The Rise of Monsters: Angelus Book One

by Brianna Jean

  “Cabe?” Annalise called, her voice drawn out.

  Immediately, I became impossibly more alert, looking to where she stood by the island. There was a box sitting there, wrapped in bright white paper, a black card taped to the side.

  Lanier and Quint came in, slammed the door behind them, and blew past me to get to Annalise, who stood staring at the package. “Should I open it?” She looked up at Lan. He shook his head, placing his hands on her hips to move her to the side. She went easily, stepping up against Quint, who put his chin on her head.

  “Open it,” I told Lan, moving to stand on his other side.

  He did, pulling the black envelope off the box and ripping into it quickly.

  A silver colored piece of cardstock was pulled from the envelope, Lanier’s eyes flying over the letters. I leaned over his shoulder and read out loud:

  Annalise, Lanier, Cabe, and Quint,

  Please dress in the outfits that have been laid out on your beds. A car will be waiting to pick you up at five p.m. sharp. Do not be late.

  Lucifer.

  “I’m fucking sorry, what?” Anna asked, stepping away from Quint to snatch the letter from Lanier’s hands. My brother walked toward the window, his hands shoved deep in his hair. She spoke up again, “What’s in the box?”

  I lifted it from the island and brought it into the living room, setting it on the coffee table. Lanier didn’t bother to turn around, so I raised the lid off the box, and my heart dropped to the floor.

  “What the fuck?” Annalise whispered, her hand coming to rest on my arm as she peered inside the box.

  Two dozen white roses, splattered in blood, sat nestled inside the cardboard.

  “This is so not fucking good,” Quint sighed. “He’s up to something. This only leads to more fucking questions.”

  “Can we just, like…not go?” she questioned, reaching her hand in the box to touch one of the roses with a look of disgust on her face. “This is not something I want to do. How did anyone get in here, anyway?”

  “Lucifer is the King of Hell, Vix. Any of the Demons working for him could find a way to get where they needed to go,” Lanier explained, his voice tired and drained. We all knew something was up and, sure enough, we were being watched. As soon as we left, they got into the penthouse and left a present.

  Quint added, “I can cloak myself invisible, Pup. Any of the upper level Demons and even some of the lower level can cast dark magic. It’s not common amongst all Demons, but my father most definitely has access to it. All they had to do was unlock the door and slip inside. They didn’t leave a mess or kill anyone on their way in, they just needed to get in here when we weren’t home.”

  “We’re lucky that we aren’t hiding anything in here that they might want,” Lanier grumbled, coming to stand next to Annalise. He reached forward to grab her shoulder but pulled his hand back at the last second and sighed, putting his hands in his pockets.

  I wanted to fucking slap him.

  I understood his reason for wanting to Fall, but I was hoping that, at least now, he would give in to his feelings for Anna. Falling was enough of a punishment. Spending our days in Hellfire and waiting for the chance to go Topside? That was enough. We would risk losing our Humanity, but it was worth it if I got to keep Annalise. Quint wouldn’t leave her, I knew that, but I needed to find a way to get Lanier on board if we expected Annalise to stay whole when all of this was over. The question was: could I convince him that Falling wasn’t his only option? That his father’s death wasn’t his fault?

  I had a feeling, deep in the pit of my stomach, that we were in this for the long haul. That this was bigger than any of us knew. Breaking this bond wouldn’t come easily, and we would be spending a lot of time together. She would get used to all of us being together, whether she wanted to or not, and in the end she would lose one of her mates.

  Bond or no bond, we would be a family.

  Losing one had the potential to ruin us all.

  “Do we seriously have to go?” Anna asked, putting the card down and moving into the kitchen, searching for the fridge. She forgot where it was for a moment but eventually remembered, pulling it open and grabbing a beer for herself. She walked over to Quint, reached in his back pocket and pulled out his lighter. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her as she used the side of it to pop the tab on the glass bottle. She put it back in his pocket and took a seat on the couch, chugging the beer quickly. “Fuck, that’s cold as hell.” Her face scrunched up like she sucked on a lemon. “Jesus, are all the modern fridges this fucking cold?”

  No one laughed, but I gave her a smile, loving her attempt to brush this off.

  She looked at all of us, and when no one said anything, she nodded. “So we have to go.”

  “Yes,” Lanier confirmed. “Get dressed and ready, we only have two hours, and I have no doubt that he picked out five-piece suits for us. Annalise, your outfit could be anywhere, so check my room first, then check the others, and start getting ready. Full makeup—look hot and unapproachable. We have to go in there guns blazing, or he’ll eat us alive.”

  The boss had spoken. We all moved to follow orders.

  Sure enough, when I walked into Lanier’s room, there was an elegant black dress laid out on his bed.

  I wasn’t nervous anymore, not since the roses.

  I didn’t tell the guys—didn’t want to alarm them or have them making a big deal out of my safety—but the blood on the roses was mine. I hadn’t figured out how Lucifer got it, as I had no recollection of my blood being taken or getting hurt badly enough to even bleed that much…but the scent of it was all mine.

  Lucifer sent those roses to me.

  A warning, a clue of some sort.

  For what? I had no idea, but I’d be damned if I let him think I was going to roll over and show my stomach at the first sign of a threat.

  I picked up the dress and whistled. It was a floor length number, covered in lace from top to bottom with a sweetheart neckline and a train that would trail behind me. It was beautiful and dark, fit for a queen.

  I wasn’t sure what it meant, but it felt like another clue. It made me think that we might be a little in over our heads, that tonight might be about something bigger than what we’d figured out so far. Which was very little, I might add.

  Bringing my attention back to the dress, I checked out the sleeves, picking up the ends where they came to a delicate point wrapped around a silver ring that had been sewn into the material.

  Interesting.

  “That looks like something a vampire would wear,” Lanier’s voice came from the bathroom. He was standing with the door open, a towel around his waist, scrubbing his wet hair with a small hand towel.

  I licked my lips at the sight of his sculpted, tattooed chest and the sharp Adonis belt that led to the most delicious part of him. “Yes, it does.”

  “Are you ready?” he asked, not talking about the order he gave us but rather if I were ready for whatever Lucifer had in store.

  “Are you?” I questioned with a raised eyebrow.

  “Yes.”

  “Then you know my answer,” I nodded. “Whatever happens in there, we stick together. I know that I wasn’t too excited about this whole situation very long ago, but you guys are attached to me somehow. The threat against me? The reason Lucifer wanted me protected? You’re all involved, Lanier. Tell me you know that.”

  He walked out of the bathroom and headed into the closet, avoiding my question. Frustrated, I followed after him after dropping the dress back on the bed. His energy was strong, radiating determination and heart stopping power. He pulled open the towel and threw it into the corner of the closet, giving me a perfect view of his ass.

  Goddamn.

  I bit my lip, trying to stay focused, but his scent was overwhelming. I felt my own power rising, sensing his and wanting to come out and play. I held it back, searching for Bestia. She was there, watching me, waiting for orders.

  “That was your blood on the ros
es,” Lanier stated in a hard but controlled voice. He picked out a pair of boxers and pulled them on, anger vibrating through the room around me.

  “It was.” I nodded.

  He turned to face me, meeting my eyes. His powerful, inked body on display, fury floating along the surface of his skin. I understood. I hadn’t fought or been to the gym in days, so my body was on fire, adrenaline and resolve flooding my veins. This was the kind of danger I craved.

  He watched me for a moment while I stood in front of him, waiting to hear what he’d say next. “Get dressed and bring your gun to me when you’re finished, I’ll find a place to hide it under your dress. The guys and I are going to gear up—I’m not taking any chances.”

  I nodded, agreeing, but there was something else I needed him to do. “Don’t tell them about the roses, please.”

  He studied me, his seafoam eyes hard. He nodded in understanding. “I won’t.”

  With that, I left him nearly naked in the closet and headed for the shower.

  I was going to find out what we were dealing with. It seemed like Lucifer either wanted me dead or was warning me that someone else did. Something was at work here, and I was going to figure out what it was.

  Tonight.

  I was ready.

  Fear gripped my throat, held my organs in its vicious claws.

  Death was on Anna’s head, and I couldn’t fucking figure out why.

  My beast paced my mind, the bond still twisting with worry, vibrating with the power that linked us all together, and I tried to keep my expression neutral so that I didn’t tip off my brothers.

  Telling them that it was Anna’s blood on the roses would be detrimental to our mission. Quint would lose his fucking mind, and Cabe would suggest we find a way to get out of going at all. He’d want to hide her away, protect her from any and all harm. We would argue, Anna would get upset, and whoever was watching us would know for sure that we had a creature in our penthouse that was more powerful than any Neph I’d ever met before—if they didn’t already know.

  No, we had to keep the roses a secret.

  Her scent was already all over the house, and she was standing in the room when we opened the box, so only I was able to pick up on the true scent of her blood. After all, I had tasted it on my tongue.

  I’d know her scent anywhere.

  “Cabe, strap up. Quint, you too,” I ordered, coming into the living room in the tux that Lucifer picked out. All three of us wore the same one, all black, fitted and perfectly glued to our bodies. The material felt expensive and well-made, though that wasn’t surprising given that Lucifer—and Quint by association—was rich as fuck.

  The only difference between the three suits was the masks that Lucifer had sent for us to wear, as if we were going to a masquerade ball. Mine was made of pure iron that had been pressed thin but still felt heavy on my face. Between the dark color and the pattern I recognized, the mask appeared to look like the lace of Annalise’s dress. Cabe’s was the same design but made of pure flat-pressed silver. Quint’s was identical but instead painted the color of blood, matching his eyes, and was made of some kind of metal I couldn’t recognize under the paint, though it looked heavy like my own.

  I stood by the window and waited as everyone finished preparing to leave.

  I felt sick and hungry all at the same time. The scent of Annalise’s blood had me itching to go upstairs and find her just for one taste, but the circumstances surrounding the scent made me stand rooted in my spot. Her blood on white roses. Where had Lucifer gotten it? How had he gotten it?

  I didn’t have time to ask Annalise if she had any clue, knowing that she would need every second of the time we were given to prepare. I wanted her to be levelheaded and focused. The blood didn’t seem to bother her, confusing me even more, but I chalked it up to her simply being fearless. She knew death was calling her name, and she planned to meet it head on.

  “Holy fuck,” Cabe said under his breath from somewhere in the room. I turned around to see Annalise coming down the stairs.

  My heart stopped beating; my chest cracked in two.

  She was the most exquisite creature I’d ever laid eyes on.

  The dress she wore looked brutal and ancient when it was laid out on my bed, but actually on her? She was beautiful darkness, a wicked weapon, a deliciously lethal creature.

  The dress hugged her curves, making her breasts look like fucking pillows against her skin. Her silky dark hair hung around her shoulders in a sleek curtain, her lips painted the darkest purple, her eyes framed with smoky black eyeshadow, sharp eyeliner and long eyelashes. Those lilac pools looked too bright to ever be considered Human.

  It was as if the night sky came to kiss her flesh with moonlight and soak her in shadows.

  She looked like a queen who was missing her crown.

  The dress itself was made of thick black lace, falling around her black heels and trailing a couple feet behind her. She had filed her nails to dull almond-shaped points and painted them red, leaving her skin looking smooth and pale until the sleeves began. Covered in sheer lace, the material came to a point, wrapped around a silver ring that fit on both of her middle fingers, covering half of her hand in the delicate pattern.

  Fucking beautiful.

  “We match you,” Quint said, tilting his head to the side as he walked toward her. His ash colored hair stood out like her eyes against all the black material surrounding our group. “You’re fucking perfect, Minx.”

  She gave him a blinding smile and straightened his tie when he came to a stop before her. She said, “You asked me once if I ever got sick of the dark.”

  He nodded, grabbing a lock of her hair in between his fingers. I stood, fascinated, as her very presence calmed him down, rooted him in place. “Yeah, what about it?”

  “Tonight we’re walking into darkness, and we’ll be going in blind.” She looked at all of us, her eyes scanning our faces. “I don’t trust easily—I don’t want to trust at all—but in order to get out of this alive, I have a feeling that we’re going to need to truly trust each other, trust the bond.”

  She paused, inhaling deeply before she looked Quint in the eyes and said, “I told you no, that I never get sick of the dark, but tonight…I don’t want to face it alone.”

  I sucked in a breath at her words, her honesty. In her own way, she was admitting that she wanted us to do this together. All in, all out.

  She turned to me. I nodded, confirming her request. “We go into the dark together, as a unit.”

  “Always.” Cabe stepped forward.

  She lifted her head to meet his eyes, giving him a knowing smile and stepping around Quint. Using her pointer finger, she beckoned Cabe closer. He went willingly, picking up her hand and inspecting the ring on her middle finger. She reached up and put a hand on his face. “I just wanted to say thank you.”

  His brows pulled together. “For what?”

  “For being the only person who never left me,” she replied. Her voice carried through the room with a warning attached. She was trusting us, but if we failed her, it would be the end of whatever we had going on here. She was commanding our group; she was commanding me. She was completely in charge with one simple statement.

  Even after her display of dominance, the three of them formed a line facing me. Warriors awaiting their orders.

  “We don’t know what this meeting is about,” I started, locking eyes with each of them. My chest squeezed with anxiety, knowing that Lucifer was setting us up, but not knowing a single thing about his reasoning. “But we know that whatever Lucifer tells us tonight, The Maker already knows. Lucifer has a secret, and he believes that Annalise is somehow involved. He knows something that we don’t, so we go in there alert, we go in there strong, we go in there ready for whatever he throws at us.”

  Quint spoke up first. “I wish that I knew what this was about, but he has kept me in the dark since I came Topside. The first actual order he gave me was to find Annalise, but he is very powerful. He�
�s not above killing Nephilim, fuck, it’s what he does for fun. We can’t let him see weakness. I don’t know if he has any explanations or theories about the mating bonds or Anna’s powers, but I can tell you with certainty that he knows more than we do right now—you can count on that. We need to play it safe, but we can’t let him run us over. Show strength but only when absolutely necessary; it wouldn’t end well for us if we get him fired up.”

  Annalise nodded, as did I.

  She came to stand in front of me, giving me a moment with her as she did with my brothers. She smiled up at me, her hands fixing the black pocket square in my suit jacket. “Boss man, you good?”

  I looked into her eyes, and my heart thrashed in my chest. Raw and aching emotions consumed me, letting me get a glimpse of all the things I would miss if I walked away. I had very little doubt in my mind that Cabe would find his way into Anna’s heart, and Quint couldn’t separate from her if he tried. She seemed to be his lifeline, his safe place.

  While I would miss out on her love, her smiles, her peace.

  You deserve it.

  I swallowed and nodded. “I’m good, Vix.”

  She smiled sadly, knowing my conflicted soul. “Then let’s go, the car is going to be here any minute.”

  The four of us walked to the elevator, tense and aware. The guys looked dangerous as hell in their black tuxes and matching masks. The pattern was clearly chosen to coordinate with my dress, solidifying my assumption that the three of them were involved in whatever mess I’d found myself in.

  I was starting to think that Lucifer knew we were bonded, that maybe he had them find me for that very reason. Between the guys all wearing matching tuxes and their masks matching my dress? Lucifer sent the outfits on purpose—I could feel it.

  The thought sparked a question I had planned to ask. “What did you mean earlier about Lucifer knowing what The Maker knows? What does that have to do with tonight?”

  Cabe was the one who spoke first. “The Maker is all-knowing. He is responsible for everything that exists in this world. He created the Humans in His image, and when Lucifer was still his most beloved Angel, he was privy to the same knowledge as The Maker. Who lives, who dies, the how and the why. Since the beginning of time, The Maker has set events in motion that affect the Humans and lead them to whatever he wants them to discover—destiny or fate, as you might know it—and sets them on a certain path. When Lucifer Fell, The Maker wasn’t able to turn off that link the two of them share. Ever since Lucifer Fell from The Kingdom…what The Maker thinks, Lucifer knows.” He paused while I absorbed the information before continuing, “Lucifer has tried—and failed—to stop The Maker’s plans, get in the way of His Will, every day since the two separated. It’s a game of sorts. Lucifer rarely wins, but he has yet to stop trying.”