Page 1 of Fallen Angels

CHAPTER ONE

EILISH

The Castle in the Sky

The scent of damp stone tickles my nose. I feel cold brick beneath me as my eyes blink open and struggle to adjust to the darkness. My bones ache as memories ooze into my mind:

Soldiers. An endless sea of Variant’s soldiers swarming us from all directions. Dragan dropping to his knees after being poisoned by a dart. I scream while Dragan’s sword is taken from him and one of the soldiers forces him down on his stomach. With his boot, the soldier smashes Dragan’s face into the shingles of the rooftop. Cuffs are bolted around Dragan’s wrists before he blacks out.

I scream and turn around to watch Baron being taken down and cuffed, in much the same way Dragan was. A dart, maybe two inches long, protrudes from Baron’s thigh. Behind him, Cambion does his best to fight the three soldiers facing him, but he’s powerless against the soldier behind him who spears him with the same poisonous arrow. Seconds later, Cambion drops to his knees.

I feel a tiny pinch in the back of my neck. Panic crawls through my limbs as stark reality highjacks my overwhelmed mind. I’ve been hit. Instantly, my vision begins to blur. I reach back and feel the tiny barb, plucking it out of my flesh. But, it’s too late. I fall to my knees beside Dragan, trying to shake the delirious feelings aside but to no avail.

My vision fades to black.

A traitor… Raflamir backstabbed us.

My heart begins pounding as I reach for my dagger. But it’s gone, taken by one of Variant’s soldiers. I scramble to my feet, my breath racing. I feel lightheaded and dizzy and, in this darkness, it’s near impossible to make head or tail of where I am.

I put my arms out straight in front of me and feel along the walls that are jagged and cold. Callous stone. I continue forward, searching for a door. No air spills through the faint cracks in the stone. There are no windows. No way out.

My movements are slow, and I feel as if I’m wading through knee-high sand. The air is thin, burning my lungs and causing stars to sting behind my eyes. A painful throb spreads through my skull as I drop to my knees to catch my breath. A pained groan comes from somewhere in the corner and I immediately wonder what or who could accompany me in here. I pull back towards the wall and try to remain quiet.

Suddenly a light flickers to my left.

Baron.

Relief instantly suffuses me as I watch him scrape his nails across the stone beside his head, causing sparks to illuminate the harsh casts of his face. I crawl on my hands and knees toward him, feeling too sick to stand up.

“Eilish,” he whispers, his voice reaching out and encompassing me in the warmth of relief. Baron is really the only ally I have as Dragan seems to play the part only when it suits him. And Cambion detests me. He always has.

“I feel so weak,” I say as I collapse to the ground, unable to hold myself up any longer. Baron moves in the darkness and lights a torch on the wall, seemingly with his mind.

He appears foolishly large as he stands above me. When he turns around to face me, my breath quickens as his eyes hold my gaze with so much hunger it makes my stomach clench.

“You’re weak because you haven’t fed,” he rumbles ominously as he sits beside me and pulls me into his arms roughly. I rest my head against his chest. I can’t hear his heartbeat because he doesn’t have one.

“I thought it was the poison,” I start.

He shakes his head, the low light of the torch fire reflecting against the black in his hair. Baron is a beautiful man—he’s tall and broad, though not quite as tall and broad as Dragan. With his chiseled features, strong jaw, high cheekbones, black hair and blue eyes, he almost looks like a painting.

He runs his fingers through my hair as he smiles down at me, revealing his fangs. I swallow hard. Yes, Baron is my ally, but I’m also intimidated by him because he’s unpredictable and he’s… vampire. Not only is he a vampire, but he’s also a revenant—pulled from his grave and brought back to life by the Midnight Queen. For what purpose, we still don’t know.

Baron’s existence as a revenant so defines him, that he’s adopted the title “Revenant” as his name.

“I haven’t fed?” I ask, frowning in confusion.

Baron smiles again as he nods. “Sex, Eilish.”

And that’s when I remember what I am. Succubus. In order to remain alive, sex is my fuel. I’m also part angel but that part doesn’t seem as demanding as the demon within me. A demon whose sustenance must come from the body of a man.

In general, Baron is sullen and prefers his own company. It’s only recently that he seems to have taken an interest in me—ever since he found out I’m half Succubus. As to why he appears to want to help me now, I’m not entirely sure. He says the darkness within me attracts the darkness within him.

Maybe it’s that simple. Maybe it isn’t.

“Where are we?” I ask.

“I’m fairly certain we’re in Variant’s dungeon,” he answers. His tone of voice doesn’t reveal anything. If he’s nervous about finding himself here, it doesn’t show.

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