Hardest Fall (Dominion series)

by Juliette Cross

  His smile vanished. Shaking his head, he said, “I don’t think so.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” said Axel. “She’s Bone. Everyone knows her. Knows what she looks like. Especially Rook and Simian.”

  “It’s a masquerade,” I said. “I’ll be in disguise.”

  “But you’ll be surrounded by hundreds of high demons.”

  Xander nodded, his jaw clamping before he said, “Agreed. It’s too risky.”

  I huffed. “Too risky for you, maybe. If I get caught, I can pretend to be crashing Rook’s party, wanting to see him. Trust me, he’d believe me.” I didn’t explain that I’d probably have to use all my assets to make him believe me, but I could twist that desperate demon around my finger if he thought for a second I might return to his bed. “But if you’re caught, Xander?” I swallowed hard, unable to even finish my thought aloud.

  “She’s right.” Dommiel crossed his arms over his chest, his brow pinching together. “She could talk her way out of there, but not you, hunter.”

  The fact that Dommiel seemed genuinely concerned about Xander didn’t get past me. These two had a strange but definite bromance going on.

  Unperturbed as usual, Xander gave us his slanted smile. “Look. I know the place will be filled with demons, all of whom have come to the ball for a good party and a good time. No one in their right mind would suspect a demon hunter in their midst.”

  “I don’t like it,” I said again, almost in a whisper.

  “Neither do I.” He ignored the room, focusing only on me. “But it’s our best chance to discover what they’re up to. And to find out why he wants this torque so badly.”

  George interrupted our staring contest. “Do you think the two are linked?”

  I lifted the card with the skull-and-crown. “This symbol is important to Rook.” No one asked how I knew, and I sure as hell didn’t offer an explanation. “The fact he’s used it for this invitation means something. If we discover the meaning, we’ll figure out what he wants the torque for.”

  “Or who he wants it for,” added Kat.

  Xander still watched me. Hesitating, I finally admitted, “Xander’s right. It’s our best option.”

  Silence reigned for a few moments, the true danger of such a mission sinking in for us all.

  “The first full moon is two nights from now,” said George. “We’d best get some rest and start preparations.”

  “Preparations?” I asked.

  “Well, you don’t think we’re letting you two go in there without backup, do you?”

  “But we only have one invitation.”

  “True.” George glanced at Axel. “Do you have other friends you could steal invitations from?”

  Axel grinned, his blue eyes suddenly sparking demon-red. “Easy-peasy.” Then he settled on me. “But only if Bone agrees to a full-fledged concert on a night of my choosing.”

  Rolling my eyes, I nodded begrudgingly. “Done.”

  With that, the party broke up fairly quickly. Dommiel and George saw Axel and his men to the gate, and Xander offered to escort me to a vacant guest bedroom. The Twelvers occupied the entire third floor and part of the second, he’d explained as he led me down a long hallway on the second floor.

  “I thought you’d protest more.”

  “Protest what?” I asked, realizing I’d gone quiet since we’d said our goodbyes and trailed through the large house.

  “Staying here.” He finally stopped at a door.

  “George was right. I need to stay out of Rook’s reach while we figure this out. Right now, all he knows is I’m dodging him. But he also knows I like my privacy and wouldn’t want his minions stalking me. That doesn’t mean I’m defying his request, just that I don’t want to be bothered.” I looked up at him, completely caught in the brilliant blue of his eyes. “Of course, you and I will be walking right into his house two nights from now. If he catches us, he’ll know I’m defying him then.”

  “He won’t know we’re there,” he assured me. “It’s the last place he’d ever expect to find you.”

  “I know. I’m not worried about myself.”

  For I truly wasn’t. These kinds of black masquerades that high demons like to host were salacious, indulgent affairs, rife with intoxicants, sex, and entertainment of the darkest variety. I’d only ever been to one—the one Rook had taken me to, where I’d discovered he and his brother were true monsters and I’d been giving my body freely to such an evil creature. No, no one would suspect us sneaking in for a peek to discover the information we needed.

  “Then why are you so worried?”

  “I’m a high demon. Even if I were recognized, and even if someone brought me before Rook himself, he’d think I was playing games by going to his party. I could easily talk my way out of any suspicions about me being there.” And by talking, I meant seducing my way out of there. The thought of Rook spotting me in that kind of heady atmosphere sent a cold chill down my spine. “But if someone catches you, a demon hunter—no, the most wanted demon hunter on Rook’s hit list—then…”

  He tilted my chin up with his finger. He wore a breathtaking smile—small yet achingly sweet. I gasped.

  “You’re concerned about me.”

  I didn’t answer. He could see it clearly in my face. He lowered his lips to mine, brushing softly, nipping at my bottom lip.

  “My Carowyn is concerned about me.”

  Then he pried my mouth open with his own and slipped his tongue inside, stroking and tasting with firm, slow movements. When I whimpered, remembering what we’d done on the pool table, he pulled back and brushed his thumb over my bottom lip, sliding the pad along the edge of my bottom teeth.

  “Good night, beautiful.” Another kiss. This one barely there, hovering and breathing me in before finally he dipped his head farther down and opened his warm mouth on the spot where he’d sucked my neck hard earlier. This time, he did nothing but taste with his tongue. Then he lifted away and whispered in my ear, “I’ll be thinking of you in my bed tonight. Thinking of your sweet moans, your luscious body, my fingers sliding in your tight, wet sex. I’ll be thinking of you when I take myself in hand and finish myself off and moan your name in the dark.” Another soft kiss. That one made me flinch. “Sleep tight, Carowyn.”

  With that, he stalked off back down the hall toward the stairs.

  Sleep tight?

  I stood there, furious that he’d left me in an agitated state of arousal. And even more furious that he’d been able to do it by making me imagine him masturbating. Because sure enough, the image of his gorgeous body flexing and grinding while he moaned my name had me breathless and overheated standing there like a fool in the hallway.

  I knew one thing for sure. He wouldn’t be the only one who’d be taking himself in hand tonight.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Xander

  “Where did you get them?” Maddie asked, her dark eyes round with surprised joy while she stuffed a huge chunk of Cadbury chocolate in her mouth.

  The other children, forty of them spread out on the lawn behind Thornton Hall, were giggling and doing the same.

  One freckle-faced boy, Thomas, squealed with delight, “Jelly babies! I haven’t had these in ages.” He took the pack of jellies from the giant box of candy that Dommiel and I had delivered to the children in the back gardens during “break.” Cooper’s Twelvers still had the kids on a strict schedule to keep a routine in place. The mornings were devoted to studies, the afternoons to training and tactical skills. An hour in between for lunch and playtime.

  Thomas talked around a mouthful of jellies. “My mum used to take me to Hardy’s Sweet Shop once a mumf.”

  Thomas was an orphan, like so many of them, yet he spoke of his mother with a smile, his cheeks puffed out from gelatinous candy.

  Maddie giggled. “Slow down, Thomas, or you’ll choke.”

  “But there’s still Flakes and Irn-brus and Yorkies and Maltesers and Aero chocolate bars. Bloody hell, mate!”

  “Tho
mas,” I shook my head at him, stifling a laugh. “Let’s save some for tomorrow, shall we?” I suggested, making no move to close the box. It was just too brilliant watching them smile and laugh so freely over something as simple as sweets.

  A pang of remorse for the childhoods they’d left behind struck me hard in the chest.

  “But where did you get it?” asked Maddie again.

  “Oh, I’m afraid you’ll have to thank Uncle Dom. He seemed to know of a warehouse in town with a stash of food and supplies. He found this box and thought of you lot.”

  I glanced over at the menacing demon leaning against a pillar on the back portico and grinning like a devil down at the children. If I didn’t know him better, I’d think he was luring them to their doom like a witch in a Grimm fairytale. Or the Pied Piper. But then Anya joined him, her blue wings fanning wide behind as she watched the children. His red-eyed gaze shifted to her, his expression softening as he stared at the woman he loved and had nearly died for. The expression on his face was beautiful, and painful to see. Another kind of pang pierced my chest. I looked away.

  “Let’s play hide-n-seek!” shouted Harold, one of the older boys, leading the others into the giant hedge maze. Though the air was cold, the hedge foliage was still full enough to offer a fun play-place for the children.

  “Do you want to play?” Maddie asked.

  “Me? No. Actually, I’d hoped I might have some time with you alone. Well, me and—”

  “Bone!” shouted Maddie, leaping from the grass and launching herself at the woman in my thoughts at that very moment.

  Carowyn wore gray cargo pants and a black T-shirt, obviously borrowed from one of the Twelvers. Thankfully, she hadn’t packed on her weapons, except perhaps the ones hidden in her boots. Not that it would’ve frightened the children, but I wanted her mind on inspiration and creation for today’s work. Not on blades and guns and destruction. She caught Maddie in her arms, a brilliant smile breaking across her face. I sucked in a breath at the beauty of her looking down at the little girl. For a split second, I saw the seraph she once was. It was hypnotizing.

  “I hoped you’d come and see me again,” said Maddie, her arms around Carowyn’s waist.

  “I promised I would, didn’t I?”

  I sauntered over. “Ladies, will you follow me?” I gestured toward a gate leading to a side garden.

  Maddie took her hand, and Carowyn held hers easily as if this were her natural habitat, not forging weapons for dangerous demon princes. I held the wrought iron gate open. Carowyn glanced at me, her expression blank with a small pinch between her brow. I figured she’d have some anxiety about this. But it was necessary. She was the one who’d told me so in the first place.

  “Where are we going?” asked Maddie, trustful as ever.

  “Right over there.”

  I pointed to the large beech tree and the blanket spread out beneath. Upon the blanket sat a small, wooden box. The tree’s limbs were still naked of any leaves. The constant electric energy stirred up by angelic and demonic battle seemed to have shifted the climate. It was always cold and gray, no sign of a true spring yet to come. But I’d gathered the things Carowyn had requested of me for today’s lesson with Maddie, most of which were easy to find around George’s mansion. And one I added myself.

  Maddie ran toward the blanket, laughing as she plopped herself down, her brown curls bouncing.

  “How was your day yesterday?” I asked Carowyn quietly. I’d spent the day seeking out the clothes we’d need for the masquerade.

  “Uneventful,” she replied, watching Maddie. “Dommiel went back to my shop to see if it was still being watched. I’d hoped to grab some personal items, but there were not just two red priests like before, but six.”

  “So you didn’t go back to your shop.”

  “Yes, I did. Then I waited for them to disappear before I left again.” More silence before she asked, “And how was your day yesterday? I thought I might see you at dinner.” She seemed almost shy. My hands itched to touch her, pull her into my arms.

  “Sorry, I was out very late. I had wanted to make it back in time for another game of pool.” She started, glaring up at me. I smiled. “But it took me a while to find exactly what I needed. Kat and I had to scour the shops in London, so many of them demolished into rubble or already ransacked.”

  “And did you find everything?”

  “Yes,” I assured her, stopping under the tree. “We’re ready for tonight. I left what you need in your room.”

  She nodded, turning her attention to Maddie as she kneeled and sat back on her haunches. “So. It’s time we talked about your special gift.”

  I sat outside the blanket, propping my back against the old beech tree, legs outstretched and crossed at the ankles. Crossing my arms, I watched what I’d been waiting to see ever since Carowyn had met Maddie at the Twelvers’ compound in London. Carowyn had mentioned that Maddie needed to learn how to use the seraph song or she could harm herself. This would be the closest to seeing an angel at work I’d ever come.

  “My gift?” asked Maddie, tilting her pretty head.

  “Yes.” Carowyn pressed her hand flat against Maddie’s chest. “The one you feel inside here when you sing.”

  The girl smiled. “The same one you have.”

  “Yes. The same one.”

  Maddie placed her pale hands over the sandy-hued one of Carowyn. “It hurts sometimes,” she whispered.

  “Yes. I know. Do you know why?”

  Maddie shook her head, ringlets swaying.

  “Because your song needs to be released.”

  “Released? But how?”

  “It’s like this,” said Carowyn, glancing up at the tree, thinking. “Have you ever seen a brook or river after a cold winter?”

  Maddie nodded. “My grandfather had a farm in Yorkshire. Mum would take us there every spring. He had a pretty stream he called the fairy stream.” She giggled at the memory. “Sometimes, I’d have to go with him to clear out dead limbs and such that had floated down when the ice melted. He had to keep it running clear for his sheep.”

  Carowyn smiled. “Exactly. Your grandfather needed that stream running without any obstacles. What do you suppose would happen if a giant tree or a large boulder would’ve rolled across the stream and blocked the way?”

  Her brown eyes widened. “Well, those poor sheep wouldn’t have a thing to drink. We’d have to haul pails from the bloody well.”

  “Yes.” Carowyn stifled a laugh. So did I. “But what might happen to the water flow, do you think?”

  Maddie pursed her brow, her heart-shaped face tilted up in thought. “It would build up, for certain. Might overflow onto the banks and flood all over.”

  “Exactly!” Carowyn clapped her hands together, moving to sit with her legs crossed underneath her. “That’s what our song is like, Maddie. Think of it as a river, constantly flowing. And while it may flow through us without any outlet, if we don’t offer it one, it could build up and overflow.” She patted Maddie’s chest again. “That’s why it hurts sometimes.”

  “So, just singing isn’t enough?”

  “No, love. The song must be used in a way to inspire, to craft, or to create. That is what it’s meant for. The song is the river, and we are the rocks, the riverbed, the embankment, everything that channels it where it needs to go.”

  “Where does it come from?” she asked.

  I waited, anticipation thick in the air as Carowyn considered her answer, never once glancing in my direction. Finally, she took the little girl’s hands in her own. “From heaven.”

  “But how did I get it?”

  “Madelyn, did you never meet your father?”

  She shook her head.

  “No matter. Just trust me when I tell you that there is a touch of heaven in your heart, love. And we’re going to practice using that gift today.” She took a deep breath. “First, you must understand that your voice, when used with your song, has great power to influence.”


  “Influence? What does that mean?”

  “It means to persuade someone or something to do what you want them to do.”

  Her little brow scrunched up in more confusion.

  “The gift you have comes from a power to move other forces. Specifically, the human spirit.”

  “You can move my spirit?” the little girl asked, gulping with frightened round eyes.

  “I mean that I can influence your spirit. Let me show you.” She turned serious. “Close your eyes.”

  Maddie did.

  “And I want you to think of…of the day your mother died.”

  I flinched at the same time Maddie did, though she didn’t open her eyes. Carowyn glanced toward me, shaking her head to keep me from interfering. She must’ve sensed my disquiet at her suggestion. Maddie’s face softened into sad lines. Carowyn immediately began to sing a soft lullaby, one of birds and spring flowers and laughing children. Underneath the words, an electric hum I’d now know anywhere as her seraph song wove into the air. Rather than beat against me with fierce waves of aggression like it did the night she sang on Axel’s stage, this song whispered and wound sweetly around us. Somehow, images of my childhood came to mind, of my mother holding my hand, laughing in the garden, as we chased a ball together. I hadn’t thought of her in some time, but the image of the loving woman who brought me into the world always made me smile. She died before I became an adult, but the time we had was filled with joy. I didn’t just remember that joy as Carowyn sang, but I felt it—true, bright happiness piercing straight to my heart.

  Before long, Carowyn lowered her melody and closed the song with a hum of the chorus. Maddie opened her eyes with the brightest, most beautiful smile I’d ever seen on her precious little face.

  “You sung to my heart,” she said. I knew just how she felt.

  Carowyn laughed, the sweet sound rivaling the ones she made in the billiards room. I wasn’t sure what I loved more, the sound of Carowyn filled with unrestrained joy or the sound of her body in ecstasy by my own hand. It was a close tie, but the sight of her blissful face enraptured me like nothing else, hypnotizing and touching some place far deeper than my physical desire for her.