Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
I f hell as a place of eternal torment had existed, Eddie would be in it right now. Lying next to Shade, feeling his heat, drawing his honey and musk scent in with every inhalation, had to be hell. The minuscule space between them hummed with all the possibilities she was too chicken to act on.
And why was she being such a wuss?
Fear.
Not fear of rejection like most normal people. Nope, this dumb bitch was scared of getting what she wanted. That had to be way up there on the how-dumb-am-I-o-meter.
He said he loved her. Had told her she was the one. Proven he cared about her. Shade had even defied heaven and hell—quite literally—to rescue her. The only thing preventing them from taking their relationship to physical intimacy was her chickenness…chickendom. Chickenimity?
She flopped to her back. Whatever it was called, she had a big old helping of it.
“Eddie?” Shade’s voice was deep and low in the intimate darkness of the bedroom. “You’re fidgeting.”
“I know.” And this bed buddies setup had been her idea.
When Sophia had also announced her intention to sleep at the theater because of Emma and Ethan, the who sleeps where conversation had started again. The children had Dee’s room. Dee and Sophia shared the spare. Daniel had the greenroom, and Eddie had opened her big mouth and said Shade could sleep with her.
Shade had offered sleep on the greenroom floor.
“Don’t be silly,” Eddie the idiot had said. “Nobody needs to sleep on the floor. “We’re all adults here.”
He’d promised to keep it platonic, and so far, had been as good as his word. Shade shifted and tucked his hands behind his head. “Want to talk about it?”
“No.” She didn’t want to even think about it, or the insistent pulse between her thighs.
Shade chuckled. “Come on, Eddie, talk to me. Neither of us is getting any sleep with you tossing and turning.”
“It’s hot in here, and I’m not used to sharing my bed,” she said, and if her pants hadn’t already been on fire, they would be with that lie.
He hummed. “Want me to go?”
“No.” The denial shot from her mouth. There’d been no thinking in the generating of that response.
“Then why don’t I talk?” He turned to look at her.
Anything sounded better than confessing her weakness. “Sure.”
“Sexual tension,” he said. “It’s leaking out of you.”
“Oh.” So much for evasions. “You can feel that?” Then she wanted to slap herself. “Of course you can feel that.”
“Yup,” he rasped. “I could feel that even if I wasn’t lust, and it’s making me hard enough to punch holes in the wall.”
“Oh.” A surge of lust rippled through her.
“Fuck, Eddie.” He scrubbed his face with his palms. “That’s not making it any easier for me.”
“I can’t help it.” Wanting him had never been the problem.
“I know that.” He sighed. “But you’re still not sure about being with me.”
He was right. “I’m not even sure why.”
“Be clear, Eddie. If you were sure, I’d be buried balls deep in you right now.”
Moisture flooded between her thighs, and she craved that connection with him.
He groaned. “Hells! I can smell you. I want to taste you so badly.”
She pressed her thighs together to alleviate the pressure.
“It will never be just sex between us, Eddie,” he said.
She couldn’t speak. Desire was turning her feral.
“As much as I want you, when we give ourselves to each other, that’s forever.” He sat up and dropped his legs to the floor. The broad muscular expanse of his back was an invitation to touch. “It would change everything, and most of those changes would involve choices and sacrifices.” He went to the window and peered out. The track pants he wore fell softly around the taut, firm globes of his ass. “You couldn’t stay here. At least, not all the time. If you were mine, I’d want you with me, and I’m a possessive fucker. I could let you go for short periods, but the rest of the time, I’d need you there.” Raising one arm, he leaned on the window frame.
Amber streetlight highlighted the swells of muscle, while mysterious shadows pooled in the dips. He was like a still life study in muscle, bone, and sinew. She wanted to stamp the image on her brain.
Eddie should be listening to what he was saying, but need beat through her with every thump of her heart.
“With me,” he said. “There won’t be any divorce or changing our minds. I will never stop loving you and wanting you.”
And that was a bad thing, how?
“You’ve been raised human. You can’t have any concept of what forever means to a being like me.” His raised fist balled against the window frame. “When you’re with me, there’s no exit. And I will spend every moment of that forever making sure there is nowhere else you want to be.”
She had been raised human, but she wasn’t human. Any relationship she had with a human male would eventually end in heartbreak—hers. According to what she’d been told, as Nephilim, she would outlive any human partner, friend, or family member.
“And then there are children to consider.” He pressed his forehead to his raised arm. “I’m not sure we could ever reproduce. We know Nephilim are the product of a hell prince and a human, but as far as I know, there has never been a hell prince and Nephilim pairing.”
Eddie had never considered the possibility of them having children. Mainly because even as a youngster, she hadn’t seen herself having children. A partner for life, yes. Children, no. Not all women wanted to be mothers, and she’d never seen herself as one. “That’s not a problem for me.”
“Eddie.” He turned. His face was shadowed. “You’re too young to be making that decision.”
“By your standards, yes.” He wasn’t giving her any of the disbelieving condescension she’d always received from people when she told them she didn’t want children. “But in human terms, I’m old enough to know my own mind.” She sat up and indicated herself. “Raised human, remember. Human frame of reference.”
Shade stilled. “What if you change your mind?”
“What if I don’t?”
He growled. “I’m hanging on by a fucking thread here, Eddie. Be very sure of what you say next.”
“Everything you’ve said. All those impediments you’ve raised, those are good things.” Her hesitation dissipated like it had never existed. Her entire life she’d been cautious because life didn’t come with guarantees. She’d learned to always expect the worst. Then she’d discovered she was Nephilim, and that changed everything. And Shade changed everything. He loved her and was promising to do so for the rest of their immortal lives. Running away was Rosabella’s MO. “I need you.”
“Eddie.” He stared at her. “Be sure. Be very fucking sure.”
“I am.” A weight lifted off her chest, and she took what felt like the first decent breath she’d taken in months. Maybe even years. The only fear she’d harbored was fear itself. A lifetime of having what she wanted snatched away had taught her not to want. You couldn’t lose what you didn’t dare to reach for. “I know who and what you are. I am choosing this. Choosing you. Choosing us.”
Thud . The door rattled in its jam.
“ Master .” Xerxes spoke in Shade and her mind. “ Arm yourself. ”
“What?” Shade went tense and alert.
“ Demons ,” Xerxes said. “ Many of them .”
“Shade!” Sophia called. “Incoming! Get ready.”
Shade’s power washed through the room, and he was standing there in fighting leathers, swords in both hands, and wings out. “Get the children to the basement,” he said to her as he opened the door. “And summon Wrath.”
Hell princes weren’t the only ones with tricks, and Sophia had been teaching her. Eddie pulled her own fighting leathers and weapons from the ether. As she’d discovered, she had an affinity for knives and cross bows. She summoned Wrath down their bond and got an instant response. “He’s on his way.” She followed Shade into the hallway.
Whirling back to her, Shade snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. “Later. You, me, and that outfit.”
“Count on it.” She pressed a kiss to his beautiful mouth. “Stay safe.”
“You too.”
Dee and Daniel rushed into the hallway.
“I’ve called for backup,” Daniel said.
“Let’s get the children to the hell gate.” Eddie took charge. “If it comes to that, you and Dee take them through.” She sent Shade a hard look. “Make sure it doesn’t come to that.”
He saluted her with a grin. “Yes, ma’am.”
Ethan grizzled as they woke him and bundled him up. Eddie grabbed snacks, drinks, and an iPad to keep the children entertained.
Pale and wide-eyed, Emma clung to Dee’s hand.
A guttural roar broke the silence.
Emma flinched but went silent like a child who knew only too well when not to make a sound.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Dee said as they descended one flight and then another. “We’ll keep you safe.”
Xerxes and Cronus stayed with them until they were safely in the room beside the hell gate. Then they went to join Shade.
The hell gate flared. Wrath and Haziel stepped through, both dressed in fighting leathers.
“Daughter.” Wrath took in her outfit and grinned. “Do you need me here?”
“No, fight with Shade.” She hugged him and then Haziel. “Both of you.”
Wrath nodded. “If you say so, I will believe it, but keep the bond open.”
Eddie nodded.
Angelic power made Eddie’s skin prickle, and Ramiel appeared. Vexia materialized beside him a heartbeat later. Eddie hoped she looked half as kickass as Vexia in her gear.
Wrath glared at Ramiel.
Ramiel glared back. “Let’s keep the fight where it needs to be.”
All four of them disappeared.
“Was that another angel?” Emma whispered.
Dee was sitting on the floor with her back to the wall. She had Ethan on her lap and Emma snuggled beside her. “Two of them.”
“Then, we’ll be alright.” Emma’s voice wobbled. “Won’t we?”
Dee hugged her close. “We’re going to be fine.”
Frowning at his phone, Daniel approached Eddie and lowered his voice. “The guardians are on their way. I’ve been ordered to stay with the children.” Having an experienced fighter with her took a lot of the pressure off Eddie. “That’s good.”
With her bond to Wrath wide open, Eddie experienced the fight taking place outside the theatre.
Demons surrounded the theatre ten deep.
And Wrath remained calm and sure of victory. There was a brief discussion between the defenders, and then they threw themselves against the demons.
Wrath’s raw power left her breathless. Blood and limbs flew. Through him, she saw the hounds tear through demon after demon and growing bigger, deadlier, faster. Her nerves subsided as archangels and hell princes decimated group after group of demons.
Awareness crawled up her spine moments before light crackled through the basement. The air shimmered, and a group of demons stepped through.
“Eddie,” Dee yelled.
Eddie’s wrath power surged. Strength thrummed through her muscles. Her senses sharpened. Her daggers fit in her hands like an extension of her arms.
Dimly she was aware of Daniel fighting beside her as Eddie carved through the first demon and pivoted for the second.
Wrath sensed what was happening.
“Stay,” she commanded him. This was her fight.
Another two demons fell to her daggers, and she threw the second dagger at another.
On her left, demons were trying to flank her and get to the children.
“Left,” she called to Daniel and engaged her next attacker.
More demons tried to sneak past her right flank.
Eddie palmed her crossbow and sent a bolt through their leader. Dropping her weapon, she sent an arc of fire power and vaporized two more.
She preferred the daggers. More immediate and satisfying. A poof to her left told her Daniel had taken down one more.
Dee screamed.
Eddie spun and leapt. In two strides, she was between the children and the fucker who had slipped past.
She rammed a dagger through his chest plate and into his heart.
He disintegrated.
Daniel took out another.
Eddie recalled her crossbow and sent a bolt into another and then the final demon.
“Daughter?” Wrath’s concern thickened his mental voice.
Eddie cleaned house, driving her dagger into the downed demon. “All good.”
Wrath’s pride warmed her. “That’s my girl.”
The demon horde outside the theatre turned and ran.
It was over.
And Eddie wasn’t even breathing heavy.