Very slowly, holding his gaze, she nodded.
He ran his fingertips along every inch of her face, his touch little more than a whisper. Her eyes closed and her breathing came in and out faster and faster.
“It’s like coming to life.”
Every muscle in his body tensed and his cock hardened. But he did nothing more than touch her gently. Because even though he was touching her to remind her of what it meant to be human, this moment was for him just as much as her. He wasn’t sure he’d ever truly been alive until meeting her, even before his death.
“Will you—kiss me?” she asked.
Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t have refused her. Moving closer, he brushed his lips against hers. Her breath tasted sweet, oh so sweet.
When her head tilted, her lips slanting to give him better access, he deepened the kiss, his tongue slipping into her mouth. One of his hands moved to her hips, drawing her closer.
He stopped himself, even though it took every ounce of control he had. He shifted back from her, one painful inch after another. More than anything, he wanted to kiss her until her entire body hummed with need.
He wanted to feel her melt beneath his touch as she clung to him, her thoughts scattering. He wanted to know she was wet and ready. He wanted to reach beneath her flowing skirts and touch her. To feel her rocking against his fingers. To hear the sounds of her moans of pleasure.
But he needed to be sure that’s what she wanted too. Because, somehow, he knew, if he ever touched this woman, he wouldn’t be able to stop.
She opened her stunning eyes and stared right back at him.
“Until now, I never understood why my brethren lie with humans. I thought being an angel was the greatest form of life that anyone could hope to be. But it isn’t, is it?”
Daniel brushed her hair back from her face. “No, there’s nothing in all the realms like being human. And when we touch, when we love, it brings back our humanity little by little.”
Her gaze held his. “Will you make love to me, Daniel?”
His breath caught. Could a demon truly make love to an angel?
The memory tore away and a new image replaced it. He saw Surcy walking in a place without life, a desert that seemed to stretch out all around her. Someone was moving ahead of her, and he could sense her nervousness. When the person paused ahead of her and looked back, Daniel recognized the angel named Frink, one of their enemies. An enemy who wanted to kill Surcy. He was leading her to Zudessa. A place he recognized from Surcy’s description. And the place Daniel had gone when he died briefly before being thrown into the demon-realm.
Shit!
Inside the fortress was The Soul Destroyer. A thing used against people Caine didn’t want to be reborn. If she was taken to it, Caine would take her immortal soul, and she’d be lost to them forever. But how do we reach her there?
The vision disappeared and returned him to the witch’s shop.
“Did you find your answer?” she whispered, turning aroused eyes onto him.
He sprang from the chair, knocking it back. “I need to go!”
Rushing out the door, he heard her call after him, but now wasn't the time.
"I'll come back," he told her. "She's in danger."
He would find a way to thank the witch later, but not when Surcy needed him.
Not when her life hung in the balance.
We’re coming, Surcy. Somehow.
11
Something isn’t right.
Surcy hadn’t been able to shake the feeling. The way Frink looked at her sent goose bumps racing down her arms and had every hair on her body standing on end. Hatred rolled off him in waves, but why would she feel this way about a fellow angel?
I felt safer with the demons.
The knowledge chilled her to the core. She had to turn back, before it was too late.
She stopped walking and waited for Frink to look back at her. “There’s somewhere else I should go before I return to Caine.”
His eyes narrowed. “And where is that?”
“To further investigate what caused the loss of my wings. Such a thing is too small a matter for the Great Caine.”
Turning, she started back toward the border. They hadn’t walked far. If she hurried, but not so quickly as to alert him, she could cross it and teleport back out.
She sensed him behind her. “What’s the matter, Surcy? Your memory coming back?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” She increased her speed.
“You don’t.” He spoke, too close behind her. “Then, you don’t remember helping a certain traitorous Hunter and her demons escape?”
“Escape?” That can’t be true.
“Oh yes,” he said, his voice cold. “And of course you remember what happened when I tried to stop you?”
Her heart had been pounding so loudly in her ears she could scarcely hear anything else. “I can’t even imagine.”
Wind whipped around her and suddenly he was standing in front of her, cutting her off from her escape. “You killed me.” His soul-blade appeared in his hand. “And now, I think it’s my turn to return the favor.”
Her own soul-blade appeared in her hand. “I don’t want to hurt a fellow angel.”
“Then this will be even easier than I thought.”
He swung at her, and her blade met his. The sound of metal hitting metal filled her ears, and her arms shook from the impact. He swung at her from every angle, but each time her blade met his.
They circled each other, her palms sweaty against the hilt of her weapon. She couldn’t remember learning to use a sword, yet it felt natural in her grip.
But am I better than this angel?
Inching backwards toward the border, she kept her blade in front of her. Something within her burned at the thought of running from a fight, but a louder part of her still felt weak and lost in her own body. The last thing she needed at the
