Vengeance: The Niteclif Evolutions, Book 3 (34 page)

“They’ll move.” Zerachiel checked the side mirror and turned to look back. “Hit the horn.”

I did and the crowd stepped back a fraction. Gunning the engine a couple of times, they moved back more, and I began to back a tad faster. Finally, after what felt like a freaking three-hour tour, I made my way out of the garage and into the ever-congested evening traffic. Before long, the lights of the city thinned. We made our way through the suburbs and then hit the M4 where I opened the car up, and we were on our way.

A faint tap on the roof made me squeak and jerk the wheel, running the car off the very edge of the road. I muscled it back on track and glared out the windshield at the vague, watery form of the dragon pacing me. “Asshat.”
 

“They’re beautiful, though.” The fallen archangel laid his head back on the seat. “I enjoy watching them.”

“They’re unbelievable to me, even now,” I admitted.
 

“Will you marry Hellion?”
 

“Yes.”
 

“And when you think about the question, is the answer the same?”

I glanced at him, unsure where he was going with this. “Hellion is where my heart is, and that’s not going to change.”

He nodded, seeming satisfied.
 

“Let me ask you something, Zerachiel.”

“Ask. If I may answer, I will.”

“You were awfully close to Gagiel’s flare tonight. I was under the impression Nephilim were required to stay away from one another. And now you’re willing to go to Hellion’s country home where yet another Nephilim is residing, albeit temporarily.
Very
temporarily.”

Silence greeted my questions and I began to wonder if he’d answer. After fifteen minutes I gave up and turned the radio onto a rock station. Loud.
 

He shut it off without touching anything at all.
 

I glanced at him and turned it back on.

He shut if off again.

“You aren’t fallen,” I whispered.
 

“I am.”

“Then you haven’t been fallen long.”

“What makes you say that?”

I downshifted and took a hairpin turn hard enough to put tension on the seat harness. “You gave away your shoes and your coat when you might have needed them to blend into the Dublin crowds. You ran toward a Nephilim in distress knowing it would be Agares or another of the Dominae. You also issued some type of blessing or prayer over me in O’Cleary’s office.”

He didn’t open his eyes when he answered me. “Very astute of you, Maddy.”
 

“Why are you here?”

“I fell. Beyond that, I can’t, and won’t, tell you anything.” His voice was hard and flat, and I knew arguing would gain me nothing.

I reached over and touched his arm. “Thank you.”

He rolled his head my way and opened those strange eyes, brilliant even in the dark. “For what?”

“The blessing or prayer. I’ll take what I can get. Agares has me spooked.”

“Yet you stood up to him tonight. Why?”

I thought about how to best phrase my answer before I spoke. “You know how much you want to go home?”

“Yes.”

“My heart’s home is in Hellion. If I lose him, I’m homeless, lost in a world that doesn’t really have a place for me anymore.”

“You need him.”

“Some, but probably not like you mean. I’m not dependent on him in a desperate way. I need him not because he makes me whole, but because I’m whole when I’m with him.”

“That’s called ‘wise love,’ Maddy.” He ran his hand over my short hair, cupping my skull. “May it serve you well.”

“It already has.” I was surprised at the level of passion in my words. Shaking off that niggling sense of foreboding, my thoughts shifted from the conversation to Hellion. He was at the end of this journey, and my heart was hungry for the succor of home.

Light spilled from the manse’s every window as we headed up the drive. Stearns rushed from the house as I pulled up, ostensibly to help me from the car. I suspected he was more anxious to ensure I hadn’t done any damage to “his” beloved Vitesse. He slid in, talking to the car like a man would his lover.
 

“She’s fine, Stearns.” I leaned into the cockpit and whispered loudly, “We weren’t even gone long enough for me to take her virginity.”
 

A hard, red blush climbed from his collar upward and came to rest near his hairline. “Funny, Ms. Niteclif.”

“Aw, don’t be mad. I was good to her. Only stalled her twice.” I shut the door on his sputtered reply.
 

Zerachiel stared at me over the roof of the car, his look inscrutable. “You tease him over something so important.”

Stearns pulled the car away, headed for the garage.

“I’m teasing him, yes. But it’s all in good fun. It’s sort of a running joke that he loves the Vitesse more than life itself.” I shrugged, feeling a little guilty. “I’ll apologize later.”

“Only if there’s need. I simply don’t understand this version of humor.” We started up the front steps when he asked, “For curiosity’s sake, how would one take a car’s virginity?”
 

This time it was me choking but on laughter. I looked over to find the Nephilim grinning. “You said you didn’t get the humor.”

“I’m a quick learner.” He paused on the wide porch, hand on the front door. “I’ll ask that you keep Micah and me separated until you’re ready to let Agares know we’re both here. He’ll be unable to resist the temptation of two fallen angels’ souls. I’d prefer we were prepared to fight well before the call goes out.”

“What call? What’s going to happen, Zerachiel?”
 

He shifted foot to foot, eyes locked on something over my shoulder.
 

I waited him out.

When he finally looked at me, his eyes were brighter, deeper, than I’d ever seen them. “When you put two fallen angels together, there is a chime that signifies they’ve broken covenant.”

“What covenant?” Exasperation made my voice sharper than normal.

“The one that says we’re to live in exile from one another. It’s a beacon, Maddy, one that will call Agares to us like a hound to a fox.”

I pulled out my cell and dialed Hellion.

“Where are you?” He sounded calm, but I could hear the echo of footsteps on marble as he paced.

“Other side of the front door. Don’t open it.”

The footsteps stopped. “What? Why not?” The tenor of his voice changed, going deeper and far more threatening than I liked to hear it.

“Nothing’s wrong. I swear it. Zerachiel’s out here with me, and I’ve got to make sure to keep him away from Micah until we’re ready for Agares to show up. There’s some sort of chime that’ll go off, and we need everything ready when it does.”

He sighed. “Great. We’ve essentially purchased a doorbell to Hell.”

My snort garnered a soft chuckle in return. “Look, Hellion. Get Micah to the basement. Tell him to stay there or he’ll be feeding Darius for the foreseeable future. I’ll take Zerachiel to one of the guest rooms on the second floor. Then I’m meeting you upstairs for four hours of sleep.”

Silence.

“Hellion?”

“We won’t be sleeping,
anamchara
.”
 

A shiver traced over my skin. Five words that promised pleasure I’d be an idiot to turn down. While I might be a little slow off the start, I was no idiot. “Agreed.”

“See your fallen archangel in, and I’ll see to our mutt.”

“’Kay. Be there in fifteen.”

“Make it ten or I’m coming after you.”

My sex ached at the memory of him chasing me down and taking me in the hall. “We’ll see.”

The call disconnected, and I turned to Zerachiel. “I need to get you settled. We’re short on time, and it’s important we make the most of every moment.”

“Indeed.”
 

His quiet affirmation made heat climb my cheeks. No doubt he’d heard Hellion’s side of the conversation as well. “I, uh, really do need to go.”

“You owe me no explanation, Maddy. Go. I wish you both pleasure and rest.”

“Yeah. Okay.” Head down, I entered the foyer and plowed right into Hellion. Hard arms came around me, held me close as he breathed me in. My heart doubled its pace. “It hasn’t been ten minutes.” The blurted response was breathy.

“It doesn’t matter. I got tired of waiting.” He blinked slowly and glanced at Zerachiel. “Allow me to show you to your room. I’ll trust you to make yourself comfortable. Dialing star-nine on the phone will get you the butler. He’ll bring you anything you need.”

The Nephilim nodded. “Understood.”

Hellion dipped his chin, lowering his lips to mine. The kiss was soft, sensual and full of unspoken promise. His hands slid down my sides, one stopping at the sway of my back, the other grasping my hip and pulling me forward. Need curled around us, unspoken yet as loud as a shout.
 

He pulled back, his eyes pulsing. “I missed you,
a muirnín
.”
 

“Apparently.” I licked my lips, watching him watch me.

He leaned forward, stopping a hair’s breadth from my mouth. “Tease.”

“Promise.”
 

Pulling me under his arm, he started for the stairs.
 

Our newest Nephilim quietly fell into step.
 

Hellion looked over at him. “I’ve instructed Mark, my butler, to provide you with clothes and shoes as well as some pocket money.”

Zerachiel’s mouth opened then closed, his lips a firm line. We were nearly to the second floor when he spoke. “Your generosity will be rewarded, Hellion. Thank you. Do please keep the money, though. I hope to have no need of it.”

Hellion shrugged. “It’s not much. Only enough to see you taken care of for a few weeks. I’d thank you in advance for your help.”

“You’re confident I’ll come away from this.”

“My wish for you is that you return home and have no need of any of it. I only want you to know you’ll have enough to set you to rights should you not yet make it home.”

We stopped outside the room Zerachiel would use, at least for tonight. The fallen angel touched Hellion gently and closed his eyes, his lips moving, silent and fast.

Hellion’s brows drew down.
 

“Sh.” I wasn’t going to turn down an archangel’s prayer, even if he was fallen.
 

Lifting his head, Zerachiel moved into the room. He’d halfway shut the door when he looked back. “Thank you.”
 

The click of the latch was definitive, cutting Hellion and I free from hosts’ duties. I looked at him, backing away. Up the stairs I went, all the while watching him. My nerves buzzed hyper as a hummingbird when he took his first step toward me. My hand went to my stomach without thinking.

His lids slid lower. Those black eyes pulsed. “May it always be so,
grá mo chroí
.”
 

I turned with unnatural grace and continued up the stairs, soft footfalls pacing my own as he stalked me.

I’d never been so glad to be prey in my life.

Hellion shut the door behind me as I moved to the center of the room. My hands shook as I began to unlatch my gun holster, and I had to pause, focus and try again to get the buckle undone. Warm hands closed over mine, stilling their escalating, frantic pace.
 

“Slowly.” He undid the belt and slid my coat and gun harness free together. Stepping in closer, he rested his hands on my hips and his breath boiled over the shell of my ear. “I’ll manage the gun. Stand there. Don’t move.”

I fought the shiver that threatened to pull me under the lake of lust spreading through the room. Air felt scarce as I struggled to draw a calming breath. Control. I needed control. Turning, I saw him set the dismantled gun on the nightstand, my jacket and harness discarded on the floor by his feet.
 

He glanced at me. “I told you to stand still.”

“I only—”

“Failed to follow my instruction.” He watched me through predatory, hungry eyes. “Tonight will be different, Maddy. You’ll do as I say.” I started to bristle as he stalked toward me, arms and hands loose, focus narrow. “Don’t balk,
anamchara
. You see, this is about you—what I want to give you and what you’re willing to take.”
 

My mouth was so dry I could have sharecropped space straight from it. “Take?”

“Aye.
Take.
” He slowed, unbuttoning his shirt with careless flicks of his fingers.
 

My sex clenched.
 

“You’re going to leave here branded, Maddy. Branded in a way that marks you mine in front of all the men sniffing about the place. I’m putting an end to the idea—yours and mine—that you might be taken from me.”

“Taken.”

“You will be before the night’s over.” He grinned, wicked and unabashed, his shirt hanging open to frame a body handcrafted by the gods. “Shame we only have four hours.”