Chapter 42
Iris
“You’re breathtaking, angel.” Kaiden’s voice wraps around me in pure liquid silk. He’s waiting in front of his Escalade, posture relaxed. I can’t help but drink him in. The way that black suit molds to his tattooed body should be illegal.
“Thank you,” I breathe, stopping in front of him.
I didn’t recognize myself when I looked in the mirror earlier.
Retro Hollywood waves cascade down my back while my face is painted to perfection.
Kaiden sent an entire team to my apartment: a makeup artist, a hair stylist, a nail tech, and a masseuse.
I’ve never been more pampered in my entire life.
The makeup artist paired a classy eyeliner with crimson lips—the exact shade of the floor-length silk dress I found waiting for me on top of my bed when I got out of the shower.
A gust of wind parts the generous side slit, giving Kaiden a full view of the three daggers I have strapped to my upper thigh.
“As devastatingly beautiful as you look in red, I think I prefer you in purple,” he says through our mental link as he opens the passenger door for me to slide in.
He rounds the car to settle behind the wheel, then glides into the evening traffic effortlessly.
What is he talking about?
Wait.
The lacy thong I wore to bed last night was a deep purple.
“Have you been watching me sleep again?” I sputter, then realize I spoke back to him in my head. This is so freakin’ weird.
“Bold of you to assume I ever stopped. It’s been the highlight of my day for years.”
I open the window, letting the fresh air blast my face. Last night, I had another explosive sex dream. We were back at the succubus party, using one of the rooms. I came so hard I had to take a shower after.
“Don’t worry, I fully enjoyed you moaning my name for hours on end,” he rumbles as if reading my thoughts.
“I thought I told you to stay out of my life,” I snap while pressing the button to close the window because I don’t want to ruin my hair.
“And I thought we already established that’s never going to happen,” he counters. “I haven’t forgotten about you packing a bag. I’ll follow you to the depths of Hell and beyond if I have to.”
I only huff in response, and we don’t talk for the rest of the drive.
He slows down when we enter a gravel road leading to a gargantuan two-story mansion on a sprawling estate bigger than the compound’s.
Soon, this place will be brimming with people—whose souls I could steal before drawing my next breath.
I take in the front facade, made of red bricks and punctuated by a limestone portico supported by Ionic columns.
However, I’m distracted by the weird buzz beneath my skin that gets louder as we get closer.
I recognize it as the same sensation I had in the cemetery because soon enough, my brain screams at me that there are two hundred seventy-eight dead people buried on this property.
Just my luck. They must have built this place over a burial ground or something.
After Kaiden stops the car in front of the stairs, the valet opens my door.
But my legs have turned into cement blocks.
When Kaiden hurries to round the car and extends a hand my way, I don’t take it—not because I don’t want to, but because I’m paralyzed at the thought that I might harm someone innocent.
My pulse thunders in my ears while my vision goes fuzzy at the edges.
Kaiden, cradling my face in his big palms, snaps me out of it. I lean into his touch because it’s the only thing grounding me while I capsize under waves of dread. Concern mars his forehead. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
My gaze crashes into the obsidian sea. I inhale a shuddering breath. “I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about the danger I represent,” I send him through our bond, barely above a whisper.
The moment my words land, his eyes soften. “Do you want to leave? Just say the word and we’ll go.”
I clear my throat as a car honks. Glancing over my shoulder, I realize there’s a long line behind us. And Belial could be in that mansion. “No, it’s okay. I’m okay. Let’s go.”
“You sure?” he insists.
“Yeah,” I breathe. This time, when Kaiden offers me his hand, I take it.
We pass candles in tall glass cylinders and flower ornaments lining the ruby carpet flowing down the stairs.
My high-heeled sandals make sharp clicks against the foyer’s shiny marble floor.
The sounds fade into classical music, the murmur of overlapping conversations, and laughter spilling from the open ballroom in front of us.
The white floral arch where guests are lined up to take photos blends perfectly with the elegance of the vaulted ceiling and the embellished high walls.
I make a mental note to let Sam know she’s incredible.
Not like she isn’t aware, but my admiration for my best friend’s talent knows no bounds.
When Kaiden pulls me toward the arch, I hiss, “What are you doing?”
“I want a reminder of having the most gorgeous woman on my arm.”
I roll my eyes at his cheesiness. “You know this is not a date, right?” I scoff. “I’m here because we need to trap Belial.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s still one of the best nights of my life.” He wraps his hand around my middle to pull me closer for the photo.
We stride into the ballroom. I let my gaze sweep over the mass of people and servers balancing trays of canapés and sparkling glasses of champagne to search for Sam and Malik.
The warlock is engaged in a conversation with about five people across the dance floor, near the open French doors leading to the garden.
When he notices us, he lifts his chin before excusing himself to amble toward us.
Malik beams at me. “Whoa, sweets. You clean up good.”
“It’s a far cry from Faerie, huh? You look pretty good yourself,” I say, reciprocating the smile, and I mean it. The deep navy suit hugging his slender yet muscular frame enhances the speckles of blue in his hazel eyes, while his lively silver hair is tied at the nape.
“Any sign of Belial?” Kaiden asks him.
Malik isn’t paying attention, though, because he’s busy staring—mouth agape—at a sashaying Sam on her way to us.
Men and women’s heads equally snap in her direction.
For good reason, because my best friend is the embodiment of a goddess in a halter-style olive dress that has an open back and a slit to match mine.
Malik’s throat bobs on a hard swallow when she steps next to me. “Damn, freckles, you’re…that dress…I mean…”
She gives him an unimpressed once-over. “Are you having a stroke?”
Ouch.
“I think he means you look incredible,” I chime in because I feel bad for him. “Not only that, but you overdid yourself with the flower arrangements.”
She winks at me. “I know. So, did the king make an appearance yet?”
“I don’t think so. My onyx choker would have alerted me by now,” I reply.
Sam lowers her voice as she tells us, “I drew the Sigil beneath a rug in the office on the second floor. It’s the third door on the right.” She opens her clutch, fishes something out, then passes Kaiden a key. “Here, I snagged it earlier.”
“Thanks,” he says before sliding it into his breast pocket.
“What now?” Sam inquires.
I pop a shoulder. “I guess we just have to wait.”
“Would you like something to drink?” Malik asks.
“Yes, please, a glass of white wine,” I say.
“Rum. Neat,” Kaiden adds.
Sam flicks her piercing emeralds to me. “Can you please text me when Belial shows his face? I have to get back to my date.”
My eyebrows raise. Sam never dates. “Um, sure. You brought someone?”
“Not really, but I met this guy here. He’s got a panty-dropping smile, and I bet he’s a beast in bed.”
I don’t miss the way Malik’s hands ball into tight fists at his sides. “I’ll fetch our drinks,” he grits out as he stalks toward the bar, spine stiffer than a steel rod.
“See you later,” Sam tells me before disappearing through the double French doors at the back.
It doesn’t take long until Malik follows her.
“Guess no drinks for us,” I say on a chuckle.
The dreamy notes of a new melody played by the classical orchestra bounce off the walls.
They not only pull at my heartstrings but also move through me like an earthquake.
There’s something about this song. I’m not sure how I know this, but it’s a rendition of “Love” by Lana del Rey.
I blink, and for a fraction of a second, I’m transported somewhere else.
“Will you save your first kiss for me?”
“I’ll save you all my kisses, angel.”
It’s as if a ghost from the past whispered the words in my ear. Is this a memory? I hold on to it with desperate hands. But it’s as though I’m trying to grasp air—as soon as I have it within my reach, it slips right through my fingers. The bitter pang of disappointment tastes acidic in my mouth.
“Dance with me, angel,” Kaiden rasps, bringing me back into the present.
The equal parts vulnerability and yearning in his voice thaw what’s left of the ice wall I’m trying—but failing—to keep between us.
One last dance can’t hurt, right? I’m leaving tomorrow, after all.
However, the distance between us won’t matter because our souls are entwined for all eternity…
if the things I’ve read so far in the book Sam brought over are true.
I offer a nod.
He leads me to the dance floor while splaying a hand on my lower back.
Kaiden presses our bodies close before swaying to the slow song under the massive, tiered crystal chandelier.
Warmth pools between my legs at the electric contact.
I can’t help but compare this moment with the one we shared at the succubus party—when he kissed me for the first time.
In his steadfast arms, everything fades: the murmured conversations, the clinking of glasses, and the raucous laughter.
We are the only two people in the universe.
“I think I remembered something…about us,” I whisper, then repeat the words, “Will you save your first kiss for me?”
Kaiden sucks in an unsteady breath. His steps falter. We stop moving, but I don’t care. The obsidian sea of his irises turns into liquid fire and his voice is a thick timbre as he replies, “I’ll save you all my kisses, angel.”
He dips.
One heartbeat passes.
But before his lips can meet mine, someone snaps from behind, “Get your dirty hands off her!”
Not someone—Noah.