10. natasha
“What are you doing?” I screamed, aiming for Val’s face once again.
My knuckles were sore and bleeding from how many times I’d hit him. I no longer had the energy to wield my flames, though they’d burned through Mattias’ suit before I lost them. Val, I’d tackled with my hands. I couldn’t understand what was going on. One minute I’d been in that shed with Duca, experiencing something that had been both beautiful and feral at the same time, and the next my brothers had been bursting through the doorway into the shed, guns in their hands and screams on their lips. They’d thrown a bag over Duca’s head and dragged him out of the shed, then turned back and tried to drag me as well.
I didn’t know what they’d done with Duca. But I’d made them pay for the way they were handling me. Valentine had scratches up and down his face and Mattias had holes burnt in his suit, as well as a black eye. Still, it was two against one and I hadn’t been able to stop them from towing me back into the house and to Antony’s study.
Antony. The demon posing as my father. My heart raced at the thought, though I tried to subdue it. I needed to think. Figure out a plan. I was sure Antony—my Antony—wasn’t in this building. The demon fire I’d seen before could only mean one thing: A shapeshifter had taken his place. Our mission had been infiltrated. A demon was in our midst.
Glancing to the left and right, I amended that statement. My angel flames had singed Mattias and his skin was blackening rather than healing, which meant he, too, was a demon. When I looked the other way, I could see darkness leaking out of the scratches on Valentine’s face.
Both demons.
I was surrounded. The Angels I’d come here with were gone. And I had no idea when that had happened—or if they were even still alive.
I felt sick at the thought, but didn’t have time to consider it. Antony came suddenly into the room, his bearing tall and regal, his face furious. He looked exactly like the Angel I’d known for my whole life, but for the flat, glassy stare of his eyes. Antony had beautiful eyes. He could shift your very being with them.
This version in front of me was nothing more than a mask.
How had I not seen that before? How long had the demon been masquerading? What had he learned?
He turned those glassy eyes on Valentine and Mattias, looking furious, and when he glanced back at me, I shrank away from him. I’d never fought with a demon on my own, and I didn’t know what level this one was at.
I didn’t want to find out when he had his minions with him to back him up.
“Where is he?” he growled.
He was no longer using Antony’s voice, though, and watching someone who looked like my friend hiss with the voice of a demon nearly killed me. So he was no longer hiding. He knew that I’d recognized him, and no longer cared how much I learned.
They were going to kill me.
“We were told not to let him bond with the girl,” Mattias snapped. “We were just doing our job.”
Antony roared with fury. “You are taking orders from me!” he shouted. “You were to capture the man and bring him to me!”
To my surprise, Valentine and Mattias both took steps back, leaving me alone in front of Antony. This didn’t make sense. Since when were demons scared of another demon? They had ranks, but those dictated their powers, not their level of importance. I’d never heard of demons taking orders from anyone else, and I certainly hadn’t heard of demons being intimidated by one of their own.
Unless the demon in front of me was more than a demon.
My gaze shot to Antony’s and I gulped, wondering what the hell was going on here. I’d known Duca was important, but who the hell was he that Hell had sent minions after him? How had they infiltrated our mission? What had they done with my friends?
Where was Duca?
“Montag,” Valentine whispered. “We sent him to Montag.”
“Montag,” Antony snarled. “We were sent here to use him, not kill him! The Angelis are working on an alliance with the Rossis. An alliance that we are to take advantage of. And you grabbed the Rossi messenger and sent him to a butcher?”
I shrank further into the chair, my mind racing. I knew of Montag, but only by reputation. Another demon, and one that specialized in torturing humans for information.
The demons had sent Duca to someone who was going to burn him until he gave up whatever information he had. What the fuck was going on? My mind spun through all the information I had, looking for something that made sense, but none of the pieces fit. If Duca was this important—if the Rossis were this important—why hadn’t Headquarters sent more Angels? Why was I the only one who knew Duca’s name? Why weren’t we given better backup?
How had Antony allowed any of this?
And how was I going to get Duca to safety?
Right. Think, Natasha, I told myself firmly. Antony, Mattias, and Valentine were now arguing amongst themselves, and that meant they weren’t looking at me. I had a moment to try to figure things out. Seconds of precious time to put together a plan. Duca was my priority, and not only because he was the target. I didn’t know how, but the man had wrapped his fingers around my heart and buried his taste under my skin. My body yearned for him, my soul calling out to his.
The man was my mission. But this was also personal. He’d seen me, and still touched me. He’d felt me, tasted me, and had stayed for more. I’d been told again and again that the love of a human could be otherworldly, but the memory of him buried inside me, his gray eyes burning into mine...
I wouldn’t let them have him.
I couldn’t.
I glanced up at the demons and saw that they were still arguing. And that was all the chance I needed.
I shot up from the chair, my feet already moving and my eyes on the door, and flew through the opening before they noticed me escaping. I was faster than demons, I knew that, and with the head start I had, I might be able to get through the party before they could get themselves moving.
I subdued the colors of my body until I was translucent, and rose up into the air. Flying would be quicker than running. It always was.
I needed to get back to the apartment I’d rented in the city—the one no one else knew about. I needed to get a plan in place.
And then I’d go after Duca.
Once I had him safe, I’d figure out what the demons were doing... and what they’d done with my friends.