His eyes focused on her, narrowing as he leveled his gun at her chest. “Me?”
“Depends,” she drew out the word. “Are you the one killing animals around here?”
He didn’t bother to deny what they already both knew. “You made a mistake coming here.”
His words were a soft threat, and his trigger finger moved ever-so-slightly as his gaze locked onto her chest. He planned to end things now. To rid himself of her.
Internally, she smirked. Sorry, pal, this isn’t over yet.
“I’ve never known an angel to kill animals before. Some new agenda by your idiot boss, Caine?”
Every muscle in his face tightened, and his words came out barely louder than a hiss. “He’s not my boss anymore!”
Whoa, so he is a rogue angel. She almost smiled, glad she’d found this angel before the other Hunters. Because any enemy of Caine is a friend of mine. The Hunters and Caine might not have fooled themselves into thinking angels were the good guys and demons the bad ones, but she knew better.
So did the entire Rebellion. And they were hell-bent on saving anyone who might stand with them in the fight against Caine and his angel thugs.
“If you don’t want him finding you, you’ll need my help.”
His gun wavered. “Your help?”
“All the animal deaths have attracted the attention of The Department—”
His eyes widened. “They’ll tell the angels, and they’ll report me to Caine!”
“Exactly, so this is what we’re going to do...”
“I’m not going back,” he cut in, and his stubs seemed to shiver on his back.
She raised a hand in reassurance, slowly sitting up. Breathing hard, she gritted her teeth and concentrated on the metal in her body, then pushed with all her willpower. The bullets hit the floor with little clinks behind her. And the aching pain they left behind made her stomach turn in protest.
“I’m not— here to— send you back,” she said, trying to slow her panting. “I just want— to stop the killings.”
Come on, listen to me. Trust me. She wished her powers of manipulation worked on angels. It’d make saving this one a lot easier.
One of his eyes started to twitch, and his hands shook. “I can’t stop killing. If I stop, I’ll die, and then I’ll be reborn with him. I won’t be his tool again. I won’t!”
Deep breath. Stay calm. “We can figure out another solution. Please.”
“Solution?” he stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. “I’m an angel. And a fucking incubus. He used me... used my powers for whatever he wanted. But I can’t... let go... not without his permission. I’m under his control. But I still have to feed. Without sex, all I have is their essences.”
Everything clicked at once, and she felt her heart squeeze in sympathy. Every incubus needed sex to live. And she guessed this is what they became when they weren’t allowed to feed—killers, sucking the essence from living beings just to keep breathing.
And yet, he didn’t kill any humans.
A wave of relief hit her. It would’ve been so easy for this angel to do just that. The fact that he didn’t, it meant that he had goodness inside of him.
Unlike most of Caine’s angel-thugs.
She struggled to stand, keeping her movements slow and careful. “You’re incredible. After all you’ve been through, you didn’t kill any humans. That tells me you deserve all the help I can give you. Why don’t you just hand me the gun, and we’ll get out of here before the Hunters come. I’ll take you some place safer.”
His gun slowly lowered. Relief came over his face. And her heart did that awesome flip-flop thing it did when she knew she was finally going to save someone.
And then, he glanced at her, and his relief vanished in a flash. “Wait, why are you standing? You should be dying. You’re... you’re not human are you?”
Damn it.
“No, I’m not. I’m a hybrid.” She stood still as his trigger finger twitched. “A half-demon.”
“An enemy.” He growled the words, his lips pulling back to reveal his teeth like a wild animal.
“No—”
“Do you take me for a fool? You’re here to kill me! To destroy me!” His magic prickled over her flesh. “Angels and demons! There are no greater enemies than us!”
Fuck, I’m losing him! “Don’t use your magic! They’ll know you’re here!”
But he vanished, teleporting away.
Panic uncurled inside of her. She had to find him. To help him! Before the angels tracked his magic straight to him!
But just as she turned to rattle off a new plan, she felt the cold barrel of a gun as it pressed against her temple.
I guess he didn’t make it far.
“We need to go, now!” she ordered him. “They’ll be here any minute. You need to run!”
The gun pressed harder against her temple. “They already know I’m here. I’m sorry, but I have to do this.”
Do what? A damn bullet won’t kill me. It’ll hurt like hell, but—
Every hair on her body stood on end as she felt the magic push inside of her. It was like a hand plunging through her skin and muscles, bending her ribs to reach her heart. And then, the cold hand wrapped around her heart and squeezed.
Shock held her frozen in place, and pain numbed her mind for one terrible minute that seemed to stretch on for eternity.
At last, she gasped, finally able to draw in a breath. Finally able to think. This fucker is trying to possess me.
Like hell!
She willed herself to fight, but his magic was too powerful. Made to paralyze its victim.
Her entire body twitched. Her limbs spasming around her. But even with all her willpower, that was all she could manage.
Fuck. A scream ripped from her lips as she helplessly fought the angel’s possession. Damn it, I need help!
It killed her to do it. But in another minute, she’d be completely under his control. Gritting her teeth, she pushed her strength into her hand. She just had to hold one finger up to make the signal, but it took everything within her to do it.
A second later, her best friend Kate materialized in front of her, her expression grim. Reaching out, she grasped Lily’s shoulder tightly, before teleporting them both away.
The world shimmered into nothing. A tunnel of darkness. And then, came sharply back into focus.
Lily slumped to her knees, now in a different corner of the restaurant.
Touching her chest, she tried to fight the shock that made her entire body shake. I hate that feeling. She shivered. It feels so... wrong.
Slowly, she became aware of her best friend. Kate kept a hand on Lily’s shoulder, using her magic to keep them concealed in the shadows. Thank god for Kate.
Lily’s gaze moved away from her friend to the creature she’d hoped to be able to save. He was still in the center of the room. Standing as if in shock.
What the hell? Why didn’t he teleport away? He knows they’re coming for him...
“That’s impossible” he whispered. “Demons can’t teleport.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but her words died on her lips.
Around him, the air shimmered and changed. Six angels, their brilliant white wings almost blinding, surrounded him. Dwarfing him as he shrunk back in the middle of them, raising his pathetic gun as if it might do something against such impossible odds.
Her lips drew back in a silent snarl of rage, and she pulled her dagger from the sheath at her ankle. Rising slowly, she chose her first target and pulled back her arm to strike.
Kate’s hand wrapped around her wrist, stopping her.
Lily looked at the younger woman in confusion. This man needed their help! And she’d be damned if she just gave up now!
Her best friend slowly shook her head, her dark eyes saying what her words couldn’t, there’s too many of them. We’ve lost this one.
Lily looked back at the angels, her heart flipping.
Kate was right.
Moving as
if in a nightmare, she re-sheathed her dagger, knowing what was about to come. And hating that she couldn’t stop it.
“Come on, Richard,” one of the white-winged angels said. “Time to come home.”
He didn’t answer, but his jaw tensed. Seconds later, the sound of shots being fired filled the air as he spun around the circle, firing wildly.
Oh, Richard.
None of the angels so much as flinched. They just towered over him, waiting until his bullets were spent.
The gun tumbled from his fingertips, and he tried to back up, but an angel simply shoved him forward, back into the center of the circle.
The color drained from Richard’s face. And again, she knew what he would do. And she knew how it would end.
His image wavered as he tried to teleport, but he remained in place. She couldn’t sense the angels’ magic preventing his teleportation, but she knew that’s what they were doing.
And then, one of the angels smiled and gripped Richard’s arm. “Come, Caine’s expecting you.”
A whimper escaped his lips and then, they were gone.
She collapsed against the wall, feeling empty. I lost another one.
Kate knelt down in front of her. Her big, black eyes almost lost behind her curtain of long, dark hair.
Please don’t say anything reassuring.
“How much did we get paid for this shit?”
The tension in Lily’s chest eased. “Not enough.”
If she’d agreed to be a full-time Hunter with The Department, she’d be making enough money to at least pay their bills. But that wouldn’t allow her the flexibility to hide the fact that she was a half-demon, or to secretly try to help the creatures she hunted. So, she was an Investigator. Sent to look into the things that weren’t deemed important enough to send a team of Hunters.
And when she saved paranormal creatures, she didn’t mind her cruddy pay one bit.
But days like this... she found it hard to see any benefit to her crappy job.
“Want to look into anything else or head home?”
Lily’s thoughts leapt to another case just a few hours from their current location, but as her gaze went to her best friend, she pushed the thought aside. Kate was way too thin for a girl of her age, and the circles under her eyes said she needed a hell of a lot more sleep.
There’s always more cases, but there’s only one Kate.
“Let’s just go home.”
If only Richard was going someplace safe too.
Instead of teleporting, they walked out to her black convertible and climbed in. Kate said nothing more. They’d done this too many times to bother reassuring each other. Instead, they rolled down the windows, blaring Alanis Morissette.
Just another crappy day.
Chapter Two
Lily slammed a shot of tequila, downing it in one gulp before plunking it down on the counter. “Another.”
Kate shook her head. “You’ve had more than enough.” Her friend grabbed the bottle and walked through their tiny kitchen, shoving it back into the cabinet full of liquor. “How about something to eat instead?”
Opening their fridge, she stared at the dark, empty space and then turned back to Lily.
Lily laughed at her friend’s expression. “I guess we better go shopping soon.”
“With what money?” Kate asked, grinning. “Saving trouble-making creatures in distress hardly pays the bills, let alone puts food in the fridge.”
“At least being a consultant for The Department got us this awesome apartment.” She shifted in her barstool and slumped down onto the counter. “Besides, something always works out.”
A second later, her friend disappeared.
What’s she up to now?
A long minute ticked by, and then Kate was on the barstool next to her, a bag of salt and vinegar chips in her hand. When Lily sat up and raised a brow, her friend had the good grace to blush.
“The Gregors will never notice one snack missing. Their fridge and pantry are stuffed.”
“Why, Miss Goody Goody. I think I might be rubbing off on you after all!”
Kate’s blush deepened. “Shut up and eat your stolen snack.”
While Kate opened the bag, Lily gathered her latest files of suspicious occurrences from The Department and dumped them onto the countertop. Then, they each grabbed some chips and started stuffing their faces, in a way that was some mix between piggish and absolutely satisfying.
But who do we have to impress here? Lily thought, with a grin, before grabbing another handful of the salty snack.
Settling into their favorite barstools, they grabbed files at random. Some people got messy drunk after as many shots as she’d had, but not Lily, she got ultra-focused. At least on nights like these. Images and information that meant nothing to her the last time she’d sat down with them suddenly started to make sense.
Yup, I’m like a genius fueled by liquor. Liquor and chips.
A comfortable silence stretched between them as they handed interesting pages to each other, making notes on the sheets. Behaving as if this was as normal as two girlfriends sitting down to watch a chick flick. Only their entertainment involved bloody photos of crime scenes and stories that would make a seasoned cop’s stomach turn.
Just another weekend at a demon’s house!
After an hour, Lily finally stretched and looked over at her friend. Kate’s dark brows were drawn together in concentration, and her hair was a frizzy, endearing mess. For a second, Lily just stared, feeling her heart grow like the freakin’ Grinch himself. She didn’t know how the hell, after just three short years, this girl had become so important to her.
But she had.
One minute Kate was just a seventeen year old kid living a normal life, the next she came into her powers with a bang. And lost her family, friends, and life as a result. If it wasn’t for Lily using her powers of manipulation to get her out of that cop car, she had no doubt the Hunters would have taken the girl and destroyed her.
And yet she’s not exactly safe here either.
Lily’s happy feelings melted away. When she’d rescued Kate, she hadn’t planned on pulling her into her crappy life, but the kid had nowhere to go. And now, she tried with every ounce of her being to give Kate a normal, happy home.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing normal or happy about my situation.
Her gaze slid over her tiny studio apartment, with its cramped bathroom, and the bed that was barely big enough to be called a double.
I need to do better for her.
Kate was applying for colleges, and Lily was hell-bent on making sure her little genius made it. No matter what she had to sacrifice. Because this life might work for her, a half-demon in her mid-twenties, but Kate deserved a real life. With a husband, kids, a picket fence—all that crap.
Kate glanced up and caught her gaze, frowning. “What?”
“Why don’t you head to bed?”
Kate laughed. “I’m not the one who got shot today.”
Lily rolled her eyes. “We both know you’re tired. Why fight me on it?”
Kate gave her a toothy grin. “Arguing about nothing... um, who does that sound like? Maybe you’re rubbing off on me after all!”
Lily tried to shove her, but Kate was gone.
“Maybe take a shower before bed?” Kate suggested, suddenly across the room of their apartment. Crawling onto the bed, she slid under the blanket. “You smell awful.”
Lily climbed off the barstool. “At least I don’t sleep in my clothes!”
Kate mumbled something Lily didn’t understand, her eyes already closed.
Lily was tempted to crawl into bed with her friend, but she caught a whiff of herself and wrinkled her nose. I do smell. Like freaking blood and sweat. Grabbing her clothes off the floor, she went into their bathroom. Even though exhaustion tugged at her, she was still feeling wired. She always felt this way after a job gone wrong.
When I couldn’t save someone.
Peeling off her
clothes, she slipped into the shower and turned it on. Hissing under the cold stream, she felt the sensitive spots where she’d been shot at ache. Looking down, she scowled at the five separate marks on her chest. All were pink scars of healing flesh, but soon they’d be nothing at all.
I wouldn’t mind them, if I’d actually managed to rescue that damn angel.
Her failures circled through her head. Not just the ones today. But the ones she’d made ever since becoming a Hunter. Even though she remembered her successes to, her failures seemed to leave a hollowness in her belly that lingered no matter how much she tried to ignore it.
A long time later, she stepped out of the shower, toweled off, and slipped on her shorts and tanktop. It was more than time for bed. More than time to stop running through her mistakes in her mind.
As Lily opened the bathroom door, she noticed the room was darker than she remembered. And something felt... off.
She froze.
Her gaze snapped to the bed where a man held Kate with his arm pressed against her throat. Kate’s eyes were wide and her mouth was open in a silent scream as her hands held on to his arm. Oh, shit.
Chapter Three
“Let her go,” Lily ordered, not taking her eyes from the man threatening Kate. She can’t teleport free when she’s scared. I need to get to her before he hurts her.
His mouth curled into a sickening smile, and his calm voice seemed to rise from the darkness like steam. “There are many who believe demons like this one only belong in their realm.”
Lily stiffened. How does he know what she is? Kate was such a mix of races that not even the angels sensed her as a demon.
Her heart pounded. “I’m the demon, not her.”
His skin shimmered, changing from tan to a deep blue. “You’re a half-breed, just as she is. And I need you to pay me a little visit near the City of Flames.”
“Let her go, and I give you my word. I’ll do as you’ve asked.”
“I’m sorry, but that just isn’t good enough.” He slid them off the bed and onto their feet, his arm still firmly around her throat.
“You’re making a mistake,” her voice dropped low and threatening. “I’ll never let you leave with her alive.
He raised a brow. “I’m afraid, you can’t stop me.”
Mates of the Realms: The Complete Collection: A Paranormal Reverse Harem Box Set Page 67