“Yes. I have it.” Samuel grinned.
“Good. For the service you’ve done for us this night we’ll allow you to read it. Since I’m sure you have already done so.” That eyebrow rose again before Wilhelmina continued, “Return it when you’re done. I trust you with the information. This is not a rule we’re breaking lightly. As keepers of the chronicles and as times change, we can make exceptions and adjustments. We must to be able to do as we’ve been charged. I’d say the redemption of a soulless one falls under an exception category.” She glanced at her sister who nodded silently in support.
“Thank you,” Samuel said.
“Here they are,” Thalya said only a moment before Devlin knocked at the back door.
The car idled just beyond the door. They wasted no time getting the books in the back. Eva and her aunts would follow Devlin and Ray back to the warehouse.
“Do you have some place safe to store them?” Thalya asked Samuel.
“Yes, we have a hidden weapons room there. The books will be safe. Ray knows the access code.”
Samuel stood beside the passenger side of the SUV and spoke to Wilhelmina. “Don’t worry. You’ll rebuild and this place will be stronger than ever. We’ll have our people help redesign the structure this time to make sure you have more than one way out. I already suggested to your sister that you all terminate the lease next door and use the area for yourselves and maybe the one on the other side as a failsafe.”
“Both excellent ideas.”
“I’m going to call some men who will meet you all at the warehouse. Where will you be staying?”
“Here.” Eva passed him a business card.
“Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow,” Samuel said as he took the card.
“Fine, we’ll need to make arrangements to come to the warehouse to copy the chronicles,” Eva stated.
“Okay, we have secured computers there you can use and in a couple of days, we’ll sit down with an architect I know and make plans for renovating your place,” Samuel offered.
“We will never be able to thank you enough,” Winifred replied.
“No thanks necessary. I’ll see you ladies tomorrow.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
When Devlin and Ray pulled in front of the SUV, Samuel stepped away from the vehicle. He watched both cars move down the alley before he turned to face Thalya who remained leaning against the wall. “Alone at last,” he said, standing in the middle of the alley. He glanced toward the sky. Once again, dawn just kissed the New York skyline.
“What now?” she asked.
He met her gaze. “You tell me?”
She said nothing. Her body spoke for her, her hands at her sides balled into fists, her nails clawing into her palms. For the first time in her existence, she knew the fear of losing another. She’d been suppressing the calls of humanity for a while now, but they were becoming unbearable. Unable to help herself and without looking at him, she pushed off the wall, turned and walked away.
Samuel didn’t let her get far before he caught up to her and grabbed her wrist, spinning her to face him. “I promised myself I’d let you decide,” he said huskily. “It had to be your decision. But screw that. You need to know I need you too.” He lowered his head and kissed her, pouring his heart along with the remnants of his soul into her. She already owned half of it. She may as well take it all because if she left him he’d only be half alive. His thoughts were crystal clear to her. Then he pulled back and stared into her eyes. “I love you,” he whispered. “Just thought you should know.”
When he turned away from her, the wind blew his loose hair and his earthy scent of evergreens and mountains reached her as he walked down the alley in the opposite direction.
Thalya stood there for a long time, watching the only being she’d ever love walk away from her. But the call wouldn’t be denied, slamming into her with such need, she could do nothing else but answer. With a cry of anguish, she unfurled her wings and took to the sky. She had held off the cries for help as long as she could. Opening herself up to the prayers around her, she answered the call of those who needed her while her soul cried, Samuel needs you too.
When Thalya landed in front of Samuel’s door minutes before midnight, it’d been two days since she’d seen him. The sun no longer made her lethargic or hampered her in any way and there had been so much to do. So much. And still more to be done.
Thank God, she didn’t fight this fight alone. Others were there to help ease those crossing from this life to the next. She’d helped lift the burden of many and it felt good, addicting. Still, at heart she was a selfish creature and the reason for her banishment in the first place. Right now, Samuel needed her and she needed Samuel. To always be at his side. She would not give him up. He’d become the reason for her existence and together, they could help others too.
But could she give up her wings? Her immortality?
Before she could knock on the door, it opened.
Samuel stood before her wearing only a pair of dark gray drawstring sweats, hanging low on his lean hips. His silver nipple rings flashed in the outdoor light and his abs rippled as his chest rose and fell from taking a deep breath.
All of this she noticed before she stepped across the threshold and into his open arms. Never once did he deny her. She stepped into his welcoming embrace and they kissed. This time, she gave of herself. All of her time on earth she’d taken but for the first time she gave. Not because of a compulsion but because she wanted to do so. She pulled away from him and smiled. “I am sorry for the pain I caused you, but there were things I had to do.”
Taking her hand, he guided her to the sofa and they sat down. “And did you do these things?”
“Yes. And it was everything and more than I could have ever dreamed. But through it all, my thoughts were always with you. I need you to know, as impossible as it seems, I do love you.”
Samuel let out a sigh. “I love you too and no matter what you decide, I will always be here for you.” He stood and she rose too. Not releasing her hand, he led her upstairs to his bedroom.
She stopped in front of the bed.
He removed her jacket and smiled at the swords strapped to her sides. He relieved her of the sheathed swords and rested them on the dresser before returning to her. Then slowly he undressed her, taking off her sweater and kneeling on the floor to remove her boots. She helped get her jeans and underwear off. He stood and picked her up, placing her to lie on top of the comforter while he got rid of his pants. Without taking his eyes off her, he lay naked next to her.
She didn’t mind. She wanted to look at him too. This beautiful man who held her heart and the other half of her soul.
“I missed you,” Samuel stated. His hand rested momentarily on her bare arm, before his fingers lightly skimmed over her body. Wherever his gaze landed, his touch followed. With every caress, love and desire poured from him.
She touched him too. His arms were hard as well as his chest. A hardness she wanted crushed against her. Merely touching wasn’t going to be enough, for either of them. He must have understood her thoughts, because he leaned his body forward and covered her mouth with his. At the same time, Samuel rolled her unto her back and followed over her, covering her with his warmth.
They needed no prelude other than this to their lovemaking. She opened her legs and like a choreographed ballet they’d danced many times, they took their kiss deeper. Her tongue slipped into his mouth as he easily slipped inside her. Nestled between her thighs, he rested. His thoughts told her he treasured the moment and the feeling of coming home. As did she, but she needed even more from him. She flexed her woman’s muscles, a signal for him to move.
He did.
They soared. Hovering at the edge of time. It didn’t take them long to plunge over into the gulf of sensation. Their entwined bodies trembled, the sensation passing from one to the other, until they calmed. Too long had they been apart and still so much remained unsettled between them.
Samuel c
losed his eyes and rolled off her. His breathing evened out, telling her he slept, but he kept one arm wrapped possessively around her waist, his mind and body sated.
But she didn’t sleep. She lay awake watching him with tears in her eyes she dared not show him because the calls had begun again, were growing in strength. In his arms, they’d been muted and while they made love blotted out completely. Just being near him helped her keep them at bay. But sooner rather than later, she would have to leave him again to answer those calls and the next time, their love might not be strong enough to return her to him.
Roused from sleep just before sundown, Samuel sat up. Thalya still lay sleeping peacefully beside him. He got out of bed. Something had his senses on alert. He grabbed the short swords he kept on the wall over his dresser. On silent feet, he made his way back to the bed, but before he could touch Thalya her eyes opened and she stared at him. Not giving her a chance to say anything, he placed his finger to her lips and handed her one of the swords.
She nodded she understood the need for quiet.
They had company.
Silently, he led the way out of his room and into the hallway. He sensed them then. They were no longer actively blocking him. A soulless stood in his living room. Two of them. Bold bastards. With Thalya behind him, they moved stealthily down the stairs. Almost at once, he recognized both men seated in long black leather coats on his couch, but he didn’t lower his sword. He got to the bottom of the landing before he directed his demand to the soulless who nonchalantly sat there flicking through a magazine. “What the fuck are you doing in my house?”
The men turned to stare at them. Both wore almost identical unrepentant grins. “Sorry to disturb you, but we have a message from Adam,” Damian said, putting the magazine down.
“And you had to break in to deliver it?”
“Well, maybe that part wasn’t necessary, but we couldn’t help ourselves. Force of habit.” Hilo raised and lowered his shoulders.
Samuel lifted his chin in challenge. “Well, don’t make it a habit with my house. The next time might be your last.”
“Point taken,” Damian said, nodding his head.
Samuel held the sword down at his side and stepped further into the living room area. “How did you know where I live anyway?”
“Adam,” Hilo replied.
“And why the hell didn’t the alarm go off?” he asked, glancing in the direction of his door.
“Didn’t you know? Those things don’t work around us. We totally disable them,” Damian said laughing.
“Damian, her eyes.”
Thalya had come to stand beside him and both soulless must have noticed her eyes were no longer a bottomless darkness. She now had a soul and you could see it. As soulless, they could also sense it. The men rose, ignoring Samuel and approached her, staring at her with varying degrees of shock.
“You—you’re human?” Damian asked.
“Sorta. Half human, half angel.” She glanced at Samuel when she said it.
“Yes, gentlemen, my angel.” He took the sword out of his right hand and put it in the other, so he could take Thalya’s hand and kiss it. Claiming her for the men to see.
“How could this be?” Hilo asked confusion evident in his tone and the way his forehead crinkled.
“I was her redemption.” Samuel couldn’t stop grinning.
Damian reared back his head. “No shit! So, there is hope for us. I never truly believed.”
“Believe,” Thalya said.
“And how the hell are you both out and about before sundown?” Samuel asked.
“When Adam shows up and says do something…well, you just do.” Damian grinned. “It’s not easy for us. Neither of us are oldens like Thalya here, or I guess was. But there’s a heavily tinted limo outside waiting for us and we can stand a little heat. Besides, sun is about down now.”
“Yeah, we hear heat’s good for the soul,” Hilo said with a straight face.
Ignoring his weak attempt at humor, Samuel got down to business. “Okay, now that’s out of the way, what’s the message from Adam?”
“He stopped by the club just before sunrise, so we came as soon as we were able,” Damian said slowly, seemingly reluctant to take his gaze from Thalya.
“You should have seen the faces of everyone in the place when he showed up. I thought some folks were going to shit their pants they were so terrified.” Hilo laughed before continuing, “He didn’t stay long. He said he’s hunting Abel and we might not see him for a while ‘cause Abel’s gone to ground. But he said to tell Thalya and I quote; ‘whatever your decision I will know, and that you know what you have to do. You don’t need me,’ end quote.”
“So, that’s it?” Samuel growled. “For this you broke into my house?”
“Ah, we didn’t exactly break anything. We just popped the lock, but it’s not broken.”
Samuel shook his head.
“Tell you what. Whenever you come to our club, everything is on the house,” Damian offered.
“Yeah,” Hilo agreed. “Stop by anytime. No one’s going to believe us when we tell them about Thalya unless they see her for themselves.” He shook his head, looking back and forth between him and Thalya and if Samuel had to guess, envy filled his expression. But like everything about soulless when it came to emotion, Samuel couldn’t be sure.
Then both men put on thick dark wraparound sunglasses. “Later,” Hilo said. “Don’t forget to invite us to the wedding.” They bowed their heads to them and headed out the door.
Thalya laughed.
He turned to look at her. His heart gladdened to hear the sound of joy coming from her. Maybe hope existed for them after all. “So you think that was funny, do you?”
“Don’t you?” she asked.
“I think they have some nerve and I wasn’t kidding. If I find them breaking into my house again, I’m taking a piece of their anatomy.”
She smiled, but tinged with a touch of sadness in her eyes.
So, he kissed her in an effort to banish it.
“I do love you, you know,” she whispered, pulling back.
“Do you?” He wanted to ask her to prove it—to not leave him. To give up her wings. But how could he ask her to do such a thing when he loved her so much? He’d seen the joy on her face when she’d returned from wherever she’d been. She didn’t talk about what she did, nor did he ask. There were some things humans, even half ones, did not need to know until death.
Then she kissed him.
Without their mouths breaking contact, he picked her up and took her back upstairs. He would keep her with him in his world for as long as he could and cherish each moment.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Samuel took Thalya to her place to get a few things. He had no intention of letting her out of his sight. If they only had a few more days together, he wanted as much time with her as possible. If she left him—he couldn’t even think about it. If he did, he would paralyze himself and he still had too much to do to wallow in self-pity.
As she packed, he asked her, “Do you think Adam will catch Abel?”
“Possibly. But I just hope he doesn’t have more of those blessed cuffs. I’m not sure even Adam could get out of those.”
“I don’t know. Something tells me Adam’s more than a match for his son. At least we managed to stop Abel and hopefully, Adam will catch him and permanently remove him as a further threat.” So, for now Samuel would focus on Thalya and not the soulless.
After they finished packing and stored her things in the car, Samuel thought he’d take her to get something to eat. He took pleasure in introducing her to new sensations, sharing a favorite food and after dinner, he planned to take her shopping. They were walking down Fifth Avenue and were just about to cross the street when he saw a sign for a new restaurant, a bistro. He turned to head in that direction but then he spotted a familiar profile.
Someone who looked a lot like Chris ducked around the corner.
Holding Thalya’s han
d he said, “Come on, I think I see Chris.”
“The ass from the meeting?”
“Yes.”
They hurried around the corner after him and found him about a hundred feet ahead of them walking beside another man. Samuel’s instincts screamed at him Chris walked beside a soulless. What the hell? No fear emanated from Chris, who had to know what the male strolling alongside him was. All of a sudden, both men disappeared from his sight. He and Thalya continued walking in the direction he’d seen Chris and the other male take. They came to the entrance of an alley.
“Here. They went this way,” she called out. “A soulless is with him.”
“I know.”
They were both armed, something else they had in common. He never left home without his weapons and Thalya had shown him her hidden weapon’s closet. She owned prime pieces of steel she’d collected over the ages. He withdrew his blade, releasing Thalya’s hand, so she could withdraw her own.
“This does not feel right,” she said. “I think there is more than one soulless with him.”
“My thoughts exactly.” He had also sensed more than one.
Shadows greeted them in the dark alley but they could both see well enough. It seemed empty but they would take no chances. A couple of yards from the sidewalk, there were two metal doors side by side and dumpsters on either side of both. Yet, broken wine bottles and trash lay throughout the alley. As they passed beyond this, about another half block into the alley they confronted a brick wall about ten feet high with no way around it. But a soulless would have no trouble going over it. They’d walked right up to the wall, trying to decide if they should see what waited on the other side when they simultaneously turned, blades extended out toward the threat behind them.
Three soulless stood in the center of the alley just past the dumpsters. They held no visible weapons but they blocked the way out.
Samuel recognized one of them, the short blond haired man he’d seen walking with Chris. The same soulless they’d encountered at the park. The others he did not know.
Angel Rising: Redemption Book 1 Page 25