by Ella Summers
I was once more fully dressed, but my mind still lingered inside the depths of our intimate memories. Damiel’s kisses. How he’d touched me. The delightful, burning sensation when he’d sunk his fangs into me. The delicious, heavenly taste of his blood on my tongue.
I looked my angel husband up and down, licking my lips.
He noticed the way I was looking at him. “Perhaps we have a little more time.”
I sighed. “We don’t have any more time, Damiel. The operation is starting soon.”
His eyes undressed me. “When this is over, the two of us have unfinished business.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Damiel picked up the Diamond Tear dagger from the ground and offered it to me.
I shook my head. “You do it this time. The immortal daggers are meant for both of us.”
“You share far too well for an angel.” His brows furrowed in bewilderment.
“So do you.”
“I only share with you.” He set his index finger over his lips, in a shushing gesture. “And don’t tell anyone.”
“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me. As far as anyone knows, you are a cold, heartless bastard who never gives up any ground.”
He nodded in approval. “Good. And so are you.”
“Agreed.”
An angel couldn’t show weakness around people, especially not around other angels. If you did, the other angels tasted blood in the water and went in for the kill. I couldn’t afford to be caught up in dominance games any more than Damiel could. We had people to protect. People who were counting on us to be strong and unyielding. For the sake of the Legion. For the sake of the Earth and all its people.
“So let’s show them all what perfect angels we are,” I told Damiel. “The unstoppable duo of Dragonsire and Lightbringer. They won’t know what hit them.”
Peals of laughter followed us through the passage, but Damiel’s laughter cut off before we reached the rebel base on the other end. He’d brought us back to the garage. Jiro sat on an old wooden crate, sipping from a steaming cup. The scent of fresh mint wafted around him. A pile of Magitech devices lay at his feet.
“Report,” Damiel said, his voice sharp.
“I finished calibrating the devices an hour ago.”
“You said it would take until morning.” I felt a tad guilty over how many hours we’d allowed ourselves to get distracted at the Silver Shore while everyone here had been working.
“Jiro always overestimates how long things will take,” Damiel told me. “He thinks it makes him look good when he finishes ahead of schedule. Except I’m on to him by now. I know his game.”
“It’s not a game. And it is nearly morning. You two sure were gone a long time.” His gaze swept across our bodies. “I see your date went well.”
“The picnic you packed was delicious,” I told him.
“So, apparently, are you.” Jiro touched the back of my shoulder.
I twisted around to look—and found a bite mark there. Keeping my face serene, I tapped my hand to the spot and healed it. “Anything else, Captain?” I asked Jiro.
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
He pointed out two marks on my body, one on the back of my neck, and one on the back of my leg.
I set about healing them. With each mark that Jiro discovered, it was getting harder not to blush, harder to maintain the perfect angel facade. Damiel had left evidence of everywhere he’d been. He’d effectively planted flags to mark his territory.
“Gods, man, is there anywhere you didn’t bite her?” Jiro teased Damiel as I healed myself.
Damiel looked entirely too pleased with himself.
I frowned at him. “You checked the places I can’t see. You were supposed to heal any marks that you found.”
In an instant, Damiel’s face went from smug—to convincingly contrite. “I apologize. Do you want me to check once again all those places that you can’t see?”
I scowled at his lewd offer.
Jiro laughed. “Damiel left those marks on you on purpose, for everyone to see. So we all know that you belong to him.”
“And I suppose that ‘everyone’ includes humans, who don’t have supernatural powers to sense the magic mark?” I asked Damiel. “Hence the physical marks.”
“Naturally. I do like to cover all my bases, you know.”
Jiro snorted.
I planted my hands on my hips. “Real suave, Damiel.”
“I make no apologies for scaring off any and all men gawking at the beautiful, clever, amazing, kind-hearted and totally forgiving woman that I adore more than life itself.”
A smile pulled at my lips. He was such a sweet talker.
But I pushed back the smile and maintained my scowl.
“I need to check on our battle preparations,” he said.
“Try not to bite anyone.”
“All too easy. No one tastes as good as you, Princess.”
Damiel winked at me, then turned to walk out of the garage. That gave Jiro a clear view of his back—and the numerous bite marks I’d left there. No, I hadn’t healed his marks either.
As soon as Damiel was out of sight, Jiro shot me an approving glance. “You’re a damn good actress, Cadence. You certainly made a very convincing fuss over those unhealed marks, considering that you left at least as many on Damiel’s body.”
I fluttered my fingers together in wicked delight. “I just couldn’t resist.”
“You two deserve each other,” Jiro laughed, loading the now-calibrated Magitech devices into a backpack.
“Yes, we really do.”
Little did I know, I would soon be eating my words.
Jiro and I walked out of the garage. Damiel stood in the open hall beyond, the rebels gathered around him. Contentment warmed my heart when our gazes met from across the room.
“Do you have all the devices packed?” Damiel asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“During the operation, it will be your job to set up the devices at the Hive fortress,” Damiel told Jiro. “You’ll be with me and most of the rebel forces, assisting in our efforts to break through the fortress’s magic defenses.” He looked at me. “You will take a group of rebels and block the Hive’s retreat. Capture any soldiers who try to flee.”
His orders given, Damiel dismissed the group. The rebels and Jiro set off toward the exit, ready to go. But I stayed behind.
“What the hell are you doing?” I demanded the moment Damiel and I were alone. “You assigned me to block the Hive’s retreat? That’s ridiculous.”
“It’s hardly ridiculous. If any Hive soldiers escape, they will warn their forces at the other fortresses. I’ve given you an important job.”
“You’ve given me a pointless job, and you know it. I’ve fought the Hive before, just like you. We both know their style. They won’t retreat. They won’t give any ground. They’ll all be staying in that fortress to attack us. So why are you assigning me to do nothing?”
“We must cover every contingency.”
“Don’t bullshit me, Damiel. We both know you’ve taken me out of this battle, and I demand to know why. Is it because you don’t think I’m capable?”
“On the contrary, I have seen firsthand just how capable you are.”
“Then why aren’t you using me in this battle?”
He glanced around to make sure no one was in sight. Then he met my eyes. “The Hive is dangerous,” he spoke in a low whisper. “Their pooled magic is very formidable. We only won our last battle with them by sending them away to their world, but right now we are already on their world. There’s nowhere to exile them to. And we are about to walk right into one of their strongholds, a place they know far better than we do. We will face many more of their soldiers than we did last time. Things have changed. I have changed. If something were to happen to you… I don’t think I could cope with that.”
He was trying to protect me. Again. That warmed my heart, but at the same time, it boiled my blood.
“Things have changed for me too, Damiel. What the two of us have means something to me. You mean something to me. And maybe I don’t want anything to happen to you either. If you effectively take me out of the battle, you hurt your chances of success. You might not make it out of there. You need me.”
“But what I need much more is for you to be safe,” he said.
“You don’t get to make that choice.”
“Actually, I do. I outrank you.”
He did not just pull rank! Not after everything we’d been through.
I growled in frustration. “Nyx would never agree with your decision to leave me behind just because you thought I might get hurt.”
“Nyx isn’t here. After this mission, if you want to go to her and report me for misconduct, then go right ahead. But just remember that this is not a mission sanctioned by the Legion. Talking about it to Nyx will likely land you in front of an inquisition squad.”
“You are a conniving bastard,” I snapped.
“Well, that’s exactly my job, Princess. I accomplish what I set out to do by being smarter than everyone else. You knew that from day one, so don’t go crying foul now.”
“Smarter than everyone else,” I repeated in disbelief. “Why, you arrogant son-of-a…”
“Careful now, love,” he said softly. “Don’t say anything you’ll regret.”
“I already regret a lot. I can’t believe I ever thought I had feelings for you.”
“I love you.”
I snarled at him.
“And nothing you say will ever change how I feel about you,” he added.
I opened my mouth.
“Nor will anything you say change my decision,” he cut in before I could speak.
He must have read my thoughts in my eyes because he wasn’t reading my mind. I’d clamped down my mind like a steel trap. And I wasn’t letting him in.
“My orders stand. You will lead the rebel group to block the Hive’s retreat.”
“Very well, Colonel Dragonsire,” I said coldly, then turned around and walked away from him.
“Where are you going?” He set his hand on my shoulder.
I shrugged it off. “To get some air. Call me when it’s time to go infiltrate the Hive’s fortress. Until then, stay the hell away from me.”
I continued walking, and I didn’t stop until I’d put the whole base between him and me.
20
Magic Broken
I stood outside the fortress’s beige stone walls with Damiel, Jiro, and the rebels. Jiro was setting up the Magitech devices in preparation to break through the Hive’s first line of magical defense.
“The Hive sure constructed a clever magic ward for their fortress,” he told us. “The only way inside is through this ward, and the only way through the ward is by simultaneously using all eight magical abilities. A single Hive squad consists of eight magic users, each soldier possessing one of those eight abilities. That should mean only a Hive squad can enter this place.”
“What about a supernatural with multiple kinds of magic? Like an angel?” I asked him.
“While the Hive doesn’t seem to have accounted for that possibility, the problem is the amount of magic necessary to pass through the ward is enormous, much more than even an archangel possesses. It’s questionable if even a god possesses that much magic.” Jiro held up the eighth and final device in the octagon he was configuring. “But the ward should be no match for a few of my Magitech-powered babies.”
All eight devices now set, Jiro glanced at the readings on his tablet. “Strange.” He frowned.
“What is it?” Damiel asked him.
Jiro pointed at the Magitech octagon he’d constructed. “Together, these eight devices have enough magic to break through the Hive’s ward. I can measure that. But they aren’t having any effect on it. It’s almost as though…” His voice trailed off.
“Jiro?” Damiel prompted him.
“The devices have the necessary power to break the ward, but that’s not enough. The spell is smarter than I anticipated. It can sense the difference between a machine and a person. And only a living person can step through the barrier.”
“You believe I don’t have enough magic,” said Damiel.
“Sorry, no,” Jiro replied with an apologetic look at his friend.
“Attach the eight Magitech devices to me,” Damiel told him. “Push their magic through me. The spell will see that magic as mine. That should give me the power I need to pass through the ward.”
Jiro rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “That should work, assuming…” He frowned.
“Assuming?”
“Assuming your body can handle that amount of magic pumping through it.”
“We have little choice. It’s our only option for getting past that ward.” Damiel picked up one of the Magitech devices and handed it to Jiro.
Jiro took it. “Skin contact will maximize the magic flow.”
Damiel took off his jacket.
Jiro strapped two devices to his forearms. “Take off your shirt.”
Damiel pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it to the ground. Several of the female rebels oohed in appreciation of his physique. Angels were gorgeous, of course. Some people thought we looked like we’d been chiseled from marble by a master artist. And Damiel was especially beautiful.
But I wasn’t appreciating his dashing good looks right now. Not at all. Because it wasn’t only his body that was made of marble; his thick head was as hard and immovable as marble too.
Jiro attached one device to Damiel’s chest and another around his waist. He was still looking for a place to place the next one, when Damiel’s body began to shake.
Jiro paused.
“Attach the final four devices,” Damiel told him.
Jiro scanned him with his tablet. “It’s too much power. You can’t take one more device, let alone four more.”
“Do it,” he said, bearing the pain with stoic stubbornness. “I can handle it.”
“No, you can’t.” Jiro showed Damiel his screen. “It says so right here. It’s too much magic for you to handle. It’s completely overloading your body. The numbers speak for themselves. You can’t argue with that.”
“I can argue with whomever or whatever I please.”
Jiro rolled his eyes. “Yes, thank you, I am well aware of your disagreeable disposition, Your Holiness.”
“Put the four remaining devices on me.”
Jiro folded his arms over his chest.
“I will write you up for insubordination,” Damiel warned him.
“Go right ahead, if that makes you feel better. I’d rather be charged with insubordination than be guilty of killing an angel. No matter how thickheaded that particular angel can be.”
“If you won’t follow my orders, then get out of my way.” Damiel reached for the next Magitech device.
Jiro blocked him. “I won’t let you kill yourself either.”
“I can handle it.”
“I’ve done the calculations, and the math disagrees with you.”
“An angel is not in thrall to the earthly whims of mathematics,” Damiel said with a straight face.
Jiro shook his head in utter disbelief.
“Give me the other four devices,” I spoke up. “With our combined magic, we can pass through the ward.”
“Absolutely not.” Damiel’s words fell with all the finality of a guillotine.
But Jiro was nodding slowly. “That might just work.”
“Out of the question,” Damiel told him.
“Do you want to get into the Hive’s fortress or not?” I challenged him.
“There is another way.”
“No, there isn’t, and you know it,” I countered. “If you try to do this alone, Jiro’s magic devices will kill you. And only living beings can pass through the barrier. Corpses don’t qualify as living. Nor can they fight Hive soldiers.”
“No.”
“Why the hell not?”
He
ground his teeth.
“She has a point, Damiel,” Jiro said. “Together, you two might just be strong enough to handle the output of magic from all eight devices. In fact, you two might be the only two angels who can do this. Being that you’re the only two angels who have ever been bonded.”
Damiel gave him a cool look.
“I smelled your magic marks on each other. Hell, you two weren’t even subtle about it. I’m practically choking on the overwhelming stench of angelic holiness.” Jiro waved his tablet in front of us. “I can see it here too, a steady flow of magic between you two. That’s your magic bond at work. It allows you to pool magic, and together you are stronger than either of you are separately. I’m confident that you two can handle the devices’ combined magic output. And the ward should see you as one collective unit, just as they see a Hive team as one.”
Damiel appeared to be thinking it over. That was something. Maybe there was a chance that he’d finally see reason.
I gave him a little nudge. “You want to stop the Hive, don’t you? You want to save the Earth from their attack?”
“You know I do.”
“Then do what it takes to get the job done, no matter how much you don’t like it.”
Damiel didn’t look impressed with my argument, so I was surprised when he turned to Jiro and said, “Give her the other four devices.” He looked at Grant, the rebels’ leader. “It’s up to all of you to stop any Hive soldiers who try to escape.”
Grant nodded, looking far more pleased to be taking over my mission than I had been to receive it.
I slipped off my jacket and attached two of the Magitech devices to my arms. I felt the surge of magic immediately, like supercharged lightning was burning through my veins.
Jiro handed me a third device. I lifted up the bottom edge of my shirt and wrapped the strap around my abdomen. A few disappointed noises rose from the rebels. Maybe they’d been hoping I’d take off my shirt like Damiel had.
I took the fourth device and slipped it under my shorts to strap it to my thigh. The rebels enjoyed watching that. At a stony-eyed glare from Damiel, however, they promptly stopped ogling.
“Are you ready?” Damiel asked me.
“Yes. Let’s go.”
