Fallen by Suzanne Wright

CHAPTER FOUR

Listening to her father rant the next morning, Raini sighed. She loved the man. She truly did. He was fucking extra. But she really had no idea why he insisted on proclaiming himself “laidback.” No imp was laidback. Hell, they didn’t know the meaning of the word.

Imps were bold, wild, daring, and delightfully uninhibited. And “in the name of the sanctity of retaliation,” which was a phrase her father Lachlan commonly used, they always hit back. You often didn’t know how or when they’d do it, you just knew it wouldn’t be subtle. So the one thing that was always guaranteed to set them off was when they didn’t know the identity of the person they needed to strike back at. Hence Lachlan venting his ass off while pacing up and down in front of her fireplace.

It didn’t matter to Lachlan or any of her other relatives that Raini hadn’t been the intended target of last night’s clusterfuck. Nope. They still intended to shit fury on the person responsible. She’d anticipated that, of course, so she hadn’t been shocked when she came downstairs to find a bunch of people helping themselves to coffee and food—sadly, Demi had brought Dwain along. Something that seemed to annoy Jolene almost as much as it did Raini.

There was one thing Maddox must have forgotten when he’d had Raini’s security system installed—no system was imp-proof. Nu-uh. They could get in and out of pretty much any building, and you’d never even know they’d been there. They left no trace of themselves behind. Though … her uncle Bram had been known to take a dump in the houses he’d robbed over the years. Usually right on top of a bed. Just because.

The Campbell imps were a small branch within her lair. Unlike Lachlan, who’d mated Raini’s succubae mother Evangeline, most of the Campbells were shacked up with Wallis imps. The two lineages had blended well. Probably because neither let little things like legalities get in the way of anything they wanted to do. Ethics were no real barrier either.

To be fair, some did run official businesses. Lachlan’s bank heist days were behind him now, so he ran a mechanic shop with his three brothers. He also sold ill-gotten goods via the shop’s back door, but they didn’t talk about that.

Maddox’s mind touched hers, pulling her out of her thoughts. How are you feeling? he asked.

Okay, she replied. Thanks for healing me.

Get some rest today.It wasn’t advice. It was a firm order. I’ll see you later tonight.

Raini felt her brow crease. I thought … well, I thought you’d consider last night our monthly meet.

You thought wrong.His mind slid softly against hers, and then it was gone.

“You’re not listening to me, are you?”

Blinking, Raini looked up at her father, who’d finally stopped pacing. “I’ll admit, I kind of zoned out partway through your rant. Look, I get that you’re upset, but I’m fine.”

He glowered at her. “You say that like it makes everything okay. It doesn’t. You were stabbed—”

“By accident.”

“—had your power stripped from you—”

“Temporarily.”

“—and might have bled out if you hadn’t been healed.”

Raini felt her face scrunch up. “I wouldn’t go that far. It was a bad injury, but I would have recovered. I just recovered a lot faster because of Maddox.”

“At least he’s good for something,” Lachlan sniped. “Where is he anyway? He should be here. With you.”

“He’s probably making enquiries about the dagger,” Jolene cut in, lounging in an armchair. “Hopefully he’s able to unearth information I wasn’t able to find.”

“Hopefully,” said Raini, still disappointed by Jolene’s earlier announcement that, according to her sources, the dagger had been wiped of any magickal “fingerprint,” so there was no way to tell who enchanted it—something Levi’s incantor-friend apparently confirmed.

“Maddox is an expert at gathering intel,” said Jolene. “If there’s anything more to be found about that dagger, such as where it was purchased and who by, he’ll uncover it.”

“Assuming he gives a shit,” muttered Demi. She widened her eyes when everyone looked at her. “What? It’s not like he embraced the psi-bond, is it?”

“But he does look out for your sister, in his way,” said Evangeline, sitting beside Raini on the sofa. “He’s involved in her life to some degree, Demi. Her safety clearly matters to him.”

Demi snorted. “Her safety? Really? She’d be safer anchored, considering that would prevent her from turning rogue. He isn’t exactly bothered by that, is he?”

Well no, no, he wasn’t. But Raini would really rather her sister didn’t take such joy in pointing that out.

“I heard a lot of bad things about Maddox Quentin,” said Dwain, speaking for the first time. “Really bad things. Maybe you’re better off without him, Raini.”

Jolene sniffed at Dwain, dismissive. “I don’t believe there’ll be any ‘without him.’ Maddox is not going to walk away from Raini—I sensed that for myself last night.”

“That good ole succubae allure at work, huh,” said Dwain, the tiniest edge to his tone. “Doesn’t seem fair to either of you,” he added, directing a sympathetic smile at Raini. That sympathy wasn’t present in his eyes, though. No, his gaze held a hint of something ugly.

See, that was the thing. When a succubae snare lost its hold on a person, they were often left feeling angry and hateful, because who would like that they’d been unnaturally compelled to want someone so badly?

Dwain was right on one thing, though. It wasn’t fair on Maddox that he was preternaturally driven to keep her close, just as it wasn’t fair on Raini, because she couldn’t change what she was.

“I don’t believe Maddox is ensnared,” said Jolene, her brow creased. “He’s exhibited no signs of being obsessed with her. If he was, he wouldn’t be able to go without seeing her for long periods of time.”

Well that was true. He only saw her once a month, and he didn’t appear to be struggling with that.

“Wanting a place in her life is just typical anchor behavior,” Jolene added.

Evangeline nodded. “I believe he simply needs time to adjust to having someone take up such a big role in his life. Some don’t find it easy to let new people into their world—not even if those people are their anchors.”

Lachlan licked the edges of his teeth. “Well, if time goes on and he still doesn’t ‘adjust,’ I’ll be having a talk with him.”

Raini tensed. “Dad … ”

He raised his hands. “It’ll be perfectly civil.”

Oh, the man was unreal. “What’s civil about you and your brothers setting fire to his club? No, don’t tell me that isn’t your plan. You’re all about burning down people’s businesses.”

He shrugged. “It’s usually effective when you want someone’s attention. People tend to listen to you more carefully after that.”

“Dad, this isn’t some guy who owes you money, screwed you over on a business deal, or snitched to the cops about the warehouse where you keep the shit you steal.”

“Many of us prefer the word ‘purloin’ to ‘steal.’ It sounds classier. As for that rat, he should’ve kept his mouth shut. To be fair, he never blabbed to the cops again.”

“Probably because you set his business on fire.”

He shrugged again. “As I said, it’s effective.”

“It really is, you know,” Bram chimed in, to which her father’s other two brothers nodded.

Shaking her head, Raini turned back to Lachlan. “Returning to the point I was trying to make … Maddox Quentin isn’t some man who wronged you. He’s my anchor.”

“In theory, not in practice,” said Demi.

Ignoring her sister, Raini went on, “I need you to respect that, Dad. Not to dig out the gasoline and toss balls of hellfire around.”

His brow furrowed. “I don’t tend to use gasoline these days. Stinks worse than a rancid ass. I don’t use hellfire either. I prefer matches.”

“Dad.”

“Fine.” He rolled his eyes. “I won’t set his precious club on fire.”

“Or his house, or any other building he may own,” she prompted.

“His possessions are safe from me. Unless he hurts you. Then things will change.”

“And burn,” added Bram.

Nodding, Lachlan pointed at his brother. “What he said.”

Raini turned to her mother. “Help me.”

Evangeline slid her arm around Raini’s shoulders and drew her close. “I already did that by convincing him to give Maddox time—which was not easy.” Seeing that Lachlan was now talking with Jolene, Evangeline quietly went on, “He’s your father, he loves you, he wants you to have an anchor who appreciates you. It hurts him that both you and your sister have been let down in this area of your lives.”

Exhaling heavily, Raini leaned into her mother. They’d always been close, sharing a similar sense as humor as well as a love of shopping, bargains, and spa days. They were very unlike in one respect, though. Evangeline embraced being a succubus and didn’t try to tone her appeal down with casual clothing. She’d tried encouraging Raini to do the same but to no avail.

“Why don’t you come down to the salon today?” Evangeline proposed, referring to the local hair salon she owned and managed. “You can relax, have a facial, get your hair and nails done. The salon’s busy on Saturdays, but I can fit you in. We could even go to the movies later; have some mom and daughter time.”

Raini gave her an apologetic look. “I promised I’d meet Maddox at his club tonight.”

Evangeline’s eyes lit up. “All the more reason for you to come to the salon today. You want to look your best for later. You’ll feel better having that ‘armor.’ More confident. Less nervous. A girl should always look her best anyway.”

“A little time with my mom would be nice.” And highly distracting.

Evangeline beamed. “You know how much I love pampering my girls. Demi rarely lets me nowadays.” Evangeline’s smile faded. “She used to love it. I don’t know why she doesn’t anymore.”

If what Demi had once said to Raini when totally blitzed was true, it was because she didn’t see the point of getting “prettied up” when Raini would always be more beautiful than her. Her sister had then laughed and said, “Don’t feel sorry for me; I don’t wish I was a sex demon too. In fact, I pity you, Raini. You effortlessly reel in all these men, but none care who you are. To them, you’re just eye candy. A notch on their bedpost. They don’t take you seriously or assume you have a brain in your head. All they want is to bang you. None have really loved you, have they?”

No, they hadn’t—the reminder of that had hurt. What had hurt more, though, was the scorn and venom in her sister’s voice. It had almost made Raini flinch. Her inner demon had been so pissed it had wanted to toss a ball of hellfire at Demi’s crotch.

Bram stood. “We gotta roll if we’re gonna open the shop on time, brothers.”

Demi also rose to her feet. “Dwain and I need to leave, too.”

Raini did a mental fist pump.

Standing, Dwain smiled. “My mate went shopping with my mom and sister, so Demi and I are going to spend the day together.” The self-involved asshole didn’t even notice how Demi had winced at the word “mate.”

People said their goodbyes to Raini and then slowly trickled out of the house, until only Jolene remained. The Prime leaned forward in her seat and said, “Now think hard, Raini. Think very, very hard. Did that demon truly hit you with the dagger accidentally, or do you think he was aiming for you?”

Raini bit her lip. Since waking this morning, she’d replayed the event over and over in her mind, dissecting every little thing that happened. “If Tanner hadn’t bumped into me and made me stumble into Knox exactly when I did, I don’t believe the dagger would have hit me.”

“What about afterward? Did the demon look annoyed that the blade had missed its target?”

“Not from what I saw, no. But that doesn’t mean he aimed for me. It only means he either hid his frustration or just figured he’d sell whatever abilities I had and then come back for Knox another time.”

Jolene’s shoulders relaxed. “Then it doesn’t seem that your secret is out.”

“I don’t see how it could be—we’ve all gone through great pains to keep it. Few people know about it.”

“But even one person knowing is one too many, given how our lair would react.” Jolene sighed. “It makes more sense that Knox was the intended target. But be careful all the same.”

“I will.”

Jolene slanted her head. “Have you told Maddox what you can do?”

“No.”

“You don’t trust him?”

“Not fully, no. He … I don’t think he’s as cruel as he seems. I think his coldness is more of a byproduct of what he is. And I don’t think he’d ever physically hurt me. But he’s only loyal to the demons within his lair.”

“Then it’s better if you don’t spill your secrets.” Jolene lifted a brow. “Be aware that Maddox is a highly perceptive person. If anyone will see through the harmless front you present to the world, it’s him.”

Oh, Raini knew that well. It worried her a whole lot. Really, it didn’t so much matter if the world at large knew about the gift she sought to hide. No, it was her lair who needed to be kept in the dark, because they’d react seriously badly if they ever learned what she could do.

Lachlan had helped her develop a lot of “talents” from an early age, such as how to hotwire a car, pickpocket like a pro, and spot an undercover cop. But when her final preternatural gift developed, his priority changed from—essentially—making her into a petty criminal to ensuring she knew how to blend; how to be someone who didn’t draw attention to themselves. Which wasn’t easy, considering she was a succubus.

It had meant not involving herself in the “family business.” Not becoming a sentinel or a member of the Force, even if she’d have made a damn good one. It had meant going her own way; seeming normal. Easygoing. Relatively innocuous. Even boring—demons never paid attention to anything boring.

Lachlan had instructed her not to flaunt the “life skills” he’d taught her. He’d encouraged her to allow people to underestimate her and to let them believe they had her all figured out.

Raini had put all her father’s lessons into practice and, in doing so, she’d become someone who only really made an impact with her appearance. In actual fact, it benefited her that people often only saw the surface and never looked deeper.

“He so far hasn’t prodded me with personal questions,” said Raini. “Which suggests he’s done what he does best and compiled a dossier on me.”

Jolene nodded. “If he’s not asking questions, it’s because he thinks he knows all he needs to know. He’ll have been surprised that you were strong enough to wrench your power back out of that dagger, though, so he might be wondering if the picture he has of you in his head is truly accurate.”

“Oh, he’ll wonder. But even if he suspects I have a gift I haven’t revealed—something that isn’t uncommon for demons—he’ll never suspect I can do what I can do. As long as that doesn’t change, all will be fine.”

Taking a swig from his whiskey tumbler, Maddox didn’t break eye-contact with the man sitting opposite him. There were different angelic breeds—five, if what Maddox had heard was correct. All were powerful, but not all had wings or halos. The weakest was the most common breed; they were quite simply referred to as angels.

Viper was definitely not a common angel. Power glimmered in his hard eyes, dripped from his low-pitched voice, and surrounding him like a full-body, invisible halo.

The three “brothers” he’d brought along to the meeting, all of whom stood behind the sofa on which their president sat, weren’t common angels either. Maddox couldn’t get a handle on what breed they were. But Viper? Oh yeah, he was an archangel all right. A supremely powerful one. Which made Maddox believe that one of the Seven truly had fallen. And he’d brought some friends with him when he fell.

No one really outside the upper realm knew how the process of “falling” truly worked. Some thought it was a literal fall. Some thought it was metaphorical. Others believed it was no more than a simple decision to leave.

Why Viper had formed an MC club, Maddox didn’t know. Maybe it was merely a cover. Maybe they liked the thought of being free. Or maybe it was an excuse for them to not have to fully blend in with society, which wouldn’t be simple for them.

Maddox didn’t ask, because he didn’t particularly care. He did, however, wonder why a fallen archangel had turned up here. And since Raini would be arriving sometime within the next hour, he saw no need or sense in dancing around pleasantries. He preferred directness in any case.

Balancing his tumbler on the sofa’s armrest, Maddox asked, “Why contact me?”

If Viper was offended by the lack of welcome, he didn’t show it. “I won’t insult your intelligence by asking if you’re aware that several lairs of descendants have been killed over the past few months.” He stretched his legs out in front of him. “Do you have any idea who’s behind it?”

“No. But I’m sensing that you do.”

A smile flirted with one corner of the president’s mouth. “I’m sure you figured out for yourself that my brothers and I fell only recently.”

“It was quite obvious. You all appeared out of nowhere.”

“It caused quite a stir among the Earth-bound angels,” said Viper, referring to those who were placed on Earth and forced to earn their way back to the upper realm—only then would they be granted their halo.

Maddox didn’t know why that happened to some angels while others were halo-bearers from birth. Again, he didn’t ask. Because, again, he didn’t care. He just listened as Viper continued to speak.

“The Earth-bound tend to avoid us. I think they worry that associating with the Fallen will reflect badly on them. They’d be right in thinking that. The beings up above”—Viper shook his head— “they’re never pleased when angelic breeds fall. It rarely happens nowadays, but eons ago? I think about two hundred fell. Possibly more.”

Yes, Maddox had heard the stories.

“The beings upstairs didn’t like it at all. They really didn’t like that the Fallen spread the love and produced children with humans. And they really, really didn’t like that some of them produced children with demons.

“Most of the Nephilim were hunted and killed by halo-bearers. Any children born from a fallen angel and a demon, however, were generally left alone. Because demons tend to react badly if someone harms their offspring, and they can do a lot of damage. No one wanted a war between the light and the dark—there’d be no winners, so the half-bloods were left alone. Which is why your breed eventually came into being. And yes, your existence galls the people upstairs.”

Maddox felt his gaze narrow. “You think someone in the upper realm is no longer so happy to leave us be.”

“They were never happy to leave you be. They simply knew better than to eradicate you.”

“Why would anyone up there suddenly decide it was worth the risk?”

“That I don’t know. But it could be because there are so many of you now. You’d give demons a big ‘edge’ if there was ever a battle between the light and the dark. Angels and demons are well-matched. But demons with angelic blood? They’re more than a match for angels. And as a descendant with archangelic blood in his veins, you are a threat that the upper realm will definitely want gone.”

Maddox wasn’t surprised that Viper knew he wasn’t a typical descendant. “Why would you so freely share all this with us? Why bother to warn me?”

“Descendants are the closest creatures on this Earth to angels,” said Viper, echoing what Hector—who was leaning against the wall with Carmen—had said only yesterday. “We’re almost relatives, really. Family, even. And families should look out for each other, shouldn’t they?”

“You want an alliance,” Maddox realized.

“It makes sense. Your kind is a breed of demon, yes, but you’ve never truly been accepted by the other breeds, have you? They still see you as mutts. You’re outsiders. So are we. There’s safety in numbers.”

All of that was true, but … “I don’t think you really need an alliance with anyone, Viper. None of you are common angels. Your club is more powerful than you want people to believe. I doubt you’ll ever need backup from anyone. What is it you really want?”

A slow smile crept onto Viper’s face. A smile that said, “perceptive,” but he admitted to nothing. Maddox hadn’t expected him to.

Viper slanted his head, his grin fading. “Do you know what happens to the entities inside angelic beings when we fall? Most don’t. You think the predator that shares its soul with you is dark. Our entities? The fall twists them. They lose their light, lose their ability to feel. And they want only one thing. Crave it, even. It’s the only thing that makes them feel alive … because it is life.”

“Blood.” Maddox knew.

Viper gave a slow nod. “Blood. Vampires aren’t the only creatures who crave it.” He tilted his head again. “But you already know that, don’t you? Your kind inherited that same craving from its ancestors, didn’t it? I doubt the craving is as intense for descendants, because you’re not wholly angel. You all probably only need to feed once every month or so, depending on how strong you are, but the craving is still there. And that’s why you have this club, isn’t it, Maddox? It’s not really simply a business to keep your lair afloat. It’s a feeding ground.”