by Heather Long
“Does he?” a second voice intruded, and I rolled my eyes.
Tarus appeared, arms folded. Just what I needed. Seth’s body seemed to turn to stone, and I didn’t think he could get any more rigid. I was wrong.
Karmen clapped her hands together as the brothers glared at each other.
“Testosterone clean up on aisle one,” I called before pivoting on the stool and quite deliberately giving them my back. “Come sit with us, sweetheart, they might be a minute. Those dicks are gonna take time to measure.”
With the way this day was going, Zhan would be the next one in here and I’d need a hose down, because while the air might be getting cold, I was hot.
Really. Really. Hot.
Have I mentioned I hate angels?
8
‘To be on the side of the angels is to be on the side that is right and just.’ Bullshit, I say. Bullshit. So far, the only thing I’ve found on the side of the angels is a whole lot of frustration and cock blocking. - Dahlia
Seth
Three days. It had taken three days to track down Kindle. When he finally lured her out of hiding, what did he find? Dahlia seated at the bar in Sinner’s with Karmen of all people. The tinkling laughter of the little shit on wheels wasn’t helping, nor was Kindle clinging to his arm. Not when Dahlia looked at him with such disdain.
Dahlia, whom he’d left tucked safely away in Domum, should not be in Sinner’s and should most definitely not be with Karmen. The fact that she gave him such a cold look stopped him dead. Then Tarus arrived.
Tarus, who’d kissed Dahlia. Kissed and held her, whispering in her ear before he’d vanished again. Then she admitted Zhan had kissed her. Possession sang through his blood as though riding a clash of swords with the fact that he faced his brother for the first time in centuries.
Kindle glanced between him and Tarus, then over to Dahlia, who gleamed like starlight, the shine diminishing in the dark of this place. Damn Karmen for her interference.
“Brother,” Tarus said evenly.
“Traitor,” he returned the greeting.
With a sigh, Kindle extracted her arm from his and wandered over to the bar. While Seth had sought her out for Dahlia, he wanted a conversation with her first. Now, she plopped on the stool next to her as Karmen smirked and Quetta eyed them.
If they tore up her bar, he’d never hear the end of it.
One did not piss her off lightly.
Or ever.
“Traitor?” Tarus chuckled. “Wow. If you woke up with the wrong woman this morning, that’s not my fault.”
The comment earned a sour look from Dahlia. Her eyes flashed, and Seth caught the glare from the mirror behind the bar. Kindle frowned, swinging her gaze back and forth before leaning in to whisper something toward Karmen. The little she-devil answered with a laugh, “All of them, darling. That’s the beauty of it.”
All of them?
Jerking his attention back to Tarus, Seth squared his shoulders. He’d chosen Dahlia to teach his brothers a lesson they needed to learn. But they’d fallen much further than even he suspected. He’d promised her kindness and justice. He’d taken care of one, he would damn well give her the other.
“Go away, Tarus. She is not for you.” The words resonated with him, and something twinged. A flex of his wings ached, and Tarus began to smirk.
“Oh, brother, you don’t get to make those decisions.” If anything, Tarus had grown more wicked, a dangerous light in his eyes. “After all, Judgment should be impartial, shouldn’t he?”
“But Punishment is free to inflict upon those who do not deserve when they sit idly by and let those who do pass unmolested?” His barb landed, and Tarus flinched. It was an imperceptible motion, but Seth caught the shimmer in his eyes. Grace did not wan. He may have buried it, shackled the beast within him, and denied it release, but he was who he’d always been.
Only now he existed in a cage of his own making, denying his nature and inflicting his punishment on those he should be defending. When he flicked his gaze toward Dahlia, the satisfaction Seth expected evaporated. Yes, they’d failed her.
Tarus and Zhan both.
Seth would not.
“She is not for you,” Tarus murmured. “She needs someone real and tangible. Someone with feelings and not so locked into his duty that he cannot breathe.”
“What would you know of duty? You who shirk and leave innocents to suffer for your lack?” Fury roared through him. “You failed everyone you were meant to save.”
“You don’t get to judge me.” Tarus took a step forward, the beast glowing in his eyes. “You hand down your pronouncements and then wash your hands of everything, leaving Zhan and I to do the dirty work. It changes nothing. It never changed anything. Worse, you didn’t change. We did.”
“You ran away, you shirked your duty—”
“I don’t care about duty. Not anymore. It’s fun, you should try it. Might take the stick out of your ass and prove to you, once and for all, that nothing we do matters. Not to them, and not to us.”
Not to them?
Was his brother truly that lost? If he was, why did Seth care so much? “Dahlia,” he said with a snap. “Come.”
She glanced over her shoulder, eyebrows lifted. “Do I look like a dog to you?”
“Ignore him, beauty, he’s always been at bit of a loss as to how to please anyone.” Then his brother smiled slowly. “Come with me, and I’ll make it up to you for the other day.”
As irksome as the offer was, Dahlia’s snort made Seth feel a bit better. “Why the hell would I do that?”
“Because I’ll give you what you want,” Tarus promised. “Can my brother do that?”
“You already disappointed her,” Seth countered. “Twice.”
“You’ve already traded up,” Tarus taunted. “Or so I hear. Don’t want to share, brother mine?”
With a roll of her eyes, Dahlia turned her back on both of them. What little satisfaction Seth took in seeing Tarus’ mouth tighten, he lost to his gut churning at the dismissal. Dahlia’s disapproval shouldn’t bother him so much. Then again, the fact Zhan and Tarus had kissed her shouldn’t bother him either. He’d sent her specifically because she interested them. He’d wanted them to understand the cost of their inaction.
“Dahlia,” Seth intoned her name again, and didn’t miss the shudder racing up her spine. “Come.” Then, almost as an afterthought, he said, “Please.”
That got her to turn all the way around, and he resisted the urge to smile smugly at his brother. Barely. Facing him now, Dahlia crossed one long leg over the other. Karmen and Kindle bracketed her like bookends. Kindle’s curious gaze had turned speculative, but Karmen was having far too much fun for Seth’s liking.
Why did she have to meddle? He had this under control.
Extending his hand, Seth focused on Dahlia.
She dipped her deliciously dark gaze to his hand then back up to his eyes. The most curious feeling lanced through him. Would she accept his invitation?
“Tell me something, beauty,” Tarus stated. “He’s had you for three days? Wasn’t that what you said?”
How did he know that?
“Has he done anything fun for you? At all?” The lingering stroke of power ramped up in Tarus’ voice. Dahlia might not be able to see them, but Tarus’ wings were on full display, proud and almost puffing, as if modeling them for her. A little astounded, this was the first Seth had seen his brother’s wings in centuries. Maybe even more, and now he was subconsciously showing them off for her.
Fool.
Not that Seth’s wings weren’t flexing. But he snapped them closed as soon as he realized what he was doing. No wonder Karmen laughed her ass off at them.
“To be perfectly honest, hot stuff,” Dahlia drawled. “He did just about as much for me as you did, which is to say nothing.”
Kindle bit her lip, but Karmen grinned.
Tarus’ expression darkened, and Seth took a step forward. If he had to get between his brot
her and the female, he would. “I told you,” Seth gritted out. “She is not for you.”
“Enough,” Tarus snapped. “Dahlia, come to me now.” Command populated his voice.
“And now we’re back to me being the dog.” Dahlia slid a look at Tarus. Seth found himself disliking intensely how she stared at him. “You know, as wet as I might be for the two of you, you both have mastered the art of killing the lady boner.” Turning around, she gave them her back again. “Quetta, another Afternoon Delight, please. I really don’t see either of them ponying it up.”
Tarus’ wings drooped as he tilted his head. Seth took immense satisfaction in Dahlia’s rejection of Tarus, even if it extended to him.
Karmen turned sideways to face both Dahlia and Kindle, but she cut her gaze at Seth. “I know just the person to quench that thirst the boys created.”
Dahlia perked up, and Seth couldn’t figure out if it was because she was actually interested or messing with them. Either way, he didn’t like it. Tarus stiffened next to him, not finding anything about this whole thing amusing either.
“Really? Do tell. And please for the love of all that’s holy, take me away from this place. I’m tired of the selection here.” She paused and looked at Kindle. In the mirror behind the bar, a slight look of calculation entered her eyes. “You can come too. Tell me all about how you know Seth.”
That was a good sign. If she was interested in how Kindle knew him, it meant she cared. But did he care if she was interested in any menial information about him? Yes, he did.
“Oh!” Kindle clapped and bounced on her stool. The air around her shimmering in her excitement. “I’d love to tag along. Maybe we can stop by my place really quick? I have to feed my baby. She’s been alone for the last day.”
Dahlia’s head whipped around, and Seth gritted his teeth against the thoughts he knew were probably running through her head. Kindle didn’t pay any attention to Dahlia, already typing away on her phone.
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll navigate.” Karmen reached out to touch both Kindle’s and Dahlia’s hands.
Damn it, Karmen had already interfered, and she was about to make it worse. Seth would not allow her to steal the woman he chose to save. More than that, Dahlia didn’t deserve to get caught in one of her fucked up games.
He jumped forward, and right before his hand closed around her shoulder, she disappeared.
“Fuck!” he yelled at the empty space where Dahlia had been sitting.
Tarus laughed bitterly and eyed Seth’s wings. “Look at that. You really have it hard for her, don’t you?” His own retracted back into the ether where they were undetectable to even a Keeper’s eye.
“Maybe I would just like to see someone you should have saved have a little happiness.” He would never tell Tarus he had been the one to save her, but he’d be damned if he let him forget that he had failed. When he closed his eyes, he reached out for that thread to Dahlia. Never had it worked with anyone else outside of his brothers, but he tried anyway.
“Will you give it up?” Tarus yanked him around by his shoulder and snarled in his face. “You were never affected by your grace like we were. Never. When I joined the conversation today, I forgot why I have avoided you for so long. You’re insufferable and an entitled pain in my ass.”
“And what are you? You left Dahlia, pushed her away from you, and today? You tried to take her just to spite me. Not because you actually want her. Not because you have any feelings for her at all. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have sent her away.”
Tarus stepped back, cracking his jaw. “Oh, she told you all about that, did she? You know nothing of what happened.”
“I know more than you think.” He closed his eyes again, focusing on that small flickering that wasn’t nearly as strong as a Keeper. “Just don’t poison Dahlia with your presence anymore. She doesn’t deserve your brand of dysfunction in her life. You can see her mortality all over her, can’t you?”
There it was! Her essence was weak, barely there, but he caught it. Elated, he readied himself for the shift in location when Tarus spoke again.
“Yes.” His voice was deadly serious. “Which is why you should leave her alone. Tangling with humans will lead to nothing but heartache, both for you and for her. The lot of you should know that. I might have offered her a few hours of pleasure and a few good memories, but you all are walking a fine line with your games.”
No, Seth was trying to right one of the many wrongs his brothers had allowed to happen.
Tarus got in one more shot before he left Sinner’s. “Just know, she’s immune to our powers. She remembers everything.”
His brother thought he was dropping some kind of revelation. Seth had already realized that was a side effect of his grace. When the room reformed around him, he was inside Kindle’s house in Domum. At least there hadn’t been enough time for Karmen to put her plan into motion.
Dahlia crouched on the floor, petting the ugliest cat he’d ever seen. A hairless creature who had a superiority complex to end all other cat egos. For someone who had such kindness inside her, Kindle had adopted a real ass of a cat.
Two feet was all that separated them, and one large step brought him to her. He swallowed her up in his arms, lifting her off of her feet.
“What the hell?” She gasped and kicked her legs out.
Karmen scowled as she appeared in the doorway, but it was already too late.
In seconds, he was back in his apartment with a pissed off Dahlia in his arms.
“You’re the biggest jackass I’ve ever met. You’ve made cockblocking into an art!”
He paused. “I haven’t blocked any cocks.”
On the contrary, he’d delivered her right into the hands of his brothers. It was their own decisions that led to her being ejected from their ranch house.
She screamed and tore out of his arms, but he didn’t let her get far. Snagging her shirt from behind, he pushed her to the wall and caged her in. As soon as her back hit the wall, she tried to duck under his arm, so he pressed his body into hers, trapping her.
Using his most persuasive voice, he gripped her hips and said, “Now tell me, how did you leave my house? I’m assuming it was Karmen?” There was no assuming. From her incessant giggling at the bar, it had to have been her. No one else was present who would have the slightest interest in helping her leave. Her frosty reception of Tarus confirmed that he wasn’t the one to track her down in Seth’s house.
How he knew Seth had her, he’d have to contemplate later. Right now, he had a completely different focus.
“It was. How is it that you promised me justice in my last days, but declined to tell me you planned for me to spend it in isolation? How is that justice? Karmen was the only one who cared if I was going crazy or not. Which I was, in case you care to know.” She sneered like she was sure he didn’t care.
Fucking crazy woman. He was trying to help her. She didn’t realize what they could do, how they could help, even if it was only for a few short weeks. “How did Karmen get in?”
“I let her in.” She pursed her lips, and looked up at him with large dark eyes that mocked him. She thought he was an idiot.
“Did you ever stop and think that maybe she could make your last few weeks hell?” The feel of her soft body against his made him push deeper against her.
Dahlia sucked in a breath at the pressure. “Why would I think that? She brought coffee, which I’ll point out you don’t have.” She jabbed a finger into his shoulder, like it was supposed to intimidate him. “She offered me a few hours away from here and a good time. Something else I’ll point out you didn’t offer. Your idea of a good time is to go fuck someone while I’m stuck here with nothing to do and no one to talk to. In what world is that okay? As far as I’m concerned, you can suck it. Send me back to Karmen. She’ll at least make sure I get laid.”
Fury painted his vision red. She thought he fucked someone else? Thought he left her here to torture her? And somehow, she believed Karmen would fi
nd her a cock to jump on?
All conscious thought left Seth as he pushed his hands under her arms and lifted her up the wall until she was eye level with him. Her eyes rounded as she stared at him. The glow of his eyes was impossible to hide, and his wings popped out behind him, casting them in shadow from their span as they flexed and extended on their own.
“Okay.” She patted his shoulders as her gaze took in the massive form of wings the color of sunset hovering over them, blocking out the rest of the world. “I can see you didn’t like that. How about you put me down, and I promise to watch my snark.” She grimaced. “I mean, I’ll try. I can’t make any promises.”
He didn’t answer, instead dropping one hand to pull her leg around his waist, then the other. A pleased grin tickled the corners of his mouth as she locked her ankles together. He dropped his head to nuzzle the side of her neck, and he ground against her core. The beast inside him growled in satisfaction as her eyes rolled back in her head.
“No, stop,” she whispered, like she didn’t want him to stop at all. “You’re a clit tease. You’re just working me up to leave me high and dry.” Her fingers started to knead his shoulders, pulling him closer as he kissed the skin just under her ear. She shuddered in his arms.
“So sweet,” he murmured. Humming, he slid his hand to her ass, then to her hot, jeans covered center. The moan that tore from her throat was low and needy as he circled his fingers around her clit. It only served to ratchet his own need higher.
How long had it been since he’d had a lover? Too long.
And here was a beautiful woman in his arms.
She reached out and clutched the arch of one wing. His back bowed instantly as he threw his head back.
“Holy fuck! They’re real?” she yelled right in his ear, splashing cold water right on his desire.
Clarity came back, and he almost dropped her as he realized what she was touching. Humans couldn’t see the wings of Keepers. Nowhere in history had they been able to touch them.
Jerking his head back, he stared into her eyes. But she wasn’t looking at his face. All of her attention was on his wings spread out behind him in all their glory. She kept hold on his wing as her free hand lifted, then descended to his braid, pulling it over his shoulder.