Los Angeles

by Tiffany Aaron

  “Hello, Danielle. This is Cassandra Harmen. I wanted to let you know Nevan was critically injured tonight and he’s in surgery.”

  “What hospital?”

  “Cedar-Sinai.”

  “We’ll be there ASAP. Hold down the fort, Cassandra. Help is coming.”

  “Thank you.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. She accepted the tissue Eli handed her.

  Danielle said, “We’re all family. No matter how hard Nevan tried to push me away, I wasn’t going to let him be out there without back-up.”

  Cassandra said goodbye, happy to know she wouldn’t be alone for long. Nevan had friends and family who would be there to help her deal with everything.

  So when Danielle and her husband arrived at the hospital the next day, Cassandra greeted them with hugs and a smile.

  “Will he be all right?” Danielle asked as soon as they sat.

  Cassandra nodded. “They’re going to keep him unconscious for a few days to make sure he doesn’t do anything to tear out the sutures and stuff like that. But they’re giving him an optimistically fifty-fifty chance of making it. I think they’re trying not to get our hopes up in case something does happen.”

  Danielle covered Cassandra’s hand with hers. “Don’t worry. Nevan is tough. He’ll come out of it just fine and with another dashing scar he can make stories up about.”

  She laughed. “True.”

  And while they waited for Nevan to wake, they became fast friends as well.

  Chapter Eight

  “Nevan, wake up.”

  Nevan smiled, loving the sound of Cassandra’s voice in his ear. He opened his eyes to grin at her. “Hey, love. I didn’t know you were going stop by this early.”

  After sitting on the edge of the bed, she leaned over to kiss him. He savoured the touch of her lips on his. Christ! He wished he was healthy enough to flip her on to the bed and have his wicked way with her. But the doctors said he couldn’t have any strenuous activity for a few more weeks yet. When he didn’t think he could take any more without begging for a blow job, he eased away from her.

  “I always love your hello kisses,” he said.

  She giggled. “You say that about my goodbye kisses and good afternoon kisses and good morning ones.”

  “All right. I love all of your kisses whenever I can get them.” He settled back against the pillows, wincing when the stitches in his chest pulled slightly.

  “Are you okay?” She arranged his pillows then handed him his glass of water.

  “Just sore. What else is new? I don’t think that’s going to change for a while yet.”

  “True.”

  He stared at her, thinking how close he’d come to losing his life and that if it hadn’t been for Lucifer intervening, he would’ve died. Admittedly, it was touch and go there after the priest had plunged the knife into his chest, but Tommy and the police had got there in more than enough time to airlift him out of there.

  When he’d come out of the medically induced coma, his parents, siblings, Cassandra and Danielle had surrounded him. The most important things in his life. His family, friends and the woman he loved.

  He hadn’t seen Lucifer or Mika’il since that moment and in a way, he was glad about that. He didn’t like Lucifer and never would, but he did owe the fallen angel his life. Also, he disagreed with Mika’il about why Lucifer had shown up. They’d argued a few times until Nevan had realised he wouldn’t ever change Mika’il’s mind.

  “Do you think Lucifer was there to save us or was he there to exact justice on the man who thought he could steal back what Lucifer rightfully bargained from him?”

  Cassandra lifted one shoulder. “I would like to think that Lucifer’s presence there was purely to help us. But I know better than that. He’s not entirely misunderstood. He’s done things that could be considered unforgivable. Yet he has a good heart and he does care about those who were his friends before the fall.”

  He took her hand. “And you were one of those?”

  “Yes. We were friends long before he fuelled the flames of rebellion. Almost as close as he and Christian were.” She smiled. “I know Danielle told you that Lucifer took Christian’s soul.”

  “Yeah. She was crushed by that.” He remembered hearing how sad she was.

  “Good news. Christian reappeared a week or two ago after being gone for a month. He has no memory of what happened. He thought he was only gone for a week and had come out here to help us with our problem.”

  Nevan was happily astonished that Lucifer had let Christian return. “Maybe he’s not all bad. Sometimes we sink to the low expectations people have for us.”

  “True.” Cassandra lay down on the bed, making sure not to put any pressure on his chest.

  They cuddled and she fell asleep. He sat there, stroking her hair and he remembered who he’d met while he was in the garden waiting for Mika’il to tell him he could go home.

  He’d been sitting on a bench, enjoying the warm sunshine and the smell of the flowers. As he’d sat there, he’d noticed someone strolling along one of the paths. He’d never seen anyone else until that moment. After standing, he headed towards her.

  She was a beautiful red-head and she smiled at him when he approached her.

  “Hello,” he said.

  “Good day, sir.” Her lilting Irish accent brought a matching smile to his face.

  “I’m Nevan.”

  “I’m Morgana.”

  He bowed over her hand, then offered her his arm. “I haven’t seen anyone else in the garden before.”

  “I’m new here. The black-eyed man told me I would be here for a few days or so until I decide whether to go back or go on. He says I have fulfilled the lessons I wanted to learn.”

  “He did, huh? Black-eyed man. He wouldn’t happen to have a cross shaped brand on his left cheek, would he?”

  “Aye. He was quite nice to me when I discovered what my husband had done.” Tears welled in her green eyes. “I believed we would be together forever, but he chose power and money over love.”

  “Mortal men can be weak like that, Morgana. I’m sorry.”

  She looked at him. “But you aren’t mortal, so what would you know about that?”

  He chuckled. “Just because I’m wandering around this garden doesn’t make me any more angelic than you.”

  Frowning, she studied him for a second then nodded. “It’s all right. I’ll believe for you.”

  He inclined his head. “Thank you for the faith.”

  They’d spent several hours together talking about the different worlds she’d lived through and the things she’d learned. He didn’t know what her decision ended up being, since he’d had to leave before she’d made it. But he had made a new friend in a beautiful place and it had soothed his soul when he was missing Cassandra.

  Before he’d left, Morgana had patted his hand and said, “Don’t worry. You’ll both be returning here when your time on earth has passed.”

  He shook his head. “I’m afraid not. My love has been denied entrance into heaven for her rebellion.”

  “Well, maybe by the time you come, she’ll be forgiven.” Morgana kissed his cheek then wandered away.

  As he walked through the door from the garden into the waiting room, he suddenly found himself staring up into Cassandra’s hazel eyes. He knew it didn’t matter whether she went to heaven, hell or some place in between. He would always stay right by her side.

  Closing his eyes, he fell asleep holding the person he loved most.

  “You took his wife’s soul as payment?”

  Lucifer turned from the sight of Cassandra and Nevan wrapped in each other’s arms. He met Mika’il’s accusing glare with a little grin. “Of course I did. I get paid in souls, brother. What do I care whose soul it is?”

  “Who was she? Where is she now?” Mika’il shook his head. “You’re incapable of change, aren’t you?”

  “Her name is Morgana and she wanders the Garden of Eden, trying to decide if she will go to he
aven or come back to earth in a new form to learn another lesson.”

  He smirked at Mika’il’s stunned expression. “I took her soul to save her. I took her husband’s soul to destroy him. There’s a balance to that, Mika’il, and not even you can argue with that.”

  Mika’il turned away from Lucifer and as the fallen angel slowly faded, he held out his hand as if to touch Mika’il’s shoulder. He disappeared before he could.

  Also available from Totally Bound Publishing:

  Fallen: New York

  Tiffany Aaron

  Excerpt

  Chapter One

  The lights of New York shone like small, brilliant diamonds on black velvet. Christian studied the city below him as he stood on the roof of his apartment building. So much had changed over the centuries he’d lived and the city had grown. He remembered being there when the Statue of Liberty had risen above Ellis Island. He was there the day the Twin Towers had been brought down by bad men intent on hurting innocents.

  He sipped at his scotch, thinking about Chicago and what had gone on there. Seeing Lucifer face-to-face again had cracked the carefully constructed walls around Christian’s sanity. The worse thing he’d seen was his own downfall reflected in Lucifer’s black eyes. Over the centuries, Christian had seen his own eyes darken from bright blue to midnight blue as he’d began to lose whatever humanity he had.

  Sighing, Christian shook his head. Could angels have humanity? Well, he was losing his sympathy for the mortals he lived amongst, and that scared him. He didn’t want to become like the unrepentants he punished. Yet as hard as he fought to not fall over the edge into that abyss, it was becoming a slippery balancing act.

  As he contemplated getting another drink, he felt a sudden influx of power, strong enough to almost drive him to his knees. He grimaced, knowing who had just arrived to visit him.

  “Would you like a drink, Mika’il?” He didn’t turn to look at the archangel, annoyed that Mika’il felt he could just come and go as he pleased.

  “No. I don’t know why any of you insist on drinking when it does nothing to you. You can’t get drunk, so why waste the time?” Mika’il walked up beside him, then sighed. “I don’t know that they’ll ever get used to the new skyline.”

  “It’s different, but within a couple of years, no one will think anything of it. Change happens, whether they are prepared for it or not.” Christian held up his glass. “We drink to fit in. It is a very human activity, and we don’t want to stick out amongst the crowd.”

  Mika’il pursed his lips, but didn’t look convinced. Christian gritted his teeth, not feeling up to dealing with Mika’il at the moment.

  “What do you want?” He tossed the glass into the air, and with a simple wave of his hand, made it disappear.

  “Don’t you want to fit in? Doing things like that stands out, Christian,” the angel pointed out.

  Christian shrugged. “There’s no one up here to see us. I could run around naked, and no one would care.”

  “Heck, you could do that down on the streets, and the single thing that might happen is you’d be propositioned by someone.” Mika’il chuckled. “I have to admit, that’s one of the things I like about this city. Nothing fazes people here. They go on living their lives, no matter what. It’s like they won’t let anything keep them down for long.”

  “Why are you here, Mika’il?”

  “I can’t come to visit one of my friends?”

  Christian rolled his eyes. “You and I haven’t been friends since I fell, plus you don’t visit people for idle chit-chat.”

  “Maybe I’m starting a new practice,” Mika’il commented.

  “Just stop dancing around the subject and tell me what you want, Mika’il. It’s going to piss me off, isn’t it?” Christian clenched his hands then shoved them in the pockets of his pants.

  Mika’il shifted like he was unhappy with Christian’s tone. “What makes you say that?”

  “You normally just show up, throw me orders then disappear. I’ve never seen you uneasy or uncomfortable about anything.” Christian frowned. “Why didn’t you show up in Chicago?”

  “Couldn’t. Had other things to do. Besides, you all had it under control. I knew you could handle Lucifer.” Mika’il rubbed his chin then said, “I need you to check some warehouses on the river. There’s been some activity around the abandoned buildings that I don’t like.”

  Christian laughed. “There have been suspicious things happening in them since they were abandoned, Mika’il. Are you going to tell me what has you so uneasy?”

  “No. Just go there, and be careful. There have been reports of some unrepentants in the area as well.”

  Christian snarled before saying, “There won’t be any when I get done over there.”

  Mika’il slapped him on the shoulder. “Which is why I’m sending you instead of one of the lesser Enforcers. These particular fallen seem to be banding together and I don’t like that.”

  With that rather cryptic statement, Mika’il disappeared, leaving Christian to wonder how unrepentants had managed to not kill each other long enough to band together. Hell, they usually tried to eliminate other fallen before going after mortals. Christian had never understood why, but Mika’il just said it was like territorial lions. They fought to protect what they consider theirs, which could be anything.

  He imagined his bedroom in the penthouse below him, and a flash of power sent him there. Once he’d finished stripping, he strolled into the bathroom. He would take a shower before heading out again. Having just arrived back from Chicago, he hadn’t had time to do anything except get a drink before Mika’il had shown up.

  Bracing his hands against the tile of his shower, he let his head drop forward. He hated taking orders from the archangel, yet he knew he couldn’t tell him no. Not after accepting the brand of an Enforcer, and turning into judge and jury against his fellow fallen.

  Falling with the others wasn’t the best decision I could’ve made. Christian grunted in annoyance. The secret most of the others didn’t know was that he hadn’t fallen because he’d believed in Daystar’s idiotic babble about being more important than mortals. No. Christian had fallen because he believed in God’s forgiveness, and wanted to prove that God loved his angels enough to forgive their rebellion.

  He snatched up the soap with a sharp hiss of anger. Little had he known that there would be no forgiveness for the angels who chose to rebel in Heaven. He forgives mortals so easily for far worse crimes, yet He denies us the hope of returning to Heaven because we wanted to be more important to Him than mortals.

  After rinsing the lather from his body, he climbed out then turned the water off. He shoved the troubling memories of his fall to the back of his mind. While towelling down, he thought about which warehouses Mika’il meant. Christian had felt a small build-up of power rising from a group of abandoned buildings on the Hudson before he’d left for Chicago.

  He paused in the middle of pulling a pair of briefs from his dresser. He’d sent Phillip down to check it out, but hadn’t heard back from the other Enforcer. Once he was completely dressed, he wandered out into his living room to find his keys and wallet. While he didn’t normally drive around the city, he felt the need to be out among the mortals he was supposed to protect.

  As he waited in the corridor for the lift, he tugged out his phone then dialled Phillip’s number. His call went to voicemail, and a hint of concern began to swell inside Christian. None of the Enforcers under him would dare miss one of his calls—he’d put the fear of him in them from the moment Mika’il had put him in charge of the entire East Coast contingent.

  “Phillip, call me as soon as you can. I need to know what you found out about that power build-up.” Christian ended the call.

  He climbed into the lift then punched the button for the lobby. While heading down, he decided to call Samantha, another Enforcer who had been a partner of sorts to Phillip. She answered after two rings.

  “Hello, sir.” Nothing in her v
oice gave away how she felt about him calling her.

  “I need to talk to Phillip. I sent him to do a job for me, and I haven’t heard from him since then.” Niceties were beyond him. He didn’t care whether the fallen he worked with liked him or not, and his indifference had grown over the years.

  He sensed a hesitation from Samantha before she replied, “I haven’t seen Phillip in a week or so, sir. He seems to have disappeared shortly after you gave him his orders.”

  “Fuck. Did he even do what I asked him to do before then? Why didn’t you contact me earlier about this?”

  Christian stalked across the lobby towards the parking garage. It was one of the few places in downtown Manhattan that still had its own parking area. That was because Christian owned the property, and hadn’t been willing to get rid of it. He needed a place close by to park his vehicles—it was a huge bonus for the rest of the mortals who lived in the apartment building.

  “You were in Chicago, and I didn’t want to bother you about it. I’m not sure, sir.” She didn’t call him a bastard for not being more concerned about Phillip’s welfare, but Christian could tell she wanted to. “I do know that the night he vanished, he was going to head out to the docks to start looking into what you wanted.”

  “Hmm…and when was that?” He hit his key fob to unlock his car, then slid behind the wheel. He didn’t start the engine, wanting to finish his conversation with Samantha before going anywhere.

  “I believe it was the same night you ordered him to go look, sir.” Again there was no inflection in her voice, but for some reason, Christian had the feeling that she blamed him for Phillip being gone.

  “All right. Did Phillip say anything to you before he left?”

  “Not that I can remember, sir.”

  Christian frowned, then said, “If you can think of anything he might have said before he headed out, let me know.” He hung up then tossed his phone onto the seat next to him.

  Phillip missing didn’t sound promising, and while Christian didn’t care one way or another whether Phillip was around or not, he did want to know if Phillip was taken or if he chose to leave. Of course, if he’d left, Phillip was supposed to have told Christian that he was going.