Page 41 of Angel I Am Not

I crossed the apartment before Nick could stop me and shoved Luc’s door open. A lamp had been ripped apart near the wall. One side of the dresser was split open, drawers hanging crooked from the frame, and pieces of wood and glass covered the floor. His desk chair had somehow ended up on its side near the bed. I had expected chaos after listening to it from the living room, but seeing it made the difference between Luc and Nick even more obvious.

Every broken piece of furniture seemed chosen, as if he couldn’t stand looking at anything that reminded him he had missed something, failed to see something, let Dante maneuver all three of us while Luc stood there believing he understood the game.

He turned at the sound of the door opening. His eyes were nearly black, his jaw clenched so tightly I could see the muscle jumping along the side of his face. His nails had sharpened into claws, and for the first time since I met him, there was nothing polished about him.

“Ari, get out.”

I stepped inside instead.

“Ari.”

Something tore loose from the wall in Luc’s hand. I barely had enough time to register the movement before he hurled it toward the door, obviously aiming somewhere beside me.

I ducked, but not fast enough. A cord snapped across my cheek, and sharp pain bloomed beneath my eye before something wet slid down my skin. Everything stopped so completely that for a second neither of us seemed to breathe.

The sting itself was strange enough. Pain had always felt distant in Heaven, something I understood more as a concept than an experience, but this was immediate and hot enough to make my eyes water. I touched my cheek and stared at my fingers when I pulled them away.

The blood wasn’t red or black. Brown-black liquid gleamed against my fingertips, almost translucent where it thinned along the ridges of my skin, and my stomach dropped. Whatever Heaven had buried in me wasn’t staying buried anymore. First my wings, and now my blood.

“Fuck.”

Luc crossed the room so quickly I barely saw him move. Both hands cupped my face as he leaned down, every trace of rage gone beneath naked horror. “I’m so fucking sorry. Ari, shit, look at me.”

“I am looking at you.”

“I didn’t mean to—”

“I know.” His eyes dropped to the blood on my fingers, guilt tightening his expression all over again. His claws had already started retreating, but the rest of him was still wound painfully tight, like he was bracing for me to shove him away.

I pushed my fingers into his hair, lightly scratching my nails along his scalp the way he had done to me more than once over the last few days. The darkness in his eyes began to ease. His shoulders lowered by degrees beneath my other hand, and when I traced my thumb over the tense line of his jaw, he finally exhaled.

“Hey,” I murmured.

His forehead dropped against mine for a second before he pulled me into his chest. There wasn’t anything sexual about it. No rush of heat or need to turn being close into something else. He just held me so tightly I could feel his heartbeat hammering against my cheek.

Nick appeared in the doorway behind us and let out a low whistle as he surveyed the room. “Really did a number on the place. Thought I was supposed to be the rough one.”

Luc’s body tightened immediately and I clung harder before he could pull away. “Don’t,” I warned.

Nick raised both hands. “Wasn’t starting anything.”

“You exist. Sometimes that’s enough.”

Luc made a sound against my hair that could have been a growl or a reluctant laugh. Either way, some of the tension finally left him. He rocked me slightly without seeming to realize he was doing it, then brushed his thumb beneath the cut with an expression so devastated that anyone watching would have thought he had ripped half my face off instead of leaving a tiny scratch.

“Why’d you lie to Dante?” he asked quietly. “He’s not stupid.”

I tried to lean back, but his arm stayed firm around my waist. “I’m aware of that now. I think we’re the test. Or I am. Maybe both.” Luc loosened his hold enough for me to look at him properly. “He barely asked about either of you. He wanted to know about my feathers, my reactions, what was changing. He didn’t care that I gave him absolutely nothing about your gifts.”

Luc’s expression hardened again, but this time the anger stayed contained. “He was watching you,” he said.

“That’s what I think.” I lifted my stained fingers between us. “And I don’t think whatever is happening to me is something we can stop.”

Nick finally stepped farther into the room. He caught sight of my fingers and frowned, the humor leaving his face. “What the fuck is that?”

“Apparently blood.”

I held my hand toward him. He took my wrist carefully and tilted my fingers toward the light. “Demons bleed darker than humans, but I’ve never seen that.”