LUXURE

“Kade. It’s me.” I’m fucking livid, pacing the highway, staring at the point I saw that traitor standing in the road. “Where the fuck is Cole?”

“Calm down.”

“Tell me right now, or I will unleash Hell on fucking Earth to find him.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Where the fuck is Colère?”

“I’m in the dark here, brother. Tell me what’s going on so I can help you.” I explain to him about the Vollstrecker in the diner, but I barely manage to tell him about Cole showing up without throwing my phone to the ground in a fit of rage. “Okay, calm down.”

“Calm-fucking-down? Did you not hear me? He took Sirena.”

“He won’t let her come to any harm.”

“He better not, or I’ll gut him like a pig.”

“Fucking hell, Lux. You’re in love with this girl.”

“Of course I am! Now stop wasting my time and find out where the hell that idiot took her.”

“Okay. First things first, I’ll get a location on them for you. Then I’m going to find out who the little bastard was that got away from you and deal with him. I’ll be in touch.”

The line goes dead, and I’m left waiting and helpless. I quickly get back in the car and head for the next available parking lot. I need to ditch this car, so I’m ready to go and get Sirena as soon as I hear from Kade. It’s not difficult to procure a new set of wheels. I find a strip mall five miles up the road and sweet talk the first woman I see. She hands over the keys willingly, and I assure her that there is no need for alarm or any reason to call the police. She walks happily back into the store she just came from with no idea of what just happened. Luckily for me, she has a nice new X5.

I’m speeding down the highway when my phone beeps. It’s Kade. He sends me the address of some shitty motel a few hours from here followed by a message saying he knows where to find our other problem. I don’t bother wasting time texting him back but instead immediately punch the address into the GPS system. I’m two hours away… two fucking hours away from her. It takes all of my self-control not to jump and all of my strength to stop myself from sensing her. It’s like a natural state—I want to sense her every movement. I feel lost when she’s not with me. I’ve never felt like a part of me was missing—until now. When I was with Abiteth, I thought we were soulmates, but from the moment I met Sirena, I’ve started to see things differently. Abi and I never shared such an intense connection. We had passion, but what I have with Sirena goes so far beyond that… it scares me. When I’m with her, I feel like she’s… my destiny. It’s corny shit like that that’s going to get me killed.

The drive seems ten times longer than it is giving me far too much time to imagine what Cole is up to. Remembering all of the vile and disgusting ventures we embarked on together over the centuries, as we delighted in other people’s pain. We took pleasure in their downfall, enjoying the inevitable spiral to rock bottom, robbing humans of their dignity, stripping them of any shred of morality they had left until they were nothing but an empty debauched husk. I torture myself with possible scenarios of what I might find when I track them down scared that Cole has had a hidden agenda from the moment he appeared on the Golden Gate Bridge. After all this time, maybe I should be questioning his loyalty to me. For all I know, he’s reporting back to Luc. I can’t stand the thought of him being alone with her or touching her.

Sure, when I was younger, I enjoyed sharing with him. But when it came to Abi, I didn’t like it. I did it for her because it’s what she wanted. It made her happy. Even contemplating sharing Sirena with him makes me see red. I want to tear his hand off for grabbing her shoulder and taking her away from me. I want to reach down his throat and rip out his tongue so that I don’t have to listen to his lies. I am so consumed with hatred that I can’t even see straight. It’s a miracle I haven’t crashed the car oblivious of my surroundings.

When I think of Sirena alone with him, I have a sense of calm that I never had with Abiteth. I knew Abi loved me—we were together for three thousand years. She was the love of my life, or so I thought, but there was always a part of me that felt she wasn’t mine, not one hundred percent. When it was just us, it was amazing. She was amazing. When she was with Colère, when the three of us were together, there was a side of her that never belonged to me—a side she kept for him. At times, I hated him for it, but in the end, I hated myself more. I am Luxure-fucking-Zonder. I am the embodiment of lust, and yet when it came down to it, I couldn’t fully satisfy Abiteth.

As I drive toward Sirena, I realize I don’t have that same fear. I don’t worry that I’m not enough for her. When we’re together, I can feel that she gives herself to me completely. She is mine and mine alone—meant for me. No amount of time with Cole or any other man will ever change that. What I don’t understand, is why? Why would an angel like Sirena—a bona fide, supernatural, celestial angel—be meant for me? I’ve done nothing to deserve her, but I’m selfish enough to know that I won’t let her go. I will protect her with everything I have, and everything I am, because she makes me want to be better.

It’s been so long since I’ve had to answer to or think about anyone but Selma. With Sirena, it’s easy. I want to be accountable to her—to make decisions with her and for her. I trust her implicitly after so little time together. It’s effortless. I know I should give my brother the benefit of the doubt—we’ve spent thousands of years looking out for each other, trusting each other with our lives—but I just can’t. Too much has happened, too many years apart, and too great a deception for me to expect loyalty from Cole or any of my brothers. I have cost them so heavily over the past millennium, and in ways I probably can’t even imagine.

By the time I reach the town where Kade told me I’d find them, I’m more certain than ever that Sirena’s the one, and more confused than ever about where I stand with my brother and once best friend. As I take a left pulling into the parking lot of the motel, I see a man standing before me. It’s an annoying sense of déjà vu for me today. But this time it’s not Cole—it’s Gabriel.

* * *

“What the hell are you doing here, Gabe?”

“The same thing you are, rescuing my daughter from your sorry excuse of a brother.”

“How did you find us?”

“I’ve been walking this Earth for a thousand years and spent thousands of years before that in the Heavens. You don’t think I’ve made a few friends along the way?”

“I didn’t think Archs were allowed friends. Aren’t you supposed to be the badass angels? And yet you don’t seem particularly threatening to me.”

His eyes narrow. “Don’t play games with me, little boy. I could snap you in two before you even blink.”

I can’t help but laugh. “Maybe back in the day, but you’re a Fallen now. You couldn’t take me down on your best day. I do, however, admire your dedication to your daughter. How does that happen anyway? An Arch conceiving a child with a human. I mean surely it flies in the face of all of the Almighty’s rules. Why weren’t you banished to the Underworld?”

“You dare to question the decisions of the Almighty?”

His indignant tone is quite amusing. He broke the number one rule of supernatural beings, and God still welcomes him with open arms. I had no choice but to be the demon he created, and yet I am not fit to be in his presence. I have fulfilled my destiny, my role in this universe, for thousands of years. I am what he wanted me to be. Surely with that in mind, I am the obedient one? I am the one who served without question. “I wouldn’t dare. I just find it all rather… hypocritical.”

Righteous anger emanates from him in waves. “You have no concept of what you speak. You couldn’t possibly imagine the decisions that have been made in the Heavens forced by your actions. Don’t you dare call me a hypocrite.”

“My actions?” Something passes across his features. A realization that he’s said more than he should. “What do you mean by that?”

“I’ve already said too much. I need to speak with Sirena. She needs to know the truth.”

“The truth? You’ve spent her whole life lying to her. What do you know of truth?”

“A damn sight more than you. Everything you are is based on a lie. You have no concept of the havoc you wreak.”

“Fuck you, Gabe.”

His jaw tightens, his body tense with rage, his hands balling into fists. “You did this to me, Luxure.” He practically spits my name, each syllable dripping with vitriol. “If you had done as you were supposed to, if you had adhered to Luc’s wishes, then none of this would have happened. It’s your fault I am no longer a part of the heavenly realm.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? How can anything I’ve done possibly affect your decision to fall in love with a human and conceive a hybrid child? Because you couldn’t control your desires? Your lust.” He swings for me, but I’m too fast. I duck to the side and quickly correct my stance putting him in a headlock. He squirms, fighting to break free but to no avail. I lean in, my voice barely a whisper. “Don’t blame me for your shortcomings, dear Gabriel. I had no hand in your fate. You were never important enough for me to waste time on.” I crush his throat a little tighter. “And apparently, I was right. You didn’t need any help, you are the master of your demise. Your sins are your own.” When his fight fades, I loosen my grip and shove him to the ground.

“You’re delusional, Lux. You think your actions don’t have consequences? You think you can take my daughter from me and there won’t be any repercussions?”

“I’m trying to save her fucking life!”

“You’re the reason her life is in jeopardy!”

Maybe he’s right. If I’d never met her, she wouldn’t be in this mess, although I can’t help but feel that there’s more to his words.

Suddenly, I feel her—her fear, her anxiety. I hear her heart beating wildly behind the doors of room number 666. Cole still has a sense of humor. One that I’m about to beat out of him for taking Sirena from me. Gabe is no longer on my radar, a mere annoyance in my periphery.

I burst open the motel room door…

I. See. Immense. Fucking. Red. Murderous. Rage.