Tempted by Two Angels [Notorious Nephilim 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (12 page)

Blair opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Hugh finally showed some emotion on his face other than boredom, and Sterling made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. Caleigh’s threat was an empty one, but they didn’t know that. She could no sooner drive away from here than she could cut off her own arm. She was in too deep. But growing up with three brothers who had a knack for playing poker had taught her the fine art of bluffing, and she called on it at that moment, setting her jaw firmly in place and forcing herself to hold their gazes.

“Let’s go somewhere else and talk,” said Hugh, reaching for her hand.

She pulled it away. “No. I’m not going to yours or Sterling’s suite so you can seduce me and evade my questions.”

Leo cleared his throat. “Why don’t we all go upstairs to one of the ballrooms where we can have some privacy? I’ll have food and drinks sent in. Would that be satisfactory, Caleigh?”

“Sure. Fine.”

They led her to one of the ballrooms on the first floor, tucked in behind the front desk. Caleigh hadn’t been in any of them before, and was surprised at their size. One of the bellhops brought in a cart loaded with sandwiches, cookies, and bottles of soda. After he left, the group chose a table and began to eat and drink.

“Do you get hungry when you sing?” asked Blair.

“Yes, I do. I try not to eat too soon beforehand because I’ve found it interferes with breath control.”

“I wish I could sing.”

“There’s a school of thought that says everyone can. It’s all a matter of learning to control the muscles in your throat and your breathing.”

Blair laughed, but it was a forced laugh. “Well, I don’t know if I’d agree with that. I seriously can’t sing a note.”

Caleigh waited, her impatience growing by the second, until everyone had eaten a sandwich. Then she looked at each of them in turn. “Okay. I’m here. We’ve had food. Now I’m ready to listen to the story.”

“It’s a complicated story,” said Sterling.

She crossed her arms and stared him down. Complicated or not, she wanted to hear it.

“You were right about the photograph,” he said. “It was made in the late twenties.”

“Why have only two of you aged since then?”

Sterling glanced briefly at the others before he answered. “In 1919 we were sent to Earth as part of a larger group to help people find more peaceful ways of protesting Prohibition.”

“1919? But that would make you…” Her voice trailed off as she searched Sterling’s face for a sign he was bullshitting her. He wasn’t. Caleigh put down the cookie she’d been about to bite into. What the hell was he talking about?

“There’s no easy way to say this, Caleigh. We’re Nephilim—fallen angels. The reason we don’t appear to age is because we can’t. We can’t get sick and we can’t die.”

Caleigh swallowed against the bile rising in her throat. Her heartbeat sounded like a death knell in her ears, and sweat broke out along her hairline. She was going to be sick.

Hugh rose from his chair. “I think she needs something stronger than ginger ale right now. Be right back.”

Caleigh watched him leave the room. He was an angel? It wasn’t possible. He ate, drank, slept, and made love like any other man she’d ever been with. He had warm skin and veins on his arms, and she’d heard his heart beating and his breathing as she lay next to him in bed.

“We got caught up in the lifestyle instead.”

Caleigh had to ask Sterling to repeat what he’d just said. “Excuse me?”

“Instead of fulfilling our mission, we got caught up in the lifestyle. We slept with women and we drank illegal booze. We took advantage of every decadent situation available to us.”

“Why?”

Sterling shrugged. “Because we could. Because it was more fun than running around the country, trying to convince evil stupid people that blowing up a building was not an appropriate way to protest drinking booze.”

“So what happened?”

“We were punished for our sins.”

Hugh returned and placed a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and a glass in front of Caleigh. “Hope you like this brand.”

She didn’t answer. Instead she took off the top and poured herself a generous amount of the whiskey. She took small sips until her head felt woozy, and her body warmed up again. Then she glanced at Sterling. “Punished how?”

“We were bound to Earth. We could continue to indulge in our favorites vices, but it would bring no permanent satisfaction. And because we showed a proclivity toward two of us making love to one woman at a time, the only option we have to choose a mortal existence and break the curse has an interesting little twist.”

Caleigh’s insides went cold again. She knew what he was about to say. It was so obvious now. Blair was with Leo and Andras, and they were the two who had aged since the photograph was made over a decade earlier. But that meant…no. It couldn’t be. She wouldn’t be part of this horror show.

Caleigh pushed away from table and stood up so fast that some of the whiskey sloshed onto the table.

“It’s okay, Caleigh.” Blair was on her feet, her eyes pleading. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“Nothing to be afraid of? Curses? Fallen angels? You and”—she pointed toward Leo and Andras—“them…you’re together…and now they’re human? Nothing to be afraid of, Blair?”

“Caleigh…” Sterling came around the table so fast she never saw him move. He tried to put his arms around her, but she pushed him away.

“Stop it. Just stop it. This is impossible. What you’re telling me cannot be real.”

“Then how else do you explain all the things you’ve experienced?” Hugh’s voice was soft, but it broke through her fear and revulsion. She stared at him, unsure what to say. How could it be true?

She dropped into her chair. Sterling slid another chair over and sat close to her, stroking her arm. This time she didn’t pull away.

“We’re not trying to frighten you,” said Sterling. “I know this is difficult for you to believe, but you’re an intelligent woman. Tell me what other explanation makes sense.”

She looked into his eyes, remembering how her first glimpse of him reminded her of a large cat, ready to pounce. He looked like that now, but she’d seen enough of his soft side by now to know he’d never harm her intentionally. “Plenty of explanations make sense.” Even to her own ears, she didn’t sound convincing.

“Like what?” he asked softly.

“Hypnosis. You put something in my food and drink. I’m going crazy.”

Hugh snorted. “Hypnosis would never work on you, Caleigh,” he said. “You could never relax enough. You eat and drink the same things as each of us. And you are definitely not crazy.”

She was out of defenses. But if what they said was true, did that mean this had all been a game? Was it something they did for fun? The thought filled her with more sadness than she could bear at that moment. She pushed it aside and asked the question whose answer she didn’t want to hear.

“You said the option you had to choose a mortal existence and break the curse has an interesting little twist. What’s the twist?”

Sterling took her hands and held her gaze. “Because our favorite vice was to double-team a woman, that’s the only way we can choose mortality. Or rather, she has to choose it for us. One woman for two of us, and she has to make the ultimate decision.”

Caleigh glanced at Blair. Her face was as serene as if she were sitting outside in the sunshine, enjoying a warm summer day. She had chosen them, not the other way around. Leo and Andras were mortal because Blair had believed them and chosen to be with both of them.

“Obviously, we can’t get married,” said Hugh. “There are bigamy laws, and the curse won’t break if one of us marries the woman, regardless. We have to live in sin.” His grin didn’t have the same effect on her that it usually did, but his words did remind her of another question that had been plaguing her.

“And children? You can’t have any, right? Is that why you and Sterling weren’t concerned about using condoms?”

Sterling nodded. “That wasn’t originally part of our punishment. Lilith, who by the way is not our cousin, decided it would be fun to add to our curse. We’re sterile.”

“Lilith? But how can a person…” Her voice trailed off as she recalled being unsettled looking at Lilith’s portrait. She’d been right. There was more to her than met the eye.

“She’s a demon,” said Hugh. “We spurned her, and she cast a spell. As far as we know, it’s irreversible.”

“A demon. That you spurned. I didn’t realize demons and angels could…be together.”

Hugh’s eyes turned dark, and Caleigh swore she watched regret pass over his face, but it was gone so quickly she began to think she’d imagined it. “They can, but it’s forbidden. Lilith didn’t tell us she was a demon right away. She let things play out for a while.”

Caleigh leaned back against the chair and glanced at the table. This was too much to take in at once. What would her pastor at the Third Presbyterian Church in Philly say? She knew exactly what he’d say, but Caleigh wasn’t ready to go there. She never would be, as long as she stayed in this nightmare.

“I have to be alone.” She rose from her chair. “I have to think.”

“That’s not a good idea right now,” said Sterling.

“I disagree.” She looked into his eyes, fighting the temptation to just give in. It would be so easy to fall into his arms, forget everything he and Hugh had just told her, and continue on as if none of this had ever happened. But when she awoke in the morning, she’d still have to deal with it.

That thought triggered another question. “Why can’t I remember how I got back to my room this morning?”

“That happened to me, too,” said Blair. “It’s part of their powers. They’re so strong at times your memory gets fuzzy. It’ll come back eventually.”

“Powers?” asked Caleigh, looking from Sterling to Hugh. “So all those things I feel when I’m with you aren’t real? You’re just using your powers on me?”

Sterling shook his head before she was finished speaking. “No, that’s not true. Everything you feel is real.”

“But how do I know that?” Caleigh searched his face, desperate for an answer, but it wasn’t there. “I can’t deal with this right now.”

“Caleigh, please stay and talk this out with us,” said Sterling.

She looked into his eyes, shining like emeralds, and had to avert her gaze before she gave in. Was he using his powers, or was her reaction to him real? How on earth would she ever know the truth? “I can’t. Not right now. Maybe not ever. I just don’t know.”

Without another glance at any of them, Caleigh left the room.

Caleigh made it through rehearsals the next three days by sleeping too much and not allowing herself to think. Whenever she started to ponder everything Hugh and Sterling had told her, she took a walk outdoors or went back to sleep. The fresh air helped to clear her head, but being in the woods reminded her of the evening in the boathouse with both men.

She couldn’t walk anyplace inside the resort without being reminded of them. Their scents lingered in the air even when she couldn’t see them. They showed up to rehearsals, but she wouldn't look them in the eyes. She took the roses they sent to her room every day down to the lobby and asked the desk clerks to give them to a guest.

By the time her next performance came around, Caleigh didn’t have any clear answers, and she still had no idea what she was going to do. The easy thing to do would be to leave. She could land another gig. But all the reasons why she’d taken this one in the first place kept running through her head every time she imagined herself driving away from the resort. And there was the annoying little problem of her feelings for Sterling and Hugh.

She cared about them in a way she’d never allowed herself to care for any other man, but she constantly questioned whether her feelings were real or whether they were the result of their powers. How had Blair known the difference? Perhaps she should ask her?

Telling herself she’d get over them in time didn’t seem to help. She’d been going through men like water for years, but this was different. Babs had always told her that one day she’d meet a man who would go through her, and when it happened, it would be fast and furious. Babs, as usual, had been right.

Caleigh stood on stage, ready to sing her first song of the night, and glanced toward the table in the front where Hugh and Sterling sat with Blair, Leo, and Andras. The lyrics to “Someone To Watch Over Me” took on a new meaning as she pondered Blair’s situation.

Blair seemed so happy. Andras and Leo were attentive, they protected her, and when she looked at one of them her eyes lit up like fireworks. As Caleigh sang, she noticed little things like Andras brushing back a curl from Blair’s face or Leo rubbing her shoulder while he whispered something in her ear.

When Hugh and Sterling had told her the only way to break the curse was for a mortal woman to choose two of them, it had sounded like an impossible situation. What woman would agree to spend the rest of her life in the middle of nowhere with two men, and no possibility of marriage or children with either one? And yet, as Caleigh finished the song and began to sing “Stormy Weather,” she realized that’s exactly what Blair had chosen to do, and she certainly didn’t appear miserable because of her choice.

But Leo and Andras had fallen in love with Blair, and neither Sterling nor Hugh had said anything about love. They’d merely explained what they were and why the odd things happened. Caleigh immediately felt foolish for going down that path in her mind. This wasn’t about love. They had only wanted her to understand. By the time she started her third song, “I’ll Be Seeing You,” she had decided to stay, but on her terms only.

She loved singing, and this was a great gig. The place was packed for every performance, they loved her, and the pay was a lot more than she’d get during the war, even in Philly or New York. Why should she leave and start all over again in a new city? Or worse, return to New York and start auditioning on Broadway again?

All she needed to do was keep her distance from Hugh and Sterling. Perhaps with time and space she’d forget the feel of their hands on her body and the passion their kisses stirred. If she didn’t look into their eyes, she could put aside that woozy feeling of falling into them, and maybe her dreams would no longer be haunted by images of both men. By staying as far away from them as possible, perhaps one day their scent would not follow her around like a phantom.