The Fallen (A Sons of Wrath Prequel) (22 page)

A scream rang out and halted his steps.

Karinna.

Fists curled into a tight ball, he spun down a staircase.

He’d already sent the signal, so it would only be a matter of time before Hasziel and the others came after his ass.

As he reached the door, an odd sound rose up through the walls. Chanting? No, much more erratic.

Moaning. The sound of males, a large group of males, getting off at the same time.

Xander’s stomach tightened.

He hustled down toward the basement, fury burning his blood as the moans escalated, growing louder with each step.

Slinking along the wall, he entered a large, cavernous room, in the deepest part of the basement, which opened to high beams and rotted planks of wood.

Xander choked on a breath.

His heart slammed into his rib cage.

Karinna hung from the ceiling, body precariously spinning like an acrobat and completely naked, a spreader bar between her ankles.

A quick scan of her body showed no cuts, bruises or burns. In a circle below her, men sat in chairs around a half moon platform that backed up what almost looked like a prison cell—all of them masturbating, as if they worshipped her from below. Each of the men wore white masks, and their moans drowned out the quiet whimpers as Karinna shook in a futile attempt  to escape her binds. One male in front rose to his feet, rushing straight toward her exposed sex.

Xander lurched, fists tight.

Two large guards Xander recognized from
Hard Limits
caught the male, urging him back to his seat.

“Patience, my friends.” Ian stood on the platform, the only male, besides the guards, not wearing a volto mask. “Each of you will have your turn with a very lovely female. And then we’ll start the show. You’re welcome to pleasure yourself but I’d urge you to … practice a bit of self control. There’s nothing quite as exquisite as what we have in store for you this evening.”

Ian’s hand slid down her body and Karinna, gagged and blindfolded, tipped her head back, letting out a muffled scream.

Blood whooshed in his ears. The angel army would have taken them down. For whatever reason, they hadn’t arrived, yet. Maybe Sloane didn’t bother to send the message. Jealous? Probably.

Fuck.

He refocused on Ian.
Honorary guest, huh? Let’s see how much you honor me, motherfucker.

Stupid plan, but not like he had much choice. Still crouched in the shadows, he yanked the bottle of Demortis from his pocket and laced his blade, before carefully sliding it into the hip holster. To fit in with the other males, he removed his coat and shirt, and tossed most of his weapons aside.

He edged closer, eyeing the guards who didn’t seem troubled by his presence. Ian must not have found the camera, yet, because no way in hell those guys would let him skate by if he had. They only gave Xander a nod as he passed.

“So, let the bidding begin!” Ian called from the platform. “Who’d like to be the first to sample this sweet pussy?” To Xander’s utter rage, Ian pressed two fingers up inside Karinna then licked his fingers. “Oh, my, she is
sweet
.”

Kill-switch engaged. That motherfucker would die slow.

Xander glanced around the room, trying to figure how the auction worked. He had to make certain he’d be the first.

“One thousand.” A man cried out.

“Two.” Xander countered.

Ian’s head whipped toward first male, then to Xander. “Ah! Xander, my boy! You decided to join us!” He ushered him toward the stage. “I’m sorry, friends. The first pussy goes to a man who’s been like a brother. Always watching my sorry ass and taking care of business. It’s because of him that we have plenty of pussy to go around tonight!” He rubbed a hand down Karinna’s body, and, by God, Xander had to mentally talk his muscles out of pulverizing the cocksucker. “She’s my gift to you.”

Go fuck yourself.

Xander just needed to get close to her. They’d expect him to fuck her there on the platform, while they all watched, getting off on the act. He’d take the opportunity to cut her free, and attempt escape in hopes that Has
-fucking-
ziel would arrive with troops.

“C’mon up, my man, and have your way with our beauty. Just don’t kill her.” A burst of laughter bent Ian forward. “I know you’ve got a thing for that shit, but save it for the feast afterward.”

Xander could damn near taste Ian’s blood on his tongue. Could hardly wait to gut him open like a pig. Just needed Karinna safe first. He strode forward and climbed the platform. Ian shook his hand and gave him a pat on the back before stepping back.

Karinna’s cold body passed beneath Xander’s hands, but she remained still.

“I’m here,” he whispered and wrapped his arms around her, burying his head in her neck to kiss her.

Tiny spasms jerked her body as she seemed to hold back a sob, but the tension in her muscles eased and she melted into him.

Xander pulled a dagger from his holster, and the crowd gave a sound of approval. “Knife play, Pet.” His body hid the act from the others, though Ian still stood off to the side, his jaw shifting with a smile.

One long, slow glide of the knife up Karinna’s body failed to break skin, though she arched herself into him. He snaked his hands up her bound arms, poising the knife as if he planned to slice her right across the back.

Xander made a mental countdown.
Three. Two.

“Wait.” The voice rose from behind and steeled his muscles. Jimmy came around the side of him. “You don’t recognize those tattoos, Brother? How foolish.”

Ian tipped his head, brows furrowed.

“I saw them once. The night you were dragged out of the burning hellhole.” Jimmy came to a stop beside his brother. “I can’t blame you, really. I’d, too, forgotten what they looked like.” He lifted the ash-laden camera into view. “Until I found this.”

Xander’s stomach sank. Still, he held tight to Karinna as she quaked in his grasp.

Jimmy’s disapproving
tsk
followed with a smile. “Told you not to trust this fucker.” He tossed the camera to his brother. “Press play. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the show.”

From the camera, Karinna’s cries and screams died away to silence.

She whimpered in his arms as the video played.

Ian’s expression turned from curious to furious in a matter of seconds. Grunts and groans of the men Xander had killed signaled the part of the video that revealed his identity.

Xander expected Ian’s lip to peel back in a vicious smile.

The camera fell to the floor. Ian’s eyes, wet with tears, landed on Xander. “And so, it seems, we’ve found our wolf.”

CHAPTER 22

“Feed it. Fuck it. Eat it.” Lolita chanted from her cage inside Karinna’s head, as she hung from the binds, clutched in Xander’s arms.

Shut up, shut up.

She couldn’t afford to let her take over. Not now.

Her feelings for Xander had transported her to a place she’d not been before—an equal ground of fierce and vulnerable.

In those moments, it suddenly clicked.

Xander had been trying to bring the two personalities together—Lolita and Karinna. One body. One mind. One motive. Perhaps he thought that Lita would rise from obscurity and talk some sense into her along the way.

He’d always been there. The night they raped her.  The night she tried to hang herself to erase the pain.

Even at that moment, as all hope seemed lost, Xander stood holding her to his body.

Tears saturated her blindfold. The world around her seemed to move in slow motion—a standoff between her savior and the men who would surely destroy her.

“Any minute now, this place is going to be swarming with angels.” Xander’s calm and confidence put her at ease. “Let the girl go, and I’ll leave with you.”

Again he’d take the fall.
Goddammit.
 

Karinna gave a muffled cry through the gag, only to curse in frustration when his hand covered her mouth and his fingers dug into her nape—a warning.

Xander’s body jerked and her arms fell to her side. Freed. He’d sliced the cuffs of the spreader bar, giving her feet some traction. The rough plank of wood slid beneath her bare feet, and her blindfold flew from her eyes.

The sight before her stole her breath.

Nearly two dozen males closed in.  White masks. Faceless.

Cold metal hit her palm from behind as they continued to back away.

“It’s laced with Demortis. One slice will take them down,” Xander whispered. “When I give the word, I want you to run. Don’t stop.”

“No, no.” She curled her fingers around the dagger behind her back. “I won’t leave without you.”

“You will.” Her head bounced against his chest as they came to a stop. “Get ready.”

“Fuck you. I’m in this ‘til the end.”

Didn’t matter anyway. As though he anticipated Xander’s move, one of the masked males blocked the only out—the straight shot to the staircase.

“Then, prepare yourself for the end.”

A harsh shove against her chest knocked her backward into the cell. Xander locked the door and tossed the key inside.

Karinna gasped with horror as the white masks closed in, hands reaching from behind him, swallowing him into the crowd. Even as they yanked him backward, Xander’s jaw remained hardened. Stubborn. Unyielding.

“No!” She swiped the Demortis-laced dagger across the arm of one who’d reached inside her cage. A branching network of blackness crept across his skin before he fell to the ground. She jabbed through the bars. One. Two. Three.

As many as she took down, the others continued to haul Xander away.

He fought them off, bloodied, dodging nails and the teeth of those who’d removed their masks, throwing punches and kicks. They continued to advance until he disappeared into the fray of thrashing bodies.

“Stop!” Ian’s voice boomed. “Stop. Back off, you savage fucks!” Still in human form, Ian stepped forward and parted the crowd like the Red Sea. “This isn’t going to be a quick death. I promised a show, and that’s exactly what I intend to give you.”

“No!” Karinna bellowed from her confines. She scrambled across the floor, patting around for the key.
Fuck you, Ian. You’re my kill.

“Strap him.” Sadness bled into Ian’s voice, as he spoke the command that prompted the two guards into the thick of bodies after Xander.

A humming sound carried on the air, like an electric current. The quickly increasing volume forced Karinna to cower, gaze directed toward the ceiling in search of the source.

Dirt, wood and chunks of concrete rattled across the floor, as though an earthquake had struck the building. Louder. Louder. Beyond the bars, the white masked males had stopped moving about, their gazes also fixed in the direction of the noise.

An explosion of white wings burst through the ceiling like falling missiles.

The crowd of white masks rocked into chaos.

Males as big as Xander, and some even larger with capes draped between white wings sprouting from their backs, drew swords. A clash of metal hit her cage and startled her. Dust burst from the stone in gray plumes, as something hit the walls around her. Feathers smashed into the bars as the male fought a white mask. Like something out of a crazy ass movie, the wings shrank and disappeared behind the cape, and his sword split White Mask down the middle, before the male pushed off the cage and jumped back into the throng of fighting.

Karinna brought a hand to her mouth, wanting to scream into her palm. Was she dreaming? Who were these people? Angels? She crept forward on hands and knees and lifted a white feather from the floor. Just like the ones she’d collected. Like Xander’s.

Blood. Death. Faces against faceless.

Gore.

Violence the likes of which she’d never seen before.

The end
. Lita surfaced, and Karinna backed herself into the shadows of her cell, dagger poised. The cries of pain, metal clashing, flesh torn apart. So loud.

War.

She covered her ears, opened her mouth to a silent scream that seemed to last only minutes before her voice arrived in sharp clarity, piercing the sudden stillness.

The whooshing of blood pounding in her ears matched the frantic thrum of her heart. She opened her eyes. A dozen men, who resembled ancient Viking soldiers with white and golden wings, gazed back as if watching a caged lion.

A dark-skinned angel stepped forward, carrying the air of a leader.

He glanced back. “Is this the one?”

“Yes.” A female voice broke through the wall of males, and she stepped forward, grasping the bars of the cell.

A black cape draped behind her and long locks of hair, drenched in sweat and blood, spilled over her shoulders. Blood and grime coated her skin—so different from the flawless skin she bared at
Chix
.

Sloane
.

“You’re … you’re one of them?”

“It’s alright, Karinna. You’re safe now.” With little effort, she yanked the bars from the cage and removed her cape, passing it on to Karinna. “Cover yourself.” She gave a furtive glance over her shoulder. “Some of them have not yet seen a human female.”

Unsure of what that meant, Karinna took the cape and wrapped it around her body, still clutching to the Demortis. “Where’s Xander?”

Sloane’s eyes flitted to the dark-skinned man and back. “We don’t know. Ian took him in all the chaos. We have his brother Jimmy, but, despite our
interrogation
efforts, he won’t say where.”

Karinna wanted to cry. She wanted to sink to the floor and weep for Xander. Ian would be sure to torment him in ways she couldn’t imagine.

Crying was what Lolita would do, though.

Instead, she clamped her lips and marched right past Sloane, the dark-skinned angel and the dozen or so males who could’ve just walked off the set of a Spartan movie, straight toward that porn-star wannabe bastard.

Jimmy sat tied to a chair, face bloodied, skin marred with gashes.

“Where is he?”

The male smirked. “I’d say about a breath away from wishing he was dead, right about now.”

Wincing at the remark, Karinna drew the dagger and propped it to his throat. “I should destroy you for every girl you’ve destroyed. For every life you’ve watched pass through your hands on its way to death, I should tear you open and make you pay in blood. I will give you one opportunity at redemption. Tell me where he’s taken him. And then I’ll let those more
merciful
deal with you.”

Eyes wide and focused on the orange substance clinging to the end of the dagger, Jimmy opened his mouth. “Old steel factory. Along the river.” A smile touched his eyes, as Karinna’s stomach sank into oblivion. “Ain’t that where your daddy worked, love?”

Water beating the dock. Laughter. Hands groping. Heat. Voices.

Karinna sagged as she fell into the memory.

“That’s right,” he whispered. “We own that place. Just like we owned your daddy, your mommy. And you. He took you there and let them have a go. Every one of them. Didn’t he? They beat you. Burned you. Made you dance for them. And then they fu—”

Karinna jabbed the knife in Jimmy’s throat, and the cool rush of adrenaline blanketed her hot muscles as he bled out in front of her before turning black. “Fuck. You.” She yanked the dagger from his charred throat.

Curious faces met her eyes when she turned around. Karinna gave a quick scan of the crowd and snapped into searching for some clothes. In a shadowed corner of the basement, she found Xander’s jacket, two guns and a dagger-filled holster. The inside pocket carried the vial of what she presumed to be the Demortis. Donning the jacket, which fit her like a dress, she strapped herself with the weaponry.

“Where are you going, sweetheart?” Sloane reached out a hand. “C’mon. I’ll take you home.”

“I’m going after him. I know where he’s at.”

“Well, why don’t you tell us?”

“No.”

“You look like an orphaned assassin.” Sloane waved
come here
. “We’ll find him. We’ll bring him home.”

“He doesn’t want to go back. He wants to stay.”

“I’m afraid that’s impossible.” The dark skin male stepped toward her.

“I don’t have time for this.” Karinna shoved the dagger into the holster. “I’m out.”

“I’ll take you.” Sloane’s voice carried a tone of kindness Karinna didn’t trust.

“No, thanks.”

“You don’t trust an angel?” Sloane asked.

“Only one.”

“You may die trying to save him.” Dark Skin shoved a sword into a scabbard at his hip.

“Hasziel.” Sloane’s eyes turned wide, as if he’d confessed something he shouldn’t have.

“I’ve seen the future.” His face didn’t wear the slightest bit of sympathy. “One of you won’t make it out alive.”

One of us. She stared down at his jacket, lifted it to her nose, and breathed in Xander’s scent. “If he dies ... that’s a life I don’t want to live, anyway.”

“You’re sure this is what you choose?” Hasziel’s eyes narrowed, like he expected her to suddenly come to her senses.

Not likely
. Karinna nodded. “I choose him.”

***

“I
loved
you … like a fucking brother!” Ian had gone from upturned brows and tears in his eyes to a snarling lip and pure rage, as he wriggled in the chair beside the pipe mill, wrists bound by Diablis steel. Precisely the kind of emotional melodrama that had given Xander the upper hand in the first place.

Fighting him would’ve been fun. In fact, Xander had gotten a few punches in, just for Karinna.

And for fun.

Seeing her safe, with Hasziel and the angels, had reminded him of one glaring fact that he’d chosen to ignore since the night he first laid eyes on that beauty: she didn’t belong to him. Not even the most fucked up scenario could change that. He’d done the unthinkable by having sex with her—an act that secured his ticket right into the Fallen. Being with her again meant he’d be eternally hunted by the angels. Not being with her meant sheer torture—an insatiable hunger that would ultimately destroy him.

Nope.

Seemed like poetic justice really—the twisted fuck who turned him into the bastard fuck who fucked her, would get fucked by him in the end. Xander’s convoluted thoughts brought a smile to his face.

“You find this
amusing
?” Ian’s jaw tic’ed, nostrils flaring. He kicked out a leg, nearly nailing Xander square in the nuts. “We could’ve owned this city, you and I. Had beautiful girls sucking our cocks every night.” His eyes remained fixed on Xander, as he picked up the rusted gas can across the room. “Instead, you chose one. One fucking insignificant mortal. Over me!!” His bellow bounced off the walls of the ruined steel factory.

“Don’t flatter yourself, asshole.” Xander swiped at his nose, the fumes of gas mixing with the stench of rot and rusted metal. “I chose her over lots of things.” He smiled as Ian gagged on the gasoline he splashed and spilled over the fallen angel’s head.

After emptying the can onto the dirty, gritty floor, he tossed it aside and picked up another, from which he saturated the area surrounding Ian, before pouring gasoline on himself. “Well, my friend. I suppose this is where we part ways.”

Ian’s pupils dilated, his lips twisted into a smile. “Crazy bastard. You’re funny. Angels can’t kill themselves.” He chuckled. “You’re forbidden.”

He reached inside Ian’s pocket and pulled out the Zippo. “Bad motherfucker.” Xander shook his head and grinned. “That’s why I’m gonna light you first, asshole. I’m just an innocent bystander.”  He flipped the top. “I’d love to cut you up a bit,”—he pursed his lips—“’fraid you’d pass out. No fun.”

“C’mon, man.  The girl. I’m sorry. Don’t do this.”

“Xander!” The voice tingled Xander’s spine like rusted nails on a tin can.

“’The fuck you doing here, Sloane?”

“She was my ride.”

His heart hitched at the sight of Karinna stepping from the shadows. “It’s okay for you to ride off into certain death, but to hell with anyone else who follows you, that it?”

“Yeah. That’s it. So leave.” He shifted his gaze toward Sloane. “Both of you.”

“If it’s any consolation, I’d have come with, or without, her. No one steals my thunder. Not even you.” Karinna edged toward the pooled gasoline.

“Stay where you are.”

She smiled and hopped into the puddle, splashing like a toddler in the rain.

Xander rubbed a hand down his face and across his jaw in frustration.

She finally stilled, arms stretched to show the droplets of gasoline trickling down his borrowed jacket. “Wanna light me up, too?”

He gave a weary roll of his eyes. “You’re something else, woman.”

Like a cat, she prowled closer, and Xander couldn’t deny the way his heart galloped in his chest as she closed the space between them. “I’ll make a deal with you. We both walk away from this ….”— She reached down, and Xander’s stomach tightened the moment she cupped his balls. “I’ve got two tickets straight to hell. You in?”

He smoothed the hair from her face and caught sight of Sloane slipping behind Ian. “What are you doing?” His toneless voice didn’t quite reflect the fury roiling in his gut as his gaze lifted to Sloane.

“Hasziel wants him brought back alive. He has information. Other connections.

Xander sidestepped Karinna.

Sloane cut through the steel binds.

“Sloane, no!”

Ian twisted in her grip. A flash of silver cut through the dim lights. In a fucked up twist of events, Sloane stood, caught in Ian’s grasp with her own dagger at her throat.

“He’s fought angels for centuries.” Xander clenched his teeth. “
Centuries
.”

“My favorite,” Ian said low against her ear, “are the new female recruits.” A slice across her throat released a small faucet of blood. “Always following orders.”

Xander reached out but her body crumpled to the floor, and poising for the tackle, he pounded pavement toward Ian.

A blow to his chest knocked the wind from his lungs as Ian threw out a kick. Xander stumbled backward, caught himself, and, head bowed, slammed into Ian’s midsection, taking the fallen angel to the ground.