Darcy felt the touch of his tongue and cried out. Her powers rushed to meet his mouth, feeding him … love, energy, she didn't know. She felt his wings caress her breasts, feathering back and forth over her swollen nipples. She sank into a world of tongue and feathers and Axel. The sensations raced through her, circling into a whirlwind of pleasure until she was writhing and panting.
And then his voice in her head. Mine, sweet witch. Your taste is mine, just like your heart. She burst into an orgasm, crying out as Axel growled his approval against her wet folds, milking more pleasure from her.
She barely started to catch her breath when he rose up and covered her body, burying himself in her with a single deep thrust. Her powers swirled, racing down and wrapping around him.
Axel jerked, his body going rigid, his dick growing harder inside of her, his back bowing with intensity. Sweat popped out on his skin. But he didn't move, just accepted what she did to him.
She looked into the hard and ferocious face of the man she loved and squeezed him again with her powers and with her body.
“You own me, Darcy.” He said the words with a thick groan and then began pumping into her, harder and deeper with each stroke until he was pounding into her with raw passion. Until he completely lost control and his hawk shrieked with joy. Darcy heard it and shattered, surrendering everything she had to Axel. The pleasure burst over her in hot silver rivers streaked with shimmering colors. Her heart pounded, her core pulsed around Axel as he came in rich hot spurts over and over deep inside of her.
And in her mind, he whispered again, You own me.
“Axel!” Hannah raced out of her room as soon as she heard his voice.
He scooped her up in his arms. She was wearing a pink and white nightgown and smelled like baby shampoo.
She threw her skinny arms around his neck. “I'm all better! No shadows! But I don't want to go to sleep. What if the shadows come back?” She leaned back in his arms to look into his face. “Key got Minnie for me! But I still don't want to go to sleep.”
His head spun with all her chattering. “Let me see your forehead.”
She happily shoved back her bangs. Her forehead was perfectly smooth with no mark. Thank the Wing Slayer for that.
“See? No mark! Can I have hot chocolate? Or cookies?” She kicked her legs against his chest.
Axel looked at his mom. She stood by the couch in the living room, tears running down her face. He shifted Hannah and held out his arm to her. Eve rushed up and Axel hugged her to him.
“Mommy's been crying all night. I think she needs a cookie, too.”
Axel laughed, holding his mom tightly.
“Hannah,” Darcy said, “how about I get you a cookie and a glass of milk? If it's okay with your mom.”
Hannah held her arms out to Darcy.
“Eve?” Darcy hesitated, her voice uncertain.
Eve raised her head, reached out, and took Darcy's hand. “Thank you. I can't believe I left you on that beach.”
Axel saw Darcy's flush. He sighed. “She charmed you into leaving her, Mom. You can't trust witches, they are sneaky.”
“Hush, Axel. Part of me knew what she was doing. I chose you and Hannah over her.” She turned back to Darcy. “You belong to us, and we won't ever leave you alone again.”
Axel saw Darcy's eyes fill.
Hannah threw herself into Darcy's arms and hugged her. “You can be my sister. Like Axel. Only he's a brother not a sister. Do you want a cookie? We can both have cookies …”
His sister's voice trailed off as Darcy carried her into the kitchen, but he could clearly feel Darcy's delight and love for Hannah.
“What happened?” Eve asked.
“I'm curious, too,” Sutton said behind him. “I can see the wings on your knife where it's sticking out of your holster.”
He turned as his men walked into the condo. “First thing, the next time any of you leave my witch unprotected, I will kill you.”
All four men nodded. No excuses, no explanations.
“I went to kill the demon witch, Linette, but she wasn't at the house of her murdered daughter as we'd thought. But the Wing Slayer was.”
“You saw him,” Sutton said, his blue eyes fastened on Axel. “He's alive.” His voice was thready with amazement.
Next to Sutton, Phoenix said, “Your wings, they are from the Wing Slayer, not Darcy.”
Axel nodded, feeling the emotion radiating from the men. They had waited and hoped for this day. And here it was, but there were still so many unanswered questions.
Ram cleared his throat. “Your curse is gone?”
“Yes. The curse has a loophole; soul mirrors. Darcy is my soul mirror, the other half of my soul, and together we are whole. Then all the Wing Slayer needed was a sign of faith from me—and going to kill the demon witch was it.”
Key took a deep breath. “There's hope for us. If we find our soul mirrors?”
“Let's go into my office,” Axel said, more to give the men time to collect their thoughts than for any real need. He took his seat behind his desk. His mom stood beside him while the men all settled into the room. He recapped the events of the night.
Eve put her hand on his shoulder. “You're immortal now?”
“It doesn't mean I can't die, Mom. Quinn Young's Immortal Death Dagger is one way to kill me. But I'm even harder to kill than I was.” He would outlive his mom. That was hard, but natural enough. Children were supposed to outlive their parents. But he would also most likely outlive Hannah. She would grow old while he would not. If he had Darcy with him, he could handle that. Knowing that afterlife existed made it easier to bear, too.
His mom smiled. “You've become the man you were born to be. You did it, Axel. You fought the curse and won. Your soul is safe. You killed the demon witch who cursed Hannah, and you're not rogue.”
Key said, “That's some deal, you get a mate and you're free of the curse. But the Wing Slayer turned your raven into a hawk before you knew Darcy. Our tats stayed the same.”
The others looked at him. They all needed some reassurance, some sign that they were as important to the Wing Slayer as Axel was. He was the leader, and he would lead. “The Wing Slayer had the wings of each of his hunters branded on metal bands that he wore. Not just hawk wings, but all the wings. You are Wing Slayer Hunters.” He paused, then added, “He hasn't abandoned you. The more we believe in him, the stronger he is.”
Pheonix said, “You believe our soul mirrors are out there?”
Sutton added, “How are we supposed to find our soul mirrors? It's not like we can hang out with the witches. Just being near them …”
Axel knew Sutton was struggling since being near Carla. “We don't have all the answers, but I do believe each of you has a soul mirror.” He met each of their gazes. “Which is all the more reason for us to try to protect earth witches. They are our salvation.”
Sutton said, “We've already started. We set up the safe house for the witches that were in the Hummer. I've been thinking about that, too, since it's hard for Ram, Key, Phoenix, and myself to get too close to witch-blood, we could send Joe when earth witches are attacked by rogues. He could get the witches to safety while we go after the rogues.”
“I'm down with that,” Phoenix said.
Axel nodded, pride in his men filling him. “For now, I'll take care of the demon witches we run across. I don't know what would happen if one of you killed a demon witch before you found your soul mirror, so we'll play it safe. We'll keep the club. You all need a place to control the bloodlust.” He saw in the face of each man the private hell they fought every day. While he was grateful as hell to be out from under the curse, he wouldn't rest until all of them were free.
Key said, “We need to find a way to work directly with witches. We could set up a system to warn them if we get intel that a rogue is going after a specific witch. Maybe Darcy can help us with that.”
“We can ask …” Axel stopped talking when the flat-screen on the wall over whe
re Ram and Sutton sat flashed on.
He looked up and went still, then absolute fury pumped through him. The camera was mounted in a corner so that he could see three steel examination tables equipped with restraints gleaming coldly under the lights. On a far wall were three cages that held five women.
They had to be witches. The camera showed the bright red blood oozing from wounds and some darker stains that were drying. All their eyes had the witch tilt. While he watched, they were chanting softly, either praying, or trying to summon their powers. But rogues knew how to shut down a witch's power with their knives, and there were other methods, too. Drugs, stun guns, anything that would create confusion.
Axel shot to his feet. “It's my dad's place.” He turned to Sutton. “Confirm that.”
The bald-headed man shot out of his seat and took Axel's place at the desk, his fingers flying over the keyboard. He opened a laptop and worked on that, too.
Phoenix shoved off the wall he'd been leaning against. “They are going to kill the witches.”
Key's face darkened. “They are taunting us. Why send this?”
Axel knew the answer. “To bring us to them. This looks like a plan of my dad's. But I don't think he's alive or he'd be on the phone to me—or on-screen.”
“It's coming from your dad's place,” Sutton announced.
Ram stood. “We can't let this happen. We can't …” His words trailed off as something on the screen got their attention. The double doors to the surgery opened. Two rogues dragged in Joe MacAlister.
“Fuck,” Axel snarled, his wings shoved hard beneath his skin as he realized they had Darcy's cousin. She loved Joe. And damn it, Joe was family to her, all the real family she had left.
He'd screwed up, letting Joe, Carla, and Morgan go back to the house. He hadn't even thought about them once the spell failed on Hannah and … He shut down his thoughts and watched the screen.
Phoenix said, “He fucking tracked her. Reed tracked Morgan, he's had a bead on her this whole time. That's how he found your safe house. Morgan had been there.” He sucked in a breath and spit out, “We slowed him down but we didn't stop him.”
More rogues carried in Carla Fisk. Her long, snowy blond hair was matted with blood, her hazel eyes wide with terror.
Sutton shoved himself up and out of his chair. “Oh, hell no. Not Carla.”
Axel whirled to see Sutton had his knife in his hand, his eyes locked on the screen. Shit. He looked at Key and Phoenix, jerking his head slightly toward Sutton. They both moved to flank the man.
Axel turned back to the screen. Eric Reed walked in, dragging Morgan by the arm. “Let them go!” she cried.
He ignored her and directed the rogues. “Put MacAlister on the table. And the witch on the other table. Strip them both.”
Joe fought them. He caught one rogue with a kick to the balls, dropping the bastard. Caught another with a fist to the chin, snapping his head back into the cages holding the witches.
Six rogues jumped him, beating, hitting, cutting until they got Joe on the table and in metal clamps.
It was a fucking nightmare. “I'm going,” Axel said.
“I'm with you,” Sutton said.
Axel turned, ready to object.
Sutton thrust out his chest, his shoulders tensed and his blue eyes fixed in determination. “You can kill me if it happens. I want you to kill me if I go rogue. But I'm taking a whole shitload of those bastards with me.”
Axel wanted to protect his men. But what had the Wing Slayer told them? Protect the innocent. He lifted his gaze to find Phoenix, Key, and Ram lined up behind Sutton.
A witch on the screen screamed. Axel turned to see her being dragged from the cage by several rogues. Reed was giving the rogues the caged witches as payment for bringing him Joe, Morgan, and Carla. Rage whipped through him. “Let's go.”
“Oh, God, it's Joe! And Carla!”
He turned to see Darcy staring at the screen, her face dead white, her brown eyes wide with horror. Grabbing her, he said, “I'll get them free, Darcy. I'll bring them home to you.”
Ram said, “The other men are coming to stay with Eve, Hannah, and Darcy. They'll be safe.”
Axel dropped his mouth to hers, a reassurance, and then they left.
Darcy stood in the modern office of Axel's condo, her gaze riveted on the TV screen on the wall. Desperate fear churned in her stomach for Joe, Morgan, and Carla.
What were they missing? Axel was immortal now, did Reed know that? No. Darcy didn't think he did, but she bet someone else did.
Her father. Quinn Young. He was in league with a demon, a demon who gave Young the means to kill Axel. He was using Reed to lure her and Axel to him.
The voices pounded in her head, bile rose in her throat, but what she thought of was Fallon. What her mother had told her. We have to outthink the demon and his witches. That's why we strive so hard to reach our knowledge chakra.
Darcy stood quietly, letting her powers work. Her first four chakras opened with the elevator-drop sensation.
Her fifth chakra at her throat opened.
Her sixth chakra at her forehead opened with a star-burst as her vision faded and her third eye took over.
Her father, Quinn Young, raised his arm, and the hideous blackened thing on his forearm bulged, raising the burned, dead skin, stretching and stretching …
Nausea rolled in her stomach and shot up her throat as she watched.
The thing burst from Quinn Young's arm in a sickening whoosh. Darcy couldn't see where it went.
Until it slammed into Axel's chest, directly into his heart. She saw her mate's shock of pain, then felt him mentally reach for her.
Checking to make sure she was safe before he died, leaving her alone.
Driven to her knees with grief and pain, her third eye went blind and her ordinary vision came back. But before she could think, or focus, a violet mist swirled around her and the very top of her head felt like it had slammed into a brick wall.
Chakra seven. The knowledge was there, she'd opened chakra seven. The violet color stayed in front of her eyes, but the knowledge was incredible. There were gods, demons, spirits; so much more to the world than just the earth. It was incredibly seductive, and she had to see it all, had to keep watching …
Darcy felt a prick from her necklace that jerked her out of the compulsive studying and absorbing. Now she understood the danger of the seventh chakra; it was mesmerizing enough that she could lose control and remain in the seventh chakra trance, just studying and studying endlessly.
Axel was in danger, he would die!
Her love for Axel kept her focused and she let her seventh chakra help her work it out, help her understand what she knew: Her father had planned for Eric Reed to send the video to lure in her and Axel so that Quinn and Eric could kill them.
She had to be smart, had to understand what she was fighting. Why did Quinn Young need to kill her and Axel?
The answer hit her hard. Asmodeus had decreed it. The ancient demon and Wing Slayer had grown up in the Underworld, where they learned that both their powers were tied to earth. Wing Slayer had created the witch hunters to bring out his god-powers and give him a place to belong. He cared about earth and her people. Asmodeus needed earth to increase his powers to survive in the Underworld. The demon had cast the curse three decades ago to break Wing Slayer's god-powers and destroy the witches and witch hunters. But soul mirrors were the loophole that would bring Wing Slayer back to power and threaten Asmodeus's quest for power. That was why the demon had appeared to Young and bribed him to kill her mother. He'd decreed that Young kill Darcy because without Darcy, Axel would never have been whole. There would be no soul mirror and no threat to his power.
Darcy understood that the gods and demons were only as powerful as their subjects made them. All their choices either strengthened or weakened the demon or god.
She had a choice. She could panic and lose, or she could do as her mother had done once before and out-think the enemies.
She had the tools. She understood exactly what Asmodeus was now, and what she had to do. If she used her magic correctly, she would save Axel and together they would help the witches and hunters defeat Asmodeus.
The violet fog dissipated.
She jumped to her feet and whirled to Eve standing behind her. She grabbed the woman's shoulders. “I have to go! He'll die if I don't! I saw it!”
Eve's face paled, but her brown eyes stayed calm. “There's two witch hunters here. I'll send them with you.”
“No.” She shook her head. “They can't help. My blood will save Axel, Eve. If I've learned what I should, then my magic will protect me. Oh, I need salt.”
“I've got that.” Eve grabbed her hand and pulled Darcy behind her. “You'll take my car. Do you know how to find them?”
With her free hand, she touched the necklace at her throat. “Always.”
Between Sutton's blueprints and the reconnaissance work Phoenix and Key had done earlier that day, they had a very good layout of the place. Axel flew ahead in order to get a bird's-eye view, while his men drove, but everything he saw matched up with what Key and Phoe nix had discovered.
Axel put away his rage at what his dad had set in motion. Whether his dad was dead or alive, it ended tonight.
He landed at the meeting place about a hundred yards from the house. The black SUV skidded to a stop next to him and the men poured out.
Ram said, “I've got a group of witch hunters on standby for cleanup. First we have to see how many witches are in there and if we can get them out.” He paused for a second and added, “Alive.”
“Once we kill off Reed and any other rogues inside, I can take care of the witches.” Axel was not going to let his men go rogue if he could possibly prevent it. “Tell the other hunters to stand down until we give the order.”
Ram relayed the order. “Done.”
He nodded. “Let's do this.”
Moving with predatory silence, Axel and his men shielded their presence and reappeared only when they killed the guards patrolling the grounds. They dumped the bodies of the dead rogues out of sight. Next they grabbed a rogue crossing from the house to the outbuilding and used his face and retina to bypass the sophisticated facial recognition and retina scans to get into the building.
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