The Fallen Hunter: A Codex Blair Novel

by Izzy Shows

  The Fallen Hunter

  A Novel in the Codex Blair Universe

  Izzy Shows

  Copyright © 2017 Izzy Shows

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Contents

  Mailing List

  Also by Izzy Shows

  1. One

  2. Two

  3. Three

  4. Four

  5. Five

  6. Six

  7. Seven

  8. Eight

  9. Nine

  10. Ten

  11. Eleven

  12. Twelve

  13. Thirteen

  14. Fourteen

  15. Fifteen

  16. Sixteen

  17. Seventeen

  18. Eighteen

  19. Nineteen

  20. Twenty

  21. Twenty-One

  22. Twenty-Two

  23. Twenty-Three

  24. Twenty-Four

  25. Twenty-Five

  26. Twenty-Six

  27. Twenty-Seven

  28. Twenty-Eight

  29. Twenty-Nine

  30. Thirty

  31. Thirty-One

  32. Thirty-Two

  33. Thirty-Three

  34. Thirty-Four

  35. Thirty-Five

  36. Thirty-Six

  Also by Izzy Shows

  About the Author

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  Also by Izzy Shows

  The Codex Blair Series

  Grave Mistake

  Blood Hunt

  Dark Descent

  Wild Game

  Grim Fate

  High Stakes

  In The Codex Blair Universe

  The Fallen’s Crime

  The Fallen Hunter

  Ruled by Blood

  Blood Captive: Origin

  Blood Huntress

  Blood Slave

  One

  There was a certain reputation that was expected of a Fallen angel, and I had been failing in my duty to keep it up. I had fallen—oh, the irony—into the trap of trying to understand my playthings, and it had made me appear weak.

  I understood that I must do what I could to fix this.

  Would you like to know who I am? I go by many names, but you can call me Malphas. There is one human on the Earth who had the audacity to shorten my name to ‘Mal,’ and she was the only one I would tolerate this impertinence from.

  That ended after a time, of course. We had severed ties.

  I was sitting on the couch in my living room, surrounded by lavish objects and delectable treats: a couch that cost more than most humans made in a year, a flat-screen television larger than was decent, and various chairs and portraits, end tables and vases full of flowers that never died.

  And the coup de gras—the humans. So many humans, and yet nowhere near enough. They were around me in various states of undress, dancing to music being played too loudly.

  This was the reputation I was expected to uphold, the reputation I had enjoyed not too long ago.

  I watched them with disinterested eyes. Their presence bored me, and their bodies no longer enticed me. I wanted to kick them out of my flat, but I couldn’t do that. I had to encourage the belief that this was who I was, that I had not changed, that I was still the monster everyone expected me to be.

  “Malphas,” one of the humans cooed to me. A human, standing in front of me, gyrating to the music. She was wearing only a bra and thong, her red hair curled down to the pale skin of her waist, and she had bright blue eyes. Her full red lips would have interested me at some point or other, but now I looked at her and wished she was someone else.

  Forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest, and I had no stomach for the other fruit that was offered to me.

  I stood and walked away from her, to a corner where the room’s dim lighting did not reach. I stood there with my arms crossed and watched the party in front of me.

  Some of their eyes were drifting to watch me, noting that I wasn’t partaking in what they were offering to me. I sighed. It was time to fix that.

  Yet, I did not join the party. I couldn’t bring myself to do that. I didn’t want to be a part of this.

  Instead, I turned my mind to the energy thrumming in the room and pushed it higher. I sent desire skyrocketing in their weak little bodies so that they turned their attention to one another. I peered into the minds of one or two of them at a time, manipulating their memories so that they thought I had been in the midst of them just a moment ago. That I had held the redheaded human close to my body, swung my hips to the beat of the music, pressed kisses down her throat and fed off the energy she provided.

  I made them think I was the demon everyone expected me to be, but I could not bring myself to truly partake. I turned my attention to each of the other humans in the room and provided a variation of the same memory. Each of them would carry it with them, and they also had the added impulse to share what they had seen with others. To spread the rumor that Malphas was back at his old tricks, and there was nothing to worry about with them–aside from the fact that he might devour you, but that came with the territory.

  People were supposed to fear me, after all.

  A body brushed against me, and I flicked my gaze to the side in agitation, prepared to dismiss the person who had had the audacity to approach me.

  My eyes softened when I saw who it was: Lilith. She was standing beside me in her Grecian gown, her golden-brown skin glinting in the low lighting, her vibrant blonde hair pouring down around her body in waves.

  The succubus who had started the trend, the only one who hadn’t come about from the intermingling of Fallen and human. Lilith was not a nephilim, unlike every other succubus who existed. She was unique, and it was her company that I enjoyed above that of all the other demons.

  There had been a time when she was a favorite of mine in other ways, when we had enjoyed one another.

  But all of that ended when we lost the vital element of our relationship: the woman not to be named.

  “What are you doing, Malphas?” Her voice was soft, and, damn her, I could hear that she cared. She was worried about me, and though I hated it, she had good reason to be.

  I wasn’t myself right now, and though I was loath to do anything about it, I needed to fix that. I needed to stop mooning around like some lovelorn puppy and get back to the life I was supposed to lead.

  “What does it look like?” I all but snapped at her, aggravated that she would push me like this.

  “It looks like you’re not having fun at your own party,” she replied. “But that’s to be expected when you don’t have the guest you’d rather have with you. Why didn’t you invite her?”

  “We’re done,” I said, glowering at her. “And that’s all I have to say on the matter. I will never see her again.”

  “If you think that’s the truth, then you’re the biggest fool I’ve ever met.” Her words were soft, and yet they stung like barbs in my skin.

  She hadn’t been there w
hen I had removed the brand from Blair–the woman I had lusted after for two years, the woman whose touch had inspired a hunger in me the likes of which I’d felt only one other time in my life. God above, I wanted her more than I could put into words. And it wasn’t just her body—not just her platinum hair, her icy blue eyes, her pale skin, her curves that had been hidden by malnourishment when I’d first met her—that tempted me, but her mind. She had been so quick to decipher situations; her bark had been quite strong. She was so headstrong, stubborn to a fault.

  I had enjoyed every moment of each of our interactions, and I mourned the idea that I would never speak to her again.

  But there was no coming back from the moment when I had forcibly removed my brand from her body. When I had hurt her so badly that she had blacked out rather than face the pain I had visited upon her. There was no coming back from the hurt and hatred I had seen in her eyes.

  No, I would never see her again. I had accepted that fact, and yet I hated it with every fiber of my being. I wanted to fight it, but I knew better, because my proximity to her had brought about something I had not anticipated: the interest of other demons. My brothers had learned of her existence, and their curiosity had been piqued by my interest in her.

  It was for the best that we had parted ways, and I had orchestrated it as neatly as I could. She didn’t know why I had pushed her away—I had seen the hurt and confusion writ upon her face—but if she had known, she might have fought me on it, might have tried to make me understand that she could look after herself.

  I pushed off the wall and walked into the group of humans, away from Lilith and her nagging. She didn’t know what she was talking about, mostly because I hadn’t let her find out. I grabbed one of the humans—a raven-haired male with a tight body—and pulled him against me.

  He craned his neck to look up at me, surprise and pride intermingling in his brown eyes. I tried not to look at him with the boredom I felt deep inside my soul, but I wasn’t sure I did a good job of hiding it. Instead, I cast my gaze down to his bare shoulder, allowing my lashes to hide my eyes. I wrapped an arm around his waist, and our hips moved together. He reached behind him to wrap his hands around my legs, letting his fingers wander shamelessly.

  “I am honored by your interest,” he said in a husky whisper.

  “Shut up and dance,” I said, all but growling. He followed the order without any further interruptions. I closed my eyes and pictured a different body pressed against mine, a curvaceous yet muscular form that carried the scent of a sharp winter’s morn with it. I imagined her hands caressing my body. I told myself it was her eyes I had seen looking back at me.

  And the picture of her was enough to bring my body to life. My blood pulsed, heading south to my loins. I felt myself swell, and I groaned at the friction created by the restriction of my pants.

  The boy purred, breaking the illusion I had crafted for myself, and disgust flooded my body. What was wrong with me? I could only get a reaction out of my body by imagining her there with me, and that wasn’t a good thing. I needed to forget her, to move on and enjoy the life I led, and yet I was haunted by her.

  I saw her at the edge of my vision, waiting for me. Before I closed my eyes at night, she was there, waiting for me. A flash, and then when I opened my eyes, she was gone again. I dreamt of her but woke up with my arms empty. She was everywhere and nowhere.

  She would never be mine.

  I growled low in my throat and gripped the boy tighter. He arched his back, his arse pressing against my groin, and I forced myself to hum appreciatively, as if I were interested in him.

  Normally, he would be my type. I enjoyed the attentions of both men and women. Of anyone, really. I preferred my men and women with black hair—she was such an outlier—and pale skin that contrasted nicely with my own deep tan. I preferred them subservient, ready to do whatever I asked of them.

  She had been outspoken. She had never bowed her will to my own, but rather worked to own my soul.

  It had been so wrong, but I had thrilled at every moment.

  Damn it, I can’t keep thinking about her. She’s gone, and she’s never coming back. Move the fuck on, I chided myself, having caught myself thinking about her again, and turned my attention to the lithe youth in front of me. Here was a willing body being offered up to me on a silver platter, but I couldn’t bring myself to partake in it.

  Instead of pushing myself further, I implanted a memory of a better dance in his mind and walked away from him. Distractions didn’t work; nothing did. I returned to the corner where Lilith was waiting for me.

  “Happy?” I barked the word out at her.

  “Not particularly, no. I’d be happy if you called her.”

  “Just drop it, Lilith. It’s not going to happen. Not now, not ever.”

  “You’re headed down a dangerous path, Malphas. I don’t like it.”

  I pulled in a deep breath and squared my shoulders, looking out at the party in front of me.

  I knew she was right, but I could do nothing but walk the path I had set out on.

  Two

  Every muscle in my body went on red alert. I could smell my brothers in the lift, riding up to visit me. They weren’t supposed to be here. What were they doing? I hurried back into the group of humans and grabbed the redheaded woman who had offered herself to me earlier. She preened, pressing her body close to mine, and I did what I could to fake interest in what she had to display.

  I needed to appear as if I cared about what was happening.

  “Come sit with me,” I murmured into her ear. I had no desire to dance, and it would be easier to appear interested in her if we were seated.

  “With pleasure,” she said, her eyes sparkling.

  We retreated to the couch, and I pulled her onto my lap. Her back was pressed against my chest; I could ignore her this way, pretend she wasn’t there. I wrapped an arm around her back and stroked her leg with the other hand, my eyes fixed on the crowd in front of me. I watched as they danced, multiple people entangling themselves with more than one partner.

  How easy it was for them to flit from one to the other. They were not burdened by one person.

  The lift doors chimed as they opened, and two of my brothers stepped out. They looked like me, though one of them had golden hair instead of our family’s usual dark locks. They glanced around at the crowd of dancing humans before one of them locked eyes with me.

  I smirked, arching an eyebrow. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” I raised my voice so they could hear me over the music. I didn’t want to talk to them, didn’t want them in my house, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I couldn’t very well throw them out without good reason.

  They stalked over to stand in front of me. Bael crossed his arms over his chest and spread his legs to plant his feet firmly on the floor. “Get rid of your party,” he said.

  Get out of my house, I thought, but I did not give voice to the desire. Temper, temper, Malphas.

  I sighed. No one told me what to do in my own house. “And why would I do that?”

  “We have important matters to discuss,” he replied.

  My other brother remained silent, merely watching me hold the girl, his eyes trained on the hand that was brushing up and down her leg. Ah, there was much interest there. Either he wanted the girl for himself, or he was confused. They didn’t understand that I had given up interest in Blair for all intents and purposes; they thought I was still interested in her.

  They were right, but I could not allow them to know that. It was too dangerous for her.

  “Enjoy the party, brothers. When was the last time you relaxed?” I pointedly ignored Bael’s demand that I end the party, knowing it would irk him to no end. He thought himself the leader of the seven of us.

  I was the oldest, but I did not lord that over them, and perhaps that was a mistake on my part. I liked to think of each of us as equals, each with our own strengths. Bael’s was being an arsehole, but I didn’t dare tell him tha
t; he would have knocked my teeth out. He was a thug, through and through, and he couldn’t be trusted to understand the complexities of a real mission.

  So, I doubted that they had important matters to bring before me. No doubt it was some petty disagreement between the two of them, and they wanted me to mediate. I had no interest in humoring them.

  “Malphas,” he said, letting out an aggravated sigh. “There is no time for this. Dismiss your party.”

  “I shall do no such thing,” I said, leaning back on the couch and pulling the girl closer to me. “As you can see, I’m rather preoccupied at the moment.”

  Something flickered in Asmodeus’ eyes, the first emotion he’d shown since stepping into my flat, but it was gone before I could catch it.

  “Brother, this is important,” Asmodeus said, surprising me.

  I had not expected him to speak, believing that he would rather leave that up to Bael. That was his modus operandi, after all. He was the strong, silent type. He preferred to keep out of things while his brothers handled the dirty work. That’s not to say that he didn’t assist when it was truly needed, but rather that he didn’t interfere in ‘small disputes.’

  Which meant either that I was right, and this was a dispute between him and Bael, or it was something much larger than I had originally thought.

  I narrowed my eyes, shifting my gaze from one brother to the other and back again.