Fallen by Suzanne Wright

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Red-hot pain exploded in Raini’s kneecap as the bullet slammed into it like a hammer. The second bullet punched her other kneecap, subjecting her to another blast of unbearable agony. There was no holding back the scream—it erupted out of her throat as bones shattered and her legs went out from under her, and she landed hard on her butt.

Panting, she hovered her hands around her wounds as she stared in shock at the blooming red stains on the torn ice-blue denim jeans.

“Hurts, does it?”

Hot tears stung her eyes and, honest to God, she was surprised she hadn’t passed out. She’d never felt pain like it in her life. It stole her breath and made nausea rise up fast.

Euan chuckled, his eyes lit with delight. “Oh, this is brilliant. Maddox will go berserk when he sees you like this. Hurting. Bleeding. Shot.”

Raini glared up at Euan, air bursting in and out of her lungs. Her demon surged to the surface and said, “That was very stupid. I would have killed you quickly. It would not have been painless, but it would have been swift. But now? Now I will see that you suffer for a very long time.”

“And how is it you’ll do that?”

The demon let a slow smirk curve its mouth and then subsided.

Euan sniffed at Raini. “If that entity of yours thinks it can call my bluff and scare me, it’s wrong. You and I both know you have no way out of this situation. Perhaps you’ve told yourself differently and clung to some hope that Maddox would save you, but you know deep down that it won’t happen.”

“Sometimes hope is all we have,” said Raini, her breathing still not steady. “So I can hope your plot falls apart. I can hope Maddox, his allies, and the lair survives. I can hope you’ll pay for this for years to come. It’s not such a far-fetched hope. All your other plans went to shit, didn’t they?”

“You think you can push me into killing you here and now so that Maddox won’t have to see you die?” He snorted. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I am not so easily manipulated. And there is no way that you or your demon will convince me that you are a threat.” He sneered. “You can’t even get up.”

Not keen on being reminded of that, she clenched her teeth so hard it sent a shooting pain along her jawline. That twinge was nothing compared to the blinding agony lancing through her knees. It felt like they’d been showered in acid and were now blazing with fire.

There’d be no fleeing from him when he teleported them outside. Hell, there’d be no crawling, let alone standing or running. Not when her kneecaps were shattered and so many tendons and muscles were ruptured. Her legs were useless to her right now.

Oh, he was gonna pay for this shit. She wasn’t sure how or when yet, but she’d make it happen.

Her demon sent various images flashing around Raini’s brain—Euan being tossed at the stone wall; bullets being fired at his dick; a cheese grater being dragged down his face, shredding flesh. Yeah, those ideas worked for Raini.

“How sad that the person who can heal you is just outside but will soon be dead.” Euan tipped his head from side to side, as if to get some cool air on his throat. Probably because the crimson flush on his face had spread down his neck.

“You really haven’t thought this through,” said Raini, still panting. “Not if you don’t think people aren’t going to find it a little fucking suspicious that you weren’t battling alongside your lair.”

“I intend to claim I was part of the battle; that I was left for dead but managed to survive. It’s not like the angelic bastards out there will come down from their precious realm to contradict me, is it? Trust me, Raini, I have all my bases covered. People have always underestimated me. I suppose you and I have that in … ” He paused, as if struggling to find the word he was looking for. His pupils were now dilated, and there was an almost imperceptible quake in his voice. “Common,” he finished. “We have that in common.”

Raini shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. My lair will question what happened here. They will. Because your plan to set Dwain up failed. I don’t know if you personally edited my sister’s memories or you had someone else do it but, whatever the case, it wasn’t the grandest job. Maddox could tell they were altered and that Dwain wasn’t her captor.”

He stiffened. “You lie.”

“Nope. My family all know it was someone else. They want him bad. And since you’re one of the original suspects, they’ll take a nice, long look at you. And what will they find, Euan? They’ll find the miraculous survivor of a battle during which Idied. That’ll be enough to make them want to have a lengthy chat with you. And here’s the best part. You won’t have a Prime anymore, you’ll be a stray, so there’ll be no one to hold off Jolene. Declaring yourself a Prime won’t make you one—not if you have no other members. You’ll still be a stray.”

A vein in his temple pulsed. “Even if I believed that they know your sister’s memories were edited—which I don’t—it matters not. They will never find me.”

“You intend to hide, huh? Some Prime you are,” she taunted.

The skin around his eyes went tight. “Such big talk for someone who is facing death.” More sweat dotted his forehead, and there was now a slight tremor in each of his hands—both of which she suspected were clammy at this point. While it wasn’t exactly comforting to see them tremoring when he was holding two guns, it was nice to see that the pheromone was working so well.

“Now, I think it’s time for us to head outside, don’t you?”

Her heart jumped. “You think Castiel won’t kill you?” she blurted out, hoping to keep him talking a little longer. “He wants every last descendant dead, Euan. That includes you.”

“Right now, his priority is ending Maddox. Castiel won’t be interested in me until after my cousin is dead—I’ll have teleported away by the time he thinks to turn his attention to me.”

“He’ll hunt you down, no matter how long it takes. He wants to be one of the Seven. He isn’t going to let anything get in the way of that.”

“On the contrary, I think he’ll be inclined to let me live as a thank-you for helping him defeat Maddox.”

He couldn’t be serious. If anything, the archangel would be insulted that someone thought he needed aid—especially the aid of a demon.

“Part of me worried that Castiel would kill him early in battle. But as you’re not enduring unimaginable psychic suffering, the anchor bond must still be alive and kicking, which means Maddox obviously is, too.” He double-blinked and licked his lips. Finally seeming to notice the tremor in his hands, he frowned. “What’s wrong with me? I feel … ” He trailed off, and his eyes narrowed on her. “What have you done?”

She made sure she looked appropriately confused. “Nothing.”

“Again, you lie.” Snarling, he kicked at her knee. A broken scream tore out of her as a fresh wave of agony exploded inside her knee and reverberated up her leg. Spots danced in front of her vision, her stomach heaved, and she almost retched. God, she was gonna be sick. The pain was so intense she couldn’t quite catch her breath.

Hating that she couldn’t just wrench those guns out of his hands and liquefy his fucking brain, she took in a slow, shuddery breath. And another. And another. And another. She wasn’t going to let him reduce her to this … creature that knew only pain and couldn’t think beyond it. No. No, he wouldn’t break her.

Finally feeling she could move without vomiting, she struggled back into a sitting position, biting back whimpers at how her knees throbbed and burned.

“You do look quite pathetic.”

Trembling uncontrollably, Raini bared her teeth at him. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever hated anyone as much as she did him at that moment. Her demon was going absolutely ape-shit, wanting him dead, buried, and then resurrected to endure torment all over again.

“I am rather looking forward to the moment when Maddox sees you’re about to die,” Euan went on. “He won’t save you, nor will you save yourself. Cease trying to fight me—it is useless.”

If he thought she would just accept her fate, he was out of his everloving mind. But it seemed better to let him believe she was subdued. Hoping to look the image of defeated, she forced her shoulders to slump and let the tension deflate from her muscles.

He snickered, all scorn and derision. “Do feel free to scream again when we’re outside.”

In other words, he probably meant to kick her again.

Her surroundings flashed white, and then the three of them were a short distance away from the courtyard, where the battle still raged on around the bodies that littered the floor. Those still fighting were covered in burns, blood, and bruises. As for Maddox and Castiel, they were still engaged in a face-off, appearing evenly matched.

She instantly reached out to Maddox, Euan means to distract you so that Castiel can end you—don’t let him, be on your guard. It was a mere second later that Euan called out her mate’s name.

Castiel whipped around, an orb of gold energy in each hand, while Maddox’s gaze snapped to Euan before then dipping to her. A look of such fury rippled across his face before he blanked his expression … as if unwilling to let his emotions get the better of him. Well, thank Christ for that.

Sensing something was happening, the Black Saints and the halo-bearers ceased fighting but remained on high alert.

Euan shot Maddox a smug smile and waited, clearly expecting him to rant or threaten him, or maybe even beg him to free her. Maddox didn’t react at all. He just steadily met his cousin’s stare. But she could feel his rage humming against her psyche. It was ice-cold and ran soul-deep.

Knowing his demon would be experiencing that same ire and not trusting that it wouldn’t surface and reign fresh hell, Raini again reached out to Maddox. Stay calm and think. Please don’t give Euan what he wants. You won’t get out of this alive if you do, and neither will I. It wouldn’t hurt to remind either Maddox or his demon what was on the line.

Euan’s smile faltered when Maddox gave no reaction. “Don’t think I won’t hurt her. As you can no doubt see, I have no issue with doing that. I can imagine you’re tempted to do something extremely stupid—your little succubus experienced that same temptation. She paid for that.” It was a pure taunt. It didn’t spur Maddox into exploding, though.

Raini kept flicking her gaze from him to Castiel to the other players on the battlefield. The archangel repeatedly glanced from Euan to Maddox, and she suspected Castiel hoped Euan would do something to weaken her mate. The halo-bearers kept glancing at their leader, looking for direction, while the Black Saints watched them closely.

“Before you think to order me to release Raini and Carmen, know that it won’t happen,” said Euan. “They’ll die here. As will you and the rest of the lair. If your allies have any sense, they will leave now and save themselves.” The Black Saints didn’t move from where they stood. Euan snickered. “How very noble of them.”

“Some people have honor,” Raini sniped, hoping to push him into turning his attention to her. Given how agitated Euan was—courtesy of the pheromone—it hopefully wouldn’t be hard to provoke him into making a mistake, which would give Maddox an opportunity to strike.

His lips flattening, Euan cast her a sideways glance. The tremors hadn’t left his hands, and sweat now dripped down his temples. “You can blame yourself for this, Maddox. You failed to see the part I played in ensuring the misery of your anchor. It was I who hired the harbinger. I who betrayed her secrets to her lair. I who handed her to Gunther on a silver platter. I even kidnapped her sister and that Dwain fellow. You didn’t see it. You failed her. And now you’ll suffer the consequences. You’ll suffer as I suffered.”

Raini sighed. “Oh, for God’s sake, will you just get the fuck on with it? No one cares how smart you think you are or what games you’ve been playing—they’ve kind of got bigger things going on right now.”

Euan’s nostrils flared, but he still didn’t look at her. “You know what this is about, Maddox. You know how many people I lost because of you and your father. Well, now I mean to return the favor. Now you will know how I felt.”

Raini made a bored sound. “Oh, dear Lord, is there no way to shut you up and hurry this along?”

A snarl contorted Euan’s face. She watched his foot, knowing he meant to kick her knee again. Maybe her reaction would be a foolish move, but she didn’t have any other moves to make— none that wouldn’t for certain lead to either her or Carmen being shot in the head, anyway.

Time seemed to slow down as he lifted his foot and kicked out. Before it could connect with her knee, she caught his ankle, twisted it, and yanked hard. He fell on his butt, his arms flailing, and a gunshot cracked the air.

Quick as damn lightning, Maddox teleported to them … but not soon enough to stop Euan from once more pointing the gun at her head.

Castiel took advantage of Maddox’s distraction and began attacking with a fury, hurling orbs of crackling gold energy. But her mate had obviously already anticipated that, because he’d popped up a forcefield the second he landed before her—it encompassed him, her, Carmen, and Euan. The orbs couldn’t pass through it.

Sadly, due to Euan’s closeness to Raini and Carmen, there’d been no way for Maddox to exclude him from the forcefield without also excluding either her or Carmen.

Letting out a nervous chuckle, Euan kept the gun aimed at Raini’s head as he got to his knees and then moved up behind her. He’d seemingly dropped the other weapon, to her utter delight. Using her as a damn shield, he jabbed the gun hard against her temple. But that was good, because she’d finally got what she wanted—he was close.

“That was very foolish, Raini,” he admonished.

She turned her head slightly toward him, her mouth mere inches from his cheek, and said, “But effective.”

“That depends on what way you look at it. Yes, I now only have one gun, but it’s pointed at your head. And Maddox might be here, but that only means he gets an up-close view of the moment you die.”

“Hmm, and then you’ll teleport away, right?” She felt her brow crease. “Oh no, wait … you can’t get out of this forcefield unless he lowers it, which he ain’t gonna. So maybe I will die right here. But so will you. Actually, no, Maddox is more likely to keep you captive and torture you until the end of time.”

“Drop the gun,” Maddox said to him, his voice so casual and controlled that it made her nape prickle.

Euan huffed. “Oh, I think not.”

A muscle in Maddox’s cheek ticked. “Drop. The. Gun.”

“And give you the opportunity to kill me? No. I’ll make you a deal instead. If you lower the forcefield, I will teleport away without killing her.”

“But then the archangel would get us,” Raini pointed out, “so he ain’t gonna do that either.”

“Shut up,” Euan hissed without looking her way. He lifted his brow at Maddox. “Do we have a deal?”

Her mate’s eyes bled to black. Uh-oh. Even Euan stilled.

“This is your last chance,” it told him. “Drop the fucking gun.”

“Or what?” challenged Euan, a tremor in his voice. “You have no moves to make here.”

Raini snickered. “Not sure if you’ve noticed, big guy, but neither have you.”

Maddox’s eyes returned to normal as his demon retreated. “She’s right. You have no way out of this.”

“The same applies to your mate,” Euan pointed out. “So it would seem we’re at an empasse.”

“It’s impasse, you moron,” Raini snarked.

Euan growled and, keeping his eyes on Maddox, twisted his head toward hers—that was all she needed.

She swiftly pressed her lips to Euan’s and blew power into his mouth. Power that she knew would rush to his head like the sweetest, most intoxicating perfume. He blinked hard, swayed slightly, and stuttered out a breath. As his eyes then glazed over and he looked at her with utter adoration, Raini smiled.

She’d enslaved the fucker, Maddox quickly realized. His mate had the ability to enslave with a mere kiss. At any other time, it might have irritated him that she hadn’t told him about it. Right then, Maddox couldn’t give a fuck. Because she was alive, and that ability had saved her.

“Put down the gun,” she whispered to Euan, who obeyed without hesitation. “Good boy. Now sleep, and do not wake until I call for you to do so.”

The asshole slumped to the ground, his eyes closed—essentially out of commission.

“Baby.” His pulse not yet steady, Maddox crouched down and plastered his palm to hers, his teeth grinding at the sight of her wounds. His demon was no less enraged, despite that she was now safe from Euan.

She hissed at the cold burn as his power healed her, but then the lines of pain smoothed away from her face. He grabbed her head and kissed her hard, aware that the battle had picked up again; aware that Castiel was yelling for Maddox to face him. Maddox would. But not until she was out of harm’s way.

“Help Carmen,” she said.

Once he’d healed his sentinel, Carmen came to with a groan. “Mother of Christ, my head hurts.” She lifted said head, glanced around, and frowned. “What the hell—Euan. Is he dead?”

“Not yet,” said Maddox, though he was highly tempted to snap the fucker’s neck. But that would be too painless. No, he and his demon wanted Euan to feel death coming, and it eventually would. But then Maddox would heal him, and they’d do the dance over and over again.

“You missed a lot,” Raini told Carmen as Maddox pulled her to her feet. “I’ll fill you in later.”

“It’s not over yet,” said Maddox. “Carmen will get you out of here. Stay with her.”

Raini fisted his shirt. “No, not yet. I can end this.”

He stilled, him and his demon both balking at the idea. “No, you need—”

“Listen to me. The bastards are all away from Celia now.” Which told her that people had likely been wavering from one spot to another to evade strikes. “I can send out a blast of psychic hellfire without hitting her, but not without hitting you or—”

“I’m not leaving your side,” he gritted out.

“I’m not asking you to, Maddox. As long as I’m standing in front of you, you’ll be safe from the blast. But I can’t let it out while I’m in here—the walls will keep it trapped. Shrink this forcefield slightly so that it only surrounds you, Carmen, and Euan—no, hear me out. I need to be exposed long enough to release the psychic hellfire. I don’t know how much damage it will do to the archangel, but it will take the halo-bearers down in an instant. Then you can finish off Castiel. Unless you want to go through this battle all over again another day. Because none of this will be over until he’s dead.”

“The second you’re not shielded, those orbs that bastard’s throwing will hit you.”

“But then you’ll heal me. Look, I get that it goes against the grain for you to expose me while shielding yourself. It’s not like that, though. I need you to do exactly that, or you can’t encompass me in this big bubble again and then heal me once I’ve done my thing. Come on, Maddox, they won’t expect this. It’ll work.”

“I’d have to agree,” Carmen cut in. “If you can think past all that overprotectiveness, so will you.”

Maddox pulled in a breath through his nose. Hadn’t Raini already been through enough tonight? He didn’t want her here, where she could be hurt again. He also didn’t want her being targeted by Castiel or halo-bearers ever again, but she was right—none of this would stop until the archangel was dead. And so far, Maddox hadn’t been able to take him out. This had to end today—even his demon could acknowledge that.

Grinding his teeth, Maddox said, “Fine. But once you’re done here, you let Carmen take you off this damn battlefield and back to the cathedral’s attic with Euan.”

“I will, I promise. Staying here, I’d only distract you. I don’t want to do that. Tell the Black Saints to scamper in exactly four seconds so that they’re out of range of the blast. We’ll then make our move after the count of three.”

Maddox quickly gave Viper a telepathic heads-up, knowing he’d spread the word to his brothers. “Done.”

Raini blew out a breath. “Three, two, one.”

It all happened fast. The Black Saints disappeared. He shrunk the forcefield. An orb of crackling gold energy headed straight for her. The air rippled and shimmered as the psychic hellfire blasted outwards and smacked into Castiel and his minions. And the fucking orb hit her dead center in the chest.

Biting out a harsh curse, Maddox enlarged the forcefield and caught her before she could crash to the ground. He slammed his palm to hers and watched as her skin reknitted and the blisters disappeared. Only then did he look at the battlefield. The halo-bearers were sprawled on the ground—some unmoving, some convulsing.

Castiel was on his knees, his hands gripping his head tight.

“Wow,” Carmen breathed. “They dropped like stones.”

“Fucking good,” muttered Raini, now steady on her feet once more.

Maddox squeezed his mate’s nape, dancing his gaze from her to Carmen. “The moment I drop this forcefield, you go and take that shit-stain with you.”

“We will,” Raini vowed.

Maddox whirled to face Castiel and lowered the forcefield. “Go.” He sensed the wave of energy in the air and knew Carmen had teleported them out of there. He took slow, deliberate steps toward the archangel just as the Black Saints reappeared. Maddox didn’t look at them. He only had eyes for Castiel, who flexed his hand, clearly trying to conjure another orb of energy. He failed.

Halting in front of him, Maddox said, “I wouldn’t bother trying to fight what’s now inside you. You can’t. It’s working its way through your mind. Much more slowly than it ate through theirs,” he added, briefly glancing at the dead halo-bearers, “but it’ll consume yours sooner or later.”

Castiel blinked up at him, the epitome of confused.

“I’d imagine you’re wondering what’s happening to you. Have you ever heard of psychic hellfire?”

Viper let out a low whistle. “Oh, he’s dead for sure.”

Castiel’s eyelids flickered, his gaze lost focus, and his face drooped.

Maddox slanted his head. “You know, there’s something almost … dishonorable about taking advantage of your weakness and killing you now. The thing is, well, I don’t really give a shit. Not only did you hurt my mate and start a battle with my lair, you’ve done it to others. So many descendants have died because of your ambitiousness. Even one death is too many. So, on behalf of all of them … ” Maddox fisted Castiel’s hair, wrenched his head back, and forced an ice-cold energy orb down his throat.

The archangel choked, heaved, shook, swayed, arched. Then he slumped to the ground, his skull caving in.

The crackling forcefield around the monastery winked out. The crushing power that had held Celia in its grip must have released her, because she cried out and fell to the ground.

Sidling up to Maddox, Viper winced. “Archangels can heal from a lot, but he ain’t coming back from that.”

“Just to be sure … ” Maddox lit up the body with hellfire, planning to ask his lair—who were now filing out of the monastery—to do the same with the other corpses. None of the dead were Black Saints, which was no surprise, given how goddamn quickly they healed and how the angelic blood seemed to strengthen them.

Viper hummed. “That psychic hellfire sure did come in handy.”

Maddox turned to face him. “I appreciate you honoring our agreement and joining this fight—I won’t forget it. If you ever need to call on me for backup, I’ll provide it. But my mate won’t. She’s no weapon.” His demon nodded, in full agreement.

“Not sure she’s the type to sit at home while you fight. Just saying.” Viper saluted him. “I guess I’ll see you at the club.” He disappeared, and his brothers then did the same.

Hector materialized beside Maddox, his jaw hard. “We all watched the whole thing through the windows. I’ve never felt so goddamn helpless. No matter how hard we attacked the forcefield, it wouldn’t go down. I nearly lost my mind when I saw Carmen on the ground. I saw you heal her. She’s okay?”

“She’s fine,” Maddox confirmed. “She’s in the attic of the cathedral with Raini. They’re keeping watch on Euan.”

“We couldn’t properly hear what he was yelling,” said Hector. “What was all that about?”

“I’ll tell you everything once we’ve both collected our mates.”