“Lynx.” Xi stepped next to the sprite.
The imp frowned, but he was more confused than alarmed. There were enough vampires in the rebellion not to set off immediate alarms.
“Who are you?”
Xi touched the sprite on the back. “Return to your duties,” he commanded.
Silently, Colly turned to leave. The sprite would eventually wake from the compulsion with no memory of having seen Xi.
Dismissing the creature from his mind, Xi concentrated on the imp, who was picking his way through the checkboard of blankets and mattresses to stand in front of him.
“I asked a question,” the male said.
Xi arched a brow. Most imps were ballsy. This one was straight-up suicidal. Probably because he had been singled out to create the curses for the rebellion. It made him mistakenly believe he was indispensable.
A shame Xi didn’t have the time or interest to rid the fey of his misplaced arrogance.
Grabbing the front of the sweatshirt, he yanked the imp forward. “Mine.”
Lynx blinked. Obviously stronger-willed than the sprite. “Let me go, leech.”
Xi released a burst of power. “Mine.”
“Not until—”
“Come with me,” Xi interrupted the slurred words, turning to head out of the open space.
The imp obediently followed him, although Xi could sense him battling against the compulsion. His hold wouldn’t last long.
Zigzagging back through the passages at a dizzying speed, Xi at last halted in front of the cell. Brigette stepped forward, but he lifted his hand in warning. He couldn’t risk having the imp distracted. Not when his hold on the creature was so tenuous.
Grabbing Lynx by the arm, he pointed toward the small box. “Remove the curse.”
The male licked his lips, a sheen of sweat forming on his forehead. “Maryam,” Lynx rasped.
Xi’s fingers dug into the male’s arm. “Remove the curse.”
“No.”
There was the sound of a bone shattering as Xi tightened his grip. “Remove the curse.”
Lynx whimpered, the sweat dripping down his face as he desperately tried to battle against the compulsion. Then, with slow, jerky movements, he reached out to touch a finger to the box. He spoke soft words in a language Xi didn’t understand, and Brigette abruptly stepped back. As if she could sense something happening with the magic. Xi hoped the male was destroying the curse, not setting it off. His inability to detect what Lynx was doing was unnerving as hell. Like playing Russian roulette. Only with a curse that could end his life—and Brigette’s—without them having any hope of fighting against the unseen enemy.
At last, a tendril of smoke curled out of the box, and the scent of crushed cloves tainted the air.
“Is the curse gone?” Xi asked Brigette.
The female leaned forward, sniffing the box. “Yes.”
Relief flooded through him. The first hurdle had been cleared. Now to deal with the next dozen.
Lifting his arm, Xi slammed his fist into Lynx’s face. The creature’s eyes rolled back, and he slid to a puddle of unconscious imp on the dirt floor. Xi’s fangs throbbed in anticipation. His impulse was to kill Lynx. Not only because his magic had threatened Brigette; the imp needed to be destroyed before he could create more lethal bombs.
Unfortunately, Lynx was the only one who could deal with the other curses. Which meant he had to stay alive.
For now.
Motioning for Brigette to back away, he waited for her to crouch down and cover her head with her arms. The curse was gone, but the C-4 remained. Once she was braced, he kicked the door open. There was a loud explosion that launched Xi through the air and into the wall. A shower of dirt and rocks from the ceiling dusted him as he groaned from the impact. There’d been some damage, but he was already healing.
He was far more worried about Brigette.
Rushing forward, he met her just as she was squeezing past the mangled door. She was dusty, with a fleck of blood on her face, but there didn’t appear to be any major damage.
Thank the goddess.
He reached out. Every instinct urged him to wrap her tightly in his arms. Not only to reassure himself that she was unharmed, but to absorb her fragrant heat. The fear that he might not be able to rescue her had left him chilled to the bone.
Ironic for a vampire.
But there was a warning voice in the back of his mind, reminding him that the danger wasn’t over. Reluctantly, he contented himself by lightly brushing the dust from her cheek.
Once they were safe, he’d hold her tight against him. And never let her go.
Not ever.
Thankfully unaware of the primitive decision that had already been made deep in his soul, Brigette turned to glance at the unconscious imp.
“You can compel demons?”
He was caught off guard by her question. She’d been trapped in a cage with lethal silver bars, they’d just avoided being annihilated by a curse, and they had a limited time to get out of the tunnels before they exploded, and she was focused on his compulsion skills?
Then he realized why she was troubled. No doubt, she was searching her memories to determine if he’d ever manipulated her with his powers.
“I can only compel lesser demons and only for a short amount of time,” he assured her. Then, reaching down, he grabbed Lynx by the ankle. “Let’s get out of here.”
She fell into step beside him, and together they moved toward the larger tunnels, dragging the imp behind them.
“We need to warn Styx that these tunnels will explode as soon as Maryam leaves,” Brigette at last muttered.
“Does he need to warn the human authorities?”
“No, the C-4 is a way to spread the curse to a wider area, not to bring down any structures. We need to get every demon out of Chicago.” She grimaced. “Plus all the other cities we saw on the map.”
Xi tried to think of the logistics it was going to take to empty the city of every single demon. It boggled the mind. Even if they had a means to send out a generalized warning—which they didn’t—there was no way to convince thousands of demons to flee. It would be like herding cats.
“Never going to happen.”
She sent him a frustrated glare. “We have to try.”
Xi didn’t miss her obvious concern for the lives of the demons. Whatever she’d been in the past, she no longer was willing to put herself before others.
“I might be able to do something for Chicago,” he told her, reaching into his pocket with his free hand to pull out his phone.