.

It was nothing personal, babe. You were just a contract.

You were also a shitty lay.

Logically, Deja knew he had been playing the role of remorseless assassin. But at some point, she’d stopped acting. She’d let her emotions take over, and she was lucky she hadn’t blown the whole thing.

“So,” he said through the bloodied lips she’d given him, “what’s the plan?”

She stood there for a moment, using precious seconds to compose herself. Finally, she uncapped the syringe and walked around behind him.

“The plan,” she said flatly, “is to give you your injection like I was supposed to do. Then I’m releasing the Bracken Cuffs.”

The prick of the needle made him suck air, and she couldn’t help but smile. She wasn’t being gentle about it. At all.

“Great,” he said roughly. “And great acting, by the way. Totally believable.”

Because it wasn’t an act. “Thanks.”

“You were acting, right?” He paused, and she let the silence hang like a dead fleshebiest. “Because you seemed kinda angry.”

She moved around in front of him. “Do you seriously want to hash this out right now? We have like three minutes left. And maybe you could scream.”

He let out a bloodcurdling scream, probably honed by hours of pain, but his voice went raspy and flat after a few seconds. “How’s that?”

“Could have used some oomph, but it’ll have to do.”

“Oomph? After twelve hours of torture, I’m pretty oomphedout.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have killed all those people.”

“Spicy nurse strikes again,” he murmured.

She ignored him and avoided his gaze—and his nakedness—as she ran her fingers along the edges of his leg shackles. “I’m going to unlock the cuffs, but I’ll leave them on so no one will know you’re free. When the fallen angel comes to heal you, snap one on him.”

“You got the key?”

The cuffs snapped loose. “Something like that.” She kept an eye on the windows and door as she unlocked the bindings from his swollen wrists. Private time was supposed to be private, but demons were demons, and she wasn’t naïve.

“Where’s everyone else?”

She straightened. “There is no one else. It’s just us, so I hope you have the energy to fight.”

His eyes shot wider than she’d have thought they could, given the discoloration and swelling. “You’re kidding, right? Tell me you’re kidding.”

“Nope. We’re on our own.”

He cursed in at least six languages. “We are in deep shit.”

“Glad you understand the situation,” she said drily. “I hope you’re a badass because we’re outnumbered and outmatched. But if you can get the fallen angel into the cuffs, we might have a chance.”

“Do Bracken Cuffs work on fallen angels?”

She shrugged. “They claim to be immune, but they exaggerate. The effect is sometimes only temporary though, depending on their strength. We’ll need to work fast.”

“How do you know so much about Bracken Cuffs?”