Heaven's Watcher

by Kayden Claremont

  She wasn’t sure what the guy wanted. The only man she wanted to be sitting with was Darius. “When I see Darius, I’ll tell him you’re looking for him.” She hoped the guy would take the hint and leave.

  Logan nodded, continuing to stare out the window.

  “Do you have a problem?”

  He shifted in the chair so he faced her. “You shouldn’t be here.”

  “Here? In this living room?” Heaven had been thrown out of places before. It came with the PI job. But she’d never let Logan toss her out of Darius’s home. “This house?”

  He nodded.

  “I don’t know who you are, but Darius invited me to stay at his place, so I’m staying. If that upsets you—too bad. You are not the person to throw me out of here. Got it?”

  “He was wrong to invite you to stay.”

  “Who the hell are you to decide that?”

  His innocent expression didn’t change. “He calls me cousin.”

  “I don’t care if you’re a family member or not. I don’t need your approval. Neither does he.”

  Logan shrugged. “That isn’t for you to decide.”

  “The hell it isn’t.” She placed the plate of food on the table between them. “Darius isn’t here. You can leave.”

  “Since you’re here, why don’t I get to know you better?”

  “Not going to happen.” She shook her head. “I’m with Darius.”

  Logan chuckled. “Yes.” He faced the window again. “I love the mountains.”

  What the fuck was going on in his head? First, he told her to leave, and now he was telling her what he loved. She wished Darius was here so he could intervene with this nutcase. Since he wasn’t, she decided to play along with him. “It’s cooler up here.”

  Logan leaned forward and pointed. “Then why do you live down there.”

  Heaven couldn’t help but snort. “Hardworking, honest people can’t afford to live up here.”

  Logan turned to face her. “Is that why you’re attracted to Darius? Because he can afford to live in the mountains?”

  “No.” She didn’t care that she snapped at him. He deserved it.

  Logan’s brow furrowed. “You are attracted to Darius?”

  Maybe the guy would leave if she answered him with one-word answers. “Yes.”

  “More than a man of your own kind?”

  “What the hell do you mean my own kind?” She wanted to slap the shit out of him but decided against it. “Just because I grew up in the tough part of town doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be with Darius.” She rose and grabbed her plate, then her coffee cup. “When I see him, I’ll tell him you’re looking for him.”

  “I wanted to talk to you. To get to understand your attraction to Darius.”

  “Too bad. I’m done talking, so screw you.”

  Darius stopped in the doorway. He’d hoped Logan and Heaven wouldn’t meet. Now another problem required his attention. He cleared his throat to get their attention.

  She faced him. “This guy—Logan is trying to get rid of me.”

  Logan twisted toward him. “I merely stated she shouldn’t be here.”

  Logan was right. Heaven shouldn’t be here. But she meant too much to him to let her leave.

  He crossed the room and laid a hand on Logan’s shoulder. “You have done an amazing job. I want you to realize how much you are appreciated.” He smiled down at his friend. “Go and rest as long as you need. When you are ready, we’ll discuss your next assignment.”

  Logan unfolded from the chair. “Thank you, Darius.” He faced Heaven. “Nice to meet you.”

  After he closed the door behind him, Darius offered her the blouse he’d cleaned. “Thought you’d prefer your own. It’s been laundered.”

  She snatched the top out of his hand. “Thanks.” Facing the window, she quickly hauled off his tee from last night and slipped on the blouse. She did up the buttons, tucked the ends into her jeans, and she faced him. “Who the hell is that guy to tell me I should stay with my own kind?”

  Darius sat down and pointed at the chair behind her. He waited for her to sit before he continued. “The people in this building are here for rest. To recharge themselves.”

  “So?” She leaned forward. “The way he ordered me out of here, he thinks you are too good for me.”

  “No, he doesn’t.”

  “Yes, your cousin said as much.”

  So Logan had told her what they called one another. Darius hoped he’d be able to smooth this over without telling her everything. “He’s one of my cousins. He wants the best for me.”

  She stiffened. “BS. He is no more your cousin than I am.” Her eyes narrowed. “What the hell kind of scam are you running here?”

  Darius stared out the window, trying to gather his thoughts. The outlines of the buildings shimmered with the desert heat. But the fiery temper of the woman beside him was much hotter. “I’m not running a scam. I call the people who come here for rest my cousins.”

  He caught her reflection, but she refused to look at him. “So all your cousins who live here are as creepy as Logan?”

  “Logan isn’t creepy. He’s serene, that’s all.”

  “Yeah, right.” She snorted. “How many cousins do you have staying here?”

  Being a watcher, he was sworn to protect all other watchers. He couldn’t continue this conversation with Heaven. “Do you want something else for breakfast?”

  She grabbed her plate and crossed the room. “No, I’m good.” She hurried toward the kitchen.

  He’d hurt her feelings. Better that than revealing the truth to her and getting her in over her head. He’d give her a moment to cool off, then he’d tell her what he’d found out about her brother.

  He gazed out the window, waiting. By the way the gray silhouettes of the casinos flickered against the dark mountains, it was going to be another scorcher. When several minutes passed, he figured she was hiding.

  Finally, he went into the kitchen, poured himself a glass of juice, and stood beside Heaven.

  She kept staring out the window. “Logan isn’t your cousin.” She faced him. “So why are you lying to me?”

  He grasped her fingers in his. Shivers of sexual heat rushed through him, igniting a fire deep in his soul. Could he trust her? Would she grasp he was a watcher, just as she liked to call him, only not anything like she imagined? Or would she run away? “It isn’t a lie. That’s what we call one another.”

  “What’s going on here? Are you a mob boss?”

  He kept himself from laughing. That would only piss her off more. “Certainly not.”

  She tugged away from his touch and eyeballed him. “Is this a cult?” Then her eyes grew wide and she pointed a finger at him. “What the hell? Do you swing both ways? Is this an exclusive sex club?”

  Nothing could be further from the truth. Shaking his head, he said, “No.”

  Her eyes narrowed. Her lips drew tight. “What is going on here?”

  Darius grabbed her fingers and held them to his chest. “Heaven, it’s not what you think.”

  She jerked away. “No shit. We both know there’s more going on here.”

  “We are watchers.”

  “Yeah, I’ve seen the monitors.”

  “We are ancient watchers.”

  She stilled as if all the air exited her lungs. “Ancient? Watchers?”

  He wasn’t sure he should continue. But he couldn’t lose her. He needed to make her understand. The only way to protect her was to keep her close. “We are an ancient species.”

  Her hand fell to her side as she whispered, “Ancient species?”

  Fear crept up his throat. Heaven would never fathom the truth. She was a human. He’d been a fool to think she would be able to grasp his mythology. But he had to explain it to her. She deserved that much from him. “We were sent to earth to watch over humans.”

  “You’re not human?”

  He glanced at the floor. How was he supposed to answer her questions? Where should he
begin? “We are an ancient species. We were sent to earth to watch over and protect humans. And we failed.”

  She stepped away from him. He could see the rise and fall of her chest quicken. “How did you fail?”

  Darius found his inner strength and meet her eyes. “We fell in love with humans.”

  “Falling in love with humans is a failure?” She ran her fingers through her long red mane and let her hand drop to her side. “What the hell are you?”

  “It’s heaven. What the heaven are you? We are Nephilim.”

  “What?”

  “Nephilim. In the beginning, angels were sent to watch over humans. The weak ones mated with humans. The children were named Nephilim—the fallen ones.”

  “Wait. Wait.” Heaven yanked out her phone and started typing. “It says here Nephilim are the offspring of the ‘sons of God’ and the ‘daughters of men.’”

  “Yes.”

  She gazed at him. “Ancient beings?”

  “Yes. We watch over you.”

  Disbelief shone in her eyes. She couldn’t comprehend his existence. He’d made a terrible mistake by confiding in her.

  She frantically typed something else on her phone. “Wait a minute. It also says Nephilim were a race of giants and—” She blinked. “Super-heroes who did acts of great evil.” Her voice was barely a murmur. Eyes widening, she stared, as if she’d never seen him before. “Great evil?”

  His lungs constricted, and he struggled to breathe. He’d lost the woman he loved. No matter how he felt, she still deserved an explanation. “Some Nephilim did bad things a long time ago. We don’t do those things anymore.”

  She glanced back at her cell. “Their great size and power likely came from a mixture of demonic DNA with human genetics.” Her expression went blank. “You’re a demon?”

  His chest tightened until he thought his heart would shatter. How would he ever win back her trust—her love? “No.” He held out a hand palm up. “We’re watchers who protect people.”

  Her eyebrows spiked. “From other demons?”

  “No.” He rammed his fingers through his hair. The more he tried to explain what he was, the more confused she got. “We watch and protect you.”

  “If you are protecting us, what are you protecting us from?” Her hand raced to her temple as she closed her eyes. She exhaled and rolled her head as if to ease the tension in her neck. “I’m trying to get it. You’re not making any sense.”

  “We watch you similarly to security watching everyone in the casino. We protect you from yourself, from other humans, from things you don’t recognize.”

  She stared at her phone as she nodded. Then she crossed her arms. After pausing to gather her thoughts, she said, “Is that why my brother is still alive.”

  “Yes.”

  Heaven rocked from foot to foot as she obviously struggled to process the information. After a few moments, she gazed at Darius with teary eyes. “This sounds un-real, right?”

  “It’s hard to comprehend, but it’s true.” He needed to get her to understand he was on her side. That he would always be her protector. “I would never let anything happen to you, or your brother.”

  She took a couple of deep breaths, then fisted fingers at her sides. “If you’re the good guy, why are you head of security for the casino?

  Darius shrugged. “What better place to watch over humans?”

  She shook her head. “You work for the boss. He’s corrupt.”

  Darius reached for her but stopped. He couldn’t touch her. He’d pull her to him, cradle her against his chest, and she’d hate him forever for recognizing how close to breaking down she was. “My job is to watch over and protect humans.”

  “If you are protecting my brother, why don’t you know where he is?”

  Honesty was the only way to get her to understand how much she meant to him. “You’re right. I’m not protecting him. One of the cousins is doing that as we speak.”

  Heaven pointed toward the door. “Logan?”

  “No, he is here for a rest. We need a vacation, too.”

  “So, one of your cousins is looking out for my brother, and you didn’t get the memo about where they are?”

  Darius stepped closer to her. He needed to close the distance between them. “I watch over other people.”

  “Me?”

  “You have not been assigned to me.”

  She ran her tongue across her lips. “Who was I assigned to?”

  At what point was a guardian angel supposed to stop being involved? “Logan.”

  “Him?” She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “That’s why he told me to stick with my own kind?”

  “Yes.”

  “He doesn’t like you fucking me.”

  “No, he is concerned I have crossed a line.”

  “But.” She lifted her cell. “It says Nephilim screw humans.”

  “And we fell from grace.”

  Her eyes softened and filled with concern. “You’ve fallen from grace? Because of me?”

  She did care for him. All wasn’t lost. “It’s not the same as it used to be. However, there are special problems for us to face.”

  “Like?”

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we need to. There are more important things to focus on.”

  “What’s more important than this?”

  He might lose her forever once he helped her find her brother. But being the good guy wasn’t always easy. He had to do the right thing, even if it meant the end of their relationship. “I know where Andy is.”

  Chapter Nine

  Heaven could tell by Darius’s quietness he didn’t think it was the best idea to have her accompany him. But it was her brother they were going to rescue, so she’d see the big guy in hell before she’d allow him to leave her behind. At the end of the day, she was the one who would make sure Andy presented the evidence to the DA that would take down the boss.

  Darius gave her a sideways glance.

  She couldn’t deny the burning need for him. Even if he wasn’t human. Did it really matter? In Vegas, she’d met all kinds of animals pretending to be men, so what was another?

  As they approached Vegas, the iconic architecture of the strip grew bigger in the dusty heat. And so did her excitement. “I can’t wait to see him again.”

  Darius gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. “Heaven, we have to be careful.”

  She shifted in her seat. “We have to find him, then we will all be careful.” She faced him. “Besides, you have your cousin watching over him, so what could go wrong?”

  His grimace told her he suspected anything and everything could go wrong. Not exactly the positive reinforcement she needed.

  They turned off Highway 215 onto Red Rock Road. Driving above the limit, they snaked around the mountains.

  She wiggled her toes on the dash. “Are you sure this is the right way?”

  “Yes.”

  They rounded another outcropping of rock. “Although it appears uninhabitable, there are a few houses out here. The address for your brother was one of them.”

  After braking, he turned right as he headed down a dirt road. The stone house blended in with the terrain so well it was hardly visible.

  She moved her feet to the floor and slipped on her shoes. “No one would be able to find him here.” Heaven hoped she was right. “Where’s your cousin?”

  “He’ll be guarding Andy.” Darius parked the car in front of the house and faced her. “You stay here.”

  “No way.” She opened the door.

  He threw open the door and ran around the car. “Wait.”

  “Not a chance you’re leaving me behind.”

  He grabbed her arm. “We don’t know what we are going to find. Stay here until I’m sure it’s safe.”

  She hesitated for a moment. “Did you lie to me? Isn’t your cousin guarding Andy?”

  “Yes, a cousin is watching over him.”

  “In that case, I’m going with you. You’re a watcher.
I’m a doer.” She slipped her gun from her purse, tucked it into the back of her pants, and arranged her blouse over it.

  Walking up the steps, Heaven was surrounded by the scent of the warm desert breeze. She knocked on the door. “Andy, it’s me. Open up.”

  When no one answered, Darius said, “Doesn’t seem they are here.”

  “He knows better than to open the door. The boss could have a gun pointed at my head.” Heaven smiled up at him. “Andy’s dead, not stupid.”

  Despite standing out in the sultry desert, a chill of excitement rushed through her.

  Darius grabbed her arm. “We should leave.”

  “No.” She turned the doorknob and walked into the surprisingly cool house. The sunshades were effective in blocking the heat outside. “Andy? Andy, it’s me. Come out. You’re safe.”

  When no one answered, she crossed the room and checked out the two cramped bedrooms and the small bathroom. Once she was satisfied no one was there, she returned to the living room. Anxiety crept up her throat.

  Darius stood behind her. “They aren’t here.”

  “Yeah, I see.” She realized she’d snapped. “Sorry.”

  “That’s okay.”

  She nodded, glad he understood it wasn’t him she was mad at. Her long struggle to avenge Andy’s death and finding out he was alive and in danger had taken its toll on her patience. “You’re sure he was here?”

  “My intel is correct. He’s here or within walking distance of here.”

  At the sound of gunshots, Heaven dashed to the door. “Damn.” She flung open the door, jumped down the steps, and ran toward the sounds. She wasn’t sure she was going in the right direction. The shots echoed off the rocks surrounding them, and her blood pounded in her ears

  Another gunshot rang out. Now sure of the direction, she hurried down the path, crouched, and maneuvered through the boulders strewn about as if a toddler’s toys. She had to get to Andy before it was too late.

  The sun reflected off something silver—a gun. She hurried through the rocks. She got within a few feet of the shooter. She couldn’t see Andy or Darius’s cousin.

  When the guy fired again, the bullet pinged off the sarsen to her right. Was he shooting at Andy or the cousin? Either way, she couldn’t let the gunman take another shot. She took aim and hit the shooter’s shoulder. He flailed, dropped the gun, and crumpled to the ground.