Chapter 31

Faint buzzing swarmed through Raven's head, his thoughts too foggy to identify the source. Was he dreaming?

Semi-awake, he rolled onto his side.

The buzzing sounded again.

He eased open his heavy lids, his vision blurry. Beside the toppled, empty bourbon bottle, a dim light illuminated the dark room in time with a mini-jackhammer pounding into his skull.

He blinked several times, bringing the light into focus. With a heavy arm, he reached over and grabbed his cell phone as the light extinguished.

Good, saves me from answering it.

About to throw the device across the room silencing it forever, the screen lit up once more.

“What—” Raven barked into the handset.

“Rave, get down here. Now,” EJ shouted.

The urgency in his voice snapped Raven to attention.

“Where?” He cradled the phone between his shoulder and ear as he swung his legs out of bed and yanked up his jeans, kicking aside the bourbon bottle at his feet.

“SubZero.”

Which explained the shit music screaming in the background.

“On my way.”

Raven stuffed the phone into his back pocket, shoved a smelly shirt over his head, and snatched his jacket off the floor before racing out of the room. He bolted down the stairs, two at a time, unfurling his wings as he sprinted. Once outside, he pushed off the ground and shot into the air, pounded his wings, gaining height and speed. The dark sky remained covered in stormy clouds, making it easier for him to blend in.

Because nothing good came from revealing his true identity.

Raven slammed his wings harder on the downward flap, gaining more thrust and speed. Wind whistled past his ears, the frigid air stinging the tips. At least it had stopped fucking raining for once.

Curving around the base of the mountain, the town of Summit Creek came into view, illuminated in the dark valley like a beacon at the bottom of a ravine. SubZero was in the center of town, a club dedicated to that shit EJ called music—which made Raven’s head throb more than a bourbon-bender—and constantly filled with intoxicated mortals practically screwing on the dance floor.

No thanks.

His style was the small whiskey bar on the outskirts, where mortals went to drown in their sorrows. Alone. A place where the only conversation expected was ordering the next drink and, even then, only a chin jerk was required.

For the past four days, eighteen hours and thirty-six minutes, he’d hosted a pity-party for one right in the comfort of his own bedroom.

The neon orange sign at the club's entrance came into view. Raven folded his wings, descending swiftly to touch down in the dimly lit alleyway at the rear of the club.

He took off sprinting the moment he connected with the gravel lot, simultaneously retracting his wings. He rounded the side of the club, up the service driveway segregating it from the neighboring building, and spotted his first Fallen.

And he was more than ready to engage.

The filthy piece of shit dark angel had a mortal female pressed against the dirty brick wall, his arms extended on either side of her head, palms flat against the wall. The Fallen glared over his shoulder, sensing the threat. Pushing the mortal aside, the Fallen turned to face Raven, leaning forward in an attack position. A wicked snarl curved on his lips.

Go home, Raven projected into the mind of the mortal, taking away the short memory of their meeting along with it. She quickly spun around and took off in the opposite direction, out to the main street.

Raven withdrew the twin short swords from the scabbards strapped to his waist and surveyed his surroundings. Double-story, red-brick, windowless walls flanked the alley, running parallel to the main street. Only two ways in and out. One from the direction he'd come, the other in the direction the mortal went.

No time to play. Other drunk, defenseless mortals could wander down the alley or cross the entrance at any moment.

But fuck, he wanted to.

The Fallen smirked at Raven and took a menacing step forward, preparing for battle. Raven caught a glint of metal as it drew a dagger from behind. He narrowed his eyes at the dark angel; rigid scars and thick black tattoos marred his neck, disappearing under the skin-tight shirt. Black tight-fitting leather pants covered thick legs with a chunky silver chain hung loosely from the belt loops.

Raven gripped the hilt of his blades and the coolness briefly stung his palms. He swung his arms in a wide arc, awakening his muscles and testing his grip.

The Fallen prowled forward.

Straight for the heart, he reminded himself.

Raven distributed his weight evenly on both feet, slightly raising on the balls, preparing to engage. The twin Purah blades, both light and cool in his palms, shimmered with heavenly power.

Eager to finish this and aid his brothers inside the club, Raven leaped forward, his blades raised out to the sides. It wouldn't hurt to cleanly detach the piece of shit's head from his body before striking through the heart.

The Fallen collided with Raven midair, swiping a single blade across his body, blocking Raven's attack. Landing back on their feet, the two engaged in a lethal battle of swords. Attacking and defending, the metal and Purah clinked when it collided.

From out of nowhere, the Fallen unfurled his crimson wings and struck him with a poisonous talon, effortlessly slicing through Raven’s jacket and gouging his upper arm.

“Fuck,” Raven cried out.

He lost his grip on a sword, and it clanged onto the concrete.

Excruciating agony shot up Raven's left arm as the venom traveled through his veins, heading for his heart. The Fallen didn't get a chance to inject enough to kill him instantly, but if he didn't hurry the fuck up, it would send him to the ground.

Technically, below it.

No way would Raven give that low-life a second chance. His legs wobbled, and the Fallen took full advantage of the momentary distraction. The Fallen lunged forward, both wings curved inward with talons prepared for the fatal strike.

Raven dived to his right, falling on his uninjured arm in the nick of time to avoid the talons. Continuing his momentum, he tucked and rolled, springing up. In one swift motion, Raven raised his remaining sword above his head and slammed it into the back, piercing the Fallen straight through the heart.

The Fallen’s blood curdling cry echoed down the alley as his body shuddered before it exploded into mist and drifted away with the breeze.

One down.

Raven snatched his second blade off the ground and slid them back into their scabbards, concealing the hilts with his jacket. The cool Purah traveled through the holders, tingling the top of his thighs.

He took off, exiting the narrow alley out onto the bustling street.

He dodged to the side to avoid colliding with Aric.

“I'm on this one. EJ and Raine are inside,” Aric shouted over his shoulder as he sped past Raven, hot on the heels of another Fallen.

For a split second, Raven considered joining Aric in the pursuit. He shook his head as the rational side of his brain kicked in. Aric could handle himself, especially one on one.

Or one on fifteen. Probably even one on fifty.

He spun around and raced to the club. The beefy mortal bouncer gave Raven a curt nod and released the chunky red rope, motioning for Raven to enter. Pausing just inside at the top of the dirty metal grated staircase, Raven scanned the crowd below for any sign of EJ or Raine.

The foul, sweaty air made him gag, threatening to project his recent bourbon diet, and the deafening thump of shit music drowned out any chance of conversation.

Which was the point.

He peered over the heads of hundreds of intoxicated mortals crowding the dance floor. Different colored lights flickered from all directions, making it impossible to focus on one person. He narrowed his attention to the rear of the building, where he spotted an illuminated Staff Only sign through the smoky air.

Knowing EJ, he would’ve taken the fight away from open areas and prying mortal eyes. There were only so many things they could write off as drunk behavior before they had to start scrubbing memories.

Raven descended the staircase onto the main dance floor. The thick humid air stuck to his clothes like a heavy weight, and he shoved his way through the drunk, half-naked mortals crowded in the too-small space. One grabbed his uninjured arm and, with a crook of her finger, begged him to join her. Without halting, he pushed the filthy, leather-wearing female’s hand out of his way.

With the back of his own hand, Raven wiped away the hot beads of sweat pooling on his forehead. The revolting, stale air made his skin crawl, heating his body temperature like standing in a sauna switched to the max. While dressed in a frickin' snow suit.

More likely the Fallen venom slowly poisoned him with the sick objective of blackening his heart. That would explain the swishing of his brain and the tingling sensation creeping up his left arm as though millions of baby spiders crawled under his flesh. This was not his first brush with the poison, but with his faith so goddamn low, his immortal healing ability was in serious jeopardy. A chill ran down his spine when he thought of the realm where his soul would burn for eternity if he didn’t come through this.

Hell was a walk in the park compared to that place.

Exiting the sweat-fest on the other side, a scuffle over to Raven’s right caught his attention. Though her back was to him, he recognized Raine, her hair slicked back in a tight ponytail. He stepped in her direction but halted when he focused on the scene. She lurked in a dark corner with a mortal male in front of her, one hand squeezed around his throat and lifting him slightly off the ground while the other gripped his crotch. She leaned forward and said something in the male’s ear and he thrashed his legs. Poor guy.

Raine glanced his way and nodded toward the Staff Only door. Meet you in there when I’m finished with this scumbag.

Raven turned away and left her to it.

He dodged tables crowded with non-dancing, semi-sober mortals, pausing at the door. Leaning his ear closer, he picked up muffled grunts of battle and the familiar clang of swords, but he sensed no mortals on the other side. Raven drew a blade and silently slipped through the door. His eyes took a second to adjust to the complete darkness. The room came into focus as a bulky shadow lunged toward him from the side.

Friend or foe?

A gleam of metal stabbed his side, below his ribs, and quickly retreated; the shadow prepared for the next strike.

Definitely foe.

“Fuck,” Raven roared, swiping his blade out to his side, slicing off the arm of the Fallen who’d bettered him.

First time for everything. Well, second, if the talon incident counted.

The Fallen shrieked, clutching the stump, but he didn't have time to mourn. A split-second later, a Purah blade shot through the Fallen’s back and out the front.

The Fallen gaped down at the hole in his chest. Sickening black blood oozed from the crevice before the body shuddered and exploded into mist.

“You good?” EJ came into view from behind where the Fallen had stood moments before.

“Just a cut.” That hurt like hell. “You?”

“Yeah, I'm good.”

Raven assessed the nicks in EJ's shirt and the tiny swabs of crimson staining the material. He lifted the hem of his own shirt and dared a glance at the gaping wound in his side. It was gonna need sutures to stop him from bleeding out before his body could heal.

Black dots danced before his eyes. Exactly how long was it 'til dawn?

“What happened?” Raven grunted as he ripped off his jacket and shirt to press the fabric on his wound before he bled out all over the floor.

Or passed out from the Fallen venom.

EJ snatched his cell phone from his back pocket, pressing the keypad before putting it to his ear. “They were all over the fucking place when we got here. Inside and out. We tried to lure them out of the club, but there were too many. They were onto us before we could get the upper hand…” EJ turned his attention to the phone, “Where are you, ’Ric? Good. Listen, Rave's injured; can you get a hold of River and get him to grab the car? Roger that, we’ll meet him out the back.”

Raven held up his palm in protest. He could fly; it wasn't that bad.

EJ challenged him with four raised eyebrows. Or were there six?

Maybe EJ was right. It wouldn't be that discreet having blood fall from the sky and landing on some unsuspecting mortal. Or if he fell from the sky like a winged sack of fucking potatoes.

EJ slipped the phone back into his jeans pocket and stepped closer to Raven. “What the hell happened to your arm?”

Raven peered at the gash. The skin around the wound was dark and rotten, as though it had been festering for weeks, and thick black spider-like veins spread from the tips of his fingers up to his shoulder.

“Ran into one in the alley. I'm fine.” So far.

“Yeah, right. It's gonna be one helluva wait 'til dawn, Rave. You’re gonna need a serious boost from the sun to heal that one.”

Yep. Already knew that.

The door eased open and Raine slipped through.

“What’d the poor guy do to you?” Raven asked.

“Checked out my ass then had the nerve to wink at me.”

Raven attempted a mirthless laugh, which turned into a grimace as slicing pain ripped through his side. “Argh!”

EJ nodded to the rear of the room. “I compelled the staff to avoid this room, but let’s not hang out to see how long it takes to wear off.”

Raven winced, sliding his arms into his jacket; any part of the wounds that had begun healing just reopened. A fresh gush of warm blood seeped onto the shirt pressed against his side.

“Where's Aric?” he grunted.

“He ended up on the outskirts of town but managed to get all the runaways.”

Raven trailed behind EJ, his vision fading in and out, his legs behaving like he was on a cruise ship in rough seas. With his uninjured arm, he reached out to brace himself against the smooth wall of the long dim corridor EJ led them down.

He sighed as an illuminated Exit sign came into view. Talk about a light at the end of the tunnel.

EJ pushed open a steel door and held it for Raven. A burst of fresh night air brushed his skin as he stumbled up the two steps and out into the alley behind the club, where he'd landed earlier. Raven staggered to a shadowy corner and gave his legs permission to collapse, leaning against the cold metal dumpster.

The frigid wind did nothing to cool his burning forehead.

EJ, daggers gripped in his hands, surveyed the parking lot, while Raven laid a short sword across his thighs for easy access. Not that he could do much with it.

Raine stood before him. “You look like shit.”

“Thanks,” he grunted. “Why were there so many in one place?”

“Dunno. Their numbers are increasing. Rapidly. And they’re getting fucking bolder.” EJ crossed to stand next to Raven. “I wonder if it's all connected—”

Why did EJ's voice sound so far away?

His head lolled to the side to peer up at EJ. Black and white dots blinked across his features.

An engine roared in the distance, and EJ disappeared from view. Raine moved into his vision. Her mouth moved, but he couldn’t hear her words. She waved her hand in slow motion in front of his face.

Tires screeched.

His body floated up off the ground.

Grunting and swearing echoed in his swishy head before cool leather kissed his burning cheek. His knees somehow ended up under his chin.

I’m frickin’ done for, was his last thought before he drifted away into the blackness.