The alarm was still going on and I didn’t care that Rodriguez wasn’t done with me yet. I had to find Zara. She could easily lead me to Nameless, who warned me to stop looking for him; otherwise my secret would be out. I had given my word to Ronan that I would retrieve the damn letters. There was no sign of Zara anywhere. All the guests were evacuated and the whole event had been postponed until further notice. More police officers were on their way.
After an hour I found Emma outside. She was on the phone to someone, most likely Ricky. I was glad that she was all right. Now I needed to get in touch with Ronan. I had never given up on any case, but right now my hands were tied. Natalie had heard Zara, but she was in shock and most likely didn’t even understand what Zara meant. Either way I couldn’t let Arthur find out the truth. Over eighteen months ago I made a difficult decision that impacted not only my life, but also the life of others.
“Max, thank God you’re all right. I was so worried. Ricky told me to stay where I was,” Emma said, hugging me tightly when I approached her. I didn’t think that I could ever get used to her unexpected moments of affection. More undercover officers began to arriving now. The party was over; Nameless had succeeded in tricking Zach again.
“Yeah, I think we should call ourselves a cab. Zach is going to be busy for the rest of the night. I’ll make a statement about what happened later on at the station,” I said, craving a drink of tequila. The sudden exhaustion hit me hard. This case was supposed to be simple, but it was starting to piss me off that I wasn’t making any progress.
“Okay, cool, but what happened out there? I was chatting with this nice man that met the Queen once and then the alarms started going off,” Emma was saying, brushing the purple dust off my dress. I felt nauseous, sick all of a sudden. Nothing was going according to plan and I still had this one piece of important information. Frederick had revealed how to enter Gjöll using magic, but Nameless had sent me a warning message about releasing my secret. Was I ready to risk it all for the royals again?
“A woman that works for Nameless Thief stole bracelets worth half a million, and she attacked Arthur’s ex, Natalie Morgan,” I explained, wondering if I was able to get home without throwing up somewhere on the way.
“A demon?” Emma asked in a hushed tone of voice, looking slightly frightened. “I thought they were under control?”
“I thought that too, darling, but the woman that took the jewellery wasn’t a demon or a human for that matter.”
Chapter 23
“…as a wheel turns smoothly, free from jars, my will and my desire were turned by love, The love that moves the sun and the other stars.” ― Dante Alighieri, Paradiso
We did eventually manage to get a taxi home. I should have stayed and helped Zach, but I was pissed off with everything that went on this evening. Zach was most likely looking for me. I saw him on the top of the stairs at the entrance to the manor. There was no sign of Arthur and I was hoping that he had decided to take care of Natalie rather than running after me. Zach’s own sister had managed to sneak inside and stole bracelets worth a lot of money. Zach had no idea that she was behind this whole thing. This wasn’t the right time to discuss this complicated matter with him, but I felt obligated to do something, to reunite them again, for the sake of her only daughter. The old memories began filling my head. After tonight, I very much doubted that I could ever have a normal relationship with another human being or even a demon.
Emma asked me to go inside and have a quick drink with her, but I declined the offer. She wasn’t aware that my battle with alcohol was still going on. I considered her a friend, but I was afraid to reveal stuff about myself, in case she judged me. My apartment was dark and cold when I got in. It was still early for me. The burning craving for tequila was slowly paralysing me. I sat down on my sofa thinking about what to do and how to fix everything that went wrong in the past few weeks. Ronan had to track down Nameless without me. It was too much of a risk to leave the letters in his possession.
Ricky had left a couple of messages on my phone. It was nice that someone still cared about me. Maybe his date didn’t go according to plan if he was trying to get through to me at this hour. Ricky wasn’t the relationship kind of guy, but he seemed to have changed his tune lately. Suddenly I wanted to meet the lucky lady that managed to steal his demonic soul.
I decided to call him back, and once he was assured that I was all right, he stopped shouting. It was a long and exhausting conversation. When I finally threw the phone back on the sofa, my headache came back. This wasn’t even fair, because tonight I only had one glass of wine. Liquid magic kept the darkness at bay, made my gloomy shattered world more colourful, but I kept away from alcohol all day. It was an easy solution. I thought that when I was intoxicated I could get my life back on track, but in the end the darkness only pulled me down.
My career was over after I came back to London two years ago. I had a great reputation, but I couldn’t get back into the security business. Everyone knew that I must have pissed off the royals and they’d let me go.
Tonight I sat on my shitty sofa in my beautiful dress, barefoot, watching some stupid show on TV. Arthur and Zach could go to hell. The prince had lost his mind. He was harming not only himself but also other people around him, behaving so irrationally.
An hour later, after I polished off some frozen pizza someone was knocking at my door. I frowned, knowing that I wasn’t expecting anyone. Ricky didn’t say that he was coming over. I told myself that if Arthur had decided to pay me another visit, I was ready to throw him out and use some illegal charms. Chasing after Nameless wasn’t an option anymore. My whole life revolved around work. Maybe I had to change that and start paying more attention to the opposite sex.
Zach was standing on the other side of my door, looking sharp, still in his tuxedo that was now a little dirty. My heart skipped a beat, then danced in my chest. Wow, the lust was supposed to go away.
“What do you want?” I asked. God, I didn’t have to be such a bitch to him. After all he only wanted to protect me from Arthur.
“That’s a warm welcome, Flower. I was concerned, so I came to check on you,” he said and then just walked inside. I needed to change the locks. Besides, he should have been concerned. I still had the red dress on and that revealed a lot of cleavage.
When I locked the door and went back to the living room he was sitting on my spot, eyeing me up and down. I knew that I shouldn’t have told him about my feelings the last time. Now I was no longer tough and stubborn, but vulnerable. The Maxine he wasn’t supposed to even know existed.
“Cigarette?” he asked, smiling, taking out his Marlboro Lights.
I took it. Oh well, it looked like I wasn’t going to quit anytime soon. Zach’s thoughts were making me feel a little better about myself. He kept thinking that I was beautiful and he was slowly losing his mind for me. Suddenly I forgot that I had the splitting headache and I had told myself that Zach wasn’t right for me. As I inhaled the toxins into my lungs, a new opportunity opened up for me, and I wanted to grab it. We sat in silence for a while, just enjoying this moment.
“I’m not good at this. I’m still a wreck. Screwing everything up. You can’t want me,” I finally threw this out there to stew. He laughed and moved closer so our bodies were touching. The heat shifted down below, telling me that I had nothing to lose. Arthur was never going to stop. I had to commit to another man to let him know that he couldn’t have me.
Zach placed his hands on my shoulders and started giving me a massage. I was so tense, and this felt good. My magic had gone out of control earlier on and now was flowing in the room. There were so many things that I needed to consider, but Zach’s fingers felt soothing on my skin, just right. The relationship, even the thoughts about being with someone and sharing things petrified me.
“Flower, I told you already that I don’t care. The prince has been handled. He won’t come near you if I’m around,” Zach whispered, brushing his lips over my ear and caressi
ng his fingers over my back, gently, softly. He was turned on, and I was confused, trying to get hold of myself.
“He won’t stop. There is too much history between us and he told me that he broke off the engagement because of me,” I whispered back.
“There is something between us, a spark, and incredible attraction. I’m done waiting around for the opportunity, so I’m grabbing it, Maxine,” he said, turning my chin around, and then his lips were on mine.
This wasn’t happen …
This couldn’t have …
This was happening, and he felt bloody amazing.
He kissed me hard, and my blood ran hot. He tasted so good and by the time I managed to take another breath I was broken, stripped of whatever resistance was left inside me. Zach didn’t mess around; he bit my bottom lip, then lifted me up, so I sat on top of him. The soaring sparks were flying everywhere, running down my thighs, as his hard as rock erection pressed into me. The sofa was dirty, worn out, but we were making out on it anyway.
His skin was smooth as I grabbed his face and pressed my lips harder, while my hands found his bare chest.
“I fucking want you, Flower, and I’m going to have you,” he rasped somewhere between kissing me and getting rid of my dress. My breath was laboured, and I was completely overwhelmed by desire. Zach was putting my heart back together, he was taking this make-out session to the next level. We needed to move to the bedroom so I could rip off his clothes.
His tongue was in my cleavage then, his mouth kissing and caressing my breasts. I moaned loudly, as the images of me and Arthur the other night slipped in. This wasn’t good and Zach needed to know what he was getting himself into. Nothing was going to happen unless he knew the truth.
“Hold on … stop, before this goes any further,” I said, grabbing his face and trying to breathe, but the air wasn’t getting in. My body trembled with overwhelming lust.
“Fuck, don’t tell me to stop. I need to rock your world, being inside you is the only thing I want,” he said, looking at me with his dark, smoky eyes. “Trust me, once you taste me, you won’t be able to think about anyone else.”
This was awkward. How was I going to tell him that a couple of days ago I got drunk, let Arthur in and we had sex? Zach wouldn’t want to touch me after that. He didn’t believe that I was easy.
“There is something that I have to say.”
“Nothing that you say will change the fact that I want to make you come, now, later, the next day, Maxine,” he smirked, not letting me act like an adult for once. I really had to get this off my chest. Building a relationship based on lies wouldn’t work.
“I want this too, but I need to get it out first. I have to tell you something very important.”
I sounded more and more pathetic, pushing away the only other person that truly wanted to be with me. Maybe I was scarred for life and there was nothing that could change that.
“A couple of days ago, I got wasted, drank too much tequila,” I began, rubbing my face. “And Arthur came over.”
Zach’s arrogant smirk faded away, but his eyes stayed on me.
“You fucked, right? That’s why he is keeps thinking that there is something going on?” he asked, with his voice flat. I hated myself for being so weak, for being such a worthless person. This wasn’t how I imagined this whole moment. Sex with Zach was supposed to be explosive and now I was turning into this other Maxine that I didn’t even recognise anymore.
“Yes, I slept with him, when I was hammered. He showed up in my flat and I had no idea how he found me. Not many people know where I live,” I said. “It’s as simple as that. I got drunk and let him in.”
He touched my cheek, burning me with his gaze, and I could tell he still wanted to get acquainted with my body on many different levels.
“And do you think that’s going to turn me off, Maxine, the fact that you slept with the future king?” he asked, shaking his head.
“I don’t know … maybe, but there won’t be a next time. We are done. I want to move on. This was just one mistake,” I insisted, trying to get up, but he kept me on top of him. His shirt was torn, his suit jacket somewhere on the floor and half of my dress was down by my waist.
“I told you before, I can handle the prince. You don’t belong to him and he is too weak to do anything against his own family.” Zach sighed and then pulled me closer and kissed me again, as if the moment ago didn’t matter at all. His fingers moved down underneath the dress, caressing my stomach. I needed to close my eyes and stop acting like I didn’t want him. We had that one chance, but I got scared, now it was time to show him that I made a mistake pushing him away two months ago.
When his fingertips moved further and further underneath the hem of my underwear, I let go of a gasp, and Zach laughed.
“Hmmm, you smell so enticing. The night is young and I have several hours to show you that we can pleasure each other,” he whispered, and stuck two fingers inside me. My blood boiled in my ears, as the heat disabled all my muscles. He rocked me with his hand, fucking me with his hand and kissing me at the same time.
Was this a dream?
I was lost in sensations, and my blood raged with heat shooting down my arms and legs. His fingers caressed me hard and fast. I grabbed his head and pulled him down to my cleavage while my hips kept moving.
“Oh yes, baby, let it out. You look so sexy, so bloody ready to break for me,” he rasped, sucking on my nipples.
When I came, my lungs exploded, my body went rigid as the demonic energy flew through the room, linking with Zach’s human soul, breaking me into a thousand different pieces. I pulled away and he kissed me, pressing himself closer. We were tangled with each other, both breathing hard. After all, I was sober, but this time around subconsciously ready to jump into bed with another human being.
Zach smiled and pushed me off him.
“That’s just a taste of what you get, Flower, if you agree to fully commit to me.”
I stood up, feeling slightly dizzy and walked over to the kitchen. My dress hung over my body loosely.
I took a few deep breaths. He needed to tell me about his missing sister. aybe the timing wasn’t right, but I wanted to help him, to bring her back, so they could be a family again.
“Tell me about Zara,” I said, turning around to face him.
He lifted his eyebrows and stared at me for more than few moments. His emotions told me that Zach didn’t like bringing her up, that talking about her caused him a lot of pain. He came here for me and I was ripping him apart. There was something between us and I wanted to break my own rules for him.
Zach sighed and reached out for his jacket. He dug something out of the side pocket and stood up.
“This is her daughter, my niece Cornelia,” he said, sounding proud. “Giving birth to Cornelia was the best thing that Zara had ever done. She’s my everything.”
I smiled, taking the picture of a small dark-haired girl. Now I had proof that Zara was alive, because I was looking at the image of her face in her daughter. Deep down I knew that I had to find Nameless. He would lead me to Zara, to the girl that was still human, and that she needed someone to remind her of what she had left behind.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“To get back up to the shining world from there My guide and I went into that hidden tunnel,” ― Dante Alighieri, Inferno
“She is very beautiful,” I said, not even knowing why my voice was breaking. Zach was fighting with himself to remain calm and I knew exactly what he was going through. Hot air rushed in and out of my nose as I tried to hold back my tears. My own insecurities and secrets were sealed deep inside my heart. This little girl had lost her mother. Zara had abandoned her, for what? Just so she could experience the other world, experience demonic power? I didn’t want to believe that she was such a coward.
“Zara went missing one day after a night out. She always liked partying and having fun. My mother was too strict with her. That day she didn’t come back, that was six years ago,�
�� Zach said with a heavy voice, walking up to me. He grabbed my wrists, then pulled me closer, placing a demanding kiss on my lips. He was filled with affection, but I could read the pain he still felt from that day when he realised that she was gone for good. He detested talking about her, he hated being pitied.
“Your uncle told me about her that day in the restaurant. He didn’t believe that she was still alive, but he was wrong,” I said, knowing that Nameless had something to do with Zara’s transformation, like one of the Watchers had something to do with the death of his partner. A higher-level demon must have interfered too. I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions until I could investigate this further. It wasn’t fair for me to get Zach involved in my world. Emma was handling it, but he’d gone through a lot. There were other factors that I needed to consider.
“I think you should meet her, that way I can show you that I’m serious about us. Whatever this is … whatever is going to develop between us in the future might involve her, so I want you to be aware of the fact that she is part of me.”
I was so bloody stupid to even consider being with him. I was so damaged, but he wanted me anyway, despite everything that happened between us. Getting myself involved meant that I had to reveal what happened to me in the past, but this was impossible. Zach wouldn’t understand me, he wouldn’t get the fact that I sacrificed part of my life in order to protect Arthur.
I sighed loudly, still embraced in his arms.
“I appreciate what you’re saying and I would love to meet her, but I have issues. What if I screw everything up?”
“Then we will deal with it together,” he said, putting the picture back into the back pocket of his trousers.
I leaned over and kissed him, knowing that he was waiting for me to make that first move. We were both in the gloom, but for different reasons. I had made some progress, before ruining everything again. It was good to know that finally I had someone in my life that gave a fuck. I didn’t count Ricky, he was always there, but Zach was that other guy that I needed to let in.
Doomed Cases Series (1-3) Demonic Triangle Diabolical Quest Infernal Initiation Page 41