Redemption: A Realm of Flame and Shadow Novel

by Christina Phillips

  Focus. She wasn’t falling for his deadly charm, remember? Even if her damn feet hadn’t got the memo to keep her distance. She’d keep this impersonal and to the point. Who was he and what did he know about telepathy?

  “I need to know what happened. You’re the first person outside of my family I’ve met with telepathic ability.”

  He didn’t answer, but his gaze smoldered. The oxygen evaporated from her lungs and she sucked in a ragged breath, which didn’t help with the whole breathing thing.

  How could he turn her blood to liquid fire with just one look? He must have had plenty of practice. She’d die before she let him know how much he affected her.

  He didn’t answer her, either. What a surprise. Except she hadn’t asked him a question, had she?

  Bugger.

  She tried again. “Do you know any other telepaths?”

  Silence stretched between them, as though he was weighing up options. She held her breath, which was ridiculous, but she couldn’t help it. Was she finally going to discover there was a whole secret society of people just like her?

  Get real. How likely was that? Then again, how likely was anything that had happened this morning?

  And then he spoke. “Is all your family telepathic?”

  It was the second time he’d avoided answering her question. But maybe it was because, like her, he’d never talked about it with a stranger before?

  Somehow, she found that explanation hard to believe, but she’d give him the benefit of the doubt. “No. Just my mum. What about you?”

  His grin was mirthless and didn’t reach his eyes, but the feral danger that radiated from him was so damn sexy she almost melted. “I was fostered.”

  “I’m sorry.” Wait, was that the right response? “I mean, you never knew your parents?” Am I digging this hole deeper, or what?

  “I didn’t say that.”

  It was obvious he didn’t want to talk about it. He probably thought she was being a nosy bitch. After all, there was no way he could know how much this meant to her.

  “I’m trying to work out if the fact we’re both telepathic is the reason you ended up here.”

  That possibility had sounded so much more feasible inside her head. She should’ve left it there.

  Her fingers curled around her butterfly necklace. It had been specially commissioned six years ago, an extravagant eighteenth birthday present from her parents, but for the first time its familiar touch didn’t give her any brilliant ideas. The smirk on his face didn’t help, either.

  “Doubtful.” With that dismissive response, he stood, and her mouth dried. He towered over her, and raw, sexual, power charged the air like invisible lightning. He rolled his shoulders, and she tried not to ogle his magnificent biceps as they flexed beneath his shirt.

  Fail.

  It wouldn’t be long before the locals were out, and while she didn’t care if they saw her with the most spectacular man in existence, it would also prompt a flood of questions. No way did she want him telling them about the astral planes, or his version of events.

  Whatever his version might be, since he still hadn’t deigned to tell her anything.

  She had to get him back to the house. Maybe he’d be more cooperative there.

  And that’s the only reason you want to take him back home?

  “So, how about that cup of tea?” She took a backward step in the desperate hope it might help clear the lust drenched fog in her brain. It didn’t. “We can work out what just happened.”

  Just shut up. She was making a total prat of herself, and he obviously agreed, since his delicious mouth quirked as though he was trying not to laugh.

  She swallowed a defeated groan and walked away from him. Unfortunately, his lethal magnetism was just as strong even when she wasn’t looking at him.

  “This way.” She gave a vague wave of her hand but managed not to glance over her shoulder to see if he was following or not. It was up to him, but at least she’d made the effort to help and not left him stranded.

  Stop with the guilt. This wasn’t her fault. Coincidences, even inexplicable ones, happened all the time.

  * * *

  Gabe

  It was the second time she’d walked away from him. He couldn’t figure out why he was watching her cute butt, instead of getting his own ass out of here. Sure, she had a smart mouth he found oddly fascinating, and he conceded it was intriguing that she didn’t fall at his feet. And he’d give a lot to study the unique construct of her telepathic web.

  But she was only a mortal.

  He exhaled an impatient breath and turned his back on her. He appeared to be in a meadow, and an expanse of woodland greeted him. It grated his nerves that he could still see the beauty on Earth. But then, it wasn’t the planet he despised.

  Just its human inhabitants.

  An alien crackling filled his head, sending streaks of fire along his arms. Ancient dread gripped his chest, and he froze as disbelief thudded through his brain.

  Not happening. Not here, not now. Let me be wrong.

  Slowly, he turned, even though it went against every primitive survival instinct. Unholy terror slammed through him as his worst fears were confirmed. Suspended a couple of feet from the ground, a jagged, violet fracture, like static lightning, split reality.

  It was the gateway into a hell he never wanted to see again. The twisted realm of the self-styled Guardians, misbegotten creatures whose species went back a billion years to the sunrise of time itself. Their hatred of every lifeform that had evolved after them was absolute.

  And Aurora stood in front of the rapidly expanding fissure, mesmerized, unaware of the phenomena’s significance, as the grass around the gateway withered and died.

  “Get away from there.” His voice was harsh, but she didn’t move, and the primal imperative to leave right now thundered through every atom of his being.

  It didn’t matter if she ran. The Guardians had singled her out. She would be taken.

  He couldn’t interfere. It went against ancient protocols, the bedrock of the tenuous peace that existed between every living creature in the universe—and those perverted miscreants of nature. Aberrations, whose only pleasure was to torture their captives in order to satisfy their sick craving to soak in a mortal’s terror.

  Unease slithered through him. The Guardians were random in their pickings, but was it possible they’d zeroed in on Aurora because they sensed she had been in contact, knowingly or not, with Mephisto?

  With me?

  He couldn’t save her. There was nothing he could do, yet he was by her side before he knew it. “Aurora.”

  “Stay back.” Her voice was hoarse with fear and her arm swung out, hitting his chest, the gesture one of instinctive protectiveness.

  Shock slashed through him and he forgot about the Guardians, forgot about the dark energy seeping from the fracture. This fragile human had just attempted to push him from the face of danger.

  No one pushed him from the face of danger. It had been millennia since anyone had cared enough to even try.

  She had no idea he didn’t need her protection, or that even if they wanted to, the Guardians couldn’t touch him. She didn’t know who he was, and she didn’t care about him, but she’d still tried to keep him safe.

  A strange, acidic fire scorched his chest. She didn’t deserve the fate that awaited her, just because she’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  Fuck ancient protocols. He wouldn’t stand by and let a mortal who had tried to save him be taken by the universe’s worst nightmare. Some humans deserved it. But not this one.

  He wrapped his arm around her and dragged her against his chest. There was only one place he could be sure that they would never find her.

  His sanctuary.

  Chapter 5

  Gabe

  Gabe held onto her until the shudders wracking her body finally eased. Mortals generally fell apart—no pun intended—after their first taste of teleportation, and the fact he h
adn’t given Aurora any warning meant she’d likely go into shock.

  He wasn’t looking forward to it.

  Her hair was soft against his jaw, and the faint scent of strawberries teased the air. It was harder than it should have been not to bury his face in those silken curls and breathe in deep.

  Her fingers dug into his shoulder, and he swallowed a groan. His brain might not want to have anything to do with her, but her touch was as potent as a siren’s call.

  Slowly, he released his death grip. Her hand slid from his shoulder and pressed against his chest before she raised her head.

  Her eyes were glazed, her lips parted. Grimly, he steeled himself for her inevitable hysterics. No good deed goes unpunished.

  “What happened?” Her voice was hushed.

  “Don’t worry. You’re safe from them, now.”

  “Safe?” she echoed, and her brow crinkled as her gaze slipped from his. Her body went rigid as her shocked glance skimmed over his expansive kitchen, and she hitched in a choked breath. The silver frame she’d brought with her clattered to the floor, but she didn’t seem to notice.

  “Where am I?”

  Somewhere you shouldn’t be.

  He’d acted without thinking it through. How long would she need to stay here before the Guardians forgot her and moved onto another victim?

  He already knew the answer to that. An archangel had interfered, snatching their prey from beneath their nonexistent noses. The vindictive little bastards wouldn’t let that indignity go lightly.

  Curse the gods. This was his sanctuary, his bolt-hole, the headquarters for his black ops ventures. He’d never brought a mortal here. But because of one unguarded second, Aurora was not only here—she could be here for weeks.

  Great.

  “This is my island. They can’t get to you here.”

  She took a step back and wrapped her arms around her waist as she gave his kitchen another incredulous glance. Why wasn’t she freaking out?

  She cleared her throat. “Did you just pull me through to another dimension?”

  Another dimension? That was her first question when her brain registered her surroundings?

  It was rare that anyone—let alone a mortal—could leave him speechless, but Aurora came close. “No. Same dimension. But we teleported.”

  “Teleported? How is that even possible?”

  How could she panic about teleportation when she’d been unnaturally calm by the fact she’d narrowly escaped being ripped apart by the Guardians?

  “Trust me. It’s possible.”

  She let out a ragged breath, and terror flared in her eyes. Not that he wanted her scared, but at least this reaction made more fucking sense.

  “Why would you abduct me?” She glanced wildly around as though searching for escape. “Take me back.”

  He wasn’t sure why the word abduct ruffled his phantom feathers. He didn’t give a shit what anyone said, least of all a mortal. And yet her accusation stung.

  “I just saved your ass from the Guardians.” What the fuck had happened to his never explain anything rule?

  “From the what?”

  It was terrifying how ignorant humans were of the universe they inhabited. So sure of their position at the top of the food chain, their immature brains would explode if they discovered just how many alien species truly walked among them.

  And that wasn’t even counting the Guardians, who existed in the Voids, a labyrinth construct within the inhospitable Dark Matter, the vast expanses of space between galaxies, where they reigned supreme in their immense, infernal domains.

  “The Guardians,” he repeated. “They’re not from Earth. They’re vicious, and if I hadn’t brought you here, they’re the ones who would’ve abducted you.”

  A stricken expression flashed across her face. “I saw something moving in that weird violet light. Like it was trying to come through.”

  “Hey.” Before he could stop himself, he traced his finger along her cheek. Damn, she felt good. He cradled her jaw and her warm breath against his hand was a seductive caress. “You’re safe here, remember? They can’t penetrate the defenses on my island.”

  “I’m safe? God, do you mean they were coming for me?”

  They sure as shit hadn’t been there for him. “Not you, personally. But you were there, so they would have taken you. They don’t need a reason except for the fact you’re alive, and you’re not one of them.”

  “Was it something I did?” Her whisper reeked of dread, and he had the insane notion to wrap his arms around her, just so she knew he was there for her.

  What the fuck? The only time he pulled a woman into his arms was if he wanted sex. And although he still wanted Aurora, despite her heritage, sex hadn’t been the overriding factor just now.

  Same as it hadn’t when he’d snatched her from the jaws of the Guardians.

  His hand tensed against her face, but he didn’t break contact. Until he’d met her, sex hadn’t crossed his mind in decades.

  Now, he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

  “It wasn’t anything you did.” He ground the words between his teeth. And once again guilt ate through him at the possibility the Guardians had singled her out because of him.

  He couldn’t imagine how, but the ways of the Guardians were shrouded in mystery. He wouldn’t put anything past them.

  “When can I go home?”

  “When it’s safe.”

  “But how long might that be?”

  Gods, how many more questions was she going to fire at him? And why was he still touching her? It was harder than it should have been to drop his hand to his side. “When I decide it’s safe.”

  She didn’t respond, but he could see the doubt in her beautiful blue eyes. It was a novel phenomenon. No one looked at him with doubt. If anyone had the nerve to disbelieve his word, they at least averted their gaze if they wanted to live.

  She attempted to protect me. Even now, he could hardly believe it. But it was the only reason he tolerated her lack of reverence. He inhaled a deep breath. With a few ground rules he’d get through the next few weeks without too much … inconvenience.

  “How do you know so much about them?” She didn’t try to hide the suspicion in her voice.

  “Enough.” He didn’t raise his voice. Didn’t need to. The low, hypnotic note was enough to silence any species, never mind one as primitive as humans. He never explained himself, and he wasn’t into charity work. Since meeting Aurora, he was breaking every damn rule in his book.

  No more.

  He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had questioned every word he said.

  Yes, I can.

  Despair clawed through his chest, interwoven with the guilt that had once all but destroyed him. Would he never find peace?

  I don’t deserve peace.

  He crushed the memory before it consumed him. It was too long ago, and nothing could change the past. Although he’d give everything, just for the chance.

  His current headache stood before him, glaring at him as though they were equals. Expecting a reply. With anyone else, he’d let them wait forever. Why couldn’t he dismiss Aurora that easily?

  “Believe me, I’ll return you as soon as possible. I don’t want you on my island any longer than necessary.”

  Without taking her gaze from him, she pulled her phone from the back pocket of her jeans. She jabbed the screen a few times with her thumb. “There’s no signal.”

  Wasn’t that the truth. In more ways than she could imagine. “Nothing gets in, and nothing gets out, without my permission.”

  She shivered, like he’d just threatened her instead of attempting to reassure her—yet again—that she was safe.

  “Your island.” She licked her lips. Stop looking at her damn lips. “Are we still on Earth?”

  “Yeah.” The irony never faded. Earth had become his hell, yet it was still the nearest thing he called home. And now the niceties were out of the way, he’d lay down the ground rules. “Whil
e you’re here, you can go anywhere. Except my office. Understood?”

  “But—”

  He cursed violently in the language of the ancients. Would she never simply accept his word? She gazed at him, apparently fascinated. If he didn’t get away from her right now, he was going to plunder that disrespectful mouth of hers until she was a mindless wreck at his feet.

  The image was so fucking tempting. He clenched his teeth and swung away from her. In all his long existence, only one woman hadn’t fallen at his feet and worshipped his immortal existence. He’d been enchanted. Ensnared. Would have torn Earth apart for her and rejected his heritage, if she had asked.

  Never again.

  And never for a human. Even if Aurora’s inexplicable immunity to his archangelic magnetism was intriguing. She wanted him, but pushed him away, and he wasn’t going to waste another nanosecond thinking about her.

  He marched upstairs and into his bedroom, where his sweeping balcony gave a panoramic view of the subtropical forest surrounding his villa.

  His sanctuary. But once, it had been his prison.

  He rolled his shoulders, but it didn’t stop the ancient need that simmered deep in the ruined tangle of muscle and sinew that gouged his back. A constant reminder of all he had lost.

  During those dark years, he hadn’t cared. He’d welcomed his deformity, flaunted his scars, and enjoyed a twisted sense of satisfaction in the fact he no longer possessed that which defined his species.

  It hadn’t lasted long. A few insane decades, and then reality had crashed through his haze of guilt and grief.

  The reality that he would never again experience the exhilarating freedom of soaring through the skies.

  Razor sharp frustration and unwanted lust pounded through him, and every cell in his body screamed for release. To know once again the power and ecstasy of spreading his wings and owning the heavens.

  Aurora’s face flooded his mind, her innocent blue eyes stoking the fire in his blood. Get out of my head. Why did he think of her?