The dark crystal walls shook with each thunderous bang.

Razael’s patience was rubbed more raw with each pound.

It wasn’t the sound itself, although that was teeth-rattling. It wasn’t that it had gone on for an hour, although that was blisteringly annoying in its own right. No… it was because the source of that wall-shaking sound had crawled under the skin of his human-form manifestation and grated against his nerves.

Two angels were fucking. And it threatened to bring down the walls of their Regiment.

Although judging by the manner of the flock of angelings surrounding Razael while he waited for them to finish, this was not an uncommon occurrence.

When Razael had arrived, Evangeline and Jael were already engaged in the act. Razael had popped straight into her throne room, but he hadn’t expected to find Jael bending her over the chair. And they hadn’t even paused. Evangeline had rightfully blasted him with energy, but Jael kept pounding away, making an unholy grunting sound with each stroke. He hardly seemed present, he was so lost in his Lust. Evangeline had snarled out a threat, telling Razael to take his business to her angelings or wait, then her attention was subsumed by Jael’s sudden awareness and rage at Razael’s presence. She’d captured Jael’s attention again, and Razael deemed it wise to make his exit.

He’d been waiting outside her palace ever since.

One of Evangeline’s angelings swooped down to land on the balcony in front of him. She quickly knelt and bent her head, arms splayed to the side in prostration. “Does my lord wish some distraction while he waits?” Her voice was tremulous. Her long blond hair hung to the floor where she knelt, her bare shoulders quivering slightly. He couldn’t tell if she was excited about this offering of sex or afraid. She was the fourth angeling to do so.

“No.” He waved her away.

She peered up, hesitating, then lifted on her wings from the platform.

Razael sighed. Maybe he should make a blanket pronouncement so they would stop offering. None of the others were daring to alight on the balcony with him, but they hovered in the air above and clung to the walls, watching him and whispering amongst themselves.

Suddenly, the banging accelerated in frequency, shaking the walls even harder, such that Razel thought the magic which held them together might come apart.

Then it stopped. Thank magic.

Angels, when in human form, were truly manifest in the flesh, yet with the benefits of immortality. Even though Razael had bones and blood and exquisitely sensitive skin everywhere in his human form, he could not be killed. He could enjoy all the benefits of the flesh—the seductions of pleasure, the dark thrills of pain—with the added benefit of his angel power still rippling throughout his body. Right now, that meant an unnatural sensation of nearly coming out of his skin with anticipation of Evangeline’s and Jael’s appearance, now that they were done fucking. Razael could quell that unpleasant sensation—or any bodily reaction—with a conscious thought, but unless he exercised his will to do so, his reactions were nearly automatic. And his body often had a mind of its own, much as true humans did.

The shadow angels who fucked their angelings took full advantage of the conjoining of earthly pleasures and heavenly power. Razael had only experienced it once—with his Elizabeth, a human—and it had been so overwhelming as to drive him into a dangerous frenzy of Lust. He’d never experienced sex with angelings, despite the grumblings of his Regiment, but that pleasure must be even more heightened with the magic resonance between the angeling’s angel half and the angel’s pure one. This was the source of the storied orgasms given by the dark angels who indulged in such things.

And he could hardly imagine the orgasms between two full angels in their human forms.

Then again, that held zero attraction for him. Angels were drawn to the God-spark within humans, and it was the human half of angelings which drew their interest. Angels rarely paired as Evangeline and Jael apparently had. Few would trust another angel with such power in their vulnerability, but most simply were not attracted to angelkind. Yet judging by the duration of Evangeline’s and Jael’s session—and the intensity of the end—the two dark angels must have found something of merit in such a joining of angel-on-angel flesh.

Perhaps Razael could use that to his favor.

When Evangeline finally strolled onto the balcony, she was in considerably better spirits than when Razael had interrupted her strident fucking. Jael followed behind like a loyal servant, although a lazy one. His face was slack with pleasure, his gait unhurried. He signaled to one of the angelings floating above—a female—but Evangeline caught notice when the angeling hurried down to the platform where they stood. Evangeline pulsed her angel energy and knocked the angeling off the platform, something that startled Razael enough to leave him word-struck for a moment.

“Later,” Evangeline hissed at Jael, who seemed mildly put out. “We have a visitor.”

Jael shrugged and shambled to the wall where he folded his arms like a petulant child. Still, he let his gaze wander over the angelings wisely keeping their distance in the air above.

All angels were essentially the same age, but of course, none of those hundreds of millennia showed when one could create any physical manifestation one chose. Jael wore the body of a young, healthy, and sensual man, with long dark hair, and a beautifully sculpted body. But his eyes reflected the soul within, and they were half vacant, addled by Sin and seemingly half-conscious, almost as if he’d been reduced to a lower being with an animal’s reactions. Evangeline, on the other hand, had eyes sharp as a blue crystal. Her body was voluptuous and exaggerated—as if the beauty of the human form weren’t enough, she had to caricature it with breasts so large they would unbalance her except for the generously curved behind that kept her from tipping. She was clad in a toga, but it concealed nothing… especially not the hungry look in her eyes as she surveyed Razael’s normal oversized-human form.

“What is Elyon’s enemy doing in my Regiment?” Evangeline asked, a breathy hiss in her voice as if she were still out of breath from her exertions. An artifice that made Razael frown.

But apparently, there would be no preamble to their negotiations. “Suing for peace,” he said simply. “Why make war when there are more pleasurable things to do?”

Evangeline snorted her disgust, but Razael wasn’t quite sure why. Jael’s interest had wandered to his own cock, which was slowly rising under his sagging toga. He started to stroke it, his head lolling back against the dark crystal wall where he was leaned.

Zuriel had been right about him being lost in his Sin.

Razael focused on Evangeline. “Elyon is a threat to us all. He’ll bring the Warriors, and then none of us will live long enough to enjoy the fruits of our Fall.”

“Unless Elyon wins this war,” Evangeline countered. But she didn’t seem as confident as her words.

“Do you expect him to make you his Queen?” Razael asked, taking a guess. She was hungry for something more—or she wouldn’t be fucking Jael.

Evangeline’s eyes narrowed. “Elyon is the most powerful of the dark angels. He doesn’t waste time scrabbling after Virtues like some.” She gave him another look of disgust, and this time he felt its source—she was peering at his soul and revolted by it. And while Razael knew well the depth of his Lust and selfishness—he was Fallen for a reason—he also knew his depravity was nothing like the dark well in which most shadow angels dwelled. She was revolted by his Virtues… which made her attraction to Jael come into focus. His soul was a putrid cesspool of wantonness—and Evangeline’s shone bright by comparison.

But only by comparison.

She was riddled with Envy and Wrath—Lust was a distant cousin in a toxic pond.

Zuriel was wrong about what would turn Evangeline.

“My only concern with Elyon,” he started, “is that he will literally destroy everything, and I much prefer to go on living. I have a plan for how to contain him—it will tarnish my soul, but I’ll choose that any day over the Domain of Darkness.”

Evangeline’s lips curled into a smile, and he could see the arousal in her eyes. His potential debasement was exciting her. She and Elyon were not so different—another reason to pit them against each other.

“I’ve not been Fallen as long as you, Evangeline,” he continued, working that angle harder. “You’re right that I’ve clung to my Virtues. I fell from Lust, but I’ve kept my vow of Chastity in the shadow realm. Frankly, it disgusts me, the mere idea of allowing Lust to rule me. The shame of my Fall is great enough, I do not need to add to it. But none of that matters if Elyon brings the Warriors down on us all.” He let his gaze wander to Jael, who was moaning as he stroked himself against the wall. Razael let disgust twist his face and hoped Evangeline wouldn’t see through that entirely. “Is this what awaits me after an eon in Sin? I’d almost rather die.” Then he turned his gaze back to Evangeline. “Almost.”

The hunger in her eyes had grown nearly rabid. She licked her lips. “What do you want from me?” But he could see she was calculating the price she would exact from him for it. And in Truth, he would gladly pay with whatever vile act she had in mind. After Elyon was banished.

“Your assistance…” He glanced at Jael, whose cries were becoming louder as he stroked himself to climax. “And the old fool’s as well. I want to banish Elyon to the Dominion of Darkness. He can join his idol Lucifer there.”

Evangeline’s hunger stumbled for a moment. “You have a way to do this?”

“I believe so. But it will take the combined powers of at least four angels.”

“Four?” Her eyes narrowed.

“Zuriel has already been attacked by Elyon. She has pledged her help.”

Evangeline nodded once, then licked her lips again as she peered deep into his soul. No doubt imagining the tarnish she would bring. “If we help you in this, I’ll require compensation.”

Apparently, she could speak for Jael. Which Razael didn’t question. Jael, as if to emphasize the point, came rather noisily against the wall, groaning and moaning throughout it while spurting his release. Razael didn’t have to feign his disgust.

“What sort of compensation?” he asked, even though he knew.

“You’ll join Jael and me in celebrating.” Her smile was one of the darkest he’d ever seen. “To be clear, we will fuck you until you break from it.”

Her and Jael. He let a shudder take hold of him, figuring that would seal the deal. It wasn’t as if he had to fake that either. “Agreed,” he said hoarsely, even as his mind was spinning, trying to get out of keeping that promise.

Evangeline’s smile grew. “Just let me know the appointed time.”

Razael felt the tarnish already. But once Elyon was banished, he could see where things lay. It was possible that act alone would besmirch his soul enough that Evangeline wouldn’t want it. But seeing Jael spent against the wall, mumbling to himself, Razael didn’t think that likely. This was a dark hunger—this Envy that drove her—and he realized that Zuriel had led him right into this. She’d said Evangeline was ambitious and that he should shine his Virtues at her—he mistook that to mean Evangeline might join his cause out of righteousness.

There were no righteous angels in shadow.

He should know that by now.

If Razael could find no way out of this sordid promise, he would keep it. Or he could go to war with Evangeline and Jael in lieu of fucking them. But all that would depend on keeping his Regiment safe… as well as Eden and the others. He would not sacrifice their lives to save his already-tarnished soul from further defilement.

Jael had stopped muttering and flagged down an angeling from above. She fluttered down to prostrate herself at his feet. The angel grabbed her off the floor and held her aloft, facing away, and immediately started fucking her. The girl trembled and convulsed—Razael prayed it was from pleasure.

Evangeline rolled her eyes but didn’t stop him. Razael supposed their meeting was over and the fucking could resume.

“We will either lure Elyon away from his angelings,” Razael explained quickly, very ready to take his leave, “or we can attack him directly in his Regiment. Either way, we must discuss the ancient spells that—”

A pop of air cut him off.

An angeling appeared on the balcony between Evangeline and him. “My lord!” she gasped in his direction. It was Laylah. “Elyon is here!”

The angeling fell to her knees. Only then did he see the angel blade buried deep in her chest. Blood dribbled from her mouth. But here wasn’t Evangeline’s palace. It was his. And there was only one reason Elyon would be in his Regiment.

Eden.

Razael lurched forward to grab Laylah before she fell to the floor. Then he twisted and opened a portal, praying to all the archangels in heaven he wasn’t too late.