by Laken Cane
He didn’t seem to care that they might be interrupted, that at any time someone might push open the door, and after a while, neither did she. He was a gentleman in his daily life. Refined and polite and neat and calm.
In bed, he was the opposite of all those things.
In bed, he was a fierce, passionate storm. He kissed her like he would devour her before nibbling, licking, and biting his way to her breasts, sucking her nipples deep into his mouth, and she cried out at pleasure so extreme it might have been pain. She grabbed the arm of the sofa and held on as tightly as she could as he held her thighs open and gorged on the bounty he found there.
He was not gentle, and her moans and cries only excited him further.
He picked her up once, turned her around, and bent her over the bedside table. He gripped her hips so hard he bruised them as he pounded into her, then he grabbed her and slammed her to her back on the bed, pulling her to the edge for better access, rubbing her between her legs as he thrust into her.
She came so hard she thought her heart might stop, and still, he didn’t give her a second to recover. He picked her up and shoved her against the wall, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, thinking about objecting to his fingers around her throat but another furious orgasm changed her mind.
He was rough and primal, his savage passion overwhelming, and that was exactly what she needed. When she was with him, there wasn’t time to think of anything else. There was no worry. Only hot, hard, crazily intense sex.
It was perfect.
“Thank you,” she murmured afterward, when they both lay spent and satisfied.
He laughed. “Did you just—”
“Yeah,” she interrupted, a little irritated with herself. “I do that a lot.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “A lot?”
She caressed his face. “Jealous?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re not really, are you?”
He pushed her hair behind her ear then pulled her down for a kiss. “Not of those who love you. I’d be pretty fucking irate if Michael touched you.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.” Then she sighed and took his hand. “We need to talk about what happened, Luke. We can’t get past it if we don’t talk about it.”
He said nothing for so long she thought maybe he’d ignore her. Maybe he simply wasn’t ready to talk about it. But finally, he replied.
“I felt you die, Kris. When I was holding you, you were gone. I killed you. How the fuck can I get past that?” His voice was little more than a dark murmur. “How can you forgive me?”
“I can forgive you,” she said, “because you did the right thing. You have to forgive yourself.”
“I can’t look Maggie in the eye,” he said. “I can’t—”
She took his face between her palms. “You did what you had to do. It was a horrible moment in time. It’s gone now. Let it go before it spoils what’s to come.”
He closed his eyes for a second, then leaned his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry. I need you to know how very fucking sorry I am.”
“I do know. And I’d have done the same thing.”
He drew back a little, his eyebrows high. “Bullshit.”
She grinned. “We’ll never know, will we?”
“Yeah,” he said dryly. “I think we know.”
“It’s gone, Luke. I know you care about me. Let it go.”
“Just like that?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Just like that.” Her cell rang and she reached over to grab it from the nightstand. “This is Krista.”
The cheerful nurse informed her that Asa was ready for her. She hung up and gave Luke a lingering kiss before jumping up to get dressed.
Asa was physically okay—battered, bruised, and sore as hell, but no internal bleeding and miraculously, no broken bones. Mentally, he was a little worse for wear. He hated that he was useless—his words, not hers—against Vogdris. He couldn’t protect her.
The one person who could protect her was likely a prisoner of his king, and none of them believed they’d see him again.
None of them but Krista. She’d feel it if his dark light blinked out. He wasn’t dead. But maybe he was wishing, right about then, that he was.
They discussed Vogdris and his attack on the way home. Neither Luke nor Asa suggested she go away or hide until Vogdris filled up on souls and went back to his world. She was a powerful slayer, and she was one of the only people who had a chance at fighting him. They wouldn’t insult her by suggesting she hide and let them handle it.
Stella had sent a team of security to surround Krista’s house. They might not be able to stop Vogdris if he arrived, but they would give the slayers inside a warning. He wouldn’t be sneaking up on them.
Henry the hellhound had returned home and was fine. Stella had fed him all the burgers he could hold—which apparently was a lot of burgers.
Krista insisted that Maggie stay at her grandparents’ house during the night. She could come home in the daylight when Vogdris was likely to be asleep.
“We know he wants me,” she told Luke and Asa. “So we’ll give him what he wants.”
Luke agreed. “We can set a trap and use you as bait.”
“What kind of trap is strong enough to hold a soul-stealer?” Asa asked.
She and Luke looked at each other. “Talon,” they said at the same time.
“He said he’s not strong enough to make more lines,” Asa pointed out.
“But a small circle might be something he can do,” she said. “It can’t hurt to ask him. And it certainly can’t hurt him to try.”
“How are you going to find him?” Luke asked. “It’s a big city. You can’t just go out and yell for him.”
Her mouth went suddenly dry. She didn’t want to tell him, but she had to trust the other slayers. She took the plunge. “When we made the circle and called the demons into Edgefield,” she said.
Luke frowned. “What about it?”
“I think I can do that on my own now. Not as strongly, but I feel it, Luke. Something happened to me when we called the demons. If he’s near enough, I think I can attract him to me.”
He shuttered his eyes. “Have you tested it?”
She nodded. “Once.”
“What will it mean?” Asa asked. “If you’ve grown the ability to call demons?”
“It may mean,” Luke answered, when she said nothing, “that she has the ability to steal power.” He stared at her. “Much like Vogdris can steal souls.”
“I wouldn’t say steal,” she said. “Absorb, maybe.”
“Maybe,” he said.
“We’ll talk about it tomorrow,” she murmured, and she couldn’t really look at either of them. “I didn’t do it on purpose, Luke,” she added.
“I know.”
His acknowledgment gave her no comfort. She led Asa upstairs and took care of him as he always took care of her. She ran him a warm bath, fed him, and tucked him into bed.
“Krista, not that I don’t enjoy being fussed over by you, but I’m fine.” He snaked an arm around her and pulled her down on top of him, then buried his nose at the side of her neck and inhaled. “You smell like Luke.” He pushed her hair behind her ear as she stared down at him. “Are you okay?”
She tilted her head. “Why do you ask that?”
“He can’t hide who he is from those who know him,” he said. “I’ve seen him fight. I imagine fucking will make him just as…passionate. He needs that when he fights, but when he’s with you, he’ll need to be more careful.”
She nodded. “He’s rough when he loses control.” Then she grinned. “He didn’t hurt me, but I think I might have hurt him—which he seemed to enjoy.”
She stretched out on top of him and he wrapped his arms around her. For a few seconds, they said nothing.
“I thought I’d lost you,” he said finally, his voice rough and raw. “I thought he’d taken you away from me.”
“I thought the same about you,” s
he whispered.
They fell asleep pressed against each other, joyful that for that night, they were alive, together, and safe. Holding tight to that moment, which was all anybody could really ever do.
16
The next day, Talon slept for only three hours before joining Krista and Luke in the city. They had lunch at Millie’s Diner during a quiet spell, keeping their earpieces on so they’d hear any call that might come in.
“I thought about that,” Talon said, when they mentioned creating a trap of lines. “I can try, but it’ll take the…” He gestured, trying to give voice to something that there were no words for. “The savings I’ve been gathering for the city lines. If the trap fails, my energy will be depleted and there will be no way to rebuild the city boundaries. Not for a long time—and by then it’ll be too late.”
“Even if you don’t build the trap,” she said, “will you have enough power to rebuild the city boundaries when they fail?”
“I doubt it,” he admitted reluctantly.
Luke shrugged. “So it won’t hurt to try to build a trap.”
And over lunch, they formed a plan. There wasn’t much to it, really. Talon would attempt to make a trap of lines. If he succeeded, Krista would lure Vogdris inside it. Then the four slayers would surround him with joined power and blast him to bits.
That was the extent of their plan. Maybe it was better than nothing.
“I’ll try it tonight,” Talon told them, “when Vogdris is roaming the city searching for souls. I’m going to sleep until then to conserve power.” And without another word, he left the table and walked away, his stare distant and calm. His mind was already on the task ahead.
“He doesn’t think he can do it,” she said.
Luke finished his coffee. “Nope.”
Neither one of them mentioned her feeble ability to call demons. They’d have to talk about it eventually, and she was sure neither of them was looking forward to it.
And even though he probably didn’t mean to, Luke withdrew from her. Just the tiniest bit, but it was enough to tell her he was…wary. No one wanted his or her power stolen.
He’d work it out and he’d either trust her, or he wouldn’t.
Rafael found them a few hours later after they’d exorcised two humans and then slayed three demons who’d come through together. There was still no sign of Triganoth, and her worry grew larger by the minute. The mark on her face remained cold and quiet.
If he were hurt or dying in his world, would she sense it in hers? Would her mark send shockwaves of pain through her body as a warning? She doubted it.
“What do you want?” she asked Rafael, irritated and anxious. “Your protection is a little lacking, by the way. Vogdris nearly killed me.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “I wasn’t sent here to protect you. I was sent here to watch you. To control you, if the need arises.” He looked down his nose at her. “And the better I get to know you, the more I am convinced that need will arise.”
“You’re an asshole, aren’t you?” She put her bloody hands on her hips. “For an angel.”
“Compared with most of my kind, I’m really quite nice.”
“It pisses me off that you could help us fight the soul-stealer. You could release the souls. But you won’t do anything.” She shook her head, genuinely confused. “How is that okay? There are children suffering.”
“Yes,” he agreed coolly. “In all the worlds.”
Despite his emotionless tone, she was nearly certain she saw a spark of pain in his cold eyes. Or maybe she just needed to believe an angel couldn’t be heartless. She sighed. “We have work to do, Rafael. What do you want?”
“Merely to watch.”
“I see,” she said. “You’re hoping you can watch me have sex with the demon lord again? What a naughty angel.”
He crossed his arms and curled his lip, but said nothing. Luke frowned at her, probably wondering at her sudden viciousness, but he kept his mouth shut.
She continued when neither man said a word. “I hate to disappoint you, but Triganoth…” She swallowed. “Triganoth isn’t here.”
Dawning realization appeared in their eyes. “You’re acting out because you’re afraid for the demon,” Rafael said. “You’re emotionally weak. Perhaps that’s something you should work on improving.”
“I’d rather be “emotionally weak” than cold and empty and afraid of touch.” She turned away from him, happy her awe had turned into anger. “Watch all you want. Knock yourself out. And fuck you.”
She would never understand how such a powerful person could allow evil to exist without attempting to kill it. Shockingly, he seemed to care what she thought of him.
“Krista,” he said.
Surprised, she turned back to face him. “What?”
Uncomfortable, he stared over her head. “Were I to disobey my orders, I would be exiled from my world.” At last, he lowered his stare to hers. “My wings would be clipped, my power taken, and I could help no one. You can’t understand our world and our rules, but understand that in my life, there are those who need me, and I do combat the evil.”
Both she and Luke stared at him, speechless.
And finally, his cheeks slightly flushed, he gestured impatiently at them. “Go.”
He didn’t follow them when they turned and strode away, but she knew that he’d be lurking in the shadows, watching them—watching her—for as long as he felt he needed to.
“He’s a danger to me, isn’t he?” she said to Luke a little later.
He hesitated. “Yeah. But we can’t kill him.”
She burst into laughter. “Of course we can’t kill an angel. But why would his superiors send him here to watch me, Luke?”
“Maybe they can see the future.”
“A future in which I gain all the power there is and kill the world?”
But he didn’t laugh. “I don’t know, Kris, and they’re unlikely to tell us. Just be careful.”
She shivered, suddenly cold, and glanced around for the angel. She didn’t see him, but she knew he was there. Watching. Waiting, maybe, for her to screw up so he could smite her.
Luckily, she didn’t have too long to dwell on it. She called to check on Maggie before darkness fell and Talon arrived.
“I wish this was over with so things could get back to normal,” Maggie said.
“I know, hon. I do too.”
“Gran says hi and to be careful.”
“Have them bring you home tomorrow. We’ll all have dinner together.”
“Okay.”
“I love you, sweetheart. I have to go—call coming in.”
She cut the call and listened as the dispatcher called them to a convenience store a few blocks away. A few demons had walked in and were eating everything in sight—including two of the humans.
“There’s a couple of them in the parking lot,” Luke said, when they reached the place.
“I see them.” As she turned into the parking lot, a demon walked in front of her car. He was naked except for a ball cap, and he jerked off as he walked. He stared at her through her windshield, curled his lip, and ejaculated all over the hood of the car.
She gunned the engine and ran him over. “Asshole,” she muttered. “Why aren’t they scared?”
Luke shook his head. “Either some of them are just stupid or—”
At that moment a car pulled into the parking lot, saw the other demon, then put the car into reverse and sped away.
“Or they understand that most humans are going to run away,” Luke finished. He climbed out of the car with her and they stood side by side as the second demon ran toward the store.
He was as naked as his dead friend, his skin darkly red, his huge, swollen dick bobbing crazily as he ran. They followed him inside, hands glowing, and in a few short minutes, the floor was littered with dead demons.
She knelt beside a blood-spattered human to check for a pulse as Luke called in the paramedics. “Why is it,” she asked, “that these l
esser demons hate us so fiercely? Why are they all such murderous, evil assholes—especially Vogdris—when Trig is not?”
He crossed his arms and stared down at her, his eyebrow cocked. “Kris, Triganoth is an evil, murderous asshole who doesn’t give a fuck about human lives. He just happens to give a fuck about you. Any one of these demons would be the same as Trig if they had a connection with a human.”
“Trig is nothing like them,” she told him, frowning. “You know that.”
“Yeah,” he said flatly. “He is. If he was capable of stealing souls and needed to steal them to survive, he’d do it. If he wasn’t obsessed with you, he wouldn’t think twice about killing you if you got in his way. He’s not different, Kris. He’s just different to you.”
“That’s not true at all,” she said, getting to her feet. She put her fingers unconsciously to her cheek, and for a second she wanted to claw the mark off her face.
“Paramedics are here,” Luke said. “It’ll be dark soon. Let’s grab something to eat before the king of assholes arrives and fucks up our appetites. I’ll text Talon and tell him where to meet us.” He hesitated, then reached out to squeeze her arm.
She wanted to pull away from him, like a petulant child, because he’d hurt her with his truth. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t her truth.
She laced her fingers with his, relieved when he didn’t flinch, and they walked from the store together to face a night that might try its best to kill them both.
17
When darkness fell, the city seemed to change.
Talon was quietly grim and focused and about as closed off as she’d ever seen him. He didn’t want to fail, but he was pretty sure he would. And she thought he might rather not try at all with that outcome.
She’d called Asa earlier to tell him the plan and that she’d be home as soon as she could—and wasn’t really surprised when she gathered with Talon, Luke, and Barbie and looked up to see Asa standing a few yards away, watching.
When he saw her looking at him he folded his arms and gave her a wink. Her heart stuttered and she sent him a small smile.
