Then he marched away with the red priests in his wake, leaving me with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. What did he mean by that? It was a sinister promise I wasn’t prepared to explore yet.
I waited till I heard their steps go up the basement stoop, on to the London street, then the sharp crackle of them sifting away before I exhaled a sigh of relief.
The room righted itself to the normal temperature as I walked to and opened the inner workroom door, nearly jumping out of my skin. Xander stood a foot from the door as if he was about to barrel through it, armed with one of my serrated, black metal Bowie knives.
“They’re gone,” I assured him.
He relaxed only a fraction, fury still riding his aquamarine eyes. I’d grown so accustomed to looking into the black or blood-red eyes of demons and the haggard faces of men that I’d nearly forgotten this bright shade of blue fire shining back at me. And yet, still, there was a swirl of smoky black that wisped over his irises then was gone. I’d seen this before in other demon hunters. I knew it had something to do with them expelling demons to hell, but I’d never bothered to ask.
Who was I kidding? I’d never had a conversation with a demon hunter beyond what kind of weapon he was looking for.
“He’s a friend of yours, is he.” An accusation. Not a question.
Defensively, I tilted up my chin. “My door is open to all creatures. Of the underworld and the upper. Everyone knows this.”
His wide mouth quirked up on one side. “Nevertheless. Selling blades and guns to demons is one thing. Creating some essence-imbued weapon for that colossal cocksucker is entirely another.”
I flinched as he strode past me, setting the knife on my worktable then marching out the door.
“Wait. Dommiel is on his way.”
“He knows where I live. Though that’s not where I’m going.”
For some unknown reason, I was trailing behind him through the warehouse and into the corridor.
“Where are you going?”
“To inform the Twelvers that Rook is up to something.”
“The Twelvers? You need to go home and rest. I’m not even sure my treatment will hold. I might need to—”
He spun, grabbing my wrist and forcing my palm to his chest. “Oh, it’s beating pretty fucking hard. Sweetheart.” He sneered, using the nickname Rook called me. “You’ve done well. Now go help your demon prince enslave more people.”
He stormed down the corridor.
“What? I don’t help him—”
But he wasn’t listening. And for some reason, it mattered to me what he thought. Grabbing my keys and leather jacket by the door, I ran after him and shot up the stoop on his heels. Afternoon light poured more shadows onto the street.
“What are you talking about, Xander?” I pulled the door locked behind me.
He glanced back. The preternatural sizzle of electricity sparked the air.
“Oh, no you don’t.” I launched myself onto him, finding myself in his arms a split second before we were in the Void, sifting away. I should’ve been thinking, Oh, shit. Where is he taking me? But my brain hazed when he wrapped me in his arms, clutching me tight against his strong body.
Though his heated rejection was apparent because I was, one, a demoness who’d injected my essence into his heart, and two, a former pseudo-friend of his worst enemy, that was not what his body said. One hand fisted in my shirt at the small of my back, pressing me close. The other wrapped across my upper back, holding my shoulder with astonishing strength for someone who’d nearly died yesterday.
No. He didn’t hold me like the man who was sneering a moment ago with loathing and disgust. He gripped me like a man who planned to never let me go.
And why did that feel so good?
Chapter Four
Xander
I wanted to hate her. Loathe her very existence. I had every reason to. Except one. It wasn’t the fact that she’d saved my life that made my arms tighten around her as we sifted through the shadowy space of the Void. Despite her I’ll kick your balls into next week demeanor, she drew me.
Perhaps it was nothing more than the connection we now shared. Unwillingly, I might add. Her essence kept my heart pumping, and still, that wasn’t what made my hand slide across her shoulder and curl around the slender nape of her neck. It wasn’t what made me want to tilt her head up and devour those sensuous lips. It wasn’t even the fact that she radiated sex in every glance of her cat eyes and shift of her curvy hips, whether she meant to or not. There was simply something about this former seraph that made me want to dig deeper beyond her badass exterior.
She was neutral. Yes. Fucking Switzerland in the apocalypse. Still, she’d used her own powers to save my life. She also hid me from the demon prince who waltzed into her shop like he belonged there. Her association with that massive prick irritated the bloody hell out of me, but the fact she kept me hidden said something more about her. She was good friends with Dommiel, the high demon who no longer played for the opposing team. That, too, said more about her than she probably even realized. Suddenly, I wanted to make it my mission to show her where her loyalties truly lay.
There was more angel inside this demoness than she realized. More fight inside her, though she pretended otherwise. No sides? Everyone took a side and betrayed another. If she was making weapons for Rook and Simian and pretending she was neutral, she wasn’t fooling anyone but herself. Maybe a stroll through the Twelver camp would do her some good.
We snapped out three blocks from the Twelver base. I never sifted directly at their gates, wanting to make sure I wasn’t being tailed. Releasing her, I remained still, letting her pull away from me. I wasn’t backing down or backing away from her. Ever.
“You need to wait for Dommiel.”
“He’s not my keeper. Besides, I’m perfectly fine.” I spread my arms. “See? You can go home now.”
Her pretty eyes stormed darker. “I can’t. Dommiel would kill me if I let you go then you fell down and died because my treatment wasn’t strong enough.” She exhaled sharply. “You nearly fainted just getting out of my bed.”
I couldn’t help the smile that crept across my face at the thought of her bed. She rolled her eyes and looked around. “Where are we?”
“London.”
Huffing out a breath in frustration, she said, “I know that. What part?”
She glanced up at the crumbling building behind her. This part of the city had been pummeled by early battles between heaven and hell, making it the perfect hideout for the human resistance group. Most humans who’d survived the initial onslaught of the war had fled to the countryside, seeking places to hide. The Twelvers, a shortened moniker for their full name, Twelfth Night, were growing in strength, with pockets of them around the world in the larger cities where demons had their strongest hold. Uriel’s hunters, like myself, were working with them as much as we could.
For the first time since I’d woken in her bed, the siren appeared off balance. Not even my catching her naked in her bedroom seemed to make her uneasy like standing in the ruins of a war zone did.
“Come along, lovely.” I winked and marched south. “I’ll protect you.”
“I don’t need your protection,” she grumbled, stepping past me into the open intersection.
“No!”
Launching myself a second before I heard the whirring bullets of ether fire, I took her to the ground beneath me, face down. I bracketed my arms around her head as the electric-green bullets whizzed over our heads and thudded into the corner of the building with a spittle of concrete.
“What was that about not needing my protection?” I breathed into her ear, thoroughly enjoying the shape of her perfect ass fitted against my crotch.
“You might’ve warned me,” she said on an exhale beneath her fall of hair.
“I did. I screamed no then covered your body with mine. Don’t tell me you didn’t notice.”
She stiffened, but only silence came from the siren. The heat
of her perfect curves hardened every inch of my body. The urge to grind against her tore through me with primal force. Bloody hell. I couldn’t move except to inch my mouth closer to her ear, to the sweet unmarked flesh of her neck where I wanted to nip, bite. Dominate.
“Get off me, hunter.”
Whispering close to her ear, unnecessarily close, I gripped her hip beneath my own as she tried to push up. My voice dropped deep—intimate—of its own accord, as if I no longer had control of my mind or body. Hell, the compulsion to keep her pinned beneath me gripped me like an iron fist.
“One day soon, you’ll want me on you.”
Her body tensed again. “Get. Off.”
Reining in the sudden, gut-punching desire that burned through me, I lifted a few inches. “Keep flat until I make my presence known. It’s one of their scouts. They’ll shoot again till they know it’s me.”
Standing upright, I waved both arms in the direction of the bank rooftop a block up, the watchtower for Cooper’s base. A few seconds later, three blinks of a flashlight signaled we were cleared.
“Okay, lovely. We’re good to go.”
“My name is Bone.”
“Yeah. Not calling you that.”
I extended a hand down to her. She rolled up, ignoring my offer of assistance, and dusted off her jeans.
Pretty brow furrowed, she declared with a little venom. “That’s my name.”
“What was your real name?”
Irritation morphed into pissed-off hellcat. “Bone is my real name now.”
Observing her a moment longer, I arched a brow and dismissed that last part. I wasn’t calling her by her demon name. Ever. I marched on ahead.
“Where to?” She caught up quickly.
For a moment, I reconsidered the wisdom of bringing her into the Twelvers’ lair. If she was lying and was taking sides, she’d have information to give to the princes. Information lethal for the humans. But instinct overrode caution. She was a friend of Dommiel’s, and I’d trust him with my life. Besides, she needed to pick a side. The right side. She needed to see what she wasn’t fighting for to push her in the right direction.
“These are the people Dommiel has been assisting from the beginning.”
“By assisting, you mean they’ve been paying him to get into stock warehouses for food and weapons.”
“They were paying him before,” I corrected her. “But not anymore. Not since we pulled him out of hell a few months ago. Now, he helps them without payment of any kind.” That seemed to surprise her. “Not the kind you can weigh on a drakul scale, anyway.”
“Stop being ambiguous, hunter, and tell me exactly what it is you’re trying to say.”
Spinning, I stopped dead. She nearly collided with me. Inching into her space where I liked it, where the heady hum of her energy prickled my senses, I said clearly, “I’m telling you that while you pretend there are no sides, these people are under Dommiel’s protection. And since you profess that he is a friend of yours, any harm that comes to these people because of you would make him your enemy.”
She flinched, hazel eyes flaring. “I would never betray his secrets.”
“Really? I just watched one of the two demon princes who hold domain over this city speak to you like you were the most intimate of friends. One of the demon princes who held and nearly tortured Dommiel to death.”
She paled, flicking her tongue over dry lips before she responded in hushed, defensive tones. “He is not my friend.”
“Not anymore. But he was once. Wasn’t he?”
One thing I’d become very good at over the past two centuries I’d been wandering this earth was reading people, interpreting subtleties in conversation and expressions. Those two had a history. She couldn’t deny it. Even so, I wished she would. When she clamped her luscious lips tighter together, a dagger of fury and another, unfamiliar emotion—jealousy—sliced through my gut.
Moving close enough to catch her flower-and-woodsmoke scent, I let her know exactly where I stood.
“You may have saved my life, but if any harm comes to these people because of you, I’ll cast you to a dark, unpleasant pit in hell.”
The defiant demoness was back, gazing back at me with a cold glare. “You could try, hunter. But you could never take me.”
“Oh, I bet I could take you.” I studied her luscious body wrapped in badass garb and death-themed tattoos. “I bet you’d like me to.”
Yeah, the siren had kicked my libido into overdrive from the second I awoke in her bed. No denying that fact. Maybe it was because she was everything opposite of what had attracted me as a man, two hundred years ago, before I’d become a Dominus Dominum for Uriel’s army. A man I rather despised. Back when I was a foolish gentleman of the London ton, chasing gentile ladies draped in silks and softness. Even then, I sought out those with a bit of the devil in them, the ones who weren’t quite following the rules of society. That was how I wound up where I am now. Walking and hunting the earth till doomsday—hell, past doomsday—to atone for my sins when I was a man.
From my history with the foul creatures of the underworld, I shouldn’t be attracted to her at all. I should be repulsed. So why did I linger too long on the slope of her pretty neck, the tilt of her keen eyes, the movement of her slender fingers, bare of ink? They were certainly the hands of an angel, even with her black-painted nails.
I must’ve stared too long. “Hunter? I swear I will do nothing to endanger those whom Dommiel protects.”
Her promise jarred me from my blatant ogling. I spun and headed up the street. This particular block had been the scene of one of the major early battles in London, the buildings crumbling and scorched from dragon fire. Simian and Rook had ousted the former high demon, King Henry. No telling what pit in hell he was currently rotting in. But with the dynamic duo demon princes came all kinds of chaos, including the street patrols of their red priests, always on the lookout for more humans to abduct. We still hadn’t discovered where they were taking them and for what specific nefarious purpose. Other than the usual. No demons needed that many slaves.
Rook’s red dragon, Circe, was another to beware of on the London streets. The fearsome beast liked to hunt at night, though, so we were safe now.
The sky remained perpetually gray ever since the gates of heaven and hell had opened up and dumped cosmic mayhem into the atmosphere. Wherever there was battle, a storm erupted from the clash of powers. Electrical energy swirled, feeding off of the supernatural creatures’ constant war games. I supposed that included myself, since I was technically no longer human. The constant warfare between heaven and hell seemed to cloak the sky with constant clouds. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen the sun. Except for sporadic glimpses, the heavens remained dark.
“How long have you been helping the Twelvers?” she asked, keeping pace.
“Long enough to know they need lots of help.”
“As far as I knew, hunters are only required to expel demons to hell for their penance. No rules about you helping humans. Are you some kind of hero or something?”
I laughed. “Nowhere close.”
“So, lots to atone for, I suppose. Making up for quite a few sins, then?”
She smiled, almost gleeful. I nearly choked on her quick assessment.
“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours, darling.” Sidling closer so my arm brushed hers, I lowered my voice. “Better yet, how about we commit a few new ones together?”
“Does this usually work for you?”
“What? My irresistible charm?”
“Is that what you call it?”
“Yes. It always works for me. Apparently, only demonic sirens are able to resist.”
She huffed. “Why a siren?”
“I heard you singing in the bathroom.”
A frown puckered her brow. She didn’t like me overhearing her sing? She didn’t even mention the fact that I’d seen her in all her nude glory. I felt guiltier about that than hearing her beautiful voice.
/> “You know,” I continued as she kept her eyes forward, her jaw clamped. “Sirens used to lure men to their deaths. Is that your specialty, demoness?”
Those queenly eyes angled toward me, one fine brow arched. “Stay close, hunter, and you’ll find out.”
I chuckled as we approached the high school gate. Yes, she could very well be the death of me, this demoness.
There were no guards in sight. But of course, there wouldn’t be. They watched from where the red priests and any undesirable otherworlders couldn’t see them.
I held a hand out to my siren, and she stared for a second before taking it without protest. She couldn’t breach the protective wards without me walking her through. She didn’t make a sound as we crossed the threshold, though I was sure she felt a slight sting. As soon as we were through, she jerked her hand back almost violently and moved several paces away.
I arched a brow but made no comment, guiding her through the basement door where a familiar sight greeted us—two guards with ether-powered rifles. Though demons couldn’t cross the wards unless accompanied by an ally like me, any human could. And some of those still left alive were employed by demons. Everyone was taking sides and doing their damnedest to demolish the other. All except the lovely demoness on my right, apparently. We’d see about that.
I nodded. “Deacon, Hannah.”
“Hello there, Xander.” Deacon looked shocked. “You’re already up and moving around?” He scanned Bone, frown puckering deeper.
“It’ll take more than a stab in the heart to get rid of me.”
He chuckled, greeting me with a rough shake of hands.
Hannah, a wary-eyed redhead, one of Cooper’s elite warriors, scowled at Bone. I imagined before the world went to hell, she had a dozen suitors and a social calendar that never let up. She was too beautiful not to. Even the apocalypse couldn’t hide that.
“Who’s your friend?” she asked in a not-so-friendly manner.
“This is Bone.”
Deacon’s eyes widened. Everyone knew her by name, even if they hadn’t been to her basement warehouse. Half their artillery had been bought from her via Cooper. Funny how I’d never met her in all the time I’d lived in London. I’d acquired my weapons over two centuries of collecting. And my ether-enhanced Glock had been given to me by Cooper for my time helping them. Apparently, it was made by none other than the icy woman on my right.
Hardest Fall (Dominion series) Page 3
