“Hey, Kim.”
“You’re not backing out, Nigh. Don’t even try,” she said.
“I wasn’t going to. I—”
“Sure you weren’t.”
“I’m sorry, Kim. I forgot,” I said, rubbing my forehead with my fingers, feeling a stress headache coming on. “I’ll be there.”
Jared walked with me to the Escalade and held the door open as I climbed inside. By his expression, I knew he was aware of the dull pain in my head.
“You’re not going to stand us up again, are you?” she scolded.
“No! No, I’ll meet you there around nine.”
“Good. See you then.” Kim said, disconnecting the line.
I put my cell phone back in my pocket and took Jared’s hand. “I’m sorry.” I groaned. “I think I unwittingly double booked myself.”
My head began to throb. It was difficult skipping back and forth between the two lives I was leading. I was the typical college student when I was with Kim, Ryan, and Beth, and when I was with Jared, my life turned into this fantastical dream world with angels and demons and secret safety deposit boxes.
We parked in front of the loft, and Jared sighed. Claire’s Lotus was sparkling beside the curb.
“It doesn’t look as if we’d have much time alone, anyway.”
Claire was lounging on the couch in stilettos boots and a leather jacket, flipping through channels on the flat screen. “Ryan’s taking a nap. That guy sleeps like a hibernating bear,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Every branch of the military wants me on a special ops team, and God sticks me with the most boring Taleh in the history of mankind.”
I smiled at her observation, and Jared led me upstairs by the hand.
“Is Ryan going to the pub tonight?” Jared called back to his sister.
“Yep,” Claire said. “I’ll see you there.”
“Are you keeping Claire company tonight?” I asked, collapsing onto his bed.
“I think I’ll hang back tonight and let you spend time with your friends,” he said, lying on the mattress beside me.
“You don’t want to come?”
Jared brushed his thumb across my sullen lip. “I always want to be where you are.”
I smiled. “Because you have to.”
“You know that’s not true,” he said, trying his best to seem annoyed.
I leaned over to kiss his cheek. “How do you expect me to have fun when you’re right outside and I’m hoping that any minute you’ll just break down and come in?”
Jared grinned. “How can I say no to that?”
“You’ll come, then?” I asked, raising my eyebrows expectantly.
“If that’s what you want.” Jared shrugged. He tried to seem casual, but beyond the cool blue of his eyes was an edge of hopefulness.
“It’s what I’ll always want,” I whispered, touching his cheek with my fingertips.
Jared’s expression beamed with adoration. “I knew that if I ever got my chance to be with you, all the waiting would be worth it. It’s as if we’ve cheated the curse, somehow. I’ve never understood how something could be considered a curse that requires me to spend every moment with you and that grants me the mercy of leaving a world that doesn’t have you in it.”
“There’s nothing for me to say after that.”
“It’s just the truth, sweetheart. You don’t have to try to outdo me,” Jared said, amused.
“I love you, and I will love you forever. That’s the truth.”
Jared’s expression turned intense, as if he were moved beyond words by my simple honesty. He pressed his lips to mine in the same slow, meaningful way he had only once before. It was the sweetest moment of my life.
It occurred to me that the stars had all but lined up for us: Gabe being assigned to my father, falling in love with Lillian, and then Jared coming along four years before I did, just in time to be assigned to me—the daughter of a criminal—a girl who would need constant supervision.
I traced the planes of Jared’s torso and pondered how perfectly everything had been laid out for us to be together, and then my mind drifted to Claire and Ryan. If I were going to believe in fate, I had to take into account who Jared said I was meant to be with. I closed my eyes, pushing the thought from my mind. Ryan would find someone else that he would be happy with, and Jared could keep me.
Jared’s voice pulled me out of my daydream. “You were determined today. I’m impressed.”
“Anything’s possible with an angel and a little ingenuity,” I said, settling in beside him.
Jared let me sleep for an hour, and then we left early to grab a bite to eat before meeting my friends. I descended the stairs in a black satin corset and jeans, with a pair of ruffle-toed pewter pumps. To my extreme pleasure, Jared stood frozen by the door, dropping his keys and then catching them before they hit the floor.
“Wow,” he whispered.
“Thank you,” I smiled, letting him help me with my coat.
By the end of dinner, I’d already had three glasses of wine. We arrived at the pub at nine sharp, and the various vehicles of my friends were already in the parking lot. I noticed Claire’s Lotus parked beside the curb down the street.
When Jared and I walked in, my friends cheered and whistled at our arrival.
Kim yelled over the music. “I brought a CD! We’re going to be dancing queens for the night!”
“Okay!” I yelled over the upbeat song blaring over the speakers.
Tucker brought over shots—all of them different colors—and the group howled. Everyone held up their shot glasses and Chad pushed one full of something green in my direction.
We all yelled in unison, “TO THE BIG BROWN BEAR!”
With that, we all tipped our heads back, killed our shots, and glasses slammed to the table at different intervals. Tucker yelled for Tozzi to bring another round, and everyone cheered.
Thirty minutes later, most of us were on the dance floor, jumping around like maniacs. My head felt a bit heavy, already feeling the effects of the wine and whiskey. Ryan and Jared watched us from the table, and I waved to both of them as I bounced up and down.
I returned to the table and sat on Jared’s lap. He pulled me toward him to talk in my ear.
“I love you, but there is no puking in the Escalade.”
I laughed and planted a kiss on his mouth. “I’m fine! I’m Irish, remember?”
Jared nodded and leaned into my ear again. “Even the Irish throw up, Nina.”
It seemed as if the night had just begun when Tozzi announced last call. I lost count of the drinks I’d had, and my eyes struggled to focus.
Jared supported most of my weight as he escorted me to his SUV. He lifted me effortlessly into the passenger seat, and I leaned my elbow against the console, resting my head against my fist.
By the time we arrived at the loft, my head felt too heavy to hold up. Jared pulled open my door, and I slipped in and out of awareness as he carried me up the stairs.
“I’m going to take a shower,” I said, stumbling to the bathroom.
Jared followed me. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I don’t want you passing out in there.”
“Why don’t you join me, and then you can make sure I don’t?” I said, steadying myself against the door jamb.
Jared raised an eyebrow, and I frowned at him before grabbing a towel and shutting the door behind me.
I fought with my clothes in slow motion. My eyes wouldn’t stay open, and I was incessantly giggling for no good reason, which made me giggle more. I turned on the shower and stepped under the water, letting it rush over me, plastering my hair onto my face. Every movement I made felt as if it were at a snail’s pace, but I managed to exit the shower before my palms pruned.
I ran a comb through my hair and clumsily brushed my teeth. I giggled again at my blundering of the most mundane of tasks, and I heard Jared chuckle outside the door in response.
“Everything all right in there?” he asked, knocking on the doo
r.
I giggled again and spit loudly in the sink. “Everything’s fantastic!”
Jared laughed again, and I opened the door and stumbled to the bed.
“I’m going to hop in the shower. Don’t try to go downstairs or look over the railing or anything like that, okay? Just stay put until I get out.” I understood his words, but they seemed to blur together.
I fell onto the bed face down and moaned into the comforter at how perfectly wonderful it felt. “I’m not going anywhere,” I said, my eyes sealing shut.
Jared reappeared in less than five minutes. “Did you plan on sleeping in your towel?”
“Maybe,” I said, feeling melted to the bed.
Jared walked over to his closet and pulled a T-shirt off its hanger. “Okay,” he said, sitting me up, “raise your arms.”
I complied, and he slid the oversized T-shirt over my head. I buzzed my lips as the neckline went over my mouth, making Jared erupt in laughter.
“You are something else,” he said, covering my legs with the blanket. He stepped away for a moment and then returned, throwing a piece of light blue fabric onto my lap. It took me a moment to realize that it was a pair of my panties.
“I’ll let you take care of that.” He started down the stairs, and I spoke up.
“Jared?”
He turned around, immediately catching the panties I clumsily shot at him. I burst into a delighted cackle, knowing if he had been merely human I would have caught him square in the face.
Jared smiled with inexhaustible patience. “These are for you, not me,” he said, tossing them back. They landed perfectly in my lap.
I giggled again as he descended the stairs, feeling exhausted and wide awake at the same time. I could hear every step and movement Jared made downstairs, yet the fog in my head kept the sounds blurred together.
I was already settled on my side of the bed when Jared returned, and he wasted no time nestling himself next to me. Though the rest of my senses were lacking, my skin was aware of the heat created when his skin touched mine. Every part of me felt content and peaceful in his arms, as if I were meant to be there. I kissed his chest, but my lips didn’t want to stop there. I continued until I reached his neck, and Jared took a deep breath, wasting no time to hold my shoulders far enough away to look into my prurient eyes.
“Nina,” Jared warned, but I put my mouth on his to stop any further protesting.
I skipped over our usual cautious beginnings and let go of all my inhibitions. I leaned over him, lifting my knee at the same time to straddle his hips. Jared’s lips were not as urgent as mine, but I persisted.
I felt Jared’s torso rise against my lips as they left his chest to slowly kiss my way up the midline of his throat. When my lips reached his lips again, his mouth was less cautious. He turned, rolling over me, positioning me on my back. I smiled at my imminent victory.
Jared pulled away from me, his breath disparate from just moments before. “Nina, we can’t do this tonight.”
I let out a gush of air I’d been holding in anticipation of my triumph. “Why not?”
Jared kissed my nose and smiled. “Well—although I’m incredibly tempted by the slurring and stumbling—I’d like for you to remember our first time.”
I relaxed my legs, letting them fall to the bed. “Why do you have to be so freaking noble?” I complained, pounding the mattress with my arms for emphasis.
Jared chuckled and curled up beside me. “Yes, I’m so noble that I struggle with it every second I’m alone with you. Don’t give me too much credit.”
“I’m sorry.” I sighed, knowing I would feel guilty in a clearer state of mind.
“Don’t apologize. I can’t say I don’t enjoy it.” He chuckled. “Nina?” he said, whispering my name.
I could hear him, but I couldn’t respond. I realized just how fast I was sinking when my mind wanted to answer him but my mouth refused to form the words. He kissed my exposed shoulder and relaxed his head on the pillow behind me. As I was floating into unconsciousness, I felt his arm tighten around me again, blanketing me with the warmth of his skin. I thought I heard him whisper something else, but I was too deep inside the darkness to make out the words.
12. Eli
My chest hurt. My eyes hurt. My head felt like a railroad spike had been driven through it. I wanted to scream, but that would only make it more excruciating. The only part of the moment that offered a grain of comfort was that I was still in Jared’s bed. I felt colder than I usually felt when waking up in his apartment, and I knew at once he wasn’t with me.
“Jared?” I rasped, unable to speak louder than a whisper.
I felt the bed dip beside me, and I winced at the nausea the movement induced. The fissure I managed between my eyelids let in an infinitesimal amount of light, and I cowered from it, bringing my hands over my eyes.
“I’ll get the light,” Jared spoke in a hushed voice.
The assaulting brightness that seeped through my eyelids faded, and I tried again.
“Much better, thank you,” I whispered, pulling myself up on my elbows.
“I brought you breakfast.” Jared nodded to the bedside table. Two aspirin, a large glass of water, and a triangle of toast sat on a plate beside my picture.
I forced a smile and reached for the aspirin. Jared handed me the water, and I tossed the pills to the back of my tongue, gulping down the cool liquid. It felt uncomfortable against my parched throat, as if my body wanted to reject any further fluids that might cause more anguish.
“I feel awful,” I groaned.
“I know.”
“I don’t usually get a hangover. I must have been absurdly drunk,” I said, rubbing my face with the tips of my fingers.
“You were,” he said flatly.
I sank into the mattress. “I’m sorry you had to babysit me. As if you don’t have to do it, anyway. I’m so embarrassed.”
Jared attempted a smile. “Don’t apologize for having a good time with your friends. It’s just uncomfortable.” His eyes unfocused and his eyebrows pulled in.
“What’s uncomfortable?”
Jared rubbed the back of his neck. “This hazy, painful, tired, irritable heaviness you’re feeling.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t considered that Jared would be sensing the same symptoms. I sank deeper into the mattress, feeling selfish. “Do you have a headache?”
Jared laughed with a puff of air. “I don’t know. I’ve never had one before. I’m sure it’s a lesser version of what you’re feeling.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I thought it was faint, like a mosquito buzzing in your ear?”
Jared looked away from me, clearly troubled. “It’s getting stronger.”
“How?”
“I’m not sure. My father never mentioned our senses increasing more than what I’ve always experienced.”
“I’m sorry, Jared. I didn’t know or I wouldn’t have—”
“Hey, don’t worry about me. I just need to figure out what this is. It bothers me that I don’t feel one hundred percent.”
“Oh.”
“What?” Jared asked, as if I’d pulled him out of a deep thought.
“The no-drinking policy. You feel off balance this morning, and you like feeling in control all the time.”
“You say it as if it were a bad thing,” he said defensively.
“You don’t have to be perfect all the time, Jared. It’s okay to let your guard down.”
I leaned in to hug him, but he pulled away just enough to make me hesitate. When he realized what he’d done, he seemed to regret it, which made him even angrier.
“You sound like Claire,” he snapped.
“Claire and I agree on this one, then. You are half-human. It’s okay to make mistakes,” I said, my words more rigid than I’d meant them to be.
“Not for someone like me. Certainly not for someone who has the daughter of Jack Grey for a Taleh. It’s as if you have no sense of danger, Nina. After everything you’ve been thr
ough lately, I don’t understand it.”
He mentioned my father to get a reaction, so I kept my temper in check. I raised an eyebrow at his mini-tirade. “Did I strike a nerve?”
Jared’s unending patience from the night before had run out. “If I let my guard down, you die. Do you understand that?”
I took a drink of water and nodded. “We die.”
Jared took the glass from me and slammed it on the table. “Do you think I care about that? I would die for you a thousand times if I could. You’re the only thing that matters.”
I crossed my arms, incensed with his tender words mixed with their biting tone. “What is wrong with you? Why are you so upset?”
Jared leaned his elbows on his knees, looking to the floor. “I had company this morning.”
“I didn’t hear anyone come in,” I said, surprised.
“It’s because he doesn’t use doors. It was Samuel. He was a friend of my father’s. He’s concerned about the situation I’ve put you in.”
I held up a hand. “Back up. What do you mean he doesn’t use doors?”
“He’s an Arch.”
“An Archangel was here this morning?” I asked, mystified. “Do they look like Gabe? Do they look human?”
“Yes,” he answered.
“So if they look human, how do you know?”
“Archs have the same light hair, flawless skin, and the bright blue eyes, although Samuel and his family are the exception. They are nobility among the Archs, and are a contrast to the rest of them.”
“Contrast?” I had hoped I would learn to decipher Jared’s cryptic explanations, but I still failed consistently.
“He’s a Cimmerian, a line of dark angels. They are the strongest of Archs, they’re sovereigns, and they’re warriors. They are assigned to those who are marked by Hell—the humans who are born to be stalked and tormented. They go toe-to-toe with demons quite frequently.”
“Oh,” I said, thinking about what kind of creature had been just a few feet from me while I slept. Anything built to wrestle demons had to be a frightening sight to behold.
Jared continued, “In addition to that, I can smell them a mile away. It’s difficult for them to sneak up on us or each other.”
“Like fresh laundry, soap, and a thunderstorm?” I asked, the corners of my mouth turning up.
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