Fallen Embers (Fallen Guardians #9)

Chapter 11

Chapter

Eleven

A flicker of ice brushed Nia’s psyche as a man dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and a black jacket strolled toward them, the light breeze fluttering his shoulder-length tawny hair.

Trepidation squeezed her gut as she jerked upright. This stranger wasn’t human.

“Loráed, it’s been a while,” he said, his voice holding the same infinite tone as Lore’s.

Another angel.

“What are you doing here?” Lore’s voice remained impassive, and her unease spiked.

The angel’s low laughter drifted to her. Nia wasn’t sure if they were friends. No, probably not. Why else would Lore shield her?

“I finished a job, and I sensed you on this plane, so I stopped by.”

“I see.” Lore was back to his typical aloof self.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your latest task?” he asked.

His words held a hint of teasing, but Nia resented being called a task as if she were an object, not a person with feelings. Scowling, she shifted, and her booted feet slid on the slippery stones?—

Darn it! Before she face-planted, she gripped Lore’s shirt, and his silky feathers brushed her cheek. But at his continued silence, her stomach roiled.

Were the two of them having a face-off?

She waited. But his glorious wings, emerging from his shoulder blades, having torn through his shirt, snagged her attention. Brilliant colors, ranging from the deepest red at the top to hints of burnt orange and sienna, merged into each other at the lower flight feathers.

Unable to resist, she gently stroked the arches.

His entire body went ramrod stiff.

Nia blinked at the faint, shimmery hint of red and gold dust on her fingertips?—

Lore reached behind him, grasped her wrist, and brought her to his side.

Wow! Was that all it took to have an intro? Touch his wings?

“Names aren’t required,” Lore said. “Now you’ve seen her, we will take our leave.”

Lore flashed them, reforming at the abbey’s courtyard. He let her go and gripped the balustrade to stare down into the wafting mist. His wings fluttered and retracted, leaving behind the gaping rips in his shirt.

Nia swept back her hair and frowned. Something about this visitor had him retreating behind the aloof demeanor he wore so well, and she didn’t like it at all after witnessing his softer side. Which meant to get even a semblance of a response from him, she had to do what she did best.

She sniffed and lifted her chin, adding a clip to her voice. “That was rude, just leaving like that.”

Rude? Nia had no idea.

If Hanaél had seen what occurred between them, Lore would have been labeled as compromised and replaced. Her demise would be a certainty.

His gut twisted at the thought, the emotion behind it so unfamiliar that his breath caught. But her taste remained with him, of summer, of warmth, of things he never knew and now wanted?—

No! His jaw clamped down hard, shutting out those thoughts.

This was his fault. He’d allowed himself to become ensnared in her teasing—an emotion she used to cover up her wariness, her fears—and he’d momentarily lost his mind. Something he’d never done in his eternal life. He’d forgotten everything and nearly put her life in danger.

The bulge in his crotch was another unfamiliar happening.

He inhaled sharply, letting the cold air and the calmness of nature seep through him before answering. “He’ll get over it.”

A little more composed, he faced her.

She swept her unbound, inky hair back, but the mass just fell forward again, framing her lovely face as she watched him. Those amber eyes still held a trace of desire, and his momentary calm was shot to pieces.

He clenched his teeth and fought to find the words for what he had to say. Another first.

When she wasn’t biting his head off or angry with him… No, despite all of these things, his draw to her was undeniable… He’d never before reacted this way to anyone.

“Is he the same as you?” she asked.

“No. Below.”

Her smooth brow furrowed. “There’s another level below a guardian angel? Not that I know anything about the angelic hierarchy.”

“What?” Then he shook his head, her comment registering. “I am not a guardian angel. I’m a Power.”

“Of course you are,” she huffed, a teasing sparkle in her eyes. “It sure sounds lethal.”

“Depends on how you look at it.” His gaze slid back to her lush mouth, still swollen from the kiss that had rocked his world and cracked his stoicism. Just remembering her taste, her tongue moving against his, and warmth rolled into his belly, tightening his crotch again?—

Stars! He forced his attention to the time-warped, faded, domed door. “I maintain the balance of the Celestial Realm. Eliminate any danger to it, along with other things.”

“Yeah? So why are you guarding me, then? Isn’t that beneath your pay grade?” she teased. “I mean, calling in the big guns to watch over little ol’ me?”

And like a compulsion, his gaze returned to her smiling face, another emotion surging. Irritation. Did what occurred between them have so little impact on her?

He was never easily dismissed. Even when those annoying Guardians tossed out a taunt or two to rile him, they never dismissed him.

Chamuel might force his hand, but Lore had some fluidity—a tiny loophole given who he was—which the seraphs seemed to have forgotten. While he had to carry out commands, he could choose how they played out, which was why he battled Nia and allowed her to stake him in the chest last eve. The end result was what he desired—by retaliating against his attack , she’d broken the order’s accursed hold over him. The only pain he regretted was hers.

“I am curious,” she said when he remained silent. “Because you seem on edge.” A slight head tilt let her shiny mane fall to one side as she studied him.

She totally misunderstood his edginess.

Just as well. He could never explain to her the extent to which he had already bent, broken, and dismissed rules since finding her. His life was governed by absolutes—right and wrong, black and white. But Nia was introducing him to all the hues of gray in between.

Nothing was straightforward anymore.

“It was a favor,” he finally said.

“ You, granting favors?” She pressed her kiss-swollen lips together, but he could see the curve of her smile. “Wow. Michael must be eternally grateful to have someone like you doing menial work.” She strolled closer and leaned against the balustrade next to him. Her delicate scent swamped him, filling his lungs, along with a faint tantalizing musk that tightened his crotch again.

Her face tipped up, and she watched him, her irises glinting like gold coins between her lashes. He fought the impulse to caress the dent on her chin, to put his mouth back on hers and demand more of her tormenting kisses?—

By the dark stars! He had instinctively moved closer. They stood just a breath away. Fingers clenching, he put space between them, and her brow furrowed.

“I should have known,” she muttered under her breath, but he heard her. Aloud, she said, “Hey, it’s just a kiss. Don’t get your divine panties in a twist. If I had to take offense at every kiss ending as fast as this one did… Nah, that never happened.” She smirked, bracing her arms on the railing. “Guys love locking lips with me.”

Lore jammed his clenched hands into his pockets. “Be careful.” He kept his voice soft. “You fall again, and maybe I won’t catch you next time.”

“Then don’t.” She whirled off, yanked open the door, and disappeared inside.

Lore pivoted and gripped the barricade so he wouldn’t follow her and stared at the rolling green forest far below, where the river appeared like a winding silver ribbon, and tried to calm down. But he received no relief from the unfamiliar sensations gripping his gut like claws, refusing to let go.

Heavens! He had to get himself under control. If the seraphs found out, they’d kill Nia.

The granite guardrail beneath his clamped fingers cracked, the sound echoing like a warning. His jaw clenched.

She was an innocent, caught in the crossfire of their wars. She didn’t deserve death!

With a thought, he repaired the cracks in the balustrade, then did the same with his mental shields. Without her there, it was easier to fix. And those fleeting emotions faded.

Once more in control, Lore glanced around the empty courtyard then conjured a punching bag suspended from a thick branch of the lone tree.

Nia needed to tone her muscles, become stronger, and wield her sword with more power.

Satisfied, he headed inside. His heightened senses picked up faint music, drawing him to the kitchen. The aroma of something…cooking permeated the place.

Nia stood near the stove, humming and flipping whatever she had in a pan. Music emitted from her cell on the table. He watched her for a second, then lowered the volume with his mind. She glanced back and frowned.

“There is food,” he reminded her, nodding to the fridge.

“Yeah, but I wanted a toasted sandwich. Your friend Hedori was kind enough to stock the fridge with what I could use.”

Hedori wasn’t a friend, but it mattered not.

She set the plate with golden-brown triangles on the table and switched off her cell.

With a graceful movement so intrinsic to her, she glided over to the fridge and got out a soda. Back at the table, she sat, picked up a sandwich, and bit into it. “Hmm, this tastes sooo good.”

His body twitched. Did she even know what she was doing to him?

Her gaze lifted to his as he pulled out a chair and sat opposite her. “Darn!” She put her food down, jumped up, and got another plate from the shelf. She slid the other half of her sandwich onto it and pushed the plate to him. “Here.”

“I don’t eat?—”

“Yes, you said. Try it.”

He glanced at the food in front of him, then at the female who had no idea she’d disrupted his very foundation with their kiss.

About to push the sandwich back to her since she didn’t have another, Lore found himself picking up the snack. Frowning, he lifted the top part of the piping hot triangle, trying to figure out what its filling was, and found a squishy, red-seeded circle, a slice of something pink, and a sticky, gooey yellow substance holding it all together.

“It’s a ham and cheese sandwich with tomato.”

He looked up and fell straight into her tantalizing smile.

“It doesn’t bite. You have to bite and eat it. Oh, boy…” She sighed. “To be eaten, especially when it’s done right…”

His brow furrowed, and her eyes glinted with provocative laughter. “ Maaan …” she hummed as she chewed, causing his entire body to go into a slow burn. “If you ever want to know, I’ll tell you, or maybe I’ll show you how… If you’re nice.”

By the dark stars! He might not have understood what she spoke of at first, but he sure knew now. His blood heated and seemed to gather in the one part of him he’d never given more than a cursory thought to.

His groin throbbed.

Jaw clenched, he dropped the sandwich back on the plate.

He was an angel, an ancient being. This foolishness would pass. But he had to set things straight.

“Nia?” He waited until she met his eyes. He pushed the uneaten food aside, clasped his hands on the table, and for the second time in a matter of minutes, was at a loss for words.

He said it anyway, tone flat, “What happened at the river?—”

“Oh, you mean when you asked me to kiss you?” she added helpfully, her teasing expression fading. He could read nothing from her. Even her thoughts were shut off.

“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “It was a misstep on my part. It won’t happen again.” There, that should reassure her that he had no ulterior motive, no matter the betrayal of his body.

“I see.” She set her food aside and wiped her hands on a kitchen towel. “So, you kissed me because you were…bored? Wait. You were curious? You wanted to see how a human would react to an angelic being giving her a scrap of attention?” Her eyes blazed like wildfire.

“You are upset, and I regret that.”

She shot to her feet. “First and foremost, your divineness —” Her sarcasm struck like a sword. “When you kiss someone the way you did me, it’s because you either like that person and wish to know them better, or you want to hook up.”

Hook up? What did she mean?

“But since the latter is never gonna happen, you should’ve just let the former die a quiet death instead of explaining. Now I feel about this small.” She raised her hand, her thumb and forefinger an inch apart. “A word of advice? Next time you get curious , find a hooker.”

He didn’t want anyone else, never had. Then she crossed his path. “Humans don’t usually ping my attention?—”

“Ouch. Thanks a bunch for making me your lab rat, then.”

He ignored her acerbic interruption. “Until you.”

“Oh, so I’m supposed to be flattered? H-honored? Her voice cracked.

His gaze drifted over her taut features, catching the rapid pulse in her delicate jaw. “I admit, I wanted to know what you felt like…tasted like. And now…”

“And now you’re highly disappointed. That’s why you’re giving me this callous spiel that it won’t happen again. FYI, I never expected it to. It’s not like I wanted more from every guy I ever kissed.”

Upon hearing that, his jaw clenched. His hands fisted.

“We women have to kiss a lot of toads to find a man we like?—”

“Stop,” he growled, that she actually froze. “Don’t you understand? My job is to keep you safe. A slipup on my part, and they will send another to take over.”

“So? Then you’ll be gone and won’t have to worry about me.”

He kept his flat stare pinned on her, but her flippant dismissal irritated him. “I have never handed over my task to someone else and never will until it is done.”

A task?

A deep hurt surged, squeezing every drop of happiness that had lit her so briefly. Nia wanted to storm out of the kitchen and forget how horrible this day was turning out to be.

Of course, he’d said so many times that she was a job he’d taken on as a favor…and now a little side experiment for his curiosity. She never expected more. And yes, it was just a kiss…

But it was a kiss that shifted her world.

Her chest tightened as she scooped up her mostly uneaten meal and disposed of it. “Another protector is preferable.” She pivoted and met his burning stare with a cool one. “As you pointed out, you’ll never leave until your task is completed. So, do us both a favor, find a way to finish this fast.”

Her cell rang.

Ignoring his tight-lipped expression, Nia grabbed her phone. Saia. A trembling breath escaped her. “Hey, Sai?—”

“Thank God I reached you!”

“The internet’s a bit sketchy up here in the mountains.” She pressed her fingertips against her throbbing temple. “What’s up?”

At her effervescent friend’s hesitation, Nia stilled, unease knotting her insides. In trepidation, she lowered her hand. “Saia?”

“Then you didn’t hear the news. Oh, honey, I’m so sorry. It’s…it’s your grandmother. She…she passed away last night. We just heard.”

The world tilted, she grasped the edge of the table. Her voice came out barely a whisper, “What are you talking about?”

A soft exhale. “The doc said it was a heart attack.”

Nia staggered back, her hip hitting the table.

Lore appeared in front of her. “Nia?”

She shook her head. It took a moment for her mind to function and her numb fingers to work. With a shaky hand, she swiped the screen, checking for any missed calls from the mansion…and nothing.

Her throat swelled. She pressed the cell back to her ear. “Th-thanks for letting me know, Sai. Do you…do you know when the funeral is?”

“I’m not sure. Tomorrow, I think.”

So quick? Why would they do that? Unless it was at Nan’s request.

She swallowed hard. “I see. Thanks.”

“Nia, I’m here for you, honey,” Saia murmured. “We all are. You’re not alone.”

Nia didn’t want Lore to see how much it hurt that no one had bothered to contact her.

With the composed mask she’d perfected wearing at the mansion back on, she nodded. “I know. I’ll be there. Thank you, Sai.”

She ended the call and stood there, loneliness consuming her.

“Nia, it will not be safe with the demon still hunting you.”

About to tell him it was her grandmother, she choked back the words. Lore wouldn’t care. His priority was her safety. She shook her head and walked outside into the gloomy afternoon, barely feeling the chill. She stopped under the leafless oak and grasped the swaying punching bag.

Nan might have been cold and distant, and it didn’t matter if they hadn’t had much of a relationship or if the crumbs of affection she longed for had never happened. Nan was still family.

She sensed Lore behind her.

“I’m going home.” She let go of the punching bag, wrapped her arms around her waist, and prayed she could dematerialize herself back to New Orleans.

He came into her line of view. “You cannot teleport long distance just yet,” he said, apparently reading her mind. “You’re still new to this. I’ll take you.”

He held out a hand.

Nia eyed it.

He was right. In her current state, she’d probably end up in the ocean. Without a word, she placed her hand in his. His warm fingers wrapped around hers, and the abbey disappeared.

Nia swallowed hard and shut her eyes. With the last of her family gone, she couldn’t help but feel utterly alone against a world out to destroy her.