by Alisa Woods
Terah leaned across the table. “Watching you struggle is getting me hot, boy of light,” she whispered.
He barely flicked a glance her way. “Why am I not surprised that my torment turns you on?” In Truth, it bothered him that he was so transparent. He would have difficulty pulling this off as it was—it wouldn’t help if his emotions were splayed across his face.
He tried to rein in his turmoil and school his face to calmness.
“Ouch.” She leaned back in her chair and smirked. “I thought you liked our little whipping sessions, lover.”
He finally dragged his gaze to her face. Her eyes were dancing with merriment. “Can we discuss this later?” he asked. “I’d like to focus on the task at hand.”
Terah shrugged and idly glanced around the coffee shop. It was nearly empty, just two human customers in the back huddled over their tea. “I think you’re crazy to trust them.” She meant humans. “Or want to fuck them. But that’s just me.”
He didn’t want to fuck Lizza—he wanted to love her. And protect her. But he couldn’t help a momentary fantasy with her crying out as he had sex with her, just because he’d used that fantasy so often… he shoved that image away. That would not happen. The whole purpose here was to pass on his knowledge about Elyon’s weaknesses. And, hopefully, protect Lizza and the rest of humanity from his predations. After that, Oriel’s usefulness—to anyone—would quickly be at an end. He’d find a way to go out in a blaze of glory, but the end would come soon enough.
This was his chance to say goodbye.
He swallowed and looked to the door again.
If Lizza even came.
Terah leaned forward, lacing her fingers and capturing his attention. “If your girl shows up, don’t get any ideas about running off—you’ll still have Elyon’s tattoo. He can scent you anywhere, mortal and immortal realms.”
“I’m not running off.” He glared at her. He knew well enough what the tattoo meant. “That’s just my cover story with her, to gain her cooperation. I’ll tell her we’ll have our own Dominion, just the two of us, but that I need to give Elyon something to release me. She already knows the technology is dangerous. I’ll convince her we’re preventing war by destroying it. It’s not far from Truth.”
Terah tilted her head. “And you think she’ll go for that?”
“Leave the convincing to me.” His eyes flicked to the door. Nothing. He looked back to her. “I’m no fool, Terah. I know Elyon’s going to win this. Eventually, if not sooner. Once I have Lizza safely ensconced in his Regiment, the world can go to ash for all I care. I’ll keep her too busy to worry about it.”
She smirked and leaned back. “You really do learn fast.” Then her brow wrinkled up. “What happens when you outlive her?”
“What makes you think I will?” he snarled.
Her eyebrows hiked up at that, but then the small bell of the front door of the café dinged. Oriel’s heart lurched, and his gaze jumped to the entrance.
Lizza strode in but stopped, frozen at the entrance, staring at him.
He was on his feet before he could remember thinking to stand. She was radiantly beautiful, and not just her cascading red hair and luminous blue eyes—her soul. When he left, he’d only just breathed the life kiss upon her. It hadn’t truly done its work. But now… her soul shone with every Virtue blazing bright. Whole and pure once more. As she was meant to be.
His body shuddered with need just looking at her.
“Well, damn,” Terah whispered with appreciation.
He hardly heard her, captured by Lizza’s fixated gaze and enraptured by the beauty of her soul. He scarce could move, but it mattered not because she was crossing the café to reach him. And she was gripping Mr. Charley, the tiny rainbow unicorn. He prayed that meant she understood everything he’d been trying to say with his message.
Lizza flicked a glance at Terah, but then her gaze was hot on him again. “Oriel, I—”
“Darling!” he cut her off and swept her up in a hug, twirling her so that his back was turned to Terah. Lizza gasped in surprise. He quickly nuzzled his face against hers, burying it in her hair and holding her tight.
“Ignore everything I’m about to say,” he whispered in her ear. “Touch my cheek if you understand.”
He pulled back from the hug and stayed close, letting her respond. She reached up to cup both his cheeks. “Please tell me you’re all right,” she said. Her lips trembled as she spoke. Tears gleamed in her eyes.
He didn’t expect it to affect him. Her words. Her touch. The fact that she was already in his arms… his lips were suddenly against hers, saying the things he couldn’t out loud. I love you. I need you. You’re everything to me. Her kiss was ardent and lit a fire in him that flared hot, but containable. The kiss they’d shared before—when he gave her the blessing—was needy and uncontrolled. This was a million degrees hotter, yet somehow more pure, less desperate. Her lips moved urgently against his. Their tongues darted and tasted. An entire symphony of love played out in a few infinitely sweet notes. His heart swelled with it, and he knew without question, without words—she loved him. He would take that knowledge with him to whatever pitiful grave he would be granted. At the End of Times, he would not be redeemed by his own Virtue, but he might yet find forgiveness through her bright and shining love.
“Ugh.” The sound of disgust from Terah broke the magic.
Oriel was literally breathless when he pulled back from the kiss.
Lizza’s beautifully delicate lips were slightly swollen from it.
“Yeah, okay, I don’t need to watch this.” Terah snatched her coffee from the table. “Do what you have to, fresh meat. Then meet me outside.” She only made it a few steps before she pivoted back to him with wide eyes.
He felt it, too—angelings.
“She brought friends.” Terah’s teeth were gritted.
“They won’t do anything,” Lizza burst out. “They’re just here to… to watch out for me.” But she was giving Oriel a wide-eyed look like she wasn’t sure if this was part of the plan. It was, but he had to play it very carefully. Like he hadn’t sent coded messages to her.
He put his hands up to keep Terah calm. “It’s okay, Terah. I’ll conjure a story for her to take back to them. It’ll still work.”
Terah gave him a pinched look. “It’s your funeral. First sign of attack, I’m twisting out of here. If they don’t get you, Elyon will.” Then she flicked a look at Lizza and shook her head. To him, she said, “You’re an idiot, you know.”
His heart settled. She was giving him space to make this work. It would be hard to hold the angelings of light back, but Tajael wouldn’t let them attack—not unless things went badly. This would work.
He gave Terah a nod, and she sauntered toward the door of the café.
Once she slipped outside, he turned to Lizza and took her by the shoulders. “You are so… beautiful. I can’t tell you how much I love seeing you like this.”
She looked at him like he was crazy. “I literally wear these jeans all the time.”
He smiled wide and had to restrain a laugh. “I meant your soul.”
“Oh.” Her expression opened up. “Thank you. For fixing it, I mean.”
Holy magic… all he wanted was to kiss her again. And again. But they had no time for that. “Look, I need to tell you something. Quick, before Terah comes back.”
Lizza peeked at the door. “We should just leave. You can tell me everything later—”
“Lizza, I can’t—”
“I’ve got everyone here—”
“Lizza, listen.”
She pressed her lips together and nodded quickly.
“I can’t return. I’m mired in Sin.”
“I don’t care!” She seemed doubly distressed.
“You should.” This wasn’t the discussion he needed to be having in the limited time they had. He held her by the shoulders and peered into her eyes. “If I could come back, I would. I’d like nothing better than to d
o exactly what my cover story here is supposed to convince you—a promise that we’ll run away together, just you and me. Hide out in the over-dimension. Love you all the rest of your days.”
Her eyes glassed up. “Why can’t we have that?”
He winced. “Because Elyon would come for me. Because you have your very important work to do. And I’ve been awash in Sin since I’ve been in shadow. You don’t want someone like me, Lizza.”
“But I do,” she whispered.
He felt the grimace throughout his body, but he had to tell her so they could move on. “Ever since I turned shadow, I’ve been having sex, Lizza.”
“I… you… what?” Confusion played out on her face as a comical dance of eyebrows rising and falling.
“Sex. With Terah, the woman who was just here. And pretty much non-stop, too.” He grimaced. “The woman is insatiable.”
Lizza’s face lost the war with confusion and just fell blank.
“See? Your soul is shining and pure, and mine is just the opposite.” He swallowed that bitter and immutable fact. “I’m forever lost to Sin, but there’s one way to make my Fall matter. Make it all worthwhile. But I need your help.”
“My help?” Her voice was just a whisper.
He thought she might be hurt by the revelation of his sex with Terah, but she just seemed confused. Shock, probably. It would sink in later.
“Elyon’s trying to find a way to destroy your machine,” he said, relief washing through him to be moving on from his Sin. “He wants to hurt the angels of light more than anything. Demoralize them. That’s why he’s allowing me to come to you. To convince you to record the incantations used to drop the wards. You only need make a simple, surreptitious video. Then send it to me—that email I gave you. I want you to let Elyon and his Regiment in. Or at least pretend to. But really, you’ll have set a trap. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
She blinked but nodded.
“But that’s not the most important thing.”
She seemed even more confused. “What’s the most important thing?”
He squeezed her shoulders and released her. Any more touching, and he would want to kiss her again instead of talking. “Tell Tajael that Elyon has a weakness. It’s his son, Micah. Elyon trusts him unequivocally, but Micah’s lying to him. He’s hiding something. Tajael knows others in the shadow realm. Maybe they can get to Elyon through Micah in some way. Or possibly Terah as well.”
“The one you’ve been having sex with?” The frown was finally showing up on her face.
He winced. “Yes. She’s… not entirely bad. It’s hard to be sure, but she might help. I know Micah trusts her, so there must be some connection there.” He cupped her cheek with one hand. “It’s not much, but it could make a difference in the war. Make sure you get the message to Tajael. He’ll know what to do. And then lay the trap. Send me those incantations. That will keep me alive for a little while longer. I’ll try to return when Elyon makes his move. I’ll do what I can to make sure they fall into your trap… and then I’ll take as many of them out as I can. His forces number over a thousand, and he’s gathering more. Soon. We need to strike and destroy as many of his dark angelings as possible now. Show him to be vulnerable. Weak. So the others might not follow.”
She was nodding with his instructions, but now that he’d said all he needed to, he was at a loss. This was when his goodbye should be spoken, but didn’t have words for the feelings rumbling through his chest.
“You’re not…” Her lips were trembling again. “You don’t think you’ll live through this.”
Strangely, his heart lifted. Because she cared. He shook his head and smiled. “You need to stop it with those Virtues. You’re blinding me with their light.” Which he didn’t mean at all—he may have given her a life kiss, but her light was giving him life.
Her eyes were shining again. “You were supposed to be the one who wouldn’t die.”
He frowned, not quite understanding, but then she grabbed hold of his t-shirt and pulled him in for another kiss. It was searing and sweet, and he consumed it like a man starving. Only after she pulled back, did he realize… she must have forgiven his Sin.
He couldn’t seem to form words.
“Don’t leave me,” she whispered, eyes pleading.
“Oriel!” The shout from the door was a voice he knew well.
He turned to see Tajael standing there, masquerading as human. Behind him, in the street, he could see Terah struggling—a half dozen angelings had hold over her. They appeared to be a human mob holding her, but they must have bound her with some magick or she would have twisted away. Tajael’s eyes blazed, daring him. Oriel had to make his move, now, or all would be lost.
He leaped back from Lizza, abandoning all pretense, unfurling his black wings as he lofted into the air, and barreling straight for the door. Tajael braced for him, his blade out, but Oriel could see the hesitation in his eyes. Oriel slammed hard into his friend, hurling him out the door and into the scrum with Terah and the others. He almost lost his grip on Tajael, but then his friend’s wings came out, and they both lifted into the air, grappling.
“Use your blade on me,” Oriel hissed at Tajael, hopefully quiet enough that Terah wouldn’t hear. “Make it look good.”
Tajael scowled and then slashed at him, burying his blade in Oriel’s shoulder. Oriel growled and flung Tajael away. Then he howled as he yanked out the blade and charged back down where the others still held Terah. With an angel blade of light, his blows would be less lethal, but still, he pulled his slashes as he plunged into them, all while letting them cut him as they would. Confusion reigned, but Terah was knocked free of their grip. A thin ring of magic bound her—Tajael must have conjured it because a swipe of his blade broke her free. Before they could catch hold of her again, Oriel grabbed her arm and twisted them both away.
The dark magic tattoo inked into Oriel’s chest wasn’t just a beacon for Elyon to find him—it was also a homing signal for his Regiment. Oriel let it guide him, and he and Terah reappeared on the platform outside Elyon’s black crystal palace.
Oriel dropped the blade—anything of light was deadly to him—then he fell to his knees.
“Oh, shit!” Terah cringed away from him. “You’re a mess.”
When he looked down, slashes of across his chest wept blood and glittered with light magic. Poison.
“It is done,” he wheezed. Then he fell face forward onto the platform.
Darkness grasped hold of his mind and dragged him under.
“Three… two… one…” Lizza counted down.
The tiny white mouse in a clear acrylic box reappeared in the dimensional drive.
“Damn,” Daxon’s voice came through the headset. He was standing next to her. “I saw the video but…” He turned to her. “Lizza.”
She smiled, even though the tension felt like it would break her. “I know, right? It never gets old.”
“Can I pick it up?” Daxon asked as if he were a five-year-old asking permission to handle the class pet. Only this mouse had been to the over-dimension and back, surviving on the oxygen in the box that went with it.
“Sure,” she replied and dashed a look to Charlotte and the crew—Jimmy, Tomaz, and Richard. Tajael was whispering on his phone, and they all had their headsets still on. But their unqualified success was mirrored in the smiles all around.
If only her heart wasn’t threatening to come apart.
She’d barely slept after her brief and devastating meeting with Oriel. Things were heating up in the war, and Tajael had set about planning a trap immediately, but it had taken time. Plus the work this dark angel Elyon was trying so hard to stop—her experiments—had to march on or everything would be pointless. And they had. The grass pots had shown no cellular damage in the transport. She knew it was safe to travel by angeling, but that didn’t mean the MRI was safe for living tissue. But the grass had been encouraging, then the protozoa had come back just as active after transport as before. They
’d managed to send a mouse and bring it back before Daxon arrived for his visit, so she was pretty sure this one would come back, too—but they were still waiting on the radiology of the mouse brain to make sure nothing crazy had happened there. They’d gone with a live demonstration because those were definitely best. The beacon seemed to work fine as long as it was physically attached to the item they wanted to bring back. And the speed they were moving was crazy. All that had happened in the last day and a half…
And all that time, Oriel had been waiting for her to spring the trap.
All Lizza wanted was to know he had survived—he’d had Tajael attack him on purpose, like that would somehow keep Elyon from killing him, but still. She’d already recorded the video Oriel had asked for—with Tajael and his fake incantations to bring down the wards—and sent that along. Meanwhile, Tajal had been zipping around, setting up an elaborate trap for Elyon and his forces. She’d told Oriel she would email him again once they were ready… but every minute she didn’t hear back from him, she was convinced he was dying.
Or possibly having sex with that Terah girl. Angeling. Whatever.
Not that she had any claim on Oriel—and he should do whatever he had to in order to survive—but every time the idea of him in bed with someone else invaded her mind, her chest squeezed a little tighter. Obviously, she was totally in love with him. Obviously, they needed to bring him out of Elyon’s Regiment, where he’d been apparently trapped. But just because she desperately wished for a thing didn’t mean it would come true.
