Her Demonic Angel (Her Angel Romance Series Book 5) (30 page)

“Erin?” Veiron said and she looked up at him, trying to school her features so he didn’t see her fear. He sighed and stroked her cheek. “I swear to you, Sweetheart, I will be careful. If I get so much as a bad feeling, I’ll get my arse and Marcus’s to the nearest gate. Nothing bad will happen to us.”

She nodded. She knew that in her head but her heart wasn’t getting the message. It scrambled it so it came out reading like Veiron was going to his death and Marcus would die too, and her sister would never forgive her.

“You’re not going to Hell?” Taylor’s voice was high-pitched and tense. Veiron lifted his head and looked across at her. Her blue eyes widened. “That’s insane and you know it. You’ve got half of Hell looking for your butt and you’re going to what, just waltz in there and out again unnoticed?”

“I need to go for Erin’s sake and my own. Erin needs to know what her power means and I need to know whether the future she has seen will come to pass.” Veiron drew Erin closer and placed his arm around her shoulder, a possessive act if ever she saw one but one that she liked.

“I will go with you,” Einar said and Taylor looked horrified.

“Oh no, you won’t. This is their problem, not yours. You’re not going to Hell.”

He frowned. “I am going, Taylor. The more of us there is, the more likely we are to get out unscathed... or at least alive.”

Erin wanted to tell him that she appreciated the offer but Taylor looked as though she would bite the head off anyone who dared to back him up.

“I don’t want you to go down there,” Taylor said.

“I know.” Einar caressed her cheek. “But I must. We are all in this together. You stay here and keep Amelia and Erin hidden while we’re gone. We’ll be back before you know it.”

“Fuck... I never thought I’d live to see the day you grew some balls, Wingless.” Veiron slapped a hand down on his shoulder. “Good to have you onboard. You sure you’re going to be up for a little more time in a tin can? It’s a shorter flight from here to the nearest gate in India but it’s still flying.”

Einar nodded. “Not a problem. If I feel sick, I will make sure I throw up on you.”

Veiron grinned. “That’s the spirit.”

Taylor looked as though she was going to punch Veiron for accepting Einar’s offer so Erin caught his attention by squeezing his hand. He looked down at her and his smile faded. He turned to face her, settled his hands on her bare waist and drew her up to him, so her body was flush against his.

This was it.

Everything she wanted to say got stuck in her throat.

“I love you,” Veiron whispered and Erin felt Taylor’s eyes dart to her. “I promise, I will come back to you.”

Erin nodded, tiptoed, and looped her arms around his neck. Veiron shifted his grip to her bottom and raised her up him, so her feet dangled inches off the wooden jetty. She pressed her forehead against his, feeling his warm breath mingling with hers, and told herself that he would keep that promise and everything would be fine.

“I love you too,” she said and closed her eyes, lowered her mouth and kissed him. It was slow again, a bare meeting of lips meant to convey all of her feelings to him and back up her words.

The man on the boat called for anyone heading to the airport.

She drew back and stared down into Veiron’s dark eyes. A touch of crimson edged his pupils. She loved his eyes. He tried so hard to hide what he was but they always betrayed him and let the truth about him shine through. A demonic angel. The man she loved. He never had to hide the truth from her. She loved all of him, and thought he was gorgeous in both of his forms and everything in between.

Amelia and Marcus moved past her and Veiron finally lowered her back to her feet. He held her a moment longer and then pressed a final kiss to her lips and walked past her.

Erin turned but didn’t follow him. She had felt his feelings in his kiss and had seen them in his eyes. He couldn’t handle a long goodbye and neither could she. He settled into the boat, in the same place where they had sat on their way to the island. Marcus and Einar sat either side of him.

The man pulled the boat away and Erin fought to hold back her tears. She didn’t want to cry. It would be a sucky image to leave Veiron with as he journeyed through Hell.

She held her hand up and then grinned to herself, brought her hand down, curled the fingers of both of her hands over and pointed her thumbs downwards. She pressed both hands together, forming the shape of a heart over hers.

Veiron smiled and mouthed, “Right back at you.”

Tears filled her eyes but she held her smile for him, until he was so far away that he wouldn’t be able to see her clearly. Then she let them fall.

Amelia came to stand beside her and placed her arm around her shoulders, squeezing them and holding her tightly. She hoped that Amelia wouldn’t say anything derogatory about Veiron because she couldn’t take it right now. She needed her sister’s support and understanding, not her criticism. Amelia sighed and held her in silence, and Erin looked at her, catching the unshed tears in her eyes. She scrubbed her own away and looked across at Taylor.

“How are the cocktails?” Taylor extended the handle of one of the black suitcases beside her. “Because I don’t know about you two, but I need a bloody stiff drink.”

Erin smiled shakily and Amelia smiled too.

“I think we have time for a few before you send us to sleep.” Amelia turned with Erin, leading her along the jetty. When she broke away from her to take one of the suitcases for Taylor, Erin looked back over her shoulder, watching the speedboat disappearing into the distance.

Taylor would keep them asleep until Veiron and the others returned.

She would be with him again before she knew it.

She hoped.

CHAPTER 22

E
rin wasn’t sure how Taylor’s power worked but it was certainly an interesting one. Erin sat next to Amelia on a white painted metal railing that separated a boardwalk from a pristine white beach. Hot summer sun washed over her, easing away her tension, and the sea stretched endlessly into the distance where it eventually met the sky and the line between them blurred.

This wasn’t the island. This was some other place. Amelia had explained that it was her inner world and she had once brought Marcus here, when she had been going through everything with him and the game between Heaven and Hell.

It was beautiful.

Tall palms towered above the boardwalk and strings of lights curved between them. It would look even more beautiful at night, with the lights on and the full moon illuminating the world.

They had been sitting here on the chipped railing for over an hour, talking to each other and catching up. Amelia hadn’t berated her once about what she had said to Veiron at the dock and Erin was thankful for it. She didn’t want to argue with her sister, not when she needed her company to keep her mind off where Veiron had gone.

He wouldn’t even be there yet. The plane had left the main airport in the afternoon, bound for Chennai in eastern India. There was a gate a few miles from there that would take them down into Hell close to something called the bottomless pit.

Marcus had explained that the bottomless pit was where the Devil was supposed to reside, trapped by an angel named Apollyon each time he lost their scheduled battles. Erin had countered that the Devil didn’t seem particularly trapped to her. He had roamed around quite freely. Marcus hadn’t had an explanation for that one, but Veiron had said it was probably because Apollyon was due to fight him again so the effect of the angel’s victory and the Devil’s consequent containment was wearing off, allowing the Devil to move around in a larger area of Hell surrounding the bottomless pit.

It was reassuring to know that there was a limit to where the Devil could go right now. Apparently, Earth was off-limits.

Amelia had flinched whenever anyone had mentioned Apollyon’s name. Erin hadn’t had a chance to ask her why.

Until now.

She grasped the pole on either side of her thighs and looked over at her sister. The gentle breeze blowing in from the ocean caused Amelia’s cream summer dress to flutter and dance around her legs. Erin had discovered shortly after their arrival in her inner world that Amelia ruled here, and that included her clothing. She was wearing a summer dress too. At least her sister had done the decent thing and given her a black one with deep purple flowers all over it.

“So... um... what’s the deal with you and this Apollyon bloke?” Erin watched her sister flinch again.

Her grey eyes slid across to meet Erin’s. “He sort of killed me.”

“Holy shit... really?” Erin almost fell off the railing. “You died?”

“And awoke as a wholly different person, but I’m back now, just a little improved,” Amelia said and then frowned. “It wasn’t Apollyon’s fault though. He didn’t want to kill me. Heaven made him do it, and since then he’s been bent on revenge.”

“Man, I can relate to that. Heaven really did a number on you and Marcus, didn’t they?”

Amelia nodded. “More than a number. They don’t care who they hurt in order to get what they want... you do understand that, don’t you? If Heaven can control its angels and force them to do things against their will, then Hell can do the same.”

Erin frowned. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that Veiron might be in love with you, but that might not stop him from trying to hurt you. If the Devil wants you that badly, he will make Veiron obey any and all commands sent to him.”

Erin swallowed, trying to wet her suddenly dry throat. Was that even possible? If the Devil could do such a thing, surely he would have done so already, rather than sending his men to retrieve her from Veiron.

Unless he had a reason for wanting her to remain with Veiron.

She looked at Amelia again. Or was it her sister that he wanted her close to so he could track them and find her?

But he hadn’t sent his angels after her again and he must have felt Veiron’s location on Earth when Veiron’s eyes, claws and teeth had changed while they had been making love in the hot tub.

What if the Devil had used the pool in Hell that Veiron wanted to visit and had seen the future in it, and knew that he didn’t need to do anything in order to get Veiron down there and out of the way? What if he had seen something else in it?

Like her and Amelia alone and vulnerable.

Suddenly, Erin wanted to wake up. Taylor could use enchantments or whatever to protect their location, just as she had done on her home with Einar. Erin didn’t want to be stuck here sleeping, unable to wake, not knowing whether or not someone had already come and captured them.

Her skin prickled and tingled, and her chest tightened, turning her breathing laboured.

“What’s wrong?” Amelia laid her hand on Erin’s back between her shoulder blades, over her dragon tattoo.

“What if the Devil sends his men for us while we’re asleep?”

Amelia smiled reassuringly. “Taylor is setting up protection spells around the villa. We’ll be safe.”

That was a relief but her panic didn’t subside.

The tingling in her fingers turned to heat and she flexed them, trying to calm down. It wasn’t her power manifesting. It was just a panic attack because she was thinking it was. It was psychosomatic. She swallowed and kept flexing her fingers. Her eyes widened. The world around them began to fall apart. Piece by piece, it crumbled and changed. The white sand turned black and formed into sharp jagged rocks. Steam rose from the sea as it began to glow red and turned into a rolling river of lava. The endless blue sky darkened to black and the trees behind them caught fire.

No.

Erin’s hands blazed red, ribbons like smoke swirling outwards from her palms.

“What’s happening?” Amelia said, voice high with panic. “Erin, why are we in Hell?”

“Vision.” Erin forced the word out and shook her hands, trying to stop them from bursting into flames. She didn’t want that to happen again. She didn’t want this power, whatever it was.

A scream shattered her already fragile nerves, pained and garbled.

Erin’s head shot up and her eyes widened. The scenery had changed again, the river of lava now further in the distance and leaving a wide expanse of black ahead of her. Spires of rock rose around her, forming a semi-circle, and her heart stopped.

Not this.

Not again.

She shook her head. “No... no... no!”

She dropped down and the railing disappeared, sending Amelia crashing onto the black basalt. Amelia gasped as the black fortress rose out of the ground, rocks tumbling down it as it reached towards the obsidian vault above, each spire taller and more jagged than the last.

“What the hell?” Amelia pushed onto her feet. “What’s happening, Erin?”

“Not this... please, not this.”

Veiron, Marcus and Einar appeared in the middle of the courtyard, fighting for their lives against Hell’s angels. Amelia went to run forwards, silver wings erupting from her back and eyes brightening, but Erin caught her hand.

“It’s no use,” she said and shook her head when her sister looked at her, fear written in every line of her face. “Nothing we do will stop it.”

“We have to try.” Amelia broke free of her grip, took a step forwards and then stopped.

A terrifying roar broke the noise of battle and a black voice boomed out of the distance.

Dark red smoke curled in front of the fortress and then parted to reveal the same handsome dark-haired man she’d had the displeasure of meeting during her captivity.

His eyes burned red as they shifted to Erin.

“Is that another demonic angel?” Amelia asked quietly, as though afraid the man would hear and turn his attention on her.

He smiled at Erin and adjusted the cuffs of his blood red shirt beneath his elegant black suit jacket.

“No... he’s something far worse,” Erin replied and Amelia stepped back in line with her.

He disappeared in a flash and reappeared in the midst of the fray, taking on two of them at a time. They didn’t stand a chance. Erin closed her eyes, not wanting to see what happened next because she knew it would end like her previous vision.