Vengeance: The Niteclif Evolutions, Book 3

by Denise Tompkins

  Hellion stared at the same dark window, his eyes well-guarded.

  Darius nodded, and I turned back to Micah.

  “You’re right. There’s no excuse. He fled and he paid the price for it.”

  I was ejected off the arm of the chair as Hellion leapt to his feet. “He paid the price, did he? Tell me, Micah, what price is fair payment for what I suffered at the hands o’ the Dominae? What price returns innocence tae a child? Answer me! Because I’ve yet tae find it!” Hellion knocked the chair to the ground. His chest heaved and his irises ate the whites of his eyes as his power emitted a whipping wind. The curtains in the room billowed like sheets hung out to dry on a breezy day.

  Micah swelled in size again and he slowly stood, a faint light emanating from his skin. His eyes were bright enough to counter Hellion’s dark ones, and the room crackled with incompatible energies. Seeing the two face off, I suddenly had a better understanding of both Hellion’s powers—dark and light. It was his will alone that kept the dark from swallowing his soul.

  Darius appeared at my side, his back to the Nephilim and his hand shielding his eyes. He helped me to my feet and hissed as the brightness in the room grew.

  “Go,” I said softly.

  “I don’t think so, chit. Someone needs to get these boys to tone it down.”

  “I’ve seen how well you do with sunlight and you’re already starting to smoke a little,” I teased. “Go. I’ll handle them.”

  “I’ll be right outside the door so I’ll—”

  “—hear everything,” we both said at the same time.

  He sped for the door before more damage was done.

  I turned to find the men squaring off. Micah sported a terrifying erection.

  What is it with men?

  I clutched my side, took a deep breath, and screamed as if I was being murdered. Both men crouched and spun toward me. Hellion started toward me before he realized there was no outside threat.

  “Explain,” he bellowed as he stormed toward me.

  I flipped him off before turning to Micah. “Shrink, in every sense of the word,” I demanded, “and get your ass back in bed. Now.”

  Hellion yanked me around to face him and I slapped him hard enough to snap his head back on his neck.

  “I told you once already and I won’t ever tell you again so listen closely this one last time. That barbaric, medieval bullshit does not fly with me.” My voice was low and slow, and I looked him directly in the eyes. “If you ever lay hands on me again in anger, prophecy or no prophecy, the smell of my perfume will linger longer than I will.”

  Hellion’s jaw rolled as he ground his teeth, the clear, red handprint developing on his cheek. Part of me was appalled. I wasn’t the slapping type. Another part of me only wished I’d thought to make a fist.

  “Tell me, my friend, that you didn’t just strike her,” Darius hissed, slinking into the room bonelessly.

  “I would never—”

  “That’s not what I heard.”

  Micah had crawled back into bed, so now it was Darius and Hellion I put myself between.

  “Darius? It’s not what you think.” I put a hand on his chest, but he continued forward as if I was as inconsequential as a dust bunny.

  “I told you once that I would be waiting for you to alienate her, mate, and you’ve known me long enough to know I don’t make idle threats.”

  The two were getting ready to come to blows so I did the only thing I could think to do in a testosterone-filled war zone. I pulled my shirt off.

  I wasn’t sure who was more shocked, the men who were staring at my breasts offered up in my sexiest push-up bra, or me for having no sense of propriety remaining. Now I was not only an accent whore who got off on listening to the men around me speak, I was backsliding into the non-qualified domain of simply…yeah.

  Hellion whipped his T-shirt off and spilled it down over me so my head was half in, half out of the neck and my arms weren’t anywhere near the armholes. Darius was still staring, his eyes more purple than I’d ever seen lust take them. Micah watched it all with interest, his personal pride and joy still hopping around under the sheet like a sausage hooked up to a defibrillator. I sighed and shook my head, dropping my shirt and wiggling my arms out of the T-shirt’s armholes. It hung to just past mid-thigh on me. I could have belted it and worn it as a dress. Duly noted for future emergencies.

  “I am going to say this one time, and one time only,” I huffed, pushing my short hair off my forehead. “I’m not sure what’s going on here, but you’d all better cool it.” Darius had righted the chair Hellion had tossed aside and I sat, albeit closer to the courtyard window than I cared for. Ah well. “Everyone find a seat.”

  No one spoke and there was only the quiet rustling of movement as everyone got settled. Even the Nephilim rearranged his covers to partially disguise his erection.

  If I get to ask one question of the Almighty, it’s going to be why manly bits look so ridiculous, I thought, snorting.

  Darius choked and flushed—quite a feat for a vampire. He looked at me, eyes too large, and grinned before bursting out laughing.

  My cheeks burned, and Hellion looked up from his place on the floor between us. “What were you thinking?”

  “Later,” I muttered.

  He nodded and shifted again so his back was against the wall, watching Micah.

  The angel was silent, waiting for me to reintroduce conversation. He had no idea whom he was dealing with on this front. If he wanted conversation, I’d give him conversation.

  “So how do I kill Agares?” I asked with so much false bravado I almost bought the shit I was selling.

  “You don’t,” Micah answered.

  “Bullshit,” I snapped.

  “He can’t lie,” Hellion whispered in a flat, almost broken voice. He dropped his head in his hands and a single shudder wracked his body.

  I hated hearing him like this, but my palm still stung from where I’d struck him. The urge to go to him was so strong. I stood and stepped toward him, berating myself for my hesitation. No doubt I needed to work on my forgiveness skills.

  “Why can’t he lie?” came the voice from the doorway.

  Well, hell. Here was my opportunity to work on forgiveness immediately. In fact, screw forgiveness. Give me cold-blooded murder.

  Bahlin was here.

  I sprinted for the dragon shifter as hard as I could. Only Darius was close enough, and fast enough, to stop me. He tackled me, dragging me to the floor. My stitches pulled threateningly, so I didn’t fight him…too much.

  “Mi amore,” he murmured into my ear, the cool wash of his breath breaking me out in goose bumps. “Listen to me. He’s as good as dead if you say so in this room, but be sure it’s what you want. He’s committed no crime.”

  The truth of his words was a sucker-punch to the gut. I gasped and looked up at Darius who lay across me, one leg draped across my thighs and his arms wrapped around my body. It looked casual enough, but the steel strength with which he held me was telling.

  “No,” I answered, turning my face to Darius’s. “There’s really no crime.”

  His eyes were the deep purple of the night sky and my breath caught. One of his hands loosened and stroked down my side at the same time he shifted over me, settling himself between my thighs.

  I arched into his touch, eyes widening as his nostrils flared and he began to lower his lips to mine.

  “Hellion,” I breathed out gently.

  Darius froze. He stood as gracefully as a marionette whose strings were pulled tight.

  “I wondered if either of you would remember I was here and, you know, stop,” Hellion said, clearly stung.

  Darius turned to him and dropped his head. “Hellion, my friend, I owe you a sincere apology. I’ve no idea what came over me.”

  Bahlin stepped across the floor and offered me a hand up. I looked at it then scrambled to my feet on my own.

  “Maddy?” Confusion drew his brows together.

>   I shook my head, watching Darius and Hellion closely.

  Hellion pushed himself to standing and the two friends faced each other. “Why, Darius?”

  “I truly don’t know, mate. She just suddenly smelled so good, and I…” He cleared his throat. “Clearly I lost my head. Please, forgive me.”

  “Once,” Hellion said. “I’ll forgive you once, based on your nature.”

  Darius’s spine stiffened at the words and he raised his head to meet Hellion’s stare. “A nature you’ve never lorded over me before.”

  “There’s never been need.”

  I’d had enough. I pushed past Bahlin and stepped between the vampire and the magus. “This nonsense ends, right now, and I’m talking about the bullshit happening between you, not the friendship. Clearly something abnormal just happened, something we’ll have to figure out, but it’s not entirely Darius’s fault.”

  “So you felt something too, then?” Hellion asked.

  “I’ll admit I was taken weird for a moment.”

  Micah stood up from his lounging position on the bed and my eyes shifted to the same manly bits I’d mocked moments before. They were soft but still large, and he angled himself to best show them off. I had to drag my eyes to his face, but I was slow making the trip.

  “Please, gentlemen, there are greater powers at work here. Darius is truly not at fault, Hellion,” Micah said in a gentle voice.

  “I’ll let this go once,” Hellion said, looking between us before turning toward the Nephilim, “but you’ll clear this mess up once we’re up to speed on Agares. He has to be the priority.”

  “Who’s Agares?” Bahlin asked and the entire room’s attention shifted back to him. I think we’d all sort of forgotten he was here.

  “Say the word, Madeleine,” Hellion growled, a new outlet for his anger suddenly available.

  I shook my head and walked to Hellion’s side, slipping my hand into his. He held it, but it was neither smooth nor comfortable. Crap. The weirdness with Darius was going to cause problems. I squeezed his hand tighter but still his response was neutral. Suddenly my brain just overloaded.

  “I’m going to give every man here fifteen minutes to get his personal shit together.” I turned to each man as I spoke. “Micah, get some damn clothes on. Darius, step outside, find a vein, grab a smoke, whatever you need to do to gain a little perspective. Bahlin, go to the parlor, roll up the carpet on the floor and give it to Mark and Stearns to dispose of. Hellion, you and I are going to the library. You guys meet us there in fifteen.” No one moved, and I felt that familiar tic forming behind my right eye. “Move, damn it!”

  Slowly but surely, they started for the door.

  I pulled Hellion across the first floor, up the stairs and into the library, slamming the door behind us.

  As soon as we were inside, he jerked his hand from mine and moved to pour himself a drink. “What do you want, Maddy?”

  I did the best I could to hide the hurt. “Nothing is going on between me and Darius other than a flirtatious friendship.” I followed him to the sideboard and poured myself a good two-fingered shot, throwing it back and hissing as the artificial heat spread down my throat, through my belly and out my limbs. Rolling the glass between my palms, I said, “He had the opportunity to press his advantage the other night while you were at Ballinlough Castle. He didn’t. He’s been nothing but a friend, so get that idea right out of your head. Capiche?”

  “And this is what you would have me believe? Despite what my own eyes saw, you want me to believe you’re only friends?” His words were caustic. He sank into the couch, never looking at me.

  “I won’t fight with you over this. I’ve never given you reason to doubt me. It was a wonky moment and it’s over.” Sitting on the sofa table across from Hellion, I set my glass down by my side and leaned forward. He watched me warily. “We talked about this before. You can’t keep punishing me for Gretta’s actions, particularly her infidelity.”

  He closed his eyes and took a shuddering breath. “You’re right. Of course you’re right. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” He reached behind him and pulled out the thong holding his hair, dropped it into a glass dish and massaged his scalp. “It was like I couldn’t think reasonably for a moment.”

  The panic in my chest thawed a bit.

  “I don’t distrust you, love.” He pulled me off the sofa table and settled me next to his side, dropping an arm over my shoulder as I snuggled into him.

  I was staring out the window when a light speared the night sky, fast and blinding. Footsteps pounding up the stairs sounded just before the library door crashed in.

  Micah, pale and sweating, had found a pair of Hellion’s jeans. “The Dominae,” he gasped. “They’re close.”

  Hellion surged off the sofa. “Where?”

  “Zadkiel’s call just went out. He’s in trouble.”

  “Where is he?” Hellion demanded.

  I was already up and moving. “A light just shot up that way. Didn’t you see it?”

  Hellion shook his head but followed me from the room. “Wasn’t looking. You’re armed?”

  “No.” I looked back to find him turning back to the safe in the library.

  He retrieved a Colt 1911 like the one I’d been practicing with. “Take this.”

  I palmed the familiar weight and we started down the steps. “Bahlin!” I shouted. I’d have to kill him later. His dragon might come in handy if there was a fight.

  He came out of the downstairs sitting room. “Yeah?”

  “Trouble. C’mon.” I jogged to the front door. “Probably fastest to cross through the neighborhood.”

  “We can fly.” Bahlin looked at me with speculation, clearly judging whether or not I was a threat since I was armed.

  “Fine. Outside.”

  Bahlin shucked his clothes without even blinking and began to shift as he cleared the doorway, his cloaking ability hiding him from any peering eyes.

  “You’ll need to stick close if you want him to keep you inside the spectrum of invisibility he creates.” I felt my way along Bahlin’s side. An unfamiliar ache settled in my throat as I remembered my last ride with him. Shaking it off, I used his elbow to scramble up.

  Hellion followed, snugging in close.

  “To the east, maybe three blocks.” I stroked his neck. “Hurry.”

  Bahlin’s wings unfurled and we were air-born between heartbeats. His tail whipped the tops of trees as we rose. Sweeping back and forth, he kept an eye on the ground and generally ignored us.

  “Never thought he’d impress me,” Hellion muttered.

  Bahlin snorted.

  “Nothing like it.” I leaned forward, every hair on my body standing on end. “There.”

  Banking hard, Bahlin dropped like a stone. His wings beat furiously, stirring up the detritus of the alleyway where the confrontation had broken down to the most fundamental form of conflict—life or death.

  I leapt from Bahlin’s back before he’d completely landed and sprinted toward the fight. Hellion’s curse was inconsequential. He’d be behind me with Bahlin backing us both up.

  The Dominae had the fallen angel, Zadkiel, down and was beating him senseless. Every time he tried to rise, the Dominae would deliver another punishing blow that drove him back to the ground. A vicious kick to the jaw had Zadkiel spitting blood and broken teeth.

  “Hey,” I shouted, leveling the gun at the Dominae.

  He turned with exaggerated care, a slow blink preceding his wide grin. “Madeline Niteclif. Agares said to expect you.” The demon was nearly as wickedly attractive as Agares. Nearly.

  Zadkiel was doing his best to drag himself away.

  The Dominae turned back and, from nowhere, pulled a sword.

  “Don’t,” I ordered, squeezing the grip and disengaging the safety.

  “Mind’s already made up.” He kicked Zadkiel hard enough to flip him over and ran the sword through his thigh, effectively pinning him to the ground.

  The Nephi
lim cried out, raising violently shaking hands to the wound.

  I shot the Dominae in the back of the head.

  Blood and brain and bone exploded from his forehead. He collapsed in a near boneless heap next to the pinned Nephilim, his fingers spasming.

  “I said, don’t.” I took a step forward, gun still raised.

  Wraiths appeared at the same time a second Dominae cleared the shadows. “Agares said to expect that too.” He spared a brief glance at Zadkiel before shifting his attention back to me. “I have a message for you.”

  “Should’ve used Western Union. Or a candy-gram. I would’ve been more receptive.” Lactic acid buildup in my arms made them ache. I dropped the weapon only to raise it again when he took a step toward me. “Leave the fallen angel.”

  “Agares wants you to know you’re in for a world of hurt, Hellion.” He grinned revealing serrated teeth that belonged in no human mouth. “Come with me now and she’ll be spared.”

  “Move and I’ll shoot you in the foot.” I didn’t even look at Hellion as I issued the threat.

  “Maddy—”

  “He’s lying.” I squeezed the grip, disengaging the safety again.

  The Dominae tossed his head back and laughed. “You’d be signing your own death warrant if Asmodeus hadn’t a use for you.”

  I was confused. “Agares is our issue, you son of a bitch.”

  “Oh, lovey, you have no idea what’s in store for you.” He looked at Hellion appraisingly. “Both of you.”

  Bahlin, crouched low, moved forward.

  The Dominae arched a brow and inclined his head in the direction of the dragon. “Keep your lizard on his leash or I’ll make this hurt worse.”

  “Walk away,” I warned.

  “Not in my nature.” The wraiths went preternaturally still, hovering like a memory that was just out of reach. “Collect.”

  They dove for Zadkiel.

  He screamed for mercy.

  Horrified, I took my eyes off the Dominae.

  The wraiths either couldn’t hear him or they didn’t care. As one, they funneled through his mouth, exploding from every physical opening, creating new ones where there were weak spots—eyes in particular. Rising and diving again and again, they appeared to rip him apart from the inside out.