The moment I saw Jessica, ancient memories stirred and warmed my entire being, melting the ice that had been encasing my heart for eons.
Could she be the one?
Could my long, exhausting, soul-crushing search be at its end? I’d been searching forsolong. My instincts had led me to Seattle, and my beast was sure it was her. But he’d been wrong before.
She’d be the key to getting my wings back.
The celestial, Gabriel, could be trouble.
If only I could read other angel’s minds. I’d kill to know what he was thinking if it would help.
At least I knew he didn’t have time now to deal with protecting Jessica, not when it was his celestial duty to protect Melanie. And if Jessica was my true mate, he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep her from me. It would take all of Paradise’s strongest warriors to keep me from her. And that’s what I was afraid of.
With a huff, he charged out of the club, knocking shoulders with Abaddon, my second in command. They snarled at each other for several seconds, staring the other down. Then Gabriel stormed out, and Abaddon strode toward me, his signature scowl on his pierced face.
“What was that all about?” he grunted.
“Oh, he’s upset that I might have found my mate and that it just so happens to be his ward’s best friend.”
Something flickered behind Abaddon’s ocean blue eyes, something I couldn’t put my finger on. Since he was a powerful archdemon, couldn’t read his mind. His skull was too thick and his will too strong. His expressions were even harder to crack, seeing as he always scowled.
“You found her?”
“Maybe. She smells of her, but my memories are so old I could be mistaken. It’s her mind that was the real tip-off. Even though she’s completely human now, I think the spirit of her beast is somewhere in there, talking to her.”
“It’s the nurse that came through here, isn’t it?”
I gapped at the demon. “How did you know?”
He shrugged. “Just like Lilith, she didn’t care for me much.”
I chuckled. “Does any woman care for you?”
“Well, let’s say this one seemed to have a special sort of hatred for me already. Besides, she also had Lilith’s attitude, that’s for sure. But you were the one in love with her. By the time the celestials got their hands on her, you knew her better than me.”
My heart grew heavy with those old memories. Old memories that still stung.
“Well, she does have the stench of damnation clinging to her, that’s for certain. We’ll need to act quickly. If it is indeed her, we’ll need to get her off the surface as soon as possible. That guardian saw us together. Paradise will find her and try to take her from me again.”
“Gabriel?” Abaddon snorted. “Surely you smelled the stench of him on his ward. He’s fucking her. He’ll be one of us soon as they find out.”
I shook my head. “Not unless they offer him an ‘olive branch.’ Keep his wings if he either kills me or steals Jessica away. Whatever happens, I’m not going to wait to find out. Go after her before her scent is washed away by the rain. Don’t let her out of your sight.”
The demon gave a grunt. “Yes, My King.”
“Oh, and Abaddon?” I shot him a deadly glower in warning and chased it with a shot of whiskey. “Do I need to worry about you trying anything with her?”
He let out a dark laugh as soft as sandpaper. “I already had her, and she ripped out my bowels for the trouble. Don’t you remember?”
“Remember?” My glare slowly slid into a rueful grin. “I pleasure myself every night thinking about you kneeling before my woman with your intestines wrapped around her claws, forever to serve as a reminder to all males that it’s she who does the choosing.”
Abaddon’s gaze turned dark and desolate as he met me glare for glare. I knew he hated me. Not the kind of hatred buried deep down, though. No, he wore his spite for me as plainly as any of his tattoos. He’d hated me ever since I took his crown and his mate. But I’d earned his respect when I’d shaped the Underworld into a respectable society. When he’d been in rule, his vision of a perfect Hell was like the set of an M. Night Shyamalan movie. Lots of big ideas but nothing landed, and the end product just made everyone nauseated and a little disturbed.
Abaddon’s lips peeled back over his serrated teeth. Even in his human form, they were razor sharp. “You’re twisted, you know that?”
I chuckled and knocked back another shot of whiskey, warmth sweeping through me as my mind lingered on Jessica and the way her skin reddened beneath my gaze, how she’d been so close I could practically taste her hammering pulse on my tongue.
“If I know anything, it’s that. Now go keep an eye on the nurse until I can see her again. If anything happens to her on your watch, I’ll kill you.”
