Raise the Dead

by Briana Michaels

  “I think if you could do something to ease your guilt, you’ll do it.”

  Gabriel bit his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood and used the pain to keep him from attacking the idiot glaring at him right now. He didn’t know a goddamned thing about Gabriel if this was what he truly thought.

  Gabe needed to get the fuck out of there. If he stayed, he’d likely knock the Devil on his ass and beat his chiseled, pretty face to pulp. But first—

  “I loved her too. And she’s not the only one who ever loved you, asshole,” Gabe gave him a second to let that sink in before saying, “Eve’s been dead to me for a long fucking time, Lucifer.” It was one of the reasons he hated coming to Hell. This place was why none of them could have her. “Oh, and for the record,” he made sure to wait for Lucifer to look over at him, “it was Eve’s idea to send you the women. Not mine.”

  He flipped Lucifer off and left.

  Chapter 10

  Eve walked the empty streets and didn’t care that she wasn’t armed. Right now, she could smash a fucking brick wall to rubble with one well-placed punch. All she’d have to do was envision her target as Lazarus’s face.

  How could he have brought her here? He made her pack up her life, her wolf, re-assign her foster animals, and get out of her well-hidden, secluded home to walk directly into a motherfucking trap.

  What. An. Asshole.

  To make it worse, she trusted him. Packed up and fled like a scared little bitch. So terrified Michael might find her first, she ran like the wind. The only thing scarier than Michael catching her was Lucifer finding out about Eve’s existence before she could explain herself, so she wanted to manage the reunion delicately.

  Laz knew that. He fucking knew it and placed her right into the Devil’s path with no warning. And like the trusting dipshit she was, Eve followed Laz’s orders without question.

  We need to get off of Holy Ground, my ass. What a fucking dick! Laz escorted her right into Gabriel’s house of all places and didn’t say shit about shit.

  Not in the mood to run into people heading towards the abandoned highway, Eve cut a left to go through a horse pasture. Slipping between the barbed wire fence was tricky, but she was agile enough for the job. Her wings flexed to shield her back and thighs from getting sliced as she slipped between the wires. Her t-shirt caught and almost ripped. With nimble fingers, Eve plucked herself free of the barbs and got through to the other side with little trouble. This farm looked about sixty acres deep from this angle. She could cover that distance in no time.

  Marching through the field, she felt someone approach from behind. “Stop following me, Anam.”

  The last thing she needed right now was for her ancient wolf to be seen by a human. The last time that happened, bad things transpired. “Go home, Anam.”

  A low growl rumbled in retaliation.

  “Damnit, Anam. Please just listen to me!” Spinning around to scold the beast, she froze in surprise. It wasn’t Anam growling.

  It was Constantine.

  “What are you doing here, Con?”

  “What’s it look like? I came to check on you.”

  She rolled her eyes. How many times have they gone down this road? “I’m fine. I’m always fine. Go home, Con.” She turned around and kept walking. Flying could have gotten her anywhere faster, but her wings were useless. She couldn’t even conceal them with magic, let alone flap them to fly.

  Unable to hide her wings, she’d spent the majority of her existence in isolation so she didn’t draw attention to herself or Anam. Then, when the world became a little more accepting of differences and self-expression, she was able to join more of the living. Almost anyone who saw her just assumed her wings were part of an elaborate costume. She never once corrected them.

  If humans found out Angels were real, part of the power divinity fed on would dwindle. For most, faith was the belief in something without actual proof of its existence. She didn’t want to fuck up more for the Angels than she already had.

  Holy Hell Hounds, what a nightmare.

  “I said Go. Home.”

  “He’s damned himself more,” Constantine said. “He dropped into Hell and took out at least a dozen more malanum. You know what that does to him, right?”

  “That’s not my fault,” but of course she’d be blamed. “You should have told him. Or warned me.”

  “I tried,” he grabbed her shoulders and spun her around. “Did you get my last letter?”

  He’d sent her thousands of letters.

  “Damnit, Eve, have you ever opened a single one of them?”

  Nope. She always set them on fire, unopened. Now she felt annoyed with herself. “Okay, fine, I’ll take the blame for that. I never open your letters, Constantine.” The hurt in his gaze made her heart sting like a nest of hornets was attacking it. “I couldn’t,” fuck how could she possibly explain without sounding weak and foolish? “I wanted to be dead to you. To all of you. So, I did everything I could to make you dead to me too.”

  “Jesus Fucking Christ, Eve.” He scrubbed his face with both hands and took a step back. “You’re the coldest woman in the entire world, you know that?”

  “I wasn’t the first to turn so icy,” she hissed. “You froze out your pack long before I ever did. So do not throw stones, Connie.”

  He hated being called Connie. She hoped it pissed him off and he left her alone.

  “The book is gone,” he changed the subject. “Michael most likely has it.”

  “What book?”

  “The Book of Angels. Also known as the End of Days.”

  She blew out a puff of hot air. “Why did you ever write it in the first place?”

  “Laz said to.”

  “Laz,” she hated the sound of his name now. The traitor. “Why is it everything he says, we believe?”

  “He’s all-knowing,” Con shrugged. “There’s no room for doubt.”

  “He could lie. And he’s sneaky.”

  “He can’t lie. It’s part of his make-up. The Angel can tell no lies.”

  “No, but he can spin the truth and make it vague.”

  “That’s not lying.”

  “It’s evading. I hate it. And right now, I hate him too.” She picked up pace and tromped through the field. “And what was in that book anyways?” she’d never read it.

  “It’s our story,” he swiftly caught up with her, “and it also describes what really happened the day the Brotherhood fell.”

  “So Michael has it. Big whoop. He was there, he knows the story already.”

  “It also describes all our weaknesses and strengths. In the wrong hands, it could be used against us.”

  “There are no wronger hands than Michael’s and he’s most likely got it. Deal, Con. Adapt. Plan accordingly.” Was she sounding like a cold-hearted bitch? Probably. But being ruthless got her this far, she intended to keep going.

  “If he doesn’t have it… then someone else does, Eve. They’ll know the truth. Faith in Angels as we know it could be destroyed.”

  “You know what? I really don’t care. Let the Angels suffer. Let them weaken. Let them learn what it’s like to be left with nothing and how to live that way for once.”

  Constantine grabbed her arm and forced her to stop. “You don’t mean that.”

  “Yes, I do. Not once has any Angel offered to help me.”

  “They all think you’re dead.”

  “No. Some know the truth. They’ve fucking seen me. Fought on battlefields with me in this realm. And not a single one offered to help me when I needed it most.”

  “Shiiiit.”

  Yeah, shiiiit. Because now that Lucifer knows she’s alive, it’s only a matter of time before he discovered how many others had seen her throughout the years. He’d been a big part of how Angels gained all that power and glory and freedom – and they’d kept their mouths shut about Eve.

  Maybe those Angels didn’t realize how much Lucifer loved her. Maybe they all thought she was being dramatic when she got o
n her knees and begged them to help her find a way to get to Hell. Perhaps they thought she was insane for asking them to share their power. To kill her. To save her. Or maybe they thought she was a poor excuse and a dismal example of an Angel. The bottom line was, every Angel turned their backs on her.

  If Lucifer found out they knew – or heard even a whisper of Eve’s existence and never said anything to him – then he’d feel betrayed by them too. Lucy didn’t need that right now. He needed all the strength he could get so he could take down Michael.

  “Go back to him, Constantine. Leave me the fuck alone.”

  He growled in protest and refused to listen.

  The ground beneath Eve’s feet rumbled. It was slight, but enough to catch her attention. “What the hell was that?”

  “Minor earthquake,” Con actually had the nerve to sound bored.

  “Does Pennsylvania even have earthquakes?”

  “I don’t know. I guess.”

  God, Constantine was infuriating somedays. Not only was he too good looking for his own good, but he had a bad habit of acting like he never cared about anything. When in reality, Con cared a great deal about everything.

  “Damnit, Constantine. I hate it when you do this.” She shook her head and started walking again.

  Maybe the earthquake was a fluke. Maybe it wasn’t an earthquake at all. It could be one of the mining tunnels collapsing under the town. Yeah, that made more sense. It had to be that. According to her very minimal research, the town she was staying in had coal mines that were no longer in use. A while back, a fire accidentally got out of hand and lit the mines up. Thirty years later and the place still smoked and roads cracked from the heat. That’s why the town evacuated and never returned. And that’s why it was a little lawless around here.

  Yeah, it could have just been a tunnel caving in.

  Or maybe the world was ending and the ground was shaking in fear?

  Really, it could mean anything and Eve couldn’t give two fucks about it. Whatever happens, she’d survive. Hell, if the entire world exploded, she’d survive. She wasn’t lucky enough not to.

  Eve was more like a cockroach at this point.

  A loud whinny came from the stables on top of the hill. “There’s a horse in distress.”

  Constantine glanced over his shoulder, “Most likely spooked by the small earthquake.”

  Eve knew better than to check up on the animal, but she also knew better than to allow Constantine this much time alone with her.

  The horse whinnied again.

  “Damnit,” Eve took off. By the time she got to the stable, the stallion in the largest stall was kicking its hind legs, doing his best to bust out of there. This place was built too well for the animal to kick his way out. He would only end up hurting himself and Eve knew damn well what happened to a horse with two broken legs.

  According to the plaque on his door, his name was Risk.

  Irony was adorable somedays.

  “Whoa,” she said in soft tones. The horse didn’t relent. Even when she pushed some of her energy into him. His eyes were wild and he bucked ruthlessly to break free. Opening the door so he could bolt was the only way to save him from hurting himself. Eve flipped opened the latch to his stall and the rest happened in slow motion...

  The door swung open.

  The horse reared.

  Eve was kicked in the face with a hoof.

  She flew back on her ass.

  The stallion trampled right over her and bolted out of the stable.

  Eve lay broken. Her throat worked double-time to gulp down air her lungs refused to take in. Her vision wavered. She tried to call out for Constantine. Coughing and sputtering, she rolled onto her side.

  Constantine’s black wings ripped out of their concealment charm. Flexed and sharp, he was in the next stall with his broad, stunning black wings fanned out.

  Eve blinked, her body went into healing mode and began the painful process of repairing itself. Her ribs cracked and popped back into formation. Her organs and tissues reattached and reformed. This wasn’t her first rodeo with injuries like this.

  She remained focused on Constantine. His muscular arms were swinging. His hair – cut short and dark as raven wings was unruly. His powerful thighs helped him parry and kick. Wait…. What the—

  Eve’s vision cleared right up. Constantine was fighting three malanum in the stall. That’s why the horse was freaking out! What on earth were they trying to do to a horse?

  With a grunt, Eve rose to her feet to join the fight. No way was she not going to be part of this. Holding her right side, she cursed the fact that if she was going to be indestructible, she should also be faster with the self-healing portion of her curse. Come on, come on, lungs, inflate!

  Straightening her spine, Eve sucked in a couple ragged breaths and after she forced her armor to lock in place, she ran full throttle at the bastard trying to claw Constantine’s eyes out. Her mate was in a battle with no weapons other than his teeth and hands. Right now, taking a bite out of one of these things could be his death since some malanum were able to infect others now.

  “Steady!” she yelled. Constantine immediately braced his body and Eve jumped onto his back, using him as leverage to snatch the malanum that crawled onto the ceiling, preparing to pounce. Landing on her feet, she ripped its head clean off and used the severed hard-as-a-rock skull to beat the second malanum in the face while Constantine pulverized the third.

  Black blood splattered all over his face. His eyes were wild. His wings flapped and blew a forceful wind that moved the hay out of the way, then opened a Hell hole and kicked them all inside.

  While Constantine dropped the bastards back to Hell, Eve looked around the stables. “Oh no.”

  A man impaled with a pitchfork lay face-up two stalls over.

  Eve dropped to her knees and tried to offer him comfort, but the damage was done.

  “He’s infected,” Con rasped.

  “Can you save him?”

  The look of misery in his eyes told her No. He couldn’t. For Con to not have the ability to fix this probably killed him inside. Eve did the only thing left as an option: she snapped the man’s neck and put him out of his misery. “Drop him in,” she stood up and backed away from the dead guy. “Quick! Drop him in Hell.”

  Constantine grabbed the farmer by his broken neck and carried him over to the Hell hole in the other stall. Eve’s stomach dropped as the man’s body plummeted into the abyss. “He couldn’t be saved,” she hated how her eyes stung with tears. “He… I… no one…” she stumbled over her too many thoughts, “there’s no saving us, is there?”

  Two big, strong hands spun her around. Constantine’s mouth slammed against hers in a soul-searing kiss. Her wings immediately flexed and feathers stiffened. His did too.

  Stumbling out of the stall, their feathers crunched and broke as they stayed entwined in each other’s arms. Constantine inhaled through his nose and groaned against her tongue. The Angel was hot chocolate and erotic sex with a shot of fantasy that always made her feel like a shooting star in a galaxy of moons.

  Before they got carried away – because they always did when they were together – Eve shoved him backwards. “We can’t,” she rasped.

  “We can,” he closed the gap and threaded his fingers through her hair. When he kissed her harder, Eve’s toes curled and she felt the ground quake again. They broke away from each other and stared at the floorboards of the stable. “It’s us,” he smiled. “We’re doing it.”

  “We weren’t doing it before out in the field.”

  “We’ve always been like this, Eve. You and I are explosive.”

  He wasn’t lying. Every time he hunted her down and found her, they’d fight and fuck and something would crack and crumble inside them.

  Eve wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She forced herself to step back and put more distance between her and Constantine. The Angel was a drug to Eve. One hit was never enough. One night. One kiss. One…
>
  One was not enough.

  “All or none,” she said. Then Eve bolted out of the stable just like Risk.

  Chapter 11

  Lucifer needed to finish what he started long ago. They called off the search for the Book of Angels the minute Tilly came to them with the description of who’d been behind capturing and torturing his Hell Hounds in the Paris Catacombs. Knowing Michael most likely had the book was liberating in a way.

  Let the truth be known, Satan thought. And may the world know exactly who I fucking am…

  Michael’s return wasn’t a shock, it was a frustration. Lucifer was good at handling frustrations. Hell, he fucking thrived on them.

  Cracking his knuckles, he slicked back his hair, grabbed a fresh shirt from his closet and stepped out into the hall. He wasn’t surprised to see Sara and Kalen out there. “Thanks for coming to my rescue earlier, Darling.”

  “Anytime, big guy.”

  If he any pride left, Lucifer would have felt the blow to it right now. Sara coming to him earlier so he could bury his face in her scent and aura would have been embarrassing if it hadn’t also been so necessary.

  It wasn’t Sara’s energy he was clinging to; it was his own. That piece of untainted soul he gave Sara ages ago could tether his ass when he felt like he was losing the last bit of himself to the evil threatening to take over his mind and body.

  Imbalance was a terrifying thing. It was something he needed to rectify soon, but knowing what that meant? Well, it wasn’t something Lucifer was ready for yet.

  Right now, he had a world full of innocents to save.

  Priorities.

  “I need to head back up there,” he brushed past two of his Hounds. “Can I stay with you until I find a new place?”

  “You think that’s smart?” Kalen’s eyebrow arched. “You can’t avoid her forever.”