Closing her eyes, she heard the multiple doors slam open. Reaching inside her mind, she found Jason in his room. Mentally plucking him from the bed, she jerked him into her tower. When she opened her eyes, he stood startled next to her other men.
“Dom, what in the hell is going on?”
“Just don’t say or do anything, Jason. You do not want to piss her off.”
“Would I sound like a pussy if I said I was scared?”
Dominic laughed. “It’ll never leave this room. I don’t blame you one bit. Marcella isn’t herself right now.”
“No one is that powerful. I was fucking levitating, dude. Not. Cool.”
Tremors shot through her body, and Marcy could feel herself convulse. This wasn’t right. She was being taken completely over. Her sense of self was almost gone. The words kept coming from her mouth, but she didn’t have control on what was said the majority of the time.
“Samael.” Her voice sounded distant as she tried to change back into her collector.
“What is it, my queen?”
“Help…me.”
“Oh, hell. I was really hoping you were getting a grip on your creatures. I really had faith that you were coming around. Here, keep still.”
“I thought you said she was stronger than you?” Donavon asked lowly.
She watched the dark angel look over at him. “She’ll never be stronger than me. My station wills it so.”
Dominic shook his head. “But you’re just a demon master. She can turn into one, too, plus anything else. I don’t understand how you’re more powerful.”
“Take my word for it. She’ll never overpower me. Ever. It’s virtually impossible.”
Hands clasped around her face, and Samael hesitated just before he pulled her lips to his. Liquid fire shot into her mouth, searing everything it touched until it settled in her toes. She felt her collector stir and jolt as it was forcefully ripped upward to her ankles. The further it climbed, the more the fire caused her to fight.
“What in the hell is he doing?”
Donavon’s voice came out like a growl. Dominic answered him. “He’s bringing her collector back. Her creatures are getting stronger, and they’re taking her over. They seize her mind, so to speak. It’s almost like she has different personalities. Marcella must have realized what was in Jason’s cards. I think your ass just got saved, my friend.”
Jason’s throat cleared. “What do you think she was going to do?”
Donavon laughed. “Samael told her she needed to create another collector and take her half from you to put in him. You’d just be a normal collector if she did.”
Marcella heard a gasp come from his throat just as the cobwebs reached her chest. Her voice was completely gone as she continued to scream with no sound. She wouldn’t doubt if the heat seared her damn vocal cords.
“She was going to do it? I can’t live without her somehow inside of me. If I can’t taste her, at least I can feel her. There’s no way I can do without both.”
Once again, Donavon’s voice responded. “Have you ever thought to let her go completely? Like, just walk your ass away and not look back. Maybe go off and find your own mate?”
Thick silence settled in the room at his question. Marcella tried to rip away from Samael, but he wouldn’t let her go.
“I will never leave her, wolf. I’ve already told you about the connection the two of us share. Don’t turn into the asshole I warned you about.”
“Yeah, well, I told you not to like me. The way I see it, we’re all here, and where are you? Right here crying because you can’t man up. Real nice, our queen needs fifty more just like you.”
“Donavon, enough.” Dominic growled. “You don’t know what happened. Do not pass judgment on Jason when you didn’t see it firsthand.”
“Fuck, I’ve tasted her. I know how consuming she is, but you don’t see me trying to attack her. You don’t think my wolf doesn’t want to tear into her, too, and taste what she’s really made of? Yeah, the dragon is probably harder to control, but I doubt it isn’t something he can’t get over if he at least tries. I have. It’s simple. Stop fucking being a pussy, and ignore your cravings.”
The sound of a fist connecting had Marcella bouncing in Samael’s grip. The cobwebs reached her eyes slowly. The dark angel was dragging it out on purpose. She stopped moving and glared at him as shuffling and yelling erupted around them.
Samael’s blue eyes rolled, and she felt her change complete. If she could have said something, she would have told him off, but no words would leave her mouth.
Turning, she saw Dominic leaning over Jason, trying to pull him off Donavon. Fists were flying evenly between the two men. “I didn’t like you then, and I sure as hell don’t like you now,” Jason shouted, throwing another punch. “Whatever made me think you’d changed is beyond me!”
“Because I’m right. You probably betrayed our queen in the past, just as you have now.”
Horrified, she watched them switch positions. Donavon threw Jason over and pulled Dominic over with him.
“I’d never intentionally hurt her. I love Marcella.”
“You’re hurting her now!”
“We’ve been through this before, my queen. If you protect them as you did in the past, they will never resolve their problems.” His hands eased across her back as a sign of comfort. Marcella turned and looked at Samael. So many things wanted to be said, but she couldn’t talk, and it only hurt her more. She hated seeing her men fight amongst themselves. They needed to be friends. They needed to trust each other. And as much as she hated it, she knew to believe Samael.
Dominic pulled Donavon off while Ambrose helped Jason to his feet. Both men were bloodied, and her wolf mate’s face looked even worse, and poor Jason didn’t look any better. The pure hate they showed to one another triggered something in her mind. She pushed it away as she stepped forward to chide them.
Walking over to Jason, she watched as his eye contact broke from her new mate. Multiple expressions crossed his features while he looked down at her. Using the voice in her head, she communicated with him.
“I won’t deny that you’ve hurt me by your rejection. But I do understand it. I’m sorry for the pain I’ve put you through with my succubus. Please forgive me.”
Jason’s large arms scooped her up, hugging her body against his tightly. “Marcella, I’m so sorry for not trusting myself with you. Please understand that I’m only doing this because I don’t want to see you hurt.”
Clutching her fist in his hair, she pulled his face from her neck and made eye contact with him. “You hurt me more by rejection. I would rather die a thousand deaths by your dragon than miss a moment without your touch. Don’t you see this? You and I are one. I can’t do this by myself, Jason. If you won’t come back to me, I’ll have to find someone else to complete me, and I don’t want that.”
“I don’t either.”
Biting her lip against the tears, she looked away from him. Clearing her throat, she wiggled her way down.
“Men, I must speak with Samael in private.” Her voice was barely audible, but she knew they had heard her.
Dominic took a step forward. “Samael, we have a problem. The angels have seen Marcella.”
“What!”
No words could describe the cold, evil feeling that crept into the room at his outburst. All the things the men had said slammed into her at once. Men were watching. But angels? That didn’t seem like such a bad thing.
“How did this happen?” Samael took a step away from her and zeroed in on Dominic.
“My succubus.” She grabbed the dark angel’s arms, knowing his hostile attitude was narrowed in on her demon mate.
“What about it?” Samael snapped.
Dominic quickly cut her off. “I neglected to tell Jason or Donavon about the news. They went outside. When Marcella disappeared, I wasn’t sure at first where she went to.”
“So you failed me? You failed our queen?”
Dominic’s
mouth opened, and she watched as his head went down. She yanked Samael around to face her. “Don’t you ever say anything like that to one of my men again. No one failed me. You act as if the problem can’t be taken care of. Now what in the hell is going on?”
“Nemmy. Ring any bells, my queen?”
The name was spat with such distaste and hate it took her a moment to really focus on Samael’s question. Nemmy, Nemmy. “Nope. Sorry. I have no clue who that is.”
“Well, I guarantee you he hasn’t so easily forgotten about you. Why do you think he and his partner are sitting outside even as we speak?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “How the fuck am I supposed to know? You can bet your ass I’m going to find out.”
Marcella instantly vanished to the front yard. “I know you’re out there! Come forward.”
“What the fuck are you doing?” Samael picked her up by her waist. As his face settled in her neck, she was zapped with pleasure so intense she let out a cry.
“Let her go!” one of them yelled.
Just as all her men appeared behind Samael, two strangers raced across the street in their direction. The moment Marcella looked into the long, blond-haired guy’s eyes, she knew he was Nemmy. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew it deep in her soul.
“I said let her go, Samael.” It was Nemmy who had spoken before.
Red highlights caught her attention, and she smiled for some unexplainable reason. Leaning forward in her dark angel’s arms, she reached for a lock of the good angel’s hair. “Nemmy?”
He met her halfway, smiling so brightly she was sure the sun had come out. As her fingers touched the red, she felt her face turn to the side. What wasn’t she remembering?
Nemmy laughed. “Long story, but you said, ‘the day hell freezes over and your—’”
Marcella cut him off. “‘—your hair is the color of blood, I’ll come completely over to the light.’ I remember! Nemmy!” She jerked him forward, sandwiching herself between him and Samael. He smelled of mint, so clean, so fresh she hugged onto him harder. It was the dark angel pulling back that broke their contact.
Nemmy shrugged. “So, yeah, I’ve got the hair part going, but I couldn’t bear to do it all in this horrid color. As for hell freezing over?”
“Yeah, fucking forget about that part.” Samael hissed. “Hence, she’s not fucking leaving with you, so stop trying to get her to.”
Marcella turned and waved him off. “I’m not going anywhere, and I won’t lie. I don’t remember too much about you. I’ve only just recently regained a small fraction of my memory. So what brings you here? And why are you spying on me?”
He shrugged and flashed his gaze to his partner. “I couldn’t believe it to be true. After we saw all the pictures in Samael’s penthouse, I knew I had to see for myself.”
“Pictures?” She turned around but decided she’d hit that conversation up later. “Why not come to the door? Well, I mean, I only just got home tonight, but why didn’t you announce yourself? I know you saw me out here earlier. Although you probably were better off hiding.”
“Marcella, this man is not your friend. We need to go back inside,” Samael snapped.
She turned to look back at him, and realized for some reason, he was holding her tighter. “He is, too, my friend. I can feel it. He’s good. Hell, he’s an angel. You can’t get better than that.”
“Angels fall, my dear. Hello? Not everyone is as innocent as they appear. He has his own motives, trust me.”
“Nemmy?” She looked at him, for the first time letting herself really take in his aura. Shit, what had she expected? He felt mostly good!
“He’s right. I do want something. But only in the long run. We used to deal souls, Marcianna.”
“Whoa.” She held up her hand. “I am not her. My name is Marcella. If you want to continue, you have to say it right.”
Nemmy dazzled her with a smile. “If that’s what you want, Marcella.”
“It is.” She wiggled, but still she was held against the one man who never seemed to want to touch her. “I thought.” She turned toward Samael. Somehow, she’d assumed since he was both good and bad, she’d always let him handle the souls. True, she could remember Nemmy, but nothing he spoke of. Just him, in general.
“Can we go?” Samael’s voice pleaded to her.
“Just a sec. Nemmy, you do realize that you’ll have to keep my existence quiet, right? I mean, no one can know I’m back.”
His eyes shot to Samael. “I kind of figured that. That’s why I said in the future. I want nothing more at the moment than to get reacquainted with you.”
“Well, it is kind of late. Could you come by tomorrow? My men and I were just going to bed.”
“You mean you forgave them after what they did?”
“Enough! She’s is not to remember yet. When she was asked to be brought back, she gave specific orders to let things come as she progressed. This is not the time. If you tell her, you condemn her. Don’t do it.”
“When she asked to come back?” Nemmy narrowed his eyes at Samael. “If what you say is true, the last thing I want is to be her downfall. I won’t have that resting on my shoulders. I’m not sure I could handle the burden.”
Marcella didn’t think Samael could get any tenser. The angel turned in her direction, and for the first time, she wasn’t so sure he was as good as she thought. The pain coming from the man behind her was as fresh inside her heart as she was sure it was in his.
“Until tomorrow, Marcella.” Nemmy took her hand and placed a nearly nonexistent kiss on the top. She didn’t even smile as the two of them disappeared. Samael put her down, but she didn’t move. Turning to her men, she looked at all of their faces.
“You all go inside. I wish to speak with Samael. I’ll be to bed shortly.”
Reluctantly, they walked off. Not one of them even dematerialized. Looking up into the dark angel’s beautiful face, she noticed he wouldn’t look at her. Marcella didn’t hesitate. She braced herself and cupped his cheeks. The pleasure was there but bearable since she was expecting it.
“You wish to tell me something?”
“No.”
“You sure about that? Because if I thought you were lying to me…” She let the words stay open. The chance was his to take.
A sigh left his lips. “Can I take you somewhere? It won’t take long. There’s just something I want you to see.”
Marcella grabbed his hand, never breaking contact with his sorrowful eyes. There was that pain again, and she hated that he was feeling that way. “I would go anywhere with you, Samael. You know where I stand.”
The look in his eyes was one she couldn’t quite make out. Just as she was about to ask him what was wrong, he was suddenly letting go of her hand and hitting a switch. Lights flooded what she assumed was his penthouse, given the glowing city lights she could see from the large windows.
Pulling her into a hallway, Samael waved his hand, making numerous pictures cover the wall. Shocked, she took in each one, walking further down as she went.
“This is everything. My whole life.” Her voice broke upon seeing her mother. She brought her fingertip to the picture, tracing the outline of the woman’s face. God, she had been so young when this picture had been taken. Marcella was but an infant in her mom’s arms.
“Yes. I made sure you had a good life. Your change came when you were unexpectedly young. I wasn’t prepared as much as I thought. You see, if I would have known, maybe I could have prevented the loss of your parents.”
There was the aching. God, she missed them so much. “Samael, nothing is definite. What’s done is done. Besides, they’re in a better place. My mom is…with my child. I know she’s watching over it for me.” Fuck. Marcella wiped the tears from her face. She so wasn’t stable enough to be thinking along those lines.
He nodded but remained silent. It was time to see where he stood in her suspicions from the angel. “You brought me here for a reason, Samael. What would you like to tell m
e? Maybe something that Nemmy seemed to think you were lying about?”
“Marcy.” Samael stepped forward only to completely turn around and start walking away. He seemed to realize what he was doing and came back in her direction. “Listen, maybe I haven’t been one hundred percent truthful, but you have to understand that I can’t tell you. It would only make things worse. Do you understand?”
“I’m trusting that you’re referring to my past and therefore can’t tell me. If it’s something that wouldn’t affect the path I’m on, then I think I have a right to know.”
His lips parted. “It is about the past.” Blue eyes looked down at the floor almost as if deciding something. “And I really think it’ll make things worse. I know it won’t make them better.”
“Then no more. Not a single word. I’m sorry that Nemmy hurt you. I didn’t like that so much.”
“Who said he hurt me?” He seemed to get defensive at her words.
“I felt it. Here.” She placed her hand over her heart. “It really pissed me off, truthfully. Maybe you were right. Maybe I should stay away from him.”
Samael’s lips parted. “You would do that? For me?”
“Of course I would. He said he needed me in the future. That doesn’t consist of now. I think to be safe, I should probably brush him off gently. The last thing I need to do is tick him off and have him ratting me out.”
Samael burst out laughing. “And this is why, well, this is why we get along. We’re one of a kind.”
“I think that’s truer than either of us think.” They were two of a kind, weren’t they? It was as if everything about him seemed to fit to her personality perfectly.
“What do you mean?” The thickness in his whisper caused her body to gravitate in his direction.
“Samael, don’t pretend there’s not something between us. We’d both know you were lying.”
The sway of Marcella’s hips had nothing to do with her succubus, and everything to do with a woman who was trying to entice a man she wanted.
“The chemistry is there, but nothing will come out of it. I’ve already told you my terms. I won’t share you.”
Marcella brought one of her eyebrows up as she took in his trembling body. When he used to say that, the anger would quickly follow, but not anymore. She wasn’t so sure that was true. Maybe once upon a time he wouldn’t share, but time changes people.
Corrupt Cravings Page 19