Domiel (16 page)

As his strength ebbed from loss of blood, she shoved Samael to his back, straddling him. She grabbed his wrist and used her leverage to pull up until her biceps screamed with strain. The dagger hovered just above his ravaged chest, the steel the ultimate prize in their tug of war. A fresh surge of power vibrated beneath Samael’s skin, and Kelsey gasped, remembering the incubus was in control here, not Samael. The dagger sank into his chest again and again, coating them both with warm blood.

Samael’s red-tinged eyes dulled. Kelsey sobbed, thinking abruptly of Jade, of how Samael’s death would break her heart—completely shatter her.

When the door burst open, she looked up to see Azazel, Sven, and Roger. Azazel’s eyes went wide with surprise, and then a fury so strong swept over his features she knew she’d die by his hand.

Azazel closed the distance between them, knocking her off Samael and into the wall, right through paint and plaster. The plaster stuck to her damp skin. She struggled to stand. Sven and Roger helped Azazel with Samael, their attention now on saving their friend, not on killing her.

So much blood … she’d seen the gruesome aftermath of battle too many times, but she’d rarely seen the blood of a friend so close to her heart. Sven snatched his shirt over his head and tried to stop the bleeding as Roger held onto Samael’s lax arms. Had they witnessed Samael inflicting his own wounds and her own inability to stop him, or had they only seen her hands on the dagger that drew his blood?

Would it matter? Certainly he wouldn’t die.
But God … the blood…

Azazel had tears coursing down his cheeks.

She grabbed a fistful of clothes off the floor and ran from the room, bloody, naked, and utterly devastated. Her heart lodged in her throat as she ran, completely oblivious as to whether her friends were in pursuit. The grey pallor of Samael’s skin trailed after her, dangerous enough.

What seemed hours later she sat in an alleyway next to a group of homeless mortals, her mind and body completely numb. One of the homeless men watched her as he ate from a wrinkled bag, his penetrating glare doing nothing to snap her back to reality. Stray cats pounced in and out of the garbage can next to her, hissing as they landed on all fours and scampered away.

One image ran through her mind over and over—Azazel’s tears. His absolute rage. There could be only one explanation for Azazel’s immediate display of emotion. Jade had morphed into Azazel. Jade was the one who’d used her angelic powers to open the door of the hotel room. She was the one who’d witnessed Kelsey straddling her husband with her hands around the dagger that drew his blood.

And Jade had morphed into Azazel for her.

Kelsey had no doubt Jade would seek her out now. Jade would use her training and her angelic power to take her down without thought or remorse. All the evidence clearly, and more than likely to Jade unerringly, pointed to Kelsey.

The demon had not only hurt one of her dearest friends, but he’d increased Kelsey’s suffering ten-fold. He must be getting off on that. The Alliance had been handed the last nail for her coffin, and Jade would be the one to pound it in.

Find me, Kelsey.

She knew what she had to do to stop the demon, but doubt plagued her. Whenever backed into a situation where there seemed no way out, she’d relied on her powers to get her through—powers he could manipulate with little to no effort.

He
was
the dream realm.

Screw that bastard. How could she let him to this to her? He’d taken her only child from her, was attacking her closest friends now. How long was she going to turn over and show him her belly? She was a goddamned vampire assassin, taught by the elite of their species.

She glanced around at the mortals and dared them to fuck with her. Then she lowered her head and did the one thing she shouldn’t.

She delved into the dream realm and connected with Lexie, determined to end this once and for all.

* * * *

Alexia took the stairs three at a time all the way up to the seventh floor, too fidgety and amped up to take the elevator. Ever since she’d heard what had gone down with Samael after Kels connected with her, she’d been terrified at what she’d see when she walked into her room. Could the demon who’d attacked Samael have done the same to Azazel while she’d been gone? She’d left him completely vulnerable.

She fumbled with the card to open the door. She had to slide it four times before the green light came on.

Relief poured through her when she saw Azazel sitting where she’d left him. She bent over and placed her palms on her thighs and took deep breaths. As assassins, she and Azazel faced death on a daily basis. But who could fight against a phantom of death? This was the first time she’d felt mind-numbing fear in months. Years. Hell,
ever
.

When she’d gained some of her composure, she went to her husband, sat on his lap and hugged him. He couldn’t move, and that set her mind at ease. She was terrified to let go of the power that held him immobile, actually afraid of what he’d do. Since entering the room, she had yet to make eye contact. She’d never run from anything, and with more than a little trepidation, she realized now was not the time to start.

The strong beat of his heart comforted her, and though she knew he didn’t want her wrapped around him, it seemed the safest place at the moment. She may have broken a trust between them, but she loved him above anyone and anything else.

Knowing in her heart it was time, she counted to three and whispered the words that released him against the warm skin of his neck.

His reaction was immediate.

He roughly pushed her off him and got off the bed without giving her a backward glance. He started gathering his weapons where she’d laid them on the dresser, out of his reach. His energy spiked, causing the air around them to spark with electricity.

“Listen, some bad things went—”

“Enough.”

She tried to tell him about what happened again. “We’re dealing with something more powerful than we’d originally thought.”

“I said enough.” His back was to her, and his voice was calm and deep. He strapped his daggers in place, snapped the magazine back into his gun, and kept his attention on what he was doing.

He refused to look at her, much like she’d done to him when she’d entered the room. But his dismissal had nothing to do with guilt and everything to do with anger. The hostility in his energy was suffocating her. She’d never seen him this angry before, but she had to bring him up to speed on what they were now facing. To do otherwise would keep him ignorant of the threat.

She took a deep breath and tried again. “You can’t leave. The demon who’s—”

Only half a second passed and he had his fingers wrapped around her throat, squeezing just enough to make it painful. “I told you enough, and I meant it,” he growled through his teeth. His pupils were rimmed with red, a warning in itself. “You went too far this time, do you understand me? I don’t want to look at you, and I sure as hell don’t want to hear anything you have to say.”

He released her, his shoulders tense.

“Where are you going?” She whispered the words, hoping he’d respond, but fearing the answer she’d receive.

“Somewhere you are not.”

She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. She wasn’t sure how to proceed. There was no way in hell she could put him under her power again, but what the hell
could
she do? His anger was her despair.

He knew damn well what she was thinking. He could read her thoughts as easily as Ambrose could. “Give me five minutes to explain.”

He grew so cold an electrical current ripped through the air, straight into her body, as if he’d directed it at her. If she’d have been anything to him other than his wife, she’d be dead by now. Azazel, once one of Lucifer’s highest-ranking assassins, had never been someone to fuck with. She realized she’d never actually faced the full force of his wrath. She’d never seen him lose control.

He walked to the door, his boots silent on the carpet.

She had to do something. Say something to get his attention. “Samael was attacked. He’s still unresponsive.”

Her quick admission stopped him cold, his hand on the doorknob. He turned to her then, his eyes red with fury. “What did you do?”

She shook her head. Of course he’d think the attack was all her fault after all she’d done to him. “I didn’t do anything. The demon framing Kelsey is an incubus. He attacked Samael in the dream realm. I called Jade.”

His muscles tensed even more. “How long will it take him to recover?”

She lifted her shoulders slightly, wishing he’d understand why she’d done what she’d done. “We don’t know.”

“Where is Jade?”

“With him.”

“Where is Kelsey?”

She looked away at his question and masked her thoughts with her powers so he couldn’t read them. Kelsey’s life was still in danger, and though she wished it otherwise, Azazel was firmly on the side of the Alliance. Changing the subject seemed the wisest course of action. “The demon may be targeting those who know her. She said he’d attacked Samael with a vengeance. No one is safe, especially not in sleep.”

“And you believe her?”

She looked back at her husband, wishing she could reach out to him, but knowing better. “I do.”

“Is it blind faith?”

She sat on the edge of the bed, put her head in her hands, and tried to collect her thoughts. Normally, he would have come to her, wrapped his arms around her, and offered his strength. And perhaps she’d shown him her misery just to see if he would offer comfort.

He didn’t.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He did move then. He grabbed her by her upper arms, roughly hauling her to her feet. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You can’t keep doing things your way and not expect people to respond the way they do.” He let go of her, as if they idea of touching her disgusted him. “We will stay here for the remainder of the day. I’ll call Roger and ask him about Samael, but don’t think for one
goddamn minute
that we’re solid. We’re anything but.
Jesus
, I don’t even want to look at you.”

“What the fuck was I supposed to do? Kelsey is innocent, and I’ll be damned if I let the Alliance touch her!”

He spun around to face her again. “You’re ignorant! Did you actually think Samael or I could end her life? After I saved her from the spiritual demons? And, if you recall, it wasn’t even a month ago that Samael was forced to watch Jade nearly die. You and Jade went all out when you stood up to the Alliance, but did it ever cross your mind that perhaps Samael and I were also thinking of a way to help her?”

“You weren’t going to help her.” She wanted so badly to believe him, but all his actions pointed to taking Kelsey down. If she’d learned anything in her life, it was the old adage that actions speak louder than words.

“You didn’t give me the chance to prove anything to you.”

“You
told
me you thought she deserved to die.”

“Because being in the middle of the Alliance Headquarters was not the place to talk about it. You should have trusted me to do the right thing.”

“But Ambrose … he said he had concrete evidence on her.”

He spoke through clenched teeth. “You and Jade have pushed that man so close to the edge so many times, I’m surprised he hasn’t killed us all. It’s not the middle ages anymore. You can’t get away with the shit you used to pull. When will you understand that and adjust to the times?”

God, how she wanted him to stop. It was bad enough for people to call her crazy and careless, but coming from the man she loved, it was too much. He could read her mind, and though he promised not to do so, she couldn’t imagine that he’d keep to that promise now. Couldn’t he read her mind and see how sorry she was?

Tired, she could only respond in defeat. “Just … just leave it be.”

“No. I’m tired of this shit. It’s going to stop, or I’m going to leave.”

And there it was. She’d known she’d pushed him too far, and this was exactly what she was afraid of hearing. “An ultimatum? You’re giving me an ultimatum?”

“You crossed the line when you allowed Jade to feed from me without my consent.”

The twin red marks on his wrist, still fresh, brought back the sickness of that nauseating event. She crossed the room and grabbed the hotel key card. She couldn’t stomach this anymore. She’d done what she had to do, and if she hadn’t, who knew what would have happened? Kelsey could be dead by now.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

She whirled to face him, unshed tears in her eyes. “I’m done! I’m done fighting. None of this would have happened if you hadn’t lied to me at headquarters.”

“None of this would have happened if you hadn’t told her to run.”

She stilled. She’d thought the same thing, but she refused to admit it. “You’re saying all of this is my fault?”

“I’m saying you can shoulder some of the blame. You blew up part of the fucking castle, Lexie! Did it ever occur to you that you were crossing the line? What about when you sent airport security after Sven and Roger? When you used power to keep me immobile? When you had Jade morph into my likeness to spy on her own husband? When she
stole
my blood to make that mission successful?” He closed his eyes for several seconds, then finally met her gaze once more. “You are not leaving this room.”

She glanced at the door, her temper warring with her sadness.

“I wouldn’t advise it.”

Her temper surfaced for the briefest of seconds. “You said you don’t want to look at me, so why can’t I leave?”

“I don’t like you right now.”

She could tell he stopped himself from saying something else by the telltale muscle ticking in his jaw. Her heart ached at his words. She said nothing, only waited for him to say whatever was on his mind. It was one of the most difficult things she’d ever done. Her heart was telling her to beg for his forgiveness, but her mind was telling her now was not the time.

“I don’t like you, but I still love you. If there is a threat to your life, I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you safe.” When she moved toward him, he held out his hand and slowly shook his head. “I don’t want you near me. Not now.”