Why Viper had formed an MC club, Maddox didn’t know. Maybe it was merely a cover. Maybe they liked the thought of being free. Or maybe it was an excuse for them to not have to fully blend in with society, which wouldn’t be simple for them.
Maddox didn’t ask, because he didn’t particularly care. He did, however, wonder why a fallen archangel had turned up here. And since Raini would be arriving sometime within the next hour, he saw no need or sense in dancing around pleasantries. He preferred directness in any case.
Balancing his tumbler on the sofa’s armrest, Maddox asked, “Why contact me?”
If Viper was offended by the lack of welcome, he didn’t show it. “I won’t insult your intelligence by asking if you’re aware that several lairs of descendants have been killed over the past few months.” He stretched his legs out in front of him. “Do you have any idea who’s behind it?”
“No. But I’m sensing that you do.”
A smile flirted with one corner of the president’s mouth. “I’m sure you figured out for yourself that my brothers and I fell only recently.”
“It was quite obvious. You all appeared out of nowhere.”
“It caused quite a stir among the Earth-bound angels,” said Viper, referring to those who were placed on Earth and forced to earn their way back to the upper realm—only then would they be granted their halo.
Maddox didn’t know why that happened to some angels while others were halo-bearers from birth. Again, he didn’t ask. Because, again, he didn’t care. He just listened as Viper continued to speak.
“The Earth-bound tend to avoid us. I think they worry that associating with the Fallen will reflect badly on them. They’d be right in thinking that. The beings up above”—Viper shook his head— “they’re never pleased when angelic breeds fall. It rarely happens nowadays, but eons ago? I think about two hundred fell. Possibly more.”
Yes, Maddox had heard the stories.
“The beings upstairs didn’t like it at all. They really didn’t like that the Fallen spread the love and produced children with humans. And they really, really didn’t like that some of them produced children with demons.
“Most of the Nephilim were hunted and killed by halo-bearers. Any children born from a fallen angel and a demon, however, were generally left alone. Because demons tend to react badly if someone harms their offspring, and they can do a lot of damage. No one wanted a war between the light and the dark—there’d be no winners, so the half-bloods were left alone. Which is why your breed eventually came into being. And yes, your existence galls the people upstairs.”
Maddox felt his gaze narrow. “You think someone in the upper realm is no longer so happy to leave us be.”
“They were never happy to leave you be. They simply knew better than to eradicate you.”
“Why would anyone up there suddenly decide it was worth the risk?”
“That I don’t know. But it could be because there are so many of you now. You’d give demons a big ‘edge’ if there was ever a battle between the light and the dark. Angels and demons are well-matched. But demons with angelic blood? They’re more than a match for angels. And as a descendant with archangelic blood in his veins, you are a threat that the upper realm will definitely want gone.”
Maddox wasn’t surprised that Viper knew he wasn’t a typical descendant. “Why would you so freely share all this with us? Why bother to warn me?”
“Descendants are the closest creatures on this Earth to angels,” said Viper, echoing what Hector—who was leaning against the wall with Carmen—had said only yesterday. “We’re almost relatives, really. Family, even. And families should look out for each other, shouldn’t they?”
“You want an alliance,” Maddox realized.
“It makes sense. Your kind is a breed of demon, yes, but you’ve never truly been accepted by the other breeds, have you? They still see you as mutts. You’re outsiders. So are we. There’s safety in numbers.”
All of that was true, but … “I don’t think you really need an alliance with anyone, Viper. None of you are common angels. Your club is more powerful than you want people to believe. I doubt you’ll ever need backup from anyone. What is it you really want?”
A slow smile crept onto Viper’s face. A smile that said, “perceptive,” but he admitted to nothing. Maddox hadn’t expected him to.
Viper slanted his head, his grin fading. “Do you know what happens to the entities inside angelic beings when we fall? Most don’t. You think the predator that shares its soul with you is dark. Our entities? The fall twists them. They lose their light, lose their ability to feel. And they want only one thing. Crave it, even. It’s the only thing that makes them feel alive … because it is life.”