Eighty-Four
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Cameron
T hat damned beeping. My hand reached out, slamming on the table
near me until it stopped. I curled back under the bodies that
surrounded me, the couple still sound asleep. The beeping started
again.
“What the fuck?”
I tossed an arm off me and sat up, squinting into the darkened room. My phone. What time was it?
I shifted, untangling myself from the couple I had met hours ago at some bar I’d already forgotten the name of. All I knew was I wanted to get far away from the remains of Rashearim and Xavier. I just wanted to forget for a few hours. Obviously, my time was up, work intruding like always.
I grabbed my pants off the floor, pulling them on before finding my shirt. I barely had one arm through the sleeve before the beeping started
again.
“I’m coming. Godsdamn.”
I reached for it right as the husband—I forgot his name—stirred on the bed, grabbing his wife. I didn’t remember her name, either.
I yawned but came fully alert when I saw the name flashing across my
phone.
Xavier.
My heart raced, pounding against my ribs. Why would he be calling me? He’d made his choices perfectly clear. His name disappeared, the screen going dark. What if he was hurt?
The phone lit up again in my hand. I took a deep breath, rubbing a hand across my face before answering.
“You are a hard man to get a hold of.”
Fear filled me. That wasn’t Xavier. “Who are you? Why do you have Xavier’s phone?”
His laugh was damn near a purr. “Come to fifty-second street, and you’ll find out, little hunter.”
The line went dead, and I was out the door the next second.
T he neon bar sign flickered , lights dancing on the empty street .
Nothing stirred, not even the air, but my senses were on high alert. My rings vibrated, reacting to my unease. My instincts screamed danger, reminding me of the first time I’d encountered Dianna.
I pulled the door open and entered the bar without hesitating. The music assaulted me first, and then the smell hit me—blood and flesh, rotting flesh.
Underlying that noxious scent was a hint of cinnamon, but with a dark, bitter element.
“Put the blade away. You’re embarrassing yourself.”
The man sprawled in a chair, not bothering to look at me. He tipped his head back, throwing down a shot of dark liquor. From his size, the power that smelled like Dianna, and the arrogance that wafted from him, I knew
who he was.
“Kaden.”
He turned his head toward me, a slow, sinister smile forming on his lips.
My blood ran cold. Red eyes glowed from every corner of the room, the large, winged beasts chirping at each other. Their massive jaws and rows of teeth snapped as they fed on the bodies scattered on the floor.
“They were hungry, and we have a long trip home.”
“What have you done to Xavier?”
He put his glass down. “You know, I was concerned that what Vincent
told me about you was wrong.”
I swallowed. “Vincent?”
Kaden stood. He was taller than I had assumed. His power scraped against my skin like sandpaper. “I mean, it took you forever even to answer
your phone, and the way you smell… Tsk, tsk. Lover’s quarrel?”
I gritted my teeth, raising my blade. “Where is he?”
Kaden’s smile widened, and he nodded toward something behind me.
“Turn around.”
I stepped to the side and turned to keep him in my peripheral vision.
Keeping my blade raised, I glanced to the side. Xavier stepped from the shadows, the cobalt glow of his eyes matching the tattoos flowing over his
skin.
“Xavi?”
No response, but I hadn’t really expected one. Not when he looked like that, felt like that. I couldn’t explain it, but I couldn’t feel him anymore. It was as if his spark had been snuffed out.
I glared at Kaden. “What did you do?” I demanded.
Kaden appeared in front of me, his scent making my nose curl. My blade rested against the center of his chest. He leaned in, pressing the metal further into his skin, his eyes blazing.
“Oh, just the tip?”
“What did you do to him?” I damn near screamed.
“Do it,” he encouraged.
I wanted to skewer him but couldn’t take the chance, not while he had Xavi.
“You’re quivering, hunter.” He smiled, and it was downright evil. “Is it because of him? Is it love?” He nodded knowingly at me, pursing his lips.
“The fearless Hand of Rashearim. Samkiel’s royal guards. The keepers of peace and justice. Except here you all are, pretending to be anything but the weapons we created you to be. Have a seat. Let’s talk.”
Kaden took a step back and turned, heading to the bar. My gaze swung to Xavier. He walked by me without giving me a second glance. Ignoring me completely, he took a seat beside Kaden.
I finally got my body to move and sat on the other side of Kaden. He slid a glass toward me before pouring each of us a drink.
“Drink up. We have a long trip ahead of us.”
I watched Xavier throw back his drink without a second thought. Kaden caught me looking and smiled as he gulped the shot.
“Don’t worry about him. He’s never been better.”
“What did you do to him? Why won’t he talk?”
Kaden lifted his hand, focusing on a point beyond me. A portal ripped open in the center of the room. A few of those hideous Irvikuva walked out on all fours, but the man who walked with them made my stomach lurch.
“The same thing I did with him.”
I could feel the color drain from my face. I never thought I’d see this person again. His eyes and skin burned cobalt blue, his hair falling well past his shoulders, a few thin pieces curling around his face. He had changed, but I would remember that broad nose, bronzed skin, and power anywhere.
He was one of the oldest, most powerful celestials in existence, and we’d all thought him long dead.
“Azrael.” My body broke out in a cold sweat. “You’re still alive.”
Azrael ignored me as if I didn’t even exist. He walked toward us and sat on my other side.
Kaden shrugged and clenched his fist, closing the portal. “Let’s just say the lights are on, but nobody’s home.”
I swallowed and glanced at Xavier. I could call a blade forth fast enough to slash Kaden’s face. Maybe it would buy me enough time to grab Xavier and—
“I wouldn’t try anything, Cameron. Xavier won’t go with you, not anymore. He belongs to me now.”
“No, he doesn’t,” I all but spat, my fist curling on the bar.
“Want to bet? Isn’t that your thing? I have been keeping tabs on you and
your little friends.”
“What?”
Before I could process the ramifications of his claim, he said, “Xavier, stand.”
Xavier slipped off the barstool and stood beside Kaden, his body relaxed, his stare vacant.
“Now take out a blade and slit your throat,” Kaden said calmly, pouring another drink.
I launched off my stool, sending it crashing to the floor as Xavier summoned a blade. I grabbed the hand he had wrapped around the hilt, holding the knife away from his throat. He struggled, trying to lean into it.
“Xavier!” I screamed, using every ounce of strength I had to keep him from doing what Kaden had asked. “Stop.”
Kaden sat sipping on his drink and watching us struggle. This was a game to him, a sick, fucking twisted game. Xavier fought me harder, but I
refused to allow him to hurt himself.
“Stop this,” I gritted out between my teeth.
Kaden slurped his drink obnoxiously loud. “What do I get?”
My muscles screamed with effort. “What do you want?”
“You know, I love love.” He tapped his finger against his glass. “So easy to manipulate.”
Sweat formed on my head, my feet slipping as Xavier strained against my hold.
“Xavier, put your blade away, and have a seat, please.”
Just like that, a switch flipped. Xavier’s blade withdrew into his ring, and he retook his seat, doing exactly what Kaden commanded. I dropped my hands, my heart beating wildly.
Kaden chuckled. “It hurts, doesn’t it?” he asked, nodding toward Xavier. “Seeing the one you love the most completely under the spell of another. It burns your gut, makes your heart race.”
“Is this some sick fucking game to you? Is this payback because you
can’t have Dianna?”
“You and I are a lot alike, Cameron.”
“No, we aren’t.”
“We bury ourselves in others because we cannot have the one we truly want. We don’t feel worthy of them.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Kaden smiled. “Don’t you?” He leaned back in his seat and gestured toward my empty chair. “Did you ever tell him why Kryella sent his entire unit to that desolate planet?”
Guilt and fear twisted through me. Kaden patted the seat near him and filled my glass again. Against my will, I sat.
“How do you know about that?”
“I know a lot of things, especially the guilt that eats away at your soul.
Why do you think you aren’t good enough for him? You feel guilty for the family he lost, the sister he lost, but it wasn’t your fault. You only followed orders. Athos’s orders, right?”
I picked up my drink and downed it in one gulp.
“You try to drown your guilt with lovers and jokes, but the truth is you’re just as much of a monster as I.”
“What do you want?” I asked again, setting the empty glass down.
“I want you with me, and I think you’ll follow my rules willingly, too.
You know why?”
My fingers traced the ridges on the glass. “Why?”
“Because you love him. You see, as I said, I love love. And I think you love him so much you’d do anything for him. Am I right?”
“I’ll ask again, what do you want?”
Kaden looked at me. “It’s not what I want. It’s what you will want, and you will have to want it for it to work. I think you will comply once you learn what’s coming. I think you will do anything to keep him safe.”
He raised his wrist to his mouth, his lips curling back, exposing canines, sharp and deadly. I knew what was coming, yet I let him force his blood upon me. My very soul seemed to burn. It screamed as I swallowed, and then there was nothing but absolute darkness. My last thought was of him.
It was always him.
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