“Is there another way?” I asked him.
Slowly, he closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. “I could carry you away from here and hide you in a tomb where Lucifer could never find you.”
“I’m not going to spend the right of my life in a tomb, Az.”
“I had a feeling you were going to say that,” he muttered.
I stepped up to him and slowly wrapped my hands around his. His eyes flipped open, and the flame-edged blue pierced the very depths of my soul. Breath hitching, I kept my gaze firm and unyielding. But I couldn’t help but soften at the torment in his eyes. It was hard to stay angry at him when he looked at me like this.
Like he would tear the clouds from the sky if it meant he could keep me safe.
“I need to do this, Az. It’s the only way.”
“Fine,” he said, grinding his teeth. “But if a fae even looks at youslightlywrong, I’ll rip off all their heads.”
* * *
“We need to be quick.” Az pressed his lips against my ear, tickling my skin. My hair whirled around me in a tornado of red as the city rushed by beneath us. I tried to calm my racing heart, but it was next to impossible. We were flying. Far above Manhattan. My feet dangled beneath me like lead weights. If Az let go of me, I would tumble to a very terrible death. Roadkill on pavement.
I clutched his neck and buried my face in his chest. Maybe if I didn’t see the ground far below us, I could forget exactly where we were and what we were doing. “Fine.”
“Your scent is growing stronger,” he murmured. “It won’t be long before Lucifer catches it again.”
“Please don’t toss me into another dumpster,” I muttered.
Although…that might be a better option than what we were doing now. At least then I would have contact with the ground.
Az rushed us through the skies, aiming his sights on the Lower East Side. At least we didn’t have to go far. He landed in a back alley, away from the glow of the nighttime city lights. A red-brick building sat just behind us, rising four stories high. Dilapidated fire escape platforms creaked in the light summer breeze.
“Now what?” I whispered as he slowly unwound his arms from my waist. I wet my lips as I stared at his hands, wishing I could draw them back to me.
No.I mentally kicked myself. I couldn’t get carried away. He’d made it more than clear that what we’d had was nothing more than a one-night stand fuelled by a little acting that we’d both gottenwaytoo carried away with. That and gin. Lots of gin.
Besides, I didn’t want to go there again. It had been fun, but he was a demon who was very unavailable. I refused to let the tension between us get into my head.
And somewhere else, a little further south on my body.
I cleared my throat, stepping back.
“Now we wait.” He turned toward the dilapidated building and stared expectantly at the wall.
“The fae live there?” I arched a brow. “Not sure why, but I expected something more like Central Park.”
He grunted. “That would be too obvious. The fae are devious, Mia. Never forget that.”
“Like demons aren’t?” I said with a smile. “I’ve met Phenex remember. Not to mention Caim.”
A low growl rumbled from his throat, and I bit back a satisfied smile. There it was. The uncontrollable jealousy he felt toward me and Caim. Not that he had any reason to be jealous. I liked Caim. He’d been nothing but welcoming and kind, but there was no spark there. Not like I felt with Az.
And yet he couldn’tstandthe idea that I got along with anyone else.
Still. Even now.
Maybe I wasn’t the only one who had felt something after all.
My thoughts were interrupted when the grungy wall shimmered before us. The red bricks warped and wobbled as if I was looking at a pool of water instead of a building. Flowers sprouted and vines shot up toward the sky. I blinked, and it was all gone. The building had been replaced by a grove of trees, hidden just behind a wrought-iron gate covered in roses.
I sucked in a breath, awed and overwhelmed by the clear magic of this place. I’d learned a lot about the supernatural world in the past couple months, but I’d seen nothing like this.
