Infernal Games by Jenna Wolfhart

4

“Immune?” I frowned, certain I hadn’t heard him right. “How the hell could I be immune?”

Az folded his arms. “You tell me. Immunity to werewolf venom does not happen accidentally, Mia.”

My brows rocketed up to my hairline. “You think I did this on purpose?”

“How else could it have happened?”

“Ugh!” I shot back, snapping my head toward Serena. “Tell him he’s being ridiculous. I couldn’t have found an immunity to werewolf venom when I didn’t even know it existed until now!”

But Serena’s frown merely deepened. “He’s right though, Mia. If you’re immune, there’s a reason. No human alive can withstand werewolf venom.”

“Apparently, at least one of us can.”

“Something must have happened,” Az said as he paced the length of his penthouse. “Perhaps someone gave you an immunity when you were younger, and you didn’t realize. Did anyone else in your town know that Serena was a werewolf? Your parents, perhaps?”

I snorted. “My parents never had a clue. And if they’d known, they would have forced me to stay away from Serena. I can’t imagine they would have been open-minded about me having a werewolf for a best friend.”

“Someone else then,” he muttered. “What about your parents, Serena? Did they know? Who turned you?”

Serena shrugged. “They never knew either, and I can’t remember who turned me. I know what night it happened, but everything else is a big shadowy blur. Mia’s the only one who knew the truth about what I am before I came to New York.”

He stopped short, halfway between us and the kitchen. “Well, someone must have known, and he—or she—sneaked Mia an immunity serum. That’s the only explanation for this.”

I nodded, frowning. Az seemed so sure about what had happened, but it didn’t sit right in my gut. Who would have done that? When would it have happened? I thought back to my childhood and everyone within it, trying to find a point where it might have happened. But…there weren’t any answers to those questions. I’d never had a great memory when it came to my childhood, and that certainly wasn’t improving now. Like Serena had said, it was all just a blur.

So, maybe Az was right, and I just didn’t remember. Someone could have found out and tried to protect me from Serena’s werewolf side. It wasn’t the craziest idea I’d ever heard.

It just…it didn’t feel right.

“So, what now?” I asked quietly, flicking my eyes to the yawning windows that looked out on Manhattan. Lucifer would think to look here soon, even if he couldn’t follow my garbage-drowned scent. All he’d have to do was shoot up above the buildings and see me standing here in the brilliant light of Az’s penthouse. I was a sitting duck.

“We’ll have to find another way to mask your scent,” Serena said with a sigh, slumping against the wall as if her legs could no longer stand to hold up her weight. “There are other ways. A vampire could work. Werewolf immunity and vampire immunity are two entirely different things.”

“Absolutely not,” Az said with a dangerous growl. “Werewolves hold on to their humanity. Vampires don’t. She’d become someone else. A bloodthirsty, vengeance-fuelled monster. A murderer.”

My heart twisted in my chest. “So, that’s out then.”

“And then there’s the fae,” Serena added. “You could ask them for a scent glamor.”

Az’s scowl deepened. “There’s a reason I didn’t go to them in the first place. If they even agreed to it, they’d ask for something in return. The fae give nothing away for free, and their deals are…”

“Worse than yours?” I arched a brow. “If I remember correctly—and I do—I’m pretty sure I signed a deal with you, unknowingly, for my soul.”

“That was…” he began.

“Different?” I folded my arms. “I don’t think it’s any different at all.”

He ran his fingers through his thick, dark locks. “You don’t know what they’ll ask for, Mia. If you did, you might not be so eager to seek them out.”

“Is there another way?” I asked him.

Slowly, he closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. “I could carry you away from here and hide you in a tomb where Lucifer could never find you.”

“I’m not going to spend the right of my life in a tomb, Az.”

“I had a feeling you were going to say that,” he muttered.

I stepped up to him and slowly wrapped my hands around his. His eyes flipped open, and the flame-edged blue pierced the very depths of my soul. Breath hitching, I kept my gaze firm and unyielding. But I couldn’t help but soften at the torment in his eyes. It was hard to stay angry at him when he looked at me like this.

Like he would tear the clouds from the sky if it meant he could keep me safe.

“I need to do this, Az. It’s the only way.”

“Fine,” he said, grinding his teeth. “But if a fae even looks at you slightly wrong, I’ll rip off all their heads.”

* * *

“We need to be quick.” Az pressed his lips against my ear, tickling my skin. My hair whirled around me in a tornado of red as the city rushed by beneath us. I tried to calm my racing heart, but it was next to impossible. We were flying. Far above Manhattan. My feet dangled beneath me like lead weights. If Az let go of me, I would tumble to a very terrible death. Roadkill on pavement.

I clutched his neck and buried my face in his chest. Maybe if I didn’t see the ground far below us, I could forget exactly where we were and what we were doing. “Fine.”

“Your scent is growing stronger,” he murmured. “It won’t be long before Lucifer catches it again.”

“Please don’t toss me into another dumpster,” I muttered.

Although…that might be a better option than what we were doing now. At least then I would have contact with the ground.

Az rushed us through the skies, aiming his sights on the Lower East Side. At least we didn’t have to go far. He landed in a back alley, away from the glow of the nighttime city lights. A red-brick building sat just behind us, rising four stories high. Dilapidated fire escape platforms creaked in the light summer breeze.

“Now what?” I whispered as he slowly unwound his arms from my waist. I wet my lips as I stared at his hands, wishing I could draw them back to me.

No.I mentally kicked myself. I couldn’t get carried away. He’d made it more than clear that what we’d had was nothing more than a one-night stand fuelled by a little acting that we’d both gotten way too carried away with. That and gin. Lots of gin.

Besides, I didn’t want to go there again. It had been fun, but he was a demon who was very unavailable. I refused to let the tension between us get into my head.

And somewhere else, a little further south on my body.

I cleared my throat, stepping back.

“Now we wait.” He turned toward the dilapidated building and stared expectantly at the wall.

“The fae live there?” I arched a brow. “Not sure why, but I expected something more like Central Park.”

He grunted. “That would be too obvious. The fae are devious, Mia. Never forget that.”

“Like demons aren’t?” I said with a smile. “I’ve met Phenex remember. Not to mention Caim.”

A low growl rumbled from his throat, and I bit back a satisfied smile. There it was. The uncontrollable jealousy he felt toward me and Caim. Not that he had any reason to be jealous. I liked Caim. He’d been nothing but welcoming and kind, but there was no spark there. Not like I felt with Az.

And yet he couldn’t stand the idea that I got along with anyone else.

Still. Even now.

Maybe I wasn’t the only one who had felt something after all.

My thoughts were interrupted when the grungy wall shimmered before us. The red bricks warped and wobbled as if I was looking at a pool of water instead of a building. Flowers sprouted and vines shot up toward the sky. I blinked, and it was all gone. The building had been replaced by a grove of trees, hidden just behind a wrought-iron gate covered in roses.

I sucked in a breath, awed and overwhelmed by the clear magic of this place. I’d learned a lot about the supernatural world in the past couple months, but I’d seen nothing like this.

“So, that’s a thing that just happened,” I whispered.

I could hear the smile in Az’s voice when he replied. “The fae like to show off.”

“I don’t blame them.”

“The building is an illusion. Some of this might be, too. Remember that, Mia. Everything you’re about to see cannot be trusted. You never know what’s real and what’s fake when it comes to the fae.”

I turned to glance up at him. “Can you do anything like this?”

His face hardened. “No. If I could, we wouldn’t be here right now. Come. Take my hand. Don’t let go of it.”

I slid my fingers into his warm hand and smiled as he tugged me through the arched gate. The scent of sweet blossoms filled my head, and a strange dizzy lightness swirled through my limbs. A lopsided smile spread across my face, and all the tension I’d felt before vanished like mist. Suddenly, I couldn’t remember why we were in such a terrible hurry.

“This is nice,” I said happily, squeezing his hand. “We should do this more often.”

He cut his sharp gaze my way. “That didn’t take very long.”

I cocked my head. “What didn’t?”

“Their magic. It’s effecting you already.” He frowned, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the confusion on his face. Big, brave, terrible demon. He looked so confused. It was cute. “That normally doesn’t happen.”

“I guess I’m a big ol’ weirdo,” I said with a shrug. “Immune to werewolves, but not to fae!”

He shot me a strange glance as we drifted further into the fae’s strange woodland escape amidst all the stone and steel. And then he took a sniff. A sniff. Asmodeus actually sniffed me. “Impossible.”

I cocked my head. “What’s impossible?”

“Nothing,” he muttered, tightening his grip on my hand. “You’re one of the most human humans I’ve ever met. You couldn’t be anything else.”

My jaw dropped as I followed him through a particularly prickly bush. How much further would we have to walk through these woods? “You’re not saying you think I’m a…what? Werewolf?”

He shook his head and tugged me close as a tall, curvy woman stepped out from behind a vine-drenched door. Her long curly hair hung to her waist, coils of tightly wound pink. A silky blue dress hugged her frame and matched the sparkling color of her eyes. She gave me a once-over and then frowned at Az.

“Az, you know I have nothing against you personally, but I thought we told you we don’t like demons here. The fae get antsy.” Her voice was husky and deep, and the sound of it sent a new storm of shivers across my skin.

“The fae are always antsy,” he replied, his tone warmer than I’d expected, especially after the way she’d spoken to him.

She grinned. “Don’t I know it? Even so, you know how things are. Lucifer’s in town, and everyone is on edge.”

“This won’t take long,” he said quietly, turning to me. “This is Mia.”

Her eyes widened. “Ah, Mia. The one he wants.”

“Unfortunately.”

“And you brought her here?” She leaned forward and gave a little sniff. “You’ve covered her in garbage. Which means you’ve come here for a favor. You want to hide her with a scent glamor. I should have known. The rumors are true. You’re in love with this girl.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. Heart hammering, I glanced up at Az. But his outline wavered like a desert at the hottest time of day. That damn magic. It was making it difficult to think. And apparently, it made me imagine things.

Because this fae clearly couldn’t have said that Asmodeus, the Prince of Hell, was falling in love with me.

He could barely stand me most of the time.

Right?

“You know the problem with rumors, don’t you, River?” he asked in a dangerous voice. “They get twisted and torn. Shred into a million pieces until there’s nothing left but a hint of the truth.”

“So, you don’t love her.”

“I’m just trying to keep her safe. She wouldn’t make it in Hell.”

Tears burned my eyes as I twisted away. There was no reason to get upset by what he’d said. Of course he didn’t love me. I was just a pesky human he’d pretended to date. It had been nothing more than that. And yet…my stomach still churned. My heart ached. His words had been so dismissive of me.

She wouldn’t make it in Hell.

“I think you’d be surprised.” River folded her arms and lifted her brows. “You can’t tell, can you?”

Az’s hand tightened around mine.

“Tell what?” he demanded.

“I can’t do a scent glamor on her because she already has one.”

Sweat beaded on my brow, and that zing went through me again. The one I’d only ever felt when Az looked at me. But it was happening now, as this fae sized me up like a steak on a platter. Dread roiled through me.

“What do you mean?” I whispered.

“Interesting,” she murmured. “You don’t know either.”

“I’ve had enough,” Az growled, yanking me toward his chest and wrapping his arms protectively around me. His heart thumped against my ear, fast-paced and frantic. I didn’t know what to think about that. That he was as nervous as I was.

“She’s not human, Asmodeus,” River called as he dragged me toward the gate. “Something has been done to her to hide who she is, and she doesn’t even know it’s happened.” She levelled her gaze with me. “If I were you, I’d want to find out what she is.”