Read Online What You Can't See by Allison Brennan, Karin Tabke, Roxanne St. Claire - Free Book Online

the elements by becoming part of the element itself. But they can’t set a fire alone.”
    “So what just happened? Someone put out that fire”—she snapped her fingers—“like that?”
    “Once the fire started, Ianax became the flames. Destroyed his image and everything he touched, and disappeared.”
    “But he didn’t kill you,” she said softly.
    “He couldn’t, even though he tried.” Anthony held her face in his hands. “But you, Skye, are in grave danger.”
    She laughed uneasily. “You know this how?”
    Anthony didn’t return her humor, his fathomless eyes drawing her inexplicably closer.
    “He couldn’t sustain the fire and defeat me at the same time. He is not that strong. Yet.”
    “But what does that have to do with me ?”
    Anthony touched her cheek. “You don’t know what you’re up against, Skye. You don’t know what evil incarnate can do. That makes you vulnerable.”
    She scoffed at that remark. Typical male chauvinist. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
    “Not against this.”
    Skye jumped up and out of the truck, paced even though she still felt unsteady. “Dammit, Zaccardi, you’re pissing me off. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know how you weren’t burned in the fire. But there is a logical explanation. And I will find it.”
    “It’s logical, Skye,” Anthony said, sinking to the ground. She frowned. Maybe he had been injured in the fire. “But you have to open your mind to see the logic.” His eyes closed and he leaned his head against her truck’s tire. “I saw your soul,” he whispered.
    “That’s ridiculous.” But there was no venom in her voice, only concern. “What’s wrong?”
    “I’m drained.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “I’ll be okay. Just—let me be.”
    “Leave you? Here? At midnight?” She knelt beside him. “Let me help you.”
    Anthony rose unsteadily, stumbled, and fell against the truck. His body was solid muscle; Skye couldn’t carry him if she wanted to. He climbed awkwardly into the passenger seat.
    “Just take me to my car,” he said wearily, his eyes already closing.
    “Right. And let you drive off a cliff. I’ll take you to your hotel. You can get your car in the morning.”
     
    Ianax’s essence slithered along the ground in the form of black mist, losing power the longer he was without a human body.
    Fool. You consumed your energy with the fire. You should never have fought for Zaccardi’s soul.
    His primal scream rang through the levels of Hell like nails on a chalkboard, and on earth with the moaning of trees. He rolled over a nocturnal rodent who collapsed dead after breathing his mist; a pair of owls fell from a tree above, landed with a thud.
    He was eternal death.
    Lifetimes of failed attempts to rise from the deepest pit of Hell, giving him a taste of freedom that was taken away because of the weakness of the trio left him angry, unsatisfied, hungry. Finally, his minions had perfected the call and he’d come, with a willing body for his use. Payback for the willing was immortality. And even in the dark heat of the netherworld, immortality for as long as the earth breathed was a tempting apple.
    And he, Ianax, would be able to stay, walk the earth, experience lust in everything—sex, food, death. Power. He would have been able to claim an infinite number of souls for his master.
    He fed on souls, and the pure souls of the righteous tasted better than the black souls of the damned.
    Zaccardi would have satiated him for a millennia, proven his worth. But the hunter’s protective shield was too strong for one demon to destroy. Even Satan himself wouldn’t be able to penetrate the barrier.
    A sudden gale-force wind pushed Ianax off course. He was being pulled under, down, back to Hell.
    I’m sorry, Master. My thoughts betray me.
    The wind softened.
    I am all-powerful, lowly demon. I am your Lord and Master. Zaccardi is not yours to have. When the time is right, I will consume