Chapter 38

My soul for the location of where Bree was being hidden. I couldn't save her if I couldn't find her. And if I couldn't save her, what use would my soul be to me? But more than that, I suspected my soul was no longer something I could claim ownership of. But the demon didn't know that.

"Tell me her location first, so I can pass it on to her other friends," I pulled Nancy from my side and pointed the demon blade at the Scourge curling around and around, its coils undulating as it bargained with me.

"No. I want your soul first."

"Terrible idea," Nancy grumbled. "Just stab it in the heart, right there at the base of the neck. That will send it back to hell."

"One of us is a known demon, liar, Scourge," I said. "So you are the one who will offer the goods first."

The Scourge hissed and grumbled. The wounds I'd inflicted on it weren't going to kill it. I wasn't sure that I could kill it at all, which didn't mean I wouldn't bother to try until this deal was done. I rolled the handle of Nancy's blade in my right hand and my sword in my left. "You tell me where she is, and I will give my soul to you. That is the deal, or nothing."

The Scourge chuckled.

Nancy muttered something under his breath that sounded like ‘this is a terrible ducking idea.'

"Fine." The Scourge flicked a tail in my direction and began to draw on the floor, its acid blood etching the stone. "In the sea between the languages of?—"

"No." I pointed both blades at the Scourge. "You either say it plainly, or I kill you now."

The Scourge let out a long low raspberry, flicking all its tongues at me. "Fine. She's on the Isle of the Lost, off the coast of France. The castle is where she is being held. Your mother saw it clearly as you approached her home." The Scourge leaned toward me. "Hold out your hand. I will take your soul now."

There was no regret in me. I'd come to find Bree, and that's what I'd done. I looked over my shoulder at Lorz.

"Send a message to Haven House, in Savannah. Tell them where to find Bree."

Lorz bowed. "I will take it myself."

I turned back to the demon and lowered my sword. With only a little fear, I held out my hand, gambling that I was right about the ownership of my soul. "Take it then."

If you can.

The Scourge flicked its tail toward me, a thin tendril of power drifting from it and wrapping around my wrist. There was a sensation of tiny barbs sinking into my skin, digging deeper and deeper as they tried to latch onto something less substantial…

"Where is it?" the Scourge snarled. "Why can't I take it?"

"Oh, that's good," Nancy whispered. "You sneaky bastard, you knew it belongs to her, didn't you? I knew I liked you!"

I stepped back from the Scourge, flipping my sword into my hand. "I suspected."

The Scourge tipped its head back and roared. I didn't want the fight to last longer than it had to. With one swift throw, I launched Nancy toward the spot at the base of the Scourge's neck, where its heart was hidden as Nancy said. He screamed as I threw him, a gleeful screech that ripped through the air, even as he drove himself deep into the Scourge's body.

The beast flailed backward, clutching at its body, trying to dig out the dagger. I kept my sword up, avoiding the limbs and tails, the wings and teeth that swept by me, threatening to hack off pieces if they came too close.

Flopping like a fish out of water, the Scourge fell flat to the throne room floor, green liquid pouring from its nostrils from the wounds I'd inflicted. Wherever the demon's blood fell, the stone and mortar sizzled, crackling under the acid.

A muffled yell came from the beast's body.

I waited until it went still, then made my way around the puddles of acid blood. At the base of the neck, the wound where Nancy had driven in was clearly visible. I drove my sword in above it and hacked my way down to where I could see Nancy's handle.

"Get me out of here, it stinks!"

Using the tip of my sword, I flipped the demon blade out. Nancy flew across the room and clattered to the stone floor. "That was awesome. Please tell me we're going to do that again!"

"You just killed one of your own," I tore down a piece of hanging tapestry and wiped the blade and handle clean of the demon's blood.

"You say that like we don't all have our own agendas. Some demons want to rule the world, sure. Some of us just don't want to get sent back to hell. Others, like Damian and Stavros want to be as human as possible. Lumping us in together is a mistake—a costly one."

Not so different than the fae or any other creature in the supernatural shadow world. We all had our own agendas.