Saving Her Angel (Archangels) (13 page)

“It happened to all of them?” Asta asked quietly.

Rafe nodded. “From what I could make out, yes. Sel, Uri, and a couple of the Kehath were able to help the twins. Mike and Nathaniel put out Billy but haven’t fully healed him yet.”

“Are they going to?”

They both looked at Cam. “I’m not sure. Mike is…conflicted. The boy was fully under the demon’s spell, even after we showed ourselves.”

Most times a demon-tainted human would quickly repent when faced with an Archangel in true form, which was one sign they could be saved. When they didn’t show any type of remorse, the demon had sunk its claws in too deep.

“He was going to be arrested before the incident. Healing him now would only mean he’s still going to spend the rest of his life in jail.”

“And if not, he will die,” Rafe added.

Cam nodded. “Yes.”

Asta frowned. “Still seems cruel though.”

“He’s unconscious and not feeling pain. He slipped into a coma and is on his way to a nearby hospital. The story has been changed to him having gotten too close to his own fire.”

“Kind of convenient, huh?” she asked.

“Odd, more like,” Rafe said.

Cam thought it over. “It was obviously the demon Armoros’s doing, to have its chosen ones burst into flames, but I wonder what it meant to accomplish.”

He looked down at Elle, who slept on the bed in Zerach’s guest room. Her beautiful face didn’t show a single scar or mark from the demonic flames that had engulfed her, but when he had arrived, she’d been unrecognizable. He would be having nightmares about it until the end of time.

“Do all sacrifices require blood to be spilled?” Asta asked.

That grabbed Cam’s attention. “Not necessarily, no.”

“Perhaps it was a sacrifice then. All of them burning at once might have given Armoros some kind of power.”

Cam thought of the mass graves full of burned bodies that had been found. He looked at Rafe. “I need to check my library.”

His brother nodded. “Go. We’ll watch over her. Mike’s on his way, too. She will be completely protected.”

Cam still hesitated. “But what if something like this happens again? Who can protect her from that?”

Rafe gripped his shoulder. “Only answers to these questions can help us prevent it, brother. Go. Find the answers, and we’ll stand watch.”

After a deep breath, Cam finally stood to leave. He kept his gaze on Elle’s face until he walked out of the room, then he all but ran to the door so he could fly home. On the short journey he thought over everything that had happened between them, all that she meant to him. He’d originally thought he’d waited too long to send her away, but it seemed her past had simply come back to hurt her. Guilt still filled him, and with her having been burned, he now understood more than ever that she truly meant something to him.

But is it enough?

He couldn’t answer that question, though seeing her in pain had felt like his heart was being ripped from his chest. He desired her and cared for her deeply, but did he really love her? He had to push his doubts aside to concentrate on the task at hand—her protection was top priority no matter what he felt.

Once inside his house, he closed his eyes and searched his memory of the texts. After a few minutes it came to him, and he hurried to find the scrolls.

Armoros was a high-level demon who had been around since shortly after Lucifer fell. But, of course, Lucifer fell in a different way than the brothers’
falls
. His was a fall into sin and corruption, and many other angels followed him. The two hundred Watchers who created the Nephilim came next, and among their children, one created the demon Armoros.

It didn’t take long for the demon to rise in rank from a newly created minion to a mid-level nuisance. Over time it killed enough innocents, spilled enough blood, and wreaked enough havoc to gain its place among the upper echelon of the demon hierarchy. And that was only the beginning. Camael and his brothers had been battling Armoros for centuries, banishing it back to hell over and over again. Now it was trying to gain a more secure foothold in the human realm, and the consequences of that were too numerous to contemplate. A high-level demon would want the streets to literally run with blood. But how in the hell did Elle play into its plans?

The script flowed wildly, almost indecipherable on the yellowed parchment. His gaze flowed over every swirl and along every line until he’d reread the entire scroll twice. It was an accounting of a demon’s use of human sacrifices to fuel their power to enter the human realm. Cam wasn’t entirely sure where the scroll had come from, and he highly suspected the parchment was made from human skin, but he’d found it amid the rubble of a burned-down temple in ancient Greece lifetimes ago and hadn’t read it since.

He mumbled in ancient Greek and didn’t bother looking up when Mike walked into the room.

“A ritual of binding?” his brother asked.

Cam nodded and lowered the scroll carefully onto a table. “It would seem so. It was a form of spontaneous human combustion that should have bound their innocent souls to Armoros. If they had died.”

“But since they didn’t, they are not bound.”

“Correct. The flesh would have withered away to ash, making it impossible to recapture their souls before the demon could hoard them. But since we intervened, we stopped the process.”

“We didn’t save all of them.”

Exhaustion lined Mike’s face, and dark marks beneath his eyes made him look almost human.

“How many?” Cam asked.

“Too many. Forty-one.”

“Shit.”

Mike scrubbed a hand down his face. “Saving even the few that we did will make a difference though. The demon chose forty-eight victims for a reason, and we disrupted those plans.”

“But will it be enough to stop it?”

Mike paced away, shoulders dropped in fatigue. “For now, at least. All we can do is keep up the work we’ve always done. We can do no more, no less.”

Cam opened his mouth to agree when a weak voice ran through his mind.

Cam?

Mike spun around. “Was that—”

Cam jumped to his feet. “Elle.” He looked at his brother. “But how…”

Mike didn’t appear surprised. “She is in your heart and in your mind now. You know what that means.”

A war of emotions raged inside Cam as he stood torn between desire and duty. He stared at the scroll laid out on the table before him even as he took a step back to return to Elle’s side.

He shook his head in indecision. “I must stay here and search for more.”

“You’ve searched for hours and already found the answer we sought,” Mike said evenly.

Cam frowned at his brother. “But…”

Mike closed the distance and placed his hands on Cam’s shoulders. “You’ve done your duty such as we needed. Now you must do what you feel is in your heart, Camael. Zerach and Raphael are no less our brothers, no less soldiers for the Source, because of their love. Neither will you be.”

Cam.

The weak cry pierced his heart like an arrow, and he couldn’t fight the pull to answer it. Mike released his shoulders, and Cam took another tentative step toward the door.

“I’ll bring her back here—”

“No, you won’t. Go to her. Take care of her. I’ll read this scroll and look for any that might accompany it.”

Cam shook his head. “There was only the one.”

“Then go. No more can be found here.”

Cam finally conceded the argument and spun on his heel to run out of the house. He was in the air within seconds.

I’m on my way, Elle. Hold on, baby.

The image of her burnt clothes and melted skin accompanied him on his way back to her. The sense of pain that had radiated from her and reached out to him echoed through his bones. He would never forgive himself if anything like that ever happened to her again.

He considered Isadora and Asta. Both had been fine the past few months, living in warded houses with their husbands keeping them safe despite their limited powers. And whenever Mike called on Zerach and Rafe, they both found ways to help him out. They had lost their wings but not their strength or healing powers. They couldn’t speak to their brothers telepathically, but they could communicate wordlessly with their wives. The bonds between the couples seemed to strengthen both the men and the women. A deep longing to have that with Elle hit him so suddenly he nearly fell out of the sky. He caught his balance and moved his wings harder to increase his speed. He needed to get to her.

…

An echo of torment was Elle’s first conscious thought before she realized there was no actual pain. She inhaled deeply before opening her eyes and smelled only clean sheets and the strawberry-scented shampoo Isadora kept in the guest bathroom. Had she been dreaming? Almost afraid to open her eyes, she lifted the lids slowly. They didn’t stick together, and she could just make out the edges of her lashes. Perhaps it had been a nightmare. She turned her head to one side and recognized the guest room. The other side of the bed was empty, and the door was shut. She sat up and looked down at herself. She was naked.

“Huh.”

Hurried footsteps in the hall had her yanking the covers to her chin just as the door burst open. Cam stood in the doorway, shirtless and breathing hard, as if he’d run all the way across town.

“Cam?”

“I’m here, baby.”

He shut and locked the door then turned back to face her. For a moment they just stared at each other, then he walked over to sit on the side of the bed. He grasped the edge of the blanket and slowly lowered it. She didn’t even consider stopping him.

“Are you in any pain?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Should I be?”

Surprise lit his eyes. “You don’t remember what happened?”

She swallowed a shaky breath. “It wasn’t a nightmare, was it?”

“What do you remember?”

The tears flowed down her face before she even realized she was crying. “Fire. Pain. An awful voice in my head chanting my name over and over.”

He cupped her face and used his thumbs to wipe away the tears. “Is that all it said?”

“No. It said…it was my turn. My turn to become its servant. And it laughed.”

Cam shook his head then placed a soft kiss on her lips. “That’s never going to happen, baby. Not on my watch.”

Then he pulled her into his arms and let her cry away the rest of her fear.

Chapter Ten

Every hitch of Elle’s breath, every tear that hit Cam’s neck, felt like a thousand ice picks stabbing his heart. He held her and ran a hand over her back when what he really wanted to do was kill every demon ever created. Rage crept into his mind, too close to taking over the inner peace that filled all angels at all times, even in the midst of battle.

He closed his eyes, inhaled Elle’s unique scent, and prayed.
Please, give me strength.

I’m sorry, Cam.
Elle’s soft voice in his head brought him up short.

Kissing her temple, he answered in kind.
Sorry for what, baby?

Being so weak. You’re probably sick to death of rescuing me.

He pulled her back far enough to see his face.
Never.

“But, Cam…” Her eyes widened. “Did I… Did we…”

Though amused by her shock, he bit back a smile. “We spoke mind to mind.”

“How? I’m not an angel. Are you sure?”

His grin broke through.
Yes, baby. I’m positive. You don’t have to be an angel. But since you and I are bonding, you’re able to speak to me this way.

Tears shimmered in her eyes again. “Bonding? What does that mean? How is it even possible?”

Kissing her lips, he confessed the truth. “You’re in my heart as much as you’re in my head now. What we mean to each other, the time we’ve spent together, has bonded us. It’s hard to explain, but I swear it’s a good thing.”

Her brow furrowed. “So, once we’re separated, it’ll stop?”

That made his grin melt right off. “We’re not separating.”

“Cam—”

“No, Elle, listen to me.” He gave her a gentle shake. “I’m not going anywhere, and I want you to stay with me. I can keep you safe. I’ll protect you with everything in me.”

She looked away. “But once the threat is gone, you won’t have to protect me anymore. There are plenty of other people who need your protection.”

“You’re more important to me than all of them.”

Her breath hitched, but she still wouldn’t look at him. He fought the urge to shake her again. “Elle. Elle, please look at me.”

After what felt like an eternity she finally met his gaze again. “What?”

As he ran a finger from her temple to her chin, her softness hardened the most male part of him. “You mean everything to me, and I don’t want to even think about going back to the way things were between us before I realized that. Please. Give me a second chance?”

“I…”

The yearning on her face told him she wanted to, but something was holding her back.

I love you, Eleanor.

Surprise lit her gaze, but it was quickly followed by annoyance. “And you can’t say it out loud?”

A surprised laugh escaped him as he pulled her tight against his chest.

“I love you,” he whispered in her ear.

With a growl of annoyance, she pushed against his chest. “Cam.”

He let her pull back but didn’t fully release her. Then he noticed the real pain in her expression and sobered instantly. “Elle, I really do love you.”

“Do you?”

“Yes. Want me to go up on the roof and shout it out?”

When he released her and jumped to his feet, she finally laughed and grabbed his arm as he spun toward the door.

“No, no, you don’t have to do that.”

“Are you sure?”

The radiant smile on her face loosened the knot in his chest, and he returned to the bed.

“I’m very sure. I love you, too, Camael.”

He took over her lips and leaned into her until she fell back against the mattress. Then he covered her with his body and kissed her some more.

“I’m going to make love to you until you have no reason to ever doubt me again,” he whispered against her skin.

A moan escaped her lips as he ran the tip of his tongue over her collarbone. Thoughts of demons, cults, her doubts, and every other concern but her pleasure fled from his mind. Convincing her of his love through his touch was his top priority, and everything else would simply have to wait. He left her only long enough to strip off all his clothes then returned to the bed.

The journey down her body only stopped when the sheets hindered his progress. He shoved them away as quickly as he could to get to the rest of her hidden beneath. She squealed when he ran his tongue around her belly button, and tried to push him away when he dipped inside. Then he gave her a light nip before continuing. Her next sound came out in a gasp as he settled between her thighs. Tasting her was now his favorite treat. He spent long minutes pleasuring her with his mouth as she tightened in climax. Then he slid back up her body to just watch her catch her breath.

Resting on an elbow, he eased his fingers through her hair while his other hand ran lightly over her quaking body. “You are so damn beautiful. I’ll never tire of looking at you.”

Her answering smile stole his breath. She pulled him down for a kiss, and her soft skin slid against his as she wrapped both arms and legs around him. Then, in a surprising show of dominance, she rolled until she rested on top. He grinned and remained pliant as she sat up.

“My turn,” she whispered.

He settled his hands on her hips but didn’t help as she maneuvered to take him into her body. They groaned in unison as he filled her.

“You’re mine, Camael.”

“Yessss. And you’re mine.”

When he might have said more, her movements took his breath away. He held on for the ride and let pleasure fill every crevice. The rage dissipated as if it had never been, and nothing but joy and ecstasy sang through him. She cried out and shuddered above him in another climax as he followed her over.

Warmth covered him as she dropped onto his chest. He tightened his arms around her and let his muscles relax. Nothing would ever take this woman from him again. Not even his own doubts.

Cam expected to be peppered with questions when he woke, but Elle wasn’t even in the room. Annoyance filled him at waking alone, until he heard the shower in the adjoining bathroom. He was about to join her when a firm knock sounded on the bedroom door.

“Hey, you two, food will be ready soon.”

He smiled at the sound of Asta’s voice. “All right. We’re coming.”

Her only reply was the sound of light footsteps walking away. Cam stepped into his jeans and grabbed his shirt off the floor, but before he could pull it on, a loud boom sounded, and the entire house shook with the force. Elle cried out, and he ran straight to the bathroom. He opened the door to find her on the floor in a towel and the entire outside wall missing.

“Cam! Hel—”

Another loud crash shook the house, and part of the floor fell away. Elle screamed as she started sliding away. He leapt into the room and grabbed her hand, but her slick fingers slipped from his grasp. She screamed again and fell over the edge. An anguished roar tore from his chest. The ground had fallen into a sinkhole, the black pit seemingly bottomless. His wings burst from his back, and he dove in.

Somehow he lost sight of her, even though only a heartbeat had passed before he followed.
God, where is she?
He plummeted downward without need of his wings. Anguish filled his chest at the thought of losing Elle.
No. I won’t even think it.

Cam was vaguely aware of his brothers beside him as he passed through the barrier separating the human realm from hell. All of his focus was on getting to Elle and making sure she remained unharmed. Images of her broken and battered body threatened to fill his head, but he shoved them away. He wouldn’t give in to despair. She had to be okay. He would find her at any cost.

They dug up from the bottom to avoid the wards.
The anger in Mike’s voice centered Cam as he continued to fly downward.

He spared a thought for Zerach, Rafe, Asta, and Isadora, but Elle was his first priority.

We’ll get her back,
Sel said.
They probably aren’t expecting all of us.

Only then did Cam realize Sebastian, Nathaniel, and Ariel of the Kehath clan were with them. That made seven angels flying into the hell realm after a single human.
This should be a piece of cake.

…

Eleanor screamed until the coppery taste of blood tainted her raw throat, then she sobbed and shut her eyes against the eternal darkness around her. The chill in the air turned damp, until a light mist covered her skin. Bumps broke out all over her body, and she tightened her grip on the towel that now seemed way too small. It covered her from breasts to knees but was nowhere near enough for whatever she had fallen into. Like Alice down the rabbit hole, her fall seemed to be eternal.

A noise startled her, and she opened her eyes. The darkness had taken on a red tint, but she was still falling with no clue as to how far and how fast. Then the red tint brightened, and she noticed shapes in the air around her. Another noise sounded, and she craned her neck to look over her shoulder. A scream escaped as the ground rushed toward her at an alarming rate. She fell hard onto a pile of bones that crunched beneath her and turned to dust.

For a moment, she just lay there to catch her breath. Then she rolled onto her stomach and slid down the pile of bones to rest at the bottom. Throat burning and eyes watering from the dust, she struggled to her feet and tied the ends of the towel into a knot at her breasts. She wiped her hands down her hips and looked around. A barren desert stretched out as far as she could see, the landscape only broken by the occasional pile of bones. She stepped away from the one she had landed on and studied it. They were human, animal, and God only knew what type of creature’s bones. All were bleached white from some unknown light source far above her.

The sky was overcast, but she couldn’t make out actual clouds. There only seemed to be a thick mist above her and fine-grained sand beneath. She swallowed down her fears and walked a few paces away from the bones. Should she search for a way out? Should she wait for rescue? There wasn’t a single doubt in her mind that Cam was on his way to get her. Her only real fear was what might happen in the meantime. She crossed her arms over her chest and resigned herself to just staying in one spot and waiting. But then the unmistakable sound of a baby crying reached her ears.

She spun on her heel, listening until she pinpointed which direction it had come from. The baby cried out again, and she ran toward the sound. Her feet made no noise in the dead air as she pounded over the sand to yet another pile of bones, which was larger than the one she had landed in. She ran up to the edge of it and stopped to listen. A soft whimper sounded from around it. She ran and froze as soon as she reached the other side.

Hidden behind the bones was a familiar, tall, wooden fence that struck terror in her heart. The gate stood open in invitation, unlike at any time in her childhood. She talked herself into taking a tentative step forward, but the place looked deserted. As she stood frozen on the threshold, every childhood fear came roaring back to life. Images of her mother’s tear-streaked face, the sounds of maniacal worship, it all echoed through her memories. Terror kept her immobile until the baby cried out again. Before she even made the conscious thought to do so, she was moving. She ran into the compound and looked around, spying the large, central tent they’d visited three times a day, every day, for worship.

The large front flap was held open with a stick in the ground. Familiar smudges of dirt marred the tent’s edges. One spot was blackened from a stray cigarette one of the elders had accidentally thrown too close—she still remembered the smell of the vinyl melting before it was quickly put out. Darkness waited inside the tent, and she stopped at the doorway to let her eyes adjust. The baby cried again, and with her pulse galloping madly, she stepped inside.

The shadows were familiar. A small stage area took up one end, with rows of flattened burlap sacks before it. Those had been their seats, and the smaller children had shared spots. She remembered sitting on her mother’s lap while her mom pretended the burlap sack was one of the most comfortable spots in which she’d ever sat. A shudder ran through Eleanor as darker memories surfaced as well, but she pushed them aside to concentrate on the present. Where was that baby?

The shadows moved in one corner, and she stepped back, closer to the opening. What looked like black smoke swirled in one spot, spiraling up toward the top of the eight-foot ceiling of the tent. She couldn’t make out anything within the smoke, but the whimpering baby seemed to be in that area. Her pulse raced, and she knew she shouldn’t move forward. But she had no choice if there was a baby here who needed help.

This is such a bad idea.

She closed the distance until only two feet separated her from the shadowy smoke. There was another sound, but it didn’t resemble a baby this time. A chuckle rang out, low at first. It strengthened steadily as the smoke seemed to solidify. Every one of Elle’s muscles froze as her mind screamed for her to turn and run. Utter horror filled her until she couldn’t form a coherent thought. A vision from her worst nightmares formed, and it wasn’t a pretty sight.

“Welcome back, my child.”

Red eyes in a face topped by black horns looked down at her, and she screamed. The demon’s head fell back as it laughed at her, the sound like glass breaking inside of her ears. She fell to her knees and covered them, but it did no good. The sound was inside her head.

Cam, Cam, where are you?

If he answered, she couldn’t tell, because the demon’s laugh wouldn’t go away. It softened but was immediately overtaken by a grating voice telling her of all the ways it was going to hurt Cam once he arrived.

“No, no, no.”

She kept her hands clamped over her ears as she shook her head back and forth. It did no good; she couldn’t shut out the voices. She was vaguely aware of movement near the entrance to the tent, but her mind couldn’t hold on to a thought long enough for her body to react. The voices were everywhere and everything.

When the demon grabbed her and pulled her against the side of its body, she screamed at the contact. Her eyes watered from the pain of every exposed inch of skin that touched it. She was on fire. The demon chanted in her head over and over, telling her in explicit detail how it planned to dispose of Cam’s body once it had the angel in its grasp. She cried out at the image it put in her head of Cam’s broken body, blood pouring from every orifice as he lay dead at its feet. She couldn’t even muster up the will to fight. The physical and emotional pain was too great.