Nephilim the Awakening (Wrath of the Fallen Book 1)

by Elizabeth Blackthorne

  He stood up and took my hand in his. “Of course, my dear, but please do keep this to yourself. It isn’t common knowledge and could cause real problems for both myself and Rose.”

  “My lips are sealed, Sir Hargreaves.” I gave him a sweet smile as we made our way out of the room.

  To his credit, Cas waited until we were outside of the building before grabbing my arm and turning me to face him. “Okay, what gives?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There’s no way you just accepted what Hargreaves told you.”

  I looked at him blankly. “It sounded plausible to me.”

  He glared at me. “I don’t mean the part about him and your mother, I mean the part where he pretty much called you a slut and you let him.” I shrugged. “Faith!” he growled.

  I beamed. “Fine, fine. He said when they were in Florence, my mother spent her last day on the beach, right?”

  “So?”

  “My mother adored the sea. She used to live near the coast and only moved farther inland when she and Dad adopted me. Her favourite thing was going for a swim in the ocean every morning, no matter the temperature. Even when we used to go to the beach as a family, she was in the water more than she was out of it. There is no way she spent an entire day at the beach and didn’t go swimming. Even if it was freezing.”

  Cas looked at me, and then I saw him comprehend what I was getting at. “She didn’t go to the beach on her last day.”

  “No, she didn’t.” I took out the card she had written to me and held it out for him to see. “She went to a refectory. And what’s more, she lied about it to her lover and boss.”

  Cas looked at the painting, then back up at me. “If she was working on something, why did she lie to Hargreaves?”

  I tucked the card into my pocket and zipped up my jacket. “She was already planning to go to Florence on her own. I think she wanted to go to this refectory, and she wanted to go alone. For some reason, she didn’t want Hargreaves to know about it. So when he went with her, she had to lie about where she was. There’s something we’re missing about that refectory, Cas.”

  He turned and put his helmet on. “Okay, so Rose was up to something she didn’t want Hargreaves to know about, even though she was dating him. And it has something to do with that painting and that refectory. What do you want to do?”

  I took the spare helmet from him and slid it over my head. From behind the visor, I grinned at him. “What else? I want to go to Florence.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  FAITH

  I dropped onto a low stone bench outside of the hotel with a groan. These boots might be made for many things, but walking long wasn’t one of them. Sam grinned as he put my bag down on the floor and perched on the bench next to me.

  “Alright there, baby girl?”

  I glared at him. “I don’t see why we couldn’t have taken a taxi.”

  Cas dumped his own bag onto the ground but stayed standing, leaning against the wrought-iron fence as he answered, “Because the hotel was only a ten-minute walk from the station, and public transport is traceable. I’d rather no one knew where we were staying.”

  “I thought that was why we flew to Rome and took the train here? In case we were being followed?” I was whining and I knew it, but my feet hurt.

  “Always pays to be careful,” Amadi commented, walking up with Alex and Euriel at the rear. With grim pleasure, I realised Euriel hadn’t relished the walk either. I supposed he was used to flying everywhere. He set his bag down and glanced up at the hotel.

  His face visibly brightened, and I saw the first glimmer of a smile on his normally disapproving face. “We’re staying here?”

  Cas nodded. “That okay with you? I thought the Grand might be a little public.” I caught the faintest tone of sarcasm in Cas’s tone, but Euriel didn’t seem to notice.

  “No, it’s fine. I’ve always wanted to visit here.” We all stared at him.

  “Why?” I asked.

  He turned to look at me, and for once, his expression was not confrontational. “I’ve been to Florence a few times, but never visited here. The garden is famous for housing a school of art and sculpture where Michelangelo came at the age of fourteen to learn to sculpt under a student of Donatello.”

  “You like art? Created by lowly humans?” I cocked my head to one side as I regarded him.

  “There are a few among your species that excel whom I have much admiration and respect for. Painters, sculptors, and musicians all possess some gift of creativity not granted to our kind.”

  “Shall we check in?” Alex inquired, glancing at the sky. I looked up. It had been grey and miserable when we arrived, but the clouds were parting now, and though it was still chilly, large patches of blue were starting to appear. Alex slid off the bench and picked up his bag, so I did the same. He’d graciously carried my bag when I started hobbling—stupid boots—but I could manage inside.

  The interior of the hotel was lovely. It was modern and stylish, but still bore gorgeous features like polished marble floors and wrought-iron stair bannisters. I smiled as I looked around. Check in was pretty quick since Cas seemed to speak fluent Italian. As we made our way up to the rooms, I nearly asked him about it, but then I decided to keep quiet. It was becoming far too easy to fall into casual conversation with him, and I really didn’t want to seem like I was being friendly. At the top of the stairs, he handed out the keycards. Alex and Amadi had a room to themselves, and Cas and Sam were sharing a twin, but Euriel and I had our own rooms. Opening the door, I put my bag on the floor and looked around. A large, king-sized bed sat in the centre of the space, with your standard wardrobe, desk, and little sofa. The room was minimal but stylish, with a cream colour scheme. Sticking my head in the bathroom, I squealed at the roll-top bath and waterfall shower. The brown and black marble formed a striking contrast against the cream walls.

  A knock sounded on the door, and I went to open it. The guys stood outside, so I stepped away from the door and let them file in before dropping onto the end of the bed to unzip my boots. Stupid boots. I had wanted to feel more put together and stylish wandering around Florence, but my feet were against me. Luckily, I had my comfy biker boots with me for later.

  “So what’s happening?” I asked, rubbing my feet. Sam sat down next to me and pulled my feet into his lap, where he started rubbing them. I moaned in pleasure and relief and reclined on the bed.

  “Um, Faith?” Cas sounded a little exasperated. I held my hand up, but kept my eyes closed.

  “I can hear you, shoot.”

  He sighed impatiently. “Fine. I thought we should maybe split up this afternoon and make the most of actually being in Florence on a nice day. Looks like the sun’s coming out. The gallery we want isn’t open until tomorrow, and Sam and I would like to drop in on a friend here in the city.”

  “Afraid I’m going to be boring and stay here with my laptop,” Alex inserted, leaning against the wall. “I’m still trying to crack open that hard drive. Whoever protected it did some pretty serious work on it.”

  I pushed myself up on my elbows. “What, like encryption stuff?”

  He nodded. “Yep, all your standard digital protection, but there’s also quite a bit of magical protection on it too. I could maybe do with a bit of help…” His gaze drifted to Amadi, who grinned back at him.

  “Well, I’ve been to Florence before, so I’m happy to stay and... help.” I smiled at how cute they were, then sent a death glare across the room to Euriel as he made a noise of disgust in his throat.

  Cas did the same. “We’d appreciate it if you could keep your prejudices to yourself.”

  Euriel turned a hard stare on him. “Well, I will if they could keep their degenerate behaviour to themselves. Their perversion is a sinful mockery of a gift from God. I realise they have no hope of ever ascending to the hand of my father, but I have no desire to have it paraded in front of righteous beings and humans like the child there who may yet be saved.” He’d be
en skating around the issue for the last couple of weeks, obviously trying to refrain from commenting, and he’d apparently given up.

  The small room exploded. Amadi went for Euriel, only to be held back by Alex, and Sam leapt off the bed to grab Cas, causing me to roll onto the floor with a rather hard bump.

  “You’ve got some fucking nerve,” I growled over the incomprehensible yelling from Amadi and Cas in languages I didn’t recognise. Euriel’s icy eyes fixed on me as I pulled myself up, rubbing my backside. “They’ve let you stay with them, fed you, even clothed you, and you still spout this shit.”

  “They are—”

  “They are two of the nicest men I have ever met. They are a gorgeous couple who obviously adore each other. If you don’t like it, I suggest you fuck off to wherever you came from.”

  He glared at me and took a step forward. “It is your soul I am trying to protect, you foolish child!”

  “Well, I’d rather you left my soul alone, thank you very much, if it means you hurting people I care very much about. And enough with the ‘child’ moniker please, it’s offensive.” I stood in front of him, glaring right back. Granted, he was quite a bit taller than me, but there was no way I was backing down from this asshole.

  His chest seemed to inflate as he puffed up. “I was created before humanity even existed. I am quite entitled to refer to you as a child, an infant even, as is Cassiel.” I glanced over at Cas who had calmed down slightly, though Sam was still hanging onto his arms.

  Cas grinned at me, but I could still see the rage simmering in his eyes as he faced Euriel. “Don’t include me in that, mate. If there’s one thing I can tell you, Faith is definitely all woman!”

  Euriel let out a huff. Turning back to me, he stepped closer and actually took my hand. “My dear, I can save you if you’ll let me. Harlotry will be forgiven by the Lord Almighty if you repent.”

  I tilted my head to one side, making my eyes look wide and innocent. “Really? I’d be forgiven?”

  He nodded earnestly. “Of course. You just need to repent.”

  “So I’d be forgiven for having slept around since I was eighteen?”

  “Well, yes, if you—”

  “And would I be forgiven for sleeping with two men at one time?”

  He looked shocked. “Two—well, er, yes, I—”

  I smiled sweetly, ignoring Cas and Sam whom I could see grinning behind Euriel’s back. “That’s good to hear. So the other night, when I crept into the library looking for a drink and caught Amadi with Alex’s cock in his mouth, would I be forgiven for touching myself while I watched?” Euriel dropped my hand and stepped backwards, his eyes still locked on mine. “Would I be forgiven for sliding my fingers between my legs as I viewed Amadi’s mouth slide over Alex’s shaft? Or for kneeling and taking Amadi’s cock into my mouth?”

  This time, his eyes dropped lower, and he swallowed. “I—”

  I couldn’t tell if he was furious or turned on. I slowly swiped my tongue over my lips, my fingertips trailing along the low hem of my top. “Would I be forgiven for loving how his skin felt under my tongue, for getting wet when he pulled my head down so he could push deeper into my mouth? What about when Alex came up behind me and—”

  “Enough!” Euriel roared and stormed out of the room, slamming the door so hard the walls seemed to shake.

  I looked over at Amadi and Alex. “Hmm... I guess forgiveness does have its limits.” Cas and Sam burst into laughter, but Amadi came over and took me in his arms. Alex followed, his long arms encircling both of us, and pressed a soft kiss to the top of my head. I snuggled in, smirking at Cas and Sam who were giggling behind us.

  “Did you see?” Sam wheezed. “He totally had a hard-on when he stormed out!”

  I twisted away from my guys. “No? Did he really? Ha!” I wasn’t sure if I was flattered or disgusted, but I was definitely amused.

  As the laughter faded, Alex and Amadi released me from their arms. Alex softly ran a finger down one side of my face. “Thank you, my sweet one. You didn’t have to do that.”

  I looked up into his gorgeous green eyes. “Yeah, sorry I kind of spilled the beans on that night.”

  I glanced guiltily at Sam. Cas looked away, and something tightened inside me. Sam, however, wandered over and slid his arms around my waist, pulling me back against him. I turned my head to see him smiling down at me.

  “And what, exactly, were you saying about Euriel?” I inquired, feeling Sam’s hardness press into me.

  “Hey, he’s an angel, he should have better self-control. You know, since he’s been around since before humanity was created.” Sam rested his chin on my shoulder, and I laughed. “I, however, am a red-blooded man—okay, man wolf, and I have no such qualms. Besides, I’d like to see anyone imagine what you just described without getting at least marginally hot around the collar.”

  Amadi grinned at him. “You should have been there, man. Definitely more than marginally hot watching her on her knees!”

  My mouth dropped open, and I smacked Amadi on the arm.

  Sam chuckled, but the look he shot me was anything but comedic. “Well, if there’s an open invitation to share, let me know the time and place. I’ll be there howling at the door.” He gazed down at me. “If I’m welcome, that is?”

  My lips parted, and I could feel my heart thudding against my chest. I searched for something to say that didn’t make me sound dumb or like a sex maniac. Cas, however, came to my rescue, though I doubt that was his intention.

  “Shall we get going, Sam? It’ll take an hour to get there.” His humour had vanished, and he was back to being a grumpy sod again.

  Sam sighed. “Sure, let’s go. Let me grab my jacket from the room. Catch you later, baby girl.” He dropped a soft lingering kiss on my lips then left.

  Amadi and Alex followed suit, leaving me alone with Cas. He glanced over at me. “So what plans do you have for the afternoon?”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Well, since I didn’t know you were all going to abandon me, I guess I’ll have to make some of my own.”

  He nodded and, to his credit, looked slightly guilty. “I’d take you with us, but it’s really not the type of place I want to take you.”

  My interest piqued, I sat back down on the bed. “Really? Why? Top secret?”

  “Nothing like that. Just, the demon we’re going to see has a special talent for reading minds, and he’s not particularly subtle about commenting on what he finds in a person’s subconscious. I guess I wanted to spare you the embarrassment. I figured you’d had enough people poking around in your head. Besides, the meeting is mainly because if he found out Sam and I were here and didn’t go see him, he’d be pissed. And whereas, I, too” —he stood up straight, put his hand on his heart, and looked up to the ceiling— “was created before humanity even existed…” I giggled in spite of myself at his pious impersonation of Euriel. He smiled at me and took his hand away. “Let’s just say this is one powerful demon no one wants to piss off.”

  I nodded. “Fair enough. You aren’t going to make me stay in the hotel then?”

  He looked confused. “Why would I do that? No, no one knows we’re here. Go and have a wander. We’re in Florence, it’s a beautiful city. Maybe we could all meet up for pizza somewhere tonight?”

  I stood and opened my bag to grab my biker boots. “Pizza sounds good to me. Just text me when and where.”

  “Great, it’s a date.” He hesitated as he put his hand on the door handle as if he were going to say something else, but then he shook his head and left the room.

  I perched on the end of the bed to do up my boots and opened the browser on my phone to find a decent street map of the city. The idea of finally having some time to myself without any of the guys around was quite exciting.

  *

  Several hours of sightseeing and snacking later, I stood outside of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, gazing up at the huge bronze door in front of me. It had long since turned green, but the beautiful
jade colour contrasted wonderfully against the white stone. Pulling out my phone, I took a couple of photos, then flipped back through the ones I had already taken of the front of the cathedral from farther back to check they were in focus. The piazza wasn’t busy. Maybe it was due to the time of year, but I was glad it had kept them away. Even with the cold, the clouds had dissipated, and the cathedral was beautifully framed in azure blue. I smiled to myself and wandered towards the smaller bronze door to my left where they were still letting people in to have a look around. Staring down at my phone, I became absorbed in the tourism website I was skimming through and didn’t see the tall form in front of me until I collided with it. I stumbled backwards, losing my balance, but a long arm shot out and wrapped around my waist, pulling me in tight against a hard frame.

  Regaining my balance, I looked up. “Oh, it’s you.”

  Euriel’s arm tightened around my waist, pulling me firmly against his body as he viewed me with his normal scowling expression. “You ran into me. I was merely trying to prevent you from falling.”

  “Right, yeah. Sorry,” I mumbled reluctantly.

  “Actually, I wanted to apologise as well,” he said rather stiffly.

  I looked up at him in surprise. “Really?”

  “Yes, well, I realise I may have acted out of turn in the hotel room.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, you reckon?”

  He scowled down at me. “I did not appreciate your attempts to seduce me, however—”

  “Whoa, hang on a sec there. My attempt to what?” I gaped up at him.

  “To seduce me. However, I should have maintained better control over my temper and not left the way I did until we had resolved the situation.”

  I raised my eyebrows, and then I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I began to laugh.

  He frowned. “I do not understand what you would find amusing about my apology.”

  “Well, for starters, I did not try to seduce you.”

  “Everything you said was a deliberate attempt to make me desire you sexually, was it not?”