Genesis Queen (The Road to Hell Series) (41 page)

Nix tangled his fingers in Micah’s hair. Memories of holding the King’s locks as he fucked him almost made him lose his focus. He got in the man’s face. “
Madison is mine
. I won’t allow her to keep
you
.”

Micah smiled, but his eyes said, ‘We’ll see.’

Nix walked away from the allure of the fallen angel.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Micah’s mood had deteriorated since entering Hell. Ripping screams from Domiel and Zariel with his own hand should’ve tempered his disposition. Even the beseeching mercy of his siblings failed to mollify him. He
had
enjoyed their misery, taken pleasure in watching their blood flow, and even more satisfaction in witnessing the defeat in their eyes. They deserved worse than he could dole out and because of his failure to avenge Madison, he was more frustrated now than when he’d entered Hell.

Each time he looked at his angelic brethren, his fury rose like a rocket into space…with a blast of noise in his head and a shitload of smoke and fire. The motherfuckers had offed his beloved. Only when he located one of their loved ones and gutted them while his brothers watched would he feel some satisfaction. He hoped. He feared nothing would alleviate his anger.

With an agitated swipe of his fingers through his hair, he glanced about Madison’s bedroom. Phoenix and Madison weren’t in residence. A good thing, because if he’d arrived to the sight of the Ark making love to his wife, he might’ve gone over the edge.

As soon as he vacated from the room, the morning fare hit his nostrils. His belly growled in anticipation. Not that he needed to eat to survive. He just enjoyed the gluttony of feasting on Madison’s meals.

An angry stride had him erasing the square feet to the kitchen. But no Madison or Phoenix. Not even Zen was there. Only the Birminghams and Alessandra presided. Madison’s friend sat on a stool at the island, coffee in one hand, and a strip of bacon in the other. As a hello, she waggled a solitary finger at him.

Four chairs scraped away from the table.

“Don’t evacuate on my account.” Micah surveyed the Birminghams in various states of rising from their seats. “Where’s Madison?”

Alessandra blew on her coffee. “Somewhere with Nix.”

He went back to scrutinizing the Birminghams.

James had his palm on the butt of his pistol. Amusing, since it couldn’t harm him. Georgie gaped at him like she wasn’t sure how to handle the situation: bolt, or remain brave and seated. Gage glared at him, eyes narrowed and lips a straight line of hatred. He could understand this human’s emotion. He’d forced the man to watch while he had his woman killed. He could sympathize. Zoe created random designs on the table with her fingertip. She never looked his way.

“You killed my family.” Hand on Georgie’s arm, James pulled her to her feet. The man positively reeked of malice. Too bad Madison would disapprove of his turning the eldest Birmingham. Emotionally, he was primed for a conversion. “Gage, Zoe, and Nix have all suffered by your hand. I appreciate your help with Madison, but that doesn’t mean we have to pretend to like you.”

“Sit.” He motioned with his finger. Humans were so dramatic. “Settle down. None of you are on my radar.”

“For now.” Gage had yet to take a seat, while James and Georgie sat as if he’d utilized a magical command. “I don’t want Zoe anywhere near you.”

He should’ve been amused by that statement because if he wanted Zoe, there was nowhere on this planet she could be hidden from him. Instead of humor, anger whiplashed through his nervous system.

Micah stormed toward the table and would’ve flipped it on its side if he hadn’t reined in his temper at the last second. “Boo-fucking-hoo, Gage. I’ve watched Madison die twice, with no certainty she’d survive either time. Yours came back from the dead. Better. All her scars eliminated.” Madison would bear mental scars for an eternity. “All her internal disease she might’ve had eradicated. That means your
precious
got a second chance, starting over like the goddamn day she was born.” He kicked one of the empty chairs. Georgie flinched, but Zoe, being the closest to him, executed no physical surprise. She simply tilted her head to the side and watched him as if she were capable of reading his inner turmoil. “Because of me and Madison,
your
goddamn family is safe from demonic warfare. But
my
beloved will
never
be safe from my dysfunctional family.”

“Angel-jelly, what’s got your feathers ruffled this morning?”

Micah whipped about. Alessandra slathered a piece of toast with jam, a judicious expression on her pretty features.

“I don’t
have
feathers.” As she fucking knew. “I’m not a goddamn bird.”

“Definitely not.” Jade-green eyes moved over his body. “As much as I love you in a suit—God knows I do, it’s lingerie for us women—but do you own anything else? Say, a pair of well-worn jeans?”

Odd question, even if he ignored the praise. “Why?”

Chewing, she dabbled at her lips with a napkin and said around a mouthful of food, “Just wonder what your ass would look like in them.”

He narrowed his gaze. “I’m perfectly made, so my ass looks fantastic in anything.”

Alessandra chuckled, but the sound died when she took another bite of her jellied-toast. “Your arrogance is amusing.”

Micah strolled toward her. Tension among the Birminghams swelled like the soap bubble a child would blow until it grew mammoth and popped. Itching for a fight, he strategically baited them.

“
Your
impudence is wearisome.” A vision of her on her knees, pledging her allegiance to him appealed to him.

“Ah, the flattery.” She executed an exaggerated flutter of her lashes.

He struck. Nabbing her by the neck, she gasped. He drew her upward until her spine snapped straight. Alessandra offered no supplication, just an indulgent manner. Fear clouding her eyes would’ve been nice, but obviously wouldn’t be forthcoming.

“Not one step in my direction, Father Birmingham.” He shot James a quick glance, before turning all his attention on Alessandra. “Why do you needle me to get my focus off the Birminghams?”

“It was obvious you were spoiling for a fight.” Her hands were loose in her lap. Proof she expected him to release her unharmed. “I figured someone should humor you.”

His eyebrows slashed upward. “You’ve got balls the size of Hell, Alessandra.”

“Why, thank you, angel-jelly,” she imitated Madison’s southern drawl.

He bit back a laugh.

“Micah?” There was his woman, coming to Alessandra’s rescue. When he didn’t respond right away, she repeated it, a little higher-pitched. “Micah!”

“Yes, kitten?” Maintaining his hold on Alessandra, he turned his head to peer at his woman. Phoenix was behind her, his hand on Madison’s shoulder.

She looked a little green. Had she been vomiting magic again? Her continued sickness made little sense; the Sterillium should’ve been flushed from her system by now. Even Lucifer, the medic in their group, agreed.

“You’ll release her.”

He loved it when Madison issued directives. Too bad she wasn’t commanding him about the bedroom…as if he were the submissive type.

“One reason why I should?” He asked mildly, his thumb swishing along Alessandra’s jugular. The woman’s heart rate was level. She afforded him no fear. Unsure how to handle her calm, he contemplated what actions he’d have to take to spike a jolt of fright from her.

“If you don’t, I’ll toss your perfect ass out of my house.”

Micah grinned. She’d heard more of their conversation than he’d anticipated. How long had she been listening?

“In a moment.” Facing Alessandra, he asked, “You know you would’ve lost a fight with me.”

“Of course.”

“Why no fear?”

“I knew Nix would revive me if you got carried away.”

“Aren’t you a brazen
taqqeil
.”

“I—” Alessandra did a mini-head shake since his grip on her neck hindered movement. From the corner of his eye, he caught Madison coming up beside them. “I don’t know what that means.”

“He called you a hellion.” Madison clutched his wrist and tugged his hand off Alessandra. “What’s flipped your crazy trigger?”

Concern etched on her face
for him
? Unable to endure the emotions that walloped him, he looked away. “I’m a demon King. Instilling terror is what I do.” The grimace he failed to contain was as good as the beeps of a lie detector. Goddamn his inability to prevaricate to her.

“You’ve confirmed what you’re capable of more than once.” Madison clasped his cheeks with her hands and forced him to face her. “But what you said was a lie. Don’t shut me out, Micah. Not again.”

“Can we have a moment alone, please?” Phoenix requested, coming around the other end of the island.

As everyone filed out, he placed his palm over the back of Madison’s hand and kissed her wrist.

Phoenix stepped beside Madison. “You cannot terrorize my family or Alessa like that.”

“Fuck you.” He’d do what he liked anytime he wanted. The day the Ark of Heaven navigated his actions it’d be time to bury his ass.

“You can’t.” Madison lowered her hands to her sides. “What? No ‘fuck you’ for me?”

He barely contained his groan. The word fuck coming out of her mouth sounded too much like an invitation. “I’d fuck you, kitten.”

“You’d fuck Nix, too. But that’s so not the point. Talk. To. Me.”

Was this part of a relationship? Sharing one’s inner woes? He could barely tolerate them; he damn sure held no desire to discuss them.

“You wouldn’t understand, kitten.”

She leaned against the sink, Phoenix beside her. “We won’t know that for certain until you talk.”

“I’m angry that my brothers killed you, and I was helpless to stop it.” Both hands towed through his hair. “I cannot understand why they’d want you dead when you offer less danger to the universe than I do. And thanks to Amos, we know that won’t be the last attempt on your life. The next one more likely to kill you than the first.”

His kitten nodded, a slow movement as if she processed his statement. “You feel…afraid and helpless?”

Afraid? Oh, no. Worse. In the years he’d spent chasing her, he’d never once felt powerless. Nothing could stop what was coming, he just hoped that between him and her mini-supernatural alliance, they held a chance of impeding the enemy.

“I’m terrified,” he admitted, uncomfortable with exposing his vulnerability but suspecting it was right to share with her.

“I am, too.” Micah looked at Phoenix. “Don’t want to lose our girl here.” He nudged Madison with his shoulder.

“In the same boat again, eh, Phoenix?”

“When it comes to Mads, aren’t we always?”

Chapter Forty

Kur leaned against the wall opposite the door when Madison exited the bedroom. A lazy smile on his too-handsome face suggested he knew what transpired in her room. Regardless that her body was sated,
she
wished she could forget what’d just occurred.

Ambushed by her guys, with her succubus driving she’d been defenseless against them.

Lie
. Lynx mocked her with a taunting grin.

Truth
. No way had she planned for them to gang up on her and give her pleasure again. The other time with Micah’s head between her legs and Nix holding her on the floor was more than enough.

Hardly
.

Sick to death of her demon, she promised,
If you don’t stop talking, I’m going to gag you
.

A brief chuckle.
Try
.

Yeah, she’d like to see herself try as well. But hey, even a blind squirrel found an acorn every now and then. She liked to think she’d be capable of the inconceivable at least once.

Madison shook her head and pinched her thigh. Anything to get her guys out of her head.

She focused on Kur. Eyebrows elevated, he watched her with a mocking grin. Bastard probably guessed her thoughts.

Black leather pants hugged his long legs. The sleeves on his black silk shirt were rolled just above his elbows, with the top two buttons exposing an ample amount of chest.

Devlin yipped and she scooped the Hellhound into her arms. Taz had remained with Micah and Nix. The traitor.

The pup licked her neck as she eyed the human-looking dragon. “What are you doing out here?”

“The furry monster wanted his momma.” He nodded at the creature in her arms. “Where’s the other critter that thinks he owns you?”

Kur tolerated Taz as much as the King of the Jungle did a thorn in his paw.

“With Micah and Nix.” After that first day, Taz had taken to her men like fungus on a toenail.

“Ah.” It was more a breath than a word. Kur watched her offer affection to her furry hound, his dark gaze lingering on her hips and moving lower before flanking her on the sweep upward.

Madison fought back the blush. “How much did you hear from in there?” She nodded toward the door.

“Honey, I could smell your lust from the opposite side of the house. I suspect Micah placed a dampening spell on the room, because I heard nothing.” Kur stepped close enough to scratch Devlin behind the ear. “If you ever get tired of those men….” He tipped her head back with a finger beneath her chin. “Give me a chance.”

She snorted.

“Once you go draki, you’ll never want the fallen or mortal again.”

She surmised ‘draki’ was short for dragon. “FYI, your pick-up lines are rusty.”

Crinkles of amusement expanded outward from his sapphire eyes. “I’m serious, Madison.”

So was she. She cooed to Devlin and his tail shook so hard his whole body quivered.

“That Hellhound worships you.”

“He’s a sweet boy.” Devlin whined when she sat him on the floor by her feet. “Are you married, Kur? Have a girlfriend?”

“Neither. Why?”

Planting her hand on the back of his head, she tugged him down and kissed him. He jerked in surprise and she pushed him away. “As I feared. Not interested.”