Dark Wings (Never Dark Book 1) (3 page)

“Let’s go to my office
,” Cole suggested. He stepped past me, but stopped and turned to Janet. “Janet, darling, I’ll be back to chat with you later.” He winked, she giggled, and I vomited in my mouth a little.

***

Cole slammed the report down onto his big, dark wood table and dropped into his seat. He put his swollen hands on his head and exhaled in frustration. I stood by the door, my hands held firmly behind my back and I watched as he made annoying clicking noises with his mouth. “Did Death leave Earth?”

“I
issued him his warning. Whether he left or not, I don’t know.”

“You didn’t kill him?” The harsh
tone in his voice confused me and my brows furrowed.

“No, sir. That wasn’t the mission.”

“Your mission is to protect Earth, is it not?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then why isn’t he dead?”

I narrowed my eyes. “
Because that wasn’t the mission and you know the repercussions of an unauthorized kill.”

He threw the report in the air and
leaped from his chair. The pages went everywhere. I watched as a sheet of paper glided down gently and landed at my feet. I gritted my teeth, stopping the string of profanities from exploding out of my mouth.

“You angels and your
fucking
righteousness!” Cole yelled, his face turning bright red.
Bring on the hand gestures.
“Death is out there walking the streets, doing God knows what to humans, and
you
didn’t kill him when you had the chance?”

“I told you already,” I growled through clenched teeth. “That wasn’t the mission.”

In exasperation, Cole threw his hands up in the air. “Screw the mission! I want him dead and I want his head delivered directly to me!”

I leaped at him,
my knees sliding across his table, knocking his nametag, papers, and the picture of his two children onto the floor. I collided with him, knocking him back into his seat. I landed on him, my knees digging deep into his stomach. He gasped for air and I grabbed his tie, pulling his face closer to mine.

“
I will not kill anyone unless it’s absolutely necessary—demons, humans, or otherwise, and I certainly don’t give two fucks about what
you
want. Do you understand?”

Cole whimpered and nodded quickly. I took my knees out of his stomach and
stood beside him. I straightened my top as he hunched forward, inhaling air greedily. He may be my boss when I’m on Earth, but he has no right to talk to me like that. I’m superior to him.

“If he doesn’t leave, I’ll kill him. If he does leave
, then there’s no harm done. I did my part, what happens next is up to Death,” I added.

I stormed from his office, pushing past the curious people that loitered
by the door and down the hallway. Cole shouted after me. “He better leave! It’ll be your head if he doesn’t.”

In amongst the whispers and gasps of my colleagues, I heard Lucas’s name a
few times. Much to my dismay, everyone eventually found out about us. They didn’t find out at the beginning of our relationship or during. They found out we were involved at the end, when he was being taken from me and I was screaming after him.

I opened my eyes and rubbed my hand around the bed, searching for Lucas’s warm skin. He was sitting up, watching and waiting for something I couldn’t hear or see.

“Did you have
the nightmare again?” I whispered, sitting up and planting soft kisses along his shoulder.

“No. I heard something.”

I paused and listened. I didn’t hear anything. “Relax, I can’t hear anything.”

I waited for a few more seconds before
I grasped his shoulders and pulled him back down. I tucked myself into him and rested my head on his shapely chest. Lucas ran his fingers through my long red hair and kissed the top of my head.

My memory
of the night I snuck into Lucas’s hotel room had taken me all the way to my car. I climbed in and pressed the back of my head against the head rest. Lucas had a recurring nightmare about three demons that would drag him to the Underworld. No demon could get into the Never Dark—the only place they could breach was Earth, and whenever Lucas was on Earth, he was on edge. Over time, the nightmares became worse—more vivid. That night Lucas was more on edge than usual. It was my first assignment and he was worried I’d get hurt. My mission was to kill a tracker demon—a small, dog-like demon, which was easy enough. It was at the bottom of the food chain, really. We were staying in a hotel filled with newbie angels that were waiting for tomorrow night to do their assignments—like me.

Then I heard the noise. Both of us vaulted out of bed.
Lucas grabbed his gun off the bedside table and pointed it toward the bedroom door. Luckily for us, we were clothed—to an extent. I wore a pink spaghetti strap top and matching underwear. Lucas had on his usual black cotton bed pants that hung loosely off his hips, exposing that delicious V shape. Lucas put his index finger to his lips, gesturing for me to be quiet. I rolled my eyes at him—of course I was going to be quiet. I wasn’t a complete amateur. From underneath the bed, I pulled out a fairly nice blade. It was a gift from Lucas for making it to Earth for my first assignment. At the base of the blade—above the handle, the letter ‘V’ was engraved beautifully into the metal, surrounded by vines and tiny, yet extremely detailed, flowers. ‘A beautiful blade for a beautiful angel’ is what he said when he presented it to me.

Lucas stepped toward the bedroom door and I followed cl
osely behind him. The sound of glass being smashed echoed through the large hotel room. Whatever it was, it was in the kitchen. The lights flicked on before we saw the man sitting on the red love seat.

“Sorry
, brother, did we wake you?”

My mind
took a moment to process what he'd said. Then I remembered. Lucas once told me that he had three brothers, but they’d died mysteriously. Was this one of them?

“You have five seconds to leave my hotel room, Shade, or I’ll kill you.”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out Shade was a demon. A human wouldn’t notice, but I did because I was trained to know the difference. Shade chuckled and his long blond hair bounced along his shoulders. “I no longer go by that name. War is my name now.”

I crouched slightly and narrowed my eyes
. I was waiting for Lucas to give me the green light to kill him. Adrenaline coursed through me and I forgot I was in my underwear—until his cold, icy blue eyes focused on me.

He rubbed his bottom
lip with his index finger and groaned as he looked over my body. “She seems loyal,” he purred seductively.

Lucas clicked his fingers and
War turned his attention back to him. “Don’t worry about her. You’re here for me. Why?” I had to give it to Lucas. His brothers died and yet here they were, alive and demonic, and Lucas barely batted an eyelid. That was him, I suppose. Strong. Always strong.

War
whistled and instantly I felt warm breath tickle the back of my neck. I dropped down, and with a backwards leg sweep, whoever was behind me and breathing on my neck collapsed to the ground with a grunt. I didn’t waste any time and dove onto the stranger. The male stranger gasped in pain as my blade bit slightly into his neck. I didn’t take my eyes off him and his thick lips curled into a wry smile.

“Aren’t you strong?”
he groaned. I pressed my knife harder and he winced. “Go on, darling, I like it rough.”

Anger flared in my chest and I ripped my knife across his throat. Blood squirted onto my top and I watched as his life drained out of him. The man definitely wasn’t a tracker demon
, so surely I’d get extra brownie points for that. I climbed off him and turned my focus back to War, who watched me. Amusement and lust flashed in the dark depths of his eyes. I returned it with a scowl. Another demon stepped out from the kitchen and I lunged forward. Lucas wrapped his arm around my waist, catching me mid-leap and preventing me from taking another step further.

“Not yet
,” he whispered.

I frowned
, confused. There were only two demons left... Lucas and I could take them easily.

“What a sexy little pet
,” the new demon said. “I want one.”

I glowered at him as his big brown eyes surveyed me. The new demon’s brown hair curled around his cheeks. Lucas lo
oked nothing like his brothers. War had long blond hair and he was built like a minivan, with his broad shoulders and muscles on top of muscles. Granted, some women like that sort of thing, but not me. I prefer a body that someone worked hard on, not something they got out of a bottle and injected into themselves. The demon I killed was bald, he was tall and lean, and he had a small scar that cut through the center of his lips. Last but not least, the demon that stepped out of the kitchen had chin-length brown hair with brown eyes. He was tall, muscular, and a bow was strapped to his back.

“Why are you here?”
I demanded. “Tell me and no more of you have to die.” I gripped my knife harder, until my knuckles began to ache. War’s attention was solely on Lucas.

“Have the dreams not been enough, brother? It’s time to come with us.”

“Lucas has already died,” I added gruffly. “He became an angel, not a demon.”

“Yes, someone thought maki
ng him an angel would stop the Underworld from claiming him... apparently not.”

“Go back to hell
,” I growled.

War
narrowed his eyes and the surrounding walls lit up in flames, burning brightly, but at the same time, burning nothing. I wanted to run and scream, but I didn’t. I kept my feet rooted to the floor. I wasn’t about to let these demons intimidate me. The smoke alarm started blaring. Suddenly, I was grabbed from behind and a sharp object was pressed against my back. It was the demon I’d killed moments ago, but how? Lucas turned his gun on the demon that was holding me.

“Drop the knife
,” the demon snarled.

I didn’t drop my knife.

“Let her go, Mikael.” Lucas remained calm.

Mikael grunted. “Isn’t it obvious? We can’t be killed.”

“And if I tear your heart from your chest?” Lucas countered.

I felt Mikael’s muscles
tighten. “I’d like to see you try.”

Lucas gritted his teeth
. I could see him calculating ways to get us out of here safely.

“
I believe Famine asked you to drop your knife.”

My forehead creased
. Who’s Famine? Then I got it. War. Famine. No doubt the one with the bow was Conquest. We were dealing with the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but where was Death?

I
kept my eyes on War as I peeled my fingers from the hilt of my knife. I timed that it would take just under one second for it to hit the ground, and as it fell, I kicked it with my bare foot, gritting my teeth against the pain. I sent the blade directly toward War’s heart, but it never made contact. He caught it with his bare hands right before it pierced his skin. Blood trickled from the palms of his hand and down his wrist. Lucas took his chance and shot at Famine, but Famine took the bullet in the shoulder without flinching. Lucas’s face darkened, that wasn’t something he anticipated. Conquest pulled out his bow and aimed toward the back of Lucas’s head. War threw my blade and it sliced easily through Conquest’s arm, almost making an exit out the other side. Conquest growled in pain, took the blade from his arm, and threw it at the floor in front of me. Its point dug into the varnished timber and stuck.

“Don’t
,” War growled and the flames roared with him. “I’m done playing around. You will come with us, Lucas. You will take your rightful place as Death.”

I glanced at Lucas. He was meant to be Death? No. He was too pure. Sure,
he had a dangerous side, but didn’t all men?

“I’d rather die
,” Lucas snarled.

War chuckled. “Well, you see
, brother, your death isn’t an option, but hers—“He pointed a long, thick, calloused finger at me. “Her death can be arranged.”

Famine kicked me to my feet and pressed his blade against my throat.
The cool metal bit into my skin slightly, threatening my jugular. I didn’t dare swallow or take deep breaths, knowing that if I did, it’d be my last.

Lucas’s
gaze flicked over me and his apprehension came through loud and clear. “I’ll go with you, but on one condition.”

“Name it.”

“You let the girl go.”

Famine exhaled dramatically
as his warm free hand trailed down and cupped my left breast. “I was really hoping I could keep her.”

A low growl rumbled through Lucas’s chest
as Famine continued to molest me. My stomach churned and I recalled the night of my human death. All those unwanted hands touching me. Rubbing me. Hitting me.

“Enough!” War boomed. “
We’ll let the girl go.”