Dark Temptation

The Fallen

[ Xander Kaine ]

The neon pink lights of the Kitty Kat Lounge washed the streets with a rose-coloured haze, cars lining the sidewalks and drunks stumbling out of the strip club.

I stepped from the alleyway a few buildings down, noting the scent of forest and marshmallows that wafted through the air. I shook my head, something about it was driving me nuts.

Whatever the hell it was, it made my heart race and my c**k hard. Two things that didn't often happen.

I let out a low growl of annoyance, vanishing my wings and walked across the street to the strip club.

The bouncer was a demon, stopping my lip curling as I handed him the human ID.

It wouldn't be worth it to kill him. Not yet.

He scanned it, glancing between the photo and me before the machine beeped and he waved me through.

"Have a good night, sir," he called, I waved two fingers, a bundle of cash between them, at him absently.

"I intend to, buddy," I called back, hearing his chuckled response.

The club was dimly lit, smoke and s*x lingered in the air like a suffocating fog as music pounded through the speakers. Women danced on tables and stages, varying stages of undressing or complete bare as they writhed and shimmied for the patrons that crowded around them.

I made my way to the bar, buying a s**t of whiskey and stopping long enough to scan the doors.

My senses swept through the stone of the entire building, until it honed onto the energy signature I was hunting.

I downed my drink, slapping a hundred on the counter and slid it to the skimpy bartender.

Her eyes lit up seeing it, dancing towards me and taking the note with a grin. "What else can I get ya, honey?" She asked, her voice pitched as she stuffed the note into her panties inside of the til.

I smirked. "Is your boss in, gorgeous?" I asked, my voice low and my golden eyes shining at her as I tilted my head, a flood of my aura alluring her.

Her eyes turned glassy and her grin docile as she nodded. "Rax should be in back," she gestured to the far door. "Or he's in the basement," she shrugged, seeming to consider something that disturbed her.

I kept my face neautral and unphased, but my curiosity was peaked. "The basement?" I asked in a teasing tone.

She nodded, a look of fear darkening her eyes and pinching her features. "I'd avoid it," she warned, glancing around quickly before leaning in close to whisper. "Some psycho ex dancer tried to break in earlier, he might still be dealing with her." She pulled back, smiling brightly then and resuming her composure. "Will that be all, love?"

"Thanks," I nodded, slipping her another hundred and slid out of my seat, heading for the doorway she'd indicated.

There was a bouncer standing guard, but the door was partly concealed by a hallway - only the bartender could see me.

I approached quickly, unsheathing my dagger from the back of my pants. As the guard straightened, my hand going for the doorknob, my other struck.

The demons eyes widened for a moment, staring at me with confusion and disbelief before they fell down to the dagger embedded into his heart. I opened the door and pulled us both inside the dark hallway as he turned to ash.

I glanced down the hallway, finding it empty, but that f*****g scent again. I shook my head, gritting my teeth and stormed down the hallway, throwing open the first door.

It was a private suite, but empty.

I threw a few vials into the room, shattering the glass and content across the floor and walls before closing the door and continuing.

The next door was an office, two men seated in couch chairs in front of an oak desk.

A frown formed on my face, not looking at the two demons who jumped to their feet, snarling and shouting something at me.

"Where's Xorax?" I asked, bored of this already.

The lunged, attacking wildly and I dodged, shoving one into the other and drew my sword from my back, spearing it through both of them. A pulse of light flashed and they turned to ash.

I sheathed my sword and sighed. Least the intoxicating scent wasn't in this room, giving me a moment to think clearly without my d**k imagining the body attached to such a smell.

A woman's scream pierced the air, agonised and violent, drawing my attention back to the hallway.

There was a set of stairs that led downstairs to the right of the end of the hallway, the scream and scent resonating from the depths.

The basement.

A cold smile tugged at my lips as I descended the stairs, the scent permeating from the door at the end of the hallway, mixed with blood.

Something about the smells being mixed, a bloom of pure hatred and rage filled me.

Find her. A voice whispered in the back of my mind. Save her.

I drew my blade and gritted my teeth.

Fine. I growled back to the voice. Then what?

There was no reply as I threw open the door with a blast of holy light, my wings bursting forth and I glided into the room, slaying the demons who stood around a tied up woman.

A shower of ash shielded my view of her, but her scent filled my lungs and as the ash rained down, my eyes met the starlight eyes and hair of a witch.

My c**k hardened to steel with need and a desire to touch her filled my head.

Her eyes widened, a shine lighting them.

Fated. The voice echoed, smug and arrogant.

I growled low, raising my blade as Xorax moved behind her, using her as a shield and gripped my witch's perfect throat.

The action made me hesitate, seeing my witch gasp as her air was cut off.

"I'll f*****g kill her," Xorax warned, his glamour dropping to reveal his jagged and overlapping teeth, gleaming with drool and venom.

My witch stared at me, her full red lips gagged but the fire and defiance in her eyes said everything - she wasn't ready to die.

And after five hundred years of waiting - I wasn't going to let her.

She is mine.

My holy rage filled the room with a blinding light and screaming filled the air, my body bursting and lurching forward as I destroyed everything in the room.

When the light subsided, an orb of shimmering blue surrounded my witch, her head lulled to the side as she panted heavily, her eyes drooping with exhaustion.

Her small frame was in tattered clothing, cuts, claw marks and burns marked her beautiful alabaster skin, my anger flaring, wish I'd killed Xorax slower.

I reached for her wrists, tied behind the chair.

My fingers brushed her bruised skin, a warmth and spark jolting through me, settling some of my rage to know she was real.

A weak voice croaked, my witch groaning a single word. "Angel," then her head fell to the side, her breathing calming the panic I had thinking I'd arrived too late.

I untied her quickly, gathering her gently into my arms, cradling her battered and bruised body against me and moved out of the room, my wings keeping my feet off the ground to minimise jostling her.

I wish I knew her name.

Her eyes fluttered open as I shouldered the backdoor of the club open, the cold night enveloping us and she let out a shakey breath when my eyes met hers.

"Angel," she whispered again, her voice awed as she took in my wings.

I smirked, leaning down to rub my nose against hers gently. "Not quite, my pet," I purred, hearing her soft sigh at my voice, my smile growing.

I sent a pulse of my power back into the building as my wings slapped the air, hurtling us into the sky.

The Kitty Kat Lounge went up in flames, but my attention was solely focused on the beautiful, injured woman in my arms.