by C. S. Wilde
Ezra was the most blessed of all high angels. Some even said he was close to becoming a Seraph. Ava loved him for his light and kindness, and the idea of being with him in that way had crossed her mind more than once.
“Your boss wants to fuck you senseless, princess,” Liam sneered, then raised his hands in surrender when she glared at him. “Just saying.”
“Show respect,” Ezra snarled. “High angels have had mates since the beginning of time. Like the Messenger before me and the one before him as well.”
Ava knew that, of course. She just never expected to be chosen as a mate, not this quickly at least.
“F-forgive me, Ezra,” she stammered, “but this has caught me by surprise.”
“I understand.” He cupped her cheeks softly. “There’s time. Just think about it. You always have a choice. I would never hold a denial against you.”
“But why me? There are several who would be more qualified, Dominions even—”
“I don’t play by those ridiculous rules, Ava. No angel is more worthy or better than another. Besides, no other angel is you.” He raised her chin gently. “Promise me you’ll consider it. Believe me when I say I need you by my side. I always have. The Gods need you by my side.”
She froze at that. If the Gods required this, then she must follow their will. Ezra would know; he was their messenger. What she wanted, whatever it was, would have to take second place.
“I’ll consider it, of course,” she said.
Ava had wanted to be with Ezra for so many decades ... she should’ve said yes to him immediately. Perhaps she was simply in shock. Maybe tomorrow she’d realize how happy she was.
Ezra bowed his head to her, placing a hand over his heart. With a swoosh of his wings, he rose to the sky and disappeared beyond tall skyscrapers.
Night had fallen quickly while they headed back to Liam’s apartment. They walked in silence through dark and empty streets, the air between them heavy as iron.
The tinge of sulfur warned Ava that a demon approached. Jal cut into their path from a dark alley, his hair black as night, much like his shirt and jeans. Moonlight contoured his wings, peppering the wine and black scales with silver.
Ava guessed that people passing by wouldn’t see the dragon demon, just the creature that looked like a man.
“You know how to put on a show,” Jal said, extending his hand to them.
Ava handed Jal the necklace, and he gave her a mocking bow. He then placed the necklace in his jeans pocket. “A deal is a deal. I’ll tell you about Archibald’s death.”
“His murderer’s name,” Liam corrected as he stepped closer.
“I said I’d give you information about his murder.” He winked at Liam. “I don’t know who killed Archibald, or if it had anything to do with the attacks on the In-Betweens.”
Liam’s fists clenched. “You bast—”
“Do you want the info or not?” Jal leaned closer and whispered, “Word on the street is he was killed by a blessed blade.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Liam sneered. “Another Selfless would never—”
“Who said anything about a Selfless? There’s not many of you carrying blessed blades around, is there?” Jal’s gaze lingered on Ava.
“An angel would never murder a human or a Selfless,” she spat. “We’re not demons.”
“The line between good and evil is blurrier than you imagine, pretty angel.” Jal looked at his own nails. “I will tell you this: a psychic I know had a vision, and I need the necklace to amplify it.”
Liam’s eyebrows shot up, and he crossed his arms. “What was this vision about?”
“Maybe once she sees all of it, I’ll tell you.” He gave Liam a mischievous grin. “Maybe not.”
Liam rolled his eyes. “I’ll remind you, demon, that you owe me a favor.”
“Is this how you want to use it, Selfless?”
Liam watched Jal, anger slipping through his skin. Finally, he said, “No.”
The demon chuckled victoriously, then turned to Ava. “You seem to be more responsible than your partner.” He pulled two metal business cards from his pocket and handed them to her. Four thin lines that shaped circles cut the metallic surface. “If you two look in the right places, you’ll soon find your way back to me. This is for when that day comes.”
Ava took the cards gingerly, as if touching the same object as Jal could infect her essence with darkness. Even now, she could feel the gripping cold oozing from him, dancing around her, threatening to swallow her entirely. But within the demon, beyond the coating of darkness and cold, there was something else that burned like a furnace or a sun. Something kind and pure.
Nonsense. Demons couldn’t be good. Jal certainly wasn’t the exception.
The demon shot her an enigmatic grin that told Ava she had unveiled something important, but what it was, she had no idea.
Without a word, his draconian wings spread wide and he took off into the night sky.
14
Ava
Ava’s spine prickled as she sat up on the couch. She rubbed her stiff neck and stretched her back. Heavens, sleeping here would be the doom of her.
Her attention drifted to the closed door of Liam’s room. They hadn’t spoken much since the werewolf incident, even though Ava assured him what happened hadn’t been his fault. To this, Liam merely nodded absently and said nothing.
Dinner—take-out that tasted like rubber—had been dead quiet. Ava wanted to talk about Jal’s accusations, to break the invisible wall between her and Liam, but she was a Guardian, and a good one, which meant she knew her partner needed time. Time to release his guilt, to let the anger and helplessness swirling inside him quell.
She patted the worn, brown sofa, remembering the trembling boy with burning green eyes and a life of pain etched in his frail body. The bulky man who’d adopted Liam flashed in her mind, the man who oozed kindness and patience. Perhaps one day, she would meet Archibald again.
As a demon.
She shivered at the thought and looked up, wondering why the Gods allowed such pain upon their children. But she knew better than to question the faith.
Someone in the Order couldn’t have killed Archibald. Unlike demons, angels would never kill one of their own. Jal was clearly lying; the dark creatures were good at that.
Archibald must have dug in the wrong places and found whoever orchestrated the attack on the In-Betweens. An angel would never be behind that. Whatever he found, however, had cost him his life.
As an experienced Selfless, Liam should’ve seen right through Jal’s lies, but he didn’t. Mind games. The demon was playing with them, and Liam fell for it.
She glanced at Ezra’s sword, resting within its sheath on the coffee table. It lay there, quiet, asleep. Her new Selfless clothes—a white shirt, black leather jacket, and jeans—lay tousled on a nearby chair.
“I’ll become Ezra’s mate,” Ava told herself absentmindedly, the words coming out of their own will.
Ezra said he needed her, and that was all he had to say, really. Perhaps this was meant to be. A frown tensed her forehead. If it was, why hadn’t she agreed to be his mate when he asked?
No matter. She would say yes now. After Ava finished her mission with Liam, she would become Ezra’s mate and that was that.
The door to Liam’s room flung open, and he came out fully dressed. He didn’t exchange a word with her; he simply went to the kitchen and made himself some coffee.
Ava stood and walked to him. “Why aren’t you speaking to me?”
He took a sip of the warm dark liquid. “Why didn’t you tell me you could heal and create shields like a Dominion?”
“I can’t. I have no idea how.” She glanced at her sword. “I swear it wasn’t me doing it.”
He followed her gaze to the weapon and chortled. “Your sword did it?”
She crossed her arms. “I told you I can’t explain it.”
“It doesn’t matter. We need to go to the precinct.” He nodded
toward her big t-shirt. “You should get dressed …” He was going to call her princess, Ava could feel it on the tip of his tongue. Instead he went with “Ava.”
Something in her chest cracked. Damned the Hells, why hadn’t he called her by that stupid nickname? And more importantly, why did she want him to?
Well, standing here wouldn’t give her an answer. In silence, she grabbed her clothes and went to the bathroom to change.
Ava spotted Justine as soon as they set foot in the precinct. Her friend didn’t wear her light-gray Erudite’s bodysuit. Instead, she had on a yellow dress with a low neckline. Her hair was up in a high ponytail that made her look like a teenager. Justine’s red shoes matched perfectly with her lipstick and the red belt around her waist.
She leaned on Kevin’s desk, talking to him with a sweet smile that spoke not of lust, but of … respect? Kinship? No, Ava had to be mistaken. Justine never looked at her lovers in that manner.
Kevin had a goofy grin as he listened to her. Then again, it wasn’t just him; half of the men in the precinct seemed entranced with Justine’s beauty.
“Justine?” Ava asked as she approached her friend. “What are you doing here?”
Justine turned to her and smiled before pulling Ava to a remote part of the precinct, toward the cell blocks. Ava glanced back quickly, but Liam and Kevin had already engaged in conversation, barely noticing they had left.
“Top of the morning to you,” Justine said as they passed by a cell that contained a bald vampire with white eyes. He bared his fangs at them, and they increased their pace until he was out of view.
Justine settled for a spot near a window. Ava leaned on the right side of the sill and her friend on the left.
“Kevin and I went on a date yesterday,” she whispered, her eyes shining. “Oh, it was glorious!”
Ava couldn’t recall the last time she had seen Justine so ecstatic, both when she was a human and an angel.
“I’m glad for you.” Ava glanced down the corridor and into the main room where Kevin showed Liam something in his computer screen. “Just be careful. My relationship with my partner is rather delicate at the moment.”
“Oh, so your charge is your partner now?”
“He’s both.” Ava cleared her throat. “Look, Kevin seems to be like a brother to Liam, so—”
“I know what you’ll say. Look, I couldn’t possibly hurt him.” Justine’s gaze shone with glee. “He’s a perfect gentleman. We went for dinner yesterday and we watched a movie, and at the end of the night,” she wiggled her eyebrows, “we went our separate ways.”
Ava frowned. “Since when do you go home separate ways?”
“Kevin is different.” She shrugged. “I want to get to know him better.”
Ava narrowed her eyes at Justine. “Could it be that you actually like him?”
Justine waved a hand in the air. “I like all of them, sweetie.”
Ava had watched over Justine for many years when she was human, and after Justine died and became an Erudite, they quickly became friends. Ten years had passed since, which meant that Ava knew Justine like the palm of her hand.
“You really like him,” Ava insisted, a mocking grin on her lips.
Justine furrowed her brows, then glanced back at Kevin’s desk. “Perhaps, but try not to tell anyone. I have a reputation to keep. Now, what’s the problem with Mr. Hunky?” She nodded toward Liam, who glared at Kevin’s screen.
“I don’t know yet.” Ava blew air through her lips. “Ezra asked me to become his mate, by the way.”
Justine gasped and slammed a hand over her own chest. “Gods be damned!”
“That’s blasphemy,” Ava hissed.
Justine rolled her eyes. “I’ll pray for forgiveness tonight.” She looked back at Kevin’s desk, then leaned toward Ava and whispered, “This is insane. Sure, you spend a lot of time together, as friends and work colleagues, but that’s all it’s ever been. I mean, you’ve always had a major crush on him, but you guys haven’t even kissed.”
Not really. Ezra did kiss Ava when she brought Liam to see him, but she kept that to herself. If she told Justine, her friend would demand explanations she didn’t have.
“Becoming his mate makes sense.” Ava shrugged. “So does giving myself to him as a friend and a woman.”
Justine raised her palm. “Fine, but how do you know Ezra’s your soulmate?”
“I don’t.” Ava crossed her arms. “A mate is different from a soulmate. Technically, I could simply be a companion to him, not a lover. Plus, soulmates aren’t real.”
“Of course they are. In fact, mates are a derivation of soulmates,” Justine said. “It’s in the books, you know. The mating bond is weaker than a soulmate bond, but it’s a bond nonetheless. Call it what you will, but you would be kind of marrying Ezra.”
Ava had always wondered if Justine’s fixation with soulmates was the reason why she had so many partners. Like she was trying to find her soulmate the way one finds a needle in a haystack.
Ava snickered in disbelief. “Justine, soulmates live in the pages of ancient books and in there only. In any case, I won’t become Ezra’s soulmate. I’ll simply help him rule the Order with the Throne and the Sword.”
She would also bed the Messenger. Ezra had made his intentions clear, and the thought of giving herself to him wasn’t at all unpleasant.
Justine rolled her eyes. “The angels in the books might be long gone, either to their final deaths or the Heavens, but you can’t be sure that the whole soulmate thing ended with them.” Her friend tapped her fingers on her own chin, the Erudite in her taking over. “If Ezra asked you to be his mate, your connection might go deeper than you both assume. I mean, just the way you two look at each other …” She gave Ava a naughty grin. “Some books say the bond between soulmates snaps like thunder, and that it shakes the world below the two lovers’ feet. Do you feel something like this with Ezra?”
Ava shook her head.
“Maybe the bond will snap once you’re mated.” Justine shrugged. “What did you tell him?”
Ava leaned on the wall and stared out the window. “I said that I’d consider it.”
Justine raised her brow in surprise. “I assumed you’d say yes without thinking twice.”
“So did I.”
Justine looked back at Liam, who was still talking to Kevin. “Is that why Mr. Hunky is Mr. Cranky today? Maybe he’s your soulmate.” She narrowed her eyes at him, as she always did when she tried to read someone’s mind. “Yup, he wants to get in your panties.”
Ava glared at her, heat shooting up her cheeks. “You read this in his mind?”
“No, but you don’t need to be a mind reader to know that.”
“Justine,” she said with reproach, but her friend’s playful manner vanished as she focused on Liam.
“He’s a torment of many different things. He blames himself for almost getting you killed.” She slapped Ava’s shoulder. “Thanks for letting me know that a werewolf almost ripped you to pieces, by the way.”
“It wasn’t Liam’s fault,” Ava said before heading toward him. “He has to know I don’t blame him for anything. Will I have to tell him this a thousand times?”
Justine held Ava’s arm, stopping her. “It’s not only that. He doesn’t know how to feel about you. There’s this undeniable connection between you two, which we all witnessed yesterday.” Justine winked at Ava. “But he’s conflicted. You’re his partner, and he doesn’t know how to protect you.” Her eyes widened. “Since when do you heal and create shields like a Dominion?”
Ava gasped at how far Justine’s mind-reading abilities had gone. Heavens, she was only dead for ten human years. If her telekinesis could go beyond basic, Justine would ascend to Virtue in an eye-blink.
“I can’t create shields and heal,” Ava said. “I have no idea what—” Well, she did, but saying it aloud might make it even crazier.
The sword.
Her friend continued, “There’s also that hot d
emon’s absurd accusation.” She slapped Ava’s arm again. “Seriously, you wouldn’t tell me that someone in the Order might’ve killed one of their own?”
“It’s a lie, Justine,” Ava said quietly. “The demon is trying to turn us against each other, deviate our investigation. Also, this needs to stay here. No one can know.”
Justine tapped the side of her forehead. “No one gets in here, dear.” She squeezed her eyes at Liam. “Ezra’s proposal irritated Mr. Hunky, by the way, and he can’t figure out why.” Justine gave her a wolfish grin. “I can think of a reason.”
Ava leaned her forehead on the window’s cool glass. “I feel like I failed him.”
“Liam or Ezra?”
She closed her eyes. “Both.”
Justine laid a hand on her shoulder. “Maybe you did, maybe you didn’t. What you can’t do is fail yourself.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’ve always been in love with Ezra.” Justine bit her lower lip. “But maybe that changed. Do you still want to be with him?”
“It’s what’s right.” Ava shrugged. “And I’ve wanted it for so long. Besides, I’m a servant of the Gods, and this is their will.”
Justine frowned. “It’s Ezra’s will.”
“He’s the Messenger, Justine. His words are their words.”
Justine winced as if she had just stepped barefoot onto cold ice. “Look, no one knows for sure who he talks to when he speaks to the Gods. For all we know, he might be channeling a guy named Bob who likes to mess with us.” Before Ava could protest the absurdity of her statement, Justine continued, “Also, arranged marriages might’ve been a thing in your time, but that has changed.”
“Justine, it’s fine, really,” Ava said. “I’m fine.”
She narrowed her eyes at her. “Are you?”
“Don’t even think about going into my mind,” Ava warned. “You taught me how to raise mental barriers, remember?”
“I could break your feeble wall in an instant.” Justine let out a curse under her breath and crossed her arms. “Fine. If being with Ezra is what you really want, I won’t stop you.”