Nightmare in Steam (Alliance of Silver and Steam Book 1)

by Lexi Ostrow

  “No I don’t want a bloody cup of tea, but thank you for the offer you louse!” He growled low in his throat as another passionate groan, Greyston’s this time, echoed off the home walls. His hands balled into fists and if he wasn’t careful he was going to be stroking himself right there in the parlor. Because when he inhaled he smelled lavender and chocolate. His Eliza had been there.

  * * *

  The brush passed smoothly through the dark red strands of her hair. It always did. Even as a Fallen, her hair could never tangle, her looks could never be anything but perfection. Angels were always perfect, always beautiful and always masters of seduction. There were rumors that she’d heard from the humans; rumors that angels were chaste and pure. A smile curved on her lips at the ridiculous thought. Even when angels weren’t Fallen, they were anything but chaste. There also wasn’t a supreme deity pulling their strings. They simply existed. Just as all demons did. They fought to keep demons from hurting humans simply because they felt it was their duty to protect those that could not protect themselves. But sex and seduction were always something they were known for before religion got added into their mythos. Along with the ability to be the perfect bed partner to whomever they were with. Because again, they simply were perfect. A Fallen Angel was no different in their sexual habits. They just felt no love toward the humans and wanted them dead.

  Seraphina was no exception.

  She’d fallen over hundreds of years ago, at the turn of the seventh century and she would never feel shame in her choice. Not anymore. She was never the most in love with the idea of protection, even before she fell. She’d wanted the angels to make the other, less important races their slaves. There had been no reason not to, but she’d held her tongue for the sake of her lover, Demetrious. He was head of one of three battle sects-angels that specifically sought out demons acting out.

  Seraphina closed her eyes and briefly thought about Demetrious. His large, white wings were the first thing she pictured. Then the strong pectoral muscles, the way his purple eyes had looked at her while he pounded his body into hers, or the way he’d looked when he laughed. The jar of sleeping powder she held in her hand shattered as the images brought pain and hatred flowing through her. Her face morphed into an ugly snarl and she threw the glass pieces at the mirror, not bothering to move as one bounced back and slashed across her cheek. The blood was as dark as her hair as it dripped down her pale cheek. She kept watching as the skin stitched itself back together, but not before a drop of blood splashed near her feet on the floor. Angel blood was decadent, even the smallest drop could intoxicate someone and even as Fallen they were careful not to spill their own blood.

  Demetrious had shared his blood with her often, not in a vampiric way, but a few small drops before battle. It strengthened their communication while fighting and gave a boost of strength to her own. But that connection came with a price. She’d felt it as the human’s stupid knife slammed into his stomach as if it had been her own. Her knees had given out and a scream had torn past her lips so loud that many of the combatants near her had ceased to fight. She couldn’t get to him, couldn’t force her legs to move. The pain ran lines up and down her body and she could only have guessed the disgusting humans had continued to jab their weapons into them. She’d felt the life drain from her lover just as the will to stay conscious left her body. When she’d awoken he was gone. Dead. When angels died they went to Hell, a special section carved out just for angels like in the nasty underworld. They simply didn’t remain long. Once their energy drained from their soul they simply ceased to be, in any fashion.

  So she’d fallen to find him and restore his soul in another’s body. Seraphina tore her wings from her back that very morning after seeing his body, bloody and broken from a bar fight that demons had tricked humans into participating in. The pain as she tore each and every feather from her back during a six-hour period was always with her. Always a source of motivation to go on when things felt too hard. Nothing was harder than falling by choice. And she’d done so for love. When she’d found Demetrious he’d been disgusted. Told her she was unclean and he would never touch her again. Rage had consumed her. She launched herself at him, had strangled him trying to wring the last life out of his soul. She’d succeeded and when her body had crashed into the ground because his had vanished, she’d sat there for what felt like days. Sat there and plotted.

  She was going to take humanity down for what it had done to her. The only way she could do that was to get rid of Lucifer and make all of the angels fall so they couldn’t stand in the way. A century had passed before she’d managed to seduce the idiot to his death and now she commanded all the demons in Hell and above ground. It wouldn’t be long until she took down the Alliance and began her reign of terror on the humans as she slowly killed every one of them on the planet.

  A snore passed over to where she stood and Seraphina looked up at the mirror and smiled wickedly. Her latest bed partner, an Ice Demon, lay exhausted on the bed, snoring. The pleasant thrum in her body from a delicious round of sex was the only reason she hadn’t slaughtered him when she’d finished coming. He’d been a willing partner as so many are for a taste of angel blood. She would let him live for his accomplishments, but only after she woke him and his tongue pleasured her from inside out to stop her from worrying if the coward Lucius was doing as he was ordered.

  * * *

  The veins in Lucius neck were threatening to burst. He’d been waiting a little over forty minutes according to the clock on the wall. For twenty of those minutes he’d been doing everything humanly possible not to stroke himself to a release in his friend’s front room. But the sounds of sex had been too much. He’d slipped into a trance, not to invade anyone’s dreams, but simply to have his own. He hadn’t dreamed of Eliza, or anyone for that matter. He’d simply tranced out to avoid pissing someone as strong as Greyston off if he’d walked down to a demon pleasuring himself in his home. But footsteps on the stairs had jerked him out of it. He was always hyper aware in those states, his safety required it.

  The footsteps got closer and he pushed himself off the couch. Greyston was almost halfway down the staircase; a small red haired female was tucked behind him, fully clothed, but still obviously in his protection. He heard the slap before anything else.

  “Honestly Greyston, get out of my way. I hunted and fucked demons for Gods’ sake, I can walk down the stairs first when you think there’s someone in here.”

  He watched, with a smile tickling his lips, as the woman, who could only be Felicia, shoved past. Greyston’s growl was deep and angry, but he didn’t get to respond before his eyes landed on Lucius. Lucius could see the visible sigh of relief in his friend. He’d never minded a visit before; strange that he would be so nervous now. Even if he had a mate to protect.

  “Lucius. What are you doing here?” His voice was tight, his eyes laced with concern and he tried to shove Felicia behind him again.

  “Really, Greyston, if it’s someone you know I’d think you’d let me walk down the stairs like the adult that I-” her voice cut out mid sentence as a strange buzzing filled the room. Lucius had no idea where it was coming from. It was soft, barely audible, but her eyes shifted at the sound.

  His eyes darted around the room, from the ridiculous lace curtains he hoped Felicia had put up to the clock ticking harmlessly on the wall above the mantle.

  “Demon!” Felicia snarled and hurled herself down the staircase before he’d even processed him being a demon was a bad thing. Her fiancé was a damned demon!

  She came at him, her body slammed into his and knocked him backwards and down onto the sofa. He did his best to shove her off without damaging her. While he wasn’t a champion fighter he was still by far stronger than a measly human female on any given day with his energy was up as high as it was after dream fucking Eliza he could certainly do damage to a petite human female.

  Felicia clawed at him even as her foot wrapped around his ankle once he stood up. Taken off balance
he crashed backwards and flipped over the bloody couch. His head rang from the smack into the floor and he tried to stand, but Felicia slammed her foot down onto his throat. His windpipe crushed under her slender bare foot and he wondered how she was doing it. His hands wrapped around her foot and he slammed upwards, knocking her backwards and off his neck. She thumped into the ground and was back up on her feet at the same time he was. If she didn’t stop he was going to have to hurt her, to scare her into stopping. Her fingers wrapped around his neck and he felt them as they dug in. It wasn’t painful like the Stranglehold Demons nails, but the pressure didn’t feel too good after she tried to stamp him to death.

  “Greyston-” his voice squeaked out, barely getting past Felicia’s fingers, "-come and remove your woman before she kills me without me getting to tell you what I came to tell you.” His vision was getting hazy and he closed his eyes, dropping into a trance when Greyston’s laugh sounded next to his ear.

  He opened his eyes and saw his friend holding the tiny scrap of a woman back with one hand. She was infuriated, her eyes dilated wide and she kept swinging her arms at Lucius, trying to land a punch. “Felicia. Stop. Stop it.” She strained against Greyston and Lucius had to admire her determination. Apparently being mated to a demon hadn’t changed her desire to fight them with her Alliance family. “Felicia he’s a friend. He’s a good guy.”

  He peered into Greyston’s eyes and his friend shrugged his shoulders.

  “Ok that’s a lie but he isn’t someone to kill. If I let go, will you let me introduce you before you go and choke his brains out?”

  She frowned and nodded. A second later Greyston slowly unwrapped his fingers from her forearm. She looked tense, ready to spring at any moment but she didn’t move.

  “Pleasure to meet you, Miss Felicia Gannon. I’ve heard a lot about you in the under belly of the city.” Her eyes spit fire at him and he took an inadvertent step back and raised his hands. “I come in peace. I have information, information on Seraphina. But I have questions too.”

  “He’s not saying anything that’s making me not want to kill him, Greyston. And who the fuck is Seraphina?” Her laser like gaze was on his friend and he wondered idly if she thought it the name of an ex lover. Luckily for Greyston she really wasn’t.

  “Calm down now, little grasshopper. I promise she is nothing to me, but everything to your Alliance. And since he’s to daft to protect himself I’ll save his arse for the hundredth time again. Felicia, this is Lucius Willan, a Nightmare Demon.” Her eyes grew wide and he could see the tension in every muscle of her body. She wanted to jump on him again, but she was holding back. “Yes he kills people. Bad people if he can make it happen.”

  She maintained her glower on his. “You left out who Seraphina is. Now Greyston.”

  Lucius coughed to hide his laugh. Greyston was a dominant, for Felicia to be speaking out in such fashion she clearly knew that she was the only one his Incubus Demon friend would ever be able to get it up for again and she took advantage of it.

  “She’s the ruler of Hell. The big bad boss lady who keeps dispatching the demons that you keep killing. And no, I don’t mean Lucifer. Seraphina tossed his arse into the pits of Hell over a century back. She’s running the game and she hates humans.”

  Lucius watched as the wheels in Felicia’s head slowly turned like the cogs and gears in a clock. Understanding dawned quickly on her face and he admired Greyston for finding such a competent mate.

  Greyston swung his gaze onto Lucius. “Now what are you doing here?”

  He contemplated skipping Eliza for a moment. Things were bad enough and the warning really should come first. Should have, but didn’t. His eyes locked on the mating mark on Greyston’s wrist and he couldn’t ask anything, not until he asked about Eliza, more specially about sex with Eliza. “Right, thanks for not killing me by the way.” He inclined his head quickly toward Felicia. “I want to ask something first.”

  Greyston looked less than thrilled as he crossed his muscular arms over his bare chest. “Quickly, Lucius.”

  “I want to know about Eliza Dorley.”

  Wrong question to ask, well wrong statement to lead with. Felicia had her forearm under his chin and slammed him into the wall so fast his head spun from it. Greyston had to be training her. That was the only answer. While her arm dug into his throat she lifted her knee and ground it into his crotch. He grimaced and clamped his mouth shut from the pain. The air whooshed out his lungs and Felicia’s face was close enough to his to bite his.

  “What about her, demon? And be careful what you say. I may not have my weapons on me thanks to feeling safe in my own home, but I can still take you down without it. It will just be much slower. Much, much slower and with an added degree of pain.”

  Lucius tried to swallow around the death grip she had on his neck and he choked. His eyes bored into hers, silently requesting she let him go if he was going to answer her question.

  “Felicia, ease up a little. He can’t answer you like that and I’d very much like to know how he has the name of the only female inventor in the guild.” Greyston raised a brow and leaned against the back wall. He almost looked casual, but the anger radiating out of his green eyes matched Felicia’s.

  He felt her hand ease up on him a smudge and he coughed, his throat raw and angry from the second chokehold.

  “You may want to let me go. If I can’t give you proof you’ll never listen to me and I’m not sharing my damn information until I get an answer from your lover, hunter.”

  Felicia made a sound much akin to a growl and let her hand go completely. Her eyes trained on his and Greyston shifted to block the door. Lucius was stuck.

  “She’s my bloody fucking mate.”

  Felicia’s mouth dropped open slightly and she snapped it shut almost as quick. Greyston however chuckled. “What’s so funny about this?” Felicia’s anger hadn't simmered a bit.

  “This isn’t something he’d lie about. Lucius is known for being somewhat of a Casanova in demon circles. He wouldn’t make up being mated and he certainly would come running, tail between his legs, with questions to the only other person he knows that’s mated to a human.” He laughed then, long and hard and the seconds it encompassed began to grate on Lucius’s nerves. The energy he'd had from his liaison with Eliza was fading and he had questions to ask. “All the same Willan, care to prove this?”

  It was his to turn snort out a laugh. “You won’t like where it is, honest.” He didn’t wait for a reply, simply undid the silver buckle on his silk trousers and let them drop to floor. He heard a distinct feminine intake of breath followed by a growl. He turned and stuck his arse up into the air a touch. “See the fucking mark, Incubus? Happy?”

  Both Felicia and Greyston were in stitches laughing so hard. He muttered to himself as he tugged up the pants. “My questions now.”

  Greyston chuckled and coughed, trying to force his laughter to stop. How Lucius wished someone had been there to laugh at him a few months back.

  “First, what did you come to tell me? I’ll take pity on your poor soul and give you a few bits of information, but we’re different species, you know mating in Incubus’s comes with a much higher,-” he cleared his throat and his eyes shifted to Felicia, “price.” He looked at the floor as he said the word, probably trying not to piss her off.

  Lucius bit his tongue, wanting to force the information from Greyston. He had the powers, but he lacked any physical prowess that could compare with the big demon and he wasn’t in the mood to fight. He wanted to find out why he smelled his mate and leave. Greyston gestured to the sofa and they sat, but Felicia seemed content enough to leave the room with a kiss to Greyston’s cheek.

  The sound of barking, almost metallic in nature, cut him off before he could answer. Banging accompanied the sound and not one, but two metal dog like creatures bounded into the room. One appeared to mimic a Labrador, the other a hound. But they had none of the right coloring and their movements were harsh. They really
were creatures of metal. But how?

  “Fido! Jessabelle! Down pups!” Greyston’s voice boomed and the dogs quickly hushed. How are these dogs? What happened to them? The one that resembled a hound slunk away from Greyston and came and rested its head in Lucius’s lap. He smiled, he had a soft spot for dogs and if this was a dog it wouldn’t get any less affection from him. The other however jumped straight onto the sofa and into Greyston’s lap. “Fido! Get off me, you tin can,” Greyston growled. Lucius couldn’t believe how far the alpha demon had fallen.

  “He is not a tin can!” Felicia’s shout came from the upstairs and Lucius chuckled. He was petting the other’s head. It was an odd, cold sensation, but the creature seemed to like it. “I suppose you must be Jessabelle then.” The cold slide of metal over his palm had him look down at his hand, it had licked him.

  “Your mated one created these. She’s brilliant really. Felicia said she’s the only one at the guild with such skill with the metal. If you look closely you’ll notice Jessabelle is alert, not just a set of motions and behaviors like Fido. She’s much more alive and it creeps the fuck out of me. Eliza was sent off to her parents, she leaves for Halifax around half past nine actually, so the contraption stays here, with Felicia’s.”

  “So that’s why I smell her. Greyston can I stay here for a few hours? Traveling in the day is rough, but I need to meet her.”

  “Excuse me? Meet her? You had to have already fucked her to have a mark like that.”

  “Yes about that, I haven’t. Not really. I was sent to kill an Alliance member. Seraphina wanted dream intel. As you can guess it didn’t wind up going down that way.” Greyston didn’t say a word and he kept going. “We didn't even fuck in the dream. What we did, well it was enough to trigger it I guess, but now I can’t stop thinking about getting her under me. About feeling her warm skin under my body as I claim her for real.” He looked down, somewhat embarrassed. He didn’t mind talking about his bed partners normally, but this just felt wrong.