by Alisa Woods
Her delicate face paled, and she glanced at Eden. “Do you think he—”
“No.” Asa put his clothes right again. “He doesn’t have to. She carries his seed, Molly.”
Her face fell blank—she must finally understand.
But he made it plain anyway. “He can sense that child anywhere. It is the same reason Micah cannot run away—he is triple-marked, being Elyon’s child, marked in the Regiment, and branded Magis in Elyon’s inner circle. Even Ren is marked, carrying Elyon’s grandchild—further removed, but still a signature he could track through magical space. Elyon would find them all, no matter where they ran. The only place Eden and Ren are safe is buried inside a Regiment hundreds-strong and devoted to protecting them. And Micah will only find safety when Elyon is dead.”
“What about me?” Her eyes were pinned to his face, reading him. “Elyon never marked me.”
He couldn’t help the flinch.
The fury was back on her face. “You could let me go. You could… but you won’t. Why?”
“Elyon would still hunt for you—
“I would hide. Really well.” She was pleading with him now. “There are billions of people on the planet. How would he find me? He wouldn’t! I could just—”
“I can’t take that risk!” It blurted out of him, and he regretted it the instant it did.
Molly was aghast. Horrified. And he felt the shame of it burn him.
Just then, the door behind him swept open. Asa jolted and whirled around—it was only Laylah.
“What are you doing here?” he snapped.
Laylah gave him a saucy look. “I heard you needed more guards. Ones you could trust.” Then she gave a longer, head-to-toe appraisal of Molly.
He felt the wrongness of that and stepped between them. “I don’t need more guards, Laylah.”
She arched an eyebrow. “That’s not what Razael said.”
He scowled. Why was Razael sending Laylah into the nursery? What purpose could that serve but exactly the one Asa didn’t want—the two of them, Molly and Laylah, mixing company.
Molly stepped out from behind him. “It might be better to have a female guard,” she said, not at all helping his situation. She gestured back to Eden, still curled in the chair and vacant-eyed. “Maybe it would help Eden.”
Laylah peered around Asa’s shoulder at Eden. “How many pregnant humans did you bring back?” Then she stared him full in the face. “Are you banging all of them, making up for lost time?”
Asa glared at her with anger he didn’t think possible. If she hadn’t just recently saved his life, he’d already have his blade at her neck.
She smirked at his seething discomfort, tempting him to do it anyway.
Molly coughed dramatically behind him. “Um… okay. I’m standing right here, you know.”
Laylah turned a feline smile to Molly. “So you are.”
Molly gave her a strange look like she was confused or perhaps annoyed. Maybe jealous? No, Asa was certain that was his own raging embarrassment and Wrath.
Molly spread her hands, making peace. “Look, for the record, I don’t know who Asa’s banging, but it’s not me. The angeling I fucked was someone else entirely.” She slid a look to Asa that sliced right through him.
This conversation couldn’t end soon enough.
“But,” Molly continued, “I do like the idea of having a female angeling guard. My friend, Eden, has been through hell and back and the fewer dicks around her, the better.”
A smile bloomed on Laylah’s face then just grew. “Okay, I like her,” she said to Asa.
“How wonderful.” Asa managed not to snarl.
“Glad we got that sorted,” Molly said. “I just think—oh!” Alarm lit her face, then her hand flew to her belly. “I… uh…” She rubbed the small bump of child within her. “Oh!” she said again. Her eyes went wide.
“What is it?” All the breath rushed out of Asa. He dropped to one knee in front of her, both hands cradling her belly, and intently scanned the child’s soul within. There was nothing he could see wrong. He peered up at her. “Are you all right?”
A look of wonder had taken hold of her. “Yeah…” A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “It was just… I think it was… there!”
Something moved under his hands. Asa leaned back and stared wide-eyed at her belly. “Was that—” Then it happened again. Unmistakable. The child within was jutting some small foot or hand… and Asa felt it with his own hand.
Molly laid her hand on top of his and moved it slightly left. “There.”
He felt it again. A tiny tap. Molly’s hand on his. The life inside her. Her touch… he wanted to kiss her hand, her belly… and so much more.
“So that’s how it is.” Laylah’s voice was tight.
Asa cleared his throat and hastened to stand. He glared at Laylah, but there was no erasing the knowledge from her face. She knew. Better than any angeling in the Regiment, she knew his heart, she knew his past, and she could see things that were plain for anyone to see… and many that escaped all others. Was that why Razael sent her? Because he knew Asa’s love might bring him to violate the one rule the angel had laid down for all others? I know the humans are enticing, Razael had said. But you can resist.
Asa wasn’t sure he could.
“Razael sent me to summon you,” Laylah said stiffly.
Was it a lie? Asa would bet blood on it.
“I’ll go to him as soon as I’m finished—”
“He wants you now,” Laylah said more lightly, as if it mattered not to her, one way or the other. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep Molly and the others company.”
That was precisely what he was worried about. “They don’t need—”
“It’s okay,” Molly interrupted him. “I want Laylah to stay. She’d make a good guard inside the nursery. I mean, you’re worried about security, right?” She shrugged as if it were the most obvious and natural thing that Laylah should stay with them.
Laylah smiled.
Asa ground his teeth. To Molly, he said, “I’ll be back shortly.” For Laylah, he had only a glare.
She stuck her tongue out at him. As if this were just their normal games.
He contained his bitter retort, turned on his heel, and marched out the nursery door.
Chapter Sixteen
So angelings were just as fucked up about love as humans.
Huh. Molly should have seen that coming.
Given their perfect beauty and all their power and the whole magic thing, somehow she assumed that angelings got what they wanted—that certainly was true in getting it from humans. Elyon was an angel, and he definitely got whatever he wanted, from humans and angelings alike. The angeling who rocked Molly’s bed for a night, got her pregnant, then disappeared sure got what he wanted. She figured Micah did too since he fucked Ren whenever he liked and did nothing to free her. But maybe the thing Micah really wanted wasn’t sex and wasn’t something he could actually have—keeping Ren and the baby. And this female angeling standing in front of her—Laylah—obviously wanted Asa in a bad way, and she wasn’t getting him, either.
Not even close.
And wow, that was pissing her off.
There was something between them, Molly just wasn’t sure what. And while Asa was insanely hot and super kind to her and was trying hard to take care of her and her baby—him on his knees with the baby moving just about melted her heart—the truth was something darker than the glittering brightness of this nursery he built.
I can’t take that risk! he’d shouted at her. As if she were a child or a pet he had to keep safe at all costs… no matter what she wanted. No matter that all this was simply a beautiful prison. She didn’t know what this was truly about for him, but it definitely wasn’t love.
As for this Laylah person—was she in love with Asa? Or was this whole song and dance in the nursery just some petty jealousy?
Either way that could be her ticket out.
All those thoughts tu
mbled through her head while Laylah and Asa fought. Then he stormed out and now was her chance.
“So, Asa’s pretty hot, huh?” Molly had to peer up at Laylah—she was as tall as Asa and just as beautiful, too. He was kind of an idiot for not going for it with her.
“He certainly seems to see something in you.” Laylah’s voice was cool, but her gaze was a hot blade slicing through Molly, taking apart her soul for inspection. Which gave her that naked feeling again, only this time, it sent a chill down her spine. At the same time, those crazy flutters in her stomach started up—because part of her wanted Asa on his knees, worshipping her body for real like he had been just moments before.
“Whatever Asa thinks he wants from me,” Molly said, “he’s not going to get it.”
Laylah’s eyebrows lifted. “Maybe that’s why he wants you.”
That made Molly squirm. If Asa had issues, she might feel sorry for him, but she had problems of her own. Serious ones. And she had to think of her and the baby first.
“Well, once I’m out of the way,” Molly said, “you’ll be there to mop up the pieces.”
Laylah’s cool aloofness disappeared, a sudden concern rushing in its place. “What do you mean out of the way?”
“I want out of this place.” Molly figured saying it plainly was best. “You want me out of the picture. Seems like we should be able to work something out.”
Realization dawned on Laylah’s face in degrees, one after the other. “You want me to…” Then her eyebrows crashed down into a scowl, and she flicked a look at Ren and Eden.
Ren was hanging back, playing with the babies. If she overheard them, she wasn’t giving any indication. And Eden was still out of it. Molly wanted to help them, too, but if Asa was telling the truth, then they really couldn’t leave the protection of Razael’s Regiment.
But she could.
“The others have to stay,” Molly said. “But I’m a nobody. I can disappear, raise my baby, and if I do this right, I’ll never have to see another of your kind again. Except for the one I raise. And I’ll just have to do my best with that.” How the hell she would manage that was beyond her imagination at the moment, but her dad was right—Bitters aren’t quitters. She would figure it out.
“You think you can survive without our protection?” Laylah seemed concerned for Molly’s sanity.
“I think I can hide well enough. Then you get to have Asa all to yourself.” Molly gave a shrug. “If you’d get in trouble for it, or something, just take me to Ariel. She’ll get me out.”
Laylah gave her a pinched look. “Ariel has given her vow to Razael.”
That hit her unexpectedly hard. Already the girl had caved to staying here? Molly squared her shoulders. “Guess it’ll have to be you, then.” It would be difficult in the human world for Ariel anyway—Molly could see why she would stay in this one. And for the exact same reason Molly had to leave. She just didn’t belong here.
Laylah took her time in answering, a series of concerned expressions flitting across her face.
Molly held her breath. Maybe she’d pushed too fast.
Finally, Laylah said, “So you don’t love him?”
That flushed heat into her face. Everyone she’d loved had died—her first boyfriend, then her parents. After that… just surviving was what she did best. Love was entirely optional, and dangerous besides, given her bad luck. Could she even love someone? “How can I love someone who’s holding me prisoner?” That was the immutable fact of this whole crazy thing. She bit her lip, waiting to see what Laylah thought of that.
She nodded, but she was frowning, too. Finally, she said, “I’ll help you, Molly. But I’ll need some time to work it out.”
Relief gushed through her. “Thank you.” And she meant it with every part of her being. She didn’t press for how long it would take—she honestly didn’t see why they would wait at all—but Laylah surely wanted her out of Asa’s world just as much as Molly did. “You know where to find me.”
Then she caught Ren watching them from across the room.
She’d better go explain how things were about to change. When she’d said they were sisters and they had to stick together… she meant it. Really meant it. She loved Eden and Ren like they were the real sisters she never had, but she couldn’t do anything for them now… and staying here would kill her inside.
Molly had to get out—she only hoped Ren wouldn’t try to stop her.
Chapter Seventeen
“You wanted to see me?” Asa asked the question before he was even fully inside Razael’s throne room.
The angel was meeting with three of his top lieutenants—they had taken over while Asa had gone on his mission to recruit Micah. Now that he was back, he’d been occupied with making the Regiment habitable for the women. He’d hardly even tracked what was going on with the war—but it was obviously still in full swing.
Razael raised a finger for Asa to wait.
“I can come back.” In Truth, he didn’t want to be there at all.
Razael didn’t answer, just continued to consult with his angelings in hushed tones. The war was growing dire, but Elyon had yet to make a strike against Razael’s Regiment—which Asa surely would have known, had it happened. Losses were mounting on both sides, and the humans were making further progress with their infernal machine that crossed dimensions. All of this was vitally important to the war effort, yet Asa found his attention drifting… to Molly and her softly-rounded belly. He’d touched her—purely out of reflex, but it had happened, and now the sensation was lodged firmly in his mind. The fullness of her belly. The tiny, perfect being inside making his presence known. It was a boy! Something he’d not discerned before but which was now apparent. Somehow that made the child even more real. And Asa couldn’t help thinking how Molly’s belly would have felt in his hands without the soft cotton of her blouse between his flesh and hers. Perhaps with the green dress—
A rustle of sound snapped his attention back to Razael and the cohort at the throne. They were staring at him.
Fuck. “Yes, my lord?”
Razael just smiled and flicked his finger—all three of the other angelings twisted away.
“I have a question for you.” Razael was regarding him in that penetrating way angels had when they were examining your soul.
“All right.” His mind flicked to the possibilities. Another assignment? Possibly away from the Regiment? He squelched the panic that came with that.
“Perhaps you would like to keep the red-haired human permanently in your cell.” Razael’s gaze was intense.
Asa squirmed under it. “That’s not a question, my lord.” What was he getting at? “And as it happens, I’ve moved her to the nursery with the others, now that it’s ready.”
“That’s all that was restraining you?” It was far more pointed than Asa wanted to hear.
“I was… waiting until she was ready.” Why was he even bothering to lie to an angel?
Razael tilted his head, the barest disapproval, but Asa felt it like the strike of a blade.
“Until I was ready,” he admitted. “If that is all, be assured that all three women are now settled. Although I still believe separating them is prudent—”
“Asa.”
“My lord?” He really should never withhold Truth from an angel, but he could count his Sins later.
Razael beckoned him closer, and Asa reluctantly stepped forward. The angel could mete out whatever punishment he wanted at a distance, but Asa feared it was something worse than that. His mind flicked again to being ordered away from the Regiment—maybe Zuriel needed reinforcements against Elyon’s Wrath? His mind skittered away from that thought.
“You have an attachment to the red-haired one,” Razael said softly.
“Her name is Molly.” He was far too bristled by that.
“Molly.” Razael smiled. “If you wish to keep her in your room, I’ll make an exception to the rules I’m imposing on the others. No explanation will be necessary. The rumors
have already caught hold that you have been smitten by her.”
Asa struggled for a moment—there was no point in denying his heart at this point—so he simply said, “She does not wish it.”
Razael’s eyebrows lifted. “Are you certain of that?”
“I’m already holding her against her will,” he said bitterly. “I’m not going to charm her into my bed so she may hate me further.”
“Ah. I see.” But the angel seemed to see more than just Asa’s words. Then Razael’s gaze lifted to behind him.
Asa turned to see Laylah striding into the throne room. He frowned, unsure whether to object that she’d abandoned her guard post at the nursery or to be glad. She and Razael exchanged nods, which threw a warning off in the back of Asa’s mind.
“Why are you here?” he demanded of her.
“To warn you?” Her annoyed expression was typical Laylah. She glanced at Razael again. To his raised eyebrow, she shook her head. It became clear some conspiracy was afoot between them. Not that Razael couldn’t do as he pleased—the Regiment and all its angelings belonged to him—but usually, Asa was in the center of such planning.
“Warn me of what?” he asked, his voice tight. “And what is going on here?”
Laylah sighed and turned to face him fully. “That human you’re in love with? She just tried to get me to spring her loose.”
“What?” He wasn’t shocked that Molly wished it—that was no surprise—but that she would go to Laylah.
Laylah shook her head. “I’m sorry, Asa.”
“You’re not… going to…” His outrage was so complete he could barely speak.
Laylah put up one hand to stop his sputtering and lay the other on her blade. “Don’t get excited. I wouldn’t be telling you if I planned to toss her out in the human world, now would I? Not that I’m not tempted.”
She relaxed when his visible tension ramped down.
“I love you, Asa,” she said. “Truly I do. That’s why I’m telling you—you’ve got a problem with that one.”
