“Tag.” Hands landed on my back and hurled me forward. “You’re it.”
I crashed into the barrier hard, and it whipped me back and knocked me on my ass.
"Fuck," I cursed. When I righted myself, I kept some distance between me and the barrier while searching for a way to free Orion.
"Rob, leave it,” Orion said. “Go find him."
"But—"
"I’ll figure it out,” he promised. “Go. I’ll catch up when I can."
Swiping at the lines and trying to get them to break did not work. I did that magically and with my foot. There might be a trick to undo it. Applying enough force from both sides might work. Whatever the answer turned out to be, it would take a bit of time to figure out.
Meanwhile Lex was doing God knows what in the darkened club with only Bad Mother chasing him. The two of us had a better chance stopping him than one person alone. Dammit.
I hated leaving him. Even if we weren’t totally in sync and at our best because of Orion’s control issues, I still wanted him near me and in my sight. So I could protect him, and so we could protect each other.
“Rob, go,” he insisted.
I forced my legs to move and went to join Bad Mother and find Lex.
Lex sailed through the air, colliding with the front of the bar and tumbling to the ground hard.
Okay, so Bad Mother handled himself pretty well without any help.
But Lex was a slippery bastard, already staggering to his feet. And he’d picked up some tricks in Hell. One moment he was stumbling away and the next second he’d disappeared.
“My master has loyalties, he found a place in Hell.” Now it sounded like he spoke from the other side of the bar. “He belongs to that world.”
“And that’s where he needs to stay,” Bad Mother growled. He stalked forwards, knives following him.
"Mymasterbelongs in Hell. I don’t. I’m from Earth. Now I’m back on Earth. I’m only loyal to my master, not any circle of Hell."
Shit, what was Lex up to?
My demonic ally paused, hands stilling on the bar instead of vaulting over as he planned. “You’re trying to bring a demon of Hell to Earth.”
"Yes,” Lex agreed. “It’s your job to prevent that. And you’re doing very well! I trust you already closed the opening I used to travel here."
“Yep, and trust me, you won’t find my exit hatch back there."
“Then you’re ahead of me. I still need to lift my master’s banishment and find another opening to bring him here.” Lex leaped out from his hiding spot. Instead of attacking, he clapped his hands and approached the bounty hunter. "So, your work is done. Congratulations! Mar is still in Hell where he belongs. You can go back and deliver news of a job well done."
Bad Mother… he was considering this.
"Dude, don’t," I pleaded.
"He’s right.” Gritting his teeth, he didn’t seem thrilled with this new development. But he didn’t attack Lex either. “This is a guy with a pipe dream, not a fugitive. Wanting to bring his master over doesn’t mean he actuallycan.It’s so much simpler to watch Taryn over there and ensure he stays put."
"Lex is killing people! This is wrong."
Bad Mother nodded, torn for a moment, before he shook his head and the knives fell from the air. “Wrong isn’t my problem.” He tossed me a lazy wave. “Good luck.”
Then he was gone.
His job was to catch demonic deserters who landed on this forbidden planet and bring them back to Hell. Their defenses might have a few holes that allowed one demon to slip through every now and then, but actually traveling here still seemed easier said than done. All Bad Mother and his people needed to do was keep Taryn there and they could do that back at home.
Okay then… time to improvise.
