Her Wicked Angel

by Felicity Heaton

  Apollyon’s power lowered, providing less resistance against his, and the angel relaxed against the counter in the small kitchen, looking very domesticated for a legendary angel of death and destruction. The Great Destroyer. Asmodeus could hardly believe that title applied to him as he stood there in the kitchen of his apartment, dressed in beachwear and giving him a pep talk on how to protect a woman.

  He stared at Asmodeus in silence for long seconds until Asmodeus finally reined in his temper and his power with it.

  “What will you do if Erin will not offer you protection?”

  Asmodeus didn’t want to think about that until after she had rejected his request. “Come up with another plan.”

  Apollyon’s blue eyes mocked him. “It would be rather prudent to have a back-up plan before you are turned away.”

  Asmodeus averted his gaze to the counter beside him. His stomach rumbled. Cake. Not a chocolate one either. It was yellowish and had pale creamy topping and red glossy fruit on top that looked like strawberries.

  “Liora says all angels are pigs,” he said without thinking and Apollyon frowned at him. “She says we eat a lot.”

  He wasn’t going to make it a question and give his twin the satisfaction of enlightening him.

  “It is true. The more power we use in this world, the quicker we weaken and the more we need to eat.” Apollyon slid the cake towards him.

  “She says you can eat a whole chocolate cake in one go.”

  Apollyon huffed and tipped his chin up. “It was one time and I was annoyed.”

  “We eat more when annoyed?” Hell, a question. He cursed himself.

  His twin shrugged. “I do. Serenity calls it comfort eating.”

  It was strange talking to his twin like this without either of them attempting to remove the other’s head. He didn’t even have the usual urge to at least maim him. He blamed his tiredness. He still wanted to sleep. Fighting Apollyon was a waste of his energy. He was too tired to play good twin versus evil twin today. He was too tired to be who everyone expected him to be and live up to those expectations.

  He was too tired to do anything other than grab Liora, curl up on the bed behind her and sleep with his female. Sleeping with her would leave them both vulnerable though. They would have to take turns until they were away from Apollyon and Serenity, and he wasn’t sure if they would be able to shake them now.

  He knew Erin’s location. He had felt it inside him like a beacon ever since he had met her in Hell all those months ago and realised what she was, and that they shared blood. He had never known what sort of place she had made into her home though. An island.

  He could take Liora and his hellhounds there, leaving Serenity and Apollyon behind, getting a head start on them. A fragment of his heart, the good part growing inside him, warned not to leave them behind. As much as he hated being around Apollyon and didn’t want to see him amongst his peers, admired and respected, adored, he had to allow the angel to take them to Erin. Erin knew Apollyon and Serenity. Their presence and introduction might increase the likelihood of them accepting him and Liora into the group and offering them protection.

  Asmodeus needed to ensure that he could handle any situation that arose though. He needed to rest and regain his strength before they left, because he was still tired and weak even after his sleep.

  “How long was I sleeping?” he said, too tired to even care that it was another question.

  “Give or take twenty minutes.” Apollyon cut himself a slice of the cake and set the knife back down on the plate beside it. Comfort eating? Because everyone had sided against him for once?

  “How long do I need to sleep for? Liora sleeps for many hours.”

  “Many hours.” Apollyon picked up the wedge of cake.

  Asmodeus didn’t have many hours in which to rest. It was imperative that they move Liora to the island and seek sanctuary there as soon as possible. He would have to settle for regaining only a fraction of his strength and hope it would be enough should problems arise.

  Or when problems arose.

  Erin was mated to Veiron. The only time he had met Veiron was on the plateau above the bottomless pit and the Hell’s angel hadn’t liked him very much. He had wanted to fight him. Asmodeus doubted that desire had faded in the past several months.

  He definitely needed to bring Apollyon and Serenity with him to the island. Apollyon had convinced Veiron to leave him alone when they had met in Hell. His twin might be able to talk sense into the vengeful fallen angel for him and that would give him a chance to speak with Erin.

  First, he needed to rest and regain his strength.

  “Is it strawberry?” Asmodeus said with a jerk of his chin towards the cake and Apollyon stopped with the slice close to his mouth and nodded. Asmodeus swallowed his pride, snatched the remains of the cake and stalked away from Apollyon, waiting until he was close to the bedroom before quietly uttering, “Thank you.”

  “You are welcome,” Apollyon shouted and Asmodeus cringed when Liora turned to face him inside the bedroom and gave him a questioning look.

  “I thanked him for the cake,” he snapped at her, daring her to smile. “That is all. It was on your behalf.”

  He offered the cake to her and her eyes lit up.

  “I’ll get fat if you keep feeding me sweet things.” She took it anyway, slipped the short silver blade from the plate and cut a slice. She offered it to him and he stared at it. “I don’t know what you’re worried about. Angels don’t get fat. Lucky sods.”

  “I know of interesting ways to burn calories.” He took the piece of cake and devoured it.

  “Does this involve coitus?” She grinned when he choked on crumbs and shook his head.

  “Hunting is good. That used to make me feel as if I had worked out my body. Chasing the hellhounds is good. They are rather energetic.” He tried to think of things other than ones involving being physical together in the bed behind her because she was on to him and had guessed what he had originally intended to suggest.

  She had hunted demons. The thought of her taking on demons made him ill. She was powerful, but he found it hard to see past the delicate, petite female she was around him, laughing and teasing, showing him gentleness and affection. He couldn’t help that whenever he looked at her, he saw a woman he wanted to protect from the dangers of the three realms. He saw a princess he wanted to place on a pedestal and would protect with his life, playing the role of her fairy tale knight.

  A knight with only pieces of his armour and a tarnished heart.

  How many demons had hurt his female? He touched the wound on her side, brushing his fingers over it. He had tried to protect her and she had still ended up hurt.

  “That’s a serious look.” She set the cake down, took hold of his hand and lured him towards her, lifting his hand over her shoulder so he ended up right against her. She bit her lip, stroked her fingers over his bare chest, and flashed a saucy smile. “You need a shower. I need a shower. Water is a precious resource.”

  She flicked a glance behind her at another door in the wall beyond the double bed and then met his gaze again.

  “Up for sharing a shower with me?”

  That suggestion had him very definitely up in one department.

  He was new to showers but he had a feeling that Liora would make his first experience of them one to remember forever.

  He nodded and took the lead, earning a surprised look from his little mortal.

  Asmodeus rounded the foot of the bed and looked back at her, narrowing his gaze on her body and growling low in this throat.

  “Have you ever been washed by someone?” he husked and colour climbed her cheeks, a shy sparkle brightening her hazel eyes.

  “No.”

  “Would you like me to wash you, Liora?”

  She grinned naughtily.

  “Hell, yes.”

  CHAPTER 17

  Asmodeus tucked Liora close to him and drew in a slow deep breath to settle his nerves before the irritating
angel and witch behind him picked up on them. He stared at the space they had cleared in the living room of Serenity and Apollyon’s bright pale apartment. It would take him a lot of power to cast a portal large enough to allow all of them through, but they had discussed it and decided this was the best course of action. If they arrived together, Erin and Veiron, and the other residents of the island, were less likely to attack him and Liora or view them as intruders and a threat.

  Liora pressed her front against Asmodeus’s side, the feel of her hot soft body rubbing his wrecking his concentration. He could almost hear his hellhounds cringing and telepathically discussing how they hated the sight of them pressed together like this. That dreamlike intrusion into their minds had been one of the strangest things he had experienced in his long existence, and although he had very little desire to experience it again, it had been interesting to see things from his hellhounds’ point of views and know how they felt about him and Liora.

  At least they were clothed this time. Liora had lain naked with him like this, resting her head on his bare chest and using it as a pillow. She had detected his apprehension about sleeping and leaving them vulnerable, and had announced they were going to take shifts.

  Asmodeus had agreed, based on the principle that she would be able to rest and regain her strength too. He had not expected that the moment he had awoken from a long restful slumber that she would tell him it was time to go. She had admitted with a blush of awkwardness colouring her cheeks that she had known only one of them would be able to sleep but that she had felt it best he be the one to rest because she needed him strong.

  His anger had melted on hearing that, fading away, pushed from his mind by the fact that Liora needed him and had openly told him so.

  It helped that she had changed into a short black flowing dress spotted with pale lilac flowers and looked delicious in it, distracting him from his darker thoughts.

  She had tried to make him change into beachwear too, but he had insisted on remaining in what little armour he owned, unwilling to risk being caught without its protection. Apollyon didn’t seem to think there would be any danger, or at least not to himself and Serenity. His twin still wore black shorts and a loose white shirt, and had tied his long black hair in a ponytail. Serenity had changed into a cream dress with small flowers branching across a strip of it around the hem near her knees.

  Asmodeus still wasn’t sure what he would choose to wear on a beach.

  “Are we going, or not?” Apollyon said from behind him and Romulus growled, echoing Asmodeus’s irritation.

  Remus came up beside Liora and looked at him. Asmodeus drew in another deep breath, focused on the constant quiet hum in his blood that told him of Erin’s location, and cast his free hand out before him. Black shadows grew from a spot in the centre of his focus, swirling outwards, rippling and growing until the vortex filled the room from ceiling to floor and almost across the width of it too.

  Romulus flanked him and together with his trusted friends, he led Liora through the portal.

  Cool black enveloped him.

  Hot sun greeted him on the other side.

  His senses blared in warning.

  Asmodeus quickly shoved Liora behind him, pushing her under his black wings. He spread them to shield her, called both of his swords to his hands, and ducked backwards, avoiding the red blade that would have cut his throat open.

  He swung upwards with one blade, knocking the long black engraved shaft of the weapon and lashed out with the other, driving the male away from Liora. Romulus and Remus snarled, hackles rising and heads lowering as they tensed, preparing to attack, ready to heed any command he gave them.

  The male leaped backwards and growled right back at them, flashing rows of red sharp teeth. The skin around his flaming crimson eyes turned black and the warm breeze tousled his wild scarlet hair.

  Veiron.

  And he was about to go apocalyptic.

  The portal behind them closed and Apollyon snapped something at Veiron, but neither Asmodeus nor the Hell’s angel traitor were listening.

  Veiron snarled, his big body turning black as it grew, muscles thickening and limbs stretching. His jeans shorts disappeared, the red-edged black armour of his kind replacing them, covering his broad chest and his forearms, shielding his hips and protecting his shins. His crimson wings shed their feathers and turned dragon-like and dark, the clawed tips flexing, speaking of the demonic angel’s desire to rip into him.

  Asmodeus stood his ground, flashing fangs at the male, refusing to back down even when the male finished his change and towered three feet taller than he was and far broader, his skin jet black and blazing red eyes shining with hunger for violence and bloodshed.

  Liora gasped.

  Veiron narrowed his gaze on her and bared his fangs.

  Never.

  Asmodeus would never allow this male near her.

  “We mean you no harm,” Asmodeus said, attempting diplomacy and peace talks even when his blood burned for violence. If he had ever needed proof of how much he had changed since meeting Liora, he had just had it. Before meeting her, he would have unleashed Hell on Veiron in an instant, going to war and seeking blood to satisfy his darkest desires. He would have killed Veiron on the spot for daring to disrespect him by challenging him.

  Veiron ignored him and charged.

  Asmodeus roared and slashed at Veiron, driving him further backwards on the sand. The footing was difficult, soft and hindering his movements. He wasn’t used to fighting on this sort of terrain. He beat his black feathered wings, trying to keep himself upright and nimble, able to dodge the attacks that the Hell’s angel threw at him, shoving forwards and jabbing with the long red curved blades of his double-ended spear. All the while, Asmodeus kept part of his focus on Liora behind him, ensuring that she didn’t end up in the crossfire and was safe from the furious angel before him.

  “Leave… I will not let you near her. Go back and tell the Devil I will kill him for this.” Veiron snarled each word, his voice thick and gruff, as demonic and vicious as his appearance.

  “I cannot leave.” Asmodeus tried to keep him moving backwards, away from Liora, placing more distance between them.

  The darker part of him demanded he give Veiron hell and teach him a lesson he would never forget.

  The Hell’s angel had been itching to fight him ever since they had first met, desperate to prove himself stronger. Asmodeus wanted to show the little wretch that he was insignificant, his power nothing compared with his own, and he would have if the situation had been different.

  He had to hold back and weather the storm though, shielding Liora and playing nicely with the demonic angel, otherwise he would ruin the best chance he had of protecting her.

  Asmodeus growled and struck the demonic angel’s spear again, knocking it upwards. “I cannot let you defeat me. Listen to me. I am not here on my master’s business.”

  Veiron countered Asmodeus’s every thrust and slash, blocking his blades with skill that he admired. The male was wild, lost to his temper, but retained an incredible ability to fight and came close to breaking through Asmodeus’s defence a few times, driving him backwards towards Liora.

  Asmodeus blocked Veiron’s spear with both blades, shoved upwards and then slashed at him, catching him on the thick breastplate of his obsidian and crimson armour. Veiron twisted out of the path of the remains of his blow, turned and battered him with his powerful wings before continuing in a full turn and bringing his spear down hard. Asmodeus bent at the knee to brace himself and blocked the black shaft of the spear. The spear hit hard, sending jarring vibrations down Asmodeus’s arms. He growled and pushed forwards, knocking Veiron off balance, and shoved to his feet, preparing his next attack.

  “Veiron!” A familiar female voice broke the tense silence and shadows swirled behind him.

  Erin came rushing out of them, her short black hair blowing back from her tanned face and her black knee-length dress fluttering in the breeze.

/>   Another female was before her in an instant, silvery feathered wings, chrome armour and long pale hair bright in the strong sunlight. She held Erin back so she couldn’t leap into the fray.

  A dark-haired male angel halted next to her, wearing silver and blue armour, his pale blue eyes locked on the battle. His gaze shifted beyond Asmodeus.

  “Apollyon?”

  Veiron roared and attacked harder, and Asmodeus almost lost his footing, each blow he blocked more powerful than the last. He couldn’t go all out. He couldn’t use his full strength to teach this pathetic male the lesson that he hungered to bestow upon his brutish head. He needed his assistance and he would never have it if he harmed him. Asmodeus wasn’t used to having to hold back or ask anyone for help, and it was hard to ignore his desire to rip into the male and show him that he was weak, inferior, and foolish for challenging him.

  “Veiron! Will you calm the hell down and let the guy speak? You’re upsetting junior!” Erin pressed her hand to her stomach, rubbing her swollen belly. Asmodeus’s lack of attention cost him.

  Veiron slashed down his chest and Asmodeus roared in agony and stumbled backwards.

  “Oh, I’ve had enough of this macho bullshit,” Liora snapped from behind him.

  Veiron went to cut him down and froze mid-swing. Asmodeus wrapped his arm across the long gash on his bare chest and growled at the male, bracing himself for his attack.

  It didn’t come.

  Veiron’s gaze inched downwards towards him and sweat broke out on his brow, as if just moving his eyes had taken incredible effort. What had happened to him?

  Liora stepped into view beside Asmodeus, her hands held out before her. Black, red and purple ribbons shifted and danced around her fingers and forearms, and her eyes were darker than he had ever seen them, her expression fierce as she glared at Veiron.

  “Liora,” Serenity whispered and Liora tensed, blinked, and stared wide-eyed at her arms and then the demonic angel she had under her power.

  She swallowed hard and stumbled backwards, lowering her hands at the same time. Veiron collapsed to his knees, shaking the island, bent over to clutch the sand and breathed hard.