Hell's Phoenix

by Gracen Miller

  Did she plan to use it against him? “My angel name is Beliel.”

  Madison’s eyes widened just a fraction and her mouth parted. What aspect of his name shocked her? That he gave it freely? Or his biblical identity? Because he wasn’t an angel to be fucked with lightly.

  “Beliel is a powerhouse in Hell.”

  Phoenix stroked her hair. “Beliel is a god, baby.”

  Madison shot Phoenix a grimace, but Micah ignored him.

  “How do you feel about that, kitten?” He hoped his status excited her.

  “Your seraph will make me stronger.”

  Not a direct answer, but at least she recognized the immensity of his power.

  “Zen says he couldn’t kill you. Is that because your seraph is so strong?”

  “It’d be a lot easier to answer all your questions by giving you what you desire.”

  Madison gnawed on the inside of her bottom lip, contemplating him. “In order to acquire your seraph I have to accept the renewal of our marriage vows.”

  Micah nodded. Madison stared at him a long while as souls screeched in the background. He couldn’t begin to assess her thoughts, which disturbed him. He’d read her easily before leaving her.

  “A very high cost for a man I cannot bring myself to trust.”

  “I’ve given you many reasons to lose faith in me, Madison.” No question he had. All his decisions were based on the prophecy that said she’d either be his biggest triumph or his downfall. But she’d never align with him until she faced a life without him at her side. Because of the divination, he’d been forced to leave her. “Gifting you my seraph will leave me raw and exposed beneath your regard, while providing you a reason to trust me again.”

  “Empty words, Micah, if you’re lying to me.”

  He inclined his head. “Fair enough. Consent to my sigil and I’ll give you a taste of my seraph for you to make a more informed decision.”

  “Consent granted.”

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Zen had no idea how to handle Amos’s despondency. He’d spoken one word since waking—“Momma”—before slipping into a catatonic state.

  Alessandra and Zoe both tried to cajole him into communication, but he curled into a tighter ball on the sofa and retreated into himself. Gage patted his head like he would a puppy dog and offered up food like they were bits of treats.

  Georgie sat beside him, gripping his hand, offering support even though he resided in some unknown vacuum. James had stormed out thirty minutes before when Georgie refused to relay anything of her vision concerning Phoenix. Gage had gone after his dad to try and calm him down.

  Zen didn’t have the time or patience to worry about the humans’ emotions. Madison and Amos were his only concerns. Georgie’s newest visions wavered between two outcomes. In the worst of the two, the world would buckle to a new religion and Nix would become a favored prophet. In the other, Nix was saved, but a new religion came to power anyway. He wanted a prophecy that involved Madison’s salvation.

  He rubbed his thumb across the crystal in his pocket. Amos remained asleep, unable to give him his opinion of the future, so he fumbled with varying outcomes, hard choices he wanted no part of. Giving Madison time to pull her act together went against his purpose, but he couldn’t bring himself to snap the crystal containing her soul either. Not when he preferred to put his faith in Madison’s humanity and her near-inhuman strength of will.

  Zen moved away from his stance in the corner of the room. “Are you getting anything off him, Georgie?”

  “No. It’s as if he’s not here.” She swallowed, a nervous bob flicking in her throat. “I’m getting no signature of his soul at all. And haven’t since I sat down with him.”

  Zen had a sneaky suspicion the child’s soul had exited his body. Soul-walking was rare, but he’d run across a few that could detach from their bodies and skulk about, unknown to the average mortal. And Amos had already proven he could dream-walk. The two talents typically went hand-in-hand.

  “Petra, you and he talk telepathically, so touch him and tell me what you see.”

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Unsure how to proceed, Madison focused on Micah and what he offered. Renewing her marriage vows with him was so far off her list of okays, she couldn’t decide the best way to convince him she were on his side without granting him what he asked for. Asking for his angel spirit had surprised her, but slurping his blood had forced her to deviate from normal reactions.

  Perceptions clear for the moment, she wished she could wash away the grime her sexual reactions left behind. It mattered little that her response was innate to her demon. There’d be no help coming from Nix, either. He was even more out of sync with reality than she was. She understood the need for his ‘lucky charm’ more now than ever. She’d allowed Nix to touch her, proof she teetered on the edge of full-fledged demonic control. No way could she deliver him to safety in her present condition.

  Knees shaking so hard she could barely sustain her weight, she leaned against the wall of the pool. Unless she got her demon under control, Hell would become her permanent residence.

  Her pussy pulsed from the memory of Nix’s fingers inside her. Her body hummed with strength, all thanks to the blood she’d consumed and continued to absorb. She wanted more. No denying, she wanted Micah’s seraph. Bad. She feared ingesting it would be the first step to Hell owning her soul.

  Accepting Micah’s offer would be an unwise move, but she needed to try something and this—she gasped at the stinging on her forearm. Peering at her arm, she watched Micah remove his hand. He’d branded his sigil into her flesh. Marked by her demon husband, with her consent.

  Goodbye sanity!

  Magnificent heat snaked through her and Madison bit back a scream of joy. Micah watched her, his blue stare intense. A film of white hazed her sight and everything dimmed.

  The urge to copulate and enthrall grew difficult to resist. Pandora scuttled out of notice—odd—and crumpled into a tight protective ball.

  Can I claim Pandora power as my own?

  Pandora shuddered. I’ll be good. Swear!

  Scant seconds of dining on Micah’s offering and she understood her demonic DNA with clarity. Lynx wanted power and it recognized Pandora as just that, while her baser succubus needed sexual release.

  The transfer disconnected and Madison blinked at the sudden loss. Micah’s gaze remained on her. Phoenix muttered, “Fuck me.”

  With no idea what Nix’s curse implied, Madison rasped out, “More.”

  “Not without your commitment to our marriage.”

  Damn him! He couldn’t ask her to give him everything. She’d already done that once and he’d crushed her affections when he walked out on her. She wouldn’t trust him with her heart. Not ever again.

  Goddamn him for demanding everything he once had!

  Madison smacked Micah and he offered her a slow, sexy grin that did crazy things to her libido.

  “A word of warning, Madison. You strike me again and I’ll consider it sexual foreplay.”

  Half of her wanted to hit him again to see if he spoke true. The other half refused the challenge.

  “Just a fraction of your seraph and there is hardly any blue remaining.” Nix kneaded her neck.

  Madison watched Micah. He had what she wanted.

  “Your power began the process in the Sherlock bar. If I’d realized she needed my angel magic to mature her Lynx, I’d have given it to her years ago.”

  “Give me more.” She slammed her hand down over his that remained on her wrist. “Now!”

  “You know how you can receive more, kitten.”

  “No.” Madison whimpered and shook her head. “Don’t want to trust you.”

  “Allow me to give her what she wants.” Phoenix shifted his hand into the fine hair at the base of her scalp and angled her head back and to the side, forcing her to look at him. “Want my power, baby?”

  “Yes.” She couldn’t get the word out fast enough.
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br />   “I don’t know about that.” Micah’s thumb circled his sigil on her wrist, irritating the wounded flesh.

  “Fuck her with your fingers while I feed her, Micah.”

  “No!” No way would she allow what he suggested. Madison shoved at Nix’s chest, but he stepped nearer, wedging her between the men and the wall.

  “I touched your power in the Sherlock bar, Mads. I feel how hungry you are for power and pleasure.”

  Unable to meet Nix’s eagle eyes, Madison focused on his chin and shook her head. She wanted both, but wouldn’t admit it.

  “Liar,” Nix whispered.

  She squeezed her eyelids shut. Being trapped against the wall by them made it harder to resist her instinct.

  “Look at me.”

  “No, Nix.”

  “I want you to look at me as I enter your body.”

  Shocked, her eyes snapped open. The moment their gazes touched, his power penetrated her.

  Madison moaned at the flavor of his messian, so different from Micah’s. Pure, with only a smidge of taint. She liked both, wanted both. Need both!

  “Just like in the hotel room,” Nix said, watching her. “Staring into your eyes while my fingers were inside you, now it’s my power.”

  Lost in the pleasure, she grabbed his head and pulled him down for a kiss. Nix embraced her as slowly as he fed her his mojo.

  Warm kisses were placed against her shoulder. Micah the only logical source since she feasted on Nix. A palm spread across her abdomen and glided lower. She tried to say ‘no’ against Nix’s lips, but his grip in her hair kept her from breaking free. She gasped into his mouth as fingers penetrated between her thighs.

  Petra, I need your help. I don’t know what to do. Tears hit her cheeks. I don’t know what to do. Silence greeted her plea to Petra.

  You know exactly what to do, a new seductive voice startled her. Lynx. Pandora cowered in her box, trying to drag the lid back on.

  Zen? She threw up a mental visual of rapping on his skull, but received no response.

  The loss of Zen’s support left her alone and helpless, distrusting herself to make the right choices. She didn’t realize how much she’d leaned on him until now.

  She turned her head aside, severing her kiss with Nix. Scrunching her eyes, she panted as Micah’s fingers—she knew they were his, and with the emergence of her demon failed to care—thrust inside her, while Nix’s power coalesced through her.

  “I want it all,” she said to Pandora.

  The entity shook inside her.

  “Can’t give you all of it, baby,” Nix said, misunderstanding her statement.

  Madison dipped her hand beneath the surface of the blood and ran her palm down Micah’s arm. “Don’t stop, Micah.”

  Micah chuckled. “No plans to cease, kitten.” A touch more pressure to her clitoris and he quickened the pace of his fingers. A ripple shivered from her core and she ground down against him.

  Doused in Nix’s golden power, Madison climaxed with Micah inside her and his thumb on her clit. Micah smiled with satisfaction. A minute frown came and went across Nix’s forehead.

  Nix slowed the stream of his messian until it disappeared. Its departure left her hollow, bereft. He captured her face between his hands and kissed her as Micah removed his fingers from her body.

  Stunned by what she’d allowed to transpire among the three of them, after Nix’s kiss, she accepted Micah’s without complaint.

  Dear God! What have I done?

  Accepted power to do what we gotta do, the new voice said smugly. But we’re not complete yet.

  The impact of their stares could’ve been felt in another time zone, but she refused to look at either of them. Her hands shook as she dragged them down her face.

  “You came with me inside you, Madison.” Madison flinched at Micah’s silky-smooth voice. Her gaze whiplashed to his as his thumb traced her collarbone. “We were good together once before. That’s proof hope remains for us.”

  Horror sliced through her breastbone so savagely, she rubbed her fist there and expected to discover a wound. “Oh. My. God.”

  Nix tugged her head back and she hid from him by shutting her eyes. She couldn’t bear to witness his smug expression.

  “Look at me, Mads.”

  “Fuck you, Nix.”

  He ran his knuckles down her throat and she shivered from the caress. How galling to be affected by him like always. Her reaction pissed her off.

  “Mads….” Nix’s voice sounded gruff and concerned. “Are you embarrassed by what just happened?”

  Her eyes snapped open and she glared at him. Power corkscrewed off everything in sight. She shouldn’t be seeing it. She didn’t want to see it, so she tried to ignore the telltale signs.

  What have I done? His power had ignited the release of her Lynx in the Sherlock bar. This dose of his mojo had her head swimming like she’d swigged forty Red Bull shooters nonstop. Taking on the world—or overtaking Hell—seemed possible and…fun.

  Just a little more power and we’ll run this show. Madison shook her head. She didn’t wish to run any show, but the idea of controlling something for a change was a very powerful temptation. With Lynx at full strength, she could save Nix from Hell.

  Idea, Madison, Lynx’s voice, enthrall Nix and ingest all of Pandora. Talk about power. Mmm….

  No! That was an emphatic no.

  Lynx tsked. If he’s enthralled, Micah can’t control him.

  Madison blinked at the logic. If she executed this new plan, she could order Nix out of Hell and Micah couldn’t stop her. Except as King he could command me to force Nix back to heel.

  Lynx groaned. Hadn’t thought about that. We can out think him; we just gotta accept one another.

  I won’t give you unlimited control.

  “Why are her eyes doing that?” Nix asked, and she focused on him and not the magic about the room.

  “What are they doing?”

  “Flicking back and forth between Lynx and human.” Nix thumbed the corner of one eye, watching her.

  “She’s in a state of unrest, the middle ground between accepting her inner demon and attempting to remain wholly human.” Micah knelt to whisper against her ear. “You cannot deny your demon, Madison. You are Lynx. Embrace it and eliminate your human weakness.”

  He’s right, Lynx muttered.

  I will not go demon! She’d worked too hard to resist, only to lose the fight at the most important moment of Nix’s life.

  While I love the idea of being on top all the time, I think our crystal genie’s keeping-the–balance-of-power idea will make us stronger. Madison waited to hear what Lynx suggested. Blend into one cohesive unit, accepting the best from each of us.

  In other words, both parts of her psyche would unite. Become one. An altogether different breed of demon than Micah had planned.

  The idea terrified her, but also presented hope. She peered into Nix’s green eyes. He’d fallen for her, embraced this vileness as revenge for her supposed death. Even though she was unappreciative of his sacrifice, and could not understand his logic, she owed him.

  Madison yanked Nix’s hand out of her hair. She sent her husband a hard glare and scrambled over the edge of the bloody tub, away from them and their power that muted her focus.

  She collapsed on her hands and knees, quaking with the need to evolve. Sitting, she clenched the sides of her head as Micah and Nix climbed out of the tub. Blood dripped all over the tormented skin-stitched floor. The squishiness of it creeped her out, but she ignored it for sanity’s sake.

  The men approached as a united front. Nix watched her carefully, as if he expected her to bolt. Not that she had anywhere to go until Nix gained safety. Micah’s smug expression told her all she needed to know. He believed he’d already won the war. She worried he had and couldn’t stop shaking at the idea of embracing her genetics.

  Micah offered his hand and she glared at it. “Come, let’s wash the blood off, kitten.”

  The blood absor
bed into her skin like lotion and other than the greasy feel it left behind, she had no need to shower away anything. They were the only two wearing blood.

  Madison shook her head. She wasn’t going anywhere with them.

  Micah touched her hand and she fought back girly style, kicking and slapping at his hands, a breath away from giving into hysteria. She shoved backward on her butt away from him. “Don’t touch me!”

  “You try, Phoenix. She’s more responsive to you.”

  “Touch me and I promise you will fucking regret it, Phoenix Birmingham.” She asserted that vow with conviction through every pore of her body, even down to her bare blue-painted toenails.

  Micah crouched in front of her, his hands casually linked between his outstretched knees. “Kitten, your shirt and panties are caked in blood. Your hair is matted. We need to shower.”

  “Hell has showers?” She couldn’t wrap her brain around the possibility.

  He nodded, an amused smile curling his lips. “Yes. Hell invented most of the human luxuries.”

  A laugh bubbled up into her throat. The irony. She could boil her skin away and she’d still feel unclean. No amount of clean water would erase her humiliation at what she’d let them do. And she possessed plenty enough skills to have stopped them had she wanted.

  “Now is not the time to crack, Madison,” Nix said.

  She looked at him. A spark of regret or uncertainty, maybe both, shifted beneath his expression. Too late for either of those emotions.

  She clenched Amos’s soul, dangling from the necklace. His energy, vibrating against her palm, lent her a modicum of sanity. She had to be strong for him. She let mutiny harden her voice. “I’ll crack when I want to crack. I shower alone.”

  “No. You’re not getting out of my sight.”

  “I’m sure as shit not showering with you two, Micah.” Most definitely not after what happened in that bloody vat!

  “I promise not to touch you.” Micah skipped his fingers over hers, touched Nix’s band, still on her thumb. “I will not touch you, unless you ask it of me.”