He jerked hard on the belt and Madison’s half-scream spawned angry curses from Nix. She groaned as Micah cinched the leather above the wound. Voice scratchy, she talked through the pain. “I want Alessa gone.”
“No.” Micah peered at her friend. “Alessandra stays as leverage. However, she’d be wise to cease the sarcastic quips. I’m neither angel-jelly nor Einstein. I’m much more dangerous than either.”
“You’re just like Zen. You have no sense of humor,” Alessa shot back. “FYI, Madison, I’d have gulped the Micah Kool-Aid, too. Would’ve skipped into Hell with him wearing a big grin.” That is a creepy image. “Sorry I called you a pathetic fool.”
“When did you do that?”
“I thought it after you told me what you were and that you’d married a King of Hell.”
Ah…the first day they’d met on Alessa’s horse ranch, she’d shared that monumental news with the horsewoman.
“Comparing me to Zen and calling my Queen names guarantees your death, Alessandra D’Angelo.”
“Bring it, wing-boy!”
Sheesh, her friend was too much like Nix. Too much bravado in the face of danger. Taking her into Hell would probably get them both killed.
“Touch her, Micah, and there will be war.” Madison rolled her head to gauge Nix’s progress. He cut open a shirt, placed his hand over the chest of his Sherlock victim and golden light pooled over the man. The hunter twitched beneath Nix’s touch, but a moment later, Nix moved to the next person.
“You also told me there’d be war if I took Phoenix. Thus far I’m not impressed with your warfare.”
“You thought I was dead. I couldn’t risk you finding out the truth.” She watched as Nix rose from his patient and came toward them. He’d sunk so far, he was nothing like the man she’d known before entering Hell.
“What does angel-jelly mean?”
Madison almost laughed at Micah’s question. “It’s a compliment, Micah.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, because I really don’t like what you’re doing to my friend. But angel-jelly means, if I could bottle your pheromones and spread them like jelly over bread, I’d be a rich woman.” Alessa grimaced. “That pains me to confess.”
Micah fixated on her friend but said nothing as Nix crouched near her thigh. Madison stared at his face as he unbuttoned her jeans. Such an intimate act and all her focus settled on how dark he’d become.
As Nix tugged her zipper down, he tossed her a cheeky grin, exposing the dimples she adored. “This wasn’t how I envisioned removing your pants for the first time, Mads.”
He might be different, but his flirting remained the same. “You’re not man enough to get in my pants, Nix.”
Nix’s eyebrows shot upward.
“Focus, Phoenix,” Micah snarled.
“I have higher expectations for any lover I take.”
“I am your only lover, Madison.” Micah’s fingers pinched against her shoulder.
She ignored her husband’s statement. Nix’s green gaze held hers for a heartbeat. “You weren’t so discriminating in the hotel room.”
“You weren’t the same man in the hotel room.”
Nix nodded. “Loosen the tourniquet. I can’t heal her unless the blood is freely flowing, and I need to pull her jeans down more.” Micah didn’t react to the command and Nix frowned at him. “She has fucking panties on, Micah. Now isn’t the time to be gawking at a half-dead woman anyway.”
Micah released the grip on the belt, and Nix yanked her denims to her knees. As Nix removed them, the gun wedged in the waistband of her jeans clattered to the floor. Damn. That might have come in handy later.
Micah retrieved the pistol and dangled it between forefinger and thumb. A grin tugged at his lips. “How many more weapons do you have hidden, kitten?”
He dropped the pistol to the floor and Madison ignored the question. Curling her fingers into her palms, she found relief in the pain her nails caused. The wound on her thigh spurted blood with each heartbeat and she grew a little woozy. Nix placed his hand over the injury and held her eyes as he pushed something warm inside her. All pain died out in an instant.
“Why isn’t it working?” Micah gripped her fist, but she refused to open it so he could hold her hand. The tangible presence of his fear pulsed against her senses like creepy magic. She almost hoped she died to spite him.
Nix glared at her. “Mads, release your fucking magic refusing my help.”
Madison touched her thigh with her mobile hand and lifted it into view. Blood. Red. The color of life. Her vision grew a little hazy about the edges, and her ears buzzed like she lingered outside herself, residing on another plane.
You’re dying, you idiot. Let him fucking heal you! Pandora spoke true, but hovering on the brink of death didn’t stop her from demanding, “I won’t release my magic until Alessa walks out that door, gets in the car, and drives away without anyone following her.”
Anger flashed in Nix’s glare. “Go now, Lucky. When you arrive to wherever home is this week, tell Zenny who has her.”
Chapter Seven
A bevy of emotions lanced through Nix. Mads lay bleeding out because of his error and her determination to save a group of Sherlocks that’d see her dead before they’d aid her. He should’ve known she’d try to stop him. Nix knew Mads better than anyone, maybe better than she knew herself, and he should’ve expected her to try and save them.
“She dies, Nix, and our friendship is over.” Alessa scrambled to her feet, and Nix bit the corner of his mouth to keep from smiling. His Lucky…so full of bravado and straightforwardness, all brash and not a lick of good sense, just like him before his deal with Hell. She’d cut his balls off if he let anything happen to Mads. And, weirdly, he hadn’t remembered her until he saw her. She’d been forgotten just as his nameless family had been.
But Mads would never be forgotten.
Even ashy from blood loss, she still looked fucking good. “You know how I feel, Alessa. I’d never allow her to die if I can stop it.” Which he could, so long as she released the spell before she bled out. Until then, not even his Messiah power could bring her back. He handed Mads’s blade to Alessa. “Leave before she dies.”
Mads watched him as closely as Micah did. “Why’d you do it, Nix? All Micah needed was your lineage. Why’d you accept this darkness I see inside you?”
“Release the spell and I’ll tell you.”
“Not until Alessa is gone.”
“I lied. Your stubbornness isn’t sexy. It’s pissing me off.” Nix put his bloody fingers through his hair and clamped his other hand over her thigh, hoping to stem a little of the bleeding.
“Madison, allow him to heal you. You have my word your friend will not be harmed.” Micah’s pained voice was chock-full of emotions, but Nix didn’t look his way. Her blue eyes glittered with stubbornness and hurt. He’d seen that look before when she came to his hotel room just before he fulfilled his covenant.
“I don’t trust you, Micah, so your word is no good to me.” Mads sounded tired and he guessed they didn’t have much time before she lost consciousness.
From his peripheral view, he noted Micah shifted into his angel skin. “You’ll do as you’re told.”
Mads’s jaw locked tight. “Good luck with that.” She dismissed the King by shutting her eyes. “Why’d you fall, Nix?” She sounded tired, worrying Nix.
“Ichnaday, Madison.” At Micah’s command, she sucked in a shocked breath and her eyes flew open. “You’ll allow Phoenix to heal you.”
“Bastard,” she hissed between her teeth, reverting straight back to sexy with the mutiny in her blue gaze. “Tauq pa, Nix.” Heal me.
Nix could’ve kissed Micah for forcing her to submit. Her words seared straight to his loins as if she’d said ‘fuck me, Nix,’ instead.
“Sorry to disappoint, kitten, but I’m legitimate.” Micah lifted her hand and proceeded to lick her blood off her fingers, his eyes glowing as he committed the action. Succubus blood w
as the best-known aphrodisiac in Hell.
Nix took a deep breath and closed his eyes, focusing on his power. It rose like a golden bloom in his chest and he threaded it into her. She moaned at the initial thrust, and he sighed in relief when he felt her begin to stitch back together. As she healed—slower than the others—he said, “I embraced what I am for revenge.”
“Revenge for what?” Mads sounded like she teetered on the brink of ecstasy, but he kept his eyes shut so he could focus on healing her.
Inside her once more, and again it wasn’t how he desired. The eroticism of bleeding his power through her affected him profoundly. His cock swelled inside his blue jeans and the crown pulsed. “Revenge for your death.”
Silence as loud as a shriek fell between them, and the muscles in her thighs tensed beneath his touch.
Nix opened his lids to gauge her thoughts. Her features were blank. Micah worshipped her with the fingers of one hand strumming through her hair, while slowly licking the blood off her fingers.
“I embraced the full extent of my lineage for you, Mads. In your honor, I became like I Am.”
Being a pastor’s daughter, she understood the significance of I Am. With those two words, he proclaimed his Jesus-like status.
Mads slapped him. Startled by her violence, his power slipped and wetness seeped over his fingers, slower, but physical proof his Messiah power hadn’t patched her up enough. Nix threaded his magic into her again and her jaw locked on a low moan.
“Any real friend of mine would know I wouldn’t wish such an outcome.”
Those words stung. He sought revenge as her lover, not her fucking friend. He’d hoped she understood the difference in his emotions after he brought her to climax in the hotel.
The temperamental scowl she gave him turned him on. He never could stay mad at her. Focusing on the power, he thrust a hard bead into her. Her breath caught on an open-mouthed gasp and shunted out moments later.
Mads squinched her eyes shut. “Bastard.”
For what? Embracing his lineage for revenge or giving her pleasure while healing her?
Mads opened and closed the fingers she’d slapped him with. Micah placed her other palm against her belly and watched as she turned her head aside. With her bottom lip quivering, her breathing grew reedy.
“Seems like every time I see you lately you’re slapping me.” Nix amped up the progression of his power and her lids snapped open.
She bowed against Micah. Her breathing jerked to a halt, and she slammed her palm over his, the one clamped against her thigh. Nails digging into his flesh, she demanded, “Cease!”
“You’re not fully healed.”
“I’m healed enough.”
Nix leaned forward and pressed his lips against her ear. “What bothers you most, Mads? The pleasure you’re receiving from my healing or that I’m not the goody-two-shoes I once was?”
“Both.”
He sat back on his heels and surveyed her, laid out in Micah’s arms. As a couple, they blended well. But she’d look better with him. He smoothed his palm across the pink flesh on her leg and goose bumps prickled her exposed skin. “Together we can give you more pleasure than you can conceive, Mads.”
“Only when Hell freezes, Phoenix Birmingham.”
“Watch yourself, Phoenix. She’s my wife and I’ve not agreed to anything.”
Nix adjusted Mads, moving between her legs and trapping her against himself and Micah. He gave the demon King his full attention. “I didn’t wallow in Hell’s wretchedness for friendship. You’d be wise not to challenge me on this, Micah.”
“Dear God.” Mads’s judgmental gape pierced his soul and he acknowledged she understood the depth of his fall. “You’ve become Micah’s equal in Hell.”
“Did you expect anything less?”
“Yes.” Disappointment flavored her voice. “I fancied you a bigger man than that, Nix.” She shoved against his chest. “Release me.”
“No.” Nix grabbed her hands and pulled them flat against his abdomen.
Micah arm’s circled her waist and his mouth caressed her earlobe. “You return home with us, kitten.”
“I hate you both.” Conviction blazed in her hard tone.
Staring into her eyes, he saw the weight of his sins reflected there, and the accusations abraded his regret like crushed glass against his skin. With a heavy dose of determination to see their plan to completion, he steeled his spine and shoved her words aside. He’d known she wouldn’t be easy to convince, but together he and Micah could sway her to their corner. If he didn’t believe in that outcome, he’d have nothing to live for again.
Chapter Eight
Zen arrived in a sparkling rainbow of orbs. Madison would’ve cheered at his perfect timing if she hadn’t been so disheartened over Nix’s fall. Micah’s grip tightened at the sight of the immortal. Zen moved faster than her eye could follow. He placed a finger on her shoulder and they teleported.
And slammed straight into an invisible wall inside the bar.
They came out of the teleport like they’d free-fallen from an airplane, arms and legs wide and landing face first on the floor. Breath knocked from her lungs, Madison remained motionless, assessing her new aches. Her knees hurt, along with her chin that’d struck the hardwood floor.
“Demon Lock,” Nix said, already on his feet and walking toward them. “Mads won’t get out of here except with us into Hell.”
“I am going nowhere with you two.” Madison groaned as she rolled into a seated position. The world spun like she just stepped off the Tilt-a-Whirl at a carnival. With loss of blood the only logical conclusion, her jeans clung to her legs from the stickiness. She tugged them back into place.
Zen jumped to his feet, spoke a word in his foreign lilt and Madison felt the imprint of his magic abrade her skin. Nix halted, cocking his head slightly, and scanned about as if he could see something she couldn’t. Her best guess, Zen had constructed a shield to keep Micah and Nix away from them long enough to figure a way out of the Sherlock bar.
“Phoenix.” Zen sounded way too awed for Madison’s peace of mind.
Zen had never been awestruck by anything or anyone before. She wished he’d pick a more appropriate moment to become enamored.
Ignoring the crazy spinning in her head, she took another long look at Nix. His odd powers spiked his aura in a jagged halo, but Zen couldn’t discern auras and she saw nothing else about Nix to account for Zen’s pause. The tug of her newly healed flesh protested her shove to her knees. “Nix is in cahoots with Micah.”
“She’s coming with me.” Micah took a step forward, his flame-colored eyes exposing the level of his determination.
“Not going with you.” Madison sucked in gulps of breath in an attempt to alleviate her wooziness as she rose to her feet. If losing too much blood caused this swimmy vision, she’d forego the experience a second time.
“I’ll kill her before she leaves with either of you.” Zen sounded convincing, but Madison had her doubts.
“I’m going to puke.” She collapsed to the floor, somehow managing to fall on her butt and remain in an upright position.
Zen knelt beside her and laced his fingers with hers. “You fed her, Phoenix?”
“I healed her.” Nix flattened a palm against an invisible wall and tapped a fingernail against it. Madison expected some sound from his movement—like that of nails against wood—but nothing emerged. Nix must be able to see the shield Zen threw up to keep them back, because she couldn’t affirm its existence visually, only sense the gentle hum of power.
“I was shot in the leg.” Madison blinked, shook her head as something shimmered into existence directly in front of Nix. Was that the shield Zen threw up? If so, how could she see it when she’d never been able to see evidence of any of his magic before? “What is that?”
Nix’s expression remained determined.
Micah shifted to angel. “Almost there, kitten.”
Almost where? That made no sense.
Zen’s low murmurs sounded like cursing, but he reacted a moment later by snatching her to her feet. The bar rocked and swam for a terrifying moment. She groaned, but managed to keep her footing until the world settled.
Zen’s grip held her steady. “You imbeciles, you’re awakening her demon.”
Madison sucked in a harsh breath, terror skipping down her spine in a very physical shiver. Awakening her demon must be why she could now see Zen’s power.God help me. “Make it stop, Zen.”
“It’s out of his control, kitten.”
Fear at growing more demonic grappled with her good sense. Maybe going with Micah and Nix wouldn’t be such a bad idea. She could make a run for it later. Maybe. Hopefully.
We’ll go, but there’ll be no running later. Pandora affirmed what Madison suspected would be her outcome either way.
“Your irises hold a tinge of pink. Your pupils are starbursts of red, Madison.” She peered at Zen as he explained. “It’s why you can see my protective shield.”
“Release her to me now, Zennyo Ryuo.” Micah sounded like he expected him to concede without protest.
“No.” Madison and Zen spoke in unison.
“I can get through this easily.” Nix traced his fingernail along Zen’s magic and opened up an inch-long seam. He poked his finger through it and wiggled the digit.
“If her succubus dominates her and I’m not around, she’ll be in grave danger.”
Zen ignored Micah’s statement and hooked her arm around his shoulders, as he wrapped his arm around her waist. “Hang on, Madison. We’ll get out of here in a moment,” he whispered against her ear, but to her former lovers he said, “Come through that shield, Phoenix, and I’ll blast her heart out of her chest. Good luck repairing that.”
Tauntingly, he held up his palm and a rainbow orb hovered there. She’d watched a similar ball burn a hole through Micah’s shoulder four months ago.
“I don’t think you will, Zenny.” Nix dragged his nail another foot down the shield, gripped the edges with both hands, and pulled it apart. No sound came from the tear. “You couldn’t kill her before and you won’t now.”
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