by C. S. Wilde
“And who will make me pay?” the vampire asked, her tone cold. “You? Your partner?” She nodded to the headless corpse behind her.
“You monster,” the Warrior growled.
She stamped a hand on her chest and forced an innocent look on her face. “I’m no monster. You murdered one of my own, so I murdered one of yours. Quid pro quo.” She smiled and licked her lips. “Now you, I’ll kill for fun. Slowly, piece by piece, until you beg me to finish.” She bared her fangs at him. “Remember this day, Warrior. Vampires will not go down silently.”
“He needs help,” Liam muttered to Ava. “Stay here.”
“Wait,” Ava whispered, trying to grab his arm, but he’d already slipped through her fingers.
Liam pointed his silver and blue sword at the vampire as he walked toward the Warrior. “You know the punishment for killing a member of the Order is death, right?”
The woman watched him with interest, her attention bouncing from Liam to the sword he wielded, back and forth, as if she couldn’t decide on which she should focus. Finally, she said, “And what punishment is given to angels who murder an In-Between without cause?”
The vampire pointed to a dark spot at the end of the vast space, and Ava narrowed her eyes. Another body laid sprawled on the floor, a man dressed in black, almost blending in with the darkness. His skin was milky white, and his gaping stare lifeless. His head had been severed from his body, like the dead angel behind the vampire.
“Drake,” Liam grumbled under his breath. He turned to the Warrior, red anger pulsing from him. “Why the fuck did you kill that vampire?”
“He attacked us,” he said, his attention going from Liam to the woman.
Liam’s lips curled. “Drake would never do that. He knew better than to mess with angels, even when he was starving.”
The Warrior knitted his brows and looked down at Liam as if he were a cockroach. “Know your place, Selfless.”
Her partner spun on his feet the way water flows, and then he was behind the Warrior, his blade on the angel’s neck.
The Warrior snorted. “You won’t kill me.”
“I’ll ask again.” Liam pressed the blade on the thin skin of the Warrior’s throat, drawing a line of blood. “Why did you murder that vampire?”
“It was the bloodlust.” The warrior gulped. “It made him kill humans.”
“Lies!” the female yelled, her voice broken gravel and glass. “They promised him blood supplies. It was a trap!”
“We didn’t,” the Warrior’s voice quavered.
Foggy gray tendrils danced around him in a wayward manner. Untethered, unreliable.
He was lying. An angel was lying.
“You will die today,” the vampire assured matter-of-factly.
Ava couldn’t say what urged her to move. Maybe it was shock. Maybe it was an instinct to protect her charge since this situation could only end in a disaster.
She tried to ignore the infuriated glare Liam sent her as she ran toward him, but it burned right through her.
As soon as she stopped by his side, he whispered, “What in the Hells are you doing?”
“Being your partner, I suppose.” She turned to the woman and pointed Ezra’s golden sword at her. “Let us go. We’ll interrogate this angel and find the truth.”
“You’re here.” The female growled in anger, showcasing her protuberant fangs. “Damned the Hells, not now.”
Ava exchanged a confused look with Liam.
“Do I know you, vampire?”
“No, angel girl.” The woman’s fists clenched. “But if you’re here, it means that your partner is …” She shouted something akin to a bark.
“I think the vamp’s going crazy,” Liam muttered, his sword still fixed against the Warrior’s throat, preventing the angel from moving.
“I’m perfectly rational, you fool!” The vampire pointed at Liam, showing a red, manicured fingernail. “How did he know I’d run into you? He made me promise I’d help you remember if our paths crossed. That bastard!” She bared her fangs and shouted again, a vein popping on her forehead.
“Who’s this he you speak of?” Ava asked, never lowering her sword. “And remember what?”
“It’s for your godsdamned partner to know.” The vampire turned around and let out one last guttural roar. She then fixed her hair and straightened her posture, taking a deep, calming breath.
Her blue eyes turned into red-emeralds, and she snapped her attention to the Warrior. “You scum!”
“How dare you offend—” The minute his eyes locked with hers, he dropped his sword, his expression blank.
“Walk out of this warehouse and never stop. Even when your feet bleed and your bones ache, you will continue. Walk, Warrior, walk until you draw your last breath,” she ordered, her tone a deep, low drone.
The Warrior nodded, his mouth hanging half-open. He turned around, nearly slashing his own neck—thank the Gods Liam was quick and removed his blade just in time.
“Hey!” Liam shouted after him. “Warrior, what are you doing?”
The angel didn’t reply. He simply walked back and stepped on his fallen friend’s head. Ava looked away, but she couldn’t block her ears. A jolt of electricity swam up her spine at the squishy sound of meat and bones crushing.
The Warrior continued to walk out of the warehouse, moving like a robot, until they couldn’t see him anymore.
“Vampires can’t glamour angels,” Liam said, his tone weary and uncertain.
“I just did, darling.” The vampire shrugged, turning her red eyes toward him. “And now it’s your turn.”
Liam grunted and shook his head, as if he had gotten dizzy for a moment, but he didn’t back down. Ava took his free hand, making sure to keep her sword aimed at the vampire woman.
“What are you doing to him?” she demanded.
“Isn’t it obvious?” The vampire licked her lips eagerly. “Not many can resist my glamour like he’s doing right now. He’s a strong one. Always has been.”
“I-I don’t know you,” Liam grumbled lazily, as if he was falling half-asleep.
“You don’t, but your tales of bravery precede you,” she said, a certain sorrow in her tone. “It doesn’t matter anymore. The past is gone.”
Liam swayed and almost dropped his sword, but Ava held his hand tight, her fingers biting into his skin. He quickly recomposed himself and pressed her hand back.
“I’m here,” she whispered to him.
“I know,” he croaked with a weak smile, then looked at the vampire woman and raised his sword.
The vampire frowned at Liam. “Why isn’t it working?” She glanced at Ava and her eyes widened, as if she had just unveiled a big secret. “Of course! You are the path to him!”
The vampire approached them with careful steps, her gaze locked on Liam’s. “Interesting,” she muttered, but what was interesting, Ava couldn’t tell.
“Stop right there!” The tip of Ava’s ivory and golden sword drew a drop of blood from the woman’s chest.
The vampire’s shining red eyes turned to Ava, and a heavy weight fell upon her body, as if she had been frozen inside a block of ice. Ava couldn’t move her feet, her hands, or even her neck. The glamour might’ve taken hold of her lungs too, but a sharp inhale proved her wrong, bless the Gods.
Ava had heard of a vampire’s glamour, but this was much stronger. An angel like her should’ve been able to free herself from it. Heavens, even a Selfless could. And yet, that Warrior hadn’t, despite being arduously trained to combat In-Betweens.
The woman took Ava’s sword from her stone-hard hand and laid it carefully on the ground. Then she walked away and called Liam with her finger. “Come to Lilith, love.”
Lilith. Queen of the damned, more legend than truth, and yet here she stood, the most powerful vampire in history.
Ava scoffed. That vampire might be Lilith, but Liam would never take orders from … The clang of metal hitting the ground clanked from Ava’s side. Out of the cor
ner of her eye, she saw Liam had dropped his sword, his gaze locked on the vampire’s.
“No!” Ava yelled, but this didn’t stop Liam from going to Lilith.
The vampire turned to him and draped her arms over his shoulders. Liam rested his hands on her waist casually, easily, the way a lover would. Her lips were stupidly close to his.
“Don’t touch him!” Ava yelled, tears piling in the corners of her eyes. “Liam!”
But her words couldn’t reach him.
She pushed the glamour that held her in place with all her essence’s power, but it didn’t work. Ava glared at her sword on the floor, begging it to beat again.
Nothing.
“Don’t hurt him,” Ava croaked, angry tears sliding down her face. “By the mercy of the Gods, don’t hurt him.”
“Mercy?” Lilith frowned at Ava. “Your Gods know no mercy, angel girl.” She turned back to Liam and cupped his cheeks. “Such a fine specimen ...”
The vampire pressed her red lips against Liam’s. He opened his mouth to her, deepening their kiss as he wrapped his arms around her lower back, bringing her closer to him.
Something red and irrational birthed inside Ava, and a furious scream ripped through her throat. “Let him go!”
Instead, Lilith kissed him deeper.
Ava’s fury vibrated from her core, pierced her own skin, and then slammed against the invisible bonds that kept her in place. A chaotic power with a thirst for blood bloomed inside her. That hungry, raw thing would destroy Lilith’s shackles soon enough, and once it did, Ava would bring the fires of the hells upon the vampire.
17
Liam
Liam’s mind felt fuzzy. Something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t tell what. He looked at the empty white space around him. Wasn’t he in a warehouse just a moment ago?
Someone stood before him, a blurry form that grew into focus as it approached.
“Ava?” he muttered.
She smiled at him, that beautiful grin that calmed every inch of his soul. Instinctively, he smiled back. She was so perfect and so … naked.
He stepped back and looked away, clearing his throat. “Hmm, princess, you forgot your clothes.”
“I did.” She walked to him and only stopped a few inches away. Ava straightened her spine, showcasing her full breasts, her pink nipples hard.
An invitation.
He swallowed dryly and took another step back. “No, there’s …” His head hurt and spun. “There’s something wrong.”
She stepped closer and wrapped her arms on his shoulders. Her flesh rubbed against the fabric of his shirt, and his hands found their way to her lean waist.
Her skin was so smooth ...
That familiar pull took over him, the same one from the training room, the one that told him to make Ava his right here, right now.
“You want this,” Ava whispered in his ear, then moved her waist, rubbing her crotch against his. “Your body betrays you.”
“I …” he swallowed, sand walling his throat. He looked into her blue eyes, like the sky on a bright summer day, then cupped her cheek with his left hand. “What’s happening?”
She poked his chest, the way Archie used to do. “Why do you think you’re so drawn to me?”
His thumb brushed her smooth, rosy lips, and a delirious pain grew under his pants. “You’re so beautiful.”
“Try again.” She bit his lips softly, and it took all his strength not to fuck her right then.
“You’re strong, Ava, so much more than you know.” He nibbled at her lower lip. “It burns inside you.”
“Like it burns inside of you,” she whispered in his ear, her breath soft tingles on his skin.
“You’re light,” he realized, his breaths heavy. “My light.”
“And you’re darkness.” She smiled, showing protuberant fangs that suddenly became normal teeth. “My darkness.”
“I …” An alarm wailed in his mind, warning him this was wrong.
Ava leaned her head left, freeing the path to the curve of her neck. He kissed her smooth skin and drowned in the soothing lavender scent of her hair.
The alarm silenced.
Ava’s body moved sensuously, grinding against him. He couldn’t take it anymore. He parted his lips and drowned her in them.
Gods help him, he’d never let go of her.
His tongue danced with Ava’s, venturing, discovering, and he pressed her harder against him, his fingers digging into her full bottom.
All too soon she interrupted their kisses, her breathing ragged. She grinned and looked to her left. “Don’t you find that interesting, angel girl? That of all the creatures in this universe, you were paired with the one that seems to be yours?” She caressed Liam’s forehead with the back of her hand. “How lucky you must be.” She placed a finger on his lips, and he opened his mouth. She pushed her finger forward, and he bit it gently. “So very lucky.”
Liam couldn’t make sense of her words; all he wanted was to kiss Ava again. He heard a dim voice in the distance, a familiar sound … Ava’s voice. It screamed his name, but he must be mistaken. Ava was standing right in front of him.
“Michael.” She nudged her nose with his. “You’ve always looked for her, haven’t you? Your light. Your darkness.”
Michael? Was that his name? He didn’t know, couldn’t remember. Ava’s words felt like a foreign language sometimes.
Again those screams came from a distance, pain etched in them, desperation … but he didn’t want that; he had enough of it every day, throughout his entire life. He wanted the light and peace Ava brought him, something he had never known before.
How could he have lived this long without her, his partner, his princess?
“Tell me,” Ava said, “why do you wield this sword?”
The Archangel’s sword magically appeared in his left hand. Michael’s. His.
Ava’s fingers danced sensuously across the hilt.
“Archie gave it to me,” Liam said before stamping a soft kiss on her lips, bringing her closer to him with his free hand. It felt as if they had a world between them, and he couldn’t bear that, not when Ava was so close.
She licked his lips in return, and he forced his tongue inside her mouth. Ava moaned with pleasure, her muscles softening beneath his embrace.
She pushed him back softly with her hands, her breathing ragged. “A wonderful gift,” she said. “That can only be wielded by an Archangel.”
“Not true.” Liam shrugged. “I’m human.”
She raised an eyebrow. “And why do you think that is?”
The fuzziness in his mind grew, and Liam thought he would faint. He held Ava closer to him, like she was his lifeboat.
“I chose to come back as a human,” he said mostly to himself, a hint of doubt behind his own words.
She kissed him and he closed his eyes, reveling in her smooth lips and the feeling of her breasts against his skin.
His chest was naked now. Where had his shirt gone?
“Think again,” she whispered in his ear.
“It was dark and cold …” He stared at her, knowing he should think harder, try to remember. “I was forced to become human.”
Ava disappeared, and an angel with curly hair the color of ripe lemons now stood before Liam. His wings were the color of the sea.
Gabriel.
Liam had seen Gabriel in the Order. The Archangel had spared him from getting on a fight with an angry Archangel.
Gabriel stretched his hand toward Liam. A bleeding gash cut across his forehead, his sweat mingling with red. “Follow me, brother.”
Swords clanged in the background, the dry smell of sand, fire, and blood invading Liam’s nostrils. Then Gabriel and the battle were gone, leaving Liam alone in the whiteness with Ava standing so perfectly close to him.
All he could focus on were her lips, and then he was drowning in them again. He couldn’t pull away; he didn’t want to.
The words burst in his mind, “To the hells with
Gabriel and his wars.”
“Take me,” Ava said with a wicked grin. “Take me right in front of her.”
She pushed her tongue into his mouth, and he forgot about everything, forgot who he was.
The sword disappeared from his hand and he repaid her needy kisses, then trailed a blazing path with his mouth toward her collarbone. When she stepped back a little, he pulled her back to him, hungry, needing.
“Ava,” he whispered, cupping her cheek. “I’m not letting you go.”
But Ava’s neck was strained like an invisible rope pulled it back. The peace and comfort, the love he had felt before, it all crashed into him as if Liam was made of glass and he was breaking. He tried to hold on to that immense happiness, he tried so hard, but it was already gone.
He swayed back and almost fell to the ground. With a hand slammed on his forehead, he blinked, trying to focus.
They were in a dark warehouse. The cold of the night pierced through the fabric of his shirt where his jacket was zipped open. He patted it because he was sure he’d been chest naked only a second ago.
Liam spotted a woman a few steps ahead, but she wasn’t Ava. It was the vampire with red hair.
Liam withdrew a sun dagger from his belt and pointed at her. “What the Hells is going on?”
The woman didn’t move. Her neck was strained because there was a blade held tightly close to it, almost cutting her flesh. And behind that woman, holding the sun dagger, stood Ava, her face strewn with tears, teeth clenched.
His Valkyrie.
The fury in Ava’s blue eyes almost didn’t suit her—or perhaps it suited her all too well.
Liam swallowed and stepped forward, sheathing his dagger because Ava seemed to have a pretty good hold on the vampire.
“She’s a jealous one, your soulmate.” The vampire grinned, her red lipstick smudged on the sides of her mouth.
Hells, he hadn’t been kissing Ava; he had kissed that thing. She had glamoured him!
Liam spat on the floor as if it could take the bitter taste from his mouth.
