“There’s no scientific explanation for these,” he went on, his tone making gooseflesh break out over my skin. “They defy reason and natural order. Fallen were made before those things even existed.”
I stood there in my bra and black jeans, feeling somewhat awed by the man in front of me, wishing I hadn’t thought that my taking a bath would distract him from being angry. It was too late to change my mind, though.
I unzipped my jeans and stepped out of them, feeling his gaze move over me despite the fact that I didn’t meet his eyes. Then I quickly lowered myself into the pool without taking off my bra or panties. Good thing it wasn’t cold, because my nipples were already hard from a mixture of excitement and nervousness. It was deep enough that I sank into the water up to my shoulders, noting that the shiny liquid felt different—thicker, like salt water but without the grittiness. Within moments, my skin began to tingle, but not in an unpleasant way.
“The water in that pool is similar to hydrogen peroxide, so the tickling you’re feeling is it dissolving away dirt and bacteria,” Rafael said, as if reading my mind. “And I’m not one of the original Fallen,” he went on, lowering himself into a sinuous crouch only a dozen feet away. “My mother is, but my father was a Pureblood. So while I have wings like my mother’s people and I feed on Purebloods, I’m not like the other Fallen you’ve heard of.”
I swallowed at the faintly ominous way he said that last sentence. “Are the other Fallen, the original ones… are they anything like their reputations?”
“They’re exactly like their reputations,” he replied flatly, making me shudder at the blunt confirmation of all the terrible things I’d heard. “My mother let me live because my wings were a curiosity to her. Most mixed-blood children don’t have those, though I’ve met a few others like me over the centuries. After I was born, she sent me to stay with my father in the normal world so I would age into a man. Once I had, she brought me to this realm and taught me how to hunt Purebloods.”
I couldn’t imagine such an upbringing. Partials were raised differently than regular kids, yes, what with being able to see dimensional barriers and knowing the world was made up of many different realms. But we didn’t grow up knowing we’d escaped being eaten by our parents only because of a genetic
“Your father? Is he here, too?” I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
A small, grim smile touched Rafael’s mouth. “When I was still young and living in the normal world, my mother visited unexpectedly and caught my father with another woman. He did not survive her displeasure.”
Holy crap, what a twisted family he came from! I’d be happy if that one brief glimpse of his mother was all I ever saw of her. Clearly, the woman was homicide on heels.
“If she’s so evil,” I said, making my voice very, very low, “then why do you have a room here, where she is?”
Rafael slid closer, until he could reach out and trail his fingers in the silvery water of the pool. “What do you think the biggest deterrent is for Purebloods looking to populate this realm as a permanent home? There aren’t many Fallen left, but the presence of even one will make most Purebloods fear to enter. And if there are fewer Purebloods crossing through this realm to get to one where Partials are plentiful…”
His voice trailed off, but I could fill in the rest. Purebloods flocked to where their food sources were— dimensions that Partials could cross into, like Nocturna. Without a safe dimension to drag their prey back into, the Purebloods were putting themselves at risk. They might be stronger than Partials one on one, but get enough of us together and we could kick some Pureblood ass.
The old expression ran through my mind:
“And the barriers in your bathroom?” But now that I knew what Rafael was, I could already guess.
His shoulder lifted in a half shrug even as he pulled off his boots. “The ruler of Nocturna before me built the castle around them so that Purebloods wouldn’t find out about them and use them. I kept them a secret for the same reason. They also made it easier for me to cross into this realm to hunt without being observed.”
Right. Because if anyone saw Rafael cross through a barrier, they’d know he was more than a Partial. But would that necessarily be a bad thing?
“If your mother’s presence keeps most Purebloods out of this realm, why haven’t you revealed what you are in Nocturna? Wouldn’t the sight of your wings keep more Purebloods away?”
“No one knows where my mother’s home is located, aside from me, and if other Purebloods knew what I was, I wouldn’t long be safe in Nocturna.”
Of course. If Partials knew a Pureblood’s home address, we’d show up with some friends to drop off a welcome basket filled with Rest In Peace. It stood to reason that Purebloods would do the same to a lone Fallen.
Which brought up another, very obvious question. “Why are you telling me all this? To convince me to keep your secret?”
Rafael leaned forward until only a foot of that silvery, tingling water separated his face from mine.
“I’m telling you because a demon should know everything about her mate,” he said softly, but with enough resonance for the words to hit me like a sledgehammer.
In the midst of my shock over discovering that Rafael was a Fallen, I’d forgotten about those five points of light in my eyes marking me for all to see as a claimed demon. Absurdly, I looked away, as if that made them any less obvious.
“Look, I don’t—”
“Do you want to know the real reason why I was in the woods that night when you were a teenager?” he interrupted.
That redirected my attention from what I’d been about to say, which was a lame rationalization, anyway. “You’re finally going to tell me the truth?”
A thick lock of golden-red hair fell over his shoulder as he nodded. “When I was a boy, my mother told me that Fallen knew their mates by sight. I asked how, and she said because we recognized them. That didn’t make sense at the time, and as only a half-Fallen, I didn’t know if it was a trait I’d inherited or not. But that night I saw you at Bonecrushers, even though I’d never set eyes on you before… I
It felt like my heart stopped beating. Then it restarted in a rush when Rafael slid into the pool with me, not even pausing to take off his leather pants. The water barely rippled as it enveloped him up to his chest, and his gaze held mine captive as he reached out to stroke my cheek.
“I was in the woods because I was following you, even though I fought to stay away because you were barely more than a child. Still, I had to speak to you, at least once, before sending you back to your world. My delay coming after you ended up costing the life of your kinswoman, and for that, I am deeply sorry. But I was there that night for you, Mara, no other reason.”
Emotions welled up in me, pulling my heart in different directions at the same time. I wanted to respond to his incredible declaration of me being his mate, but it was so beyond anything I’d allowed myself to consider that I tried to focus on what I could grasp.
“Gloria,” I breathed unsteadily. “You could cross realms. Why didn’t you go after her when Ashton pulled her through?”
“I did go after her, but only once I’d seen you safely back to your realm. I couldn’t risk leaving you in the woods where Purebloods and other dangers lurked. I looked, but I never found her, Mara. I also looked for the Pureblood who’d taken her, but until today, I didn’t find him, either.”
Poor Gloria. Familiar sadness rose in me, comforted by the memory of Ashton’s last, terrifying moments. At last, Gloria had been avenged, and the knowledge of that would soon soothe the rest of my family even as we’d always mourn her.
“Rafael…”
I didn’t know what to say as I stared at him, feeling the impossibly strong, smooth touch of his hand on my cheek. His gaze was intense, eyes flashing with tiny diamonds of light around those dazzling blue irises—
