AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I had considered this, but if she was going to be my woman, I couldn’t have her not knowing the biggest truth about who and what I was. If this meant she ran, left the city as she had planned to all along, and didn’t come back, then I’d just have to deal with that.
I’d been alone before, and I could do it again. Even if it cut me up until there was nothing left of me.
She deserved to know.
“Show her, Zaqiel.”
He shrugged, and for a moment his indifference to my request struck me. Zaqiel didn’t do things without overthinking. Steady Zaqiel, stern and reliable. But he straightened his already squared posture, and with a twitch of his shoulders, he unfurled his wings. Dappled steel and gun-barrel grays, they spread across the office. There was aclunkas Cara dropped the glass she’d been holding, her hand remaining in front of her as though she was still clasping it, stiff and unmoving. I moved to her side, glad she was leaning on the desk as she swayed slightly and slid my arm around her waist to take her weight while she sunk down. Her eyes were wide and pupils pinpoints as her gaze swept over Zaqiel’s wings. He was watching her face with concern, the muscles in his arms twitching.
Seeing his wings stirred something in me, and the scars on my back tingled with the memory of that lost part of me. I felt naked and exposed at the reminder, and it sent a chill down my spine. When I looked back at Zaqiel, his eyes were on mine, blue on black, and I’m sure he knew exactly what I was thinking. I hadn’t been confronted with the loss of my wings so vividly since I last saw him, and I hadn’t realized how much it would hurt. They were more than wings, more than a physical limb or presence. They were as much a part of me as my mind, heart, and soul. Without them, I was less than angel, less than human, and the anger flickered in my stomach, reminding me to reclaim the darkness that lived within me. Without apology.
For Emily. For Cara.
My attention was drawn back to Cara when she started whimpering, her mouth opened and closed as though she wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. I gripped her chin and forced her to look at me. “My wings were taken when I killed those men for killing Emily. This is real, Cara.”
She shook her head slowly and tore her gaze from me, returning it to Zaqiel in time to see him fold his wings away until they disappeared from sight. “I’m sorry, Cara,” Zaqiel said, “I know this is confronting and can’t be easy to accept, but Emrick is telling the truth.”
“I can’t… I can’t deal with this right now,” she whispered. I tried to keep my arm around her waist, but she pushed away from the desk, placing a palm on my chest and stepping away from me. “I need…” she glanced at Zaqiel again, shaking her head, “… I need some time.”
Without another word, she shoved away from me. I could have held onto her, I’m stronger than she is, and I could have forced her to stay, tying her to the bed and keeping her as my own. The darkness flared inside me at the injustice. I thought of Ray and her bonded partner, a partner who accepted her even though she knew Ray was a demon. Yet this woman I loved, my second chance at life in this world, walked away from me when faced with the truth.
The door closed behind her, and Zaqiel stared at me while I tried to avoid his eye contact, clenching and releasing my fists at my side.
“I’m sorry, Emrick—”
“Don’t. Don’t be. It was the right thing.” I turned to him. “Thanks for coming back, and thank you for helping with Cara. I’ll see you later.”
“Emrick—”
“Goodbye, Zaqiel.”
He nodded stiffly before leaving without another word.
EMRICK
Three days.
She’d been gone three days, and all it made me wish was that she had left like all the others after the night we first fucked. Because this was worse. I had allowed myself to get attached to her. I had discovered who she was beyond the veil she pulled over her inner darkness, and I loved her for it.
We were two beings, embracing the dark side of ourselves without apology. Zaqiel and my other brothers and sisters may not approve, Zaqiel may even be the only other angel I’d ever see again, but none of that mattered. It was fucked up, but I had forged a life here, and along with the power, there was someone by my side I could share it with.
Ihadsomeone.
She was gone now, and with each passing hour, I suspected she may not be coming back.
So, I threw myself into work, possibly with more ruthlessness than was required. When the bar manager questioned both Maddie and Cara missing on the same night, joking they were out together trying to pick up, I struck him with my fist.
Then fired him as he lay on the floor.
He looked up at me with those pathetic eyes, blood dripping from his nose, and scampered out of the building without another question. Sven raised a brow at me before shrugging and moving off to begin the search for a replacement. The waitresses steered clear of me, not used to seeing me on the floor, and possibly rightfully guessing I was looking for someone or something to take my anger out on.
Slamming the door behind me as I stepped back onto the balcony, I threw my sunglasses to the side.
“So much drama.”
I had drawn and cocked my gun before my mind had registered the voice but kept the weapon pointed at my unexpected visitor to prove a point. “What are you doing here?”
Zaqiel lifted a shoulder. “We’re family.”
