I’m surprised when I wake up with Legion still wrapped around me, my cheek to his chest, his deep breaths stirring the tousled hair atop my head. I’ve missed this so much, so much that I want to cry. I’ve never felt more secure than when I’m in his arms. I’ve never felt more beautiful than when I’m splayed out before him, naked and achy. I didn’t think I’d ever get this feeling back, and now that I have, I’m afraid of letting go. I’m afraid that he’ll wake up and realize that too much has changed, and what we were before cannot be salvaged.
But that fear is spawned from something else too.
Last night, as Legion loomed over me, those eyes flecked with stardust roaming my body, I saw a man possessed. Not by lust or passion, but possessed with a ravenous hunger that made me shiver under his stare. He touched me as if it was the first time, with awe and wonder and excitement. Or maybe he was committing each dip and curve to memory in anticipation of what was to come. Our days could very well be numbered. What if last night was our last time?
I don’t know. But while he felt good—better than good—as he stroked me to the brink of death, he felt like a stranger. His body was the same, his heat as smoldering as ever, his scent still masculine and intoxicating. He even tasted just as I remembered. But he wasn’t him. And as hard as I closed my eyes and pretended we were back in his room, drowning in a sea of dove grey linens, our naked limbs tangled together, I felt it in my gut, twisting my insides with the truth.
Legion was different. He is different. And I don’t know what that means for either of us.
Nature takes its hold on my body, and even in my commiserating, I can no longer ignore my desperate need for the bathroom. I slowly wriggle out from under his arm that’s draped over my shoulders, careful not to wake him. Luckily, he only stirs and rolls onto his side, allowing me to release the breath I was holding and get to the bathroom to release my bladder. I finish up, slip on the silk robe behind the door, and return to the bed just as Legion begins to wake.
“Hey sleepyhead,” I whisper, settling onto the bed beside him and slide under the covers.
Legion blinks rapidly, looking around. His sleep-weary eyes fall on me, and a dimple forms between his brows. “Eden?”
I smile, despite the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. “Who else were you expecting?”
He blinks again and looks down his body, covered only by a silk sheet. Confusion is etched deep in his features.
“Something wrong?” I ask, running a hand through his tousled hair in hopes of soothing him.
Legion clears his throat and shakes his head. “No. Just…tired.”
“Go back to sleep. It’s still early.”
He shakes his head again and my heart plummets. “I need to get going. A lot to do for tonight.”
Right. Tonight.
The big masquerade party that Lilith and Andras have been tirelessly working on to draw out Uriel and his zealots.
Legion gently shrugs away from my touch and sits up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. With his broad, chiseled back to me, I get a glimpse of the horrid dragon’s spiny vertebrae and vicious tail, all elaborate scales and talons. Even without facing me, it taunts me.
His elbows on his knees and his hands tugging at his hair, Legion heaves out a wistful breath then stands. It’s hard not to stare at his beautiful frame and feel a little sad as he tugs his jeans back on. I want to ask him what he’s thinking, but I’m not sure I’m ready for the answer.
“I’ll see you soon,” he mutters. Then he leans over and brushes his lips over mine. I don’t know why, but the gesture causes tears to sting my eyes and a hard knot to form in my throat, making it impossible for me to respond.
I’m still watching the door long after he leaves, wondering if he’ll ever come back.
Deep down, I know he was never really here.
I meet up with Adriel in the gym for a bit more light wielding training. She instructs me to generate those glowing orbs of concentrated sunshine over and over again until my head is throbbing and my eyes feel as if they’re being torn from their sockets.
“Again.”
I grit my teeth to keep from snapping and close my palms, extinguishing the perfectly round spheres already in them. Deep breath. Two more appear within seconds, and it takes minimal focus on my part.
“You’re getting faster. Good. In battle, you’ll need to be able to conjure the holy light without thinking.”
“Then shouldn’t I be learning how to use it?” I counter, annoyance ringing clear in my voice.
“Soon. Now, again.”
I ignore the order and look around the empty gym, needing to give my brain a break. “Where is everyone?”
“Preparing.”
I guess the masquerade has everyone on edge. Even Cain was absent during my visit with Sister this morning, which I didn’t complain about. It was nice to have her all to myself for a little while. I have to admit, she looks amazing for someone who survived a bomb blast and suffered serious burns all over her body. She mentioned a skin graft, and while I’m no physician, I’m pretty sure the recovery for that would still be pretty extensive. But Sister’s wounds seem to be healing at an expedited rate. Not just healing—disappearing. She’s starting to look and sound like her happy-go-lucky self again. When she smiles, it isn’t pinched with pain. She has almost full function of her limbs and her skin coloring is evening out. It even looks like some of her hair is growing back. The transformation is incredible.
I glance back at Adriel, my chin lifted. “Are you planning to attend tonight?”
“I am, despite Lucifer’s suggestion,” she answers coolly. “It’s been a while since I’ve attended a party.”
I close my hands and when I flex my fingers, two new balls of light rest atop my palms. “Do angels even have parties? Isn’t that a sin?”
Adriel laughs, the sound like tinkling wind chimes. “Not at all. Lasciviousness, drunkenness, fornication…those are sins. A simple jovial gathering of friends is not.”
“But aren’t we committing sin just by having a party under false pretenses? Isn’t that sorta like lying?”
Adriel shrugs. “No one’s perfect. Not even angels.”
I lift a brow, dropping my hands to my sides. My muscles are stiff with exertion. “Isn’t that the whole point of angels? The whole “perfect being” thing?”
“We strive to be, if only to be closer to Christ. We often fall short.” She bites her rosy-hued bottom lip in contemplation. “My own history has proven that to be true.”
We stare each other down, neither one of us willing to address the big ass elephant in the room. Luckily, we don’t have to avoid the subject for too long.
Both our heads flick to the entrance of the gym just as Legion comes stalking in, his expression unreadable.
“Eden.” He looks from me, his current lover, to his former lover. Awkward. “Adriel.”
“What’s going on?” I question, jumping off the raised platform of the ring. Adriel does the same, although a little more gracefully.
“We have a problem.” His eyes go all shifty again, as if he’s uncertain who he should look at. “Irin’s quarters. Now.”
He doesn’t even wait for us to catch up with his long, hurried strides as we trail him to The Watcher’s lounge. He hardly grumbles a greeting when we enter, the rest of the Se7en, Lucifer, Niko, and Irin are already seated and waiting for us.
“What’s wrong?” I ask as I take my usual spot.
Kairo immediately comes to offer me a glass of cold water. Blushing, I accept. I literally just saw him in the most compromising position ever, and now he’s back to being poised and polished. My gaze flicks to Lucifer reflexively. I’m startled to find that his eyes are already on me, an amused smile gracing his sensual lips.
“Crysis has disappeared,” Legion announces, pulling my attention away from Luc’s uncomfortable stare.
“What?” I nearly choke on my water.
“My staff checked his quarters,” Irin confirms. “There’s no sign of him, and no one knows when he disappeared.”
“Surveillance?” Toyol questions.
Irin shakes her head. “Whether he was taken or left of his own accord, he went undetected. Camera signals were scrambled. There’s no trace of him.”
Shit. Crysis must’ve used his nifty Nephilim trick of evasion to sneak out. But why? He isn’t a prisoner here.
“I knew we shouldn’t have trusted that half-breed fuck,” Cain spits. “He probably went straight to the Alliance and told them everything.”
“I don’t think he would do that,” I blurt out, drawing every eye. I swallow, feeling self-conscious. “It’s just that…I don’t think he’d go back to them after what they did to him.”
“Yeah right.” Cain rolls his eyes. “He was probably just biding his time, waiting on a piece of info that would put him back in bed with them. Once a rat, always a rat.”
I shake my head. “I felt his mind. I saw it. There was no sense of betrayal in it. There was warmth…sincerity. But no malice.” I leave out the part where he touched his mind to mine, a gentle stroke along the side of my consciousness.
“But that still doesn’t prove that he’s not spilling our secrets right now. After what happened in the gym…”
Cain doesn’t have to finish the accusation before I know where’s he’s going with this.
After what I did to Crysis, he may now be feeling more inclined to betray us. And if that’s true, then I did this. I’m to blame for Crysis’s shifting loyalty. I swear, if my temper somehow put us all in danger, I will never forgive myself. So I have to believe in him—I have to believe that Crysis would never turn on us in an act of petty resentment. He was my friend. Even after our fight, I looked into his green eyes and saw goodness and kindness in him. That’s the Crysis I grew to know and care for. And if he’s in trouble, we have to find him.
“Plans still stand,” Legion states, climbing to his feet. “The party is still on.”
“And risk an ambush?” Cain challenges. This new piece of knowledge has him more rattled than usual.
“We’ll be veiled.” A glance to Niko who nods in response. “And even if they are planning something, house rules still stand. No bloodshed on sacred ground. Violence in the city is growing at an alarming rate. People are literally dying in the streets, their numbers so abundant that emergency services can’t remove them fast enough. My scouts have reported nearly 300 citizens have been murdered or seriously injured in the last twenty-four hours.”
“What scouts?” I’ve heard him mention them before, but I had never questioned him about them. If crime in the city is rapidly growing and we’re the Seraph’s #1 target, I don’t see how he could—or would—send people out into this chaos.
“His little birds. Rats, raccoons, and other vermin. Maybe even a few puppies and stray cats,” Lucifer answers, drawing a growl from Legion who gives him a narrow glare. Lucifer, as always, is nonplussed and seems more interested in flicking an imaginary dust speck from his sleeve than addressing Legion’s warning. “My dear brother is a regular Dr. Doolittle.”
“Enough, Lucy,” Irin gently chides, patting Lucifer’s hand. She also climbs to her feet, and everyone else follows her lead. “There is much to do in preparation for this evening’s festivities. Rest up. It’s going to be a long night.”
The Se7en file out one by one, each of them wearing varying looks of unease. Crysis’s disappearance doesn’t sit well with them, but Legion’s edict will not be challenged. Niko, looking more radiant and dashing than ever, turns to me.
“How are you feeling?” he asks, his pale blue eyes bright. I fight back a blush, remembering the night before.
“Good. A little tired.”
His gaze flicks downward as if he’s recalling the way he brushed his lips up and down my throat, coming dangerously close to my breasts. “It’ll pass.” He runs a hand through his black, meticulously styled mane. “I want to apologize for telling you to leave so abruptly. It’s just…”
I shake my head. “I totally understand. We’re good. No apology necessary.”
Niko lifts a hand to brush a wisp of hair behind my ear, his fingers grazing my jaw. I turn into the touch, inhaling his scent of ocean mist, salt air, and fresh rain, and release a euphoric sigh. My blood is singing with pleasure. My skin tingles with sparkling specks of ice. Reflexively, I take a step forward, nearly drawing us chest to chest, wanting more. Needing more.
“Careful. Or you’ll take it back,” he says quietly.
“Sorry,” I whisper, my face flushing furiously with embarrassment. I stumble back a foot.
“It’ll wear off…the connection,” he explains with a soft smile. “If you’re worried.”
“I’m not,” I say, returning his shy grin.
“Good. I, uh…” He runs another hand through his hair, almost like he’s nervous. Odd. I’ve only known Niko to be recklessly confident. “I need to get ready for the spell. I’ll see you tonight.”
He leans forward to touch his lips to my forehead, leaving a shivering chill on my skin. I guess the distant, nonchalant act is dead. Or maybe he’s just as affected by what went down between us as I am.
I watch him as he exits, wondering if we’ll ever get over this and go back to how things were…Wondering if that’s what I truly want.
I could fall in love with someone like Niko. Hell, that part would be seamless. But that’s just the thing…his time here on Earth is not promised. And even if it was, his heart will always belong to another, and he’ll forever be tortured by thoughts of the love he once had and lost in the most tragic way. Just like me.
“How is he doing with fighting them?”
I spin around; my features first contorted in shock, then confusion. Lucifer reads my expression and clarifies.
“Legion. How is he dealing with the voices? You know, for all his strength and tenacity, his biggest challenge has always been his own demons. No pun intended.”
“What are you talking about?” I snap out of embarrassment and shame. I have no idea how long he’s been standing there watching the tense exchange between Niko and me. And now he brings up Legion? I already feel like an ass for practically begging my friend to fuck me, only to spread my legs for my supposed boyfriend. And the fact that I can still feel the ghost of Legion inside me, yet still desire Niko? I’m all types of fucked up and conflicted.
Lucifer soldiers on, ignoring my terse tone. “The Legion of Lost Souls is tormented for eternity by the cries of the wayward, the wicked, the depraved. They call to him, taunting him with their malice. They do not rest; therefore, he does not rest. Not if he wants to resist them.”
“And what would he be resisting?” I ask with faux cynicism. Truth is, I know what Lucifer is saying is true. What I saw in Legion last night, and then again this morning…it was as if he had checked out.
Lucifer smiles slyly, and casually sets a hand in his pocket. “Many of those souls have unfinished business. And they’d love nothing more than to persuade Legion to carry out their plans.”
I frown at the thought of Legion being used as a conduit for evil. He’s a demon, yeah, but he doesn’t believe in hurting innocent people for sport. Even Lucifer only gets off on punishing those who deserve it.
“But doesn’t he rule them? Not the other way around?”
“One can only take so much before he succumbs to the darkest parts of himself,” Lucifer says. He takes a step forward, his gaze serious. “And sometimes a lost soul is simply bored with being ignored.”
I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing me rattled, so I simply nod and turn to walk out. Lucifer isn’t done with me though.
“Be careful, Eden,” he calls to my back. “You know what they say about idle minds. They’re the Devil’s playground.”
Fuck.
A bored, lost soul could be manipulating Legion’s mind.
I’ve seen Lucifer’s playground. It’s not nearly as fun as it sounds.