Fallen Venus: 7even Circles (7even Circles Series Book 4) Read online

  “The vibes you feel would be stronger for a full demon. You would almost be pulled right to them. A demi-demon is probably like…”

  “A buzz?”

  “Exactly.”

  She concentrated on the vibes she was getting. They were pretty strong, but what confused her was how she felt pulled in different directions. “I think the one on the dance floor is a demi-demon, but I feel another demon somewhere close. It’s confusing my sensing having two here, plus all the bodies inside.”

  “You go out on the dance floor and verify that one is a demi-demon and the humans are okay. I’ll stroll through the rest of the club and look for the full demon.”

  “Uh, Ari, that’s not going to work.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s a slow song playing. I can’t go out there by myself.”

  “You’re right.” Ari took her hand and pulled her out to the dance floor. He pulled her body against his and began to sway them back and forth.

  “This is a bad idea,” she whispered.

  “I think it’s a brilliant idea.”

  “I can’t see behind me.”

  He solved that problem by spinning her so that her back was pressed against his front. One of his arms was wrapped around her stomach and his other hand was on her hip, pulling her against him. There was no mistaking his arousal. He leaned down and softly kissed her neck. For just a moment she let him hold her and his heat enveloped her. She placed her hand on top of his and images came to her mind of them outside in the park, making love under the stars. She moaned leaning her head back. The pictures came from Ari, but she couldn’t tell if it was a fantasy he was creating, because it looked so real, felt real. This was so bad, but it felt so good. Movement from someone close by caught her attention.

  Concentrate, Cass! she yelled inwardly, pulling her body away to create some space. The demi-demon was walking by with the two women, heading toward the bathroom. Oh no, West was coming back from the bathroom.

  “Go look for the full demon, I’ll check on the girls in the bathroom.” Cass missed the feel of Ari’s arms when she pulled away, but she tried to ignore it. She headed for West and intercepted him. Unfortunately, he caught sight of Ari.

  “What is he doing here?”

  “Probably here with his fiancée.” She hated lying to West. He didn’t deserve it, but at the same time, she couldn't tell him the truth.

  “Ready to leave already?”

  “Yeah, let me go to the little girl’s room first.”

  “I’ll wait for you at the bar,” West said, but he wasn’t headed toward the bar, he was following Ari. Should she go after him? Damn it! She needed to check on those girls first.

  As quick as she could, she walked to the back of the club and ducked down the hallway to the bathrooms, where she found the girls inside, laughing as they applied their makeup. Cass walked up next to them and looked at them in the mirror.

  She could see faded bite marks, which meant that the blood demi-demon had used the healing agent in his saliva on the girls already. They also appeared quite happy and content. If the demi-demon had bothered to heal them, then he didn’t plan to hurt them. She waited for them to leave before going back out into the club. Now she just had to find her date and get him the hell out of there.

  “Fight!” someone yelled out just as a glass crashed to the floor.

  A crowd had already formed and Cass pushed her way through to see who was causing the trouble. “You have got to be kidding me!”

  West and Ari were fighting. They took out a nearby table, shoving some of the crowd back. West got in a few good punches. She had to admit, he could handle himself in a fight—he might have stood a chance, if he’d been fighting another human. Ari was clearly holding back, or West would have been knocked out by now.

  “Stop!” she tried to yell, but the crowd was roaring with chants of “fight...fight...fight.”

  Why wasn’t anyone stopping them? She had to do something. Using her inner powers, she pushed through fast and ended up in between the two of them as they swing their fists at each other again. Unfortunately, West’s fist hit her first, then Ari’s. She went down like a bowling pin.

  “Cass, are you okay?” West knelt on one side of her. Ari knelt on her other side.

  Ari tried to tilt her face up to the light. “You know better than to get in the middle of a fight.”

  She glared at him. “What the hell were you thinking by fighting West?”

  “Hey, he started it.” Ari pointed at West.

  She looked over at her boyfriend, who had a bruise rising on his cheek. “Why?”

  Before West could answer, Ari took her arm and pulled her to her feet. “Let’s get out of here before the cops show up.”

  West knocked Ari’s hand off her arm. “Don’t touch her!”

  Ari moved forward with his chest puffed out. “I’m trying to help her.”

  Uh oh. This was going to turn into another fight. She once more got between them. “Don’t start up again. You need to leave, Ari.”

  Ari didn’t look like he was going to budge. She turned to West. “Take me home, my face hurts.”

  Immediately West was focused on her. “I should take you to the hospital to be checked out.”

  She pulled on his arm toward the exit. “No, no, I’ll be fine. Maybe get some ice to help.”

  Truth was, her bruises would be gone by tomorrow. She healed pretty quickly. West was the one she was worried about. How hard had Ari hit him? She glanced one more time at Ari, who looked angry. Well, she was angry, too.

  West drove her back to her apartment, neither of them saying much. When they got to her apartment, she ordered him firmly, “Inside now.”

  He walked in and folded his arms over his chest. “I’m not apologizing for beating on that biker. He had it coming.”

  Cass pointed to the chair at the kitchen table. “Sit down.” She went to the bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit out of the medicine cabinet. Then she walked back to the front room. She laid the first aid kit on the table and pulled out some cotton to dab in the peroxide.

  “Sit still,” she reprimanded him when he tried to move away from her.

  There was a small cut that might have been caused by Ari’s nails. She didn’t want it to get infected. She cleaned it up, then walked over to the freezer and pulled out one of the ice packs that she used to ease her own bruises after demon fighting. She wrapped a dry cloth around it, then placed it on his face, holding it there gently.

  “You want to tell me now what happened?”

  “I saw you.”

  “Saw me what?”

  “There’s a TV in the bathroom that shows what’s going on in the club. I saw you dancing with that asshole. He put his hands and mouth on you,” West growled out.

  Fuck! She’d forgotten about the monitors in the bathroom. They were there to keep customers interested in what was happening in the main part of the club. She felt heat rise to her cheeks when she realized West had seen Ari with his arm on her and how she responded to him.

  “Sorry, I never should have danced with Ari.”

  “Why did you?”

  She wouldn’t look him directly in the eyes. She couldn’t tell him the whole truth about the demi-demon they were supposed to be watching, so she would give him a different truth.

  “I’ve always had a close connection to Ari. He’s been a good friend to me.”

  “That was not how friends dance. Have you two ever had sex?”

  She shook her head and looked down into his eyes. “No, of course not.”

  “They way he touched you and the expression on your face said otherwise.”

  She threw the cotton swab down on the table, furious. “Are you saying that I’m not telling you the truth?”

  “About you and him? I want to believe you, but there’s this chemistry between you.”

  She turned around and walked over to the sink. She couldn’t deny it. “There is a chemistry, but he lied to me about b
eing engaged.”

  “That’s one of the reasons I needed to hit him. He led you on, knowing he had a fiancée, and that hurt you. I can’t stand by and let someone treat you like that.”

  She turned to walk back to him and cupped his face. Some of her anger toward him faded. He truly did care about her. Maybe he even loved her. “I appreciate you wanting to defend me, but it’s not necessary. Ari is still my friend, but that’s all we can ever be.”

  “You sure about that?”

  “I’m sure. I haven’t slept with Ari. I haven’t had sex with anyone.” She leaned down and kissed his lips softly. When he pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, a need filled her, making her bold. She sat straddling him in the chair and pressed her body against his. It got hot in the room and she felt like she was burning up. She almost growled when he broke from the kiss.

  “If we don’t stop now, I’m going to lose control and take this further than you’re ready for,” he warned.

  She reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it off. “Let me tell you what I’m ready for.” She leaned forward and nibbled at his chin, then nipped at his neck.

  “Are you sure about this?” he groaned, cupping her ass and dragging her front against his.

  Was she ready for this? It had been a long time since she allowed a guy to get this close to her. She’d ended it before anything serious happened, which made her still a virgin. She’d never really wanted anyone like that until Ari came along. She wondered if, when he messed with her memories, he hadn’t somehow influenced her to stay away from other men. But why would he do that if he had a fiancée?

  “We can stop at any time, just tell me what you want,” West offered.

  She looked at his handsome face and felt warmth. She liked West, maybe loved him, or at least was starting to. She wanted to pick who her first time would be with, and she knew that West would take good care of her. Their kisses started out tentative, but the more he let go, the more she felt his experience at kissing and appreciated it. West would be a wonderful lover, but her mind kept picturing Ari, with his body above hers, pinning her and making them one. God, she couldn’t be with one man while picturing another. It wouldn’t be right.

  She sighed as she stood up. “I want you, West, I’m just not ready.”

  “I can respect that. I’ll wait for you because you’re worth waiting for.” He kissed her before leaving.

  Cass wanted to run after him and beg him to make her forget Ari, but that wouldn’t be fair to West. If and when the time came for her and West to take their relationship to the next level, there shouldn’t be any doubt for either of them that she was there for him.

  Chapter 8

  Sunday morning service

  Cass hid her smile as she watched Michael give his first ever sermon. He was dressed for the part, looking like every Catholic teenage girl’s secret fantasy. He had his blond hair slicked back, and the robes falling over him didn’t do anything to hide his muscular physique.

  He gripped the podium so hard that it moved off its base and almost fell over, but he caught it just in time. Then when he went back to continue the sermon after that little mishap, he lost his place and had to take a few seconds to find where he left off. Despite these fumbles, though, Michael did a passable job and the female parishioners at least were impressed. The women nearly tripped over each other to line up for the confession booth.

  Having seen Michael through the rough part of his morning, Cass went to check on Father Raphael. She knocked on the door before opening it and found him sitting up in bed reading a book. He smiled at seeing her.

  “How did it go?”

  “Fine, a few stumbles but he got through it. He’s doing the confessions now.”

  “That shouldn’t take long, my parish has dwindled quite a bit over the years.”

  “I don’t know, there was a line down the aisle of mostly women.”

  Father Raphael raised an eyebrow before breaking out into laughter. “Perhaps I’ll have him start passing out the collections plate next Sunday.”

  Cass giggled. “You could really rake it in. I know business has definitely improved at the diner since Michael began working there.”

  “I had my reservations about that arrangement, but it has really helped him with his social skills. Maybe a little too much, since he told me that he gets asked out multiple times a day.”

  “He is easy on the eyes.”

  “A lot of his growth is due to you. You’ve really made him rethink his views and realize that there’s not always black and white in the world, but also various shades of gray.”

  “What about you? It wasn’t too long ago you were giving Michael orders to seduce me at any cost.” She still felt a slight pain at that, but it was not as strong as what it used to be.

  “I am so sorry, my child, for hurting you. That was not my intent.”

  “You just wanted to keep me away from Ari.”

  “That was part of it, but another part was that you are in a very vulnerable state right now while you are still learning your powers. You could be swayed to the wrong side.”

  “You have to have more faith in me than that.”

  “Anyone can be tempted, and the fact is, when you finally are able to go to the demon circles, Michael and I won’t be able to go with you. You will be on your own and there is no way for us to completely prepare you for what you might face. If you were bonded to Michael, it would have at least protected your soul.”

  “I need to know more about this prophecy.”

  “I agree. Down in the basement, find the older book I showed you before and we’ll go through it together,” he said as he yawned.

  “You look tired. Did you take your medicine?”

  “Yes, and that’s why I’m so tired. I don’t like being on this stuff, it makes me loopy.”

  “The doctors said you can start to reduce it slowly over the next week.”

  “I hate being stuck in this bed.”

  “Hang in there, tomorrow we’ll get you moving around more.”

  “Good.” Father Raphael fell asleep.

  Cass got up and left the bedroom. She hadn’t really read the big book since seeing it the first time. Maybe it would have some answers about who her father was. It bothered her that Father Raphael was so protective of him. Michael was a different story; he had no clue who her father was. She would have been able to get the information out of him by now.

  She turned on the light before going down the stairs to the basement. “Why does this place always give me the creeps?” Maybe it was because every horror movie she had ever seen involved a blond going into a dark, damp, windowless place and eventually getting killed. She had to remind herself that this was a church and there was no evil there. Demons couldn’t even walk up the steps of the church because it was considered holy ground.

  Opening the large wooden armoire, she found the big book and pulled it out—the Book of Knowledge. Walking over to the rocking chair, she sat down and opened it up. There was nothing like the smell and feel of a real book. Digital books were great and inexpensive, but Cass had always loved having something she could hold in her hands that showed a history. That’s what this book was all about, the history of angels and demons.

  Cass couldn’t help it, she looked up the chapter that listed most of the lead arkangels. When she first met Father Raphael, she had noticed the spelling was different from what she had seen in the books from the library. She once again noticed the odd spelling and made a note to ask about it later. She would have to dig deeper to find out the reason.

  So many angel names; could one of them be her father? For a little while, she had been convinced that Father Raphael might be her father, but it didn’t make sense for him not to tell her. In fact, it might have helped his cause to keep her away from Ari if he claimed to be her father. It was disappointing when she admitted that he wasn’t, but it was also a relief to know that Michael wasn’t her father, either. That would have been like an Oedipus
type of thing. She shivered at the thought.

  Her phone vibrated. She reached in her back pocket and pulled it out. It was an unknown number.

  “Hello?”

  “Is this Cassandra?”

  “Yes. Who’s this?”

  “It’s Abraham...Knight. Your grandfather.”

  “Oh, hi.”

  “I was hoping that you would have lunch with me tomorrow.”

  “I guess that would be alright.”

  “Great, come by my downtown office tomorrow at 11:45 and I’ll give you a quick tour before we go to the restaurant across the street.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  “I’m looking forward to getting to know you.”

  “Me too.” She hung up feeling nervous and excited. She had so many questions about her mother. She wanted to tell someone about it, but she knew Michael and father Raphael would have major issues with her spending time with her demi-demon side of the family. Look at the desperate measures they had taken to keep her away from Ari. No, she would keep this to herself for now.

  *****

  Ari was sitting slouched in the chair across from the expensive wood executive desk. Abraham Knight was on the other side of the desk looking very pleased with himself. The smile helped camouflage who the man truly was: not just a demi-demon, but a brilliant and powerful one. Abraham had made his riches by preying on those who were weak and unable to fight. He didn’t just purchase property, he made sure the owners were bankrupt and therefore forced to sell him the property at a bargain price.

  The first time he met Abraham, Ari was only a kid, maybe six years old. It was years before he saw him again. As a small child, Abraham was very imposing and scary. Sometimes even scarier than the full demons who didn’t use glamour to change their appearance. Something about Abraham had always bothered Ari, but until now, he had overlooked it. He was beginning to realize that he had made a mistake in getting involved with any dealings involving this man.

  Abraham reached over the desk and handed Ari a check. Ari stared silently at the number written there, more than he had made in five years of odd jobs. Was this money worth having to deal with Abraham and exposing Cass to this man’s callousness?