“They knew you’d take several of us with you to defend her; they thought we’d all be easier to take out if we were divided,” Hector said to Maddox, who nodded.
“And she let them use her as bait?” asked Euan. He blanched at the hard look Maddox gave him.
“No, she didn’t,” replied Maddox, somewhat pissed about it, just as his demon was. “Which is why she and I need to talk.” He looked at Hector. “You go to Carmen. I’ll be with Raini.”
Honing on her psychic tag, Maddox teleported straight to her. She was in a living area he didn’t recognize, but he was guessing by the number of imps in the room that the house belonged to one of her lair members. Many of the framed pictures featured Jolene, so it could quite possibly be her home.
Raini rose from the sofa and looked him up and down. Checking for injuries, perhaps? He wasn’t sure. Her shoulders relaxed, and she gave him a weak smile.
“Ah, you’re here,” said Jolene before he had a chance to speak. “I’ll make the introductions, and then you can tell me why halo-bearers tainted my lair’s air. You already know Harper, Devon, Khloë, and their mates. Over there is my anchor, Beck, and my grandson, Ciaran. Beside them are Raini’s uncles and her sister, Demi. The couple standing near Raini are her parents, Evangeline and Lachlan.”
“I’d thank you for healing my daughter,” said Lachlan, his voice as hard as his expression. “But I strongly suspect that no angels would have showed up at her house if it hadn’t been for her association with you. It’s a loose association at best, of course, despite that she’s your—”
“Dad, you promised,” said Raini.
Lachlan’s brows lifted. “Am I not being civil?”
“Are you not holding a knife in your hand?” she shot back.
He gave her an exasperated look. “It’s not like I’m going to throw it or anything.”
“Then why did you conjure it?”
“Sometimes a man likes to feel the weight of a blade in his hand.”
“And sometimes he thinks he can bullshit his daughter. Would you please get rid of it?”
Lachlan rolled his eyes, and the knife disappeared from his hand. He turned back to Maddox, and his face went hard once again. “Did you know that angels were looking to wipe out your kind?”
“We were warned that that was the case,” replied Maddox.
Lachlan’s jaw went tight. “And still you left Raini vulnerable.”
“I didn’t believe they would target her,” said Maddox. “She isn’t a descendant or part of my lair. She also isn’t bonded to me, so her death wouldn’t psychically weaken me. Plus, it didn’t seem a wise move on their part to drag others into it. Especially a lair that mostly consists of imps.” Which was why Maddox was beginning to question his beliefs about the angels’ motivations. “You’re quite big on vengeance.”
“They came for me to distract you, didn’t they?” Raini guessed more than asked.
Maddox nodded. “They tried the whole divide-and-conquer strategy.”
She bit her lip. “Were there any fatalities?”
“Not on my lair’s side. I didn’t expect them to target you, or I would have taken precautions.”
“Could it be that this isn’t the first time they struck at Raini?” asked Beck. “Maybe the dagger didn’t hit her by accident after all.”
Maddox pondered that for a moment. “No, I don’t believe the incident is related to this. If they wanted to strip someone of power, they would surely have targeted me, not Raini. It is I they want dead, not her. But I doubt they would have made such a move in any case. They generally don’t recruit others to do their dirty work—they’re too arrogant to think they need help.”
Tanner let out a grunt of agreement. “It was that arrogance that brought them here.”
Raini nodded. “They must have thought they could leave without anyone knowing that the people responsible for the damage were angels—after all, no one would have suspected they’d do something so stupid and out of character. They told me they didn’t want to hurt me, but I don’t believe that. They wouldn’t have left witnesses who could point the finger at them.”
“Why would they try to eradicate your kind, Maddox?” asked Jolene, folding her arms. “They consider you abominations, I know. But I doubt they’re acting on hate alone.”
“Probably not,” said Maddox. “I’ll know for sure after I’ve spoken with the angel I’m keeping as my … guest.”
“I wouldn’t have thought the upper realm would give an order to wipe out an entire breed,” said Devon, rubbing her arm. “I mean, they’re risking starting a war.”
“No, they’re not,” said Knox. “If they were to attack succubae or hellcats or another kind of demon then, yes, there’d be a chance of war because all other breeds would unite to fight. But descendants aren’t a well-accepted breed.”
“It’s true that most demons don’t consider us anything other than mutts,” said Maddox, not particularly bothered by it. It benefited his kind that other breeds didn’t get too close. “They wouldn’t side with us.”