Underworld Lover (A Guardian Angel Romance #2) (9 page)

He hesitated.
But not last night.
Something was different.

“You have birds in the house now, Helena.” Josh’s gaze swept slowly up her neck, over her red lips, to her pitch black eyes and pinned her there.

“Is that a problem?” she asked coolly.

“No. A surprise.” His fingers traced over her nipples. “A change. So many changes.” He thought he saw her eyes widen just a little, giving further confirmation.

“They were a gift. I have a pair. The female is laying eggs.”

“Blue eggs?” he asked.

“Yes, little blue eggs.”

“What color are the babies?”

“There are no babies. They are eating the eggs. They lay them in their food dish.”

And there he had it. All the explanation he needed. Anything Peter would touch would suffer and maybe die if they were lucky. Even little birds that don’t have to be taught how to sing or how lay eggs would fail to procreate under this bastard’s tutelage.

Josh was suddenly very sad for them.

Chapter 12

Josh knew the director was expected back at his office in the Underworld sometime in the evening. He didn’t want to be anywhere around him when that happened, and didn’t want to have anyone he cared about near him either.

He’d spent the day and early evening wandering. Looking for something familiar in the Underworld. But everything had changed. Darkness was a shade darker. Bright colors were muted. It didn’t matter where he went, he felt he didn’t fit in anywhere.

Not even at Helena’s
?

The change in the air was a constant distraction and hovered like a persistent haze. For so many years, Josh had experienced the satisfaction of free rein in the Underworld. Now that chapter was ending.

I care for these people
?
What’s up with that
?

He was not sure he was up for the fight that was brewing. It wasn’t the personal cost to himself he was worried about, but to all the other people around him, people he had to admit he cared for. This was another change for Josh.

He was alone in the black limo transport back to the metal garage. He was sure there wasn’t a driver tonight. He had made it a point to look. The sight of the vacant seat with a chauffeur’s cap resting on the passenger side struck him as strangely odd.

As he stepped out, the limo didn’t speed away as had happened before, but remained, engine running. He tucked his hands into the pockets of his black wool jacket, then pulled up the collar, fending off the chill of the night air. He gripped the door to the garage, which groaned with a harsh metallic screech. He exited the garage, the door slamming shut behind him so loud it made him jump. A single bulbed fixture had been vandalized, so there wasn’t any light, except for the moon. The blackness had never bothered Josh before, as it didn’t interfere with his sight. But tonight he was a bit on edge and took the dark as an omen.

As he rounded the corner marked by a large oleander bush, he bumped into another man. Cursing his lack of attention, Josh looked up at the large dark eyes that stared back at him and instantly felt his stomach drop to his ankles. Though he was a good three inches taller than Peter, Peter didn’t seem to be intimidated in the slightest.

The two men squared off. Josh tried to hide his surprise, stuffing down the slight tremble in his chest.

“I just came from her. I like watching her sleep.” Peter reported smugly.

This was damn irritating.
She let him into her bed. Melanie, what have you done
?

“So I have to ask you, why do you want me to do something you can do all by yourself?” Josh knew the answer but wanted to ask Peter anyway.

“Because I want
you
to do it. That’s the point.” Peter looked down at his black boots, rocking back on his heels. “She isn’t mine. Yet. For now, she remains a virgin. But she will belong to me soon.” Then he resumed his steely stare, pinning Josh in place. “She’s special. Can you see how that would be?”

“You want me to force her to come to you?”

“I don’t care about that. I just don’t want to have to be the one to do it. Makes no difference if
she
chooses or you make her. Either way, she excites me. I will have her, and you will bring her to me, willing or not.”

Josh didn’t believe it, but he understood the communication.

“You know she’s a friend to Felix?” Josh asked.

“
Was
is the word. Poor Felix. I thought about having him do it. But I decided you would be the better fit.” Peter’s eyes were dancing now, swirling with evil redness, almost looking happy. “Perhaps Felix could help, though.”

Josh forced a chuckle. “I imagine this would be hazardous to his health, or was that the point?”

“I am his sponsor. I don’t wish him any ill, although getting the two of them to turn would have been better. I was disappointed Melanie didn’t accompany him to the Underworld. You know this already, though, don’t you?”

Yes, you bastard. “
I didn’t take you for the virginal type.” It was Josh’s turn to look smug. “And I never would have guessed you and Felix could have the same taste in women.” He shook his head. “The older I get, the more I learn.”

Peter stood his collar up with snappy efficiency, his face wiped clean of pleasantries. “I’m an acquired taste. I believe you have used this line in the past.” He walked away, leaving Josh standing on the path. Ten feet away he stopped and turned to the side, tossing the words back at Josh. “Make it quick. My needs are growing.”

Then he disappeared into the night. Josh heard the door open to the garage and the roar of the black limo as it took off like a jet. He wondered if the man himself would try driving the black beast, and laughed at the thought of the Director of the Underworld wearing a chauffeur’s cap to match his black gloves.

He relaxed with the knowledge Peter had gone back to the Underworld, which left the human world at Josh’s command. And safe, for now. He would go check on Melanie and see what kind of a state Peter had left her.

His footsteps tapped lightly along the gravel path, and then onto pavement and sidewalk. He passed a rose garden bordered by a black metal gate. He doubted he would ever smell another rose without thinking of her. Would never forget the way those doe eyes of hers had absorbed him, took all the roughness from him in mere seconds. He loved her innocence, loved the way she busied herself with the arrangement of the shop, like preparing the stage for a grand play. It excited him to know that she was completely oblivious to the dark forces that had focused upon her. He wished there would be some way to make it so that she never did.

But that kind of thought could earn a good dark angel a true death, made an example for all to see. If he was going to go down, he’d better not make a lesson out of his decline for all the other darks in the Underworld. Peter’s power could be enhanced. It was one thing to be consumed in flames, fighting. Another thing entirely to be crumbled, cowering in defeat. He saw a future where Melanie could witness his death. If it came to that, she would know it was a sacrifice he’d made for her. That would be important. That would be the only acceptable way to be terminated. Then his life would mean something.

Listen to me. I’m sounding like James, Daniel, and all the rest of them who can’t live without their women.
But he knew it wasn’t that he couldn’t live without her. He could do that. Three hundred years as a loveless dark angel with hundreds of sexual partners and liaisons, either human, Guardian or dark, taught him that when one door closed, others were available. Unlike some of his converts and friends, he could live without a primary love of his life. In fact, he doubted whether there would be one solitary female who could keep him satisfied.

This, this infatuation will pass, as all my other lusts have. Given time. And time is what I have in abundance.

What upset him was that he was going to have to take a pure and innocent human woman and turn her into Peter’s captive. Though he was used to applying cunning and twisting the truth, he wasn’t excited about getting her to trust him so that he could mistreat her.

That he had never done.

Though he considered his experiences in the Underground his personal brand of sexual recreation, he did think turning her into Peter’s sex slave was not right, like there was some kind of moral code in the Underworld.

And afterwards, where would he go? He was already in Hell. Was there a painful end to his miserable life made all the more painful with the knowledge he’d turned someone he wanted to spare.
Couldn’t
spare.

He shrugged off the thoughts as he pulled his jacket close to his neck and came upon Melanie’s street. He leaned against a lamppost, watching the warm yellow light from her upstairs apartment pour down delicately upon him, and then switch off.

Sleep well my pretty.

He sniffed the air. No trace of sexual energy, or fear. If there had been a scene between Melanie and Peter and it had been violent, he would still be able to smell the pain, her fear. He resisted the urge to go up to her room and check on her, as if reassuring himself he was fully in control.

Who am I kidding?

Melanie lived in an older section of town that had lots of shops, bistros, and trendy apartments created from warehouses. It had formerly been skid row, but now sported a wonderful nightlife. Even the old theater built before the Depression was restored and showed art films, not the triple X ones shown a decade earlier. Before the neighborhood transformation, Josh had found some of his recruits there, wasting away in the stink of alcohol, waiting to die on a park bench or behind a Dumpster somewhere. He took pride in knowing some of these men actually enjoyed their lives in the Underworld. In a strange way, he felt he had
saved
them. Had done them a favor by ridding them of their human lives of misery and pain.

The café below Melanie’s apartment was for lease, and a young couple holding hands were looking into the large glass windows between the For Lease signs. He watched their simple show of affection, their touch, holding of hands. They moved away from the window and meandered down the street, headed in his direction, so he started to walk away from the light.

“Joshua?” the man asked. The short blond woman hung back behind him a bit. Joshua squinted, not sure he would be able to put the face to the familiar voice. As the man stepped into the light of the streetlamp, he could see the handsome dark features of Daniel DePalma, the one human he had lost to the Guardian, the man who’d blemished his perfect record.

As Josh looked around Daniel’s shoulder, he saw the former angel clutching Daniel’s arm, her blue eyes staring up at him with the same inner strength as Melanie’s. This little angel had defeated him— not with her power, but with her grace and lightness of spirit. He recognized in Claire the same thing he liked about Melanie.

And for the first time, he found it to be alluring.

“Daniel, how’s it going, man? Been a few months now.” The two stood several feet apart. Joshua bowed slightly to Claire and felt his heart melt, knowing she had given up her immortality as an angel to be human and how he could still hurt her if he chose to. He could see Daniel wasn’t in the mood to be welcoming, so Josh kept his eyes on Claire.

“You look tired, Josh,” she said.

“And I have to say”—he placed his palm on his heart—“you look even more beautiful than before.” It was the truth. The translucence in her skin was gone, but the rosy glow of love was all around her, wrapping her in a warm fuzzy blanket a part of him wanted to share.

Daniel leaned in front of Claire to protect her.

You’d need more than that, human. She’s no longer the prize I’m after.
“You have nothing to fear from me, Daniel. I am not here to make enemies.”

“That’s because we already are enemies. Stay away.” Daniel put his arms around Claire to protect her. “We have to be going.”

Now it was time for Claire to stand still. “Wait.” She stepped toward Josh. “We are expecting, Josh. Just found out today.”

Daniel was clearly not happy she had revealed their secret.

“I’m truly happy for you,” Josh said. “Scout’s honor”

That got Daniel to smile. He looked into Claire’s eyes, then bent down and gave her a gentle kiss. “I think you can appreciate this, Josh,” Daniel added. “The baby’s due date is December twenty-fifth.”

This was truly priceless. Father was playing games again. Peter would be furious. Josh decided not to be the one to tell him.

He could see the two of them were watching him carefully, looking for evidence he was up to his old evil ways.  

“You in the neighborhood trolling for souls?” Claire asked him with a devilish gleam in her formerly angelic eyes.

“You challenge me, angel?” This made Joshua laugh. “I’ve had a rather long day that I think even you wouldn’t understand, Claire. As a matter of fact, I was looking to do the opposite.” He watched their faces as his words sank in. He knew they didn’t believe him.

“You?” Daniel looked at Claire, and then touched Josh lightly on the arm. “Well, stay out of trouble, if you can.”

Josh nodded, staring at his boots, waiting for them to leave.

“Wait a second,” Claire said as she stopped them. “Josh, you want to join us for a hot chocolate? We were just going to the little place down the street.”

That was something he hadn’t expected. The voice of an ally?

He looked up to see Daniel squinting at the suggestion, then stiffen and arch his back. Claire stopped him by interrupting him. “I want to ask you about Angela and James.”

Josh spread his arms out at his sides, fingers splayed, and shrugged. So Claire wanted to know about the Guardian who was turned by her dark angel lover. She’d been Claire’s best friend. Her turning was devastating to the former angel. If Father hadn’t interrupted, Claire and Daniel would now be dark angels. Father gave her the gift of being human, as a reward for years of faithful service.