Speak Thy Name (The Nephilim Book 3)

by Dana Marie Bell

  “Abby and Beth?” She must be talking about them.

  “And Nancy, Mercy, Grace—you’ll love Grace—Andi, Kaley, and Quinn.”

  His shoulders shook. “You have almost as many sisters as I have brothers.”

  “Andi, Beth, and Abby are my besties, though.” Sam turned her head as Gabriel entered the room. “But we can talk about that later. We found something, Gabriel.”

  “What is it?” Gabriel stood behind them, eyeing the monitors like they’d bite. This was the part Gabriel had never quite gotten a handle on. Damien never allowed him in the room unless he or Zeke were there. He had a habit of touching the computers, giving Damien days’ worth of work fixing them. Hell, he’d caused the prototype Armageddon to crash. Damien hadn’t thought that possible. He still didn’t understand what Gabriel had done, and neither did Gabriel.

  “We’ve got an IP address we managed to trace to Middletown.” Damien pointed to the small town. “We’ve also got emails where they mention ‘the Azar’ and reprogramming him.”

  Gabriel nodded. “Then we hunt tonight.” He placed his hand on Sam’s shoulder, and she sighed happily. “Thank you, Samantha.”

  “You’re welcome.” She picked up a piece of cheese and shoved it in her mouth.

  The archangel turned to Damien. “I’m going to have you, Sasha, and Giovanni handle this one.”

  “Why not send Micah with them?” He’d been hoping for some alone time with Sam, and if he had to go on the hunt he wouldn’t get that.

  “You can sense Shem within a certain area.” Gabriel stared at him. From his expression, this was nonnegotiable. “Sasha and Giovanni need to be the ones to save their brother. Please, Damien. Give them your help.”

  Damien rolled his eyes. “Well, when you put it that way, of course.”

  Sam stood. “Anything I can help with?”

  Gabriel and Damien exchanged a glance. “You can help Sasha cook dinner.”

  Sam made a face. “A, I’m not a fifties’ housewife, and B, I suck at cooking.”

  Damien laughed. “Then keep him company. He’s been depressed since Rafe disappeared, and he likes you.”

  “What about you?” Sam gave him a disappointed look.

  “I need to get some rest before I go hunting tonight.” He stood and took her in his arms, hugging her tight. “You’re going to stay here and try not to give me another heart attack.”

  “I can stay down here and monitor the systems.” She craned her neck back until she could look him in the face. “If Gabriel has a security system, I can keep an eye out for possible intruders. We agreed the Shem would figure out where I was fairly quickly, right?”

  “Zeke usually does that, but maybe he’d like teaching you about the system.” Damien nodded. “All right. I’m fine with that, but if things look like they’re going south you head for the escape route, all right?”

  She nodded. “If my dogs go with me, sure.”

  He slapped her behind.

  “Damien!” She tried to pull away, obviously shocked that he’d hit her.

  “I love your dogs. I do. But if it comes down to you or them, you run. The Shem don’t want Precious or Don Pablo, they want you. Do you hear me?”

  She glared at him.

  “I mean it. Do you think they’d want their mama hurt?” Damien kissed her nose. “Because I don’t.”

  She started tearing up. “I can’t, Damien. I can’t leave them.”

  He tried not to growl. “Fine. Then have them in the room with you when you work with Zeke tonight.”

  She patted his cheek. “Now that’s a compromise I can live with.”

  “Good, because if they have to go potty you aren’t going out with them.” If he had to lay down the law of the land, he would. He wouldn’t risk one hair on her head, not when he could save her. “Promise me.”

  “If one of your brothers takes them out, I’ll stay inside. I promise.”

  That was as good as he was going to get. “Micah or Gabriel will deal with potty time.”

  She leaned her forehead against his shoulder. “I’m so sorry you guys have to go to all this trouble for me.”

  “Nonsense.” Gabriel’s tone was filled with affection for Sam. “You may have saved one of my children from more harm. This is the least we can do.”

  “Then…I know what I’m doing tonight.” She hugged Damien back. “You stay safe out there, okay?”

  He chuckled softly, the familiar farewell soothing. “I’m not leaving yet, but I will.” He kissed the top of her head.

  Her hold on him tightened for a moment before she pulled away, her cheeks flushed once more. “I, um, should go rest myself. It’s been a hell—” she shot Gabriel a guilty glance, “—heck of a day, and I’m burnt out.”

  “Then come on. Let’s go up. If you want to read, Gabriel has an extensive library.”

  “I’d love that.” She glanced around as they once again entered the living room. “Damien?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Where are my dogs?”

  “Probably with the food.” Damien pointed her toward the kitchen before heading off for some rest. He’d need to call Salvatore, make sure everything was going well at work.

  He pulled out his cell phone on the way up the stairs and dialed. “Salvatore.”

  “How are things at the client site?” Salvatore’s voice was firm, the sounds around him loud. He must be out on the street.

  “More fucked up than I thought, but I’ll get it fixed.” Since he’d never told Salvatore of his Nephilim nature, Damien had to lie to a man he’d come to respect. Hell, maybe he should make Salvatore a partner. He’d proven himself trustworthy, smart and loyal.

  “Isn’t that always the case?” Salvatore spoke about current projects and clients who’d need to hear from Damien personally, some due to Larry’s firing and others who just wouldn’t deal with anyone else. When they were finished he wished Salvatore a good evening, then dialed Piotr.

  “Zdrastvooyte, moĭ brat. What can I do for you?”

  Damien smiled at the sound of Piotr’s voice. There was a time when he would have scowled, backed away from the Cambion because of his appetites, but Piotr had proven himself far more dedicated to them than any of them had been to him. Damien was still trying to make up for that. “It’s about Sam. Thanks for lending her to us. She’s found a clue to Rafe’s whereabouts.”

  Piotr cursed softly. “Where?”

  “Somewhere in Middletown. I’m heading down there with Sasha and Gio to hopefully retrieve him tonight.”

  “Keep me informed, yes?”

  “Of course.” Damien nudged both shoes off and pulled himself higher onto the bed. “Stay safe, my brother.”

  “Prebyvaniem bezopasny, moĭ brat.”

  Damien plugged in his cell phone, took his jeans and T-shirt off, and fell asleep. Sam was safe, Rafe soon would be, and all Damien could think of was having Sam curled up around him while he slept.

  He dreamt of her laughter.

  Chapter 13

  After a nice nap of her own, Sam made her way down to the kitchen. Sasha was there with the dogs, feeding them tidbits off the counter as he started to prepare dinner.

  “Want some company?” Sam yawned and sat at the counter, leaning her head on her hand. It was surprising how tired she still was after all the sleep she’d gotten. She must have been more worried about her life and where it was going than she’d thought.

  “Sure thing, Sammie.” Sasha smiled at her as her dogs came over for pets and hugs. They’d joined her in her room for her afternoon nap, but they’d been gone when she woke up. “Your babies kept darting to the stairs looking for you.”

  Donny was licking her chin as she held him, making her laugh. Precious was patiently waiting her turn for some mommy love.

  “So, lasagna sound good for dinner?” Sasha turned back to the stove, stirring something that smelled fantastic.

  “Sounds good.” She yawned, giggling again when Donny nipped her chin.
Apparently she wasn’t paying enough attention to his little lordship. “Stop that!”

  Sasha shook his head. “Those guys seem like a handful.”

  “Yeah, but totally worth it.” She put Donny back down on the floor and began scratching Precious’s head.

  Sasha put a pan on the island and began layering pasta, cheese, sausage, and sauce. “So. You and Damien, huh?”

  She almost fell off her chair when Precious pushed against her for more love. “We’ve only had one date.”

  He paused, ricotta glopping off his spoon. “Only one?”

  She glanced up at him over Precious’s head. “Yeah. He took me out to lunch as an apology for nearly ruining my life, and his ex-girlfriend showed up.”

  Sasha grimaced. “Ouch. Did you beat the shit out of him?”

  “No, because it wasn’t his fault.” She sat up, watching the dogs as they settled by the back door for another nap. Both dogs were sun worshippers. “Besides, I kind of felt sorry for her.”

  “Why?” Sasha worked on the lasagna again.

  “The two of them had a blow-up outside the restaurant.”

  “With you there?” The outrage in Sasha’s voice made her feel slightly better about the whole incident.

  “No, I was inside, waiting for him. It seems she thought they were going to get back together because he tried to be friends with her.”

  Sasha made a noise of disgust. “Oblivious asshole. That almost never works out. Want me to beat the shit out of him for you?”

  She quickly waved her hands. “No, please don’t. It had nothing to do with me. Really. I’m okay with what happened. It was his problem, not mine.”

  Sasha quietly layered lasagna for a few minutes. “You could go out with me.”

  She sucked in a surprised breath before choking.

  “Aw, c’mon. I’m not that bad.” He winked at her. “I’m smart, strong, and I cook. Plus, I don’t have an ex to embarrass you with on the first date.”

  “I’m not going out with you,” she choked out.

  Sasha rolled his eyes. “Fine. On your non-date with me, I won’t embarrass the hell out of you with my skanky ex-booty-call, okay?”

  “Oh please, I’m a much better prospect.” Zeke strolled into the room and took a seat next to her. “I mean, look at me. Now look at him. Do you want to date a guy covered in tomato sauce?”

  Sasha looked down at his pristine apron, then glared at Zeke. “Asshole.”

  “I wuv you, too.” Zeke made kissy-faces at Sasha.

  “Should I leave you two alone?” Sam bit back her laughter.

  Sasha put the lasagna in the oven. “He couldn’t handle me, sweetie. I’m way too much man for him.”

  “Erm. Is there something you two need to tell me?” Gio, his eyebrows practically in his hair, stood in the kitchen doorway. His gaze travelled from Zeke to Sasha and back again. “Not that I have a problem with you guys…I mean, if you two are…” He made some weird gesture with his hands that Sam couldn’t interpret. She wasn’t certain Gio could, either. “I’d still lo— I mean, you’d still be my brothers.”

  Zeke and Sasha looked at each other before Zeke launched himself at Gio. “Oh, thank you, Gio. I knew you’d understand our forbidden love.” Zeke kissed Gio on the cheek, a loud smack that had Sam hiding her face in her hands. She was going to bust out laughing and ruin everything if Zeke kept that up.

  She looked up just as Gio elbowed Zeke off of him with a scowl. “Ass.”

  Zeke laughed and took his seat again. “We were just telling Sam she was better off with one of us rather than Damien. After all, we didn’t bring our ex-girlfriend to meet our current girlfriend.”

  “He only called me his girlfriend to throw Marcy off.” Sam might wish it so, but she wasn’t saying it until Damien told his brothers it was true. For all she knew, she was telling the guys the truth, but from the way Damien acted she was beginning to think they might be right.

  All three men stared at her blankly, then blatantly ignored her statement. “I think she should dump him for me.” Sasha leaned over the counter, so close his breath fanned across her face, the scent of tomato sauce strong.

  “And I think she’d be better off with me.” Zeke put his arm around her shoulders, making her stiffen. It just didn’t feel right. She didn’t know him well enough to allow him to touch her.

  “Get off her.” Gio smacked Zeke’s arm off of her. “Can’t you see you’re making her uncomfortable?” Gio took hold of her hand and pulled her gently off the stool. “Here. Have a seat at the table.” His tone was far gentler with her than with his friends. “Besides, you don’t want them. No woman wants to be a beard. You should date me.”

  “Why should I do that?”

  “Because my sister-in-law would kick my ass if I hurt you.”

  Sasha and Zeke both laughed as Sam nodded. Beth would hurt him in so many ways he’d need a written list just to get everything fixed again.

  Gio grinned. “All right, enough fun. Damien will kick my ass if I let this go on any longer.”

  “Let what go on?” Damien sauntered in, yawning, dressed in a T-shirt and jeans. His hair was all messed up, his cheeks stubbled, his eyes heavy-lidded. His feet were bare.

  He’d never looked sexier.

  “Nothing.” Sasha turned to cleaning the kitchen, his shoulders straight, his expression blank.

  “Aw, don’t say that, sweetums.” Zeke stood and put his arms around Sasha’s waist. “We were just talking about our forbidden love.”

  Damien grunted as he poured himself a glass of orange juice. “Great. No nakie time in the kitchen. I don’t want to see dueling dicks first thing in the morning.”

  “Gives a whole new meaning to the words coffee creamer, doesn’t it?” Zeke laughed as Sasha pushed him away.

  “Ugh. I’m gonna hurl.” Gio gagged as Damien plopped himself next to Sam.

  “Have they been teasing you this whole time?” Damien put his arm around her shoulders.

  Where Zeke’s arm had felt wrong, Damien’s caused her to feel warm and safe. She had the urge to snuggle into him, but she wasn’t sure if that would be welcome in front of his friends. “They were arguing over who should date me.”

  That earned her some interesting reactions. Zeke went wide-eyed and began backing out of the room. Sasha was shaking his head and laughing. Gio darted out the back door with a panicked look.

  “Oh?” Damien’s tone was amused, but his fingers twisted in her hair. “How did you respond?”

  “I didn’t.”

  “Ah.” His fingers tightened briefly in her hair before he sipped his juice.

  “In our defense, she did say she wasn’t your girlfriend.” Sasha was hiding behind the counter now, but his voice came out loud and clear.

  Damien smiled, but said nothing.

  “She did mention how she met your ex on your date, too.”

  Damn it. Sasha was throwing her under the bus.

  Damien turned toward her. “Did she?”

  Sam looked down at the table. She didn’t have anything to play with, so she put her hands in her lap. She was already fidgeting with the need to go do something, anything but be under his watchful gaze. “It wasn’t a date,” she muttered.

  Damien leaned into her space. “It so fucking was.” She jumped as he kissed her ear. “And she was my girlfriend a long time ago, asshole,” he yelled at Sasha.

  “Nope. She was your skanky booty-call.”

  It was probably a good thing Sasha was hiding behind the counter, because Damien looked like he wanted to kill his brother. “She’s a nice woman with a good career who made me laugh. I thought we could be more, but I never cared for her the way I—” Damien’s words abruptly cut off right at the good part. “Anyway, I’m sorry things worked out that way with her. She deserved better.”

  Sasha poked his head out. “Did you tell her that?”

  “I did, not that it’s any business of yours.” Damien turned back to Sam. “So that means our
not-date was a real date, got it?”

  She blinked up at him. “I suppose?”

  He smiled, and it sent shivers down her spine. “Good. And breakfast was our second date, where you met my family.”

  It was?

  He nodded as if he could read her mind. “Yup. Eventually I’ll take you home to Mom, but this, right here? This is my family, and they approve of you.”

  “We do,” Zeke yelled from wherever he was.

  “What happens on our third date?” Her voice was soft. Whatever he said, she didn’t want anyone else to hear.

  “Whatever we want.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything you won’t like.”

  The back door opened, and Gio’s deep voice roared through the room. “No fucking at the breakfast table.”

  The back door slammed closed.

  Sam tried to sink to the ground, but Damien’s grip on her shoulder wouldn’t let her. Instead, she buried her face in her hands again, hoping no one saw how red her cheeks must be.

  “It’s okay, sweetheart,” Damien crooned in her ear. “When I kill him tonight, I’ll make it look like an accident.”

  She tried not to laugh, she really did, but she had to let it out. These guys were too much. One at a time was probably doable, but all of them together? “You guys are a menace.”

  “And we’re pointed right at your enemies.” Zeke peeked from around the entrance to the kitchen, his hands making fake guns. “Pew, pew! Dead Shem, party time! Woo woo! Woo woo!” He threw his hands in the air and danced around like he was being tazered in the ass.

  She stared at Zeke, trying her best to keep her expression blank and her tone bland. “I feel so much safer now.”

  She must have succeeded, because Damien almost snorted orange juice. Damien covered his mouth with his hand, silently laughing. “Ow ow ow. Don’t do that, woman.”

  “Do what?” She batted her lashes innocently.

  He kissed the tip of her nose. “Make me do a nasal wash with OJ. That shit stings.”

  A glass of milk was promptly placed in front of Damien. “Here. This hurts a lot less.”

  Damien flipped Zeke the bird and turned to Sasha. “When’s dinner ready?”

  Sasha popped up long enough to check the timer. “Two hours.”