“No.” Mads shook her head. “He doesn’t need those dragons nearly as much as you think he does. He might want them and they might make things a little easier for him, but he needs me and Amos because thanks to him, we’re his backup powerhouses. And he needs Nix to open Heaven’s door. I’m not ignorant, Zen. I realized, when I killed Pandora, it was unexpected by everyone, including Micah. I control that entity’s power and it
can
destroy the inhabitants of Heaven. I need those dragons on my side, committing to cover my back and taking me out if I really do go rogue.” Knowing the way her mind worked, Nix suspected what she would say next. He shook his head before she could get her last sentence out. “I got a really good feeling even an almighty Lynx succubus with Pandora power cannot withstand the furnace of a million-dragon army.”
“No. No. And fuck no!” Nix’s gut coiled with desperation.
“You cannot face our future with a set plan in your head, Nix. Every day we get is a miracle. You know better than all of us how easily tomorrow could be our last.”
The way she talked about dying, so carefree and casual, worked against the tight strings of his sanity. “There has got to be another way.”
“Think with your mind and not your heart, Nix, and you’ll know I’m making sense. This is bigger than me or you.”
He got in her face, nose to nose. “No.”
She sighed and turned her attention back to Zen. He hoped she realized arguing with him should be counted as a losing cause.
“I know I’m a chess piece to you.” Zen showed no emotion, just stared at her, and Nix wanted to punch him in the nose for listening to her hair-brained idea. Mads went on as if she didn’t notice his lack of emotion. “You position me for optimal attack at every turn without telling me. Someone is eventually going to get burned in the crossfire.”
“I wouldn’t burn you intentionally, Madison.”
“Maybe not.” Mads disentangled from Nix’s light hold and walked across the room. She leaned against the desk and stood there facing them for a long moment. Nix couldn’t imagine what thoughts went through her head. “I’ve trusted you without fail for four years. You trusted me when I wanted to get Nix out of Hell.”
“You demanded that trust, Madison. I don’t recall you requesting it.”
“Then give me your trust willingly this time.” Silence hung between Mads and Zen. “I need those dragons to help me end it all.”
“God dammit, Mads, you’re talking about your death as if it’s Sunday breakfast! This is insane and I won’t listen to this any longer.”
Mads inclined her head toward the door. “You’re welcome to leave the room, Nix. I can’t trust Zen to make the hard choices with my life. If I go head-to-head with Micah again, I can count on the dragons because they must follow my orders.”
“You command us to dispatch you if you go rogue, and we’ll do it,” Kur said and Nix whipped around to face him. This conversation had gotten way out of hand. Panic clogged his throat, making it difficult for him to breathe, much less argue with Kur. “We’ll be trapped in Hell once again, but we can live with that so long as you take out the Kings first.”
“Killing her is out of the fucking question!” Nix glared at the immortal and the dragon. “The first one of you that attempts to—”
“You’re forgetting you can bring her back to life, Phoenix.” Zen’s silky-smooth words were uttered without inflection, with no emotion whatsoever.
That statement made breathing a little easier again. No one said anything for a long time.
“I don’t wish for her to suffer death first.” Nix put his hand through his hair. “Do you realize you’re asking me to watch you die and do nothing, Mads?”
“I’m asking you to trust me enough to put an end to all of this.”
“I love you. I cannot watch you suffer and die while doing nothing.” He shook his head. “Regardless of my capabilities, you ask for too much. All of you ask for too goddamn much.”
A slow, intrigued smile tugged at Kur’s lips. “I’m in. Whatever you want, Madison, Queen of Dragons. I’ll give my dragons their directive.” Kur did a little bow and exited the room.
Nix curled his fists, imagining how fantastic it would feel to punch the scaly fucker in the nose. He hated that fucking dragon. Hated him because he cared so little for Mads’s life.
“I understand your dilemma, Nix,” Mads said into the ensuing silence after the door shut behind Kur. “When your life was in danger, I couldn’t remain neutral either. You do what you must when the time comes.”
Chapter Fifty-one
Wrapped in a cocoon of smoldering ash, darkness enveloped Micah and entwined tightly about his legs and torso. Heat filtered throughout his body like a slow sizzle through his veins. His chest ached, his lungs burned, and his extremities tingled to the point of stings, as though they awoke from being asleep.
He rubbed the heel of his palm against his chest and winced. Why did he hurt so much? He couldn’t remember ever hurting like this.
He ran his fingers lightly over the wound in his chest. The papery thin, newly healing flesh was tender to the touch and he grimaced when he stroked across the wound.
Beliel bolted into a seated position as he remembered what occurred. How Madison had sexily stabbed him in the heart with the dragon blade and the expression of shock on her gorgeous features afterward.
His wings unfurled. He flexed them and dusted off the debris of gray ash. Wincing at the pull of abraded flesh, he spiked his fingers through his hair, dislodging fine particles of soot. The tenderness reminded him he lived.
“Hielel, you did this?” Micah asked Lucifer, referring to him by his angelic name.
Lucifer inclined his head, affirming his part in Micah’s salvation. “You have the prayers of my worshipers to thank for your salvation.”
“Welcome back, brother,” Elias said.
“You know we’re going for her?” Micah said to his twin.
“Of course we are.”
Micah smiled, relishing the fantasy of catching her soon and bringing her back where she belonged.
“After you’re one hundred percent recuperated.” Lucifer reminded him of a parent. “You’re still not completely healed and you cannot afford a setback.”
“Yes, however long it takes to get better, Lucifer. I promise.” After this feat, he wouldn’t underestimate Madison. Not ever again. But he’d seen the doubt in her eyes when she thrust the blade into his chest. She hadn’t wanted to kill him, a good sign for him.
Damn him, he loved that woman. Her passion, her stubbornness, and her tenacity to strike him where it would hurt the most. He was so fucking proud of her, proving she held the heart of a Queen.
“I suspect you’ll be immune to the dragon blade now.” Lucifer massaged something floral-smelling into the wound on his chest. Micah scrunched his nose at the nasty aroma. “Maybe even dragon fire.”
All the better for his bride’s homecoming.
“Could you have found something that smelled a little better?” he bitched, grimacing at the pain his brother’s touch caused.
The fourth King of Hell, Raguel was his angelic name, knelt at Micah’s side, his black head bowed to his bent knee.
“What the fuck are you doing, Levi?” Beliel snarled, shocked by his brother’s benevolence.
Raguel lifted his gaze to Micah’s. “You are the first and only known phoenix in all of angelic existence. You have my devotion, my brother. Command me at your will.”
A phoenix…he admired the irony. Madison saved Phoenix from their covenant. The first and only mortal to survive Hell, he’d risen from his funeral pyre—a covenant with a King—to regain his youth and hope for a new life.
With my wife
. Micah threw back his head and laughed. It echoed and sounded as demonic as the creatures he created.
Two phoenixes in his kitten’s life. But only one could have her. Oh, the paradox.
Chapter Fifty-two
Madison spread her palms across the top of the desk. Poor Nix. The idea of her death panicked him, even with the likelihood that he could revive her. She understood. She’d not only been terrified, but devastated to learn of his covenant with Hell.
Zen
. She sent the thought telepathically.
If he’s capable of bringing me back, don’t allow it to happen before the enemy is annihilated
.
The only visible acknowledgment from Zen was a scant nod and a
You have my word
.
“I don’t plan on going anywhere, Nix.” She wouldn’t actively seek out death, but she’d embrace it with open arms before she’d allow Micah to have Amos or taint Nix again.
“It’s enough that you’re thinking it.”
“You’re aware of my marriage covenant with Micah, Nix?” She waited until he nodded before she went on. “If he’s dead, this conversation is moot anyway because I’m already dead. Elias will come to drag me back to Hell so I won’t die, and he can avenge his brother’s death. He could keep me alive indefinitely. I refuse that outcome.”
Nix walked across the room, his back to her. His shoulders were so tense, she suspected he wanted to punch the sheetrock.
“If Micah lives, I need support to fight him.” Because that dark place inside wanted to be with him and binge on his seraph. “I need you for that.”
Nix pivoted on his heels. “Pardon me, Mads, but all I’m seeing is all roads leading to your death.”
“Give me another road and I’ll embrace it.”
“Life, Mads, fucking
life
!”
Madison pushed away from the desk and strode to him. She grabbed his chin between her fingers and snatched his head down so she could stare him straight in the eyes. “Don’t for one second think I don’t want to live. You give me one viable alternative path, regardless of odds, and I’ll jump at it.”
“Give me time to come up with another plan.” Nix shoved his hands in her hair. “Just don’t give up, baby.”
“I won’t. But you’ve gotta support me if another option doesn’t present itself. I need you with me on this.”
“As much as I don’t like the way Kur looks at you, I agree that the dragons should stay.”
Madison laughed. “Lawd, Nix, he’s not interested in me any more than Zen is.” She tugged him close by hooking a finger in the waistband of his jeans. “Thank you for your support. It means everything to me.”
“You can thank me properly later,” he teased with a dimple-showing grin.
“What about you, Zen?” She turned to face him, snuggling against Nix’s chest as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She would embrace his love, until everything went to Hell.
Zen dragged in a rough breath and released it slowly as he walked to the wall and yanked the blade she’d left there. He turned back to face her. “What I think,” he said, gripping the blade in one hand, hilt toward her, “is that I stopped protecting the ‘balance’ the day I peered into blue infant eyes.”
He stepped in front of her. Nix’s body pressed against her spine offered both physical and mental support.
“I’ve regretted every action I’ve taken with you. Why not one more? For good or bad, I’m on Team Madison.” Zen extended his hand, offering her the blade. “You’ll need this one to go along with the dragon blade.”
Madison accepted her weapon from him and stashed it in the waistband of her pants, alongside the other one. She flung herself against Zen and hugged him tight. He returned her embrace with a one-armed hug. “Thank you, Zen! Thank you for trusting me.”
Epilogue
Collapsed in a heap beside Nix, Madison wasn’t sure she’d ever muster the energy to move. Nix held the magic touch. Every problem, every worry fell away when he caressed her or while he was inside her. With his messian, he settled her succubus’s relentless push to feast.
“I love you, Mads.” He snuggled down beside her, nuzzling her neck and draping an arm around her belly.
Madison turned toward him, wrapped an arm around his waist and wedged her knee between his legs. “I love you, too, Nix.” Her voice felt scratchy from overuse, whimpering, moaning and begging for release, thanks to his proficiency.
Snuggled in Nix’s arms was better than nice. Idyllic and perfect came to mind. His even breathing indicated he’d fallen asleep holding her. The serenity Nix’s arms provided hadn’t surfaced in Micah’s. She assumed some of the blame because she’d feared Micah’s disgust if he discovered the extent of her desires.
Brimstone crowded her senses as screams echoed about. Madison blinked, tried to sit up, but suddenly she freefell through Hell, no longer in Nix’s safe harbor. Another blink and she stood in a room. She’d been plucked naked from her bed.
Two men faced her. The black-headed, smiling one bore a homicidal glint in his dark gray eyes. She recognized him as the man who’d presided over her wedding…Raguel. The other male shifted through a random set of physical appearances, resting only moments in one skin before moving to the next. No emotion touched his features, just an indifferent stare.
“Raguel, at your service.” The black-haired demon spoke.
“I remember you.”
Wasn’t expecting to discover you are one of the Kings
.
“Hielel.” He flickered through a wide range of personas. “Better known as Lucifer.”
Shit! Both Kings. Not that she’d expected anything less.
Micah must be dead and they’d called her home to deliver justice. Sorrow as jagged as shrapnel pierced her heart. A tiny part of her had hoped he lived. But why? She loved Nix and wanted no other.
Because we might have Nix but that doesn’t mean we’ve invested in a future with him. We want both and we’d hoped there would be more time to decide
. Lynx forced her to face the truth.
Elias’s lips moved against her ear. “I think you remember me, princess.” His hand curled around the front of her throat and snatched her tight against his solid frame. He represented an immovable wall of muscle and justice.
Emotions clogged her throat and burned her sinuses. “Micah is dead?”
“It’s what you wanted.” Raguel’s demonic claws emerged, silver and glinting, as they tapped against his thigh. An obvious promise to use them on her was how she perceived the movement. Lucifer watched her, his thoughts difficult to read as he continued to click through personas. But she got the feeling his introspection would run deeper than Raguel’s more expressive emotions.