Coldest Fire (Dominion series)

by Juliette Cross

Chapter Seventeen

  Uriel

  Sprawled on my side on her hearth rug, I picked up one of my feathers which had fallen on her floor and twirled it in the air for Deimos to chase. He leaped and caught the golden tip between his tiny paws, but it slipped through each time. The little demon was relentless, crouching for attack, then launching himself in the air, tail spin-wheeling before he’d fall empty-clawed again. I chuckled.

  “Don’t you think you’ve been teasing him long enough?”

  Nadya walked over and set a mug of tea on the rug next to me. She hadn’t changed out of those clothes she’d worn to the theater. I wondered if I was making her uncomfortable, invading her personal space, showering in her bathroom, and making myself at home in nothing but a pair of loose-fitting pants. I didn’t think so. Especially when her gaze wandered to my bare chest as it did now.

  “He’ll be a fierce guard-cat once he’s grown.” I dropped the feather. Deimos clutched it to his belly and fell to his back, kicking with his hind legs to dispatch his enemy.

  “Very fierce.” She giggled, sipping her tea.

  My God. Her smile crippled me with longing. My fingers itched to touch her. I sat up, crossed my outstretched legs at the ankle and wrapped my hand around the small mug of tea.

  “What is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

  Her smile vanished, and I cursed myself for it. I couldn’t have waited just one more minute? My timing was complete shit, but I was used to getting down to business. To discover the heart of a problem or a person, to riddle things out and make them all better. That was what I was known for as an archangel who mingled and meddled in the lives of humans over the centuries.

  But I didn’t want to meddle with Nadya. I wanted to make her mine. This wasn’t a question. This was a fact. I didn’t trust my instincts to barrel ahead with too much force.

  She straightened and set her tea on the small side table before curling her feet beneath her on the sofa.

  “I saw Gibbon tonight at the theater.”

  I sipped the warm tea and set it aside, leaning my weight back on both my hands. “I did, too.”

  Her eyes rounded in shock. “You did? But…why didn’t you tell me? He took pictures. Video. You know who for, right?”

  “Of course. I was hoping one of Vladek’s lackeys would be there. I didn’t expect it to be him.” I smiled, remembering staring straight at him and giving him a wink, hoping he’d caught it on video for Vladek.

  “I can’t believe you’re so nonchalant about this. Why did you give your real name to Yorick? I guess it doesn’t matter since Gibbon was there scouting out competitors in the circuit anyway.”

  “That’s exactly why,” I explained. “Vladek would find out after the fight that it was me in that ring even if I’d given a false name. I was never planning on hiding from him.”

  The fire popped and a burning ember landed on the stone grate. Deimos jumped and hissed. I scooped him up with one hand and swatted the glowing coal back toward the fire, setting the kitten on my lap. His motor-like purr started immediately as he curled into a ball.

  “Should we—” Her voice held a thread of fear.

  “What?” I asked, watching her watching me pet Deimos.

  “Should we be afraid that Vladek might show at the next arena? Now that he knows you’re the one in the circuit.”

  “No,” I answered with complete confidence. “He wouldn’t lower himself. It would make him look weak, as if watching me is worth worrying about. He’ll wait till I come to him. Of that, I’m sure. He won’t leave his lair, just in case this is a trick to get inside his castle.”

  “But it is a trick get inside his castle,” she said on a laugh.

  It was far more than that, but she didn’t need to know it just yet.

  “His ego will allow me through the door. Just wait and see.”

  “You still have to beat the champions of Zigor, and then whoever the last one is.”

  She’d told me Zigor in Budapest was where my next challenge would be when I’d first stretched out on the hearth rug.

  “Don’t worry about that. I’ve got it covered,” I said with a wink. Uncharacteristic flirting from me, but I couldn’t help myself.

  She arched a brow, her mouth tipping up on one side that made me want to push her back on the sofa beneath me.

  “Well, you certainly took care of them quickly enough tonight.”

  “I did, didn’t I?”

  She tossed her head back and laughed, the throaty sound the loveliest I’d ever heard. “You’re so modest, Uriel.”

  “I’m honest,” I argued, arching my own brow. “So that’s what’s had you so worried tonight? That Gibbon was there.”

  She shrugged and glanced down at my lap where I still petted Deimos, his purring faint as he fell asleep.

  “What else has you so worried?”

  “Nothing,” she said quickly. “I’m not worried.”

  It was my turn to laugh. Her gaze fell over my torso, my abdomen tightening as I chuckled. The appreciation in her eyes clenched something tight in my chest, making everything hard. I shook it off.

  “You’re very worried about something.”

  She rolled her eyes, and it was the sweetest thing I’d ever seen. The so-serious Nadya tossing her eyes in exasperation. Everything she did made me want to kiss her. Pull her to me. Pull her under me.

  “Okay. Fine. If you must know, I’m just a bit anxious about…well, you know.”

  Shaking my head, I grinned. “I don’t know.” Though I could guess. “That’s why I’m asking.”

  “You’re going to make me say it?”

  One nod.

  “I’m worried about that kiss.” She gestured toward the bedroom. “That second kiss actually and what it means and if you’re at all feeling what I’m feeling or if you’re the kind of angel who dallies with all the females swooning at your feet or if I’m being totally ridiculous thinking you might feel something for me.”

  With a sharp shake of my head, I stared at her, chest heaving too much, heart beating too hard. “Wow.”

  Slowly, I scooped Deimos and put him on the rug and crawled on my hands and knees the short distance to her on the sofa. She froze, her sky-blue eyes wide, skating over my body, my wings, before landing on my face. Rising up onto my knees, I cupped her face in my hands, dragging her close.

  “Oh, sweet Nadya. I feel so very many things for you.”

  “You do?” she whispered, her pulse pounding in her throat.

  “More than you can imagine.”

  “Tell me.”

  I trailed my thumbs over her cheekbones, noting the lovely way they sloped from sharp to smooth in a perfect slant.

  “That night, when Lisabette had me beaten, when it seemed she’d never stop, and I heard someone cry out there was a fire, everyone ran, leaving me alone and bound. Then you were there.” Sweeping one thumb down to her mouth, I went on. “You unchained me and helped me walk to some bedroom that wasn’t hers. You gave me a reprieve from her malice and sadistic obsession. For one night. You were kind and selfless. So good. So fucking sweet.” My breathing became labored as I remembered her pale figure standing in the shadows, half carrying me to some safe place in the palace. “You were the one flicker of light in all that darkness.” I pulled her closer, the heat of her mouth so close. Her eyes became glassy with unshed tears. “I remember wondering how a demon witch could show me kindness in that place. It confused me, and I hated you when you were gone.”

  She closed her eyes, a tear slipping down one cheek. I swept it away with my thumb.

  “I’m sorry, I—”

  “I hated you not because you’d gotten away and left me behind. I hated you because you took the light away.” I grazed my lips against hers, breathing in her air. “My light, Nadya. You are my light.” I traced my tongue along
her bottom lip before taking it between my teeth and letting it slide free. “What do I feel for you?” I growled, furious that she didn’t know, that she couldn’t figure it out. “I feel everything. Every fucking thing.”

  Banding an arm around her waist and a hand around her nape, I hauled her to me on the edge of the sofa, her legs opening on either side of my torso. Hovering so close, our lips touching, I ground out, “Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” she breathed on a sigh, wrapping her arms around my neck, pressing her breasts to my chest. “I feel the same.”

  Then I took her mouth, crushing her to me and sliding my tongue deep. Goddamn, she tasted good. Combing my fingers up until I fisted her hair, I tugged down. Her gasping moan shot a bolt of heat through me.

  “So fucking sweet,” I groaned against her mouth, biting, wanting to devour her softness, to consume every part of her.

  She slid her hands to my shoulders, her nails digging in, the pain a jarring ripple of pleasure. She moaned into my mouth, rolling her hips forward, grazing my stiff cock.

  “Fuck, Nadya.”

  She was still covered from head to foot in tight clothing, keeping me from her skin. I slid a hand beneath the hem of her shirt, grazing my fingertips over her stomach. She hitched in a breath and pulled her body away.

  Fear tightened her expression, and I wanted to kill Vladek for the thousandth time. Removing my hand, I smoothed the material down and pressed my forehead to hers.

  She exhaled a jagged breath. “I’m s—”

  “Don’t you dare be sorry,” I ordered. It wasn’t her fault that sexual intimacy was still a problem for her. I’d give her all the time she needed.

  “Whenever you’re ready.”

  “It’s not that,” she protested, pulling herself away and standing to walk to the window, hands wrapping her waist. “It’s not what you think.”

  Rolling onto my feet, I stood. “I think it’s because of Vladek. Am I wrong?”

  “Yes.” She faced me and breathed out in desperation. “I mean, no. Not exactly. I can’t—”

  The pain of trying to tell me whatever was on her mind was killing me. Approaching slowly, I took her hand in mine.

  “There’s no reason to rush.” Rubbing my thumb gently at the center of her palm, I tried to make her understand. “I’m not going anywhere. And we have all the time in the world.”

  She laughed bitterly. “Do we really?”

  She was so sure something bad would happen, either to her or to me. But I knew otherwise. Some might call me a fool or overconfident, but there were some beliefs that burrowed so bone-deep that no obstacle could keep the dream from becoming reality.

  “Yes. We do.” I pulled her against me and relished the exquisite pleasure of having her body against mine. “I’ll defeat Zigor’s champions. And the one after that in Carpathia. Then I’ll go to Ivangorod and finish it.”

  “Finish it? How do you plan to do this exactly?”

  “Enough for tonight,” I whispered and pressed a kiss to her crown. “Go shower and get some sleep. I’ll be here in the morning when you wake.”

  She nuzzled her face into the crook of my neck, and I clenched my hands into the material of her shirt at her back. She planted a lingering kiss at the hollow of my neck, devastating me with the softest touch, then pulled away.

  “Goodnight, Uriel.”

  “Goodnight.”

  Now I just had to make my promises come true. I needed to finish it. Finish Vladek. Once and for all.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Uriel

  I whispered the incantation and sliced through another neck, decapitating my hundredth black-eyed demon in the last two hours. An electric storm thundered above the Eiffel Tower, shaking the structure where I stood on the first level. Whirling, I watched Dommiel gut another demon with the blade attached to his artificial arm. Glancing back across the platform, there were none left of the dozen we’d been fighting here for the last fifteen minutes.

  Black-winged angels covered the grounds below, finishing off what was left of the massive horde that had attacked Paris. I’d been more than willing to run to their aid when Anya came for me this morning, explaining how one of Vladek’s attack hordes was trying to take control of France and was moving in on Paris.

  A flash of blue streaked past us to an upper level. Dommiel’s gaze followed it with a devilish grin.

  “That’s my girl.”

  I shook my head. “You know? I think you actually get more turned on the bloodier she gets.”

  “No need to think.” He wiped the blade attached to his arm dripping with black blood on his cargo pants. “It’s the fucking truth, man. Best foreplay ever.” His gaze followed her above where the zing of blades echoed. “She’s a goddamn siren to my black soul when she starts killing things.”

  I sheathed my sword and stepped up to the balcony, gripping it with both hands and looking out. Trying to catch my breath, I tossed over my shoulder, “Your soul isn’t so black anymore, Dom.”

  He parked himself next to me, gazing across the lawn where Maximus, the black-winged leader of this archangel army, swung his giant sword wide and cleaved two demons at once. What demons were left were sifting away, running, or losing their pathetic lives. We’d won this battle pretty quickly.

  “Speaking of, how’s yours doing?” asked Dommiel, adjusting his eye patch.

  “What’s that?”

  “Your soul?” He stared at me pointedly. Dommiel didn’t play games and he wasn’t going to let me evade, even though it wasn’t his goddamn place to butt into my business.

  “I’m fine. No need to worry your little head about poor old Uriel.”

  He dropped his head back on a bark of laughter. “Poor old Uriel, eh?” He kept chuckling, both of us watching Maximus’s army taking care of business below. “You’re out of your fucking mind if you think any of us pities you. None of us do.”

  “Then what’s with the question?”

  “You’ve changed,” he said emphatically, pulling out a brimstone cigarette and lighting it. “And not for the better.”

  I scoffed. “Well, why don’t you tell me how you really feel?”

  “I just did, asshole.”

  Only Dommiel would dare call me that. No heat behind it. It made me smile.

  “It’s not funny.” His dark ruby eye fixed on me, pointing with the hand dangling the cigarette. “I know better than anyone what hatred can do to a man. Or a demon or archangel. Whatever.” He waved his flesh hand in the air.

  Biting my lip, I focused on the mayhem below, glorying in watching one of Vladek’s hordes get pummeled into the earth. Quite literally.

  “My hatred is just fine. It’s serving me well enough.”

  “You’re such a dick.”

  I actually choked on a laugh. “Come again?”

  “Look, we all know you went through hell. We get it. But if you let them change who you are, who you were, then they win.”

  “Philosophy from the wisdom of a fallen demon.”

  “I know better than you what hatred costs.” He took a long drag of his cigarette, the tip flaring red. “Besides, Anya is worried. When she worries, it gets my panties in a bunch.”

  “Well, we wouldn’t want that.”

  “No. We wouldn’t.”

  I reached over and plucked the cigarette from his hand and took a long drag. Brimstone was an otherworld narcotic that heightened an angel or demon’s magical senses. It was a temporary high and a filthy vice I’d never been tempted to try. But one hit flared the rolling power inside my chest, making it hum with life. Making me feel slightly more aware.

  “Not bad.” I went to hand it back, but Dommiel was grinning like a fiend.

  “Keep it.” He lit another.

  “Look.” I paused, a gust of wind pushing against us. A streak of lightning s
pider-webbed across the sky, but the rumble of thunder sounded farther away as the battle ended. “I get it. But I have a plan, and it’s going to work.”

  “Your plan to get into Vladek’s castle.”

  I took another drag, inhaling deep, relishing the burn of the brimstone. “That’s the one.”

  “Uh-huh.” He eyed me carefully. Smart one, this demon. He knew my whole plan, I was sure, but he didn’t mention it. “So what happens when all goes well, and we’re finished with him?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just what I said. What’s your plan for afterward? After Vladek?”

  Nadya lit up my mind. She was afraid of me last night. Maybe not of me, but definitely of being intimate. I wasn’t lying when I told her I’d wait as long as she needed. What would it take for her to trust me? More time? Or was she scarred too deep? Should I walk away and leave her in peace?

  Dommiel chuckled. He squinted as a swirl of gray-gold brimstone smoke filtered around his face, his one-eyed gaze on me. “I thought so.”

  “What?”

  “You should definitely go for it. Nadya needs a man like you.”

  I stared at him, unblinking, for a few seconds. He laughed louder, tipping his head back and blowing a stream of smoke into the wind.

  “How did you know?” I asked.

  “It’s so fucking obvious. I knew it the second we brought you to her doorstep. You two vibrate like two tuning forks around each other.”

  He leaned his elbows on the bannister, watching Maximus’s army moving into formation to sweep the city since we’d decimated the central horde here.

  “It fits, though. You two.” He took another drag before flicking the cigarette into the wind. “Makes sense.”

  I didn’t ask, because I didn’t want to know. But then in typical Dommiel fashion, he barreled ahead anyway.

  “You have similar wounds, the two of you. You’d heal better together than you would apart.” He faced me and clapped me on the shoulder with an easy grin. “Besides, she wants you something fierce.”

  “I don’t know about that.”

  “You’re a bigger idiot than I thought then.”