Fallen by Suzanne Wright

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Placing the fresh cup of coffee on the nightstand, Maddox looked down at his sleeping mate. The amount of psychic energy she’d expended had taken its toll on her. She’d stayed awake long enough for him to collect her from the cathedral so that she could see for herself that he was fine, but then she’d gone out like a light. It was only during the past minute that she’d begun making slight fussing noises that said her sleep was no longer so deep.

She had no idea, but the bedroom had been jampacked with people up until half an hour ago. It was shortly after he’d cleaned the blood from her skin and put fresh clothes on her that members of his lair had trickled into the room to ask how she was doing. Sometime after that, several of Raini’s circle had arrived.

They’d somehow learned of the attack before he had the chance to contact Jolene. Unsurprising, really. Imps had “ways” of finding things out.

A bunch of people—including Raini’s parents, uncles, Harper, Devon, Khloë, Knox, and Knox’s sentinels—came to get a good look at Raini. Despite the amount of noise in the room, she hadn’t stirred—not even when Khloë gently poked her forehead while weirdly threatening to draw a baby hippo on her face.

They eventually left, content that Raini was fine, but not before inviting themselves to dine with his lair. Maddox was quite certain that everyone was surprised by how easily they gelled with his demons. Lachlan and Hector got along like a house on fire, and Evangeline had quickly befriended Celia.

After learning of Euan’s guilt, Jolene and her group had requested access to him. Courtesy of Raini’s compulsion, Euan was still sleeping deeply. Maddox had known that by “access,” Jolene meant she wanted to introduce his cousin to brand-new levels of pain.

Maddox had promised that the imps could have their fun with Euan once Raini woke him, providing Jolene didn’t object to Maddox having “access” to Demi. Raini’s sister might not have worked alongside Dwain, but she’d done nothing to stop him. She’d essentially given him the green light to continue hurting Raini. She’d enjoyed knowing that her sister was suffering. Demi had betrayed his mate on several levels.

If they had known of Dwain’s guilt sooner, they would also have learned that he wasn’t responsible for all that was happening. As such, they would have known that another person was targeting Raini; that they needed to take a closer look at the other suspects. And Maddox could have stopped Euan before his cousin went so far as to capture and shoot her.

In sum, Demi did have a part to play in the mess. She wasn’t responsible for the actions of others, but she herself could have acted in ways that saved Raini further pain. But Demi simply hadn’t wanted to.

Jolene had balked at Maddox getting near Demi, though. The Prime didn’t trust that he wouldn’t trap Demi in a permanent psychic time loop. Which was perceptive of Jolene, really. She’d proposed that he punish Euan and that she punish Demi. Maddox had agreed after Carmen telepathically pointed out that Raini wouldn’t like him hurting her sister. Such a thing could come between him and Raini in the long run, no matter how upset his mate presently was with Demi. Plus, Maddox would also have made enemies of her parents, which would have pained Raini—he didn’t want that.

Perching himself on the edge of the bed, Maddox skimmed his fingertips down Raini’s bare arm. A little line formed between her brows, and his demon smiled. He’d never known anyone to be so difficult to wake. It took over a minute of him idly stroking her skin and talking quietly to her before he was able to fully rouse her.

As her eyes fluttered open, Maddox’s mouth curved. “You’re finally back with me.”

Groaning, she probed her temple. “My head feels all cottony. How long was I out?”

“A few hours.” He helped her sit upright and then handed her the drink he’d set on the nightstand. “Your family and your girls came. They stayed for a while, but when it became clear you weren’t going to wake any time soon, they left.”

Cradling her cup with both hands, she took a swig of her coffee. “My dad didn’t threaten you again or anything, did he?”

“No, but he did make me promise to perform certain methods of torture on Euan. Want to tell me what happened with the little bastard? I’d have questioned him already if I could wake him. You didn’t tell me you could enchant with a kiss. Not even when Hector asked if there were succubae who could.”

Pleased her mate didn’t seem annoyed about it, Raini shrugged one shoulder. “I like to keep you on your toes. As for Euan, well, it turns out he was hiding in the cathedral.” Between sips of her coffee, she relayed the entire story, watching as Maddox’s face became increasingly darker. “To sum up, he needs to die a very terrible but not imminent death.”

“Agreed.” Maddox settled a hand on the coverlet above her knee. “He’ll pay, baby.” There was so much menace in those three words that her scalp prickled.

Returning the cup to the nightstand, she moved to straddle him and interlinked her fingers behind his nape. “Thank you for healing me. I knew you would.”

He curled his arms around her. “I might not have been able to. If either of the bullets had hit a thigh artery, you’d have bled out long before he took you to the battlefield. I wouldn’t have been able to save you.”

She hadn’t thought of that. “But you did save me. And Carmen. How is she?”

“Pleased to be reunited with Hector, even though he rebuked her for stupidly feeling guilty that Euan got his hands on you.”

Raini felt her brow furrow. “That is stupid. It wasn’t her fault.”

“When I realized that Demi’s memories had been edited, both Euan and Marcella became my top suspects. I wouldn’t have left you in the cathedral if I’d thought either of them could get to you. It never occurred to me that either of them wouldn’t be in the monastery.”

“Same here.” Euan had taken them all off-guard, the prick.

“Hector had noticed that Euan was missing during the battle, but he’d thought that maybe Euan had gone to the club. Hector couldn’t telepath him to check because of the forcefield that surrounded the monastery. The entire lair is disappointed that they weren’t able to join the battle.”

“Thank God you had other backup. Your Fallen friends … they were full of surprises.”

“I owe them.”

“But I’ll bet they owed you first—I know how you operate.”

Maddox’s mouth quirked. “That you do.”

“Where’s Euan now?”

“In the cellar beneath the cathedral. And he won’t be getting out of it alive.”

Her entity was all for that plan. “Both me and my demon want some time with him,” she warned.

Maddox hummed. “I figured you would.”

“My dad and Jolene will want to have a share of the fun, too.”

“Actually, Jolene and I came to an agreement.” Snaking his hands up her thighs and under her tee, Maddox explained the conditions of said agreement. “You’re relieved I won’t be disciplining your sister,” he sensed, watching her carefully.

Well, yeah. “Jolene’s harsh, but you’re … ”

“Sadistic?” he offered.

“Your demon is sadistic. You’re brutal. Which isn’t bad. It’s just that she’s my sister. She fucked up. Majorly. And I know, I agree, that she needs to be held accountable. I’m—”

“Far too compassionate for your own good.”

“Not exactly. It’s more that, well, it might not mean much to her that we’re sisters, but it still means something to me—we did have some happy times when we were younger and … Why are you sighing at me like I’m hopeless?”

“Baby, I love you, I do, but you need to get that I won’t give someone a free pass to hurt you merely because they’re a relative of yours. I made an agreement with Jolene, and I’ll honor it. But if Demi does anything else at all to hurt you, I will deal with her.”

Gaping, Raini stared at him. “You love me?”

“Yeah,” he replied with an “obviously” look.

She swallowed, her chest tightening. “Well, do you know that I love you, too?”

The hard set of his mouth softened. “I do now.”

“Good,” she said, her voice low.

He sipped from her mouth, keeping the kiss soft and shallow and lazy. Yet, every nerve ending she had woke right up, and the good ole tingles came back in full force. Because he loved her. She’d thought he might feel that way one day far off in the future. Not so soon.

Feeling in the mood to celebrate it, she nipped his lower lip and asked, “Want to shower with me and play doctor again?”

One corner of his mouth quirked. “Sure.” Palming her ass, he lifted her. “But be warned that there’s a strong chance my demon will take over at some point and brand you again—it’s still wound tight after seeing you injured with a gun pointed at your head.”

“Your entity has shown it has good taste where brands are concerned, so I’m okay with that.”

“Well that’s good, because it wouldn’t have cared if you weren’t.”

She snickered. “Considering how possessive it is, that doesn’t surprise me.”