Reaching forward, he ran a finger down my collarbone, chasing a droplet of water. I held my breath as his touch jolted through my body like a lightning bolt. He was mere inches from my nipple, and I forgot how to take a breath. A tiny part of me wanted him, a part that ignored the logistics, and the fact that I should loathe him right now, because he took my sister’s soul to Hell. If I thought about it really hard, at one point he’d even put a dagger through my mother’s heart. But despite all that, there was a tiny part of me that wanted him to climb into the shower with me and explore every inch of my body like I was the universe’s greatest mystery. With his tongue.
“Your body looks much healed from the last time I viewed it,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Would you like to join me?” I wasn’t sure what I was offering. A shower? A lifetime? But it felt right.
Azriel stared hard at my face, and I couldn’t breathe. So much indecision, so much turmoil.
“Yes.” With that, he disappeared.
Memphis and Gusion burst into the room, looking for the threat.
“We heard yelling,” Memphis asked, searching for bogeymen in the shadows of my bathroom.
Blue strolled in behind them. He eyed me still standing naked, and handed me my fluffy white towel, his face impassive. Our fingers touched as I grabbed the towel, and caught the flash of desire, and the memory of our kiss. Oh shit, I kissed Blue.
It came back to me in a whoosh from the night before. My cheeks turned bright red.
What a hot mess my life had become. I wrapped the towel around my body.
“It was Azriel. He’d come to reprimand me for my appalling behavior.” If I wasn’t so embarrassed, I would have smiled at the comical looks of shock on the faces of my Fallen Angels. I looked between them. Yeah, my Fallen Angels. We were friends, maybe more, and that made them mine. Blue looked confused, as he searched the room for possible points of entry. I wasn’t going to clarify. I’d let him puzzle that one out himself.
I took a deep breath. Azriel was right. Enough was enough now. But I had some serious apologizing to do first. “Okay. Look. I’m sorry I’ve been such an epic pain in the ass the last two weeks. I’m going to try to be better now, it’s just…” I shrugged.
Memphis nodded. “We know.”
I looked at Gusion. His face was still stony. I walked over to him, and wrapped my arms around his waist. He let out a deep sigh and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.
“I’m so sorry for what I said. That was cruel of me. There's no excuse for cruelty,” I murmured against his chest.
“I understand, Sweetheart. You weren’t wrong.”
I had been wrong. But I meant what I said; I was going to be better.
And that meant finishing what Rella started.
I turned from Gusion's arms and faced all the guys in the room.
“What do we know about Rella’s killers?”
Chapter Sixteen
Blue was on the phone, standing still in my kitchen, the only indication he wasn’t a robot was the odd grunted affirmation. Normal people, well as normal as people in my life got, paced when they talked. Gesticulated. Nodded.
Not Blue. He stood so still, sometimes my eyes passed right over him. His finger stabbed at the end button on his phone.
“The Family sent their second-best enforcer to France. Lux is with them.”
My heart broke for Lux. Of all my Dads, he would be feeling the guilt of Estrella’s death the most. He took his role of protector very seriously, and he’d loved Rella with all his heart. She was his little warrioress. I still remembered watching them spar with swords as a child, her speed inhumanly quick back then. She was no match for Lux, but she held her own for a five-year-old. I’d been happy to watch, relishing in their joy. I didn’t need to learn to fight. I had Rella.
“What did they find?”
“Charlie wasn’t stupid. He checked in with the Uncles regularly, kept them informed of any updates. A safeguard in case anything happened.” Sadness bled from him then, and I remembered that he and Charlie were cousins. Sure, Blue Halloran was the illegitimate son of one of the Mulligan daughters, but he was still a Mulligan.
“Were you and Charlie friends?”
He shook his head. “Not really. But he was...good. He didn’t treat me like some mutt. We talked at gatherings. He didn’t want the life.” The life of a mobster, a Mulligan criminal. Like Blue.
Tears welled up in my eyes at thoughts of Charlie. My mind had to admit that Rella was gone, because I felt it deep down in our soul. But I couldn’t comprehend the fact that Charlie was gone too. Rella, Charlie and I had been inseparable growing up. Best friends. Along with Adnan, we’d been united outcasts. But Charlie was gone now too. I lost a sister and a best friend and I wasn’t sure my heart could cope.
Blue cleared his throat, his eyes assessing me, as if he was the one who could read emotions. I gave him a crooked smile, and motioned for him to continue. I could finish mourning in the relative privacy of my bedroom.
“The whole thing is something out of a B-grade action movie. Secret organizations. Corrupt politicians. I don’t know exactly what is going on, but they said it’s big. As for the person who pulled the trigger, they’ve found him. Some arms dealer who was a source for Nazir. They tracked him on traffic cameras on the roads outside the camp. They’ve got him in their net, he just doesn't know it yet. He’s gone to ground, but he can’t hide forever.”
Gusion leaned closer. “There's no hiding from the Devil himself.”
Blue nodded, but I remembered that Blue had never met Luc. I guess he thought Gus was being metaphorical. Or maybe that he meant Lux. I loved Lux, and he was a scary badass when he wanted to be, but Luc made him look like a kitten.
“Right. I have my own sources, and I heard that the threat to you had a name,” Blue said into the tense silence. The eyes of the angels suddenly snapped to my face. In all the drama, I’d forgotten to tell them that Rella had given me a name.
“Maximoff Richards.”
His name seemed to bounce off the walls, ricocheting back at me like a stray bullet.
Blue nodded. “I’ve been watching him.”
My eyebrows rose high. “That's where you’ve been?”
He shrugged. “Among other places.” I was pretty sure that was the best explanation I was going to get from the cagey hitman today.
Memphis huffed out an impatient sound. “Get on with it, Human.”
Blue turned to the other two men in the room, his head tilted as if he was trying to take their measure. I needed to tell him that they were angels, but I was scared he’d run again. Why Blue leaving mattered to me was something I didn’t want to examine too closely right now.
It would help if the guys would stop referring to everyone not angelic as ‘humans’. They were too used to Adnan.
Fuck it. We had to get it over and done with, like ripping off a Band-Aid. I wanted him here, and I wanted to trust him.
I looked between Gusion and Mephistopheles. Yeah, maybe I’d ease him into it with Gus.
Gusion, the intuitive bastard that he was, was watching my thoughts play out on my face. He quirked a brow, and I gave a nod.
“Blue. Don’t freak out, but there's one more thing you should know.” I waved a hand to Gus, who dropped his glamor. Wide white wings that looked as if they’d been dipped in gold dust spread out behind his back, the tips catching the light and making the glow. My breath caught in my throat, the way it did every single time he stood before me in all his glory, and he grinned at the look on my face. Cocky bastard.
“Gusion and Memphis are angels. Well, Fallen Angels. Princes of Hell.”
“I hate that title,” Memphis growled out, but stood, letting his own wings out. They sucked the light from the room, and I realized I’d never seen them both with their wings out together. Again, I thought about what it would be like to have the light and the dark caressing my body at once. Memphis’ midnight blue eyes drank me in as if he could read m
y mind, Blue completely forgotten.
Shit, Blue.
I tore my gaze from the angels to look at Blue. I was prepared for a freak-out. I mean, he’d lost his shit at the idea that I could sense his emotions. Two denizens of Hell should have him running for the hills.
But he looked perfectly blank. His emotional cap was firmly in place, though I could feel the muted sensations of awe mixed in with his usual pain and rage.
He nodded. “Okay, anyway Maximoff-”
I held up a hand. “Hold up. What the hell? I tell you I can catch a few of your emotions and you turn into a hysterical housewife, but faced with two angels you’re all blasé? Are you serious right now?”
Blue’s pale eyes grew wide. “I did not turn into a hysterical housewife.”
At any other time, I would have found his indignation funny. But right now, I was oscillating between amazed and annoyed.
He rolled his eyes, totally contradicting his hysterical housewife denials. “The angels are basically Mulligan family lore now. I’ve seen your Ace at Family gatherings when I was running security. You only have to take one look at her to know she is something more, something beautiful and scary and terrifying and not of this world. And her boyfriend...” The hair on his arms stood on end. “He is the scariest thing I have ever seen, and I don’t mind admitting it.
“Luc.” I nodded. “As in Lucifer. As in the Devil.” The color drained from Blue’s face, but he sucked a deep breath through his nose and nodded again.
He motioned to the two angels in front of us. “The wings are new, but they had the same feel about them. Like they’re predators and we are all as helpless as lambs.”
“Smart human,” Memphis growled. “Now continue.”
Blue’s jaw tightened at the perceived order, but he wisely picked his battles. “As I was saying, Maximoff Richards is a giant piece of shit. As a human, he has no redeeming features. Beats his wife, his kids, his dog. Harasses his secretary. Intimidates his underlings.”
“Orders hits on his competitors,” Gusion added quietly.
Blue nodded solemnly. “Yes.” His eyes found mine, and their magnetic hold was soothing. “He is the worst kind of wealthy. Richer than god and entitled as hell. Believes he’s untouchable.”
“No one is untouchable,” Memphis grumbled, and I wanted to walk over and crawl into his lap as the rage slipped through his shields again.
“Agreed,” Blue seconded. “He’s a challenge though. His personal bodyguard is as twitchy as he is deadly. He’d shoot his own granny if he thought he was a threat to Richards. He’s rabid. Luckily, I’m better.”
“You’re unnecessary when we can just sift around on a thought, Mulligan.”
“I'm not a Mulligan.” As they argued the logistics of killing someone, I was surprised that I felt nothing. Mostly because the men around me were so fucked up that they’d buried their feelings deep in their psyches, but even my emotions seemed to be absent. Shouldn’t I feel something, considering they were talking about killing a man, someone’s husband and father?
But I didn’t. I felt a well of cold nothingness for Maximoff Richards. He was going to die, and I wouldn’t feel a moment of regret.
If it wasn’t for the waves of lust that seemed to be rocking my body lately, I’d be worried that I’d lost my ability to feel. Could you be a sociopathic empath?
A knock at the door startled us all. The Angel’s whipped their heads around in eerie unison. Blue pulled a gun from a holster at his back. I hated that gun. I hated everything that gun represented, but now was not the time to protest about weapons in my apartment. The Angels bracketed me between them, a huge wall of feather and muscles, determined to keep me safe.
Blue opened the door, slowly. Then he dropped his gun. The sound of the metal clattering to the floor sounded like a death knell. The Angels crushed me between them, and Gusion’s body tensed to spirit me away.
Then Blue turned back to me, his face so pale he seemed almost sepia toned.
“It's for you. It's your sister.”
Rella’s head peeked around his shoulder. “Hey Sis.”
The blood drained from my face and my heart leapt into my throat, suffocating me. Estrella.
Black spots danced in my vision, and I sucked in air. But it wasn’t enough. I fell into the darkness of Memphis’ back, and let the world go as dark as his wings.
Chapter Seventeen
I woke to the smiling face of my twin. She was looking down at me, a bright smile on her face, though I could see the creases of worry around her eyes.
“You're dead.”
Rella rolled her eyes. “Come on, Hope. You can be less cliché than that.”
I sat up, fury coursing through my blood. “Cliché? I watched them lower your fucking coffin into the ground, Estrella Jones. You do not get to taunt me because I don't have something witty to say when you suddenly reappear at my door like you went to the freaking store and not Hell!”
Rella looked pained. I was so relieved she was here, the fire in my blood extinguished quickly. I wrapped my arms around her.
Well, I tried. They went right through her. I was hugging air. “What the…”
Rella grimaced. “It’ll take me a little longer to have the strength to be corporeal. I worked hard just to be able to travel up here. But I had to come. I had to see you. I knew you’d be hurting.”
“Hurting?” I stood then, stepping around her although I could have stepped right through her. I noticed her two Gargoyles loitering right behind her. Beyond them, whispering quietly to Gusion and Memphis, was Ace. I whipped back around to face my twin. “Hurting! You tore my fucking heart in two. I wanted to die too,” I yelled. I was flip-flopping between relieved and anguished, and I couldn’t deal. I couldn't breathe. I choked off a sob, and realized angry tears were rolling down my cheeks. Rella lifted her hand to stroke my face, but paused. Because she couldn’t soothe my hurts anymore.
Two arms curved around my shoulders, turning me into strong arms and a broad chest. For the second time in twenty-four hours, I cried on to Blue Halloran’s shoulders, but this time I did it through gritted teeth. I didn’t want to be weak anymore.
Filling my lungs, I straightened. I brushed the tears from Blue’s shoulder, but he stepped away. “Leave it,” he said, but his voice was gentle.
When I looked up, Ace was looking disapprovingly at me. She always reminded me of a goddess. A bloodthirsty, battle hungry goddess, but something completely not of this world. A fitting consort for the Devil. And I loved her.
Ace ran a hand down my hair, cupping my chin and stroking a thumb across my cheek. “I know you’re in pain. But don’t be a bitch. She’s the one that’s dead, so cut her some slack, okay?” She leaned forward and kissed my cheek. “I have to go. Some of us haven’t abandoned all their responsibilities for a pretty face.” Her tone was disapproving, but she was smiling at the other two angels in the room. She looked over at Rella. “One of these guys will take you back.”
And then she was gone.
I looked back at Estrella. “Sorry. I didn’t mean…” It was a lie. I did mean it.
She smiled, but it was a sad, desolate expression. “Yes, you did. But it's okay. I deserved it.” One of her Gargoyles stepped forward, placing a gentle hand on her back. It didn’t slip through her body like my arms had. Seeing where I was staring, Gus stepped forward.
“They are soulmates, pack mates. Their connection anchors her to them.”
An odd stab of jealousy poked holes in my heart, but I just nodded. Then I noticed it was only the Gargoyles here with her. “Where’s Charlie? Naz?”
Sadness wafted from the group, the sadness of the Gargoyles. I didn’t pick up anything from Rella. My heart stuttered. “They’re okay, right? I mean, they’re dead, but they are with you?”
Romanus spoke. “They don’t have the strength to move to this plane of existence. It can take centuries to move between the veil of life and death. Estrella’s angelic heritage helped her br
eak through more quickly than a normal soul. Nazir and Charlie will take another century, at least.”
They were really dead to me. By the time they were able to cross the veil, I would be an old woman, dead in the ground. Everyone they’d ever known and loved would be dead and turned to ash.
Grief hit me all over again, and I cursed. They were no less dead than yesterday, but seeing Rella at my door had made me hope that maybe the end wasn’t the end.
I stood in the center of my living room, surrounded by people but I was more alone than ever. As if he had a direct line to my dark thoughts, Memphis stepped forward, and pulled me back against his body, anchoring me. I looked up at his brilliant blue eyes and gave him a crooked smile. Words weren’t necessary.
Estrella looked between us, her eyebrows raised in an expression so familiar I wanted to cry.
I wanted her to ask her questions in my mind, through our connection, but it was burned away. Instead, she waved a finger between my face and Memphis.
“When did this happen?” She looked at him suspiciously. “If you took advantage of her hurt…” She didn’t finish, but the threat was there.
Memphis looked pained. “No. We have been here making sure she doesn’t do anything she will later regret, due to the emotional toll of your death.” The undertone of disapproval was there.
Rouen stepped forward. “You better watch your mouth, Mephistopheles.” The big, golden Gargoyle knocked the dining chair over, proving he was fully corporeal and unimpressed by the judgement in Memphis’ tone.
“You did not see her. You weren’t here to see the results of your bloodthirsty crusade,” Gusion said, coming to stand shoulder to shoulder with Memphis.
Romanus let out a rumbling growl. “She was protecting Hope. Protecting the vulnerable. Shouldn’t you respect that, Angel?” He said the last word like it was a curse word.
Hell's Redemption- The Complete Series Boxset Page 70
