I had to suppress a shudder. No doubt Raphael deserved whatever Der Jäger would do to him—even if he hadn’t betrayed us—but what about his poor host?

“Your situation leaves me in somewhat of a dilemma,” Der Jäger continued. “It seems likely that you’re telling the truth and you do indeed host Lugh. Obviously you have hosted a demon sometime since I last saw you. However, I have no proof whatsoever that you are currently possessed. Perhaps you are more clever than I’ve given you credit for. If I were to kill you and then find out you aren’t hosting Lugh anymore, I will have lost my chance to learn who you transferred him to.”

“Yeah, that’s a tough situation all right. I’d hate to be you right now.”

The spark in his eye said he didn’t much appreciate my sarcasm, but he kept quiet about it. Still pinning Brian to the tree with one hand, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pair of handcuffs, flinging them to the ground just in front of my feet.

“Put those on.”

I stared at the handcuffs and shivered. Call me a control freak, but I hate having my hands restrained. Of course, even with my hands free, I was essentially useless against my enemy as long as he had Brian as a hostage.

Apparently, Der Jäger got tired of my hesitation. He drove his fist into Brian’s gut. I let out a choked scream as Brian tried to double over. Of course, Der Jäger’s grip on his throat wouldn’t allow it.

“Put the handcuffs on,” Der Jäger repeated.

I bent and grabbed the cuffs, thinking furiously. No brilliant ideas leapt to mind.

I can break the handcuffs if you’ll just let me in, Lugh said.

God, I hoped he was only able to talk to me like this because of the stress. He was invasive enough in my dreams. The last thing I needed was to be constantly reminded that he was inside me all day, every day.

Of course, if Der Jäger had his way, it wouldn’t be a problem for much longer.

I didn’t deign to answer Lugh as I fastened one cuff over my right wrist. I went to fasten the other one, but Der Jäger stopped me.

“Behind your back, please.”

I bared my teeth at him, though it seemed only to amuse him. Brian’s face was still a rictus of pain, and he’d wrapped both his arms around his stomach where Der Jäger had hit him. Wind rustled through the trees above us, and the movement of the branches opened the path for a pale beam of moonlight to illuminate the two of them.

I had to suppress a gasp when I saw that Brian wasn’t just clutching his gut in pain—his hand had slipped under the tail of his shirt again. In that brief splash of moonlight, I saw the mini stun gun holstered on his belt. No bigger than a pack of cigarettes, it nonetheless had the power to drop a demon.

I forced myself not to stare. I didn’t know what the hell Brian thought he was going to do, seeing as the damn demon still had skin-on-skin contact, but my calling attention to it wasn’t going to help. The wind died down, and the branches overhead shaded the moonlight once more.

“I am losing my patience,” Der Jäger said, smiling at me. “Perhaps I should show you just how much I can hurt lover-boy here without having to take him as my host.”

A wail of protest was rising in my throat when suddenly all hell broke loose.

Der Jäger hauled Brian away from the tree, moving his hand away from his throat as he threw a brutal punch at his face. Brian jerked the stun gun from his waistband, but Der Jäger’s fist caught his chin long before he had time to do anything useful with the weapon.

Blood fountained from Brian’s mouth as the punch lifted him off his feet and threw him backward. The stun gun flew from his limp hand to land in the leaf litter about ten yards away.

Der Jäger had been advancing for another blow, but his head jerked to follow the trajectory of the stun gun. He said something that sounded very much like a curse, though I wasn’t familiar with the language.

There was no way I was getting to that stun gun before Der Jäger got to Brian. There was also no way I could protect Brian unless I was armed, not unless I could let Lugh take over in the span of a heartbeat, which I’d already established I couldn’t. And so I propelled myself toward the stun gun.

And, thank God, Der Jäger did, too, leaving Brian where he lay, bleeding, on the ground.

I dove the last few feet, hands fishing through the dead leaves for the stun gun. My fingers skimmed over something man-made in the midst of the leaf litter, but then Der Jäger’s hand closed over my wrist and squeezed. Lugh flung himself at the barriers of my mind, and once again I tried to let him in. As long as Der Jäger didn’t have a hand on Brian, I knew we were all better off with Lugh driving.

Even as I tried to let Lugh in, I flailed for the stun gun with my other hand. Der Jäger tried to jerk me to my feet, but I caught him in the kneecap with a wild kick. I heard something crack, and Der Jäger collapsed to the ground once more. However, he didn’t let go of my wrist, and his grip became even more crushing. I was actually thankful for the handcuff, which was for the moment keeping my bones in one piece, though it was digging into my flesh. Pain forced tears from my eyes, but my free hand found the stun gun once more, and this time I was able to get a grip. I armed it by feel and prayed it was fully charged.

I rammed the stun gun into Der Jäger’s stomach and gave him a healthy jolt.

He cried out in mingled pain and surprise, then collapsed on top of me in a nerveless heap. I took about half a second to suck in a few frantic gasps of air, then heaved him off me. His eyes glittered with hatred as he lay there in the darkness, but the electricity would keep him from being able to do anything about it for at least ten or fifteen minutes. I started to wonder what the hell I was going to do with him now, but I forcibly yanked my mind away from the subject.

Keeping a close watch on Der Jäger out of the corner of my eye, I hurried over to where Brian lay, still not moving. I knelt beside him and was so relieved I could have cried when I saw his chest rise and fall.

Blood coated his lips and chin, and I hoped to God nothing was broken.

“Brian?” I said, smoothing his hair back from his face. “Can you hear me?”

His lashes fluttered for a moment; then he opened his eyes. I swallowed convulsively to keep myself from bawling like a baby. Brian blinked and groaned, and I knew instinctively that he was going to try to get up, so I put a hand firmly in the center of his chest.

“Take it slow,” I ordered him.

“The demon—”

I hushed him with a shake of my head. “He’s out of commission for the moment,” I assured him, jerking my chin in Der Jäger’s direction. Brian turned his head to look, then winced. I bet he had one hell of a headache. “Are you all right?” I asked, because I couldn’t not ask.

Brian pushed himself up on his elbows, and I allowed it. He then spit out a mouthful of blood. “Could have been worse,” he mumbled. “Much worse.”

I helped him sit up. “Still have all your teeth?”

He grimaced. “All still here, but one feels loose and one feels broken. Guess I’ll be paying a call on the dentist tomorrow.”

“I’m so sorry—”

“Not your fault.” I opened my mouth to protest my guilt more vehemently, but he stared me into silence. “We’ve got more important things to think about right now,” he said, and reluctantly I followed his gaze to where Der Jäger lay.

He was twitching now, but didn’t seem to have enough control of his limbs even to sit up. I double-checked the charge on the stun gun anyway.

“What are we going to do with him?” Brian asked softly.

Nausea roiled in my stomach. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what had to be done. Der Jäger knew far too much, and was far too dangerous, to be allowed to return to the Demon Realm. He had to die.