“Enjoy hell asshole,” and I slammed it into him.
He screamed, it was short. It probably felt like he was being burned alive for the few seconds it took to expel the demonic entity back to the infernal plane, and I was looking at an empty shell with a beating heart. A human without a soul.
I cast balefire from my hands. Balefire was the fire of the infernal, it could burn anything to ash, but it would also burn nothing that I didn’t intend to burn, which made it perfect for getting rid of the body being held above the bed and against the wall. The wallpaper wasn’t even singed when I was done, and I cast one more spell to clean the room, it took care of the ash, as well as removed every fingerprint, hair, or any other kind of evidence from the room.
I looked down at the young woman, and knew she’d be okay, then I turned around to leave the room.
Then I froze, as I saw the most beautiful woman in the world just five feet away and standing in the doorway. She shouldn’t have been able to sneak up on me, but her magical aura was completely occluded, perfectly so, and her mind was shuttered as well. To my preternatural senses, she wasn’t there. Her hand was also on the hilt of her angelic sword, and I realized she could have taken my head before I even knew she was there.
Wasn’t this a pickle?
She was about five foot six, maybe seven. She had long wavy golden blonde hair, dark blue eyes. Dark blue like the color of the horizon’s sky at dusk right after the sun disappears, so dark that it was almost black as night, but not quite. Her face had a soft gentle innocent beauty to it, and a heart shaped face that evoked protective feelings in me.
Which was absurd, because she was obviously an angel, and might decide to kill me.
But… that didn’t make it any less true. Her body was also a work of art, not quite voluptuous, not quite average either. The voluptuous side of average? Stunningly curvaceous? Her demure jeans and loose shirt did little to hide her fabulous figure, her breasts had to be at least a C, going on D, somewhere in there, and her curves were very attractive to say the least.
It was more than that of course, blonde bombshells were a dime a dozen on this planet, even ones that had an innocent cute face along with a body built for sin, which evoked both feelings of protection, and lust, which was a powerful combination for me. So, I suppose, perfect for me? At least her looks were.
Point was, while her beauty was undeniable, it couldn’t fully account for my reaction to it, I was around beautiful woman all my life, so there had to be something else at work here. Her aura, the fact she was an angel, or… I’d simply lost my mind. I didn’t believe in love at first sight, and this was different than lust at first sight as well. She was… absolutely captivating, breathtaking, and my mind wasn’t working.
Her lips quirked into a knowing small smile, but her words were sharp.
“Would you like to take a picture? It’ll last longer.”
Right, staring way too long, and I absurdly considered pulling out my cell phone and taking one, despite knowing perfectly well that her comment had not been an invitation. I also belatedly slammed the shields around my mind shut. I’d never reinforced my mind shields like I usually do when I first wake up, because I’d been worried about taking too much time to get to the vampire’s victim. I wondered just how many of my salacious thoughts about her she’d seen in the last thirty seconds or so, and blushed.
“Hi,” I squeaked, and then cleared my throat, “Hi.”
Oh, good one Jason, a real smooth operator. I hoped those weren’t my last words, because that would just be pathetic. Still, chances were if she attacked I could escape with a teleport, maybe. I pulled myself together, there was a slight chance she thought I was just a mage, it depended on how long she’d been standing there...
Chapter Six – Portia
Five minutes earlier…
Ten Millennia on this mud ball, and I still hated stake outs. Teleport, circle for a minute to cover all the rooms and the surrounding parking lot, teleport, rinse and repeat for all four locations and start the loop again. I’d lost count of how many times I’d done this over the last hour, but my math skills said at five minutes a circuit I’d only scanned all four places twelve times. It felt like a lot more than that.
My magic, aura, and even the visual spectrum was occluded by concealment spells, I couldn’t have humans spotting a flying angel, and I was in the outskirts of a city. I also didn’t want the vampire to feel me coming, the older ones could detect magical auras, and I wasn’t sure how old this bastard was. Not that he’d be able to run fast enough, once I had him in my sight.
I hoped the vampire showed up soon, because it could still take another two hours before he showed up, if I’d guessed right. I was fairly confident though, I’d been hunting rogues that risked exposure for a very long time, and that experience helped in situations like this. Still, no one was perfect, and I’d been mistaken before. People were predictable, but not perfectly so.
I teleported again, and swooped down at the Motel-8, and along the long building, close enough to the roof to be able to pick up magical auras from both the top and bottom floor, and flew around the square. I clenched my jaw in determination when I felt the vampire, but also a mage. I hadn’t expected a mage, was he the vampire’s partner? That was a rare thing, but sometimes two rogues of similar mind would team up. The thought turned my stomach, and I flowed down to the stone balcony of the second floor, and slipped between the overhanging roof, and the metal railing to land on my feet.
The door was already open, which was strange and didn’t make a lick of sense to me.
I pushed it lightly, and stepped inside, immediately realizing my guess had been wrong, the mage had the vampire pushed against the wall like a fly caught on a web.
He turned from the vampire and took care of the woman, I could feel the anger and disgust in his mind, and a gentle regard for the woman that stopped the harsh words on the tip of my tongue. I decided to watch how this played out, if he was a good Samaritan of some kind, I wanted to watch and see what he did to the vampire.
The mage was also built. He had wide shoulders, his t-shirt didn’t hide the V of his body, or the toned muscles in his arms, he wasn’t built like a body builder, but like an athlete who saw a lot of exercise. He was at least six foot three, and he had short light brown hair. That was about all I could tell from behind him… except that he had a really nice ass.
I bit my lip and paid attention to what he was doing. He cast several spells in quick succession, like a very competent mage would, healing, cleaning, and repairing the woman’s clothes, and I also recognized the memory spell he used.
I felt the compassion drain out of him, and a cold anger and implacability take its place as he looked back up at the vampire.
He said in a cold voice, “I’m going to banish your demon in a moment, instead of simply killing you, do you know what that will do?”
The absolute threat and power in that voice made a shiver run down my spine, and not one of fear. I also knew exactly what he was threatening, and approved. The vampire deserved hell.
But then everything changed, and another tingle went down spine, this time one of fear, and I grabbed my sword hilt. He’d had me fooled, his concealment spells to suppress his aura and true magic were perfect, letting just the right amount through to look like a mage, but he’d just betrayed himself unknowingly. He hadn’t cast a spell to prepare the banishment magic hovering over his fingertips, he’d simply formed it like an angel could. He was no mage, and he also wasn’t an angel.
Nephilim. I almost took his head right there, but was frozen in indecision. He also hadn’t faked his disgust for the vampire, or his compassion for a human he’d never met.
“Enjoy hell asshole,” the mage said coldly. The Nephilim, I reminded myself.
When the vampire was banished, he used balefire, not holyfire. That told me the angel that had spawned him was a fallen. I really should kill him now, before he turned around and saw me, but I could see
inside his mind, he was a protector, not a cold-blooded killer.
He cast one more spell to clean the room of ash, and then turned, and froze as he saw me.
Another tingle went down my spine, this time not fear, as I took in his strong jaw, handsome face, and his intense but still warm hazel eyes. I managed to suppress a blush at the thoughts and emotions that raced through his mind, I’d thought the Nephilim might attack me, but nothing could be further from his thoughts. He seemed to equally want to protect me, hold me, and conversely, bend me over the closest piece of furniture and fuck my brains out.
In truth, I felt a little weak in the knees at the thought myself, to be held, cherished, and taken. He was incredibly sexy, his aura, presence, and looks were a hell of a package, and I couldn’t look away from his hazel eyes, they were mesmerizing. I knew they were thoughts evoked from how he saw me, which almost made me blush again. I knew I was attractive, but he was just short of worshipping me right now, and I felt the same way about him for several long moments.
I stared at the man for entirely too long, but luckily reality reasserted itself, and I recovered myself before he did. It was just a passing thought, pure chemistry and instant lust. I was an angel, he was a Nephilim, an abomination that wasn’t supposed to exist. It wasn’t his fault, the fault lay with the ones that broke the rules. Still, I needed a reality check, even if it made me ashamed to think of the man that way, the one that just rescued a woman and stopped an evil vampire, who was obviously a good man, it did snap me out of my insane desire for him though.
Mostly.
I smirked, and said with a sharpness I didn’t feel at all, “Would you like to take a picture? It will last longer.”
I felt chagrin, embarrassment, and then nothing as he slammed his mental shields down.
“Hi,” his voice crackled, he cleared it and said, “Hi,” in a voice that was much manlier, and better fit my impression of him. It was also cute how flustered he looked. I squashed that thought.
I slowly pulled my hand off the sword, “I’m not going to harm you, I was just startled at finding a Nephilim instead of a mage. Generally, I only try to kill the bad ones.”
He said almost absentmindedly, as if he still wasn’t completely composed, and it just slipped out, “Even your voice is beautiful.”
I did blush that time, at that genuine and naked compliment. I was over a billion years old for goodness sake, and he made me blush. That’s not all it did to me either, but luckily, he wasn’t a shifter and couldn’t scent my growing arousal. This was insane, I needed to get out of here, and away from him before I lost my mind.
He did see the blush of course, which made him smile confidently, and it looked good on him, normal.
“That’s good to know, so with death off the table how about we talk about dinner, tomorrow night?”
I laughed a bit nervously, “Sorry, I don’t date, and you’re obviously insane. Angels usually kill Nephilim on sight you know.”
It was true enough. I refer back to the arrogant asshole part, at least the male angels I dated were arrogant assholes, and that carries over into their thinking. Nephilim are abominations and have to die, or at least, a lot believe that. I prefer to judge beings by their actions, this Nephilim was a good person, and I wanted to have dinner with him. So really, I was crazy too, and I threw out that latter comment hoping to regain my sanity.
Instead of restoring my reason as I’d hoped, it just made me feel like a bitch.
He nodded, “I know, my mother warned me, but I thought we were past that? You don’t date? How about a meal in friendship?”
I laughed, totally charmed despite myself, he’d definitely gotten past his spastic moment, and his hazel eyes were intense, I could see desire in them. Not just for sex, but for companionship. But it was a horrible idea. Wasn’t it? Maybe I didn’t judge him, my take was that the angel parent had defied the law, and would fall because of it, but he was still a Nephilim. What if another angel found out, and attacked him, would I fight one of my own to protect him? I bit my lip, uncertainly, I hadn’t been this tempted in a long time.
I sighed, “That’s crazy, I’m an Angel.”
He nodded, “You keep saying that, but all relationships have problems.”
I raised an eyebrow, “We’re in a relationship now?”
He grinned, “Sure, we’re acquaintances, and we’ve bonded over the death of evil, now we’re going to get food tomorrow, maybe be friends, then who knows what might happen.”
I enjoyed his confidence, and playful tone, but it was crazy. I know I kept telling myself that, but it was true. I just… wished it wasn’t.
I shook my head, “Sorry, I have to go now. Thanks for taking care of that rogue, he’d been leaving a mess behind.”
He asked, “Where to?”
I replied, “Sanctuary.”
I winced, why the hell had I said that? I teleported out of there, before he could get another word in, and sighed as I landed behind the diner, and went into the back door. It didn’t matter, he’d never figure out what I’d meant, and he’ll never find the place. Most maps don’t even show the tiny town, with a population of under a hundred.
I felt… regret, wistful desire for something I couldn’t have, and resignation. I was strongly tempted to go back, but I didn’t. It was just lust and chemistry, wasn’t it? I didn’t need to do anything stupid. I went through the kitchen where Carla greeted me with a hug.
“Hungry?”
I smiled, “A little bit.”
I ate in the kitchen with Carla, and a few people came in the back to say hello. Katherine the fire mage, and her husband John. Carla and Jacob Jameson, who were an earth mage and bear shifter respectively. A few others too, they all loved me, and I loved them.
I also wondered where the Nephilim had come from, the angels were generally aware of the ones out there, and if they were dangerous or not. I’d never heard of this one, or at least hadn’t seen his picture. I realized he’d never said his name, nor did I give him mine.
After dinner, I went home and took a hot bath, and still couldn’t get the Nephilim out of my head. There was one other inescapable fact that was rattling around in my head. Nephilim weren’t mortal, which means I wouldn’t have been breaking the rules if I’d said yes…
Chapter seven – Jason
The bed was comfortable enough back in my room, but I just stared at the ceiling and couldn’t sleep.
Even your voice is beautiful? And then I asked her on a date?
Was I insane? She was an angel, of course she didn’t want to date me, I was a callow eighteen-year-old abomination in her eyes. I was damned lucky she hadn’t killed me before I even saw her. But damn, after I turned? What a last sight to see that would’ve been. I couldn’t get the intense dark blue eyes out of my head, or her velvety voice. Her voice was like a perfect mix of her innocent beautiful face, and her sexy body. Her words were like silk, gentle with only a hint of sexy eroticism.
Of course, that belied the truth of what she was, a warrior on a mission, and so old I couldn’t even grasp the concept. I was eighteen, and a Nephilim, I was surprised she hadn’t laughed in my face. The only way that could have been more mortifying, was if I’d gotten on my knees and begged for a date, and my earlier confidence felt like foolish bravado now. I’d pushed her too hard, going for a date so fast. Except, she’d blushed, and I saw signals that told me she was far from immune to my charm. Then of course, she’d run off.
I didn’t even ask what her name was, nor did I give her mine.
I also knew exactly where she was, and resisted going. As soon as she’d said Sanctuary I’d thought of Carla’s diner, or more specifically, the wards protecting the diner. Her magic aura was a perfect match for it, once she’d released it that is, to teleport away, it had the same feel. Of course, I’d already asked her out, and she’d run, going there now was way too much of a stalker move, no matter how badly I wanted to continue our conversation, and hear her voice, look into her
midnight eyes, and bask in her presence.
Damn, I needed to get over that, and fast.
It was just chemistry, instant lust, and the power of her aura. Her voice, face, body, magic, and the way she looked at me. All of it had attracted me, and grouped together the attraction had been off the charts, but it was all superficial. Sure, that was all I’d need to want a date, that’s how it usually worked, but I really didn’t know her at all. No, going there would be a mistake, and it would make me kind of a creepy stalker, wouldn’t it?
I also wondered if my attraction would have been so powerful if I hadn’t been thinking so hard lately about finding a woman to share my future with, and the lonely feeling those thoughts evoked. Absurdly, except for the fact she was an angel, it solved all the other problems I had. Immortal, just as powerful, not afraid of me, at least I didn’t think she was afraid. I was being a bit pathetic, and shoved it all down deep inside, and closed my eyes.
I needed to get more sleep if I was going to manage another fourteen-hour drive tomorrow. Although, not flying seemed like a moot point right now, already met the angel after all. Of course, there could be others.
Still, despite my best efforts, the last thoughts in my mind as I lost consciousness was of a divinely beautiful face and voice, radiant long golden blonde hair, and expressive midnight blue eyes.
It was also the first thoughts as I woke up, which made me sigh. Opportunity lost always lingered the most, most likely we’d have had a terrible time at dinner, had nothing in common, hated each other, and that would have been it. But now I’d never know. I’d never met a woman that had such an immediate and powerful effect on me before, and despite me knowing it was shallow, my heart wanted her, or at least a chance.
I got into the shower, which lasted a little longer than usual as I thought about the angel, enough said about that. I felt a lot more relaxed as I got into some fresh clothes. I used a spell to clean yesterday’s clothes, and put them in my bag. Once I was sure I had everything, I headed down to the office. I handed in my key card, and signed the final bill. Then I grabbed an apple, chocolate chip muffin, and a coffee from the continental breakfast table, and then I hit the road.
Nephilim's Journey Page 4