Curse of the Fallen by Eve Archer
Chapter Eleven
Ella
I nudged the bottom drawer closed with my foot, not taking my eyes off Jaya as she sauntered across the room toward me. I’d never seen her in full daylight before. My glimpses of the demon had always been in dimly lit underground cisterns or dark bedrooms as she was fucking Anthony Solano. Even then, I hadn’t been focusing on her facial features.
She really was strikingly beautiful, with straight, black hair that fell like a silky curtain down her back and dark eyes framed by thick lashes. Her perfect curves—which I’d seen plenty of last night—were encased in black leather, with lots of bare midriff and roped arms exposed by her vest and hip-hugger pants. A metal chain jangled at her waist, and a curved blade was clutched in one hand.
It was ridiculous to be jealous of a demon, but I found myself longing for the confidence she radiated and the raw, sexual energy. I tried not to think about her connection to Dominick, and why she was so hell-bent on tormenting me, but unwanted images of the beautiful creature wrapped in Dominick’s arms flooded my mind.
“You shouldn’t be in here, human.” Even though her words were a warning, her lips curled up into a smile.
My skin prickled with fear as she approached. Anthony didn’t frighten me, but this demon did. I sidestepped around from behind the desk, putting some distance between myself and the drawer I’d just slipped the phone into and closed.
“I was curious about the villa,” I said, my voice cracking.
She angled her head at me and casually flipped her blade in her hand. “Anthony might think it’s fine to let you wander around as if you’re some kind of honored guest.” She snapped the curved knife back into her palm. “I disagree.”
My gaze darted to the doorway she’d slipped through. Where was Anthony? Was he close enough to hear me if I screamed? Would I be able to get out a scream before she buried her knife between my eyes?
“He’s not here to save you,” Jaya said, her gaze following mine. She jutted out one hip and put her hand on it, appraising me without reservation. “But you don’t have to worry. I’m not going to hurt you, human. If I wanted to kill you, I could have done that last night while Anthony was too dazed to stop me.”
I couldn’t argue with that. Still, I didn’t like the way she talked to me or the way she looked at me. I loosed a breath more loudly than I’d intended. “Ella. My name is Ella. Not human.”
Her eyes narrowed at me, flashing danger. Then she threw her head back and laughed.
I didn’t know whether this was the laugh of a deranged woman before she attacked, or if she was amused by me. I edged farther from behind the desk and closer to the partially open door.
Before I could make it close enough to run for it, she stopped laughing and snapped her head back to me. “I have to admit that your spirit is impressive. Stupid, but impressive.” She flicked the tip of her blade toward one of the peacock-blue armchairs. “Have a seat.”
I was about to tell her that I’d rather stand, but the hard expression on her face made me reconsider. If Anthony wasn’t here, and the guards were still posted outside, I should probably try not to piss off the violent demon. Perching on the end of the chair, I rested my hands on my knees and watched her.
She placed her knife on the gleaming, wood surface of the desk and closed the distance between us, pausing to stand in front of me. Taking one blood-red-polished fingernail, she stroked it down the side of my cheek. When the skin from her fingertip brushed mine, she jerked her hand away. Her gaze hardened and she spun around, leaning against the desk and crossing her arms. “Who are you?”
“I already told you. My name is Ella.”
She waved a hand as if brushing away my words. “You can’t be as clueless as you appear.
I bristled at this. “Just because I wasn’t clued in to the existence of fallen angels and demons doesn’t mean I’m clueless.”
It was obvious she disagreed. Frowning, she leaned closer. “If you know so much, what do you know about your lover, Dominick Vicario?”
I shouldn’t have allowed myself to be dragged into her game, but I didn’t like the way she sneered when she said the word “lover” or the way she purred Dom’s name. “I know he was an angel, and he and his fellow angels were cast from heaven.”
One of her perfectly arched eyebrows twitched. “Did he tell you why?”
I gritted my teeth and didn’t answer.
“He and his angel friends were Watchers on Earth, sent to observe humans.” Her gaze flicked down me again. “For some reason, they found human women irresistible, even though your kind was off limits to them. When they decided to fuck you and share their celestial knowledge with their new lovers, they were banished for eternity.”
Watchers sounded vaguely familiar, but more along the lines of something I’d read in a dusty old mythology book. “What does this have to do with me?”
“Your lover has always been drawn to humans, little girl,” Jaya said. “That is, when he isn’t fucking demons.”
I didn’t want to rise to her bait, but I needed to know. “You and Dominick were involved?”
She laughed. “What a sweet way to put it.” Then her eyes glinted. “I was Dominick’s obsession for years. He couldn’t get enough of me or, of the depraved things we did to each other.”
My cheeks burned with humiliation as I fought not to imagine what she’d just described. I might not have been with Dominick long, but no woman liked to think of her boyfriend with his more beautiful and exciting ex. Now it made sense why she’d been so determined that I watch her fucking Anthony. She wanted me to know what it had looked like when she’d been with Dominick. She wanted me to know exactly how good she was, and how much he’d loved it.
Irritation at Dominick flashed hot inside me. Why hadn’t he told me that they’d been lovers? It would have explained why she was constantly showing up and harassing us. Instead, he’d made me think her hatred was just because she was a demon. Not that she’d been his demon lover.
“There isn’t some rule against angels and demons?” I asked, when I’d finally found my voice, even though it trembled with fury.
“Angels and demons are forbidden to intermingle, but Dominick isn’t an angel anymore. He’s a Fallen.” She licked her bottom lip. “And I’m not just any old demon. I’m a succubus, one of the offspring of Lilith. It’s my destiny to seduce men and lure them into debauchery.”
A shiver passed through me, a trickle of fear dampening my anger. “Why did you two break up?”
“Another quaint human concept.” Jaya wrinkled her nose. “We didn’t break up. Dominick lost his interest in stoking his hedonistic desires. He got bored with the pleasures of the flesh. It’s the curse of being immortal.” She fluttered her fingers at me. “I can only imagine that’s why he finds you so amusing. You’re the opposite of everything dark and sensual that used to stoke his deepest desires.”
“I don’t know why you think I’d care about any of this. This is a summer fling for both of us. A bit of fun before I go back to my reality.”
“That’s what he told you? That he’ll let you go after the summer?” She shook her head. “I can assure you he won’t be letting you go.”
My stomach clenched. She was lying to scare me. It was another of her tactics to manipulate me and turn me against Dominick. “That’s not true. Dominick made a deal with me.”
“You trust a promise from a fallen angel?”
I lifted my chin. “I trust Dominick.” Even as I said the words, they were sour on my lips.
“Because he told you why he’s keeping you so close and what makes you different from other humans?”
What was she talking about?
A self-satisfied swirl spread across her face. “No, he hasn’t. Of course, he hasn’t. Because then you’d know that it isn’t you he cares about, it’s what you can do for him.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The prophecy,” she whispered, like the word itself was dangerous to say too loudly. “He may claim not to believe in it, but it’s always in the back on their minds. All of them.”
“What prophecy?” I asked, despite my better instincts.
“It was only uttered once by the angel Uriel, and there is debate over whether he let a secret slip, or if it was said to torment the fallen, but he prophesized that when the leader of the Fallen took a marked female as his true mate, the Fallen could be restored to their status as angels in heaven.”
“Marked female?” I shook my head. “Marked with what?”
“Marked by an angel.”
“Humans are marked by angels?”
Jaya leaned back in the leather chair. “Angels bringing about the birth of children in barren women, saving humans on the precipice of death, that type of annoying thing. Angels used to busy themselves in human lives much more. It’s rare these days. I didn’t think the archangels had interfered on the human plane for a century.” She locked eyes with me. “Until I saw you.”
“Me?” Now it was my turn to laugh. “You think I’m marked by an angel?”
“I know you are. All celestial beings can sense each other, and I can sense the touch of an angel on you. Naturally, I can sense demons more strongly, and Dominick can sense you— intensely, I would imagine.” Her eyes flashed with malice as she said the last words.
I shook my head, refusing to believe her crazy story. I’d never been saved from death by an angel, and my mother hadn’t been barren. Had she?
Dread pooled in my stomach. I had been an only child of older parents, and they’d doted on me, calling me their miracle baby. A wave of nausea made me press my hand over my mouth, and I tasted the bitter tang of bile in the back of my throat. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true.
I thought of Dominick and everything he’d said about me being different and all the questions he’d asked about my family. If the she-demon was right, he’d known all along. He’d paid off my debts and taken me as a lover not because he was enchanted by me, but because I was the key to some ancient angelic prophecy?
“Now you know why Dominick is really with you,” Jaya said, her voice as smooth as liquid poison.
Defiance flared in me. I could either trust Dominick, or I could trust this demon. Despite the doubt gnawing at me, I decided to put my faith in the angel I’d fallen for. “I know that he’s going to find me and kick your ass.”
She smiled and shrugged one shoulder. “Oh, I’m counting on it, sweetie.”
Fear slid through me as I watched the smug expression on her face, goose bumps prickling across my skin. “You want Dominick to find me?”
“Anthony doesn’t, but I do. He thinks this is all about getting leverage against Don Vicario. Unfortunately for the boy, he won’t have any leverage once the Fallen arrive.” She chuckled. “He’ll be lucky to come out alive.”
“So, you’re double-crossing him?”
She winced. “Such a human concept. I’m just playing the game better. It’s why I left that phone around for you to find.”
My mouth fell open, my gaze instinctively flitting to the drawer. “You…”
“I didn’t want to make it too easy for you. You had to feel like you were working for it. You may be a human, but you’re not a complete idiot. If it was lying out, you might have been suspicious. This way, you suspected nothing.”
She was right. Because I’d had to hunt for it and it hadn’t been out in the open, I’d been convinced I’d outsmarted my captors. I hadn’t hesitated in using the phone to call Sara and tell her where I was. If my best friend had done what I’d asked her to—and I knew she would—Dominick and his army of fallen angels were probably on their way to Marrakesh right now.
As confused as I was about Dominick, and as angry as I was that he hadn’t told me about his past with Jaya or the prophecy, I didn’t want him to get hurt. I wanted him safe and sound so I could kick his ass.
“This is another trap?” I asked, my mouth so dry it was hard for me to croak out the words.
Jaya ran one fingernail down the edge of her razor-sharp blade. “And you’re the pretty bait.”
