Death Wish . Amy Blankenship

to bury you too.”

      “Damn it,” Lacey jerked her hand away from his with a frustrated sound. She was going to have to break him from throwing that up in her face every time he didn’t approve of her actions. “Why do you surround yourself with monsters when you are nothing like them?” she hissed already knowing the answer and it was a stupid reason as far as she was concerned. “They can die just as quickly as we can. You proved that when you took Masters’ head off.”

      “Don’t worry about me love,” Vincent instructed knowing she would not be able to run or hide from this. “I’m here to help you and you need to pay attention. The new demon that stepped in to take Masters’ place wants to make a deal with you.”

      “A deal… do they really think I’m stupid enough to make that mistake again?” Lacey made a face. “Not happening.”

      “Hear me out,” Vincent said running his hand through his bangs to push them out of his eyes. “Tonight at the auction, they will offer up the claim they have on your soul and give you your freedom in exchange for the soul orb that your grandfather stole so long ago. You do have access to it… don’t you?”

      Ren's frown deepened as he remembered holding the strange soul orb in his palm and seeing the swirl of the entity trapped inside. He hadn’t felt any power coming from the soul… only massive power coming from the orb itself. Whatever was inside of it was very well protected and confined for a good reason no doubt. The fact that the demons wanted it didn’t sit well with him at all.

      Lacey gazed up at Vincent with an unhappy frown as it dawned on her that he was forfeiting himself to save her ass again. “This was your idea… wasn’t it? Because you know that once a deal is struck with the demons, they will abide by it and leave me alone.”

      “Don’t paint me as a hero just yet love,” Vincent said still damning himself for breaking the one rule he had about letting people get under his skin. “I only suggested it because they were torturing the hell out of me and I wanted them to bloody well stop.”

      Lacey balled up her fist and hit him hard in the chest not caring if it hurt her more than it did him. Seriously… he could be such a jerk, always pretending he didn’t feel the pain of dying when she had seen the agonized look on his face too many times to believe that nonsense.

      “Are you trying to make me cry?” she accused.

      Vincent’s shoulders sagged realizing he probably shouldn’t have admitted that little fact. She should be angry at him for putting her in danger in the first place instead of worrying about his pain tolerance. It didn’t matter how much it hurt if the pain didn’t mean a damn thing.

      He should have known better than to give into his loneliness even for a minute… dragging her into this mess like a selfish bastard just because he was bored. It was amazing that he’d protected her this long but if she would just listen to him than he could finally cut her loose from it all.

      “Look, I don’t know what this soul orb is, but the fact that they want it bad enough to not only let you live but to give you a clean break to boot… well, the soul orb probably isn’t a bleedin’ nice thing,” he admitted then gave her a stubborn look. “But if it will keep you from sinking six feet under, then I say give the damn trinket to them.”

      She growled at him wondering if he would ever stop using her mortality against her. At the moment, she didn’t give a damn about the legendary demon that her grandfather had said was trapped within the soul orb like a genie in a bottle. Since her grandfather had never figured out how to open it, and he had tried, then it was no more than a pretty little paperweight to her.

      Swinging around to go hunt down Ren, she nearly jumped out of her skin finding him less than a foot behind her. Something about the death glare he was giving Vincent made her put a tad more distance between her and her friend. She slid out from between them and leaned back against the counter. Great, Ren looked like he wanted to kill and Vincent always claimed to have a death wish… they should get along just fine.

      Lacey took a deep breath to steady her nerves and squared her shoulders. “Since you seem to have a dislike for thieves, then I assume you didn’t steal the soul orb but simply moved it to a safer place like Gypsy assured me… right?”

      “Right,” Ren agreed without missing a beat. He wanted her to come to him for help because the man on the other side of her would surely be the death of her. Though, watching the way Vincent handled the little hot head had actually given him a few pointers on how to deal with her himself.

      He restrained from rubbing his temple. Using Zachary's power on her had him all messed up in the head and it was confusing the hell out of him. He felt like he was the one that had known her for the last year… made love to her… protected her… died for her. At least he still had enough sense to blame all of the bad things on the other man.

      “Then you shouldn’t have a problem retrieving it for me… correct?” Lacey asked testing his honesty.

      Knowing it would save her life, Ren had every intention of using the soul orb for the trade. Instead of announcing that fact in front of Vincent the demon informant, he replied evasively, “I’ll have to talk to a certain God about it… but I might be able to arrange it.” He smirked inwardly when Vincent raised an eyebrow at the God remark. “But the demons have to agree to you having your own escort to the auction because you won’t be going alone.”

      Lacey felt hope bloom in her chest suddenly remembering what Ren had said about sucking in the powers of everyone around him and being able to utilize it. She could only imagine how powerful he would become if he walked into a room full of demons and other paranormals. Brilliant idea… the demons wouldn’t know what hit them until it was all over and they would have no choice but to agree to add Vincent’s name to the list of the free.

      Ren stared down at her when she slowly gifted him with the most amazing smile he’d ever seen. It was at that moment that he knew he was in big trouble.

      Now that she had her confidence up, Lacey stepped closer to Vincent and stared up at him defiantly. “Then you tell those bastards this. I will agree to their deal on one condition. The deal has to include not only mine… but your soul and freedom as well.”

      ”Do you have a death wish?” Ren asked suddenly wanting to shake some sense into that pretty head of hers.

      “I agree with your new friend,” Vincent said earning him a shocked look from Ren. “I wouldn’t rock that boat love… not when you’re the one sitting in it. We are going to be surrounded by demons tonight at the auction because there are many things up for grabs… not just you.”

      Vincent took a deep breath before continuing, “This isn’t like the small auctions they held this past year… think on a much grander scale and then replace the balding billionaires with beautiful demons and you’re getting close to the real picture.”

      “Beautiful demons,” Lacey cocked an eyebrow as Masters withered face flashed in her mind.

      He shook his head at her naivety. “Nine times out of ten, the most beautiful demon in the room will be the most powerful one. It would be wise to remember that since only the most powerful are invited tonight.”

      Ren didn’t bother suppressing the urge to rub his temple this time. Whoever was in charge of this ring needed their head examined. “Amateurs,” he growled keeping his voice low.