Doomed Cases Box Set: The Complete Collection Books 1- 4 & Prequel

by Joanna Mazurkiewicz

  ― Dante Alighieri, Paradiso

  We did eventually manage to get a taxi home. I should have stayed and helped Zach, but I was pissed off with everything that went on this evening. Zach was most likely looking for me. I saw him at the top of the stairs at the entrance to the manor. There was no sign of Arthur, and I was hoping that he had decided to take care of Natalie rather than running after me. Zach’s own sister had managed to sneak inside and stole bracelets worth a lot of money. Zach had no idea that she was behind this whole thing. Now wasn’t the right time to discuss this complicated matter with him, but I felt obligated to do something, to reunite them again, for the sake of her only daughter. The old memories began filling my head. After tonight, I very much doubted that I could ever have a normal relationship with another human being or even a demon.

  Emma asked me to go inside and have a quick drink with her, but I declined the offer. She wasn’t aware that my battle with alcohol was still going on. I considered her a friend, but I was afraid to reveal stuff about myself, in case she judged me. My apartment was dark and cold when I got in. It was still early for me. The burning craving for tequila was slowly paralysing me. I sat down on my sofa thinking about what to do, and how to fix everything that went wrong in the past few weeks. Ronan had to track down Nameless without me. It was too much of a risk to leave the letters in his possession.

  Ricky had left a couple of messages on my phone. It was nice that someone still cared about me. Maybe his date didn’t go according to plan if he was trying to get through to me at this hour. Ricky wasn’t a relationship kind of guy, but he seemed to have changed his tune lately. Suddenly I wanted to meet the lucky lady who managed to steal his demonic soul.

  I decided to call him back, and once he was assured that I was all right, he stopped shouting. It was a long and exhausting conversation. When I finally threw the phone back on the sofa, my headache came back. This wasn’t even fair, because tonight I only had one glass of wine. Liquid magic kept the darkness at bay, made my gloomy shattered world more colourful, but I kept away from alcohol all day. It was an easy solution. I thought that when I was intoxicated I could get my life back on track, but in the end, the darkness only pulled me down.

  My career was over after I came back to London two years ago. I had a great reputation, but I couldn’t get back into the security business. Everyone knew that I must have pissed off the royals and they’d let me go.

  Tonight I sat on my shitty sofa in my beautiful dress, barefoot, watching some stupid show on TV. Arthur and Zach could go to hell. The prince had lost his mind. He was harming not only himself but also other people around him, behaving so irrationally.

  An hour later, after I polished off some frozen pizza, someone was knocking at my door. I frowned, knowing that I wasn’t expecting anyone. Ricky didn’t say that he was coming over. I told myself that if Arthur had decided to pay me another visit, I was ready to throw him out and use some illegal charms. Chasing after Nameless wasn’t an option anymore. My whole life revolved around work. Maybe I had to change that and start paying more attention to the opposite sex.

  Zach was standing on the other side of my door, looking sharp, still in his tuxedo that was now a little dirty. My heart skipped a beat, then danced in my chest. Wow, the lust was supposed to go away.

  “What do you want?” I asked. God, I didn’t have to be such a bitch to him. After all, he only wanted to protect me from Arthur.

  “That’s a warm welcome, Flower. I was concerned, so I came to check on you,” he said and then just walked inside. I needed to change the locks. Besides, he should have been concerned. I still had the red dress on and it revealed a lot of cleavage.

  When I locked the door and went back to the living room, he was sitting in my spot, eyeing me up and down. I knew that I shouldn’t have told him about my feelings the last time. Now I was no longer tough and stubborn, but vulnerable. The Maxine he wasn’t supposed to even know existed.

  “Cigarette?” he asked, smiling, taking out his Marlboro Lights.

  I took it. Oh, well, it looked like I wasn’t going to quit anytime soon. Zach’s thoughts were making me feel a little better about myself. He kept thinking that I was beautiful and he was slowly losing his mind for me. Suddenly I forgot that I had a splitting headache, and I had told myself that Zach wasn’t right for me. As I inhaled the toxins into my lungs, a new opportunity opened up for me, and I wanted to grab it. We sat in silence for a while, just enjoying this moment.

  “I’m not good at this. I’m still a wreck. Screwing everything up. You can’t want me.” I finally threw this out there to stew. He laughed and moved closer so our bodies were touching. The heat shifted down below, telling me that I had nothing to lose. Arthur was never going to stop. I had to commit to another man to let him know that he couldn’t have me.

  Zach placed his hands on my shoulders and started giving me a massage. I was so tense, and it felt good. My magic had gone out of control earlier on and now was flowing in the room. There were so many things that I needed to consider, but Zach’s fingers felt soothing on my skin, just right. The relationship, even the thoughts about being with someone and sharing things petrified me.

  “Flower, I told you already that I don’t care. The prince has been handled. He won’t come near you if I’m around,” Zach whispered, brushing his lips over my ear and caressing his fingers along my back, gently, softly. He was turned on, and I was confused, trying to get a hold of myself.

  “He won’t stop. There is too much history between us, and he told me that he broke off the engagement because of me,” I whispered back.

  “There is something between us, a spark, and incredible attraction. I’m done waiting around for the opportunity, so I’m grabbing it, Maxine,” he said, turning my chin around, and then his lips were on mine.

  This wasn’t happen …

  This couldn’t have …

  This was happening, and he felt bloody amazing.

  He kissed me hard, and my blood ran hot. He tasted so good and, by the time I managed to take another breath, I was broken, stripped of whatever resistance was left inside me. Zach didn’t mess around; he bit my bottom lip, then lifted me up, so I sat on top of him. The soaring sparks were flying everywhere, running down my thighs, as his hard-as-rock erection pressed into me. The sofa was dirty, worn out, but we were making out on it anyway.

  His skin was smooth as I grabbed his face and pressed my lips harder, while my hands found his bare chest.

  “I fucking want you, Flower, and I’m going to have you,” he rasped somewhere between kissing me and getting rid of my dress. My breath was laboured, and I was completely overwhelmed by desire. Zach was putting my heart back together, he was taking this make-out session to the next level. We needed to move to the bedroom so I could rip off his clothes.

  His tongue was in my cleavage then, his mouth kissing and caressing my breasts. I moaned loudly, as the images of me and Arthur the other night slipped in. This wasn’t good, and Zach needed to know what he was getting himself into. Nothing was going to happen unless he knew the truth.

  “Hold on … stop, before this goes any further,” I said, grabbing his face and trying to breathe, but the air wasn’t getting in. My body trembled with overwhelming lust.

  “Fuck, don’t tell me to stop. I need to rock your world, being inside you is the only thing I want,” he said, looking at me with his dark, smoky eyes. “Trust me, once you taste me, you won’t be able to think about anyone else.”

  This was awkward. How was I going to tell him that a couple of days ago, I got drunk, let Arthur in, and we had sex? Zach wouldn’t want to touch me after that. He didn’t believe that I was easy.

  “There is something that I have to say.”

  “Nothing that you say will change the fact that I want to make you come, now, later, the next day, Maxine.” He smirked, not letting me act like an adult for once. I really had to get this off my chest. Building a relationship based on lies wouldn’t wo
rk.

  “I want this, too, but I need to get it out first. I have to tell you something very important.”

  I sounded more and more pathetic, pushing away the only other person who truly wanted to be with me. Maybe I was scarred for life and there was nothing that could change that.

  “A couple of days ago, I got wasted, drank too much tequila,” I began, rubbing my face. “And Arthur came over.”

  Zach’s arrogant smirk faded away, but his eyes stayed on me.

  “You fucked, right? That’s why he keeps thinking that there is something going on?” he asked, his voice flat. I hated myself for being so weak, for being such a worthless person. This wasn’t how I imagined this moment. Sex with Zach was supposed to be explosive, and now I was turning into this other Maxine that I didn’t even recognise anymore.

  “Yes, I slept with him, when I was hammered. He showed up in my flat, and I had no idea how he found me. Not many people know where I live,” I said. “It’s as simple as that. I got drunk and let him in.”

  He touched my cheek, burning me with his gaze, and I could tell he still wanted to get acquainted with my body on many different levels.

  “And do you think that’s going to turn me off, Maxine, the fact that you slept with the future king?” he asked, shaking his head.

  “I don’t know … maybe, but there won’t be a next time. We are done. I want to move on. This was just one mistake,” I insisted, trying to get up, but he kept me on top of him. His shirt was torn, his suit jacket somewhere on the floor and half of my dress was down by my waist.

  “I told you before, I can handle the prince. You don’t belong to him, and he is too weak to do anything against his own family.” Zach sighed and then pulled me closer and kissed me again, as if what I said a moment ago didn’t matter at all. His fingers moved down beneath the dress, caressing my stomach. I needed to close my eyes and stop acting like I didn’t want him. We had that one chance, but I got scared, now it was time to show him that I made a mistake pushing him away two months ago.

  When his fingertips moved further and further beneath the hem of my underwear, I let go of a gasp, and Zach laughed.

  “Hmmm, you smell so enticing. The night is young, and I have several hours to show you that we can pleasure each other,” he whispered, and stuck two fingers inside me. My blood boiled in my ears, as the heat disabled all my muscles. He rocked me with his hand, fucking me with his fingers and kissing me at the same time.

  Was this a dream?

  I was lost in sensations, and my blood raged with heat, shooting down my arms and legs. His fingers caressed me hard and fast. I grabbed his head and pulled him down to my cleavage while my hips kept moving.

  “Oh yes, baby, let it out. You look so sexy, so bloody ready to break for me,” he rasped, sucking on my nipples.

  When I came, my lungs exploded, my body went rigid as the demonic energy flew through the room, linking with Zach’s human soul, breaking me into a thousand different pieces. I pulled away and he kissed me, pressing himself closer. We were tangled with each other, both breathing hard. After all, I was sober, but this time around, subconsciously ready to jump into bed with another human being.

  Zach smiled and pushed me off him.

  “That’s just a taste of what you get, Flower, if you agree to fully commit to me.”

  I stood up, feeling slightly dizzy and walked over to the kitchen. My dress hung over my body loosely.

  I took a few deep breaths. He needed to tell me about his missing sister. Maybe the timing wasn’t right, but I wanted to help him, to bring her back, so they could be a family again.

  “Tell me about Zara,” I said, turning around to face him.

  He lifted his eyebrows and stared at me for more than few moments. His emotions told me that Zach didn’t like bringing her up, that talking about her caused him a lot of pain. He came here for me and I was ripping him apart. There was something between us and I wanted to break my own rules for him.

  Zach sighed and reached out for his jacket. He dug something out of the side pocket and stood up.

  “This is her daughter, my niece, Cornelia,” he said, sounding proud. “Giving birth to Cornelia was the best thing that Zara had ever done. She’s my everything.”

  I smiled, taking the picture of a small dark-haired girl. Now I had proof that Zara was alive, because I was looking at the image of her face in her daughter. Deep down I knew that I had to find Nameless. He would lead me to Zara, to the girl who was still human; she needed someone to remind her of what she had left behind.

  Chapter 24

  “To get back up to the shining world from there

  My guide and I went into that hidden tunnel,”

  ― Dante Alighieri, Inferno

  “She is very beautiful,” I said, not even knowing why my voice was breaking. Zach was fighting with himself to remain calm, and I knew exactly what he was going through. Hot air rushed in and out of my nose as I tried to hold back my tears. My own insecurities and secrets were sealed deep inside my heart. This little girl had lost her mother. Zara had abandoned her, for what? Just so she could experience the other world, experience demonic power? I didn’t want to believe that she was such a coward.

  “Zara went missing one day after a night out. She always liked partying and having fun. My mother was too strict with her. That day she didn’t come back, that was six years ago,” Zach said with a heavy voice, walking up to me. He grabbed my wrists, then pulled me closer, placing a demanding kiss on my lips. He was filled with affection, but I could read the pain he still felt from that day when he realised that she was gone for good. He detested talking about her, he hated being pitied.

  “Your uncle told me about her that day in the restaurant. He didn’t believe that she was still alive, but he was wrong,” I said, knowing that Nameless had something to do with Zara’s transformation, like one of the Watchers had something to do with the death of his partner. A higher-level demon must have interfered, too. I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions until I could investigate this further. It wasn’t fair for me to get Zach involved in my world. Emma was handling it, but he’d gone through a lot. There were other factors that I needed to consider.

  “I think you should meet her, that way I can show you that I’m serious about us. Whatever this is … whatever is going to develop between us in the future might involve her, so I want you to be aware of the fact that she is part of me.”

  I was so bloody stupid to even consider being with him. I was so damaged, but he wanted me anyway, despite everything that happened between us. Getting myself involved meant that I had to reveal what happened to me in the past, but this was impossible. Zach wouldn’t understand me, he wouldn’t get the fact that I sacrificed part of my life in order to protect Arthur.

  I sighed loudly, still embraced in his arms.

  “I appreciate what you’re saying, and I would love to meet her, but I have issues. What if I screw everything up?”

  “Then we will deal with it together,” he said, putting the picture back into the back pocket of his trousers.

  I leaned over and kissed him, knowing that he was waiting for me to make the first move. We were both in the gloom, but for different reasons. I had made some progress, before ruining everything again. It was good to know that I finally had someone in my life who gave a fuck. I didn’t count Ricky, he was always there, but Zach was the other guy who I needed to let in.

  Then his phone rang and our moment was ruined. Zach sighed loudly and pulled away from me. I went back to the kitchen and put the kettle on, giving him some space. I craved a drink mixed with magic, one that could smooth the stinging pain in my chest, but I was hoping to stay on top of my game.

  “I have to go. A girl who matches the description from the manor house was spotted in King’s Cross,” he informed me a long moment later, sounding disappointed. His sister. I didn’t want to hide anything from him, but at the same time, Zara wasn’t the same person anymore. I had to figure
out what happened with her before it was too late.

  “Do you want me to go with you?” I asked. Zach was determined to catch the thief, but Zara wouldn’t risk getting caught. She was probably hiding somewhere in the tunnels, separated from Nameless.

  “No, it’s nothing that you can do. I’ll give you a call if I need your help, Flower,” he said, and then kissed me. A moment later he told me to be careful and disappeared.

  I shut the door, wondering if I was doing the right thing, letting another human being into my fucked up world. My relationship with Arthur had been rocky, based mainly on passion and sex. There was an intimacy between us, but we were always rushing, always afraid that we would get caught. This whole thing with Zach felt different. He wanted to protect me, to take care of me like we were a team.

  When he was gone, I took Emma’s dress off and put on jeans and T-shirt. Nameless Thief had warned me to stop looking for him, but I was risking too much just sitting around and waiting for him to make the next move. He was hiding in Gjöll, sending Zach’s sister to do all the dirty work for him, so he wouldn’t suspect anything tonight. I could pay him a visit when he wasn’t expecting me. Zach was out in the field, chasing after someone who wasn’t even human. Things were slow tonight and it was just after midnight.

  I picked up some elixirs and re-read the instruction provided by Frederick during that disastrous night at the market. I had promised Ricky to run my ideas by him, but it was late. Nameless had pushed me to this and that kind of opportunity wouldn’t present itself again. Zach pumped me back into action, and I was willing to do what was necessary to protect my secret. Tonight was my chance to straighten things out.

  The voice of reason told me not to bother, that attempting to cross over to Gjöll was a bad idea. I needed an experienced demon, someone who had been in the underworld already. I considered calling Paul, the retired Watcher, but getting him involved in this kind of stunt was a shot below the belt.