“Yeah.” Kassian sighed. She made a valid point, but…well, it felt strange. He couldn’t think of anyone he would rather have at Callista’s side. Luca would always treat her well and keep her safe. And Kat was right. Luca didn’t trust his heart or give it away easily. If it truly belonged to Callista, McAllister knew it was forever. What more could a brother want for his sister? He would get used to the idea. Eventually. He just had difficulty picturing Luca as—relationship material. Then again, he guessed there were those who’d thought the same thing about him once and yet he’d never been happier. His wife was the best thing that had ever happened to him in his hundreds of years of existence. In any event, the first order of business was to figure out what their next move should be.
“Luca said Calli thinks the book may have belonged to Miranda. She seemed pretty convinced Jacques never had possession of it. What do you think?” he asked his wife.
“McAllister, you’re well aware I didn’t even know my mother was a witch until I met you and Luca, so I have no idea what Miranda may or may not have had,” Kat frowned. “And she wasn’t exactly my favorite person so we didn’t do a lot of warm and fuzzy.”
“Did she say anything when she had you in the cave?” Kassian asked.
“I do remember something about a grimoiré.” A worried crease appeared between Kat’s eyes as she looked up at him. “She said something about using it to get rid of my father. I’m sorry I don’t remember if there was anything else. I was a little preoccupied at the time, what with trying to escape from a serial killer, keeping you and Luca from barging in and getting yourselves killed, and discovering your sister was alive.”
Kassian folded her into his arms and stroked her back. He would never tire of feeling this woman against him, and never cease to wonder how he had been lucky enough to find her. If Luca felt for Calli even half of what Kassian felt for Kat, he supposed he had no choice but to be happy for them.
“Grimoiré is a nonspecific term for any book of magic, Kat. If Miranda did have the key and was calling it a grimoiré, chances are she either had no idea what it really was, or was unsure how to unlock its secrets. If that’s the case, it might still be there packed in a box,” Kassian replied thoughtfully. “I’ll call Dimitri to have him go out to your place and start going through Miranda’s things. He can make arrangements to ship anything that looks promising or suspicious back to New York. We’ll go through it all when we get home. I just hope to hell Michael is wrong.”
Kat had been Miranda’s only living relative. Upon the evil bitch’s death, Kassian had done little more than have his people pack up and padlock her home and business, call the local animal shelter to retrieve the cats, and hire a local estate agent to keep an eye on things. He’d then had all of the boxes shipped to his wife’s family home in the Pennsylvania mountains until the McAllisters returned from Italy.
“You’d better warn him that Elle might be there,” Kat laughed, referring to her best friend. “She asked if she could camp out at the house for some down time to finish her edits. She’s on deadline and though she adores her editor, she claims the CEO is an unforgiving slave driver. At least that’s what she tells me. Personally, I’ve found him to be exceptionally accommodating.”
Kassian rolled his eyes and nodded. “Thanks for reminding me. I’ll let him know. Elle Gates shouldn’t be sprung on any unsuspecting person without notice.”
Kat laughed and thumped a fist into her husband’s chest. “McAllister! C’mon, you know you love her!”
“No, I know you love her, therefore I’m willing to tolerate her. Frankly, she is a little too hyper for my taste. Translation? She makes my teeth ache. Then again, she does make me boatloads of money,” he grinned. Elle wasn’t just Kat’s best friend she was a prolific best-selling romance author under contract with McAllister Publishing.
“Well, thank goodness for that since we’re in such dire financial straits,” Kat mocked. Then she sobered. “Is this book really so much of a threat, Kassian? I mean, if it is this Key of Azakriel, Miranda must have had it lying around somewhere for years. How dangerous could it be?”
“Short version? Azakriel is the demon of the abyss, synonymous with death and destruction.” He swore under his breath. “Damn Michael anyway.”
“McAllister!” Kat gasped. “He’s an Archangel, your boss, and my…I don’t know, bizillion times removed great grandfather?”
“You know I’m loyal to him, Kat,” he assured her. “But millennia ago he was young and impulsive, a far cry from the wise and fearsome leader he is today. When his daughter Aandalena married a human and forfeited her immortality in the bargain, it nearly broke him. He secretly provided her with supernatural objects as a means of protecting her and her descendants.”
“He was being a father first, Kassian. You can hardly fault him for that.”
“Look, I can understand his desire to take care of his own, but he didn’t have the authority at the time to meddle in mortal affairs. He thought with his heart not his head.”
“We’ve all been guilty of that at some point, my love. So, the ring bestowed the power to control demons and the key provided a means to bind them?”
“In a nutshell? Yes. Not that taking Azakriel out of circulation was a bad idea, but after a few centuries, Michael became more and more preoccupied with his responsibilities and managed to lose track of not only his descendants, but of his creations, too.”
“So you’re saying the ring wasn’t a one and done kind of deal?”
“Hardly. He’s never actually admitted how many objects might be out there. He’s been trying to find them for centuries and every now and then, something turns up. Now that we’ve returned the ring to him, at least that’s safely beyond the reach of the Fallen, but if the they get their hands on the key? They’ll have the means to release Azakriel. Yeah, baby, it really is that much of a threat.”
“But Michael has the ring back now,” Kat mused thoughtfully. “Even if the Fallen manage to release Azakriel, the ring can be used to regain control of him, right?”
“Theoretically,” Kassian agreed. “But the demon could wreak a hell of a lot of mayhem in the interim.”
“If only I’d been paying more attention,” Kat groaned into his shirtfront.
“Like you said, you were a little preoccupied at the time.”
Kassian pressed his lips to her silvery hair breathing in the scent that was uniquely his wife. His groin swelled in reaction despite the gravity of the situation. Kassian suspected the world could be tumbling down around his ears and he would still be preoccupied with losing himself in his wife’s sweet and willing body. His hands cupped her rounded buttocks through the snug denim spanning her backside and hitched her even closer, leaving her in no doubt as to where his mind had wandered.
“There’s no way you could have known about it, Kat. Hell, that book disappeared centuries ago. There was even speculation it might’ve been destroyed. Figures it turning up would have something to do with Rapier. Even dead that bastard still has a hand in making our lives miserable.”
Kat wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him, lifting her face to his. “Well, if you’re back to thinking about Rapier, I guess the honeymoon is over,” she sighed.
“We do have to head back to Rome, and then probably the States,” he confirmed with a growl against her lips. “But, the honeymoon is a long way from over, and I’m definitely not thinking about good ole’ Jacques right this minute.”
“Really?” she murmured into his mouth. A glint of mischief danced in her thickly fringed silver eyes. “Are you sure we shouldn’t get moving? Luca said Calli could be in danger.” She tangled her fingers in the long, dark hair at his nape and tugged. “We can’t let them get to her, Kassian. Not again.”
“We won’t,” he promised, hoisting her up until she twined her legs around his waist and locked her ankles behind him. “She’s safe for now. Luca won’t let anything happen to her. My mother is out on the g
rounds with the landscapers checking out what’s left of the vineyard to see if it’s worth salvaging. Your brother could have mentioned he’d let this place go to ruin for the last twenty-five years before he gave it to you.”
“Don’t you dare call my villa a ruin!” Kat protested with a smile. “I absolutely love this place. It’s perfect.”
“A perfect disaster,” Kassian conceded as he nibbled on her full bottom lip. “It’s barely habitable. Lucky for you your husband is wealthy. It’s going to cost a small fortune to restore this place. On the upside, at least there aren’t any grocery stores nearby.” When they met, Kat had been appalled to learn Kassian hired people to do his grocery shopping. Since then she’d insisted on dragging him along on a shopping expedition at least once a week. Between the senior citizens, coupon clippers, long lines, and whining kids it was so not his cup of tea. He couldn’t see the point in torturing himself when it was twice as easy to give one of his assistants a list and pay them to do it, but Kat actually enjoyed the challenge of comparison shopping and saving money even if she no longer needed to. It was a small enough thing that made his wife happy, so he went along with it even though it made him want to jab needles in his eyes.
“Mmm...lucky you. There is the market in town, though,” Kat pointed out as she feathered kisses along his jawline. Kassian didn’t mind strolling around the market in the small piazza hand in hand with her nearly as much as he balked at pushing a shopping cart around a crowded American supermarket. He rocked his hips against the juncture of her thighs where her long legs straddled him, letting her feel the hard evidence of how much he enjoyed her tender attention. She gasped and wove her fingers more deeply into in his hair tugging him closer and flexing her thighs around his torso. “Shouldn’t we start packing?”
“The next train doesn’t leave for hours,” he whispered against her throat as she tipped her head back to allow him better access. “Guess we’ll have to find something to do until then. Got any ideas?” He captured her mouth in a searing kiss and felt the rising heat of her right through the fabric where their bodies pressed together.
There was no rush. Luca was with Callista and the Via Dandolo house was well protected by sigils. They couldn’t go anywhere until Michael’s men arrived to stay with his mother, anyway. He’d call Dimitri to warn him about Elle later. And if the imposing Defensori headed to Kat’s place before Kassian had a chance to give him a heads up? Well, Dimitri was a well-seasoned warrior. Surely he could handle one small, slightly ditzy woman. Kassian decided to let the rest of the world take care of itself for a while. He was already busy contemplating some very pleasant and creative ways to fill the next couple of hours. He headed for the stairs with his wife tangled around him. The bedroom renovations had been completed before they even arrived from Rome after the wedding. Kassian had insisted it be the first priority. It was, after all, the most important room in the house.
Chapter Twelve
While Luca discussed strategies on the phone with her brother in the other room, Callista stood in the kitchen doorway looking out over the back garden that had been left to run riot within the walls of the villa. Her mother spent little time keeping up with it since Calli’s rescue and their arrival en mass from New York. The few blooms interspersed throughout the verdant greenery were yielding their colors to the approaching darkness while the umbrella pines she glimpsed beyond the wall stood stark and clear against the fading orange and gold of the twilight sky. It was beautiful here and it spoke to her in a way no other place ever had. She understood why her mother had established a residence here and why Luca had always been drawn back. Personally, she wouldn’t mind staying here forever.
Michael and Giovanna were long gone, headed back to the Castel to reunite Gia and Enrico. She heard footfalls behind her but still jumped as Luca’s arms snaked around her waist and pulled her back against him. Every time he entered a room Calli felt as though all of the air had been sucked out. He made her breathless simply by being. Now that they were actually alone in the house, Calli felt incredibly shaky. She was safe with Luca, maybe safer than she’d ever been in her life. So why did she have a flock of butterflies playing tag in her stomach and beads of moisture trickling down her neck beneath her hair? Luca believed she had been the unwilling recipient of Rapier’s twisted passions. He would expect her to be experienced in intimacy when in truth she was a bumbling novice without a clue of what to do or what to expect other than what she’d read in books. Earlier, she’d been too caught up in the moment to give it much thought, but now that she’d had time to consider the step she was poised to take, mild panic set in. She was bound to disappoint him, and then he would realize he didn’t really love her at all, he loved an illusion she couldn’t live up to.
She shivered and Luca turned her fully into his embrace and held her tightly against him. Of course, that position just emphasized the fact that his hard arousal hadn’t abated in the least, which sent her into another fit of trembling.
“Cara, what is it? Are you cold?” Luca peered worriedly into her eyes and ran his hands briskly up and down her arms, though the temperature in the room was quite comfortable.
“No, I…I’m not cold,” she whispered, resting her forehead against his chest. “I’m fine. I…I’m just…” Calli trailed off. She had no idea how to talk to him about this. She’d missed the sexual revolution. In her day, this wasn’t a conversation an unattached woman had with a man, even the one to whom she’d completely given her heart. “I guess I’m a little scared.”
Luca’s arms tightened around her. “Monte will never get near you, cara. I swear it. No one will ever threaten you again.” He pressed his lips against her hair. “Ignazio Monte will pay for frightening you. He deserves to die for that alone, as far as I’m concerned.”
“I’m not afraid of Monte, Luca,” she whispered. “I’m not like the other women you’ve been with, you see. The truth is I’m afraid of…you.”
“Me?” He hooked a forefinger under her chin and tilted her face to his. Tears welled in her eyes threatening to overflow and tumble down her cheeks. She looked away, unable to meet his eyes.
“Well, not you, exactly. It’s …I’m afraid of disappointing you.”
“Baby, look at me. I can’t change what happened, but I can promise you whatever you experienced with Rapier, it was not the way it was meant to be.”
“Luca, you don’t understand. He never…” Calli began. But Luca seemed not to hear.
“He died too easily. If I had it to do over, dolcezza, his death would be far more painful. He would suffer endless agonies for every single time he dared to touch you,” Luca whispered in a voice vibrating with suppressed fury as he smoothed her hair away from her face. His accent, barely noticeable most of the time, had thickened considerably.
Calli’s heart filled with tenderness at the pain and frustration she heard in his voice and she laid a soft hand on Luca’s cheek. He held it there with his own larger one and turned his lips into her palm. She melted inside. This was the man she’d longed for and dreamed of. This was the man whose arms she imagined holding her and keeping her safe through the endless nights when she’d been uncertain and afraid. This was the man she’d been sure she would never have. And yet, here he stood, holding her close and trembling with rage on her behalf.
“Callista McAllister, I love you. I know it took me long enough to say it, but the truth is I fell flat on my face for you over a century ago and I don’t think I’ve ever gotten back up. I want to make love to you maybe more than I can ever make you understand. But it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t want it, too. It doesn’t make the slightest difference to me that I’m not your first. Carissima, when I take you to my bed, fear has no place there. If you aren’t ready for this, then we wait. However long you need. However long it takes. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
Calli reached up with her other hand and cupped his face bringing his lips down to hers. She kissed him, not with passion, but with love
. Pure, perfect, and unadulterated love. When she drew back at last, Luca’s eyes shimmered with moisture and she knew he understood what she’d been telling him without thoughts or words. She wasn’t going anywhere either.
“Can I say something now?”
Luca lost himself in the brilliant sapphire sheen of her large eyes brimming with love and unshed tears. When she looked at him like that she could ask him to walk across St. Peter’s square. Naked. In January. At noon on Sunday. In the middle of the Angelus. He would comply without a second thought. In that moment, he understood Kat was right. If fate took Calli away tomorrow, he would gladly bear the pain to have the feeling filling his heart right now, to see that exact look in Calli’s eyes, and to experience this precise moment in time. Some things really were worth the risk. Loving Calli, and being loved by her in return, was worth the risk. Yeah, Kat was right. It didn’t do his pride any good to admit it, but she usually was.
“Well?” She repeated.
“Oh, sorry. Yeah, sure, cara…what did you want to say?”
“He never touched me.”
“What?”
“I said, Jacques Rapier never touched me. Well, not in the way you mean.” Calli flushed. “Inflicting pain was his addiction, Luca, not sex. I’ve tried to tell you before but do you know, I think you have a real problem with listening? At first, I think he was waiting until he could use my death, or at least the manner of my death, to torture my brother. But then, and don’t ask me why or how because I have no idea, he decided he was in love with me. When he felt the madness gaining the upper hand, he made me lock myself in my room and he stayed away.”
Angel Unbound Page 12
