by Brux, Boone
Her cell phone rang. Her heart leapt. Was it Cade? She fumbled as she pulled the phone from her bag. But the caller ID showed her sister and disappointment washed over her.
“Susie?”
“It’s Dad, Phoebe—he’s had a heart attack—they’ve taken him to hospital. He’s asking for you.”
Susie wouldn’t give her the details over the phone, just told her to come. Phoebe raced out of the airport and got a taxi to the hospital. She sat in the back, gnawing on her lower lip, silently urging the driver to go faster. She’d messed up her whole life with her cowardice. If her father died before she got there, before she told him she loved him, she would never forgive herself.
Susie met her at the door and led her to a private room. “He’s going to be fine. He’s sleepy now, but he won’t settle until he’s seen you.”
Some of the tension drained from her. Phoebe crossed the room to where her father lay on the hospital bed. He appeared frail, but he turned his head and smiled as she came to a halt beside him.
She gripped his hand. “I love you.”
And she knew the words were true. She’d always loved him. She’d believed herself incapable of love but it had been there all the time. Fear couldn’t stop you from loving; it could only stop you admitting that love to yourself and to the people in your life.
“I know. I’ve always known.”
She held his hand until his grip loosened and he slept. Then she sat beside him and watched him sleep. She closed her eyes and whispered a silent prayer of thanks.
Behind her closed lids, she saw a vision of Cade. He stood on a rooftop and called her name. Her eyes flew open.
Go back.
This time the words screamed through her mind.
There was something important she needed to do. She had to see Cade.
Now.
Soon it would be too late.
Phoebe cast one last glance at her father. He was sleeping peacefully, and she leaned over, kissed him, then hurried from the room. She raced down the corridors, some inner voice driving her on.
She slammed into something. A solid wall of muscle. Looking up, she stared into crimson eyes. She opened her mouth to scream, and everything went black.
…
Cade stood poised on the edge of the rooftop, gazing down at the city far below trying to fight the despair that threatened to overwhelm him. Was it only two days ago that he had stood here with Phoebe? It seemed like a lifetime.
Time was nearly over.
He flexed his wings. Maybe he should take off, just head upward, and keep going. Or maybe he should go find her, force her to stay with him. At the thought, the dark powers that slumbered inside him stirred.
A door slammed, and he turned slowly. Torr stood facing him and Cade couldn’t bear to look into his face and see the pity. Instead, he spoke into the night. “I’m going to go get her. She’s mine, and I’ll make her remember.”
“You’ll damn your soul for eternity.”
“I don’t care about my soul.”
“You care about hers, though. Will you drag her down with you?”
Something broke inside him then, as he finally acknowledged the fact that he had lost her. He punched the concrete wall, then collapsed to his knees.
“You need to be strong,” Torr said.
Cade peered up and shook his head. How many times had they said those same words to Bryce? Had it done any good? But he could pretend. He rose to his feet. Torr held out a hand but he ignored it. He stood for a moment. “If things go wrong, you’ll kill me. Promise.”
“I’ll give you the same offer I made Bryce,” Torr said, then turned and walked away.
Cade knew he would continue—what choice did he have? He suspected redemption was beyond him, and he would never atone for the things he had done. But he could try, and one day maybe his soul would be released, and he would find her again.
Her beautiful face flashed before his eyes and pain rolled over him.
“Phoebe!” he screamed her name to the night.
In the deep corners of his mind, he heard her answer. Heard her panicked cry.
Torr had paused in the doorway to answer his phone. Now he turned back to Cade, his expression grim. “That was Finn. They’ve lost Phoebe. He thinks Lilith has her.”
It took a moment for the words to sink in. Then Cade roared with rage. Without thinking, he smashed open a portal and hurled himself into the Abyss. His wings formed as he fell, ripping his shirt, and he wrenched off the tattered remains.
Far below him, flames flickered in the darkness. Cade headed toward them, instinct telling him that was where he would find Lilith and Phoebe. He prayed he wouldn’t be too late.
He landed hard and rolled, coming up on his feet. At first, all he could see was fire, and panic and fury raged inside him. But he’d know if she were already dead, and for the first time since Torr had spoken, he forced his mind to function.
Lilith wouldn’t kill her, at least not before the time was up, and there were minutes remaining.
He stood on the sandy bank where he’d brought Phoebe that first time. To his right a huge bonfire blazed, blue and orange tongues of flames intertwined. The crackle and roar of the fire filled his ears, but when he breathed in the air was fresh.
No smoke. This was spell fire. Magic.
“Cade!”
The panicked scream came from inside the flames. He stepped closer, so the heat seared his skin, and looked beyond the conflagration. Phoebe stood very still at the center of a ring of fire. Her arms wrapped around her middle, her eyes wide with fear. He reached out to her, but some invisible barrier prevented him from getting nearer.
“You’re too late. You can’t save her.” Lilith spoke from behind him, and he spun around.
“Release her,” he growled.
Lilith pursed her lips. “Her own fear locks her in, not me. The circle is closing. When your time is done, she will burn. Again.”
Hatred poured through his veins like molten metal, but he couldn’t waste his last minutes on Lilith. One day, her time would come. He returned to the flames, fighting to get to Phoebe, but the magic held him back. “Phoebe!”
He couldn’t bear the thought of her dying alone.
Taking a small step toward him, she peered through the curtain of fire. When she caught sight of him, the panic cleared from her eyes. “Cade,” she whispered.
Despair clawed at his guts. Phoebe trusted him to save her, and he was about to fail her for a second time.
She took another step, then halted as the flames licked at her skin. Stretching out her hand, she reached for him.
“Remember me,” he urged, hearing the desperation in his voice.
She shook her head, the pain and fear smoothing from her face. “I don’t need to remember. I love you.”
Epilogue
Eternity
The flames flickered and died, and the fire vanished as though it had never been. Cade stood before her, and the last of her fear washed away. Phoebe gazed up at him, watching the expressions flash across his face. Awe. Wonder. Love.
“Say it again,” he whispered.
“I love you.”
As the words left her mouth, it was as though a curtain drew back in her mind, and she almost staggered under the blast of memories.
She was Eleni.
In another life, Cade had loved her, married her, promised her eternity. Then he’d left her.
An image of Cade as he had been in that other life filled her mind. The first time she had ever seen him, she thought she’d gone to Heaven. He’d been the most beautiful thing she’d ever encountered, his eyes the deep blue of the sky above the desert, his wings silver in the sunlight. Oh God, she’d fallen in love with an angel, and she’d paid the price. But so had he.
“I remember you. You’re an angel.”
His face filled with a fierce satisfaction, and he threw back his head, roaring his triumph to the sky. Without giving her warning, he scooped her up
in his arms, pulling her tight against him, and they were flying. She clung to his broad shoulders, wrapped her legs around his waist as they rose higher, until at last they burst free of the darkness, and they were standing on the rooftop in London under a star-filled sky.
For a few seconds, she continued to cling, but then she slid down his body and stood, her forehead resting against his chest, breathing in the remembered scent of him.
Cade loosened his hold and stepped back, his hand coming up to cup her face. “I love you,” he said. “I’ve always loved you. But I’m no longer an angel. Can you accept me as I am now?”
She examined him, swallowing down her fear as she took in the blood red wings, the wildness in his eyes. She had a sudden inkling of what he had become. A shaft of fear pierced her, but she forced it down. “It doesn’t matter. I didn’t love you because you were an angel.”
He lowered his head, and his lips slanted over hers. For many long minutes, she lost herself in his kiss.
Finally, she pulled away, pressed her hand to his chest, and felt the steady thud of his heart beneath her palm. “Tell me you’ll never leave me again.”
“I’ll never leave.”
Never was such a long time. “You promised me eternity.”
He leaned in close, kissed her again, and she felt the words against her lips. “It’s yours.”
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Entangled Publishing for giving me the wonderful opportunity to contribute to such a worthwhile cause. And especially to my editor, Libby, for her fabulous help and fantastic suggestions.
About the Author
Nina Croft grew up in the north of England. After training as an accountant, she spent four years working as a volunteer in Zambia, which left her with a love of the sun and a dislike of 9-5 work. She then spent a number of years mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but has now settled down to a life of writing and picking almonds on a remote farm in the mountains of southern Spain. Nina’s writing mixes romance with elements of the paranormal and science fiction.
You can find Nina at www.ninacroft.com.
