Apocalyptic

by Trina M. Lee

  He wore a wormy smile and a bowler hat with suit to match. His appearance was that of an older, smaller man. Such a deceptively harmless look. Standing beneath the parking lot street light in plain view of all, vampires and humans, the demon held out both hands. A small black velvet box appeared.

  “A gift from Prince Bane of Rhytheria for Alexa O’Brien, the Queen of Light and Dark.” He held the box out toward me. “An apology. He hopes you will forgive his unwelcome forwardness and accept this gift.”

  I took my time eyeing him up. Black eyes. Bottom feeder. Not to be underestimated though. A poke and prod at his power and I was more than confident I could take him. It was rude as hell, but he’d come to my doorstep so he had to expect it.

  He didn’t react.

  My first instinct was to laugh. The over-the-top dramatic use of our so-called titles and the fact that Bane thought I’d accept anything from him was a little hysterical. Also downright crazy. However, it also made me uneasy that Bane called me that. Because nobody else ever had but Falon.

  “Who the hell are you? His servant?” I didn’t wait for his response. It made me nervous that Bane had reached out to me in any way. I was just grateful he hadn’t shown up again himself. Yet. “I don’t want anything from Bane other than for him to forget I exist. So you can take your little gift back and tell him I’m not interested.”

  The demon blinked ebony eyes at me, confused. “Don’t you even wish to open the box? You have yet to see what’s inside.”

  My hand tightened on the dagger’s hilt. Something about the demon’s careful innocence over his malicious features raised my defenses. “I don’t give a rat’s ass what’s in the box.”

  But it called to me. Whatever was inside that tiny box, it wanted me to find it. This had to be a trap. Remaining calm and composed, I refused to be intimidated by Bane without him even being present.

  “How can you possibly know that if you have yet to look?” He just kept holding his hands out with that little box nestled in the middle of them.

  “Alright.” I raised the Dragon Claw, ready to lop his head off. “We’re done here.”

  Before I could follow through with my swing, Falon appeared. He lunged at the demon and wrapped both hands around his throat. “Why did he send you?” Squeezing hard enough to make the guy’s eyes bulge, Falon backed him up away from the doorway.

  I followed, preferring not to have witnesses to whatever was about to transpire. “He brought me an apology gift from Bane,” I explained when the demon failed to get a word out due to the crushing of his throat. “I told him I don’t want it.”

  “Hear the lady?” Falon snarled into his face. “Tell Bane to stay the fuck away from her.”

  In a sudden burst of rage Falon squeezed tighter and tighter, twisting until the demon’s head tore from his body. A fit of temper just unleashed all over Bane’s servant. Just like that he was forced back to the other side and the master who’d sent him.

  Falon turned to me with wild silver eyes. “You didn’t see what was in the box?”

  “No. Did you just call me a lady?” I nudged him with an elbow. “Have you recently suffered a serious blow to the head? You do know who I am, right?”

  “Unfortunately,” he said with an exaggerated sigh. “Just keeping up a front. Don’t wet your panties over it.”

  Studying the fallen angel, I gave his energy a poke and prod as well. Frazzled. Angry. It made my skin prickle. Intrigued, I slipped him a little erotic heat. “Now, now, Falon. You know that’s not the kind of talk that makes my panties wet.”

  He frowned at my invasive assessment but made no effort to resist my sensual pulse. If anything, it seemed to relax him. A sly grin lit up his face. “No, it definitely is not. You’re a filthy little vixen. You like it dirty.”

  With him I sure did. I also liked to know what the hell was going on. “How did you know to drop in right when you did? Don’t tell me that was a coincidence.”

  “Not at all,” he admitted with a shrug. “I put a ward on this place. Wards can’t be used to keep demons out of public places, but they can be used to alert me if any show up.”

  The first little niggle of fear dug at me. Falon thought Bane was enough of a threat to put a goddamn ward on my nightclub? “How worried should I be? Because that worries me.”

  Glancing about at the chattering people loitering outside, Falon took my elbow and led me across the parking lot, out of earshot. “Worry is wasteful. Preparation will save your ass. I’m just taking precautions.”

  “Because you think there’s a reason to. Be honest with me, Falon. How likely is it that Bane is going to let this go and forget about me?” My tone was sharp like a razor, demanding truth.

  He leaned against a silver SUV and crossed his arms. One hand came up to scratch absently at his chin. “Not likely at all.”

  “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!”

  A burst of anger, fed by my dark side, made me want to throw a punch in his face. Screw him for bringing this shit to my door. Sympathy and understanding beat the ire back, reminding me that he didn’t want this either. Bane had made Falon’s existence an eternal hell. Now he was back for more.

  “Do you think I’d just stand back and let him come after you?” Falon snapped, his own inner emotions driving his temper. He shoved away from the SUV and his wings flared wide.

  “Why wouldn’t you? Two birds, one stone. Seems like the obvious way to be rid of both of us.” The moment the words left my mouth I knew I’d screwed up.

  He’d proven himself already. So why couldn’t I trust him on this?

  Falon grabbed me by both upper arms and pasted me up against the SUV he’d just been leaning against. “Let’s get one thing straight. You’re wearing my mark for a reason. I don’t share you with anyone. Right here, right now, and every single moment we’re alone together, you belong only to me.” With each heated word he got closer until his lips brushed against mine.

  Bane had done a hell of a number on Falon. So much so that he’d been willing to mark me as his among immortals to send his own message to Bane. Me. Someone he loathed with each breath. Yeah, Falon was dealing with some serious inner shit.

  I couldn’t help but get a charge from his outburst. “Is that so?”

  “You’re kidding yourself if you think otherwise.” He dragged his lips over mine, a tease, and pulled back.

  I couldn’t argue that. So I changed the subject. With him pressed against me, pinning me to the vehicle, maybe I’d get an answer I’d been wanting. “How did you know what I had to do to save Arys and me? Who told you?”

  Falon claimed it was his job to know things. I’d been able to accept that when all I held dear had been on the line. Now that we’d come out the other side, I needed to know more.

  “You don’t want to know,” he murmured against my lips before dragging his tongue along my lower one.

  “You mean you don’t want to tell me.” I playfully pulled away. If Falon thought he could use seduction to sway this his way, he hadn’t learned anything in our time together. Dousing him in a splash of thrall, I touched his cheek and purred, “Tell me who told you.”

  With an eyeroll and an exasperated sigh, Falon huffed, “Who else? The kid told me. Gabriel.”

  “What?” I pushed Falon back and stepped away from the SUV. “Why would he tell you and not me if he saw something like that? And why the hell didn’t you tell me that in the first place?”

  Shoving his hands in his pockets, wings resettling around him, Falon gave me a knowing look. “You wouldn’t have believed it. You don’t trust him.”

  “And you thought I’d believe it coming from you because of the deep well of trust we’ve established? That was risky. You’re not that delusional, Falon.” Sure we’d managed to forge elements of trust in certain areas, such as working together for The Circle. Or when bleeding our souls into hotel room sheets. But there were limits to how much we could trust one another. There always would be.

  Head tilted in a hau
ghty assessment of my crossed arms and sassy attitude, he smirked like he knew something else I didn’t. “Well, you did believe me, and it saved your annoying ass. So you tell me who’s really delusional.”

  My sass began to dissolve like ice covered in salt. No witty comeback came to mind. He won this round. Shit. He grinned, enjoying his point.

  “How long have you both been sitting on that information?” I couldn’t help but be curious.

  “He told me a few weeks ago,” Falon explained. “Naturally, I didn’t believe him right away. Not until Salem turned on you. Gabriel had warned me that he might. I had to see it for myself before I could tell you that death was the answer.”

  Letting this all sink in, I nodded. I wasn’t sure how to feel about all of this.

  “What do you think was in that box?” I asked, unable to wrap my mind around the two of them discussing my fate without my knowledge. A change of subject seemed safest.

  Angling back toward the club, we headed inside. Falon’s wings disappeared as we emerged into the streetlight on our way in. “Knowing Bane it could have been anything from a completely harmless jewel or as deadly as a curse that would explode in your face upon opening. Better to never find out which.”

  I cringed at the thought of what my unwelcome gift might have been. “Sending it back to him rejected is only going to encourage him, isn’t it?”

  I didn’t know a lot about demons overall. My interactions with them were limited to a select few. However, I knew darkness well. It lived in all of us. It would not give up until it got what it wanted.

  “Count on it. The thing about Bane, he’s a planner. A patient one. He can wait days, years, centuries. Whatever it takes. Then he’ll strike when you think he’s forgotten all about you.” Sticking close, Falon followed me through the lobby and back into the club. His words rang with personal truth.

  A pang of sympathy flared in my chest. I quickly doused it out before he could see it in my eyes. Averting my gaze, I took in the club in its entirety, ensuring all was well.

  “Perfect,” I said dryly. “I can hardly wait.”

  Next to the couch where I’d left Ebyn stood Willow. He whipped about as I drew closer, panic etched all over his face. Adrenaline began to trickle through me. In my heart I knew it was bad. Beyond a mere shit disturbance.

  “Can I speak with the two of you alone?” Willow jerked his head toward the back hall.

  Falon and I exchanged a look. If he wanted Falon there, then it had to be bad. Worse than bad. What could be worse than that? Swallowing hard, I nodded, and the three of us headed to my office.

  When the door closed behind us, Willow drew a deep breath. “I just received word through a friend that Salem and Lilah are missing.”

  “Missing?” I repeated, blinking rapidly as I tried to accept what that meant.

  “Nobody has seen him since the night they sabotaged you. He’s not with her in her prison. It’s empty.” Willow’s usually gentle tone was like a nail in my coffin right then. A sharp, painful blow.

  “No,” I breathed, sinking to the couch. This could not be.

  Falon took this news with a tight, pinched frown. “They’ve gone full dark.”

  Willow nodded, his concern so great that even his usual disgust with Falon was absent. Although he’d been softer toward Falon since his intel on how to restore the flame had proved solid. “It appears to be that way. Perhaps not, but we should be ready for that, should they turn up. Expect the unexpected from here on out as far as those two are concerned.”

  Full dark. If that were true they’d both be demons. But still two souls united as one, forever in darkness. Evil on steroids. Worse than anything Arys and I together would have ever been. That was really saying something.

  I sat there staring at a smudge on the coffee table. Unable to process the latest dump of crap on my parade. Lilah and Salem. Full dark. This could only be bad for all of us.

  “They’ll come after me,” I said, my voice hollow and detached. “Lilah will. After all of us.”

  Silence ensued as we all processed this horrific turn of events. Then quietly Willow asked, “Have you hidden Shya’s stone? Lilah can never find it.”

  I met Falon’s silver gaze. Together he and I had hidden it days after getting it back. A small church with consecrated ground on the outskirts of my town, a mere five minutes from my house. Ground so holy that Falon himself was unable to tread upon it. I buried it there, deep within the earth. I wanted to keep it close, where I could keep an eye on it, without taking the risk of keeping it in my possession.

  Demons could easily send a human subject to retrieve such items. However, they’d have to know where it was first. The holy ground should keep any black magic locator spells from working. Or so Falon believed.

  “Yeah, it’s buried on holy ground. About as good as it gets.” For someone with a pissed-off demon queen who hated him on the loose, Falon seemed rather calm. Maybe it was another front.

  “Then that will have to do.” Willow turned his encouraging green gaze my way. “Try not to be overwhelmed, Alexa. You’re at your strongest. In perfect balance. They are not.”

  No, they were just friggin’ immortals with a near endless well of dark power. One of them was on a vengeance mission.

  I’d always known Lilah would escape her prison again one day. I just hadn’t thought it would be so soon. She would return to claim her throne and seek revenge on those who’d wronged her.

  And she would start with me.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  I sat alone at my favorite booth near the door, watching Ebyn shamelessly flirt with identical twin sisters. Some people were here for vampires and only vampires. Others were open to just about anything. If any non-vampy type could smooth talk those sisters into bed, it was the playboy werewolf.

  Falon had left, and Willow had disappeared with a woman. Which was fine with me. I could use a few minutes alone. Shaz was at Doghead tonight with his wolves. Arys and Jenner had left earlier to make whatever kind of trouble they liked to make together.

  Pulling out my phone, I shot my sister another text. She’d ignored the last dozen. I expected her to ignore this one too. Still, I sent it anyway. She couldn’t say that I wasn’t trying to fix this. Arys had even offered to give her as many free shots as she’d like to take at him.

  Nothing. She’d been laying low, keeping to herself. If she was still carrying on with Briggs, I didn’t know about it. He’d been scarce around here lately.

  She hadn’t responded with so much as a ‘glad you’re not dead, again’ message. Well, maybe she wasn’t glad.

  Like a cloud slipping in front of the sun, I sensed a shadow’s approach. I glanced up from my phone to find Gabriel headed toward me. He smiled apologetically at a woman who tried to get his attention as he passed her table.

  Slipping into the booth across from me, he set a locked briefcase on the table between us. He pushed it toward me. “It’s my grimoire. I said you could have it and I meant it. I should have brought it sooner.”

  No need for small talk and chitchat as far as Gabriel was concerned. I liked that about him. “Let me see it.”

  He raised a dark brow and reached for the lock. “In here? Are you sure?”

  “I just want to see it.” He could’ve put a dead animal in there for all I knew.

  Gabriel spun the numbers on the combination, and the lock popped open. He lifted the lid just enough to give me a glimpse of the thick black book. Right away I got a bitter taste in my mouth.

  He opened the cover and let me see the writing and symbols on the first few pages. It made my skin crawl. I nodded for him to close and lock it back up. I surprised him by saying, “Keep it.”

  “Seriously? Even after everything that happened with Lizzy?” He gave me this look that was almost suspicious.

  He was suspicious of me? I wanted to laugh. “Well, I’m pretty sure you learned a valuable lesson with that one. Keep it spelled. Nobody gets into it but you. Hide it. Get
creative.”

  Doubt crossed his face. He reached for the briefcase, then stopped. “Are you sure?”

  Gabriel kept expecting punishment. It baffled me until this moment. “I’m guessing that your time with Shya involved a fair amount of abuse when you screwed up.”

  His expression revealed nothing when he said, “You spent time alone with Shya. You know what he’s like.”

  So yes, the demon had definitely handed out some ass kicking. But that wasn’t me, and as far as I was from sugary sweet, I wasn’t cruel. “Gabriel, I’m not Shya. As long as you don’t screw me over, we’re good. Just keep that book on lockdown.”

  When I made no move to take the briefcase, he dragged it off the table and onto the booth seat beside him. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

  Yeah, I wanted to talk to him too. He wasn’t getting away without answering some questions. “Shoot.”

  “I want to come to Las Vegas with you. If you guys run into trouble there, I might be able to help.”

  Now it was my turn to shoot suspicious glances. “Why would you say it like that? Have you seen something about Vegas? Don’t hold back now, Gabriel. I know you’re the one who told Falon how to restore the twin flame balance.”

  He stiffened, sitting up straighter in his seat. “He told you, huh? I would’ve told you, but you’d never have believed me.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I know.” I waved off his excuse. “What I want to know is, when did you see it?” Did it really matter in the grand scheme of things? Not at all. Still, I was curious how long he’d been carrying that knowledge around.

  “That night in Shya’s fabricated horror house on Halloween,” he began, tapping his fingers on the table’s top. “When I passed the demon power I’d gathered to you. I saw it then. Just bits and pieces. It didn’t fully click until I got the vision of Salem. I can’t always put it together from one vision.”

  He’d sat on the information for months. I pondered this, constantly curious about the strange being that was Gabriel. Not long after Halloween, Gabriel had slipped up and told me that he’d seen something. I forced some of it out of him, and all he’d said was Arys and I would turn on each other one day.