by Cynthia Eden
“Oh, shit,” Merius gasped.
Josephine’s knees locked.
Malik lifted his hands. The fire snaked down his arms, went straight to his fingertips. He aimed his fingers right at Merius.
Oh, shit, indeed. “Get out of the way!” Josephine yelled at Merius.
He didn’t get out of the way. Didn’t move fast enough. So she had to move him. Josephine flew across the room and grabbed Merius. She shoved his body to the floor and covered him, just as the leather couch went up in flames.
“Josephine!” Malik’s roar shook the suite even as sprinklers shot on from the ceiling and soaked them all.
Malik grabbed her arm and pulled Josephine to her feet. Frantically, his hands flew over her. “Are you hurt? Burned? Baby—I didn’t mean—”
“Didn’t mean to launch a ball of fire at me?” Merius burst out as he jumped to his feet. “Asshole, that was a cheap shot!”
But Malik was staring only at Josephine as the sprinklers continued to pelt them with water.
“Wonderful,” Merius snarled. “Now the fire department will come racing over here. I’ll have to evacuate the casino.” He marched to his desk and yanked up his phone. As he shoved the phone to his ear, he glared at Malik. “You don’t get the humans’ rules, do you? Now I have a pile of BS to deal with—all because you just set off the fire alarms.”
Josephine figured he could handle the fire alarms and the humans. She had to deal with the fiery fallen before her. “I’m not hurt.”
He nodded, but his face appeared tortured. “It—the power got away from me. It took over.” His breath was ragged. “I saw Merius. And there was so much rage. I remembered that he’d hunted you. That he’d wanted you. All I could think was…destroy.”
Her hand touched his cheek. Once more, his skin was too hot. Burning.
“What is happening to me?” Malik asked her. He seemed absolutely lost. “Josephine?”
Merius slammed down the phone. “Told them to kill the sprinklers in this room.” He glared. “I’ll probably lose half a million dollars tonight. Thanks so much.”
Water stopped pouring from the sprinklers. Now it was just a drip, drip, drip. The fire on the couch sputtered out.
“Are you soothing the savage beast, beauty?” Merius asked as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I sure as hell hope so.”
Malik released a low breath. “My…apologies.”
“For trying to torch me?” Merius’s hands flew into the air. “Dude, apologies not accepted. You come here, asking for my help, flashing your fangs, and burning up my shit. You think I’ll help you now? No way. No damn way.”
Josephine glared at the angry vamp. “He needs help. He just became fallen, dammit. The transition isn’t easy.”
“Tell that to someone who doesn’t fucking know.” Merius’s eyes glittered at her. “I was left for dead. My wings cut from me. I woke to the thirst and thought I was losing my mind.”
And he’d believed she was the vamp responsible for his bloodlust. Josephine swallowed and tried to strategize. “Help Malik, and I’ll owe you.”
“What could you possibly have that I want?”
For starters…“I have my sister’s location.” Or at least, a general idea of where she might be. Maybe. Did that count as a lie?
Merius bounded toward her. Water dripped down his face. “You will tell me how to find her!”
“Absolutely.” Now he was interested. “But first, you have to help Malik. Help him to stay sane. Help him so that he doesn’t burn this city to the ground.” That was her immediate concern.
“Done.” Merius nodded grimly.
Well, okay, that was something.
“I can hear the fire trucks coming. You two need to get secured.” Merius tossed a keycard toward her. “Top floor. Stay up there while I deal with the humans.”
She snatched the keycard from the air. “I thought you said the building would need to be evacuated.”
He looked all grim and determined. “The humans won’t search every spot. I’ll make sure of that.”
Vamp compulsion. Check. “And Malik? He needs help now, not later.”
Merius marched toward him. “Fire burning from you, but your clothes don’t get so much as singed? How is that shit working?”
“Magic.” Malik gave a cold smile, one that showed a hint of fang.
Merius swore. “Fucking magic, of course.” He offered his wrist to Malik. “You need to drink. Drink from me. My blood is strong, and it can curb the hunger that you feel.”
Malik glanced at the offered wrist, then shook his head. “I don’t want your blood.”
“Uh, Malik—” Josephine began.
His gaze locked on her. “I only want yours. I don’t crave blood from anyone else. All of those people who were in the casino, the waitress who kept stroking my shoulder—”
She’d been way too handsy.
“I didn’t want them.” A furrow was between his brows. “I only hunger for you.” His hand rose and his fingers trailed over her neck. “Only you.”
Okay. “Merius? Is this normal for fallen? When you changed, did you only want one person’s blood?”
“No.” A clipped response. “I wanted to drain every person I saw.”
Yes, that sounded right.
“I also didn’t have any wings. Not fiery wings and not shadows that swept around me.” He circled Malik. “Every fallen is different. Every fallen has powers that are unique.”
Now she was curious. “Just what are your powers?”
Merius didn’t tell her. Instead, he said, “I have to handle the humans before this place turns into a circus. Take him upstairs. Get him settled. Give him your blood.”
So she was on the dinner menu?
Merius nodded toward her. “Blood calmed me down after the fall. If your blood is all he craves, then give it to him.”
Things weren’t quite that simple. “There’s the little matter of him draining me.”
Malik had been silent, but now, his voice practically boomed as he swore, “I would never drain you!”
Their gazes locked.
“I will not,” he promised her. His voice wasn’t booming any longer. It had softened. His whole expression softened, went tender, as he stared at her. “You are a part of me. I will not drain you. I swear it.”
“Hmmm…” Merius sidled back toward her. “Let’s try a little experiment, shall we?”
She didn’t want experiments. She wanted intel. Help. She’d made a deal with the guy—
Merius locked his arm around her neck and hauled her back against him.
Immediately, Malik’s fiery wings appeared. His hands glowed with flames—a fire that was reflected in his eyes.
Merius freed her.
The fire vanished.
“Okay. That’s what I figured.” Merius quickly stepped away from her. “The guy gets flamey when he thinks you’re being threatened. He’s all about protecting you, not torching you.”
“Good to know,” she snarled right back. “Considering that I’m a vamp and fire will kill me.”
Though Josephine hadn’t exactly been worried about the flames when she’d been riding him in the truck. Things had gotten hot, sure, but despite the changes the guy was obviously going through, she hadn’t worried that he’d burn her.
Because…she trusted him.
Fallen angel, vamp, fire breather—whatever he was, she trusted him. “Well, hell.”
Merius’s lips twitched. “Yes, I thought it was something like that. So if you trust him, then you can stay with him while I sort out the shit below with the humans.”
And suddenly, all of her tension was back. She whipped toward Merius. “I never said I trusted him.” She’d never said that part out-loud.
He winced. “Right. Caught me. I heard you think it.” He waved his hand vaguely in the air. “Did I not mention that one of my new fun, fallen powers is that I can pick up the thoughts of others, if I’m close enough to them?”
No, he hadn’t mentioned it. She’d even specifically asked about his power, and he hadn’t mentioned it. Wonderful. She would have to be very, very careful with her thoughts.
“Get to the room I gave you, okay? Top floor. Room number is on the keycard,” Merius added as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Step one is just to keep you guys out of sight while the humans are running rampant through this place. Step two—I’ll tell you everything I know about falling. And just why Luke and Leo will probably be gunning for you both.”
Malik grunted. “They already are gunning for us.”
Yes, unfortunately, they were.
Merius strode for the closed suite door. As he did, Josephine’s nostrils flared. She’d just caught a wild, woodsy scent in the air. “Uh, Merius—”
He stilled. He’d obviously caught the scent, too. His gaze locked on the door. “There a particular reason why I have a werewolf at my door?”
A howl erupted, right before the door was smashed to pieces.
Malik lunged for Josephine, and those fiery wings of his flared to life as—
“You beat me to him,” Dorrin yelled. “Fucking hell, Josephine. Don’t give a guy a job if you’re just going to beat him to the punch.” And he swiped out with his razor-sharp claws, aiming for Merius.
But Merius was too busy looking at Malik and his flames—he didn’t dodge the werewolf’s claws in time. The claws slashed across his stomach, sending blood streaking into the air.
“Don’t like murderers!” Dorrin’s face was twisted with fury. “Particularly bloodsuckers who murder my friends.”
Crap. “Dorrin, stop!” She needed Merius alive—or rather, to continue being in his undead state. She lunged forward.
Dorrin’s claws came way too close to her, so she kicked him, sending him flying back against the broken door. He shook himself off, staggered forward and—and he found himself facing off against one very enraged fallen.
Malik’s wings blazed.
“Oh, you are gonna get it now,” Merius muttered as he rose, his hand going to cover his bleeding stomach. “Guy doesn’t like it when anyone gets too close to Josephine. Trust me on this, you’re too close.”
“Screw this!” Dorrin snapped. His hands flew at Malik. But Malik just caught the guy’s wrists in a too-tight grip. In a strength competition—um, there was no competition. That truth became immediately obvious to Josephine. Malik tossed the werewolf into the hallway. There was a crash and a loud groan from Dorrin.
Then…
“Why are you protecting the vamp, Josephine?” Dorrin yelled as he staggered back inside the suite. “His scent was all over Lawrence’s place. You sent me to find the witch’s killer. I get there, and the body is gone. Only thing left is the killer’s scent—his scent. A vamp scent. Blood and death. I tracked him here.”
She looked at Merius. He looked at her.
“Um,” Merius swallowed, “I can explain?”
Sounded like a question to her. Like he wasn’t so sure she would buy the bullshit he was about to sell. Before she could rip into him, Dorrin made the mistake of rushing at Malik.
The two slammed together. Collided in a burst of fury. They punched, hit, and then they were surging back into the hallway.
Not what we need right now.
She rushed after them just as there was a quick, pain-filled shout from the hallway. “Malik, don’t burn him!” Josephine cried, only…Malik wasn’t burning Dorrin.
Malik’s wings had turned back into dark shadows. His hands weren’t on fire. But something was off about his hands. Instead of fingernails, he had razor-sharp claws bursting from his fingertips. Long, dark claws. A werewolf’s claws.
Merius rammed into her back. “That’s…new. Isn’t it? Or did he have those before?”
She did not remember Malik having a werewolf’s claws. “New. Totally new.”
Dorrin glanced at Malik’s claws. Then at the shadows around Malik’s body. “What the hell are you, man?”
They were all trying to figure that part out.
“Calm him down,” Merius whispered to her. A very loud stage whisper. “Touch him. Soothe him. Get your lover in check.”
Like her touch alone was supposed to magically get the guy to calm down. But she stepped forward, and she lifted her hand. Josephine was all about the old college try, even though she’d technically never graduated college. In her very long life, though, she’d attended about fifty different campuses. A girl could like to learn new things, couldn’t she?
Her fingers trailed over his back. “Hey, Malik, the guy you’re about to gut is the friendly neighborhood werewolf detective. Remember him? He was working on Lawrence’s murder for me.”
Some of the tension left Malik’s shoulders. “Your touch is magic.” He looked back at her. “Everything about you is magic. And I love it when you give things the old college try.”
For a moment, her heart stopped. She hadn’t said that bit aloud. She’d just thought it.
Merius can read thoughts. Hadn’t he admitted as much to her moments before?
And now Malik had read her thoughts.
Her breath came a little faster as she grabbed for Malik’s hands. Her fingertips ran over his claws as he stood docilely before her. She knew werewolf claws when she saw them. They were rather hard to mistake for something else. Malik was definitely sporting wolf claws.
Claws that look exactly like Dorrin’s.
And…and when they’d had sex, Malik had bit her. He’d bit her with vampire fangs. Only instead of being consumed by bloodlust like all the other newly turned vamps, he didn’t want anyone else’s blood. Only hers.
His fangs are just like mine.
She’d given him her blood. She’d bit him. And when he’d fallen, he’d become something new. Something with wings of fire and thick shadows that surrounded him, something—
That I made.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered to Malik. She felt tears prick her eyes.
His claws retracted. His hand rose, and he tenderly wiped away the tears on her cheeks. “Why? You didn’t make me.”
She tried to block her thoughts. Tried to shield herself. This wasn’t the first time she’d encountered beings who could read her thoughts. She’d had a psychic once train her to protect herself. But that had been a long time ago, and she was seriously rusty.
There was so much she needed to explain to Malik. But not then. Not with other eyes on them.
“I didn’t kill Lawrence,” Merius suddenly announced. “I did get rid of the body. Or rather, my team did. But only because I didn’t want human cops stumbling over the kill.”
Truth or lie? She wasn’t sure. Her gaze cut to Malik. He didn’t look sure, either.
“If I’d killed him, I wouldn’t have left all the blood behind,” Merius added. “What vamp would?”
A smart vamp. A smart vamp would leave all of the blood behind.
An alarm was sounding. A real one. Not just one in her head.
“Fucking fire alarm. Here we go again.” Merius glared at Malik. “Stop with the burning wings, would you? It’s setting off my system!” He headed for the elevator—only to find his path blocked by a glaring Dorrin.
“You’re not going anywhere without me.” The detective’s expression was grim. “Not until I prove your innocence or your guilt.”
“What the hell ever.” Merius threw up his hands. “Ride down with me to talk with the firefighters who are going to be flooding my building. Then we will settle this shit.” He squared his shoulders. “First, I have to override the security system because the elevators stop working when the fucking sprinklers or alarms come on.” He hunched over a control panel near the elevators for a few moments before he gave a grunt. “Done. That will get them moving.” He tossed a glare at Dorrin. “For the record, I’m a killer, but I didn’t kill that witch.”
“We’ll see about that…” Dorrin entered the elevator. “We could have taken the stairs, you know. That’s what I did before.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
A moment later, the two vanished when the doors closed.
Josephine released the breath she’d been holding. There were multiple elevators at that bank, and she hurriedly pressed the button for the lift that would take them up. She still held the key Merius had given to her.
“You don’t think he’s the one who murdered Lawrence.” Malik’s voice was wooden.
“No, I don’t.” She stepped into the elevator. Deliberately didn’t look at the reflection staring back at her. You won’t like what you see. Josephine pulled her hair forward, making sure it covered her ears. “The person who took out Lawrence used one of the witch’s spells at your penthouse. And then that same SOB got the human to blow himself sky high in my safe house. I think the jackass might have been threatening the human’s family.” The human had said some bit about at least his family would be safe… “Humans don’t typically have access to hellfire, not without some supernatural help.” She knew that blaze had been caused by hellfire.
Hellfire…Her gaze darted to him. A fire that burned too fast. Too hot. A fire that came when a hellhound bled and magic was born.
The colors of hellfire were pretty distinct. The red and gold twisted together, igniting in a firestorm.
Just like his wings.
Her breath heaved out.
“You’re…keeping something from me.” His voice was halting.
“Just my usual secrets.” The elevator dinged and she jumped forward, as if she’d just been shocked. She grabbed for his hand, noting that the guy was getting warm again. Seemed like this was going to be a constant problem for them. She hurried down the fancy hallway with all of its pricey, framed artwork. Josephine found their room and got them inside immediately. When the door closed behind them—
Malik reached for her hand. “No secrets. We shouldn’t have them any longer.”
If only.
Her gaze searched his. With her free hand, she tossed the room key aside. Then she squared her shoulders. “Total trust, is that what we’re talking now?”
“Yes.”
The shadows behind him seemed to thicken. Her fallen. If he was what she suspected, she should get away from him. Run as far and as fast as she could. But…