by Sadie Moss
WICKED GAME
Feathers and Fate #2
SADIE MOSS
Copyright © 2020 by Sadie Moss
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, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
For More Information:
www.SadieMossAuthor.com
For updates on new releases, promotions, and giveaways, sign up for my MAILING LIST.
CONTENTS
1. Trinity
2. Trinity
3. Trinity
4. Trinity
5. Trinity
6. Ryland
7. Trinity
8. Phoenix
9. Trinity
10. Trinity
11. Beckett
12. Trinity
13. Trinity
14. Sawyer
15. Trinity
16. Remington
17. Trinity
18. Trinity
19. Ford
20. Trinity
21. Trinity
22. Trinity
23. Trinity
24. Knight
25. Trinity
26. Trinity
27. Trinity
Also by Sadie Moss
Chapter One
TRINITY
“On your left, Beck!”
“Dammit. I see it!”
“Motherfucker!”
Phoenix curses as he and Beckett bring down a particularly grotesque-looking demon. I try not to flinch, keeping my focus on the portal in front of me.
We’ve been battling corrupted for the past hour as we work to close a second portal that’s opened up in upstate New York.
We need to get it closed up, and fast.
I’m exhausted. We all are. It’s been a tough fight, and our battle strategy is starting to get a little sloppy.
Phoenix is cranky from being cooped up in the car, which is rich for someone who was voluntarily cooped up in his state-of-the-art mansion for years. Remington wants to check up on his restaurant and not be dealing with this. Beckett is clearly starting to lose his patience with his brothers. And Ford is… well. Pissed off, as usual.
I’m not sure when I started being able to think of the seven sins this way, like they’re regular people with regular quirks and foibles—when I stopped being scared of them—but here we are. They’re not like the corrupted, who are basically beings made of pure evil. True, they do feed off of sin, but these men are all more complex than I first thought.
It’s honestly super confusing.
Not just for my mind, but for my heart too.
Focus, Trin! This isn’t the time to be wallowing in your feelings!
Shoving those thoughts away, I refocus my efforts on the portal in front of me. This second portal to Hell isn’t the only one that’s been created, but it’s the first one that’s actually opened up since we took care of the one in Manhattan.
We managed to get our hands on a new kind of portal destroying spell—one that didn’t involve dealing with a death witch, thankfully—and it’s actually working.
“Almost there!” I call out, raising my voice above the din of the fight around me. The gaping crater in the ground slowly begins to seal itself up. But as it does, I see the same thing happening that I noticed last time—the same black, sickly spiderweb spinning out from the portal.
It races across the packed earth, jagged lines spreading out like cracks in a window pane. And I have no doubt that each of those black lines will create a new portal.
Darn it! My hands clench into fists.
“More of them?” Beckett asks tersely as he finishes off a corrupted.
I nod, grimacing. “Yeah. Crap! This strategy isn’t going to work.”
Every time we close one portal and destroy it, we only end up creating more. The new portals aren’t open yet, but their very existence is still a problem. They’re like doors to Below. Those doors may be closed for now, but just the fact that they’ve been created is very bad news, since they could be opened at any time.
And if more portals are created every time we destroy one, this will become the definition of an exercise in futility.
“Whoever set this up planned for this,” Beckett says. Ford finishes off the last of the corrupted and the other three brothers walk over, their chests heaving from exertion and sweat making their skin shine.
I make myself look away and concentrate on what Beckett is saying. I’ve been trying not to notice, but it’s hard to be around these men and not realize that they’re, well, absolutely smoking hot. It’s a part of their appeal, one of the ways they get people to listen to them and give into their sins.
And I can’t be falling for the wiles of any sins. I’m an angel.
Or, well… a fallen angel. But still. An angel!
I should be above that kind of thing. I shouldn’t let looks, charm, or pure freaking masculinity distract me from my angelic duties. Especially where the sins are concerned. I don’t think my superiors Upstairs would be too concerned if I had a human dalliance, but sleeping with a sin is another thing altogether.
“It’s like a Hydra. Cut off one head, more flourish in its place.”
Beckett’s voice wrenches me from my thoughts, and I shake my head a little, rolling my eyes at myself. I said focus, Trin!
“Great.” Phoenix chuckles dryly, running a hand through his tousled ash-brown hair. “Real sad that we can’t pull a Hercules and drop a bunch of rocks on top of the portals.”
“Heracles,” Remington corrects absently, staring at the spot where the portal used to be.
“If you want to go by the Greek spelling, sure.”
“As a matter of fact, I do, because it’s the original spelling.”
Beckett gets a long-suffering look on his face that clearly asks could we please not do this right now?
The sins aren’t technically brothers. They don’t have the same parents, or any parents at all, since they were created out of the sin they represent. But they definitely act like family, bickering and driving each other nuts like brothers would. I think—well, hope—that loyalty and love for one another are also there underneath all the snark. I get the feeling they all used to be pretty close once, but not so much anymore.
These four have joined up to help me deal with these dang portals, and I hope working together will close some of the rifts between them. But they are the personifications of sin, so… maybe that’s too much to ask for.
Given that I’m supposed to be redeeming them, I should probably hope for it anyway.
“You know what this means,” Remington says, finally abandoning his argument with Nix and turning to Beckett.
“No, I don’t.” Beckett’s green eyes narrow. His tone suggests he actually does know but doesn’t like it.
“We have no other choice,” Remi presses. He’s nowhere near as forceful and dominating as Greed, but there’s an earnestness in his voice that’s impossible to ignore.
Ford grumbles something, probably a string of creative curse words, and storms off.
Beckett pinches the bridge of his nose and draws in a breath, then shifts his gaze to Remington. “Fine. But we’re doing it my way.”
He also walks off, headi
ng in the opposite direction from Ford.
Nix flops down onto the ground like he’s about to take a nap. Actually, he might be about to take a nap. It’s kind of the modus operandi for the personification of Sloth. “This’ll be interesting.” He whistles. “I mean, when was the last time all of us got together?”
My stomach does a little flip-flop, and I press a hand to my belly as I pull my wings back into my body. Dead corrupted litter the ground around us, and I’d like to pretend that’s what makes me feel a little queasy, but I know it’s not.
It’s nerves.
“You’re really going to call in the other three sins?” I ask, glancing from Nix to Remi.
Gluttony shrugs. “I don’t see that we have much choice. We can’t do this with just the four of us. We gave it a shot, but it’s obviously not working. So it’s time to call in the full cavalry.”
“And Beck really doesn’t want to do that.” Nix chuckles. He seems terribly amused by the whole thing, but then again, he’s amused by most things. I don’t think he takes much of anything seriously, probably because it would take too much effort to care.
“No, he doesn’t.” Remi sighs. “Especially Ryland.”
“Who’s Ryland?” I ask. I’m assuming it’s one of the remaining sins that I haven’t met yet. Beckett is Greed, Remington is Gluttony, Phoenix is Sloth, and Ford is Wrath. That leaves Pride, Lust, and Envy.
I have to admit, out of all of them, I’m most concerned about Lust. After all, that seems to be my, um, struggle lately.
Beckett’s turned me on so many times I’ve lost count, and I had a crazy-hot moment with him, Remington, and Phoenix at a kind of underground sex-drug-club-place. I was under the influence of a sort of lust dust that drove me out of my mind with desire, but still.
Then Ford pressed me up against a wall and kissed me until we both came, no drugs required.
So, yeah. Maybe meeting the personification of that particular sin isn’t the best idea.
“Ryland,” Nix announces, drawing me from my thoughts, “is Pride.”
“And he and Beckett don’t get along.” Remi sighs, concern creasing his brow. “At all.”
Worry twists in my gut as the amused smile on Nix’s face slips for a moment, shadows churning in his bright blue eyes.
Okay, scratch what I said before.
Pride is the sin I’m most nervous about meeting.
Chapter Two
TRINITY
I try to keep my fears and frustrations to myself as we all pile into Beckett’s car.
If we really do bring the other sins in on this, we’ll definitely need a second car, or maybe a van or something, because right now there are five of us and we’re pretty squished in.
Beckett always insists on driving, since it’s his car and he especially doesn’t trust Phoenix or Ford to drive it, which is fair—honestly, I don’t even want to imagine the kind of road rage Ford would be capable of. Remington takes the front seat today, breaking up our usual arrangement, which leaves me in the back between Phoenix and Ford.
Phoenix is the kind of guy who will spread himself out anywhere, taking up space as he slouches languidly. It’s annoying in theory, but in practice, it’s just… well. Um.
His leg keeps brushing up against mine, his fingers drumming on his knee, and I can’t stop thinking about what it felt like to have him pressed up against me. For the personification of laziness and not doing any work, Phoenix isn’t skinny and pasty. He’s handsome as all get-out, sexy in a way that whispers forget whatever important thing you were doing, forget being productive, just come sit on my lap all day, baby.
Gah! What is wrong with me?
I never used to think about those kinds of things before I met these men. Now I’m struggling not to let my wings pop out. They do that when I’m sexually aroused, and it’s just as awkward and embarrassing as you’d imagine it would be. They also do it when I’m scared and trying to run away from a situation, but that’s completely different.
Ford, unlike Phoenix, is curled up against the window. Not because he’s scared to take up space—I think he’s too angry to ever actually be scared of anything—but because I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to touch me.
He still doesn’t trust me.
He’s attracted to me, that’s pretty clear from the way he kissed me, but I think our encounter in the bedroom was more along the lines of… hate sex? Although we didn’t actually have sex. Hate dry-humping, I guess, would be the more accurate description.
But that sounds way less cool.
Not that any of this is cool. It’s all a confusing mess that I can’t even begin to untangle.
Everyone’s silent on the drive, and it’s almost claustrophobic between trying to ignore the thrill that shoots through me every time Phoenix touches me and trying to deal with the extremely annoyed silences that Beckett and Ford are giving out.
We’re almost at Beckett’s place in New York City, and I’m wondering if I should just walk the rest of the way to give myself a little breathing room, when I see him on a street corner.
Anderson. Oh no.
He’s my angelic superior. He looks a little like Morgan Freeman in a nice suit—although he’d never admit he chose that form on purpose. He’s the one who gave me the job of redeeming the sins and getting them on Heaven’s side so that I can go home.
If I fail at this, I’ll be stuck on Earth for at least another thirty years, and that is literally the last thing that I want. Although the corrupted taking over the Earth with these portals is a close second.
Anderson didn’t look too pleased when I saw him last, inspecting the first portal that we closed. I’m not sure if he saw me watching him from the rooftop or not, but he’s definitely staring at me right now. He knows exactly where I am. And I’d be stupid to not realize that he wants to speak with me.
“Uh, look,” I blurt, “if you guys are just going to brood the whole time, I’m getting out and flying back.”
Phoenix snorts in amusement. Beckett blinks and looks back at me in the rearview mirror, eyebrows slightly raised. “Oh,” is all he says. I can’t quite get a read on what that means. Is he disappointed?
“Don’t worry about it, Trin,” Remington says smoothly. “I know we can be a lot. We’ll see you back at the penthouse.”
“I’ll beat you there,” I joke.
Ford glares at me, so I don’t even try to get out of his side of the car. Phoenix doesn’t bother to move out of the way, but he does let me crawl over him to get out—which has me feeling hot all over as our bodies slide together on my way out the door.
I practically stumble out of the car and quickly make my way to the sidewalk as the light changes and the car moves forward, out of sight. I keep walking, like I’m just going about my day, and Anderson falls into step beside me.
“The portals are spreading,” I say quickly, before he can start chastising me. “I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that destroying one would create a bunch more. We’re trying to figure out how to deal with it, but in the meantime—”
“Ah, yes, there is that little problem,” Anderson says. He sounds surprisingly blasé about it, and I stop in my tracks.
“Little problem?” I gape at him. “It’s more than just a little problem!”
Crap. I’ve obviously been spending too much time around the sins if this is how I speak to a superior. Then again, I was never the best at following rules. That’s the reason I was kicked out of my home in the first place and made to do penance here on Earth.
Anderson sighs like he’s asking himself to try to be patient. “You were given a specific task, Trinity. Do whatever you need to do in order to accomplish that—if that means you have the sins help you close these fiendish portals, then so be it. But you must not forget why you were sent to find them. What your real mission is. To get the sins on our side and redeemed would be a crushing blow to the enemy. We must not forget that.”
“Right. Yes, of course, sir.” I nod, trying
to sound humble. I really do want to do well on this. I can’t have Anderson thinking I’m not doing a good job and looking closer at my, uh, methods.
After all, I’ve made out heavily with all four of the sins that I’ve met so far, and I’ve promised favors to three of them. Anderson would probably be appalled if he knew about that, and he’d find someone else for this mission for sure. I’d never get the chance to go back home.
But I can’t lie to him either. Angels aren’t necessarily bad at lying, but I sure am.
“How has it been going, then?” Anderson asks, and I try not to flinch in dread.
“Um. Slow so far. They’re stubborn,” I tell him, which is true. “I’m having a hard time getting them to do good deeds and to trust me. Especially Wrath.” I nearly say Ford’s name, but I don’t think that Anderson will appreciate my calling the sins by their chosen ‘human’ names.
Anderson hums. “Yes, well, they are a stubborn bunch for a reason. Deeply entrenched in their ways.”
“I’m sure,” I agree. “But I’m a hard worker. I know I can do this, it’ll just take some time. And I’m going to meet the other sins as well, so I’ll be able to work on them too. I just need to earn their trust first. But closing these portals is a good thing, and they’re helping me with that—so that’s a good sign, right? That they’re on their way to being redeemed?”
“Just make sure you stay on task,” Anderson warns me. “Your priority is to redeem the sins. The corrupted causing a bit of chaos on Earth is not your concern.”
My eyebrows shoot up toward my hairline. “But… people, humans, are going to get hurt. Isn’t it our job to protect them and take care of them?”
Anderson gives me a look that’s probably his attempt at appearing wise and sympathetic, but it comes across more as pitying. My jaw clenches. I hate it when other angels pity me. I know I’m not the strongest or most powerful angel. I’m kind of lower tier on the totem pole. I get it. But that doesn’t mean I’m dumb.
Optimism isn’t the same thing as stupidity.