It was her love for Einar, and his love for her, and the memory of their time together that would always live in her heart, that gave her the strength to continue.
It made her fearless.
She jumped and screamed when someone grabbed her from behind, their arms tight bands of steel across her chest, pinning hers to her sides. She kicked and struggled as they lifted her feet off the ground and managed to reach the knife she had sheathed against her right hip.
Taylor raised it as her attacker twisted her in their arms to face them and stopped just short of stabbing his shoulder.
She blinked.
Her heart thundered painfully in her throat.
Reality slowly sunk in and she frowned.
“Where the hell have you been?” She cuffed him across the side of the head.
Hard.
He set her down, glaring at her as he rubbed his right temple.
“Hardly the welcome I had expected.” Einar’s deep voice made her insides flip and tremble but she refused to let it affect her. Not even his charming smile was going to weaken her this time. “Where’s my kiss?”
It wreaked havoc on her as it curled his sensual lips. Utterly destroyed her and tore down all her defences.
Damn him.
Was it always going to be like this? Was she always going to be little more than a moon-eyed girl around him? Just as she had found her strength again too.
His smile widened and he was devastating in his handsomeness as banked heat filled his earthy eyes and beckoned her.
She cursed again when she found herself compelled to leap into his arms and kiss him.
To Hell with it.
She had already made a fool of herself by screaming at the top of the lungs when he had grabbed her. She wasn’t going to make herself look any weaker than she already did if she wrapped him in her arms and kissed him into oblivion just as she wanted to.
She knocked the smile off his face by throwing herself at him.
He caught her, his strong arms wrapping tightly around her waist, and she crushed his lips with a kiss so fierce that she could barely breathe. Damn, it felt good to be back in his arms again and to feel all his love for her as he kissed her.
She slowed down and let him take the lead, loving the way his tongue gently traced hers and their lips softly played against each other.
Her insides lightened, the warmth of her emotions chasing away the chill of the night and all the ones that had come before this moment.
Taylor broke the kiss and held him, pressing her cheek to his as those lonely nights caught up with her. “You didn’t come back.”
He sighed and kissed her jaw, her neck, and then his grip on her tightened, his hands splayed out against her back, and she felt sure he would never let her go again.
“I am here now. I am sorry it took me so long.” The sound of his voice was heavenly, whispered softly in the shell of her ear, his breath as teasing as his kiss had been.
She didn’t want to let him go. Fear that he would disappear again washed through her and she held him closer, clinging to his dark shirt.
Shirt?
She frowned and looked down at his back.
No wings.
He wasn’t wearing his armour either.
She wriggled so much that he released her, setting her back down on the wet grass. She cast her gaze over him, frowning all the while. He was dressed as a mortal, wearing black jeans and a shirt, and black boots.
Why was he dressed as a mortal?
Her eyes widened.
Tears filled them when she realised why he no longer looked like an angel. She couldn’t bring herself to believe that he had done such a thing, tried to convince herself that she was reading into his appearance and he was just undercover as a mortal, but the hurt in his eyes said that her suspicion was correct.
“They kicked you out because of me.” Those words fell like lead in the darkness, slamming into the earth and shaking the tears from her eyes.
She couldn’t breathe as she looked at him, saw all the pain just beneath the surface, and knew it was because of her. She had never wanted to hurt him.
Taylor hated everyone in Heaven and the thought that they had taken Einar’s wings from him.
She hated herself.
“No,” Einar husked and she drew in a sharp shaky breath when he touched her cheek.
His fingers caressed it and then he flattened his palm against it and raised her head as though he wanted to keep her eyes on his. His hand was warm against her face and she brought hers up and covered it, holding it there.
He smiled and she saw all the love in it and in his eyes, and watched as all the pain they held disappeared.
His voice dropped to a whisper. “They gave me a choice, Taylor. Either I gave you up or I gave up my wings.”
She leaned into his touch, the beauty of what he had done for her stealing her voice and her heart, making it difficult to breathe as her love for him overwhelmed her, beating in every fibre of her being, running in her veins like blood and filling her with peace and happiness.
She didn’t know the words to thank him for making such a great sacrifice for her sake and the sake of their love. She wasn’t sure there were any that were adequate enough, so all she could do was show him what this meant to her.
What he meant to her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck again and held him, her eyes closing and her heart swelling. His arms encircled her waist and he sighed against her neck, holding her against his broad chest.
“You didn’t have to,” she whispered and kissed his ear.
She threaded her fingers into his mousy short ponytail and then stroked his neck, savouring the warmth of him against her, hoping this would last forever.
Would he regret what he had done one day?
She had met fallen angels and knew how difficult it was for them to leave the world they had been born into and join the mortal one they had once protected. It was going to be a hard transition for Einar but she would be there every step of the way, giving her love to him and supporting him, forever. She would never stop thanking him for what he had done for her, for them, so they could be together.
“I did.” He rubbed his cheek against hers and then took hold of her waist and pushed her back. He smiled into her eyes and brushed his thumb across her jaw. The affection in his gaze brought a blush to her cheeks. No one had ever looked at her with so much love before. “I had to, because I could not bear to be away from you and to see you suffering.”
Had he been watching over her?
She couldn’t decide which was worse—being alone and not knowing if they would ever see each other again, or being able to see her love and not being able to go to them.
Taylor kissed him, tasting him on her lips and breathing him in. Her warrior angel. They had been through so much together but she had never imagined it would turn out this way.
“You fell for me.” Her eyes met his again.
His smile widened. “I fell for you in more than one way. I love you, Taylor.”
She smiled from ear to ear as he lifted her off the ground, his hands on her backside. It didn’t matter if she looked like a moon-eyed girl right now. No one was watching and the man that she was crazy about had just told her that he loved her.
Her.
A demon.
And she loved him.
An angel.
Or at least an ex-angel.
She kissed his cheek, pressed her hands against his broad shoulders, and looked down into his eyes.
“I love you.” Her voice shook with those words. Einar smiled up at her. He had never looked as handsome as he did now, with his gaze on her and full of affection. She shook her head, her eyebrows furrowing. “But I never wanted it to come to this.”
His smile held. “I know, but it was my choice, Taylor, and I will never regret it. I will never regret anything when it comes to you.”
He kissed her again, brief and sweet, and she melted
against him. She wanted more but couldn’t shake the questions bubbling up inside her.
“What will you do now?” she murmured against his lips.
He broke away from her, his left eyebrow arching, and set her back on her feet.
So she was being practical when he was giving her those ‘come get me’ eyes that he had used so often on her, but they were in the middle of a cemetery and it was hardly the weather for making love in the open.
That would have to wait until she got him back to her place.
Right now, she wanted to stay in his arms and bask in his beauty and the fact he had come back to her.
“I have been watching you. You look as though you could use a hand keeping the demons in line.” He shot her a cheeky grin as she frowned at him for questioning her skill in the hunting department. “Plus… I promised some old friends I would help them with a problem. Our first job together, all lined up. What do you know about witches?”
“They’re not my specialty.” She didn’t miss the look in his eyes that said he was serious about them working together, and that this mission in particular was important to him. A job for old friends. “Is this for some angels?”
She wasn’t sure she was ready to work with more angels, but she would do it for him.
He pulled a face. “Sort of… I was asked by them, but it’s for someone else… someone we had thought was lost to us. It will not be easy.”
She liked the sound of that even less. “Why won’t it be easy?”
“The angel serves Hell now.”
Those words fell on her like boulders, one after the other, and it took her a moment to shake the sudden bout of nerves that gripped her and free her of its hold.
She must have visibly tensed, because Einar frowned at her.
“You know demonic angels?” His dark gaze pierced hers.
She shrugged stiffly. “Don’t ask.”
When he looked as if he was going to, she silenced him with a kiss, savouring the way he instantly reacted, drawing her into his arms and holding her close to him as his mouth moved against hers. Damn, she had missed him too, wasn’t sure she would be able to kiss him without it swiftly turning desperate for at least a few weeks.
“So, we will find this witch, help Rook and then we will find the next job. I am sure many would be happy to hire us as a team and we could hunt demons in the city whenever we do not have paying work.” He was starting to sound like a mercenary.
She had never taken more than the occasional paying job, but he looked as if he was going to try to get them lined up one after the other, a steady income to go with a steady flow of dead demons in his wake. She supposed it shouldn’t surprise her. He was a hunter angel after all.
She frowned.
Had been a hunter angel.
That hit her hard all over again.
“But you’re mortal. You can’t fight beside me. I won’t risk you.” It wasn’t going to happen. Not again. She had been terrified when they had fought the demon, when he had been gravely injured and had looked close to death. He probably wasn’t as vulnerable to demon toxin anymore, but he could be killed. She shook her head. “Demons are strong… you know that. Helping your friends is one thing… but hunting for a living… Einar—”
He pressed a finger to her lips.
“I am not mortal. I am fallen. I still have my powers, haven’t forgotten how to use weapons or lost any of my impressive skills.” He cracked a grin that had her heart fluttering and she glared at him to counter it, sure he had heard the effect he had on her when his dark eyes gained a twinkle. “I am still immortal… as strong as I used to be… but my status as an angel has been revoked, and they took my wings with it.”
“Does that mean that there’s a chance you can get them back? If you left me, would they reinstate your wings and make you an angel again?” She would do anything to help him regain them, even sacrifice her love for him and the future she had dreamed about. She would go through that pain to stop his suffering.
“Do not speak that way,” Einar whispered and stroked her cheek, his gaze holding hers.
He hesitated.
She felt it in his touch and she frowned.
What wasn’t he telling her?
He stared at the sky, as he had done the night he had received orders from Heaven.
Were they still speaking to him? Why would they speak to a fallen angel?
When his eyes dropped to hers again, he sighed. “I do not care if I never become an angel again. If my wings remain forever lost, I will not grieve, because I have you in my life. You are my everything, Taylor. The only thing I need.”
“But,” she said, sure that he was building towards confessing something important, and he frowned at her, a confused crinkle forming between his eyebrows. She pointed to the stars. “They’re speaking to you. You had that funny distant look in your eyes that you get when there are voices in your head... so tell me what they’re saying.”
He sighed again. “There is a way for me to regain my wings, and it requires your help.”
Other than leaving him, she wasn’t sure what help she could be. She was a demon. It wasn’t as though that was going to change, and she was certain that until it did, Heaven wasn’t going to give Einar his wings back.
“I would prefer to discuss this somewhere more comfortable... say... in bed after we have become reacquainted, but you seem intent on questioning me here.” Einar’s expression turned pensive and serious. “Whether you agree or disagree, I will always love you. I need you to know that I am not going to ask you to do as Heaven desires. It does not matter to me whether they see you as demon or human. It only matters how I see you, and that I love you, and that you are mine.”
“What do you mean, see me as demon or human?” Taylor frowned and looked up at the sky.
It wasn’t possible that Heaven would see her as anything but demon. Black blood flowed in her veins as far as they were concerned, surely? She wasn’t human.
“There is some debate in Heaven about your status. Hell has you recorded as demon at birth and Heaven has you recorded as human. They are arguing about it and have been since shortly before we were called to them. For now, Heaven’s clerics are siding with Hell against us, but Heaven’s Court has said that it will take into account that you were originally registered with Heaven as human and also your activity as a demon hunter. If you continue with your mission to protect humans from demons, they may confirm your status as a human.”
“They’re willing to overlook my demon blood?” She couldn’t believe it.
Had Einar argued her case in court?
He had said that he didn’t care whether Heaven saw her as human or demon, and she believed him. She just didn’t believe that Heaven felt the same, but she was willing to do whatever it took to convince them that she was good, so Einar would regain his status.
“You do not have to do as they ask, Taylor. You have nothing to prove to them, or to anyone. I know who you are. I have seen it with my own eyes.” He framed her face with his hands and stared down into her eyes, his filled with the honesty and love she was coming to adore seeing in them. “While there is a part of you who is demon, you have the heart and soul of a human, and have been working hard to keep mortals safe. Your courage and strength deserves recognition in Heaven without you needing to play their game. You have done your fellow humans a great service by risking your life to protect them.”
Taylor had never really thought about her life like that. Hunting the bad demons, the ones who wanted to harm other demons and mortals, was just something that she had always felt she needed to do. She had never considered that it would ever curry her favour with the boss upstairs. She had always thought that everyone would see her as a demon regardless of what she did.
She stared into Einar’s eyes.
Only he had never seen her as a demon.
He had told her once that she was just Taylor.
He didn’t care about her demon or human blood. All he care
d about was her.
Einar took hold of her hands, his fingers pressing into her palms. He stared down at them and pain cracked his voice when he spoke. “Do not feel you need to help me get my wings back, Taylor. It is a cruel game they are playing with you, and I do not care for it. I should never have tried to argue your case to them. It was wrong of me. I only wanted them to see that you had assisted me and that a true demon would never have done such a thing. I did not expect them to state that if you were truly human, you would protect your kind against the demons, and to offer me a choice. I either remained an angel and watched over you from above, with the chance that one day you would satisfy Heaven and they would decide you were human and we could be together... or I surrendered my wings and came to you.”
“And you came to me.” It touched her deeply, had her heart filling with love for him all over again, birthing a need to hold him and kiss him breathless.
“Not because of Heaven’s plan for you to prove yourself. I came because I could not continue to watch you from afar and see you suffering. I knew that if I did not come to you, that you could lose hope and faith, and could turn away from your mission to protect humans and weaker demons from those who sought to hurt them. You could lose what happiness it had given you, and a part of yourself in the process.” Einar squeezed her hands and his gaze met hers again. “I had to come to you and believe in our love for each other. I did not do it so you would one day convince Heaven to reinstate me. I did it so you would not be alone and so you would be happy again, and would continue with your mission... this time with me at your side.”
“But I want to help you get your wings back.” She slipped her left hand free of his and stroked his arm.
It was beautiful of him to try so hard to convince her that she shouldn’t go along with what Heaven wanted, and she cherished the meaning behind his words. He believed that she was a good woman, one who made a difference in this world, and he loved her because of it.
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