Chapter 21
Twenty-One
Dani knelt between us, pulling my shirt over her shoulders and buttoning a few buttons. She sashayed over to one of the dressers that had a bottle of Lust’s finest wine and a bottle of Vemon. She opened both and poured us each a glass.
Eros leaned against the headboard, his muscles flexing as he drank his wine. He gazed over at me with a small smile. It was the same smile he used to give me in Heaven when we lay together under Raphaela’s apple trees and gazed at the acres of golden hills.
Life had been more complicated then.
Now it wasn’t. Dani and Eros were creatures with innate wants and needs who weren’t afraid to act on them.
I leaned against the headboard next to Eros and tipped my glass back. The Vemon had been chilled, making it taste that much more delectable. Dani crawled onto the bed with us and leaned against Eros’s chest, sitting close to me.
Someone knocked on the door.
Dani gazed at Eros, brows drawn together, then gazed at the door. “Come in.”
One of the guards I had passed in the portal room to come here stood in the middle of the doorway.
Dani arched a brow. “Can I help you?”
A few moments later, Biast came into sight. He pushed the guard to the side, his teeth sharp and covered in blood. “I said I’d tell them. None of you listen.”
He shook his head, and the guard scurried away with his head bowed.
Dani sat up straight and placed a hand on Eros’s knee. “What’re you doing here?”
Biast eyed Dani for a moment, his gaze lingering on her legs, and then he looked at the both of us. “There is something you should see.”
“We’re busy,” Dani said.
She had a certain distaste for Biast that I couldn’t quite place. Ex-lovers of sorts perhaps. Maybe he had been the one to possess her ex-boyfriend.
“Well, you’re not anymore, are you?” he growled and curled his fingers around the doorway.
Some Lusts walked up behind him, curling their arms around him and playing with his bottoms, trying to pull it off. He gave them one look, told them to fuck off, and then pushed them away.
They gazed at Dani and smiled seductively at her. “Commander.”
She nodded at the girls, giving them a smile.
“Will you come play with us later? Please, Commander, we’d do anything for you.” The girls flirted with Dani as they hung off of each other and off of the other side of the doorframe.
Tonia appeared behind them, her hair stuck up in different directions, her eyes a mix of dark grays. They were big and bold, yet strikingly sorrowful.
“Girls, I have business to take care of right now.”
They nodded and walked back into the hallway, hand in hand. Tonia stepped forward.
“Have you had a good party?” Dani asked her.
Biast growled, but Dani barely paid him much attention.
Tonia gazed at me and then her and nodded. “It’s bee—”
Biast’s claws dug into the doorframe, and he pulled it right out of the wall. It crumbled into pieces.
“What do you want, Biast?” I took another sip of my Vemon. “Daddy getting on your nerves again?”
He stepped into the room and slammed the door shut so no other Lusts could come talk to us. “An angel has fallen.”
I chuckled. “Angels fall all the time now. So what?”
Biast took a threatening step toward the bed, his hands clenched into fists. “So what?” His eyes turned a deep midnight black. “He didn’t fall willingly. He’s dead. Wings attached and everything.”
Dani’s eyes widened. “Wings attached?”
“Another one,” Eros whispered, looking at me.
It had been at least twenty years since the first angel had fallen without their wings having been cut off. And that was Dani’s mother’s greatest friend. I could only imagine who this was. Was it Raphaela? Was this any angel I had known while I was in the sky?
“Dad’s letter.” Realization painted its way onto Dani’s face. “Do you think—”
“I don’t know,” Eros said.
“An angel fell with wings still attached?” Tonia asked. Her brows were furrowed, and she was holding her hands against her chest—like we cared about decency around here. She gnawed on the inside of her cheek. “That can happen?” She gazed at Dani, never peeling her eyes away.
Eros grasped Dani’s hips, and even I placed a hand on her knee for a moment. Then I pulled it away. Jealousy wasn’t my style. Dani would like me whether she got with Tonia or not.
“Take us to him,” I said.
I stood and pulled on my pants. Dani hopped up and dressed too.
Tonia gazed at Dani. “Can I come?”
“No,” Biast said, not even sparing her a glance. He clenched his jaw.
Eros eyed Tonia, anger pooling in his eyes. “I’ll stay back too.”
Eros buttoned up his shirt, pulled up his pants, and got out of bed. He escorted Tonia out of the Lust Room. They walked down the hall toward the party, and Dani, Biast, and I walked toward the portal.