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Xero’s fire-hot hands fluttered over my hips and he sighed, releasing the poison from within himself. I kissed him one last time and turned away just in time to dodge a stream of fire from Kingston’s snout.
Ah, fuck. How the hell was I supposed to kiss him if he was in dragon form?
Kai skittered along the wall to my right like some kind of four-legged spider, blending in with the shadows—all but his teeth, which gleamed in the dim light. He slid into a little pocket where Gavriel wouldn’t be able to see him.
“Keep him there,” I told Jayce and Xero. “I’ll be back. Gotta take care of Kingston first.”
“What are you doing? He’s going to roast you alive!”
Xero grabbed my arm hard enough to hurt, his eyes wild with terror and a shame so deep I could feel it in the pit of my gut. The fire demon had battled against the evil Gavriel had tried to infect him with once before—and now the dark lord had done it again, turning good men into his evil pawns.
“I’ll be okay. Keep Kai there.” I didn’t use persuasion, but my tone made it clear this wasn’t up for debate. We didn’t have time to argue.
Xero went reluctantly, but at least he went. Kingston was gearing up for another fire burst. I had less than six seconds to do something, anything, if I didn’t want to become a charcoal slab where I stood.
So I charged him.
He charged me.
At the last moment, I slid beneath his long, shimmering snout, scraping my leg on the rough rock, then wrapped my arms around his neck. Damn it. That was a mistake. My clothes immediately began to smoke. They’d catch fire soon if I didn’t let go.
“Ow! Fuck, Kingston! Will you stop?!”
He was writhing in frustrated figure eights, snapping his jaws and breathing puffs of smoke and flame as he tried to get to me. I stayed right where he couldn’t reach me, not even with his flame.
“Come on, you know what to do, you big lizard. You’re never gonna get me in this form. I can stay under here all day.”
I was hardcore bluffing. It was about a billion degrees down here, next to his fire-making gizzard. Sweat was already rolling into my eyes, and I could feel my muscles starting to tense and tighten as the moisture fled from them. I had maybe another minute or two before I would have to give up.
But I knew Kingston. Possessed or not, he had no patience for futility.
With one final dramatic roar accompanied by a burst of flame, he jerkily shifted back into his human form, falling on top of me as he forgot to pull himself onto his back legs before completing the shift. I caught him and wrapped my arms and l
egs around him, fighting him for his mouth. He was bewildered and pissed off and kept trying to light me on fire with his breath.
“Goddamn you. Hold still,” I commanded.
He kept thrashing. He wasn’t going to let me get close to his primary weapon without a fight. I latched my teeth onto his earlobe and felt his body respond even if his brain wasn’t quite with us yet. The new sensation made him freeze for a brief second, just long enough for me to move my kiss to his cheek and scruff him like a feral cat. I tugged on his hair, forcing his head to turn. Finally catching his mouth, I pulled a furious kiss out of him. Hot and angry and wild, it reminded me so much of the first time we had ever kissed that I almost forgot myself in the wave of nostalgia.
Gavriel’s scaly chuckle brought me harshly back.
For a horrible moment, I thought the fallen lord had figured out what I was doing, but when I looked up, I realized that all he could see from where he stood was what looked like Kingston pinning me down and trying to tear my throat out. The fact that the dragon shifter’s teeth were sheathed behind velvet lips was a detail too small to figure out in the dark.
Kingston was covering me in kisses now—hard, desperate kisses. I met his emerald eyes and saw the realization of his greatest fear. Kingston, who ran his life like a business, always ordered and in control, had just lost control in the worst possible way.
“Drag me over there,” I whispered. “Act like you’re still possessed. Kai’s the last one.”
Kingston did as I said, but he kept shooting me little worried glances. If we managed to survive this, he was going to need a massive therapy session to work through this moment. I hung limply in his grasp as he dragged me over to where Xero and Jayce had Kai pinned down.
Gavriel’s chuckle deepened and lengthened.
Good. Keep thinking you’re winning, old man. Just for a few more minutes.
Kai was struggling and snapping at the arms holding him down. I stepped around the trio, kneeling behind the vampire’s head. I held him still so I could kiss him, and that just seemed to enrage him more. Kingston joined the other two, adding his body weight to keep Kai still.
Gavriel was starting to gather his forces. He was going to saunter right over and finish us off, whether the guys were evil-infected zombies or not. It was time to go, but Kai wouldn’t stop biting at me.
“Come on! I don’t have time for this shit,” I muttered.
