Blood Battles (Fallen Angels Book 2)

by Judith Post

  Maggie reached for Danny's hand and started toward the stairs that led to their room. "Let's get our things. We can go home."

  "Won't you stay the night?" Voronika asked.

  Maggie shook her head. "I'm ready to get back to my own house, my own routine. I don't want to be exhausted for our wedding."

  Voronika sighed and stepped closer to Enoch. "I'm ready to leave here too. We can take walks again and watch the streets from our penthouse."

  Our. From Voronika's lips. Enoch's heart gave a happy skip. "Do you want to keep this place? Use it on weekends?"

  She thought a minute. "Do you guys want it?" she asked Danny.

  Danny gave a no. "Not me. It's too lonely."

  Maggie agreed. "I'll always think of this as a war zone."

  "What then?" Enoch asked.

  "Donate it to the park or the wetland marsh. We made a wreck of things. Maybe a naturalist or ranger could live here."

  Enoch liked the idea of giving back. "Done."

  Danny wrapped an arm around Maggie's waist. "It's time for us to head home."

  Ulrich helped them carry their luggage to their car, then came to stand by Enoch's side to watch them leave. When everyone went to the kitchen to shake off their nervous energy and enjoy each others' company, he sipped his beer, more quiet than usual.

  Enoch took a chair across from him and leaned close. "You're awfully serious for a man who's ready to celebrate."

  Ulrich sighed. He motioned around the room. "Danny has Maggie. You have Voronika. There's Bart and Claudia, and now Eva and Amado—she deserves love. Sometimes I think I'm missing out."

  Enoch couldn't hide his surprise. "You? The perennial playboy?"

  "I've been single a long time." Ulrich's gaze settled on Eva. "Do you think there's a woman in the world who could tolerate me?"

  "Miracles happen," Enoch told him. "There must be one."

  Ulrich threw back his head and laughed. "You're an angel. Do you ever play Cupid?"

  "Not once in my entire existence."

  "Too bad those hands only see victims," Ulrich said, "but maybe if a female was stuck with me, it would be sort of the same."

  Frivolous words. Enoch shook his head. Anyone who knew Ulrich well knew he was much more than flash and bravado. "When you're ready, the right woman will be getting a prize."

  Voronika plopped onto Enoch's lap. "Enough male bonding. I'm tired of being ignored." She placed her hands on each side of his face and kissed him thoroughly. "Hi there, angel. Remember me?"

  He was short of breath. "How could I forget?"

  She smiled, and Ulrich raised his glass of beer to excuse himself. "Enjoy, friend. You've earned this."

  Voronika sighed and pressed herself closer. "I'm glad this is over. I've missed our same, old routines. Being normal. Or as normal as it gets for creatures like us."

  Enoch had never thought of it that way. He'd worried and fretted that routine was boring, but sometimes, it was to be savored. "To normal." He lowered his lips and gave Voronika a long, slow kiss.

  The party went on around them, but they didn't notice.

  "Come upstairs with me." She tugged on his hand. "I want to know what it feels like to take it slow and easy."

  Like that would happen. He locked the grids—more out of habit than for safety—and climbed the stairs after her. On the way to their bedroom, he let out a slow breath. Someone had turned on music. Laughter rang in the kitchen, and he was following Voronika to their bedroom--he was one step closer to Heaven, even if it was here on Earth.

  She tugged on his hand. "And once we get home, we can start getting ready for the wedding."

  He smiled. He should have known. He'd learned to savor each moment, each blessing, while he could. There was always the next thing that needed done. But Voronika was right. They had a lot of work to do in a short amount of time. The wedding was only days away.

  Chapter 61

  Enoch sat, patiently waiting for Voronika to leave her room. He'd already delivered tray after tray of food to the reception hall for the servers he'd hired to heat and arrange. He'd showered and dressed. He glanced at his watch. They'd have to leave soon. Luckily, it was an overcast day. No worry of sunlight. Maybe the heavens had decided to bless them for once.

  He'd made a tactical error, he decided. When Voronika fretted about what to wear to a summer wedding, he'd handed her a laptop and shown her how to order whatever outfits struck her fancy. Box after box had arrived at their door. She'd tried on one dress after another, and when he told her she looked good in each and every one of them, she'd waved him away.

  "You're no help at all." After he'd waken her this afternoon, she'd shooed him out of the room. "I want it to be a surprise."

  He glanced at his watch again. "Voronika, it's time!"

  Her bedroom door opened. She came down the hall and stood before him. His breath caught in his throat. Her platinum hair was pulled up in a loose knot that made her look sophisticated and sexy at the same time. She wore a cream-colored dress with tiny sprigs of flowers decorating it. The material clung to her torso, then gathered and poofed at her hips. She wore strappy heels that made her long legs look infinite. But best of all, she wore the ruby necklace and the ruby ring that he'd given her for Christmas. The ring was on her right hand, but at least she was wearing it. He hadn't seen it since that night.

  She wore a satisfied smirk as he led her to his Land Rover with its tinted windows. She spread her arms and turned in a happy twirl. "A gray day, just for me."

  It was a short drive to the church. When he helped her from the car, she looked him up and down. "You look too damned good in a suit. Makes me want to eat you."

  "No need. You've already fed."

  She smacked his arm as they walked up the steps. "You're horrible, but remember, your blood is my blood. You're mine."

  He turned a surprised look on her. "Have you ever had to worry?"

  She pursed her lips and turned to fiddle with his shirt collar. "I've been thinking. You've asked me to marry you, and I keep turning you down, but you could have any woman you want. How long will you wait for me? With a normal woman, you could go out in the daylight, lead a normal life. Maybe…." She sighed.

  He led her into the vestibule. "Maybe you're worrying about things you don't need to."

  "Like you did with Amado?"

  At the mention of the name, Enoch's dark eyebrows drew together in a scowl.

  An usher came to seat them. The church pews were nearly full, so Enoch expected to be near the back of the sanctuary, but the man led them to the second pew. A place had been reserved for them. Not what they'd agreed on with Danny, but if they wouldn't stand up with their friends, Danny still meant to offer them up for scrutiny. Enoch sighed. Voronika squeezed his hand.

  A few minutes later, the pastor led Danny, Derek, and four other men into the room. Two of the men had the same beefy, broad-shouldered build as Danny—must be his brothers. All three looked uncomfortable in their tuxes. The other two had curly, brown hair like Maggie. Once they took their places, the wedding march started and everyone turned to watch bridesmaids walk up the aisle. When Maggie and her father entered the church, her smile lit the entire room. Voronika had been right about Maggie's wedding dress and the tiny flowers in her brown curls. Maggie looked like a princess.

  Voronika's grip tightened on his. Enoch twined his arm through hers. They both settled in to enjoy the ceremony and share this moment with their friends. When the pastor got to the part where they exchanged rings, Voronika slipped a hard, metal circle onto his palm. He glanced down and looked up at her in surprise. A heavy, gold band. He frowned, and she lifted it to put on his finger. When Danny slid Maggie's ring in place, Voronika removed the ruby ring he'd given her from her right hand and moved it to her left.

  It felt as though his heart stopped beating. Could this be real? He stared at her, and she didn't look away. They didn't say a thing, but watched the end of the wedding. It wasn't until they'd gone through t
he receiving line and shaken hands with everyone, until they were finally free to wander outside while others went through the line, that Enoch turned to her and said, "I wouldn't have pressured you. You didn't have to do this."

  "Oh, but I did. You don't notice the way women look at you. It's time the world knows I'm the one you chose, that all other females need not apply."

  Happiness surged through him in such a rush, he felt disoriented.

  She laughed. "It's not often you're dumbstruck. I like it."

  He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a small, velvet box. She raised an eyebrow, and he pressed it into her hand. "To go with the rest."

  She opened the box, and large, oval, ruby earrings sparkled up at her. Each ruby was surrounded by diamonds. She removed the earrings she'd been wearing and quickly replaced them with his gift. "Well?" she asked, modeling them.

  "They can't compete with you."

  She pressed herself closer. "I won't have a real wedding in a real church. I'm a vampire. It would feel wrong. But I now consider you my mate, angel."

  He hugged her to him and only pulled away when he noticed people staring. He tried to find the right words to express how he felt, but Voronika pressed a finger to his lips.

  "I already know," she told him.

  He shook his head. "You're mine. I'm yours. But this if Maggie and Danny's big event. Let's go celebrate with them."

  And to make everything perfect, the sun didn't shine, and they got to enjoy each and every moment of the day.

  Discover More Fallen Angels Stories

  Fallen Angels

  Book One

  He’d saved his friend from the pit, but he couldn’t save him from himself.

  Enoch should have let Caleb join Lucifer. Instead, he’d wrestled Caleb to the ground and held him there until the rebellion was over. Caleb still denounced everything Enoch held dear, and he was cast to Earth in punishment. Without the Light, Caleb wastes away, until he discovers a new life force—human blood. Worse yet, each mortal he drains is infected with his immortality, creating a race of vampires. Enoch is responsible for Caleb’s mess, so Enoch’s sent to Earth to clean it up. He walks the night, hunting and destroying vampires, trying to protect mortals.

  And he’ll be stuck among mortals until Caleb repents and returns Home….which doesn’t seem likely.

  But when Caleb’s hordes come to town as Enoch is trying to hunt down a vicious serial killer, Enoch finds himself trapped in an eternal battle with his former friend as he tries to protect the people of Three Rivers from threats both human and not.

  Blood Lust

  Book Three

  How far can rules bend before they break?

  When the letter of the law protects a vicious vampire, should Enoch write his own mandates?

  Enoch thought Three Rivers would be the safest city on earth after he and Caleb made a deal that no vampires could drain mortals there. Little did he realize the "no drain" rule made Three Rivers more tempting to the vampire Feral, who opens a vampire nightclub in an old warehouse close to downtown, secure in the knowledge that her guests can sip from humans, but not drink them dry. Soon, mortals are paying cover charges to rub shoulders with the Undead and, hopefully, to offer a vein to them. Vampire venom becomes the best drug in town, and Enoch and Feral butt heads.

  When Feral takes in a teenager to offer up to vamp customers, Feral's boy toy changes her in front of her little sister. Enoch rescues both girls, but Feral won't let the episode go. She wants the girl punished, but she's devious enough to not break any vampire rules while hunting her. She and Enoch start a cat-and-mouse game, Feral trying to capture the girl, Enoch trying to protect her.

  As a fallen angel, Enoch respects rules, but he quickly learns they can be used against him. How far can rules bend before they break? And does Enoch care?

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