This woman is dangerous.
He should kill her now and be done with it. She was no innocent. Not if she was one of Lucifer’s hunters. He’d killed so many, what was one more?
But his soul teetered precariously on a precipice. Most days, he believed it totally gone, yet the tiniest sliver stubbornly lingered. He was in no hurry to rid himself of what remained, fearing what he would become when that infinitesimal piece of light finally deserted him.
“I have a contract to take this man in. He’s dangerous.” She strode toward the demon, who was now groaning and struggling to sit up in spite of the blades sticking out of his heart. “Did you do that? Stupid question,” she muttered. “Of course, you did.”
“What’s your name?” If he had to leave her, he wanted a way to find her.
“What’s yours?” she shot back.
“I asked you first,” he pointed out, keeping his voice level. The corners of her lush mouth turned up in a slight smile, and his breath caught in his throat. Tasting those lips was quickly becoming a priority.
“So you did.” She slammed her booted foot into the demon’s chest, knocking him back to the ground. It was done casually and with little effort. Maccus’s cock stirred. This was a woman who could handle him in bed.
He hadn’t had sex in a very long time. Humans were too easy to break, and he tended to stay away from other paranormal creatures. He made them nervous. But as one of Hell’s bounty hunters, she was more than human, stronger and tougher. She was used to dealing with demons and might not shrink from the darkness in him.
“Morrigan Quill.”
His erection died, and his blood ran cold. He didn’t believe in coincidence. The very woman Gabriel wanted him to kill stood in front of him.
Was it possible she was working for him?
She took a step back and raised her sword, sensing the mounting tension. “What’s wrong?”
He needed to play this smart. Better to keep his enemy close. And if he took her to bed, that was a bonus. Wouldn’t be the first time he’d killed a lover who’d been sent to murder him.
He stepped into the light. She gasped and took another step back. “Maccus. My name is Maccus Fury.”
…
Shit! Shit! Shit! She was totally fucked. Maccus Fury. How the hell had that happened? Coincidence was pure bullshit, and she wasn’t buying it.
Lucifer had lied to her. No, that wasn’t quite true. He’d omitted some very pertinent facts. The man standing before her was the same one in the picture, but he was so much more. He’d taken down the demon on the ground without breaking a sweat. And this was the guy she was supposed to kill?
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. In days gone by, she might have said a prayer. She no longer believed in those.
Time to regroup before she did something terminally stupid. “Nice to meet you, Maccus.” She forced herself to look down at the demon, who was strangely quiet. “Time for you to go home.”
When she glanced up, Maccus was gone. Damn. She had no idea how she was going to find him again. When she looked back down at Clem, the daggers that had been protruding from his chest were missing. Who’d done that? It hadn’t been Clem, or he’d have stuck them in her, and rightfully so. She’d deserve it for letting herself get distracted.
Maccus was some kind of powerful paranormal creature.
She grabbed the titanium cuffs from her pocket and slapped them on her prisoner. They were thick and covered with arcane symbols that glowed red as soon as they touched the demon’s skin. A unique set came with every contract, each specifically designed to contain the power of whatever demon she’d been sent to capture.
But she had to get them there first. That was always the challenge.
She secreted her weapons, pulled out her phone, and dialed. How she got reception from Hell, she had no idea. It worked. That was all that mattered. “Emmett,” she said when he answered, “one demon ready to go.” He appeared by her side the next instant, and she tucked her phone away.
He glanced at Clem and back at her. “That was fast.”
“I got lucky.” Usually, she’d have had to search for days, even with a lead on the bounty’s location. She’d stumbled onto Clem’s path. Another coincidence?
“I probably won’t have another recovery for you for a couple of days at the earliest.” Then Emmett was gone and the demon with him. Morrigan was glad she no longer had to personally return the prisoners, as she’d had to for the first five years until she’d passed her probationary period. Now, they preferred her topside rather than languishing below for an undetermined time while the bounty was processed. The red tape and processing procedures were… Well, they were hell.
She rubbed her hands over her face and rolled her shoulders. Even though she needed little sleep, she was tired, but it was more a weariness of the soul rather than the body.
A siren blared in the distance, getting closer with each passing second. The guy upstairs must have called for help. She was sorry about his finger, but he shouldn’t have tried to stab her.
Blood stained her clothes and caked under her fingernails. The stench of sulfur was pungent. Humans tended to notice such things. A shower and a change of clothes were a priority.
She could wipe the blood from her leather pants and jacket, but the tank top was done for. She wasn’t even going to try to get it clean. Easier to toss it and buy a new one.
Morrigan straightened her shoulders and walked away from the sirens and light, letting the darkness swallow her whole.
She’d barely made it around the back of the building when the hairs on her arms stirred. The weight of the gun in her hand offered reassurance and steadied her.
“Who the hell is there?” She wasn’t in the mood for this. Not tonight. She’d meet her target and lost him.
Lucifer won’t be pleased.
“Is your bounty taken care of?” Maccus slipped from the darkness like he was a part of it. She’d swear it reached out to caress his skin as he stepped forward.
And maybe she needed a nap, some food, and a few days away from hunting.
“Yeah, he’s taken care of.”
Before she could blink, he was in front of her, moving faster than the eye could see. “Good,” he said.
Then he kissed her.
Chapter Three
She tasted sweet, like a sugary candy he’d had once from a small shop outside of Paris. Addictive.
He’d told her his real name.
Why the hell had he done that? Maccus was the name he used on his human identification, which was so necessary these days. For some reason, when he’d created this particular identity, he’d used his real name. And he never told anyone his real name. Sure, Gabriel and the other angels knew it. So did Lucifer.