by Ella Summers
“Well, I guess we’re all more than the sum of our parts.”
He cocked a single eyebrow up at me. “You are, without a doubt, the most naive angel I’ve ever met. Time will strip away your innocence.”
“I hope not.”
A contemplative crinkle formed between his eyes. “Or you’re simply the best actress I’ve ever met.”
“That’s the cynic talking again.”
“I am the cynic.” He glanced down, his fingers tracing the smooth skin that had, just moments ago, been marred with cuts. “You did a flawless job. There’s no hint of the wounds.”
“Well, except the blood smeared across your chest.” I glanced down at his bare chest. Then, embarrassed, I hastily lifted my gaze.
He caught my hands as I turned away. “Wait.”
My heart jumped.
He dropped my hands, his expression contemplative. “Your file says you’re the best healer in the Legion.”
“You pulled my file?”
His brows lifted—both of them this time.
Of course he’d pulled my file. He was an Interrogator. An Interrogator who right now was watching every nervous twitch of my body.
“Well, I’d better…get the blood off my hands.”
Without waiting for a response, I hurried inside. I could feel the weight of his eyes tracking me as I retreated.
7
The Sienna Sea
The captain of the airship, one of Colonel Dragonsire’s soldiers, let us off at the edge of the Sienna Sea before flying back to Sydney. Darkstorm’s guards watched the skies above this barren wilderness. We couldn’t afford to let them know we were coming and lose the element of surprise.
Of course, if I hadn’t been here, Colonel Dragonsire would have just flown here with his own wings, his body much easier to hide than a huge airship. Instead, he was stuck with a lame angel who couldn’t fly. He didn’t mention that I was slowing us down, but he must have been thinking it. I vowed to myself that I would make him and Nyx not regret sending me on the mission. I would make a difference.
We set off at a brisk pace across the Sienna Sea. Only the occasional spiny bush punctuated the gravelly red expanse. It was a land devoid of trees. It was not, however, devoid of monsters. All the beasts we’d seen were keeping their distance. So far.
As we ran, I considered Colonel Dragonsire. The angel had earned his notorious reputation during the inquisition that followed the exodus of the Legion’s first band of traitors, soldiers who had defected to the demons’ army. I had a sinking suspicion one of those first traitors had been his friend, a friend whose betrayal had turned him into the dour, paranoid person who considered everyone he met a potential threat.
I wondered which traitor Colonel Dragonsire had once called a friend. I could have tried asking him, but I doubted he’d be eager to open up old wounds—especially not with the nosy new angel he’d only just met. He still wasn’t convinced I wouldn’t try to stab him in the back.
Alternatively, I could go snooping around when we got back from this mission. The problem was, even on the off chance that I found what I was looking for, I’d be guilty of the same paranoid behavior as the Master Interrogator. And I really wanted to prove him wrong. I wanted to show him that people could be trusted. Or at least that I could be trusted.
As much as the Interrogator and angel in him would approve of my due-diligence in investigating my mission partner, the man in him—that human part of him I knew was still in there—would feel betrayed. I couldn’t be the person who confirmed his dreary suspicions about the world. I wanted to make him realize that people could be good. I wanted to break down that stone wall he’d built up around himself. I wanted to make him feel again.
I sighed. My father had often warned me that my impulse to fix anything and everything that was broken would get me into trouble. And he was probably right.
I reminded myself that Colonel Dragonsire was the commander of the Interrogators, a dreary bunch known for shunning personal connections and giving human emotions a wide berth. Our mission together was temporary. When it was over, it wasn’t like we’d be hanging out, chomping down on popcorn as we laughed over cheesy horror films that paled in comparison to the very real monsters we fought every day. No, he would go back to being an Interrogator. And he’d be married to my friend.
That realization was like a splash of ice water to the face, just what I needed to put my meandering thoughts back in check.
Colonel Dragonsire and I had been running across the Sienna Sea for several hours when the untimely arrival of a monster herd forced us to take cover. Ok, perhaps herd was the wrong word. It was more like a horde. Or an armada.
There were thousands of the white horses, beautiful and deadly, majestic and aggressive. They ran across the expanse, their silver hooves in perfect synchronicity, the orange light of the setting sun bouncing off their enormous diamond horns, setting off a kaleidoscope of dancing colors.
Even two angels didn’t stand a chance of defeating a monster armada, and there weren’t any good hiding spots on the open, treeless expanse. So we’d selected a spot inside some prickly thorn bushes, and I used my shifting magic to blend us into the scenery. Even wild beasts gave spiky bushes a wide berth.
“Your strengths are the powers of the elemental, the witch, the fairy, and the shifter,” Colonel Dragonsire said, his words pulsing against my face. We sat facing each other, so close that our knees brushed together. Close proximity meant I didn’t need to expend as much magic to maintain the camouflage. “A very balanced spread of powers from different sides of the magic circle.”
“Did you read that in my file as well?” I asked, more than a little intimidated by the Master Interrogator breathing down my neck.
“I did.”
“Well, I haven’t seen your file. So you have me at a disadvantage.”
“Yes.”
“Care to even the odds?”
“No.”
Of course not.
It was a few minutes before he spoke again. “What do you want to know?”
Surprised that he was offering, I said quickly, “Your strengths.”
He mulled that over for a bit. “Dashing good looks and unparalleled wit,” he finally replied.
And then he shot me a wicked grin.
I blinked. Surely, this couldn’t be the same Damiel Dragonsire who’d interrogated me just a few hours ago.
“I meant your magical strengths,” I said. The best way to get to the bottom of this mystery was to follow it to its end.
His expression turned serious, closed off. “To list my strengths would reveal my weaknesses.”
There. That was the Damiel Dragonsire I knew. The Damiel Dragonsire everyone knew. Cold and hard-faced. Calculating and untrusting.
“You know my magical strengths,” I countered. “Fair is fair.”
“Your magic is very balanced. Possessing strengths on opposing sides of the magical circle has effectively eliminated the problem of counter magic. You have no true magical weaknesses.”
“Neither do you.”
He shot me a hard look.
“It’s a well-known fact that your siren magic is the most powerful in the Legion,” I said. “Secondly, you’re a powerful telepath, as evidenced by your ability to read my mind, no matter how much I try to shield it. Then there was our fight with the flying dinosaurs. During that, you displayed both vampiric and psychic abilities beyond what is typical for even an angel of your level. So you see, Colonel, while you try to keep yourself shrouded in mystery, your magic speaks for itself.”
A smile twisted his lips, not kind but calculating. “You need to come work for me.”
I certainly hadn’t expected that response. Just a few hours ago, he’d been hellbent on exposing my treachery. Suspicion was not exactly a good stepping stone to future employment.
Taken aback, I said, “I don’t think my siren magic would make the cut to be an Interrogator.”
“You have a l
ogical mind, an uncommon knack for cutting through the bullshit to get right to what really matters. All that is irrelevant falls away, leaving you with only the truth. Your superior reasoning skills more than make up for your siren magic.”
“I’m an angel,” I replied, baffled as to why he was pushing this. “There can’t be two angel Interrogators.”
There had to be space between angels. Two angels’ magic and egos inevitably clashed when they were close for too long. That’s why Nyx never assigned more than one angel to a territory. Angels didn’t play well with other angels. Everyone knew that.
“You’re an angel without an insufferable ego,” countered Colonel Dragonsire.
Well, that made one of us.
His lips curled. Damn. He’d heard my thoughts.
“We’d get along swimmingly,” he purred.
Purred? This couldn’t be. Colonel Dragonsire didn’t purr; he roared. His sudden expressiveness was baffling. Could angels be bipolar?
“Nyx doesn’t believe in putting all her eggs in one basket,” I said.
“Don’t you worry about Nyx. I’ll deal with her.”
“For someone who doesn’t trust me, you sure are trying very hard to recruit me,” I pointed out. “Or is this about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer?”
“You are not my enemy.”
“Good to hear.”
He frowned. “It’s not that I don’t trust you per se.”
“Just that you don’t trust anyone,” I finished for him.
“Yes,” he agreed. “But I don’t trust you less than I don’t trust others.”
How the hell was anyone supposed to untangle the convoluted mess of that sentence? Was that his backhanded way of paying me a compliment?
“But you think I’m a traitor. You think I’m plotting some great upheaval,” I reminded him.
“I don’t think you’re a traitor. I think you have secrets.”
“And you eat secrets for breakfast.”
His tongue flicked out and slowly traced the inside of his lower lip. “Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
My jaw dropped. This wasn’t Damiel Dragonsire. I stared intently at his face, trying to find a flaw in the spell that had made someone else look just like him.
“You sure do have an active imagination,” he chuckled. “No, monsters didn’t abduct Damiel Dragonsire during the fight on the airship and put an imposter in his place. I am Damiel Dragonsire.”
“You seem different.”
“Maybe you’re just seeing me for the first time.”
“That’s very philosophical of you, Colonel.”
He dipped his chin. “When we get back, I’ll inform Nyx that you’re transferring to my division.”
My smile wobbled. Dear gods, he was serious about recruiting me. Honestly, the prospect of being recruited by him scared me more than being investigated by him.
“I didn’t agree to that,” I replied.
“That’s irrelevant. You will go where the First Angel tells you to go.”
My brows furrowed in disbelief. “And Nyx will listen to you, just like that?”
“Of course. It’s hard to ignore someone who is always right.”
I let out a choked laugh. “Do you ever grow tired of your own ego?”
“Why would I grow tired of always being right?”
I couldn’t tell if he was pretending to be dense, or simply trying to make a joke. He masked his true intentions well.
“Nyx indicated that I would have some choice of my next assignment,” I said.
“I’m sure she did.”
I frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means the First Angel has a way of making you think you have a choice as she subtly nudges you along the path she’s decided you should take. Nyx is a master manipulator.”
“Hello, pot. Meet kettle.”
He blinked in confusion.
“You know, the pot calling the kettle black,” I explained.
He continued to watch me like I’d lost my mind.
“You’re the pot,” I pointed out helpfully.
“That is not an accurate description of my attributes.”
I sighed. “It’s an expression.”
“Have you always been this perplexing?”
“I don’t know. Have you always had such a phenomenal sense of humor?”
A devilish smile curled his lips. “No, you bring it out in me.” Gold and silver sparks swirled in the cerulean depths of his eyes.
Sensing danger, I scooted back. His hand caught my wrist.
“Let go.” My heart jumped at his touch. Whether it was fear or excitement, I couldn’t say. Probably a bit of both.
Still smiling, his hand released mine. A very real part of me was disappointed. It was that same crazy part of me that thought wrestling the angel would be a nice distraction while we waited for the monsters to pass.
I quickly looked away from his smug face, hoping he hadn’t read that thought. I watched the horde. The beasts seemed to go on forever.
Colonel Dragonsire’s eyes followed my gaze across the Sienna Sea. “It will be many more hours before the herd has passed us by.”
He lowered himself onto the ground.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Getting some sleep. Despite what Nyx’s official angel handbook proclaims, we angels actually do need to recharge our batteries. We’re going to need all our magic to take down Darkstorm. Get some rest.”
“Here? Right next to the monster procession?”
“They can’t see us. And from your file, I know you can maintain the illusion even when sleeping. Now get some rest.”
I didn’t move.
“Do I need to make it an order?”
He was a second-level angel. He did outrank me. And he was someone who wasn’t afraid to use all the weapons in his arsenal to get what he wanted.
I lay down, shaking in surprise when an arm slid over my shoulder.
“Calm down,” Colonel Dragonsire said, sliding in close behind me. “I don’t bite.” His words whispered against the back of my neck.
I’d have been lying if I’d claimed I wasn’t nervous about having another angel’s mouth so close to the most vulnerable part on my body. Vampires weren’t the only supernaturals who had fangs.
“What are you doing?” I demanded, putting steel in my voice to mask my anxiety.
“Now that the sun has set, the temperature is dropping rapidly. We need to stay warm,” he said.
I looked over my shoulder and leveled a hard look at him. “I am not cuddling with you, Colonel.”
“Why not?”
“You’re not a cuddly sort of guy.”
“Oh?”
In truth, his body did feel nice next to mine, the hard wall of his chest pressed against my back…
I shook the thought from my head. I didn’t believe in grabbing danger by the horns—especially when there was a high likelihood it would grab me back.
“I hardly know you,” I said, offering up another reason.
“You know more about me than most people do.”
Wow. That was just so…wow. The man had build a wall around him so thick that he’d practically entombed himself inside it.
“You’d have more friends if you didn’t try so hard to scare people senseless,” I told him.
“I’m not looking for friends,” he replied. “Now hold still. And stop squirming. You’re pushing rocks into my boots.” His arm wrapped around my body.
“It sounds like I’m more trouble than I’m worth.”
He grunted his assent. “I won’t argue with that.”
“Why do you even want to snuggle with someone you don’t trust?”
“As long as you’re in front of me, I can keep an eye on you.”
I was pretty sure he was making a joke this time. I was starting to identify that slight lift in his voice whenever he was stepping out of his Interrogator shoes.
“I c
an still maintain the cloaking spell around us both if you’re further away,” I said.
“Don’t be silly. This is more efficient. You don’t have to expend as much magic if we’re closer together. And we’ll stay warmer.”
I threw a weak smile over my shoulder. “That’s got to be the worst pickup line I’ve ever heard.”
His gaze captured mine. “Cadence,” he said in a silky voice, fire in his eyes. “If I wanted to seduce you, I wouldn’t bother with pretenses.”
“Ok. Right. Fine.” I looked away, lowering my head to rest on my arm. Because I needed rest. Certainly not because I was afraid of what I would do if I continued to stare into his eyes.
I could handle this. I could snuggle up with the most devastatingly dangerous, deadly, beautiful angel I’d ever met. It was only for warmth. Nothing more. We were both mature adults here.
Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about, I thought as I closed my eyes.
8
The Ways of Angels
Warm, strong arms held tightly to me. I smiled, snuggling up close to them as I breathed in the earthy aroma of rosewood and magic.
“Good morning, sunshine,” a deep voice nuzzled against my ear.
I bolted upright, stumbling as my boot caught against a spiky bush, much to the amusement of my angel companion. The monster herd had passed. The two of us were alone on the dark, red-orange expanse. That left only one witness to my spectacular stumble over my own feet: Damiel Dragonsire, Master Interrogator and veteran angel. Fantastic.
“Are you all right?” Colonel Dragonsire asked, rising smoothly and effortlessly to his feet. Just like a proper angel should move.
“Of course.” I brushed the dust off my clothes. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I’m starting to get the feeling that I make you uncomfortable.”
“Why would waking up with the Master Interrogator breathing down my neck make me uncomfortable?” I asked, my laugh shaky.
His eyebrows drew together. “You are attracted to me,” he declared in a matter-of-fact voice, the cool observation of an Interrogator.
