Redeeming Angel (22 page)

I snorted. I loved that he could make
me forget, even for a second, that moments ago I’d been the girl on
fire. “When do you think he’ll come?” I felt the time clock
ticking. I had to believe good triumphed over evil. It kept me
sane.

He came toward me, rubbing his hands
up and down my arms. “Soon. Too soon.”

I shivered, despite the intense heat
radiating from his body. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“
How are you feeling?” He
lifted my fingers in the air, examining them for marks or scars.
There were none. “Does it hurt you?”

I felt his unease. Anything that could
possibly cause me pain stirred Chase’s alpha tendencies. “I-I don’t
think so.”

He shot me a questioning
look.

“
My brain sort of shuts
off. I don’t feel anything at all except…” I lifted my head.
“Power.”

He dropped his gaze, placing a kiss on
the palm of each hand. “I’m glad.”

My heart cartwheeled at the intense
relief in his words. I pulled back and ran my fingers up his chest.
“What are you going to say to Lexi and Travis?” Worry gathered in
my stomach. This was not the time to cause strife between us, but
maybe that was precisely what Kira wanted.

“
What can I say? I should
have told them, but I was so consumed with keeping you safe, and
part of me hoped I’d never have to see her face again. Stupid, I
know.”

“
It’s not stupid. Nothing
you ever do is out of malice.”

“
She’s
different, Angel.”

“
Yeah, I’m starting to
understand that.” Lexi and Travis were the only Divisa known to be
born from a demon. If there were others, Chase had never met them.
That in itself said how different Kira was, but that didn’t mean
she was trustworthy.

I’d never met a demon that
was.

“
Does that make her more
dangerous? She’s never tried to hurt them before,” I voiced the
questions somersaulting in my head.

His eyes shifted to the house, where
Lexi and Colin were having a not-so-calm argument. Emotions were
running high. “Not that I know of, but demons don’t usually
discriminate. We’re all one and the same to them.”

“
I saw her mark. It’s so
strange seeing it on a demon.” I’d only ever seen Travis and Lexi’s
demon mark on them. Most of the other demons I’d encountered wore
Chase’s mark and were under Alastair’s rule.

“
Makes it real.” His voice
dropped.

I saw the gleam in his
eyes.
Trouble
. I
looped my hands around his waist. “Oh no you don’t. Leave them
be.”

He scowled, brows pinching
together.

“
I think Lexi can handle
herself,” I added, flattening my hands on his chest, not that I
would ever in a million years be able to physically stop Chase. If
he wanted to get in the house, my little muscles weren’t going to
hold him.

A low growl started at the back of his
throat, and his eyes lit up like a comet.

I rolled mine, and I was about to say
something smart, but suddenly I started seeing stars. A wave of
intense heat rippled through my body, making my vision go hazy like
the Mojave Desert. The darkness came, sweeping over me like a
storm, swift and violent. I swore I felt my atoms splitting in
half.

“
Angel? What’s wrong?” His
voice echoed inside me, muffled by the voices in my
head.

Kill.

Punish.

It’s your gift. Your
purpose.

“
Everything,” I whispered.
My head sliced in two, pain blistering from the center out, pulsing
and hammering. I winced, fighting to stay on my feet. The noise in
my head was almost too much to bear, and I wanted to drop to my
knees.

Chase’s steadiness and the strength of
his biceps kept me upright. My insides twisted with dread as I
clung to him. I ransacked my brain, trying to figure out what was
happening, why I was suddenly sick and feverish. The first thing
that popped into my head was this was the aftereffect from using a
power I didn’t fully understand. It was staggering, and if I had to
go through this each time, I was less inclined to learn to control
it. Something in my molecular makeup had adverse reactions to
demons and to my magic fire fingers.

Fighting a swell of
frustration, I felt the
other
Angel rise up, wanting to come out and play. Wreak
some havoc on the world.
She’d
had a taste of power, and a nibble wasn’t enough.
The last thing I wanted to do was fall apart.

Not in front of Chase.

I bit my tongue until I tasted
blood.

“
That’s it. I’ve been
patient long enough,” he rumbled. “You’re going to tell me what is
going on.” There was no room for negotiations.

And frankly, I was too exhausted to
argue. The wall blocking my secret came crumbling down, along with
my energy level. I was beat.

He swooped me off my feet, and I
squeezed my eyes shut, knowing what was going to come next. Already
I was feeling lightheaded, and Chase running only made me close to
losing my lunch. I buried my face in his shirt, securing my arms
around his neck. The tiniest movement sent a wave of
pinpricks.

As gently as possible, he laid me on
his bed, and I curled up, waiting for the room to stop spinning. It
was the woodsy scent of his sheets and the room in general that
calmed the whirlwind. I knew he wanted answers, but he wasn’t
cramming the questions down my throat.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he
pushed the hair out of my face, his fingers lingering over my
cheek, and cursed. “Are you still in pain?”

“
I’m okay,” I answered. “I
swear.”

His mouth went slack. “Is this the
first time it’s happened?”

I swallowed a dry lump and shook my
head.

“
I swear to God I’ll kill
them.”

“
Shh.” I scooted up on the
bed, leaning my shoulder against his. For no feasible reason I was
nervous. “I didn’t know how to tell you before…” I started chomping
on my nails. “You risked so much for me, never resting until you
brought me back. I couldn’t stand to disappoint you.”

“
What do you mean? Why
would you think I could ever be disappointed in you?”

He could be sweet without meaning to.
It made me love him that much more. I exhaled. “The darkness isn’t
gone.”

His facial expression didn’t
budge.

“
I expected you to be
surprised. Why aren’t you the teensiest bit surprised?”

He gave a one-shoulder shrug. “I had
my suspicions.”

“
And you didn’t say
anything?”

His brow shot up, mocking
me.

“
Okay, touché. I should
have told you instead of trying to hide it, but I wanted to find a
way to conquer the darkness before it conquered me.”

“
And did you?”

Now it was my turn to shrug. “Not
entirely, but Lexi’s been helping me.”

“
Lexi?” he
repeated.

My stomach flopped at seeing the swift
flicker of hurt in his eyes, gone as quickly as it had appeared.
“Yeah. I didn’t want to burden you. You’ve been so focused on
Alastair, and I know how important it is to you, to all of
us.”

“
Nothing is as important as
you.”

Gulp.

Dammit
. I felt guiltier than ever. I cast my eyes downward unable to
look at him. “I thought I could handle it. I needed to.”

His fingers tipped my chin.
“I understand you need to do this yourself, for
you
. But it doesn’t change the fact
that I want to protect you. I want to slaughter every demon who
comes within a hundred mile radius of you. As much as it pains me,
this is one battle I can’t fight for you.”

I forced my eyes to meet his, but I
couldn’t stop being nervous and had to look away. “The darkness,
it’s nothing more than a shadow, but what if I can’t control it?
What if everything you did and went through was all in
vain?”

“
Don’t think for one second
that I regret anything I’ve done. I would do it all over again in a
heartbeat. I only wish I could have prevented…” He pulled me closer
and I climbed into his lap, burying my face in the crook of his
neck. His hand stroked the soft material at my lower
back.

We stayed like that for a few minutes,
wrapped up in each other.

“
What about the
nightmares?” he whispered.

“
What about them?” I
whispered back.

“
You don’t sleep through
the night, not without having at least one.”

I frowned, fumbling with the material
on the front of his white T-shirt. “Are you spying on me,
too?”

“
You’d like that,” he
replied, humor in his tone. “But there’s no need. You wake up
screaming my name. And Angel, if you’re going to scream my name,
I’d prefer it wasn’t in fear.”

My cheeks reddened in half
embarrassment and half shame. I rolled off his lap, needing my own
air space. “It’s just a dream. Who doesn’t have them?”

“
I might not always be in
the room to comfort you, but I’m there. Our bond makes your fear
very real for me. Tell me what haunts your sleep.”

My gaze was drawn to the network of
cracks on the ceiling as I replayed the events of my reoccurring
nightmare. “You.”

Chase, leaned closer, his eyebrows
tightly knit with confusion.

“
I’ve had the same dream
night after night. I watch you die.” My voice hitched. “And it’s
because of me. It’s my fault.”

He swiped his thumb over my cheek,
brushing away tears I didn’t know were falling. “How is it your
fault?” he asked quietly.

“
I blast you with these.” I
held one of my hands in the air, wiggling my fingers. “I’ve seen
your blood soak my bedroom floor countless times. Sometimes I
wonder if I’m even dreaming.”

His expression was stoic. “It’s not
real. The darkness is taking advantage of your mind at its weakest
state.”

“
How am I supposed to stop
it?” I rushed out the words.

“
I know what works for me,”
he said in a melty voice that did little to calm my
pulse.

I cleared my throat, feeling the
temperature in the room go up twenty degrees. “Hmm?”

He kissed me like he had all the time
in the world, stealing my breath away, and I couldn’t remember why
I’d ever been nervous to tell him. I let my insecurities get in the
way, but one kiss from Chase gave me a boost of
assurance.

He would always love me, no matter
what.

I placed my hand on his scruffy cheek.
“Are you angry with me?”

“
Not after that
kiss.”

I searched his eyes and then gave him
a quick peck on the lips.

“
Just promise me no more
secrets. We’re going to face our future together, Angel Eyes.
You’ve given me more than I’d ever thought I’d have. No matter what
happens, I need you to know how much I love you. How much I adore
you.”

Did he expect me to think when he was
looking at me with bedroom eyes? I felt his breath on my face. “I
swear it.”

He kissed me again and I felt him
soften.

My eyes closed and I inhaled. I forced
myself to pull away so I could whisper, “You smell so good.” When I
opened them again, a rumble came from the back of his throat and
his eyes were burning in the darkening room. “Kiss me
again.”

His mouth found the curve where my
shoulder and neck met. I let myself melt into him, savoring the
warmth filling my veins. And the sweet torture began.

I felt his fingers dip into the back
of my pants, his warm hands cupping my butt. My heart banged in my
chest and skipped as my body reacted to his touch. There were so
many things we should be doing, preparing for, but this was the
only place I wanted to be.

My fingers buried in his hair. A
tickle began at my waist, different than my marks radiating, which
they definitely were. It was the feel of his fingers, gathering the
ends of my shirt upward. The pads of his fingers occasionally
brushed my skin, and I was breathing hard when he finally pulled my
shirt over my head. I kicked off my pants, sending them flying off
the bed, and then went for his shirt. A wicked grin curled his
lips.

My fingers spread over his abs, and a
rush of warmth gleamed down my arm. There wasn’t a female alive
that could argue Chase Winters had a rockin’ bod. And he was all
mine.

Trailing his fingers down my shoulder,
he slipped one under my bra strap. I held my breath as he reached
behind me, releasing the clasp. It was utterly ridiculous. This
wasn’t our first time, but I felt a rush of self-consciousness that
made me want to cross my arms in front my chest.

“
You’re
perfect.”

“
I was thinking the same
thing about you,” I said shyly.

The corner of his mouth lifted as he
moved down to take possession of my lips again. I squirmed,
desperate to get closer, and he let out a low moan. I don’t know if
it was my heightened senses, but every touch, every kiss felt
particularly sensitive. When his teeth scraped along my collarbone,
I gasped.