She pulled on her sandals, grabbed a pink cardigan—the same shade as her toenail polish—and headed to the lobby.
Downstairs, Luc stared out the glass doors, seeing neither the traffic nor the passersby. He’d spent seven of the last ten minutes ruminating on how delectable Nadia had appeared when she’d opened the door. At the sight of her brightly painted toenails, an immediate shot of desire coursed through him, well beyond the norm.
Yes, he’d experienced urges in the past, but he’d never given into them, not even with creatures who enjoyed pain during a sexual act. He’d tried once with a demon, and her screams had made him shudder. He’d never made the same mistake again, regardless of her assurances that she had enjoyed it.
Despite reading Nadia’s thoughts about past lovers—all of whom he suddenly wished to eviscerate—Luc detected an air of innocence about her. Perhaps the uniqueness of her positive outlook or the brilliant smile she bestowed upon him whenever the smallest thing pleased her? Her pureness of heart shone through the constant darkness, and her sunny disposition drew him in.
The longer he’d spent with her last night, the more confident he’d become about what she was. Armed with the knowledge, he’d finessed his plan to sway her to his side.
A flash of silver light across the street caught his notice.
Gabriel.
With a glance at his Rolex, Luc stepped out of the spinning door, surveying the area against a surprise attack. When none was forthcoming, he crossed the road.
“Brother,” Gabriel said.
“Gabriel,” Luc replied coolly, ignoring the warm overture from his ex brother-in-arms. Though not related by blood, they’d once been as close-knit as siblings, warriors prepared to do whatever the Creator required.
Or they were until Lucifer had defected, unwilling to follow orders without just cause.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Am I not allowed to check in with you on occasion?”
“Not without suspicion. I’ll ask again, what are you doing here?” The steel in his tone caused Gabriel to narrow his eyes.
“You’ve moved into Angel House. Just last night, as a matter of fact, and it’s a big deal.”
Angel House referred to the building where Lucifer intended to secure a flat for Nadia. Considered one of five neutral grounds for angels and demons alike, the name was bloody ridiculous. Considering most of his brood preferred high-rise condo complexes along Florida’s Gulf Coast, it was understandable the opposing side would claim it for their own.
But he’d returned to take it back.
“Your spy network is alive and well, I see,” Luc replied dryly.
“Why have you surfaced in so obvious a fashion?”
“Does Daddy wish to know?” he mocked.
Gabriel ran a hand through his wavy, white-blond hair and sighed. “No, brother. I do. I’m worried for you.”
“For me?” Luc scoffed. Because leaving his back exposed left him uncomfortable, he shifted to rest against the building’s brick exterior. “Why?”
“Michael and Rafe are planning something big. They’ve been secretive and absent from the Kingdom for weeks.”
“I see.”
And he did.
The Creator’s favorites were on a secret mission involving a triscelene—a threefold-born hybrid who was equal parts angel, human, and daemon, a living convergence of mortal and divine bloodlines. If he had to guess, the triscelene was more powerful than all of these species combined and able to enter the portal to any of their worlds.
Nadia.
As far as he knew, the first of her kind.
“Your mate, Gabe, she had daemon blood?” Luc already knew the answer. He’d caught glimpses of it in Nadia’s scent last night.
Gabriel scowled, and his violet-blue eyes turned arctic. “You’re mistaken. I had no mate.”
