Touched by Death: (Sins of The Fallen book 3)

The red in her eyes is there and gone in a flash, almost as if I imagined it. As she reaches up to stroke her soft fingers across my cheekbone, every muscle in my body stiffens.

“You’re so pathetically weak, Amenadiel.”

My hand flies up, and I grip her wrist hard enough that I could easily break her bones. “Don’t touch me, Genesis.”

I knew it was her as soon as the red faded in her eyes. Aurelia is trapped in the shadows.

“But we had such a good time the other night.” Snaking her hand free, she flattens it across my chest where my shirt is unbuttoned. With her lip trapped between her teeth, she peers up at me from beneath her dark, wispy lashes. It’s so easy to mistake this monstrous abomination for Aurelia, but the cold detachment that simmers beneath Genesis’s heated gaze is foreign. Aurelia’s expressive eyes have the power to bring a man to his knees with one look. This woman, this monster, crawled out of the darkest pits of Hell to tear us all into fucking pieces.

Gnashing my jaw, I look away, hating the feel of her hands on my skin as her fingers work the buttons, one by one, until she parts my shirt to reveal the expanse of my chest.

I fucking hate that I love her exquisite touch. How it burns a path to my stirring cock.

It’s not Aurelia, my head reminds me while my heart thrashes against my ribs.

“I thought fallen angels had no morals,” she taunts, chuckling at the clenching muscle in my jaw, tracing the trail of hair to my belt. “Yet here you are, battling with yourself.”

“What do you want?” I grit out.

Fingers walking a slow path back up my chest, she follows their journey with her wicked gaze. “You’re so serious, Amenadiel.”

“What did you do to her?”

“Don’t worry,” she says, bending down and licking a path from my belly button all the way to my left collarbone. “She’s not here to see me ravage you.” She grips my hard length, and I damn near choke on my saliva at how good it feels. It’s wrong, so fucking wrong, but my hips gyrate, feeding her eager palm more of my cock. She drags her tongue to my other collarbone, and it takes all of my willpower to clear my head enough to ask, “Where is she?”

“Locked away behind another door.”

Her words cause my heart to stutter. I shove her to the floor, breathing like a provoked bull. She starts to laugh, her head tipped back between her shoulders.

“Bring her back!”

Those dark, soulless eyes find mine, shimmering with mischievous intent. She bites her lip and crudely opens her legs. A damp patch decorates that small triangle of lace fabric.

As I watch, she slides a finger underneath and pulls them aside to reveal the pinkest, prettiest fucking pussy in the goddamn universe. I’m salivating at the sight of her wet folds and that perfect pearl I yearn to suck between my teeth.

“She will never know that you took advantage of her pert little body in her absence.”

Breaking out in a cold sweat, I seek out the door behind me, seconds away from bolting, but a lewd wet sound has my attention snapping back like a rubber band.

With her fingers buried deep inside her, she stares up at me while fingering herself in time to the throbbing in my dick. This is so fucking wrong.

“You’ve tried to fuck her before when she was out of it. Remember when you offered her the injured human? The time Daemon barged in and stole her from you?”

“That was not the same,” I argue, transfixed on those glistening fingers.

A moan escapes her lips, causing me to bite my knuckles and tear at my wild hair. “No, it was different,” she responds, sliding her wet digits out to circle her clit. “You didn’t want her then. You were coaxing me from the shadows. Hoping to make me submit.” A throaty laugh caresses her vocal cords as she shoves two fingers back up inside her. “When did it change, baby? When did the little fledgling worm her way beneath your skin?”

“Bring her back,” I grit out, fighting the need to give in to my carnal urges. I won’t let her win this power game.

“I think I’ll keep her locked away for now, but don’t worry.” Her smile turns feral, glinting with a dangerous edge that sends chills racing down my spine. “She’s not alone behind that door.”

My heart comes to a stumbling stop behind my ribcage, and I fist my hands by my sides, ignoring the raging erection inside my slacks. “Who the fuck is with her?”

“Sure you don’t want to help a girl out?” she asks, fingering her tight pussy with abandon. Kicking off her heel, she extends her long leg and drags her toes up the inside of my thigh until she’s right there, pressing her foot against my throbbing cock. I look down at her black-painted toenails and choke back a tortured groan. Fuck, I want to flip her over and make her regret taunting me for sport.

“Answer the damn question!”

Her tongue darts out to slide across her bottom lip while she stares up at me with drunk, lust-filled eyes that send my blood rushing south. I don’t blame my nephew for succumbing to this deadly nymph of an angel. She was sent by God to seek revenge on those who rejected Him.

With a final thrust of her fingers, her lips part with a loud moan as she succumbs to her orgasm. Aurelia is fucking breathtaking when she comes and, while this is Genesis, parading as the angel, it’s still her body. I can’t help but hold my breath as she shivers and shakes, thighs clenching together.

Fuck. Me.

Blinking those brown orbs open, she pushes up onto her elbows and reaches for my belt, but I dart back. “You’re no fun, Amenadiel. That erection looks painful,” she says with a pout before sitting up and pulling her skirt back down.

As she rises to her feet, I steel myself. Something tells me the hiding and the taunting are over. Aurelia is trapped in the shadows and out of reach, and this dangerous siren in front of me is here to stay.

Worst of all, there’s nothing I can do about it.

Not unless I’m willing to hurt Aurelia.

And the girl, much to my dismay, has gotten entangled in my heartstrings. Trapped like a fucking fly in a web. And I refuse to let her go.

“What are your plans now?” I ask when she combs her fingers through her matted, dark hair.

“It’s time to play.”

“Play?” I watch her walk past me. “If you hurt my son, I will slaughter you. Trust my words.”

“No, you won’t.” Her eyes find mine over her shoulder as she opens the door. “You’d never put a finger on her. Not anymore.”

With those parting words leaving a bad taste in my mouth, she’s gone, the door clicking shut in her absence.

I curse, kicking the bed frame in my frustration. Tearing at my hair, I breathe harshly through my nose, trying to wrangle the onslaught of panicked thoughts. I need to warn someone. I need to warn fucking everyone.

Lucifer didn’t believe me. But I sure as fuck hope the others will before it’s too late.

Leaving my room, I make a beeline for Dmitriy’s bedroom, only to draw to a halt halfway down the hallway when I’m greeted by groans and grunts.

What the fuck?

Fear for my son coils my insides as I make my way to his door and palm the handle. Pushing down gently, careful to keep the hinges from creaking, I peer inside to find him sprawled on the bed with his cock in his hand and an arm slung over his eyes. Teeth gritted, he frantically jerks his length, chasing the relief we all seem to need in her presence.

As I close the door behind me, my eyes catch on Genesis at the end of the hallway, where she leans against the wall while inspecting her nails. Her dark eyes flick up to mine, and she winks before straightening up and walking away.

Behind me, my son groans out Aurelia’s name.

“You needed to see me?”

I look up from the book in front of me and wave Dmitriy inside. He shuts the door to my office, approaching me with a winged brow.

“Take a seat.”

As he plops down on the chair opposite me, I relax back in my seat, entwine my fingers on my stomach, and stretch out my legs beneath the desk. I’m still not comfortable. Running a hand through my dark hair, I ask the question that’s on my tongue. “Are you involved with Aurelia?”

Dmitriy stiffens, but instead of spewing the first lie he can summon, he weighs his words, before settling for the truth. “I like her.”

“Have you done anything with her yet?”

“Are you asking me if I’ve fucked her?”

When I don’t respond, he huffs a soft laugh and kicks his ankle up on his knee. “No, I haven’t fucked her, Dad. You happy?”

“What’s holding you back?” I ask out of sheer curiosity as an owl hoots outside. “If you like her, I mean.”

Frowning, he taps the armrest with a finger while studying me. “Do you want me to rape her? That’s more your thing than mine.”

I snort at the audacity coming from him. “I don’t rape females. Don’t confuse me with your uncle.”

He stays silent, and I take him in for a moment, noting our similarities. “I only asked because I’m curious.”

“She’s in love with Daemon and the others.”

My brows pull low. “You haven’t fucked her because she’s in love with your cousin?”

“I know you want the throne—” he starts, but I hold my hand up.

“I do, sure, but that’s inconsequential for now. We have more pressing matters to deal with.”

He waits for me to continue, and I fidget under his scrutinizing gaze. Who knew my own son would have more self-control than me? “Have you touched her at all?” I ask; it bothers me that I’ve succumbed to Genesis.

“She kissed me, but I stopped it. What is this, Dad? What’s with all the questions?”

“You stopped it?” I blink at him, unsure if I heard him correctly. He must have the self-control of a devoted priest.

“Yes,” he blurts, sounding exasperated. “I don’t want to be a rebound. Any other girl, sure, but not her. I refuse to live in Daemon’s fucking shadow anymore.”

“Are you sure you were born in Hell?” I quip, then laugh when his only response is an eye roll.

I should be more alarmed—we like the same girl, after all. Pushing those thoughts aside, the chair creaks as I lean forward and place my hands flat on the desk. “I need you to stay away from Aurelia.”

Dmitriy stares at me for a beat, then starts laughing, the masculine sound bouncing off the bookshelves behind me. “Why?” he asks once he’s calmed down enough to formulate words, wiping away tears from his cheeks.

“She’s not who you think,” I reply vaguely, gauging his reaction.

“You clearly know something I don’t. If you want me to stay away from her, you’ll need to give me more.”

Fuck… I knew he wouldn’t just agree blindly. Though I’d hoped it would be that simple.

Easing back against the seat, I place my elbow on the armrest and scratch at my bottom lip with my thumb while watching him. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Try me.”

“Fine,” I concede, dropping my hand. “To cut a long story short, in order to escape Eden, your uncle killed a girl. That girl is back for revenge.”

“What has this got to do with Aurelia?”

“Well,” I start, clenching my jaw, “they’re the same person.”

Dmitriy blinks, then drops his foot to the floor, sits forward, and rests his elbows on his knees. “The fuck are you talking about, Dad?”

“Take a candle and use it to light a second candle. Is it the same candle?”

“No?” He sounds so uncertain; it would be humorous under different circumstances.

“But the flame is the same, right?”

“What’s your point?”

“Aurelia is the same flame as Genesis.”

“Who the hell is Genesis?”

I wave a hand dismissively, eager to move on. “The female angel Lucifer killed to escape Eden. First, there was Genesis. When she died, the same flame sprang up inside Aurelia.”

“That makes no sense,” Dmitriy mutters, scrubbing his face. “There wouldn’t be two of her then.”

“Yes, there would. While I haven’t been able to prove it yet, they’re like a coin. Genesis is the dark, and Aurelia is the light. Two dualities of the same flame, born from different experiences. When Lucifer killed Genesis, he slaughtered the Light inside her in order to open the gates. Do you get it? The world had not experienced darkness until that very moment. In other words, Genesis birthed Hell. What flamed to life in her soul, what survived, was pure evil. When that same flame sprang back up inside another ‘host,’ if you will, it had to coexist with the Light inside of Aurelia.”

Dmitriy stays silent, staring at me as if he’s trying to wrap his head around my words. It’s a lot to take in. I know; I can barely make sense of it myself.

“It bided its time. Waiting for the opportune moment to make itself known. It explains why Aurelia felt so drawn to the gates. Why she heard the whispers of the woods outside. The darkness inside her called her home.”

“This is crazy,” he says, jiggling his knee. “Is this why you let her get lost in darkness?”

“It’s not that straight forward. She came to me begging to learn fire magic and, as you know, that requires you to indulge in darkness. To welcome it. My suspicions stirred the first time I witnessed the aftermath of her killing. In all my years, I’ve never witnessed such evil. It’s beyond the borders of Hell. From then on, my curiosity grew.”

“Is this why she feeds on fear and chaos instead of blood?”

His response takes me aback, and he chuckles when he flicks his gaze up to see the shocked expression on my face. “Yes, I’ve noticed how she tortures and maims for hours on end, breathing in their screams and bathing in their terror, before finally going in for the kill. By which point, a lot of her victims have bled out. She picks them apart like a curious child with a stereo and a screwdriver.”

The visual sends shivers skittering down my spine. “I wasn’t certain until recently.”

“But now you are?”

Nodding, I breathe out a “Yep” and drag a hand down my face.

“And where’s Aurelia in all of this? Surely she can’t fight this Genesis?”

“She did fight. But now she’s trapped inside the darkness.”

“Trapped?” Alarm bleeds into his voice, and he straightens in his seat. “What do you mean, trapped?”

“I mean, when you see her next time, make no mistake. It’s Genesis. Aurelia is trapped somewhere inside the shadows swirling in those brown eyes, but we can’t reach her.”

“Fuck…” he breathes out, eyes wide. “What the fuck do we do?”

Reaching into my desk drawer, I root through it, on the hunt for a cigar. I require something to calm down this raging storm inside me. “I need you to pretend that you don’t know about this, while I figure out how to kill Genesis once and for all.”

Dmitriy’s wide eyes track me as I stand up and cross the room to the liquor cabinet. “If you kill Genesis… won’t you kill Aurelia, too?”

“Hence why you must pretend you don’t know the truth yet. Not until I have it figured out.”

“I won’t let you hurt Aurelia.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Reaching for a tumbler and a decanter of whiskey, I avoid his gaze. The liquid sloshes against the sides as I kick it back. If only he knew how closely wound I am around her little finger, he’d soon challenge me with spread wings and aching fangs.

Fuck, what a mess my life has become.

Genesis has spun a nice little web.

The words taste sour on my tongue as I force myself to bite out, “I need you to warn Daemon and the others.”

Dmitriy laughs disbelievingly. “He’ll never listen to me.”

“Make him listen.” The sharp note punctuating each word makes him pause, the smile on his face falling away. “If you don’t,” I warn. “Aurelia could be lost out there…” I wave a hand through the air. “God only knows where. Forever.”