Her Angel: Eternal Warriors Complete Series Box Set

by Heaton, Felicity

  “Your mutts will have to stay.” Apollyon shoved past Romulus and walked into the house.

  “They’re coming with us,” Liora called after him. “I don’t leave anyone behind.”

  Asmodeus wanted to kiss her for that. He looked over his shoulder at her and Serenity tiptoed away, leaving them alone.

  Except for his hellhounds.

  He spoke to them in the demon tongue, mentioning that they may see some more things they couldn’t ‘unsee’ if they stuck around.

  Remus whined and glanced longingly at the park.

  Asmodeus added that it was a horse he had seen and while they were almost the same size, he did not think that the horse would play with him.

  That only made him whine more. Asmodeus rubbed his ears, feeling sorry for him. “I will take you down when it is dark and cloak us and you can play with your brother.”

  “We will take you down,” Liora said and hugged Remus. He wagged his tail and went inside, rubbing Romulus on his way past.

  “Did I thank you for saving me and my hellhounds before we became toast?” Asmodeus turned to Liora and she scrunched her nose up, wriggled it and then shook her head.

  “I remember you shouting at me about it.”

  “Ah.” He shrugged, leaned against the railing beside her and nudged her with his hip. “Thank you for saving us.”

  She nudged him back and smiled up at him. “No problem. I hope you like sand, sea and stars.”

  He frowned. “Why?”

  She stepped away from the railing and twirled to face him, a huge smile on her lips and a twinkle in her eye. “Erin lives on a tropical island. Margaritas! But not for you… because you’re a shitty drunk.”

  Asmodeus growled and tried to grab her. She spun beyond his reach, giggling as she followed his hellhounds back inside. He stared after them and then sighed and looked over his shoulder at the park. If Remus was excited by a park, how was he going to take sand and surf? He was going to end up spoiled by this world, just like his master.

  He followed them into the apartment and pretended not to see Apollyon in the kitchen or feel the force of his glare as he passed. He flipped him off over his shoulder at the doorway for good measure though.

  “Asmodeus, wait.”

  He really wanted to pretend he hadn’t heard that but the bastard angel had used his name and had spoken in a civilised tone. He turned around, leaned against the doorframe and folded his arms across his bare chest.

  “You ever threaten my hellhounds again and I will sic them on you.”

  “Serenity ended up cut. Tell me, how would you have reacted if it had been Liora and my animals that had harmed her?” Apollyon rested his backside against the counter and his choice of clothing finally made sense to Asmodeus. Beachwear. He had zero experience of that but he would not dress like his twin.

  Asmodeus hated himself for it but he said, “The same. The threat still stands though.”

  “Noted. Liora was injured during your escape from Hell. You need to do a better job of protecting her.”

  Asmodeus glared at him, holding his swirling blue gaze and refusing to back down. Apollyon unleashed a fraction of his power and he countered him, allowing his to rise to match it, keeping them equal.

  “I did protect her. I shielded her from rock, fire and a fucking dragon.” Asmodeus growled as his power rose further, slipping beyond his grasp, stirred by the anger pumping through his veins.

  His claws extended and he flexed them, shoving his growing fatigue to the back of his mind together with the pain that still radiated through his bones. Pain that came from the injuries he had sustained while protecting Liora. He had done his best. He had saved his delicate mortal from being crushed by black stone and burned by dragon fire. How dare Apollyon overlook that in order to belittle him?

  Apollyon tipped his chin up, his blue eyes brightening, the darker and paler flakes in them shifting and revealing his growing anger.

  Asmodeus flexed his claws again. He wanted to beat his wings, shoot across the narrow room and rip his twin’s jugular out with those claws.

  “Do better,” Apollyon said in a low, cold voice. “If you do not want me coming down on your head… do better. You know you could have.”

  Asmodeus bared his fangs. He did know that but he wasn’t about to admit it. He should have cast a portal and pushed her through it together with Romulus and Remus, transporting them elsewhere within the castle. He had reacted on instinct though, and that instinct had demanded he shielded her fragile mortal body with his immortal one. He wasn’t used to having to protect someone. This was new to him and he didn’t want to make mistakes and place Liora in danger, but he was still learning. He would do better next time she was in danger. He knew without a doubt that there would be a next time. The Devil wasn’t going to give up. He wanted Liora and he was going to keep coming at them until either he had her or Asmodeus had put him down.

  Apollyon’s power lowered, providing less resistance against his, and the angel relaxed against the counter in the small kitchen, looking very domesticated for a legendary angel of death and destruction. The Great Destroyer. Asmodeus could hardly believe that title applied to him as he stood there in the kitchen of his apartment, dressed in beachwear and giving him a pep talk on how to protect a woman.

  He stared at Asmodeus in silence for long seconds until Asmodeus finally reined in his temper and his power with it.

  “What will you do if Erin will not offer you protection?”

  Asmodeus didn’t want to think about that until after she had rejected his request. “Come up with another plan.”

  Apollyon’s blue eyes mocked him. “It would be rather prudent to have a back-up plan before you are turned away.”

  Asmodeus averted his gaze to the counter beside him. His stomach rumbled. Cake. Not a chocolate one either. It was yellowish and had pale creamy topping and red glossy fruit on top that looked like strawberries.

  “Liora says all angels are pigs,” he said without thinking and Apollyon frowned at him. “She says we eat a lot.”

  He wasn’t going to make it a question and give his twin the satisfaction of enlightening him.

  “It is true. The more power we use in this world, the quicker we weaken and the more we need to eat.” Apollyon slid the cake towards him.

  “She says you can eat a whole chocolate cake in one go.”

  Apollyon huffed and tipped his chin up. “It was one time and I was annoyed.”

  “We eat more when annoyed?” Hell, a question. He cursed himself.

  His twin shrugged. “I do. Serenity calls it comfort eating.”

  It was strange talking to his twin like this without either of them attempting to remove the other’s head. He didn’t even have the usual urge to at least maim him. He blamed his tiredness. He still wanted to sleep. Fighting Apollyon was a waste of his energy. He was too tired to play good twin versus evil twin today. He was too tired to be who everyone expected him to be and live up to those expectations.

  He was too tired to do anything other than grab Liora, curl up on the bed behind her and sleep with his female. Sleeping with her would leave them both vulnerable though. They would have to take turns until they were away from Apollyon and Serenity, and he wasn’t sure if they would be able to shake them now.

  He knew Erin’s location. He had felt it inside him like a beacon ever since he had met her in Hell all those months ago and realised what she was, and that they shared blood. He had never known what sort of place she had made into her home though. An island.

  He could take Liora and his hellhounds there, leaving Serenity and Apollyon behind, getting a head start on them. A fragment of his heart, the good part growing inside him, warned not to leave them behind. As much as he hated being around Apollyon and didn’t want to see him amongst his peers, admired and respected, adored, he had to allow the angel to take them to Erin. Erin knew Apollyon and Serenity. Their presence and introduction might increase the likelihood of them accepting h
im and Liora into the group and offering them protection.

  Asmodeus needed to ensure that he could handle any situation that arose though. He needed to rest and regain his strength before they left, because he was still tired and weak even after his sleep.

  “How long was I sleeping?” he said, too tired to even care that it was another question.

  “Give or take twenty minutes.” Apollyon cut himself a slice of the cake and set the knife back down on the plate beside it. Comfort eating? Because everyone had sided against him for once?

  “How long do I need to sleep for? Liora sleeps for many hours.”

  “Many hours.” Apollyon picked up the wedge of cake.

  Asmodeus didn’t have many hours in which to rest. It was imperative that they move Liora to the island and seek sanctuary there as soon as possible. He would have to settle for regaining only a fraction of his strength and hope it would be enough should problems arise.

  Or when problems arose.

  Erin was mated to Veiron. The only time he had met Veiron was on the plateau above the bottomless pit and the Hell’s angel hadn’t liked him very much. He had wanted to fight him. Asmodeus doubted that desire had faded in the past several months.

  He definitely needed to bring Apollyon and Serenity with him to the island. Apollyon had convinced Veiron to leave him alone when they had met in Hell. His twin might be able to talk sense into the vengeful fallen angel for him and that would give him a chance to speak with Erin.

  First, he needed to rest and regain his strength.

  “Is it strawberry?” Asmodeus said with a jerk of his chin towards the cake and Apollyon stopped with the slice close to his mouth and nodded. Asmodeus swallowed his pride, snatched the remains of the cake and stalked away from Apollyon, waiting until he was close to the bedroom before quietly uttering, “Thank you.”

  “You are welcome,” Apollyon shouted and Asmodeus cringed when Liora turned to face him inside the bedroom and gave him a questioning look.

  “I thanked him for the cake,” he snapped at her, daring her to smile. “That is all. It was on your behalf.”

  He offered the cake to her and her eyes lit up.

  “I’ll get fat if you keep feeding me sweet things.” She took it anyway, slipped the short silver blade from the plate and cut a slice. She offered it to him and he stared at it. “I don’t know what you’re worried about. Angels don’t get fat. Lucky sods.”

  “I know of interesting ways to burn calories.” He took the piece of cake and devoured it.

  “Does this involve coitus?” She grinned when he choked on crumbs and shook his head.

  “Hunting is good. That used to make me feel as if I had worked out my body. Chasing the hellhounds is good. They are rather energetic.” He tried to think of things other than ones involving being physical together in the bed behind her because she was on to him and had guessed what he had originally intended to suggest.

  She had hunted demons. The thought of her taking on demons made him ill. She was powerful, but he found it hard to see past the delicate, petite female she was around him, laughing and teasing, showing him gentleness and affection. He couldn’t help that whenever he looked at her, he saw a woman he wanted to protect from the dangers of the three realms. He saw a princess he wanted to place on a pedestal and would protect with his life, playing the role of her fairy tale knight.

  A knight with only pieces of his armour and a tarnished heart.

  How many demons had hurt his female? He touched the wound on her side, brushing his fingers over it. He had tried to protect her and she had still ended up hurt.

  “That’s a serious look.” She set the cake down, took hold of his hand and lured him towards her, lifting his hand over her shoulder so he ended up right against her. She bit her lip, stroked her fingers over his bare chest, and flashed a saucy smile. “You need a shower. I need a shower. Water is a precious resource.”

  She flicked a glance behind her at another door in the wall beyond the double bed and then met his gaze again.

  “Up for sharing a shower with me?”

  That suggestion had him very definitely up in one department.

  He was new to showers but he had a feeling that Liora would make his first experience of them one to remember forever.

  He nodded and took the lead, earning a surprised look from his little mortal.

  Asmodeus rounded the foot of the bed and looked back at her, narrowing his gaze on her body and growling low in this throat.

  “Have you ever been washed by someone?” he husked and colour climbed her cheeks, a shy sparkle brightening her hazel eyes.

  “No.”

  “Would you like me to wash you, Liora?”

  She grinned naughtily.

  “Hell, yes.”

  CHAPTER 17

  Asmodeus tucked Liora close to him and drew in a slow deep breath to settle his nerves before the irritating angel and witch behind him picked up on them. He stared at the space they had cleared in the living room of Serenity and Apollyon’s bright pale apartment. It would take him a lot of power to cast a portal large enough to allow all of them through, but they had discussed it and decided this was the best course of action. If they arrived together, Erin and Veiron, and the other residents of the island, were less likely to attack him and Liora or view them as intruders and a threat.

  Liora pressed her front against Asmodeus’s side, the feel of her hot soft body rubbing his wrecking his concentration. He could almost hear his hellhounds cringing and telepathically discussing how they hated the sight of them pressed together like this. That dreamlike intrusion into their minds had been one of the strangest things he had experienced in his long existence, and although he had very little desire to experience it again, it had been interesting to see things from his hellhounds’ point of views and know how they felt about him and Liora.

  At least they were clothed this time. Liora had lain naked with him like this, resting her head on his bare chest and using it as a pillow. She had detected his apprehension about sleeping and leaving them vulnerable, and had announced they were going to take shifts.

  Asmodeus had agreed, based on the principle that she would be able to rest and regain her strength too. He had not expected that the moment he had awoken from a long restful slumber that she would tell him it was time to go. She had admitted with a blush of awkwardness colouring her cheeks that she had known only one of them would be able to sleep but that she had felt it best he be the one to rest because she needed him strong.

  His anger had melted on hearing that, fading away, pushed from his mind by the fact that Liora needed him and had openly told him so.

  It helped that she had changed into a short black flowing dress spotted with pale lilac flowers and looked delicious in it, distracting him from his darker thoughts.

  She had tried to make him change into beachwear too, but he had insisted on remaining in what little armour he owned, unwilling to risk being caught without its protection. Apollyon didn’t seem to think there would be any danger, or at least not to himself and Serenity. His twin still wore black shorts and a loose white shirt, and had tied his long black hair in a ponytail. Serenity had changed into a cream dress with small flowers branching across a strip of it around the hem near her knees.

  Asmodeus still wasn’t sure what he would choose to wear on a beach.

  “Are we going, or not?” Apollyon said from behind him and Romulus growled, echoing Asmodeus’s irritation.

  Remus came up beside Liora and looked at him. Asmodeus drew in another deep breath, focused on the constant quiet hum in his blood that told him of Erin’s location, and cast his free hand out before him. Black shadows grew from a spot in the centre of his focus, swirling outwards, rippling and growing until the vortex filled the room from ceiling to floor and almost across the width of it too.

  Romulus flanked him and together with his trusted friends, he led Liora through the portal.

  Cool black enveloped him.


  Hot sun greeted him on the other side.

  His senses blared in warning.

  Asmodeus quickly shoved Liora behind him, pushing her under his black wings. He spread them to shield her, called both of his swords to his hands, and ducked backwards, avoiding the red blade that would have cut his throat open.

  He swung upwards with one blade, knocking the long black engraved shaft of the weapon and lashed out with the other, driving the male away from Liora. Romulus and Remus snarled, hackles rising and heads lowering as they tensed, preparing to attack, ready to heed any command he gave them.

  The male leaped backwards and growled right back at them, flashing rows of red sharp teeth. The skin around his flaming crimson eyes turned black and the warm breeze tousled his wild scarlet hair.

  Veiron.

  And he was about to go apocalyptic.

  The portal behind them closed and Apollyon snapped something at Veiron, but neither Asmodeus nor the Hell’s angel traitor were listening.

  Veiron snarled, his big body turning black as it grew, muscles thickening and limbs stretching. His jeans shorts disappeared, the red-edged black armour of his kind replacing them, covering his broad chest and his forearms, shielding his hips and protecting his shins. His crimson wings shed their feathers and turned dragon-like and dark, the clawed tips flexing, speaking of the demonic angel’s desire to rip into him.

  Asmodeus stood his ground, flashing fangs at the male, refusing to back down even when the male finished his change and towered three feet taller than he was and far broader, his skin jet black and blazing red eyes shining with hunger for violence and bloodshed.

  Liora gasped.

  Veiron narrowed his gaze on her and bared his fangs.

  Never.

  Asmodeus would never allow this male near her.

  “We mean you no harm,” Asmodeus said, attempting diplomacy and peace talks even when his blood burned for violence. If he had ever needed proof of how much he had changed since meeting Liora, he had just had it. Before meeting her, he would have unleashed Hell on Veiron in an instant, going to war and seeking blood to satisfy his darkest desires. He would have killed Veiron on the spot for daring to disrespect him by challenging him.