“Isabelle, before you start-”
“Oh, no,” she said, holding out her hand. “You’ve had your say and I heard it all. Now you let me talk.”
He nodded, knowing he deserved whatever she had to say.
“I always felt you were holding back with me, but I just couldn’t figure out why. Now I know. All those times you told me you believed in me, you trusted me. All bullshit.”
“Isabelle-”
“Not that I can blame you,” she continued, ignoring him. “I don’t trust myself, so how can I expect you to have faith in me? I’m not angry at you, Dalton. Just … disappointed, I guess. I thought we were past hiding secrets about how we felt. I’ve been pretty straight with you and I thought you had been with me. I was wrong.”
She laughed. “I’m always wrong about men.”
She turned and walked back in the house.
Well, fuck. Dalton turned to Georgie.
“Don’t look at me,
After Georgie walked away, Dalton felt more alone than ever. Goddammit, every time he thought he was making the right decision, it turned out to be the wrong one. By not telling her what he was, he was trying to protect her. Was that wrong? Had he failed her by keeping secrets?
He was going to have to fix this, which meant doing something he really didn’t want to do. He went inside the house.
He saw her silhouette on the sofa, her legs pulled up to her chest, her chin resting on her knees.
He went to her, deciding it was probably best to sit in the chair across from the sofa.
Now that he faced her, he didn’t know where to start.
“Is this going to be another chat where you feed me a line of bullshit until you think I’m placated, then I fall into your arms and we have sex?”
He smiled at that. “Well, that’d be nice, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
“You’re right. It’s not. You’re wasting your time here, Dalton. I’m through with trusting you.”
He let out a long breath, knowing that the only way to get through to her was just to get to the truth.
“I brought you here for several reasons. One, because it’s safe here. I know this place. I can defend it. No one can get to you. Second, it’s a magical place where we can all work together to help you. You, Georgie, and me. In order for Georgie to help you, I have to take part.”
She lifted her head. “In what way?”
“It’s kind of complicated, and I’ll get to that in a bit. What I’m trying to tell you is that my involvement requires full trust.”
“I don’t understand. I mean I get that you don’t trust me. I really do. Like I said outside, I wouldn’t, either. But what part could you possibly have in eliminating, or lessening, this demon side of me?”
“Georgie will merge the two of us together.”
“What?”
“The darkness in you with the light in me. Our goal is to have my light battle with your darkness, and hopefully my light will vanquish the hold the demons have on you so that the human part of you becomes stronger, the demon side of you weaker. Or at least something you can manage.”
Isabelle untangled her legs and sat straight. “Um, okay, but what the hell are you talking about? Dalton, I believe that you’re a good man. Honestly, I do. But you’re just that-a man. Or at least I used to think that. Now, I’m not so sure. So maybe you need to clarify what you could do to help someone like me who has demon blood?”
Revelation time. He didn’t know why he’d waited so long to tell her. The truth was going to have to come out eventually. And he did trust Isabelle. The human side of her would never betray him. Not consciously, anyway. He had to believe that part of her was stronger. It had been so far.
“Isabelle, I’m not human.”
She frowned. “You’re not?”
“No, I’m not. I look like a human, I’ve lived like a human for hundreds of years. But I’m not human.”
“Then what are you?”
“I’m an angel.”
Isabelle was dumbstruck. Her mouth hung open, yet no words came out.
She laughed. “No, you’re not.”
He didn’t laugh back. “Yes, I am.”
Was he serious? Did he expect her to believe it? “Dalton. An angel? Really? Come on. Angels don’t exist.”
“Demons do. Why is it so easy to believe in their existence, but not in the existence of angels?”
“Because I
“And I’m an angel.”
She stared at him, waiting for him to … to what? Transform or something? That wasn’t going to happen. She had to accept what he said. Why would he lie about something like this?
Angel? Dalton was an angel? What did that even mean?
She swallowed. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“It’s not like I’d bullshit about something like that,” he said, his lips quirking in a wry smile.
“I can’t imagine you would. But, an angel?” Then it hit her. “The light. The white light around you. The way you healed.”
“Yes.”
She frowned. “This is what you refused to tell me?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, my God.” It was true. Chills broke out on her skin. She stood and moved away from him, suddenly feeling as if she shouldn’t even be in the same room with him.
He frowned. “Isabelle.”
“Do you know what this means?”
He shook his head. “No. What does it mean?”
“We’re diametrical opposites. I’m a demon. You’re an angel.” She wrapped her arms around herself. Talk about a major screwup. Could she pick ’em or what?
“Yes. That’s true.”
Her gaze shot to his. “How can you be so blase about this? You and me … for God’s sake, Dalton. I made love to an angel. Is that even allowed?”
He laughed. “Typically, no. But … this is kind of complicated.”
Complicated? Understatement. “I’m listening.”
“Okay. I’m a fallen angel.”
Eyes wide, she said, “I’m having this rush of memories. Statues I’ve seen and folklore I’ve heard about fallen angels.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Then I think you have a lot to tell me.”
“I guess I do.”
Dalton could almost have been amused by the enraptured look on Isabelle’s face, if the subject matter wasn’t so serious. He just wasn’t sure where to begin. And maybe this is what had caused his hesitation in coming clean with her before. It wasn’t like he was proud of what he’d done.
“Dalton, trust me, please. I know it may seem like I can’t control the part of me that’s demon. But I’d rather hurt myself than hurt you. Especially knowing what you are now.”
He smiled at her. “I know that. The human part of you fights every minute of every day. That’s what I admire most about you. Your spirit and your generous nature are admirable qualities, Isabelle. You don’t really want to hurt anyone.”
“I don’t know if I believe that. Well, I do believe I don’t want to hurt anyone. But it seems that’s all I end up doing. I need to make it stop. I’m trying to fix it.”
“You’re not as bad as you think you are.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Maybe not. But I could be. And that’s what we have to fix.”
It was at that moment-listening to her, watching her as she came to grips with that revelation about
