Heart of an Angel

by Rosalie Lario

  It was time to face facts. His one true love had come and gone, and he was cursed to remain on this world without her, until the moment he grew weak enough for his existence to come to an end.

  “Or until the Tribunal gets me.”

  That very real possibility brought a grim smile to his lips. Who would have known the biggest threat of his existence would turn out to be his own kind?

  The right pocket of his jeans began to vibrate. He dug out his cell phone.

  Jason.

  He’d accompanied his best friend, along with Ruby, on the trip from their hideout up in the Adirondacks. Ruby’s old home—a rebel sanctuary built in an abandoned subway tunnel—had been converted into a base camp after she and her group of rebels had joined forces with the Fallen and moved closer to their hideout. The location, beneath an old Brooklyn warehouse on the banks of the East River, was handy enough to keep tabs on the Tribunal headquarters.

  He pressed the Accept button and held the phone to his ear.

  “Any luck?”

  Jason had left the base earlier to scout a little closer to the Tribunal headquarters in Manhattan. When Nate had insisted that he go instead, Jason wouldn’t hear of it. Jason was the faster flyer of the two of them…plus considerably stronger now that he was mated to Ruby. Jason was far more likely than Nate to survive an accidental run-in with an angel from the other side.

  “Nothing,” Jason replied. “At least not as far as the Tribunal is concerned.”

  “What do you mean?”

  A brief pause. Then Jason said, “You still at the warehouse?”

  Something in Jason’s tone sparked a tremor of apprehension in Nate’s gut.

  “Nearby,” he answered cautiously.

  “Meet me at the old waterfront park in ten minutes. I have something for you.”

  Jason hung up, leaving Nate to stare at his phone in confusion. Something was up. Jason had sounded…well, almost amused. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t put it above his friend to try to prank him, but this certainly seemed like an odd time and place for that.

  “Huh.” He unfurled his wings with a snap, then stepped off the tower. No point in not enjoying the pleasant sensation of free-fall.

  Only when he was a few feet above the water did he give a powerful flap of his wings, propelling himself higher.

  He beat Jason to their destination. When Nate touched down at the preferred meeting spot along the waterfront, he was the only soul in sight. The only individual who dared go outside for miles, most likely. When the Tribunal had taken over command of Earth, it had created an army of human guards named the Consortium who, among other things, had instituted a worldwide curfew. No humans out at night. Little had they known this would be but one of the methods by which the angels would gain greater control over mankind.

  With nothing left to do but wait, Nate looked out over the water, taking in the myriad of colors that sparked off the bridge and the buildings lighting up in the distance.

  So much about this world was beautiful to his eyes. So much about humans themselves. Yes, they could be selfish, lazy and far too trusting, but they could also be kind, loving, and creative. The thought that they might be wiped out of existence was heartbreaking.

  Yet change was coming. He felt it in every fiber of his being.

  He spotted a speck in the distance, felt the familiar tingle along his spine that signaled the approach of one of his own. Jason, he trusted.

  But, as the being flew closer to where he stood, it sparked an altogether different feeling.

  A shiver of excitement. A tremor of discovery.

  Longing.

  What in heavens?

  Nate stiffened at the unfamiliar sensations, squinting when he saw Jason carried something in his arms.

  No, not something. Someone. A woman.

  Not Ruby.

  Even if he hadn’t known for a fact that she’d stayed behind, Nate still would have known it wasn’t her. The figure was noticeably shorter than the tall, thin Ruby. Wavy, shoulder-length brown hair instead of Ruby’s long, dark red.

  Nephilim.

  The thrum in his chest and the small catch in his breath announced it just as surely as if she’d stated it herself.

  From this distance she looked like little more than a child, but she was unmistakably half angel, and she was with Jason…and they were headed right for him.

  He had no more than a few moments to process the unexpected event before Jason touched down nearby.

  The female, who had her arms wound tightly around Jason’s neck and her face all but buried in his bare chest, took a shuddering breath and opened her eyes.

  “We’re on the ground,” Jason said gently.

  Mustering a shaky smile, she loosened her hands and allowed Jason to set her down. She clutched the waist of the bulky black coat she wore and set her gaze right on Nate.

  The unrestricted sight of her hit Nate like a shot to the chest.

  Not a child.

  Not even close.

  Though she was small in stature, she had the lush round curves of a woman. Her heavy coat did nothing to disguise that. Her lovely, heart-shaped face ended in a strong, pointed chin and her eyes were a large, wondrous shade of gray. She stared right at him, drinking in the sight as if she’d seen him before. As if she, for some reason, was happy to see him.

  The undeniable beauty of the woman’s face was framed by a messy mop of shiny sable hair falling to her shoulder blades.

  “Lovely,” he murmured, without even realizing it.

  Only when Jason gave him a wicked grin did Nate come to his senses. Thankfully only Jason and not the woman appeared to have heard Nate’s unexpected exclamation.

  Giving Jason a guarded look, Nate asked, “Who is this?”

  “I came upon her while I was flying over Downtown,” Jason chuckled. “Or should I say she came upon me?”

  The woman’s pretty blush made it clear that wasn’t the entire story. Not even by half.

  “Elaborate, please,” Nate said.

  “I’d just completed my reconnaissance of Central Park when I felt her essence.”

  Jason didn’t have to explain any further what that meant. The woman’s aura was like a decadent dark chocolate: initially sharp and enticing, then sinfully rich and satisfying.

  “So you were curious…” Nate provided.

  “Who wouldn’t be?”

  True. It wasn’t as if one came across a nephilim every day. The half-breeds were rare, even more so since they’d become hunted by the Tribunal.

  “As soon as I touched down on the roof of her apartment building, out she came”—Jason grinned even wider—“wielding a sword aimed right at my heart.”

  Nate blinked while he processed that particular bit of news. When he turned his gaze to the woman, she had the grace to look abashed, but she just shrugged.

  “I figured it would get his attention.”

  “That it did,” Jason murmured.

  His gaze tight on the puzzling beauty, Nate asked, “Why?”

  The woman grew a shade pinker but failed to respond.

  “She demanded I take her to you,” Jason supplied.

  Startled, Nate tore his eyes from the woman and locked gazes with Jason. When his friend nodded, Nate turned back to her with a puzzled frown. “Me? But why? We’ve never met before.”

  “Yes, we have.”

  She said it with such certainty that there was no doubt she meant it. Nate racked his brain, trying to remember when and where he could have possibly met this beauty. He wouldn’t likely forget someone such as her. A nephilim.

  Nephilim…

  The years floated away like a soft breeze. His mind went back a dozen years, to the time shortly after he’d been condemned.

  Through a twist of fate he’d escaped the fiery end so many of the others had met. He wandered the earth, half crazed with grief over the death of his precious Talitha. To think that his own kind had ruthlessly killed her, had tried to kill the
m all, because of their support for mankind.

  Then, while passing mindlessly over the city, he felt a tug of sensation. The tingling awareness of a nephilim.

  He spotted the child as she fell to certain death, and just barely swept down in time to save her. She was small and delicate and so very frightened.

  Large gray eyes in a small, heart-shaped face…

  With a shock of recognition, he snapped back to the present.

  “You’re that child I saved over a dozen years ago,” he murmured.

  Something flickered in her eyes. “Yes.”

  She didn’t have to point out the obvious. The one fact he couldn’t help but notice.

  The girl he’d saved was no longer a child, but a beautiful, curvaceous woman.

  And for some reason, she’d sought him out.

  *****

  The years had passed while Abby patiently waited for her knight in shining armor to return. When her mother had insisted on moving to another building following the fire, Abby had begged and pleaded until she reconsidered. Eight years later, when her mother transferred to a medical center down in Florida, Abby pulled some strings with a friend at the Consortium to retain their apartment. She’d wanted to be there when he came back for her.

  But he never had.

  Her mind refused to process what she logically knew was true. That he might not be hers. That he might have another love.

  No. The fates wouldn’t be so cruel as to have her meet her one true love, then give him to another.

  So she’d waited. And waited.

  And gotten damn tired of waiting.

  When the video released several weeks ago showcasing an angel discussing the extinction of mankind, things had started to get really tense. Even though the president had been shown on the video, even though he’d clearly been a captive, he’d reappeared back in office the next morning. After he’d failed to comment on the video at all, a lot of the population concluded the video was just one big hoax.

  But she knew better.

  Abby had spent the past twelve years of her life researching the angels, studying their agenda. The career she’d been assigned in the lottery—museum attendant—had been a twist of luck, as it had only helped her cause. Under the guise of preparing an exhibit featuring the angels and their entrance onto Earth, she’d learned much more about the elusive winged creatures.

  They’d condemned as a traitor the man who’d saved her, had accused him of plotting against mankind. Deep in her heart she knew that couldn’t be right. Especially given the fact that he’d saved her.

  Of course, thanks to him she now knew she wasn’t human. Not entirely.

  The father she’d never met, the man who’d swept her mother off her feet but disappeared before she was even born, had been an angel.

  But that wasn’t the reason he’d saved her. She knew that in her bones.

  Nate was a good man. And he was Fallen.

  So when Abby had seen the shadow of the black-winged angel flying close to her building, when she’d felt the thrum of his energy, she hadn’t hesitated. According to the Consortium, there were only a dozen Fallen, which meant that the man she’d glimpsed would lead her to Nate. So she’d done the only thing she could think of. She’d grabbed one of the ceremonial swords hanging on her wall and hightailed it to the roof of her building.

  Abby had chosen the element of surprise, never once considering that he would refuse. Because that was inconceivable.

  And…well, it had worked.

  Stunned though this Fallen named Jason had been, he’d also been amused and intrigued. He’d given in to her command.

  And now, for the first time in over a decade, she stood in front of Nate. The angel who’d saved her. The man who’d stolen her heart with no more than a few simple words.

  He looks the same.

  In fact, other than maybe an extra inch of hair at the nape of his neck, it could have been that night all over again.

  Nate’s blue eyes flashed with heat as he processed her claim that they’d met before. She saw the moment he remembered where and when. The conflicted emotions gathering in his eyes.

  A chord of recognition flowed between them, just as strong as on the day they’d met. Stronger even, because she was that much older now, that much more aware of the tingle in her flesh. Of the way her body quivered in anticipation.

  Mine.

  Whether he knew it or not.

  “Why are you here?” His perfect brow furrowed as his full lips formed the words. “What do you want from me?”

  A sudden tremor of anxiety wound through Abby. What if he didn’t feel the same way? What if all the feelings and emotions she’d bottled up in the past twelve years were one-sided?

  Oh God, what if he laughed at her and walked away?

  No.

  No, that couldn’t happen. She wouldn’t even consider it.

  Summoning her courage, Abby took a breath, met his gaze straight on, and said the words that would undoubtedly change her life. One way or another.

  “I’m here because you are my mate.”

  Chapter Three

  Silence blanketed the distance between Nate and the curvaceous little beauty, soft and thick as the falling snow. He stared at her, shock reverberating through his body at her befuddling words.

  She thought he was her mate? Surely he’d heard her wrong.

  “I’m your…wait—what?”

  Jason let out a hearty laugh and moved forward to clap him on the back. “Looks like you’ve got some catching up to do. I’ll leave you two in peace.”

  With a snicker of unabashed amusement, Jason strode off in the direction of the base.

  Traitor.

  Nate aimed a glare at Jason’s back before turning to face the lush woman in front of him. Heavens, how she’d matured. Gone were the scrawny limbs and harsh angles of her youth. In their place were the soft, feminine curves of a woman in her bloom. And while his feelings for her had been somewhat paternal that night he’d saved her…well, they were anything but right now.

  She claims to be mine.

  A pulse of desire—pure, hot, and sweet—raced through his veins, igniting a firestorm of lust that almost had him closing the distance between them and crushing her body to his.

  No.

  He wouldn’t jump the woman simply because she’d appeared out of nowhere and claimed she belonged to him. Simply because she was a nephilim and unmated. There had to be more to it than that.

  He owed at least that much to the memory of his dead mate—to the woman he’d loved.

  The woman’s large gray eyes drank him in. “You seem surprised to see me.”

  That was the understatement of the century.

  After mentally envisioning possible strategies for response, he chose straightforwardness. “Why do you think I’m your mate?”

  She slowly dug her hands into the pockets of her coat. The pink splotches on her cheeks and her almost imperceptible shiver indicated she wasn’t nearly as immune to the cold weather as he was.

  “Do you have one?” she asked, her voice surprisingly even given their topic of conversation.

  Her words struck him like a shot to the chest. From the way she waited so expectantly, it was clear she had predicted what his response would be. As if she sensed his unmated state.

  As if she knew him.

  “No,” he finally replied. “Not anymore.”

  Her small nod indicated she understood what he meant by those last two words.

  “I know what happens when you don’t have one. I’ve learned a lot about angels since you…well, since that night.”

  Clearly.

  Want. The need reverberated through him like the echoing ring of a bell. Something about the woman in front of him was so arousing, so enticing, that it was a miracle he could even carry on a conversation.

  One thing was certain. He couldn’t keep conversing without knowing her name. Without learning more about her.

  “What are you call
ed?” he murmured.

  “Abby,” she responded. “Abby Rhodes.”

  “Abby Rhodes.” He tasted the name on his tongue. It sounded good. It fit the delectable little creature.

  But just because he liked her name, just because his body vibrated in response to her proximity, that didn’t mean they were meant to be together.

  “What are you—“

  Nate cut off when the niggling sensation of danger crept along his spine. He turned his gaze in the direction of the angel headquarters, scanning the horizon for any sign of activity.

  It might be that he was hypersensitive, or perhaps Abby’s presence made him nervous, but the sensation he felt could also signal the approach of another angel. The last thing he wanted was for his presence—or hers—to be noted by the enemy.

  “It’s not safe up here. We should go down below,” he said, making a spur of the moment decision to trust her. To give her a deeper glimpse into the world where he and his brethren lived.

  Given that he knew next to nothing about this woman, this would definitely be considered a risky maneuver. Once she went on her way, she would know the location of one of their hideouts. She would be able to point it out if she so chose. But given that she was nephilim, he decided to trust her.

  Besides, Jason wouldn’t have gone so far as to bring Abby here if he hadn’t had an innate sense of trust in her as well.

  Abby let out another shiver and brushed a strand of hair from her mouth. “Below?”

  Nate fought back a smile. He knew firsthand how surprising the base camp could be at first sight. He could only imagine what Abby’s reaction would be.

  Turning in toward the camp, he said, “Follow me.”

  He didn’t look back to make sure Abby followed him as he walked. Didn’t need to. The heat of her gaze bored into him, leaving his nerves fried and his loins on fire.

  Mate or no, Abby had certainly accomplished one thing. She’d just made his life a whole lot more interesting.

  *****

  Abby stood inside an old subway tunnel, of all things. A tunnel with a secret hideout built inside. She would never have believed it if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes.