Angel Unbound

by Sharon Saracino

  He detested asking his powerful commander for a favor. He’d asked just once before in his long life, and had been refused outright. His gut twisted at the prospect of being refused yet again, but Callista’s safety was far more important to him than his own comfort.

  “Fine, we have a problem I have no idea how to solve, and I figured you were my best bet.”

  “Always such a flatterer, Luca.”

  “It’s a gift,” Luca flashed his teeth. “So here’s the deal. Calli can’t fade. Rapier had a sorceress put a spell on her years ago so she couldn’t escape. In addition, she apparently can’t detect evil anymore, either. She opened the door to an animorti this morning and would be dead now if I didn’t happen to arrive at exactly the right moment. I need you to tell me how we fix this.”

  Michael let out a deep breath in a long, low whistle. He rose to his feet, clasped his hands behind his back, and paced slowly behind the long sofa.

  “Well,” he said thoughtfully. “I suspect the reason she can’t sense evil is because she was exposed to so much of it for such a long period of time. Her powers…basically shorted themselves out so she could protect herself. My best guess is it will come back gradually now that she is away from the constant stimulation.”

  “Your best guess? And the spell that keeps her from fading?”

  “That might be a little more complicated.”

  “Why should it be complicated? You’re a freakin’ Archangel! Just fix it, Michael. You must realize how vulnerable she is without her powers. I didn’t…I mean, we didn’t just get her back in order to have her at risk again.”

  Luca would have jumped to his feet, but Calli laid a soft hand on his arm and shook her head. He satisfied his agitation by combing his fingers through his hair.

  Michael’s brows rose a notch. Luca realized he’d allowed more emotion and animation in his expression in the last ten minutes than he had in the last half century. He also knew that Michael valued his cool logic and icy calm in battle, but mourned the fact that Luca applied the same cold detachment to love out of fear he’d somehow inherited his father’s weakness.

  He appeared entirely too interested in the fact that Luca didn’t seem able to maintain his usual composure where Callista McAllister was concerned. Luca carefully resumed his patent look of disinterest. Michael’s lip curled and Luca knew he hadn’t fooled his commander for a moment.

  “I’m sure there’s a solution, Luca,” Michael ignored the disrespectful outburst. “But it may take a little time to find it. I’ll need to consult someone with expertise in Dark Magick to determine how to break the spell. We’ll figure it out.”

  Luca stood and pulled Calli to her feet. Her gaze darted between him and Michael.

  “Well, thanks for nothing, Your Grace. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” Luca snapped. “C’mon, cara. Let’s get you home.”

  “Do you think I don’t know you’ve never forgiven my refusal to intervene with your father?” Michael asked in a deep, trembling voice. “I lost him, too, you know. I told you then and I’ll tell you now, it wasn’t an arbitrary decision on my part. It was your father’s decision to mourn himself into an early grave. I would have helped you if I could have, but even I am forbidden from interfering with free will.”

  Luca couldn’t believe Michael brought up the root of the tension between them in front of Calli.

  “What if it wasn’t?” Calli interjected quietly, her eyes fixed on Luca’s face.

  “What?” Michael’s gaze swung back in her direction, with a look of surprise.

  “What if Nicola’s actions weren’t a result of free will?” She turned her head to look steadily at Michael.

  “Cara, what are you talking about?” Luca sighed wearily. “You weren’t even here.”

  “Thank you for enlightening me, Sherlock Holmes,” Calli shot back in a mocking tone complete with eye-roll. “Maybe I wasn’t here, but I was with Jacques and Miranda and I know she hated Nicola. She believed he was the one who convinced Lilly to keep the ring from her.”

  “Calli, we aren’t here to revisit ancient history. We have more pressing problems at the moment,” Luca admonished.

  “Right before Kat escaped, Miranda said something to her. Something about Nicola,” Calli went on as though Luca hadn’t spoken, narrowing her eyes. “She said she’d taken care of him. She said she may not have had the ring but she had something else.”

  “What did she say, exactly, cara?” Luca asked slowly, staring into her eyes as if hardly daring to believe what her words implied. Dark Magick might explain why no one, not even Luca, had been able to get through to Nicola. It would mean it wasn’t some inherent weakness where love was concerned that destroyed him, after all.

  Calli frowned. “At the time, I was more worried about helping Katrina escape and keeping you and Kassian away, so I don’t remember exactly. Whatever it was, Kat was furious. She hit her over the head and the witch went down like a sack of grain. You could ask Kat about it, though. She might remember more.”

  “I’m sorry, Luca,” Michael shook his head slowly. “Dark Magick. I should have suspected it. Nicola was an ancient warrior. Strong, fierce, unafraid. A fighter who had always been unashamedly proud of you. I never understood how the loss of one woman could destroy his love for everything else until he loved nothing except the prospect of death. It never made sense. But it does now.”

  Luca nodded shortly, acknowledging Michael’s apology. He stared over Calli’s head, his eyes fixed on some distant point. He swallowed hard over the lump suddenly lodged in his throat.

  “No one knows how many times, how many ways I’ve replayed it, wondering if I could have done something to change the outcome. At least now, I know I was fighting an impossible enemy, one I hadn’t known enough about to defeat. My father’s actions weren’t a conscious choice. Maybe there’s some peace to be found in that.”

  Luca’s shields were as solid as ever, and he felt confident that Calli couldn’t read a thing, but this woman knew him too well. At least she had at one time. No matter what had happened to change him, the man she’d known still existed in there somewhere. His soul remained the same. He wondered if she could still recognize it beyond the set of his jaw, the defensive stance he presented to the rest of the world. He realized she must when she didn’t stop to consider the propriety or whether he would welcome it, but simply stepped into his arms and held him. And it stunned him to realize it was exactly what he needed. After a moment’s hesitation, a shudder passed through him, his arms came around her, and he buried his face in her hair.

  Michael cleared his throat loudly. Luca’s head snapped up, but then he bent to press his lips to Calli’s hair before letting her go.

  “Actually, Luca, I’m glad you stopped by,” Michael waved them back to their seats. “I wanted to ask if you’ve noticed anything strange lately.”

  “Strange in what way?”

  “Well, you know the dark ones generally avoid my city. Recently, I’ve been receiving some concerning reports that there’s been an unusual upswing in activity.”

  “An animorti came to our door this morning,” Calli piped up. “And earlier today we were ambushed. That’s when I realized I couldn’t detect them anymore. They were right there in front of me and I felt nothing at all.”

  Michael’s brows drew together in concern. “How many?”

  “One Fallen and two puppets,” Luca supplied.

  “Three against one? You always were an impressive son-of-a-bitch, Luca,” Michael barked out a laugh but it did little to dispel his apprehensive expression. “And you say one came right to your door?” The Archangel heaved a great sigh and appeared to consider his next words carefully.

  “Someone has been making inquiries.” Michael’s gaze locked intently on Callista.

  She sat up straighter, suppressed the urge to squirm, and managed to endure his scrutiny without flinching. As if sensing her unease, Luca reached for her hand and linked his fingers with hers. She gripped
them tightly, suddenly overcome with a sense of dread.

  “About me?” Relieved her voice sounded normal and strong, she felt more than saw Luca’s curious glance.

  “You tell me, Callista,” Michael said gently. “Someone is very curious about the night Mariana Ducati died.”

  “Merda, Michael! Mariana has been dead for over a century. It’s ancient history,” Luca exploded.

  Callista felt the color drain from her face at the mention of the woman’s name.

  “In fact, if I remember correctly, Mariana’s body was discovered right around the time Calli disappeared. She probably didn’t even know about it until now.”

  “Mariana?” Calli whispered faintly.

  “Diavolo, Michael. Why bring this up? Calli doesn’t know anything about Mariana’s death. She was busy sneaking off to the shelter that night. Mariana was found all the way across town. I’m so sorry about Mariana, cara,” Luca turned to her and squeezed her fingers. “It was so long ago it never occurred to me to tell you. This isn’t the way I would choose for you to find out.”

  “No, I knew. I just…” she trailed off, dropping her eyes to the floor. At that moment, she didn’t even care that he confirmed her belief that he thought she was an impulsive half-wit who sneaked away without thought or care for the consequences.

  From the moment she’d been freed, she expected the past would come back to haunt her, someday. She just hadn’t anticipated it would be this soon. So acute was her grief, even after all this time, that she could no longer hold her shields, and they crumbled, allowing both men to share the agonizing scenes swirling through her mind.

  “Che Dio ti benedica,” Michael breathed and laid a consoling hand on Calli’s shoulder, but she knew no blessing in Heaven or on Earth would erase the memories from that night. She barely noticed as the tears she’d held inside for so long tracked down her face.

  “Do you realize the major part of Whitechapel was as orderly as any other part of London?” Calli began in a calm, flat voice. “The women who sought respite at the House of Angels were mostly good women who had simply fallen on hard times. But naturally, stories of good, moral people were of no use to journalists. No, the slums, the vice infested quarters, the criminal element, those were the things that garnered all of the attention. I never really believed the place was as dangerous as people said. Still, Reverend Barnett was concerned enough that he and his wife offered to take some of the women in temporarily at Saint Jude’s if I would close the shelter until the Ripper was apprehended. They worried about me traveling back and forth from the place. The Barnetts were such lovely people.”

  “Wait a minute. You closed the shelter? Why didn’t you ever say anything?” Luca interjected.

  “And then, of course, both you and Kassian ordered me to stay in the house,” Calli continued in the same level monotone, as though Luca hadn’t spoken. “I realize I never exhibited the appropriate subservience expected of a lady, perhaps not in any of the centuries in which I’ve lived. I never excelled at taking orders either, but regardless of what you or anyone else believes, Luca, neither was I a contrary fool. I didn’t leave the house to prove a point. I didn’t leave the house on a whim. I didn’t even leave the house to go to the shelter that night. I left the house to go to Mariana.”

  “Mariana?” Luca struggled to process all that he’d just seen and heard. Of course, he’d assumed Callista had gone to the shelter, they all had. He hadn’t ever thought she was a contrary fool, well not exactly. Well, okay, maybe the thought had crossed his mind once or twice, but it had always been tempered by the knowledge that her heart most often ruled her head. There were worse flaws.

  “There was a man. He was a Fallen,” Calli’s voice cracked at last as her slight frame shook with mute sobs. “She begged me not to tell anyone. I think she truly believed her love could save him. I tried to tell her, I tried…” her voice broke and she cleared her throat several times before continuing. “When she discovered she was with child, she went into hiding. She was so ashamed. She wanted to spare her family the humiliation and disgrace. And she was frightened, so terribly frightened. You see, she’d realized by then that he was a monster. Even I didn’t know where she was. But when the baby came, something went horribly wrong. She sent for me.”

  Callista’s fingers tightened on Luca’s in a death grip, and when she raised her wide, blue eyes to his, they were filled with an anguish he hoped he never saw in them again.

  “I know you told me to stay inside. I knew I shouldn’t leave the house, but how could I not go to her, Luca? How could I leave her to die terrified and alone? So much blood. There was so much blood.”

  “Don’t cry anymore, dolcezza, your tears break my heart.” Luca untangled his fingers from hers and pulled her into his arms. He pressed his lips to her temple. His gut clenched when he thought of the lonely years she’d endured, trapped with a mad man, while this horror played on an endless loop in her head. “Shhh, cara…it’s okay. It’s over.”

  Calli pulled back and swiveled her head to gaze at Michael. “No, it isn’t over, is it? Because someone is asking questions and, other than me, the only ones who knew what happened that night are dead.”

  “What about the father?” Luca looked over her head at Michael with a troubled expression. “Could he be looking for the child? Now that Calli has been found alive, could he think she knows something about the child’s whereabouts?”

  Calli shook her head slowly from side to side. “The father is dead.”

  “How can you possibly know?”

  Callista took a deep breath. “Because I watched you kill him, Luca. The child’s father was Jacques Rapier, Jack the Ripper.”

  Chapter Six

  Upon their return to the Via Dandolo house, Luca was both surprised and relieved to discover Mac and Kat had arrived back in Rome from Fiesole. He needed another perspective on the events of the day. Following a recounting of the meeting with Michael, along with a complete recap of the events of that November night so long ago, Magdalena had accompanied a pale and shaken Callista to her room. Luca fervently hoped she was finally, peacefully, asleep.

  Mac stretched out in the corner of a massive leather sofa with Kat contentedly curled into his side. Luca reclined in an overstuffed armchair, propping his legs on the marble cocktail table centering the comfortable furniture grouping in front of the enormous stone fireplace. Mac tipped back the last mouthful of Birra Moretti, and Kat picked up her head as though she had radar.

  “Another?” Kat began to untangle her limbs from his and push herself up against his solid chest. Mac sat up and dropped a kiss on her shining, blonde head.

  “I’ll get it. Luca?” Mac absently gathered the dozen or so empty amber beer bottles littering the room. Alcohol had little effect on Earthbounds. They both knew they’d have to drink a boatload more to achieve even a slight buzz that might take the edge off their current anxiety.

  “Sure, why not?” Luca murmured, chugging down his remaining brew and handing Mac the empty. Luca wore his characteristic mask, but he was uneasily aware Kat’s empath was more than capable of seeing beneath his applied veneer if he let his guard slip for an instant.

  “So, how’s the construction on the farmhouse going?” Luca threw out casually. It was the last thing on any of their minds at the moment, and as he expected, Kat saw his remark for exactly what it was, a lame attempt at diversion. He held his breath and risked a look into the gray eyes so like his own. They narrowed. His sister was pretty astute even without her empathic powers to guide her. Nope, she wasn’t buying it. He sighed. He hadn’t really expected she would, but hope springs eternal.

  “Coming along,” she tossed her hair over one shoulder and shrugged, again reminding Luca of himself. “Madge has offered to go up and oversee the contractors when we go back to the States.”

  “She did?” That was not welcome news. Given Calli’s current disabilities, Michael had ordered her to stay in Rome for the time being. Though not absent, the n
umber of Fallen and their cohorts was still lower here than most other places. In addition, he’d surprisingly and, to Luca, disturbingly, ordered Luca to serve as Callista’s personal guard until her abilities returned or could be restored. Luca had counted on Madge as a buffer of sorts. With her in Fiesole, he and Calli would be alone, except for the daily help.

  “You love her.” Kat raised a brow and the corners of her generous mouth quirked up. It wasn’t a question begging a response. It wasn’t an accusation inviting argument. It was a statement of fact and Luca’s wildly fluctuating emotions and his uncomfortable silence were his answer.

  “Of course, I love her,” he finally groused. “She’s like a sister to me.”

  Kat burst out laughing.

  “Oh, Luca! Keep right on telling yourself that if it makes you feel better, but don’t try to convince me. I’m your sister. I can read those feelings loud and clear, and believe me, your feelings for Calli…are anything but fraternal, my brother.”

  “Love? The only thing I know about love is that it’s destructive,” Luca muttered.

  “Really?” Kat’s brows arched nearly to her hairline. “Yet you were quite happy to shove your sister and your best friend down one another’s throats, weren’t you?”

  “That was different.”

  “How so? Because love is fine for everyone except you? Because of Nicola? You’ve clung to that excuse for years, Luca, but now we know there were other forces at work. He wasn’t responsible for his actions. That excuse doesn’t hold water anymore.”

  “Diavolo, Katrina! Mind your own business.” Luca jumped to his feet and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He strode to the window, throwing off waves and waves of irritation.

  “If you really wanted me to mind my own business, my brother, you would have blocked me better. We both know you can,” Kat returned. “So talk to me. What are you afraid of?”

  Luca barely remembered his mother. He’d cared for Calli once, and then suddenly she was gone. Then there was his father. Nicola withered away, leaving Luca alone in the world and feeling as though he wasn’t important enough for his father to have made an effort. Maybe Kat was right and that excuse didn’t wash anymore, but knowing the truth and learning to un-feel the emotions he’d lived with for so long were two different things. Now Calli was back, living in a century and a society that had moved beyond everything she ever knew. She was still struggling to fit in. Luca was familiar, she felt comfortable with him. It was easy for her to cling to him, maybe even imagine she had feelings for him. But what about later? What happened when she regained her confidence and her abilities and realized there was a whole world waiting for her away from this house, away from this city, away from him? What was he afraid of? He feared trusting in love and then finding himself alone. Again. Maybe he’d become too cynical to fall without proof of forever. In his experience, when the going got tough, the ones you loved got going.