The Demon Mistress
Page 17
But the sudden realization that I didn’t know Jericho’s fate, sliced a dagger through all of those horribly suburban and strangely appealing plans. As the room cleared, I waited for him to make the next move. When he didn’t stand right away, my heart sunk in fear.
“Well, that was interesting,” he said with a smirk.
I couldn’t wait any longer. “What did they do to you?”
He said nothing at first. Then he slowly started to unbutton his jacket. I shifted in my seat wondering what he was up to and soaking up the anticipation. But when he slipped it off his arms, and let his wings break free, I sucked in a horrified breath.
“Why?” I breathed.
He walked over to me and bent down next to my knees. “Because I chose you.”
Reaching up to touch his new form, I hesitated.
“It doesn’t hurt.”
“But they…they cut them off!” Choking on my sobs, I couldn’t stop shaking my head. “This is so much worse—”
He grabbed my face. “It was my choice.”
“To have them cut off your wings?” I knew my shouts could be heard all throughout this floor, even if no one was on it anymore.
“To become an earth angel.”
The bloodied stumps pierced my heart. Where there was once a curve leading into the lower wing, there was now a broken bone that looked like a chewed-up chicken wing. What feathers did remain, were as dark as the ones that graced his brother’s wings. “How could Raphael do this to you?”
“I wanted this.”
“Why?”
Jericho sighed and lifted me into his lap on the floor. “Because I’m tired of doing His bidding. I’m tired of fighting the battle. I don’t want to be on the wrong side again. In fact, I don’t want to be on any side at all. I just want to be…normal.”
Huffing a laugh against his chest, I teased, “Normal?” Why would you want to do that?”
“I don’t want to do that. I want to do that with you.” Jericho kissed my forehead. “Let’s just be us for a while.”
“I can’t believe you gave up everything.”
“So did you.”
I pulled away so I could look at his eyes. “No, Jericho. You gave up so much more.”
“My wings are temporary—a punishment not a sentence.”
“Wait, what?” I couldn’t describe the feelings rushing through me right now, but I liked the happiness slipping in there every once and a while. “You won’t lose them forever?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t know that, of course. The offer was for permanent removal and I took it anyway. Which is why Raphael made it temporary.”
“How?”
“He has his ways.” Jericho kissed my lips. “But we can’t let Mammon know. Raphael kind of went around her on this one.”
“Of course she would want it permanent.” Leaning into him again, I said, “Sorry demons are so revengeful.”
“She was harsh on me because she didn’t want to hurt you. I think she knew what you were going to say.” Rubbing my back with his hands, he added, “She knew it the moment you failed to kill me.”
“I would have killed you,” I teased.
“No, you wouldn’t have.”
No, I wouldn’t have.
Thinking about these past few weeks and the future now in front of us, I couldn’t help but smile at the way everything ended up working out. Sure, I was jobless. Jericho was wingless. And I didn’t know what we would end up doing with all our free time…well, kind of, but we would figure it out together. We could live in my apartment, explore the city, and play stupid cards games with my sister and Silas. And then when the babies got here, we could take turns spoiling them and feeding them lots of sugar before we returned them to my sister. It could be so normal. Like the humans.
“Normal, huh?” I asked.
“Normal.”
“Well, we might have to adjust to the new normal a little bit,” I said in frustration.
“What? Why?”
“Because apparently Mammon decided to block my teleportation abilities.” I’d already tried three times to take us back to my apartment. And all three times, I hit a wall of blocked magic. Demons and their grudges.
Jericho laughed. “Looks like we need to budget for cab fare for a while.”
“I hate taxis,” I grumbled.
Bending over, Jericho kissed me lightly on the lips. “Taxis can be fun,” he wiggled his brows.
“They smell.”
“The city smells,” he added.
“Well, maybe we can leave the city for a while.” He kissed me again and I wished more than ever that I could get us back into my bed without the thirty-minute ride. “I’m thinking Barbados,” I said with a smile. “Warm and clean.”
“Barbados it is,” Jericho teased. He shifted beneath me and pulled my legs off to the side to straddle him. Pushing his erection against me, he gave me a wicked grin. “Do you think they all left?”
“Probably.”
“Well, maybe we should consummate this new arrangement of ours.” He rubbed along my opening nice and slow.
“Maybe we should.”
With a gentle kiss against my nose, he breathed, “I love you, Arabella.”
“You too, angel.”
For the hundredth time, I twisted in my seat and tried to find a comfortable position. Jericho continued to laugh at my expense.
“What’s wrong.”
“These seats are so…so tiny! I don’t know how people travel this way.”
Jericho shook his head. “Lay the seat down some.”
I tried but it only moved a few inches. “You know I have money. We could be flying first class. Or maybe even on a private jet. Anything other than this cattle car.”
“I thought we wanted to be normal for a while,” Jericho said, the amusement in his voice not lost on me.
“I don’t like this kind of normal,” I grumbled.
“Oh, come on. It’s got to better than before there were planes at all.”
“You’re forgetting that I could teleport, right? I never had to travel long distances.” I fidgeted again, trying to get the stinging sensation out of my right foot that had fallen asleep twenty minutes ago.
“It’s fun.”
“It’s miserable.”
“We can be just like the humans now.”
I rolled my eyes.
The first few weeks after our sentencing took some adjustments—for both of us. Even though he’d never admit it, Jericho winced each time he extended his deformed wings, making me think he was in a lot of pain. It slowly subsided, but even today, I knew he was having trouble with the physical impact.
I had to learn to avoid Mammon’s places—the office, her apartment buildings, and restaurants. And I had to learn to ignore the aching pain in my gut that grew each time I thought about how much I missed her. Talking to Ashby helped, since she’d been through the same kind of ban. But it didn’t make me miss my time with Mammon any less. Jericho thought she’d eventually come around and invite both Ashby and me back into her life—especially once the babies were born. I hoped he was right because I secretly wanted that very, very much.
The last couple of nights, I’d been really down about everything. Not once did I second guess my choice, but it was hard. So that’s why Jericho surprised me with a trip to Barbados. He’d packed my bag, made all of the arrangements, and booked the tickets. And when he said we were going out to dinner, he helped me into the town car and didn’t say a word until we got to the airport.
I couldn’t possibly love him anymore. My bond with Jericho went beyond this realm. Despite being mortal enemies, we’d found a happiness and shared a love that went well beyond anything we’d ever experienced before. I learned that he liked to play chess. And he learned that he was never going to be able to teach me how to make a proper flan. I loved the way he liked to arrange his tee shirts in color order in the drawers, and he despised the way I would shove a red one in between the whites
and blues every once in a while. By all intents and purposes, our life had become normal.
And I loved every minute of it.
My phone whistled at me with a waiting text. Jericho clicked his tongue. “You know, you’re not supposed to have them on right now.”
“Oh, stop being so angelic,” I teased.
“Who is it?”
I sighed and then enjoyed the tiny moment of gratitude I felt toward the caller. “It’s Echo.” Echo, the demon who’d always hated me and would have enjoyed seeing me burn in the pits, had been keeping me updated in the world of Mammon. “He says they upgraded our room.” I turned to Jericho. “What’s that mean?”
“Sweet,” he said, leaning back and closing his eyes.
“Jericho? Did you have Echo help you with this little plan?”
“Maybe.”
“And did you check to see if he gave you the right information?” For all I knew, Echo might book us in a cockroach infested shack just because he could.
“Stop worrying.”
“He can’t be trusted.”
Jericho lifted a brow and gave me look through his one open eye. “Are you telling me demons aren’t honest?”
“Most of them aren’t.” When he cleared his throat, I added. “Okay, all of them. Except for me, of course.”
“Of course.” Jericho smiled when he grabbed my hand. “I love it when you get so feisty.”
He’d said those words to me many times now, and it never got old. “Well, I love it when you say that.”
Pulling me under his shoulder, he said, “I love you.”
I ignored the arm rest digging into my ribs, and the look the flight attendant gave Jericho, and decided to ignore both so I could enjoy this moment. I had my angel. I had my life. And I had the kind of normal I never really knew I wanted before.
“You too, angel,” I said with the smile that would never leave my lips.
The End…for now.
Coming up next, meet the wolves of the Green Mountain Pack.
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About Ashlee Sinn
Ashlee Sinn fancies all creatures of the paranormal persuasion, especially those who like to bite. Her steamy romances tend to feature swoon-worthy heroes and kick-ass heroines. Whether its vampires, shifters, or demons, the women who keep them in line have a special place in her heart. And in her chaotic head.
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