Heaven

by Belinda McBride

  Rex gathered every bit of power he possessed and cast a glamour to hide them from anyone who might stumble upon the scene.

  “Rion, what just happened?” The blazing sword had vanished and the angel stood, wings held high over his head. “I’ve never seen you manifest a weapon before.”

  He shook his head and long strands of blood-red hair floated around his lean, sculpted face. “I’ve never needed one before. We’ve never stood to fight.” His bright blue eyes traveled over Rex’s body, searching for injuries. “And you… I’ve never seen you use your tail that way.”

  Rex laughed and turned to Cynthia. “I thought you’d killed them. I was expecting a bloodbath.” Rion’s hand rested on his shoulder. The larger man pulled him close, seeking comfort.

  “It seems the sword is more spiritual than physical in nature.” The power that had emanated from the weapon had felt similar to that of the amulet. He leaned back a bit, taking comfort in Rion’s touch. Now that the demons were gone, he felt drained and triumphant, but the buzz wore off quickly.

  “It’s like Azrael’s sword, isn’t it? I wish he’d told us you could pull that little trick.”

  “Perhaps he didn’t know.” Rion let him go and squatted at Cynthia’s feet. “What are we going to do with her? We can’t leave her.”

  “And if we carry her out while she’s unconscious, someone will call the police.” He searched the ground and grunted in satisfaction when he found an old ink pen at the edge of a pile of trash. Rex rolled the tip on the palm of his hand until the thickened ink flowed. He quickly sketched a pattern on her forehead.

  “I don’t think she’ll appreciate that when she wakes up.”

  Rex grinned at the angel. “She’ll simply be grateful to wake up alone. I’m willing to bet Nurse Cynthia here remembers most of her time with Kelet. She might be able to help us locate Noemi.” He completed the charm and clapped his hands in the air over her face. Her eyes didn’t so much as flicker, yet Cynthia slowly rose to her feet.

  “It’s just a couple of blocks to the motel. We’ll figure things out when we’re in a safe place.”

  “Safe.” Rion took a deep breath, pulling the tatters of his glamour around his body. Rex had carried the magical burden of hiding them over the years, but Rion had developed some control over his own magic.

  “Remind me when we get back to the room. You’re showing a little too much light. I need to retrace your marks.” As he spoke, Rex pulled the illusion around his own body, hiding the wings and tail, adding a few years to his boyish face.

  “Come along, Cynthia. It isn’t far now. I promise you. Everything’s going to be all right.”

  A soft sigh came from her lips and the three walked slowly out of the alley, heading for Broadway and safety.

  Chapter Two

  He was death incarnate. He was God’s hand of justice. And he’d been sent for her.

  “Carly,” she whispered. “You evil bitch.” Noemi slowly backed away from the looming figure and the burning black sword in his hand. What Carly had done to the dark angel was unforgivable.

  He stood before her like a statue, his flowing black hair a stain against his simple white clothing. Azrael’s dark eyes burned with the desperate fire of the true believer. His black wings soared up behind his body, and the odd light of his blade cast harsh, unforgiving shadows across his beautiful face, making it macabre and ugly.

  “Azrael.” Her voice caught in her throat and a lifetime of memories flooded her, causing Noemi to stagger, grasping the damp wall of the cave to remain upright. “Azrael. Please tell me you know me.”

  “You are the Fallen known as Anahita. You are a demon, a succubus.”

  “Azrael. Please tell me who I was before I Fell.” She had her back to the wall now and focused on the angel, seeing the torment that shadowed his eyes. She saw doubt flickering there as well. “I remember some of my life before I Fell. I remember you. You were Kokabiel’s closest friend.”

  He shut his eyes tightly. Pain etched his face

  “You allowed Kokabiel to live. Will you do the same for me?”

  “Kokabiel…showed me the truth.” His dark eyes broke from her gaze. “Kokabiel should not have Fallen.”

  “Nor should I have.”

  He stood quietly. The flame of his sword dimmed slightly and Noemi took a breath, letting a sliver of hope slip into her heart.

  “You truly Fell. You became a succubus.”

  “That is true. After I was thrown from Heaven, I allowed the tortures of mortal men to twist my heart. I permitted a demon to tempt me away from the torment of my life.” The tip of the sword rose just a bit. “But I also killed the demon when I realized what I had done.”

  “Then you fled justice.”

  “I fled to the coldest corner of the Earth and buried myself in ice. I did so to protect others from my appetites. Yet that wasn’t the main reason I fled, Azrael.”

  He studied her, and Noemi gave a small prayer of thanks. Azrael wasn’t known for his patience or his mercy.

  “If the Angel of Justice had been anyone but you, I’d have gladly surrendered my life that day. My very existence was torture, but I could not allow the Sword of God to slay his only sister. I would not allow my sibling to become corrupted by the grief and self-hatred that would surely result from such an act.”

  The sword wavered and began to lower.

  “You deny none of your crimes?”

  “No, Azrael. But even the strongest among us could not have emerged unscathed from the abuse I experienced—beatings and rape and humiliation, Azrael. My keeper was a Sidhe named Dyffyd. He didn’t have the magic to hide my wings from the eyes of men. Rather than admitting to weakness, he cut them away and burned the stumps every month to keep them from returning.”

  He swallowed hard. “That is no excuse for embracing the Fall.”

  “No. No, it isn’t. But if you learn about my life and decide execution should be my fate, I only ask that you seek another to take my life. Please, brother. I won’t have you burdened with my death.”

  The sword suddenly vanished from his hand and Azrael stood before her, seeming slightly awkward, as he’d always been when they were young. He was the same grim and aloof boy she’d grown up with. As a child, she’d sung songs for his gentle smile and played the clown to coax the rare laugh from him.

  And Michael had sent him away.

  “Michael. He’s making you do this.” The words were bitter on her tongue.

  “He is a high angel. I am here on his orders.”

  She pushed away from the wall, suddenly unafraid. “It was upon his orders that my husband Kokabiel was arrested and convicted of treason. There wasn’t even a trial, Azrael. Michael declared him guilty and had him tortured. He made me watch.”

  Azrael remained motionless but she knew her words were affecting him.

  “Michael thrust a white-hot blade down the throat of God’s Star. He silenced the most beautiful voice in our world, then he threw him from the Heavens.”

  Rage finally flowed through her veins, hot, bright and uninterrupted. “And, Azrael, when I wouldn’t speak ill of Kokabiel, when I wouldn’t take Michael to my bed, he had me thrown to Earth!” She paced away then turned back. “All these decades and centuries you’ve been hunting and eliminating evil, brother. In reality, the true evil is the one whose orders you follow. So you are not fit to judge me.”

  Azrael stood, watching her move through the cave. His face was rigid with shock. She felt his gaze on her as she slapped at the sealed walls of her prison in frustration.

  “Where am I, Azrael?” Her eyes filled with tears. Angrily, Noemi wiped them away.

  “I don’t know.” He looked around in confusion. “I’ve never been here before.”

  “Then how did you know to come here?”

  Azrael frowned and met her gaze steadily. “I don’t know. I was in Venice. Then I was here.”

  She sighed and lowered herself to the cool dirt floor. “Carly.”
r />   “Who?” Azrael gracefully sat on the floor, just feet from her. He maneuvered his wings effortlessly.

  “A nymph. Blonde hair, blue eyes, looks a hell of a lot more like an angel than either of us.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know who you speak of.”

  “You’re going to love this then. She’s in love with you—truly, madly, deeply. I’d say the emphasis is on mad.”

  “I have no memory of such a woman.”

  She leaned forward and grasped his big hand in hers. He looked at their joined hands, her dark to his light. He then looked at her face.

  “You don’t remember because her special little talent is to inflict forgetfulness on those who suffer emotionally. Some of us are more immune than others.”

  He shook his head. “If I’d met someone of such power, I’d have remembered, Anahita.”

  She stared at his beautiful, cold face. The greater the pain a man or woman suffered, the greater Carly’s power was over them. She wasn’t sure how she knew this about the nymph, but it was true. Regardless of how much he denied it, Azrael suffered.

  “No, Azrael. It’s her curse as well as her gift. I’m not certain how you two became involved, or how she came to fall in love with you, but it happened. Michael is behind this.”

  “No. Michael is one of the few high angels. He could not be as corrupt as you say.” He pulled his hand from hers and rose. To her alarm, he was again holding his sword.

  “Then you go find her, Azrael. You go find Carly and ask why she sealed me inside this cave. Better yet, go find Rion and ask him. Ask Rex about Carly. They don’t know it all, but they know enough.”

  Kokabiel was knowledge. Azrael was judgment. If Azrael stood face to face with his oldest friend, he’d be unable to deny the truth.

  “Leave me here, Azrael. Go seek Kokabiel. Truth is his gift. I’m not going anywhere.” With her arms crossed, she leaned against the cold, dank wall of the cave and watched her brother back away from where she sat.

  “Just remember, you can’t shift to a location unless you’ve been there or unless you’ve had a very good description of it. How did you know I was here, brother?”

  He stared at her long and hard, and vanished into a point of light.

  * * * *

  Azrael did not seek Kokabiel or Rex. He did not go in search of the elusive Carly. He went home to his cabin, which sat on an expanse of sterile land under a sky that never lightened with the sun. He stood in the darkness, looking up at stars, and surveyed the black, lifeless terrain.

  He came here to rest because it was the only place in the universe he could be alone. The bleak, black landscape was an exact match to the emptiness of his heart. The silence calmed the chaos of his mind and soul. When he was in these dead lands, he was safe from everything except his thoughts.

  Anahita.

  He’d never thought to see his sister again. She was different. There was no doubt of that. His little Anahita had been fair as the moon and demure to a fault. She’d loved her Kokabiel to the depths of her soul, and his apparent death would have broken her spirit.

  He knew her well. If the loss of her love hadn’t destroyed her, surely the Fall would have. So few survived the horrific punishment with their sanity intact. Over the years he’d heard stories of the abuse Anahita had suffered and the self-sacrifice that had taken her from the world. All the while, he’d been forbidden to help her. It had been the greatest failing of his very long existence. He’d abandoned the only family he had.

  He’d known the moment she rose once again, though he’d been caught in the depths of slumber. Attracted by the vital life force of him, Rex and Rion, she’d come at them like a bee to nectar.

  He flushed when he recalled the moment they had come into contact with one another and the succubus had recoiled from him. Obviously, she’d recognized him as well.

  But this one, this new Anahita, was far different from the sister he’d known in the past. She was strong of character, and her body was sleek and honed. She wasn’t small and fair, but tall and dark. Her features were clearly Native American. She did not fear death, but more importantly, she did not fear life. She was courage personified.

  He sat down hard on a chair on the front porch of his cabin.

  She’d truly Fallen. Her soul had been befouled, and yet she’d somehow risen above it. In all the years he’d half-heartedly trailed the succubus, he’d never discovered any hint that she’d victimized anyone. Some vampires and other parasitic demons justified their hunting by seeking victims among the criminal population. He’d never found the least indication that she’d done such a thing. He’d discovered she used only Rex, and that he was her willing partner.

  The answers he needed wouldn’t be found here in the darkness. He had to seek out Rex and Kokabiel. Azrael rose and turned his head, looking out into the night. He closed his eyes and pictured a small, picturesque house in the Trinity Alps of California. He wasn’t quite certain how he knew this was their present abode, but Azrael had faith in his abilities. His ability to hunt defined him. It was the element of justice he questioned.

  He opened his eyes to the sun and stepped onto the porch of their house. He rapped sharply on the carved wooden door of Rex Clark and Orion Hunter’s latest home.

  * * * *

  Rion lay sprawled on their bed, his head pillowed on his hands. Rex leaned against the doorway, arms folded across his chest. Glancing out of the window, he felt his belly go tight with fear. The moon was gibbous, just one day from being full. His heat would start in hours, rising in his body as the sun set. He was facing three days of sexual torment. Yes, Rion was there to help slake his needs, but as a ghillie dubh, he’d denied his true nature for far too long.

  He could go out into the darkness and spread his gift of fertility to the forests and fields, but leaving the house made him vulnerable to the temptations of humans. In the centuries before meeting Rion and Anahita…Noemi—he’d planted children in the bellies of barren women or those who were married to men whose seed was sterile. Like all gifts, there was a dark side to what he did. Reux could no longer deny his true nature.

  Yet he was unwilling to be unfaithful to his lover. Anahita’s occasional visits had helped him slake the insane need to seek out women and fuck. Without her, he no longer had a safety valve.

  Well, for now he’d simply have to focus all his lust on Rion. And maybe, possibly, Noemi would find them. She hadn’t managed to in the month since they’d lost her, but perhaps his need would burn so brightly that she’d find her way back.

  It had been four weeks since they’d been in San Francisco. A month in which he’d tried to locate a new portal. Cynthia had not been helpful. She’d been so traumatized by Kelet’s possession that they’d returned her home to the reservation. The tribal chairman had listened to their story with sad eyes and promised she would be cared for. He’d tried to locate Carly but she’d vanished as well. Unfortunately, he suspected she might be the source of some of their confusion. Carly manipulated memory, and she held the rare ability to open and close portals to different planes.

  When Carly closed the San Francisco portal, she’d failed to tell him where the new one opened. The portals might close but they never went away. The gateway had opened elsewhere.

  After leaving the city, he and Rion had returned home to unexpected peace. The demons had left the house untouched. In fact, they seemed to have left the entire region. Their absence made him even more uncomfortable.

  “Rion.”

  The angel rolled his head and looked over at Rex. Rion still held onto the hope that they would find her. He’d grown quiet and withdrawn, though he’d never despaired or lost faith. He spent hours carving figures into panels of wood, or forming the rough bodies of what would someday be violins and guitars. He lost himself in his work and in his thoughts.

  They kept busy. They made love, and only occasionally did they let the other see the torment living inside their hearts.

  “I’ve tr
ied to focus on Azrael. Usually when I think about him deeply, he appears,” Rion said.

  “I don’t understand why I can’t find a portal. It feels as though I’m being blocked from the Other Place.” Rex sighed. He didn’t want to think about home right now. If he ran home while he was in the grip of his heat cycle, he’d probably encounter Carly, which would be disastrous. When he’d needed her, she’d gone mysteriously missing. If he tried to avoid her, she’d undoubtedly appear to him and Rion. He really didn’t want to face the temptation of the nymph during his fertile cycle.

  He’d had one morning with Noemi. That was all he’d needed to tell him she was part of them. He’d looked into her mind and seen that her love for them was as deep and as powerful as he could imagine. He’d seen more than he’d expected and wondered if Rion would ever recover the memories of his time before Earth and Rex. Someday Noemi needed to tell Orion about Kokabiel. She needed to tell them about herself.

  Whatever the case, there would be no more women for Rex and Rion. Only Noemi. An angel, a Sidhe and a demon who was a little bit of both.

  Rex crossed to the bed and stretched out next to Rion. They didn’t touch, but he could feel the warmth of the other man’s body.

  “We will find her,” he whispered.

  “What if it’s too late, Rex?”

  He mirrored Rion’s posture on the bed and gazed at the ceiling. He didn’t have an answer. He simply had faith that things would work out. Right now, though, nature was slowly asserting itself, pushing fear and worry from his mind.

  “We will find her. If not, she will find us.”

  Rion turned to him. His eyes were a picture of uncertainty. Rex steadily met his blue gaze, watching as carnal intent slowly took the place of worry.

  “It starts tonight,” Rion said softly.

  “Yes. It does. I’m afraid I’ll be keeping you busy for a couple days.”

  “I think I look forward to that.” Rion rolled toward Rex, half covering his body. “I look forward to that very much indeed.” He slid his muscular leg up, parting Rex’s thighs. The angel levered himself up, staring down into Rex’s face. In spite of his aggressive posture, the kiss was soft…gentle. Rex reached up and buried his hands in Rion’s hair.