Embrace, Entice, Emblaze (122 page)

diamonds. Then there was the ankle bracelet, which was the most dainty of the pieces and held matching, though significantly

smaller, teardrop diamonds to complement the necklace— and was

my favorite.

Finally, I pulled back my dress at the slit to reveal the web of delicate chains holding an arrangement of vibrant green emeralds in the pattern of a spider— its eight legs stretching around my thigh. Though it was bizarre, it was also…kind of hot.

But the jewelry paled in comparison to the dress.

I remembered staring at it in the shop window, thinking it was

the most stunning gown I had ever seen, but now— it was more

than I could have imagined. It fit perfectly, as if it had been specifi-cally designed for me.

Black and strapless, the fitted bodice was finely detailed with black crystals, while the rest of the fabric floated down elegantly, and the high slit at the side showed flashes of skin when I walked.

The elevator doors opened while I was still staring at this

unknown version of myself in the mirror.

“
What
are you doing with that?” Morgan asked, pointing to my hand, which held my sheathed dagger.

“I didn’t know where to strap it.”

“You are
not
putting a dagger on that outfit,” she said, extending her hand to stop the elevator doors from closing.

“Well, I’m not going anywhere without it.” I’d made that mistake once before and experienced the full force of Onyx at his worst as 245

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a result. “Where I go, my weapon follows.” I spun toward the open doors and froze, the force of his power hitting me first.

Honey. Everywhere.

Lincoln was standing on the opposite side of the tiny foyer,

looking straight at me, his hand gripping the table he stood beside, wearing the hungriest expression I’d ever seen on…anything—

animal or human.

Oh.

It’s the dress. Breathe.

It’s just the dress, maybe the jewelry.

I closed the short distance between us, hoping I wouldn’t trip

on the way, and saw that he looked amazing. He wore a tailored

suit, which sat on him, like my dress, as if it had been measured perfectly to his body, with a black shirt, open at he collar, sending me all the right— no, wrong— messages.

“You look great,” I said, since he hadn’t said anything.

His eyes glanced down before he could stop them, and once

he pulled them back up, they seemed to drag their own way back

down again before he realized. I felt a wash of self- consciousness.

Suddenly, I couldn’t tell if he approved or not.

“Well, you’re clearly in capable hands.” Morgan rolled her eyes like a pro. “I’ll have the car come around. Max is going to escort you there, but he has to stay in the car. Okay?” she said, holding my eyes to be sure I’d heard and understood. She put out her hand.

“Give me the dagger.”

I didn’t move. “No.”

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She gave a frustrated sigh.

“I’ll carry it,” Lincoln said, opening his jacket a little to reveal his own dagger. I trustingly passed it to him. He took it carefully, ensuring he didn’t make contact with me at all.

“Here’s the car,” Morgan said from the entryway when she heard

a horn beep. She pulled open the hotel door. “Josephine said to remind you, you have to present the jewels and allow him to take possession of them— those are the terms.”

I nodded, my short- lived excitement fading fast. I turned to

ask Lincoln what he thought that meant, but he’d already disap-

peared outside.

Way
to
make
a
girl
feel
pretty.

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chapter
twenty- two

“An angel can illume the thought and mind of man by strengthening the power of vision.”

saINT THOMas aQuINas

I made my way down the spiral staircase, hoping I wouldn’t trip and have some spectacular fall. I really didn’t care that much about being pretty. Not like Steph, anyway. But now that I was all glammed up, I didn’t want to make an absolute fool of myself. I mean, how many chances was I really going to have to wear a dress like this?

Halfway down the stairs, I felt the shift. “Oh no,” I moaned.

“Not now.” I put a hand on the railing to steady myself as gravity lightened its hold on the world and something else, something that shouldn’t have been there, moved around me. Last time their realm had touched with ours, we’d been in Jordan, so it didn’t seem so strange to see sands rolling in. But on Santorini, a volcanic island, seeing desert sands start blowing toward me was just plain unsettling.

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time. I took a deep breath and concentrated on restoring my

barriers. I couldn’t be this defenseless when Nox, or Uri for that matter, arrived.

Gradually, like waking a sleeping limb, I started to feel the

prickle of nerves coming alive. Wiggling my toes was good but not enough. I kept my focus, my grip moving along the railing again, and then, willing more, I found myself taking that step back up the stairs.

Okay. We have movement!

The sands drifted in and then rained down on the steps, a few

grains falling into my hand. I started trying to reach for Lincoln through our link, but barely managed the thought before someone else was standing in front of me.

“Uri?” I asked, fairly certain but still slightly confused each time I saw one of my identical guides. Uri was an Angel Elect. He looked disheveled and dirty— not in the way someone who was

kind and all good could shun material possessions and survive with the barest necessities. No, he always looked like he was coming off the biggest bender ever. Sandy blond hair, tangled, cupping his face; a tailored white shirt, unbuttoned at the top and hanging loose at the bottom; black pants that looked like they were in need of a wash; and…no shoes. All topped off with a three- day growth.

I stared. There was something about him. I couldn’t decide what it was, but I found myself more unnerved around him in many

ways than I was with Nox.

Nox was simple. His motives were wrong; he wanted wrong; he

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was
wrong. Uri…Uri was something else, but something altogether more frightening.

He watched me as I watched him, and I could see he was having

thoughts of his own. The look of disgust was unmistakable, but I’d learned to expect that. Angels who have not chosen this life may be intrigued by humanity, but they also see us as lower beings— it’s almost as if they don’t want to get too close in case it’s catching.

“Good evening, Violet,” Uri said, his voice dry.

I stood tall and put my hand out to shake.

His eyes went wide and I couldn’t help but smile. I’d just had a double score. First, I knew he didn’t particularly want to have to touch me— but hell, he’d made me shake his hand once before so it was only fair— and second, I’d shown him I was strong enough to move.

Go, me.

He moved forward, taking the step up to me as I took the step

down. This time, he kept his expression neutral.

Taking his hand was like holding something unnatural— my

mind boggled. His grip was firm— all man— but his skin was so

soft, like a newborn baby’s. These two sensations— strength and innocence— are not supposed to go together. And there was something else— a spark, crackling between us.

I flinched at the sensation. Uri’s hand steadied me, and his

eyes lifted, amused. “First, you touch the human, then the spirit, then…the angel.”

I was about to ask what that meant but, like he had done once

before, just as I’d seen my angel maker do, his face dropped what 250

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minimal expression it held and became vacant. Still holding my

hand, still there, but…not.

No
crackle. Not even a snap or pop.

And it felt strangely familiar.

“You look…superficial,” he said suddenly, moving back as soon

as I released his hand in shock. It had only been five or six seconds, but he had definitely gone somewhere momentarily and returned

just as quickly.

I shrugged, trying to regain my voice. “Not by choice, though

I’m not complaining.”

“Clearly,” he said, judgment rolling off the word.

Whatever.

He looked at me as if he’d read my mind, one eyebrow twitching

slightly. Of course, that was about the most I’d ever seen from Uri.

Unlike Nox, he didn’t smile much.

“You do not fear me as much as you should,” he said, a question in the statement.

Damn angels— whether exiled or not, light or dark, they were

all creatures of pride.

“If I spent all my time fearing the things I should, I’d never

stop screaming.”

Uri tilted his head. “True.”

Oh, comforting.

“What are you doing here, Uri? Is this another ‘You need to

surrender’ conversation? Because I’m kinda in a hurry.” Not that that mattered— right now he was stalling time. I looked past him 251

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to see Lincoln standing by the black sedan. He had one hand on

the roof of the car, eyes closed and his head bowed as if he were praying. He looked like he’d been trapped in some state of torture.

Another cheering thought.

“I believe you’re going to see one of our fallen?”

He didn’t “believe” anything. He knew. Angels always
know.

I nodded.

“He’s called the Keeper. That’s all I know. I have to give him

payment, so we can stay here. Apparently returning him would

cause more harm than good.”

“Perhaps,” Uri said. “Though you would be wise to keep your

eyes open.”

“What does that mean?” He wasn’t just telling me to be careful.

“The Keeper is a collector. He has many things that were never

intended for this world. But some, in the right hands, would be more…appropriate.”

“Okay…” My hand planted itself on my hip. “But you’re going

to have to be more specific. I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, feeling once again the frustration of talking to these otherworldly beings who seemed to know so much and have so

much control, yet at the same time just didn’t get it. “If you want to help, Uri, help!”

His interest in me grew, making me want to calm myself, hide

my anger from him.

“It is not for us to take action and not necessary for us to have the desire to…help, as you put it. Already with you, we walk a fine line.” 252

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I was about to snap back but caught my breath when I saw

something moving behind him. It was like when I’d seen Nox

in Jordan. Something, like sunspots or heat waves, floated in the background. Something…living.

“What…what are those things?” I asked, fighting back a shiver.

“Reflections,” he said after a pause.

“I don’t understand.”

“No.”

Irritated didn’t cover it. I hated the way this worked— no information when I wanted it, only when they deemed it appropriate.

Who the hell gave them so much control?

“So is this like last time? You have some message for me and one from Nox or something?”

“Nox does not trust me to deliver his messages,” he said, bitterness in his tone.

I couldn’t figure them out. They had some kind of understanding and yet a mutual disdain for one another.

“Are you two really brothers?” I asked, unable to stop myself.

“Do we look like brothers?”

“You look like twins, exactly the same,” I said.

“Then, we are the same.”

I didn’t know why I’d bothered. “Just say what you came to say,” I said, crossing my arms.

“I have.”

“That’s it? Surely you can give me something more to work with.

You do realize what’s happening here, don’t you? Phoenix is going 253

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to bring back Lilith.” And I don’t know why, but at that moment, I was quite sure he’d be successful.

“Trials will come and they will go. Those that are left standing must evolve. It is the way of the universe.”

“More tests? You’re supposed to be good, an angel of light!”

I snapped.

“Girl, all existence is a test. Some just get challenged in more obvious ways. And I do not give myself that title. I am an Angel Elect. Humans have decided elect must be light, malign must