“In which case, my lair would forget about siding with yours against halo-bearers, especially if Gunther managed to harm me.”
“It’s a guess but, yes, that’s what I believe. The halo-bearers need a way to get Jolene off their ass so no wars break out. They couldn’t have known that this place was shielded to prevent telepathic contact, so they had no reason to think you wouldn’t be able to call out for help.”
She only nodded, her expression pensive.
“I don’t like how well you’re taking all this.”
Her brows lowered. “Why not?”
He towered over her. “Raini, I’m telling you I drink blood. Crave it. Need it. I’m telling you I could be taken over by a haze that would make me all but insane.”
“I know. It’s a doozy. But I grew up around imps. I’ve heard weirder shit than this.”
He could actually believe that. Still … “You’re missing the bigger picture. Remember all those bites my demon gave you? The only thing that stopped it from breaking the skin and drinking your blood was that the entity thought you’d loathe it for doing so—that’s all. So show a little loathing, Raini, or I can’t guarantee it won’t bite you for real one day. It wants to taste you. So do I.”
She sniffed, haughty. “I’d be a little offended if you didn’t. I don’t see why my blood would be less appealing than anyone else’s.”
His demon chuckled, delighted and making all sorts of erotic plans. Maddox? He did not understand her. He just didn’t.
A groan came from Gunther. He lifted his head and looked at them through eyes that—what the fuck?—no longer held a red glow. “Maddox?” he croaked. He squinted at Raini and then closed his eyes. “Shit, I think I bit her. Is she okay?”
For a long moment, Maddox could only stare at him. “Yes,” he slowly replied. “As are you, apparently.” Which made absolutely no fucking sense.
Gunther blinked at Raini. “What did you do?” he asked, curious and confused. “It felt like my head was on fire. Like an insane amount of heat blew through my mind, and then the haze suddenly … cleared, but then I passed out. Seriously, what did you do?”
Gaping at him, Raini paled. “I didn’t try to kill you,” she answered vaguely.
Insane amount of heat? Only one thing could truly heat a person’s psyche in any way. Maddox looked down at her, his eyes narrowed. “But you could have killed him, couldn’t you?” He hummed. “It’s little wonder your demon is so confident you could take me on and win. Psychic hellfire is a very potent weapon. A full-on blast of it can consume the mind completely.”
She swallowed and looked away.
His demon, warped as it was, found it a turn-on that she could so easily destroy it. Maddox didn’t understand the entity any more than he understood his anchor.
Gunther frowned, struggling to his feet. “That’s what it was? Jesus, no wonder it felt like it was going to blow off the top of my head.”
“Instead, it literally consumed the haze,” Maddox mused, dropping the containment forcefield. “Interesting.”
Gunther cricked his neck. “Celia okay?” he asked, referring to his mate.
“She will be now that you’re back with us. She’s been worried. Go to her. I want you both in the cathedral in twenty minutes, though. I’ll be calling everyone there for a meeting. Tell no one other than Celia what happened here until afterward.” Maddox had a little something to deal with before beginning the meeting, but he wasn’t about to leave Raini in the cathedral or anywhere else alone. He wanted her where he could see her, which meant taking her with him. His demon, still wound tight on discovering she’d been taken again, would accept nothing else.
“Understood.” Gunther nodded at Raini and then teleported away.
She frowned. “Wait, why didn’t he teleport out of here earlier? And what do you mean by cathedral?”
“We can’t call on our abilities when in a haze. We can still use telepathy, but I suspect that’s because it’s such a basic gift. Very few don’t possess it. Plus, it doesn’t require the same level of concentration that it does to access other abilities. Even babies can do it.” People were trained to call on and control their gifts, but no one really needed help to use telepathy—it was too instinctive for demons, perhaps because they were predominantly psychic creatures. “And by cathedral, I meant cathedral.”
Maddox closed his hand around her wrist and teleported back to the club. The descendants who’d fought alongside him earlier were still there, doing their best to put the place to rights. The club was in no state to open for business tonight, though.
The traces of ashes on the floor told him that the dead halo-bearers had been incinerated. The only angel left was still trapped in the forcefield, shivering, his lips blue, his cheeks red.