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“She was a blond vision of the sun.”
Skye backed up yet again and felt the cool stone at her back. She was well and truly trapped with a pissed-off and jilted angel from hell.
She tried to hold still and not show any fear, but when he reached for her hair once more she shuddered and turned from him. She could feel the warmth of his body and the electrical pulses that encircled his tall form.
“Once we are far from here I will wipe the memory of the jaguar from your mind.”
Skye turned to him then, feeding off the small spark of anger that still curled in her belly. “You can never take him from me.” She licked her dry lips as the realization of what Jagger meant rolled over her. He was everything. To give him up? That was the hardest thing she’d ever have to do.
Yet she would give her life for him, again, if she had to.
“I will do whatever you want.” Her eyes widened, full of unshed tears. “Only because you promised that no harm will come to him.” She eyed his lips, so close to her own. “But he completes me. There will never be another.”
Azaiel pushed away from her, his eyes intense as they studied her carefully. Something slithered across his mind; it showed briefly as a flash of red that lit his eyes from behind.
“What now?” Skye asked suddenly as exhaustion rolled over her tired limbs.
“Now you will give me that which is mine.”
Skye’s fingers were numb from holding the portal so tightly. Her mind was a wild jumble of thoughts that made no sense.
“Are you going to destroy it?” she asked softly. “I know you’re the only one who has the power to do that.”
Azaiel’s face darkened and the earth began to shake underneath her feet. “Why would I destroy the one thing that gives me control over the legions of doom?”
God, she felt like she’d fallen into middle earth.
Nausea rolled inside Skye and she hissed sharply. Azaiel’s eyes had lost the gold and were completely black. He was pissed, and done playing games.
Her time was nearly up.
“But you said you hated the demons and what they would do to the human realm if let loose here.”
He smiled then, a wicked look that did nothing to warm the coldness of his eyes. “You were stronger than I thought you’d be. I couldn’t take the chance you’d be able to resist my powers of persuasion.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I would have said anything to get you to open the portal. Toniella taught me well.”
Skye’s right hand held the portal clo
se, her grip tight as she felt the power, taken from the still hot stone disc, begin to move where it was coiled inside her. It was fresh, hungry, and unlike anything she’d experienced before.
Thanks for that, asshole, she thought. At least you’ve left me with a little something extra to fight back with.
“I don’t understand,” Skye continued, trying to buy more time.
“There’s no need for you to understand. The portal has many uses.” He laughed, the sound wicked and grating. “The least of which unlocks the hell realm. Its secrets are vast, incomprehensible.”
He loomed over her, his countenance dark, angry. “Make no mistake, little bird, the portal belongs to me, as do you.” He looked toward the exit. “We’re done here.”
Her left hand was hidden from his view, behind her back. Skye struggled to keep her face calm, devoid of any emotion, as she felt her bones begin to shift and elongate. The pain was immediate, and seconds later she felt the sharp talons unfurl.
The time had come. There was no turning back.
Outside the rain continued to fall, the fresh scent mixing with that of the jungle and invoking a deluge of memories. Jagger, her father, Finn … all of them mixed together into a collage of pain. Sadness, deep and searing, hit her hard in the chest, but she held on, pushing it away as her lips tightened in resolve.
A sound erupted from outside, a howl unlike any she’d heard before. Skye looked up in surprise as Azaiel turned to the exit, enraged. The air around him blurred in a strange mist of gold and black, energy shooting in all directions, sizzling and then burning away.
It was ugly and beautiful at the same time.
Skye saw her chance and took it.
