Dangerous Dalliances (Maxwell Investigations)

by Ibanez, Dawn

  Lily tilted her head to the side. “They never married?”

  Eric shook his head. “She was black, he was white, and it was the 1800’s,” he said simply. “Michaela was a freed slave that disguised herself as a man until the Council found her. She was under their protection when Scott came to this area. What resulted was our family tree.”

  Sloane blinked at him. “How do you know all of this?”

  Lily glanced at Sloane. “He used the Council’s version of Google,” she said playfully. When the men around her chuckled, she took the journal back from Eric. She turned through the pages and frowned when she saw the final tear soaked pages. “I don’t think this is going to end well,” she mumbled.

  “What won’t end well?” Barry asked as he came back into the sitting room. With ease, he grabbed his plate from the cart and squeezed his way between Eric and Lily. He smirked at his brother. “Sorry man, I know you just got out of the hospital, but she’s my girl.”

  Eric nodded and moved over slightly. A frown crossed his face as he started to think about what he remembered about his ancestor.

  Lily ignored the brothers and turned towards the front of the book. She swallowed as she saw a picture of a handsome young man drawn on the paper. “For months I ignored the visions. I turned a blind eye to the opening of the Gates of Hell. I was too concerned with being happy. It’s no real excuse, but it’s the only one I have. The twins were only four and we had another on the way. I didn’t want to see the darkness that was waiting for us.

  “It started out innocently enough. A traveler came from overseas. He and Scott became fast friends.” Lily looked next to her and noticed that Barry hadn’t touched his food. When she looked to Eric and Sloane, they were also frozen.

  “It’s a mirror of what happened with Madison,” Barry said lowly. “The twins, a baby, meeting a Fae.”

  Lily shook her head. “She can’t mean Father Daniel,” she objected. “This was two hundred years ago.” She pressed her lips together as she stood and started to pace. Her eyes rapidly read as she tried to find something that would clear the Father’s name. “Look, right here.” She stopped pacing and pointed to another passage. “Daniel was with us for about month when another came to call. This time it was a Chinaman in search of his wife. He was a young Necromancer and Scott did as best he could to train him. Pengfei soaked up what Scott taught him. And when Daniel started teaching him about Fae magic, things started to take a turn for the worse.” Lily looked up and shook her head. “Why does that name sound familiar?” she asked.

  Eric rubbed his jaw as a sigh escaped him. “Because we know him,” he said quietly. He swallowed as both Barry and Sloane looked at him with widened eyes. “Pengfei is Pan’s first name. He rarely uses it.”

  Lily flipped ahead. Her eyes scanned the pages looking for anything that could make sense out of a situation that was growing madder each moment. She paused when she came to another picture. This one was of a large archway covered in vines and ivy. “Pengfei took us all to the island the Masons owned in the river. There were two other men there, but I don’t remember their names. One was a runaway slave; the other looked like he could have been bread from Hell itself. Pengfei blew into a gold horn. The air around me thickened and I could feel the baby inside of me twitching. I remember being terrified when Scott started to fight with Pengfei, and in a moment of desperation, blew into the horn himself.

  “The magic went wild. All of the ivy and plants dried up and died. A strange glow took over the archway. And monsters started to pour out of it. But I have to say the worst part was watching my Scott. He was a man that loved life, but as he stood in front of that gate, he could have been the Devil himself. The other men seemed to change too. It was like their emotions had been sucked out of them. All they wanted was blood, violence and chaos.

  “In all of the madness, I saw Pengfei. His arms were around a beautiful woman with long purple hair. It dawned on me then, his wife had been trapped behind that Gate, and he wanted her free.” Lily felt ill as she turned the page and saw the picture of a woman that looked almost exactly like her. Numb, she let the journal fall from her fingers. “It’s not a gate to Hell,” she breathlessly. She looked at Barry and swallowed. “It’s a door to Abaddon.”

  He slowly stood and walked over to her. “Lily, what’s Abaddon?” he asked carefully. The way she was starting to shake concerned him. “Baby, what’s the deal?”

  She looked at all three men. “In fiction, Fae are broken into two main casts, right? The Seelie and Unseelie. The Seelie would be from what we would consider Wyldlands. They’re light. They aren’t generally good, but they aren’t out for chaos either.” Lily started pacing again as she thought about what she was going to say next. “Really, Unseelie are Demons. If the Gates to Abaddon open, they all come through. Gorgons, Harpies, Griffins, everything would be blown out into the open.”

  Barry watched her for a moment. She was still shaking when he bent over and picked up the book. He easily found the page she left off of and pressed his lips together. “Where do Succubi fall in?” he questioned.

  Lily’s eyes filled with tears. While they all knew she was a Succubus, being an actual Demon was probably a little more than he signed on for. She looked at Barry with a torn heart. But she wouldn’t lie to him. She owed him that much. “Abaddon.”

  Chapter 13

  Madison entered the dark bar in search of her mentor. Her eyes narrowed when she spotted him sitting in a quiet corner. She walked over to him and sat at his table. “This is getting tedious Gramps,” she said darkly.

  Pan looked at her and leaned back in his chair. Madison had been his greatest triumph, and greatest disappointment. “What do you need, Sweetheart?” he asked in the same tone.

  “Cut the bullshit for starters.” She leaned forward and placed a piece of paper on the table between them. “You want us to open Abaddon, not Hell.”

  Pan scoffed. “They’re virtually the same thing,” he countered. His eyes narrowed when he saw a small hand drawn picture of a woman with long flowing hair, body armor and wings on her back. “Where did you get this?”

  Madison snatched the picture away before Pan could. When he stood, she jumped to her feet as well. “You don’t worry about that,” she said darkly. As he growled at her, she growled right back. “Just know that I don’t give a fuck who she is to you. I know what she did. I’m going to make her pay for it. You stand in my way I’m just going to have to cut you down too.”

  As she walked away, she could feel his penetrating stare on her back. Her eyebrow arched when the other patrons of the bar started to fall over. “Really?” she asked as she turned back to Pan. She couldn’t help but smile mockingly as his eyes glowed crimson. “You think you can take me?”

  “You will not harm my Morrigan!” Pan shouted before he attacked Madison. He growled as she dodged or blocked every punch or kick he threw at her. Once he had her pinned in a corner, he pulled his arm back to strike.

  She quickly grabbed his arm and changed their positions. Madison punched him in his throat and pinned him to the wall with her free hand. “Don’t think I won’t beat you like you stole from me,” she growled. As his throat healed, Madison pulled most of his magic away from him. “I don’t have the tolerance for you, Gramps.”

  As she dropped Pan to the floor, he coughed and watched her walk towards the door again. “You know why I want the Gates open,” he wheezed. “Why would you continue to help me?”

  Madison’s eyes glowed crimson as she looked at him. “Because I want to go something more important,” she said in that deep symbiotic voice.

  * * * * *

  Barry frowned as Lily’s entire posture changed. He didn’t like the way she seemed to close herself off. With looked at his brother and Sloane. “Can you two take care of calling everyone and getting them here?” he asked. “I want to talk with Lily alone.”

  Eric glanced between the pair and slowly made his way to his feet. He couldn’t blame Barry.
Lily’s revelation wasn’t too big of a shock, but the way she started pushing them away when they needed each other most was going to pose a problem. “We’ll call Dylan and Crispin first. Then they can help round up everyone else.” Eric held his hand out for Sloane. “And we’ll also pick a room. I am a little tired. We’ll let you know when everyone gets here.”

  Barry looked at his brother in confusion for a moment. “You’re staying here?” he asked skeptically.

  “Mom didn’t clear our building yet, and she wanted us to keep an eye on you and Lily.” Eric shrugged when Lily frowned at him. “Don’t take it that way. She just wanted to make sure he was a gentleman.”

  Barry laughed as he pulled Lily into his arms. “It’s awesome that my own mother thinks so highly of me.” Before she could protest, he pressed a kiss to her lips. “Come talk to me,” he whispered against her lips. As he pulled her into the room, Barry noted Sloane picking up the box and following Eric upstairs.

  Lily shook her head and reluctantly followed him. “Barry, you really shouldn’t try to sweet talk me,” she said as he closed the door behind her. A gasp escaped her when he pulled her back into his chest.

  Barry wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in the crook of her neck. “So you think I should be completely disgusted and turn my back on you?” he asked as he scraped his teeth against one tender spot behind her ear. When she started to dig her nails into the arms of his shirt, he bit down on her ear lobe. “Do you?”

  “You really should,” Lily said breathlessly. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head when he started to squeeze and caress her breasts. “I’m a demon. One of the highest ranking.”

  “You’re my Lily,” he reasoned before pulling her top off. Before she could object, he turned her around and lifted her into his arms. “That’s all I need to know.”

  She gave herself over to his kiss as he plundered her mouth. A moan escaped her when he laid her back on the bed. “I have wings and a tail,” she said desperately.

  Barry pulled back and looked into her eyes. “We can work around the wings, and I’m pretty sure you can get downright kinky with that tail,” he said easily. He could only laugh when she pushed his shoulders. She made her way into a sitting position and glared at him, causing him to chuckle. “I’m sorry, it’s too soon,” he said kissing her hand. “But you have to understand, I’m not going to look at you any different just because you’re technically a demon.” He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her mouth. He smiled as she easily gave herself over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Now, here’s where you say you won’t look at me any different because I’m a sex-crazed fiend.”

  Lily looked at him and gently touched his face. Before he could figure out what she was going to do, she pushed him flat on his back and quickly straddled him. “I won’t look at you any different,” she said softly. The smile she wore then blossomed. “Unless you get a beer gut. Sex fiends with beer guts don’t make an attractive picture.”

  A playful growl escaped Barry as he tackled her to the bed. As she started to laugh, he covered her face and neck in kisses. For a moment, he enjoyed the feel of her in his arms. When she turned her face to look at him a single thought struck him. She was the one.

  Lily caressed his face. “Barry?” she questioned. The expression on his face threw her. “Are you okay?” She pulled away from him and frowned as he continued to stare at her. “I knew it, I took too much,” she mumbled before pulling him off of the bed. Before she could maneuver him to the head of the bed, he kissed her passionately.

  He kept his eyes closed as he held her close. “When this is over, let’s go to Vegas,” he suggested.

  “What?”

  “When all of this is over and my family’s settled back down again, let’s high tail it to Vegas.”

  Lily was stunned as he sat back on the bed and pulled her down on top of him. “Barry, you know there’s only one real reason why couples go to Las Vegas, right?” she questioned.

  Barry slowly nodded and brushed her hair back. “And I want to take you,” he told her. A frown then crossed his face. “Is this too sudden?” he asked seriously. The expression on her face didn’t ease any anxiety he had as she nodded. He sighed rested his head against the pillow. “I’m sorry. I just thought we were on the same page.”

  She pressed her fingers against his lips. “Get some rest. When this is over, we’ll talk about Vegas,” she said softly. When he nodded, she pressed a kiss to his lips. Lily couldn’t help but smile as his hands drifted under the waistline of her pants. “I’m not going to have sex with you,” she mumbled before kissing his cheek. When he protested, she relaxed and laid her hand on his chest. “But if you’re good, I’ll stay.”

  He smiled up at the ceiling. “I could have sworn you said that I was very, very good,” he chuckled.

  She buried her face in his neck as a heavy blush crossed her face. “You’re incorrigible,” she mumbled against his skin. The feeling of his hands along her back relaxed her. A soft moan escaped her as he started a slow massage at the base of her neck. One jade eye opened and pinned Barry where he was. “Mr. Maxwell, are you trying to seduce me?” she asked.

  Another chuckle escaped him as he turned over. Once he had her comfortably under him, he gently kissed her cheek. “Is it working?” he asked into her ear.

  Lily faced him and sighed. “Go to sleep, Barrence,” she said seriously. When he frowned, she snuggled up against him. “I’ll stay here, promise.”

  * * * * *

  Casper frowned as Nico walked away from the small group of investigators. The small building in front of them was nothing but rubble. Mortal investigators still had no clue what happened. They’ve decided to blame it all on a gas line. The Council’s Keepers weren’t too much farther in their investigation.

  “They found Nate’s body near the back of the store,” Nico said lowly. He shook his head held back a sigh. “He was one hell of a pool player.”

  Casper snorted. “Nate was a cheat. He Called to all of the balls,” he said lowly. He moved towards his car and looked at the buildings above them. “I think he hustled his down payment for this place out of the Pack in California.” Casper spied the confused look on Nico’s face and laughed. “He was a Jewel Witch of the highest caliber. Very few people realized that he was able to Call to stone.”

  Nico looked back at the rubble with a deep frown. “No wonder all the Gargoyles liked him.” When Casper raised an eyebrow, Nico shrugged. “There are very few people that will talk to us when we’re in our beast forms. It could be that his Magic soothed us.” He looked down the street and frowned when he saw a pair of men stumble out of an alley.

  Casper turned and spotted the two. His eyes widened when he recognized Jimmy, covered in dust. “You’re sister is going to kill you,” he said running over to his friend.

  Jimmy rolled his eyes as he looked at the man beside him. “She’s already tried. At least, one of her new running partners did.”

  Casper shook his head as he held back his laugh. “I mean the other one,” he said before looking at the man standing next to Jimmy. His eyes widened when he looked into the face of someone he never expected to see again. “Athol,” he acknowledged.

  “Casper,” the tall blonde replied. His eyes glanced around the area before landing on the Vampire again. “Did you escape your keepers again?”

  Jimmy frowned as he looked from his brother-in-law to his savior. “You two know each other?” he asked.

  “Athol the Asshole and I go way back,” Casper said simply.

  Athol tried not to growl. “The Rake Prince compromised my sister’s honor.”

  Casper snorted. “Merida didn’t need my help,” he replied before turning back to his car. “Jim, now that you’re home, you can talk to Dylan. If you survive, she can get you caught up with everything that went down this afternoon.”

  Before anyone could move, Athol wrapped his hand around Casper’s throat. “Merida hides away because of y
ou. And now we’re in the process of losing Siobhan because of some madman’s lovesick game. I will not stand here and allow you to insult me and mine.”

  Nico grabbed Athol by the waist and pulled him off of Casper. “This isn’t helping,” he shouted at the Fae Prince. His skin started to take on a gray tint as he stood between them. “We all know that Casper can be an asshole. But with everything that’s going on you need to be the bigger person and let it go.”

  Athol hissed at him. “I don’t see you swallowing your pride,” he said snidely.

  “That’s because I did it a long time ago. You need to let it go too. Or find someone to be your proxy and go home.” Nico turned and glared at Casper. He knew the younger royal was angry and upset, but it was no reason to try and get them all killed. “Go to the car and call your brother,” he ordered.

  Casper looked at Athol once more before shaking his head and turning away. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Nico was right. Any petty differences he had with the Fae would have to wait until this mess was over. He looked over his shoulder and saw Jimmy frowning at them both. “You want to talk with Dylan now?” he asked.

  With a quick glance at Athol, Jimmy moved to follow Casper. If his sister was upset with him, he would have to straighten everything out before it got out of hand. “How are they handling this?” he asked Casper when they reached the Vampire’s car. Casper’s simple snort caused him to frown. “What?”

  “You tell me,” Casper replied. “Your mother gets a call saying that Nate’s place is now rubble, and all of the street cameras show you going in and never coming out. Add that to Madison attacking the hospital and leveling the parking garage, Ashton playing some game with my father and we still have no clue where Lily’s seal is, or even what we’re doing. Knowing Dylan, how do you think she’s handling this?”