Leo’s eyes narrowed.
“Josephine.” Merius figured there was no point in holding back that particular tidbit, though it was hard for him to bite back his rage.
Leo’s face hardened even more. “Malik fell.”
“Well, well…you put that puzzle together fast.” His fangs were out. Don’t bite him. Hate the bastard, but don’t bite him. The problem was—Merius was still new to the whole vamp business, and he wasn’t so good at impulse control. He rolled back his shoulders as he faced Leo. Once, he’d taken orders from the guy. Believed that Leo could be trusted.
He’d never buy that BS again.
Leo raked a hand through his hair. “I gave Malik the original order to watch Josephine Saint.”
“Figured as much.”
Leo took a hard step forward. “She’d crossed the line. She bit you. I had to make certain she wasn’t going mad. With her particular history, I—”
“Josephine Saint didn’t bite me.”
“Of course, she did! She—”
“I met Josephine Saint—I saw her with Malik. She’s not the vamp who bit me.” And this was bothering him. Because Leo should have known the truth. “The vamp who bit me was small, blond, with a heart-shaped face and deep green eyes. She had a dimple in her left cheek.” He’d seen it when she’d smiled at him. She’d taken his blood, then smiled because she’d liked the taste. “She was not the same woman I saw with Malik. And Josephine said—she said the one who bit me was her sister.”
Leo’s eyes widened the faintest bit. “And you believed her? Josephine Saint is a liar, she’s a killer, she’s—”
“Not the one who bit me,” Merius gritted out. “I feel when my vamp is close. I could always feel her.” Even before he’d fallen.
Leo’s gaze cut away from him.
“She told me her name was Josephine. How was I supposed to know she was lying? But you—all-freaking-seeing you—should have known the truth.”
Leo’s stare flew back to Merius. “I wasn’t there when you were bitten. I went by what you told me. Everyone knew Josephine’s reputation. Everyone knew she was a killer. So I put a guard on her. I assigned Malik to watch her, to report if she so much as went near you. And if she’d tried to bite another angel, Malik would have stepped in. He would have—”
Merius’s laughter cut through Leo’s words. “If I’m right, the guy is offering his throat to her right now. Don’t you get it? Don’t you see what happened? He fell for her. I tried to warn him, but he wasn’t interested. He chose his side.” A pause. “He chose her.” And he pitied the guy. “And we did this to him. You sent him to guard her because of me. He got hooked on her. Hell, maybe she even bit him before this—or gave him her blood. You know the impact a born vamp’s blood can have on prey—”
“I was told she was the one who bit you.” Leo’s hands had fisted.
“Yeah, right, we covered this. I told you, but I was—”
“Not just by you.” Fury hardened every word. “I knew you could be wrong. I wanted proof. I wanted to make sure I had the right vamp in my sights.” His breath came faster. “I wanted her death, but he stopped me. He said she wouldn’t make the same mistake again.”
This didn’t sound good. “Who told you?”
“Who the fuck do you think? My twin. Luke. The jerk who was supposed to be keeping his darkest paranormals in check back then. He told me that Josephine had bitten you. He told me that I should assign an angel to watch over her. If that angel saw her cross the line again, then action would be needed. Deadly action.”
No, this wasn’t good. It was hell. “Luke is the one who paired them together?”
A grim nod. “At the time, he’d recently made some kind of deal with Josephine.” A pause. “Where is Malik now?”
“I have no idea. He flew out of here.” Merius rubbed his chest. It still burned from Josephine’s blast. “He left, and he had his vamp in his arms.”
Without another word, Leo vanished.
Merius growled, “Yes, it was fucking great to see you, too, asshole. Let’s get together again real soon.”
***
Her heartbeat pounded, echoing in her ears. His taste filled her mouth, and his cock still filled her body. Josephine licked her lips as Malik pushed himself up on his arms, the better to stare down at her.
She’d taken his blood. Crossed that line and now, there was no hope for her. She was going to be just like Vlad. A descent straight to madness. She’d tried to fight this ending for so long. Hadn’t worked. She’d ended up in hell, and she’d brought him down with her. “I’m sorry.”
His gaze was so bright. It seemed to see right through her. If she had a soul, Josephine would have thought that he was looking at it. But, well, she’d traded her soul long ago.
Malik slowly eased out of her.
The raw, wild hunger had been sated, for the moment. It would come back, though.
Didn’t it always?
Because there was a darkness inside of her. Always had been. Always would be. But what she’d done—she’d just fed the darkness. And now it would grow.
He rose and stood on the side of the bed. His gaze slid over her and then—then he bent and tore away the chain on her ankle. “I won’t do that again.” He dropped the chain onto the floor. “Even if you are my end.”
She rose, crouching on the bed.
He smiled at her, a sad, half-smile that had her heart beating even faster. “I’ve been around a very long time.”
Yeah, she’d rather figured as much.
“I…I heard of Vlad centuries ago.”
Everyone had heard of him. Humans thought he was a guy who’d been born back in the 1400s. That he’d amassed power through terror. That he’d impaled his enemies. Drank their blood—
Well, he had drunk the blood. He had impaled those who fought him. And he’d always been good at using terror to build his empire. But Vlad hadn’t been born in the 1400s. He’d been living much longer than that. He’d had other names. Other kingdoms.
He’d turned the world blood-red many times.
“I hate to disillusion you…” Malik straightened his jeans and zipped them up. “But he was mad with bloodlust his whole life.”
“After he bit the angel—”
Malik shook his head. “I’m telling you, Vlad was mad before then.” His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. “I went outside of the bedroom earlier…I left you alone…because I was trying to figure out a way to tell you…” He met her stare directly. “Vlad was just fucking evil, Josephine. Always was. I saw the hell he left in his wake. And he did that long before he ever tasted angel blood. Our blood—it was just something new he wanted to try. He was evil and twisted, and the bastard wasn’t that way because angel blood had warped him.” His breath heaved out. “He was evil.”
Her heart was still drumming too fast.
“You feel better, don’t you?” Now Malik spoke haltingly. “The power surge you got from the witch—it’s eased, hasn’t it?” A smile came and went on his lips. “It’s not because sex with me is so amazingly awesome—”
Actually, sex with him was amazingly awesome, but she wasn’t about to admit that truth. The clawing darkness inside of her had eased. For the moment.
“It’s because you took my blood. It…soothed you.”
She wasn’t feeling particularly soothed. “I saw him. I saw what he did. How desperate he was, he wanted—”
“Vlad gorged himself on all sorts of prey. Witches. Shifters. Even gods and goddesses of old. He drank and he drank until there was nothing left. He had no soul, no conscience. Just an insatiable desire for death and blood.”
And I never want to be like him. But hadn’t she already started down that path? “I need clothes.” She jumped from the bed. Glanced around. Didn’t see them anywhere.
“Check the closet,” he murmured. “I asked the doorman to send up some stuff from the shop downstairs for you.”
She yanked open the closet. Saw some f
ancy black dress. Not her style, not in a million years, but she jerked it on because there weren’t a whole lot of options. Shoes were there, too. Heels. Unfortunately, she was betting they didn’t come with knives attached. How disappointing. But she still slid her feet in the heels. “No underwear, huh? Naughty angel.” Josephine spun back toward him. She sucked in a deep breath and said, “I hate to break it to you, but you’re wrong.”
He blinked. “I am?”
“I knew Vlad. Better than anyone. He was evil to his core, absolutely. I don’t disagree. He lived to kill and drink blood. He loved terror and pain, and he was happiest when he was bringing hell to some unfortunate soul.” She knew because she’d suffered plenty at his hands. “But I saw him after he drank the angel’s blood. He was different then. So very different. And he wasn’t soothed.”
Okay, maybe Malik’s blood had calmed her down. Or maybe it had been the blood and sex and who the hell knew what else?
“He kept the angel alive for a while. Drank from her again and again. And the more he drank, the wilder he became. Wilder than ever. And he couldn’t stop. I tried to stop him. He just drank and drank until nothing was left and—”
“You stopped.”
Her body trembled.
“You’re not still taking my blood.” He advanced toward her. “Fucking and drinking—that combination is supposed to drive a vamp straight to the edge. But when you were drinking my blood, you still stopped.” He pointed to the bed. “I’m not dead. You didn’t drain me. You stopped.”
Her body was practically humming with pleasure. She felt sated and powerful, and…no, she didn’t want to drain him.
But she did still want him.
“The stories you were told about the angel blood weren’t true, Josephine.”
“I was always told them. Warned to stay away from those in the shadows—told I’d go crazy—”
He was right in front of her. “Do you feel insane?”
Her gaze slid to his throat. She’d given him her blood. Taken his. They were linked now. Taboo. Forbidden.
“Do you feel insane?” he repeated.
No, that was the thing. She felt… “I feel alive.” Every cell. Every part of her. Inside and out. Not cold and calculating. Not a predator just looking for her prey. It was as if something had been unlocked inside of her. For the first time in longer than she could remember, Josephine felt…free.
He smiled at her. “Good, my Josephine, good. You are—” He stopped. Malik shook his head. His eyes widened, and his hands flew to his throat.
“Malik?”
He gasped. Choked.
“Malik!”
He fell to the floor, his body shuddering. She dropped beside him, her hands flying all over him as she tried to hold him still and stop the sudden thrashing of his body. “Malik! What’s happening? What’s going on? What—”
Wind whipped into the bedroom, sending her hair flying around her face. “You’re happening, Josephine.”
Her head turned. She stared at the man there—tall, dark-haired, with angry, golden eyes. He wore a black suit, and his hard expression seemed to be carved into sharp lines of hate. The man before her looked exactly like Luke Thorne. Every single detail was the same, except—
“Vamps are never supposed to bite angels.”
Because they were forbidden.
Malik had gone still. Her wrist began to tingle. No, to burn. She glanced down. The tally mark on her skin seemed to be fading.
No, no.
“Guess your last job for my brother is done,” the man standing so close to her snarled. “Congratulations, Josephine Saint. You just killed an angel.”
Chapter Eleven
She slammed her hands down on Malik’s chest. And she poured every bit of stolen magic that she had into him. The magic that had pumped through her with Lawrence’s passing. The magic that had nearly torn her apart. She sent it straight into Malik—and he jerked, his body bucking up as if she’d just electrocuted him.
He jerked a few more times, and his eyes flew open.
The mark on her wrist went dark again. Relief almost made her dizzy, but Josephine kept her expression cold and hard as she glanced up at the unwanted SOB standing a few feet away. That’s not Luke. So it can only be… “Well, would you look at that, Leo,” Josephine snapped. “The angel’s back.”
“Josephine!” Malik grabbed her arms. He pulled her against his chest. Held her tight. “What in the hell just happened?”
I happened. I almost killed you. And she hadn’t even been trying. Story of her life. Luke had always said she had a real gift for death.
“I’ll tell you what happened,” Leo announced in a voice sharper than a knife. “You let this vamp bite you! And she nearly killed you!”
Josephine wasn’t focusing on the so-called leader of the Bad Things. Her eyes were only on Malik. “I warned you.” She had. Why hadn’t he listened? “Told you…to get away.”
Malik’s brows scrunched. “You didn’t drain me, sweetheart.” He rose, and she was right there, sliding her shoulders under his arm to help brace him.
“No.” Leo sounded even angrier. “She didn’t drain you. She just poisoned you instead.”
Malik finally seemed to realize someone else was there. He stiffened as his head turned toward Leo. “What are you doing here?”
“Trying to keep you alive!”
Josephine rolled her eyes. Really? What—exactly—had Leo done to help? She’d been the one to sacrifice every drop of magic she had in order to jolt Malik back to her.
And…why had she done that? The question teased through her mind.
Because I just damn well needed him back.
“You don’t need to monitor her any longer.” Leo spoke quickly now as he pointed his finger at Malik. “Consider the duty over. You’re done with her.”
Such a dismissive, arrogant tone. The guy made it easy to remember why she tended to prefer his brother over him, even though Luke could be the stuff of nightmares. Oh, wait, so can I.
“You’re giving me orders?” Malik’s words were flat. “I don’t think so.” And he straightened. He put his body between her and Leo. “In case you’ve forgotten, you don’t rule over my kind. Not any longer.”
Oh, that was true. Josephine craned her neck so that she could see around Malik’s body and take in Leo’s furious expression. Couldn’t be healthy for skin to go that particular shade of red.
“I’m protecting you! You don’t need to watch her,” Leo thundered. “I had you there to keep an eye on her. If you’d seen her try to bite another angel, I would have used you to end her, just as we’d discussed.”
Wow. Wait, what?
“You would have killed her,” Leo continued briskly as if he were talking about whether or not it would rain the next day. “Then you would have—”
Malik locked his hand around Leo’s throat. “Stop.”
But it was a little late to stop, wasn’t it? Josephine could only shake her head. “I thought…I thought you were my guardian angel.”
Leo knocked Malik’s hand out of the way. Then he laughed. “Guardian? Um, no, you’re looking at an entirely different sort of angel.” He motioned toward Malik. “Didn’t you notice that his wings were different? The shadows? I mean, come on, that’s basic—”
“I’m not exactly an expert on angels.” Each word was gritted out, and something had absolutely iced her heart. Guess this is what betrayal feels like. “I try to stay away from them.”
Leo scratched his chin. “You should probably have tried harder.”
She was going to kick his ass. Leader of the Bad Things or not. Josephine charged for him.
He just held up one imperious hand. “Stop,” he instructed.
She didn’t. She did drive her fist into his jaw, as hard as she could. His head whipped back, and the big, bad ruler of the dark paranormals slammed into the wall. He left a nice dent in it, too.
He also gaped at her. “H-how…?”
“I?
??m not yours to command, dumbass. Did Luke not tell you that part? Guess he didn’t go over the finer details of our deal.” She bared her fangs at him. “You have no control over me. I’m not one of your paranormals.”
Shock made his face go slack.
She thought about punching him again. But—Josephine spun to face Malik. “You lied to me.”
His hands were fisted at his sides.
“You weren’t guarding me.” She hated the way her words got so high and angry. “Just what kind of angel are you?”
He stared at her, looking all soulful and guilty, and Josephine really didn’t want to hear—
Leo cleared his throat. “He’s a death angel. His job was to make sure that you didn’t sink your fangs into an angel again. If you did, if you so much as tried to bite another angel, Malik was going to kill you.”
Oh, hell, no.
She backed away from Malik. She had to get away because she was hurting.
But Malik grabbed her arms. He glanced down at her wrist. “Weren’t you supposed to kill me?”
Oh, what, did that make them even? Is that what he thought? “If I wanted you dead, you would have died when those coyotes surrounded us in Razor’s Edge.” Her breath heaved out. The ice of betrayal deepened. You should have known better. You should have known… “I had plenty of chances to call Luke. I could have sent you upstairs over and over again. I didn’t!”
“Why?”
How the hell did she know why? Because she was an idiot? Because she’d turned soft in her old age? Because she’d looked into his eyes and felt some sort of connection that was a straight up lie? “Angels aren’t supposed to lie.”
But he’d lied, from the very beginning.
“Who told you that?” Leo asked her, sounding surprised.
She really hated him. And right then, she hated to stare into Malik’s eyes. She’d been played. By an angel. Talk about humiliating. This was definitely a low moment. Very low.
“I guess now you’ll do your job,” Leo murmured. “My brother sent you after Malik, and you’ve got him. So call Luke. Get him here. Turn in the angel.”