Night Series Collection: Books 1 and 2 (54 page)

“Come back to bed, little demon,” he murmured, tossing his strong arm across my lap to pull me closer. “There’s nowhere we have to be for hours yet. Enjoy the rare afternoon off.”

I’d learned these past two nights that Asher ran extremely warm—he never slept under the sheets, which was fine by me because it meant my greedy gaze got to feast on him whenever I wanted to. He was pure grit and muscle, smooth and all hard lines, but with the kind of sloping grace reminiscent of a swimmer’s body. The only mar on him was the numerous scars, which I sorta liked.

My heart fluttered and Lust purred. She could appreciate the sight of a man’s perfectly shaped ass. But as much as we wanted him, the frenetic need we’d felt the first time we’d seen him wasn’t obsessive.

Threaded between the lust of our need were glistening, powerful strings of something much greater, deeper, and fuller.

Those strings, while thin and seemingly insignificant, were ten times more powerful than the need of the flesh. Leaning over, I planted a kiss on his shoulder, delighted when his smooth muscle flexed tight beneath my touch.

He moved like lightning; in less time than it took me to blink, he’d rolled over and had me caged in his arms, forcing me to rest my hands on the bed so as not to fall.

“Where are you going, little demon?”

He knew me so well. Transferring all my weight to one arm, I pushed hair out of his eyes, memorizing the silky feel of it before smiling. “Grace’s.”

Burning intellect scraped me. “Don’t kill her.”

I snorted. “I promised you I would go to her.”

He nodded.

“I need to do this. I won’t take long. And when I come back—”

“We’ll make wild monkey love?”

Choking with laughter, I dug my sharp teeth into my bottom lip. “You make trying to be an honest woman extremely difficult, Priest.”

“That’s the plan. Wear you down until you have mercy on me.”

Needing to touch him, I claimed his lips. It was a sweet, tender kiss full of the promise of me, of us. Of my ever-increasing desire for him. I also let him feel the truth—a truth I was nowhere near comfortable speaking into existence just yet.

“Hurry back.” His lips danced across mine.

I got up and walked to the closet, because if I stayed on that bed for one more second, all my good intentions would vanish like smoke.

Pushing aside the few hangers still holding Kemen’s clothes, I grabbed a pair of jeans and a cream-colored belly shirt with a
Día de los Muertos
graphic skull on front. Sitting up in bed, Asher leaned against the headboard with his arms behind his head, watching me with hot eyes.

My hands shook as I buttoned up my jeans. He smirked, licking his lips. His cock stood to glorious attention and I knew if I really wanted him, he’d deny no part of himself to me.

But Asher let me put this off, not because he couldn’t force me to give in to our need. He could, at any moment. That was probably the biggest turn-on. He would never demand it of me, he was an alpha male all the way through but confident enough in who he was that waiting wasn’t an issue.

Sweeping my fingers through my hair, I let it hang long and free today.

“Little demon…” His voice was thick and gravelly.

Applying a light sheen of nude lip-gloss, I twitched my brows for him to continue.

“I’ll be waiting for your return. You be safe and guard my greatest treasure.”

Slipping the tube of gloss into my pocket, I tried to pretend like what he’d just said hadn’t completely rattled me. “You’re going to follow me to Grace’s, aren’t you?”

His smile was smug. “I’ll stay here, like I promised last night. But you’ll be guarded. The Order wants you dead, and as much as I trust Grace, I don’t trust them. Be careful who sees you.”

“Who’s going to be guarding me?”

“An old friend.”

The air grew thick and oppressive, and then a gray shadow stepped forth. Eyes glowing like hellfire, the Gray Man stood silently by.

Kissing my fingers, I blew my priest a kiss and then went to lay some demons to rest.

T
he sun was just cresting the red desert horizon when I traced into Grace’s bedroom.

In sleep, Grace looked human. So frail. Her papery white skin was mottled with liver spots and bright blue veins. Her breath was ragged—sometimes she’d go so long without inhaling that I knew she wasn’t long for this world.

I clenched my fists, rooted with indecision. The Gray Man walked up beside me and no longer did he seem like a frightening entity. This flash was an extension of my priest. I grabbed one shadowy hand.

The Gray Man squeezed back and I felt Asher’s soul pulse through it, feeding me, giving me strength to quiet the compulsive demand of my demons to slaughter, kill, and torture.

Pestilence hissed, Lust slithered, and I drew on Asher’s strength.

“Wake up,” I snapped.

The sharp command had her eyes widening. Grabbing her chest, her face transformed into a mask of terror—mouth gaping and eyes widening as she took in a deep, shaky breath.

“Pandora?” Her hands trembled. But she quickly shook the sleep from her, scooting back until she was able to use the headboard to help her sit up. Soon the confusion turned to the sharp gaze of the woman I’d once loved like a mother. Eyes moving between me and the Gray Man, her keen brain fitted the pieces of the puzzle together. “Now you know.”

“Not really.” I dipped my brows, keeping my feet firmly locked in place. “I know you and Ash are working together, but not why. Or how long you’ve been playing me.”

Her silver hair hung like thin threads of cobwebs around her hunched shoulders.

“The night you gave me that ring, you said it was hell on a person. Your words. Remember?”

She didn’t bother denying it.

“I would have died down there if it hadn’t been for Ash. Why send me to Hell? What did you have to gain? What is going on, Grace? And this time I want the truth or I’ll make good on what my priest stopped me from doing a few nights ago.”

No surprise filtered through her gaze—the old bat had clearly been caught up on all the gory details.

“There is a prophecy about you. One the Order is desperate to contain.”

The tape recording Asher had left me the night I’d woken up from my coma had alluded to a prophecy. “What prophecy?”

“That you’re the key to releasing Wrath.”

My heart jerked at the memory of the inhumanly beautiful man tempting me to him. Calling me to heed, to obey. I’d come so close.

“But I was only in Hell because of that ring—if you hadn’t given it to me, I would never have gone there.”

“No, Dora.” Her eyes closed and she heaved a sigh. “You’ll not be in Hell when when you call him forth. The ring was a test, to see if you were strong enough to resist.”

“I didn’t release him.” I widened my eyes.

“I know. As does the Order. I’d hoped it would be enough to dissuade them of this course, but I’ve learned that test meant nothing to them.”

A terrible suspicion took root. “Did you orchestrate that thing?”

The way she nibbled on her lip and looked quickly away told me everything I needed to know.

“Damn you!”

Face scrunching up, she tossed up her hands. “It was the only way I knew to prove to them that you could be trusted.”

God, she didn’t know. My heart was pounding so hard. If it hadn’t been for Asher throwing himself on me, I would very likely have gone to Wrath. I wonder if he’d told her that, if she knew that I’d been inches from unleashing that deadly sin. That truth was like bile on my tongue.

“And Kemen? That was you. I heard the recording.”

Inhaling deeply, she nodded. “Yes, lass, that was me.”

If the Gray Man hadn’t been hanging on to my hand, I’d have jumped her right then and there. Rage roared through me, woke both my demons up until they hissed and spit right alongside me. “
Why
!”

She held up her hands. “You may not believe me, but everything, and I mean
everything
I’m about to tell you is true, and I have the proof to back it up.”

If I said a word, if I even blinked right now, I’d eviscerate her. So I waited for her to continue.

“Kemen approached me about two nights before your group landed in South Dakota.”

“I don’t believe you,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Ye don’t have to, but like I said, I can prove it. He was tired of living, told me so. Said he wanted out.”

“Shut up.” My eyes burned.

She shook her head. “I told him to go home and sleep it off. But he kept coming back.” She pointed at the small dresser she had shoved against the wall beside me. “In there you’ll find a voice recorder—it’s him, he told me to give it to ya when ye’d finally learned da truf.”

Her accent was thick and her voice shook. She was clearly frazzled, but whether because it was true or a lie, I’d soon find out. “God help you if you’re lying.”

Turning on my heel, I yanked open the drawer and found the small black tape recorder.

“The cassette’s in there, just click Play.”

Giving her a final withering glare, I started it. The snapping crackle of static soon gave way to a voice I thought I’d never hear again.

Pandora…

I sobbed, the tears coming instantly and hard.

If you’re hearing this, then you didn’t kill Grace and that’s good.
He chuckled with that sultry drawl of his I’d always been a sucker for, slightly smoky mixed with the sluggish exhaustion of a sloth demon.
I know you probably hate me right now and I’m sorry. I couldn’t tell you because you’d try to stop me.

I hiccupped and bit my knuckle.

For so long I’ve felt useless to the family, to Luc especially. I’ve never quite fit in and I think you know a thing about that yourself.

I shook my head, trying to deny it but knowing he was right.

I was going to end things someway, I had to.
He sighed.
I was never as strong as you, Dora. I’ve lived my life and I just couldn’t do it anymore. I need you to understand that because odds are really good that you’ll be the one to take my life.

A horrible keening exploded from my throat and I rocked back on my heels. Tears fell so hard I could barely see.

I’m sorry. Just know that I loved you, and that’s why it has to be you. This is the only way my death will mean something, if I can keep you safe. This is my final gift to you, Dora. Please don’t mourn me anymore.

That’s how it ended and I wanted to deny it, wanted to scream that she’d somehow forced him to do it, forced him to say these words or that someone had impersonated him. But that had been my sandman and the only thing I could do was hurl the instrument across the room. It crashed against the wall, shattering into pieces.

Needing a minute to gather myself, I raced to her bathroom and slammed the door shut, hands shaking as I covered my face and cried.

It took me a while to get the tears under control. Realizing I couldn’t stay in here forever, I walked to the sink splashed cold water on my face, and when I felt more in control of myself, I walked back to Grace’s room.

She’d not moved and she didn’t say anything about my obviously still-tear-stained face.

“Talk.”

Grace was smart enough not to ask me about what.

“The moment I realized that Kemen would not be dissuaded, I explained to him what was going on with you but told him he had to keep it all to himself. He couldn’t let you in on any of it. I told him everything, Dora. How the vampires were a trap, how I was working with a priest, how if anyone discovered what I was about, they’d have killed me and killed your only chance to survive this.”

“You expect me to believe you’re as powerful as all that? You’re a pawn in their game!”

“Nay.” She shook her head. “I’ve not gotten to this place in life without having contingency plans for any eventuality. Do you honestly believe that I was fool enough to think for a moment an organization as powerful as the Order might not one day go beyond their bounds? Power breeds corruption—it’s the one constant you can depend on.”

I closed my eyes, leaning against the wall. The Gray Man, who I’d even forgotten was still there, came and stood beside me. I wondered just how much Asher knew of what was going on? Could he see through the GM’s eyes? Hear what it heard?

“I’m a powerful ally, and I always have been. As is the priest. He and I arranged for everything to happen as it did in South Dakota, to never let the Order know we knew. It had to happen as it did to keep you safe. As long as they believed I was in on the double cross and that there was a priest actively tailing you to end it, they wouldn’t come at you with guns blazing. Kemen understood that—it’s why he allowed himself to become the decoy. The Order was thrilled to learn of a
rogue
within your ranks. It was entirely fabricated of course.” She waved her hand. “But it gave me the access I needed to learn the truth of what was really going on. Or at least enough of it to begin making plans. What you heard on the tape recording that night was me in character. I would never dishonor the sacrifice your friend made. Never.”

Her blue eyes pleaded with me to believe her and I had no choice. It would be folly to deny it when the truth was so blatant. It didn’t make it hurt any less, but at least now I understood why he’d been reading the books he’d had in his room that day and why he’d not fought me when I’d ripped his head off while in the grip of a full-on demon possession.

“Why is the Order after me? What in the hell have I done to them?” I asked on a heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“The prophecy. You are the key to the end of days.”

My heart sank like a stone. All demons understood that someday we’d lose this war on humanity. The great and terrible war between heaven and hell will culminate in our ultimate destruction. It is a war we will not win and one we strive daily to stave off. It’s why the Neph work so hard to walk the fine line between light and death. To try to help tip the scales of justice in our favor for however long we can.

But prophecy was another thing. There were very few actual prophets to have ever existed. And the only true way to judge whether the prophets were real or hoax was if their words came true. If the prophecies all eventually came to pass, the prophet was real. If even one foretelling was false, his entire body of work was discredited. But it was one of those hindsight things.