“Just as it was earlier?”
Erin looked up at him and nodded. He was right. The angel had threatened those that she loved, had hurt Veiron, and a boiling abyss of rage had opened within her heart, all of it directed at the disgusting creature that had dared ignore her warning. Cold wind buffeted her, chilling her skin through her clothes, freezing her heart. She cuddled closer to Veiron, afraid of what it all meant and where her power came from.
Veiron rubbed her back, holding her against him, and pressed his lips to her forehead. He sighed.
“I will do all in my power to find out where your newfound abilities come from, Erin. It could just be that you have some power like your sister. It would make sense. You share genes, DNA, scientific shit. It’s possible.” He sounded as though he was trying to convince himself now rather than her but she appreciated it all the same.
Erin wrapped her arms around his neck and curled up on his lap, clinging to the one thing that felt solid in her world right now.
“I want to see my sister,” she whispered against his throat and he stood with her, one arm behind her back and the other hooked under her knees.
“You will soon, Erin. I swear to you. We’ll arrange a meeting place and leave immediately. We’ll find out what’s happening and I won’t let anything happen to you. I will keep you safe.” He pressed his forehead against hers and she nodded, believing every word he said.
Veiron spread his wings and flew with her. Erin looked over his shoulder at the place where he had fought the angel. At the place where she had unleashed a fireball straight out of her nightmares and tried to kill a man because he had harmed Veiron.
If she wasn’t an angel like her sister, what was she?
CHAPTER 16
The hot sun on his back did nothing to improve Veiron’s mood. Ever since the fight on the rooftop three nights ago, Erin had been quiet and brooding. Her smiles were false and she was keeping her distance from him. She had slept in his arms each night but they had only made love once, the same night as she had used a power neither of them knew anything about. He wished he had answers for the questions she refused to voice. He had explained things to Einar and Taylor but neither of them had been any help. Einar did share his opinion though. Whatever Erin was, she wasn’t like her sister.
As far as he knew, Amelia hadn’t exhibited any powers before dying and reawakening as an immortal, an angel.
Erin had been having visions for her whole life, and now she could use a devastating power that was on par with her sister’s one. All without dying.
If it plagued him, he knew it plagued her a thousand times worse. She had little knowledge of his world, was only just becoming accustomed to there being a Heaven and Hell, angels and demons. He wanted to find the answers to her questions, wanted to convince her to speak to him about it rather than brood in silence, stewing over what had happened and trying to keep it all to herself. He was sure that by speaking to him about it, she would feel better. He could at least say something that might inspire more positive feelings in her heart.
“Not long now,” he said and drew her closer. She bounced against him in time with the speedboat.
Her mood had brightened since the plane had set down and they had disembarked with their two black holdalls and headed for the dock. Her amber eyes shone as she looked up at him, a glimmer of excitement in them that warmed his heart and gave him some relief. Perhaps she would get over her fear in time, and in the arms of her sister.
Veiron had failed to soothe her. He hated that almost as much as he hated the divide that had grown between them.
“I’ve always wanted to go to the Maldives,” she said, sounding as excited as any of the other mortals occupying the speedboat with them. Three other couples in total. One of them newlyweds.
According to the passports that Einar had arranged, he and Erin were also newly hitched.
That and the fact that Wingless had also booked them into the resort as freshly married and on their honeymoon didn’t amuse Veiron in the slightest.
Erin leaned into his side, her black linen shirt blending into his tight t-shirt. They were the odd couple in the boat. The other six occupants were all wearing minimal clothing, as though it was optional, and all of it brightly coloured.
He and Erin were head to toe in black and both of them still wore their boots. No sandals for him. He had noticed a pair in Erin’s luggage though and had smiled to himself. After everything that she had been through, she needed a vacation. He hoped that she found some peace on the island, with her sister.
He wasn’t sure if he was staying or leaving on the next flight.
When he handed Erin over to Amelia and Marcus, his mission was finished. He had no reason to remain. She would be safe. He could return to nursing his need for revenge.
Couldn’t he?
Veiron didn’t think he could. He didn’t want to leave Erin’s side, not while she still had so much to deal with.
Not ever.
Veiron stared down into the dark calm sea below them. Erin moved away and he felt her eyes on him.
“You look as though you’re trying to see back into Hell.” She whispered it so quietly he barely caught it.
He smiled. “Maybe I am.”
A pause.
“Why would you want to do that?” she said and he couldn’t miss the darkness in her usually light voice. He glanced up from the water to find her scowling down at it. She wrapped her arms around herself. “I hate it down there... I hate everything about it. I want nothing to do with the wretched horrible place... I thought I was going to die surrounded by that stench and all that evil.”
Veiron’s frown intensified with each word she said, every one of them cutting at his heart, forming another wound in it that bled and wouldn’t stop.
All. That. Evil.
Evil like him?
“There’s nothing good in that place...” She lifted her head, smiled and touched his cheek. “Thank you for saving me.”
Veiron grunted and turned away from her to stare at his boots. Her hand fell from his face and she shifted away from him. He ignored her as she prattled on about the island, his focus on his battered boots. Boots that had trekked through Hell to save the beautiful woman beside him.
From all that evil.
Nothing good in that place.
Nothing good. All evil.
He fisted his hands and then opened them and settled them on his knees, gripping them so tightly his knuckles bleached.
“Look.” Erin nudged him, obviously oblivious to the harm she had done with her careless words.
He glanced up to see what all the fuss was about. A lush green island rose from the water ahead of them. Water that gradually lightened, turning as bright and clear as a jewel around him. Large villas lined the white shore, shaded by towering palms. Three of the single storey dwellings were reserved for them. One for him and Erin, one for Marcus and Amelia, and one for Einar and Taylor. They were due to arrive two days from now.
Erin looped her arm around his and he reacted on instinct, tugging his free. She looked at him and he felt the pain beating in her heart. Good. Perhaps now she knew how he felt. He stared at the water, ignoring her look, knowing that she wanted him to explain. She could figure it out for herself. She was a big girl.
She didn’t need him to explain everything for her.
Or take care of her.
The water began to pale and Veiron was tempted to leap overboard and swim the rest of the way to shore, desperate to get away from Erin and get some air. He needed some space to recover from the verbal kick in the balls she had just delivered.
Evil.
“Veiron?” she whispered and touched his arm.
The boat docked, giving him a reason not to acknowledge her. He breathed hard, struggling to keep it together. He couldn’t lose control, no matter how much he wanted to fling his head back and roar his fury at the bright blue sky.
Evil.
It chanted inside his head. Tore at his soul.
>
Erin thought him evil. Nothing good. Everything bad. Spawn of a place that had left her tortured and scared. Servant of a man who had abducted her and tried to bribe her.
His mind tormented him, throwing flashes of her reaction to the fact that he was a Hell’s angel.
He grabbed her arm, ignoring her gasp of pain, and dragged her from the boat. Red bled into the edges of his vision as he stalked along the jetty, his heavy footfalls shaking the weather-beaten timbers.
“Veiron?” she said again, louder now, as though volume had been her failing the first time.
He prowled onwards, casing the island and everyone on the jetty. They moved out of his way as he approached. Wise. The mood he was in right now, he was liable to beat the crap out of anyone who so much as looked at him the wrong way.
“You’re hurting me.” Those three hoarsely spoken words had him loosening his grip and stopping in the middle of the narrow jetty, blocking the path for those behind them.
He turned towards her and bit back his desire to say that she had hurt him first. He just stared at her instead, trying to remain unaffected by the tears that beaded on her dark lashes, hoping she would see his pain in his eyes and realise why he was suddenly upset with her.
Erin soothed his savage side by stepping into him, tiptoeing and kissing him. Sweet mercy. He couldn’t stop himself from snaking his arms around her waist and drawing her closer, kissing her deeper and trying to steal a piece of her.
“I wasn’t talking about you,” she whispered against his lips and slowly drew away, her eyes meeting his. “You know that, right?”
He shrugged. “Right.”
“No, you don’t...” She sighed and trailed her hands down his arms to his elbows. “Am I ever going to stop messing things up with you?”
Only she had the answer to that question so he didn’t bother to answer it for her. Maybe it was for the best that she said things that drove him away and hurt him. Maybe this was some sort of subconscious defensive tactic to get him out of her life or perhaps it was just fate giving him a helping hand so he could continue his mission.
Either way, it sucked.
Veiron took hold of her hand and led her to the thatched main building. The resort was glamorous, a beautiful pristine island with limited and spacious villas on the shore, a small block of apartments off the main set of buildings, and smaller huts that lined a jetty over the water. Whenever he had met Amelia and Marcus in the past, it had been at remote islands with no facilities, all of them uninhabited. It was a nice change to have a bar and restaurants on site, but it also increased the risk of discovery. Or worse, it increased the risk of mortal casualties should they come under attack.
He checked them in at reception, ignoring the congratulations that staff tossed his way but taking the champagne flute they offered him. Erin sipped hers. Veiron necked his.
The moment Erin had finished her drink, he led her away, passing a huge pool with only a few couples occupying it, sitting in the water at a small bar that lined the edge in one part. He crossed the patio and headed towards the beach and their villa. It was the first in the row of detached single storey thatched cabins, larger than the rest.
He unlocked the wooden door and entered ahead of Erin, gaze scanning over everything. No sign of trouble in the large apartment style villa. The bedroom was at the back, a sliding glass door looking out onto the deck and the sea beyond. Everything was wood. The floor, the walls and the ceilings. All rustic and what he supposed was meant to be appealing and natural. Considering his home in Hell was a black hut with no electricity and a stone slab for a seat, everything in the mortal realm looked luxurious and appealing to him. He opened the patio door and checked out the deck.
There was a hot tub set into it, partially hidden from view by a short wall that covered half of the deck on either side. Thoughts of kicking it into life and soaking with Erin under the stars filled his head. Pleasure later. Business first.
He slid the glass door closed, turned back around and walked through the bedroom to the living area off to the left. A small kitchen occupied one end of it. Closer to the entrance was an enclosed bathroom.
Erin was still standing outside.
“Something wrong?” He stepped outside and looked around in case she had seen something that had made her nervous about the whole location. Mortals were coming and going along the path between the back of the villas. No danger.
Erin cleared her throat, rocked on her heels and shot an expectant look between the door and himself.
He didn’t get her problem. “It’s safe. I’ve checked it over. No beasties.”
She sighed and flicked her black hair from her face. “I thought we were just married?”
“Only in Einar’s head. Fuck knows what the man was thinking.”
Her face fell and then she rallied. “I take it you won’t be carrying me over the threshold then?”
Veiron laughed. So this was her problem? Her doting husband wasn’t doing much doting or following tradition.
“I carry you everywhere else, why not into the villa, eh?” he said and she didn’t look as though she appreciated the reminder that she had spent more time in his arms than walking recently. He went to grab her and she evaded him.
“I’ve changed my mind.” She turned her nose up at him. He was coming to hate it when she did that.
When she tried to pass him, Veiron grabbed her around the waist and hauled her over his shoulder. She punched his backside and flailed, and he clamped one arm down over her bottom and wrapped the other across the backs of her knees to hold her in place.
“Put me down!”
Veiron laughed again. “I thought you wanted me to carry you? Make up your mind, woman.”
He ignored her as she cursed him and carried her inside, kicking the door closed behind him. He trudged forwards, heading for the bedroom.
“You can put me down now,” she said and he shook his head.
“Not yet.” He entered the bedroom and grinned at the huge white bed. “Now.”
Veiron dropped her onto it and covered her body with his, pinning her to the soft mattress. She gasped.
“Mr... Veiron? I don’t suppose you have a last name?” she said and smiled up at him.
Veiron shook his head. “You’ll just have to settle for Mrs Veiron.”
She giggled and twined her fingers through his hair. “I don’t recall us having our first kiss.”
“I thought we had that on the dock.”
She frowned. “Stop spoiling my fun and kiss me.”
Veiron grinned. “Yes, Wifey.”
He lowered his head and closed his eyes.
The patio door slid open and a gasp broke the silence.
“What the hell are you doing to my sister?”
Veiron grimaced and then cracked one eye open and looked at Erin beneath him. Her cheeks had turned deep pink and she was cringing too. She bit her lip, turned her head to her left, and smiled.
“Hi, Amelia.”
He thought she would have waved had she not still had her fingers tangled in his hair. Amelia stormed into the room and shoved Veiron so hard that he hit the pillows and slammed the headboard against the wooden wall.
“Fuck, woman... put a leash on that temper.” Veiron glared at her and sat up. “It’s not as though I was doing anything against her will.”
Erin lay on the bed staring at Amelia, a puzzled look on her face. Amelia turned her black look on her sister.
“Is he telling the truth?” Amelia said, her voice higher than Veiron had ever heard it, a squeak that blended horror with anger into something that sounded a lot like outrage and disbelief.
He had been working with Amelia and Marcus for over a year and a half and she still didn’t trust him. That was nice. He had thought that throwing himself into Hell on a suicide mission to save someone precious to her might have gained him a little favour from the angel.
“What happened to your hair?” Erin said, her frown sticking, and s
at up on the bed, propping herself up on her palms.
“Answer my question.” Amelia looked ready to pull rank in the age stakes. Her grey eyes flashed brightly, a sign that she was losing her temper and liable to change at any moment. He just hoped she didn’t deem him worthy of having a blue fireball tossed at him.
What she had seen was nothing compared to what she could have walked in on if she had given them five minutes more. He had intended to have her little sister naked and sweaty by then.
Erin nodded. “Of course he is. He’s not a liar, Amelia. Apparently we’re newlyweds.”
Amelia gaped in horror, her silvery eyes as wide and luminous as full moons. “What the fuck, Veiron?”
She was across the room in a flash, grabbing him by the collar of his t-shirt and hauling him onto his feet.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing with my sister?”
“Lay off, Amelia.” He grabbed her hand and yanked it off him. “It was Einar’s idea of a twisted joke. He signed us in as newlyweds. Jesus. Get off the power trip before I knock you off it.”
The edges of his vision bled into red and he towered over her. Amelia looked as though she was going to square up to him and then backed off a step and returned her attention to Erin.
Who was smiling.
“You think this is funny?” Amelia snapped.
Erin’s smile faded and then came back broader than ever. “You have to admit you are flying off the handle a bit.”
“He’s a Hell’s angel, Erin... a demon!”
Erin gasped and turned horrified eyes on Veiron. “You took my virginity and wed me and you’re a demon?”
Veiron laughed. Amelia didn’t look amused.
“Now I know you’re being stupid.” Amelia folded her arms across her chest, squashing her breasts together in her pale cream summer dress.
Marcus poked his head around the door. “I take it the family reunion is not going well?”
“He was about to kiss her, Marcus,” Amelia said, pinning Erin and then Veiron with a vicious glare.
Marcus turned silver-blue eyes on him, looking a little lost as to an appropriate response.
Veiron shrugged. “It could’ve been a lot worse.”
Her Angel: Eternal Warriors Complete Series Box Set Page 50
