Sparks of Blue (Dark Light Book 2)

by Rose Wulf

  EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2016 Rose Wulf

  ISBN: 978-1-77233-919-2

  Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

  Editor: Kerry Genova

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to my best friend and surrogate sister, Kelly Laprezioso.

  It finally happened! And I hope you love this story as much as I do! I know you will.

  Enjoy the book and thank you, more than I can say, for being there for me all these years. Words can't express how grateful I am for your support and encouragement.

  SPARKS OF BLUE

  Dark Light, 2

  Rose Wulf

  Copyright © 2016

  Chapter One

  Belle smiled as she perched on the seat beside her next patient’s bed. “How are you feeling, Chenille?”

  The recovering angel released a breath and returned the smile. “Tired, mostly. The pain’s almost gone.” She’d been injured in a battle a few days earlier by a particularly scheming demon and brought to Angel Clinic terribly burnt. But the char from demonic energy had greatly receded, and Chenille’s faded blue eyes were no longer swollen. Belle could even hear the improvement in her voice.

  “That’s great,” Belle said. She reached forward and rested her palm on the angel’s forehead gently. She fell silent as she let herself focus more intently on the state of her patient’s recovery. “Hmm. You’re coming along well.” She pulled back with a bigger smile. “Just one more night, I think, and you’ll be right as rain. Your sister will be thrilled.”

  Chenille laughed lightly. “Can I give her the good news, then? You know she’ll be here in, like, ten minutes.”

  Pushing to her feet, Belle nodded. “You absolutely may. I’ll check on you again in a little bit, okay?”

  “No healing session?”

  “I want you to rest a bit more first,” Belle explained. “After lunch, we’ll do another round. Unless your pain comes back before, in which case just call for me.”

  Smiling again, Chenille nodded. “Sounds good. Thank you.”

  Belle returned the smile, adjusting the comforter over Chenille reflexively before turning to check on another patient. But she came up short at what she saw instead. One of the most dangerous angels in the armada had stepped into her clinic, and since he never needed healing, she could only assume she was going to have to deal with him. Which was both harder and easier than she liked to admit.

  Kai strode into the room with all the confidence of a proud warrior and Belle struggled to hold on to her resentment of him.

  The man was almost sinfully sexy. Tall with broad shoulders and a strong, smooth jaw to match his perfectly sculpted muscles. Soft dark hair that reflected a deep shade of blue in any kind of light and piercing blue eyes. He carried himself with power and pride because he knew he’d earned his reputation. A reputation of success and prowess in combat. A leader and a protector. On paper, he sounded like every woman’s dream, and if she looked with only her eyes, she could still see it. If ever the clichéd description of “he just oozed sex” was apropos, it was with him. The man could melt a woman with a look, never mind what he was capable of with a single finger.

  Belle would know.

  Unfortunately, she knew the man beneath that mouthwatering body, and she couldn’t un-see it now. What he projected as confidence and calmness was actually arrogance and selfishness. Sure, he was good at taking orders from someone he respected, but that list was frighteningly short. No lover would ever make it, Belle was sure.

  “Belle.” Kai’s voice was as deep and smooth as she remembered. Damn him.

  “What?” She pretended to return her focus to making her rounds, all the while trying to hear his words without hearing that voice. No matter how long it had been since they’d spent any time together, she was still plagued by dreams of that voice.

  She could practically feel his frown. “Isabella needs you.”

  Belle paused, briefly wondering if their commander was injured. But surely Kai would’ve said so if that were the case? Reluctantly turning her gaze toward him, Belle asked, “With what?”

  The inner corners of his ethereally blue eyes crinkled faintly, a sign Belle knew meant he didn’t see the need for her question. “Does it matter?” he asked.

  Releasing a deliberate breath, Belle swept her arm out to indicate the occupied beds behind her and said, “As you can see, I’ve got patients to check on. That’s my job, remember? They come first.”

  Never one to miss a retort, Kai said, “And there are a dozen other healers here who can care for them in your absence. Isabella is waiting.”

  Belle refused to acknowledge the flicker of discomfort in her chest. Just indigestion. “Well, unless you’ve neglected to mention that she’s on her deathbed and for some reason refusing to come here for treatment, she can wait fifteen minutes while I finish my rounds.” She stepped forward to walk past him, expecting Kai to back-step at least on reflex and give her room to breathe.

  She should’ve known better. Kai didn’t move an inch.

  All of a sudden, and quite because of her own idiotic action, Belle was well within Kai’s personal space. She could feel the radiating heat of his body; her lungs were invaded by his damned enticing scent. Her fingers itched with the unbidden memory of everything that used to happen when he let her get this close to him. There was a time when—Knock it off, Belle.

  “So you’re coming?” The glint of victory reflected in his eyes and the slight upward twitch to one corner of his lips.

  Damn those lips.

  “When I’m ready,” Belle returned, attempting to angle around his stubbornly solid frame. And not wondering if she remembered how it felt properly.

  Kai caught her upper arm in a steel grip. It didn’t hurt, but she couldn’t break it. “Now, Belle.”

  Despite herself, she had to swallow at the sound of her name on his lips. And she wondered what he’d do if she smacked him. “Let go of me, Kai.”

  “In a moment.”

  Crap. So much for checking on her patients.

  By the time she fully processed her defeat, their surroundings had changed, and her stomach briefly bottomed out, not unlike the feeling of driving too fast down a hillside. They were now standing in Isabella’s personal control room, though Belle didn’t know if that was actually what she called it, and the angel in question was observing a magical monitor. As far as Belle could see, the three of them were alone in the room.

  “Thank you for coming, Belle,” Isabella said, turning a smile to her as she moved closer.

  Cutting a glare to Kai as she jerked her arm free, Belle replied, “I might come more willingly if you’d send a friendly messenger next time.”

  “I don’t have time to worry about your issues with each other,” Isabella said. “I need you both for a special assignment.”

  Belle tried her best not to gape at her superior. Kai didn’t seem surprised in the least. But that was his style; he didn’t like to let his reactions show. It made him damned hard to read. “I’m sorry,” Belle began carefully, “you want us to work together? I thought you said you needed me at the medical station?”

  Isabella acknowledged her
point with an incline of her head. “Yes, and it’s not that I don’t. Rather, it’s that I need you more elsewhere, at least for the time being.”

  “Why both of us? Kai’s no healer.” And though it was true, it was also true that Belle got far too much enjoyment out of rubbing in that she had one up on him in at least one department. Two if you consider that I actually have a heart…

  Isabella’s lips twitched with restrained amusement. “True enough, but he’s the best warrior I’ve got. And you and your new patient are going to need his protection to see this through.”

  Belle did her best not to groan. “You honestly think he’s going to want to protect me?”

  “I can still hear you,” Kai said. His voice was monotone, but his point came through loud and clear.

  Sliding her gaze sideways and lifting both brows high on her forehead, Belle said, “So? Are you implying that I’m wrong, and you actually want to protect me?” Because if your answer is yes I will smack you, right in front of Isabella. And we both know you’re asshole enough to say it, too.

  Kai narrowed his eyes at her for a long second before his face fell back to neutral and he looked forward. “What’s the situation?”

  He was going to accept. Belle was certain of it. And she was equally certain that she herself wasn’t actually being asked.

  Congratulations, Belle. You wanted to make a name for yourself with the angels; get them to trust you and rely on you. Looks like you’ve done it.

  ****

  Kai’s ears were still ringing as he waited outside Belle’s quarters. The last thing he’d expected after fetching their Master Healer for Isabella had been a long-term assignment with her. But he’d kept his cool while his superior explained their job and he knew Isabella wouldn’t pull him from the front lines without good reason. Unfortunately.

  Now he was to play babysitter for some sickly human woman. Belle’s job was to thoroughly heal the woman, but the woman was so bad off it was going to take time. More than a visit to Angel Clinic would allow for. Apparently a group of demons was targeting the woman, for reasons unknown, so Isabella was also hoping Kai could discern that information while he was babysitting—or guarding, as she’d put it.

  He scoffed and had to fight to keep his head from falling back against the wall behind him. Some days he swore Isabella was trying to crack the so-called mystery of the tension between him and Belle. She’d asked back when the pair had first reunited under her command, but Kai had been prepared. And it didn’t seem Belle was inclined to divulge the truth any more than he was.

  Of course she isn’t, dumbass. She was the one who would have had to bear those consequences. What mattered now was figuring out how the hell to stay in control of himself while confined to close-quarters with the one woman who could undo him with a flick of her hair. Her long, full-bodied, yellow-blonde hair.

  Kai swallowed a groan and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment in an attempt to push the image of Belle as he remembered her from his mind. It wasn’t as if he’d been able to draw comfort from it in recent decades.

  “All right,” Belle suddenly declared beside him. “Let’s just get this over with.” She paused, arched a perfectly trimmed blonde brow at him, and asked, “You do know where we’re going, right?”

  Schooling his face back to neutral, Kai inclined his head. “Of course.” This mission was going to test the hell out of him. Possibly literally.

  Belle tossed a large duffel over one shoulder and jiggled the smaller suitcase she held with her hand pointedly. “Then what are we waiting for?”

  Kai resisted the instinct to take the bags from her and instead rested his hand on her free shoulder. Touch was, unfortunately, necessary for transporting another. He’d lose his own war if they had to do too much teleporting. Instead of focusing on that, he closed his eyes and drew up the information they had on their target.

  The human Gwendolyn Manning, twenty-nine years old, currently resided in a small hospital in a mountain community. It was time to introduce themselves, but first Belle’s things needed to be deposited.

  He called up his power as his consciousness settled on a nearby temporary establishment, what humans called a hotel. Warmth engulfed him, swirling outward and separating them from their surroundings. If only it were that simple…

  “She can’t be here,” Belle said as the power faded again, its job done. She was blinking up at the two-story building before them. It was in need of a paint job and looked as though it had suffered water damage but never been repaired. “I think you missed.” There was definitely a note of amusement in her words, too.

  Dropping his hand and allowing a smirk to tilt his lips, Kai replied, “You know I don’t miss.” He started forward instead of turning to face her. The less he looked at her straight-on, the easier it would be to hold out.

  Behind him, Belle huffed a breath of annoyance as she followed in his wake. “Then what are we doing here?”

  “We’ll be staying here for a night or two,” Kai explained as he held the door for her. Lowering his voice and adding a jibe to goad her he said, “It’s called a hotel, by the way. This is what they’re for.” She probably wanted to smack him for that.

  Belle stopped and narrowed a blue-eyed glare up at him. Despite the anger in her gaze, he had to take a long, deep breath. Her eyes were just pale enough to be haunting, and her cream-colored skin was as flawless as ever. She was dressed modestly, as he knew Isabella required, but her clothes were still impeccably formfitting. Showing off her rounded breasts, her flat stomach, and her dangerously long legs. If anything, she was in better shape now than she had been when they’d first met.

  “Don’t be an ass, Kai. Can you manage that?” Her seething question helped to jar him out of his distracted thoughts. By the time he’d refocused she’d spun and begun stalking up to the front counter, dragging her suitcase behind her.

  Speaking of asses. But he needed not to be dwelling on the distant past. Not while he was going to have a hard time finding breathing room, at least. So he gave himself a mental headshake and strode forward until he’d caught up with her.

  “How many nights?” the older man behind the counter asked.

  “Just one,” Kai requested. “Two beds.” No way in hell was he sharing with the human. Hell, he was probably going to be stuck on the floor.

  Beside him, Belle shifted her weight restlessly but remained silent. He imagined she would have preferred a separate room, but she wholly understood their purpose here. In this, at least, she understood he wasn’t deliberately torturing her. Don’t give yourself so much credit. After all this time, her hatred of him was probably genuine. The only one about to endure days of torture was him.

  ****

  Belle had opted to remain in her professional outfit for their jaunt to the local hospital, despite that the pants made her legs itch. Getting to choose her clothes for the next week or two would probably be the best part of this damnable assignment. It certainly won’t be hearing Kai’s voice all the time. Or seeing him daily.

  She hoped Gwen Manning was likable, or this was going to be the worst kind of torture.

  Kai graciously fell a pace behind her as they stepped from the elevator. Maybe he actually felt like this sort of environment was more Belle’s wheelhouse, or maybe he was already scanning for danger. She didn’t know, and she didn’t care. They had a sick, cursed human to rescue and that was what she needed to be focusing on. She just hoped Kai wasn’t staring at her ass.

  They rounded the final corner between them and their goal, and Belle came up short. Her feet stopped the same instant Kai settled his hand firmly on her shoulder in wordless warning. Not that she needed it. Her eyesight was almost as good as his, and he damn well knew it.

  The door to Gwen’s room was closed, but the blinds were open, and an orderly was bent over beside her, about to stick a needle and a mystery fluid into her IV line. Mere inches above the juncture at her arm.

  Belle’s half-angel vision assured her tha
t orderly was actually a demon. She could see his real, scarred face and darkly glowing eyes. That was her personal secret. It was rare for any Nephilim to have demon-sight and absolutely unheard of for one to have two angelic gifts. Her angel-level healing was known, as she’d wanted it to be, but she couldn’t afford to reveal her extra sight. In fact, she’d only ever told two souls.

  One of whom was already moving with a faux-calm stride toward the hospital room. And the fact that he’d continued to keep her secret was probably the only thing she was truly grateful to him for.

  Belle rushed in behind Kai, instinctive worry for her patient flaring to life in her chest. Gwen was still asleep but not sedated. She could wake up any moment.

  “Angel!” The demon hissed, jumping back from the IV with the needle still in his hand. “Stay out of this!”

  “You don’t give me orders,” Kai said. His deep voice was cold and deadly. He rounded the bed and pulled a blue-burning sword from the sheath he’d hidden at his side in the same breath. The little demon wasn’t nearly fast enough to avoid the blade, and his body erupted in a mix of black and blue flames. The black flames were hellfire, but the blue was all Kai. Even the usual tell-tale scorch mark on the floor disappeared beneath Kai’s power.

  “Ohmigod!” a female voice exclaimed. Belle looked over to see young Gwen Manning attempting to scurry backward on her hospital bed. “What the heck is going on here? Who are you?”

  Kai sheathed his sword, hiding it once more from mortal sight, and said nothing. Which was for the best. Kai didn’t exactly have what one would call “people skills.”

  Smiling gently, Belle held her ground so as not to further startle Gwen and said, “Take a deep breath. My name is Belle. We’re not here to hurt you.”

  Gwen looked back and forth between them, her shoulder-length, light brown hair swaying with the motion. Her hazel eyes were wide, and she opened her mouth several seconds before she finally looked straight at Kai and said, “What happened to your sword?”