Beauty Awakened

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

KOLDO WOULD NEVER FORGET the exquisite feel of Nicola’s lips against his or the softness of her body pressed against him, or the sweetness of her taste and a thousand other things that had set his blood on fire, causing him to ache, to reach the razor’s edge of desperation.

The entire time he’d had her in his arms, he’d forgotten the horror of his earlier actions. His inner brokenness had been eased, and he’d felt whole. Happy. At peace for the first time.

The future had seemed bright. Problems? What problems? There’d been no anger, no dread, no sense of hopelessness. He’d been...normal.

But he’d done something to upset her, no matter what she’d claimed. First, she had melted. Then, after she’d come out of her faint, she had stiffened, preparing to bolt.

Had she regretted what had happened?

Probably. He’d mauled her, and she’d been prepared to leave him. Had she succeeded, he would have chased her and...what? Demanded she still desire him?

He wouldn’t be so pathetic. Would he?

Maybe her desertion was for the best. He wouldn’t always have her, and so he couldn’t allow himself to come to rely on her. He had himself, and only himself, and that’s the way it had to be. That was safe. That’s what he knew.

Stalking into the kitchen, he summoned the sword of fire. The flames crackled, light spilling in front of him. What he expected to find, he wasn’t sure. Zacharel didn’t know this place existed, nor did any other Sent Ones. His father didn’t, either, but the male was out there, actively hunting him.

To his astonishment, he found Axel sitting at his kitchen table, eating the food Koldo had bought for Nicola and her sister.

Anger ignited. “How did you find me?”

With cheese dust on his chin, the warrior said, “I can find anyone, anywhere, anytime. A little talent of mine.” He lifted a bag of chips. The only source of junk food in the entire house. “Do you have these in Tabasco?”

The anger instantly subsided. If Axel could find anyone, he could find Koldo’s father before Nox found Koldo.

The battle could be over before it ever began.

“You shouldn’t have come, and you shouldn’t have brought alcohol.” A single drink and Koldo’s Nefas side would come rushing to the surface. His teeth would elongate. His nails would curl into claws. His temper would overtake him. Yeah. Alcohol is all that’s needed for that. “But since you’re here, I’ll put you to work. Whatever your price, I need you to hunt down a...Nefas.” He waited for a reaction. Most people shuddered at the mere mention of the race.

Axel ignored him, popping another chip in his mouth. “You should have a chat with the blonde about sharing her drinky drink with guests—especially when said drinky drink belongs to the guest! It was way impolite to threaten to bash me in the head with the vodka bottle when I tried to steal it back. And by the way, did you know your hands are glowing?”

“What are you—” Koldo’s gaze locked on his palms. His glowing palms. The essentia had at last begun to seep from his pores.

He’d wanted Nicola that much, his body instinctively seeking to mark her as his exclusive property, even though she wanted someone else.

He should be ashamed, considering he’d never bond with her.

But he wasn’t.

“How did you bypass my cloud?” The warrior should have encountered a solid barrier.

“If I told you, blah, blah, blah.”

He arched a brow. “You’d have to kill me?”

“Don’t be silly. I’d only cut out your tongue to keep you from talking, and cut off your hands to keep you from writing or signing.” Axel dusted his hands together and stood. “I’d love to help you with your little Nefas problem, but I’m actually here because Zacharel called a meeting in the heavens. And what do you want with the Nefas, anyway? Those suckers are hard-core.”

“So are we.” Was the meeting the one Zacharel had mentioned when Koldo had visited his cloud? When the warrior had been covered in blood and injuries? “Where does he want us?”

“Deity’s temple in the heavens.”

Deity. Germanus. Koldo looked forward to seeing his mentor again. They hadn’t spoken since Koldo had been told he belonged to Zacharel. And that was all Koldo’s doing. He’d been so irate to learn of his fate, he’d kept his distance rather than yell. However, Germanus would have welcomed him at any time.

“I’ll meet you there,” he said pointedly.

“Like I really want to stick around and carry you again. Did I mention you weigh more than a building?” Axel stood, flared his wings and leaped into the air, misting through the ceiling and disappearing.

Koldo stalked down the hall and into Nicola’s room. Laila was jumping on the bed, singing off tune, losing her breath.

“—something, something, something, you love me. Yeah. Yeah. Something, something, together.”

Nicola lounged on the couch, a blanket strewn across her legs. One of his books about heavenly battle strategies rested in her lap.

“There are nightclothes in the dresser,” he said, and she glanced up. Meeting those stormy gray eyes was always a pleasure and a pain. They were always direct—

Except this time.

She looked away. Her cheeks flushed.

He shifted uncomfortably and added the words Annabelle had told him would be necessary. “These garments were purchased for you and you alone. No other female has ever worn them.”

“Thank you,” Nicola said stiffly.

That hadn’t been the problem, then.

Laila continued to sing.

“I’ve been called away,” he explained.

“Hey, Cool-e-oh,” Laila said, falling back on the mattress and bouncing. “Guess what? I’m going to have your house’s baby. I just love it so much!”

He...had no idea what to say to that.

“When will you return?” Nicola asked, toying with a loose thread on the blanket.

“I’m not sure, but I’ll make sure someone is here to escort you to work if I can’t return by morning.”

“No worries. I don’t work at Estellä over the weekend.”

That’s right. Tomorrow was Saturday.

“But we do have our double date,” Laila said. “And it’s gonna be fun!”

His hands fisted at his sides as he waited, hoping Nicola would speak up. But she remained silent, clearly still desiring to go, even after everything that had happened between them.

For the best, he reminded himself.

“I’ll make sure you get there, as promised,” he gritted out.

And now, he should go. He knew he should go. Yet still he hesitated. “I bought you a cell phone,” he told Nicola. Annabelle had insisted. “It’s in the top drawer of the nightstand. I bought one for myself, as well.” It currently rested in a pocket in his robe.

“What’s your number?” she asked.

“It is already programmed into the device.” And it was the only one in there. The only one he would allow her to put in there. “Call me if you need me. For any reason.” Or even if you don’t have one.

She nodded, opened her mouth, closed it.

“Don’t worry about anything. Stay calm.”

“And sow joy,” she said with a sigh. “I know the drill.”

He didn’t bother telling her to stay within the bounds of his property. The cloud would ensure that she did.

Without another word, Koldo flashed to the garden of Germanus’s temple. As many times as he’d been here throughout the centuries, he knew the area by heart. Two rivers flowed out of the alabaster columns in front and wound through the flowers, cascading over the sides of the cliff in the clouds to shower the stars. For the first time, however, the entire expanse was covered with Sent Ones. Hundreds of males and females surrounded him, the noise level utterly out of control.

Koldo flashed here, and he flashed there, searching for the soldiers belonging to Zacharel. He found them at the far left, in front of the alabaster steps and ivy-rich columns that led to the towering double doors of the temple.

Charlotte and Ronen winked and waved at him.

Elandra turned her back on him.

Malak was too busy staring at Bjorn to notice him.

Bjorn was too busy talking to Thane and Xerxes to notice Malak.

Jamila spotted him and frowned. She shoved her way over and said, “Things are going down at Estellä. Sirena has it out for your girl. Hates her, in fact. The things she does and says when Nicola’s back is turned...” She shuddered.

The news surprised him. How could anyone find fault with such a gentle human? “I’ll deal with her.” Whoever—whatever—she was. “Do you know what Sirena is?”

“Yes. Evil.”

“So you aren’t sure?”

“No,” she grumbled.

Monday, when he flashed Nicola to work, he would find a way to question this Sirena. She wasn’t Nefas, and she wasn’t demon. But she was something. And if she hated Nicola, she could be working for his father.

At this point, Koldo had to suspect everyone.

Axel sidled up to his side and patted him on the shoulder. “Glad you could leave Chesticles long enough to make an appearance.”

“Call her that again, and I’ll cut your heart from your chest and give it to her as a trophy.” As he spoke, he spotted Malcolm and Magnus.

The two looked to be of Asian descent. Malcolm had dark hair dyed green at the ends, the strands sticking out in a single spike along the center of his head. He had eyes so pale they were almost white, and bones tattooed on his neck.

Magnus was as serious and clean-cut as any human businessman. Well, if “any” were six foot eight and three hundred pounds of muscle.

Axel waved the threat away. “May I recommend you peel my skin from my body, too?”

What could you say to a male like this?

His gaze landed on Thane. The warrior nodded a greeting.

Bjorn and Xerxes frowned as they looked up, up the steps at...Zacharel, who was walking onto the dais alongside the six other members of the Elite.

There were four males and three females, each representing one of Germanus’s armies. Though they possessed the same wings of solid gold, that was their only similarity.

The blond and dark-eyed Lysander stepped forward, held up his hands, and the crowd instantly quieted. Expression serious, he said without any hint of emotion, “It pains me to be the bearer of bad news, but the time has come. You need to know the truth. You need to know that our king...our king is dead.”

KOLDO REELED. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed since Lysander had made his pronouncement, he only knew that time had indeed passed. Shouts of denial and despair had resounded, and, emotions high, chaos had ensued. Fights had broken out, Sent One against maniacal Sent One. Tears had been shed and the future of their kind had been bemoaned. Eventually, things had calmed enough for the meeting to continue. To end. Then, one by one, the armies had flown away. All but Zacharel’s.

Zacharel had commanded them to stay, and so they had stayed.

Koldo paced back and forth, his body moving of its own accord. His leader was...their king was...Germanus was...dead. Dead.

Gone.

He never should have allowed his anger to override his affection for the male and keep him away from the temple. And not just his anger, but regret. He’d known Germanus would disapprove of his plans for his mother, and he hadn’t wanted to give the male a chance to express his displeasure, to warn Koldo against his actions.

Now he would never again have the opportunity to sit with the Sent One who had fostered and nurtured him and soak in his many words of wisdom.

After everything Koldo had endured in his childhood, Germanus had been the only one to give him hope for the future. And now his body was dust, his spirit in the heavens with the Most High.

When could this have possibly...happened? The answer slid into place before the question finished forming. The shaking of Nicola’s office, he thought. At the time, he’d guessed the shaking sprang from some kind of isolated earthquake. But no. A great and powerful being had died, and even the entire world had felt it.

But Koldo hadn’t known, hadn’t suspected. Had continued on, as if nothing was wrong.

Zacharel waved the soldiers closer. They stomped forward, and Koldo fought for calm.

“We had planned to tell the armies this news at the same time, but after such a strong reaction to our first order of business...well.” Zacharel cleared his throat. “I want you to know that the Most High didn’t want us lost, even for a moment, and so He has placed a new king in charge of this realm. His name is Clerici, and in the coming months he will be summoning each of you individually to meet you and reassure you.”

Clerici. Meaning, the clergy. Koldo had never met the male, but he had heard of him—heard he was fair, just and driven to succeed.

But he wasn’t Germanus.

“Z just gets right down to business, doesn’t he?” Axel muttered in his ear. “He’s a man with balls of brass.”

“We’re warriors, not babies,” Koldo snapped. “We don’t need any coddling.” But oh, all he wanted was to return to Nicola, tug her into his lap and bury his face in her hair. He would sob like the baby he’d just said he wasn’t, mourn for the father figure he’d turned his back on.

She would wrap her arms around him and tell him the pain of this loss would pass. And he would believe her.

“Someone’s on their period, isn’t he?” Axel said.

A growl rose from deep in his chest. “Do you not regret the loss of Germanus?” Was he not torn apart inside?

“I didn’t know him. Not really.”

“Then you should regret that.”

Zacharel continued to talk, but not about what Koldo most wanted to know. “How was he killed?” he finally interjected, able to stand it no longer.

Zacharel frowned. “That was explained during the—”

“Explain again!” A call from the depths of his bleeding soul.

At any other time, Zacharel would have struck him down, he was sure. Instead his jade-green eyes radiated sympathy. “Lucifer decided to make another power play for mankind and sent six of his best soldiers to kill our king. They didn’t kill him right away, but absconded with him and tempted him to evil before delivering the deathblow. These demons are the worst of the worst, and they aren’t through with their plan for destruction.”

Demons.

Fury burned his chest. Fury and sorrow. Guilt and remorse.

“Why didn’t you summon us sooner?” Thane growled, his own restraint bursting. “We could have hunted the attackers. Killed them before they delivered the final blow.”

“And we would have liked it,” Bjorn snarled.

Zacharel’s expression was grim. “You know as well as I that the only way the demons were able to reach Germanus was because he allowed it. For whatever reason, he allowed it. There was nothing you could do that we weren’t already doing. But we shall employ your skills now, for the demons are on earth and in hiding. We have reason to believe they’re planning to build armies of possessed humans, making it impossible for us to fight effectively.”

Because the humans weren’t to be harmed. Because the humans couldn’t be possessed unwillingly. They had to fall to the toxin or welcome the demons with open arms.

“They must be found,” Zacharel continued, “and they must be stopped before their evil spreads like the disease it is. And you, my soldiers, are the ones charged with this task.”