I’d only get a few hours, likely. Enough to keep me in fighting shape if we were hunted down.
Her face was the last thing I saw before I closed my eyes.
And went right into dreams of an invisible sire, the one who’d made me… and as always, there was something so familiar about him. Something close enough to touch, like the bright gleam of gold, but when I opened my eyes, it would be gone.
Like always.
19
Melisande
I watched Tascius fall into sleep, the rise and fall of his chest evening out, and his eyelashes flickered with the first touches of a dream.
“He’s not lying,” Lucifer said quietly, gazing at me over the fire. “He has the darkness they have.”
“I know.” I sat up and moved between them, stretching out my legs so my foot bumped Lucifer’s. “I trust him not to hurt me with it.”
He glanced at Tascius. “I wouldn’t say this about most Nephilim, but I do, too.”
“See what bonding in the shower gets you?” I asked, unable to prevent a leer. My relief at being away from the horrid towers of Acheron and its violent denizens made me want to laugh out loud, maybe a little hysterically.
Lucifer smiled, but it was strained, and his eyes roamed the forest non-stop.
I leaned in, but the appearance of a cloud of smoke right in front of me almost had my heart bursting out of my chest. “Azazel, don’t just… appear like that.”
He took solid form, crouching over my sprawled legs. He’d shed his dark jacket with its raven-skull pins, and his white shirt was rolled up over his forearms.
“You need to be vigilant.” Violet eyes roamed over me from head to toe. “If we’d been keeping up with your training, you wouldn’t have been taken by surprise.”
“I’m pretty sure I still would’ve been,” I grumbled, but the Watcher grabbed my hand and pulled me upright.
“You’ve got the first watch, Morningstar. I’m going to make sure she hasn’t forgotten everything she’s learned.”
Lucifer just gave him a half-cocked salute, leaning back on his elbows.
I didn’t protest as Azazel extended his shadows to me, pulling me right through trees and brambles until the warmth and light of the campfire had completely vanished. The woods around us now- Elysium’s territory- were as beautiful as the wasteland around Acheron had been terrifying.
Azazel brought me through the trees to an open bank overlooking a large pond. A small tree grew in the middle of it, the underside of its leaves flashing gold and reflecting the light of the moon.
“This place is beautiful. It’s hard to believe we’re in Hell,” I said, but Azazel walked out into the middle of the soft grass, unbuttoning his shirt.
My mouth instantly went dry at the sight. Unlike the others, who seemed perfectly at ease with walking around half-naked, I’d never seen Azazel looking anything but buttoned-up and stiff.
He stripped off his shirt, revealing a physique that was all lean, chiseled muscle. A trail of dark hair extended below the waistband of his trousers, and I realized my mouth was hanging open.
I shut it with a snap, determined that he wouldn’t know my stomach was now a churning pool of heat. That’s what he was keeping hidden? In my opinion, he shouldn’t wear clothes at all. It should be forbidden.
“I thought we were training,” I said, barely managing to get the words out.
“We are.” His precise tones brooked no argument. How was I supposed to concentrate when he was standing there looking like that? “I realized that I’ve left an important part of your education to the wayside. My mistake became clear to me when we were passing the shadow of Acheron. If Lucifer, Tascius, or I fell in battle, you’d be alone. I need you to be able to defend yourself.”
“I can defend myself.” My hackles rose despite my urge to go touch him everywhere. With my hands and my mouth. “I have weapons and wings.”
His violet eyes flashed, and the sharp planes of his face took on an imperious look. “What if you drop your weapons? What if your wings are broken?”
I winced at the mental image, the worst thing that could happen to an angel besides losing them outright.
“Weapons are all well and good, but I need to know you can shield yourself.” He stalked closer, and I might’ve started hyperventilating the tiniest bit. “Holding them off for five minutes could be the difference between life and death.”
“None of you will die.” My fists clenched when I spoke. Just the thought of it was anathema to me. It was impossible for any of them to die without me.
I couldn’t bear it.
“There are no guarantees,” Azazel said, forcing my chin up to look at him. “There is never a guarantee on life. If the worst comes to pass, I won’t leave you unable to escape.”
“Please don’t even say these things.”
“It’s realistic.”
“It’s bullshit!” I snapped, jerking my face out of his hand. “I won’t let that happen to any of you.”
“No?” Tiny stars drifted from his skin. “Then prove to me that you can make a shield. Keep me out.”
Shadows made solid burst to life, and for the first time, as I ducked away, I realized what Azazel was.
He was a beautiful face over something distant, dangerous, and possibly even monstrous. He was obscured in shadows, cold fire crackling where his eyes had been, long talons of darkness elongating from his fingers.
“Keep me away, angel,” he said, in a voice that sounded nothing like his precise baritone voice. It buzzed and crackled with power, an electric current coursing through his words.
I took flight without thought, hoping to make it to the island or that the water would slow him down, but something wrapped around my ankle and pulled me back down to earth.
My magic slithered through my veins, fear making the thorns of fire grow longer, sharper, but the vines that lashed out at
