by Cynthia Eden
Rayce glanced at Lila.
“He’s speaking the truth,” she whispered.
“The truth as he knows it,” Rayce snapped back. “So this Kale asshole told him a story about being all-powerful. Wayne believes what he was told, but that doesn’t mean Kale is actually—”
“Like me?” Lila cut in, her chin notching up. “You don’t think he’s fallen?”
Julian’s sigh filled the room. “It’s not as if your kind is thick on the ground. Angels don’t belong here.”
She was the first angel Rayce had ever seen.
“Why does he want me so badly?” Lila asked Wayne.
Wayne’s gaze filled with pity. “Because he said you’ll be just like him. You’re his mate.”
The hell she was. Rayce lunged for the guy.
“Truth.” Lila said in the same instant.
No, it wasn’t. Lila wasn’t mated to Kale because…I mated her. She is mine, and I will not let her go. He brought up his claws, aiming for Wayne’s chest.
But Lila caught his hand. “No.”
No? Slowly, his head turned toward her. “He fired bullets at you, sweetheart.” His voice was low and gentle. “He shot you, and he shot me over and over again. He had his men fire at us, and he didn’t hesitate.”
“He’s…not armed now.”
“If he gets the chance, he will attack us again.” The man needed to be put down.
Lila’s stare darted to Wayne. “Will you attack us again?”
“No.”
She swallowed. “Truth.” Her gaze came back to Rayce. “I don’t want to watch you kill him.”
See, sweetheart, that’s why I tried to get you in the bedroom earlier. So you wouldn’t have to watch that shit.
“Cut him loose. Let him walk out of here. Just…he’s sick, Rayce. He’s desperate. Haven’t you ever been desperate?”
“Not desperate enough to shoot an angel.” Did she think he was just going to forgive and forget that act?
“Let him go,” Lila said, her words almost a plea. “I’ve just…there’s been too much blood and death. I need it to stop.” Her hand pressed to her heart.
“Spoken like an angel,” Julian murmured.
“I’m getting all twisted up,” Lila said and her voice was ragged. “Just let him go.”
Rayce stared at her a moment.
“For me, please.”
He didn’t want her begging. He grabbed the human bastard and hauled him toward the door. Moments later, they were out in the snow. Rayce threw the man down.
Wayne pushed up onto his knees. His head turned so that he was staring at Rayce. “You’re going to kill me.”
Lila was in the house.
Rayce yanked the door closed.
“Why pretend?” Wayne made it to his feet. “We both know this truth.”
Rayce inclined his head. “I am going to kill you.” No big surprise there. He stepped toward Wayne. “Because I am no angel. Far, far from it.”
Wayne tilted his head to the side. “Go ahead. Slit my throat. Use the claws. You think I care? You think I—”
His hand flew out and wrapped around Wayne’s throat, but his claws didn’t cut the human. Not yet. “I’m very good at hunting. You can run now, and I can find you in a day. I can find you in a week. I can find you a year from now. I can find you any time I want.” He smiled and knew it wouldn’t be a pretty sight. “And I will. I will find you when you least expect me, and you’ll get the end you deserve.” He threw Wayne back.
“Y-you just don’t want to kill me in front of her.” Wayne pointed to the cabin. “You want her to believe you’re better than you are!”
He didn’t need Lila’s power to figure out that truth. “Consider her your miracle for the day. Otherwise, your dead body would be on the ground right now.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “You can get through the shield now.” Or he’d be able to get through it soon. Rayce would fix the spell in a moment. “Walk straight and don’t stop. Don’t think of looking back.”
Wayne glanced toward the driveway. “How does…how does that shield work?”
“Magic, asshole. Magic. Now go, before I give you more scars to remember me by.”
Wayne started walking. Rayce waited a moment and then he slowly began to chant so that he could adjust the shield in place. He didn’t have a lot of spell magic in him—just what Luke had gifted him with one long ago day.
Just as he finished the chant, the door opened behind Rayce. He caught Lila’s scent and for just a moment, his eyes closed.
“Thank you.” Her soft voice. Her soft hand touching his back. His bare back. He was standing out in the fucking snow and the cold barely fazed him. He turned his head, and his eyes opened.
He studied her a moment, then murmured, “You feel sorry for him, so you want him to live.”
“He’s sick, Rayce. Desperate.”
“Desperate humans are the most dangerous ones.” He’d learned that long ago. “I am going to have to kill him.” His gaze dropped to the footprints that Wayne had left behind in the snow.
“But not today,” Lila said. “Not this moment.”
He caught her hand in his. Wrapped his fingers around hers. “You don’t understand who I am.” The human had been right on one thing. “You need to see me, Lila. See me.”
Her gaze was on his. “I do.”
No, she didn’t get it. “I kill. I hunt. I fucking repeat. That’s my life. I’m a werewolf, a rogue at my core.” Sparing lives wasn’t his deal. Bloodshed—that was his way. “And when that sonofabitch Kale comes for you, I will destroy him.”
“What if you can’t?” She looked around, searching the growing darkness as if she expected Kale to appear. Rayce wished the guy would show. He’d love nothing more than to kick his ass.
He opened his mouth to speak but…
The wind whipped around him. Snow gusted in the air. He looked up, and for just a moment, he saw the dark shadow of a dragon’s wings overhead. Rayce pulled Lila close to him. In the next moment, the dragon was gone, and Luke was on the ground beside him.
No trace of wings. No trace of the dragon. Well, not unless you looked deeply into Luke’s gaze.
“I’m afraid we have a problem,” Luke announced. Then the snow was flying again, spinning in the air and…
Leo appeared at Luke’s side.
“A very big one,” Luke muttered.
***
Wayne stumbled through the snow, his whole body shaking. He couldn’t feel his fingertips or his toes. His clothes were wet and icy, and every step was painful as he slogged forward and—
“There you are.” Kale was in front of him. A smiling Kale.
The same bastard who’d spoken so easily of killing him moments before.
“I was wondering how long it would take for you to stumble this way.” Kale looked over his shoulder. “As soon as the werewolf called, I made sure to get here. I can travel fast, you know.”
Yeah, he knew. The guy could appear and disappear at freaking will.
“The barrier wasn’t down for me. I did a few experiments while I waited out here…couldn’t get through. But you just walked right out. How’d that happen?”
His lips twisted. “Magic.”
Kale’s eyes were dark. “Where is Lila?”
He jerked his thumb over his shoulder.
“Does she still have her wings?”
“No.”
“Good…” Kale looped an arm around his shoulder. “I’m going to need you to tell me everything that happened to you.”
The bastard was acting as if he hadn’t promised to kill Wayne. As if he hadn’t lied to all of the men who’d died. “Get away from me.”
Kale just pulled him closer. “Is that any way to talk to a friend?”
“You aren’t a friend. You’re fucking insane.”
Kale smiled. “Let me rephrase…is that any way to talk to the man who holds your fate in his hands?”
“I’ve got three months left t
o live—that’s if the cancer gets me and not the werewolf who just promised to send me to hell. I’m not scared of you or of whatever fate you think you can deal me. I’m done, do you understand? I won’t kill for you. I won’t fight for you. I won’t do any damn thing for you…”
Kale wasn’t smiling any longer. “That’s rather unfortunate.”
“Screw off.” He was shivering. He’d been cold, ever since Lila had touched him in that cabin. Her hand had been like ice against him, and then the ice had spread over his face. Down his throat. Into his very lungs.
But she’d stopped. She’d wanted to spare him. After everything he’d done to her… “I won’t hurt Lila again.”
Kale leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “That’s what you say now, but I have other plans for you.” Then he drew back his hand. Kale’s wrist was bleeding. “Remember to say thank you later.” He shoved his bloody wrist to Wayne’s mouth.
And as the blood poured past his lips, Wayne became even colder. Ice seemed to pour down his throat. He tried to scream, but Kale just laughed.
***
“We’ve got a big damn problem,” Luke declared. “And his name is Kale.” He glared at his brother. “And I blame this shit on you, too!”
“He came before my time!” Leo threw back. “Before either of us were even born!”
Leo. Leo is standing there. Fear had locked down Lila’s muscles. She’d been running from Leo for such a long time. Ever since she’d learned of his betrayal.
Leo had been her best friend, once upon a time. But he’d taken her feathers. Traded them to a madman…and that madman had come and taken Lila. Leo had been behind her fall. Leo had been behind her pain. He’d always tried to act as if he were so good, but…
He isn’t.
Was anyone good?
“You knew what a threat Kale could be.” Luke pointed at her. “Especially to Lila.”
“I didn’t—” Leo began angrily.
“Bullshit,” Luke cut through his denial. “I found a witch to scry the future for me. She saw what Lila is…what a fallen like her becomes. You were hiding that shit from me!”
Leo straightened his shoulders. His gaze slid toward Lila. There was regret on his face. Pain. “I’m sorry.”
Rayce growled and his arm brushed hers.
“For what?” Lila asked him.
“For what’s going to happen next.”
She frowned.
“You’re too dangerous, Lila. That’s why I was trying to find you. If I could have caught you before your change, I might have been able to help you. But now…it’s too late.” Leo’s face was sad.
What was he saying? And since when was he ever sad about anything?
“You’ll be out of control, Lila. You’ll attack. You’ll kill. You’ll be…” He released a slow breath and pointed to Luke. “You’ll be one of his darkest creatures.”
No, she wouldn’t. “I’m not, I’m—”
“You should lock her up, Luke,” Leo told his brother. “Because the longer she’s free, the more powerful she’ll become. And if she gets with Kale, if they unite, then they may be able to take us both out.”
A loud and desperate scream cut through the night. Lila flinched.
“Sounds like someone’s dying,” Luke murmured.
Lila lurched toward the sound, but Rayce wrapped his arm around her.
The cabin door flew open behind them, and Julian surged out into the night. “It’s the human. I recognize his scream.”
Wayne? But…but they’d just freed him.
“Kale,” Rayce bit out. There was anger in his voice—and anticipation.
“Don’t even think about it,” Leo said flatly. “He will destroy you with a touch. He’s just been playing with you up to this point. Werewolf, you can’t handle him. He’s got centuries on you and power…power that you can’t even begin to understand.”
“I understand fucking plenty.” Rayce turned Lila in his arms. “I’m stopping him.”
“Rayce—”
“I challenged him. He’s here. And I’m stopping him.” He squeezed her arms. “You don’t leave the boundary, got it? You stay safe.”
No, she didn’t have it. “Rayce—” Lila tried again.
He kissed her. Right there in front of Luke. In front of Leo. He kissed her hard and deep, a lover’s kiss. The kind of kiss that made her ache, but in the next breath, he was gone. He’d bounded away from her, and he was shifting into the form of a wolf as he fled. Julian charged after him, transforming into his panther.
“Stop!” Lila yelled. She surged after him.
Only to find Leo in her path.
“I am sorry.”
“No, you’re not.” She didn’t believe his regret. She didn’t even believe he had feelings. “Get out of my way.” She wasn’t going to let Rayce go and fight Kale without her.
Leo shook his head. “You can’t get near Kale again, not since you’ve changed. If the two of you get together, if you mate with him—”
Her jaw dropped. “Mate with him? Are you insane? I’m not going to fuck him.”
Shock flashed on his face. Why was he shocked? Because she’d used the word fuck? “Newsflash,” she snapped. “No angel here.” And once more, she lunged after Rayce.
But Leo caught her. He held her tight and her fury exploded once more. The cold, dark, twisting fury that she feared had been inside of her for far too long.
I lost my wings because of him.
I was held prisoner because of him.
He wants to stop me from getting to Rayce.
I won’t lose Rayce…because of him.
Ice flew from her fingertips. Leo yelled as the ice circled his arms and flew up his chest. It went higher and higher, coiling around his throat, choking him, and then flying toward his mouth—
“Stop!” Luke’s roar. He’d grabbed her and tossed her away from Leo. She landed in the snow and the cold just wrapped more tightly around her.
Luke sent a blast of fire toward his brother. The ice melted from Leo, and he stared at Lila, horrified.
“You were…killing me.” Leo shook his head. “Lila.”
She rose to her feet. “You were in my way.” She hadn’t been killing him, had she? The rage eased a bit, and she looked around. She couldn’t see Rayce any longer. Where had the wolf gone? Lila took a halting step forward.
“She’s too dangerous already,” Leo said, voice sad.
Another act. I don’t think he feels anything. But…then she realized… “Truth.” He’d just spoken the truth and that meant—
“She has to be locked away. She’ll hurt too many people.” Leo turned toward his brother. “And if she mates with Kale, they will kill us both.”
“Truth,” Lila said again. No, no, this couldn’t be happening. Why would she ever mate with Kale? He’d tried to hurt her. He’d tried to kill Rayce.
Rayce. I need Rayce.
Luke squared his shoulders. “Lila, know that this will be for your protection as much as it is for mine.” He took up a position on her left.
Leo was on her right.
Fire began to glow from their hands. Fire that circled her. That pushed the cold she felt far, far away.
“We shouldn’t have saved her,” Leo admitted with a pitying glance her way.
Truth. Her arms wrapped around her body.
“I’d just…hope is a dangerous thing, isn’t it?” Leo’s words were quiet as the flames wrapped around her. “I’d hoped that she would be…different. When I saw her on that bed, I just…I wanted to atone.”
Truth. She was sick of truths. Sick of them all.
Her hands began to ice, even with the flames around her.
“I wanted a different ending for you,” Leo gritted out as his eyes locked on her. “I wanted it so badly.”
The flames were dancing too close to her skin. “Get away from me!”
“If I’d found you sooner…” Now his gaze flew to Luke’s. “This is on you! You’re the one who k
ept me from her! You sent the werewolf after her, knowing he would just stir the darkness in her even more! Now look what she is!”
Look what she is.
Lila looked down at her hands. They were icy, almost blue, and her nails were long, curving claws. Claws made of ice.
“Know what the opposite of an angel is?” Leo’s voice was gruff.
Lila’s eyes closed. It’s me.
“She’s a demon now.” Luke’s response. She thought he’d known what she would become all along.
Pain pierced her to her core, and Lila screamed.
“She’ll destroy everything in her path if she’s given the chance,” Leo added grimly. “We have to lock her up. Your prison—it’s the only thing that can hold her.”
Nothing was going to hold her. No one. She wouldn’t be caged. Her hands flew up and she reached right into the flames that surrounded her. The flames sputtered. Smoke rose as she fought their power.
“Look at what she’s doing when it’s just her,” Leo yelled. “If there are two of them, bonded together…”
Luke grimly shook his head. “Lila, I’m afraid my plans didn’t go quite the way I expected.”
Truth.
And then he grabbed her. Both of his hands locked around her shoulders in a grip that was merciless. He leapt into the air, still carrying her, and as he flew, he transformed, dropping the façade of a man and becoming a great, snarling beast, one covered in scales. One with giant wings that stretched into the sky—and one that breathed fire as she screamed.
***
Lila was screaming. Rayce whirled at her cries, the beast howling his fury. He’d left her with Luke while he went to hunt. She should have been safe. No one fucked with the Lord of the Dark…
But she was screaming. He could smell smoke. And fear was coiling around him like a snake. He bounded back toward the cabin just as he saw a dark shadow fly overhead. Lila’s scream followed that shadow.
“You just can’t trust anyone these days…” A low, rumbling voice told him.
The fur on his back rose. Rayce froze. Julian was at his side, and the panther let out a low, fierce growl.
“I mean, you thought the Lord of the Dark was on your side.” The same taunting voice continued. “After all, you served him faithfully for years, but at the first sign of danger…what does he do?”