Domiel

  “Is that your kind closing in?”

  “No.” He seemed generally confused as he looked around, as if he could see the presence.

  The Angel of Souls. That Angel wouldn’t come for Nybbas. His soul would go straight to the Pit. It was her soul that would need guidance.

  Suddenly deliriously happy didn’t describe her mood anymore. Would Nybbas somehow control her actions here, and end her life in the human realm? And why wouldn’t the Angel stay near her corporeal body? She hadn’t astral projected as Nybbas had done.

  She’d had no time to astral project. Instead of thinking things through with a cool head—as every assassin was taught—she’d gone all Alexia on his ass and done something rash. Question was, had he astral projected? She couldn’t be one hundred percent sure. There was no way to know, and even if he had, she couldn’t sever what she couldn’t see.

  Which left her at a fucking disadvantage again. If he did astral project, he must have assigned this image to himself. His powers were so impressive, failure seemed a likely outcome.

  Actually, with that death angel breathing down her neck, her death was a certain outcome.

  “How did you think this was going to end?” she asked, refusing to hang on to the defeatist attitude that had settled into her bones. If anyone should feel defeated in this moment, it should be him. Even if she died, he wouldn’t survive for long. The Alliance might have been willing to assassinate her, but they’d done so to save innocents and to save herself from the eternal fires. They’d never made the decision lightly or callously.

  The truth she was finally able to admit hit her square in her chest. They’d never given up on her. They’d wanted to keep innocents safe and stop her from committing sins. What would she have done in their position?

  If Nybbas ended her life, the Alliance would find him and end him, retribution in their every step.

  She’d miss everyone, and she’d long for what she could have had with Domiel. Strength shoved the defeat from her body. She’d made a difference to people. She’d be missed. Mourned.

  No one would mourn Nybbas. “Well?”

  He refused to answer her. He seemed frozen, almost paralyzed.

  Then she felt it.

  Domiel’s energy ravaged the air around her, but she saw no one. She whirled around, trying to locate him. He couldn’t be far, his energy was too strong. She stood in front of Nybbas, looking just as confused as he did, until a faint, feathery touch traveled over her cheek. The ghostly touch was warm and comforting.

  Domiel had astral projected.

  That had to be it. He’d astral projected but didn’t have the power to conjure up his likeness in the dream realm.

  Nybbas must have come to the same conclusion. He’d gone completely still. Seconds later, she felt a tug on her subconscious. Nybbas was trying to take her from the dream realm, back to the place where their physical bodies lay. She fought the pull with everything she had.

  She had to give Domiel time to find Nybbas’s silver cord—if he’d astral projected. How had he done it? How had he navigated the dream realm?

  Dizziness overcame her, and she went to her knees, the darkness spinning around her as though she were being sucked into a black hole. Memories of her possession came rushing back at her, claustrophobia clawing at her skin, shattering her common sense into incoherent pieces.

  She didn’t falter. She stayed firmly rooted in the dream realm, even though Nybbas did everything he could to take her out. This was what she had been waiting for her whole immortal life. Vengeance for her daughter’s death, vengeance for the mortal life that had been ripped away from her, and vengeance for the helplessness that he’d made her feel throughout the centuries.

  Hands on the blackened floor, she glanced up, her body tense and shaking.

  Nybbas twisted his body—possibly away from Domiel’s spirit—and vanished. Instantly she felt his pull on her evaporate. She could breath again.

  Had Domiel severed his silver cord, or had Nybbas given up on taking her out of the dream realm and left? She couldn’t take any chances. She left the dream realm and came to. Nybbas was already on his feet, double-timing it out of a cramped space made of concrete.

  A mausoleum. He’d materialized them to a mausoleum.

  She sprinted after him, tackling his bag of bones just outside on the damp grass. He struggled, seemingly stronger than she’d have thought someone capable of in his condition. He nailed her with a quick jab straight to her solar plexus, and the breath whooshed out of her. If she’d been human, she’d probably have lost consciousness. As it was, she just couldn’t breathe.

  He’d have to do better than that to take her out. Hell, G.I. Jade’s training practices were worse.

  She shoved her forearm into the back of his neck to keep him down and reached for the dagger strapped to her belt. He bowed with his upper body and managed to knock her off his back. She aimed for his head and kicked as hard as she could. He staggered to his feet. She jumped to hers.

  She rushed him, dagger in hand, when something hit her in back. Too big to be a bullet, too small to be a person. Whatever it was pierced her heart. Pain exploded inside her chest as she went down. She hadn’t recovered from his jab, so there was no air to leave her lungs when she hit the ground. Unable to breathe, panic rose.

  Someone yanked her head back by her hair.

  Nybbas screamed, “No!”

  Whoever was behind her was going to sever her head from her shoulders.

  * * * *

  Domiel’s entire body gave one massive convulsion when his soul snapped back. He sprang to his feet, back in the dimly lit ally.

  Nybbas had left the dream realm before Domiel had located his silver cord. Kelsey had disappeared seconds later, to where, he still had no clue. Shit. He’d have to track down Ambrose or Alexia, see if they had any lead as to where the incubus had taken Kelsey’s physical body. How long had he been in the dream realm? It couldn’t have been long.

  He glanced down at the ground. And where the hell was the incubus who’d taken him into the dream realm?

  The energy of an Angel of Souls filtered through the air around him. He turned, not expecting to see Elizabeth. Fear made him nauseated. Kels was dead. Kels was dead, and Elizabeth had guided her soul. That was who he’d been feeling all along.

  How could he have failed her? He pressed a palm against the pain in his chest. He knew how all those people had felt when they’d begged for their loved ones. He understood the pain that had been evident in their eyes. Would Elizabeth bring her back if he begged? He knew she didn’t have that power. Once a silver cord was severed, that was it. There was no coming back, but the need to plead for Kelsey’s return was still there.

  Elizabeth’s blond hair whipped around her head. Her long, white dress fell to her feet, not a wrinkle in sight. Maybe she’d figure out a way to take him, too.

  “She is not dead. But she needs you.”

  It took him a few seconds to process what she said. Had he heard her right? “Can you take me to her?”

  Elizabeth smiled. “That’s why I’m here.”

  One second she was standing ten feet away from him. The next she was touching his arm, and he found himself in a darkened cemetery. He pivoted toward the sound of grunts, saw Kelsey run out of a mausoleum and tackle an aging male. A demon.

  He ran toward them. They fought, and the demon gained the upper hand and shoved her off. He had almost reached her when the incubus who’d taken him to the dream realm appeared to the side of the mausoleum. The incubus hurled a knife, which struck Kels in the back. She went down hard. He was at a dead sprint now.

  The incubus straddled Kels and grabbed her by the hair. Someone shouted, “No!” Just as the incubus wrenched the knife out of Kels’s back, Domiel shot forward and wrenched him from Kels.

  He landed on top of the incubus and fought him for the knife. The grass was wet from the recent storm, making everything slick. He didn’t know if Kels was okay, didn’t know if t
he other demon was fighting her.

  He squeezed the incubus’s hand until he heard bone snap. The knife fell to the grass, and Domiel picked it up and slit the incubus’s throat. He didn’t take the time to sever his head. He had to get to Kels. He wasn’t sure how badly she was injured.

  He’d thought he lost her once; he couldn’t fathom losing her now.

  Kels had recovered and was standing over the other demon, who looked emaciated. Domiel stood back. She was okay, and this was her moment. She’d waited for this long enough. Since she had the upper hand, his heart rate slowed down, and he was able to check the moisture in his eyes. Breathing heavily, he watched her, and another foreign emotion overtook him.

  He was proud of her.

  She said something to the demon, calm as could be, then bent down, and with two swipes of her blade, severed his head.

  The cemetery went quiet except for the gurgling sounds the other incubus was making. Domiel pivoted toward him, wondering why in the hell the demon had lied to him. He’d sent him to the dream realm and then attacked Kelsey. No need for questions and no need for answers—he decapitated him, sending him straight to hell with the other demon.

  It was over. Kelsey had been proven innocent and was free. The mission had been seen to. He tossed his knife next to the demon’s body and turned back to Kels.

  Kels stood and promptly stumbled to the ground, holding her chest. With legs that shook, he started to make his way to her when Elizabeth knelt next to Kels. It looked as though she were healing her. But that wasn’t what froze him in place.

  With the two side-by-side, there was no mistaking the resemblance. The blond hair, the blue eyes, the delicate features and full lips. Even the shapes of their faces and the angle of the jawbones were identical.

  Elizabeth was the Angel of Souls who’d once been human, who’d ultimately convinced him to fall from grace. It had been her words that entered his mind that fateful day. Everyone deserves happiness.

  No wonder Kelsey had looked so familiar to him when he’d first met her. Elizabeth was Elspeth, Kelsey’s daughter.

  * * * *

  Kelsey couldn’t breathe. She barely felt her legs, but knew the pain would pass and the injury would heal. She’d done it. She’d finally ended the life of the man who’d changed her life, the incubus who’d taken everything from her.

  It was over. She could choose her own future without fearing what that bastard would do to the people close to her.

  The ground was so damned cold at her back. She’d closed her eyes to concentrate on something besides the pain when someone touched her arm. There was no energy she could discern, so she opened her eyes to see who it was, knowing it wasn’t Domiel. Hopefully some mortal hadn’t stumbled across her fight. She didn’t feel like—

  An angel stood over her, a glowing aura tracing the edges of her body. Instead of fearing that she’d died, an overwhelming peace settled over her as she gazed at the angel. Bright blue eyes smiled down at her. The angel placed a hand over her heart, and a pleasant tingling sensation spread throughout her body.

  The angel was healing her. A beautiful, familiar angel.

  Was her mind playing tricks on her? She was afraid to speak, afraid to move.

  Was she real?

  “Elspeth?” It couldn’t be anyone else. A child didn’t kneel over her, a full-grown woman did. But the eyes…

  Elspeth said nothing, only smiled, and Kelsey’s heart shattered. Elspeth’s image wavered through the tears collecting in Kelsey’s eyes. “How…?”

  “You still have work to do here.” Elspeth used a delicate hand to wipe away her tears.

  She looked so serene, so … grown and beautiful. Kelsey had a thousand questions to ask her. She didn’t know what to ask first.

  Elspeth shook her head and her blond hair fell around her shoulders. “I must leave.”

  “No!” The word shot from her throat, and she struggled to sit. “Please, wait—”

  Elspeth leaned in and hugged her. Kelsey held her daughter tight, not willing to let her go. Surely she could stay for a short while. Just long enough for a conversation. Just long enough to convince Kelsey she was real. That she hadn’t imagined her.

  “We’ll see each other again. I must go now. I love you.”

  Kelsey opened her mouth to beg her to stay, and saw that Elspeth was fading away to nothing. “I love you. I love you so much.”

  And then she was gone.

  Shaken, Kelsey stayed on the ground and shook, tears now streaming down her cheeks. She touched the ground where Elspeth had knelt beside her, and all she could think of to do was to call her back. “Please, just a few moments. Please…”

  Domiel was suddenly at her side. He took her into his arms, and she nestled against his strength. Raw emotion left her empty, sad, and ecstatic. Why did she have to leave so soon? Why couldn’t she stay for a bit longer? “Elspeth was here. She was here.”

  His arms tightened around her. She clung to him—a solid reality in a whirlwind of confusion and disbelief. “I know. She’s the Angel of Souls whose presence I’d felt.”

  The presence that had followed her into the dream realm? Kelsey pulled back to look at him. “What?”

  “She was the human I told you about.” He smoothed a piece of her hair behind her ear. “She’s the one who worked her way into an angelic position. I only knew her as Elizabeth. I never connected the two, but I should have. I always thought you looked familiar. Now I know why.”

  She didn’t know how long they sat there. Domiel was patient with her, sitting beside her as she collected herself. Truthfully, she couldn’t find it in herself to leave the spot where her daughter had kneeled. Crazy thoughts were bouncing around in her head. What if Elspeth came back? She wouldn’t be here. What if she’d imagined it? But she hadn’t. Domiel confirmed it.

  Finally she peeled herself from him. “So she’s safe? You knew her? What is she like? Did she ever mention me or her life here in this realm?”

  He nodded. “I did know her. Everyone knew her. Only one other human spirit is considered an angel. Enoch. They are held in high regard. I’ll tell you everything I know about her.”

  She smiled and looked up at the cloudy, dark sky. Emotions began to choke her again, and the lump was back in her throat, but she managed to say, “That’s my girl.”

  Domiel helped her up. “You okay? Where do you want to go now?”

  Kelsey took a deep breath and sought his hand with hers. She laced her fingers with his. “Apparently, I still have work here to do.”

  His expression was guarded. He nodded. “Back to the Alliance?”

  “Is that what you want to do?”

  He bent down and kissed her lightly on the lips. “I’ll go with you, whatever your decision.”

  She wrapped her arms around his waist and let out a long sigh of contentment. She’d decide what to do later. So much had happened, and she had her life to figure out, but she didn’t feel alone. One question popped into her head. “How did you find me?”

  “Elizabeth took me to you. I’m fairly certain it wasn’t the first time.”

  It took her a moment to understand what he was trying to say, then it dawned on her. Could Elspeth had somehow known what would happen when Domiel fell? That he’d join the Alliance and the two of them would meet?

  Whatever the answer, she sent up a thank-you as Domiel tightened his arms around her.

  Epilogue

  Four Months Later

  Kelsey stood near the oak double doors of the Alliance Headquarters’ great hall, hands shaking and mouth dry. Domiel stood to her right, Jade and Lexie to her left. Soon the first course of the meal would be served, and everyone would sit down to eat. “I’m so nervous,” she muttered for the fiftieth time. “More nervous than I ever was as an assassin.”

  Lexie grunted and adjusted her dress, which clung to her toned body. “I think I can count on one hand how many times I’ve worn a dress since I turned. There’s nowhere I can put a weapo
n.”

  “You have daggers strapped to your thighs. Don’t lie.”

  Lexie shot Jade a look, then turned Kelsey. “So how’s that new project coming along?”

  Ambrose had given her and Domiel a new task—relocation assistance for retired assassins. He’d offered them a fat paycheck for doing just about nothing, which they’d immediately agreed to. “Good. Craig and Leslie just relocated to Maine.”

  “Man, is Ambrose kissing your ass. You tell him you forgive him yet?” Jade asked.

  Kelsey shook her head and gave a small smile. She had forgiven him after he’d showed her the evidence, but hadn’t said the words yet. Hell, he probably knew, since he could read minds.

  Lexie laughed. “Yeah. I wouldn’t either.

  The small talk wasn’t helping Kelsey’s nerves. The hall was too quiet, even with the number of people in attendance. Ambrose, Sven, Roger, Azazel, Samael, and the four of them. They’d all wanted to be here tonight.

  She looked up at Domiel, and he squeezed her hand. Everyone had dressed to impress, and no one looked better than he did in his tux. “Don’t worry, everything’s going to go smoothly.”

  He’d managed to take her mind off today’s events last night when he’d walked in with go-go boots and a wicked smile on his face. She’d never met anyone like him. Strong, compassionate, and loving, she couldn’t have asked for a better man.

  She ran a hand over the necklace she was wearing and smiled to herself. Everyone thought they knew why she was nervous, but she hadn’t told anyone she was planning to ask Domiel to marry her tonight. She’d slip both rings off her necklace and get down on one knee. It was perfect.

  They’d been living in the castle ever since they’d returned to Scotland, but she’d found a house about twenty miles away, small and secluded. If she could, she’d move there with Domiel today.

  God, let him say yes.

  Domiel leaned down and kissed her on the temple and then whispered in her ear, “Here she comes.”

  Kelsey’s nose started tingling, and her eyes misted. She blinked rapidly to keep the tears at bay as her daughter walked through the doors, wearing a white dress and a beautiful smile.