Domiel (9 page)

The feeling of isolation paralyzed her to the sticky floor. She did her best to get her head back in the game, but couldn’t control the shaking of her body. The club had gone full-on wild, glasses crashing against the floor, humans jacked up on booze flipping the fuck out. Not that she blamed them. She was having her own issues keeping her shit together, and she was a professional assassin.

Another bullet zipped past her head. Déjà-vu. Maybe it
was
Domiel. She belly-crawled across the floor until she hit another wall, glass now embedded in her palms. Unable to see, she groped the space around her and only came up with a tiny straw someone had lost from their drink. Blind as she was, she couldn’t dare use her weapons.

Someone’s beer bottle hit her right leg. She fought the desire to pick it up and take a long pull. Not that the alcohol would do a damn thing to take the sting from her eyes.

Suddenly Domiel’s energy saturated the air around her, bringing with it relief only a frightened child could relate to when reunited with a parent. His large palms engulfed her face, his familiar scent washing over her. She would have accepted his marriage proposal just then, she was so happy he was by her side.

She blindly grabbed his arm, thankful for his presence and strength. Caught somewhere between terror and duty, she didn’t know what the fuck to do. “Did you see anything? Is the threat eliminated?”

A tingling vibrated through her body as Domiel dematerialized them. The scent of pine potpourri filled her nostrils as she fought the nausea accompanied by the transit. They were back at the house. The feeling of isolation melted away now that she knew she was safe. Even though she remained blind, Domiel’s energy calmed her.

Her courage flared back to life with her new sense of calm. “What are you doing? Someone tried to put the kibosh on me! We need to find out what they know.” She couldn’t blink her eyes without pain. The shards of plastic tore at her eyelids as though razorblades were stuck inside her pupils. Hot, wet streaks of blood coursed down her cheeks; the metallic scent kept her fangs elongated. She tried keeping her eyelids open with her hands, but open or shut, her eyes burned. Jesus, she was going to start sobbing … the pain was so intense.

“We can’t now. Hold still.”

She knocked his hands from her face. Hopefully the humans had been too scared to notice two people pulling a disappearing act. “Yes we can, just flash us back.” The thought sickened her, but she did everything in her power to squash the chickenshit side of her down. Forget the pain. Shut it out. Life as she knew it rested on her gaining information. This could be a lead … or it could be the Alliance. They never wasted time when it came to assassinations.

At any given time, there were assassins in all countries, so it wouldn’t surprise her if one had been in Paris. Lachlan made Paris his home. Could be him. Then again, there had been too many humans around to make a hit. Rule number one applied, and Lachlan was a seasoned assassin. He didn’t make mistakes like that.

“No.”

“Stupid-ass rookie! Fine, I’ll go myself right after I get my damned sight back.”

“You will
stay here
,” he shouted hoarsely. “Cops will be swarming that place within a few minutes. You are not going back.”

Even without sight, she could tell he issued the last command through clenched teeth.

This was the first time she’d thought of him as a threat, not just as a trainee. A flunky trainee at that. The bastard had shot her not twenty-four hours ago. She had to think of him as a threat to her life, and now that she was blinded for God knew how long, it would be that much more difficult.

Worse, he was right and she knew it. A large part of her didn’t want to go back. The terror had frozen her. She wasn’t ready.

He cradled her in his arms, lifted her from the floor, and laid her out on the couch. His touch was tender when he began to inspect her injuries. Feeling like a fool, she remained still and let him. She’d embarrassed herself back at the club. Her nightmares had flared to life and paralyzed her.

An assassin afraid of dark places. Hell, a
vampire
afraid of the dark.
Christ.

“I need to find something to take the debris out of your eyes.”

“Tweezers. Check the bathroom.”

His presence melted away, and she was left to her own thoughts. Could the attacker have been a member of the Alliance? Most likely. She doubted it was the incubus from her dreams. He’d attack her in his own realm, get her when she was most vulnerable. During the afternoon, while she’d waited for Domiel to wake, she thought about the enemies she’d made over the years. No matter how long she’d contemplated, only the incubus came to mind.

He’d actually helped her during her possession. His presence had quieted the spiritual demons. He had the same powers she did, magnified. He could have done those things she was being charged with, but why? Why target her after all these years?

“I found them.”

The warmth of his fingers made her skin tingle as he wiped away the tears of blood from her cheeks. She braced herself for the pain that would come.

“Did you get a good look at the attacker? Was it an Alliance member?” She had to get her mind off what he was about to do. She already felt dizzy and nauseated.

“Hold still.”

He began the arduous task of taking the pieces of plastic from her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to black out so she wouldn’t feel the pain anymore.

If she passed out the demon would come to her. He’d feel her pain and appear to her in her dreams. He always followed her pain, whether physical or emotional, as though it attracted him.

Unable to check the scream building in her chest as Domiel dug the tweezers in, she screamed and secretly prayed she’d pass out.

* * * *

“They won’t do anything in front of the humans. Keep walking.”

Alexia moved through the crowded airport terminal efficiently and as fast as her short legs would carry her. Jade was right. Azazel and Samael still played by the rules, much unlike their significant others. Alexia thought back to the time she’d first met Azazel. He’d been ruthless. Dark. Deadly.

Practically love at first sight for her.

Yet only a few hours ago he expected her to allow the Alliance to annihilate one of her closest friends, and that’s when she’d knifed him in the inner thigh, drawing his rich, thick blood. Her mouth began to water from the memory. The audacity of her own lover tracking her. “He doesn’t even know me. It’s like I married a stranger.”

Jade pushed her from behind, urging her to move faster. “No time to play Dr. Phil. They’re catching up with us. Move your ass.”

“Of course they’re catching up. I married an alpha. So did you.” She glanced back to blow her man a kiss as he moved down the escalator two steps at a time. He didn’t raise his palm to catch it so she flipped him off.

Jade picked up the pace again, now jogging beside her. “Samael says I’m jeopardizing our future and falling back on the way I used to be.
I’m
sorry. When we met I knew I was going to die because of the vision you’d seen. The grenades were for self preservation. This is different.”

Lexie moved around a woman who was fumbling with her luggage and cell. “Well, get ready to haul ass. Once we hit those doors they’re going to be on us like fangs on a vein.”

As the baggage claim drew closer, Alexia actually knew bone-chilling fear. “Do you think Ambrose is still pissed?”

Jade glanced at her. “You set fire to his office while I threw grenades at the front gate and blew the shit to smithereens. Yeah, I think he’s still a bit peeved.”

Alexia glanced back. Azazel was threading through the busy terminal, Samael right behind him. Azazel wasn’t smiling, nor did he look particularly amused. The last time she’d seen his boots eat up the ground like that it was to take on eighty spiritual demons single-handedly. And he’d accomplished that feat.

“We’re screwed.”

Jade took lead and maneuvered through the crowds in the baggage claim. “That didn’t occur to you when we were blowing up the gates to the Alliance Headquarters?”

Two silhouettes stood in front of the doors that were as familiar to her as her most prized weapons. “No, I mean we’re seriously screwed.”

“Did you figure that out before or after the flight when I morphed into the pilot so we could, as you put it, fly defensively?”

Alexia pulled Jade to a stop and pointed. Two of the heads of the Alliance were staring at them through the glass that separated them from the outside—from salvation. “Sven and Roger, eleven o’clock.”

Jade’s hand went to her thigh, but her hand fell only on denim, not the daggers that were usually strapped there. “Oh. Shit. We’re screwed.”

Alexia ground her teeth. She hadn’t made it this far to fail now. “Brace yourself.”

“For what?”

She was going to go to hell—as a divorced woman. She pointed to Sven and Roger, who were standing just outside in the smoking area. They were the biggest threat at the moment. In her best French, she screamed, “Bomb! Those men have a bomb!”

* * * *

If there was one thing Domiel had learned during his past few months on earth, it was how to console a woman in need. Only he doubted Kelsey would allow him to console her in the only way he knew how—with his hands. His mouth. His tongue. So he took the more appropriate route and started a conversation.

“What happened to you back there?”

Kelsey sat on the large plaid couch, her sight still gone, and a faded quilt around her shoulders. He’d meticulously removed the shards of plastic from her eyes, and she’d only screamed the once—though it had been enough to chill his blood for eternity.

And the look of terror that crossed her features in the club, just after the phone shattered from the onslaught of bullets, had been worse. He felt nothing for the bastard whose neck he’d snapped.

“I’m starting to see light mixed in with the shadows.”

So she didn’t want to talk about it. He could respect that, but she’d also refused his blood, which was highly unusual for a wounded vampire. He should know. Every vamp he’d had sex with had tried to fang him. He detested that shit.

He walked back into the kitchen and grabbed his Coke. The other assassins had talked about what happened to Kelsey a few months back, when they’d thought she couldn’t hear. Some said she hadn’t been the same since her possession. He didn’t think she was thrilled he’d seen her in her weakened state.

If she knew an Alliance member had been the one to take a shot at her, her mood would worsen. He’d recognized the male vampire. A newbie, and one who’d made a horrible mistake in shooting up a crowded club. Domiel had to wonder if the assassin had figured it was then or never. Again, Domiel felt nothing for killing him, and he wasn’t going to regret the rage that had come over him when he’d flashed to that bastard and ended his life.

“Do you want something to drink?”

Instead of answering him, she only inhaled sharply. He rushed to her side, kneeled in front of her, and tilted her head back. “What’s the problem? Is it stinging?”

“I’m healing. My sight’s coming back, it just burns. I’m fine.”

She tried pushing him away, but he wouldn’t budge. “It’s okay to show weakness. You’re hurt. You don’t have to be tough all the time.”

Her fingers wrapped around his wrist. Her mouth opened to say something, but she must have decided against it. She only let his wrist go and turned away her face from his.

“Kelsey—”

“Leave it be, rookie. Weakness won’t help me solve my problem. It wouldn’t have helped me back when I was possessed, either. It took strength to keep them at bay. They fought me with my own secrets, my own
fears
. Do you have any idea what that was like? And now my own family has put a hit on me.” Her sightless eyes were wide. “What the hell is going on? I feel like I’m the only one not let in on some hilarious, fucked-up joke.”

He slid his palm against the back of her neck and brought her close. He was going to tell her … something inspirational. Something significant that would give her strength and courage. Instead he found himself leaning forward and brushing his lips over hers. Ironically, he’d fallen back on the only way he knew to console.

Expecting her to pull back and slap him, he was pleasantly surprised when she deepened the kiss. His fantasies hadn’t lived up to the reality of touching her. Her lips were softer, her scent much more intoxicating, her eagerness … well, that part was the same.

The kiss was gentle. He took her bottom lip between his, no rushing, no tongue. Just a simple, light, mind-blowing kiss. If she had an inkling of how badly he’d wanted this, and for how long, she’d think him desperate. She wouldn’t be too far off the mark.

She broke the kiss but didn’t pull away from him. “I’m sorry.” The whispered words hung between them. Their faces remained so close her lips still brushed his when she spoke. “I didn’t mean for you to become involved.”

He cared for her. The emotion wasn’t something he could put to words, as he was coming to terms with it himself. He didn’t believe his feelings were the same that Samael had for Jade, and yet his emotions grew stronger for Kelsey … seemingly by the hour. She was vulnerable, yet strong. Determined but lost.

“I believe you, and we’ll prove your innocence.”

She finally leaned away from him. “Before I was shot at, Lexie said Azazel, Samael, Sven, and Roger are on their way. Sven and Roger created the Alliance, along with Ambrose. If an assassin can’t complete his or her mission for some reason, Roger and Sven are the ones that get sent in. They’re known as the closers. They’ve never failed. Ambrose has never had to come up behind them.” She paused. “Actually, the last time Ambrose left Headquarters was to search for me in Paris.”

“I won’t allow you to get hurt, Kels. You’re not alone.”

“But I am.” She slowly shook her head. “What could have possibly convinced them that I deserve death? I’m innocent.”

He grabbed her hand and squeezed. “And we’re going to prove that.” Or he’d die trying, he silently promised.