Fallen

by Claire Delacroix

  Montgomery knew his effect upon her, and he was doing it deliberately. It was as if he'd planned this seduction all along. Lilia found that idea surprisingly appealing, probably because she found Montgomery so appealing.

  Especially when he smiled, as he did now. There was more to this man than met the eye and she found herself wanting to trade secrets with him. The leisurely curve of his lips as he watched her, the satisfaction in his eyes, the sense that he was holding back only to wait for her, all combined to push Lilia toward the edge again.

  His arm tightened beneath her, holding her shoulders so that she was pinned against his chest. He kissed her with new force and she rose against him. She knotted her ankles around his waist, welcoming him deeper inside. Montgomery accepted her invitation, then flicked his fingers against her with surety.

  And she was conquered again. Lilia shouted with pleasure and convulsed around him. This time, Montgomery roared as well, and they collapsed trembling in each other's arms. He murmured her name, then his eyes closed.

  Lilia stared at the mucky skylight overhead as she caught her breath, her hand moving across the back of Montgomery's neck as he dozed. She was dazed and dazzled, content with sex for the first time since she could remember. She had no desire to move, no impatience to close the door on intimacy and don her armor again.

  This man challenged her and understood her as no man ever had.

  It was probably a bad thing that she didn't care.

  It was definitely a bad thing that she heard that echo of male laughter again, the same laughter that she'd heard in the old city. Her mouth went dry when she saw that silvery fog slide across the warehouse floor.

  Stevia sighed when she heard Micheline come into her tent. Morning had come too soon.

  Again.

  Stevia stretched and sat up, hunching over her knees as her daily coughing binge began. "Put the kettle on, Micheline," she said when her coughing had slowed. "And bring me that gold bottle, please." Stevia shoved one hand through her hair, rubbed her eyes, and realized there had been no response. "Micheline, stop your daydreaming ..."

  Stevia glanced up in shock as someone much larger than Micheline loomed over the bed. One hand rose to clutch the front of her worn pajamas when she saw the man in a pseudoskin.

  A stranger.

  He smiled coldly and she knew nothing good would come of this.

  Stevia scrambled for the laze beneath her pillow, but her fingers barely brushed it. He was on top of her in a heartbeat, his gloved hand over her mouth. She fought him but her hands slid off the pseudoskin, getting no grip on him. Stevia panicked and kicked, but he was younger and stronger.

  He seized her laze, put the muzzle to her temple, then fired.

  Stevia didn't even manage to scream.

  The only mercy was that she never felt the knife.

  As Lilia watched, the skylight brightened, casting a glimmer into the warehouse below. The light was warm, like that of a sunrise, but seemed more pearlescent. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

  Even better, it seemed to dispel the silvery fog. Had she imagined it? And the laugh as well? Lilia had an uneasy feeling whenever she thought about the fog, so she decided not to.

  Not right now. Instead, she studied Montgomery, the man of two identities, one of which was utterly fascinating.

  The other, the cop Montgomery, wasn't without his appeal either.

  Even in slumber, Montgomery looked formidable and sexy. Even when he dozed, his proximity made her heart leap. He was a man of mystery whose many secrets she wanted to unfold. There was something about Montgomery that got to Lilia, that made her wonder if she'd been right about love being too much trouble or whether she'd dismissed its charms too soon.

  He was fabulous in bed too, which didn't hurt. She stretched to kiss his ear, a curious warmth filling her heart.

  The brightening light shone on his black ear stud, making its glassy surface gleam. Lilia froze and stared.

  Montgomery's stud was back in place.

  Which meant that the Republic was watching, and had been watching. No wonder he thought her temporary tattoo was amusing. She had a childish urge to wave to the monitor.

  The eye of the Republic wasn't their only audience, though. The light from above took on a familiar opalescent glow.

  "Angels!" Micheline exclaimed with delight from the adjacent room and Lilia swore. She'd forgotten her mandate to find more angels, she'd forgotten to guard Micheline, she'd forgotten every doubt she had about Adam Montgomery and his motivations.

  In exchange for great sex.

  And she didn't regret a thing. That was the most terrifying realization of all.

  The man had made Lilia lose her edge.

  Lilia was going to get over that, immediately if not sooner.

  Montgomery awakened as Lilia shoved him aside. She scrambled to her feet, trying to adjust petticoats and closures with a haste that amused him. She was silhouetted in the light of the arriving angels, which made her look ethereal and bewitching. Her hair was loose, a dark tangle that contrasted with the smooth pallor of her back and the white ruffles of her undergarments. The light touched the muscles in her shoulders as she pivoted and he was captivated all over again by her blend of strength and femininity.

  There was something else he wanted to do all over again too. Montgomery rolled to his feet, adjusted his codpiece, then reached to fasten the back of Lilia's dress for her.

  She spun away from his touch, her eyes flashing with fury. The cheap locket she wore spun so hard that it almost snapped the chain. "Don't you touch me!"

  Montgomery lifted his hands away. "A bit late for a change of heart, don't you think?"

  Lilia shook a finger at him. "You deliberately distracted me."

  He glanced around pointedly. "From what?"

  She touched the temporary tattoo on her upper arm. "I forgot what I should never have forgotten." Then she reached and flicked that fingertip at his ear stud.

  "It's out of service."

  "And if I believe that, you've got some primo real estate in Gotham to sell me," Lilia snapped, her words halting when he lifted a finger.

  The glimmer of angelfire crept across the hardwood.

  The angels were back.

  Lilia wriggled into her dress, fastening the back with no assistance whatsoever, then tapped her booted toe on the moving beam of light.

  "There are angels here," she hissed. "They were here before, but this time, you won't distract me from what I need to do."

  Her words struck terror into Montgomery.

  She spun, her hair still loose, and reached into her skirts. He knew her laze had to be there.

  She didn't manage more than two steps. Montgomery was behind her in one stride and clamped his hand over her mouth. He locked his other arm around her waist, trapping her arms against her sides. He held her tightly as he lifted her to her toes. Lilia fought and Montgomery felt her hidden laze against his thigh.

  He hoped the safety was on. At such close range, the codpiece might not protect him, especially if the laze was on its highest power setting.

  Unfortunately, he couldn't imagine Lilia using anything else.

  She tried to kick him, even as the light became brighter, but he held her fast against him. He heard the resonant hum of the angels revealing themselves. Micheline held up her hands between Montgomery and the angelfire, almost basking in the angels' light. Lilia swore and struggled, but Montgomery held on.

  "You will be silent," he murmured into her ear. She flashed him a mutinous glare and fought harder. "You will not distract them from their task."

  Her eyes narrowed a little then and she stilled. He wasn't sure whether she was thinking about his advice or simply trying to trick him into relaxing, so he didn't release her. They flinched as one at the brightness of the an-gelfire, Lilia turning her face against his chest. They stood temple to temple, Lilia still trapped within Montgomery's embrace.

  And once again, her curves and her perfume distr
acted him. Apparently, he hadn't sampled the lady's pleasures diligently enough. He was still hungry for whatever she had to offer.

  "They'll dim their light in a moment, once they see there's no threat," he whispered and she nodded, her eyes still tightly closed.

  Of course, she had seen angels before. He wondered, not for the first time, how Armaros and Baraqiel had surrendered themselves to her. He wondered whether Lilia truly believed that she had been the active player in that exchange.

  He wondered if she would admit it, even if she had doubts.

  The light dimmed then, and Montgomery opened his eyes to find the room bathed in opalescence. They could have been standing inside a gemstone. A lump rose in his throat at the familiarity of that gleam, one that he had once imagined was common to all of creation.

  He'd gotten over that delusion.

  On the other hand, it was hard to see the world clearly when surrounded by such bright light.

  Three angels were revealed as they gradually eased the full splendor of their light. Their wings were whiter than white and stretched high over their heads. Montgomery felt a tingle as his human body responded to the electricity of their presence. He was keenly aware that he was no longer one of them, no longer had much in common with their astounding beauty and grace.

  What was Lilia's plan? She had stilled within his grasp, her eyes wide, and no longer battled him. Did she feel the same awe as he did? Or was she scheming a way to harvest all three angels for the circus?

  That wouldn't happen as long as he had anything to say about the matter. Montgomery thought about Lilia's laze and tightened his grip on her as the tallest angel glanced his way.

  Montgomery's heart stopped in recognition. It was the surgeon.

  Which meant the other standing angel was the assistant, and the third, the third was making the sacrifice.

  His mind stalled on the truth of what was about to happen, then his heart began to pound.

  No. Not here. Not now. Not in front of his very eyes.

  "Yes. Here and now."

  The affirmation echoed in his thoughts, stunning him. Montgomery's knees went weak as the middle angel kneeled and bared his back. Montgomery's throat worked soundlessly but the surgeon merely nodded in his direction.

  "He knows you," Lilia whispered behind his hand. "How does he know you?"

  "You shouldn't watch this," Montgomery could only say. Lilia studied him with something that might have been concern. She frowned and looked back at the angels as the middle one put his forehead on the ground.

  "What are they doing?" she murmured, her gaze dancing over the scene. "What's going on?"

  Micheline sang quietly.

  The surgeon raised his finger, kissed its tip, then bent toward the volunteer. Montgomery didn't want to watch but he couldn't help it. His gaze locked on the point where the volunteer's wings joined his back and he saw the spark of the first cut.

  There was no blood, of course, only the brief and brilliant shimmer of light, as if an inner radiance was leaking through the wound. Lilia gasped.

  The first wing fell a moment later. It looked lifeless on the floor of the warehouse, dulled and wrong and dead.

  "Sweet mother of God," Lilia whispered in horror.

  The surgeon glanced up sternly and Montgomery locked his hand over Lilia's mouth again.

  He bent, placing his lips against her ear. "You mustn't distract them," he breathed and she nodded. It seemed as if she couldn't look away either, and she gripped his fingers with her own hands. He had the sense she was clinging to him, not trying to loosen his grip.

  He didn't release her anyway.

  The volunteer sobbed, his shoulders shaking with the trauma of his experience. The surgeon bent and slid his finger along the open wound. It seared closed with his touch, the volunteer straightening in shock at the pain.

  Montgomery knew that pain. He knew that trauma and he knew that shock. His mouth was dry and, deep inside, he began to tremble. He was reliving his own sacrifice, more vividly than he would have preferred.

  The removal of the second wing seemed almost anti-climactic, as it had to Montgomery not long before. The volunteer wept silently, the two diagonal lines on his back shining vivid red. He no longer gleamed with the opalescent light of the angels.

  The assistant picked up the fallen wings and gathered the few loose feathers with efficiency. The surgeon implanted the volunteer's palm and the datachip in the back of his neck as the naked volunteer trembled.

  Montgomery remembered.

  He saw the tenderness in the surgeon's expression. He saw the compassion and even regret.

  Then the surgeon framed the volunteer's face gently in his hands, bent, and kissed his cheeks each in turn. His manner was patient and loving, his compassion brought familiar tears to Montgomery's eyes. The volunteer wept openly and made incoherent noises that clearly startled him.

  His first sounds.

  His first tears.

  His first experience of becoming earthbound.

  The surgeon straightened and spared one piercing glance to Montgomery. It was a command.

  Montgomery instantly understood that this volunteer would be his responsibility. He didn't know how to ensure that this volunteer merged into society, how to hide or protect him. He didn't know who the volunteer was or what his mission might be.

  He only knew that he had a duty to pass along the kindness Rachel had done for him.

  And he would do it. He would find a way.

  Montgomery nodded once, noting that the surgeon didn't appear to be surprised by his agreement. It might have been arranged long in advance, a memory that Montgomery had lost along with his wings and his old name.

  He had a new role now. On earth.

  Until he fulfilled his quest.

  The radiance of the angels increased steadily, so that Montgomery had to narrow his eyes against their brightness. The volunteer began to wail, evidently as he realized that he was being abandoned.

  Just before Montgomery had to close his eyes completely, the surgeon turned to Micheline. He smiled sweetly, then reached back a hand to the child.

  She didn't need a second invitation. She squealed with pleasure and ran to him, seizing his hand. Montgomery saw the angel lift her up just before the departing pair became too bright to watch.

  "No!" Lilia screamed, tearing Montgomery's hand from her mouth. "I promised to take care of her!" She broke free of his grip and flung herself across the warehouse floor.

  By the time she reached the spot where the angels had been standing, they had vanished as surely as if they had never been.

  And Micheline was gone with them.

  Lilia turned in place, looking up at the skylight overhead. Her expression was desperate and anguished.

  "Come back!" she cried. "Bring back the child!"

  Montgomery heard in her voice that she knew her command was futile. He heard her despair and impotence. More than that, Montgomery heard the anguish of a younger Lilia losing her child to the Society of Nuclear Darwinists and the Republic, right in the maternity ward.

  And he saw the truth of her heart.

  Lilia would sacrifice anything, even herself, to protect someone weaker. She worked for the circus to save shades from the Republic's slave dens. And he realized that she had become a Nuclear Darwinist in the first place to find her child.

  She was a shade hunter, but she had hunted one particular shade. Had the child died before or after Lilia had found her?

  The volunteer moaned and reached for Lilia's skirts. He was still on his knees, still shaking from his ordeal. His hand closed over the fabric and tightened convulsively. Lilia turned and looked down at him. Montgomery halfway knew what to expect from her, given his realization, but she surprised him anyway.

  Her features softened with a compassion that touched his heart.

  She bent and touched the volunteer's face, gently easing away his tears, her touch as tender as that of the surgeon. This was her true nature, and
one she rarely showed. On a daily basis, she spoke sharply and shielded herself because her heart was too vulnerable.

  And that heart had been injured too many times.

  "What have they done to you?" she whispered. "And why?"

  The volunteer wailed wordlessly and Lilia gathered him into her arms, rocking him slightly in consolation. She stood, holding him close against her left side, then pulled her laze.

  She aimed it at Montgomery's unprotected chest. Her lone changed, becoming cold once more. She was the heartless shade hunter, the woman who would supposedly do anything for a price.

  The problem was that Montgomery now knew which was Lilia's mask and which was her reality.

  "If you think you're going to harvest him for the Republic, Montgomery, you'll have to take me down first." Lilia looked Montgomery up and down, then met his gaze once again. She removed the safety on the laze with her thumb. "Just between you and me, I don't think you're fast enough."

  Montgomery folded his arms across his chest, knowing Lilia wouldn't shoot him, knowing she wanted him to believe otherwise.

  He would have bet his last cred that Lilia would protect this volunteer with her very life. He was also sure that she had the bootleg software on her palm to merge him into society without anyone knowing the difference.

  The solution he needed to fulfil his promise to the surgeon had found him.

  He and Lil would make a perfect team.

  XIII

  Lilia had done a lot of unconventional things in her time, but holding a laze on a man while his semen seeped into her petticoats had to be a first.

  Especially as she wasn't holding Montgomery hostage in demand for another round of pleasure.

  He might have been in this situation a thousand times before, though, for all that it troubled him. He folded his arms across his chest, his gaze assessing and his expression impassive.

  "What are you going to do with him?" he asked. "Harvest him for the bounty?"

  "I'd never consign anyone to the Republic's slave dens."