by Larissa Ione
“And then your memory came back a couple of weeks ago?” she prompted. “How did that happen?”
“Reaver again. You sensing a pattern?” Revenant was struck by an urge to seek out his brother and start another brawl. “He rescued Harvester from Sheoul and saved the realms or some crap. For his actions he was raised to Radiant and given his memory back. And because whatever is done to one of us has to be done to the other —”
“You were turned into a Shadow Angel.”
“You got it.” He raised his glass in a begrudging toast. “To my heroic twin brother and his shiny halo.”
“But why wouldn’t you be a Radiant? I mean, you’re an angel, right?”
The liquor went down smoother this time. “Because there can only be one at any given time. There has to be a Shadow Angel for balance, and Reaver won the hero lottery while I was fed Satan’s blood as an infant. It corrupted me, gave me all of the qualities and abilities of a fallen angel.” He tongued a fang. “Including these.”
“So your inner angel is masked,” Blaspheme mused. “Interesting.” She climbed out of bed and started dressing. What a shame. “You said your mother was imprisoned when she was pregnant. What happened to her after you were born?”
He should have expected the question, but it still stabbed him in the heart. “She died after a couple of decades of torture.”
“I’m sorry,” she said as she fastened her bra. “Did you know her at all?”
“Yeah.” The alcohol in his belly turned sour, and all he wanted now was to vomit. “Can we not talk about this?”
“I should be going anyway.” She tugged on her pants. “We had a deal, remember?”
Yeah, he remembered. And he was kicking himself in the nuts for making it. He wasn’t ready to let her go. He should be; he’d never had a problem letting a female go in the past. But suddenly, he was aching at the thought of parting from her.
It’s that damned False Angel magic.
Of course. Hopefully it would wear off once she was out of his sight. But what if it didn’t? What if she was intentionally enchanting him? That was one of a False Angel’s many methods of finding sustenance. They used their pheromones and seductive skills to enchant, their aphrodisiac powder to seduce, and then they severed ties and gorged on the emotional agony they caused. The more heartbroken the male was, the more energy she took from him. If she was lucky and he died, she feasted.
That wasn’t going to happen to Revenant. He was stronger than that. If Blaspheme thought she could play him, she was going to be brutally disappointed.
He clothed himself in an instant, going with jeans and a black Four Little Ponies of the Apocalypse T-shirt, and then he watched her finish dressing, wondering if she’d make some sort of flirty play to draw him in even further. Sure enough, as she slipped on her shoes, she shot him a teasing smile.
“That was fun.” Slinging her purse over her shoulder, she strutted over to him and drew her finger down his chest, halting at his waistband. “Interesting T-shirt choice.”
“It annoys the Horsemen’s stallions.”
“I have a feeling you like poking dangerous things with sticks, don’t you?”
“If the stick is sharp enough, no thing is dangerous.”
She cocked a blond eyebrow. “Really? Because I don’t think I could find a stick sharp enough to make you less dangerous.”
“I’m not a danger to you, Blaspheme.” Putting his fingers to her throat, he stroked the silky skin right over her jugular vein. “Not if you’ve been honest with me.”
In an instant, her demeanor changed, intensified, almost as if she had a split personality, and the other one had come out to play. Gone was the easygoing, flirty doctor, and in her place was a temptress with pouty lips and half-lidded eyes. Her delicate wings flared out and tucked away again, and in the smoky light from the wall sconces, he could see glittery particles floating in the air.
Aphrodisiac powder. She was attempting to enchant him with it. And okay, he suddenly felt a little amorous, but it didn’t overshadow the disappointment rolling through him that she’d so blatantly use a False Angel trick on him. Did she really think he’d fall madly in love with her and then collapse in a sad little puddle of grief when she left him high and dry?
“I am what I am,” she said in a low, smoky voice that filled his brain with fantasies of doing her in front of a roaring fire. A campfire, a forest fire, a freaking fire in the Pits of Pain, he didn’t care. “Thank you for the distraction. Now I need to get back to the clinic.”
Dropping his arm, he snared her hand. He wasn’t going to let her screw with him more than she already had. “I’d say it would be even better next time, but there won’t be a next time.”
“Then we’re in agreement.”
The hard-to-get angle wasn’t going to work with him now that he knew what she was up to. Anger bubbled up, but he tamped it down, figuring he had the upper hand now, and once he had it, he didn’t give it up.
Still gripping her, he flashed to Underworld General’s parking lot.
“Well,” she said crisply, whipping her hair over her shoulder, “I guess this is it. Nice knowing you, Revenant.”
“No,” he said, “this isn’t it. I still need you for Gethel.”
Now that Heaven had made him an offer, he needed Lucifer to die more than ever. His death would mean Rev wouldn’t lose his status in Sheoul, but it could also get him a welcome into Heaven. Either way, he would have the power to choose his destiny. Win-win all around.
Of course, that was assuming Blaspheme and her doctor buddies were devising a way to rid the realms of Lucifer. They had to be. Eidolon’s family was too tied together with Reaver and the Horsemen, and there was no way they couldn’t be plotting to destroy Gethel, and with her, Satan’s brat.
She started toward the sliding glass door that led to the emergency department. “I told you to bring her here.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Then I’ll find you another doctor,” she called from over her shoulder.
“Unacceptable.”
She spun around, and a sudden chill infused her voice. “Yeah, well, here’s the thing. You might be a Shadow Angel with powers and influence I can’t even comprehend. But here, in this medical facility, I lay down the law. So let’s part ways without a scene, shall we?”
Revenant banked his frustration. He was used to getting what he wanted, but in this case, he was going to back off. For now. But he’d be back, and he wasn’t going to settle for any other doctor.
No, he wasn’t as through with Blaspheme as she’d like to think.
From now on, he’d run the Revenant/Blaspheme show, and any plot twists that came up would be orchestrated by him, and him alone.
Blaspheme was shaking so hard by the time she entered UG’s emergency department that her head hurt from her brain rattling around inside her skull.
She’d had sex with Revenant. Good sex. Really good sex.
And he hadn’t even laid a finger on her.
As she strode through the halls on the way to Eidolon’s office, her body flushed hot from the memories.
And then it flushed cold as she remembered the story Revenant had told her as they lay in the aftermath of their passion. He was an angel born and raised in hell, forced to become something he wasn’t.
Sounded familiar.
She hated that she could relate to him, especially since he admitted to killing vyrm like they were nothing more than flies that needed to be swatted. If he learned the truth about her, would he destroy her as nonchalantly?
He’d terrified her when he’d said he wasn’t a danger to her… as long she was being honest with him. So what had she done? She’d tried to use her seductive powers on him, aphrodisiac and all, in hopes of distracting him. Making him feel something for her so he wouldn’t kill her.
Clearly, it hadn’t worked, since he’d said there wouldn’t be a next time for them.
She should have been happy about tha
t, but for some reason, his rejection had stung. Gods, she was an idiot. She wanted him out of her life, and yet, when he agreed, she got upset.
How could he be such a danger to her but at the same time, make her feel… safe? Because she had felt safe with him. He’d saved her from an angel assassin and then took her someplace where only someone harboring a death wish would try to get to her.
Then there was the simple chemistry of their relationship. She was flat-out attracted to him. His power and darkness drew her, but beneath all of that, behind the arrogant wall of defense mechanisms, was a male no one had loved for a very long time.
The physician in her wanted to heal him. The False Angel in her wanted to seduce him. The female in her wanted to comfort him.
The vyrm in her wanted to run.
Instead of running, she walked calmly through the hospital halls and made a quick call to Gem, who assured her that her mother was stable, but that she was raising hell with the staff. Throwing things was bad enough, but Deva had also tried to bite a nurse, earning a Gargantua-sized headache when the Haven spell kicked in.
“I’m sorry, Gem,” Blas sighed. “I’ll talk to her.”
Great. This was the last thing she needed.
Wondering what else could possibly go wrong today, Blas hung up as E’s office came into view, and she found him inside, a half-eaten ham sandwich and a cup of fruit in front of him on the desk. Her stomach growled, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten anything since a half of a bran muffin with her coffee this morning.
“Blaspheme,” he said, looking up from the stack of papers he was going through. “You’re early.”
“Figured I’d get a head start on my day.” She gestured to the chair across from his desk. “May I?” At his nod, she sat and got right to it. “Did you know Revenant is Reaver’s brother?”
One dark eyebrow arched. “Yes.”
Yes. Like it was no big deal. “And you didn’t think to tell me?”
“It didn’t come up.”
“Really? And I suppose the fact that he’s a Shadow Angel slipped your mind as well?”
Eidolon sat back in his chair, his coal-black eyes flat and cold. “I understand that you’re under a lot of pressure right now, but be careful, Blaspheme.”
She cringed inwardly at the realization that she was mouthing off to her boss. Not only that, but she’d never known Eidolon to be unfair. Still, this was her life, and she was in trouble. If she had to ruffle a few feathers, so be it.
Well, she probably shouldn’t ruffle his.
“I’m sorry, Eidolon. I’m just… I’m in a bad place right now.” She closed her eyes and tried to put her thoughts in order. When she opened them again, his expression had softened. “I was attacked at my new apartment today.”
He jolted straight up in his chair. “By what?”
She hesitated, even though she knew it was past time to come clean. “By an angel.”
“How did you get away?”
“Revenant saved me.” He’d been like an avenging angel, dark and horrifying, and yet she’d never been happier to see anyone.
“Why was he there?”
She shook her head. “Long story. Then Reaver showed up, and they fought… it was a disaster.”
Eidolon swore. “You can’t go back to your place.”
“I know.” She looked down at her lap and fidgeted with the gold clasp on her Coach bag. She never fidgeted. “I can get a hotel room, maybe move every couple of days —”
“You’ll stay here. That’s what the on-call rooms are for.” He reached for his cell phone. “I’ll have someone fetch whatever you need from your apartment.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” she said, hating to be a charity case.
“You and your mother have angels after you,” he pointed out, as if she wasn’t aware. “Now is not the time to take unnecessary risks. Which means you need to stay away from Revenant and Reaver as well. Unfortunately, thanks to their power upgrades, they can both enter the hospital.”
Obviously, her own thoughts had gone down that path, but why would Eidolon’s? Unless he knew the truth about her. She played dumb, wanting to test the waters before she laid it all out. “Why do you think Revenant and Reaver would be after me?”
His dark gaze pinned her down. Hard. “I think it’s time we stopped with the games, don’t you?”
Busted, all she could do was utter a raspy “Yes.”
“Good. Now, I’m going to ask you some questions, and I want some straight answers.” At her nod, he continued. “Deva isn’t your adoptive mother, is she? She’s your birth mother.”
Her heart kicked so hard in her chest that she thought it might be bruised. “Yes,” she whispered.
“But you aren’t emim, are you? Your father wasn’t fallen. He was an angel.”
This time, she didn’t have enough saliva to answer, so she just nodded.
“How much time before your False Angel enchantment fails?”
“How…” She cleared her throat. “How did you know?”
“Do you recall a few years ago, when Yuri went a little far during one of your… sessions?”
How could she forget? A total, utter sadist, Yuri had harbored a love for sexual torture, and he apparently had no idea what “safe words” were.
“Yes.”
“I offered to heal you, but you refused.”
“I refused because if you used your healing powers on me, you’d have known I wasn’t a False Angel.”
“I suspected you were hiding something, but I didn’t know what. Then, a few months ago, you assisted me during surgery. The eviscerated Slogthu demon, remember? You were massaging his heart as I sent a wave of power into him. At that moment, I sensed angel inside him. Since purebred angels can’t enter the hospital, it meant you were a half-breed. But False Angels can’t breed with other species, so I put two and two together.”
She felt sick to her stomach. Making it worse was the fact that she just now understood that this was about more than her and her mother. Eidolon’s knowledge of her situation could get him put to death.
“Have there been any more angel sightings?”
He inclined his head. “Bane confronted one in the parking lot this morning. I just got done healing his broken jaw.”
Ah, gods. “I’m so sorry, Eidolon. I’ve put your hospital and clinic at risk,” she said. “I’ll go as soon as I can pack my desk up —”
“The hell you will. We need you.”
“But my presence is causing trouble, and it’s only going to get worse.”
He laughed. “It’s almost like you haven’t worked here for decades. This place is practically fueled by trouble. Or have you never met my siblings? And mate. And in-laws. I could go on.” He shoved the sandwich aside and rested his forearms on the desk, clasping his hands as he leaned toward her. “Look, Blaspheme, we take care of our own here. If I truly think the hospital or clinic is at risk, we’ll make other arrangements. But one thing we don’t do is abandon our own. You’re family, and I won’t let anything happen to you.”
For all of Blaspheme’s life, her mother had stressed that the two of them were the only family each other had. Blas had believed it. But at some point, the staff at Underworld General had become her family as well, and hearing Eidolon say that made the outside world seem a little less scary.
“But what about Reaver?” she asked, speaking of scary. “He’s your family, too, and if he finds out what I am, he’ll kill me.”
“We don’t know that. He has a tendency to not follow the herd when it comes to protocol. But when and if he learns what you are, let me worry about that. I’ll handle Reaver. Now,” he said, “how long until your enchantment wears off?”
“Could be any day,” she said miserably. “My mother said that once my vyrm powers start appearing, my False Angel aura will disappear completely, and my true identity will be visible to every angel and fallen angel who sees me.” She looked up at him. “You’re aware that if
you turn me in, you will be awarded more riches than you can count.”
“I know.”
“And if you don’t turn me in and it can be proven that you were harboring a known vyrm, you will face more tortures than you can count before your own species Council kills you.”
“Are you trying to talk me out of helping you? Because it won’t work.”
“I’m just making sure you understand the risks.”
“I was a Justice Dealer before I became a physician. I’m well aware of the consequences of my actions. So let’s not talk about it again, shall we?” At her reluctant nod, he continued. “So what have you got planned to renew your cover? Another Fallen Angel sacrifice?”
Ugh. The very idea made her want to scream. “My mother is planning on it, but I won’t do it.”
“Why not?” He gestured to the fruit, but she shook her head.
“I won’t sacrifice an innocent.”
He plucked a grape from the container of fruit. “There’s no such thing as an innocent False Angel.”
“So you’re saying you think I should do it?” she asked, incredulous.
“No.” He popped the grape into his mouth and chewed slowly before continuing. “I’m saying I’d understand if you did. Do you have another plan?”
She blew out a long breath. “I’ve spent decades researching an alternative, but haven’t found anything.”
“I’ve done a little research myself,” he said, stunning her. He’d been trying to help already? “I haven’t found much information on vyrm, probably because they’re usually killed before they reach adulthood. But I did find this.” He slid a piece of paper at her.
She frowned as she studied the writing. “It’s a ritual of permanent alteration.”
“It supposedly works only on fallen angels, but maybe since you’re half fallen angel, it’ll work for you, too. Apparently, the spell will turn a fallen angel into any species of demon as long as they have the right ingredients.”
She kept reading, her hope growing… and then crashing. “What it requires… it doesn’t make sense. The essence of death? What the hell does that mean?”