by Heather Long
Walk away.
But his feet didn’t move, and the hilt of the blade flashed in and out of his palm. His wings tingled. His shoulders braced. The shackles holding the beast tethered threatened to snap. One link creaking ominously.
Eyes closed, Zhan struggled against the demand. Intervention wouldn’t save her.
It wouldn’t.
In the long run, they all died.
But time is a gift all its own, and with enough time, even the darkest night might give way to dawn.
The whisper drifted across him, and he snapped his eyes open. The longing for Dahlia redoubled. But if he went to her after leaving that soul in the shadow swallowing her as he had Dahlia, he wouldn’t deserve to see her. Almost against his will, he turned and stalked after the woman. Diminutive, she stood easily a foot or foot and a half shorter than him. The black dress she wore emphasized her lush curves. Heavy breasts, wide hips, and a generous ass all promised him the kind of fun he had grown to enjoy indulging in.
His cock didn’t twitch though. Even as he tried to picture wrapping her in an elegant structure of knots and ties, particularly those breasts with their fat nipples and abundance of flesh he could fuck for hours…he couldn’t see her. Only Dahlia sprang to his mind. Dahlia with her open smile, rich laughter, harsh recriminations, and plush eminently fuckable lips.
That need echoed to his cock and pulsed through him.
No, this woman, lovely as she might be, did nothing for him because she wasn’t Dahlia. The only ache she awoke in him was the desire to fix it. An empty, baseless, and ultimately inconsequential act. She would die. Maybe not today or tomorrow. Maybe not for years. But she would still die. Saving her, even righting that which had been done wrong, helped no one. If anything, he would be consigning her to face this potential fate again and again.
Wasn’t it better to get it over with?
Is it better? You sheared away your fate. What has it done for you?
The ache pounded, not only in his balls and his head, but in his very being. The longer he stood here, the longer he debated, the longer he was away from Dahlia.
If helping this one woman was inconsequential, then it didn’t matter if he just did it.
No one would know. Then he and his beast could find the one thing he’d begun to crave like his next breath.
“Vodka, neat,” the woman ordered in a dull, defeated voice. Quetta slid the drink over to her and then glanced to where Zhan stood just a foot behind her. Though she couldn’t possibly see him, the bartender seemed to stare into his soul, and the corner of her mouth kicked up.
Insanely, Zhan pressed a finger to his lips. One eyebrow raised, she considered him, and then inclined her head before turning her back on him. Stretching out that same hand, Zhan set it on the woman’s shoulder.
She couldn’t see him. She wouldn’t know he was there, but he gripped her as she lifted her drink and then froze. Everything hung between one second and the next as he dug his fingers in to the thread binding her to the monsters preying on her mind and feasting on her light. Sinking in his claws, he pressed past her and then ripped the cord out. A shriek tore through the room, echoing off the ceilings and the walls.
No one moved or heard it as Zhan dangled it in front of him. He brought the sword up and then plunged it through the shadow. Heat like a supernova blasted through him as he, his wings, and the blade caught fire, and they burned through the shadowy maw until it disintegrated into ash. Across the room, a human male radiating malevolent selfishness dropped dead.
Three streets over, a violent felon with a history of assaulting women on their way home from bars stepped out into traffic. The shattering of his bones and the fading of his heart a descending beat. Across the city, a lawyer who feasted on the misery of others, bleeding them down to their last penny, choked on a chicken bone and died gasping. Three states away, a couple inside a trailer home didn’t stir from a drunken haze as a sudden fire erupted and consumed it down to the cinder blocks.
The injustice of their actions couldn’t be erased, but the light before him blossomed into an almost pinkish hue as he stepped back and the woman let out a tear-filled sigh as she finished her shot. Relief threaded her shoulders, and a smile pulled at her mouth. Quetta watched him via the mirror behind the bar, and she gave him an approving nod.
It didn’t matter.
The beast let out a grunt as it fell back on its heels.
He’d only delayed the inevitable.
Glancing down at his hands, he flexed them. The sword had returned to the ether, but it was right there, no further than a thought away. The teeth and claws inside his skin settled. He’d broken his fast for the first time in more than a millennia.
Because he wanted to see Dahlia. The revelation should stagger him. He should run. Go to Tarus. Have him bind him until the desire faded. They’d done that for each other. But it wasn’t his brother he thought of.
No.
Dahlia.
Eyes closed, he reached out for that nebulous thread of her. The injustice he’d allowed to slip through his fingers.
Her shriek sliced through him.
There.
Uncaring of where it took him, he latched onto the gossamer thread and dove after it. Sinner’s melted away, and he had to snap out his wings as he found himself abruptly aloft with no surface beneath his feet.
Aloft, and in Domum?
Heart slamming against his ribs, he jerked his gaze around to find her. Dahlia was in Domum?
Why?
Another shriek had him spinning. There.
Fresh rage kindled in his blood, the heat threatening to warp the chains on his beast further. They creaked again, a warning as another link loosened. Seth had Dahlia cradled to his chest, her body pressed up against his, her arms were around his neck as he did lazy cartwheels in the sky, and with every dip, she let out another scream.
Rapture.
Joy.
Lust.
Red hazed Zhan’s vision, and another link in the chains snapped clean through. He snapped his wings out, then beat a furious pace to Seth. He wasn’t allowed to have her. Not him, and not here.
Seconds before he would have collided, Seth snapped his attention to Zhan. His sunset wings of deep purple ranging to the lightest orange spread, and with a few powerful strokes, he was out of Zhan’s path.
Roaring his frustration, Zhan circled around to give chase once more.
Seth yelled something unintelligible to Dahlia, who clung to him now with not only her arms around him, but her legs too.
That was it. The chains around the beast disintegrated as if they’d never been there. Fire like nothing he’d ever felt before raced through his body and surrounded his own indigo wings, causing them to shine with a rich, deep blue and violet undertones.
Seth had always been a faster, smoother flier. After all these years, that hadn’t changed. He gave Zhan a challenge the likes of which he hadn’t experienced since before their fall. Dahlia’s shrieks turned from pleasure to fear as Seth zoomed through the sky like a fiery rocket.
Zhan should feel some type of remorse, some type of regret that he was the cause of her distress. None of that penetrated the rage that lived inside him in that moment. Keepers were starting to exit their homes to witness the chase in the sky. How long had it been since there was any kind of conflict here in Domum?
Never? The last time was before Zhan’s living memory, and maybe had never happened at all.
This domain was their sanctuary, their precious home. All the violence and taint of the human world should never breach this space. He could practically feel their anger and indignation lapping at his heels.
Good thing he didn’t give a fuck.
Seth was slowing down, allowing Zhan to finally gain on him. Suddenly, Seth reversed his wings in a rapid pace right over a balcony where he dropped Dahlia onto the stone. She fell to her knees, but the fall hadn’t been that far or fast to cause any lasting damage.
Changing direc
tions, he veered toward the balcony where she was. With Seth forgotten, he could grab her and disappear before any of the other Keepers caught him.
What he should have realized was that Seth hadn’t forgotten about him. Just when he was feet from swooping in to catch Dahlia, who was scooting back on her butt in an effort to get away from him, Seth barrelled into his side.
“Oof!” The air escaped his lungs as they plunged toward a group of sharp spires beneath them.
“What the fuck is your problem?” Seth bellowed in his ear, then untangled himself from Zhan. Being the stronger flier, Seth seemed to stop and effortlessly hover, watching mercilessly as Zhan continued to fall.
It took massive effort for Zhan to pump his wings and position to climb the skies back to Seth. Too long had it been since he’d exercised these muscles. Living in the human world, he pretended this side of himself didn’t exist.
His breath seared his throat with its heat, his hand tingled from the sword wanting to come to his aid. He pushed back the desire to rip Seth limb from limb. Once he pulled his sword on his brother, there was no coming back from that.
“Why is she here? Why do you, of all fucking people, have a human in Domum?” Zhan may have turned his back on humanity, but Seth had never been one to care outside of completing his duty.
The very air around Seth started to shimmer as he released his own beast within him. His grace was different but no less powerful when angered. But something was off.
The rage inside Zhan briefly stuttered as he tried to determine what was different about Seth. He hadn’t laid eyes on his form in millennia, that was true, but he was changed somehow.
Even the braid he hid so much in his human form was the same as before, perhaps a bit longer. The curl to his lip revealing his gritted white teeth was the same as before, only never had his displeasure been directed right at Zhan, not even when he fell.
Their grace, when used, always provided a slight incandescence to their wings and eyes. So that wasn’t what bothered him so much. No, it was his aura. When in their first form, their aura often matched that of their wings, extending to their grace as they transported.
But Seth’s aura was no longer only the color of sunset. Tendrils of pure, gleaming white threaded through the deep purples and bright oranges surrounding Seth. Not much, a bit here or there, but those pieces were so bright, they drew the eye immediately now that Zhan recognized what was different.
“I said, what is your problem?” Seth seethed as he flew a few feet closer. Not too much. He fisted his hands at his side, as if he were afraid he’d attack Zhan if he got too close. “What has Dahlia done to deserve the fear you’ve given her? Or warranted such an attack? I think it was enough that you chose to let her die at the hands of her lover, don’t you?”
The breath stalled in Zhan’s chest for the briefest of moments as he listened to what Seth had said. Surely, Dahlia wouldn’t think he would attack her after their few short hours together? Their time had ended on a sour note, but nothing that would lead her to believe Zhan would harm her.
Now that the beast was calming slightly, a small amount of remorse settled in his gut at the thought of Dahlia’s fear. As soon as he saw her, he could assuage that belief, let her know his actions were for Seth only. She would understand. Another flash of her beautiful black eyes entered his mind, but he quickly shoved it away.
He would not get an erection having this conversation with his brother.
“I was coming to find her. It wasn’t her I was attacking, but you.” The heat of his fury started to climb again as he was reminded of how he had found her, happy and blissed out on flight with Seth.
Seth’s eyebrows shot to his hairline. “And what have I done that warrants such a response?”
With a short burst of speed, he grabbed Seth’s shirt in his fists. “You took her. Why?”
Again, he was assaulted with too many questions and no answers. First, it was Bish, now Seth. Why was she spending so much time among the Keepers? Who was she?
Seth blew out a breath and dropped his shoulders. He no longer looked like he wanted to separate Zhan’s head from his body. “I will tell you the same thing I told Tarus. You had your chance to save her. You didn’t. You had your chance again. You blew it. She is not for you.”
Told Tarus? “What do you mean you told Tarus? You haven’t spoken to him in thousands of years.”
Pulling Zhan’s hands from his shirt, Seth lifted a few feet above him. “Apparently, something’s in the air. Because he tried to take Dahlia this morning, just like you did. What you should ask yourself is why he didn’t tell you? Or maybe the real question is why you didn’t tell him? Maybe not all is as perfect in your little paradise as you thought, hmm?”
Then he was gone. Not even a trace of his aura remained behind.
It had been Tarus’ idea to take her back, to never see her again. He had a lot of fucking explaining to do.
But first, he had to try and see Dahlia, his beast demanded it. If only to see that she was okay, that would have to do for now.
He shot across the sky, back to the balcony where Seth had dropped Dahlia. His same house he’d resided in Domum since he first took his own residence. Before he laid eyes on the balcony, he heard Seth’s howl of fury.
Tucking his wings in tight, he dropped to the stone, landing in a crouch. The balcony was empty, and the doors were open. Another roar filled with fury and frustration rent the air.
Fuck, something was wrong. Dahlia was hurt. She had to have been. What else would have angered Seth? He ran through the house until he found Seth in his bedroom on his knees, hands tearing through his messed up braid, wings still on full display.
“Where’s Dahlia?” Zhan dropped in front of Seth and shook him by his arms. “What happened?”
“What happened?” Seth growled. “What happened is she is not fucking here. She’s been taken. Again.”
10
‘Dancing with death’ is supposed to be dangerous, but he can really move no matter what the beat. Maybe I need more of that in my life, especially after the recent craziness. - Dahlia
Dahlia
The shriek died in my throat as the brilliant, eye-blinding light gave way from Seth’s balcony to a small cottage terrace overlooking a bay. Or an islet. Whatever, there was sand. Hands shaking, I pulled away from the hands gripping my arms and faced the latest courier on the angelic express from hell.
“You have got to be shitting me,” I swore as Bish gave me a small, almost sheepish smile and ran a hand over his close-cropped hair.
“Dahlia,” he began in that rich, smoked scotch voice. “I can explain.”
A breeze tickled at the back of my neck a minute before a dog’s excited bark had Bish turning. Gingersnap raced out of the wide-open double doors. The cocker spaniel’s golden coat gleamed in the sunlight, and she bounced right up to Bish’s legs. Almost automatically, he dropped into a crouch to pet her.
“Hello, beautiful,” he murmured. “I brought you a surprise.”
And as if she understood him, Gingersnap turned her attention to me and hustled it over, ears flapping and breath coming in excited pants between her yips. Like Bish, I crouched to greet her too, only she knocked me on my ass in her excitement and immediately peppered my face with slobbery dog kisses. There was something to be said about the force of the small dog’s personality. Despite my irritation with her lying, two-faced master, I laughed.
Sue me, I liked dogs, and Gingersnap was a sweetheart.
Still crouched, Bish watched me with a kind of longing in those tawny golden eyes. It was hard to ignore them or the golden-streaks in his black wings. The breeze tugged at the feathers, ruffling them. Had he had those all this time?
Maybe I shouldn’t have liked “How Do You Talk to an Angel” so much back in the day. Because currently, it was not a primer for my situation. Gingersnap slurped me again, and I sat, legs crossed, as she danced back and forth getting pets. My knees protested, but then I’d land
ed on them when Seth dropped me after Zhan lost his ever-loving shit for some reason. Scraped palms stinging, I focused on my latest kidnapper. Angel-napper? Dahlia-napper.
Yeah, latest Dahlia-napper.
Also, note to self, find a way to avoid being plucked from wherever whenever these bastards felt like it. I had been having fun before Zhan showed up, which was kind of a miracle, because Seth seemed determined to drive me crazy.
“Fine,” I said to Bish. “You said you can explain. So you have five minutes and make it good.” Despite my attempt at bravado, it was hard to hide the hurt in my voice.
With a sigh, he shifted to sit on the patio and folded his legs like he was preparing to do yoga. The fact that he wore a pair of expensively tailored slacks with an equally expensive dress shirt open over a shirt that read Must Love Dogs didn’t strike me anywhere near as unusual. Bish had always had a kind of hippie vibe I enjoyed.
Had being the key word there.
“My name is Bish—” he began.
“Which is short for what? Bishop? Full of Bish-it?” It came out mean, but dammit, I’d had a really bad few days, and cockblockers were everywhere.
“You can just call me Bish or Bishop,” he explained.
“But you have a real name. One you’re not telling me.”
A single nod.
“You won’t tell me that name?”
He shrugged. “Perhaps, eventually.”
“Uh huh.”
When he sighed, guilt stabbed at me, quickly followed by a heady dose of fuck no. I wouldn’t apologize for being pissed.
“Please,” I said instead. “Continue. I’ll do my best to keep my snark in check.” No promises. Never again.
“I’m a Keeper,” he said quietly. “You’ve met quite a few of us at this point.”
“A keeper of what?”
“Just Keeper,” he said. “The rest isn’t as important.”
“Translation, whatever it is you keep, you think will scare me.” The surprise skittering through his expression shouldn’t satisfy me, but on some level, it did. Gingersnap settled in my lap, and I kept petting her. It soothed my agitated nerves.