As she neared Micah, he held up his hand, indicating one of Amos’s marbles. “Our son is a genius.”
“Yes, he is.”
“I didn’t expect him to assist you.”
Why not? “How does it feel to know he provided me with ammunition against you?”
Micah grinned, not the reaction she expected. “Pride. I feel great pride in him. He’s loyal to you, which will work in my favor once you accept your place in Hell.” He tucked the marble in his pocket and she remembered what Petra said. That Micah could track the signature of Amos’s power with the marbles.
“Nix is earthbound and out of your reach.” She approached him slowly and he watched her like a predator. “It’s all I wanted.” Madison adjusted her grip on the blade as she halted in front of him.
He nodded at the dogs. “Why are the Hellhounds following you?”
“They came to me when I called for something else.”
“They’re venomous, so don’t let them bite. It means they chose you as their owner and are cosmically bound to you.”
Eerie. Even creepier knowing Hellhounds thought that deeply.
“You planning on using that against me?” He tapped a claw against the tip of the dragon blade.
“I have no desire to wield it against you. Kur expects me to kill you, though.” She ran her thumb along his chin. “I admit I’m curious which of us would win a fight.”
Overhead, Elias laughed, a demonic sound hinting of insanity. Dragon smoke belched over her head and rolled into her eyes, blurring her vision, but she didn’t choke on the stuff. Rather, she breathed it in as if it were clean air. A bolt of ice landed by her feet and protruded up from the hellish floor, which screamed an agonized protest. Then it burst into flames before disappearing.
Micah slid his fingers into her hair and tugged her against his chest. His embrace offered safety and it intoxicated her, piquing her need for asylum, lending a sense of rightness. Nix’s embrace feels right, too. God, she was so messed up.
“How does your demon feel?” His fingers kneaded her scalp.
“Comfortable.”
“I’m disappointed you and Kur think that nail file will make me bleed.”
She held up the knife, its multi-colored blade shimmered in the lighting. “You up for seeing who’ll win?”
“No-holds-barred kind of fight?”
“I would expect nothing less.” Madison kissed him. “I promise to spill your blood.”
Micah dragged a claw down her left arm all the way to her wrist, opening a seam of flesh as easily as a scalpel. A whimper tore from her lungs, but she didn’t react. “I drew first blood.” He nipped her chin.
“I’ll draw yours last.”
He grinned. “We’ll see.”
“Don’t underestimate me, Micah.”
“Noted. Either way, I’ll enjoy making love to you afterward.”
His hand clamped over her left wrist. As she twisted her arm to get out of the hold, he shot his seraph into her through his sigil. Madison gasped as the power blasted into her, hard enough to shock her heart into a different rhythm and powerful enough to reset her molecular DNA.
Silence descended. Pleasure deluged her nervous system, building like a crescendo for the finale. Micah’s lips moved but she heard nothing. Not even the misery of the damned penetrated.
On the backside of the pleasure ambushing her, her world would end. Nothing would be the same. Afterward, she and her demon would be forever one united force, neither able to exist without the other. A shaky breath slipped from her lungs as her succubus, humanity and Pandora’s magic merged into a cohesive unit, reborn in the image of Hell.
Micah shut off his seraph as fast as he turned it on. She collapsed against him, panting. “I give you any more and I don’t know what will happen.”
She rubbed her face against his chest. He smelled divine, like nectar from the gods.
“Let me look at your eyes.”
His request registered, but she couldn’t concentrate over the hodgepodge of contradictions spewing through her body. Drain his power. Fuck him. He is mine. Claim my seat as Queen of Hell.
Executing the last thought would require very little effort on her part, except she refused to be one man’s instrument in apocalyptic warfare. Madison feared she’d never be more than a strategic move to Micah. Even in Hell and full-blown demonic, she wanted more.
She snapped her head back and stared at him as his seraph spread tranquility to her neurons.
“There’s my beautiful Lynx. Feel different?”
“Much better, thank you.” Madison stepped backward out of his embrace. “Game on.” She slashed wide toward his chest with the knife. Micah bowed his back, the blade catching his shirt and slicing a clean line. He backhanded her hard enough to spin her around. She collapsed against a stalagmite. She spit out blood and her eyes throbbed as if they’d explode from their sockets.
Behind her, Micah taunted, “You’ll have to do better than that if you plan to beat me, kitten.”
Pushing off the stalagmite, she faced him. She made a mad run for him and instead of attacking his body, at the last moment she changed tactics and punted into his crotch. Unprepared for the girly assault, Micah didn’t block her kick. He doubled over and the floor shook from his howl of pain.
Squealing, she dodged a line of icy-fire when Elias and Kur grew near. But they just as quickly receded in the opposite direction.
Micah limped toward her, clutching his package, with a weird grin on his face. “Kitten, I’ll expect you to kiss that injury later.”
“We’ll see.”
His eyes flamed, but his angel didn’t surface. She adjusted the blade securely in her palm, assessing and preparing for his next move. Just to have a slim chance of beating him, she would have to be smart about her countermoves.
He swayed to the right and stumbled and she prepared for him to go down. She’d stake him just after he hit the floor.
Micah whipped around behind her—a blur—and kicked her lower back. Needles of pain lanced up her spine and her legs went numb. She dropped to her knees, her hands catching her fall on the skin flooring.
Long legs stepped in front of her, braced apart, and she tilted her head back, knowing she’d find Micah. He ruffled his fingers through his hair. “I’m starting to sweat, kitten, and I only sweat when I fuck.”
He reached down and yanked her off the floor and straight against his rock-solid chest, knocking the breath from her lungs. Her legs remained numb and she thought they dangled around his shins. Since she couldn’t actually feel them, she could only guess. Either way, this was fucked-up kind of bad.
Micah had defeated her. The despair she expected never surfaced.
“This is pointless, Madison. Your heart’s not in the fight.” He combed a palm over her hair.
“I didn’t make it look good, Micah. Kur will know I failed because I had no desire to win.” And that grated along her nerves, failing to put her heart into a fight because her dedication to resist turned wishy-washy in Hell’s comfort. Once, she’d discovered protection in Micah’s arms. Hell would offer the same sanctuary, but it’d come at a high price…the loss of her humanity and sacrifice of her son.
When had she ever taken the road of least resistance? Georgie’s words leeched into her head: My humanity will not fall to his will. For Phoenix and for Amos I will be stronger than his might.
“There was fire in your eyes to kill me the night I took Phoenix from you. It’s not there tonight. It’s unfair of Kur to expect you to kill me.”
She’d wanted his blood not too long ago. She should still. What of Amos, Usha whispered. If we fall, become Micah’s wife again, and I’m not saying we should or shouldn’t, but what will become of our son? A valid question and one she couldn’t ignore.
Retracting his claws, Micah ran one finger down her face, along her neck and her left arm that still bled from his claw incision. He lifted her arm and licked from shoulder down to elbow, eliminatin
g that portion of the wound. The remainder of the cut, from elbow to wrist, continued to ooze red droplets on the floor. A hand pressed against her lower back, directly over her spine where he’d kicked her. His palm grew warm, shifted to hot before swelling into blistering. But when her leg twitched, she realized he healed whatever damage he’d done.
Micah’s hot breath tickled her ear and cast shivers of awareness along her body. “You are my woman, Madison. Admit it and I will seat Phoenix and your people as royalty in our kingdom. Anything you want will be yours.”
The one thing she wanted, he couldn’t give her. Her son would never be a normal, average man. A woman with less humanity—or less stubbornness—might see his offer as amazing. The deal of a lifetime, like winning a small country. Madison should accept his proposition. God knew she’d be here in Hell when their war ended. If he proposed something more than a lifetime of domination and servitude in the guise of a religious uprising, she’d accept in a heartbeat.
Snagging bloody fingers in his hair, she pulled his head back, her actions demanding his sole focus. “You bestow more than I deserve.”
“No. You’re precious. You deserve more than I can give.”
Around them, everything went silent except for the battle between Elias and Kur. Would one of them ever win? Or would they fight until they ceased to breathe?
Madison tugged Micah’s head toward hers, skimmed his lips with hers, and he shivered against her. In his tiny physical reaction, he exposed his emotions. He would give her the world, and would sacrifice everything, if she’d just take it.
She was his weakness. Her emotions were mixed over that reality. She may never trust him, but could she grow to love him again?
Do I want to commit my life to him again?
Amos means more than my wants or needs.
Only a fool would decline his deal, but she’d always known she was a fool.
“I could love you deeply again, Micah.” And damn herself, the world, and her son in the process.
His flame eyes shifted to blue. “Accept your status as Hell’s Queen without further drama and I’ll hand you the world.”
Sadness clogged her throat and she leaned her forehead against his. “I regretfully decline,” she whispered and stabbed him in the heart—she hoped—with her left hand.
With a hiss, his head lurched backward, but he didn’t release her. Micah’s eyes rounded and he looked down at his chest as smoke wisped from the wound. Blood as black and thick as tar bubbled over the blade.
One of his hands landed over hers, tightening her grip on the blade. Air rattled from his lungs.
“Dragon blade, kitten.” She figured the tears blurring her vision cancelled out any slurring her words might’ve had. “I would’ve accepted my position if my loyalty didn’t lie with Amos first. His future is more important than what either of us wants.”
With his hand covering hers, Madison twisted the handle, executing what she hoped would deliver the final death blow. A rib cracked beneath the blade and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. She bit her bottom lip and her heartbeat escalated.
“I’m….” She wouldn’t say sorry, not a day before he apologized for his bad behavior. But where was her excitement at having defeated him? She’d done it! She’d actually managed to deliver him into death, yet, the hollowness in her heart ached with remorse.
He’ll die because of me.
“Your…tenacity…so sexy.” Micah blinked slowly as he removed his hand from hers. A bloody finger traced across her cheek. “You deliver…your own death…with mine.” She accepted that outcome. As his hold on her loosened, he kissed her, a tender, emotional embrace. “Love you…so much…Madison. You were…never”—he coughed, spewing blood over his chin—“more beautiful…than you are now.”
Tears erupted, slid down her cheeks.
“I love you,” he wheezed the words out.
“Always your wife, Micah.”
“Mine.”
She ripped her soul-charm from around his throat. “It’s only fitting I die with it in my possession.”
“If I survive, I’ll return for you.”
She nodded, praying he lived, while hoping he died.
“Bitch!” Elias screeched, arriving behind Micah and yanking him away from her.
The blade made a sucking sound as it exited his body. Black blood welled from the wound and Madison continued to stare at her dying husband. Why did she feel so lost, as if all her direction were now voided?
In dragon form, Kur landed beside her in a burst of air. Brimstone settled on her in a powdery mist as a protective wing unfurled in front of her. She didn’t budge, just continued to watch Micah die. His breaths grew labored and shallow.
He coughed up blood, but pride glowed from his gaze. That confused her. Why did her actions give him satisfaction? Why did she gain happiness from his pleasure?
“If he dies, I vow on Beliel’s soul, I’ll come for you,” Elias snarled.
Micah and Elias disappeared through a magical portal.
Chapter Thirty-seven
Kur touched the moisture on her cheeks. “He doesn’t deserve your tears.”
She said nothing, but stared at the place where Micah had been.
“Come.” Kur tugged on her arm. “You need to get out of Hell before Elias returns.”
She didn’t wish to leave. With Micah’s death, she’d return soon enough, maybe within the week. She had no idea how long it’d take her to die since they were soul-bound. “I’ll stay.”
“Elias will return for you and you won’t like anything he has planned.”
“I’m soul-bonded to Micah.” She met Kur’s dark scrutiny and he sucked in a surprised breath at her admission. “I’m hell-bound either way. What’s the point in running?”
“Phoenix is connected to you through the covenant. He must be convinced to release the deal.”
Damn. She’d forgotten that minor dilemma. She rubbed her eyes.
“I cannot guarantee Micah is dead.” Kur shifted his footing. His words gave her hope when she should be celebrating her freedom. “He should’ve exploded and died immediately, like any demon you kill earthbound. He didn’t. I’m unsure of his outcome. Either way, Elias is furious. He’s not a King you lightly piss off unless you have Micah’s protection.” Kur held out his arm, and she noticed his shirtsleeve wasn’t even singed from his altercation with Elias. “Shall I be given the honor of escorting you from Hell?”
Braving the chill of his touch, Madison clenched his arm and nodded.
Coming through Hell’s gates ranked right up there with birthing Amos. No epidural, no drugs in the final stages and screaming her lungs out. Grace shouldn’t be her middle name because she didn’t return gracefully, but hit the earth on her hands and knees, gasping and shivering.
“Who turned the heat off up here?” Madison groaned, quivering at the sudden temperature change.
“It’s ninety-eight degrees outside with ninety-five percent humidity.” Zen stood to her right, delivering boring facts in his stiff tone.
Where did he get that shit from? Pluck it from thin air? And how had he known they were coming from Hell?
He offered his hand to help her to her feet. Madison placed her hand in his and yanked hard. He hit the grassy earth with his knees and she peered at him through her lashes. “You’ve got some explaining to do, Zen.” A shudder coursed down her spine and shook her entire body. Even her teeth rattled and her bottom lip quivered. “I can’t miss the coincidence that Zennyo Ryuo is an ancient Japanese dragon myth and you handed me a dragon army to command.”
He said nothing, just gave her a quick nod.
“And you,” she glanced at Kur, “you’re welcome to join the conversation.”
“That an order or a request?”
“Consider it both.” She took in her surroundings. They were in the glen originally prepped to enter Hell.
“I’m happy you returned, Madison,” Zen said, stiffly and formally.
“Pandora,” he said bluntly. “You let it get out of control.”
She laughed. “I didn’t let Pandora get out of control, I defeated her. I got out of control.” Her teeth chattered and she clamped them hard. “I was jacked up on angel seraph, Zen, and that was after getting off on Nix’s mojo. I wasn’t in control of anything for several minutes.”
“Pandora’s gone?” His expression remained neutral, but his tone sounded horrified by the prospect.
“Yes.”
“Phoenix said he thought you had defeated her.” Zen reclined beside her, Indian fashion. “Micah fed you his blood again?”
“No.” She scooted back to lean against the tree behind her and hugged herself. “Well, yeah, but afterward he branded this”—she waggled her wrist at him. His expression remained neutral, but she sensed his unease—“on me, and fed me his seraph directly through it.” Zen took her branded arm and she winced when he placed his palm over it. “I won’t lie to you, Zen. I loved it and could become addicted to it easily. I don’t think manna could taste better. And my Lynx couldn’t resist his sway much longer if he continued to jack me up on that tasty stuff. Like I said, I went wonky for a few minutes.”
“Lynx?” He expelled a breath.
“You know something about them?”
“Enough to frighten you.” She waited while he pondered the horizon. “And me.”
“Maybe you should kill me before we return to the house.”
Zen shook his head. “Ancient Pandora power doubled with your Lynx power….” He sighed as his gaze shifted to meet hers. “I don’t know how the seraph alters you further.”
“Instead of healing me, I drank Nix’s this time, too.”
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