Page 57 of Inflamed By an Incubus

Fenix leaned over the bar and waved his arm, catching the tiger shifter’s attention. Talon’s amber gaze slid to him and his black eyebrows pinched hard, and then his features relaxed and he jerked his head to his right.

The crowd were more than happy to let Fenix out of the crush, were swift to squabble over the gap he had left at the front of the queue. He made his way towards the far end of the bar and around the side of it, and waited next to the plain door that had a keypad beside it.

Talon finished his call and ignored the dozen patrons who suddenly shouted for his attention. The big tiger shifter lifted the section of bar at the end nearest Fenix, stepped through and lowered it again. He prowled towards Fenix, standing a good head taller than most of the patrons, and stopped close to him.

“What is it? We’re busy tonight.” Talon cast a glance towards the crowd, as if Fenix needed the male to point out that they were at capacity.

“Your brother been to Hell recently?” Fenix held his amber gaze.

It widened and then Talon frowned and leaned closer still, bringing his mouth to Fenix’s ear. “What do you know about that?”

“I saw the message he left in a cave,” Fenix said into his ear over the thumping beat of the music and the tiger pulled back, frowned at him and then looked over his shoulder and signalled Cavanaugh.

Cavanaugh glanced his way and nodded when Talon motioned that he was going out back, gesturing to the door beside Fenix.

Fenix waited while the male punched a number into the keypad and opened the door. He followed Talon through it and breathed a sigh of relief as it slammed closed behind him, blocking out most of the noise.

Kyter stepped out from a door off to Fenix’s right in the double-height room, his long fingers tousling his thick sandy hair as he muttered about something. He paused and glanced up, frowned as he noticed Fenix, and crossed the room to him.

“What’s this about?” The jaguar shifter’s golden eyes brightened as he caught the serious look on both Fenix and Talon’s faces. “Fucking Archangel. I’m right, aren’t I?”

He growled, the strange sound echoing around the room.

“They’re up to something in Hell.” Fenix looked from Kyter to Talon. “I followed a team of soldiers into a wasteland and found a note in a cave there, one where Archangel had been doing something. I was hoping the Grey who left the note was your brother, and I’m guessing it is.”

“He went there for me. I needed information and he went to Hell to find it, and uncovered a massacre. A fallen angel tore through the whole team.” Talon’s amber gaze hardened. “Bastard almost killed my twin too.”

A chill skated down Fenix’s spine and a need to return to Evelyn right that second blasted through him. “Is the angel dead?”

Thankfully, Talon nodded.

Fenix blew out his breath, some of his tension fading. “The team I followed were gathering everything from the camp. They would have seen this note too. It mentioned someone called… Aryanna… and Brink.”

“Aryanna,” Kyter growled. “We found information in documents that Sherry and Emelia managed to download from Archangel’s Central Archive when we were breaking Talon’s buddies out. Something about Aryanna and Abaddon. We’re still not sure what Project Abaddon is, but we know it relates to this Aryanna and that can’t be a good thing.”

The bad feeling that had set up a permanent home inside Fenix grew stronger still. “Why? Who’s Aryanna?”

Talon worried the hair above his nape, his amber eyes gaining a flicker of concern. “A sorceress. She’s the one who banished the dragons to Hell. She cursed them.”

“Fuck,” Fenix muttered and the gravity of what he had stumbled across hit him hard and solidified that feeling that shit was about to go down.

“Our thoughts exactly. What does Archangel want with a witch who had enough power to banish an entire species to another realm and make it so that if they set foot in this one they’re powerless and die a slow death?” Kyter’s handsome face blackened. “Our guess is they want to use her to do the same thing to every one of us.”

Fenix didn’t like the sound of that. If Archangel managed to convince Aryanna to do as they wanted, then every immortal living in the mortal world would either die or be forced to live in Hell for the rest of their lives. Not everyone could use the portal pathways without assistance either. Incubi and succubi, in particular, needed help from witches, regularly buying bespelled goods that granted them the power to use the portals so many times before they needed a magical recharge.

Gods, just the thought of Evelyn being stripped of her power and subjected to a slow death had him wanting to rage and tear down the hunter organisation.

They had firmly crossed a line.

Immortals had peacefully co-existed with mortals since time immemorial. They had lived in this world for thousands of years, evolving alongside their mortal neighbours. They weren’t the threat Archangel thought they were.

“Why hasn’t Archangel tried to go this route before? If they have Aryanna… What made them suddenly want to remove immortals from this world?” Fenix looked from Talon to Kyter.

A beautiful, tall female clad in black leather trousers and a boned corset appeared next to him, her long inky blue-black hair caressing her slender bare shoulders and parted to reveal the pointed tips of her ears.

An elf.

Her violet eyes were bright with anger as she snarled, “They learned of the existence of Hell, thanks to one of my own breed. The mad elf prince—”

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