She ran to Veiron and pulled him up off the ground, struggling with his weight and finding it hard to keep a grip on his slippery bloodied shoulders. He groaned and relief washed over her, replacing the chill in her blood with heat that even her power couldn’t contend with.
A droning thumping noise filled her ears and Erin froze with her hands against Veiron’s shoulders. That didn’t sound good. Veiron moved at last, pressing his palms into the cracked black slabs beneath him and pushing himself up.
“Time we were leaving,” he growled and swayed as he stood.
“What? No. We’re so close, Veiron. We can’t leave now.” She pointed towards the Devil where he was slowly pulling himself up onto his feet. “We can take him.”
Veiron caught her shoulders and turned her in the opposite direction. “But we can’t take them.”
Black shapes filled the dark distance.
Hell’s angels.
The Devil had called for reinforcements.
There had to be hundreds of them. Veiron was right, there was no way they could defeat the Devil and a large part of his army at the same time, but she refused to give up. They had injured him. They could finish him off before his angels reached them and swooped in to protect him.
Erin looked back over her shoulder at the Devil. He waved a hand over himself and the blood and dirt disappeared, his suit fixing itself and leaving him perfect again. A black patch appeared on his red shirt. He frowned, touched it, and grimaced. His eyes glowed and the black blood disappeared. It didn’t reappear this time. A pleased expression crossed his darkly handsome face.
“We have to leave, Erin... I hate it as much as you do but I won’t risk you or our baby.” Veiron grabbed her around the waist and went to toss her gently over his shoulder, but stopped and held her pressed to his front instead.
She growled in frustration. She hadn’t missed this part of Veiron. She wrapped her legs around him and kicked his backside, and rained her fists down on his shoulders, but he didn’t put her down. He tightened his grip on her and began walking away from the Devil.
“No!” Erin threw another fireball at the Devil and he didn’t even raise a hand to deflect it this time. It shot upwards before it reached him. He smiled at her. Erin glared at him. “This isn’t over... I swear to you... I will kill you.”
CHAPTER 39
A bright white light chased the darkness back and Hell disappeared. The scent of saltwater filled Erin’s lungs and she caught a glimpse of a tropical island before it too disappeared, replaced by a jungle, and then a mountain, and then another island.
Veiron set her down and she threw up again. On his boots.
He growled, stepped back and shook his feet one by one.
“Why did you do that?” Erin straightened and frowned up at him.
“We couldn’t take them all on, Erin, and you know it. Now is not the time for our revenge.” He lifted his hand and cupped her cheek, his palm warm against her face and comforting. “Can you teleport us back to the island we left from?”
Erin wanted to teleport them back to Hell but the worry in Veiron’s dark eyes stopped her from going through with it. She wanted to end this but Veiron was right. They weren’t strong enough to take on a legion of Hell’s angels and the Devil at the same time, not without risking their baby, but one day they would be and she would come good on her threat. She would kill the Devil and help end this game.
Erin looked down at her stomach and touched it. It was hard to believe that she was pregnant.
Veiron settled his hand over hers and she looked up into his eyes.
“What if he comes out looking different?” she whispered, ashamed to voice her fears but needing Veiron to reassure her.
“So what if he does.” He smiled softly and stroked her cheek with his other hand. “Nothing will change our love for him.”
She frowned. “But can we really raise a child together when we’re constantly in danger? Do you really want to do this with me?”
Veiron sighed and cupped her cheek. “Of course I want to do this with you, Sweetheart. We’ll take it one day at a time and I won’t let anything bad happen to either of you. I love you, no matter what the future has in store for us. I will always love you and our child.”
Tears filled Erin’s eyes and she sniffed them back. Her warrior with the heart of a poet. He always knew the right thing to say to melt her. She leaned into his touch and closed her eyes. Nothing would stop them from loving their child. They would protect him from anything, from everything. The world. Heaven. Hell. They would raise him surrounded by love and compassion, and devotion, and he would know good things, positive things, and not just darkness.
“I’ll do my best to be a good father... I just don’t have a clue what that entails.” He chuckled and she looked at him again, smiling along with him.
“I don’t have a clue about being a parent either, but I know a great man who can teach you about being a great father, and I’m sure he would like to meet you.” She placed her hand over his and held it against her cheek, her heart warming as she thought about the couple who had raised her with Amelia. They were her real family. Her father would love Veiron for his protective streak. Her mother would have loved him too. “We can learn together... and hopefully we can give him a good life.”
“We will give him a good life, Erin. He will have a life full of love and he will never come to harm, because I will protect you both.”
Erin smiled. “I’ll protect you both too.”
“Why do I get the feeling you’re going to try to wear the trousers in this relationship?” He grinned, dipped his head, and pressed a brief, hard kiss to her lips, leaving her breathless and unable to tell him that she was going to do just that. “Now... it’s time we were getting out of here, don’t you think, Mrs Veiron?”
“You’re going to have to make that official, Mister.” She giggled, stepped up to him, tiptoed and wrapped her arms around his neck. The darkness swept over them and receded to reveal the small makeshift shelters of the island.
Apollyon sat on the white sand near the circle of rocks that acted as the fireplace.
Erin tensed, waiting for him to explode at her for what she had done.
“I am glad to see you both well.” He eased onto his feet with only a few grimaces. A deep cut on his thigh pulled and split open again, spilling blood down his dirty leg.
“I’m sorry I sent you away,” she said and he shook his head and smiled. “How did you know the Devil had visited me in my cell?”
“My doppelganger... Asmodeus... told me.” Apollyon prodded the cut on his thigh and frowned.
“Why would he do such a thing?” She couldn’t believe that Apollyon’s evil twin would want to help her, but then he had tried to convince her to leave her cell with him. Maybe he hadn’t intended to take her to the Devil after all.
“He is complicated.” Apollyon shrugged. “There is some good in him.”
Veiron released her and crossed the sand to Apollyon. He crouched and held his hand out over the wound and the blood slowed to a trickle as it healed.
“How can you still heal?” Erin said and Veiron looked up at her, his expression blank.
“I don’t know. I just can.” He healed another of the deeper cuts on Apollyon’s stomach and then moved to one on his arm. He paused and looked back at her again. “Can you heal?”
Erin shrugged.
“Try.” He pointed to a cut on his own bloodied arm. “Maybe it’s an ability I picked up off you when we exchanged vows rather than one Heaven gave me.”
She didn’t need to try. She already knew that was what had happened.
“He healed himself.” Erin cursed her father. “That was why he looked so smug. He bloody healed himself while we were distracted by his men flying towards us.”
She held her hand out over Veiron’s arm and focused. The wound instantly closed. Erin healed a deeper cut on his side, and her head felt light. She pressed her hand to it and Veiron took ho
ld of her arm.
“You need to rest,” he said and she nodded. He was right again.
Veiron helped her sit on the sand but she felt worse and stood again, pacing a short distance towards the water and then back again.
“Are you unwell?” Concern laced Apollyon’s deep voice and he held out his hand to her. A dewy bottle of water appeared in his grasp.
Erin took it, twisted the cap off and swallowed a mouthful. The icy liquid instantly cooled her insides but she held her sigh inside when she caught Veiron’s black look. He had once wondered if he could produce water for her if he concentrated enough and hadn’t been sure it would taste good even if he managed it. Apollyon hadn’t seemed to concentrate at all. One moment his hand had been empty, and the next perfectly tasty water had been in it, leaving Veiron looking as though he might kill the dark angel for being able to provide for her when he couldn’t.
“Thank you,” Erin said to Apollyon and offered the water to Veiron. He snatched it, gulped it down and then crushed the bottle in his fist.
Apollyon raised a single dark eyebrow at his behaviour and then returned his attention to Erin. “Are you feeling better?”
She shrugged. “I’m peachy... a day in the life of being pregnant, I guess. I have months of this to look forward to. I’m not even sure how many. God, do you think demonic pregnancies have the same span as a mortal one?”
Apollyon frowned at her. “Pregnant?”
Veiron slung his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side. She glanced up at his face to find all trace of darkness gone. He positively glowed with pride. Erin bit back the temptation to bring up that he hadn’t looked so sure it was his in Hell, or looked so comfortable with the prospect of becoming the father of a boy who had the potential to be more powerful than both of them combined.
Apollyon’s blue eyes flicked between her and Veiron, he opened his mouth and then just shifted his broad shoulders.
“Stranger things have happened.” He paused and cocked his head to one side, and his eyes turned unfocused and glassy.
Erin raised an eyebrow and whispered out of the corner of her mouth to Veiron, “What’s wrong with him?”
“He’s on a call,” Veiron said and lowered his head, pressing a kiss to her brow.
“A call?”
“Telepathic communication,” Apollyon said. “Sorry about that. Marcus and Amelia are safe and on their way back here. They ended up somewhere in the Sahara.”
“I can do that.” Erin leaned into Veiron’s side, remembering the conversation she’d had with her father and how surprised she had been. “When we were on the beach just before the Hell’s angels came and took me, I spoke to the Devil in my head. Do you think I could do the same with you now that you’re my servant?”
Veiron frowned. “Less of the servant talk, Missy... but I imagine we will be able to speak telepathically now that we’re bonded.”
Erin liked the sound of that, but not as much as she liked the thought of winding Veiron up about their new master and servant status.
“Besides, you are my servant. That means you have to obey me now because I’m your master.” She grinned at him, meeting his scowl and not backing down.
“You’re a little too comfortable ordering me around already... if you’re not careful, I’ll show you who’s boss.”
Erin’s grin turned sassy. “Oh yeah?”
“Uh yeah.” Veiron snaked his hands around her hips and drew her up against the hard planes of his body, causing her stomach to quiver. His gaze flickered down to her mouth and she tipped her head back, luring him in for a kiss.
Apollyon cleared his throat. “And on that note... since it seems that the two of you will be alright here until they arrive, I must leave. I have been away from Serenity for too long and I desire to see her again.”
Erin nodded and drew back from Veiron. She understood that need and she wished she had the strength left in her to teleport him back to his home in Paris and the woman waiting for him there.
“Thank you for helping us.” She held her hand out to him and he just smiled.
“I will see you again soon enough. I am sure my little witch will want to meet you once she learns you are with child, and it will be safer now if we remain together.” Apollyon unleashed his black wings and ran his hands down them, preening his feathers. “Until then.”
He beat his wings, blowing sand against her legs, and lifted into the air.
Erin waved.
Apollyon turned, flapped his wings again and disappeared beyond the palm trees.
Veiron squeezed Erin’s shoulders.
She waited.
“So... alone at last,” he said, as casual as anything, and she smiled, turned and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Indeed.” She stared up into his eyes. Red and gold ringed his dilated pupils, a corona around them that she had always liked because it told her that she was bringing out his wicked side. “We probably have a little time before Amelia and Marcus arrive.”
She bit her lip and swirled her fingers in circles over his back.
“You’re all filthy. I think you need to wash.” She moved her hands lower, over the metal strips that protected his bottom.
Veiron pursed his lips and then cracked a smile. “No amount of washing could stop me from being filthy.”
She laughed, happiness bubbling up and bringing her smile out. “I missed you.”
Veiron grabbed her backside and raised her up him, so her eyes were level with his. “I missed you too. Thank you for not listening to Amelia and not giving up on me.”
Erin wrapped her arms around his neck. “I will never give up on you, and I will never listen to Amelia. Never have. It drives her crazy.”
“You drive me crazy too.” Veiron turned and started carrying her towards the water.
“But it’s a good sort of crazy.” She wrapped her legs around his waist and stared into his eyes. He flashed a smile but it faded a second later.
“The Devil lost both of his pawns today. He will seek to gain us back or destroy us, just as Heaven and Hell seek to destroy Amelia and Marcus.”
“You think he’ll come after us soon?” Erin didn’t like that thought.
The Devil had come close to killing Veiron and she couldn’t lose him again. She had wanted to end their fight but now she just wanted to rest and regain her strength, and train hard with her powers so when they next faced danger, they would be victorious.
Veiron shook his head. “Amelia and Marcus will be here, and Apollyon will come back, as will the others. Together we are too powerful for him. He may have healed himself but he’s still weakened and he’s trapped in Hell. He will bide his time, waiting for his chance.”
Waiting for their son to be born. She knew in her heart that was what Veiron wasn’t saying. The Devil wanted their child as his vessel.
She would never let that happen.
Joined with Marcus and Amelia, Apollyon and the others, they had the power to take on Heaven and Hell, and end this vicious game forever. She would take her father’s place on the throne in Hell, the balance would be maintained, and she could use the power of her realm to protect everyone she loved. Heaven would never get its hands on Amelia. Everyone would be safe.
Veiron set her down and the warm water lapped at her shins.
She stared up into his striking eyes, skimmed her hands down his arms and covered his.
“We will have our revenge, Erin,” Veiron whispered, the gold in his eyes brightening and chasing the darkness away. “But right now there is something more important that needs our attention.”
He settled his hands over her stomach and smiled down at her with so much love and affection in his eyes that she couldn’t help smiling back at him.
Erin held his hands to her stomach and then shifted them around to her hips. His pupils dilated and his gaze dropped to her mouth.
“I can think of something more urgent that requires your attention,” she said and his
lips quirked into a smile.
“Do tell,” he husked and slowly lowered his head towards her, his gaze fixed on her lips.
“Me.” Erin tiptoed and captured his lips with hers. He pulled her against him and she sighed into his mouth, loving the feel of his hard body against hers. He slanted his head and softly brushed his lips over hers, until her insides lightened and began to heat and she felt as though she would float away if he let go of her. His grip tightened as though he had sensed it, or perhaps had felt the same, and she smiled against his mouth, savouring his kiss and how it felt to be reunited with him, memories and all. She had never needed anything as much as she needed Veiron, and now they would always be together. His hands shifted to her backside and she giggled and pressed her forehead against his. “You’re insatiable. I only have so long before I blow up like a balloon. Will you still love me then?”
He laughed. “You’re mine... now and for all eternity... and I will love you forever, Erin... both of you.”
“And you’re mine.” She pressed a soft kiss to his lips and then looked down between them, and back up into his eyes. “And we’ll love you forever too.”
Erin smiled and kissed him again, her tongue brushing the seam of his mouth. He opened to her and groaned as she swept her tongue along his, and she moaned with him and leaned into the kiss, relishing it and the fact that nothing could come between them now.
They would hone their powers.
They would fight the Devil.
They would win.
And they would have their forever.
The Devil’s daughter and her demonic angel.
And their son.
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Felicity Heaton writes passionate paranormal romance books as Felicity Heaton and F E Heaton. In her books she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons!
Her Demonic Angel (Her Angel Romance Series Book 5) Page 41
