The Tempting

by V J J Dunn

  Nick cocked his head at her in question. “PDA?”

  She gave him a look that should have made him run screaming in the other direction. “Public displays of affection,” she informed him. “It’s not like you and I wanna know why.”

  He crossed his arms over his broad chest, and she tried not to notice how his tight uniform hugged his muscles.

  “Why have you been avoiding me?” he asked instead of answering.

  Allie growled at him.

  And walked off.

  She’d only managed a few steps when he caught her arm and spun her back around to him. In response, she unsheathed her sword. It was an automatic reaction and he drew his, for the same reason.

  They started sparring. Allie was angry and her strikes were choppy and uncontrolled, exactly what she always told the team not to do. But she couldn’t help it; Nick ticked her off. Abba had said they needed to marry and that ticked her off. Zad teased her and that ticked her off. She was also ticked off that they’d been banished from The City, even if the new mansion was even better than their old quarters. And she was sooo ticked that Lucifer was loose in the world and messing with humans again.

  Heck, she was just plain ticked off.

  She hacked away at Nick as he backed away from her, meeting her blow for blow. She knew that he was going easy on her, letting her get her anger out, using him to do so. At the moment, she didn’t care. It just felt good to get it out.

  After she was sweating and breathing hard, and it was obvious that she’d managed to work out her anger, Nick went on the offensive. Because she was exhausted from her out-of-control attack, Allie was quickly and easily subdued by him, so fast that it was embarrassing.

  And it was then that she remembered the team was watching.

  Mortification came over her and she felt her face heat even more than just from the exertion. As her chest heaved, trying to get enough air into her lungs and sweat poured from every pore on her body, Nick knocked her sword out of her hand.

  It was a beautiful sword, always sharp and shining, with decorative scrolling near the hilt and scripture engraved along the length: Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be My children. She had always been so proud of that sword, a direct gift from Raguel, the Angel of Justice.

  But now she stared at it lying in the dirt like an unwanted object carelessly discarded. She thought that it was like her self-esteem in that moment — bloody, dirty and useless.

  Before she could let self-doubt and embarrassment take hold, Nick spoke up, addressing the Remnants in a loud voice.

  “As Allie just demonstrated for you, that is what happens when you allow your anger to get the better of you. We cannot let that happen, or else the demons will win. And you will be there, staring at your sword lying in the dirt, wondering what just happened right before the demon removes… you from this world.”

  Allie’s head jerked up at Nick’s words. He’d changed what he was going to say at the last moment, she knew. It was too soon after Ed’s death to be talking about demons removing heads.

  But she also realized that Nick had made it look like she’d been demonstrating how not to act. So, as far as the team was concerned, Allie hadn’t lost control; she’d just been showing them what not to do. He’d just saved her from massive embarrassment. She got some major warm fuzzies.

  Man, I love this guy…

  As if reading her thoughts, Nick looked up her and smirked. Allie grinned back. Thank you, she mouthed. He winked at her.

  Yep, grumpy, stoic, serious Nick actually winked.

  Before she could think further on that, Zad returned… with Metatron in tow.

  Both angels had a serious look on their face and Allie knew that something wasn’t going to go her way.

  Chapter 9

  W HAT THE HECK do you mean you’re moving in with me?” Allie shrieked. It was crazy. No way was she going to let Zad and Metatron move into her apartment. She’d only had the place to herself — well, with her bobcat roommate — for one night.

  The last thing she wanted was Heavenly Host roomies.

  “Abba’s orders,” Zad shrugged. Nick moved toward her and for once, Allie was glad for his interference.

  “Why?” Nick asked.

  It was Metatron who answered. “The bounty is still upon her head. Abba is concerned with her safety here in the Inner Circle.”

  Allie’s eyes bugged at that. “Well then, why doesn’t He just heal us and let us go back to The City?”

  She was starting to wonder if the Remnants had even caught the disease. None of them had shown any symptoms or signs of getting sick. And then there was the question of why Abba would have sent some workers from The City to the Remnant mansion if the team was contagious. She wondered if this disease thing was yet another way that Abba was ferreting out the truth, like when He’d made her think the angel rebellion was far bigger than it was.

  Zad gave her an indecipherable look. “No idea. But you know what He says goes. He has His reasons.”

  Abba’s earlier words came back to her then: I have My reasons and you have to trust Me. Allie grimaced, but she nodded.

  “Well, guess that explains why I have three bedrooms,” she joked as she glanced at Nick, who did not look happy. Not at all. Allie sighed. If she thought Nick had been jealous of her relationship with the angels before, what was it going to be like now? He was probably going to be insane over it. Great.

  Zad hooked his arm around his neck and used his other hand to rub his knuckles on her head, much like an older brother would do. “We’ll have fun, kid. It’ll be like a sleepover from the Old Age. We can make popcorn, watch old movies…”

  Allie knew what Zad was doing; he was trying to fuel Nick’s jealous fire. It was working.

  “Oooh, can I paint your nails?” she squealed with fake delight as she elbowed him. “I’m thinking hot pink is sooo your color.”

  Nick was practically vibrating from anger. Allie glanced at him and felt a moment of pity for him, even though she’d been angry with him just a little while ago for his possessiveness.

  She needed to do something about the situation. The only way she could think of to calm him down was to let him know he had nothing to fear. Abba’s earlier words filled her head.

  Nick is my mate…

  Allie sighed. Heavily.

  She looked at Nick. “Will you take a walk with me in the garden?” She almost laughed when he nodded and then smirked at the angels, as if to say, “See? She wants me.”

  Allie was nervous. Unlike the extremely pleasant stroll through the garden that she’d taken with Abba earlier, now she was a bundle of nerves, filled with fear and indecision.

  No, she corrected herself, not indecision. She knew exactly what she needed to do. She was just scared to death to do it. She snorted to herself; Big bad Alessandra, Mistress of the Remnant Warriors, scared and unsure of herself. As usual.

  Unfortunately, that part of her personality hadn’t changed in the new age.

  She led Nick to the bench by the cherub fountain. The sun was now low on the horizon and the air was starting to cool. Of course, there in the garden, and especially next to the stream of Living Waters, it was even cooler. Refreshing, even. So different than the rest of the Inner Circle, with the dust, heat and life-sucking aridness.

  “So,” Nick said, turning the word into a question.

  Allie flinched. She was hoping to gather her thoughts a bit before jumping into what all she had to say. But, dragging it out wasn’t helping calm her nerves any. In fact, she was practically shaking now.

  Hoping Nick didn’t notice her nervousness, she reached over and grabbed his hand and pulled it to her lap, much as Abba had done with her earlier in the day.

  “So,” Allie echoed as she sucked in a deep breath. This was so much harder than she anticipated.

  “Ummm,” she hesitated, chewing her lip. “So, Abba was here with me this morning. In the garden. In fact, we sat on
this bench,” she told him as she gestured to the fountain with the ridiculous statue. Nick glanced at the cherub, then back at her, eyebrow cocked in question.

  She gave her lip some more teeth. “He, uh, well, He told me some stuff,” she hedged, then swallowed hard. Yeah, this was a lot harder than she thought it was going to be. Allie could feel her cheeks heat and she hoped it wouldn’t be too noticeable now in the early evening with the setting sun casting its pink hue on the landscape.

  Nick didn’t say anything, waiting for her to elaborate. His intelligent dark blue eyes were staring at her as if trying to read her thoughts, which made Allie even more nervous. She looked away from him.

  “He said that we, um—” she glanced back at him and waved her hand between the two of them, “—you and me, I mean, that we’re uh… mated,” she said on a whoosh of air.

  Yeah, this was seriously embarrassing.

  “I don’t mean, mated like, uh animals,” she rushed on. “But you know, like, uh, soulmates, I guess.” She shrugged. “Something like that.”

  He hadn’t said a word, hadn’t even made a sound. He just sat there, staring at her. She was starting to feel like a bug under a glass, a specimen he was trying to figure out.

  She looked away again, not wanting to see what kind of expression he would have as she soldiered on in a rush. “He said that we need to, uh, marry, because we, um, we’re sorta, uh, headed down the, uh, path of sin… if we don’t.”

  A rush of air left her then. She finally got it out, regardless of how embarrassing it was, she managed to say it. But she knew she had to, especially after Zad’s declaration that he and Metatron were supposed to move in with her, and Nick’s jealousy of that.

  Hopefully now that green-eyed monster would be locked in a cage.

  Nick was quiet for far too long, and Allie started to fidget, worrying what he’d thought of her embarrassing declaration. Just when she’d gotten so uncomfortable that she’d been about to say, “Just kidding!” he spoke.

  “Are you asking me to marry you?”

  Allie jerked back. Well, yeah, she had been, but for some reason, hearing him saying the words was… it made it so real.

  She nodded. “Uh, yeah, I guess. I mean, if you want to. But there’s no rush!” she hurried to add. And there wasn’t; it wasn’t like she wanted to run off and get married right away. She was just hoping to relieve Nick of his stupid jealousy by knowing that she was supposed to be with him.

  “Don’t feel any pressure, though,” she shrugged. “It’s not like you have to, or that you have to give me an answer right away, or—”

  Nick stopped her rush of panicked rambling by grabbing both sides of her face and kissing her deeply. Allie relaxed almost immediately, while at the same time, a new tension filled her. She gripped his arms and held him while he devoured her mouth.

  When he finally broke off from the kiss, Allie was panting. Nick grinned at her and she laughed slightly.

  “I take it that’s a yes?” she asked. He laughed.

  “Yes, it’s a definite yes,” he whispered, before kissing her again, even deeper this time.

  Since they weren’t allowed to go to The City, Abba came to them the very next day and performed the simple marriage ceremony that united her to Nick. Allie thought that nothing could have been more perfect than to have The Creator Himself marry them.

  Allie insisted they have the ceremony in the garden at sunset. All the Remnants, and several dozen warrior angels, attended the service. It was beautiful, simple and amazing.

  Nick wanted them to live in his apartment since Zad and Metatron had already moved into hers, but Abba said he wanted the angels with Allie at all times, so Nick agreed to move to her place.

  He still wasn’t happy about the angels’ presence, but when Abba took him aside and explained the reason behind it, Nick had done a one-eighty and seemed to be thankful for their roommates.

  And he refused to tell Allie why.

  All she knew was Lucifer’s bounty was still on her head. No one was giving her the details though. Which seriously ticked her off.

  The angels gave the newlyweds a few days alone together, letting them stay in Nick’s apartment. But they were every vigilant and Allie would find either Zad or Metatron waiting outside the door whenever she left the apartment.

  It was freaky.

  On the third day of their “honeymoon” Allie left the apartment in search of food. Metatron was sitting in the hall, his back to her door, facing Nick’s, with his leg bent and resting his huge, muscular arm on his knee.

  “Your turn for stalker duty, eh, Sitter-tron?”

  One of the angel’s eyebrows rose but he didn’t bother to answer, probably because it was obvious what he was doing. Or maybe he was just ticked at the stupid name she’d given him.

  Allie sighed and turned to sit next to him. Metatron stiffened when she pressed her arm against his.

  “Tell you what, big guy,” Allie whispered, “I’ll quit with the idiotic names if you start lightening up. You know, chillax a bit. Quit scowling all the time.”

  He turned to her and both brows rose. “I scowl because of those names!” he accused.

  Allie shook her head. “Nope. You scowl almost always. Until Nick and I got together, he was almost as bad as you, but he’s learned to smile. You can too.”

  “But he now has a reason to smile,” the angel whispered to her, as if he didn’t want anyone else — or maybe even her — to hear his admission.

  Allie jerked back so hard she hit her head on the door. “Wow sweetie,” she breathed, “was that a compliment you just gave me?”

  But then he chuckled and that was even more shocking. And to make it worse, he then laughed at her expression. Like a real laugh. Allie was floored. It was so unlike the guy that she scowled.

  “Alright, who are you and what have you done with the grumpy Celestial Scribe?”

  Metatron grinned. A smile on his face was such a rare thing that she held her breath at the sight. The angel was the most beautiful of them all when he smiled.

  “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the most beautiful angel of them all? This guy!” Allie said as she pointed the index finger of both hands at him. He laughed again.

  She knew Lucifer was supposed to hold the winning beauty title, but since he was such an evil jerk, Allie couldn’t get past his personality to appreciate his beauty. But Metatron — yeah, he was a grump most of the time, but when he wasn’t — Holy Heartbreaker, Batman!

  He was dark and brooding, sullen and snarly. Allie leaned into him a little more, but surprisingly, he didn’t stiffen that time.

  “You know,” she whispered, like she was imparting the secrets of the kingdom, “I think you and I could be good friends. Zad and I will probably always be closest cuz, you know he was my first. Angel, that is.”

  She grinned at him when he groaned at her joke. “But you and I, well, I think we’re so opposite that maybe we just click, you know?”

  Metatron didn’t answer for a few beats and Allie figured she’d shocked him too much with the friend comment, or maybe he was trying to figure out a way to nicely tell her to shove off. But then he shocked her.

  “Actually, I think you and I are very much alike, little one,” he said in a low voice that only she could hear. “We both keep everyone at a sword’s distance… you, with your joking and teasing, me with my scowls and, as you say, grumpiness. But both are defensive maneuvers to push others away.”

  Allie stared at the angel in shock and was pretty sure her jaw dropped. Her heart pounded when she realized that he was the only being — other than Abba, obviously — in over a thousand years who saw through her mask.

  Somehow Metatron knew that she kept others from seeing the real Allie, the one who had been so wounded, left broken and bleeding, that she wasn’t sure she had any more blood to give. The Allie who laughed and joked her way through life because it was the only way she could keep the pain from consuming her and leaving her in a crum
pled, devastated heap. The Allie who only removed the mask with her Heavenly Father, or when no one else was around.

  The Allie who was still that terrified, heartbroken little girl trying to survive all by herself when the entire world seemed to want to destroy her.

  And someone recognized that. Recognized the real her.

  She blinked hard at the tears that were trying to form. She despised crying and rarely let anyone see her tears. Tears meant pain, and pain meant people thought they needed to try to fix you.

  But some people just weren’t fixable.

  And Allie knew she was broken beyond repair in this life. It was another reason she was so anxious for the heavenly realm… no tears, no pain. No brokenness.

  But somehow, she knew this huge, imposing, scowling angel wouldn’t be put off by her pain. He wouldn’t try to fix her either. He would just let her bleed all over him, purging the poison of her fears.

  That in itself was comforting enough to dry her eyes.

  Allie gave him a wobbly smile and pushed up on her knees, then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Metatron,” she whispered against his ear. He sucked in a sharp breath at the contact.

  “I love you.”

  She didn’t say that to many people… or angels. He was one of only a handful of beings to hear those words from her lips. And Allie knew he realized that when he wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed his forehead into her neck.

  He didn’t reply, and she didn’t expect him to.

  They pulled apart from their rather intimate embrace when they heard a door open, but their arms were still around each other.

  “My wife is gone just a few minutes and already she’s in the arms of another man,” Nick drawled. Allie looked back at where he stood with his shoulder against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, and a smirk on his face. Thankfully, the past three days spent solely with her had seemed to cure him of his jealousy.

  Allie laughed and kissed Metatron’s cheek again before standing. This time, he growled, like she was annoying him. Allie got it; in front of others, they would keep up their love/hate appearances.