Curse of the Fallen by Eve Archer
Chapter Five
Dominick
“You’re sure this is wise?” Rami asked me, his voice barely audible over the loud thumping of the music as the silver doors swished open, and we stepped off the elevator onto the top floor of the nightclub. Instead of being dark and shadowy, the club seemed to glow white with an illuminated floor that pulsed with pastel squares of light and starburst chandeliers dangling from the soaring ceiling like sparkling jewelry.
Stairs wound up the sides of the club, with shiny chrome walkways ringing the walls at each landing. Guests danced on the walkways as they overlooked the expansive dance floor, and bubbles floated down from above like iridescent confetti that popped before it reached eager, outstretched fingers. Images of Roman columns were projected on white Plexiglass walls and actual stone statues rose from the dance floor, the classical figures high above the dancers but still dwarfed by the open space above.
The sculptures here were genuine, and in many cases, priceless. Like all our clubs, this one was filled with actual art we’d gathered through the millennia. Each location was accented with sculptures and paintings that matched the setting and were tributes to life’s pleasures. The marble nudes here—many of ancient Roman gods who’d been fallen angels mistaken for deities—made this location one of my favorites.
I opened my arms wide, as if embracing the gyrating mass of scantily clad bodies in front of us. The tips of my fingers vibrated with anticipation as heads swiveled to us, and desire pulsed off the crowd in palpable waves. Even now, memories of nights filled with delightful debauchery rushed over me, sending frissons of pleasure skittering down my spine. “What could be wrong with visiting one of our clubs?”
We’d flown by helicopter from Croatia to Rome, even though I knew Rami would have preferred to use wings. Although we kept in lockstep with the progressions of society, my friend preferred the old-school ways. That, and he found helicopters to be too loud and slow compared to the grace and elegance of our wings.
I’d argued successfully that we’d already flown enough already, and it was too great a risk to fly across the Adriatic Sea. I wanted to find Ella quickly, but I also had to protect the secrecy of the Fallen.
I glanced at him when he failed to reply. “I thought Epicurus Rome was one of your favorite locations.”
Rami’s dark eyes flashed as a woman in a gold, sequined, micro dress slipped by him, dragging one hand across his black, button-down shirt. His gaze followed her with barely concealed lust. “You know it is, but I wouldn’t be much of a deputy if I left you to go fuck a nameless beauty against the wall.”
I cocked my head at him. “Especially when we have a private VIP room you could use.”
He finally tore his eyes away from the retreating woman and shot me a dark look.
“Come.” I jerked my head toward the bar that ran across the far wall. Mirrors stretched high behind it, and floating shelves held hundreds of bottles of liquor that fronted the impossibly attractive bartenders dressed in all white. “We’ll get drinks before we commence hunting.”
“The succubi and incubi might have no knowledge of Jaya’s game.”
“Let’s hope for their sake, they don’t.”
The crowd parted as we walked through, our heads above all but the tallest of revelers. Eyes moved hungrily over us, some lighting up with recognition. Rami and I checked on our clubs frequently enough that we would be recognized. There was also a good chance we’d bedded a sizable number of the female regulars over the decades.
We reached the bar and one of the bartenders, a striking woman with dark hair pulled into a high bun and dramatically smoky eyes, slid glasses to us with a silent nod, her gaze pausing on Rami before shifting back to the other patrons.
I glanced at him with a questioning expression.
“She is exceptionally talented behind the bar, and in bed,” he said so only I could hear.
Taking a sip of my top-shelf scotch, I turned to face the dance floor and rested my elbows behind me on the bar. It wouldn’t take long for us to spot the incubi and succubi that frequented our club. We’d never discouraged the tantalizing demons from using our hedonistic playgrounds to search for humans to seduce. If the humans were willing, I had no issue with the pleasure-seeking demons. Since they were gorgeous and impressively endowed in numerous ways, their presence had always been good for business.
I thought about Jaya and her intoxicating power and beauty. I’d even fucked one for longer than I cared to admit.
“Dom.” Rami’s voice ripped me from my dark memories. He inclined his head slightly, and I followed his gaze to the white-leather banquette that ringed the wall.
The popularity of club drugs that lowered inhibitions and increased sexual desire had made it more challenging to separate the seductive succubi and incubi from humans high on Ecstasy, but the female dressed in tight, black leather looked the part. Her hair was long and black, falling down her back to her slim waist, which was exposed by her midriff-baring halter top. Hip-hugger pants hugged more than just her hips as she straddled a man’s lap.
“You recognize her?” I asked.
“She’s been here before. Often.”
We watched for another moment as the man beneath her stared up, entranced. When she slid off his lap and took his hand to lead him away, Rami and I left our drinks on the bar and followed.
It wasn’t difficult to track the couple. The seductive demon led the way through the dancing throng, which parted for her like the Red Sea. We followed in their wake, drawing almost as many stares as the leather-clad succubus, as she wound down a staircase to the lower level and then flashed a look at a broad-chested bouncer, who stood aside and let her into a VIP level, parting the heavy, ivory curtains. With a nod to the bouncer, Rami and I ducked inside as well.
Even though the name wasn’t official, we often referred to the lower-level VIP suites as Hell, and the upper levels, which were always bright and airy, as Heaven. In a nod to our divinity and fall from grace, we’d modeled our illustrious nightclubs after ourselves with images of wings in the Epicurus logo and angel imagery omnipresent throughout. The nicknames had caught on with guests, as well, and many of them talked about going to Hell when they wanted to score entrance to the more indulgent and private lower domain.
The change in atmosphere as we stepped through the curtain was instantaneous. Instead of bright and light, the VIP level was dark and sultry, with black walls and tufted, crimson furniture. The ceiling was low, as was the lighting, and it took my eyes a moment to adjust and make out the couples writhing again the walls and on the sofas. Whatever inhibitions the guests might have had outside on the dance floor, had been discarded like excess clothing once they’d stepped into this realm. In many cases, along with their clothing.
The succubus we’d been following led the man to a long sofa and pushed him down with a throaty laugh. She resumed the position she’d been in earlier, sitting astride him, but she now ground against him lasciviously. Rami and I sat down on either side of them, boxing in the couple.
“Daughter of Lilith,” I said in greeting, pinning the demon with my gaze.
She snapped her head to me, then swung it around to look at Rami. Her eyes, which tilted up in an exotic slant, narrowed maliciously at us both.
“Fallen.” She said the word like it was a curse.
The man beneath her blinked rapidly and shook his head as if he was emerging from a trance.
“Why don’t you let him go so we can talk?” Rami flicked a pitying gaze at the human.
She huffed out a breath but stood and waved him away. Not surprisingly, the man bolted for the exit, looking stunned and confused.
“I broke no rules,” the succubus said, her arms folded across her chest.
“We never said you did.” Rami motioned to the empty spot between us, but the demon shook her head, moving her hands to her hips and squaring her shoulders.
“How many of you are here tonight?” I asked, swiveling my gaze around the room. It wasn’t uncommon for succubi to work in tandem with their male counterparts, the incubi.
Her haughty gaze didn’t falter. “Just me.”
Rami folded his own arms over his chest. “Really?”
She darted her tongue out and licked her lower lip. “The others left already.” She jerked a thumb toward the door where her mark had exited. “Mine wasn’t ready to leave just yet.”
I knew the allure of the succubi was so powerful that the man would have been almost powerless to resist her. Aside from her beauty, which was considerable, the she-demon’s charisma was intense. Even though she glared at us, I felt the lure of her sexual power. Humans stood no chance.
“Tell us your name.” Rami shifted so that he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.
She hesitated. “Mika.”
It might not be her real name, but it didn’t matter. “We have no issue with you hunting in our club. As long as you tell us what you know.”
“About what?”
“Jaya and her demon uprising.”
She pursed her lips and pulled them to one side. “I have no part in any of that.”
“We are not accusing you,” Rami said. “But we thought you might have heard rumblings about what your sister is up to.”
She scoffed at this. “Jaya is no sister of mine.”
Rami and I exchanged a look and waited for Mika to say more.
“Succubi and incubi don’t concern ourselves with the rest of the demon world.” She gave us a seductive smile that had most certainly lured hundreds of men into her web. “We only care about pleasure. Not power.” She arched an eyebrow at first Rami, and then me. “Unless it’s power over our lovers.”
“But not Jaya?” Rami asked.
The demon’s sultry smile slipped. “Not anymore. She’s abandoned lust for something else.” Her gaze slid to me. “Revenge.”
I flinched. Even this succubus knew that the leader of the Fallen had taken Jaya as a lover—and then discarded her.
“What is one lover to a seductress of thousands?” I asked.
Mika’s dark eyes flashed with desire. “Perhaps it’s different when the lover is an angel.” She moved her own hands down her hips in a slow caress. “A fallen angel with a dark soul.”
I stood quickly, and she stepped back, the desire fading from her gaze.
“What else do you know of this revenge of hers?”
She shrugged one bare shoulder. “Only what I know of Jaya. If she can’t provoke pleasure, she wants to cause pain.”
I remembered Jaya’s fondness for the pleasure within the pain. I’d been the eager recipient of it many times, and I’d enjoyed watching her revel in it. If only I could be sure she wasn’t intent on hurting Ella, I could handle whatever pain the demon could dish out.
“Where is she now?” Rami asked, standing next to me.
Mika fluttered her hand. “You won’t find her with her kind anymore. We’re too pleasure-bent for her liking. She’s aligned herself with the darker demons. Aside from that, I don’t know where that is. Someplace where they can feast on suffering.”
That didn’t narrow it down too much, considering the state of the planet.
“Thank you.” I gave the succubus a bow of my head.
Her gaze raked down the length of my body. “If you want to thank me, Fallen…” She ogled Rami just as openly, desire radiating off her lithe body in waves. “Both of you would be—”
“Too much for you to handle,” Rami growled into her ear as he stepped around her.
She inhaled sharply, turning to watch us go and letting out a throaty laugh. “Good luck, angels. You’ll need it.”
