Pandora's Box

by Miller, Gracen

  Micah. It couldn’t have been her husband and she refused to contemplate such insanity. But she couldn’t dismiss that the Mimicker said Micah planned to return and a few hours later she awoke to a demon in her bedroom. Called Daddy by Amos, her inner voice reminded.

  Blinking back tears, she dragged in a deep breath. It failed to settle her anxiety. She couldn’t get the putrid stench out of her nose. Worse, she still tasted his blood from when she bit his tongue. Madison doubted a bath in bleach would alleviate the smell or that brushing her teeth with acid would eliminate the taste.

  You better start repenting, Madison, or you’re going to spend an eternity with that rankness. A giggle bubbled to her lips at the horrific thought, forcing her to realize she hovered close to plunging off the cliff of sanity.

  “Madison?”

  She heard Phoenix call her name, but he sounded far, far away.

  Humming the tune to ‘Highway to Hell’, she rocked Amos in her arms. An appropriate song, because she figured she traveled ninety on Route 666, with every bend and turn in the road driving her closer to the pit.

  “Madison?” Phoenix snapped his fingers in her face and she continued to hum. He and his family should go away, leave her to the forces haunting them, before they were sucked into the abyss with her. The guilt of one of them being harmed wasn’t something she could live with.

  Phoenix kissed her, snapping her out of her dark thoughts. It wasn’t the take-all kiss of the demon ravaging her with force. No, his lips were warm, soft, yet firm enough she felt the passion he held in admirable check.

  “Phoenix,” she whispered against his mouth.

  Their breaths mingled, and he remained in her personal space. “It’s me, darlin’,” he muttered, rubbing the heel of his palm along her bare shoulder. His touch felt wicked and decadent, and suddenly she wanted his hands everywhere on her body. Once he had her attention, he moved away. “Let me have Amos.”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Madison—”

  “No!” She tightened her hold on Amos. “No, Phoenix. I can’t. That—that demon….” Her son had called that demon daddy for goodness sake! She shook her head. “Amos wasn’t afraid of the demon.”

  May Heaven damn her for the thought, but Amos and the demon seemed the best of buds. She knew Phoenix wouldn’t understand why she couldn’t give her son up. She didn’t understand. She just knew she wanted to keep him safely tucked in her grasp.

  Amos and that thing had shared some form of silent communication. That made her all sorts of terrified, sick to her stomach with dread. Taking a deep breath, she cleared her throat and changed the subject. “Demons actually exist, huh?”

  Phoenix sat on the arm of a chair, folded his arms across his chest, and nodded.

  “So, God’s as real as they are?”

  He couldn’t imagine the importance of his answer. After spending a lifetime rebelling against her father’s religion, to suddenly learn all of it might be real. Madison struggled with a fount of regret and anger spewing from her mind.

  “Yeah, I believe in God. Can’t have evil without good.”

  “Certain of that?” She’d have chewed on the inside of her cheek if it weren’t sliced in a gazillion pieces already.

  Phoenix stared at her, his green eyes stark and intense. His opinion shouldn’t matter. She wasn’t even sure she liked the man, yet she anxiously waited for his response.

  “I’m certain of two things, Madison. Death and Demons. The double Ds.” He chuckled, and a dreamy look clouded his eyes. He quickly cleared his throat. “Yeah, God’s real.”

  “But?”

  He waggled his eyebrows and shook his head as if he misunderstood the question.

  “There’s a ‘but’ at the end of your statement.”

  “But….” He lifted his eyebrows again. “I think he’s an absentee dad.”

  Madison peered down at the child in her arms and thought about his absentee father. That demon was not Micah regardless of how Amos addressed him.

  Nix finished his explanation. “I don’t think He hears our prayers, or even cares what the demons are doing. We’re on our own.”

  Sounded like Micah, he’d left them on their own too. She brushed a lock of hair off Amos’s forehead. “And angels?”

  “Oh, they’re real.” Before she could ask why he was so sure, he told her, “Lucifer was an angel before the fall. Angels definitely exist.”

  She nodded and accepted his beliefs for what they were…his outlook on religion. Madison wasn’t altogether certain she wanted to believe in God or the copious minions of darkness. Still, she couldn’t dismiss that something very wrong stalked them.

  “What’d he want?” She peered up at Phoenix. “What does the demon want with us?”

  “Only you can answer that.”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah, you.”

  She shook her head in denial.

  “I know demons,” he said. “They’re pompous bastards and love to spew their desires. Certainly he said something to you of his intentions?” He elevated a questioning eyebrow.

  Madison stared at him, her heart wild in her chest, pounding in her ears. The demon had said a lot, but none of it she cared to repeat.

  “Either way, he’ll be back.”

  No words ever spoken had turned her as cold as those. The doorbell startled her, interrupting their conversation.

  “That’ll be the rest of the cavalry.” Phoenix left his perch and moved toward the door. At the worst moment of her life, she couldn’t miss the fine way his ass filled out those jeans.

  “Madison, we’ll need to prepare you for his encore.”

  Encore? His butt abruptly forgotten, she gulped back the surge of panic encroaching on her frayed nerves. The prospect horrified her, and she wondered if a church could offer them sanctuary from this sordid mess.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Nix’s family spread out as they entered her home. Madison huddled on the sofa, clenching Amos in a grip the youngster should protest. Face-to-face with a demon half an hour ago, she was shell shocked to be sure. He’d wiped the blood off the corners of her mouth, but her bruised and swollen cheek gave proof the demon had struck her at least once. Her gorgeous blue eyes were flat, hollow of every emotion except deep trauma her mind might have trouble coming back from.

  No one said anything as James walked straight to her and pulled Amos out of her arms.

  “No!” Madison scrambled to her feet to take him back.

  James turned in such a way that she couldn’t get her hands on her son, and Amos pushed her away, too. “I’ll protect him with my life, like he’s one of my own boys.”

  Her glance shot to Nix and returned to his uncle’s determined features. Nix thought she appeared as set on having her own way.

  “Want your trucks?” James asked. Amos nodded and wrapped his arms around James’s neck.

  Madison’s features fell at Amos’s acceptance of a near stranger. Score one for the kid.

  “Come on, we’ll go get them while the old people talk.”

  Nix snorted at the ‘old people’ comment and watched Madison follow them with her eyes as they went up the stairs together.

  His uncle rarely spent much time with kids. He’d never goofed off with him and Gage as children either. James studied killing demons, not hugs and kisses. If anyone possessed the balls to snatch a child out of his traumatized mother’s arms without asking permission, his uncle was just the person. Nix sure as hell wouldn’t have had the gall.

  Madison crossed her arms beneath her breasts and turned to face them, the outline of her nipples stark beneath her thin, pale-green tank top. Jesus, garments such as hers should be illegal. He ran a hand down his face, the action failing to dispel the thoughts swirling in his head. At least she’d possessed enough sense to throw on a pair of shorts before they came downstairs. Nix had been all too aware of her lack of attire. Full breasts, rounded hips, and legs meant to grip a man with iron strength an
d hold him tight as he thrust into her soft core. Perfect. Yes, yes, the perfect fantasy for him. Madison could smoke up the big screen and turn men into drooling idiots in no time. His opinion, of course.

  His physical awareness of Madison needed to be squelched pronto because he couldn’t afford the luxury of losing his focus. Protecting her was more important than getting her on her back and his dick inside her body.

  Nix shifted uncomfortably and peered at Gage and Zoe. Zoe stared at Madison, a soft look of concern washing her features. At any moment, she’d probably be offering Madison a hug. Zoe could be touchy-feely. Gage gave him a look he couldn’t read, odd because he normally could decipher Gage’s expressions. He could live with the oddity, as long as Gage couldn’t translate his present thoughts.

  Clearing his throat, Nix crammed his improper contemplations to the back burner, slammed a lid down on them, and opened the discussion. “We need to know everything that happened between you and the demon, Madison.”

  She stared at him and took a shaky breath which made her breasts wobble. Nix didn’t notice! Okay, maybe he did—any red blooded American man would.

  “We need to know everything he said, too,” Gage clarified.

  “Everything. Even all the not-so-fun stuff.” Zo nodded, as if Gage’s instructions weren’t enough. “So we can determine how best to proceed.”

  Madison cocked her head slightly as she focused on Zoe, before sliding her attention to Gage. Not staying there more than a second or two, her eyes hit him, and Nix sucked in a breath. The intensity of her blue eyes on him, more potent than a laser beam, turned him equal parts hot, passionate, and uncomfortable. Not a good combination.

  “We need coffee.” She stalked out of the room, spine ramrod straight.

  Nix stared after her, wondering how to proceed. They needed to know all that’d happened, to better assist her. He’d witnessed part of the interaction with the demon, none of which she wanted to relive. He ran his hand over his nape and glanced at Zoe and Gage. Gage made a face, one he understood easily. Neither knew how to handle this situation any better than Nix. He took a deep breath and expelled it slowly. It didn’t calm his jittery nerves, but he hoped it would at least clear his mind enough to handle Madison rationally. “Give me a few minutes.”

  Walking into the kitchen, he watched her a moment, admiring her fluid movements as she prepared coffee, pulling a canister from the cabinet over her head. “Coffee, Madison? Seriously?” He waited a second. She glanced at him over her shoulder and shrugged. Such a casual gesture, it set his hackles to rising. “You’re making coffee, and there was a goddamn demon in your bedroom!”

  He hadn’t intended to elevate his voice, but he couldn’t control his exasperation. This was serious shit, and she acted like it was Sunday morning…and of all mundane things, made fucking coffee!

  Madison turned to face him. Her bottom lip quivered slightly, the only sign of emotion on her face, and it socked him in the gut, hard. “I know there was a demon in my room.”

  Delivered with much too calm for his liking, he needed some emotion from her. He wanted her as furious as he was over the violation. “Then act like it. Act like someone who gives a shit about her son and her own life! Fuck!” He dodged to the left as the canister sailed past his head and thwacked the wall. Coffee grounds spewed across the kitchen, leaving a long arc across the floor.

  She pitched well for a girl.

  “Are you mad? I’m on your side.”

  “Mad?” She flung the coffee scoop, which popped him in the center of his forehead. “I’m mad, all right!”

  “Ow!” God, her accuracy proved perfect with her left hand.

  “I’m mad as hell a demon has chosen us! What’d we do to deserve this nightmare? That son of a bitch turned my son against me. That son of a bitch kissed me, shoved his nasty tongue in my m-m-mouth…th-th—”

  Her voice quivered, her breath shuddered, and Nix took a couple of steps closer. Gage stepped into the room, and said Nix’s name softly, but he shook his head and waved him back out. Madison didn’t appear to notice Gage’s entrance and subsequent exit.

  Madison shoved her hands in her hair and clutched the sides of her head as if it hurt. Nix refused to look below her neck. Now wasn’t the time to be lusting after her. Only a bastard lusted after a half-naked, traumatized woman. And he really wasn’t that big a bastard.

  “If not for you…” Her blue gaze walloped him and Nix feared he’d forget his name if he stared into them while she climaxed. “He’d have killed me, Phoenix.” Her fingers traced the bruises on her neck. He’d have called himself a bastard in twelve languages if he knew twelve languages. He desperately wanted to kiss each discoloration along the column of her throat. “What would have happened to Amos if I died?”

  Madison turned and smacked the salt and pepper shakers off the kitchen table. “I hate this! Why us? Why!”

  She came at him and surprised him by whacking him in the chest. She met his stare with battle-ready eyes and hit him again. Even though he wasn’t to blame for her predicament, he understood her need to strike out at someone. Truth was, he needed her good and angry if she was going to help win this fight.

  He caught her hand before she could cuff him again and yanked her against his chest, wrapping his arms tight around her. She needed to inflict violence, but he still wouldn’t willingly submit to being her punching bag. Her anger was so strong she vibrated in his arms.

  What about her made him want to protect her? Why the desire to promise her the world? On the tip of his tongue were the words to tell her everything would be okay. He’d make sure of it, even if it cost him his life. But he knew it for a lie. He couldn’t promise her anything as long as a demon remained involved. He’d just met her. He shouldn’t feel this type of protectiveness. God help him, he wanted more for her.

  Madison’s body finally settled. She remained snuggled against his chest. No woman had ever felt so perfect nestled in his arms, seeking comfort, the way she did. He breathed her scent and resisted the urge to kiss the top of her head.

  “I’m sorry. You’re not to blame.” Her words were muffled against his chest. “I shouldn’t have hit you.”

  He clasped her face and tilted her head back. He expected tears, but her eyes were dry, seething with rage. He thought her the bravest woman he’d ever met. “Don’t apologize.”

  “I’m freaking mad!” He suspected ‘freaking’ was a pretty dirty word for Madison. Nix forced back the grumble of laughter. “If your God exists, how could he allow this to happen?”

  He could offer no answer to the question, and he settled on shaking his head. He wouldn’t pretend to have all the answers. His concentration fell to her mouth, where her tongue darted out to swipe across her bottom lip. He wanted to follow her actions, but he wouldn’t stop there. He’d lick her all over, her breasts, nipples, belly, and down her legs, working to the inside of her thighs—not going there!

  “Madison, being angry is okay. You needed the release. Crying’s okay, too.”

  “I don’t want to cry. I want to hit something.” He smiled. Yeah, he’d realized the need when she started pounding on him. “Do you cry when a demon almost kills you?”

  No, but he’d been in this business since childhood. The expression on his face must have answered her question, because she executed a slight smile.

  “I didn’t think so.” Madison pulled out of his arms, and he felt lonely without her there. “I’m just scared, Phoenix.”

  “I know.” Scared wasn’t good enough. She needed to be terrified. “You think you can give us the details now?”

  Madison nodded.

  “I don’t guess you’re going to make me any coffee tomorrow, eh?” He glanced at the coffee strewn all over her kitchen floor.

  She followed his gaze, and her eyes widened in horror.

  “Don’t say you’re sorry,” Nix said quickly.

  A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. “I suddenly find myself fresh out of cof
fee.”

  Nix chuckled and ran his thumb across her bottom lip. Before he thought through his words, he said, “That’s my brave girl.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Madison fidgeted with the kitchen towel and squirmed in her seat. Phoenix’s words—that’s my brave girl—went swirling through her head. Any sensible person understood he meant nothing by them. Apparently, foolishness could be counted as one of her new traits. She needed to get a grip on her emotions. For three years she’d locked her heart in a steel cage of distrust, and now Phoenix created fissures in what should have been impenetrable.

  More foolishness. It wasn’t her heart becoming involved, rather her libido. Not acceptable. Her son’s life lay shrouded in danger, and she contemplated jumping Phoenix Birmingham’s bones. Again, not acceptable! She’d never been fond of the marital act, why would her libido kick into full swing now?

  Gage lined the kitchen table with four different documents, each turned to the signature page. “Dominus.” He tapped his finger beside Micah’s scrawling signature, and the mere sight of his handwriting forced a shiver to crawl up her spine. “All his documents are signed as Micah Dominus.”

  “Yes.” She met Gage’s eyes, confused by the significance of his statement.

  “But your and Amos’s last names are Wescott.”

  She nodded. “Yeah. So?”

  “So, why, Madison?” Zoe asked, pouring a glass of iced tea.

  “When I discovered Micah Dominus didn’t exist, I changed our surname back to my maiden name.” She shrugged. Neither would she proudly use the name of a deserter.

  Gage, Zoe, and Phoenix shared glances. Something significant defined her words. Phoenix placed his elbows on the table and rubbed his eyes with the heel of his palms.

  “Tell me why that’s important?” Madison tucked hair behind an ear.

  Phoenix’s position remained steady, and Gage explained as Zoe sat in a chair across from Madison, an ominous frown loomed on her otherwise cheerful features. “More than one reason, actually. Micah means ‘who is like God’ and Dominus is Latin for ‘master and lord.’”