by Zoey Ellis
"I'm afraid not, Maddy. But I hope she will be soon."
Maddy stood slowly, keeping her eyes on him, and then headed towards the bedroom.
Zak took a moment to speak to the nurse hovering in the kitchen—an Archangel of course. She kept an eye on Amber when no one was there. After he confirmed some minor revisions about her basic care, he exited the apartment.
As he headed to the portal that would take him to the Angel Realm, he resisted the urge to turn back. He hated leaving Amber and couldn't explain the urge to be by her side all the time.
He crossed over into the Angel Realm and shifted into his angel-form. A rushing energy encased him, penetrating every part of his being and he stretched the enormous, creamy wings that appeared on his back.
With one powerful flap, he shot up into the air, heading towards his office. The pale buildings of the Angel Realm stretched out beneath him. It was a beautiful Empire—a city he never tired of looking at. It stretched further than the eye could see and was made up of many buildings, parks, lakes, training centers, residential homes, and of course the Stream; a column of energy that rushed and tumbled toward the sky. Various angels stood in the luscious, green garden that surrounded it, their faces tilted up toward it as they connected with the pure energy to experience the Creator.
As he passed them, he angled toward one of the buildings that hovered above the Empire. He landed on the balcony of his office, and fidgeted with his shirt and tie. Humans tended to wear the most uncomfortable clothes. He couldn't understand why most of them chose to go about their day in stiff, unyielding wear, but it was necessary for him to look like one of them every time he visited Amber so he had to put up with it. He entered his office, intending to head towards the back room and change, when he noticed he had a visitor.
"Finally you are here." A large male angel sitting at the desk in the center if his office, turned to him as he entered. Adonai.
Zak stilled. "I wasn't aware that you had made an appointment to see me," he said, tersely. Adonai was not one of his favorite people. The Thrones were one of the seven orders of angels in the Angel Realm and were responsible for overseeing the Realm and all of the other angel orders. They tended to be cold and logical. However, Adonai was a breed of difficult Zak hadn’t experienced before. He had been purposely problematic in the recent trial of his friend, Camael. And although the Thrones were known to be particularly ruthless about protecting and policing the Angel Realm, Adonai had been overly harsh. Zak had looked forward to not seeing him ever again.
"I've been here for almost the entire day waiting to see you," Adonai said, lifting an eyebrow. His skin was tawny, his face hard, and his indigo-blue eyes attentive.
"Did we have some unfinished business I was unaware of?" Zak asked, making his way to the chair on the other side of the desk.
Adonai shifted in his chair. "Yes."
Zak dropped into his chair and leaned and its arm. "What is it?"
"The Thrones have decided it is in the best interest of the Realm to keep an eye on you, Zak."
"What do you mean?" Zak snapped. "Why?"
Adonai leaned forward. "Although your friends have been exonerated, you have not. Your poor conduct as commander still stands."
Zak forced himself not to react. "I was questioned for five months," he replied, calmly. "I was not told that there would be any problems with me returning to my position."
"You were returned to your position," Adonai said, his hard eyes boring into Zak's, "because the Nephilim Elithea needed you to support her while on her assignment. The Dominion League requested it."
“Thea,” Zak corrected through gritted teeth. Thea didn’t like anyone calling her Elithea except her mate, Camael. Zak worked to push down the anger that was rising in him. "So I could still lose my command position? Is that what you're telling me?" He forced his voice not to rise. "I entered the Demon Realm to help save the Angel Realm. I led that attack and received a commendation for my conduct. And now you are telling me that my command is in jeopardy?"
"You aided a warrior angel to behave sinfully," Adonai said, his displeasure clear. "And it happened over an extended period of time. We’re not saying that we will strip you of your rank. It is recognized that you have achieved a lot for the Angel Realm, and you are well respected. But you command some of the most powerful warriors that we have. We need to know that you are behaving responsibly with all of them."
Zak held himself still. "And what does that mean?"
"It means I will be… keeping an eye on you," Adonai said. "You will report to me for a little while."
There was a twinkle in Adonai's eye that pissed Zak off. "And how long as a little while?"
Adonai shrugged. "Until we are satisfied."
“I’m not a training commander," Zak said, leaning forward on the desk and leveling his gaze at Adonai. "I have millenniums of experience. I don’t need a babysitter."
"We just want to make sure that everything is running as it should be," Adonai replied. "Don't see it as babysitting, see it as assistance."
"I don't need assistance!" Zak boomed. "I'm completely capable of doing my job."
"The Thrones don't think so," Adonai said, his face impassive.
Zak jerked forward over the desk. “You mean you don’t think so.”
“No, I don’t,” Adonai shot back. “But I wouldn’t be here if it were just me that was unconvinced.”
Zak shot out of his chair and paced the room, unable to hide his agitation. He thought that he had gotten rid of the Thrones’ attention. But clearly they were not going to leave him in peace unless he convinced them that he was a worthy commander again.
"So to begin with," Adonai said, his voice now casual, "how many warrior angels do you manage?"
"Thirty-seven," Zak said through gritted teeth.
"And how many of them on active assignments?"
"Twenty-nine."
"Why were you in the human world?"
Zak froze, the question taking him by surprise. "Is it a crime for me to go into the human world?"
"No," Adonai said, watching him closely. "But the last time I met with you, during the trial, we established that you rarely go into the human world anymore. So why are you going in so frequently now?"
"Have you been watching me?"
Adonai stared at him, taking in his tense manner.
Zak forced himself to relax. He hardly ever let his emotions show in his manner or expression, but Adonai had a special way of annoying the fuck out of him. "What gives you the right to watch my movements? I thought this was assistance?"
"I have obviously been keeping an eye on your movements," Adonai said, as if Zak had asked the most stupid question he’d heard. "It has been nearly two weeks since you led that attack in the Demon Realm. I was giving you time to get back to your normal schedule. However this behavior you’re displaying is unusual. Why are you going into the human world so regularly?"
Zak continued to walk across the room. "I'm healing a human who was a victim of the recent attack."
Adonai frowned. "Healers have been allocated to all the humans who were affected by that. You’re not a healer."
Zak thought carefully about what he was going to say next. He had told the healer allocated to Amber that he would be personally dealing with her care.
"I have been trained to deal specifically with healing demon wounds."
"But you're not a healer," Adonai pressed. "Do you not have work that you are supposed to be getting on with as a commander?"
Zak shot him an ugly look. "Healing a human does not interfere with my work as a commander."
"The amount of times you've visited the human world, suggests that it does," Adonai said harshly. "You will not be able to continue healing this human and do your job effectively. If you would like to select a healer yourself, you are welcome to, but you must return to your own workload."
"This human is Thea's sister," Zak said, moving to behind his chair and pressing his hands again
st the back. "I cannot give her care over to anyone else. Thea needs me personally to look after her. I'm sure you can imagine the guilt she feels about it."
Adonai watched him for a short moment. "Yes," he muttered, leaning back in his chair. "The Nephilim Elithea seems to always get what she wants." He stood, flapping his ice-blue robes as he fixed them around him. "However, she has no right to impede on your work. Hand the human’s care over to a healer of your choosing. That's the best I can offer you. I will visit you again in a few days."
Zak said nothing as he left, but as soon as the door closed he let out a harsh breath. Shit. If the Thrones were worried about his capability to do his job, then he was at risk. He needed to show them that he was still the same Dominion angel that he has always been. Just because he had been protecting a friend, who happened to fall into sin, didn't suddenly make Zak incapable of doing his job. However, it was clear that was how the Thrones thought; very black and white.
He continued pacing in his office in deep thought. All he needed to do was prove to them that they didn't have anything to worry about. It would be difficult for them to remove him from his post anyway, considering all of the mistakes they had made lately with the trial of Camael. They would want to be careful, which is why they gave him Adonai. He shook his head, pausing in the middle of his office. It was just his luck that it was Adonai he had to report to. The guy was miserable and annoying. Still, Zak would not give them the satisfaction of finding anything wrong with his conduct. He would rather die. And that meant he had to find another healer for Amber.
One day in the Angel Realm equaled seven days in the human world, which meant that in order to see and treat Amber every day, Zak had to visit the human world seven times in one Angel Realm day. He managed to organize all of his workload around her treatment times, but obviously Adonai had noticed.
Over the next two Angel Realm days, Zak visited the human world to treat Amber, trying to decide who should be allocated to take over from him. He visited a few of the healers who trained him to question them about their current workload and narrowed down his choice to two, yet every time he saw Amber, his nerves drew tight and he wondered if he could really hand her care over to someone else.
Then on the third day, while he was healing her, Amber moved. Zak froze and then removed his hands from her slowly. She moved again, shifting her torso and arms. Her eyelids twitched, and her breath came quicker.
Zak held his breath and watched her.
Her eyelids fluttered open and she lifted them to the ceiling. They were an emerald green. Zak’s breath left him. She was utterly gorgeous, even in her dazed state.
She looked around the room, her breath increasing, and then locked onto his face.
As they stared at each other, her breathing calmed. And then she smiled.
At that moment, Zak knew without a doubt that he would not be able to hand her care over to anyone else.
Thanks for reading this sample.
Pick up your copy of Guarded By Dominion
You might also be interested in joining my readers’ group, The Realm, so you can be the first to hear about new releases, exclusive giveaways, and special offers.
Join The Realm!
Angel Orders and Demon Classes
Angels
There are seven orders of angels:
Seraphim – the order of angels who govern the entry to the ethereal part of the Angel Realm, which leads to Heaven. They exist in the space between energy and material form, and have a close connection with the Creator. They are elusive and tend to be far removed from the concerns of the human world.
Throne – the ruling angels on any and all Angel Realm matters and the oversee the different orders. They communicate the will of the Creator from the Seraphim and organize the angels accordingly. They tend to be cold and analytical.
Dominion – the order of angels who oversee the duties of all angels as they pertain to the human world. Some are also warriors who work alongside Power angels and sometimes they seek to protect important humans from demons. [A select group of Dominion angels called the Dominion League represent the Dominion order and make decisions on important matters.] They tend to be intelligent and charming.
Power – the order of warrior angels whose predominant purpose is to seek out and fight demons in the human world. Ruthless and powerful beings.
Archangel – the order of angels who guide humans in their time of need and encourage them to pursue their hearts desire. They encourage humans to be happy and make positive choices. They empower humans to fight when they are in need of courage. They tend to be warm and encouraging.
Virtue – this order governs and protects the natural elements on earth. They can inspire courage and good-will in humans, as well as manipulate the human landscape with both beautiful and terrifying results.
Angel – oversees human mood and are very close to the concerns and nature of humans. They can pass messages from humans to the Creator and back again through prayer. They are ones all angels speak to when they wish to understand humans.
Demons
There are four levels of demons organized within two classes:
Legion – highest level (higher class) of demon with direct contact to the Destroyer. They are fierce and dedicated, highly passionate about expanding/strengthening their realm. They organize and construct large levels of destruction on an world-wide and international level.
Asmos – second level (higher class) of demons who cause destruction through the negative emotions of humans through wickedness, lust and dishonesty. They usually target large networks and organizations as well as big families. They work their way through these large connections turning motivations and results negative. They also work on the souls of generations of the same family as the negativity they produce can disrupted childhoods and prime humans for their needs.
Furies – third level (lower class) of demons who enjoy spreading general discord and unhappiness. They look for opportunities to heighten the pain and encourage revenge, lies and evil-doing.
Spectra – fourth level (lower class) of demons who create circumstances that cause humans to make poor choices, sowing sparks of discontentment that other demons can capitalize on.
Acknowledgments
As always, a great team have been involved in making this story the best it can be. Firstly, though, thank you to the readers who have continued with Thea and Cam’s story through to this book. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Randie, what can I say? I don’t know how I would’ve done this one without your great advice, critical eye and helpful suggestions. You’ve been so great to work with and I feel really lucky to have your support.
My lovely beta readers, Lily, Julie, Randie, Steph and Anna it’s been great to get your honest opinions and advice about this book. You’ve helped to shape this series and provided the questions and comments that have made me evaluate what I’m trying to say with the story. I really appreciate the time you’ve taken to feedback to me.
To my ARC readers, thanks so much for reading and taking the time to review these books. Your honest feedback has helped to inform other readers of what to expect and I appreciate those of you who post and share and spread the word about the books.
Many thanks again to cover artist Melody Simmons for the fantastic cover—this one’s my favorite!
To all of my beautiful family and friends, including you crazy-ass Goodreads friends, thanks so much for your continued support. I love ya!
About Zoey Ellis
Zoey Ellis spends her most of her time thinking up stories that explore how love and romance can be tested by the darker side of our personalities and the heart-wrenching challenges that must be overcome for love to win, even if two people belong together.
Passionate about the fantastical, Zoey loves how intense and vast the challenges can be for couples in the paranormal romance genre. Her goal is to build a body of work depicting thrilling, fantastical romance
s between demanding alpha heroes and fiery heroines, hoping the love they make will scorch ereaders and melt hearts. With a soft spot for angels, dragons and alpha shifters, Zoey blends her love of a Happy Ever After with strangely unique worlds and complex plots.
If you're interested in hearing about Zoey's new releases first, as well as her bonuses and giveaways, sign up to The Realm, her reader’s group.
www.zoeyellis.com
www.facebook.com/authorzoeyellis
www.twitter.com/authorzoeyellis