Dark Wings

I made a deal with the devil …

What kind of angel doesn’t have her wings, her sword, and her magic? Oh, right … the me kind. These days, I'm practically just another human.

The hurt of not being a true angel is too much, so I come up with a brilliant idea: I summon an evil wish-granting demon and trap him in a witch's circle. The price for his ticket out? My wings and my magic.

But, surprise, the ritual goes haywire and now this devil is bound to me! Furious but shackled by the spell, the demon reluctantly agrees to help me get my wings back, then we figure out how to break the bond, preferably without driving each other crazy.

Remember what they say about best-laid plans? Buckle up because this ride is getting bumpy, and our odd partnership? It's heating up.

DARK WINGS is a scorching paranormal romance set in Juliana Haygert’s enigmatic Rite World, where love defies heaven and hell. Magic and desire collide in this action-packed steamy urban fantasy novel, leaving readers breathless and desperate for more!

17+

Rite World: Fallen Angel

Dark Wings (Book 1)

Light Magic (Book 2)

Fallen Demon (Book 3)

Wicked Angel (Book 4)

Chapter One

I landed a nice uppercut to the guy’s chin, making him stumble two steps back. Taking advantage of the way the inside of his head rattled right now, I advanced on him, locked a powerful hook to his cheek, and finished with a side kick to his stomach.

He went down with a groan.

The crowd roared and shook the wire cage fence.

The referee started counting. “Ten, nine, eight …” he went on, but the guy didn’t get up. The referee grabbed my arm and raised it high. “And the winner is Arwen!”

I almost winced at the fake name. I had been using it for the last three months, and I still hadn’t gotten used to it. The crowd's screams echoed through the underground fight club, hurting a little.

Not liking the attention, I pulled my arm down and marched out of the cage. The public advanced on me, but when I glanced at them with a frown, bared teeth, and my bloody fist raised, they let me pass.

I weaved through the cheering humans, disappearing through a thick metal door and into a large room with a big glass wall. Mr. Green sat in a leather chair, holding a glass of whiskey. Two of his goons stood behind him while he watched the crowd through the one-way glass.

He smiled at me.

Mr. Green was a short man with a generous belly and receding hair line. He wore fancy suits and acted as if he wiped his ass with money. I was sure Green wasn’t his last name, but a moniker he had adopted when he entered this life. This was only one of the handful of illegal cage fighting clubs he owned in Houston, and I had heard he had a few more in Dallas.

I didn’t smile back.

“Dear Arwen.” Mr. Green raised his glass at me. “Another win. Well done.”

“Thanks.” I extended my hand to him. “I want my money.”

His smile got a millimeter smaller. “Why the rush? You’re doing well. You should do another fight tonight.”

I shook my head. “That wasn’t the deal. I told you I would do one fight a week, that was it.”

And it was already too much. My body hurt all over and I needed rest ASAP.

Mr. Green tsked. “My offer still stands. Become my official fighter, come fight for me every night. You’ll make a lot of money.” His smile was gone now. “You need money, don’t you?”

I jerked my hand out some more. “That’s why you’ll pay me for the fight right now.”

“So impatient.” He pulled an envelope from inside his jacket and lifted it up. One of his goons grabbed it, walked over to me, and slapped it into my open hand. I glanced inside the envelope to make sure it was all accounted for. “I’m a man of my word, Arwen. It’s all in there.”

A man of my word, my foot.

When I first came to the fight club, he had wanted to hire me to waltz around the cage between fights, wearing a bikini that barely covered anything and shaking my ass as if I was looking for some.

I glanced at the glass and could see three young women doing exactly that. Word was he pushed himself on all of them.

I wanted to break his neck.

He left me alone, though, once I proved I could fight.

“I’ll see you in a week,” I muttered, unhappy about that prospect.

I walked to the only other door in the room, which led to a short hallway. Two doors were always locked, but the other led to the lockers and restrooms.

I slipped inside the locker room, grabbed my duffel bag, changed my dirty tank top for a thin sweater, my leggings for black jeans, my sneakers for my boots, put on my hooded black leather jacket, untied my long, silver-blond hair, and stuffed the money in the bag. After a quick stop by the restroom, where I cleaned my face and made sure I didn’t have any blood on my clothes, I continued down the hallway to the last door: the back alley.

As I was exiting, three men walked in—I had fought against two of them, and I knew I was going to fight against the third one next week. I had won all of the fights so far and didn’t expect to lose anytime soon.

That, though, didn’t buy me any friends. Not that I wanted any.

The three men glared at me. One of them, Jonas, even stood in my path for three seconds.

My first instinct was to blind him with light.

But I couldn’t do that anymore.

I sidestepped him before I did something stupid, and with my head down, exited the alley onto a dimly lit street in one of the shadier neighborhoods of Houston.

I didn’t like being in a big city, but I didn’t have much choice. I needed money, and in a small town, it would have been hard to be a nobody.

I knew this wouldn’t last, though. Maybe another six months? A year? Not more than that. Then I would have to move again to stay out of sight, and continue pretending I was a regular human.

With a groan, I hiked my duffel bag onto my shoulder and walked to the bus stop. I rode the bus to a better side of town, where there was a great noodle place I had found by chance, and it was now my favorite restaurant.

Not that I had tried many.

I took my usual spot in the corner and my usual server, Laurah, a lady who was probably over sixty years and wore a style of makeup from the eighties, came to ask if I was going to have the usual.

“You know it,” I said, finally relaxing.

She winked at me and went back to put in my order.

I reached into the duffel bag and checked to see if the envelope with my money was still there. Of course it was, but I couldn’t help it.

I had been on Earth for five years. I had to learn how to take care of myself, and after so many years at the Guardian Academy, I had become rather good in physical combat, even though it was rare for my kind to fight like that.

I shook my head and closed the duffel bag. It was stupid for me to go down this road again. What was done was done. All I could do was lay low, keep my head down, and survive.

Pretending I was a freaking human.

Laurah brought over my noodles and my sweet tea, and after trying to make small talk and not getting anywhere with me, she left me alone. I ate slowly, enjoying this meal before I went back to Crosby, a small town about thirty minutes east of Houston, where I lived.

Or rather, where I hid.

Houston was good for fights and meals, but it was terrible to stay off other supernaturals’ radars. In Crosby, no one knew me. I came to Houston, made my money, ate, talked to the witch who made my potions, and went back home where I hid for another week.

What a great life.

I finished, placed a twenty-dollar bill on the table, and picked up my duffel bag. Halfway through standing, I felt a chill slither down my spine.

I sat back down, my eyes wide.

I didn’t have my magic anymore, but I knew what it meant.

Two Seraphim walked past the restaurant. One of them glanced through the large glass windows, but I pulled my hoodie over my eyes, pretending I was still eating.

When I looked up, they were gone.

I glanced around, alarmed. Of course, no one else noticed. Humans couldn’t tell angels or other supernaturals from humans, but for some reason, I could.

Besides, one of the Seraphim was Julien, a male who had been a year ahead of me at the academy. Thankfully, he hadn’t been the one who had spied inside the noodle shop or I was sure he would have recognized me, hoodie and all.

Holding my bag, I shot to my feet and scurried to the restroom in the back of the shop. Right beside the restroom was another door labeled “Employees Only.” I knew it led to the kitchen and a back door, which opened to a parking lot shared with the sports clothing store on the other side of the block.

I opened the door and stepped into the kitchen.

The cook looked up and glared at me. “You can’t be back here!”

Laurah saw me. “Dear, let me—”

“No!” I snapped. “I just saw my ex.” I made sure to look afraid and made my voice tremble. “He … he wasn’t a nice man. I need to go, but I don’t want to run into him.”

Her eyes filled with pity. Done. 

“Of course, dear.” She put a hand on my shoulder. “Go through the back. Just this once, okay?”

“Thank you!”

I heard the cook’s protests as I rushed out of the kitchen and raced across the parking lot to the store on the other side. I entered through the side door and slipped in unnoticed.

The shoe store had a couple of clients and more staff than necessary. I pretended to browse the sneakers, but a sales associate kept close to me, probably wary of me hiding under my hoodie with my bag slung across my body.

I shuffled closer to the front of the store and looked out the large glass windows.

Just then, another two Seraphim walked by.

“She has to be around here,” Izrail said. He had been two years ahead of me in the academy.

“Her aura doesn’t feel right,” the other one said. I had seen him before graduating, but I didn’t know his name. “She must have been here days ago and left a trace.”

Shit.

I grabbed a pair of shoes and sat with my back to the window. As I pretended to try on the bright orange sneakers, I reached inside my bag and closed my hand over the small glass vial. I pulled it out and looked at it. I had only a sip or two left.

Frowning, I took half a sip.

That should do the trick.

Julien came running after Izrail and the other. “Hey, I can’t feel her aura anymore.”

“See? I told you it’s probably days old,” the other said. “We’re wasting time here.”

“We’re following whatever clues we have,” Izrail said. I glanced over my shoulder and saw him close his eyes and inhale deeply. I stilled, praying the damn potion was strong enough. Five seconds later, he opened his eyes. “You’re right. It’s too faint. She must have been around here but she’s long gone.”

“I’ll tell the others,” Julien said before running off.

Soon, Izrail and the third angel walked away.

I let out a deep breath.

“May I help you?” a girl asked. She was wearing the vest with the store’s logo on it. The other sales associate was still close by, her eyes on me.

My will was to rush out of the store, but chances were there were still some angels in the area, even if they were all about to leave.

I pointed to the orange sneakers in my hands. “Do you have this one in blue?”

She gestured to the shelves behind her. “What you see is what we have.”

“Ah, shame.” I put them down. “I’ll try these anyway.”

I quickly realized I had gotten a size too big and the girl, who continued looking at me, must have noticed. Thankfully, she didn’t say anything.

I stood, walked a few steps to the side, looked in the mirror at the end of an aisle, and made my way back to the bench, while glancing out the window.

The angels were nowhere to be seen.

I took the shoes off, put my own boots back on, and stood again. “Thanks,” I muttered as I walked past the girl.

She muttered curses under her breath, thinking I couldn’t hear her. I might have lost my magic, but I still had an incredibly good sixth sense, increased agility, sight, and hearing.

Bitch, she had called me.

Well, to be honest, she wasn’t wrong. Probably everyone I had met in the past five years thought I was a bitch. And the angels sure thought a lot worse of me.

I exited the store, checked the vial again—this half dose wouldn’t last me a week.

Time to get some more.

The RITE WORLD is a "universe" Juliana created -- it's our own world, in modern times, but with a large, hidden, supernatural society.

Many of Juliana's series are set in this "universe," and have many cameos.

Think like Marvel, where many of the superheroes have their own movie series, but you see cameos all the time. Same for The Vampire Diaries and The Originals--it's all the same world, the same "universe," but the stories happened separately, with cameos here and there.

If you love when the side characters you fell in love with get their own stories, then the RITE WORLD is perfect for you!