Fallen by Suzanne Wright

CHAPTER TWENTY

On the screen of Raini’s cell phone, Devon gave a little clap and said, “I want to see, I want to see.”

Obligingly, Raini lifted the bottom of her tee to expose the brands on her hips.

Devon gasped. “Oh, wow.”

“They’re amazing,” Khloë breathed, sitting on the hellcat’s left while Harper sat on her right. “So detailed and pretty.”

Devon nodded. “I know. God, I’m so jealous.” She pouted. “Why can’t Tanner’s demon put such cool brands like that on me? Instead, I get fingerprints and shackles.”

Harper snorted at the hellcat. “For the record, none of us are buying that you don’t like them.” She turned to Raini. “How do you feel about being branded?”

Raini righted her tee. “I always figured I wouldn’t like it, since I’d be dreading the moment when the mark began to fade—I wouldn’t like to have that visual confirmation that the entity had lost interest. But Maddox and I are mates, so that won’t happen.”

“Have you told Grams you’re now part of his lair?” asked Harper.

Raini briefly glanced to the side. “Well, no, because I decided not to transfer straight away. I don’t want to rush things. That’s why I’ve only agreed to move in with him temporarily.”

Harper shook her head. “That is so typical of you. When something’s important, you hesitate to grab it. Yes, we’re all guilty of that at times, but you do it like it’s your job. Sometimes we need to reach for the things we want instead of hemming and hawing.”

“I’m just treading carefully. I don’t want to mess it up. Plus, I want to give my family and Maddox’s demons a little time to get used to the two of us being mated. My parents are so worried about me right now that they’d find it hard to have me transfer to another lair. They might even demand to come with me, and descendants generally only like to live among their own kind. Maddox doesn’t like that I’m not transferring straight away, but he understands. He’s agreed to give me time. I don’t think he’d be half as cooperative if I wasn’t temporarily living with him, though.”

“Probably not. Alphas are pushy and generally don’t do ‘cooperative.’”

“Amen,” muttered Devon. “But once they come to realize that their bulldozing bullshit isn’t going to fly with you, they find sneakier ways to get what they want. Maddox will keep you on your toes for sure, Raini.”

She didn’t doubt it.

“On a more fun and interesting note,” Khloë cut in, “are the party plans still going well?”

Raini told them about the most recent arrangements she’d made, including the changes to the catering menu. Khloë disappeared from view when her own cell began to ring. When the imp reappeared, her expression was hard, but her eyes were bright.

“That was one of my sources,” said Khloë, her mouth curving into a smirk. “I know where the astral projector is.”

Apprehending the astral asshole—who it turned out was a harbinger—had been simple enough for Ciaran and Jolene’s sentinels. They’d knocked him out with a psychic blow and brought him to Richie’s basement, where interrogations were often held. In no time at all, the unconscious demon was sprawled on the cement floor, trapped in a containment forcefield that Maddox had popped up around him. Her demon had been glaring at their captive ever since, raring to maul his ass in a major way.

Raini had telepathed Maddox after ending her video call with the girls. He’d teleported straight to her, looking so supremely calm it was a little unnerving, and brought her to the basement. His sentinels had come along, and they now stood with him and Raini near the wall, placing them in shadow.

With only a bare lightbulb, the basement was pretty dim. It was also creepy as hell with the dank and eerie air, the old bloodstains on the floor, the thick spooky-ass shadows, and the cloying scents of must, mold, and lingering pain. Yeah, a lot of people had died down here. She doubted that any of them had died easy.

When Jolene had declared that she wanted to lead the interrogation, most of the others in the basement had tensed, waiting for an explosion from Maddox. Raini had almost snorted. They should have known better. The guy never exploded.

He’d merely stared at Jolene and asked, “Why bother questioning him when I can pluck the answers out of his mind?”

“I never said that I didn’t want you to read his mind,” Jolene had replied. “I just said I wish to lead the interrogation. I agreed that we would work together on this, and we will. Part of that includes my taking the lead.”

In Raini’s view, it was pure Prime posturing—neither wanted the other to steal the show, because they both had a responsibility to Raini.

Maddox had given Jolene a careless “fine” shrug and said, “You won’t be her Prime for much longer, so I see no harm in letting you enjoy it while you can.” Ignoring the narrow-eyed look Jolene shot him, he’d then crossed to Raini and his sentinels, exuding a calm that she doubted he truly felt.

It was shortly after that that Lachlan and his brothers showed up. They’d gathered behind Jolene, along with Ciaran, her two sentinels, and Richie. All were facing the harbinger, who was now beginning to stir.

Groaning, he raised his head and blinked hard. He froze as he took in the scene. His astral self practically burst out of his body … and bounced right off the wall of the containment forcefield. He didn’t let that deter him. He repeatedly threw his astral self at the walls, relentless and determined.

That determination came to nothing.

Raini’s demon snickered, finding him weak and ridiculous. It was rather enjoying seeing him trapped and helpless. Raini would be lying if she said she didn’t get a kick out of it, too. If his dagger had adequately done its job, Raini and her demon would have been just as powerless in the face of danger, so it seemed only fair that he suffer this way. Karma truly was a bitch, which was why Raini had a fondness for it.

Finally seeming to realize that the only thing he was achieving was tiring himself out, the harbinger stopped attacking the forcefield. His astral self then slipped back into his body, and he stood upright.

Jolene smiled ever so pleasantly at him. “My granddaughter tells me that your name is Terrence Gibbs. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. I’m Jolene Wallis. Behind me are several of my lair members and a few … friends. As I’m sure you can sense, we’re all quite eager to talk with you.” The word “talk” carried all kinds of painful implications.

Terrence flexed his fists. “You should let me go.”

“Hmm, I can’t say I share that opinion.”

“I have a lot of friends in high places. Friends who’d be pissed about this shit.”

Every imp in the basement began to chuckle. Yeah, it was kind of ridiculous for him to think that his warning would make a difference to them. These were creatures who’d long ago ceased caring about little things called “consequences.” That wasn’t exactly uncommon knowledge. Even Raini’s demon rolled its eyes.

“I don’t care how many friends you have or who exactly they are,” said Jolene. “Not that it matters either way. I’ll never have to meet them. Nobody knows you’re here. No one is coming for you. There won’t be a rescue or an escape. That nifty ability you have to astral project isn’t going to save you either.”

Snarling, he began throwing orbs of hellfire at the forcefield. But it didn’t falter, didn’t crack, didn’t burn. It stayed strong and steady. Raini was totally loving the look of defeat on his face. And the way he kept shivering, as if it was mighty cold in there.

When he finally gave up trying to escape, Jolene took a regal step forward, her heels scraping over the cement floor. “I’d tell you that you have two choices—talk or endure a tremendous amount of pain—but that would be a lie. You only really have one choice and that is to answer my questions, because I won’t stand for anything less.”

He glared at her, each puff of breath fogging the air within the forcefield.

“You went after one of my demons, Raini Campbell. You’ll remember hurling a dagger at her. You’ll remember why you targeted her. It’s the latter we’re interested in, because we haven’t yet figured out what sparked you to target her.”

“I ain’t telling you nothing,” he said.

Deciding he’d allowed Jolene enough time with the harbinger, Maddox stepped out of the shadows and sidled up to her. His inner entity smirked when Terrence went utterly still and fear flickered across his face. The harbinger would know that, if the rumors were to be believed, Maddox could invade his mind, fuck with his thoughts, snatch every secret out of his head, intensify his pain threshold, make him do any number of things—hell, Maddox could even make him like the pain.

Torture was one thing—people tended to believe they could hold out; that they could withdraw inside their head and shut themselves off from the pain; that they could hold onto their dignity as one last act of defiance. But having your mind fucked with as part of that torture? No one would want that. No one would want every part of them to be invaded.

“I’m not here to question you,” Maddox said to him. “I’m here to hurt you. A lot. In whatever ways I choose. But, naturally, I want my answers first.” He made a move toward the forcefield, intending to step through it—as its creator, he was the only person who could.

Terrence raised a hand and backed up. “Wait, wait, wait! I’ll tell you, all right? I’ll tell you about the succubus. I received a phone call through a spoofing site—someone wanted her stripped of power; they paid me to make it happen.”

Anger pulsed through both Maddox and his demon. They’d expected that answer.

“Who is ‘they’?” Raini asked their prisoner as she moved to stand near Jolene.

“I don’t know,” replied Terrence, shaking his head. “The voice was male. They didn’t give me their name. They only gave me yours.”

Raini narrowed her eyes. “What happened when you failed to deliver?”

“Nothing,” he told her. “No one called me. No one asked me to try again.” Terrence shrugged. “There’s nothing else I can tell you.”

“How disappointing.” Maddox swiped his tongue over his front teeth. “Now, back to what I was doing before you so rudely interrupted me.” He stepped through the forcefield.

Terrence’s eyes widened. “I told you everything!”

“So you say. I’m not so sure I believe you.” Even if Maddox had, he’d have still invaded the harbinger’s mind, intent on making him feel the epitome of helpless.

“I’m telling the truth, dammit!”

“You know … I can rummage through a person’s mind without causing them pain,” Maddox told him, his tone conversational. “But I won’t spare you any—my demon wouldn’t allow it anyway. You didn’t spare Raini. She was brought to me injured, bleeding, in pain, and weak from expending a lot of psychic energy. You were the cause of that. You can imagine how much I long to return the favor.”

“I was only doing my job,” Terrence defended. “Just like you’re doing yours when you broker all kinds of shady deals. How is that different?”

“It isn’t. But I don’t care. You hurt someone who belongs to me. Someone I don’t plan to live without. Someone I just last night claimed as my mate.”

That garnered her a few looks from her relatives, but they didn’t comment. None seemed surprised.

“You might have even killed her, Terrence,” Maddox went on. “The fact is … you were dead the moment you accepted the offer to strip her of power; you just hadn’t realized that until now.”

Raini winced as the harbinger’s back arched and an animal-like cry of pain seemed to be torn out of him. He dropped to his knees, slapping his hands to his head, keening and moaning and begging for Maddox to stop.

Her anchor didn’t stop. He stared down at the harbinger, his expression vacant, his eyes narrowed in concentration, completely unmoved by the cries for mercy that echoed off the walls.

Her demon was equally unmoved. Terrence hadn’t had a sliver of an issue with stripping her of power. And if he’d succeeded, the halo-bearers who came to Raini’s house probably would have killed her. If they hadn’t, Gunther most likely would have. Her death would have, essentially, been on the head of Terrence here. So, no, neither Raini nor her demon felt any pity for him.

Finally, he slumped to the floor—maybe in relief, maybe because Maddox’s mental invasion had sucked the energy out of him. And then … wait, was he sobbing? Oh, good Lord. If he hadn’t been able to hack that, he wouldn’t do well against the pain her family meant to deliver. Which made her demon clap in delight.

“You were telling the truth,” Maddox said to him. “You truly know nothing that can help us. There were some other things I learned while traipsing through your mind. The location of your business, the names and addresses of your work associates, the identity of the incantor who put the runes on the daggers you keep to rob people of power.”

Feeling Maddox’s rage flutter against the edges of her consciousness thanks to their anchor bond, Raini knew that not one of those people would live through the night.

“Don’t kill him yet, Maddox,” said Jolene. “I’d like to communicate to him just how much I don’t appreciate a person coming after someone dear to me.”

“We all do,” announced Lachlan. “But how do we get in that energy bubble to fuck his shit up?”

“You don’t need to,” said Maddox, lowering the forcefield.

Jolene took a panicked step forward. “He’ll astral project out of here.”

“No, he won’t,” said Maddox. “He doesn’t have the ability to astral project. He’s never had it, have you, Terrence?”

Now on his hands and knees, the harbinger shook his head.

Frowning, Raini reached out to her anchor. You made him believe he doesn’t have the ability? He could actually do that?

It wasn’t difficult, Maddox replied without glancing her way. He was still focused on the harbinger. “His greatest fear … is being confined to a basement exactly like this while several people subject him to sheer agony. Now he’ll get to live out that fear.”

In other words, Maddox had planted the fear into Terrence’s mind. Holy shit.

“You’ll also find that his pain-tolerance level is at an all-time low,” Maddox added.

Lachlan turned to Raini and flicked a look at her anchor. “I think I could like him. Maybe. We’ll see how it goes.” He slid his gaze to Jolene. “That fucker hurled a blade at my daughter. I want at him first. In the name of the sanctity of retaliation—”

“Have at him,” Jolene invited, sweeping a hand toward the harbinger.

Later, when there was very little, for want of a better word, life left in Terrence, Jolene turned to her. “Raini, would you like to finish him off?”

“Sure. I’d advise everyone to get behind me.” Once they’d done so, Raini sent out a wave of psychic hellfire. They all watched as he dropped, convulsed, and then went limp, his skull caving in.

“A small part of me is gonna miss him.” With blood splattered on his skin and clothes, Lachlan cricked his neck. “Well, who fancies some tacos? I’m starving.”

“Tacos sound good,” said Bram.

Halfway to the basement staircase, Lachlan stopped and pinned Maddox with a look. “You take good care of my daughter. She wouldn’t like it if I killed you, and I’d rather not have to hear her whine at me for no good reason.”

Raini stared at him. “For no good reason? You wouldn’t consider killing my anchor and mate a valid reason for me to be upset with you?”

Lachlan sighed at her. “There’s never a valid reason to be upset with your own father—a loving, caring, very involved father. I raised you. Fed you. Sheltered you. Taught you how to snap a man’s neck like a twig and the best place to embed a blade in the spine.”

“You also tried to teach me to skin small animals, and what is up with that?”

“You said you were bored.”

“Bored, not sociopathic.”

“Well I thought it would be good father-daughter bonding time. Honestly, you’re always making a fuss over nothing.” Lachlan looked at his brothers. “Tacos.”

After the imps had trailed up the stairs, Hector smiled at Raini. “I was right in thinking I’d like your father.”

His mouth curved, Maddox took her elbow. “Let’s go home.”

Home. She liked the sound of that.