And the only way to know for sure was to claim a mortal female, lie with her, offer her his soul, and hope that she held his other half inside of her. If she offered hers in return, boom. Bonded soulmates and the curse couldn’t touch him.
Simple, right? Ha. In his seven decades, he hadn’t even heard of one of his kind risking it.
Now, shifters knew their mates by scent and instinct and, in the case of the males, by the way their cock jumped to attention for the first time; that explained why so many mortals wore scent-reducer portion, just in case. Vampires? It came down to the blood, though they got off a little easier since they could technically make anyone their blooded mate after a certain amount of blood exchanges. It was rare, though, that they would settle for less than their fated brides unless they were desperate—or conniving. Shea Moonshadow, the witch who owned the apothecary down the street from Cam’s office, had almost been forced into a blood bond with a Nightwalker—a human-turned-vamp—who didn’t know how to take no for an answer… until Shea’s wolf shifter mate changed the Nightwalker’s mind for him by removing his head.
Cam wished he knew more about soulmates. Thanks to the curse, he didn’t know a single Othersider, angel, or demon who could explain what that mark on Avery’s skin meant aside from the warnings in the scroll. What about the pull he felt toward her. Was it coincidental? A lifetime of celibacy rearing its ugly head? Or something else entirely?
The books and scrolls were less than helpful. When it came to Othersiders mating humans, the answer was basically: don’t. Don’t sleep with them. Don’t fall in love. And, most importantly, don’t procreate.
Cam and each of his “brothers” had their previous incarnations to thank for that rule.
Millennia ago, during the first reign of the Fallen—when there was no reason to hide what they were—the sons of God mated with the daughters of mortal men, resulting in a mixed angelic race known as the Nephilim. The Nephilim were giant warriors, stronger than even the Fallen, and some of the first recorded paranormals. Goliath the giant was one. Lore said that a Nephilim was responsible for most ancient wars, and possibly a flood or two. Some believed that some were heroes, too, but not according to the curse.
Ever since, Othersiders were… encouraged not to seek out relationships with mortal women. When the outcome could be an army of half-human, half-angel warriors in this new age, Cam understood why his kind of Para were cursed the way they were.
No soul wanted to see a return of the Nephilim.
But that only happened if an Othersider chose any mortal female to breed with. If he found his soulmate, if he accepted her as such and gave her his soul in return, then the curse was broken. It was that simple, if simple was the right word to use when the odds of that happening was one in seven point eight billion. His spirit would entwine with hers, and while he would still be trapped on this side of the plane until he earned his halo or horns, a perpetual purgatory wouldn’t be so bad if he had his fated mate at his side.
But if he fell for just any human, then fell into bed with her, and she wasn’t his soulmate? The curse would come gunning for him. His wings would be stripped from his back, his ability to fly gone, his senses dulled as Cam was cursed to a human form and a human lifespan and a guaranteed place in actual Purgatory when he died a human death.
And that was if the down below didn’t send its team after him first...
Shit. From the way he was hemorrhaging feathers already, it looked like he was already being affected. And that was from a kiss. A simple, chaste kiss from a mortal female who hired him for a job, no more, no less. He was the one who turned it into something… more.
What had he been thinking?
Had he been thinking?
She explained it had been a ruse. Something to throw their pursuer off their tracks. Cam tried to buy that, but it was tough when he thought about the mark left behind on her skin, the imprint of her lush lips left in his memory, and the whisper of attraction that stretched between them.
The mark sealed it. Dina swore she’d keep searching until she could explain why a simple touch—a simple kiss—had created a mark where Cam had grabbed Avery’s hand, but Cam had to do something now before it got any worse.
There was only one thing he could do.
He’d taken the job. Against his better judgment, he refused to listen to Dina and he told Avery he’d help her. He couldn’t go back on his word. So while it would be an even bigger mistake to push this… whatever it was… he had going on with the mortal, he couldn’t just abandon her.
He’d tell her that he was sorry, that something came up and he couldn’t continue searching for her sister but, as a consolation prize, he’d put her in touch with some soul he trusted to help her.
Othersiders didn’t have territory, not like vamps and shifters did. However, when too many of his kind lived close together, their energy clashed. Hurricanes, tornados, black-outs… they all became the norm until someone moved on. Right now, Cam was the only Othersider in Grayson and its suburbs. Neztach was the closest; he staked land on the mountains more than an hour away, right on the edge of pack land.
And then there was Raphael.
Even Cam didn’t know exactly where Raphael lived. Sometimes when Cam was flying late at night, he could feel the fringe of Raphael’s power rubbing against his so he knew he lingered near enough by. If Dina contacted Peter, Raphael’s auditor, he could easily meet with the other Fallen, but it would have to be in Grayson.
Raphael had his own reasons for hiding away. Aside from being one of the most well-known of a hidden race—as well as one of the most misunderstood—Raphael was one of the rare Fallen who was reborn to his current existence with white wings.
Cam paused.
Could he do it? Could he introduce Avery to the Othersider healer with his kind heart, soft touch, and his white wings?
Most of his kind were loners. It had served them well for centuries, and so many found it easier to stick with their auditors instead of fully integrating with a mixed human-Para society. Like the auditors and their network, though, Cam could make contact with any number of local Othersiders and know that they would help him. His contacts. Raphael was at the top of the list. If he asked him to use his abilities—following the psychic trail, sensing what might have happened to Heather Hayes, eventually tracking her down while checking in with Azrael—he had no doubt that Raphael would do it if only because Cam asked.
Would Avery look at Raphael with the same level of suspicion and amazement? Or would she take one look at his pristine, fluffy white wings and decide that they were more beautiful than his and forget all about Cam?
Cam was familiar with jealousy. Envy, after all, was another of the seven deadly sins. To covet broke one of the ten commandments. Before now, he’d only every wanted one thing: his halo. Begrudging any of his brethren who earned one before him was another facet of the darkness inside of him, but Cam never felt jealous over anything else.
But that was before now.
He’d been ready to call Dina to him, to ask her to arrange the meet with Raphael when a vision of Avery clinging tightly to him, his white wings spread behind him as he flew with her just popped in his head. The jealousy that followed was swift and brutal. He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t hand his mortal off to another male, especially an Othersider. He’d rather lose every damned feather he had.
Cam wasn’t thinking rationally. He was beginning to admit that he hadn’t had a single fucking rational thought since the moment he looked in Avery’s eyes and what if became a constant refrain that, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t drown out.
His brain took a backseat to his instincts. Not for the first time in recent days, he snatched his jacket, stormed from his office, and raced up the stairs. He took them two at a time, one floor, then the next, before he burst out onto the rooftop.
It was dark. Late. There was a chill in the air that did nothing to cool him down.
Cam released his wings with a grunt. Hands cl
enched at his side, he pushed off of the roof, taking flight. The wind tickled beneath his feathers. It was dark out, cool, and the stars twinkled just out of reach.
He didn’t bother camouflaging against the night’s sky.
11
Like a Ken doll
In the last week, Cam had taken the same flight so many times, he could do it with his eyes closed.
It wasn’t only the repeated trips that made it so easy to follow. All he had to do was think of Avery and it was like he was hooked on a line. A persistent tug told him where to go as she unwittingly reeled him in.
He wasn’t that much of a creeper. Though he flew right to her apartment, he’d never once gone inside. Instead, he landed on her rooftop and proceeded to perfect his gargoyle act. Wings folded behind him, he perched on the edge on her building, looking out over Spring Valley while reveling in the sense that Avery was safe below him.
Over the last few nights, he’d also discovered that being this close made it easy for her to fall sway to his suggestions. She needed to take care of herself, and he needed to be sure that she wasn’t killing herself with worry. So he sent down a reminder to eat, and he encouraged her to sleep while he kept watch over the building.
He couldn’t stop himself. As idyllic and sweet as Spring Valley seemed from the outside, Cam sensed something sinister. At first, he thought it was the echo of the broken shifter that had his skin crawling. Nope. It was more than that. Heather Hayes had been gone for more than a week and a half, her trace fading with every day, but the darkness hanging over the human-only community only seemed to grow.
At least, that was how he explained his inability to stay away.
He couldn’t tell her that he was there. On the one hand, even Cam knew he was acting like a stalker. The Avery he thought he knew by now would never put up with that shit. Then there was her note. She all but ordered him out of Spring Valley. Too bad Cam took that as part-challenge, part-sign that she was as worried about him as he was her.
Only one of them was a Para, though. Let the mortals try to keep him from his client. He could protect himself, and he would protect Avery—even if he didn’t want to look too closely at his reasons why.
He never stayed too long. Dina was used to Cam taken nighttime flights so as long as he returned before it was too late, she didn’t ask questions. He was sure she knew exactly what he was doing, but his auditor also knew when to pick her battles. As he’d proved from day one, his job with Avery wasn’t one that Dina would win.
As soon as Cam got comfortable in his newly familiar perch, he pulled on his jacket and exhaled. Being this close to the mortal calmed him while also cementing the decision he arrived at—again—during his recent flight. He was going to stick this out to the end and hope that, by the time he helped reunite Avery with her sister, he was ready to move on.
Cam lost track of how long he was sitting outside, the night wind rustling through his hair as he stayed motionless on the edge of the roof. He enjoyed the quiet, feeling so much more relaxed than before.
When his back started to itch, he wondered if it was time to spread his wings and prepare for the return flight back to Grayson. Then he felt a pull low in his gut a few seconds before he picked up on the soft sound of someone shuffling across the rooftop toward him.
He wasn’t alone any longer.
His back went ramrod straight. It was too late to launch, since he was obviously already caught. He didn’t even need the soft incredulous voice floating behind him to know who was there.
“Cam? I… is that you?”
Slowly, he turned so that he was facing Avery. Her long, light brown hair was sleep tousled, falling in waves down her back. Beneath the hoodie she’d thrown on, he saw the hem of her oversized white t-shirt, the black sweatpants hanging on her slender hips. And the bunny slippers. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that his skeptical yet tenacious mortal wore a pair of weathered bunny slippers.
Could he convince her that he was a figment of her imagination? That she’d sleepwalked onto her rooftop, or that this was all a dream?
She looked sleepy—a huge improvement over her exhaustion from last Wednesday—but the gleam in her gorgeous eyes was sharp. Yeah. She wasn’t going to buy any of that.
Cam hopped down from his perch. “Hey, Avery.”
“What are you doing here?”
It was déjà vu all over again. Avery stumbling upon him when he least expected it, catching him off guard before demanding to know why he was there. And, like before, Cam couldn’t help but wonder the same exact thing.
“I thought I felt something this way, like I did at Mickey’s,” he said. Technically the truth. He felt a pull toward Avery that he’d given up on fighting. “I didn’t have anything better to do.” Still the truth. “I was just about to get going, though.” Lie. How he didn’t choke on that whopper, he’d never know. “I hope I didn’t disturb you.”
Avery eyed him closely. For a second, Cam thought she’d call him out on his bullshit, but then she shrugged. “You didn’t. I guess we’re both on edge, ‘cause I thought I felt something, too.”
Cam just about stopped breathing. “You did?”
“Yeah. I can’t really explain it, but I was sitting downstairs, trying to figure out where I could look next for Heather when something told me to come up here. I do that sometimes. It’s nice to get the fresh air, and the roof’s usually empty at night. That’s why I was so surprised to see someone else up here.”
“It’s easier for me to find a landing spot up high,” Cam said, answering her unasked question. “I was gonna stop in and say ‘hi’ if I really thought I found something, but I wasn’t sure dropping down in front of your apartment building was a good idea after your warning not to come to Spring Valley.”
“So no one saw you?”
He shook his head. “Just you.”
“And it’s dark up here.” There was only one spotlight in the corner. Cam’s Othersider vision was impressive, but he doubted a mortal would see anything more than a silhouette of a male and a female on the roof. “None of my neighbors will know you’re here.”
Cam didn’t know what to say to that. Figuring a shrug was a safe bet, he lifted his shoulders, let them fall.
Avery tucked her hair behind her ear. “You can stay a little longer. I mean, if you want to. You flew all the way here already. We could talk.”
“Do you want to talk, Avery?”
She nodded. “Actually, yes. About yesterday—”
He should've known this was coming. Did he really think he could pretend that it didn’t happen? Cam had been ready to dump Avery on Raphael before he’d realized that he couldn’t, but that didn’t mean last night hadn’t happened.
He went still. “You mean the alley.”
“What? Oh. Actually, no—”
“I shouldn’t have rushed you out of there like that,” Cam blurted out. He’d been having the same thought ever since he made basically shoved her toward her car so he could talk to Dina. “You told me why you did that, but… I’ve never kissed anyone before.”
Whatever Avery was going to say, Cam’s confession stole the words right out of her mouth. She gaped up at him. “You’re kidding me.”
He shook his head.
“But why? You’re so—” She closed her mouth so quickly, he could hear her teeth click. “Never mind.”
Cam knew better than to push. Did that stop him?
Nope.
“I’m so what?”
Avery swallowed. For a second, he thought she would refuse to answer. And then, her cheeks turning red, she told him, “You’re so hot. I would’ve thought girls would be lining up to kiss you.”
“I’m an Othersider,” he reminded her.
He thought she understood. For reasons he didn’t want to dwell on, Cam hadn’t mentioned the curse to Avery, but she knew enough about paranormals, even confession her internet research, he thought she understood that he couldn’t even risk kissing a mortal female
if he didn’t want to trigger the curse.
And then she gasped, hands flying to cover her face. He could sense heat coming off of her. It wasn’t anything like the lust that poured off of the female from the nail salon. It wasn’t Avery’s temper, either.
No. This was pure embarrassment.
“Avery?”
“I feel like such an idiot! I should’ve known better. I saw Dogma. You look and act so much like a guy, I forgot that you’re an angel—”
“Othersider,” he corrected.
“Whatever. You’re like a Ken doll down there, aren’t you?”
Cam blinked. “I’m sorry. A what?”
Avery pointed at his crotch. “A Ken doll. Like Barbie and Ken. They don’t have any genitalia. It’s just… empty. Like the angels in Dogma.”
“Wait a second.” Cam couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Are you asking me if I have a cock?”
The heat in her dusky cheeks flared, turning her tanned skin a rosy red. “Forget I asked.”
As if that was going to happen. He might be constrained by his curse and his hope for the future, but Cam was still male. Pride mingled with lust, the darkness welling up inside of him. Forget she asked?
No fucking way.
In flight, Othersiders were fast. At that moment, Cam tapped into that speed. One second, he was a few feet away from his mortal; the next, he was standing before her, bristling with some unfamiliar emotion.
He was still gentle as he took her hand. Fighting against this strange new impulse, Cam waited a beat and, when she didn’t try to yank it back, he guided her toward the bulge in his jeans. He didn’t hide what he was doing. Avery could’ve pulled away at any moment. He could sense her confusion giving way to surprise—but she never struggled. Never said no.
Cam took it as a yes.
As soon as he brushed the back of her hand against his erection, he let go of her, having made his point. He knew better than to force her to fondle him—just like he knew better than to tempt himself by shoving his cock into her hand—but he couldn’t let her think that she didn’t affect him like this when she was the first woman in his long existence that honestly had.
True Angel: a Fallen Angel romance (Curse of the Othersiders Book 1) Page 10
