Page 36

D om woke from a deep sleep the next morning, the world a little brighter. Maddy was curled up, ass to his groin. But instead of getting time to continue the celebration of their release from custody or getting that vacay as promised, the OC interrupted with a path. So much for Maddy-and-Dom time.

He had nearly slipped out of bed undetected when she said, “What’s up?”

“The OC has ordered me to bring Lucian in for a chat.”

She rubbed a hand across her eyes and stretched. “I’m going with.” She swung her legs over the side of bed.

“No. You’re not.”

Standing naked, which was unfair in any argument, Maddy crossed her arms under her breasts. “I am. I want to meet this Luce guy. I’ve heard so much about him. It’s like he’s a celeb in OneWorld.” She grinned. “I might even get his autograph.”

“No.”

“Rethink that.” She stormed toward her closet, her shapely ass swaying.

Stubborn female. Stomping off to his side of the closet, Dom shoved his legs into black cargoes and tugged an equally grim t-shirt over his head.

On a sudden impulse and needing a way to deal with his frustration, Dom pathed Ohngel, I’ve got a question.

Yeah?

How do you control Indigo?

Ohngel laughed. After a pause, he said, Oh. You’re serious?

Yes.

You’ve seen us together. Do you really think I control Indy? Do you think anyone does?

Dom supposed not. But how do you keep her safe?

I’ll deny I said this, but if Indy’s life were in danger, fuck what she wants. I’d overpower her, kicking, screaming, and swearing never to talk to me again. But only then. Otherwise, I kinda like her the way she is.

Having a stubborn mate’s hard, said Dom.

Not so much. Listen to what she says. More importantly, learn when to laugh and when to shut your mouth. Of course, there’s that nastiest of words—compromise. Learn how to do it.

I don’t know, Ohngel.

Exactly. You don’t know. I don’t know. And who the fuck cares. Just enjoy the ride. They’re worth it.

I’m going after Lucian and his merry band of Scourges. Maddy insists on going along.

Luce won’t hurt a female. Ohngel chuckled. Besides, he’s probably partying with other Scourges in some valley, throwing back a few drinks, hitting on celebs in Angor, and getting jiggy with the latest pop hits?

I’m impressed with the jingo, Ohngel. You’re starting to sound like Remi.

Yeah. Been watching too much TV with him. Good luck. I’m helping Ely hunt for Malacour. The bastard’s proving elusive.

Dressed, Dom found Maddy waiting in the salon. He decided this was one of those compromise moments. Wow! He was turning into a great mate.

“Come on if you’re coming.” He soared into the sky, beckoning her to follow. He angled his wings to veer left, glancing over his shoulder at Maddy.

She mirrored his moves, smoother, stronger than ever. She might even be able to beat him in a head-up race. He wasn’t jealous. Hell no. He was happy since speed was her friend. It could get her out of a tough situation.

Madeline caught up, a satisfied smirk on her lips, probably because she’d won the argument. Might have been their first real disagreement. Yeah . And he’d lost the tiff. It didn’t set a good tone for the future, but it had allowed him to compromise.

Dom issued Maddy another order. Not that she’d obey it. “We’re heading over Harpy Plains. Keep an eye out. The hags attack from the air, but they keep to lower altitudes, flying in squadrons. If you spot them, call out. I’ll handle it. Stay on this course while I drop down to search for Lucian.

Below, he saw no signs of Luce’s encampment. Intel said the guy had relocated his camp to this general area. When he rejoined Maddy, he angled toward the east. She kept pace.

Dom said, “We’ll cross the Rushing River of Blood in a moment. Again, stay up here while I check out the banks.” Following the river to the lake, he spotted a camouflaged camp, a cluster of huts with netting thrown over them.

Ballsy . Since it was near Outcast Tower, the seat of Angor’s government.

Lacking gonads, though, had never been Lucian’s problem. The dust-up with the OneCreator had not been the guy’s only transgression. No . A few centuries after he had recovered from his beheading, he gathered some of the evilest sonsabitching Scourges he could find. Armed, they cut a bloody swath through Angor before Dom and Remi had caught up with them in Loneliness Desert.

On that day, Lucian and his followers took a stand where the desert met Mortus Peak in the Razor Mountains. Though Dom and Remi had called in the rest of the Feard as back-up, the battle raged for days, maybe a week. He had to hand it to Luce. The male was an asshole, but he was a great soldier and dedicated to causing havoc.

After that rebellion, the OneCreator had again not issued an extinction order. Lucian and his followers had been chained, staked, and left to shrivel in the sun. But once the rebel lost fifty percent of his body mass, he slipped his chains and hid out somewhere to recover.

Ascending, Dom rejoined Maddy above the encampment. “They’re in the valley where the lake feeds the river. You stay...”

Before he could finish, she interrupted. “I’m coming along. I thought we settled this.”

“You settled it. I’m iffy. Lucian is dangerous, and the village is filled with Scourges. We don’t know yet if your body has settled into Immortality or if you can use your gifts at will.”

“All I hear is blah, blah, blah.” She laughed, arched her wings, and bulleted toward the encampment.

He had no choice but to catch up, and she was damn fast. After a soft landing, Dom glared at Madeline, certain he’d get gray hair unlike any other Immortal. Then he took a quick look-around. Nobody was storming toward him.

He shoved his mate behind him, swooping out his wings as a shield, unsheathing his razored onyx-bladed feathers as a just-in-case. A crowd gathered slowly, likely most of them recognizing him.

When the mob parted, Lucian strode through a pathway, a confident swagger, his golden hair glinting in the rare sunshine and whipping around his face in the wind. He stopped directly in front of Dom. Catching a glimpse of Madeline, he asked, “Who’s your new partner?”

“None of your business.”

“Anybody in my encampment is my biz.”

Dom rested a palm on the blade holstered at his hip. He’d laugh at Luce’s hubris if the guy weren’t such an asshole. “You are not a warlord in Angor. You’re under the OC’s rule as is every Scourge. Disobey and face punishment.”

“Uh-huh. I’m shaking in my shitkickers.”

“Are you looking for trouble, Luce?”

“Never. Especially not with such a pretty female here.” As Madeline slipped around Dom, Lucian stretched out his arm and offered her a hand.

When she put her palm into it, the ballsy rebel kissed the back of her fingers. A grin crawled across his face. He said, “I am fascinated.”

“Oh,” she said, flipping her gaze to Dom and shrugging.

What? he asked his mate.

I think Lucian’s in my head and knows my gifts.

Impossible.

Just a feeling that’s snaking through me while he holds my hand, pathed Madeline.

Dom snatched Maddy from Luce’s grip. “She’s my mate, asshole.” He gave no warning before he drew back a fist and knocked Luce on his ass. “Stay out of her head.”

Lucian rose, dusting off his pants, a slight grin curling his lips. “Got me. But I won’t fall for that a second time.” He wiggled his jaw between his thumb and fingers.

The rebel’s eyes ping-ponged from Maddy and back to him. “I heard a rumor that you mated an unusual Scourge but didn’t believe it. You know how the malady-stricken like to gossip. Anyway, why are you here?”

“Crazy shit’s going on in OneWorld. The OC’s worried about you.”

“You mean the earthquakes and the volcanic disturbance?”

“Volcanic?”

“Yep. South of Necrosis Valley. At this moment a mountain is burping smoke, but who knows what the future holds.”

Dom combed worried fingers through his hair.

More shit.

Luce studied Madeline. “So you were human.”

Maddy smiled, her tiny fangs peeking from her lips. “Yep. I was human. Then I wasn’t.”

“You already know her story. What about the riots?” asked Dom.

“What about them?”

“Your doing, Lucian?”

“Nope. I’m more interested in your mate.”

“Don’t be,” snapped Dom.

Luce asked Madeline, “You escaped Praevus?”

“It was more like he let me go after he made me a Syc. I was cured. But then... Bingo, I was kinda a Scourge.”

Luce fixed on Dom’s two eyes and grinned. “No patch. Hmm. I won’t ask how that happened. What are you thinking, assassin? I flew out of Angor, went to Earth, kidnapped your future mate, and dropped her off with a Mind Rat...”

“With Malacour.”

“The trustee and ex-wing commander?”

“The same.”

Luce paused, rubbing a fist across his jaw. “Interesting. So you’re thinking I dropped this lovely human off with Malacour? After that sleight-of-hand, I made her a Scourge, or hybrid-Scourge, for shits and giggles? Then, as if I weren’t busy with all that showmanship, I returned to lead a rebellion...”

“Malacour is the leader,” interrupted Dom.

Lucian laughed. “And I follow that asshole? Okay. That’s a good one. But let’s go with your story. After all that I created geological disruptions in OneWorld and made her whatever she is now? No offense, Madeline. I think you’re lovely. In fact, if you want to desert this asshole... Anyway, why would I do that? How would I do that?”

“Don’t know.”

“What if I told you I’m not guilty? In fact, other than the OC, I don’t know who could do all that.”

“He says he didn’t bring this on.”

“That’s what he said, huh? He’s been known to dodge the truth.”

“The OC wants a chat with you, Luce.”

“Fuck the OC,” he said, his stance widening, as he prepared for a fight.

Dom shoved Madeline behind him with a warning to stay there. “You can go along or you can be dragged along.”

“You against me and all my happy followers?”

“You want a war? I can have the Feard teleport here in an instant.”

The crowd of Scourges went crazy, shouting, jumping up and down, jamming their fists into the air.

“They’ll be extincted, Lucian. The same fate may await you.” Dom drew his sword but kept it at his side.

The rebel glanced over his shoulder at his followers. “I don’t want them hurt because of me. They sought shelter here, and I gave it. Besides, I know what the big guy wants. Lead on, brave Dominion.”

Lucian swooped out his wings, grinning. They were not leathery like a Scourge’s. By way of explanation when they stared, he said, “I glamoured them. You see what I want you to see.”

Can he glamour his wings? pathed Madeline.

Obviously.

And so they flew to Outcast Tower, where the OneCreator waited outside the entrance.

The OC momentarily fixed on Madeline, probably wondering why she was on a fly-along. Then the ruler of OneWorld turned a menacing glare on Luce. He powered toward him, moving so fast that his loose golden hair streamed behind him. He curled his palms around Lucian’s neck, the biceps in his arms bulging. Dom had felt the OC’s hands on him. It was something to take seriously. He lifted the Scourge off the ground, Luce’s boots dangling in the air. “What have you done, asshole?”

Lucian struggled in his grasp, his voice a strangled gurgle. Eventually, the OC released the rebel who, staggering, rubbed his throat. “I’ve done a lot, I’m sure. But what in particular?”

“The geological disasters. The riots in Angor. The whole shitstorm surrounding this human. Malacour.”

“I wish I could take the credit for all of it, but I can’t.”

Lightning crackled around the OC. He snapped out his wings. At first, they were a brilliant white. In a second, they morphed to black, touched with specks of gold, blending into the oncoming darkness like a starry night. Overhead, deafening thunder rumbled.

Lucian, in response, slicked out his wings. His golden wings.

They each stood, legs wide, awaiting a fight. Luce blinked first. He shushed his wings to his back, where they disappeared.

The OC settled down. With a deep breath, he waved away the lightning and thunder while he folded in his once-again-brilliant white wings. “You remain irreverent, Lucian. Such will not fare well for you.” His hands flew to his temples, and he howled in pain as the ground beneath their feet began to roll.

Dom grabbed Maddy’s arm to steady her.

Adopting a wide-legged stance for balance, Luce tapped his head. He glanced at Dom. “Is this what you meant?”

“Yep. Most often the OC’s pain comes and goes with some geological shit.”

“Okay. So I had contact with Malacour. He stopped by and met with a couple of my Scourges.”

The “my Scourges” got a raised brow from the OC. Since he’d created Immortals, he probably figured Luce couldn’t claim any ownership, even of those infected with the malady.

Lucian continued, “He told his contacts he was off to check out the gateway. Personally, I hope he tries to get through and fries his ass. Never liked the guy.”

Stiffening his spine, the OneCreator breathed deep, wiping the grimace from his face. Swaying, he waved the three visitors off. As they prepared to leave, he shouted, “If I discover you are at the center of or even on the periphery of this situation, Lucian, your punishment will be extraordinarily painful and long. I suggest you have a chat with your Scourges. Be fucking gone now.”

Before Dom took to the air, he asked Luce, “Is there any truth in your words?”

The rebel laughed. “I am telling the truth. Of course, if I’m a liar by nature, my statement may be false.”

“That makes no sense.”

“Neither does OneWorld right now.” Luce ascended in a blaze of golden feathers, lighting up the sky, his speed faster than Dom could track.

“I don’t trust him,” Madeline said as he disappeared. “What will you do now?”

“Path the Feard about what happened and watch him.”

Dom closed his eyes, sharing intel with his brothers-in-arms.

Fucker , said Ely.

Ohngel pathed, They both play games.

Remi said, Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.

When nobody responded, the movie-watching assassin added, It’s from The Godfather, Part II.

Snapping out his wings, Dom signaled toward the sky. Madeline took flight alongside him, the tips of their feathers almost touching. It was a closeness Dom had not known he’d desired. Now that he had his mate, he could not imagine eternity without her. Even if she was stubborn and threw herself into dangerous situations.

Damn . He was one lucky assassin.