The Devil's Angel

By Samantha Anderson

In the middle of Las Vegas there is a woman that is the envy of all, sought out by any man who crosses her path, untouchable to those who crave her. Devrynne may look like an angel but what lies beneath her emerald eyes tells a story far different. A story of love, betrayal, heartbreak, death and vengeance. One so twisted that even the Devil himself is about to wash his hands of her.

She is at the top of the world, wealthy and more powerful than most in her position but it’s because of years of playing the Devil’s games, learning how to work the system that has led her to be this way. Nothing can stop her now, when she is so close to being truly happy. That was until Mr. Casella showed up from an organization called the Guardsmen, holding all the keys to unraveling the web of lies she lives on.

Now it is a race against time as Devrynne relives the horrible past, the lessons she learned in blood, trying to find a way to get out of being brought to justice for the death of her sire. Will she find a way out of the trouble she’s gotten into without the help of Lucifer or will she have to make another deal like so many that has led her to be The Devil’s Angel?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Samantha Anderson
• Release date: Nov 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452444017

Samantha Anderson

Someone once told me to be 'Profound' in life. At the time I thought that meant being famous, or doing something noble or commendable. As an adult I realize now what that person meant. She meant it in a way that do something with your life that moves you above all else. The first step of me finding what my definition of profound was to become a mother. Two beautiful little girls later, it was time to tackle the next step and that was to become a writer. I had always written poetry and short little dialogues to remember certain vivid dreams I'd had, but I never put any more faith into it. Until 2003 when I started working on a pipedream of a first novel. I got halfway done and had terrible writer's block that I never did recover from with that story. It wasn't until 2005 that I found out why I'd never been able to finish that story. I couldn't relate to on any level because it didn't speak to me. And I found my true love when it came to writing. Not real life, not believable stories of what ifs, but something darker and more imaginative. Vampires, Werewolves, Ghosts, Demons, and Devils. The darker side of the night time really appealed to me in a way I would have never thought possible. Through 5 years now of short stories and ideas about some of the craziest characters my twisted mind can think up, here I am, getting closer every day to completing my first novel about the one character I never tire of writing about... Devrynne Kaine.

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The Devil’s Angel

Samantha Anderson

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2010 Samantha Anderson

All rights reserved.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Kaylee and Trysha – my daughters and my entire world, I love watching you both learn to create. Thank you for being Mommy’s biggest fans.

My Parents, Terry and Jane – You guys have stood by me and pushed me to be better than I thought I was capable of. I cannot thank you enough for that.

David – I cannot express how much of this is all because of you. You pushed me to do this when I lost faith in my ability to do so. I love you.

Stephen and Joe – You boys have enriched my life more than you will ever know. Thank you for letting me be a part of your world.

Rayva – You help make Devrynne what she is, and keep me from being the over-analytical fool I am. You are my other half, the Harpy to my Shrew. I love you more than you will ever know!

Stefanie – My baby sister, so much my twin some days, thank you for sharing in this with me and for understanding me in a way no one else can. I love you!

Dean – My one and only James Bond. You helped make this story what it is and I can’t thank you enough for that. You helped make me the writer I am today.

M.T. Murphy – Thank you for all of your guidance through this long and demanding process. I <3 You.

Bill – Thank you for putting up with me, but mainly for seeing me in a way very few ever have. Your patience is more appreciated than I can tell you.

Patrick – Thank you for all your insight and excitement into this process. It is greatly appreciated.

To John, Anthony, Erick, Kate, Erin, Chris D., Chris P., Nate, Bobbi, Nicole, Cathy, Kelly, Karena, Katie, Randi and Todd: Thank you all for all the words of encouragement, test-reading, and support through this whole process. Also thank you to Zoe, Tim and Blayne for their help with the technical side of things that I just couldn’t seem to figure out. I can never express what everyone’s help and support has meant to me.

To all the others that there just isn’t room for me to mention, family, friends, colleagues… Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

For my mother – Thank you for giving me this gift which is both a blessing and a curse in a way only you understood. You are missed.

Janice Kay Anderson

March 2, 1954 – April 8 1997

Hell begins on the day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved, of all the gifts which we have wasted, of all that we might have done which we did not do. –Gian Carlo Menotti

PROLOGUE

Unraveling an Empire

THE AIR IS CHILLED, not that I would notice with me being what I am, but I can sense it around me. The fact that it is particularly cool for the time of night just after sunset in Las Vegas, gives an eerie sense of impending problems. The spikes of my stilettos should be falling noisily in the brisk pace I walk down the strip, however I am seemingly moving with silent elegance. Perhaps some notice it, perhaps some do not. Perhaps it is better if those around me don’t.

My eyes gaze around me almost as if I’m bored, the light reflecting in the emerald hues I was born with. Nevada was never where I had intended to be, but I guess life has a funny way of working out like that doesn’t it?

I feel the footfalls of someone approaching behind me, not completely unimaginable as it is Vegas, it is a Friday, and there are a ton of people walking the same path as I, but this is different. Someone is stalking me, I can hear it in their steps, the sound of them playing like a concerto that only another true musician can understand and fully appreciate. But who would really dare? Did this person not know who they were following? I would have grinned slightly, had my consciousness not been working in overtime at the questions this follower was bringing forth in my mind.

It is not fear that I feel.

It is death.

Not death in a cheesy-horror flick sort of way. Not like the grim reaper himself was following me, but it had an air to it. Like the smell of finality. That was death, and I could smell the stench a mile away.

Through the years, through the life I’ve led, one might have expected me to become familiar with such a stench, being what I am and all, but even one such as myself, can never fully know everything. And while I may know the signs, I couldn’t quite figure out the reasons. What door was about to be closed to me forever?

I rounded the corner from Flamingo Road on to Las Vegas Boulevard, walking past the entrance to the Bellagio, one of the more upstanding resorts. My, how they hated having my casino across the street from theirs. I couldn’t help where the casino had come to be built, that had been done before the keys to the kingdom had ever touched my delicate palms.

I walked up the circular drive, around the large fountain that was lit up, breathing in deeply, hoping to lead my stalker in front of surveillance cameras so I might be able to get a closer look at whom it was.

Good evening Miss Kaine. I was greeted with a smile from Sergei, second in command over security, and I nodded back. All of the staff knew who I was but it was a very select few who knew what I was. I preferred it that way.

Less mess.

I walked through the main floor, watching people fork over their money into the slot machines, the arcade of sorts for rich retirees with nothing better to do. This place was a playground for the morally corrupt. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I was much better, but life has a funny way of changing the already damaged.

I nodded a small smile to those who dared to meet my gaze as I made my way through the main floor of Rapture. This was my haven, my opus, and there were most days that I loved every moment of it. I pressed the button on the elevator and it opened and I walked in turning my back to the wall as my eyes scanned anyone who may have been trailing me and I saw no one that stood out amongst the tourists.

The doors closed and I pushed the button for the control room, entering my code on the keypad that appeared on the touch screen and the elevator lifted effortlessly.

The doors opened to a bustle of controlled activity, all of the security staff dressed in leisure clothes. My feelings were that if they were sent down on the floor to investigate, I wanted them looking like tourists, they blended in better. Placing my hand, palm flat, on the reader to my office, it scanned the imprinting of my hand and the lock clicked free. I let out my breath in relief, not really sure why, once the door had closed.

Walking behind the large mahogany desk I sat in the high-backed leather chair and picked up the remote, pointing at the wood case that took up the wall next to my desk. The panels slid into the walls revealing screens that as soon as I started pushing buttons on the remote, all came to life. Every angle of the casino was at my fingertips.

As I started to play back through the recordings that followed me up the drive and into the casino, there was a knock at the door.

Come in, I said absently, my dark green hues still trained on the surveillance videos.

The figures you wanted, as well as the other chefs comparable to Demetri, the tall, dark-haired man said as he laid two files on my desk top, his eyes looking up to the screens that I was glued to. Michael Dottson was an old hire of the former owner and there had been a time in my life he’d been my handler of sorts, but he had come to be a very valuable asset when it came to security.

What are you looking for? he asked curiously, obviously sensing that I was keen on something. I paused three angles of footage on a man who had entered behind me clutching a shoulder bag, one that looked like something you’d carry a laptop in, tight to his body, almost as if he let it go it would vanish. He had seemed nervous and skittish and had pulled back out of my sight as I’d entered the elevator, but not out of sight of three of the seven camera’s trained on the spot he chose to hide in.

I zoomed in on his face, running a scan of hotel guests, knowing it wouldn’t come up with anything.

Him. I want to know anything you can find about that man, specifically if he is still here, I said firmly as I shifted to look at the files Michael had brought. He nodded and stood as my phone buzzed.

Miss Kaine? Dannica’s voice asked.

Yes?

There is a Mr. Cassella here and he is demanding a meeting with you, her voice was hushed, strained and I locked eyes with Michael for a moment as he grabbed the remote zooming in on live feed from the Guest Services desk. There was Dannica holding the phone tight to her face, and our mystery man.

Michael will be right there. I clicked the phone off and looked to Michael.

Search him before you bring him up here, and then I want to know everything about him, I said and Michael nodded as he left.

I waited, perhaps less than patiently, for Michael to return with our guest and I stood as he entered, Mr. Cassella quivering slightly, the smell of sweat permeating the room the moment the door opened. I could hear his heart, pumping blood furiously through his veins, he was scared. I flashed a wide welcoming smile as he nervously shuffled past Michael. I nodded to Michael and he left, still having to finish the last task of his assignment revolving around our visitor.

Mr. Cassella? I’m Devrynne Kaine, I said, still smiling as I stretched out my hand to him. He walked close enough to grab the arm of the chair and pull it several feet back from the desk before he sat. I didn’t let my features show the amusement I was finding at this peculiar little man.

What do I owe the pleasure? Would you like something to drink? I asked courteously to which he furiously shook his head and wiped his brow with the back of his hand. He had dark beady eyes that darted around my office frantically.

Mr. Cassella? He swallowed hard a few times before opening the case that was now resting in his lap and pulled out a few files.

I-I was s-sent h-here, he stammered and I had to fight back the chuckle. I already knew that. Any man this nervous to be around me wouldn’t have come of his own accord.

By who? I asked, finally taking my seat as he gingerly set a file on the desk.

I c-can’t tell y-you that.

Okay then. For what reason? I asked, trying a different approach and he didn’t answer me. Instead he simply nodded at the file I had yet to open. I opened it and there was a single photograph, a dark-haired man, with a slight scar on his lip, a cocky air of entitlement written in his dark eyes staring back at me, and for the first time in many, many years I felt in desperate need for air.

He was a Regnant and we know you murdered him.

Mr. Cassella’s voice was suddenly calm, apparently seeing the change of my demeanor was enough to calm him. Icy green eyes lifted from the photo as I tucked a dark red curl behind my ear and closed the file, my jaw set. His nervous approach was to get attention, to get me off guard as he played a weaker being.

A game, he was toying with me.

I assure you I don’t know what you’re talking about, I said flatly, to which he flopped a thicker file on my desk and nodded to it. This one was filled with more photos, more of the man in the earlier one, littered with pictures of myself as well, the last one bringing a dead stop to any fighting on the subject.

The photo was taken without my knowledge, as I hadn’t even known anyone was there at the time it was taken. But there I was, my dark red curls visible with my head tilted back as I was bellowing in laughter. The man from the photos lay in pieces at my feet, motionless, and the moonlight captured the sparkling hint of fangs beneath my ruby-red lips.

I sat back against the chair, my green eyes watching the man before me with bridled animosity, and only slight curiosity as he stood, a sneer twisting on his lips.

By royal command from the Order of Ancients, you Miss Devrynne Kaine, will be charged with the murder of a supreme Ancient, a Regnant within the Royal Dynasty, Sir Zarek Rosseau. You will also be charged with two counts of degradation within the Royal Dynasty for the Detachment of Bloodlines by murdering your Sire, a crime punishable by death after a hundred years torture, he sneered to me and I knew that I was in deeper trouble than if I was staring down Lucifer himself.

But like everything else in your life Miss Kaine, this too can simply go away. We’ll be in touch. He left a plain white card that in bold black lettering said The Guardsmen on my desk before heading to the door. He left and I felt like my whole world was spun on its axis.

So someone knew after all these years, the uphill battles to keep the semblance of happiness, to get the perfect life I’d achieved. Someone had found me out.

Found out that I, Devrynne Kaine, Regnant of the Southwest Empire, Vampire sired by one of the most revered Regnants ever known, had killed my Master and had reaped rewards beyond my means because of it.

Damn it! I growled under my breath collapsing back against the chair, feeling utterly lost. Well this was just great wasn’t it? Now what?

CHAPTER 1

The Beginning

IT’S LATE IN THE NIGHT TO SOME, to others their day is just starting to upturn. It is more humid in New Orleans than it should be for the time of year it is and as the patrons file out of the small café’s and bars that litter the streets, the only places still open, the only thing visible in the shadows around the gathering of trees is smoke from a cigar. It filters up towards the heavens only to be pushed back down by a breeze and gravity.

The man smoking is taking in the area around him, his perfectly combed hair, waving slightly in the wind. He stands under a low-hanging Maple tree, his form almost completely cloaked by the cover it gives. He is unmoving, unnoticed, and yet his eyes, dark and almost black are not missing a single thing of the night.

And there she is, the one he has come for.

He doesn’t see what all the fuss is about, why his Master has chosen her. She is perhaps five and a half feet tall, and that is probably only because of the spiked leather boots she’s wearing. Her demeanor is that of someone who is angered by all around her, and it is only then that he sees a glimpse of why. She has a fire in her walk, one that is probably profound in her entire being, a passionate swagger in her steps, one that claims confidence and yet any one can tell she is only using it as a cover. She pulls the tie out of her hair, long red, unruly curls spilling half down the leather jacket she is wearing. It strikes the man odd that she would be wearing leather, as sticky and hot as the night air is.

She wears it to conceal the gun tucked into the waistband of her jeans, a thick baritone voice spoke, another form becoming visible next to the one with the cigar. This man wore a crème silk suit, tailored to fit broad shoulders, his blond hair slicked back, shoulder length, and piercing blue eyes. Quite the contrast from the menacing dark-haired man still calmly puffing on the cigar.

Luc seriously, I’ve never questioned any of your other orders, no matter how bullshit or self-sacrificial I felt them to be, but are you kidding? The man scoffed as he held a hand out motioning to the woman who was now sitting in a rundown car.

Need I remind you of the heiress in Manhattan? Or how about the priestess in Cairo? Luc chuckled and patted the man on the back of the shoulder, getting a dark glare as the man flicked the cigar ashes to the ground.

Still, I think you’re off your rocker with this one. She is nothing more than a head case at best. Luc I’ve watched her for three days, the people she is with, the ones she associates with, why would you even want to get involved with that?

Why not? Luc asked, long manicured fingers still gripping the dark-haired man’s shoulder. Luc grinned as his companion shook his head, conceding defeat. You see someone who has nothing to offer my son, I see a wealth of things in her that you turn your nose down at, Luc said calmly, his tone taking on a slight hint of excitement, much like a child talking of a new toy.

She may not be what you’re used to obtaining. What is it you told that lawyer in Valdosta? Luc said with a slight chuckle as he tapped his lower lip with a finger. You procure high-demand items for an exclusive clientele? Luc nodded and then chuckled to which the other man just shrugged. So go, procure her, Luc sneered moving from the man, taking one last look at the redhead in her car as she tossed the jacket against the passenger seat and leaned back closing her eyes apparently sleeping off the drinks she’d imbibed within the bar she had just left from. He turned to face the man and gave a snort.

You see a lush, do you not? A woman who makes it through her day by being on the road. Different bars, different dodgy motel rooms, men with different faces almost nightly. You see someone of a lesser life than you, someone who has not evolved with the ever-changing world around her. Am I correct? Luc asked and the man squared his shoulders giving a face of wrinkled disgust.

I see a woman who has no respect for herself, one who would lay down with dogs, in the name of feeling pleasure, no matter how fleeting. I see a woman who knows her way around artillery better than most men I’ve ever encountered, and that, he said puffing on his cigar. Should be enough reason to stay away.

Are you scared she might put one of those special bullets into your chest? Luc grinned as if toying with a petulant child to which the man just shook his head.

Master, I’ve followed you for a very long time now, I’ve done your bidding, and all the while I’ve kept silent about who you really are. Why would you risk people like her knowing your presence?

I don’t see it as a risk. It’s hard to do so when you know how the game will be played, Luc said with a grin and turned back to the car. She has a fight in her, a drive to believe in something bigger than herself, and all of that is carefully wrapped in anger and rage, a rage that is so consuming to her she cannot see past it. So she hunts things that most do not believe in, she has seen things most never will. She knows we’re here in the shadows, not because she personally knows we’re watching her but because she knows about the creatures that lurk in the night, Luc said with his eyes twinkling as if he’d found a very rare treasure and the dark-haired man just shook his head.

Come with me, I’m going to show you something, Luc said and almost as if they were never there to begin with, they were gone.

The man went to the bar set up in the corner of a darkened study, snipping the tip off of an expensive cigar and lighting it before flopping into an overstuffed leather chair. Luc walked through the room, his dark eyes scanning the bookshelves before he pulled one out with black leather binding and brought it to the man in the chair.

Her name is Devrynne Kaine, she is twenty-five next Friday. She has had opportunity stare her in the face many times, many times she has had things happen that could have changed the course of her life, and yet because of that fierce stubbornness, because of that moronic loyalty to her father’s legacy, she has stayed on the path she was born on to, Luc stated as the man opened the book, seeing photos of a red-haired child, photos that spanned her entire life apparently and he raised curious eyes to Luc.

This is a lot of work, why have you watched her for so long? he asked and went back to flipping through the pages.

Because, as you will find, she is a rare gem, and she will hold power she is unaware that she is capable of achieving. That and her need to be loyal to something, Luc said flipping to a page of Devrynne standing in a bar next to a man, beer bottles raised and smiles on their face. The man was unmentionable at best, but they looked happy, if even only for the sake of the photo.

That is Sebastian Monroe. He is her best friend, most recently the man she will believe is responsible for killing her father. Even when she believes he has killed the only family she has, she will remain loyal to him. It is that kind of loyalty my son, that desire to please, that has made her very valuable in my eyes. She will play the game because she will believe that if she pleases me enough, she can win. One thing about Devrynne is that while she isn’t necessarily stupid about the world, she can be pretty dumb in her attempts, Luc grinned and moved away to sit opposite the man still flipping through the pages. Crossing a leg over the other and removing an unseen speck of lint from his suit, Luc looked back to the man.

She was born to a decorated Marine Lieutenant, Daniel Kaine. He was rough around the edges and couldn’t handle when his precious Amelia died during childbirth. Devrynne only knew her father, was raised on the road because after her mother died, Daniel Kaine was shown the truth about the things that haunt the night. He took up with an old military buddy, Mike Clawson, Luc grinned as the man’s eyes shot up.

Yes, that Mike Clawson. They became hunters, and Daniel was good at what he did. He trained his daughter from the time she was old enough to hold a gun, how to fire one, how to do things that no little girl should ever be able to do. He made her a trained killer. She has never known anything but this lifestyle, and I’m impressed by her diligence, the brave little soldier she is in her father’s memory now. If she had been a man, she would give you a run for your money on how much of an asset she would be, Luc chuckled when the man glared at him.

She took off on her own when she was eighteen, becoming what most women in her position have become. She hunts, the job is her life, and she’s good at it. She has a keen sense of evil in its purest forms because she’s been raised on it. And it’s anger at her life now, now that she’s almost twenty-five, now that the job has claimed her father, now that she’s hitting an age where most women are married and having families and she realizes that she wants out but doesn’t know how to be anything else. It is now that the anger inside of her is most volatile. It is now that she is in the perfect position for me to claim her, for me to make her all I know she’s capable of becoming, Luc gave a satisfied grin and the man just shook his head.

So she believes this Sebastian guy killed her father? he asked with a small smirk. She was just with him two nights ago. If you ask me that isn’t loyalty, that is someone who doesn’t care whether she lives or dies, and that’s not an ally I would think you would want.

Not yet my child, but her father will die, and in the wake of that she will believe Sebastian to be the killer, Luc said standing and reaching for a smaller book off the shelf, this one bound in red leather, crimson as if stained by blood, and handing it to the man.

I know you’ve heard of Nathan Valini, Luc said and he laughed deeply as the man gave a growl from the back of his throat.

Nathan saw Devrynne when she’d singlehandedly killed a very dear friend of his. He got her scent and couldn’t be appeased to leave her be. So he took her father and then her, tortured her for a week. Sebastian, got her out of there and is now her white knight. They believed her father had been killed by Nathan and it has had her on a deadly vendetta ever since. Up until two weeks ago." Luc flipped the pages in the red book to another set of photos, these looking like surveillance shots. Devrynne and an older man racing away from a large, compound-like house. A series of photos detailed their trek through the grounds of the home to the same car that the man had just seen her in.

So why is she here now, I haven’t seen her with him?

Because she is trying to keep up the façade that she is still hunting because she knows Sebastian is keeping an eye on her, Luc said with a satisfied grin.

So now what?

Now we set the plan in motion, like a game of chess, you will set up the queen to take the fall. Luc pulled a small piece of crumpled paper from his jacket pocket and handed it to him.

My Darling Devrynne,

Words cannot express the blessing it