The space between them seemed to disappear as she moved closer until she stood just inches away from him. Her soft breaths filled the silence, her full lips parted and pink. The tip of her tongue swept across them, leaving a trail of moisture that lured him closer still.
Luther couldn’t remember the last time he’d kissed a woman. Not in this century, that was for sure.
He shut his eyes against temptation. Thana was his Seal host, his to protect. He had enough on his plate with his mission and his work. He couldn’t allow any more complications.
He couldn’t get romantically involved with her.
He had to maintain his distance.
No matter how impossible that seemed.
No matter how badly he wanted her.
2
The moment Luther set foot back in his apartment and closed the door, a bright shaft of light encased him. His Scion mark branded into his lower abdomen began to glow. Perfect. Just what he needed now, a summons to the heavenly realms. A vortex of swirling rainbow light opened up behind him and before he could blink he was sucked into a long tunnel of psychedelic brilliance carrying him higher and higher through the atmosphere then out into space. Time warped and then the light faded as quickly as it had appeared, leaving him standing alone in a huge marble foyer.
Luther straightened and looked down, annoyed to find he was still wearing his PJ pants. Divinity could have at least allowed him to change before summoning him here.
He walked forward down the hall and into what most mortals would consider a waiting room. The pale furniture melted into the white walls and floors, making them difficult to distinguish, and for once the room was empty. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been summoned to the Heavenly realms and it had been this quiet. Normally his fellow Scion were here on some business or another or reporting on missions themselves.
Putting it down to the late hour, he strode toward the white double doors at the opposite end of the room, passing the empty reception desk and armchairs.
He pushed the heavy doors open, revealing the equally white room beyond.
It appeared much like a human court, only everything was white. The benches where those awaiting judgment would sit, the barrier between them and the area where Divinity presided so bright it made him wonder for the umpteenth time why everything was so irritatingly pale in Heaven.
He looked down at his pants.
At least those were still blue.
“Report, Luther.”
He looked up to find Xander, their Scion commander waiting for him. Xan looked stoic as usual, his dark hair immaculate and his green eyes icy as he stared at Luther with a critical gaze. Luther strolled toward him, more to annoy the man than anything. Xan needed to loosen up and have a bit of fun, in Luther’s opinion. He opened the white gate and stood before his commander. Two of the archangels appeared on either side of Xander, their gold tipped wings stretching wide on either side of them. They were there to oversee his report and ensure they followed the rules. Sneaky bastards. Luther didn’t trust them. The black-haired one on the left wore white armor edged with gold and had pure white wings, the sign of a mediator and intervention specialist. The one on the right had white-blond hair and wore black armor edged with gold, the sign of those affiliated with death.
The Scion wore no armor and had no wings, though they were immortal, like the angels. The Scion were guardians, responsible for protecting those humans Divinity deemed worthy. Currently, each of the seven Scion had each been assigned to protect one of the human hosts of the seven seals of the Apocalypse. Their arch-enemy, the Nephilim had recently begun an attack on the seals for the sole purpose of bringing on the end of all things. It was the Scion’s sworn duty to keep that from happening.
“Why am I here?” Luther said without a trace of fear in his voice.
He wasn’t sure what punishment for striking an innocent would entail, but it couldn’t be any worse than what he had already suffered because of his sins.
“That is yet to be determined. We are gathered here to review your actions tonight. We withheld punishment in order to see if your actions engendered a positive emotional response that may forge a stronger connection between yourself and your mortal Seal host.”
Luther frowned. “And why is there need for a connection?”
Xander didn’t hesitate. “So that she might trust you.”
Leaning forward, Luther looked into Xan’s cold eyes, ignoring the archangels entirely. He wanted to find the truth, answers to the thousand questions he’d asked in the past, but had received no response for, eager to spot some guidance. “And why must she trust me?”
Xan’s expression darkened. “Enough questions, Luther. Report.”
He ground his teeth. Always the same response whenever he pushed them to elaborate on his mission. He hated being left in the dark about everything almost as much as he despised having to live in the mortal realm.
“There was a problem with an ex-lover of the female’s. He was causing her fear and emotional harm. He was also causing me to lose sleep. I took it upon myself to forcibly remove him from the premises and deter him from attempting a repeat performance.”
“Because you were tired?” Xan didn’t look impressed and neither did the archangels.
“No, so that the female may not come to physical harm.”
“You had reason to believe that this male might violently toward her?”
“She was afraid. I have watched her for thirty-one years. Never once have I witnessed her this afraid. Seeing the man wanted to hurt her, I ensured he’d leave her alone.”
“Did the man say anything in his defense?”
Luther frowned. Had he? He had accused Thana of a lot of things, all of them false. Nothing the man had said had held any credit.
“No. He was intent on harming her and laying false accusations at her door.”
“So you struck him?”
“No!” Luther clenched his fists. “That’s not what happened. He attempted to hit me first.”
“Why?”
Anger simmered through Luther’s bloodstream. Xan was already aware of what had occurred tonight. Making him spell it out in front of these two pompous asses was unnecessary. If they believed him attracted to his Seal’s host, then he would have to disappoint them.
“I was accused of being her lover. The man decided to… retaliate… in order to teach both myself and the female a lesson.”
“So you struck him?” Xan repeated, this time arching a sardonic brow.
“I defended myself and the female, as per my orders. I eliminated a threat to her.”
“And was the female attracted to you, as this man believed?”
Luther stared blankly at Xander, mind working furiously back over tonight’s events.
Thana had certainly looked upon him with desire darkening her eyes, her gaze lingering on his bare torso more than once. She’d been gentle as she’d bandaged his hand and had blushed several times during their talk in the aftermath of the event. He had little experience of females and couldn’t easily conclude what her reaction had meant, but it had seemed positive.
“I’m not sure.” The words croaked from Luther’s dry throat. His answer wasn’t entirely true. He wasn’t certain exactly why, but the telltale signs of attraction had been there, yes.
“Then we shall not punish you.”
Luther frowned again. “Why not?”
“Because we require this female be attracted to you in order to form a stronger bond.” Xander’s tone held an undercurrent of amusement, though his expression remained stony. “You will return to Earth and continue with your mission as planned.”
“How long exactly will this last?” Luther wasn’t giving up this time. Things were becoming critical on Earth with the Nephilim and his desire to complete his duty there had increased a hundredfold tonight with Thana, and a million now as he stood before his commander and these two suspicious angels. He’d not forgotten that it had been one of the
archangels who’d betrayed the Scion to the Nephilim in the first place, turned his back on Heaven and aligned himself with the enemy, thereby creating this entire mess.
No. He did not want to speak to these abominations. He did not want Thana to be attracted to him, and he certainly did not like the idea of using that as a means of bringing them closer together. He needed to end this and return to Heaven. It was his heart’s desire.
Except his heart seemed to have other ideas, as an image of Thana flickered across his mind—her standing there tonight, wearing that plum-colored shimmering garment that had inflamed his desire. He shoved the vision away and stared at his superior.
“When will it end?” Luther all but spat the question again.
Xan sat back and crossed his muscular arms over his chest. “When your mission is complete.”
“What must I do to achieve that?”
“Be patient. All will be revealed in time.”
“Time.” Luther gripped the edge of the white table in front of him, digging his fingers into the wood so hard his bruised knuckles burned fiercely. “It’s always the same. I tire of this mission. I demand to know when it will end!”
Xander stood and the air in the room grew heavy, the light shifting from white to gray. “It will end when it ends! This is your duty, Scion, and you will obey my orders.”
Luther clenched his teeth and lowered his gaze, staring at his hands where they trembled against the tabletop, a visible sign of the pressure bearing down on his body. The hot thick air in the room stuck in his throat and stole the breath from his lungs, leaving him wheezing.
His mind turned foggy, thoughts swimming in and out of focus, and he blinked several times, fighting for consciousness. His heavy limbs shook, bones aching as darkness descended on him, the power of his commander too intense to withstand.
A moment later it lifted, the room brightening once more, and Luther sucked in a much-needed breath. His limbs continued to shake, and he clung fiercely to the table edge to remain standing as his knees threatened to buckle.
He cursed under his breath. He shouldn’t have lost his calm. He never snapped like this, but the pressure of living in the mortal realm, of having to endure being so close to Thana, was getting to him. He’d waited over thirty years for this mission to end and always received the same answer to his question. It was his duty. He must obey.
His loyalty was to Divinity, but when Heaven withheld information from him, when he was kept in the dark and expected to blindly obey, he found his faith wavering. He only wanted answers.
He had tried countless times and in countless different ways to discover the truth, but each time had been told the same thing—his duty was to watch over Thana until his mission was done. The nature of that mission or the length of time it would take to complete had never been disclosed. Each time he returned to Heaven to report, he asked the same questions and was given the same answers.
It wasn’t necessary for him to know such information.
It was only necessary for him to obey orders.
Every time he left, he obeyed. He also hated his mission a little more.
The muscles between his shoulder blades knotted tighter.
“Report back to us if anything happens. It should not be long now, Luther. Your destiny awaits,” Xander said, dismissing him.
Before Luther could ask what that meant, another vortex engulfed him. When it receded, he was back in his apartment.
He looked at the clock on the wall and frowned at the time. Almost six. He rubbed his eyes and locked the front door, then trudged wearily across the living room toward the bedroom, stifling a yawn. Luther flopped down on his back on his double bed, enjoying the cool of the covers against the bare skin of his back and arms. A gentle breeze drifted in through the open window now, washing over his head and shoulders, bringing with it the scent of dawn and carrying away some of his irritation. He stared at the ceiling, watching the room brighten with the rising of the sun, his mind racing about his mission.
Xander had deftly managed to deflect his questions about his destiny and Thana.
Until tonight, there’d only been one previous incident that had involved him being summoned from earth and back to the heavenly realms to report in. It had been almost thirteen years prior and shortly after he’d come to the mortal realm to oversee Thana as she’d moved into her apartment here in New Orleans at the age of eighteen. Honestly, he wasn’t sure what had happened then either, since Xander had conveniently deflected all of his questions then as well, about Thana and his mission and his so-called destiny. The guy was ancient, created almost six thousand years ago, though he appeared no older than Luther.
Luther had been created two thousand years ago and couldn’t recall ever being anything but a Scion. Some of the angels changed position during their long lifetimes—from say guardian to deliverer to demon hunter to warrior—but the Scion remained the same forever.
If he did have a destiny, that seemed to be it.
Thana was his reason for existence, his duty was to keep her safe. But he could do that as well from his heavenly quarters as he could here on Earth. And what was all that talk about his mission ending once an “event” occurred? The Seals passed from one human host to the next upon death. The Scion’s loyalty then transferred as well. It was the way it had always been from time immemorial. Destiny played no part in that either.
It all made no sense.
Luther covered his eyes with his arm and sighed, contemplating what the future held for him and for Thana.
Heaven hadn’t punished him for punching the mortal.
His actions tonight had engendered a positive emotional response in Thana.
He didn’t like the sound of that or what Xander had implied.
Head titled to the right, he stared at the wall that separated his apartment from Thana’s. He couldn’t feel her in the bedroom, which meant she was sleeping on the couch, too far away for him to easily sense.
Was she attracted to him?
If she was, could he bring himself to use that against her and forge the connection between them Xander had mentioned?
He wanted his mission to end.
But he wasn’t sure he was willing to pay the price Heaven placed on it.
Luther had always obeyed his orders and did all in his power to remain a faithful and loyal Scion for Divinity, but he was also a man of principles who followed a code of honor and using Thana’s feelings against her was wrong. As little as he cared about mortals, he couldn’t ensnare her in such a way or gain her trust through manipulation.
He would gain her trust and connect with her, but not as Xander had ordered.
He would do so in a mortal way.
He just had to figure out what that entailed.
This was going to take some research.
3
Luther was still pondering how to gain Thana’s trust the next evening as he walked back toward his apartment building near the Algiers Point neighborhood in New Orleans. The street wasn’t affluent or run-down. It sat somewhere in the middle and was far nicer than the first area Thana had lived in when she had moved out of her parents’ house.
This was a safe area, full of mortals who worked blue collars jobs and were paid well enough to live close to the French Quarter. Cafés, restaurants and shops lined the busy street, mortals coming and going as they went about their business. It was Saturday and he’d been walking around since noon because of the heat, passing the entire day wandering the city, watching mortals as they interacted with each other. The local park had produced the most interesting results. The bright summer’s day had drawn many couples, both long-term and aspiring, into the lush green park, where they’d sat on blankets and talked, amongst more carnal things.
He’d sat in a large oak tree, invisible to human eyes and shaded from the heat by the thick leafy canopy, surveying them with interest. Given the number of couples kissing or looking as though they were going to kiss if the opportunity arose, a p
icnic seemed too intimate for his mission with Thana. His observations had, however, given him some ideas about how to gain her trust, although he wasn’t sure if that was necessary either. Thana had allowed him into her home last night, so she must trust him on some level already, he concluded. He’d also protected her from her ex-lover, proving his ability and strength. Based on those assumptions, when the time came, she might do whatever he asked.
His only remaining wish was to know what he would during the mysterious event they were heading toward. If he knew what the future held, if Xander would give him more information, then perhaps he would be better prepared to deal with it and complete his mission. There had to be a reason he wasn’t privy to the plans and in the end, it didn’t matter anyway. His sworn Scion duty was to obey Divinity’s orders without question, regardless of what they entailed. Luther sighed. Perhaps if he did well with this, his mission here on Earth would finally end and he could be free of the mortals.
“Hi.”
Luther looked up, surprised to find he was back at the old redbrick apartment building.
Thana stood before him, hand raised in greeting, a smile on her face.
“Didn’t mean to startle you. You seem a little out of it.” She bit her lip. “Don’t tell me it’s lack of sleep. I feel terrible about last night.”
He shook his head, scrubbing a hand over his face.
She winced. “Damn. It is because of last night, isn’t it? Sorry.”
Entranced, Luther stared at her soft pink lips as if seeing them for the first time. The last rays of sunlight shone down on her, highlighting her shoulder-length dark curls and warming her light-brown skin almost as much as her blush. She was radiant, the trace of shyness in her eyes as she avoided his gaze only adding to her allure.
He’d watched her for many years. In the past, she’d always been so confident which left him to wonder why his Thana was acting so feminine and shy now. Her obsidian-dark eyes briefly met his then dropped to the toes of her black sandals that matched the black leather purse she clutched over her shoulder.
Scion's Redemption Page 2
