by Cate Corvin
I rested my hand over hers. “I have the same monster inside me that they do. I just have a different face over it.”
She shook her head. “I refuse to believe that because you have the same darkness that you can’t possibly be good. You don’t trap people and torment them.”
I laid back on the ground, feeling my sore back muscles stretch with a pain that was more pleasant than not, and she stretched out next to me. The fire’s reflection flickered in her eyes, deepening them to liquid gold.
“You have too much faith in me, friend.”
She reached out and traced the bridge of my nose. “No, I have just enough.”
Lucifer stretched his legs, the rustle of his wings reminding me that other people were there besides us. “Get some sleep, Tascius. You’ve got the pre-dawn watch.”
Melisande propped herself on her elbow and kissed me. “He’s right. I’ll keep watch for now.”
I’d only get a few hours, likely. Enough to keep me in fighting shape if we were hunted down.
Her face was the last thing I saw before I closed my eyes.
And went right into dreams of an invisible sire, the one who’d made me… and as always, there was something so familiar about him. Something close enough to touch, like the bright gleam of gold, but when I opened my eyes, it would be gone.
Like always.
19
Melisande
I watched Tascius fall into sleep, the rise and fall of his chest evening out, and his eyelashes flickered with the first touches of a dream.
“He’s not lying,” Lucifer said quietly, gazing at me over the fire. “He has the darkness they have.”
“I know.” I sat up and moved between them, stretching out my legs so my foot bumped Lucifer’s. “I trust him not to hurt me with it.”
He glanced at Tascius. “I wouldn’t say this about most Nephilim, but I do, too.”
“See what bonding in the shower gets you?” I asked, unable to prevent a leer. My relief at being away from the horrid towers of Acheron and its violent denizens made me want to laugh out loud, maybe a little hysterically.
Lucifer smiled, but it was strained, and his eyes roamed the forest non-stop.
I leaned in, but the appearance of a cloud of smoke right in front of me almost had my heart bursting out of my chest. “Azazel, don’t just… appear like that.”
He took solid form, crouching over my sprawled legs. He’d shed his dark jacket with its raven-skull pins, and his white shirt was rolled up over his forearms.
“You need to be vigilant.” Violet eyes roamed over me from head to toe. “If we’d been keeping up with your training, you wouldn’t have been taken by surprise.”
“I’m pretty sure I still would’ve been,” I grumbled, but the Watcher grabbed my hand and pulled me upright.
“You’ve got the first watch, Morningstar. I’m going to make sure she hasn’t forgotten everything she’s learned.”
Lucifer just gave him a half-cocked salute, leaning back on his elbows.
I didn’t protest as Azazel extended his shadows to me, pulling me right through trees and brambles until the warmth and light of the campfire had completely vanished. The woods around us now- Elysium’s territory- were as beautiful as the wasteland around Acheron had been terrifying.
Azazel brought me through the trees to an open bank overlooking a large pond. A small tree grew in the middle of it, the underside of its leaves flashing gold and reflecting the light of the moon.
“This place is beautiful. It’s hard to believe we’re in Hell,” I said, but Azazel walked out into the middle of the soft grass, unbuttoning his shirt.
My mouth instantly went dry at the sight. Unlike the others, who seemed perfectly at ease with walking around half-naked, I’d never seen Azazel looking anything but buttoned-up and stiff.
He stripped off his shirt, revealing a physique that was all lean, chiseled muscle. A trail of dark hair extended below the waistband of his trousers, and I realized my mouth was hanging open.
I shut it with a snap, determined that he wouldn’t know my stomach was now a churning pool of heat. That’s what he was keeping hidden? In my opinion, he shouldn’t wear clothes at all. It should be forbidden.
“I thought we were training,” I said, barely managing to get the words out.
“We are.” His precise tones brooked no argument. How was I supposed to concentrate when he was standing there looking like that? “I realized that I’ve left an important part of your education to the wayside. My mistake became clear to me when we were passing the shadow of Acheron. If Lucifer, Tascius, or I fell in battle, you’d be alone. I need you to be able to defend yourself.”
“I can defend myself.” My hackles rose despite my urge to go touch him everywhere. With my hands and my mouth. “I have weapons and wings.”
His violet eyes flashed, and the sharp planes of his face took on an imperious look. “What if you drop your weapons? What if your wings are broken?”
I winced at the mental image, the worst thing that could happen to an angel besides losing them outright.
“Weapons are all well and good, but I need to know you can shield yourself.” He stalked closer, and I might’ve started hyperventilating the tiniest bit. “Holding them off for five minutes could be the difference between life and death.”
“None of you will die.” My fists clenched when I spoke. Just the thought of it was anathema to me. It was impossible for any of them to die without me.
I couldn’t bear it.
“There are no guarantees,” Azazel said, forcing my chin up to look at him. “There is never a guarantee on life. If the worst comes to pass, I won’t leave you unable to escape.”
“Please don’t even say these things.”
“It’s realistic.”
“It’s bullshit!” I snapped, jerking my face out of his hand. “I won’t let that happen to any of you.”
“No?” Tiny stars drifted from his skin. “Then prove to me that you can make a shield. Keep me out.”
Shadows made solid burst to life, and for the first time, as I ducked away, I realized what Azazel was.
He was a beautiful face over something distant, dangerous, and possibly even monstrous. He was obscured in shadows, cold fire crackling where his eyes had been, long talons of darkness elongating from his fingers.
“Keep me away, angel,” he said, in a voice that sounded nothing like his precise baritone voice. It buzzed and crackled with power, an electric current coursing through his words.
I took flight without thought, hoping to make it to the island or that the water would slow him down, but something wrapped around my ankle and pulled me back down to earth.
My magic slithered through my veins, fear making the thorns of fire grow longer, sharper, but the vines that lashed out at him passed right through him like air.
I struggled against the shadow-bonds, urging my magic to take on a different shape. It didn’t need to be spears or thorns or ropes, but a shield, something to cut between me and those grasping shadows-
Violet fire flickered to life in the air between us, but Shadow-Azazel’s face pushed forward, and the magic flickered out.
“Not good enough,” he whispered, his voice crackling, and I did the only thing I could think of and formed a dagger of violet fire in my hands.
A shadow moved like a whip, slapping it right out of my hand.
I needed the shield. He wasn’t going to let me get away with daggers or spears, not when he wanted to teach me to defend.
Instead of extending the shield, I envisioned my fire creeping over my skin, surrounding me like a coat of armor. The sharp prickle of my magic raised goosebumps over every inch of my body, but the tight grips around my ankles and legs slowly gave way.
His shadows fell aside, melting from the thorny touch of my armor.
But the effort of holding my magic so close cost me, and I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. He couldn’t.
Shadow-Azazel gazed at me
impassively, his shadows swirling around him.
I released the magic with a gasp. “There’s your damn shield.”
He smiled.
Two shadow whips wrapped around my wrists and hoisted me upwards. My feet dangled a foot above the ground.
He circled me slowly, and when he came back around to my front the shadows had fallen away, to my relief.
“You trusted too soon,” he said, violet gaze glittering as he looked me over. “And now look at you. Entirely at my mercy.”
I wrapped my fingers around the shadow-bonds, which looked like barely-corporeal dark ropes. They hummed under my touch, but didn’t break, not even when I unleashed my fire.
Azazel closed the gap between us, one of his fingers tracing a burning line down my chest from the hollow of my throat to the seam of my shirt. His violet eyes burned with inner fire.
He wasn’t there. The hunger he always strived to keep at bay was in control.
And I was under his.
“You don’t need these,” he said roughly. Dark claws like blades extended from his fingertips, and he sliced right through the front, exposing my breasts to him. My nipples hardened, not from the cool of the night air, but from the pure carnal hunger in his gaze.
He cut away the corset, and the blades vanished before he hooked his thumbs in my pants, pulling them over my hips.
I gasped when his mouth found a nipple and he swirled his tongue over it, teasing the sensitive flesh.
He dropped the rest of my clothes on the grass and growled before he released my nipple with a faint pop.
Azazel looked into my face, and something flickered in his expression. He looked like himself again.
“Just say no,” he whispered, then the greed was back, washing away any hint of the usual Azazel, and his hands were cupping my breasts, his thumbs rolling over me. “Don’t say anything, angel. You’re all mine.”
He couldn’t help himself, but I didn’t want to say no. I wanted him to touch the rest of me.
“Please,” I rasped out, straining against the shadows and going nowhere. “I’m yours, Azazel.”
He kissed me, bruising my lips from the force, and gripped my ass to pull me closer. The shadows moved with him, making a puppet of me.
I was only breathless from the thought of what he might do with it.
The hardness of his cock rubbed against my thighs, as high up as the bonds held me. I whimpered when he kissed me harder, his tongue snaking into my mouth, and the Watcher made a low noise in his throat.
He kissed over my chin and down my neck, but he wasn’t gentle, biting and nipping along the way. I was so distracted I didn’t even notice the shadows snaking around my ankles.
They pulled my legs apart, and the bonds around my wrists pulled me higher. Azazel wrapped his hands around the backs of my thighs and buried his mouth between my legs, his tongue sliding along the seam of my pussy.
I writhed in my bonds, making a strangled sound as his tongue plunged into me. He licked and sucked, wrapping his lips around my clit and sucking until I was shaking against him and unable to shy away.
His fingers threatened to leave bruises from how hard he gripped me, groaning when I shivered and came, the orgasm ripping cries from me despite being out in the open, fire burning through my limbs.
But I wasn’t getting away that easily.
He unbuttoned his trousers and slid them down as the shadow-bonds lowered me several feet. I was still gasping for breath and seeing stars when he crooked a finger and the shadows moved, turning me in place.
Azazel’s cock slid against my ass, thick and hot, and I shivered with anticipation of what was coming next.
He slid himself against my wet pussy, then angled up and thrust in, filling me completely with one stroke. I tightened, gripping the shadow-ropes as he sank in deep.
His rumble of satisfaction sent a tremor through me, my abdomen blazing with heat and pressure as he thrust in and out, and I hooked my ankles around the backs of his legs, pushing against him. It was hard with the ropes holding me in place, but Azazel obliged my desires, pounding into me with deep thrusts.
I felt myself stretching around him, the shadows reaching out to slither around my abdomen and hold me in place. Even if I’d wanted to escape, there wouldn’t have been any escaping this, every limb trapped by shadows, my clit aching with every stroke.
He reached around to tease the aching bit of flesh, and the bonds around my wrists lifted my upper body so he could graze my shoulder with his teeth.
Azazel released my hips, but the bonds kept me in place as he wrapped my loose hair around a hand and pulled my head back.
God, but he was dangerous, if only because I was dying for him to mark me.
My skin tightened when I felt his breath on my neck, then a pair of lips that were soft in contrast to the thick cock plunging into me.
He kissed my shoulders, working his way to the nape of my neck.
I moaned when he slammed in and stayed there, his fingers still teasing my clit. The heated pulse of his cock seemed connected to my own heartbeat, and I tried to writhe back onto him, to take even more.
Azazel stroked me hard, making my muscles twitch, and pushed in deep enough to almost hurt.
Instead of pain, a pleasurable molten sensation spread through me, and when he circled my clit again. My hips bucked, and this time, the orgasm was deeper, twisting through my stomach like a never-ending spiral of bliss.
He thrust in again, then harder, until he was pummeling my tightened core. I heard him groan with release before his lips found the base of my neck and a flash of pain streaked through me.
Instead of shocking me out of the orgasm, it seemed to twine through me, pleasure and pain melding into one.
His breath was heavy when he finally removed his lips, brushing gentler kisses over my shoulders, and when he slid free, the shadow-bonds lowered me to the ground and vanished like so much mist.
Azazel caught me in his arms as my legs wobbled.
I felt a connection to him, like the irresistible urge that had kept me away from Belial. “You marked me,” I breathed, finally given the chance to run my hands all over him. I wanted to touch every inch of skin he hadn’t allowed me to have yet.
The rabid hunger was gone, and his violet gaze was almost shuttered. The ravenous hunger had burned itself out for now. “Do you… regret this?”
Even though I mostly wanted to melt into a puddle, I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him, showing him the same unbridled affection I gave to everyone else.
If I didn’t do it while his walls were down, he might push me away again.
“I don’t regret a single moment, and I want to do it all again.” I nipped his earlobe and slid my tongue down his neck, luxuriating in the salt-and-herb taste of him.
He relaxed, almost imperceptibly, and gathered me in his arms.
“But don’t you want to see your mark?”
I stopped trying to seduce him into round two and touched the spot at the apex of my spine that was still slightly sore. “Yes.”
He flicked his fingers, and two mirrors formed in midair, surrounded by wisps of smoke. He angled them so I could just make out the little mark by what moonlight there was.
It was a six-pointed star of deepest violet, the color of the sky just before the first rays of dawn.
I touched it again, almost unable to believe it was really on me, that I had now had every right to touch and taste Azazel as much as I wanted.
That maybe my soul would spill over and heal the void in his.
“I love it,” I said, my voice coming out in a rasp. “I want it there forever.”
Azazel’s mirrors vanished, and the Watcher grabbed me to kiss me again.
“Then that’s where it stays.”
20
Melisande
I woke up instantly.
A twig had cracked in the forest. There was something secretive in the sound, a furtive footstep that had landed in the wrong
place.
The fire had smoldered down to embers. I was draped over Azazel’s chest, and one of Lucifer’s legs was flung over mine. Any other time, I would’ve been happy to go right back to sleep, but I caught sight of Tascius on the far side of the dead firepit, slowly and silently rising to his feet.
He saw me struggling to sit up in the pile of limbs and raised a finger to his lips.
Azazel moved next, his eyelids snapping open into immediate wakefulness. I was pulled into the air by Lucifer, who stood in front of me protectively as they scanned the wall of solid trunks and foliage surrounding our camp.
My blades were lying on top of a saddlebag. I crept towards them, pulling one from its sheath as quietly as possible, but one of the horses whickered and pawed the ground.
In the unnatural dead-silence of the forest, that little movement sounded as loud as a gunshot.
Several more snapping sounds echoed from the forest, spreading around us. A gurgling chuckle sent shivers down my spine, and I knew that we hadn’t passed Acheron unseen.
They’d just been waiting for the right moment.
“Fly away, Melisande,” Lucifer said, his voice strained. The Nephilim stalking us knew we were here; there was no point in staying silent any longer.
I gripped my daggers firmly. “Absolutely fucking not.”
Tascius hefted a heavy axe, his eyes flickering from one gap in the trees to the next. He raised his head and sniffed the air, his arms bulging from the strain of holding the axe at the ready.
Then he moved so quickly it was shocking, swinging the blade and slamming it into what I could’ve sworn was only a tangled patch of brush.
Something shrieked, sending every bird flying into the canopy for cover.
A twisted creature ripped through the brush, shoving Tascius aside and landing sprawled over the smoldering fire. All I could make out was several lanky limbs and a wide, yawning mouth before it was on Tascius, tearing at him with clawed fingers.
