by Rose Wulf
Kai twirled his sword in his hand until it was angled to perfectly block the spear of energy. Demonic energy versus one of the most powerful angels in the armada—the spear didn’t even put up a fight. But before it snuffed out, Kai’s trademark blue flame ran the length of it, flaring brightly as it purified the energy the spear was made of. And despite the danger of the situation, despite the power of the show, Belle couldn’t help but notice how beautiful it was. She’d seen Kai’s flame before, but she’d never really seen him fight.
He’d always been careful to keep his life separate from hers.
“Best start payin’ attention,” Creed murmured against her ear.
Belle sucked in a breath, realizing how distracted she’d been, and made to spin at the same time as Gwen cried out and leaped to the other side of the bed. Creed shot out his arm, latching it around her throat at the elbow, and though he barely framed her jaw with his fingers, she felt the pressure of the vise he’d wrapped around her skull. He wasn’t going to snap her neck. He was going to pop her head like a tomato.
“Let her go.”
Kai’s demand was even, but the calm was fake. Though his frown betrayed no more than frustration and his posture revealed only focus and strength, Belle recognized the anger in his eyes. His eyes—always blue, like every other angel’s—were nearly aflame with barely restrained power.
“You shouldn’t turn your back on your sparring partner, angel boy,” Creed taunted. The pressure around Belle’s head tightened. She could feel a headache forming, building strength in time with the pressure. Throbbing rippled throughout her head, tearing at her focus. There would be no sense in healing herself until she was free; she was going to have to endure.
She nearly missed the other demon’s next attack.
He seemed to think he had an opening with Kai’s back turned and he’d created another weapon of energy, this time shaped like a scythe.
She tried to call out to Kai in warning, but the pressure around her skull increased and her knees threatened to buckle. Creed tightened the arm around her throat.
Kai blocked the scythe’s swing with his sword and turned what was undoubtedly a scathing glare over his shoulder. With no visible effort, he drew the sword down the length of the scythe, forcing the demon to release his weapon and leap back. But in the confines of a hotel room, and a room with less than stellar lighting, it was all too easy for the demon to land in shadows.
Kai’s sword swept through open air.
“Looks like we’ll be making our leave,” Creed declared, far too calmly for Belle’s tastes. He’d made no move to release her, but he hadn’t yet attempted to finish her off.
“Guys!” Gwen cried, her voice strained.
Belle tried to turn to look, and her whole head screamed in pain. She barely caught a glimpse of the demon Kai had just been fighting as he struggled with Gwen. Apparently he hadn’t fled. No! Gwen was their mission. If the demons got her, they would fail. But it was more than that for Belle. Gwen was an innocent, whose entire life had been tarnished by these poisonous beasts. She deserved to be free of them, not to die at their hands.
“’Til next time, Nephy,” Creed whispered, his rough lips scraping the shell of her ear.
Belle’s stomach rolled and were it not for the lock on her head and neck she was sure she’d have vomited.
Suddenly the vise—and the arm—vanished, releasing her, and Belle stumbled forward. She hit her knees before she realized what had happened, and an instant later the room filled with a blindingly bright blue-white light. Somewhere behind her Creed roared and the sounds of the struggle between Gwen and her abductor ceased. Another solid thud assured Belle that Gwen was still with them. Still safe.
Her head swam as the light receded.
That was the second time Creed had the gall to come at them directly. He clearly wasn’t afraid of their angel protector, and it was obvious that he enjoyed a little torture. Her skin still crawled from the feel of his touch.
“I-I’m okay,” Gwen declared from the other side of the bed. “I’m okay.”
The healer in her wanted to rush to Gwen’s side and check on her, but Belle was still discombobulated. The world hadn’t straightened yet, her stomach wasn’t so sure what it was doing, and her vision was blurry. Fortunately, most of the spots had faded.
“Belle?” Kai asked a moment before he knelt in front of her, his anger gone in favor of more familiar concern.
Belle sucked in a wobbly breath, but still couldn’t find the strength to stand. The pressure around her head was gone, but the pressure inside her head remained. Finally, she opted to try a light nod and hope he got the message.
Whatever message he got, though, might have been a little mistranslated. Kai stood and promptly swept Belle into his arms, tucking her head into the crook of his neck. She flushed and had to fight to keep from looping her arms around his shoulders. Not in another hundred years would she have expected him to hold her like this again. But she wasn’t in the mood to try convincing herself that she had some moral objection to it.
“Sit, rest,” Kai said, his voice gentle and warm, as he laid her back on the second bed. “Your body needs a few minutes to heal.”
Belle met his gaze, and it was all she could do not to smile and reach for his face. He still kept his jaw clean-shaven. He still smelled of summer—fresh, hot air and a touch of pine. But she wasn’t supposed to be thinking those thoughts anymore. She’d told herself not to for a reason. So she swallowed, managed a nod, and asked, “Gwen?”
“She’s fine,” Kai assured her. He stepped back, arms falling to his sides, and revealed the woman in question. Gwen was perched on the other bed, legs curled at her side, watching them.
“I don’t suppose we can ditch this place? I don’t feel comfortable here now,” Gwen said carefully, looking between the two.
Kai inclined his head. “As soon as Belle’s recovered.”
Belle said nothing, choosing to lie still and let her body heal itself. Kai’s choice was the right one, whether or not Gwen was up for it. The demons were gone for now, but it was obvious they had ways of tracking them. It was only a matter of time, and probably not much before the demons showed up again. It was probably time they considered warding, but there was always the risk of becoming surrounded if they tried that under these circumstances. What she needed to do was start carrying her sword.
Head swimming too much to consider the consequences, Belle said, “Kai.”
He hadn’t moved from the side of the bed, and he was watching her before she lifted her gaze to him.
The question was obvious in his eyes, so she didn’t wait for it. “My bag … could you get my blade from my bag?”
When Creed had grabbed her this time, he hadn’t bothered restraining her arms, knowing she could do nothing about the energy encasing her head and trusting his superior physical strength to retain her. She hadn’t felt so vulnerable in a long time. She wasn’t going to let it happen again.
Kai’s lips dipped at the corners, but he moved toward her discarded bag without argument. She listened to the sliding of the zipper and the soft rustling of supplies, not worried that he wouldn’t recognize the intricate hilt when he saw it. The zipper sounded again, swift and smooth, and moments later Kai obligingly rested the unassuming hilt at her side.
“When did you start carrying this?”
She couldn’t help but wonder if her carrying a weapon on their mission struck him in his pride. Nor could she decide whether she was truly okay with that or not. He’d deserve it, some stubborn part of her consciousness insisted. Maybe that was true, but she had never intended to go for a blow to the ego like that. So she shoved the thought, and the hope that he didn’t feel that way, aside.
“A few decades ago,” she replied, reaching over to finger the carvings.
The hilt was elaborate, carved with ancient symbols of power and grace. The man who’d given it to her insisted it had once belonged to a beautiful, powerful angel. He
said that angel had given it to him when he was young—less than thirty—in exchange for his agreement to become the parent her young infant needed. It was that handsome, though foolish, Nephilim Belle had come to heal when she met the previous owner of the blade. The blade itself was retractable, forged from some sort of heavenly steel. If she pressed on the small marking at the base, the blade and two pointed halves of the guard would pop free. And for a retractable blade, she’d always found it quite sturdy.
“That’s a blade?” Gwen asked from Kai’s side, drawing Belle out of the moment.
Belle drew a breath to respond, but Kai volunteered.
“Yes,” he said. “A retractable sword forged in the High Kingdom. They were popular a few hundred years ago.”
Gwen whistled and perched her butt on the edge of the mattress, grinning down at Belle. “Well, for being at least a few hundred years old, you don’t look a day over twenty-five.”
Belle rolled her eyes, grateful her headache was gone. A few more minutes and she’d be ready for travel. “I’m not, thank you. The blade was a gift.”
“Not what?” Gwen pushed curiously. “Not over twenty-five?”
Belle could swear she felt the vibrating rumble of Kai’s laughter to her core and all of a sudden she became hyper-aware of the fact that she was lying on a bed with him barely beyond arms’ reach. If it weren’t for Gwen’s presence, she would probably have had a hard time not reaching for him out of an old, delicious reflex. Instead, she did her best to ignore the amusement she sensed in him, and the way it made her insides warm, and turned her attention back to Gwen.
“Not several hundred years old,” she clarified. “Not yet, anyway.” She didn’t personally feel that two hundred counted as “several.”
Gwen arched a brow at this. “Not yet? Wait, are Nephilim seriously immortal?”
“Partially,” Belle replied. “Eventually, we die of old age, like humans. But we’re as vulnerable as humans, too. We get sick, we develop cancer or break bones, and all those things are just as capable of killing us.”
She couldn’t help but notice that Kai’s amusement vanished as she explained her type of mortality. When she glanced his way he’d averted his gaze, but from his profile, she could tell he was glaring at the window. As if he didn’t like the reminder. But that made no sense. Come to think of it, he’s not making a lot of sense at all.
Before this mission, their resentment of each other, or at least their dislike of the other’s company, had always felt mutual. And though in her more honest moments she could admit hers was largely an act of self-defense, given the way he’d left her, she’d always assumed his was real. Could she have been wrong?
What would that mean?
Sudden knocking on the door startled Belle—and Gwen—and she pushed to her elbows instinctively.
Kai was already striding toward the door, but he wasn’t reaching for his sword. So Belle doubted it was a demon. But who else would have cause to knock on their hotel room door?
“Who…” Gwen whispered, standing beside the bed.
Belle pushed herself up to a seated position, conveniently shielding the hilt of her weapon from sight, and shook her head. She might have added a verbal response, but the door was already opening.
An angel from Angel Clinic stood on the other side, her expression somber.
“Good afternoon,” Serafina said, addressing Kai with a bow of her head and shoulders. “I’m here for Belle.”
Frowning and immediately worrying about the patients she’d had to leave to Serafina and the rest, Belle stood and moved to Kai’s side. “Sera, what’s the matter?”
Sera looked between them before settling on Belle. “Can we talk in private?”
Belle could feel Kai’s attention on her, and she didn’t need to see his face to know his thoughts on the subject. But she didn’t see the harm in the request. “Just a moment,” she said to Sera. Turning to Kai, she added, “Why don’t you take Gwen to the next point and I’ll talk with Sera. When I’m done I’ll check us out, and you can come get me.”
Kai made no effort to hide his frown. “And if the demons return?”
“Demons?” Sera repeated, her blue eyes widening.
“They’re not targeting me, remember?” Belle said, ignoring her subordinate for the moment. “I’m sure this won’t take long. If you haven’t heard from me in thirty minutes, feel free to come looking.”
She recognized his disapproval when it flashed behind his eyes, but he didn’t voice his argument. And that made her wonder what it would be.
Kai turned and grabbed Belle’s larger suitcase before extending his other hand to Gwen. “Let’s go.”
“Belle?” Gwen asked hesitantly, shrugging into her backpack.
Belle offered her a smile. “Don’t worry, you should handle the next jump much better. And I’ll be there soon if you need a boost.” She hoped that wouldn’t be the case, though. Between spending a solid hour healing Gwen and then immediately having her head partially crushed by a demon, Belle was tired. What she needed was sleep. But her patients always came first.
As soon as Kai and Gwen were gone, Belle stepped aside for Sera to enter. “So what’s the situation?” It was unlike Sera to play messenger. Belle had expected Sera would have been taking charge of the clinic in her absence.
Serafina crossed her arms and aimed a disapproving frown at Belle once the door was shut. “You tell me,” she said. “I come in for my shift to find you’ve left without notice. Run off to Earth playing, what, house with a human and Kai? I can’t imagine he’s on leave with all the demons running around topside these days.”
Belle blinked at her, taken aback by the accusation and the attitude. “Is that what this is about? You tracked me down to lecture me without knowing the circumstances?” She did her best to maintain her calm as she thought about the effort Sera would have had to put in to find her so quickly. “You have patients to be tending to, Serafina.”
Sera narrowed her eyes at Belle. “So do you, Belle. As Master Healer, you have an obligation to all of them. So what is this? Some Nephilim-population plan?”
“Don’t you dare speak like that to me,” Belle warned sharply, stepping into Sera’s personal space. “As Master Healer, I outrank you. One word of this to Kai and you’ll be unemployed, returning to the High Kingdom in shame. Now you listen to me, Sera, because I’ll only explain this once. I’m here on orders from Isabella herself. That is all you need to know.”
Sera looked less than convinced. “Well, isn’t that convenient. I thought you hated Kai?”
“I didn’t pick him,” Belle replied. It was the easiest, shortest truth. Though why she felt inclined to stick to the truth in this conversation was beyond her. Nephilim-population plan? Really?
“You still can’t just abandon your post,” Sera insisted.
“I do what I’m told,” Belle returned. Deliberately looking down on Sera in an effort to get her message across, she added, “Unlike you, it seems. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go check out. I have a patient to return to.” She turned her back to Serafina, snatched the hilt from the bed before the angel behind her could see it, and moved to her remaining bag.
“Don’t think I believe you,” Sera finally replied. “I’ll be back.”
Belle released a breath and threw the strap of her bag over her shoulders. With the hilt tucked into a pocket and the keycard in her hand, she turned for the door. “What was her deal, anyway?” she muttered to herself as she let herself out.
She and Serafina had never been particularly close, it was true. Sera had been in line for a promotion to Master Healer when Isabella decided to break with tradition and recruit Belle. In the beginning, none of the angels were fond of her. She was a Nephilim, after all, and it was rare for a Nephilim to be accepted as a healer among the angels. Belle was the first to make Master. But she’d worked her ass off to earn it, too. She was a better healer than Sera or any of the angels at the clinic, and they all knew it. E
ventually, most of her staff had come to acknowledge and even respect that.
But not Sera. For Sera, Belle’s title and station were an insult. The idea that she might be outranked by a lowly Nephilim was abhorrent. Belle knew Sera wasn’t fond of her because of her race alone; that discrimination was something she’d have to deal with. And normally she could. But normally it wasn’t so blatantly in her face, either.
She shoved the frustration of the never-ending struggle to prove herself from her mind as she checked out, doing her best to ignore the obvious flirtation attempt from the man at the desk. He could hardly meet her gaze long enough to smile. But she didn’t care; she just wanted to get out of there. As soon as she was done, she moved out of sight, heading for a couple of trees that would make disappearing a little easier.
“You want me to smite him for you?”
Kai’s question startled her, as did the sound of his voice coming from behind her, and Belle jumped.
“Kai, you scared the crap out of me!” she exclaimed as she turned to face him. His words hit her, then, and she couldn’t stop the tease. “Smite, really?”
“Seemed appropriate,” Kai said by way of explanation as he stepped into her personal space. Before she could catch her breath at his nearness, he’d slipped her bag from her shoulders with one hand and caught her hip with the other. “Stop taking risks,” he added, the order roughened by a distantly familiar thickness to his voice that sent shivers of anticipation down her spine. Before she could process what he was doing, he’d tugged her up against his chest and caught her lips in a hard kiss.
Belle moaned as he plunged his tongue into her mouth, demanding and teasing at the same time. He kissed her like a man starved, winding both arms around her as she kissed him back. Her skin burned beneath his heavy, heated touch and she threaded her fingers through his hair. It was thick and soft, exactly the way she remembered. He rolled his tongue over hers, stroking and sliding, reminding her body of exactly what he was capable of. Heat pooled low in her belly, and she leaned into him instinctively.