WITHOUT YOU
LUKE
The woman swings her sword through the air, bringing it down onto the head of one of my demons and splitting his skull in half. He bursts into flame, quickly reduced to ashes. An effect that only her blade could cause.
The girl twists around, slicing another through the abdomen.
She swipes at the demon residue stuck to her cheek before turning and coming face to face with a vampire.
He bares his canines at her, spittle flying out.
She doesn’t so much as flinch, thrusting the sword forward and ending his life as well.
Fucking Hell.
She’s magnificent.
Like some adolescent human, I adjust myself, growing far too turned on considering one of my legions has fallen so easily.
It’s not to be helped; this woman has me wanting to beg for one night with her.
One hour, if that’s all she’d allow. The things I’d do to her, the absolutely sinful things she’d beg me to do, pull on my already taut nerves.
I’ve never had to solicit sex. Women throw themselves at my feet. But this one wouldn’t, and for her, I would beg. I’m thoroughly mesmerized by every part of her.
I want her and that’s a very serious problem.
So caught up in the battle before me and the woman at the forefront, I barely register there’s a dying human underneath me. Her shallow breaths force my gaze away from the fight, pulling my eyes to her face. She’s simply an innocent bystander, having been here visiting her recently deceased fiancé.
“Looks like you’ll be joining him soon,” I say, hoping to bring a sense of peace to the woman.
I’m not an animal, despite my reputation as such.
Why she’d been here in this cemetery after hours isn’t hard to deduce—grief.
It could be Earth’s effects, but I feel her sorrow, deep within me, and I frown at the sensation.
While here, I’m susceptible to human emotions.
Intrigue. Curiosity. Lust. And in this instance, a soul-crushing grief that isn’t my own.
It chases away the desire from moments ago, and I suppose I owe this human for bringing me to my damn senses.
That’s when I feel it.
A tiny heartbeat that isn’t the woman’s blares through the air.
She’s pregnant.
I lay my hands over her belly and huff out a breath.
Three babies. His babies. The one she grieves.
My eyes land back on the warrior who’s finished eviscerating my legion while the angels around her drag themselves back home.
They don’t pay any attention to me. My disguise too powerful.
Only God would have the ability to sniff me out.
Then he’d send his lackeys after me—Michael or Gabriel—but neither of them have joined this fight.
She hasn’t so much as looked in my direction. I know what she is. A virtue angel of one of the highest legions.
She can help this woman. But will she? It’s against all the rules. But some part of me knows she’s a rule breaker. Which is why I’m so drawn to her. She’s like me.
I intend to test this theory.
“Can you help her?” I yell over the fray.
Her eyes narrow and confusion washes across her beautiful face.
She causes a myriad of dysfunctional thoughts to flash through my mind, momentarily knocking me off course. And that’s concerning. I’m playing a dangerous game being here with God’s army present, but I can’t pull myself away.
No woman has ever held my attention for longer than a quick fuck and the time it takes to send her off. I’ve used them to pass the time and god, have I had a lot of time to pass over the centuries.
But this is no mere woman. This angel is so unlike all the others. As I dig into her head, I hear all the chaos of her thoughts and almost shut it down. Almost. She’s beyond anything I’ve ever encountered.
While singlehandedly taking out my legion, her mind is on overdrive, her own curiosity getting the better of her. Demons intrigue her. I intrigue her. She wants to know more. Experience more.
Oh, the fun we could have.
She reminds me so much of myself. Back before I was damned to rule Hell. Overflowing with curiosity and a thirst for human life.
The very curiosity that damned my existence.
Our eyes hold the connection. My breath hitches and her throat constricts.
She’s the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes on.
The woman below me whimpers, drawing me back to her suffering. I’m not sure what possesses me, but I plead to the angel. “Help her.”
You know damn well what possesses you, that inner voice chides, and it’s correct. I do know. I want to test her. How far will she allow that inquisitiveness to flow?
“Why do you want to help her?” the angel responds, growing more curious by the second.
My brow lifts in response, and I have to resist the urge to smirk at the undercurrent of jealousy emanating from the warrior.
Oh, love … you need to school your emotions better.
Let the devil in, and you’ll fall like every other before you.
Her jealousy is a potent draw. One that I’m not accustomed to refraining from acting on, but now isn’t the time. I must be certain that I’m not reading her wrong.
“She doesn’t deserve to die for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Surely you agree?”
I know she does. The battle raging inside her is intense. She wants to save the woman, but her duty calls her to abandon those thoughts and allow fate to do its damage.
I internally scoff at my father’s insistence of thy will be done.
He looks at life as a gift, but I know that it’s anything but. Life on Earth is a series of tragedies. One after another, compounding on a human until they eventually break or die.
What kind of gift is that?
The angel is undergoing an internal conflict. She knows if she does this, it changes everything. She just has no idea how much.
After several deep breaths, she slams her eyes shut, and I hear the silent prayer she sends up for forgiveness.
It’s no use, because if Heaven learns of this, there will be no forgiveness.
She places her hands over the woman and breathes life back into her.
That’s it, love.
My hand comes up to cover the smile spreading across my mouth.
I haven’t lost my touch. Even an angel crumbles under the charm of the devil.
Distress pours from her as the reality of what she’s done settles over her. She’s gone against the Divine Council. Tsk, tsk.
That’s enough to send her straight to Hell, and I must admit that idea pleases me. But only for a minute. Something akin to dread spreads through me at the thought of this stunning creature being shoved into some pit of Hell with the demons I rule over.
I won’t allow that to happen.
“She’ll survive,” she says, standing to leave.
A pit forms in my stomach at her retreat. The need to keep her here with me is so intense, I damn near beg.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
“Wait,” I say, grabbing her elbow to stop her.
Her features turn from confusion to carnal lust and back again. It’s … cute.
“What you saw,” she starts and stops, trying to formulate words. “You’re in grave danger.”
A grin spreads across my face. “Angel.” The word escapes my lips like a caress as I run my finger down her cheek and neck, allowing the burn to permeate my skin and sear me to my core.
“You’re in danger,” she repeats, eyes closed tightly.
My head shakes and the grin widens. “I am the danger.”
* * *
* * *
My wings sheath themselves back into place as my knee hits the ground with a crash that mimics the sound of thunder. Vermin scatter at the crack it causes, desperate to find shelter somewhere in the dead-end alley.
The memory of my first encounter with Victoria plays on a loop, punishing me for sins that keep racking up. Punishing me for loving her.
As soon as Zeke took flight, I chased after them. There’s no way on this Earth he should’ve been able to escape me. But he did. Somehow.
I came back to the last place I saw her with slim hope that maybe Tori convinced Zeke to bring her back. He’d be a fool to honor such a request. I’d break him in half and feed him to the demons surrounding the area.
A growl rips through my chest.
Anger courses through me, causing sparks to erupt from my fingertips, anguish chasing the emotion, warring for first place.
“Lucifer.” A deep timbre has me spinning on my heel, teeth bared, when I see him.
Zeke.
In three long strides I’m in front of the power angel, hands wrapped around his throat, holding him in the air, feet dangling. “You have a death wish, Ezekiel?” I growl in his face. “I’ll only ask once. Where. Is. She?”
“Put your threats away, Satan. It wasn’t me,” he says through ragged breaths.
I drop him to the ground, and he rubs at his red neck.
“Start talking,” I hiss, two seconds away from losing my senses and starting a war with Heaven.
For so many reasons, Ezekiel should thank his fucking stars I’m not tearing him apart. Slowly.
“I’m here because it wasn’t us who took her.”
“Us?” I yell. “You’d better start making sense.”
Zeke rolls his eyes, growing more impatient with each question and threat thrown at him.
“Heaven. It wasn’t us. It was your rogue demon.”
My eyes narrow and then it hits me.
“Nolda,” I growl.
I take ten paces toward the darkened alcove of the alley where the walled opening to Hell is hidden. As I lift my foot to step through, my body collides headfirst into solid rock.
“What the …”
“They’ve sealed off all known entrances,” Zeke growls. “How the hell did your demons manage that?”
“I don’t … Fuck!” I yell, grabbing my hair by the fistful.
“Unreal,” Zeke mutters.
“It’s impossible,” I growl. “It would take an act of …”
He nods, continuing to rub at his neck. “God.” He finishes my sentence, and we stand in silence for a few tense moments.
“Boys,” a female voice calls from the entrance of the alley. “You’ve been summoned to a meeting with the archangels.”
Leeanna.
When I spin around, she’s already done a disappearing act.
“We’ve got to go.”
“Never,” I spit at Zeke’s feet.
I don’t have time to deal with whatever games Heaven is playing. Nolda might be smarter than I’d given him credit for, but I will find a way into Hell, and when I do … he will suffer.