Page 21 of Angel I Am Not

The thought of hanging out with so many demons made me a little sick. There was no way I would return untainted. “You were never going to let me go, were you?” A tear escaped down my cheek and I hated how weak I felt.

Dante shook his head. “Sweet girl, you would have never left anyways.”

I tilted my head to the side, confused. He disappeared for a moment and then reappeared just as suddenly, fingering a large black feather. I recognized it as mine, my face going scarlet. Plucking a feather from an angel was sacrilege and he had just taken it so nonchalantly.

“Did you never wonder what these were?”

Luc reached across and grabbed it. “Angels don’t have black feathers.”

“That’s an astute observation, Lucifer. Their wingspans are usually white.” Dante beamed at him and then looked back at me. “And whatever you are, sweet girl, you are not simply an angel.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Dante took the feather back from Luc, rolling it between his fingers. “It means Heaven looked at you, saw wings and purity, and stopped asking questions. Your essence doesn’t behave like theirs. Your feathers are changing. You react to demons in ways an angel shouldn’t. None of that started today.”

“Then what am I?”

For once, his smile softened instead of widening. “An impossibility.”

I stared at him.

“A living idea that should never have taken physical form. Beyond that?” He shrugged. “That part you’re going to have to discover.”

There seemed to be threats rolled into his words and I hated that I knew he wasn’t lying.

“What makes you so sure that I won’t resist them?”

Dante stood up and made his way to the door. Perhaps he was choosing not to teleport out of pure etiquette. More likely it was for effect. “One week, sweet girl, and then you are free. If at that time you want nothing to do with my creations, walk away. But I wouldn’t count on going back to exactly what you were before. Whatever Heaven kept buried is already waking up.”

My stomach dropped.

Dante rested his hand on the doorknob before glancing back at me. “Give Nick the same handshake you gave Luc. Oh, and call him by his real name—Satan. Let me know how it works out.”

Then he walked out the front door, leaving us in silence. Satan? Like Wrath? One of the sins?

It took me a moment to concentrate and pull my wings back, my essence regressing until all that was left was my human form. Then I approached the couch and stuck my hand out, bent on proving Dante wrong, daring Nick to take it.

I wouldn’t succumb to any of the shit that Dante just said. I was an angel. I was created from light. Those dark feathers meant nothing. The darkness swirling around inside of me meant nothing. The fact that I felt comfortable here, with demons, meant nothing.

“Satan,” I spat. “Let’s get this shit over with.”

Too bad that when Nick stalked over and wrapped his hand around mine, something caught between us.

Heat ripped up my arm so fast my knees nearly buckled. Nick’s expression changed at the exact same moment, all that smug aggression disappearing beneath something darker and far more focused. His grip tightened before either of us seemed to realize he was pulling me closer.

I hit his chest with a gasp, my core aching with the most intense need I had ever felt in my entire life.

“What the fuck was that?” he breathed.

For once, I had absolutely no smart answer.

Ariuk

My brain flew out the window as soon as his touch seared my skin. Nick’s lips were on mine in an instant. I didn’t even know what this feeling was, just the knowledge that I needed more of it. Pleasure flooded my senses as I gave into the sensation, knowing that none of this shit was angelic in the slightest. The raw hunger for Wrath, one of the seven sins, not only didn’t make sense, I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I was lip-locked with a demon.

Sure, I had complained about how angels conducted business upstairs but this? This was worse than snagging a human from the club. This was downright sinful and still, I clung to him like he was my lifeforce, supping from his lips as he demanded my submission.

However, I still hated him, hated this entire situation Dante had put me in, that Uriel had forced me into. Right now, though, the only thing I could think of was Nick’s taste as he thrust his tongue into my mouth.