The Fallen (A Sons of Wrath Prequel) (23 page)

In a tangle of limbs and punches, Xander wrangled both of Ian’s arms, pinning him to the floor. The length of chain still dangling from Ian’s forearms secured him nicely to the pipe mill as Xander locked him tight, crushing the links into one of the bevel gears of the machine.

Still crouching beside Ian, Xander twisted on the ball of his foot in search of Sloane’s dagger.

Wicked laughter rose out of the quiet. “Thing about mortals is … well, they’re mortal.”

Ian’s mocking voice sent a vibrating chill through Xander’s bones, and he spun around.

Karinna lay on her back, eyes widened with horror beneath her knitted brows, as if terror and disbelief battled one another.

The hilt of a dagger protruded from her chest, blood pouring from her wound. Unearthly steel would’ve sliced right through her ribcage and into her heart with no resistance.

Coldness spread like ice crystals, freezing Xander’s lungs. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. All sound died down to her rapidly slowing heartbeat.

Save her
.

“No!” His cries echoed through the building. He fell beside her body and yanked the dagger free, placing a hand over the bleeding wound, allowing his energy to seep into her body and heal.

Ian’s laughter pounded through his skull in a murder-worthy beat. “I didn’t remember her at first. Fuck, she must’ve been sixteen years old the last time I saw her. Wasn’t ‘til she was laid out like a slab of meat in the video that I remembered that cry. Like a lamb before the slaughter. Her old man took her first to calm her down.”

Rage and sickness churned in Xander’s gut, but still, he kept his focus on Karinna. Healing her. Saving her.

“Then me and Knox each got a turn. Right here. In this very building.”

Ian’s voice grated along Xander’s spine, and he clenched his teeth, nostrils flaring as the wrath inside of him continued to fester.
Kill.  Kill the fucker.  Cut him open.  Make him bleed
.

“All night, she made that sound, and I remember that verse from the bible like music to my ears.”

The stabbing pain in his gut finally brought Xander to a stand, fists curled tight at each side of him. He spun around to face Ian.

“She whispered it as I came inside her. And, well … you know what happens when the Fallen fucks a human female. Little nympho.” He sniffed. “Her mom killed that baby. Called it an abomination. I couldn’t argue that. I didn’t even know her real name.  But that sound …” Eyes closed, Ian shook his head with a smile. “I’ll never forget it.”

Xander’s lip curled over his teeth. A surge of energy numbed his limbs. Each inhaled breath only left him desperate for air, as a red haze clouded Xander’s vision, narrowing it to blackness.
Destroy.

He yanked a dagger from his hip. Kneeling beside Ian, he gripped the bastard’s throat and squeezed. Like an old friend, his rage surged up from its depths once again, and he stabbed the knife into Ian’s shoulder. Twisted round and round.

A tortured, howl bounced off the walls, filled Xander with crazed satisfaction, as he sawed the male’s arm from his body.

“Motherfucker!” Ian’s body shook like he’d been hit with a seizure.

Once Xander had cut through the bone and fibers of muscle and joint, he tore away the limb, cut it free from the binds, and set it aside. Like an impassive machine set on kill-mode, he slid backward across the gravely cement, stopping at Ian’s hip, and zipped the dagger up the fabric of his pants.

“No! No, wait! Talk to me! Fucking talk to me!” Ian kicked and writhed within his bindings.

Xander sliced away at the black briefs beneath, not giving two shits that he’d jabbed the demon’s nuts as he did so.

The chain shook and Ian’s tortured outcries spilled out, as Xander went to work removing his organ from his body. At the final detaching slice, thick sprays of blood coated Xander’s face, and he wiped it from his eyes.

Ian’s bellow traveled like a song to Xander’s ears. He crammed the bloody mess down the male’s throat and drilled his fist into Ian’s face.

“Turn,” Xander commanded.

With some hesitation, the demon shook his head.

Xander gripped his chin, setting the blade against his cheekbone.

A muffled cry made him pause. Xander stabbed the organ still stuffed inside the demon’s mouth and yanked it away.

“Okay. Okay.” A coughing fit left the bastard gagging and he turned his head to the side and spit blood. “Stop. Fuck! You win. Don’t do it.”

“Turn.”

After only a few seconds of waiting, Xander lifted the blade and sliced into the shell of the male’s ear against Ian’s struggle below him. Damn, the shaky son of a bitch made it hard to cut through the meat. The knife jabbed into the fleshy part of his cheek with every jerk of his head.

Red coated his skin. Lips turned black. Eyes appeared as if they’d dilated, black seeping beyond the white.

His Fallen form.

“To hell with your soul.” Xander slashed his blade across the demon’s throat, releasing a geyser of blood that dribbled down his neck onto his chest.

Eyes wide and panicked and back to their normal brown, he finally fell limp. Dead.

Reality seeped into the dreamlike state as Xander pushed off the lifeless body.

Karinna
.

Tears pooled in the corner of her eyes, her breath rose and fell with short, panting breaths. The white pallor to her skin had his stomach cinching, every inhale waning. “Xander … the video … I saw … everything. I re … member.”

He tore open his coat, exposing her bare chest, where the wound still oozed blood. Why? Why hadn’t his touch healed her?

“You … I saw you … on the video.” Her voice broke through the alarms blaring inside his skull. “You saved her. Me. Like a dark … angel. She was never … alone.” She squinted and swallowed, as if in pain. “You’ve always been … there. Watching over us. I know … you tried … to make me … remember. Bring us … together as one … person.” She lifted a trembling hand into the air. “You’re … the only one … who didn’t … try to … send me … away.” Her brows tightened. “I only … wanted to … protect her.”

Goddamn, he wanted to cringe as each word arrived broken by sharp breaths. “Shhh. I’m getting you out of here.” He lifted her up into his arms and her body planked, stiff as a board. She cried out in pain.

Fuck. His muscles shook, throat dry. Agony speared through his veins, piercing his heart. Falling to his knees, Xander pushed the hair out of her eyes and stroked her cheek. “Hold on, baby. I’ll make everything better.” His eyes burned with his fury. “Don’t you fucking d—”
No
He wouldn’t even say the word.

“Xander. I’m … cold. Scared.”

“Don’t be scared. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.” Ice cold of her arms slipped beneath his palms as he rubbed them, for what little warmth it might provide.

“I almost … didn’t do it. I almost … stayed … with you. I would have …” Tears welled in her eyes. Breaths arrived shorter and faster with each passing minute. “For … you.”

No
. He couldn’t think about that. To know how close he’d come to heaven, only to watch it slip through his hands.

Gritting his teeth, Xander frowned to focus through the watery shield covering his own eyes. She touched a finger to his cheek and moisture slid against his skin.
Tears?
Never in centuries had he known tears.

“Don’t ever … doubt who you are again.” Her finger trailed down to his jaw line, smearing the tear away. “You … saved … her.” The groove of her brow deepened and the shine returned to her eyes again. Damn the dry hollow in her sharp inhale that made him wince. “Me.” Light danced inside her tears, until they finally trickled down her temple. “The voices … they’re … gone. No more … of their … laughter.”

Xander buried his face in her hair, lost in her sweet scent. Home. Heaven on earth. No need to go back. To hell with the heavens. With her was where he planned to stay.

He lifted his head from her face.

Karinna’s eyes had closed.

“Baby?” He gave a light shake. “Karinna, wake up.” A pat against her cheek did nothing to rouse her. “Wake up.”

Xander scrambled to lay her against the cement. He placed a hand over her wounds and let the energy left inside of him surge into his fingertips.

Still, her eyes remained closed.

“Hey.” He grasped both of her shoulders. “Karinna wake up. Now. Wake up!” Cold spikes of pain stabbed his chest as he stroked her hair, and that fucking blur to his eyes made it hard to see her clearly. He frowned, blinking the watery film away, and concentrated on her face.
No. No way
. He clamped his lips shut, sucking in long, shaky breaths through his nose. “You told me … that Death only takes those who lie to rest. You said you weren’t ready to lie down yet, Karinna.” Lifting her to his face, Xander kissed her lips. “So wake up. Wake up and come back to me.”

No breath. No movement.

He rose from beside her, and rubbed both hands across his skull. Back and forth. Pacing. Disbelief.
No. Not her. Not dead
. Violence and madness jeered inside his head. The room spun and Xander bent forward, clamping his eyes shut, shutting it all out. Didn’t help. Karinna’s peaceful, sleeping face seared his mind.

He twisted toward the cement wall, fist swinging. Blocks of concrete caught the first punch, leaving a gaping hole. He drilled another into the wooden shelf, taking down trays of supplies and tools. Picking up chairs, he hurled them across the room.

In all of his chaos, she never stirred.

“Why! Why did you come here?” His body trembled, fists pounding his temples. “Not for me!”

Xander fell to his knees and pressed his forehead to hers. “Not for me.”

“Because she loved you.” Hasziel’s voice hitched his breath.

Xander lifted his head from Karinna’s and turned to face the angel standing over Sloane’s lifeless body, stroking her hair. “You could’ve saved her. You
let
her die. For me!”

“I gave her a choice. I told her one of you would die. And, still, she chose to save you.”

“And Him? Do I mean so little? Have I disappointed Him so much?” The words burst forth on a growl from Xander’s chest. “Was He not there when she suffered at the hands of those rotten pricks?” To hell with insubordination, Xander clenched his teeth and let the anger flow out of him. “Did He not feel her pain, as I do now? Why would He let this happen? She was innocent. A girl.”

“She’s in a better place now. A place with no suffering.”

“She’s not in a better fucking place, and you know it!” Xander turned back to Karinna, stroking her crown. “I tried to heal her. I couldn’t.”

“You have the power to heal wounds, Xander. Only He decides who lives.” Fingers twined, Hasziel crouched beside him. “You do have one choice, though. A single sacrifice.” He frowned as if troubled. “Give her your wings and set her free.”

Fall
. Xander glanced back at Karinna then focused his gaze on the angel. “Tell me, Hasziel. Is this how the others fell?”

“This is how you will fall, Xander.”

Xander stared down at the tattoo on his forearm.

“You’ve lost your faith. Wonder if you’ve become a monster? A demon, like them?”

“Am I not? I could’ve easily killed her myself. Immortals are expendable,” Xander mocked.

“Humans have always been the forbidden fruit—a true temptation for our kind. Much as they’re fragile as autumn leaves, this trait gives them power. And it’s every creature’s natural instinct to do away with what has the power to destroy it.” He huffed. “The line that separates good and evil is often narrow. It comes down to one selfless act. Save her, Xander. Whether you’d ever planned to confess it to me, or not, you’ve already fallen.”

“If I do this, I’ll become her enemy. She will hate me with the same wrath I feel for the others who’ve fallen before me.”

“Yes.” He glanced down at Karinna. “We’re not designed to give our divine powers for them. It’s not our nature to make such great sacrifice. Yet, sacrifice is the ultimate act of devotion. A divine gift.” He placed a hand on Xander’s shoulder. “It’s what we do with that gift that defines who we are.”

“Why didn’t you come right away? At the food bank?”

Hasziel took a deep breath and leveled Xander with a serious stare. “We were ordered to stay back.”

“Why?”

“While we may question what one mortal life means, when so many demons can be taken down at once …. He is willing to save that mortal life
at the expense
of taking down many demons.”

Rubbing his skull didn’t help the overwhelming urge to punch Hasziel in the face. “She would’ve been tortured, raped repeatedly, beaten. He’d have let her suffer through that?”

“This woman has suffered since the day she was brought into this world.” Hasziel cupped her cheek and smoothed his thumb over her skin. “It is the only place in which she finds comfort.”

“If you were ordered to stay back, why did you come?”

“It wasn’t for the girl, or to take down the demons.” The angel’s fingers entwined once more. “I came to bring you back.”

“You needed an army to bring me back?”

“I figured it’d take more than myself, once she died.”

A tear remained trapped in the corner of Karinna’s eye, catching the light. Xander leaned forward and kissed it. “Do it. Give her my wings. I forsake my allegiance to the Sentinels.” He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “Set her free.”

“You’re certain?”

“Yes.”

Hasziel bowed his head, lips tight. “May the heavens show mercy, my friend.”

CHAPTER 23

Xander’d be truly fucked up by the end of the night, with the amber Elysia he poured down his throat. Having already tipped back two shots, he considered himself halfway there.

He lifted his glass into the air. “To the heavens. Go fuck yourself.” The burn slid down his throat, and Xander pounded the mouth of the glass on Sanctuary’s bar top.

“Easy on the furniture.” The voice, though deep and commanding, carried a certain eloquence.

Double blinking barely brought the guy into focus as Xander twisted on the barstool. Mister Eloquence looked like something out of a mobster flick—assuming mobsters wore Armani suits and were spawned from the depths of hell. Like the guy could slice a bastard open then adjust his cufflinks for a meeting afterward.

“’The hell is that shit you’re drinking?” The conscious effort not to slur had Xander paying equal attention to how much he sounded like an ass doing so.

“Absinthe.” He held up the glass and took a sip. “Don’t get angels in here too often. You lose your way?”

Xander smirked and scratched his stubbled cheek. “You could say that.” He rubbed a hand down his face and signaled the bartender.

“Elysia’s one way to get fucked.”

“Well, considering most females avoid the Fallen like a plague, I’d say it’s the only way I’m getting fucked tonight.”

The guy chuckled. “Ah, don’t be so hard on yourself. Plenty of unsuspecting human females to corrupt.”

His mood turned somber, and Xander twirled the shot glass set before him. “Just one.”

“Gavin.” The guy extended a hand, and Xander paused a moment before shaking it. “Wrath demon. I own this place.”

“Xander. Former Sentinel. Former Angel. Former Good Guy. Nice to meet you.”

“Sentinel?” His eyebrow kicked up. “You lookin’ for a job, Xander?”

Xander pounded back the shot of Elysia, squinting as he swallowed the burn. “Nope. I plan to drink myself into a mind-numbing fucking coma and stay there for the next couple of centuries.” He gave the guy a once-over. “Think I’ve had enough of demons for a while.”

“That’s too bad.” Still leaning into the bar, Gavin turned to face Xander and gave a quick sweep of his gaze. “Vengeance dealing is a great way to vent anger.”

“Vengeance dealing?” Much as Xander wanted to blow it off as something ridiculous, the guy had an air about him that said he was dead serious. Kind of made him curious.

Gavin pushed a bright white card across the bar. A female sidled up beside him, all tall and glamorous, like one of those classy dames out of a black and white movie. The red dress flirted with half her breasts, giving every horny bastard up in the club a good idea of what both halves probably looked like together. “You decide to rethink the coma gig, give me a call.” He patted Xander on the shoulder and strode off with the woman.

Xander stared down at it. Demons for hire. What the fuck was the world coming to? Though, he couldn’t deny the sincerity and charm the guy carried, like some kind of Pied Piper of criminals. “Ah, what the fuck?” He stuffed the card into his coat pocket. “If I live through tonight, why the hell not?”

“How you looking to go?”

A spin on the barstool brought him face to face with half-bared tits and a slim figure. The black dress she wore clung to every curve and the red lipstick provided a good target for focus as he strained not to see two of her. Brown hair gathered at her shoulder. “With a shit-eating grin on my face.”

“How does my mouth around your cock tickle your fancy?”

His lips kicked up into a crooked smile. “Thanks … I’m good.”

Yeah, she was pretty. Yeah, his dick stood at attention just thinking of getting caught up inside those ruby red lips. Yeah, it’d been two weeks of sheer torment and blistering palms from all the masturbating he’d done. The idea of fucking someone else just didn’t sit right with him … yet.

“Your loss.” The vampy female sauntered off, rounded ass shimmying in his face like a goddamn T-bone walking off into the sunset.

He nodded to himself.
Pretty much.

***

Xander left Sanctuary, the night sky looming overhead. Odd how he’d come to feel a certain comfort in the dark. Like home.

His skin prickled.

Something fluttered down from the sky, and he threw out an arm, waiting until it fell into the palm of his hand—easier said than done on teetering feet.

Feather
.

A breath of air danced across his neck, and his lip curled. With a determined, if not stumbling, stride, he slipped into the alley adjacent to the bar and spun around, backing himself deeper into the shadows. Step by slow step, desperate not to trip, he withdrew further.

A flash of silver and cold steel lifted his chin into the air as warmth engulfed his very bones. An arm circled him from behind.

Xander stifled a smile. His heart beat wild in his chest. “Hello, beautiful.”

“I should kill you now.”

“I’d die a happy man, if you did.”

Her arm twitched, and Xander spun her around, kicked her feet from beneath her, and caught her before she hit the ground, straddling her body.

Hot damn. Even drunk, he pulled that shit off.

Porcelain skin, framed by her natural brown hair, carried a soft glow, aged lines replaced by smooth satin. Pale green eyes seemed brighter, the dark circles from before gone. All her tattoos were gone, too. Piercings, scars, all of it had disappeared. A blank slate, and yet, somehow, still Karinna.

“So perfect,” he murmured.

“What did you do to me?” She snarled and kicked at his rib.

Xander winced.
Shit
. She’d gotten strong. “I always said you were an angel.”

Tears formed in her eyes. “Why?” Her struggle ceased. “This wasn’t the plan.”

“The plan was flawed the moment you told me you wanted to die.” He grinned. “Crazy girl, I fucking fell for you. What do you want? An apology for saving your life?” Xander leaned in, feeling her body tense beneath him. He slanted his lips over hers and savored her taste, so pure and sweet. He groaned against her mouth and clasped the nape of her neck, pulling her into him.  “God, I thought I’d never touch you again.”

Like lightning, she slipped from beneath him, knocking him onto his back, and hovered over him with teeth bared. “You made an enemy.”

He had. Black and white. Yin and yang. Light and dark in the flesh. He smirked at the thought. “Baby, you can hate me all you want.” Her soft cheek passed beneath his tracing finger. “Fact is, the heavens never worked for me, anyway. I’ve always been hell-bound.”

Brows knit, a tear spilled onto her cheek. Closing her eyes, she leaned forward and rested her head against his chest.

He wanted to crush her inside of him forever.

“I have to go,” she whispered in his ear.

“I know.” As she lifted herself away, he reached out with both hands and captured her face in his palms, giving a gentle tug back toward his body. Desperation burned inside his soul. He could take her home, keep her, stay with her and not give two shits that the heavens now looked at him as a fugitive—a black sheep among their perfect, holy flock.

“Make me what you are.” Her eyes glistened with the sheen of moisture. “Tear these wings away and let me disappear with you.”

God, he would. If he thought, for one moment, that she’d be free of danger, he’d do just that. Fallen meant being eternally hunted, cast into hell and subjected to crooked demon justice. “If I was a lesser man, I would. There isn’t a soul in this world who wants you more than I do right now, Karinna Roy.” He stroked the back of his fingers across her jaw. “You rose up from the ashes, baby. No one can ever hurt you again. And any bastard puts fear on this beautiful face, know that I’ll fucking kill him.”

He raised his arm between them, giving her a good view of the new tattoo, inked in cursive across his forearm.

L’amour fou.

Only the truly fucked up people would ever understand it.

And the French.

“Tell me, Xander. Did you love her more?”

“I love
you
, woman. Whoever you are. Whatever you do. I’ve always loved
you
. Always will. Until we’re nothing but a pile of dust and regret.”

Her brow creased, lip tightened. “Do you reg—”

“No. Some things I’d do over.” He winked. “You? I’d do over and over again.”

A harsh squeeze of his stiffened dick nearly stole his breath. He tilted his head back and hissed at the assault. The sound of his shirt tearing had him glancing downward.

Karinna had exposed his chest. Her kisses trailed down his skin until she reached his stomach. “I’d give anything for one more night with you.”

Turbulent flames of lust scorched his veins. His entire body bellowed with a craving to knock her down and die in a violent tangle of limbs, sweat, blood and dirty fucking debauchery.

“This isn’t over.” She shuddered on a breath. “Until we meet again, demon.”

He smiled at that. “Looking forward to it, angel.”

Like a succulent dream, dissolving into the bitter void of his reality, she disappeared.

***

My mother always told me that man, in all his faults and sins, covets the divinity and love of the angels.

Perhaps that’s true.

I believe its love that can make an angel no more than a man, and a man divine … for there is no greater declaration of love than that of the will to sacrifice.

-
Karinna

The end.