Fallen by Suzanne Wright

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Damn, she was gonna come so hard.

Lying on her side while Maddox powered into her from behind the next morning, Raini reached back to grip his nape. He’d woken her with his finger on her clit, expertly teasing the hell out of her. It hadn’t been long before he’d plunged his dick inside her, slamming home in one smooth thrust.

Now, his fingertips dug into her thigh as he fucked in and out of her, filling the room with the sound of flesh slapping flesh. His free arm was banded around her body, gripping her shoulder to hold her still for his possession. And she wasn’t going to last much longer.

He put his mouth to her ear. “Mine,” he bit out. “My mate. Aren’t you?”

She licked her lips. “Yes.”

“And you’re going to wear my ring when I give it to you, aren’t you?”

Knowing that by “ring” he meant a black diamond—something demons only gifted to their mates when they were ready to make the ultimate commitment, she hesitated, unsure if he was ready for that or only saying it in the heat of the moment. “I—”

“It wasn’t a request, baby. You’ll wear it. You’ll never take it off. And every time you look at it, you’ll remember that I’ll never let you go.” He upped the pace of his thrusts, pounding harder. So fucking hard that each brutal lunge seemed to send the breath gusting out of her lungs.

Her orgasm hit her suddenly and swept her up. She came hard, arching, crying out, squeezing his cock with her inner muscles. His fingertips bit harder into her thigh as he exploded inside her.

Utterly sated, Maddox kissed the crook of her neck and began to slide his cock out of her. But then her pussy fluttered gently around him, and he smoothly sank back inside. “I think I’ll stay in here a little longer.”

He soothingly stroked his hand over her thigh, right where he’d gripped it tight. Her skin was already bruising. He could heal the marks, but he found he liked the sight of his fingerprints on her flesh.

“You’re like a machine or something,” she said, panting. “Not sure if you realized, but you woke me four times through the night.”

“I realized,” he told her. Unlike her, he hadn’t been tired, so he hadn’t slept. He’d sat on the chair and gotten some work done on his laptop. “You sometimes make this soft little hum when you sleep. It’s the same sound you sometimes make when I’m playing with your nipples. It gets me hard every time.”

She snorted. “Don’t blame me for how insatiable you are.”

He gently nipped the back of her shoulder. “Are you complaining about how often I take you?”

“If I didn’t like it, I’d say so, not hint at it.”

“Good.” He slowly slid out of her. “Shower with me.”

After they were clean and dressed, they headed to the main hall to eat breakfast with his lair. He was pouring a second cup of coffee when he felt a slight vibration against his mind and knew that someone had telepathically contacted her.

Dropping her fork, Raini looked up at him, her lips parted. “Demi’s back.”

He stilled, and his demon shot to full alertness. “Back?”

“Yes, but I don’t know if she’s with Dwain or alone or what. All my mom said was Demi’s ‘home’ and that I should come see her.”

They’d be definitely going to see her—Maddox had some questions for the imp. “We’ll go together. Are you ready to leave now?”

Nodding, Raini pushed to her feet. “Whenever you are.”

Entering Demi’s living area with Maddox and Carmen, Raini glanced around the room. Her parents and uncles were gathered there, along with Jolene and Ciaran.

A false smile playing around the edges of her mouth, Evangeline pulled Raini into a hug. “Hey, sweetheart.”

“Thank you for coming so quickly,” said Jolene.

Raini’s gaze darted from person to person, taking in their grim expressions. Her stomach rolled. “What’s wrong? Where’s Demi?”

“She’s upstairs, sleeping. Martina is watching over her.” Evangeline licked her lips and held Raini by her forearms. “We need to prepare you. She looks … she doesn’t look good. Whoever kept her captive doesn’t seemed to have physically hurt her, but they didn’t exactly make an effort to take care of her.”

Raini felt the blood drain from her face. “She was kept captive?”

Her mother swallowed. “I’m afraid so.”

“By who? And where?”

“We don’t yet know,” said Jolene. “She hasn’t woken yet. She was found unconscious this morning on the field not far from Ciaran’s house. By all appearances, it looks as though she was dumped there.”

“Dumped there?”

“Yes. There were tire tracks not far from where she was found, and it appeared as though she’d been dragged along the ground.”

Raini winced. Guilt wrapped around her bones and made her feel like a piece of shit. Her sister had been a prisoner. A victim. And Raini had spent weeks thinking of her as a suspect.

Maddox’s mind brushed hers. That guilt you’re feeling is senseless, baby.

Her demon agreed, urging Raini to shake it off.

Letting her hands slide away from Raini’s arms, Evangeline turned to Maddox. “I know you’ll want to scan Demi’s mind. But I don’t think she’s strong enough to endure something like that.”

“It won’t take any strength on her part,” said Maddox. “I only require her to be awake.”

Lachlan tilted his head. “When you infiltrated Terrence’s mind—”

“I deliberately hurt him,” Maddox finished. “I can make it so that there’s no pain.” Noting that neither Evangeline nor Lachlan seemed any more comfortable with it, he added, “I appreciate that you’re feeling very protective of her right now and that you wish to spare her further trauma, but we need answers.”

“She’ll give them to us willingly,” said Evangeline.

“Perhaps, but I will still scan her mind.” Maddox raised a hand to stay any objections. “If it was Dwain who took her, she might still protect him and lie that he played no part in it—a demon’s loyalty to their anchor runs deep.”

“He’s right,” said Jolene. “Demi loves Dwain enough to make excuses for him in her mind, let alone protect him from what we might do to him if he’s guilty. We have to know what happened. I think everyone in this room can agree with that. So if Demi refuses to talk, Maddox will get the answers for us.”

Evangeline and the imps nodded, though they didn’t look happy about it.

A short time later, Jolene announced she’d received a telepathic heads-up from Martina that Demi was awake.

“Thank God,” breathed Evangeline, making a move toward the stairs, but she paused when Jolene lifted a hand.

“Let’s not all go rushing into the bedroom,” said Jolene. “We have no idea what she has been through. It would be best not to crowd her.”

“I’ll wait down here,” said Ciaran, and the uncles made the same offer.

“I think we should also not bombard Demi with questions,” said Raini, giving Maddox a pointed look.

“If you want to approach this slowly and give her a chance to talk, fine,” said Maddox, though it wasn’t truly fine. “But if she refuses to answer, I will scare her into thinking I’ll harm her.”

Lachlan bristled. “Now wait a minute—”

“Sometimes a little fear is motivational,” said Maddox. “She won’t believe that any of you will follow through on a plan to push her into talking, but she’ll know that my loyalty is to Raini.”

Sighing, Evangeline rubbed at her forehead. “Fine, just … don’t hurt her. I want answers the same as you, but there’s no need for Demi to be hurt in the process.” Evangeline then led the way up the stairs and into the master bedroom.

Demi lay there, staring at the ceiling, startingly unreactive as her lair members gathered close. Her face was pale and haggard. There were dark smudges under her lifeless eyes. She seemed tired. Weak. Undernourished.

Taking the seat beside the bed that Martina had vacated, Evangeline took Demi’s hand in hers and gave it a little squeeze, but her daughter didn’t even glance her way. “Demi, baby, we’re so glad you’re home. I’ve been so worried about you.”

Demi still didn’t react. Unsure what to make of her sister’s behavior, Raini hung back and said little while her parents and Jolene sort of … gentled Demi—assuring her that she’d been missed, that all were relieved she was back, that she was safe now.

Evangeline brushed a lock of Demi’s hair away from her face. “Tell us what happened, honey.”

Silent tears began to roll down Demi’s face, but she resolutely kept her gaze on the ceiling.

Raini’s chest squeezed at the sight, but her demon wasn’t so moved. Maddox didn’t appear to be either. He stood at her side, watching Demi carefully, no pity to be seen in his eyes. On Raini’s other side, Carmen stared at the female imp in much the same way.

“Demi, I know you probably don’t want to talk right now or even think about what went on,” Evangeline continued. “But we have to know.” No response. “Who took you, sweetheart? Was it Dwain? It was, wasn’t it?”

Lachlan rested a hand on Demi’s leg. “It’s important that you tell us everything. Surely you want to. Surely you want to see this person brought to justice, especially when they’re probably also behind what’s been happening to your sister.”

Still, Demi said nothing, more silent tears dripping down her face.

Evangeline bit her lip. “How about we ask questions, and you just nod or shake your head? Then you don’t have to admit anything aloud, but you can still tell us what we need to know.”

Raini stood by as her parents and Jolene posed question after question to Demi, who never once responded. Not verbally, not with body language, nothing.

Her demon becoming increasingly pissed, Raini took a single step toward the bed. “Demi, please, tell us what happened.”

Her sister’s head very slowly turned her way, and her tearful eyes clashed with Raini’s. There was so much despair there that it made Raini’s heart hurt. Still, her sister didn’t speak.

Raini took another step toward the bed. “Please, Demi.” The plea went unanswered.

Maddox stalked forward, and Demi’s eyes snapped to him. “What do you think your sister’s most painful memory is, Raini?” he asked, ever so casual.

Raini blinked. “What?”

“Her most painful memory,” he said, his gaze on her sister. “What do you think it is?”

Clueless as to where he could be going with this, Raini shrugged. “I-I don’t know. Probably finding out that Dwain is mated. Which he actually isn’t. But I don’t think she knew that. At least not at first.”

“Hmm.” Maddox raised his hand, and it glowed red. Everyone tensed as if to act in Demi’s defense, but she made no cry of pain. He looked at Raini. “You were wrong. Her most painful memory isn’t hearing that Dwain is mated. It’s hearing him confess to her that he loved you—it was years ago, I know, but time hasn’t lessened the pain. She knew back then that he didn’t truly feel that way about you—he didn’t know you well enough to love you. That was why the moment devastated her so much. He did know her well enough to love her, he just didn’t care for her that way.”

Swallowing, Raini looked back at her sister, who was eyeing Maddox warily.

Tilting his head at Demi, he said, “You know, when I questioned one of the halo-bearers who attacked my lair, he was just as reluctant to talk as you are. He changed his mind when I told him what misery I could put him through without lifting a finger. I’m sure you’re aware of what a time loop is. I can trap someone in a mental time loop, forcing them to relive something over and over. And since I now know your most painful memory … ”

Demi’s eyes went wide, and her breathing turned fast and shaky.

Putting a hand to her roiling stomach, Raini turned to him. “Maddox—”

“She’s your sister, I know,” he said, not moving his gaze from said sister. “But she could help you here, Raini. She could tell us all what we need to know to keep you safe. She won’t, though. Not even to help herself.”

Fuck if he wasn’t right, which was why Raini’s demon saw no issue with putting Demi through any of the torment that Maddox had planned.

“You’re thinking Jolene or your parents will stop me,” he said to Demi. “They won’t. They can’t. And you shouldn’t want to see them go toe-to-toe with someone who is both the mate and anchor of your own sister.”

Demi’s mouth fell open. “M-mate?” she whispered brokenly.

“Yes.”

Demi squeezed her eyes shut, her face lined with pain. A pain that no doubt stemmed from envy, because Raini now officially had exactly what Demi most wanted.

“Maybe she’s unable to talk about who took her,” Evangeline suggested. “Maybe she’s under some kind of silencing spell or something.”

Maddox pursed his lips. “Perhaps. There’s only one way to find out.” His eyes narrowed, and a loud gasp of surprise left Demi.

Her upper body knifing up, Demi shook her head wildly. “Get out of my head! Get out!” She looked at Jolene. “Make him stop.”

The Prime stared down at her, unmoved. “We gave you the chance to talk. All you had to do was answer our questions. You refused.”

“Mom, make him get out of my head!” Demi appealed.

Her expression pained, Evangeline squeezed Demi’s hand. “It’s better this way, really. You won’t have to say aloud whatever you’re holding inside, but we’ll still have the answers we need.”

“It’ll be over soon,” Lachlan soothed.

Demi flung herself back on the bed and went back to staring at the ceiling, pointedly ignoring anyone’s attempt to talk with her.

Finally, Maddox made a “hmm” sound and scraped his hand over his jaw.

“What did you see?” Raini asked him.

“Many things,” he replied, his tone casual, his eyes cold. “She didn’t know that Dwain and Harmony weren’t mates. Not until a few days before she should have gone on her cruise. He confessed everything—how Harmony was only playing a part, how he’d been boycotting Urban Ink, how he wanted to get a little payback.”

Lachlan swore beneath his breath. “That rat bastard,” he said, taking the words right out of Raini’s mouth.

“At first, Demi was angry,” said Maddox, staring at the stubbornly silent imp. “She hated that you mattered enough for him to orchestrate this. On a side note, Harmony has gone traveling—she has no knowledge of any of this. Demi, however, knew everything. She had no plans to tell anyone what she’d learned, though. She thought it only fitting that you suffer a little.”

Raini silently winced because, yeah, that hurt.

Demi rolled over to give everyone her back, and curled into the fetal position.

“Then, what?” Jolene pushed.

“She had every intention of going on her cruise as planned, but then she was drugged and taken,” said Maddox. “When she woke, she was in the cellar of a cabin, and someone had put some sort of block on her mind that prevented her from receiving or sending telepathic messages. Her captor came to see her daily and leave her food. They also drugged her this morning—it’s the last thing she remembers before waking here.”

Her arms folded, Raini asked, “Who was her captor?”

“Dwain. Or so somebody would like us to believe. Her memories of her captor have been modified.”

Stiffening, Demi peeked at him over her shoulder.

“How can you tell?” Raini asked him.

“It’s much like watching a movie that has very poor special effects surrounding one character,” replied Maddox. “I’m assuming that her memories were tampered with while she was drugged, because she has no recollection of it happening. It was a very professional job, but the alterations to her memories are easy to spot because they aren’t holding—she doesn’t want to believe that Dwain would harm her; her gut won’t accept what she remembers. Her gut is right not to. It wasn’t Dwain; it was someone else.”

“Maybe all her memories of what happened are false,” Evangeline suggested. “Maybe the whole thing was planted in her head.”

Maddox shook his head. “The only thing here that is false is Dwain’s presence.”

Demi sat up again. “So if it wasn’t Dwain, where is Dwain?”

“We don’t know. He went missing, like you.” Jolene turned to Maddox. “Can you clear away the edits that were made to her memories; can you restore them to what they were?”

“Yes,” replied Maddox. “But it will take time. And it may hurt her a little.” Not that the thought of that bothered him. His demon would relish it. But it was clear that Raini balked at it. She shouldn’t, because … “Demi was overjoyed when she heard that I didn’t seem to want to bond with you, Raini. She thought of it as karma; that it was only fair that you didn’t have your anchor around if she couldn’t have hers.”

“That’s a lie,” claimed Demi, her voice shaky.

Ignoring that, Maddox went on, “When she started to suspect that that might change—which was sometime after I had the alarm system installed at your house—she considered coming to me and advising me not to bond with you. She even considered seducing me. She wanted to be able to look you in the eye and announce that she’d fucked your anchor. It was only Dwain’s sudden appearance in Vegas that made her decide to postpone her plans—she’d intended to pick them up again after he left.”

Evangeline sighed. “Oh, Demi.”

Raini shook her head at her sister. “If you’re intent on hating me—”

“She doesn’t really hate you, baby,” Maddox cut in. “She tells herself that she does. But the person she’s really so angry with is Dwain for not feeling for her what she feels for him; for leaving her and going to live elsewhere. She blames you for that because it’s too painful to accept that she doesn’t matter enough to Dwain for him to stay close.”

Demi’s eyes welled up again. She looked at Raini. “Imagine if Maddox left Vegas. Imagine if he wouldn’t let you go with him, claiming he needed ‘distance’ from you because you reminded him of the person he ‘loved.’ Do you think you’d have taken it well?”

“Not at all,” replied Raini. “I understand why it hurt you so much. But I don’t find it an excuse for the things you’ve done. You could have warned me about Dwain’s plans. Or told Mom. Or Dad. Or Jolene. You could have told someone.”

“But I didn’t, and karma paid me back for that, didn’t it?” Demi said, her voice hoarse. “I ended up a fucking prisoner. I don’t know who took me. I don’t know where Dwain could be. He said he was going home.”

“Dwain said a lot of things that turned out to be bullshit,” Raini pointed out. “He seriously came at me this way just because of the snare?”

“You don’t see what it did to him. He felt so many things when the truth sank into his brain—hurt, embarrassed, weak, unmanned, bitter that someone had overtaken his will and fucked with his thoughts, making him believe something that wasn’t real; making him obsessed with someone against his will. He didn’t plan to fuck with your life until recently, though.”

“What happened recently? Redeem yourself a little here, Demi, and help us.”

Letting out a shuddering breath, Demi shrugged. “In short order, he lost his job and his girlfriend—she dumped him for his best friend, who he essentially also then lost. More, his ex said the same thing to him that you did; that he only thought he loved her. Feeling alone and jobless and heartsore just threw him back to what happened years ago. It was like he was mentally flailing. Feeling afloat and powerless and that he had no control over his world. I guess he … ”

“Wanted to feel strong and in control again,” Jolene finished. “He needed to work off the pain and sense of loss he felt. It’s much like an abuser finding themselves a human punchbag— beating another person up is not only a way to vent, it makes them feel powerful. But why did Dwain go after Raini? I would have thought he’d have vented his anger on his ex.”

“In his mind, it all came back to Raini—if she hadn’t snared him, he’d never have left Vegas in the first place. The way he sees it, everything that happened is on her.” Demi turned back to Raini. “When he heard from his dad that you’d found your anchor, Dwain was so pissed. He knew you’d always looked forward to finding your psi-mate. He wanted to ruin it for you. He wanted to mess with your head the way your preternatural allure messed with his.”

Raini swallowed. “And you didn’t care.”

Demi closed her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not,” said Maddox, unwilling to let her play the innocent card and manipulate those around her. He was infuriated with this bitch. She could have tried talking Dwain down. She could have helped him straighten his thoughts. She could have saved her sister from further upset. But she simply hadn’t bothered. “I’ve been in your mind. You regret what you did, but not because of how it’s affected Raini. No, your true regret comes from the fact that everyone will now know what you did—and what you failed to do. It is all about you and how you feel, not Raini. At least admit that much.”

Demi’s eyes blazed at him. “Would you have betrayed Raini?”

“Never,” Maddox answered without hesitation. “But, if she had been Dwain, I would have discouraged her from making the mess she was making. I would have pointed out that her thoughts were all tangled and twisted. I would have saved her from herself. You were happy to let Dwain make his mess because you wanted Raini to hurt.”

Demi looked away and took another shaky breath. She opened her mouth to speak, and then suddenly her entire body went limp and she fell to the mattress, her eyes closed.

“What’s wrong with her?” Evangeline burst out.

“I simply put her to sleep,” said Jolene. “She needs to rest so that she can heal.”

Evangeline’s lips thinned. “And you don’t trust her not to run.”

“No, I don’t,” the Prime easily admitted. “Do you?”

Evangeline averted her gaze. “I’m so mad at her right now. I want to shake her and yell at her. How the hell could she do all this? God, where did I go wrong, Jolene? I thought I was a good mom, I don’t know how I messed up—”

“You didn’t,” Jolene told her, firm. “You’re her mother, so of course you would prefer to take the blame rather than think your own child could do such things. But this isn’t on you, Evangeline. Nor is it on Lachlan. You’re both good parents.”

“She’s right, Mom,” Raini cut in. “You and Dad are the best. Neither of you let Demi down. She let herself down. She made super messed-up decisions—”

“That’s an understatement,” said Lachlan, taking the words right out of Maddox’s mouth.

Having walked in Demi’s mind, he’d felt the darkness in her. The selfishness. The spitefulness. The way she seemed unable to see Raini clearly—always looking at his mate through bitter lenses.

“Maybe you’re right and we didn’t let her down,” Lachlan said to Raini. “But we did let you down. We saw how jealous she was of you when you were kids, but we thought she’d grow out of it. Hell, me and Bram clashed up until we reached our early twenties. Still, when your mom and I noticed the jealousy, we tried nipping it in the bud. We punished Demi, we talked to her, we treated you both equally. She did seem to snap out of it when you were teenagers, but maybe she’d just learned to hide it better. We should have been more on the ball about it or come down on her harder.”

Raini shook her head. “I don’t think you let me down. I think she truly did grow out of it, but that fuck-up with Dwain years ago seemed to spark the jealousy back to life. Some people let that kind of emotion eat them up. She’s one of them.”

Maddox blinked as Celia’s mind all but thumped his own. They’re here, Maddox. Castiel and his halo-bearers are here.