by Rose Wulf
A warm touch settled over her shoulder, and Belle’s gaze snapped back to Kai’s. His expression had softened in a familiar, long-lost way that she wasn’t emotionally strong enough to resist in the moment.
“Thank you,” she whispered, moving to lean her head on his shoulder without conscious direction.
Kai slid his arm down until it was around her waist and he tugged her up against his chest. The strength in his embrace was exactly the way she remembered it, and she lifted her hands, twisting them in his tight tee. She wouldn’t cry, but she could use a little of his strength to fight the tears back, just to be safe. That’s what she intended to do, right up until he threaded her hair with his other hand and pulled her back enough to meet his gaze.
He curved his lips over hers with a tender intensity that melted her heart.
Belle reached up, winding her arms around his neck and shoulders, as she kissed him back. She greeted his talented tongue as it swept past her parted lips and moaned at the taste of him. Her body molded into his perfectly, reminding her of the two glorious nights they’d shared recently. And all the passion they’d shared in years past. She tangled her fingers in his hair, pressing against him.
Oh, how she’d missed this. Missed being able to kiss him whenever he was near. Missed all the ways he kissed her—when she was sad, when she was happy, when they were making love. They spoke best when their lips and bodies were united.
Heat pooled low in her belly, and she swept her tongue over his again. Her body begged to take things further, for her to wrap her legs around his strong hips and grind against him until he fell to the floor and made her scream her ecstasy at the skies. Like he used to.
But this wasn’t the time for that.
Belle broke the kiss slowly, pulling back and settling her hands on his shoulders. His expression was soft, sweetly sympathetic, and she smiled. No matter the circumstances, no matter what choice she ultimately made, she was glad he’d been here with her for this.
“Come on,” she said after a long stretch of comfortable silence. “We should talk to Ben.”
Kai released a breath and stepped back. “This should be fun.”
“Just … let me do most of the talking,” Belle suggested as Kai held the door open for her. He had a tendency to deliver all messages the same way—straight and to the point. But some messages were better conveyed cautiously, with respect to the other party’s feelings.
Fortunately, Kai didn’t seem inclined to argue.
“Where’s Jen?” Ben demanded, pushing immediately to his feet as Kai and Belle stepped back into the living area.
Gwen’s expression assured them of her confusion, but she remained silent.
Belle took a calming breath and looked Ben straight in the eyes. “You may want to sit down,” she cautioned. When Ben’s only response was to narrow his eyes in a hard stare, she pressed forward. “Ben, I’m sorry to have to break this to you, but your girlfriend isn’t human. Her name isn’t Jennifer.”
Gwen’s mouth fell open, and she made stuttering sounds of shock.
“What are you talking about? Of course she’s human! We’ve been together eight months. I think I’d have noticed!” Ben argued.
Attempting a consoling smile, Belle said, “I’m sure it’s hard to believe. But she’s actually an angel. You wouldn’t have suspected her of being more than human because you didn’t know about angels. And she was making an effort to conceal herself.” To Belle’s way of thinking, that part was actually worse than the relationship itself.
“You’re lying,” Ben snapped. “I know Jen. I trust Jen.”
Belle opened her mouth to respond, but Kai beat her to it. “She’s not lying. Jaelyn is an angel, a warrior in the same armada as me. I’ve known her for centuries.”
Ben ground his teeth, his jaw visibly shifting, and Belle saw the moment the wall went up in his eyes. “No. I’m not listening to this crap. I don’t know what you said to make Jen run off without even saying goodbye, but I’m not giving you the opportunity to do it again. I want you out. Now.”
And here we go. Belle supposed she ought to have assumed, somehow, it would come to this point.
“Believe what you want,” Kai returned. “Unfortunately for you, Belle and I have strict orders. We can’t leave Gwen.”
“I can take care of my own sister,” Ben said. “This is my house. Get out.”
“Ben,” Gwen interrupted, standing now. “I know you’re upset, and it’s a huge pill, but you can’t kick them out.” She put a hand on her brother’s shoulder. “I need them to stick around.”
“I’m sorry, Gwen,” Ben returned, “but I don’t trust these people. I don’t believe a word coming out of their mouths. For all we know, they’re actually demons; they could actually be hurting you.”
“They’re not,” Gwen argued.
“We’re not demons,” Belle said. “And we’ll be out of your life in every way once your sister survives her next birthday.”
Ben gawked at them. “Gwen mentioned you were trying to heal her, and I rolled with it because yesterday you seemed to help, but do you honestly expect me to believe that? Don’t you think, if there were a way, we’d have found it by now?”
“Obviously not,” Kai said.
Belle reached out and curled her fingers over Kai’s shoulder, reminding him with her touch to let her speak. “I’m a healer,” Belle said pointedly. “I work a little differently than any spell you may find online. I can save her. But I need time.”
“Then schedule an appointment,” Ben returned. “I still want you out.”
“Ben!” Gwen interrupted.
He shot a firm look to his sister. “No, Gwen. I don’t trust these people. I’m not picking them over the woman I love.”
Gwen stepped half a foot back and smacked her brother across the face. “You’re an idiot sometimes, Ben. You’re not choosing them. You’re choosing a woman who’s lied to you over your own sister. Belle and Kai have saved my life multiple times in the last few days. The leader of the armada brought us here. If they say your girlfriend’s not what you think she is, you should shut up and listen.”
Belle cringed, suspecting this would lead to an argument between the siblings that she didn’t want to be responsible for.
“Pray for her,” Kai said calmly.
All eyes turned to him, but he kept his stare on Ben.
“Pray for Jaelyn. When Jennifer appears, you’ll have your answer.”
“Kai,” Belle began carefully, “would Isabella even allow her to answer that prayer?”
“I’ll clear it.”
Gwen propped her hands on her hips and turned her attention back to her brother. “Well? How’s that for a suggestion?”
Ben looked between them, released a long-suffering groan, and pressed the heels of his palms to his forehead. “I don’t know. I don’t know what to do.” He moved and sank into the armchair. “This can’t be happening.” The last was said distantly as if he was thinking aloud.
Belle’s heart went out to him. She understood all too well the heartache of betrayal. And watching Ben’s grief as he finally began to accept the possibility of what they said made her realize that, no matter Kai’s words or the motivation he’d had in the past, she wasn’t actually sure she’d forgiven him. Perhaps he’d had good reasons. Perhaps she could accept that he couldn’t see the future to know how much she’d need him. But she needed time now; time to try and forgive him.
She wasn’t sure she could.
Chapter Thirteen
Creed whistled long and low at the sight that greeted him as the heavy door slid shut behind them. The room Uriah had taken him to was obviously a torture room. An entire wall of dangerous toys was off to the immediate left, an interior door led off the short wall to Creed’s right, and chained to the far wall was a woman.
She was unconscious and half-dead, but Creed could tell she’d been a looker once upon a time. Long blonde hair, dirty with caked blood and something that smelle
d suspiciously like vomit, fell around a classically pretty face. She was too thin, likely from not being fed properly, but had a natural hourglass shape and mile-long legs. A torn green sheet of a shirt hung off her chest, barely obscuring her breasts, and a matching strip covered her waist.
Dried and drying blood trailed down her legs, over her abdomen, and dripped from her stretched out arms. She had scars on every surface of her body. It was obvious to Creed that Uriah had this woman for a while.
“Who’s the dame?” Creed asked after a stretch of silence, turning a curious grin to the man standing beside the wall of fun.
Uriah moved forward and brushed some sticky strands of hair from her face. She didn’t react at all. “This woman,” he said slowly, “is actually a Nephilim. She’s my favorite pet. I’ve had her for quite some time.”
“You’ve got a Nephy in your torture chamber? How’s she still alive?” Creed asked.
Running a finger over her arm and catching a viscous drop of blood, Uriah replied, “Oh, we feed her intravenously. I don’t play with her every day, of course. And I’m careful not to inflict any wounds I cannot mend in time to preserve her life.”
“Why go to all the trouble?”
Uriah smirked and licked the blood from his finger as he turned back to Creed. “To study her, of course. Though Nephilim have always been rejected, not even the Archangels have bothered to study them while they live. From her, I’ve already learned so much.”
Creed raked his gaze over the woman one more time. “I never knew you were so handsy,” he joked. “But why show me any of this?”
Tucking his hands behind his back and stepping aside, offering Creed an unobscured view of her once more, Uriah said, “Because she is relevant. This Nephilim’s name is Madelyne. And she is your Belle’s precious younger sister.”
****
Ben had excused himself instead of enforcing his original choice to kick Kai and Belle out completely. No one had tried to stop him, understanding that he needed time to absorb everything he’d learned that morning.
“I’m sorry,” Gwen offered quietly after the door to Ben’s room was solidly shut. “He’ll calm down eventually.”
Belle offered Gwen a smile and said, “Don’t worry about it. He’s under a lot of stress very suddenly. I can’t imagine learning that someone I’d been with so long wasn’t even the same species as I thought they were.”
“Heh,” Gwen muttered, “me, either.” She paused, glanced toward Kai, and looked back at Belle. “I have to be honest. I’m so confused with you two. First you’re obviously pretending you don’t like each other, then all of a sudden you’re sexing it up every night.” She leaned in close and winked, adding, “Not that I wouldn’t tap that if I were you.”
Belle’s eyes widened, and she fought down a flush. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kai pinch the bridge of his nose, and she couldn’t help but grin a little. Clearing her throat as she looked back to Gwen, she said, “That’s … complicated.”
“And secret, I take it?” Gwen asked.
“Very,” Belle said with a nod.
“Okay, but, I have to know why,” Gwen declared. “And don’t say ‘it’s forbidden.’ I heard that. I want to know why.” She gestured up toward her brother’s room and added, “Like, why can’t angels fraternize with humans if it’s all consensual? What’s the big deal?”
Belle swallowed. She hadn’t honestly ever had a good answer to those questions.
Gwen gestured now toward Belle, apparently not done, and added, “I mean, you exist. So obviously ‘forbidden’ doesn’t stop it really.”
Before Belle could figure out a response to any of Gwen’s comments, Kai was speaking.
“Angel and human relations are forbidden because Nephilim are considered inferior,” he said plainly. “It’s an old grudge. Angels are supposed to guard humanity, to guide, but never to interfere. Nephilim are living proof that not all angels are able to distinguish their job from their desires. It’s viewed as weakness.”
“Wow,” Gwen said. “That’s the most I think I’ve ever heard you say at once.”
Belle looked away and bit her lip. She knew, or at least she’d once thought she knew, Kai didn’t hold steadfastly to those traditional feelings. She had to assume he still didn’t if he was still in any way attracted to her. But that was his culture. Surely some of those opinions were in him somewhere.
“So do you subscribe to any of that?” Gwen asked, holding Kai’s stare fearlessly. “Do you see Nephilim as weak and inferior?”
Belle held her breath as if her world hinged on his answer.
“No.”
Chills raced down her spine and goose bumps broke out across her arms. He was looking at her. She knew it. She could feel his hot, firm gaze on her like a passionate caress. She knew if she turned and looked toward him she’d find him watching her. But to do that was dangerous right now. Belle couldn’t explain it, didn’t fully understand it, but she knew something was changing inside. And looking at Kai would accelerate that change. She wasn’t sure she was ready to do that.
“So Jen—or Jaelyn, I guess—hid her identity because she didn’t want to get in trouble?” Gwen asked as if she hadn’t asked all those other questions because of Kai and Belle’s relationship.
“Yes,” Kai replied.
“And you turned her in.” Not a question, but not an accusation.
Kai released a breath. “I ordered her to turn herself in. Coming clean herself will lessen her punishment.”
“I don’t get it,” Gwen pushed. “So she was doing something she shouldn’t. So are you.”
“Gwen,” Belle interrupted, her heart clenching.
“I had no choice,” Kai said.
“I guess I still don’t see the difference,” Gwen declared, slumping back against the sofa. “You could just all have kept quiet.”
“Eventually, we’d have both been caught,” Kai said. “Me for keeping her secret, her because she’s not strong enough to hide forever. She’d be fired, reprimanded. At worst, Ben’s memory would be cleansed of her.”
“And you’d be fired,” Gwen guessed. She glanced at Belle. “Could they wipe your memory? What with your healing and all.”
Belle shook her head. “No. But they wouldn’t try.” Gwen gave her a funny look, and she quietly said, “When a Nephilim is caught with an angel … they’re executed.”
Gwen’s eyes opened wide, but it was Kai’s voice that spoke next. He straightened and looked toward the sliding glass doors as he said, “We have company.”
****
Kai was almost glad for the intrusion as a demonic presence flickered just outside the house. A presence he recognized as that of the demon who’d now escaped him twice thanks to Creed’s distractions. And while he knew he shouldn’t be grateful to a demon for anything, he would rather have intruding demons hell-bent on killing an innocent human than have to think about the repercussions that awaited Belle if—or when—they were caught. That fear was the entire reason he’d left her before.
But he’d been a fool then in more ways than one.
To think he could really live without her was ludicrous, he realized that now. Perhaps he’d realized it that first sleepless night after leaving her. Either way, now that he’d held her again he doubted he would ever have the strength to walk away.
More importantly, though, it didn’t matter if they were actively sleeping together. Actively involved. If an angel ever found out about their history, ever reported it to any higher authority than himself, the punishment to Belle was death.
Never. Law or not, he would never allow it. Not while he breathed.
“It’s that demon who grabbed me before!” Gwen exclaimed as she and Belle stood and faced the glass doors.
“He’s alone,” Kai said as he realized that, in fact, the demon didn’t have any companions in the area. But he knew perfectly well how fast that could change. “Stay back.” He drew his sword and summoned his fully restored power, l
etting it engulf the blade in its pure blue flame.
The demon stepped back and held his hands up at shoulder height, standing in complete sunlight. “I’m not here to fight,” he said as soon as the door was pulled open.
“Why the hell should that matter?” Kai returned. He was more than ready to kill the bastard.
“I have information. On Creed.”
“Kai,” Belle called. She didn’t say more because he heard it all in that one word. She wanted to hear him out.
Kai kept his sword raised but remained in the doorway. “Talk while you can.”
“Creed and I … had a falling out,” the demon said carefully. “He refused to tell me his plans for the girl, so I followed him earlier. He was meeting one of his Earthly contacts.”
“You’re saying you know where he is?”
The demon shook his head. “No, he’s probably not there now. But I learned something about the man he went to visit.” He paused, swallowed, and looked Kai straight in the eyes. “He’s an angel. More powerful than you, I think. I didn’t dare stick around long enough to draw attention to myself.”
More powerful than me? That was a short list. There was no way in hell Isabella was working with the enemy … was there? The demon was sure that Creed’s associate was male, but Kai didn’t know if he trusted that assumption. And if it wasn’t Isabella, the next step up were the Archangels…
Lowering his sword, Kai said, “Demon. Tell me your name.”
Taking Kai’s cue, the demon lowered his arms. “Knox,” he said. “My name is Knox.”
“Knox. Continue your efforts to learn Creed’s secrets and report them to me. Do that and I’ll spare your life. Betray me…” He raised his sword again, holding it parallel to the ground, and let the flame flare brightly. “And die.”
Knox nodded sharply. “I can accept that arrangement.” He took a step back and pulled his shadow up, around his body. Then he was gone.
“Are we seriously going to work with that demon?” Gwen demanded as Kai stepped inside and sheathed his sword. She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned with agitation. “The same demon who grabbed me and nearly kidnapped me yesterday?”
