When Darkness Reigns Read online

  Interesting turn of events. Also, if a guy like Shya feared The Circle of the Veil’s powers that be, just how worried should I be about them?

  “Really?” Falon interjected, unfazed by the demon’s scowl. “You’d give up a shot at Lilah’s empire just like that? It was your end game.”

  The two immortals shared a look rife with unspoken vehemence and loathing. Shya’s crimson stare glinted with menace when he hissed, “You never knew my end game, you fucking traitor. Do you think I was foolish enough to let you get that close? I always knew you would betray me. I just didn’t think it would be with this succubus whore.”

  A laugh bubbled up in my throat. It never got the chance to emerge. Unlike me, Falon didn’t find it funny. In his drunken state he let his pent-up rage guide him. He lunged at Shya.

  “Oh my God,” I gasped.

  Falon threw one fist in the demon’s face, followed by the other. Both punches landed. So swift he’d moved that none of us had expected it. Least of all Shya who went down hard on his ass.

  Giving him no time to recover, Falon grabbed Shya by the front of his jacket and jerked him back to his feet. “You have no idea who she is. You never did.”

  The hit that followed snapped Shya’s neck painfully to one side. The one after that put him back on the floor where Falon left him. Moving to stand over the fallen demon, Falon raised both hands in invitation, daring him to get back up.

  Blood dripped from Shya’s nose and mouth. He wiped his face on his jacket sleeve and smiled. Turning that eerie red stare on Falon, he pushed to his feet, black smoke drifting around him.

  Next to me Arys chuckled. “I don’t care what you want to call it. This drunk asshole is smitten with you, my love. Should we stop him from making a bigger fool of himself?”

  Even I couldn’t argue this time. So I just nodded and sprang into action. If Shya went all dragon on us, we were good and fucked.

  Both Arys and I inserted ourselves between them as Shya rose to his feet with wings spread. Putting one hand on Falon’s chest, I gave him a shove, forcing him back several feet. The other I held toward Shya, gold and blue light dancing along my fingers in a warning.

  “This isn’t what we came here for,” I reminded Falon, catching and holding his angry gaze. “If he won’t bargain then we go. Now is not the time to fight.”

  Shya stood amid a cloud of smoke that climbed his body. He was ready for a battle but didn’t seem too keen on being the one to instigate. “That’s right, Alexa. Keep your lapdog leashed. Otherwise you can watch me tear him apart. Now if you don’t mind, I have furniture to throw away and carpet to rip up. Kindly get the fuck out of my house.”

  Falon strained against me. I needed both hands and a slip of power to get him moving toward the door. He kept his stony stare on Shya the entire time, but the demon went right back to his strange work, dismissing us entirely.

  When the three of us were outside on the front step, Falon jerked away from me. Like my mere presence was enough to get under his skin and strip down his defenses. “I am not your fucking lapdog.”

  My jaw dropped in confusion. “Falon, you know I don’t think that.”

  “Do I?” he asked, throwing his arms wide. The venom in those two words sent a tremor through me.

  We didn’t need to do this. Not now and most certainly not in front of Arys. With ice in my tone I spoke between clenched fangs. “I can’t talk to you like this. You need to go sober up.”

  Fury gleamed in Falon’s eyes. He gave a dramatic bow, oozing sarcasm from his pores. “As you wish, your highness.”

  Then he was gone. I wasn’t confused this time when he left, just frustrated.

  “Don’t even say it,” I warned Arys as we made our way to the car. The I-told-you-so’s were stacking up.

  He held up both hands and shook his head, but his lips were pressed together to stifle a laugh. “I’m not saying a word. Pretty sure I don’t have to.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  The following night found me antsy, glancing too often at the time on my phone. After Falon disappeared in a huff, I’d headed home with sunrise on my heels. I had spent the day fitful and restless.

  Knowing that it wasn’t over with Lilah, I racked my brain for a way to beat her. I had to ensure she wouldn’t keep coming back.

  In between those thoughts wriggled worries about Falon. He was drinking, picking bar fights on the other side, and then that assault on Shya. For so long Falon had devoted himself to not feeling. To being hard, cold, and emotionless. He’d devoted himself to forgetting. Now he felt something, whatever that might be, and he didn’t know what the hell to do with it.

  Almost midnight. The sun had been down for hours now. Falon was a no show.

  I doubted that he was in any kind of trouble. More likely that he was pouting about last night. For some reason he’d taken Shya’s insult as if I’d said it. As if I believed it. That pissed me off. He should know me better than that by now. He did know me better.

  The jackass was projecting and I wasn’t having it.

  Still, it left me a little butthurt that Falon never showed at sunset. Or in the four plus hours since. Maybe I had no right but I felt abandoned. Was he getting wasted on the other side? Seeking out a fight to release the tension? Seeking out something or someone else for another way to unwind?

  My teeth clenched until my jaw ached. Since when did I care what Falon did when he was away from me?

  “Earth to Alexa.” Jenner’s elbow jabbed me in the ribs.

  I jumped, startled out of my thoughts. “Sorry, what? Did you say something?” I sat beside him on the couch at The Wicked Kiss, absently watching the patrons while lost inside my head.

  “Yeah, about four times. You’re so distracted. Come help me pick out a lucky lady to be the recipient of my charms.” He danced his fingertips along my forearm, sending a tickle racing through my nerve endings. “Unless you’d like that lucky lady to be you. I’d love to help take your mind off things for a while.”

  Jenner trailed his fingers up my arm to my shoulder, my neck, and into my hair. Finding comfort in his touch, I leaned into it with a sigh. “I need to figure out how to eliminate Lilah as a threat. Damn unkillable immortals.”

  I didn’t tell Jenner what else was on my mind. If he could tell there was more, he didn’t press it. He just played with my hair, dragging his fingers through it slowly. “Are you sure you don’t want to help me tag team one of these ladies? Or men. Your choice.”

  In the corner Arys and Shaz played a game of pool. My gaze strayed their way, watching their easy comfort with one another. The lighthearted way they joked and teased, flirting like mad.

  Willow and Gabriel had taken a woman to the back together. Since neither of them usually pursued a full sexual experience with victims, sharing made it better for all parties. The victim got the rush of two incubus vamps, a hell of a high, while they got the blood and the lust-charged energy they sought. For the most part. The rest of what they wanted they could only find with me.

  Everyone was going about their business, passing the time, feeding their hungers, and shooting the shit. Everyone but me. I kept wondering where my fallen angel was and waiting for the other shoe to drop.

  Then it did.

  Dressed to kill in a short black cocktail dress, ginger locks tumbling down her back, Lilah strolled through the front door like she was a frequent patron looking for some action. I spotted her in the same instant I sensed her arrival.

  My skin crawled and my defenses went up.

  Salem was at her side, clad in a shinier version of the old-world warrior robes he always wore. To my surprise the two of them entered hand in hand. Lilah paused to smile up at him, and for a brief flicker of a moment I saw true affection on her face.

  “What the hell are they doing here?” Jenner echoed my unspoken thought.

  With a shake of my head I stood up and prepared for shit to go down. But Lilah didn’t break into an attack or grab one of my people. She s
idled up to the bar arm in arm with her twin flame and ordered a drink.

  I kept my attention on them as I told Jenner, “Go to the lobby and check on Justin. I’ll find out what she’s doing here.” I didn’t think my main security guy would have let Lilah waltz in uninvited.

  I glanced at the pool table to find Arys already headed toward me, pool cue still in hand. Catching Shaz’s eye, I nodded for him to join Jenner in the lobby.

  Slowly I approached Lilah. She perched on a stool at the end of the bar with Salem standing next to her, watching me get closer. An eyebrow quirked as her mouth curved into an almost friendly smile.

  Suspicious.

  As Arys and I drew near, I kept expecting them to make a move. Lilah sipped from the scotch she’d ordered and watched me over the rim of the glass, enjoying the unease she knew she inflicted.

  I stopped to lean near the end of the bar. Just a few feet separated us. My gaze flicked over them each in turn. Salem stood silent and stoic beside his dark flame. Jaw hard set and shoulders tight, he appeared very much to have a stick wedged uncomfortably up his ass. Did he ever really look any other way though?

  Lilah, however, was the polar opposite. Relaxed and composed, she nodded to the scotch. “You have some decent stuff here. Full flavor, goes down smooth. Not bad.”

  “You sound like a commercial,” I bit out, unwilling to play along with her phony small talk. “What are you doing here?”

  Her eyes of fire flitted over Arys and me, and her coy smile grew. “Can’t I just enjoy a drink in a local establishment?”

  “No, I’m pretty sure you can’t. Not without an ulterior motive. So cut to the chase and get it over with, whatever you’re working up to. I don’t have the patience for this shit.” Unafraid, I held her steady gaze.

  Lilah was a task on my personal to-do list that should have been ticked off already. I was tired of waiting for her to make a move. We needed to finish this.

  Crossing her legs, she made a big show of it, dragging it out dramatically as she took another drink of scotch. “I thought I wanted to kill you. I’ve changed my mind.”

  I got the feeling she expected me to show some kind of reaction to this declaration. So I mustered my best don’t give a shit expression. “Good for you. Why exactly do I care?”

  “I want you to suffer,” she went on, swirling the golden liquid in the glass. “For many long decades. Centuries even. Just like I did.”

  Oh boy. Inside I braced myself, ready to tap my power and let her have it. On the outside I continued to lean on the bar looking bored. “Right. Ok, well see, that didn’t have anything to do with me.”

  “It does now,” she replied, eyes flashing with the first glint of her true feelings. Absolute abhorrence. “You and your sister sent me back to the place I tried so hard to avoid. Then you went on to take everything that belonged to me. So I’m here to take it back.”

  One foot swinging impishly, Lilah finished her drink without taking her hawk-like stare from me. She came here with a plan. That much was obvious. Something I didn’t have.

  Salem didn’t react to anything she said. His eyes were vacant, empty voids. It didn’t matter how he might have once felt about Lilah’s evil. He was now Team Lilah all the way. There was no longer hope for him.

  “You’re delusional.” Unable to make nice, I refused to fake my way through this conversation as if we were just chatting everyday business. In my gut I sensed that shit was about to go down. It would have been nice if Falon chose this moment to make an appearance, drunk or not.

  “It’s only a matter of time until you go completely insane and walk into the morning sun. Restoring your flame guarantees it. You spit in the face of destiny and destiny doesn’t forget.” Smoothing a hand over her red waves, Lilah tucked a lock behind an ear and grinned conspiratorially. “But in the meantime, I’m here to take everything from you, Alexa. Even your dark flame.”

  I had to replay what she’d said in my head a few times. Bitch was crazy. “Say what now? I must have misheard you. All I’m getting is a lot of psychobabble nonsense.”

  Her fingers tightened on the edge of the bar. “Starting with your shitty vampire bar, I’m taking everything you have. Your vampires. Your claim on my empire. Your title in this city. Your hot-as-fuck incubus other half. It will all be mine and you’ll suffer alone.”

  I could only begin to guess at what she envisioned. It sure didn’t match how I saw this going down. “Wow… You are fucking cracked. I mean, I knew you were, but to see just how far gone you are. Damn.”

  “Here’s the thing,” Lilah went on, her face flushed with rising anger. “I’m willing to fight you for it. One on one. Just you and me. Winner takes all.”

  So she’d tried some shady tactics to get what she wanted and when that failed she decided to ask for a fair fight? No, I didn’t trust that. Not for a second.

  Wary as hell, I turned to Arys for his reaction to this strange challenge. He appeared both baffled and amused. “Seriously? I’m just a prize to be won? Wow, so much for equality.”

  Did Lilah think fighting me one on one would limit my power? To a small extent, it did. Touching Arys when tapping a lot of power improved my focus and strength, but I could draw on my vampires from all over the world if needed. Or did she not trust Salem to have her back in a two on two face off?

  “And if I win?” I asked, sizing up the threat. Could I take her one on one? I felt pretty confident that I could. “Then what? You stay out of my city, and I never see your face again? Because I find that hard to believe.”

  “If you win I’ll leave. Go back to the other side and start new.” Just saying those words brought a twitch to Lilah’s cheek. She had no intention of losing or leaving if she did.

  Although I knew better than to trust Salem now, I addressed him anyway. “Can you back that up? If she loses you both leave here. You don’t come back.”

  “You have my word.” Other than the clenching of his fists, Salem remained unmoved. He couldn’t possibly be happy, and I shouldn’t be sympathetic. He’d made his choice.

  Still, he was kindred. At least, he had been.

  Shaz and Jenner had returned with Justin who sported a shiner. They kept their distance, hanging back near the perimeter. Jenner’s hand on Shaz’s shoulder kept him from rushing in. On the other side of the room stood Gabriel and Willow, lurking near the shadowy back hall entrance, ready to act.

  If Lilah had come here seeking an audience, she’d found it. No, she’d come for something else. She wanted everything I had. However, there was one thing she could never touch. My so-called title, Queen of Light and Dark.

  Despite Falon’s absence the memory of him saying those words rang in my ears. Lilah might think she could take my place in this city, but she was wrong. Unfortunately, there was only one way to prove it to her.

  In my head came Arys’s vicious, ‘Kick her ass back to hell, my queen. Make her sorry she came back to our city.’

  Aware of Shaz’s nervous gaze, I steeled myself for whatever would happen next. “Fine. One on one. When this is over, we’re really done. You give up and accept defeat.”

  Pursing her rosy lips, Lilah arched a finely plucked brow. “Whatever you say, Alexa.”

  I didn’t trust her, but I had a lot of powerful people watching my back. It boosted my confidence, even if Falon wasn’t one of them in this second.

  I never saw it coming.

  Lilah kicked things off by smashing her stool over my head. She was off it and swinging before I processed the motion. Other than the ringing in my ears, I couldn’t hear a thing. Stunned and disoriented, it took a second to realize I was on the floor.

  So she wanted to do this quick and dirty?

  We probably should’ve established a few ground rules, although demons didn’t tend to play by them anyway. This would become the dirtiest fight I’d ever been in, if the kick-off was anything to go by.

  The room spun and then righted. Sound came back, and I was on my feet, my wolf�
�s instincts kicking in. My head still rang from the impact and blood dripped down my brow, but when Lilah swung the stool a second time, I caught it.

  I flashed a savage smirk.

  With one hand I wrenched the stool from her hands. With the other I threw a roiling blue and gold psi ball. It struck Lilah in the chest, and she toppled back. Another stool collapsed beneath her. Those long legs flashed thigh. Add a glimpse of black panties and the entire thing was somewhat sexy.

  I tossed the fractured wood I held, never taking my eyes off the demon as she sprang to her feet. Arys and Salem had stepped back to give us room but each hovered close enough to jump in. Nobody trusted anybody and why should they?

  Despite the slinky dress, Lilah wore flat-soled black boots. Just like our Veryl days. She’d manipulated me into killing him for her. Now she wanted what I had.

  This demon needed to go.

  People started to notice the conflict. No panic or screams, yet many moved to the exits. Better safe than sorry. This would be a good time for the Dragon Claw to not be locked away in my office.

  Backing away from the bar, I drew her into a more open area near the dance floor. Lilah advanced on me, her thudding steps loud in the sudden absence of music. She snapped her fingers, and I tripped over my own feet, falling against a nearby table. Catching myself, I flicked my wrist and targeted the wings that sprouted from her back.

  A psi ball burst against a wing, and pain slashed across her face. I followed up with another, but she deflected it with a perfectly timed push of her own. It sent my attack wide, blowing a fist-sized hole in the wall.

  Low-power quick shots were a good way to keep someone at bay, but they gave one’s opponent more time to block and deflect. Also a good way to waste needed energy. So I waited for her to get closer. Point-blank strikes proved to always be worth the energy required to make it hurt.

  Lilah moved steady but slow, wanting me to second guess her. Fair, since I’d never known her well enough to anticipate her moves.