Curse of the Fallen by Eve Archer
Chapter One
Dominick
I stared at the dark tattoo of unfurled wings across the back of my hand as I gripped the edges of the desk. The sinewy muscles twitched beneath my bronze skin and made the wings appear to move. I welcomed the pain from the sharp corners of the desk digging into my flesh, wanting more of it. Pain and pleasure had always balanced on a knife’s edge for me, and now the sting gave me a rush that sent jolts of energy up my arms.
Images of Ella flashed through my mind. I could almost feel the softness of her auburn hair as I tangled my fingers in it, pulling her mouth to mine. The memories of her body writhing beneath me, her moans breathy and urgent, were both pleasurable and torturous. I couldn’t believe I’d finally found a woman who sated my desires and filled my emptiness, and she’d been ripped from me. Even though we had not been apart long, the loss had left me a scorched hull, my fury burning through me and leaving me gasping for air.
I needed to find her, and I needed to inflict pain on those who’d taken her from me. My fingers tingled with the desire to punish, and it took all my self-control not to storm off the yacht and roam the streets of the ancient Croatian town, finding any demon I could and unleashing my wrath on them. Instead, I drew in a deep breath to douse my anger.
“What do we know?” I growled as my second-in-command, Rami, walked into the yacht’s study through the glass door.
The sun was setting over the water, sending warm light spilling through the large windows and across the ivory carpet that muffled Rami’s footsteps. I sank into the chair behind my desk, clenching my jaw at the approaching nightfall that indicated my failure.
It had been hours since the meeting of the dons had been attacked by a horde of demons and Ella had been taken. Dan, the fallen angel who’d been protecting her, remained missing, and there was little clue as to where either of them were.
“Only what we suspected.” Rami stood in front of me, with his feet set wide and his shoulders squared. “The demon attack was most likely a distraction from the real target.”
“Ella,” I said, my voice barely a husky whisper.
Rami nodded, his face grim. “I can only assume Jaya’s jealousy is the reason.”
I leaned forward, my elbows on the desk and my fingers interlaced. “Jaya might be vindictive, but she is no fool. There is more behind this than just her own need to punish me.”
Rami cocked an eyebrow. “You know what they say about a woman scorned.”
I snapped my head to him. “Jaya is not a woman. She’s a demon. An alluring one, I’ll admit, but she would not risk my wrath for petty punishment.”
Rami still didn’t look convinced. “That would mean she knows about Ella and the prophecy, and that would be impossible. No one but the Fallen know of the human’s angelic connection.”
I gave a single nod, not wanting to voice the fear that had been simmering in my gut. It wasn’t true that the Fallen were the only ones who knew. If Ella had been marked by an angel, then the archangels knew—at the very least, the one who marked her was certainly aware of her existence.
I squeezed my hands together, the knuckles whitening. It had been millennia since the archangels had deigned to show themselves on Earth and interact with humans. At least, that’s what I’d thought. They’d left the human realm to the Fallen and demons, and all the other incubi and succubi roaming the mortal sphere. They were content with ruling the heavens and staying above the fray of sin and desire. Or so we’d thought.
“You do not think one of our Fallen revealed her secret, do you?” Rami asked, his voice dropping, even though we were the only two in the room. “Asbeel?”
I thought of the Fallen who’d challenged me only days earlier, then flown off without pledging his loyalty to me. After thousands of years together, had he turned on me and joined forces with the demons? Asbeel had always been more reluctant to punish the demons, holding some lingering affection for the demented versions of our original offspring with human women. But did he have enough sympathy for the beings to abandon his own kind? After all, the demons who roamed the Earth now were only shadows of the original Nephilim we’d fathered—a fraction of powerful offspring that had almost destroyed civilization. Most had been banished into the bowels of hell, and the few who’d been cursed to remain on Earth as demons had scant memories of being descendants of fallen angels, only hate for us as they chafed against our control.
“He would not commit that betrayal,” I finally said, memories of fighting beside Asbeel flooding my mind.
“Then we are back to it being demons.”
I peered up at my friend in his dark suit, small nicks and rips in the expensive fabric from the battle with the demons. “Have you not considered that it might be the one who marked her?”
Rami’s handsome features hardened. “An angel would not kill a human, even to prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled. They cannot.”
I knew the rules that governed celestial beings as well as he did, but I did not have faith in the Archangels. They relished their power, and I suspected they would do anything to prevent the Fallen from being restored. Especially Gabriel. A rumble grew in my throat just thinking about him. “Angels have broken rules before, Ram.”
He acknowledged this truth with a quick shrug of one shoulder. “You think the chosen angels would risk their own salvation to spite us?”
“I did not say they would kill a human, but I cannot ignore the fact that taking her from me would accomplish the same goal.”
Rami stepped forward and braced his hands on my desk. “They know you, Dom. They would not have forgotten that you do not give up. And they do not want a war. Not over this.”
“Maybe so.” He made sense. So far, there was no evidence that the archangels were even aware of what was going on between us and the demons. They hadn’t interfered in thousands of years, and Earth had spiraled into deeper and deeper sin and self-destruction. It was arrogant for me to think they would appear just to thwart me. “Then we are back to it being a plot between humans and demons who are too stupid to know what they are unleashing.”
“Most likely.” Rami straightened and then walked over to the love seat, sinking into it and crossing his legs at the knee. “Gad has returned from the hotel.”
I blew out a breath. When I’d leapt from the shattered window at the top of the luxury hotel, bullets had been flying and my fellow dons of the underworld had been hiding under tables as their deputies had fought off the well-armed demon attack. Of course, none of the members of the mafia would have known the attackers were demons. Aside from their impressive speed and fighting skills, they appeared as humans.
“The dons?” I asked, dreading the response.
I’d called the meeting of the other heads of the mafia families as a way to solidify my power and sniff out the intentions of the Solano family. Since rumors had reached me that the eldest Solano boy had been working with the demon Jaya, I’d been concerned that the bit-player family might be trying to make a move against me. Now, it looked like I was the one who’d made a move. And not only against Don Solano. Against all the dons. If I wasn’t so concerned about Ella, I would have been preparing for retaliation.
“Miraculously, Don Solano survived. As did the other dons.” Rami frowned. “Many of their bodyguards and deputies were not so lucky.”
“And the demons?”
“Some escaped but many were killed.” Rami’s gaze flicked to me. “Some by bullets, and some by other means.”
He meant those demons who’d been killed by us during the battle, and Gad, when he’d joined the fight. Perverse satisfaction flared within me at the thought of the demons who died at my hand. It had been many years since I’d snapped another creature’s neck, and the pleasure had been undeniable.
“The bodies have been removed,” Rami continued.
It would not do to have demons autopsied by humans. Although they appeared human on the outside, there were differences in demon brain anatomy that might raise more questions than any of us wished.
“I don’t suppose there are any survivors we can question?”
Rami shook his head. “The ones who didn’t die, fled.”
No shock there. In the fury of the battle, I might not have been able to keep myself from killing them even if they hadn’t been shot. Prisoners were not usually taken when demons and angels battled.
“There will be fallout, Dom.”
I gave a single nod. I cared little for the squawking of the human criminals, but I would have to deal with them anyway.
“At least they saw you fighting alongside them. They must know you were not behind it, although the meeting was at our hotel.”
“At my request,” I reminded him. “We called all the dons here. Even if I did not summon the demons, the attack took place at my property.”
“The demons swarmed our added hotel security,” Rami expression darkened. “We lost many human guards.” He blew out a breath. “But no Fallen.”
I nodded, glad for that. Then I forced myself to think like the head of the most successful underworld organization in the world. “Send emissaries to all the families with our condolences. Offer them a cut of the new Malta club.”
Rami tilted his head at me. “A cut of the profits?”
“A small one.” I waved a hand at him. “We have enough. This club is but a drop in the ocean.”
“You think that will keep them at bay?”
“At heart, they are businessmen. They understand money.” I gave him a tight smile. “And we are still the most powerful family.”
“One that isn’t going anywhere.” My most trusted advisor and closest friend’s voice was low as he met my gaze.
I sighed at the reminder that we were immortal and had been cast down to Earth thousands of years ago to live among humans. Unless there was a miracle, the Fallen weren’t going anywhere until the day of judgment, and there was no indication that was happening anytime soon. As much as I’d reveled in my existence as an immortal dark angel—indulging in every hedonistic pleasure known to man or woman and savoring each and every one fully—I had occasionally wished for the bittersweetness of mortality, especially now that I’d fallen for a human.
“Tell me something, Dom,” Rami said. “What did Jaya say to you? I saw you facing off with her before you flew away.”
I pushed back in my chair and stood, pivoting to face the shelving behind my desk. I eyed a turquoise, blown-glass paperweight resting on a stack of books and fought the urge to fling it through the glass door.
“Nothing but taunt me about Ella. She is the reason I knew to rush back to find her.”
“But it was too late.”
I gritted my teeth. “Jaya would not have warned me in time to save her. She wanted me to panic, but she already had Ella by then. Taking her was the point of the attack. A distraction to pull protection away from Ella.”
“She took your woman and damaged the Vicario family at the same time.” Rami sighed. “Never let it be said that the demon isn’t clever.”
I tightened my hands into fists. “Not clever enough to run from me forever. If Jaya has Ella, I’ll find her, and then I’ll finally put an end to that demon.”
Rami opened his mouth but didn’t get to speak before Gadriel flung open the door, his eyes wild. “It’s Dan. He’s back!”
