Free Embraced (Eternal Balance) by Jus Accardo

saying Chase is telling the truth?” I grimaced. “That we have no choice but do what he wants, because Malphi is a threat?”
    “Technically. Unfortunately, there are complications.”
    “Aren’t there always?” Sam mumbled. “What are we talking about now?”
    “The demon cuff itself is one snag—a rather brilliant one at that. If you are unable to kill Malphi before the cuff reaches the end of its cycle, I have no doubt that Chase will use it as a bargaining chip.”
    “Meaning?” Sam asked.
    “My guess is that he’ll offer to remove the cuff in exchange for claiming you.”
    “Because she’s a Pure,” I said. I saw Sam from the corner of my eye. She was tapping her foot and kneading both fists until the knuckles went white.
    “Yes,” Heckle confirmed.
    “Claiming me… What exactly does that mean?” Her voice was even, but her eyes… There was a flash of emptiness. How long would it be until she lost herself completely?
    Heckle’s response was silence, and Sam had obviously reached her limit. A flash of red stood out against the haze. She jabbed the seat belt release and kicked open the driver’s side door, stomping past the gravel and into the grass. “I want answers,” she demanded. “I want to know what the fuck I am! Am I even human?”
    A car passed, kicking up a blast of wind, and her hair flew in all directions, giving her a wild, feral look. Her emotions were charged, the smoke churning like a tornado around her entire body. The scent it gave off was heady. It enticed Azi closer to the surface, making the demon unsettled and hungry.
    I pushed through the passenger’s side door and rounded the car, the sight of her stopping me in my tracks. Sam was no church mouse, but the level of rage that bled into the air was unlike her.
    It was like me.
    “I promise you, Sam,” Heckle said, his voice soothing as he extracted himself from the backseat. “You are one hundred percent human. However, right now I need you to calm yourself.”
    “I’m human? That tells me absolutely nothing,” she spat, and in a move that left me stunned, flew at him. Heckle didn’t try to move. She crashed into him with impressive force, knocking them back against the car. “I want answers!”
    “Some people are born different,” he replied, speaking with complete calm. She had him pinned to the hood, but he made no move to dislodge her. “Special. The kind of special you are is rare. It’s valuable.”
    She grabbed a handful of his jacket and shook. “Valuable? To who?”
    “Everyone,” was Heckle’s reply.
    “But why?”
    “As you already know, some acts leave a hideous stain on the souls of our offspring, as with the Tainted. Other acts—good ones—cleanse them. They become purified.” Heckle frowned. He gently placed his hands over top of Sam’s and pried them loose. “A Pure is a rare thing. Acts of true benevolence are not something you see often, especially in this day and age.”
    The swirling, muddied miasma around Sam swallowed some of the red. She let go of him and backed away. “So, I’m the opposite of Jax?”
    “In a manner of speaking, yes.” He nodded. “As with the Tainted, the purified piece of the soul gets passed from parent to child, possibly going for centuries, depending on the act that initiated it. You have no idea how much energy a Pure human soul holds. It’s unimaginable, and it can be harnessed for either good or evil. Whichever side controls the soul would tip the balance.”
    “But if that’s the case, why didn’t Chase try to take me?”
    “The energy in a Pure can, under normal circumstances, be claimed after death. If an otherworldly being, say a demon, should spot the soul as it ascends to heaven, it is able to take that soul. To claim it. Unfortunately we’ve meddled in fate. I believe, as I’m sure others will, that because the energy within you is now active, that you will have to willingly agree to hand it over.” Heckle frowned. “I’m sure Chase