Vengeance: The Niteclif Evolutions, Book 3 (16 page)

“Um, what if—” Mark tugged at his tie, “—what if there’s a problem?”

“The only problem I don’t expect you to be able to manage is the demonic kind. Other than that, work it out. Run this household like I know you can, Mark. Just do it, okay?” I laid a hand on his cheek and he leaned his head into me and closed his eyes.
 

“Okay, Maddy. I’ll do my best.”

I snatched my hand back and watched Mark go to work, barking out orders and whipping the handful of people in the foyer into a whirlwind of productivity. As young as he was, he never failed to impress me with his organizational skills.

Micah looked at me and I waved my hands toward the basement door. “Go on.”

His eyes sparked with rage, but he’d come back down to normal size. I wondered what would happen to him when he told Darius why he was there. For just a moment, I wished I could be there to see that.

I turned and started up the stairs, my nose still trickling blood. Every step was burdened with reluctance. Each tread required more willpower to negotiate. The conversation waiting for me when I reached the third floor scared the living hell out of me.

After a day like today, that was really saying something.
 

Chapter Eight

I went to the bathroom to wash my face before grabbing a clean T-shirt. By the time I made it back to the bedroom, both men were there. Bahlin had found a pair of pants but no shirt, and Hellion had ditched the socks he’d worn through the glass and splinters.

The dragon was seated in the chair facing the bathroom so he saw me first. His gaze was benignly predatory, like a tiger observing visitors at a zoo. “Opportunistically predatory” might have been a better description. I wasn’t sure. My mind wanted a fence and safety pit between the animal and me whereas my body was ready to offer itself up for dessert now. As if he read my mind, his nostrils flared and he looked at me questioningly.

I shrugged and moved around the sofa to sit next to Hellion. He pulled me close and I curled into his side for a moment before shifting to face him.

“I need your undivided attention for this, and I need to not give in to the urge I have to bury my face in your shirt and refuse to come up for air.”

He lifted his arm off my shoulders and laid it across the back of the sofa. He was attentive but not concerned. What I was about to say would change that, and I resented the situation in a bitter, vitriolic way.

“Before I start, I want to ask you if you’ve done anything to ward the house.”

“I have. And I dipped into the darker arts when I cast Agares out, so he’ll be gone tonight.” Hellion looked at Bahlin and there seemed to be some unspoken communication between them. “Bahlin and I were trying to figure out why you intervened in the, uh, disagreement between us and Micah, Maddy.”

Bahlin was silent. Apparently Hellion had drawn the short straw in broaching this conversation.

I shifted in my seat, uncomfortable at being put on the spot. The whole topic of Micah was too raw, and I suddenly wished I’d not insisted on telling both Hellion and Bahlin at the same time. Rubbing the back of my neck, I avoided looking at either man as I answered. “Any extreme emotion from the Nephilim acts as a beacon for the Dominae, remember?”

“Shit. I completely forgot.” Bahlin shook his head, one corner of his mouth curling. “I need flashcards to keep up with all the weird shit that’s been happening lately.”

Hellion snorted. “Those would be handy. Maybe we could come up with a pocket guide with the rules of the Nephilim on one side and those for the Dominae on the other.” Both men chuckled. “We’ve essentially guaranteed we’ll have another visitor tonight since we lit Micah up.”

I twitched once, hard, but no one noticed. It seemed more than ironic that he’d used the exact same terminology as I had when I’d threatened Micah with that very thing earlier today.
 

Hellion bounced his head off the headrest a few times before turning to face me. “Fine. We’ll be prepared. Darius can bring in some people to help.”

“Why don’t we go to Ireland so we’re not surrounded by mundanes?” I asked. “The neighbors are more than nosey at this point, and things are only going to get weirder. It’ll also at least confuse the Dominae that come here looking for him.”

“Excellent point. I’ll have Micah move a few people. Darius can station a few of his voyyen here and fly the others we’ll need over to Ireland,” Hellion said almost to himself.

“Fly? Can vampires fly?”
Would this shit ever seem normal?
In a way I hoped not, but forever was a long time to live as the lone naïve immortal.

“No, vampires can’t fly,” Bahlin said, rubbing his upper lip hard and unsuccessfully hiding a smile. “Darius is a pilot and owns a small Leer.”

I blushed and shrugged. “Oops.”

“No harm.” Hellion mirrored Bahlin’s grin, and I wanted nothing more than to keep the goodwill flowing. Wasn’t happening.
 

The magus grabbed a phone and called down to the basement. “Darius? Yeah. He’s there?” Hellion paused then laughed. “Good. Glad you enjoyed the vintage. Look, can you gather about twenty or twenty-five skilled fighters and get them to the Ireland house as soon as possible? I’ll need another six or eight here to offer the staff support in the face of unwelcome visitors. I’ll ask that your people don’t eat the neighbors to the west. The eastern set is entirely negotiable.” He smiled wider at Darius’s response. Hellion ran his free hand through his hair, pushing it from his face. “Thanks, mate. The sooner, the better. I’ll be sending a few of my people to the airport for a lift too. I imagine we’ll get a visit from one of Agares’s professional acquaintances tonight, and we need to take the fight from London. Uh huh. Regarding the demon, can you also do me a favor?” This time Darius’s response made Hellion chuckle. “It’ll never happen, but I’ll tell her. I need you to start calling any of your contacts familiar with demonology, see what they know about permanently casting a demon out. Yeah. Okay. See you there in under two.” He redialed, saying to Bahlin and me, “Give me just another second.”

Understanding what he was doing, Bahlin motioned for Hellion’s cell and started making some calls of his own.

Hellion’s call connected. “Stearns? Yeah, listen. I need you to call Giff and ask him to start calling around to the other coven masters and find out if anyone has an expert on demonology. I need to talk to them if they do.” He pinched the bridge of his nose as Stearns answered. No smiles from this front. “That’s fine. Give them my personal mobile number and tell them to call any time, collect if necessary.
 

“I also need you to gather the appropriate staff to manage the house for a few days while repairs are made. Also, contact my top twenty-five people. We’re all going to the Ireland house, including you and Mark. You’ll need to coordinate with Darius to get to the airport within the hour. He’ll be leaving half a dozen of his people here for defensive support.” Hellion offered me a small smile. “Yeah. See you then.”

He hung up. While we waited on Bahlin to get off the phone, Hellion entertained himself by playing with my hair and stroking my head.
 

I leaned into his touch. A shuddering sigh escaped me.
 

He cupped the back of my head. “Hey. It can’t be all that bad.”

“Promise me you won’t leave me.”

Pausing for the briefest second, he pressed a kiss to the crown of my head before he resumed petting. “Never.”

“You’ll never promise or you’ll never leave me?” I whispered, looking up at him.

“It will be a cold day in hell before I leave you,
síorghrá
.”

The lump parked in my throat made it impossible to respond.

Bahlin ended his call and tossed the phone back to Hellion. “I’ll have a dozen dragons in Ireland not long after we arrive.”

“Thanks,” Hellion said, tipping his head to the other man.

Bahlin slouched down in the chair and looked me over. “So what’s up, Maddy?”
 

Scrambling for stall tactics, I looked at Hellion. “What did Darius say when you laughed and told me you’d tell me?”

Hellion grinned. “He said he’d do anything for you if you’d promise to throw me over, run away with him and bear him a dozen children.” The men chuckled and Bahlin said something like, “Yeah, right,” but I couldn’t hear anything clearly over the loud rushing sound in my ears.

Glancing around the room, I was desperate to find something to look at besides the men. Tremors raced through my fine muscles and settled in my hands. Breaths came harder—short, panting gasps I couldn’t control.
 

Hellion reached for me.

My stomach rebelled. Rocketing to my feet, I sprinted for the bathroom. I barely made it.

Slow footsteps followed me in. Water ran in the sink and a cool rag was pressed to the back of my neck.
 

Hot tears dripped off the tip of my nose.

Holding the rag gently in place, Hellion knelt down beside me. “Whatever it is,
a mhuirnín
, we’ll manage it together.”

My laughter was strangled by a sob. “I hope you mean that.”

“I do. No matter what it is, I do.”

“Maddy?” Bahlin called from the doorway. “You okay?”

“Let me wash my face and brush my teeth before I meet you guys in the bedroom.”

Hellion kissed my shoulder and handed me the rag.

This just wasn’t getting any easier.

Hellion and Bahlin were discussing Agares when I walked back into the sitting area. They looked up at the same time.

Hellion rose, reaching out and wrapping me in a hug. When he released me, Bahlin was right there.

“I’d like to offer you comfort as well, Maddy,” he said softly.

I nodded and gave him a brief, hard hug. He smelled like rich night air and open spaces, familiar and comforting, and I relaxed in his embrace. Then I realized my mistake. If Bahlin had been able to scent me across the room, proximity mandated he was being overwhelmed with the pheromones. If I didn’t spell this out, and fast, it would give him the wrong idea.

I patted his back awkwardly and tried to pull away from him.
 

He was reluctant to let me go.

Pushing against his chest, elbowing him in the gut and stomping his foot proved ineffective. It was hard to fight against someone you weren’t committed to hurting, and I really didn’t want to hurt him. I’d done enough of that already.
 

Bahlin did nothing but readjust his grip and move his feet out to get a wider stance.

I had to wonder if his indifference to my obvious protests might provoke me to more violent attempts. It held a certain undeniable appeal.

“Dragon, you need to get your hands off my woman. Now.” Hellion’s low voice held no room for compromise.

Bahlin let out a prehistoric growl, and smoke leaked from his nose.

In response, Hellion stood up and began unbuttoning his shirt.

Shit.
“Don’t make me take my shirt off again!” I shouted.

Both of them started and looked at me for a long, stagnant moment.

“Bahlin, get your damned hands off me before you ruin whatever’s left between us,” I snarled.
 

He never took his eyes from me though he dropped his hands.
 

Adjusting my shirt, I refused to look at him. “Thank you. Now sit your scaly ass down and stop pushing people’s buttons.”
 

I wonder if pet stores here carry those “Ten Simple Steps for Training Your New Whatever-you-have” books. I could get one for dragons. I could pick up one of those and a super extra-large shock collar with long-distance remote control.
Visions of shocking the shit out of Bahlin made me smile. Reigning in my runaway imagination, I launched myself back into the moment.

Stepping around Bahlin, I moved closer to Hellion and gestured to the sofa. “Sit. Please.” I followed him down. “You guys need to know everything that happened between Micah and me when he popped us out of the house earlier, but you can’t tell anyone.”

Both men sat up straighter at the same time I realized how that might be interpreted.

“No! No, not that. What do you take me for? I meant the discussion. Between us. The discussion Micah and I had.” I shook my head. “When he teleported me to wherever we were in London—” and I had always assumed it was London, “—we had an argument after he spelled out very clearly what my future holds and the decisions I have left to make.”
 

Very slowly and with as much clinical dispassion as I could muster, I relayed nearly word for word what the fallen angel had said. Both men were silent but not still. One clenched his jaw while the other ground his teeth. One’s body was tense while the other worked to control fine tremors in the small muscles of his hands. One began to shake his head in denial as the other took on a look of resolution.

I came to the part where Micah had enthusiastically kissed me—
should I have kept that to myself?—
and Hellion surged off the sofa, cursing the Nephilim with creative vehemence. He stormed around the room, his energy both renewed and empowered by his rage.