He stared at the ceiling, thinking of the fuck-nutty Fates and their confounding prophecies. It was like trying to decode a brainteaser whenever they spoke. He often thought that they did it on purpose, just to fuck with them. They were just that insane and sadistic. He thought of Briar, his beautiful giant, and wondered if perhaps he would be willing to come and spend the night with him. Absently, he ran a hand over his bare chest, the image of Briar's dancing green eyes playing over and over in his mind. For such a big man, he was so gentle, loving and he did love him. He hadn't thought it possible to love someone so much, but he would give up everything for Briar, if he'd let him. His hand moved lower until he touched the hardening shaft between his thighs. Yes, maybe a call to Briar was what he needed.
He had gotten up to get his cell phone from the other room when the intercom on his land-line rang. He picked it up with one hand and grasped his cell in the other, scrolling for Briar's number.
"Hey," Briar’s voice crackled in his ear. "The night guy isn't at the door, let me up." A chill went through him when Briar's rough brogue came through the line.
"Hey you," Remy said, before quickly punching in the code to unlock the lobby door.
"I'll be waiting, hon," Remy just about purred before disconnecting the line. Even if they just hung out and watched television, he couldn't wait to see him. Other than Celeste and Nicky, Briar was the closest person to him. He was more than a lover, he was his best friend. He opened the door, his excitement rapidly dissolving when he saw who was on the on the other side. It was definitely not Briar.
"Wait, what are you doi-" That was as far as he got when a fine red mist was blown into his face. It stung his nose and eyes, blinding him. It tasted of bitter almond. He stumbled backward, tripping over a pair of discarded basketball shoes, and dropped onto his butt on the rug. He was cursing and spitting, tears welling in his eyes when he tried to focus on the person who'd been on the other side of the door. He could make out shapes and colors moving into the entry way of his condo, gently closing the door behind them before speaking.
"You'll be fine," she said. "Just give it a minute." Slowly the blob of red and white began to shift and sharpen until he was looking into the white eyes that hovered above him. Her pupils had dilated and the crimson hair floated around an angelic face that he suddenly found completely captivating. She watched him for a while, her head tilted to one side as she removed a pair of dark red leather gloves. He thought that odd, leather gloves in the middle of one of the hottest summers in New Orleans history. She squatted down so that she was looking into his eyes, one perfectly polished fingernail under his chin.
"Lilith? How?" he coughed, the bitter taste still burning his tongue.
"This?" She spoke in Briar’s rich vibrato, which was so odd coming from such a delicate mouth. "Old parlor trick, sweetie,” she said, sweetie coming out in her own sweet lilting tone.
"What did you do?" His voice felt thick, his tongue numb and heavy. He tried to stand, but he could no longer control his limbs.
"That was just a little assistance. Don't worry, it's not poisonous, just something to help loosen your tongue as it were." She stood, straightening her skirt, and looked around the room, nodding approvingly, then turned back to him as he struggled to stand. "Don't struggle. All you're doing is wearing yourself out. Just relax and in a minute, you'll be fine," she said and he felt his muscles relax, as if she'd commanded them to do so. He was confused and a little scared, he no longer had control of his body, yet his mind was alert.
"What do you want?" he asked, sitting in the center of the room like a discarded rag doll.
She sat carefully in a chair nearby and he struggled to turn his head to look at her. It took a great deal of effort, but he finally managed. She was watching him, a smug smile on her perfectly glossed lips.
"I want you to tell me everything about dear, sweet sister Celeste. I want every tiny detail from what she eats to what shampoo she uses, all the way down to the color of the polish on her toe nails." She sat back, crossing her legs and drumming her nails on the dark arms of the plush leather chair. She looked like an emperor deciding the fate of a lowly gladiator and a chill went through him.
"I have all night."
CHAPTER ELEVEN
She didn't wait for the faun to stumble and slide through the foyer as she had the first time she'd visited this horrid place. Instead, she rang the bell and immediately burst through the front door, tossing a dismissive hand to the poor creature. He slipped on the floor, his hooves never getting purchase on the marble floor and fell near the winding marble staircase.
Lilith looked at him, confused and angry in a corner, his bow tie askew. It would have been comical if it weren't so goddamned degrading. She would have helped him up, if she thought he'd allow it. Sighing, she rounded a corner, throwing the double doors to the sitting room open with a grand flourish. She just about twirled into the room in bright yellow skin-tight pants and a white ruffled shirt, her hair in a loose braid that draped over one shoulder. She crossed the room as if she were on a runway, a brilliant smile on her cherry painted lips.
"I'm baaaack," she sang, dropping on to the sofa. She looked at the upholstery and nodded. On her previous visit, it had been stained with blood, and now it was pristine.
The Queen didn't even look up as she breezed into the room, her eyes on her computer screen, and her face as calm and serene as ever. Beside her stood the man who'd been there before, his features relaxed and his demeanor calm. The only indication that he'd been moved by Lilith's grand entrance was the slight lift of a perfect eyebrow.
"Well?" Lilith tapped one yellow pump against the glass coffee table. The Queen looked at her, rising slowly; she took her time crossing the room. As usual, she was in her uniform of white to match her snowy hair. She took her seat, her eyes cool and her face expressionless, tee-peed her fingers and studied Lilith who looked like summer personified in her cheery outfit.
"So, the last time you were here I told you to tell me what I wanted to know or not to come back,” she reminded Lilith. She held out her hand for the drink her “friend" handed her.
Lilith snapped her fingers at him.
"Hey, can I get one of those? Heavy on the vodka, light on the ice."
He nodded but didn't speak, his eyes on her while he prepared her drink. "Of course I remember."
"And since you’re here I assume you have what I need?" The Queen sipped her drink, her eyes on Lilith who smiled and accepted her own glass from the silent male.
"One would assume correctly,” she agreed, graciously accepting the drink she was handed. "Does my father know about this one? He seems to have lasted longer than the others," she said, noting the slight narrowing of the Queen's eyes, yet her cool detachment remained.
"Your father and I have an understanding. One that is none of your business. Now, about the Caelestis,"
"That's the thing though, my father is my business, which makes your business my business. So, I suggest that the next time you threaten me, touch me or so much as snarl in my direction, you remember that I, his only daughter, have his heart as well as his ear, while you only have his dick." She sipped her drink, her eyes on the Queen, waiting for a response.
"Well, it's good to see you're just as crass as ever. Now, if you are done,"
"Done, no I'm not nearly done. You see, I have found a cornucopia of information, a wellspring of all things Celeste Keegan Kent, so much that I believe that we need to renegotiate our little arrangement. The rules of engagement have changed, my dear, and you no longer have the upper hand." She sipped her drink, watching as the Queen’s pale face darkened with anger.
She grasped the arms of her chair, her nails scoring the soft white leather. Her eyes flashed, but she held her seat, and as much as she wanted to throttle Lilith, she remained calm.
"You conniving little bitch," she hissed.
"I learned from the best." Lilith tipped her glass to the Queen before smirking and taking another sip of
her vodka.
***
"So you're here to protect me from some sort of shadow plot that's being hatched by the Queen of the Dark Fae, who you believe sent Lilith to infiltrate the Collective to get intel, am I right?" Celeste leaned against the kitchen counter, a cup of coffee in her hands, warming her palms while Karim attempted to explain. He nodded. She stared at him for a second then continued.
"And Nyx sent you because she felt that enough time had passed and that I was so angry with you that there was no chance that we would end up together? And because you have this nobility curse thing you can’t lie and you can’t go against her? Which was overridden by your emotional attachment to me, right?” Another silent nod.
“And no one thought it would be a good idea to let me in on all of this so that maybe, just maybe I could look out for myself? Or at least be alert to a possible threat?" Another nod and she shook her head in exasperation.
"So you're all just a gaggle of idiots?" she asked.
Karim had to agree, most of their issues could have been avoided if Nyx hadn't tried to "protect" Celeste from the world.
"Pretty much." Karim sipped his own coffee, a smile teasing the corner of his mouth.
She lowered her cup, her eyes drifting to her cell phone, which sat motionless on the kitchen counter.
He watched her eyes shift from the phone back to her coffee. She looked like a lost kid in her men’s dress shirt and tights, her hair a tumble of curls and her face scrubbed clean. She had freckles, he noticed, only a few pale freckles on the bridge of her nose. He had never forgotten that face and he didn't think he ever would.
"Call him," he said. She looked at him through her lashes and smiled.
"So tell me about Lilith and her dastardly plan to defeat me." She rubbed her hands together like a cartoon villain and waggled her eyebrows. Karim knew that she was changing the subject and he let her.
"Honestly, I think this is coming from the Dark Queen, not the little princess.8Something tells me that Lilith is all bark and bravado. The Queen, that's the big dog."
Celeste thought about that for a moment, chewing her lip as she contemplated. She frowned as a thought crossed her mind, a thought she'd never had before. She had no idea who the Dark Queen actually was. She'd never seen her, didn't know many who had, yet she wielded power. She had so much power in fact that the Dark Prince, Lucifer himself, or Alexander Prince as he was called now, had just about handed over his entire kingdom to her. She ruled hundreds, thousands of the Dark Fae, yet no one knew where she came from or who she was.
"Who is she?" she asked and Karim shrugged.
"Never met her or anyone who could tell me much about her. I did know of a vamp who said he'd encountered her a few hundred years ago but he couldn't really tell me anything about her. He remembered that she was beautiful and that she was....all white." He said.
"Like a ghost?" she asked, and Karim shrugged.
"Not sure. Whenever he spoke of her, he'd get this glassy look in his eyes, like he was trying to remember a dream. The harder he tried the worse it became until he became physically ill." Karim remembered the look of the male vampire, his dark eyes, and his face twisting in concentration. "I think maybe she put some sort of enchantment or binding on him. I mean, he was in her company for hours yet the only thing he remembered was that she was beautiful and white."
"I take it he isn't one of the seven then," she asked and Karim shook his head.
"I do think she's behind whatever Lilith is doing. She's who you need to look out for." Celeste laughed, and shook her head.
"No, she's who you need to look out for. You're my bodyguard, guard my body. Do your job man," she teased, and he couldn't help but smile. Her eyes darted again to her dormant phone and Karim sighed.
"Calie, just call him." He'd seen the look of devastation on Nicky's face when he found Karim in the guest bedroom, slipping on a pair of sweats that had been too snug. Nicky had stared at him, his jaw slack, and his eyes wide. Silently, he spotted what he'd been searching for, an expensive leather wallet and a more expensive smart phone. He slid them off of the dresser, and then turned watery blue eyes to Karim.
"She's fragile," he'd said in a whisper. "Don't you dare hurt her again."
"I won't," Karim said, but it was to Nicky's back as he left the room. The argument had begun then and he stayed in the bedroom listening, not wanting to intrude on something that seemed so personal, so intimate, and he felt a pang of jealousy. Nicky Sky had known Celeste better than he ever would; she loved him that was evident. She loved him because unlike anyone else in her life, he would always be there for her. Many of the preternaturals saw humans as weak, Karim included. But Nicky, hurt and broken, never lashed out at her, never said things or did things that would break an already delicate woman. He saw Celeste for who she was and he loved her in spite of that. He may have even loved her because of it.
"Call him," he repeated and she groaned, scrubbing a hand over her forehead.
"I don't know what to say to him." She sighed, putting her cup on the counter. "How do you apologize for something like this? He is the one person who's never lied to me, never hurt me in any way. He's always there when I need him and he never even batted an eye when he found out what I am. He just... he's been my rock. He is the only person who knows everything about me, I mean everything, Karim. I have no secrets from him. He is the best person I have ever known and I love him more than anything." She felt her chest tighten and closed her eyes to keep the tears at bay.
"Call him," Karim repeated as he took her in his arms, kissing the top of her head. "And tell him that." He had to admit that he felt the unexpected sting at her profession of love for her human companion. He wondered if she would ever love him that way, that completely and unconditionally or at all for that matter.
"What if he doesn't want to talk to me? Or tells me he doesn't want to see me anymore? Or worse, tells me go fuck myself?" She looked up into Karim's face. She'd somehow forget how good looking he was with his smooth tanned skin, dark hair and eyes that were such a pale, cool green that it could only be classified as glacial.
"He will. He would have to be insane to not want to see you. "
"What about you?" she asked, and he frowned at the question.
"What?" Karim half chuckled.
"You managed to stay away for all of this time. Why didn't you ever try to contact me? Or see me? Where were you?" He sighed and released her, moving to the opposite side of the room. She watched him curiously, his body tense and his mind whirling. She was only able to read his emotions, not his thoughts as she could with Nyx and most humans. With most preternaturals, she couldn't read their thoughts. She'd realized that when she was with her family, she couldn't read any of them, only feel their presence and emotions. Karim, being a vampire, had a different feel to him, he was going through guilt and shame, something she'd read on him often. Then a thought occurred to her, one she hadn't even considered before.
"Karim, do you have a family? A wife?" she asked, her heart in her throat. She placed her hands on the counter top, her head down as she tried to catch her breath. He wasn't saying anything, and she felt her stomach drop to her knees. She cursed under her breath and felt tears sting her eyes.
"Jesus Christ, you do! Goddammit, leave it to me to fall in love with a married man," she blurted, then covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide with shock. Had she said that out loud? Had he heard it? Of course he heard it, she thought, vampires had ears better than canines, he could hear her heart beat from across the room. Shit, shit shit, she thought and chanced a look at him.
He was staring at her, his eyes narrowed, his body as still as a statue. He'd heard her; there was no doubt about it. He started walking toward her, his jaw clenched and his fangs extended. She could feel conflicting emotions coming from him now, anger, sadness, relief and the ever present guilt. With each step he took forward, she would take one back until she found herself pressed against the kitchen counter. He close
d the space between them, his eyes igniting, and his body rigid. He pressed into her, one hand sinking into her jet curls.
"Doosat daram. Lotfaen, daer eshghaem beh to shaek naekon." he said, his intensity making her mouth dry. "I love you. Don't ever doubt my love for you,” he’d said, but that was not a denial and her knees buckled. She pushed against him wanting to vomit, needing to get away from him. She could not handle another blow, not now.
"I'm not married, Celeste," he said and she exhaled but continued to push against his chest. She needed air, she needed water... she needed Nicky.
“I have no children. I was nearly once married but she said she could not compete with the ghost of you and that I needed to get over you before I could love anyone else. I didn't come back because I couldn't bear to see you with someone else and Nyx made sure that I wouldn't come back until she needed me."
She turned her back to him, trying to catch her breath. She felt as if the ceiling had come crashing down on her. He’d been in love with her for all of this time, thinking she was happy with another, not knowing the truth of the torture she’d survived. He kissed her shoulder and held her as she fought through what she could only assume was a panic attack. It had been so long since she’d had a genuine emotion that she’d let someone other than Nicky witness. She was slowly becoming whole again. She leaned into him, grateful for his presence.
"I stayed away because you deserved better. But I've never stopped wanting you,” he said when she finally regained her breath. It was an honest declaration and she couldn't help but smile at the irony. Karim wasn't good enough for the divine blood line. So instead of letting a good, strong and honorable man love her, Nyx allowed her to be degraded and damaged for her own selfish needs.
If she had let things happen as they should have, maybe she and Karim would have burned out. Maybe they would have run their course and parted ways as friends without all of the carnage. Maybe they would still be together because, before Nyx's interference, he had become the one. The great love of her life.
Mark of the Fallen: A Fallen Novel Page 18