Legends said that his hair used to be completely red, but as he spent more and more time traveling the dark places of Unearth, it darkened until only the last few inches remained the original color. It was often speculated that Soul Runners didn’t cut their hair because they didn’t want to lose the last part of their former selves.
He took a step towards her and looked her up and down, stopping at her face. At least she hoped he looked at her face and not her cleavage. She figured it was a tossup.
“So, Lilith’s sister, tell me your name.” Dark and heady, his command urged her to obey. His voice lowered a notch in both volume and pitch, sending ripples of hunger through her. How long had it been since she’d felt desire for something more than a piece of chocolate cake?
Should she tell him her name? It probably didn’t matter at this point, but something held her back. His dark, heated stare bore right through her, making her feel as if he could see her every secret and desire. Who knew what kind of dark magic Azrael was capable of? If keeping her name to herself was the only secret she’d been allowed, she would hold it close.
She looked up at him, through his burgundy irises, and into the depths of his pupils. She stayed silent, refusing his demand. Expecting to see frustration or anger over being ignored, she was surprised to see what looked like amusement. The dim light in his eyes brightened, and one corner of his gorgeous mouth quirked up. Was he laughing at her?
He stepped in once more and took a lock of her hair in his hand. Briefly he rubbed it between his fingers as if savoring the texture and then tucked it behind her ear, grazing the outer shell with a lingering sweep as he pulled his hand away.
“You really are a stubborn little thing, aren’t you? Beware, sweetness. That fight only makes you all the more tempting to someone like me. When your resistance finally falls, the victory is so much sweeter.”
His eyes pinning her in place and his voice compelling her to follow his lead became a lethal one-two punch, disarming her. Any intelligence and self-control she had flew right out the window. He was an incubus, luring her in with seductive words and dark promises. Her knees redoubled their efforts to stay upright.
She didn’t have time for this, and no way, no how could she make sexy eyes with a Soul Runner. What was she thinking? Every sane thought she had evaporated, and that was the problem.
She couldn’t let him get under her skin or her clothes.
“Look, Azrael, you can put away the smolder. You’re wasting it on me. While your story makes sense, I can’t accept anything at face value. I have to put Alia’s safety first. I will always put her first. So until I know for certain what’s going on, you won’t get any help from me. Sorry.”
“That’s a shame. I think working together could benefit us both. Maybe in more ways than one.
“Nope. Not happening. So, I’ll see you later, big guy.” He really needed to leave. Now. It was as if he knew her resolve weakened with each word he spoke in that low, sexy timbre of his. She wouldn’t be surprised to find out he used it intentionally.
Using the last of her will, she stomped her bare foot and pointed at the door. If she acted immature, it couldn’t be helped. She would do whatever it took to get him out of her home and on his way.
She needed time alone with her thoughts and needed to contact Alia. She hoped she appeared soon. She needed answers almost as badly as she needed to know her niece was all right.
Azrael tipped his head down as if letting her know she’d won this round, and then he was gone.
Chapter 7
When would her mother learn? No matter how many times she’d warned her, she’d refused to listen. Though she was the child, parenting her mother was a task she was forced to take on from time to time. She loved her mother absolutely, but something had to give.
On top of her mother’s stupid stunt, she had other worries and they made her heart ache one hundred times more than the latest family squabble. Fights would come and go like the phases of the moon, but something had to have happened to her love. Something big and terrible. With nothing more than a lover’s trust and gut feelings to go on, she knew it sounded naïve, but in her heart, she knew it to be the truth. If he hadn’t come for her when he’d said, something devastating had happened. Nothing short of an apocalypse would have kept him from her. She knew it deep in her heart.
So where was he? And what had happened?
The boulder she sat on was cold and hard against the bare skin of her thighs. Her skirt offered no protection from the chill, but in truth, she enjoyed the bite of cold. Her boots sat empty on the gravel beside the boulder, and the icy chill of the lake’s waters numbed her feet, reminding her of home. The sickle moon hung low and bright over the lake, and the night’s silence calmed her, allowing her the peace she needed to think.
She missed the days when her father took her on his treks through his kingdom, showing her nearly every nook and cranny that comprised the circles of Hell. Thanks for dreaming those horrors to life and sharing them with the world, Dante. Her father forbid her from traveling one particular path and refused to tell her what waited at its end.
Overprotective much, Dad?
She didn’t understand why he wouldn’t show her this one last little circle when everyone knew her by sight and Light signature. They all feared her father. No one would dare sneeze in her direction, let alone take one step toward harming her. Even disguised, there was nowhere she could travel unrecognized and simply wait things out.
She didn’t have anywhere to go on Earth either. While she trusted most humans just fine and she knew her aunt would welcome her no matter what ugly baggage she brought with her, there were just too many unknowns. And one of those variables in particular didn’t care who or what got in his way. She had enough weight on her shoulders. Guilt over human casualties wasn’t something she wanted to add to her burden.
But this place? If her parents were upset because they thought she was on Earth alone? They would go right past ballistic and into deadly territory if they knew where she hid now. She would just have to keep her hiding place to herself.
The reason they feared it was what made it so safe for her. Many a foul beast had been banished here eons ago and had only grown in size and ferocity since. For most, there was only one way in and one way out. And very few knew its secrets lay within the freezing lake. In truth, the water was the realm and the surrounding shores were the barriers separating it from the others. The majority of the beasts swam within its depths, but with the right token, one would be left alone. Truly, she was safer here on the shores of Cocytus than she was at her father’s side. But he didn’t need to know that.
A gray shadow manifested to her left and grew into a towering form, hovering over her. She continued to stare at the purple moon’s reflection and ponder the mess her mother had gotten them into. She knowingly ignored one of only a few visitors who could enter the realm without swimming through the icy gate. A Runner.
“Go away, Cyril. If you can’t figure it out on your own, I’m hiding. I’m safe here, safer here than anywhere else.”
“Little Bit, what makes you think that I’m here for you? There are hundreds of monsters on my bounty list. In this place, in one day’s time, I could clear out a tenth of my list. Though, you never know, you might not look like a monster, but it’s possible you’re on the list somewhere. The damn thing’s nearly a hundred pages long now. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out the Fates have added every being that ever curled their lip over the mention of their name. Finding a half-demon, spoiled runaway on the books wouldn’t be a stretch.
She answered his sarcasm with silence. Why couldn’t everyone just leave her alone? Please?
“Alia, your mother is going nuts with fear and, shockingly, maybe even a smidge of guilt. Your father is ready to tear Earth apart with his bare hands. You have to go home. You’ll be safe there. You know it.”
“I do know I’ll be safe, and I am truly sorry that Mom and Dad are worried about me, bu
t I can’t go home yet.”
“Why not? What are you waiting for?”
“I’m waiting for someone and something, but it’s not clear yet. I’m not even really sure, exactly, but it’s important that I don’t go home yet. You know as well as I do that as soon as I cross the keep’s gate, Dad will lock the place up tighter than ever. It may be another century before he lets me out. I’m needed for something first.”
“There’s more to it than that. I know better, Alia. Who are you waiting for? You know I could just tell your parents where you are and this would be over in no time. Earth would be safe and so would all of Unearth. You do know what you’re risking, right?”
“Yes. I know. But even when he is his maddest, through all his anger and bluster, Dad is smarter and in more control than anyone believes. It may be close, but I’ll make it in time. And you cannot tell my parents where I am. I mean it. I am calling in one of my favors.” She hated to play hardball, but in reality she was also doing him a favor. He owed her some pretty steep debts. In truth, she hated to hold them over his head at all, but in Unearth one always had to watch their backs. Always.
Still facing the water, she knew his reaction when he sucked in a startled gasp.
“That’s playing dirty.”
“Yes, but as you said, everyone knows I’m a brat of the first order. Look at it this way. You now only owe me one favor. Half of your debt to me is paid.” She’d tied his hands behind his back and given him a tremendous gift at the same time.
“Fine. You have me bound and bent over a barrel, but please think about what you’re doing. Everything hinges on you and your safety right now. Please don’t let your father’s cockiness take over. Use that brain of yours and think this through. I don’t know what it is that you have to do, but it can’t be more important than that fragile connection between the realms. Nothing is.”
She wasn’t so sure about that, but there was no explaining it.
She felt his disapproval and then his absence when he left her alone on her cold boulder. It may not be much, but she would take her comfort where she could find it.
There was no way she could explain it to him, and she didn’t know that she would if she could. She loved Cyril like a favorite uncle, but he was caught in the same box as everyone else. There was so much more out there if one only opened their eyes to see.
* * * *
Even for a weeknight, the club was busy. They all worked double time to keep pace, but not even the chaos kept her mind occupied.
Leaning across a table to clean up a spilled drink, she paused when a pair of mortal arms snaked around her waist and hard hands moved up to grab her breasts in a painful, pinching grip. She shook her head in resignation. Sadly she had become a professional at fending off the unwanted mortal advances that occurred almost nightly.
“Hey there, sweet thing. When’s your shift end?” Words slurred with too much alcohol whispered in her ear. At least she thought it was supposed to be a sly whisper. It was a wonder that half the bar hadn’t heard him. She’d have to handle this quick because if Brick or one of the other bouncers saw, they’d flatten him without a second’s thought. He was stupid and wasted, not mean. She could handle him with one arm tied behind her back.
She reached for his wrists to untangle him and put him in his place, but they were gone. His presence was gone from her back. She turned to face the drunk, and stopped cold. She’d been worried one of the boys would find the creeper. This was so much worse.
Azrael stood with one arm straight out in front of him, his fist tangled in Bill’s leather coat. The other was pointed in the creeper’s face. His enormous booted feet were planted to the ground like tree roots and his body vibrated in rage. Bill’s feet dangled eight inches from the ground. There was no mistaking the fury etched on Azrael’s face. His eyes blazed. A storm of tightly leashed fury pointed right at one of her regular customers.
Bill’s wife had recently left him for another man. Clearly the loss continued to trouble him. Yes, he’d been wrong to grope her, but she didn’t want him to suffer Azrael’s wrath.
“You have no right to put your hands on her. None. I should end you now. End. You. Now.” The tremors in Azrael’s arms stopped. With a faint nod, he closed his eyes.
“Sadly, there’s no point. In exactly eight months and three days you will once again drink yourself stupid, get into your car, and plow it and yourself straight into a tree. What a waste.” The tense anger leached from his features. He lowered Bill to the ground and pointed to the exit doors.
Bill scrambled away, and Azrael turned to face her head-on. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Let me call him a cab. I’ll be right back, and then we can talk.” His eyes dimmed. He was grieving. He grieved because in eight months Bill would die and he would be there to witness it and then deliver his soul.
“Don’t bother. He’ll make it home safe tonight. So will everyone else in the city and planet for that matter.”
“How? I don’t understand.”
“The Fates are on vacation for a couple of days. While they’re off the clock, every mortal is safe. It only happens once in a very long time, but I can guarantee he’ll live through the night. At least he will if he stays out of the bar.” He turned to watch the door, as if daring Bill to come back through it.
“He’s really not too bad, at least when sober. I keep hoping he’ll turn his life around.”
Azrael turned to look her in the eye. “He won’t. I’m sorry. His irresponsibility will cost him his job, and his life will only spiral further out of control. I wish I were wrong, but I never am. It’s a curse more often than not. Are you sure you’re okay?” He placed his hands lightly on her shoulders and looked down at her.
“I’m fine. Truly. Not even a bruise.”
A silly, lecherous grin spread across his face slow and sure. “Are you sure you don’t want me to check? You know, just to be sure?”
“I’m sure.” Images of Azrael’s hands on her flesh, cupping, molding her breasts filled her, making her breath catch. She stepped back until he had to drop his arms or follow her. A frown creased his brow.
“Have you heard from Alia?” he asked.
“No, nothing.”
He arched an eyebrow in disbelief and stared her down.
“Honestly. I haven’t seen her or heard a single peep. I spent all night and day thinking and I don’t know where to begin searching, either. Believe me, if I did, I would have found a way to drag her skinny ass home. I’m worried about her.”
“I’m worried about what will happen to everyone else if we don’t find her. There’s some nasty business about, and I worry it could all be connected.”
“Do you think the recent demon sightings and attacks could be related?”
“I seriously doubt they’re a coincidence. Numerous men have been slaughtered, and they weren’t on the Fates’ list. Only six women have been attacked, but each one was left alive. Why? There has to be a reason they were left alive while the men were murdered. Cyril, another Runner I know who specializes in rogue tracking, hasn’t been assigned to find the culprit. We can’t figure out why the Fates haven’t put him on it. It’s what he was created for.”
Chills tiptoed up and down her spine, and they had nothing to do with the temperature of the busy club. She feared she had no choice but to work with Azrael. The picture surrounding Alia grew darker by the minute, and without her powers, there was virtually nothing she could do to help. She was truly out of options.
“What do we do?”
“As much as I hate to, I think we have to wait and watch. You wait here. I’ll take the streets.”
Chapter 8
What would he give to have one thing in this world be exactly what it seemed? Azrael watched the scene below from the roof of the city’s tallest building, the Orlacomp Tower. Before finding his perch, he’d flown through and surveyed the city from corner to corner. Everything appeared to be normal.
His gut
told him differently, and he agreed. Not being able to find what caused the hair to stand on the back of his neck nagged him.
Just like the knowledge that a certain brunette, who still hadn’t given him her name, was more than she pretended to be. But why should he be surprised? She was Lilith’s sister, her twin. There wasn’t a more devious woman in all of Earth or Unearth than Lilith. Why would her twin be any different?
She said her powers hadn’t been stripped from her, but what else could have happened to them? He wouldn’t put it past any immortal to lie. And if they had been stripped? She would have had to seriously piss off the elder gods. It took an agreement from three elder gods, and each had to be from a different religion. One of the few intelligent things the gods had done, the system had been put in place at the dawn of time and was intended to prevent the typical, petty backstabbing from causing permanent damage.
The only downside was that getting two gods from the same belief system to agree on anything minor was a challenge. Getting three elder gods from different doctrines to agree on stripping another’s powers? It took a feat of utmost treachery to prompt them into acting.
Even though the brunette was Lilith’s twin, he couldn’t see it. Something didn’t add up.
And neither did the picture appearing before his eyes. He spied a dark form coalescing in the park below. What was he doing in the city?
He closed his eyes and felt his boots land soundlessly on the grass.
“Cyril. Funny finding you in town. I didn’t think there were many bounties worth your while in the city. What’s up?”
Cyril wiped something dark from the knife he held onto his jeans and slid it into the sheath at the hip opposite the hand holding it. The night was hot and still. The city was quiet.
Hawthorn, Amy J. - Azrael's Light [Demon Runners of Unearth] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 5