Page 56 of Fallen

Fury rose within Alex. The only ‘it’ here was the mozgoran.

Talon scoffed. “Don’t bother engaging with it, Alex, it’s barely more than an animal. It tries to look human, but it’s no different than the ones you kill on your patrols.”

“You talk to it?” the mozgoran asked, glancing between them. “The human’s lifespan is a blink compared to yours. You’re thousands of years old, leviathan. Why bother?”

Alex scowled and raised his blade. “Enough of this. Talon, get them outside.”

“Oh, it gives youorders, too?”

Talon didn’t rise to the bait. Alex rushed toward the demon, his blade arcing through the air. The mozgoran dodged aside. Behind Alex, Talon was urgently ushering the humans out the back door.

“Sixteen years ago,” Alex snarled. “You killed a family just like this in Bakersfield. Only you missed a kid.”

The demon sneered. “Yes, I remember. Slippery thing wriggled out through the window and ran through the neighborhood.”

Alex nodded. He remembered spider webs on his face, shrubbery scratching his arms and legs as he ran through backyards. He’d hidden between two azaleas in somebody’s backyard five blocks from home, his heart pounding, for hours. When he’d finally plucked up the courage to creep from his hiding place, he’d gone home, hoping against hope that his mother and father had survived, that he’d be able to call for help and save them. Instead, he found their eviscerated bodies with his baby brother and sister, and he’d collapsed beside them, screaming until the neighbors heard him and called 911.

“That was me,” Alex said. “And you’re going to pay for all the lives you’ve ruined.”

The demon bared its sharp teeth. “Come and get me, then.”

Chapter 19

Talon

The humans were coweringon the patio, clinging to their children and each other.

“Stay here, don’t move,” Talon said hastily before turning and rushing back inside the open door.

Alex was beautiful, moving with fluid, practiced grace. He swung the sword like it was an extension of himself. He yielded so completely to Talon when they were alone that Talon almost forgot his human was also a powerful warrior. His face was a mask of furious determination as he backed the demon against the wall.

“Your family died screaming,” the mozgoran growled. It was a sloppy attempt at wrong-footing Alex—one Talon knew he wouldn’t fall for. He was too focused. He’d hungered for this for too long.

“Now so will you,” Alex said with conviction, dodging a swipe and plunging his blade into the demon’s chest.

The demon roared, its body convulsing. Black blood spewed from its lips, and Alex side-stepped it with a mask of disgust. It fell to the floor, and Alex let the sword go with it, stumbling away. His chest was heaving, his shirt damp with sweat. At his feet, the mozgoran’s body began to break down and decay. It would be nothing but dust in a few minutes.

Talon was there in an instant, gently turning him around, his hands roaming him for injury and ending on his face, cradling reverently. “Alex?”

He turned his head but couldn’t seem to take his eyes off the body. “I did it,” he said blankly.

“You did.”

There was a brief, shocked silence, and then he gasped, the air rasping loudly into his lungs. “I did it. I finally did it.” He flung his arms around Talon’s neck and sobbed, his body quaking with emotion.

Talon didn’t know what to do, so he just held him and let him cry. He smoothed his hands up and down Alex’s back, murmuring reassurances in his ear, and rocked them from side to side, more certain than ever that there was nothing he wouldn’t do for this human.

“You did wonderfully,” he said in Alex’s ear. “I knew you would, little bird. You’re so good, so incredible. I’m so proud of you.” He peppered kisses down Alex’s neck, and trembling arms tightened around the back of his neck, curling up over his head to hold them together.

“I couldn’t have done it without you.” Alex’s voice was muffled against his shoulder. “Thank you, Talon,thank you.”

Talon drew him up for a soft, deep kiss, his thumbs brushing the tears from Alex’s cheeks. When they parted, Alex’s eyes remained closed, and he sniffled, wiping his face with one and curling the other around the side of Talon’s neck, like he needed it to ground himself. There was a wet spot on Talon’s shirt collar, and he longed to pull Alex against him again. But the night wasn’t over yet.

“I’ll deal with the evidence,” Talon offered. The sooner they dealt with this part, the sooner he could take him home. “You deal with the family, and I’ll meet you at the car.”

Alex nodded.

The body was already dust wrapped in dirty clothing. Talon carefully bundled it all up, keeping as much of the dust inside the fabric as he could. He heard Alex opening the back door as he strode toward the front. The front door was beyond repair, and cool night air billowed into the foyer. Outside, the night was quiet. The rest of the neighborhood was none the wiser of what had happened here, but they would be soon. The humans would call the authorities and an ambulance, and by the time they arrived, he and Alex would be long gone.

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