Free No Angel by Vivi Andrews

dirt and dried blood.
    “It’s nothing.” He cupped her face, searching her eyes for something, then bared his teeth in an unfamiliar, fierce smile, holding up his shackled wrists. “Take the light. See if you can find something to open these.”
    A bud of unease sprouted in her chest—her Jay was never so commanding. He wasn’t the take-charge type. He didn’t have that edge. Could Hell have changed him in a matter of hours?
    Ignoring the sense of disquiet, she holstered her gun, grabbed a candle and began searching for keys, tools, anything that could be used on his bindings.
    Seeing the room for the first time, Sasha shuddered. Is that an iron maiden? “What is this place?”
    “Whatever its owner needs it to be. Hell isn’t static like earth.”
    How did he know that? Had his captors told him? Sasha found a fireplace poker she somehow doubted had been used only for stoking fires, given the bits of charred stuff stuck to the end. She refused to wonder what that stuff was, or who it came from. She held it up.
    Jay nodded sharply. “Good girl. That’s perfect. Bring it here.”
    He extended one leg, bracing the shackle at his ankle against a stone and wincing at the change in position.
    “Are you hurt? Can you walk?” What had they done to him? And how could she get him out if she couldn’t move him? Was that what Gerry had meant with his vague warnings?
    “Don’t worry,” Jay said without looking up, his focus on positioning the shackle to his satisfaction. “Demons heal quickly.”
    Sasha froze a step away from him, raising the poker defensively. “What did you say?” she whispered.
    Jay looked up and she watched the expression drain from his face until it was completely neutral, guarded. “I can explain,” he said carefully—and those words were all the confirmation she needed.
    A demon. I’m dating a demon.

Chapter Seven
So You’re Dating a Demon
    Oh shit. Jay had been so stupidly certain the angels would have told her everything. When she’d rushed to his side and seemed so grateful to see him, he’d assumed she must have forgiven his deception, understood his true feelings for her, and come to redeem him so they could stay together.
    The sight of her, his very own avenging angel, gun in hand, hair streaming behind her, had knocked the breath right out of him.
    But the angelic bastards hadn’t told her shit, and now she was winding up like a major league hitter with that fireplace poker, ready to swing it at his head. He raised a hand, ready to catch the poker if she tried to club him. “Sasha, baby, listen to me.”
    Her eyes narrowed and the poker wagged threateningly. “Don’t call me baby, demon.”
    “Sasha, you know me.” Jay gathered his feet under him. Could he disarm her without hurting her? Or taking a fireplace poker to the cranium? “I haven’t changed. I’m just not one hundred percent human. I thought the angels told you.”
    “So you only confessed to being a demon because you thought someone else had already told me?”
    Jay winced. “I know it looks that way, but I was trying to tell you—”
    “When you were conveniently sucked into a demonic vortex? I have to say, Jay, it would have eased my mind at that point to know you belong in Hell.”
    “I meant to tell you sooner.”
    “I’m supposed to believe a demon?” She huffed out an angry breath. “It makes sense, in a way. Demons are known for lying and that’s definitely your strong suit, isn’t it?”
    “I didn’t mean to deceive you. At first I thought you knew what I was.”
    “Do I look like I have some kind of demon radar?”
    Jay figured it was best not to answer that question. Apparently his demonic nature wasn’t the only secret the angels were still keeping from Sasha. “Can I have the poker? We don’t have much time.” And he’d really rather have this conversation when she wasn’t threatening him with a sharp object.
    He barely caught the poker she flung at him before it could smack