Wicked Nights aotd-1

by Gena Showalter

  “Believe me, I know.”

  Frown deepening, he stepped away from her, at last ending the contact. “Do you want me to romance you?”

  Yes. “No.” You’re not very fond of men right now, remember? Not even sexy angel men.

  “Then as we were saying.” Zacharel cleared his throat, and even that was steeped with his innate sensuality. “We must kill the demon who made that claim on you.”

  Demons again. The break was over.

  “When you agreed to be his slave,” he continued, “you gave him permission to do whatever he wanted with you. However, when he dies the marking will fade and the others, the weaker minions, will lose interest in you.”

  “So…the hunted must become the hunter?”

  “Exactly. If we do not do this, you will never find peace.”

  Wait. “You said we.”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re willing to help me?” He’d promised to train her, yeah, but this was more than training. This was dedication to a cause that was not truly his own.

  “Yes,” he repeated.

  Gratitude nearly overwhelmed her. “I owe you, not the other way around. Why would you—” She pressed her lips together. If she continued along this line, she might talk him out of helping her. “Thank you. Just…thank you.”

  “You are welcome. Once you are free of the demon’s essentia, you can live a long, happy life on your own. I am not saying there will never be another storm; those are simply a part of life. But you will never again experience thunder and lightning like this.”

  With his words, the answer to her unfinished question slid into place. Zacharel wanted to be free of her. That hurt, but she wouldn’t complain. Aid was aid, no matter the reason behind it.

  “I know you’re going above and beyond duty already, but I need something besides assistance from you,” she said, peering down at her feet. “Will you…well, uh, will you spend the next month with me…away from the heavens unless you have a battle to fight? Without asking me why?”

  A pause.

  A really long pause.

  She glanced up.

  Fury and pleasure blazed in Zacharel’s eyes.

  Why the fury? For that matter, why the pleasure?

  Doesn’t matter.

  “Please,” she said.

  “I will not ask why you want me out of the heavens. There is no need. I know the way of the angels, and I can guess. I want to know if you negotiated,” he said sharply.

  “Negotiated what?” she asked, going for innocence. But wait. Something she’d learned from both Zacharel and Koldo was that when you didn’t want to answer a question and evasion wouldn’t work, you had to make a demand of your own. “Never mind. You will spend the next month with me.”

  “Or what?” In a heartbeat he was in front of her, his hand once again wrapped around her nape. He tugged her closer, not giving her time to protest or resist.

  “Or…uh…I can’t even speak it, it’s so terrible!”

  “A falsehood. You’ll do nothing, that’s what. But, very well. I’ll give you an answer anyway—and I will give you a month of my time.” He said the words silkily, indulgence coated with cold determination in his voice. “For a price. You see, I know how to negotiate.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  I WILL HAVE THIS WOMAN, Zacharel thought. If only once, I will have her. I will finally know her taste, and never again will I have to wonder.

  When Annabelle’s body stood flush against his, he enfolded her with his wings, forcing her ever closer. His newly healed skin and tendons protested the movement, shooting out little aches and pains, but that didn’t stop him. Nothing would.

  “What’s your price?” she asked softly. The sweet scent of her drifted to his nose, filled his lungs, branded him.

  Your kiss. Your surrender. But did he say the words aloud? No.

  He wanted to know what kind of bargain she had made with Koldo—a bargain that required her to stay with Zacharel for a month. A bargain that had provided her with the Water of Life. He also wanted to know why Koldo wanted him out of the heavens for so long.

  But again, he held his silence. He liked the outcome, so he would not press Annabelle for answers she wasn’t yet ready to give. Not yet, at least. Those would come; he would make sure of it.

  Yes, I will have her. Despite his anticipation for the deed, however, anger coiled inside his bones. He still didn’t want to want her, and he blamed her for reducing him to this…a man willing to forget his duty and forgo his honor simply to learn a woman’s taste.

  “We will discuss the terms once we reach our new location,” he said more harshly than he’d intended. “The longer we stay here, the more danger my warrior faces.”

  She studied his features for a moment, searching for…what? “All right. We’ll shelve our little negotiation.” Reaching up, she linked her fingers behind his neck.

  Always she surprised him. When he expected her to protest, she caved. When he expected her to cave, she fought him. When he expected—

  —thoughts derailing…realigning… She was even closer to him now, as if they were two halves of a whole. The very idea heated his blood, making his insides burn and his skin sweat.

  Zacharel.

  The male voice echoed through his mind, neither a memory nor springing from his own mind. Thane? he asked, instantly concerned.

  Yes.

  You are well? And the others?

  We were not attacked, but we did engage the demons chasing you.

  Good. Did you leave one alive?

  After the slightest hesitation, he heard, Yes.

  As if Zacharel would protest the coming torture, when that was exactly why the demon still lived. Find out who sent the minions. They came to steal Annabelle.

  How is she?

  Well. But the only way to keep her safe is to hide her. Therefore, I will be hiding with her. Contact me when you have an answer. And, Thane, he added before the soldier ended the connection. Check on Koldo when you have the chance.

  Why? What’s wrong?

  “Zacharel?” Annabelle said. “I don’t mean to criticize, but you’re just standing there, staring at me.”

  “Not you, but I need a moment,” he replied, but the distraction had severed the link. He tried to open it back up, failed. “Moment over.”

  “All right.” Though she radiated confusion, she said, “So, um, again, how do you propose we leave this place?”

  Concentrating on her, he said, “The same way we left the institution. My question is, will you enjoy this ride as much?”

  He misted both their bodies and flew her through the ceiling, then layer after layer of stone-laden dirt. He hated leaving Koldo, but already he’d skirted the edge of acceptable by placing the warrior on the bed.

  Whatever his reasons, Koldo—a warrior given to him because he’d beaten his last commander into bloody pulp—had helped him and thereby Annabelle. Zacharel hadn’t thought to ever come to admire the men and women under his leadership, but he couldn’t deny the fissures in his chest were expanding, making room for more than just Annabelle and desire.

  They rose above the surface of grass and flowers, towering trees, and into a midmorning sky, the sun half-hidden behind a thick shield of clouds. Birds flew in every direction, their calls shrill yet welcome.

  “I’ll never get used to the beauty,” Annabelle gasped, awe and wonder heavy in her tone.

  Yes, she was enjoying this ride as much as the other. How would she react to other things free women could do? Things like shopping, and dancing, and dating.

  “Don’t you think it’s beautiful?” she asked.

  “I once believed it was, yes, and assumed the beauty would never wilt.”

  “We were born into this amazing world, Zacharel. We are meant to protect this land and its people.”

  “All I see is the blood of our parents, sprayed over the grass and oceans.”

  “They died fighting demons.” Unable to recover from the extensiven
ess of their wounds. “There is no greater honor than that. How many times have you said those very words to me? So why can you not focus on the purity and innocence shining at us and forget the taint of the past?”

  Neither he nor his brother had known the events that would unfold mere weeks after that conversation. Hadrenial’s capture, torture, and after a year of searching, Zacharel’s “rescue” of him. No longer had Hadrenial thought the world a place of splendor and glory to bask in. He’d seen the ugliness, had walked hand in hand with the evil, and he had begun to fear and hate.

  “Are you okay?” Annabelle asked. “You tensed up.”

  For once, Zacharel wanted to lie. To give voice to the thoughts swimming in his head…would he also erupt? Or worse, cry? He’d told Annabelle about his brother’s death, but not about his reasons for rendering that final blow. If he did, would she erupt and cry? Feminine tears were not something he could handle right now.

  “Well? Are you?”

  “Shh,” he said. “I must remain focused.” Truth. Otherwise he would do something he would regret.

  “Shush me again, I dare you.”

  His lips twitched in that way he was coming to expect in her presence. He searched ahead but no demons lurked in the vicinity. Still, he should not risk taking her to a public place. Minions often followed unsuspecting humans. He should take her to a private island in the Pacific, undiscovered and untouched by humans, as planned, but…he changed course.

  For over an hour he glided through the vast expanse of blue, going high, then low, then high again, maintaining a constant zigzag impossible for anyone to lock on to.

  “Since you don’t want to tell me what’s wrong with you, and I can tell that you’re still bothered by something,” Annabelle said, “why don’t you tell me why you no longer believe in the beauty of the land?”

  Clouds of the purest white came into view, each surrounding mountains capped with snow. Fields of green grass, and meadows rich with dewy flowers. Water so blue it seemed to hold a thousand secrets in every ripple. He no longer pictured pieces of his parents strewn across different parts of the world. He no longer imagined the horror of his brother’s last days, but even so…

  “A man’s surroundings are often tainted by his memories.”

  Her warm sigh caressed his neck. “True. After my trial, my brother sold my parents’ house, as well as everything inside it. He wanted no reminders of the horror I’d caused.”

  “But you did not cause that horror.”

  “No, but he’ll never believe that.” Her sadness was a live wire, crackling and dangerous.

  “Words laced with faith have power, Annabelle, even negative words. If you want him to change his mind, begin to speak and act as if he has.”

  “What about his free will? And wouldn’t a claim that he believes me be considered lying?”

  “Minds can be changed—of their own free will. And no, you wouldn’t be lying. You speak it, and because words have power, your faith makes it real.”

  “But I don’t have any faith in this matter.”

  “You do, but it’s small. You see, faith is measurable. It builds as you think about and meditate on a spiritual truth. And do not shake your head at me. What I say is true. There are natural laws, like gravity, and there are spiritual laws, like this one. You can have what you say if you believe that you have it before you actually see that you have it. That is faith.”

  She thought about that for a moment. “All right, so he wants to reconnect with me.”

  “Good. Keep saying that. Keep thinking that. Any time a thought contrary to what you just spoke tries to enter your mind, force it to leave. One day, you’ll actually believe it spirit, soul and body.”

  “And just like that he’ll seek a relationship with me?”

  “Just like that you’ll release a spiritual power unlike anything you’ve ever known.” He only wished he had applied these truths to his own life. But faith-filled confessions could take time, and if a man lacked patience, he could ruin everything.

  “All right. Okay. I’ll think and meditate on this stuff.” She rested her head on his shoulder. So much time passed he figured she had acted on her promise and fallen asleep. Until she said, “So where are we?”

  “New Zealand.” At the base of one of the mountains was the entrance to Thane’s cave. Most angels kept homes all over the world, because a warrior never knew where he would end up when hunting a particular demon, or when he would be injured and require rest. Like so many others, Thane had chosen a place where he was guaranteed as little human interaction as possible.

  Zacharel would take her there. Later.

  “I’ve always wanted to travel,” she said.

  “And now you are doing so in style.”

  A warm chuckle left her, a sound that threatened to overwhelm his senses with pleasure. “I can’t deny that.”

  He bypassed the cave and sped past Whangaparaoa Bay and into Auckland. There, he landed in an abandoned alley. He hated to release his passenger, but forced himself to do so.

  With a single mental command, he turned both of their robes into a shirt and pair of pants, both black.

  “How did you do that?” she asked, plucking at the fabric at her waist. “And how is the material so soft?”

  He wanted her fingers on him, on his skin. Soon. “That was nothing, and I was able to do it because the robes are under my command, just like the cloud.” As he spoke, he hid his wings inside an air pocket.

  Expression baffled, as though she couldn’t quite convince herself to believe what she was seeing—or not seeing—she reached out, paused and bit her lip. “May I?”

  Her fingers on his wings…even better. His throat was suddenly too tight to speak, so he nodded, forced his wings to come to the edge of the pocket, so that they would be solid to her.

  Contact. Buttery soft fingertips caressed the arch of one, then the other, sending electric currents racing through the rest of him. “Still there,” she said, clearly awed.

  For her, but only her.

  She stroked him for a moment more, nearly wringing groans of pleasure from him, before she pulled away. “So what are we doing here, like this?”

  He mourned the loss of her. “We are shopping for supplies. Clothes, shoes and whatever else you will need in the coming days.”

  Her hand fluttered over her heart. “Did you just say the word shopping without flinching?”

  “I did. So?”

  “So, that’s gotta be a record. It’s a worldwide fact that men hate shopping.”

  “How can I hate it when I’ve never done it?”

  Her lips curled into a slow, beautiful smile. “If you weren’t already an angel, I’d dub you a saint. Poor guy. You have no idea what you’re in for.”

  * * *

  ANNABELLE HAD THE TIME of her life.

  The buildings were as beautiful as the surrounding mountains, light, with lots of glass and shiny signs. The water was as blue as the sky, one blending into the other, the clouds above a replica of the sailboats below. But it was the archways and columns along the streets, and people headed in every direction, that consumed her attention.

  Once, she’d taken this kind of thing for granted. For years, when she’d wanted to shop, her parents had whisked her to the mall. She had tried on outfits, and they had critiqued them. Those “critiques” had always consisted of praise.

  “You’ve never looked more beautiful, sweetheart.”

  “All the boys will go crazy for you, baby.”

  “You’ve definitely inherited your mother’s style, honey.”

  Annabelle blinked away a fresh spring of tears. When she was older, she and her friends had spent many weekends shopping for dresses and jeans and T-shirts and shoes, afterward drinking lattes, gossiping and laughing as they admired all the boys.

  A wave of homesickness swept over her, followed by sorrow for what she’d missed these past few years, then determination. She was free now. She would not let what could ha
ve been—what should have been—taint this time with Zacharel. Look what had happened with him. He’d allowed the past to taint him, and could no longer enjoy the beauty of the land.

  Besides, Zacharel hadn’t done this kind of thing before. She had to be at her best so that he wouldn’t decide to off himself just to end the experience, the way her friend’s boyfriends had often threatened to do.

  “You are not enjoying yourself?” Zacharel demanded.

  “I am, I promise.”

  He nodded, though he did not appear convinced.

  “I’ll prove it!” And so began the shopping spree to end all shopping sprees. At first, as she flipped through rack after rack, she wasn’t sure people could see Zacharel, even in his altered state. Then she noticed the way women stared at him, no matter their age, their mouths agape.

  That’s right. He’s with me. She was feeling pretty good about herself, in fact…until she noticed the way men kept their distance from her, even salesmen. But…but…why? It wasn’t like a Wanted poster hung on every wall. Right?

  She glanced at Zacharel. He was glaring at a man a few rows over—a man now backing up, leaving the store.

  O-kay, so, problem solved. But she couldn’t really castigate him. He was more than a bodyguard; he was an ATM. Whenever she found something she wanted, a T-shirt, a pair of pants, boots, a purse, it didn’t matter, Zacharel suddenly had cash.

  “Are you miserable yet?” she asked him as he hid her purchases the same way he’d hidden his wings.

  “I—”

  “Hold that thought!” She had just spotted a cookie stand! She switched directions and bypassed Zacharel to eagerly bounce up and down in front of the counter, her mouth watering. “Chocolate chip,” she told the gloved lady waiting to take her order. “Two of them.”

  Had she ever thought to do something like this again, something purely frivolous? No. And that she was…she could have fallen to her knees and wept. Funny that she’d fought more tears since her liberation from the institution than she had during the four years she’d spent inside.