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CHAPTER3
To make matters worse, the slight nibble had Raze’s body going even tighter.
No doubt about that. Decades of celibacy would do that to any male, he’d bet, but it was the unfamiliar ache in his chest that had his scowl deepening.
She was nervous. More than that, she was afraid.
And that, he decided, was unacceptable.
He swallowed, deciding on the right sort of tone, before gentling his clipped voice until he sounded like he was asking her to explain rather than demanding as he said, “If this affects my brothers and me, I should know. Let’s start from the beginning. Where did you hear this?”
Becca tucked the stray strand of flame-red hair behind her ear. He mourned the missed opportunity, then tightened his jaw before the expression flashed across his face.
“Dane.” His blank expression must’ve given away his ignorance because she quickly added, “A werewolf. He was there when the curse was made and has been telling any being he can about it for ages now. I mean, I’m a demon and even I heard that Lucifer’s turned his attention to the royals. Didn’t you?”
No. Raze had not.
But he should have.
The royals… She didn’t mean just Raze and his brothers. While Lucifer’s curse would have probably targeted them regardless—and that definitely explained their waning powers—if he was taking on all of the royals, he had his hands full.
It was how the factions were designed. While the community itself was considered paranormal, each individual group was arranged around what type of being you were. There were angels and demons, the celestial races. Shifters, including werewolves, bears, and the rarer phoenixes. Witches. Vampires. Even fairies.
And every faction was ruled by a family that, for all intents and purposes, was considered “royal”. There were no kings, not really. No queens, either. The factions weren’t a monarchy like the humans understood, but a few leaders who were more powerful than the rest of the beings who earned the title.
In their world, might made right. The strong led. Everyone else followed.
But what happened when the strength was gone?
For longer than he wanted to admit, their power had been disappearing. Micah confessed he felt it, too; if pressed, so did Sam. Their angelic senses were fading, the last of their lingering connection to the celestial cities in Heaven weakening, and if he noticed that he was shedding feathers on the rare occasion he went for a midnight flight over Las Vegas, Raze was stubborn enough to ignore the trail of black feathers he left behind him.
It made sense if they were cursed. In fact, it explained a lot.
What it didn’t explain, though?
Was this meeting.
“Why are you telling me?” he asked. “The demoness who arranged for me to meet with you—”
“Ariel,” Becca supplied.
“Right. She insisted that I be the one to come down to the bar to talk to you. Why me?”
Did she know? An angel was blessed to recognize his or her soulmate on sight. Was it the same for demons?
Though he didn’t really pay too much attention to the other factions—too busy with his brothers and their business to really care, to be honest—he thought that pure demons were the same as angels in that way. Turned demons—humans who sold their soul to Lucifer—wouldn’t know, but if she’d been born into the faction...
She swallowed roughly. He watched the slight movement of her slender, pale throat and forced himself to stifle the groan he felt rising in his.
“Because I need your help,” she said at last.
Damn it. Where the fuck was Zev? Or any other server? He wanted that refill yesterday.
It took a moment before he realized that she had answered him. When he did, he raised his eyebrows. “Me? In particular?”
“Yes.”
Did she know?
