He wasn’t mine.
I had to keep telling myself that. Because that irrational part of me was whispering something troubling to me, whispering things that couldn’t possibly be true.
Heisyours.
I shook my head, foisting that voice away into the deep recesses of my being where it belonged.
“So these guardians… Does every human have one?” I was almost afraid to ask. “Do I have one?”
“No. The arch celestials only assign a guardian to the mortals they feel they have ownership over. Talk about fucked, huh? And they call us the evil ones.”
My head spun with all this new information. Did this mean that Heaven felt they owned Melanie? “Why do they feel they have ownership over some but not others?”
The demon gave a shrug. “They believe that when Lucifer fell from Heaven, he broke a part of The Silver City, and it hailed down over Earth, showering mortals with pieces of pure Paradise. Most humans couldn’t resist these little fragments of pure light, so what did they do? They ate them. This made them an easy target for supernatural creatures of the darkness who wanted to consume their light. The few that survived went on to have children, and it’s said those humans still carry around a piece of Paradise. And being the self-centered, evil pricks that they are, the arch celestials view said humans as their property.”
As impossible as this all sounded, it made…sense. That was why Gabriel was so damn protective of Melanie and why he had been holding her at arm’s length all this time. He loved her. That much was obvious. But if he acted on that love, he could lose everything. And—oh God. He’d slept with her! Did that mean Gabriel was going to lose his wings?
“So Lucifer is a fallen angel… He said he can’t let out his beast. What does that mean?”
“Every shifter has a beast inside them, their true nature. It’s that way for Earth shifters with an animal form, and it’s that way for celestial shifters and demonic shifters. Paradise likes to teach their angels that they are better than the rest of us, that their beasts don’t have urges or needs. But we’re all animals.”
“So he’s stuck…looking human?”
Abaddon nodded.
“Are you fallen?”
“No,” he growled. “I already told you, don’t you listen? I’m a demon shifter native to Hell. I’ve still got my wings.”
My gut twisted as I looked at the demon in a whole new light. He was terrifying enough in his human form, slabs on slabs of muscles, tattooed flesh and piercings. What did his “true” form look like?”
“So…” I swallowed hard, almost afraid to ask. “Will you show me?”
His lips curled into a wolfish grin. “Maybe you should buy me dinner first before you go asking for things like that.”
My nervous flutters were replaced immediately by a sharp pang of annoyance. I don’t know why I was experiencing such weird chemistry with Abaddon. It wasn’t anything close to positive. It was more like a high school science experiment gone explosively wrong type of chemistry.
“I’m asking you to show me your demon form or whatever, not your fucking dick, pervert.”
“Wow, not so much as a, please. You need to learn some manners. I’d show you, but I would ruin my clothes. I’d have to strip for you first, so joke’s on you. You’d end up seeing my dick anyway.”
I rolled my eyes, directing my attention to the world blurred beyond my window.
Everything Abaddon had told me was surprisingly enlightening. Still confusing as fuck, but at least I was now able to put a few things in perspective.
It put the mystery of Melanie and Gabriel’s relationship to rest. Though Gabriel’s fate still hung in the balance.
And there was still the question, what did Lucifer want with me?
Chapter Nine
Jess
Canlis was a fancy place, and even dressed up like an expensive sex kitten, I still felt completely out of place. I’d expected all eyes to be on me when I entered the premises as if all the stuck-up rich people could somehow sniff out the stench of a frugal as fuck, middle-class party girl. So it was to my absolute relief when the door was opened for me by one of the staff in a tuxedo that I found the restaurant completely empty.
The space was absolutely beautiful, with the glass walls of the building displaying a jaw-dropping view of Seattle’s glittering skyline. All the tables had been cleared out of the main dining floor, all but one which stood in the center of the restaurant with a place setting for two, complete with candles, an elegant floral centerpiece, and dainty china hand-painted with gold accents. I strode across the restaurant, examining every detail, on high alert for anything that would suggest I’d just walked into the location of my murder. Plastic tarps to keep my blood off the carpet, virgins dressed in white, overly elaborate sacrificial dagger, a stone altar to the dark lord. Other than the elegant gold sigil of Lucifer painted on the china, nothing seemed to point to any dubious plotting or foul play. From what I could tell, it just looked like he’d booked Seattle’s fanciest restaurant for a nice date.
I stood at the window that overlooked Lake Union. A fraction of the moon peeked out behind its swath of clouds, making the surface of the lake glitter with silver.
