Watcher Unfeigned: Dark Angels Paranormal Romance (Watchers of the Gray Book 7) Read online

  Copyright © 2019 by JL Madore

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.

  JL Madore

  www.jlmadore.com

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  Watcher Unfeigned/ JL Madore -- 1st ed.

  ISBN 978-1-989187-07-4

  Author Note:

  Welcome to book seven of the Watchers of the Gray,

  Dark Angels Paranormal Series – Watcher Unfeigned.

  This series is written to be read in order. I follow up with each of the couples as a family saga as we move through their lives and you’ll enjoy the story more if you have context.

  If you haven’t started at the beginning, Zander is your man in book 1 – Watcher Untethered

  If you’re all set to jump into the following pages, then enjoy.

  Devour the struggles and triumphs of Zander and his warrior brothers. When you’ve finished, continue the journey with the next books:

  Watcher Untethered – Zander

  Watcher Redeemed – Kyrian

  Watcher Reborn – Danel

  Watcher Divided – Phoenix

  Watcher United – Seth

  Watcher Compelled – Bo

  Watcher Unfeigned – Brennus

  Watcher Exposed – Taharqa

  CHAPTER ONE

  A fine line separated a deeply concerned friend-with-benefits from an obsessed stalker. Brennus feared he pole-vaulted over that line with Colton Creed weeks ago. Was he dead? Had feeding from him killed the cop? Was he suffering somewhere, alone and in trouble? Had his Seraph side poisoned him?

  “Stay the fuck away from me, Celt.” The cerulean blue of Colt’s glowing eyes haunted him in both his waking hours and his sleep. He felt the piercing bite of his extended fangs in his throat, the desperate pull on his vein as the guy groaned against his neck.

  How could they have gone from savage good sex to the cop falling off the face of the earth one moment later?

  No forwarding address. No calls returned.

  He took an indefinite leave at the police station.

  His cousin had no idea where he was—or wasn’t telling.

  Members of the Darkworld knew better than to feed off Nephilim. Brennus was born of a human woman and an Archangel asshole. What ran in his veins was caustic to daemons nine times outta ten. It was acid—poison.

  But there had been no stopping him.

  After Colt delivered on his promise of a mind-numbing blowjob, he lunged at him more demon than man. Brennus ass-planted in that alley with the cop on top of him and the male’s canines punctured his flesh.

  He protested, pushing at the male’s chest, but who was he kidding—the two of them got off on the danger of the forbidden. They were nitroglycerine and an earthquake.

  Colt didn’t heed the danger, grinding on him, feeding in gluttonous pulls. The male was nothing but sex.

  Nothing but need.

  And Sweet Lady forgive him, Brennus lost his mind as well. He should’ve fought harder and thrown the male against the next building for his own good. Instead, he got the male’s pants open and stroked him off.

  He thought they were all right when the cop shuddered, coming in violent waves. Not once, not twice, but in multiple convulsions of a sticky cum that chilled Brennus’s skin and smelled like a heady musk.

  The unique scent woke something sexy inside him.

  Then shit went sideways. Colt leapt to his feet, covered in blood and cum and filth from rolling on the ground in that alley. He looked feral. “Stay the fuck away from me, Celt.”

  Brennus tipped back his flask and took a solid swig. He really needed to slow down on the liquid sedation, but he was right close to being out of his head with worry.

  He hadn’t seen the male since that night. Not for lack of trying. The Ice Demon was just gone. Vapor.

  What if his blood did poison him? What if the daemon overtook the male and he was still feral somewhere? He honestly didn’t know what went wrong or how to make it right.

  “Celt?” Seth’s voice came through his earpiece. “You still with us, my brother?”

  Brennus got his head back into the game and finished the energy sweep of the abandoned warehouse. The metal and glass structure was cavernous, but they only used an area at the back, so the job was simple.

  When life, human or Otherworld, came to a truly violent and horrible end, it left a negative imprint of energy. That tended to draw more ill-meaning Darkworlders and malicious intent—a siren’s call of the residual power. That bad juju needed to clearing up before they walked away, or they’d end up with another slaughter on their hands.

  “All clear, Egyptian. We’re good to shut this one down.”

  Brennus shut off his Otherworld gift and retreated to where the twins waited for him out by the road. After a mass killing of Darkworlders a few weeks ago, they assembled the bodies of the victims in this warehouse to allow families of missing daemons to identify the salvaged remains.

  Unfortunately, without heads, nailing down the identities of the victims became more of a guessing game than a science. If they didn’t get these bad guys soon, they’d need a forensic scientist on the team.

  “All the evil mojo clear?” Seth sipped at the rim of Tim’s cup as he joined them.

  The Egyptian twins created an impressive sight. Physically identical, the two massive warriors, with their skull-trimmed hair, ebony wings, and their red leather trenches and boots were something to behold.

  Massive and muscled, these mountains of their garrison gave any troublemakers pause.

  “Aye,” Brennus said, falling into step as they made their way back to the busier city streets to patrol. “We were lucky Gheil put us in touch with a Necromancer Shade that could consume the tainted energy.”

  Seth shook out his empty cup and stuffed it into the long pocket at his hip until they found a street side garbage can. “We wouldn’t have to go through the Djinn Master for a cleanup if the cop wasn’t AWOL. Where the fuck is Colt?”

  Brennus shrugged, nausea churning in his gut. “I wish I knew. I honestly wish I knew.”

  Phoenix lifted his hands and started signing. Hey, if you guys have things nailed down, I’d like to head over to the hotel and escort Storme home.

  Brennus’s mood lifted at the mention of visiting Storme at work. Phoenix’s wife was finishing
off the details for the grand opening of the newest location of the boutique, Queen Hotel. After inheriting the business from her batshit mentor and then marrying Phoenix, she relocated the head office to the heart of Toronto. The lass was pulling long hours to ensure success . . . and so was her lovely assistant, Jack.

  “Aye, that’s a fine idea, Phoenix. Let us tag along to see the progress.” Brennus changed their direction, not about to take no for an answer. “Then yer brother and I will get back to keepin’ the streets safe for the innocents of mankind, and you can see your fair lady safe home.”

  Seth raised a dark brow, but for once in his life, kept his mouth clamped shut.

  Well, would wonders never cease?

  Seth found his off button.

  Zander walked shoulder to shoulder with Danel through the late-night sports enthusiasts, club goers, and end of the night train catchers. May was a decent month for weather in TO. The changing seasons freed humans from their environmentally imposed hibernation. Spring rains washed away the bitter cold of winter. The intermittent days of sun warmed up the evenings that followed. The world sprang to life once more.

  As much as he appreciated the return to more hospitable conditions, the rise in temperature made the nightly grind harder. More bodies on the streets meant more potential Darkworld infractions to police and thus, a higher risk of exposure.

  They turned west, the heavy, rubber soles of their boots eating up the pavement as they wandered a stretch of deserted buildings along the lakefront. The streets had been quiet of Darkworld activity since the totem pole slaughter and the raid on their home two weeks ago.

  Whether the Red-Metal Rebellion had taken a crippling blow due to the men lost, or the scum of Hell had coiled up in a corner somewhere lamenting their losses and plotting their next strike, they had no clue.

  Didn’t matter. Either way, they’d continue to do what they always did—night after night after night.

  “Thanks for taking Sunshine out this afternoon,” D said.

  Zander thought about his afternoon, and the warmth of his growing family bloomed in his chest. The sun had been out, the birds singing, and he’d looked at that little blonde angel staring out the window at the horses, and it had melted his heart. “We share a love of horses, she and I. It was my pleasure to saddle up and take her for a ride. She’s a sweet kid.”

  Danel nodded. The lack of biological connection didn’t mean a thing to the warrior. He and his beast had taken one look at Sunshine and plummeted head first in love with the little waif. “Can you believe where we are, Z? Some nights, I’m afraid to breathe. Like, if I disturb the scene, it’ll all go up on me, and I’ll be left with nothing but fate’s mocking laughter.”

  Zander knew that sensation all too well.

  He was a year longer into the wedded bliss and family life than Danel, Ronnie, and now little Sunshine, and it still caught him off guard most nights. “More to love is more to lose. All we can do is take it one night at a time and protect what Lady Divinity blessed us with.”

  Zander sent up a wave of devotion to their patron mother, and by Danel’s glance to the night sky, he did the same.

  Who’d have believed this, right? Danel and he not only able to share a shift but chat about life and love. Shit, they’d come a loooong way from the dark place they’d each been.

  He’d never bring it up and hadn’t realized he cared, but endless centuries of Danel despising him had weighed heavy on his heart and soul. Thanks to the love of females, they were whole and healed.

  “I’ve got lawyers working on securing Sunshine’s place with us,” he said, checking the sightlines and the vacant windows looking out at them. “Humans have laws and waiting periods and home visits and things to maneuver, but my guys don’t foresee a problem.”

  “Thanks, Z. Seriously. I have no patience with the idea of being judged by humans over this or the threat that they might think they can take her away from us. My beast would rip them to shreds.”

  Zander got that. If anyone threatened to take Niobi from him and Austin, he’d raze the earth to cinders. “We won’t tip anyone off. As far as we’ve found out, she isn’t in any system and has no kin to come looking for her.”

  Danel swallowed, his head bobbing. “Good. That’s good to hear.”

  “Everything’s gonna work out, Persian. You’ll see.” Zander’s phone buzzed against his hip. As he took in Tanek’s text, his heart didn’t so much stop as freeze in his chest.

  911-Ronnie. Get D home now.

  Fucking fate. It just had to shit on them.

  Colt was in Hell—literally. Burning fires scorched his flesh and blackened his lungs with layers of rancid sulphur. His wrists were shackled, stretching him out like a full-monty starfish over a bed of hot syringe needles, his shifting weight injecting him with an evil medley of toxins. His skin was on fire, fighting against the sub-zero burn of the icy powers pulsing in his cells.

  Utterly excruciating—and he ate up the agony.

  How long had he been there? A week? A year? Time was a fickle fuck in Hell. The torturous days and hours stretched on and yet never got anywhere. Didn’t matter. He deserved every ounce of pain. Welcomed it.

  Fucking around with a Nephilim was beyond stupid. It threatened everything he was—everything he wanted to be. But to feed on him? To take the Celt’s blood into his body?

  He’d lost his cock-driven mind.

  “Have you had enough, sire? Can we leave this place and be done with this?”

  Colt shook his head but got nowhere because his skull was locked in place and strapped down. “I need more. I can’t . . . you have to make it stop. I won’t leave until I am myself again.”

  His assigned Hell servant shrugged. “As you wish.”

  Brennus led their trio as he and the twins headed over toward Storme’s new hotel. His focus had shifted from the quiet stillness of the streets to prep his charming Hi-how-are-ya for young Jack. He promised the lad a private tour of the town a few weeks ago, and he was in the mood to make good on his plans. Or, they could skip the meal and start with a tour of one of the new hotel rooms.

  You know, to test out the mattress for quality assurance.

  The scent of blood on the wind had his head cranking around and he signaled for the twins to halt. The copper in the air wasn’t a skinned knee kinda scent. The strength of the perfume promised a perforated, leaking body and plasma pooling into puddles.

  Seth flipped into fight mode a nanosecond later and drew his gun. The Egyptian mountains of muscle pushed past to take the lead, and Brennus fell in behind him.

  Down a cramped and littered service lane, they wove their way behind a series of low-rise office buildings. The grunts and thuds of distant fighting bounced down the concrete funnel of the alley, and things got more intense: the darkness of the shadows, the tang of spilled blood, the need to know what they were walking into.

  He tapped the video-link on the front of his vest. “I’ve got you, boys,” Tanek said over their comm system. “Thanks for the invite to the party.”

  Pop. Pop.

  Gunshots went off up ahead, and the three of them beat feet and broke into a run. They didn’t have a visual yet, but the shots echoed from less than a full city block away. Left. Straight. They took a right into another alley-artery and ended up bursting in on a whole lotta messed up. Shiiiite.

  Back-flatting against a red brick wall, they dropped into defensive shooting positions. Phoenix tucked in behind a green industrial dumpster, Seth stepped into the back door stoop of one of the buildings, and he rolled and crouched behind a stack of skids.

  Brennus missed the days of invincibility, when they burst into every scenario as indestructible motherfuckers and took out the trash. Now, one red-metal bullet to the head could take them off the playing field for good.

  Engagement protocols changed.

  Caution became part of their nights.

  Oh, how he missed the good ole days.

  Brennus popped his head above
the skids and took a quick gopher gawk at what they were dealing with before ducking back down. It was a clusterfuck—a Downworlder Donnybrook.

  And for once, they weren’t the targets.

  “So, what say you, boys?” he asked, meeting the gaze of the twins. “Shall we break it up or simply observe and let the chips fall?”

  “Door number two,” Seth said. “It’s contained. No sightline. And really, none of our business. Let’s wait and—”

  A stray bullet—either from a ricochet down the alley or from one of the three new daemons running past to join the party—caught Brennus in the shoulder. The kick knocked him back, and the blaze of pain brought him into clear focus.

  His beast lit up.

  “Fucking hell,” he cursed, twisting to check the back of his jacket for an exit. “Straight through. I’m good.”

  Not as good as he would’ve been if he’d made it to the hotel and met up with Jack. Yep. The universe always nailed you in the nuts when you let your guard down.

  Best-laid plans and all that.

  The late arrivals must have tipped off the masses to the Watchers skulking in the shadows because all of a sudden, the welcoming committee came at them from all sides.

  “It’s amazing how fast the tide turns, isn’t it?” Seth said, looking genuinely offended. “And we were minding our own.”

  Brennus agreed but didn’t have time to say so. He returned fire, nailing one attacker in the head as the horde closed in. The force of bullet-through-skull spun the fucker around and he dominoed back, knocking the two behind him staggering.

  Leaving the body to fall where it may, he burst forward and took advantage of Newton’s Law.

  Those objects in motion would stay in motion.

  Until they never moved again.

  The throbbing burn seeping into his chest told him these Darkworlders were armed with red-metal. Life or death was new to them, but boy did it ramp up the adrenaline.

  Running full-tilt at the off-balance stumblers, he took advantage of their unsteady footing and tackled them both to the ground. The razor-sharp blade of his Crystalline dagger found purchase in the chest of one and then across the throat of the other. Black blood splattered back on him and poured free from the wounds.