Fallen Angel: Mythic Series, Book 2 (11 page)

Vlane knew immediately what she was talking about. Ana was a rare Fae, the only known one in existence. Because of their ability to grant wishes, the race had been the target of both mortals and immortals alike. Like animals, they had been hunted, captured, and used to near extinction. Ana’s presence proved that some of them had survived, but was also a reminder of just how deeply they had gone into hiding. Her true nature and abilities were known only to Vlane and a select few of his bloodline or those who, like Jax, had willingly bound themselves to keep her secret and guard her life.

“Not even your magic can break a blood contract, love. And I have no wish to expose your abilities to Karthik just yet.”

“You worry too much,” Ana said against his chest. Her hands made little petting motions meant to soothe, that light touch accomplishing more than any amount of force ever could.

“Where you are concerned, that is not possible,” he replied. His wife was the other half of his soul, his light in a world of darkness. He had waited over five hundred years for her; he was fiercely protective of her now that he’d finally found her.

“But we are getting ahead of ourselves. It may be that Ryssa is content where she is.”

Jax was unable to completely silence his disagreement on that, lamely attempting to cover the sound with a cough. Vlane caught the not-so-subtle hint and smiled. “Or not. Still, when one sells their soul to a demon of their own free will, there is little that can be done.”

Jax coughed again. Vlane looked at him questioningly, but the younger vamp’s expression gave away nothing.

“Ryssa sees angels, right?” Ana said after several moments passed in contemplative silence. “Maybe Armand will have some ideas. That is kind of his area of expertise, right?”

Armand was even older than Vlane, and a former monk.

“An excellent idea,” Vlane agreed. “Come. He will be most anxious to hear of this.”

––––––––

“S
he sees Angels,” Armand murmured after hearing Vlane recount David Corrigan’s visit to him and Vlane’s sireling, Kristoff. He looked from one to the other. “Are you certain?”

“That is what Corrigan said,” Vlane confirmed. “When it was time for his mother to pass on, Ryssa took his hand and he claims he saw an angel, as well as loved ones that preceded her in death.”

“Extraordinary,” the former monk murmured.

“What is capable of seeing through the realms like that, Armand?” Vlane prodded. Having spent a good many years with Armand, he knew that the ancient vamp was more likely to immerse himself in his own musings for long periods of time than to speak aloud.

“Angels, of course,” Armand answered absently.

“Angels?” Kristoff scoffed. Much younger than either Vlane or Armand, he retained more modern-aged human characteristics, including a healthy dose of skepticism. “I didn’t think they liked slumming down here on the mortal plane.”

“They don’t,” Vlane agreed. Of all the Extraordinaries, Angels were the most removed from the day to day life on earth. Besides the Reapers who escorted mortal souls into the afterlife, most Angels dealt with humans sparingly and only if ordered to do so. Direct involvement was extremely rare, and was done without human knowledge or recognition.

“They do if they are Fallen.”

“Fallen?” Vlane furrowed a brow.

“Angels cast out of heaven,” Armand clarified. “It does not happen often.”

Vlane cast a look over at Jax, who was sitting quietly in the corner. He said nothing, but met Vlane’s gaze evenly, silently confirming they were on the right track.

“Why would an Angel be cast out of Heaven?” Vlane asked.

Armand stroked his jaw. “Disobedience, primarily. Giving in to temptations of the flesh or carnal pleasures is usually the most common offense, but second-guessing the Plan happens, too. Sometimes an Angel cannot see the big picture, and takes it upon him or herself to do what they think is right instead of what they are told to do.”

“It seems to go against the tenet of free will.”

“Not really,” Armand countered. “They, like we, have a choice. If they break the rules, there are consequences. The choices, the consequences – they are all part of the Plan.”

“Explain free will to me again,” Kristoff said, shaking his head. “How can you have a choice if the outcome is predetermined?”

Armand gave his young friend a patient smile. The topic was one he had been debating for centuries. “Knowing the most likely course one will take does not preclude them from making the choice to do so. For example, I can say with relative confidence that after this meeting, you will find your way down to the kitchen to sniff out our delectable new donor and consider charming her into spending the rest of the night in your playroom. That does not mean that you could instead choose to forego the surety of that encounter for something a bit more challenging – such as seeking out the lovely little female you assisted the other evening.”

Kristoff’s dark eyes glittered as the power around him temporarily flared, but Armand’s beatific expression remained serene. How did the old vamp even know about the shy, quiet female Kristoff had encountered when her car had broken down alongside the road?  The one with pretty hazel eyes that he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about, who thought he was nothing but a nice, human guy who happened by in the middle of the night and knew how to change a tire?

“So?” Kristoff said, shrugging his shoulders as if it was unimportant. “We have lived together since my turning. You know me well.”

“Exactly!” Armand beamed. “You do not think the Creator knows us?  Knows what is in our hearts and minds?  Can foresee the way events will play out?  But I digress.” He looked back to Vlane. “Given the little bit you have told me about her – namely her penchant for helping others and her resilience - I would speculate that this woman, Ryssa, defied a direct order.”

“So she does something she’s not supposed to and spends time in the penalty box. How does she end up with Karthik?” Kristoff asked.

“That is a bit more puzzling,” Armand mused. “Angels – even Fallen – are extremely powerful. There is not a demon in existence that can control an angel, unless...”

“Unless what?” Vlane prompted. Armand glanced at Jax, whose eyes were bright and glittering. “Unless the angel willingly allows it.”

“Why would anyone do that?” Kristoff scoffed.

“Sacrifice,” Vlane said, realization dawning as he looked at his bride. “She gave herself for another.”

“If that is true,” Armand mused, “then all is not hopeless.”

“Explain.”

“If Ryssa’s actions were made with a pure heart, then her soul is not truly damned and remains intact. If she repents, her bond with Karthik will be severed.”

It seemed easy enough, yet they had all been around long enough that true repentance was more than just offering up an apology. True repentance involved heartfelt remorse and atonement. If the angel believed what she had done was right, then such things were impossible.

“What if she is not sorry for whatever it is she has done?”

Armand sighed. “Then things become more difficult.”

“
Difficult
,” Ana said, jumping on that immediately. “You said difficult, not impossible. That means there
is
a way.”

“Yes,” Armand said slowly, “but ...”

“But what, Armand?” Vlane prodded. “What will release Ryssa from Karthik?”

“The same thing that bound her in the first place: sacrifice.”

Jax stood immediately. “I’ll do it.”

Armand shot him an approving glance. “Admirable, my young friend, but I’m afraid it would not be enough. Only death magick has the power to break such a bond, and as a vampire, you have already conquered death.”

“Then who?” Kristoff mused aloud.

“There is an even stronger magick, Armand. One that transcends death,” Ana said quietly.

“Ah, yes. The most powerful magick of all. True love.” Armand beamed at her. “If her destined soul mate willingly gives up his life for her, then she may be released.”

The silence was immediate and heavy as Armand’s words sank in. As immortals, they knew the rarity of finding a true soul mate. And despite David Corrigan’s unrecognized feelings, the possibility of a human male being the other half of a fallen angel was highly unlikely.

“Why is it any more unlikely than a Faerie finding her mate in a master vampire?” Ana asked, picking up on Vlane’s thoughts again. Four sets of eyes turned her way, but none of them had an answer to that.

“V
lane.” Ana spoke later, tucked securely in her husband’s arms as the dawn was beginning to break. “Do you remember what you wished at our wedding?”

He stared into her eyes for a few minutes. “My every wish was granted the moment you became mine, Ana.”

The love she had for him radiated through their bond, filling him from the inside out.. “As was mine,” she admitted, smiling. “But I was referring to what you said to Matt.”

Vlane mentally reviewed his conversation with the local werewolf alpha that night. “You mean when I wished that other males might experience the joy of finding their soul mates?”

She nodded. “What if that is starting to happen?”

His Fae bride was a hopeless romantic. While he enjoyed catering to her every fantasy, he was not quite as optimistic. He didn’t want her to get her hopes up and then be disappointed. Disappointment had no place in her life, not anymore.

“Think about it,” she said, turning in his arms to face him. “What if what Armand said is true?  That everything really does happen for a reason.”

“Ana.”

“Like how Dani was accidently shot by that hunter and then hit by a car just as I was driving through. If that had not happened, I would not have saved her, gotten the vet job in Mythic, and eventually, met you.”

“I do not doubt that Fate brought you to me,” Vlane said carefully. “But is it not possible that you might be seeing a divine hand in things that are purely coincidental?"

“Perhaps,” she said, stroking his chest thoughtfully. “But what if I am not?  What if Ryssa was destined to meet David?  Isn’t that why you asked David about the nurse?  You don’t believe she was a real nurse, do you?”

Vlane didn’t have to answer that. His clever mate had already seen his thoughts, knew that he believed there was a very real possibility that the woman had been sent to set certain events in motion. Ryssa was meant to come into Elizabeth Corrigan’s life for a reason - that he didn’t doubt - but not even he was arrogant enough to assume he knew what that reason was. Maybe it involved David Corrigan; maybe it didn’t.

“It did,” Ana said, reading his thoughts and feeling the truth of it. “How many men do you think she has shared her gift with?  How many would have gone to such lengths to find her - willing to brave a demon club, a haunted cemetery, and a vampire’s lair for her?  You yourself said you looked into his mind and saw the depth of his feelings for her.”

“True,” he admitted. “All right, love. You have convinced me that it is a possibility. What do you suggest?”

“Call David Corrigan and tell him the truth. All of it. If he balks, you can wipe his memory of all things Extraordinary and send him home blissfully ignorant. But if he doesn’t...”

* * *

D
avid poured himself another drink as he stood in Vlane Masterson’s opulent guest room and stared unseeingly out the window. Dawn was still hours away, but he didn’t even consider the possibility of sleep. He had always believed he was a strong man, but Masterson’s unexpected bombshell had left him badly shaken.

His first impulse had been to laugh, but one look at Vlane Masterson’s polished ebony eyes had told him the man wasn’t joking. Vlane had then gone on to spew all kinds of nonsense about angels and vampires and demons and soul mates and God only knew what else while David sat there, stunned, expecting to wake up in a cold sweat any minute.

His second impulse had been to run like hell. The guy had to be fucking nuts, right?  He’d heard that in some old-money families, insanity was not uncommon. Apparently there had been all kinds of inbreeding to keep the bloodlines pure. Masterson definitely had an old-world European vibe about him, and spoke with the slight inflection and perfect articulation of someone for whom English was not a first language. Dressed all in black, reclusive, living in a castle-like mansion that wouldn’t be out of place in a Bram Stoker adaptation... yeah, David could definitely see the guy believing all that vampire lore and indulging in some serious role-play.

But then some small voice in the back of his head told him he hadn’t believed in angels a few weeks ago, either. Or sentient ghosts.

And those fangs sure as hell looked real.

Vlane Masterson had made him an offer. Unlike the oft-quoted line from
The Godfather
, it was an offer he
could
easily refuse, and no one would think worse of him because of it. Should he choose not to accept, he would return to his prior life, free from this burden of knowledge that weighed upon his shoulders like a heavy mantle.

He would go back to his big mansion and his successful business and continue as if none of this weirdness ever happened. All memories of Ryssa and the rest of the Extraordinaries - as Masterson had referred to them - would be safely excised and he would go on to live out the rest of his life as a perfectly content human male.

The question was, was that what he wanted?

David had everything a man could want. A big house. A successful business with his family name on the letterhead. More money than he would ever use. He was on the Brookside Heights Town Council and a VIP member of the Country Club, and could pick up the phone and have any number of men or women anxious to do his bidding in a heartbeat.

So why was he even considering this?  It was ridiculous. Insane.

And yet...Vlane’s proposal stirred something inside him, something he hadn’t felt in a long time. There was a new restlessness that wasn’t there before; a sense of emptiness that shadowed his every waking hour and haunted his few sleeping ones. Could he truly be content going back to the way things were before? Would he still feel this emptiness, even if he never knew why?