Yet, if he used coercion, he’d never be able to convince Lexi his actions were for the sake of her and the human race. She’d feel betrayed. He couldn’t do that. He needed to build her faith, not destroy it.
A burgundy book with bold silver gilt lettering caught his attention. While he waited, he might as well become reacquainted with history. After millennium of existence, ancient things tended to get a bit fuzzy. Even for angels. Immortal? Yes. Infallible? No.
With gentle fingers, he pulled down the book written by Grigori regarding the defenders and settled into the rich blue leather of the bustle back Chippendale wing chair. Heat from the cheerfully crackling fire warmed his exposed skin. He sighed.
Mikos flipped open a page near the front and looked at one of the first defenders. Interesting. He hadn’t really noticed before, and his memories of her weren’t as clear as they used to be, but Lexi had a striking resemblance to Sophronia, the first female defender of the line.
Her proud bearing, dark locks and cat-like slant to her eyes matched Lexi identically. It seemed she matched her ancestor in other ways as well. Xaviera, having been one of the Grigori assigned to watch Sophronia, had spoken of her willfulness and determination. Same thing her heir had in full. However, what Lexi lacked, which Sophronia possessed in abundance, was faith.
And Sophronia didn’t have a hang up about her fellow mortals. Mikos sighed again, a long-drawn out exhale.
“Is Beliel causing you trouble, brother?” The cool tone rolled over his body. “Or is the new defender the reason for your sigh?”
Mikos jerked to his feet. The book fell to the floor with a muffled thump on the carpet. He knew who belonged to that steel-edged, mocking tone. “Asher.”
“At your pleasure.” The dark-haired, dark-eyed man reclined at the desk, his long legs crossed at the ankles on the polished wood.
“Get out,” Mikos snarled.
Asher the Black. Lucifer’s Slayer. Dark Prince of Hell. Once a being closer to Mikos than even that of a brother. The pain under the anger surprised Mikos. He hadn’t expected to still feel so much raw emotion this long after Ash’s betrayal.
Ash shook his head and made a tsking sound. “I have not seen you for a century or two and this is the welcome I receive?”
“It’s more than you deserve.” Mikos stalked over to his weapons wall. “How the hell did you get in?”
Ash held up his hands. “Relax, Mikos. I’m not here to cause trouble.” He cocked his head. “I suppose you didn’t get around to changing your wards?”
Damn. He hadn’t. His domicile wards gave Ash full access. He wouldn’t have to break the wards—all he had to do was walk in. Why hadn’t Mikos changed the wards? Was it because he’d hoped Ash would change? Or because Mikos feared he would?
“I’m not here to attack you,” Ash continued, his easy tone and placating expression sounding sincere if one didn’t look too deep in the pitch gaze. He stood and moved around to the front of the desk.
“Then what?” Mikos didn’t snatch a weapon from the wall, but he didn’t move away either.
Their relationship had shattered when Ash decided staying Lucifer’s Slayer was more important than their friendship. He stayed behind; Mikos began his struggle for redemption.
“I’ve come to warn you.” Ash’s relaxed mien faded. What filled his face now was a tight seriousness that more than anything convinced Mikos of the Slayer’s truth. “Morningstar plans to side with Beliel.”
Mikos lifted an eyebrow. Morningstar, also known as Lucifer, Ruler of Hell, very rarely lifted a hand to act. While deadly when he chose to play demon games, he normally let his demon Lords cause chaos and dissension.
The possibility of Lucifer taking an active role in this dispute was a disturbing consideration.
“Since when does Lucifer take sides in these battles? He’s never bothered before.”
“I do not know what Beliel has offered.” Ash hitched his shoulders. “I did not realize he and Morningstar were on bartering terms.”
He paused. “There is talk of releasing Rahab.”
“Stercus.” The profanity slipped from Mikos’s mouth. He wasn’t prone to fear. Not his way, yet, Rehab, the Ruler of the Sea, a she-demon who took on the aspect of a dragon caused even the mighty Archangels to tread with caution.
“You are certain?”
Ash shrugged again. “As certain as I could be without having actually heard the words from either Lucifer or Beliel.” He finished and an odd expression crossed his face.
Uncertainty? Worry?
A press of pressure took his focus from Ash. The wards alerted him to the arrival of another presence. Inwardly, Mikos groaned. He’d have to do something about strengthening the wards.
“Mikos, are you insane?” Kat shimmered into view, her ghostly features tight, and her eyes wide with irritation.
“I’ve told you,” she continued. “You can’t boss Lexi around. She’s like a badger. The more you attack, the more she’ll burrow deep then come out and rip your head off.”
The ghost drifted in agitated circles. “And I can’t believe you—” Her strident tone abruptly cut off. Her eyes widened further. She stared at a place over his shoulder.
Obviously, she’d noticed he had a visitor. Even more obvious by the tight lips and flared nostrils, she knew his visitor.
Mikos hadn’t thought a ghost could become any paler, but Kat, had lost all color, her form becoming a mere wisp of mist.
“Asher,” she breathed out the single word.
“Kitty.”
Well, now, this is fascinating. Mikos eyed his former brother-in-arms. Pain and loss deepened the lines on his face and glinted briefly in the jet-black eyes before they turned hard, flat and passionless. As if they’d turned to coal.
He lifted an eyebrow. Both Ash and Kat’s stricken faces pointed to a past relationship. The fact she was a ghost didn’t bode well to the nature, or outcome, of that relationship.
Kat couldn’t stop staring at Ash. She opened her mouth but choked on the words and couldn’t manage anything more than an exhale of air. Rather, she made the human motion, nothing was actually expelled. Ghosts didn’t require oxygen to breathe. They didn’t breathe.
Still she felt something. Seeing Ash after all these years left her reeling, looking for firm footing while sand shifted under her feet. No, not garden-variety sand. More like quicksand, sucking at her legs, trying to drag her down.
She hadn’t thought ghosts could feel much in the way of emotions. Obviously she was wrong. Right now, a tangle of feelings from desire to fear to rage filled every molecule. Bile rose into her throat, more a memory than an actual sensation.
Ghosts didn’t eat so they didn’t have stomach acid which meant they couldn’t feel the acidic burn of food rising upward until it reached the back of her throat.
No, ghosts didn’t feel anything. But she did.
Ash’s appearance hadn’t changed. He still had the sinful attractiveness that gave new meaning to the words. Sinful being the key word. Dark hair as black as the darkest hell that birthed him framed piercing midnight eyes that seemed to absorb light.
Her fingers ached to caress the fine lines that still lingered in the corners of his eyes. Lines that crinkled when he smiled. Not that he was smiling. If she had to define the expression on his face, it would be sorrow.
But, demons didn’t feel sorrow. To feel pain, they had to have a heart. She had firsthand experience Ash didn’t possess one.
He’d told her that right before he showed her.
When he killed her.
Something tender moved across his features. In the next instant, his face flattened, becoming a mask. She tore her gaze from the evil-hearted demon and glared at Mikos. The Fallen’s dark visage held speculation, yet he didn’t say anything. He merely lifted an eyebrow.
“I didn’t know you knew Asher,” she said, thankful her voice didn’t crack from the strain of her disquiet. Ash actually stood within four feet of her. She
was lucky she didn’t dissolve into a pile of ectoplasm goop.
“My brother.”
Her hand covered her mouth, holding back the gasp. “Your brother?”
Kat felt her spectral form, already insubstantial, start to unravel. With an effort, she literally pulled herself together.
“I don’t believe this.” Her southern accent thickened. “If I had known about Ash, I would have never convinced Lexi to return. Damn you, Mikos, you lied to me.”
He held up a protesting hand. “Kat, I didn’t lie to you. You never asked for my history.”
“Excuse me.” Ash’s coolly impersonal voice broke into Mikos’s explanation. “If I might interrupt? I don’t have a lot of time. Can you two continue this conversation later?”
Ash’s smooth, frosty tone spun Kat’s fear for Lexi into rage. She whirled to face the demon. He rested his hip on the large desk, his hands braced on the wooden surface. The open collar of his white shirt teased her with flashes of tan skin. Damn it, she didn’t want to feel anything for Ash. Not even emotions that shouldn’t exist.
How dare he stand there looking as if he had not an ounce of guilt over her death? She’d once, foolishly, believed she meant something to him. If she still had a heart, it would have shattered again. An upside to being a ghost. She couldn’t feel something she no longer had.
Right?
Sucking in a deep breath, again not that she actually needed to breathe, yet the human action soothed her, Kat scowled at Ash, then turned to include Mikos.
“I don’t care what you two are or how powerful you are, if you hurt Lexi, I’ll find some way to make you pay.”
This time, Kat let her form dissolve. Just before she faded from sight, she met Ash’s eyes one last time. The obsidian depths held anguish, a brief flicker that left Kat wondering if she’d really seen it or imagined he hurt as much as she did.
After Kat left, Mikos waited, studying Ash’s face. Naked emotion etched deep lines into the Slayer’s skin and whitened the corners of his tightly pressed lips.
Very interesting.
Despite whatever had happened to leave Kat dead, Ash had felt something for the fiery blonde with the Southern charm. Not that she’d shown much of that recently. Mikos couldn’t blame her. If Ash had anything to do with Kat’s death, then seeing him must rip at the ghost’s fragile psyche.
What exactly had gone on between Kat and Ash? Worse, had the demon known and interacted with Lexi? If so, why was she still alive?
For the first time in over a century, Mikos let himself believe there was hope for Ash. The Slayer roused himself, shaking off whatever emotions had held him in their sharp teeth.
“What do you intend to do about Rahab?” he asked when Mikos said nothing.
“Why would I tell you my plans?” Mikos tilted his head. “So you can go back to Morningstar and betray me? The humans have a saying, ‘Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.’ Translation–go to Hell.”
“Been there.” Ash shook his head. “Mikos, I have no intention of providing information to either Morningstar or Beliel.”
“Then you are a fool.”
An enigmatic expression crossed Ash’s face, and his lips twisted into a wry grin. “Maybe, but not about this. I harbor you no ill will, brother.”
Mikos laughed, the tone sounding sharp and bitter even to him. Ash seemed to flinch. “You harbor me no ill will? Generous of you. Pity I can’t say the same.”
Ash met Mikos’s gaze, his own penetrating. Mikos didn’t know what his former brother-in-arms saw, whatever it was seemed to satisfy one of the most powerful demons in Hell.
“Whether or not you forgive me makes no difference in the information I provided. Watch your back, brother. Malphas isn’t the only bastard looking for a piece of you. There will be more.”
In a move more dramatic than when he’d arrived, Ash disappeared, leaving behind a slight tinge of sulfur.
Mikos sighed and sank back onto the couch. Christ’s wounds. It seemed he’d landed himself right in the middle of a battle more complicated than keeping Beliel from finding Solomon’s Key.
Making enemies in the legions of Hell was not unexpected. To their way of thinking, he’d turned his back on his brethren. In retrospect, he had. They thought him a coward, a fool.
They were right.
Not about him leaving but about him joining Lucifer in the beginning. He’d let lust and pride overcome his senses until he could think of nothing more than burying himself deep into a mortal woman.
Which was why he could not let his lust for Lexi overcome his will. All these years, not one mortal woman had caused him to lose his control over his body. Until her.
When…if Lexi returned, he must keep his own emotions under tight control. Not only did the future of the human race depend upon his strength, his soul did.
Mikos’s wards chimed again. This time, they warned him of a familiar approach. Alert, but affecting a posture of unconcern, he pushed deeper into the chair, drumming his fingers on the armrest while he waited for her approach.
The library door pushed open, the swing nearly striking the opposite wall. The woman entering had a job to do. A job she didn’t want. His was to convince her of the importance of what she did. Or didn’t do.
And give her the faith to do it.
How does one go about renewing someone else’s faith when theirs was at stake?
Lexi eyed the dark angel. He didn’t appear surprised to see her. Irrationally, that pissed her off. She didn’t like the idea he might know her better than she knew herself. For Pete’s sake, she’d only known him two days.
“Let’s get something straight.”
She stalked toward him, her strides determined. He may have known she’d return, but that didn’t mean he could dictate her actions. “You don’t get to tell me what to do,” she continued.
“Welcome back, Defender.” Mikos stood. “Once you are settled, we can begin your training.”
“Are you listening to me?”
“I heard you.”
“That’s not the same as listening to me, and you know it.”
He sighed. “I am aware of the differences. I simply chose to ignore your statement.”
A deep desire to slug Mikos had her clenching her fingers into fists. Only her backpack and sanjiegun stopped her. She’d have to drop both items in order to belt him.
He ran fingers through his dark hair. Lexi curled her fingers deeper into her palms.
“It is my job to train you. I cannot do that if you will not listen.”
He had a point. If she was going to do this, Mikos would need to instruct her. Fighting him on every point would only slow things down. The sooner he discovered she was not what he thought she was, the sooner she could return to her life.
She gritted her teeth, speaking through clenched lips. “Fine. In matters of my training, I’ll take your orders.”
Mikos snorted. Lexi stared at him for a minute. He’d snorted? Angels snorted? That was just so wrong. He tilted his head. She read his expression as if he’d shouted.
As she realized the reason for his snort, her lips twisted into a slight grin. “Right. At least I’ll take them under serious consideration.” She lifted a hand in case he felt a need to interrupt. “As long as your orders are logical and my instincts don’t tell me to ignore them, I’ll listen.”
“Can I have that in writing?”
“Don’t be a smartass, Mikos. It doesn’t become you.”
She couldn’t stop the inward smile even though she was careful not to let him see her amusement. That’d be great. Let the arrogant angel see she found him entertaining. A thought occurred to her. “You know, you act nothing like an angel.”
Mikos angled his head, his brow furrowed. “Oh? What does an angel act like?”
“Kind, good, gentle and very supportive.”
He snorted again. Freaky. “I am very supportive,” he said.
Interesting. He completely ignored the
kind, good and gentle part. “Sure you are.”
A shrug. “I’m an unusual angel.”
“You’ll have to tell me about that someday.”
His eyes flattened, the amused expression fleeing the ice gray depths. “Someday, I might.”
Uh, oh. What did that mean? For a moment, she considered pushing him on his cryptic response then decided she didn’t care enough to know. Right now, her mind wouldn’t stretch to learn more secrets.
“Okay, so what’s the plan?”
“The plan is to get you rested and start training tomorrow.” He eyed her battered backpack. “This is all you require?”
Her turn to shrug. “I don’t need much. Why?”
“I would have thought you’d like more of your things around you.”
“I have everything I need. Besides, it’s not like I’ll be here long.”
Sure, she was fishing for information. She’d made a promise to stay for training. She hadn’t made one to stay forever.
No response. He just kept his gaze on her, a spark of some indefinable emotion glowing behind the mask of unconcern.
Amusement? Anger? Uh, maybe horny? God help her.
Just when the silence began to grate on her already unsettled nerves, he spoke. “Very well. I’ll show you where you’ll stay. Rest. We’ll start at sunrise.”
“Whoa, sunrise? What is that? Six a.m.? Maybe you don’t need to sleep, but I need more than—” she paused and looked at her watch, “—five hours of sleep if you want me to function tomorrow.”
Mikos frowned then nodded. “Nine o’clock?”
“Terrific.” She swept out an arm, gesturing for him to precede her. “Lead on.”
Later that night, Lexi stared up at the ceiling. Moonlight danced, casting the room into cool shadows of flickering, waving light. A slight breeze gently shook the branches of the large maples outside her window, a comforting rustle of leaves that determinedly hung on when their compatriots had already fallen to the ground.
Left alone in the strange room to sleep in a strange bed. A whirlwind of thoughts plagued her mind. No matter how much she tried to relax, she couldn’t. Her mind refused to shut down.
Key of Solomon: Relic Defenders, Book 1 Page 16
