Chapter Fifteen
Gabe
Itore out of that restroom like a bat out of Hell, practically ripping the door off its hinges as my celestial strength rippled up my arm, teeming with a divine and ancient power I hadn’t let loose inyears.It would have felt better to unleash my true form if it hadn’t been for my mate who’d looked at my body and everything that I was, just as I could see her and everything that she was. But while I saw her light, her goodness, her beauty, all she saw was a monster who’d been lying to her for all these years. Her fear had been palpable, and I could still taste her bitter tears, like ash on my tongue.
It was imperative that I find her. She wasn’t safe this time of night, in this part of town. Not now that those damn wolves were coming into town on the regular.
In my beast form, eyes were shifting in my direction. My attention went to two women leaning against the bar, succubi by the pheromones rolling from their mostly exposed skin. Their voices were hushed, but I could still make out their conversation, their gazes affixed to me, wild and curious.
“You think what they say about guardians’ cocks are true?”
“Why else would they call their true forms their beast?”
Movement behind the demonic strippers pulled my attention to the couple behind the bar. A guttural growl rattled up from my chest as I registered Lucifer’s face, who was leaning against the bar with his body pressed close to the woman standing next to him. By the impish expression he wore, his intentions were all too clear.
And I wouldn’t give two shits if the poor woman who’d caught his attention wasn’t Jessica.
Blood and feathers.I didn’t have time to break them apart. Even if I did, knowing Lucifer’s true purpose on the surface made for a troubling complication. He was on the hunt for his true mate. I knew that look in his eyes. I knew it intimately.
My jaw flexed, a vein throbbed in my brow.
Jess didn’t have her own guardian. It didn’t matter how much danger she was in. Paradise didn’t lift a finger for anyone who wasn’t carrying a piece of what was theirs. What utter crap.
All she had was me.
But if Lucifer thought Jess to be his mate, there was nothing to be done but pray for her.
The bastard must have picked up on my thoughts or some fragment of them because he looked up from Jess to lock eyes with mine. His eyebrow twitched, his lips spread into a grin that oozed a sinister arrogance so potent my beast bared its teeth, and my muscles wound tight, begging me to attack.
What are you going to do?his golden glare challenged.
Rage rippled through me, chased swiftly by the conflict that settled in my gut like sediment when the devil returned his attention to Jess, and his gaze immediately softened.
There was nothing to be done about this now. Mel was out in the dark, alone. It wasn’t like I thought she was helpless. She liked her independence, even resisting the bond we shared so she could stand on her own two feet. Hell, giving her things was always so hard. She liked making her own way even if I had the means to make her never want for anything. She was beautiful like that. She was a fighter. And the monsters that came out at night loved a struggle. For all I knew, maybe they’d already found her.
A fist of dread gripped my heart. I cast one look at Jess, who was too busy watching Lucifer with red cheeks and curious eyes to notice me.
Forgive me, Jessica.
Then I pushed outside with a resolve so palpable I could taste its bitter edge on my tongue.
Out on the streets, cold rain slapped against my skin, cruel and unrelenting. I tiled my face toward the dark, cloud-swathed sky and inhaled, relishing the feel of the elements on my wings.
As a celestial, I was capable of magic. But I’d never been good at it. My blessing was in my strength and my speed. I could still mask my true form from mortal eyes, but only for a few moments. And a few moments was all I needed to feel like myself again, stretching limbs that hadn’t been used in years. It filled me with an energy so raw and powerful, it sent a surge of electricity through me, awakening my senses. My vision was so sharp, I could see the stars behind the cloud cover, and the lights of downtown Seattle were so bright I could practically feel it lighting up my entire being. And all the smells. Oh God, the smells. They slammed into me all at once. The bite of filthy asphalt, the sour stench of wet garbage and human piss and Dick’s Burger’s fry oil. Then beneath the stink of human filth, salvation.
Mel.
The sugary aroma of my human caressed me like a forbidden lover. Then, beneath that, another’s scent. Fresher, like they had taken the same path she had.
Wet dog, and tobacco.
Some shifter fuck was following her. The scum bag who’d dared put his paws on her right in front of me. Apparently, the shiner I’d given him right after Mel went into the club hadn’t sent a strong enough message.
Anger unfurled inside me, hot and flickering like a new fire, growing bigger and more dangerous by the second. I was more than just a possessive man. I was a celestial beast, a holy guardian. A sacred warrior. I was supposed to protect the piece of Paradise with grace, valor, and piety. Instead, I had become a possessive animal, ready to protect my mate with violence and savagery. With a little dash of blasphemy thrown in for flavor.
I loved her so much, I didn’t even care that I was most assuredly, a damned man.
Abaddon was probably right. I would end up fallen. My wings would be cut from me, and with them, my immortality would be stripped away. Then when I died, my soul would go to Lucifer. I would be his to command for eternity. And it all would have been worth it.Shewas worth it.
Duty could go fuck itself. Fuck Paradise for assigning me to my true mate. It was unlikely they knew, but they were still sick bastards all the same.
I had to find her. Who knew what the Tacoma wolf pack would do to her. They were sadistic bastards who would get off on hurting her, just to ruffle my feathers.
I took off at a sprinting in the direction of my mate’s scent, launching into the mindset of the hunt, my beast more concentrated than he’d ever been.
I’m coming, Mel., I’m coming.
