Curse of the Fallen by Eve Archer

Chapter Thirteen

Ella

I stared at Jaya, as she eyed me, and the sharp glint of her curved blade. “Why tell me it’s a trap?”

She shrugged. “It’s an indulgence of mine. I enjoy seeing human fear.” She pointed the tip of her knife at me. “Like the fear on your face now. Delicious. It’s even better than lust.”

I pressed my lips together, hating that I was giving her what she wanted, anything she wanted.

“Of course, there’s still a chance your Fallen will survive the ambush. He has proven himself to be resilient over the years, although he’s also avoided wars with demons.” She shook her head. “I only hope all these years of peace between the Fallen and demons hasn’t made him too soft.”

Nothing about Dominick Vicario was soft. I studied her like she studied me. Jaya was saying all this to provoke even more fear within me—fear she fed off.

I squared my shoulders. Well, I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of luxuriating in my fear. “You’re the one who should be scared. When Dominick finds you, he’s going to kill you.”

Her glossy, red lips widened into a smile. “He’ll try.”

“That’s the difference between you two, isn’t it?” I tilted my head at her. “You can’t bring yourself to kill him. You’re caught between hate and obsession, but you care much more about punishing him than about ending him. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble. You want his attention, not his death.”

She flinched, her smug expression darkening. “I have no problem killing you, human.”

“No one is killing her.” Anthony Solano stepped into the room behind Jaya, his gaze darting between us and settling on the she-demon. “I thought I was clear about that.”

Jaya hissed out a breath, clearly annoyed that the man had appeared. It was obvious that fucking him hadn’t done anything to make him less tolerable to her. “We were just chatting.”

Anthony looked at me, his brow furrowed. His cheeks flushed slightly, and his eyes dropped, no doubt remembering the night before. He turned his attention back to the demon. “What are you two doing in here anyway?”

“It seemed as good a place as any for a little girl chat,” Jaya answered, before I could think of a good excuse or a convincing lie. She didn’t want Anthony to know about the upcoming visit by Dominick and the Fallen any more than I did. But keeping the secret meant allowing the demon ambush to happen, and as much as I wanted to see Dom and get away from Jaya and Anthony, I couldn’t let that happen.

“I called Dominick,” I said, before I could stop myself.

Anthony’s gaze swept the room, scanning the pristine desk. “What? How?”

“I found a cell phone. Dominick and his men are probably on their way here now.”

His mouth fell open, and he glanced at Jaya, who glared at me, her fingers twitching on the hilt of her blade. “You knew about this?”

“My associates can fight them off.”

Anthony scraped a hand through his thick, brown hair. “I didn’t want a war. I just wanted to get some leverage.”

Jaya hooked her blade on her belt. “If you eliminate Don Vicario, no one will challenge you.”

He snorted out a derisive laugh. “If I survive.” He gave a hard shake of his head. “I didn’t sign up for this.”

“What did you think would happen when you stole from the don?” Jaya asked. “This is the game you decided to play.”

Anthony jabbed a finger at her. “You told me this would send a message and make me feared. You said he would respect me. You said she was his latest plaything. You never said he would bring a war to me.”

“You believed what you wanted to believe.” Jaya’s eyes flashed. “You want power, but you don’t wish to get your hands dirty? I’m afraid you’re in the wrong business, little boy.”

Anthony’s expression became stormy, his handsome features contorting into a mask of rage, and he fisted his hands by his side. “I am no boy. You should know that better than most.”

She gave him a wicked smile, her gaze sliding down his body. “I think I might enjoy being hate fucked by you.”

He flinched noticeably, avoiding Jaya as he stomped over to me and grabbed me by the arm.

I attempted to twist from his grip. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Treating you like the don does.” He jerked me flush to him. “I tried to treat you nicely, to treat you like my guest, but you threw my hospitality in my face.”

“You abducted me,” I spit out, flinching from his painful grip. “I’ve never been anything but your prisoner.”

A muscle ticked in the side of his clenched jaw. “You think you’ve been treated like a prisoner when you’ve had free rein of this beautiful villa? You’ve been pampered like a princess, and this is the thanks I get? You run off and call for help?”

I tempered my own growing rage and tried another tactic. “Anthony, this isn’t you. I know you’re a nice guy. You don’t have to do any of this. I’m sure if you let me go and tell Dominick that it was all a mistake—“

“Beg for forgiveness from your lover?” He barked out a laugh. “Humiliate myself and prove to my family that I’m not fit to lead the organization?”

I shook my head. “Everyone makes mistakes.”

“Not in my family.” Pain flickered behind his eyes, then they shuttered. “Not more than once.”

I glanced around Anthony to where Jaya had been standing. She was gone, no doubt amassing her demon troops. Not that I would have expected any help from her, but the fact that I was truly alone with the enraged man sent a shiver of fear down my spine.

“You need to let go of me,” I said, my voice steady.

“I don’t think so.” He kept his grip on my arm while using his other hand to grasp my face and tilt it up to him. “Isn’t this what you like? Don Vicario telling you what to do and you obeying?”

“That’s not—“

“I saw you with him in Croatia,” Anthony cut off my protests, his hungry gaze raking across my face and lingering on my lips. “The way he looked at you when he saw you talking with me. You’re his possession, aren’t you? His pretty little toy, to do with as he pleases.”

Anger swelled within me, and I jerked my arm harder in an attempt to free myself. “You know nothing about me and Dominick.”

His eyes flashed maniacally, his tongue darting across his lower lip. “No? Then why don’t you show me how it is between you? Or maybe you want some of what Jaya got last night.” His voice descended to a barely audible rumble. “Did you like watching me fuck her?”

Before I could argue that she’d definitely been the one fucking him, his mouth was crashing onto mine. His kiss was nothing like Dominick’s, his lips slamming against mine so hard I tasted the tang of blood. I tried to pull away, but he held my head in place, his fingers bruising and insistent on my flesh. I pressed my lips together, but he forced them open, his tongue thrusting aggressively into my mouth. Without thinking about it, I bit down just hard enough for him to yelp and pull away.

“You bit me,” he screamed, his words slightly garbled as he held a hand over his mouth.

I was breathing hard and swiped the back of my hand over my mouth as I staggered from his grip. “Next time, I’ll bite it all the way off.”

He mumbled some less-than-flattering curse words, as a pair of barrel-chested guards rushed into the room. He waved his free hand at me. “We’re leaving. Bring her with us.”

I might have stood a chance against Anthony, but I wasn’t foolish enough to fight off two huge men who could have easily snapped my neck. As they approached, I held up my hands, with hands palms out. “You don’t have to drag me. I can walk on my own.”

They cut their eyes to Anthony, questioning.

He appraised me, narrowing his gaze. “Don’t trust her. She’s fiercer than she looks.”

With a grunt of acknowledgment, one of the guards took me by the elbow and propelled me forward. Even though the point of me telling Anthony was to prevent Dominick from being ambushed, a part of me hated leaving. Dominick was no doubt on his way to find me, but I’d be gone when he arrived. I only hoped that Anthony and his people leaving would even out the odds for the Fallen.

When we reached the foyer, Jaya leaned against a stone wall, one leg bent up with her foot flat as she inspected the blade of her knife. “Leaving so soon?”

“You’re not coming?” Anthony asked, as he smoothed his black suit jacket and dabbed at his mouth. He’d regained his composure, showing little evidence of his earlier loss of control, although his words still came out with a faint lisp.

Jaya slid her foot down the wall and straightened. “I have a few things to wrap up first. Besides. I don’t want to be a third wheel with you two lovebirds. Unless you fancy sharing?”

Anthony shot her a murderous glare, before striding out the front door. I craned my neck to get a final look at the demon as I was half dragged from the villa toward a black Land Rover.

Jaya smirked as she watched me, more muscular, leather-clad men emerging to gather behind her. My heart sank as I was shoved into the backseat of the SUV, getting a last glimpse of the demon army that would be waiting for Dominick.