Fallen by Suzanne Wright

CHAPTER SIX

An elbow nudged Raini, making her pause in chewing her baguette. She gave Devon a “What the hell?” look.

“Spill,” said the hellcat. “You’ve been distracted all morning. We know something’s wrong. Tell us what’s going on.”

Raini looked at the other two women sat at the table of the tattoo studio’s break room. Like Devon, they were looking at Raini, expectant. Inwardly sighing, she finished chewing her mouthful of baguette.

Her stomach rolled at the mere thought of the upcoming conversation, leaving her unable to properly enjoy the tastes of roast beef, mayo, crunchy lettuce, red peppers, and the fresh bread that was both crusty and soft. Not that the girls had taken her off-guard. They’d spent the morning sliding her sideways looks, so Raini had suspected that they’d grill her for information at the first given opportunity.

It was unlikely that Raini would be able to blow off their questions, but she could try. “I’m just tired.”

Harper softly snorted. “You know we can tell when you’re lying, right? Well, not always,” she quickly amended. “You’re pretty proficient at it. But you feel guilty when you lie to us, so it makes you less convincing.”

“Which is one of the reasons why I totally recommend the guilt-free lifestyle,” said Khloë. “Now come on, what gives?”

Raini shrugged. “I’m just a little conflicted about something. I need to work it out in my head.”

“No, you don’t,” said Devon. “You need to talk it out with us. You need to offload all your worries. Let us take this burden from you.”

Raini almost crossed her eyes. “You are so nosy.”

“Absolutely,” Devon admitted, unrepentant. “But I prefer ‘curious,’ as you know. On a serious note, I’m worried about you.”

“This has something to do with Maddox, doesn’t it?” Khloë narrowed her eyes. “I know you went to see him last night. Your mom mentioned it.”

Devon straightened in her seat. “What did he do? Do we need to pull out the bat?”

Raini gave the hellcat an exasperated look. “No, you don’t. He didn’t do anything, he just … made a few things clear that surprised me.”

“Such as?” Khloë pressed.

Raini took another bite of her sandwich. “He isn’t affected by the succubae allure.”

Harper’s brows flew up. “At all?”

“Nope,” replied Raini.

Devon pursed her lips. “That’s good, right? I mean, you feel more comfortable around people like that.”

“I do,” Raini confirmed. “And it is good. It’s just that, well … he wants to cross the platonic line.”

“That can’t surprise you. He eye-fucked you the first time he saw you.” Khloë frowned as a pickle slipped out of her sandwich. “I’m actually surprised it took him this long to make a move. You really didn’t expect it?”

Shaking her head, Raini rested her half-eaten baguette on the crackly wax paper it had been wrapped in. “He didn’t say or do anything over the past four months that would imply he was interested in going there. At first, I thought he’d decided not to complicate the situation. Now I’m thinking that, in truth, he was giving me time to get comfortable around him so that I’d be less likely to turn him down.” She folded her arms. “Go on, tell me I’d be stupid for not doing exactly that.”

Harper forked up some creamy coleslaw. “Look, I’m not his biggest fan, but it isn’t really anything against him as a person—I don’t know him. I simply don’t like that he won’t claim you as his anchor. Not just because the bond would stop you from going rogue, but because I don’t like that he doesn’t appreciate how insanely lucky he is to have you. If it wasn’t for the fact that Khloë’s alive because of him, I would have ripped him another asshole by now. But what me, Devon, or Khloë think of him isn’t what matters.”

Khloë’s brow creased. “It’s not?”

Harper scowled at her cousin. “No, it’s not.”

“Speak for yourself,” the imp uttered before taking another bite of her sandwich.

Harper slid her gaze back to Raini. “What matters here is what you think of him.”

Raini bit her lip. “I know he’s not good in the typical sense of the word. But I don’t believe he’s entirely bad either. He’s so very alike and in tune with his demon, which I think is because he exists in a kind of emotional purgatory. Because if you’re filled with both pure light and pure darkness, you’re neither one nor the other. So your world would be … gray.”

Devon’s shoulders lowered, and her face softened. “Yeah, that would be a fucker. And now I’m feeling sorry for him.”

Harper lifted her water bottle. “It’s no wonder he wants you in his life, then, Raini. Someone like you—bright and bold and beautiful—would act like a beam of light slashing right through that gray. And I’m finding it hard to begrudge him having that.”

Khloë frowned again. “Why?” she asked with a child-like confusion.

Harper sighed at the imp. “I thought you and Keenan were working on your struggle with empathy.”

Khloë straightened, affronted. “I can be empathetic. I feel bad for people, like, all the time.”

“That’s sympathetic,” Harper pointed out. “Also, you’re lying.” She cut her gaze back to Raini. “What was your demon’s reaction to his declaration?”

Raini drank more of her soda. “I would have thought it’d be totally against the idea of me hopping into bed with him, since it isn’t exactly happy with him right now. But it hasn’t put up any kind of objection.”

Pulling open a bag of potato chips, Devon narrowed her eyes. “It’s up to something.”

Khloë nodded. “That would be my guess, too. Our inner entities often have their own agenda, and they don’t always want to share it.”

“It’s also a little smug,” said Raini. “My guess? It views him acting on the sexual chemistry as his resolve weakening, and it thinks that if he and I are sleeping together, he’ll eventually give in to the call of the bond.”

“That would make sense.” Done with her sandwich, Khloë wiped her mouth and fingers with a napkin. “In your shoes—if I didn’t have Don Juan, of course—I wouldn’t be opposed to playing a game of attacking the pink fortress with Maddox.”

Harper’s brows snapped together. “A game of what?”

Khloë lifted her shoulders. “You know … exploring Punarnia. Stuffin’ the muffin. Slaying the vadragon. Shampooing the wookie. Getting one’s Twinkie stinky—”

“All right, you’re done,” Harper declared. “Stop laughing, Devon. You’ll only encourage her.”

Khloë rolled her eyes. “Raini, I’ll put it in less crude terms to appease Mrs. Prim and Proper over there. I personally think it wouldn’t be so bad for you to let Maddox go paddling up Coochie Creek.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, Khloë,” Harper burst out, shaking her head at Raini for snorting a laugh.

Tearing the wrap of cellophane from her brownie, Khloë eyed the sphinx. “God, you’re snippy today. Hasn’t Knox done any paddling lately? Is that what it is?”

“I’m done engaging with you.” Harper returned her attention to Raini. “What are you planning to do about Maddox?”

Raini puffed out a breath. “I don’t know. Honestly, my libido is all for riding him like a pony. But my brain is telling me it would be dumb.”

Harper gave a nod of understanding. “It was the same for me when Knox made his move years ago. I fought him—and myself, for that matter—on it for a while, as you know. Obviously, I don’t regret giving in. But it could have ended so differently. He could have gotten tired of me and found someone else. That would have hurt. Is that what you’re worried will happen?”

Raini felt her brow furrow. “I don’t think it would hurt to hear Maddox claim he’d had his fill of me, because we already have so many walls between us. He’ll never let me close. Ever. So I’m well aware that sex between us wouldn’t lead to anything else.”

“Not that I’m saying you shouldn’t be conflicted,” Devon cut in, digging another chip out of the bag, “but why are you if you don’t think this is a situation where you could potentially get hurt?”

“I just feel like I’m swimming in unfamiliar waters right now.” Raini leaned back in her chair. “I’ve never felt sexual chemistry before. I didn’t imagine that it would be so electric and … vicious. It truly feels vicious. Like it has teeth and claws and isn’t gonna let go. Is that normal? Does it pass on its own?”

“It’s normal, but not common,” said Devon. “I’ve never felt it so strongly with anyone other than Tanner. And it flared between us for years. That’s not to say that the chemistry between you and Maddox won’t ease up, though.” She tossed a chip into her mouth. “What else is in these unfamiliar waters you mentioned?”

“I’ve never once been with a guy who can’t be snared, but I always wished I could find someone like that. Now that I have, you’d think I’d be thrilled, wouldn’t you? You’d think I’d be eager to explore this chemistry we have.” Raini rubbed her arm. “Although I like that I have no preternatural influence over him, it makes me feel vulnerable.”

“Because to have no influence over him is almost like he’s counteracted your power which, as a succubus, is linked to your sexuality,” Harper pointed out.

Raini felt her eyes widen. “Yes. I couldn’t put it into words before but, yes, that’s it.” She exhaled heavily. “It turns out that, like he said, I’m more comfortable with what I know.”

“Most are.” Harper took another swig from her bottle. “That’s not wrong.”

“And maybe he’s also right in saying I worry that he’ll take me over,” Raini conceded with a brief tilt of her head.

“Oh, he’ll give it his best shot,” Harper predicted, setting down her bottle. “You’ve got an alpha on your hands. That’s kind of what they do in the bedroom. And out of it, for that matter. So your worry isn’t a senseless one.”

“He also accused me of being scared that I’ll like it if he takes me over.”

“You might in the bedroom. That’s not wrong either. Submitting isn’t a demonstration of weakness.”

“I know that, and I wouldn’t feel weak. I’d just feel … It’s hard to explain. I’ve never been with a man who’s so … so everything. Maddox has this huge presence. It’s intense and overwhelming and sometimes even a little oppressive. And I don’t know how old the dude is, but I get the sense he’s been walking this Earth for a lot longer than I have.”

“You feel out of your depth.”

Raini pointed at the sphinx. “Yes. Exactly. I feel out of my depth. Especially when he says shit like he and his demon will have me any way they want me and that neither of them will take it easy on me.”

“He said that?” Khloë fanned her face. “Yowza.” Right then, the imp’s cell beeped. She tossed the last of her brownie into her mouth and then whipped out her phone.

“Yeah, I’ll admit, my hormones were totally yelling ‘yowza’ when he said that,” Raini confessed. “But doesn’t he demand enough of me already? It would only get worse if we crossed the platonic line.”

Devon put a hand on Raini’s arm. “But you’re going to do it anyway, aren’t you? You’re sitting here basically beating the message into your brain that you shouldn’t sleep with him. But you already know it’s a lost cause.”

Actually, no, she … Okay, yeah, the hellcat had totally called it.

“Let yourself have this, Raini.” Devon licked away the salt that dusted her fingers. “What’s the worst that could happen? It’s not as if your heart is on the line. You don’t have any hopes that it will lead anywhere. It’ll just be crazy good sex. And that’s always fun.”

“Motherfucking son of a fucker,” Khloë spat out.

Raini frowned at the imp, who was glaring at her phone. “What’s wrong?”

“Hopefully, Ciaran is wrong,” replied Khloë, her thumbs tapping on the screen of her cell. “Because if not, the person trying to boycott Urban Ink has stepped up their game.”

“In what sense?” asked Harper.

Khloë briefly held up one finger. “Give me a sec. He told me to check out a forum on … That rat bastard.”

“What, what is it?” Raini leaned over to look at the phone screen. “Someone left a review about our studio on there?” Conscious that the other two women had gathered behind them, Raini quickly speed-read the paragraph, and her mouth fell open. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“Wait, they’re saying one of us screwed up that sorry excuse for a neck tattoo?” asked Devon, pointing to a photo that had been uploaded onto the forum.

“They’re saying that Raini did it,” said Khloë. “They probably got the image from a website that sells royalty-free images or something.”

The “reviewer” had also described Urban Ink as dirty and unhygienic, claiming it was only so popular because it was corun by Knox Thorne’s mate.

Harper planted her hands on her hips. “What piece of shit wrote that? Oh, they call themselves ‘Anonymous.’ Well of course they do.”

“Maybe we can somehow trace the review back to the source,” said Devon.

“I doubt it’ll work,” said Raini. “But we can look into it.”

Khloë looked at Harper. “We need to find out who’s doing this before they pull any more of this fucked-up shit. I still say that this is an indirect attack on you and our lair.”

“Knox would agree with you, which is why he’s going to flip,” said Harper.

“I don’t like it.”

Standing near the altar of the gothic cathedral, Maddox looked at his cousin, barely refraining from rolling his eyes. The man was painfully predictable and seemed utterly oblivious to it. “What don’t you like, Euan?” he asked, deceptively patient.

His inner demon wanted Maddox to snap the traitorous asshole’s neck. It didn’t care that Maddox had promised Euan’s now deceased father that he’d look out for him. If Euan fucked up one more time, Maddox would consider that promise null and void. He was done with the man’s shit.

“Anything about this situation,” replied Euan. “Viper told you that angels are looking to wipe out descendants. In the same breath, he’s asking you not only for an alliance but for access to our club … and you granted him both. He’s an angel. An enemy. An enemy who wants rid of us.”

Euan skimmed his gaze over the demons lounging on the pews, clearly expecting someone to voice their agreement. No one said a word. That wasn’t to say that everyone must disagree with him, only that no one wanted to jump onto Euan’s confrontational bandwagon. They didn’t need to use him as a voice anyway. Maddox wasn’t a Prime who didn’t invite questions. He had no problem with people speaking up or expressing their concerns, he only insisted on it being done in a respectful manner.

Maddox lifted a brow at his cousin. “You think Viper plans to double-cross us?”

“I’m surprised you don’t,” said Euan.

“Why?” asked Maddox, keeping his voice curious, as though Euan were a small child missing the point. “The angels up above don’t need the Fallen to do their dirty work. Nor would they need to find a way to infiltrate our lair—they’re strong enough to attack from outside it, and there are more of them than there are of us. It makes no sense that the Fallen would agree to work for them anyway.”

Euan spluttered. “Okay, so maybe Viper and his group aren’t working for angels. That doesn’t mean they’re not our enemies. Within six months of them falling, several lairs of descendants have been eradicated. You don’t think the timing is coincidental?”

“I suspect someone is hoping we’ll blame the Black Saints. But the fact is they have nothing to gain from targeting the people who are most likely to grant them alliances. On the contrary, it means they lose out.”

“If we’re dead, they could have the club.”

“They’re planning to build their own, like I told you,” said Maddox with a patience he didn’t feel. “They merely want to use the Damned in the meantime. I know there are people here who like the thought of having another club they could go to where they could be themselves.” He’d sensed that when he made the announcement to the lair only minutes before. “An alliance will work well for both sides.”

“Yeah, if Viper doesn’t kill you.”

“If he wanted me dead, he’d have attacked in my office. There’d be no need for him to wait for another opportunity or to drag this out. You know that. You know your arguments are weak. You know that the Black Saints have no motivation to kill descendants. But you want the spotlight, and you think that challenging my decisions makes you look strong.” Maddox felt his face harden. “It doesn’t. It makes you look disrespectful. It shows a blatant disregard for the chain of command, which isn’t the mark of a good leader—something you apparently believe you should be.”

Euan’s cheeks flushed. “I was only asking questions.”

“Questions are fine. Implying that my decision-making skills are flawed is not. Nor is attempting to cause dissension among the lair, but you’ve made it your business to do so recently, haven’t you?”

Euan’s eyes rounded in an “oh shit” way. “I’m not trying to cause dissension. I merely expressed my worry that having an outsider around—”

“I’m well aware of what you’ve ‘expressed.’”

Euan lifted his chin a notch, but he couldn’t quite meet Maddox’s gaze. “You can’t blame me for being nervous about this situation.”

“I won’t justify my decision to have contact with my anchor. That’s what you want me to say out loud, isn’t it? You think you can imply to others that it makes me weak. Weak would have been refusing to take responsibility for her merely because it would be simpler for me.” Maddox swept his gaze over all his demons as he added, “If there is anyone here who can honestly tell me they would consider it a sign of strength for me to ignore my anchor’s existence, say so now.”

Heads lowered. Shoulders drooped. Bodies squirmed.

“I’m already forsaking the bond to protect our secrets. I will not abandon my anchor altogether. If anyone here doesn’t like that, come to me at some point in the next hour and I’ll arrange for you to transfer to another lair—there’ll be no hard feelings on my part. I’ll be in my office at the club.” Maddox sliced his gaze to Marcella, who’d slid down in the pew in an attempt to keep a low profile. “First, though … Euan isn’t the only one who’s been trying to stir up trouble, is he, Marcella?”

She only made fleeting eye-contact with Maddox. “I’m allowed to have concerns.”

“But you’re not allowed to spur people into pressuring me to walk away from my anchor. Nor are you permitted to play the kind of games you played last night. I hope you don’t think that Raini bought your act. She saw right through you. Most do, Marcella. I’m not sure if you realize how many people are aware that your efforts to cause problems stem from your determination to be my co-Prime. I’ve made this clear to you many times, but you’ve never listened, so I’ll say it again now—right here in front of the entire lair. I don’t enjoy embarrassing people, but nor do I enjoy anyone trying to fuck with my anchor.”

“Maddox,” she wheedled, sitting upright.

“You’ll never be my co-Prime, Marcella. I have no interest in taking you to my bed, let alone claiming you as my mate. If you want the position so badly, you should really look to joining another lair. There may be other Primes who’ll feel differently about you.”

Twin flags of red stained her cheeks, and her eyes flared with anger. She clamped her mouth shut, as if not trusting herself to speak.

Maddox looked from her to Euan as he told them, “This is your only warning. Cease trying to manipulate your own lair members into acting against me. It really is a simple order. If either of you fail to follow it, you will pay.”

Marcella’s mouth set into an ugly twist. “If it’s so important to you to have your anchor around, you’d better hope she never finds out about the curse of our kind. She was hesitant enough to accept you before. She’ll want not one thing to do with you if she finds out the truth about us. About you.”

“Marcella’s right,” Euan told him. “I know you could pluck the discovery back out of the succubus’s mind so that she’d continue to come here blissfully unaware, but you’d always remember the disgust on her face. You’d always know she never really accepted you for who you are.”

Maddox stilled. His inner demon slinked closer to the surface, sensing where this situation might go. “Here’s another order that you had both better follow,” said Maddox, his voice pitched low, his tone dark and dangerous. “Stay away from Raini. Do not talk to her. Do not approach her. Do not contact her in any way. Definitely do not expose our secrets, counting on me to wipe the memory of it afterwards. If either of you disobey me on this, I swear to fucking Christ I will put you through a world of pain. Then I’ll heal you. And then I’ll do it all over again. The process will probably be repeated several times, so I’d advise you to heed me on this.”

Blanching, Euan gaped. “You’d really put an outsider before me, a demon from your own lair? Your cousin?”

“A cousin who has invested a lot of time into undermining me so that he can take my place as Prime, pissing all over my trust and breaking his loyalty to me in the process. So tell me, Euan, why wouldn’t I put my anchor before you?”

Euan snapped his mouth shut.

Marcella, too, said nothing—she merely sat there, her face now deathly pale.

Again, Maddox spoke to the entire lair. “As I said, I’ll be in my office for the next hour if anyone wishes to request a transfer.”

Nobody did.

That evening, Raini opened the kitchen drawer and fished a spoon out of the cutlery organizer. Her father would tell her that having cereal for dinner wasn’t “healthy.” Her father would also tell her that crime kept the economy going and that, as such, he provided a positive service to society.

The man was a nut.

Which was why she didn’t quite trust that he wouldn’t turn all pyro on Maddox’s club. Sure, Lachlan had promised not to. But he’d also promised he’d stop breaking into fast-food restaurants to cook himself a burger—he didn’t always live up to that vow.

She used her hip to bump the drawer closed and then crossed to the fridge. She closed her fingers around the handle, intending to pull open the door and grab the milk jug. Her peripheral vision screamed a warning.

Raini turned to face the stranger standing a few feet away. His eyes were hard, bright, and shimmered slightly like two pure blue jewels. And above his head was a fucking halo. A halo so pretty and distracting that she didn’t react fast enough.

Raini’s heart jumped as a heavy weight abruptly fell over every inch of her body. No, clamped around it. Her bones felt like they would shatter from the sheer force of the power pinning her in place. The fuck?

The air wavered, and then two other halo-bearers materialized near him. Well, wasn’t she popular tonight? Angels generally didn’t fuck with demons, and vice versa. But these guys didn’t seem to have come for a simple chat.

“Telepath Maddox,” ordered the one who’d “trapped” her, moving closer. “Tell him you need him.”

Telepath Maddox? So, what, she was being used as bait? Why? And where was her freaking guard when Raini needed her?

She went to ask what he wanted with Maddox, but she couldn’t move her mouth. Couldn’t move anything—not her arms, not her legs, hell she couldn’t even flap her damn hands. And that was bad.

Her inner demon went ballistic, and the dark power that dwelled within Raini rushed to her palms, raring to attack and protect her. But since she was pretty much immobilized right now, she couldn’t release it.

“Telepath him,” the angel insisted.

Lure someone to their death? Nu-uh. Not Raini’s style. Of course, she could warn Maddox it was a trap so that he’d bring some of his fellow descendants, but the halo-bearers had to know that. For them to believe that they could handle whoever came, there had to be more of them around—maybe outside the house, maybe inside. She didn’t want to take the chance unless she had no other choice.

The halo-bearer in front of her narrowed his eyes. “Do it. Now.”

She glared daggers at him, letting him know with a single look that it wouldn’t happen.

The force subduing her tightened painfully around her head, putting so much pressure against her skull she was surprised her eyes didn’t pop out of their sockets. God it hurt. It felt as if her head was trapped in a red-hot vise that sought to crack every bone and burst every blood vessel. She’d have cried out in agony for sure if she could have moved.

“I don’t wish to hurt you,” he went on. “I simply need your cooperation. Call Maddox here.”

She gave him a look that said, “Go fuck yourself.”

The force tightened again. Her head pounded, her facial bones throbbed, her jaw ached, and her teeth rattled. Jesus fuck her skull was going to pop like a zit if he didn’t stop. Tears pooled in her eyes, which pissed her off—she hated that they could reduce her to this.

“You can make the pain end by doing what I asked. I hope you’re not counting on your bodyguard to come rescue you. She’s a little distracted at the moment.”

Raini had figured as much, and it confirmed that there were more halo-bearers close by.

“Call. Out. To. Maddox.”

Nope, but she would call someone. Raini reached out and touched Jolene’s mind. Need a little assistance. I’ve got three halo-bearers in my kitchen, and there are more hanging around. Don’t come alone. Round up some people. Lots and lots of people. The halo-bearers would be prepared for descendants, not for other breeds of demon. And no one could quite prepare for imps.

Those sons of bitches made a grave mistake coming here, said Jolene, her telepathic voice vibrating with rage. We’ll be there fast.

The angel’s eyes flared with impatience, and the force around her head contracted. Fuck the pain was so excruciating she almost blacked out … which gave her an idea. Raini went limp in the hold of his power, feigning unconsciousness.

He let out a sound of disgust. “I was warned she was weak, but I didn’t believe she was this weak.”

“Now how do we get Maddox here?” asked another voice.

“Wake the woman he had guarding the house; maybe we can get her to call out to him.”

Raini hit the floor hard as the force trapping her vanished. Fucking ow. She didn’t hesitate to act. She raised her hand and let out a blast of raw, scorching hot power that rippled through the air, shimmering like waves of heat. The halo-bearers had no time to react. The power coming for them was too fast, too deadly. It didn’t crash into them, it forcibly poured into them— entering their bodies through their mouth, nostrils, and ears.

Their heads jerked. Their eyes rolled back. Their bodies shook. Their knees buckled. Then they dropped like stones, dead, and their halos disappeared.

Moreover, their skulls—shattered by the force of the blast— caved in, leaving their heads gruesomely deformed. Because that was what happened when you were hit by a lethal dose of psychic hellfire. It ate at your brain, devoured it, leaving nothing behind. And that was bad enough. But it was the other thing psychic hellfire could do that made people fear it.

She instantly lit up each of the corpses’ heads with good ole regular hellfire, intending to burn away the evidence. The fire would soon engulf every inch of them, which would not only leave an ungodly stench but potentially scorch her floor. Better that, though, than exposure.

She almost jumped when Jolene, Ciaran, and Khloë appeared in the doorway.

“Oh good, they’re dead,” was all Jolene said. “You were right about there being more. I have people outside fighting them.” She and Ciaran then left, presumably to join the battle.

Raini pushed to her feet, every bone feeling almost … rickety.

Khloë crossed to her. “Damn, girl, what did they do to your eyes?”

Cricking her neck, Raini lifted a brow. “Bloodshot, huh?”

“Seriously bloodshot. Maddox is gonna freak.”

The man himself materialized a few feet away. Speak of the devil …

His gaze locked on Raini, narrowed, and then took in the blazing corpses. Those vacant blue eyes briefly glittered with something … malevolent. Fury swept across the room like a tidal wave, so bitterly cold she wouldn’t have been surprised if a sheet of ice formed on every surface.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Her demon pressed close to her, ready to defend, though it doubted he’d ever harm Raini.

“What happened?” he asked, his voice hard and clipped, as and he made a beeline for her.

Raini licked her lips. “They came looking for you. They were halo-bearers.”

“The dumbasses either didn’t know I was in the bathroom upstairs or didn’t consider me a threat,” Khloë cut in. “She and I tag-teamed them. In a totally non-sexual way.”

Nothingin Khloë’s tone or body language gave away the fact that she was lying. Jolene had taught her well.

“It was lucky I was here,” the imp tacked on.

Maddox looked at Khloë. “Yes,” he agreed. “Lucky.”

He put his palm against Raini’s, and the familiar cold burn of his healing power shot straight to her eyes, making her flinch and hiss out a breath.

“Your guard telepathed me and said she’d been attacked by halo-bearers who knocked her out with a psychic blow, not thinking she’d recover so fast. She feared they might have targeted you.”

And the psychic tag he’d planted in Raini’s mind had clearly led him straight to her. “Is she okay?”

“Yes.” He glanced at the dead bodies. “You say they came for me?”

“They came for you,” she confirmed.

His jaw went hard as granite. “And you didn’t think to call out to—” He cut off, and she felt a weird vibration against her psyche; realized he was having a telepathic conversation. He cursed beneath his breath. “I’ll be back. Call me if more come here.” Then he was gone again.

Khloë frowned. “What was that?”

“I don’t know.” Raini raked her hand through her hair. “I don’t know why halo-bearers would want Maddox.”

Khloë twisted her mouth. “I heard Knox tell Keenan that several lairs of descendants have been destroyed recently. I thought one of their own kind had turned on the others or something, but now … ”

“It could have been halo-bearers. They could want Maddox and his lair dead. Though why they didn’t just attack the club, I don’t know. There seems no sense in using me as bait to bring him here … ” Her words trailed off as realization hit her.

“Distraction,” said Khloë.

Raini nodded. “It was only meant to be a distraction.”