Angel's Kiss

by Rosalie Lario

  Angel’s Kiss

  The Fallen Warriors Series

  Rosalie Lario

  In a world where angels rule over humans, twelve outcasts dare to defy expectation, warring with their angel brethren to prevent the extinction of mankind.

  They are The Fallen.

  Book 4

  When fallen angel Jason answers Michael’s summons to an abandoned warehouse in New York City, the last thing he expects to find is a covert rebel group hiding underground…one that’s led by a stunning nephilim who unmistakably belongs to him.

  Ruby Miller has always known the angels who claim to protect humans have a hidden agenda. She’s lived off the grid ever since the day her father was killed by his own kind for protecting humans, and is determined to stop the angels from succeeding in their plot to destroy mankind. Then she meets Jason, a sexy fallen angel who claims she’s his mate. Falling in love is not part of her plan. If only she could deny the sizzling attraction that pulls them closer together.

  As the Fallen and Ruby’s gang of rebels work together to gain proof of the angels’ nefarious plans, she must decide whether to stay focused on her mission…or surrender to the sweet ecstasy of this angel’s unforgettable kiss.

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  Angel’s Kiss

  Copyright 2013 by Rosalie Lario

  Smashwords Edition

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  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Cover Art provided by Brittany Smith, Amaranth Dreams.

  Editorial Services provided by Kim Bowman, Freelance Editor.

  License Notes

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

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  Chapter One

  The stiff October breeze kissed Jason’s face, caressing his flesh and ruffling his hair as he zoomed through the air. Below him the bright lights of the Brooklyn Bridge illuminated the night, lending shades of mahogany to the darkened skies and casting yellow, orange, and blue ribbons of light into the East River. This city held its own sort of beauty, so distinct from the natural allure of his home hidden deep in the wilderness of the Adirondack Mountains.

  Had this been another place and time, Jason might have stopped to admire the view. But not here, not now…when he was so very close to the Tribunal headquarters nestled in Central Park. He’d never considered himself to be a coward, but he didn’t have a death wish either, and venturing near the base of operations for the leaders of angelkind seemed very much like a death wish.

  “Almost there,” said Jason’s fellow Fallen and floormate, Nate, as he pulled up beside him. Nate’s dark wings flapped hard against the brisk wind.

  “Thank goodness,” Jason muttered.

  They wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Michael, the group’s unofficial leader. He’d called Jason the previous morning and asked him to grab a partner and head to Brooklyn straight away. When Jason had asked him why, he’d only said, “You’ll have to see it to believe it.”

  Given the source, Jason knew they were in for a real surprise. Michael wasn’t prone to fits of exaggeration.

  “There it is,” Jason said.

  He zeroed in on the location Michael had given him, an old, abandoned warehouse on the banks of the East River. Once, before the veil separating the angelic dimension from the human one had fallen and left the angels stuck here on Earth, it had likely served as a hub of industrial activity. But now that the angels had taken command of Earth and created the Consortium, a guild of humans who served them and carried out their will, the warehouse no longer served any purpose. It looked as if it had been abandoned years ago. Some of the windows on the three-story brick building were knocked out, and others were boarded up.

  Snapping his wings, Jason began his downward descent, swiftly and quietly landing on the ground in front of the battered steel doors covered in peeling hunter-green paint. He curled his wings inward, cracking his shoulders to absorb the tingle of sensation as his body absorbed them. With no wings to give himself away, to the normal human eye he now looked like nothing more than a man, albeit a shirtless one.

  A second later, Nate touched down beside him and did the same.

  Jason surveyed the warehouse, taking in the grime on the once-red brick walls and the fast food wrappers littering the ground. “What the hell could be here that Michael wants us to see?”

  “Got me.” Nate shrugged. “Looks completely lifeless.”

  Lifting his head to do an automatic scan of the skies, something he’d done nonstop since they’d neared the perimeter of the city, Jason gave way to his senses. Angels could sense the presence of other angels from miles away. Given that there weren’t many angels around—less than two hundred of his kind—it wasn’t common to run into another angel. But since the Tribunal headquarters were just a few miles away in central Manhattan, there were bound to be at least one or two angels around. The fact that they normally stayed sequestered at the very top of the angel tower they’d built in the park was a point in Jason’s favor, but he didn’t want to get too comfortable.

  “Just being so close to Central Park sets my nerves on edge,” Nate muttered, giving a mock shudder.

  Jason laughed. “You aren’t the only one.”

  For not the first time, Jason wondered how Michael had worked up the nerve to fetch his nephilim mate, Eva, when she’d lived not blocks from the angel tower. That must have taken balls of steel. But given that Eva was nephilim, she’d been living on borrowed time. She’d been extremely lucky to go as long as she had without being discovered, since angels could also feel the presence of nephilim. It was different, more of a niggling scratch than a full-blown tremor of recognition, but it was unmistakable to those who’d felt it before.

  And the essence of a potential mate? Well, that was like pure heaven, tightening the loins and sending the pulse into triple speed.

  “Guess we should go in,” Nate finally murmured.

  Taking Nate’s suggestion, Jason started toward the steel doors. When he tugged on them they didn’t open. His kind could easily yank the lock out of place, but if Michael was here and the door was still locked, there was a reason for it. Instead he headed toward the nearest window on his right. The glass had been busted out of the lower portion of it. Hooking his jean-clad leg over the windowsill, he bent his frame and squeezed through the window. It was a study in patience, going slowly so as to avoid having his back—or God forbid, his groin—speared from jagged glass, but he managed it. Nate squirmed in behind him, and they stood there, motionless, taking in the large interior.

  It was dark and bare, save the occasional piece of rubble or steel littering the floor. To the far end of the warehouse was a doorframe leading into what looked like it had once been a set of offices, but even from here he could see they were empty.

  After exchanging a bemused glance with Nate, Jason dug his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Michael’s number.

  “Hello?” Michael’s deep, commanding voice sounded out.

  “We’re here. Where are you
?”

  “Give me a few minutes. I’ll be right out.”

  Cocking a brow, Jason hung up the phone and returned it to his pocket. He did as Michael bade and waited.

  Five, ten minutes passed. Just when Jason began to grow anxious, the heavy, screeching sound of metal grating over metal racked his eardrums. Directing his gaze toward the remains of the offices toward the back of the warehouse, Jason noticed something he’d missed during his first visual pass. A manhole of sorts cut into the concrete floor, which was now being slid open.

  That was when he felt it. Stiffening with shock, he glanced at Nate. He felt it too, if the widening of his eyes and dropping of his jaw was any indication.

  Dropping a fist to his midsection, Jason tried to calm the butterflies that had suddenly taken flight in his gut.

  What. The. Hell?

  After a quick look at Nate, they both rushed to the back. By the time they arrived at the ruined threshold of the twelve-by-twelve office, the manhole cover had been fully pushed to the side, and a figure emerged.

  Jason’s lips twisted into a grin as he drew his gaze over Michael’s form. The angel’s shoulder-length hair rested on his broad shoulders and, as was typical of their kind, he was bare-chested.

  “Emerging from the depths, I see,” Jason quipped.

  Michael returned his grin. “At least there were no snide comments about that being my place of origin.”

  Jason snorted as Ethan, another Fallen, climbed his way out after Michael.

  “What the devil are you two doing in there?” Nate asked.

  Before either man could respond, the tip of an unfamiliar head rose from the crudely cut manhole. Jason’s breath sucked from his lungs as he took in the emerging face: mahogany curls framing an oval, porcelain-skinned face, a small, narrow nose, and a large pair of eyes fitted with thin, perfectly arched brows. Frozen in place, he followed the progress of the woman as she lithely crawled out of the hole. She stood, showcasing the rest of her features.

  Her tall, thin body was covered by a worn pair of dark-blue jeans, serviceable brown boots, and a red flannel shirt, and her long red hair had been loosely tied behind her neck. A gold necklace hung over the fabric of her shirt, a large pendant suspended right at her breastbone. A ruby nestled into a pair of gold angel wings, which were shaped like a heart.

  Jesus, she was stunning. Beautiful, in a wholly unusual way. Power and grace outlined her every movement.

  She’s a nephilim.

  Rarer than the most precious of jewels, and far more priceless.

  Right now, the woman stared back and forth between him and Nate, and one of her perfect brows lifted in what appeared to be a silent acknowledgment of the effect she had on them.

  Well aware that he and Nate had been foolishly staring at the woman like horny teenagers stumbling for the first time into a strip club, Jason cleared his throat and tore his gaze from her to Michael. “What’s going on?”

  Michael’s upper lip curled, and Jason got the distinct feeling he was amused at his and Nate’s discomfort—the cheeky bastard. Easy for him to find humor in this situation when he was already well and truly mated to Eva.

  Hooking a thumb into the belt loop of his black slacks, Michael adopted a casual pose. “Jason, Nate, I’d like to introduce you to Ruby Miller.”

  After giving her a respectful nod, Jason returned his questioning glance to Michael.

  “Ruby made contact with me several days ago when Ethan and I first flew into the city.” Grinning, Michael continued, “I was very surprised, to say the least, at what she had to say.”

  “And what is that?” Nate prompted when Michael didn’t immediately continue.

  “Ruby is the leader of a group of humans who know what the angels’ true agenda is. And they live here.” Michael pointed toward the manhole. “Underground.”

  Shock reverberated through Jason’s system. This beautiful nephilim led a gang of rebels, and they lived underground? Returning his gaze to Ruby, Jason let Michael’s words penetrate. He could now see why Michael hadn’t mentioned this business about Ruby over the phone. Jason probably wouldn’t have believed it anyway.

  When Ruby arched a brow and impatiently shifted her hips, Jason gave in to the grin threatening to bubble to the surface. He couldn’t wait to find out more about Ruby Miller. He had a feeling she’d led a very interesting life.

  Very interesting indeed.

  *****

  The Fallen were trouble. Ruby had known it from the moment she’d first spotted Michael, but the presence of Jason and Nate only confirmed her fears. The men were too damn irresistible. It took every ounce of her willpower to remain standing in place with a bored expression on her face.

  Unlike Michael and Ethan, who were incredibly handsome, Jason and Nate were not only gorgeous, but also utterly tempting. Simply being in their presence made her skin hot and tight with desire—an instinctive reaction, she knew from talking to Tayla, of being in an unmated male’s presence. Both Jason and Nate were delicious, with their short, dark hair and honey-toned skin. Bare freakin’ chests, for God’s sake. They were too delicious for their own good. But something about the Fallen called Jason drew her attention more. Maybe it was his piercing green eyes, or the five o’clock shadow that covered his perfectly square jaw and full upper lip, or the seductive scent of leather and spice that emanated from his body.

  Hell, didn’t matter how hot Jason was, him or Nate. They were both off limits. Life was complicated enough right now without getting caught up in matters of the flesh. She wasn’t about to fall into that trap.

  His hot gaze searing through her, Jason said, “Can I ask how you managed to make contact with Michael and Ethan to begin with?”

  Ah, so he was a straightforward kind of guy. She respected that.

  “As you’ve probably figured out by now, I’m a nephilim.” Ruby let her confident gaze drift over Jason and Nate. Better to address the pink elephant now, and establish that she was off limits. That way they could go about with their business. “I’ve known ever since I can remember. Growing up, my father was a very big part of my life.”

  “And your father was…?” Jason prompted.

  “Cassiel.”

  Nate sucked in an audible breath. “He was a good man. A champion of humans.”

  “Yes.” That was what had ultimately gotten him killed—he was one of the angels condemned to die by his very own people. The other angels had branded them as traitors, but she knew the truth. They’d been trying to save mankind. Twelve of the condemned angels had somehow managed to escape, becoming the dreaded, hunted Fallen, but the remainder, her father included, had been murdered by their own kind.

  “After he died, my mother and I went off the grid. She feared the newly formed Consortium would discover my parentage and have us both killed.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Jason murmured, and the soft glisten in his eyes said he meant it.

  “Thank you.” Shifting in place, she continued. “My mother was a historian living here in Brooklyn. She’d always been fascinated with the history of the subway system, and knew of some tunnels that had been long ago abandoned and forgotten. She found us an alternate home.”

  Her eyes wandered from Jason to Nate, taking in the nuances of their facial expressions as they absorbed her words. When neither of them immediately responded, she motioned toward the manhole.

  “Why don’t we get downstairs? I’ll show you around and explain more about what’s going on down there.”

  Jason nodded, his expressive eyes flashing. “Let’s.”

  Ruby turned and started the descent down the long ladder that separated her and her gang from the rest of the world.

  Chapter Two

  As Jason followed Ethan down the steep but sturdy ladder, he had the discomfiting sensation he was entering an alternate universe. Since he knew from prior experience how discombobulating that could be, he studied his surroundings while he descended. What had to be a century’s worth of brick and ston
e had been painstakingly chipped away piece by piece, creating a shaft downward, into what appeared to be a cavern.

  “Who cut away this stone?” Jason asked.

  “My mother and I and some of the people we picked up along the way,” Ruby answered, her voice echoing from below. “Most of them were newly homeless, living off the grid. They were young and orphaned and fearful of the angels and their rule. They had good instincts. Knew to be afraid.”

  Nate, who’d set the manhole cover back into place as he lowered himself into the shaft, let out a whistle from above Jason. “This shaft must have taken some work.”

  “Months,” she answered. “Mother studied the old subway maps and found what she thought would be the best location to dig into one of the old, forgotten tunnels. Lucky for us it was a warehouse that had been abandoned for a few years already. We hid out up there while we did it, half afraid we’d get caught and our work would be for nothing. But no one in the Consortium one ever bothered to check out the space. We got lucky.”

  The scrape of booted footsteps on the ground sounded out somewhere beneath Jason, followed by the soft thumps of what must Michael and Ethan finding their footing in the cavernous space below. At last he himself touched solid earth. Releasing his hold on the ladder, he stepped back and took a good look around.

  The ladder brought them to the entrance of a vast tunnel no more than thirty feet wide. Rust-colored bricks assembled in uneven layers covered the walls and domed ceiling. The bricks were narrow toward the top, but became larger, practically boulder-sized, toward the bottom. At the far end of the room was a huge pile of rubble that dropped the ground level by ten or more feet. A crude set of wooden stairs had been compiled over the rubble, allowing people to traverse from this side of the tunnel to deeper within.

  “What am I looking at?” Jason allowed his gaze to wander back to Ruby, who stood closest to the stairs with her hands casually slung into the back pockets of her jeans. Though she no doubt failed to realize it, the movement pressed her flannel shirt tight against her breasts, showcasing the fullness of the round globes.