“Can I?” Asmodeus stood and she stared at him blankly, unsure how to respond to that or whether she had even heard him correctly.
Veiron stared at him too, his hand paused with the cloth resting against her back.
Erin shook herself. “Um… if you really want to… I mean, if you think your brain can handle the noise.”
She wasn’t sure how Dante would react to being held by a person other than her, Veiron or Amelia. No one else had dared to pick him up or give him a cuddle.
Asmodeus approached with confidence that faltered the moment he held his hands out and she planted Dante into them. He stared down at the wailing boy, holding him at arm’s length in front of him.
Erin waited to see how Dante would react, her breath lodged in her throat.
“Hello,” Asmodeus said, a quaver in his deep voice, and finally drew Dante closer to him, holding him higher in the air at the same time, so they were face to face and just inches apart.
Erin really hoped that Dante didn’t throw up on him. She wasn’t sure how the angel would react to it if he did. She was still struggling to process the fact that Asmodeus had been the first to actually ask to hold her baby. She had never given Amelia a choice. She had forced Dante upon her just a few days after his birth so she could get a picture of them to send to their father. Well, Amelia’s father and her adoptive father. The man who deserved that title more than the Devil did because he had raised and protected her.
She moved a little closer, just in case Dante did something that made Asmodeus react badly, hovering to the side of them.
Dante opened his eyes and instantly quieted as he stared up into Asmodeus’s golden ones.
They looked so alike that it was uncanny, but then she supposed she looked a lot like Asmodeus too, because they both looked like her real father, the Devil.
Dante laughed and bounced, kicking his legs with enthusiasm. His little hands reached for Asmodeus.
“Holy hell!” Erin looked around to make sure everyone was seeing this. Dante had never reacted like this to Amelia. He normally kicked up a royal fuss whenever Amelia held him. Her little tyke had a thing for the so-called King of Demons, an angel born of evil. She probably should have guessed the two of them would get along like a house on fire. “You are so babysitting when we need a break from him. Sucker.”
Asmodeus’s eyes widened and he looked as if he wanted to hand Dante back to her.
“Nu-huh. No way.” Erin stepped backwards. “You walked into this one and you have to deal with it. Look at how much he loves his Uncle Asmodeus!”
Dante bounced harder, frantically kicking and reaching for Asmodeus.
“Give him a cuddle,” Veiron said, all darkness and menace, and the picture of fatherhood.
She smiled at him, catching the glower in his crimson-edged eyes.
He would probably tear Asmodeus a new one if he refused.
Asmodeus drew the boy into the cradle of his arms, holding him in the curve of his left one, tucked against his bare chest. He stared down at Dante, a look of absorbed fascination on his face. When he offered Dante his right hand, the boy took it and played with his fingers. Asmodeus lifted his gaze and smiled at Erin.
She had never seen him so happy.
Why?
His focus shifted to Liora where she sat beside Serenity on a log in front of the fire. Liora smiled, her hazel eyes bright with it, stood and came to him. She held her hand up near Dante and ribbons of purple swirled around her fingers, illuminating his face and Asmodeus as she formed them into animal shapes with her magic.
They were definitely on babysitting duty the moment she needed some adult time with Veiron.
Veiron finished cleaning her back for her, dipped his head to her ear and stepped into her, so his front pressed to her back, his bare chest warm against the patches of skin exposed by her tank top.
“You should probably change,” he husked and she shivered in response, aching all over at the thought of taking him back to their hut.
She was on the verge of agreeing when Nevar reached them and tossed Asmodeus a strange look. What did he know that she didn’t? It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him but he spoke before she could get her question out.
“Lysia remembered part of what happened to her.”
Everyone stood and looked at the woman in question, and she stood her ground, not faltering under the intense stares of everyone present.
“It was a war between Heaven and Hell on the mortal plane. Something happened and she awakened.” Nevar slid his jade gaze towards Amelia. “I think Lysia is like you were. She hasn’t awakened yet… something will happen to trigger her into awakening.”
“Like her death?” Amelia said with a flicker of concern in her silver eyes.
He shrugged his bare shoulders, drawing Erin’s attention to them and the long red marks that now streaked them from his back to the tops of his shoulders. His focus darted back to her and she looked away, giving Dante her attention as he gurgled in Asmodeus’s arms, his golden eyes still watching the animals Liora was forming and controlling with her magic.
Erin had to bite down hard on her tongue to stop herself from letting out every teasing remark that sprang to the tip of it. She had noticed the bite mark on Nevar’s neck when she had been with Lysia this morning, but these new marks were something else. As tempting as it was to mention them, she resisted. Nevar was already sensitive enough about his appearance, especially when it came to her opinion about it. If she dared mention the trophies of his broad daylight down and dirty session with Lysia, he would probably flip and leave again.
Although, she wasn’t sure he could bring himself to leave. The way he was holding on to Lysia’s hand, his fingers linked with hers, and hadn’t let her stray more than a few inches from his side, spoke of protectiveness, a trait that seemed to run deep in all angels where their women were concerned.
She only had to look around the island to see the proof of their passion for protecting their women.
Asmodeus and Liora were practically hip-to-hip as they entertained Dante, and Asmodeus’s golden gaze kept flickering to her, warming whenever it did and he studied her playing with Dante.
Apollyon had Serenity tucked beneath his arm, her head resting against his bare chest. Amelia and Marcus held hands beside them. Einar and Taylor were nestled close to each other too, his arm around her waist and her back against his front.
Veiron stood in the same position with her, his hands on her waist and his chin resting on her shoulder.
Erin was glad that Nevar had found someone to protect. She hoped that it would give him a reason to remain strong and keep on track with his recovery, and that Lysia would encourage him whenever he faltered and help him along the way. He already seemed different to Erin, more like the man she had first met all those long months ago in London. A touch of pride was back in his eyes, confidence he had lacked over the last few times she had seen him.
“Maybe she can be awakened like I was by my father?” Erin offered and Nevar looked at her.
That was another change in him. He flinched less on looking at her now. He was becoming more comfortable being around her and was less changeable, no longer flitting between looking at her with pleading eyes one second and growling at her the next. It was good to see him finally becoming comfortable with himself as he was now and being around her and the others. There was a chance he would finally fit into their group where he belonged, their motley crew of outcasts.
Veiron squeezed her waist. “But that would mean Nevar would have to hurt someone she loved to awaken her and that would be suicide since she obviously cares the most about him.”
Lysia blushed. Nevar growled and flashed his fangs.
“It’s the truth, Mate. Deal with it.” Veiron was no doubt grinning at the poor man.
Here she was trying not to tease him so he would be more relaxed around them and would feel as if he fitted into the group, and her husband went and teased him about his love life
instead.
“Veiron,” she whispered and placed her hands over his on her waist. “Play nice.”
He shrugged, the action causing his chest to shift against her back and stir more naughty thoughts. She forced herself to focus. Nevar had important information and had come to them for a reason, not just to tell them about what Lysia had remembered. There was more to it than that.
She stared hard at him, seeing if she could figure it out.
His jade gaze flickered to her again and then dropped to his boots.
Erin gave him a moment, knowing it was still difficult for him to see her and not wanting to push him. She checked on Dante and found him still smiling at the purple floating animals. The sight of him warmed her and she couldn’t stop herself from smiling too. Her little man. He was already powerful. She hadn’t realised his strength until Lysander had brought the four angels to the island and she had handed Dante to Veiron. It had become apparent then that Dante could withstand the full force of the angels’ power just as she could, and had provided Veiron with protection from it. She had thought she had been protecting Dante, but Dante was as powerful as she was.
As powerful as the Devil.
She closed her eyes and shut out the niggling fears that surfaced whenever she thought about her father. He wanted Dante for himself. She would never let it happen. Dante would never be her father’s vessel.
“Hey,” Veiron husked and wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her back against him. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder and she leaned her head against his cheek, taking every scrap of comfort he offered her. “I’d kill the snide little fucker before he could set his filthy claws on Dante. Okay?”
She nodded. “I know.”
She knew because she would kill her father too.
She would do anything to ensure the safety of her child and her family.
“I need to go to Heaven,” Nevar said and snapped her focus back to him.
“What?” She didn’t want to believe what she had just heard. Everyone on this island was her family, Nevar included, and she wasn’t about to let him go off to Heaven where they would probably kill him to reset him. “That’s a suicide mission and you know it, Nevar. If they kill you, you won’t remember a thing. Is that what you want?”
“No,” he barked and his expression darkened, his silver-white eyebrows dipping low above jade eyes rapidly turning violet. “But I must see the future. If I can see the future, then I can stop it from happening. I have to reach the pool.”
“You will never make it that far.” Apollyon moved closer, coming to stand beside Asmodeus. “The forces of Heaven are too strong for you right now. They are too strong for us. If we go there, we risk everything.”
“I’m not asking you to risk yourselves.” Nevar looked at them each in turn. “I would never.”
“You do not need to ask us,” Asmodeus said and Nevar stared at him, incredulity shining in his half-jade half-violet eyes. The dark angel sighed and rocked Dante in his arms. “We would not let you go alone, Nevar.”
Amelia and Marcus both nodded in agreement, and Nevar looked as if he wasn’t sure how to respond to what everyone had just told him. He wasn’t alone. He was part of this family whether he liked it or not, and they took care of each other and had each other’s backs.
“There might be another way to see the future.” Erin felt Veiron’s hands tense against her and rubbed them, trying to soothe the anger and fear she could sense rising inside him.
Nevar swung his gaze to her. “How? There is rumour that the Devil has his own pool in which he can see the future. Do you mean to ask him if we can use it? I do not think he would consent to that.”
She shook her head. “I mean that I’ll sleep without Veiron holding me and I’ll have a vision. It might be of the future, it might not be… but I will do it until I see what we need—”
“No,” Veiron interjected and spun her to face him. Darkness reigned around his crimson and gold swirling eyes. “I will not allow it. You suffer with these visions. They upset you. I won’t put you through that. We’ll ask your father.”
She smiled and captured his cheeks in her palms, touched by his desire to protect her and keep her safe from harm. “You know he’ll say no, or he’ll dream up some clause involving Dante… I won’t hand our son over to him when I can help. Let me try.”
He looked as if he would say no again.
“You’ll be there to wake me, okay? You’ll stay with me and I’ll know you’re there and when it looks as if it’s getting too much for me, you’ll wake me.” She searched his eyes but they only swirled brighter, a sign he was on the verge of unleashing his demonic side.
She tiptoed and kissed him, hoping to soothe away his fear and calm him down. He gathered her against him, his arms steel bands around her that held her a little too tightly. It hurt but she didn’t have the heart to tell him, not when he needed to feel her in his arms and know she was safe.
“It’s just a vision. I had them all my life until I met you and you kept them at bay. No more nasty dreams for me… just wonderful ones,” she whispered against his ear and stroked her fingers through his crimson hair, loosening it from the thong at the nape of his neck.
It was still shorter than it had been when they had first met in Hell, but she still loved the vibrant colour of it and she had grown used to it being shorter. Temporarily. He was growing it back for her, and that touched her too.
“I’ll watch over you,” he murmured against her shoulder. “No beasties will come near you… not in your visions and not out here. I’ll keep them all away.”
He had vowed such a thing to her all those months ago when she had told him about her nightmares, and had confessed that she hadn’t experienced one when she had fallen asleep in his arms. Since then, he had always slept with her, somehow managing to keep skin-contact between them at all times so she never had a nightmare. She only had good dreams.
“I love you.” She pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.
He nuzzled her neck. “Love you too, Sweetheart.”
Someone cleared their throat. Erin looked up and smiled at her sister, Amelia. Some of the darkness in her silver eyes lifted and she sighed.
“Just be careful.” Amelia shook her head, causing her silver ponytail to sway across her shoulders, brushing the straps of her colourful summer dress. “I used to worry about you every night… your nightmare-free sleep is the only reason I’m glad you met Veiron.”
Veiron growled. Amelia grinned.
“I’m just kidding… Dante is another reason.” Amelia ignored Veiron’s indignant snarl, her smile mischievous as she went to Asmodeus and took the boy from him. “I’ll get him settled.”
Erin nodded and watched her sister go before drawing in a deep breath to steady her nerves and looking at the group, her gaze leaping between each of them before coming to rest on Nevar and Lysia, and finally Veiron.
The love and concern in his gaze warmed her heart and she took hold of his hand, using the feel of it clutching hers to drive away the last remnants of her fear.
She looked up into his dark crimson-edged eyes.
“Let’s do this.”
CHAPTER 18
Fire.
It blazed everywhere as far as Erin could see, spewing from fissures in the black scorched land.
She squinted as shadows moved in amidst the flickering flames, their shapes distorted by the incredible heat. No matter how hard she tried to bring them into focus, they remained as shimmering black shapes, thousands of them, like a swarm of insects.
The ground beneath her feet trembled and rocked, sending basalt stones tumbling down the blackened slope before her. Hot wind swirled around her, scorching her flesh, carrying the acrid scent of smoke, burning flesh and sulphur.
It had to be Hell.
But the more she looked at it, the less it appeared like the realm she knew existed deep within the Earth.
Dotted around the inhospitable landscape stretching below her
were patches of towering spiked poles, all of them ablaze. Trees.
She unfurled her black shadow wings and stepped forwards, onto the steep slope that flowed down into the valley. She skidded down it, using her wings to steady her, unwilling to trust them to carry her over the harsh terrain when the wind was picking up, the heat growing in intensity until she felt sure her skin would blister from it alone.
The shimmering black shapes in the distance moved more frantically and the sound of metal weapons clashing reached her ears as the wind turned towards her, blasting against her front. It cut through her wings and she stumbled. She focused to strengthen them and keep them with her.
Ahead of her, a river of lava snaked around the base of the hill, the edges glowing red against the black land.
Her eyes widened in horror as she skidded closer.
It wasn’t the lava glowing red.
It was blood.
A river of boiling blood.
On the banks were the fallen, thousands of them. Angels. Demons. Even animals. They littered the ground from as far as she could see clearly beyond the grim river to halfway up the hill.
Her eyes widened further as she saw she was approaching the charred bodies and she beat her wings, carrying herself above them just seconds before she hit the first wave of the fallen.
Bile burned her throat as she flew above the hideous scene, her eyes darting around as she tried to take in the gravity of what she was seeing and calculate the number of blackened and broken bodies.
So many dead.
Too many for her to number.
She crossed the river, heading towards the shapes moving in the distance, drawn to seeing what they were but fearing what she would see at the same time.
Lava erupted from several vents below her and she rolled left to avoid the magma as it shot high into the air. She beat her wings harder to pick up speed, using the thermals to dart across the endless fields of the dead.
The shapes began to come into focus as the heat haze between her and them lessened.
Her Angel: Eternal Warriors Romance Series Complete Series Box Set (Books 1-5) Page 129
