He patted Ram’s cheek. “Have faith in your visions. Trust that Mother knows best.”
“Trust?” he groused, voice echoing off the canyon walls. Rage pushed at his ribs. “I trusted our Mother, and it got me locked in Hell.”
“No, that was not on Her. That was your arrogance and anger. Come on, you have to admit you were a bit self-righteous. Mother can’t work with that sort of anger. You broke Her heart. Looks like breaking hearts is your specialty.”
Ram took deep breaths and shook his hands out. What he wanted to do was bash Bishop in the face until blood spewed. But that wasn’t going to get him any answers, and he needed useful information. “What do I need to do to protect Kyria?”
“Love restored those wings. I wonder if you have enough faith to keep them.” He ate the second s’more. A bit of the marshmallow was still on fire. “Gotta go. A jelly bean needs my help.”
“No, wait.”
He stood and dusted off his worn, canvas pants. Then he was gone. Vanished. Ram stood and scanned the area, but there was no sign of him. The flames disappeared, leaving the twisted cedar whole and healthy, not a single scorched mark left behind.
Melted chocolate was the only proof that Bishop had ever been here.
“She is so much more powerful than I ever imagined.”
Ramiel froze at the voice that came from behind him. A cold sweat beaded his skin, and his mind went hazy. Nema was back.
No, she couldn’t be here. It was too soon, he still had hours left. But the chill of her presence was like ice filling his veins. “Who?” he asked. “The Mother?”
“No, silly,” Nema responded. “Oh, yummy. Look at you.”
He turned to face her and had to fight the urge to fall on his knees. “Leave.”
“Why would I do that?” She leaned against the rock, getting cozy. “Do you remember the last time we were here? You saved me from all those crude miners.”
“I remember how stupid I was to think I was saving you.”
“Oh, you were a hero that day. I fell in love the minute I saw those magnificent wings of yours. So powerful. I had to have you. We were destined.” She slowly walked to him, swaying her hips as she spoke sweetly. “I forgot how much of a turn-on they were.” Her fingers reached out to touch the tips. “I love the new color. I put that there. Proof of our blood bond.”
Rage burned his gut. He had spent so many years in her chains that he’d nearly forgotten he was no longer bound to her. Nema held no power over him.
“How did you find me?”
“I’ll always know where you are, even if I can’t control you. I’ve harvested so much of your blood, using a little bit of it to track you is nothing. That’s how I was able to summon you the first time you tried blocking me days ago.”
He advanced. Her eyes widened, and she turned to smoke, sliding just out of his reach before reforming a few yards away. “We need to make a deal.”
He hated the way she eyed him, and he tucked his wings away. “I’m not ever making another deal with you.”
Keeping a wide berth, she walked around him. “It’s disgustingly ironic, isn’t it? I took your feathers, and my daughter gave them back to you.”
No. It can’t be. “Daughter?”
“Come on. You knew, right? That child you’re fucking is my daughter.” She laughed but didn’t break eye contact. “Such a petty way to get back at me.”
“No.” Kyria could not be Nema’s. Darius wouldn’t have… “Her mother is dead.”
“Oh, no. I’m very much alive, as you can well attest. Maybe when I get her back, we can compare notes. Mother, daughter, and you. Delicious.” She licked her lips. “I wonder what other powers I gave her.”
Kyria. She was everything good, and he was ruined beyond repair. He should have never touched her.
No, shut up. Kyria chose me. I am her fated. As tainted as he was, she cleansed him. Her love had set him free before her blood ever broke his chains.
Nema stood with hands on her hips, preening because she assumed she had won.
The atmosphere changed. He went from captive to vengeful warrior. His wings flared open, ripping into existence from the flesh of his back. No pain. Just the gravity of great forbearance.
He had fucked it all up. Now he needed to make it right. He needed to make sure Kyria was safe.
Nema took a step back, and for a second, her horribly beautiful eyes filled with a mixture of fear and desire. Eyes the same color of Kyria’s, but so different. Kyria’s were filled with love, cast upon the world with compassion and wonder.
Lust burned in Nema’s eyes. Lust for the power he wielded with his wings and in his blood. She would destroy Kyria.
Bishop had said he had to make a deal and break a heart. What he was about to do would certainly break Kyria’s heart, but it would save her soul.
Nema patted at her lovely face, leaning back on the boulder as she smirked at him. “One thing we have learned since that night here is that we make a good team. I have big plans to take down my sister, and I have new partners. You could be in now, by my side. I know you love our games as much as I do.” She smiled and slid her body against his, pressing close. She really believed the shit she was saying.
It took all his willpower to not slash her throat. He spat out his words. “You want me to hand my power back over to you?”
Ice-cold hands crawled up his bare arm, over his shoulder and down his chest. Leaning in close, she reached up as if to kiss him. “You know you love me and all the terrible things I’ve taught you. Your life was so boring. That’s why you sought me out, why you fell for my trick. You wanted my power as much as I wanted yours. Plus, I have something else for you.”
“What?”
Moving closer to his face, she batted her spidery eyelashes. “Revenge.” Her nail traced his jaw. “I know the angel who left you in chains.”
She walked to his other side, dragging her frozen fingers across his flesh. “Kyria’s sperm donor. He’s the one who showed up in your cell that day long ago, isn’t he? He could have freed you. The angel you once spared in heaven turned his back on you, just so he could steal something from me. He’s the one you spent months vowing to kill. My minions found him hunting you in Houston, crawling on his belly outside some disgusting motel. I have him all tied up now. He could be all yours,” she teased. “Kyria’s father.”
It hit him. Bishop’s first clues finally made sense. The very beginning. The three of them in Nema’s den, he as a slave, Kyria as a baby, and Darius taking her from hell. How could he ever blame the angel for taking her from Nema’s grasp?
Bishop said she would save him, and she had. And now it was up to him to return the favor. Because she was his. Because I love her.
And Nema had her father. If Kyria tried to go save him…
He bared his fangs. “Keep talking.”
Dammit. It burned that much worse because saving her and her father would take a sacrifice. But he had to do this, and there’d be no one else to blame for it this time, either. It was all on his shoulders.
“He was the one in your cell twenty-two years ago, and that’s when he abducted my prodigy. I did all that work for a year, and he comes in and steals her,” she pouted. “This will be fun, though. What are we going to do with him?”
Nema grabbed his hand and turned it over. The mark in the center of his palm burned. Did Kyria’s mark also burn?
“We. Are. Not. Doing anything.”
Bottom lip out, she pouted again. “But I want to help torture him.”
He couldn’t take it any longer. He needed to step back and get some space. Her face turned sour, and her features shifted. Something under her skin, trying to wiggle its way out. He knew exactly what that thing was and preferred not to see it today. There would be plenty of time in his future…his forever future.
“He stole from me and left you in chains. The girl is mine, just like you are mine. She’s trying to steal you, isn’t she? She can’t have you,” Nema
switched topics rapidly, trying to keep his attention.
“I’m not yours,” he groused. He needed to be careful, though. If he was going to get her to agree to his plan, he had to lay it out in a way that would work for her. “But if you want to build your kingdom in Hell, you need these”—his wings flapped down, pushing air toward her—“and my blood.”
A pointed tongue darted out as she licked her lips. “Yes. Yes. We’ll be the hottest, most badass couple there is, Ramiel.” Her claws stroked the hard edge of his wing and moved to the bottom of his head. With a hard pull on his hair, she yanked him back to bite his ear, words spilling hotly against his skin. “What do you want, Rammy? I’ll give it to you.”
He could smell her arousal. His jaw locked as he forced his lungs to slowly draw in then release. Sobbing like a baby was not an option.
Twisting out of her grasp, he grabbed her by the neck and held her at arm’s length. It took all he had not to toss her away in disgust. He had to stay calm. He gave her a firm shake to drive the point home.
No longer enslaved by her chains, the power was his. Nema was at his mercy now, and he needed a plan that would protect Kyria.
After the long silence, Nema struggled. He had to tighten his grip to hold her still while he organized his thoughts and flipped through options. He didn’t like any of them.
She placed her hands over his. “Ram, you are mine. I have your wings as my bed covers.” Thrashing for a few moments, she then went stiff, pursing her lips at him as she wheezed, “This is really unbecoming. Fine. What do you want?”
“I want to renegotiate the contract.”
She narrowed her eyes. “How? I have to have your wings and blood to maintain my power.”
“I understand that.” He flared his wings. “If you agree to the terms, they’re yours.”
A glimmer sparkled in her eyes of death. “What do you demand of me?”
“I want the betrayer.”
“Done.”
“I will take him from here, and you will not follow.”
She pouted sweetly. “If that’s what my Rammy wants.”
“I’ll kneel for you and offer my wings when you swear to never look for Kyria. Never send demons after her. Never interfere with her life.”
“What? She’s mine.” She gave him an indignant look, like she was arguing with an illogical child trying to take something away.
“She’s weak. She wouldn’t last a month with you.”
“You think you love her, is that it? How pathetic.” She kicked at him, sneering.
He swallowed his bile. “You get her or me. Not both.” He bit down and prayed like he hadn’t prayed in the last two lifetimes. Please don’t let her call my bluff.
Her eyes followed the contour of his chest and went back to his wings. He expanded them for her, reminding her what she really wanted. “They’re yours, but only if you give me Darius and leave Kyria alone.”
She stopped struggling. “Fine, but no more visits above. You stay with me always. The only time you go up is chained to my side,” she cooed. “I’ll pick your blood donors, and we’ll share.”
Acid burned his gut. Not even a peek into Kyria’s life. No weekend getaway. All ties to her cut. After a moment, he nodded his agreement to his eternal damnation.
A wide grin stretched her face. “Okay, we have a deal. Your wings for Darius and my vow not to seek Kyria. Kneel, and I’ll take your wings.”
His lungs seized, constricting his voice to a difficult rasp. “No. I need a few hours first. I have plans for Darius, and I need my wings to take him where I want to go.” He darkened his voice, implying he would carry out whatever torture she thought he had in mind for the other angel. “Let me have him now.”
She pressed as close as she could, murmuring at him. “He would die the minute I take him out of bondage. Let my demon heal him up first, so you can have more fun.”
“How long until I can have him?”
“Two hours.” She draped an arm over his shoulder and played with his wings. “And then I’ll hand him over. You have two hours to come back to me. Understand?”
It wasn’t like Kyria was going to want to spend time with him, anyway. Not after he ditched her like that. And his old friends in New Zealand weren’t going to welcome him back, either. Whatever they had between them, it was long gone.
“I hate you,” she groused, biting his ear. He flinched away. She leaned back but kept her cold hands on him. “How do I know you will come back? I need your wings.”
“If you take my wings, I can’t flash where I need to go. Once I’m back, I’m all yours.”
“Let me have a vow and parts of your wings.” She dug into her shirt and pulled out the bones from his old ones. “My bracelet broke.” Her eyes wide, she blinked a few times as if she were a small girl trying not to cry.
Mother of All, he wanted to smash that face.
“Kneel, slave. I’ll take just enough to bind us. Once this is done, the clock will start ticking.”
Breathing hard through his nose, Ramiel dropped to his knees. The rocks and gravel of the canyon floor cut through his jeans. He bowed his head as he bit down hard on his tongue. A few dark spots hit the ground, staining the earth beneath him.
Holding her hand out, she summoned the ornate sword she stole from heaven long ago. When she lifted it high above him, his wings instinctively went into hiding.
“Ramiel,” she admonished, as if he was trying her patience.
“Vow it.”
She sighed. “I vow with my blood to the Mother of All and my demon lord Lucifer that I will give over the betrayer Darius and no longer seek out the Nephilim Kyria, in exchange for the wings of the great Archangel Ramiel. I will take his wings in…two hours.”
“I agree upon my blood to the Mother that in two hours I will surrender my wings to Naamah, the great demon overseer of the Americas.”
He interlocked his fingers and pressed his forehead against his thumbs. A searing pain shot through his body as she cut at the base of his wings, only slicing the surface of the skin. Pricks of agony hit his spine as she pulled feathers. Thin rivers of hot blood dripped down the slope of his back. She bent over and licked his skin free of blood.
“Oh, Ram. You made the right choice. You’ll see. Together we’re going to be the most extraordinary power couple.”
Aching, he let his wings drop. His head remained down because he didn’t want her to see the hatred in his eyes. Not yet. He cleared his throat, he said, “Have him here in two hours. Just leave him by the bush. I’ll take care of the rest.”
She giggled. “Okay. Then you will return here…at the appointed time.”
He nodded. He had paid a high price for his short sprint of freedom. But to have the honor to love Kyria, he would do it all again.
Now he just had to get that old ritual from Tamiel, and the world would be free of one sick demon. The world he had fallen in love with a tad too late.
He could control the outcome of his very first vision, but it would come at the cost of his own eternal death. The moon hung above the canyon wall, gleaming brightly. Could he do it?
The price would be his body and soul, but he’d discovered he’d do anything to protect Kyria and her happiness. Which meant saving her father.
Closing his eyes, he flashed to a mansion in New Zealand he thought he’d never see again.
Chapter Thirty
Ramiel stepped through the red door for the first time in over a century. The longing for home caught him off guard.
The house was three times bigger than when he’d left. A new door and additions to the old place were not the only changes. Walls had been knocked down, and in the center of the giant living room was a sleek, red wrap around sofa, zebra print rugs, a chandelier assembled out of rainbow crystals, and several framed photos of Jackson 5, Warren Moon, Wonder Woman, and Hugh Jackman.
He left for a hundred and fifty years, and this happened. Yet, it still emitted the same homey vibes it had years a
go.
A blur of motion burst into the room and collided against him. Long arms and legs wrapped tightly around his body in a hug. His wings unfurled, but he didn’t attack.
He tried to untangle himself. From all the softness and curves, it had to be Turiel. The messy pile of dark curls on the top of her head gave it away.
“I can’t believe it’s really you. It’s been so long.” Tru leaned back and cupped his cheeks. She still clung to her Spanish accent, though it wasn’t as thick as it used to be.
Still none of them had picked up on the Kiwi accent, probably because they avoided the locals like a plague. It astounded him. Living here for a few millennia, and still they didn’t get out much.
Tru patted his face fondly as if recommitting it to memory. “Dan told me they saw you. Why did you lock us out? Those chains…” She ran her fingers across his now free neck and down his arms, confused. “He said you had hell-bound chains on you.”
Sariel, tall and snug in a lime green dress, stopped in the doorway to stare at him before setting a tray down on the side table by the sofa. The official leader of their little gang did not look happy to see him. Dark mocha fingers slid through long black hair, straightened to perfection.
“Sara…” Her nickname was like lead on his tongue. So long since he said it without cursing her.
Daniel and Tamiel flashed into the room a second later. The people he used to call family awkwardly gathered around the furniture, waiting for Sara to tell them how to react.
Hatred burned in his chest. The house was perfect, and they all looked so healthy. Not a care in the goddamned world.
Daniel, arms crossed, kept a suspicious eye on Ramiel. “Why did you let him in, Tru? He gave up all rights to call a family meeting.”
“Fuck you.” Ramiel curled his upper lip.
Hurt crossed Turiel’s features. “Daniel, don’t.” She turned her big eyes back to Ram. “After you were gone a few years without a word, I tried to reach you, but you had me blocked.” Unshed tears wet her eyes. “Why did you block me?”
He scanned the room, snorting out his answer. “Everyone in this room turned their backs on me. I called out loud and clear, so you couldn’t have tried that hard to find me.”
Unchained Desire Page 21
