Free Devil's Eye by Kait Nolan Page A

war?” demanded Sophie.
    Mick edged his way closer to Liza.
    “ Oh I’m not in the business of warmongering. But I do know how to pick the winning side. You see, our kind were gods once. These idiot humans worshiped and feared us. Then we were forced into hiding at the behest of the Council. The beings I work for are quite tired of the Council’s fears of human discovery dictating how the world is run. The Eye is merely a more expedient means of returning to our proper station in life. As for the humans, well, someone must be left as biddable slaves. Now, bring it to me.”
    Too much. He’s said too much, Mick realized. He can’t possibly have any intention of letting them live.
    “ Not until you stop the saw.”
    “ You seem to forget that you are in no position to bargain, Sophie. I could drop her and break your neck before you could get halfway to the door. Don’t insult my generosity. Bring me the Eye,” he repeated.
    I could kill him, whispered the demon. It would be nothing.
    No , thought Mick. I will not use the Eye.
    He sensed the demon’s frustration and ignored it, keeping his attention on Sophie as she crossed the warehouse to the ladder beneath Cassius.
    “ Throw it up,” he ordered, leaning over to catch the case.
    Sophie hesitated, looking over at Liza.
    “ Now, Sophie!” snapped the vampire.
    She tossed it high.
    Cassius snatched it from the air, lips curving in triumph. “At last.” He ran his hands over the case in a lover’s caress.
    “ Stop the saw, Cassius,” Sophie ordered.
    “ Now, now, I must inspect the artifact.”
    Sophie’s hands fisted at her sides as Cassius flipped the clasps open and tilted the top back. The Eye lay nestled in the case, glowing dimly. The vampire’s eyes flashed red with lust. Then slowly, he reached out a hand and picked up the stone.
    For a moment he looked rapturous, and Mick instinctively felt for the demon.
    I am waiting for you to let me do something , it said.
    Cassius fisted his hand around the Eye and hissed like a viper. “Do you take me for a fool!” he demanded, springing off and catwalk to land only half a dozen feet away from Sophie.
    Mick bit back a snarl, his wolf pressing close to the surface at the threat to his woman. As she edged backward, he crept forward, muscles coiled for action, eyes on the vampire.
    “ I don’t know what you’re talking about. I brought you the Eye.”
    “ It is bound! ” thundered the vampire.
    “ Not my problem,” said Sophie coolly. “You asked me to get the Eye from the catacombs. I did that. I didn’t open the case, didn’t touch it, just as we were ordered on the retrieval mission. If something isn’t right with it, that’s not on me. I kept my end of the bargain. Now let my sister go.”
    “ Who is bound to the Eye?” demanded Cassius, stalking forward.
    Let me take care of this, begged the demon.
    No, Mick thought. This is for me to do.
    Mick leapt. He couldn’t make it all the way to Sophie, but he landed with enough deliberate noise that the vampire whirled to face him.
    “ That’d be me.”

    ~*~

    No! Sophie wanted to scream it as Mick deliberately made himself Cassius’s target.
    “ Who the hell are you?” asked Cassius.
    Mick circled, drawing the vampire away. “Let’s just say I’m a concerned employer. You’ve deprived me of a waitress on one of my busiest nights.”
    Cassius stared at Mick. Sophie sensed that very little surprised the old vampire, but this threw him off kilter.
    “ You’re the bartender at Le Loup Garou .”
    Mick made an imitation of Cassius’s mocking bow, never taking his eyes off the enemy.
    “ What use does a barkeep have for power such as that of the Devil’s Eye?”
    “ Seems to me it makes for mighty good leverage. Now, you’re going to turn off the saw and carefully let Liza down, or you’re going to get a firsthand look at exactly what the Eye can do.”
    Sophie couldn’t tell if he was bluffing. His eyes flashed gold with predatory