Origin of Angels: Elemental Legacy Book 1 (35 page)

He waited for me to sit before he lowered the tray to my lap. “I thought you must be hungry.”

I gave a smile, even though the events of the night turned my stomach. “Thank you.”

I’d been given space to think about his request. He no longer wanted me to actually sleep with Travis. He wanted me to agree to insemination. As he told it, Travis had been plenty compliant in giving a specimen. I had no way of knowing if he lied, but I wanted to believe Travis wouldn’t relent so easily. The way he’d looked at me had brought back a wall of longing. To have had him so close, then to lose him again made my shrunken heart hurt.

He’d seemed pleased with our son. Even though I loved Blade with all my heart, more than I thought possible, the idea of bringing another child into this world for the sole purpose of fulfilling Valen’s dark calling left me disgusted. I’d agreed to do whatever he wanted, but it was difficult to keep my promise with the details so fresh. He’d tried to comfort me, telling me it was the only way he and I could have children of our own. He wanted to be a family.

If I continued the present course, I would become his baby mill. I had to put a stop to his ambitions
— but how? I’d done a fair job of concealing the extent of my loathing. Perhaps he needed to know. Maybe if I let him see what he’d become in my eyes, he’d change his course. Or he could discard me for another. The prospect didn’t sound so bad considering what I had to look forward to. If it weren’t for Blade, I would have jumped from the highest tower months ago.

Valen settled beside me. “I know you’re upset, and I want to ease your burden.”

If his attentive stare was any indication, he was sincere, yet I couldn’t tell him what he wanted to hear. There were times when saying the easy thing was no longer an option. “Why do you want to have a family with me? Fae have never had children.”

He leaned against the headboard and sighed. I expected him to unleash his wrath. Instead he studied me. “Am I so vile to you?”

Hiding my cringe, I shook my head. How could I let him know what I thought without facing the repercussions I knew would come? “You and I have different views of right and wrong. I cannot overcome some of them.”

He continued to stare, expressing no emotion. It was worse than if he had fallen into a display of anger. I could only guess at where his mind was headed, whereas he had full access to mine.

“No,” he said. “I don’t.” He plucked a strawberry from my plate and brought it to my lips. Tentatively, I took a bite. He finished it off. “You are different, Emily. How much experimentation did you experience with Nigel?”

How should I know? I wasn’t conscious for most of it. I let my thoughts answer while I chewed. If there were ever a time to offer important information, this was it. Too bad I didn’t have any.

“Emily, look at me.”

He put zero compulsion into the words, and his inflection represented a request. My gaze connected with his. His body was relaxed, and his eyes were softened. “I will show you how much I value you. I’m offering you a choice.”

My heartbeat raced as I tried to discover his motives. “Regarding what?”

“If you choose to give me a chance to show you why I have made the decisions I have, and you let yourself love me, I will protect your family. No one you know or love will come to harm, and all will live in luxury and happiness.”

The implication was already there, but I needed to make sure I understood his threat. “And if I don’t love you?”

“I will be forced to seek alternatives to our situation. You have value to me in many ways, yet I do not desire you to be miserable because of me. I can return you to Lambert, if it is your wish.”

I frowned. “You’d let me go?”

“If it would make you happier: yes.”

My head swam with the possibility. “If what you say is true, why not release me from Order life? I would prefer to live with my son without having to deal with Lambert ever again.”

His expression darkened ever so slightly. “As I said, you are of value to me in more ways than one. You have shown the capability to conceive from the nephilim when no one else has. We cannot release you for this reason. One way or another, you are integral to the fulfilment of our obligations.”

My blood heated. “Which are what, exactly?”

His words were clipped. “The details don’t concern you.”

I sat up, pushing the tray off my lap to rest between us. “I don’t agree. My life may mean nothing to you, but it’s everything to me. My children will not be used for evil purposes.”

He laughed. “You have a human’s view of right and wrong, Emily. Once freed from your mortal shell, you’ll see the universe is much more complicated.”

Pretending to understand what he was referring to was pointless. Against my better judgment, I pressed forward with the truth. “All I know is how I feel, and what you’re doing, the way you treat people, and the idea of your allegiance bothers me. I can’t change my fundamental beliefs, no matter how much you want me to. Keeping me with you is your choice, not mine. I have made my best efforts to care for you, and sometimes, I think it would be easy, but the truth is you don’t know how to love, Valen. Giving my heart to you would be foolish, if not deadly. I don’t know why the bond didn’t take like it usually does, but I can’t change it.”

He ran his fingers over the shadow of stubble on his jaw. “This is how you truly feel?”

I nodded, my head screaming at me to lie. My pulse pounded, and my palms grew sweaty waiting for his reply.

His eyes lowered to the ivory sheets. “So be it.”

GRACE KELLER WOULD RULE THE WORLD if someone would let her. She’d been bossing people around since the moment Rayla disappeared down the corridor. As usual, John stood back and watched. His mouth twitched a couple times when she got good and demanding. The man must be bonkers to put up with her, but what man isn’t a little off kilter when in love?

I looked to where Faine stood watching the surveillance. Her features were pulled into a frown, and she hugged herself, picking at the fabric of her button-up shirt. Natalie stood beside her taking it all in. Both women gave glances to the other from time to time. William had his hands full with Grace, but he seemed to take her in stride.

It was the man leaning against the wall quietly in the corner who drew my notice. He hadn’t said a word, but his keen stare set him apart from the workers doing his bidding. His mind was not open to explore, which supported my appraisal of him being the one in charge. William had been on someone’s errand, and it wasn’t a far stretch to think this fellow had been on the other end of the orders.

He caught me watching, so I strode to stand in front of him. He was early-thirties, distinguished looking in a British sort of way, with his tailored suit and high-gloss shoes. I might have mistaken him for a barrister if it hadn’t been for the way he held himself. It was the stance of a king or warrior, rigid and strong. He was perhaps an inch or two shorter than me, but he carried himself as if he were ten feet tall. I extended my hand. “Hello, I’m Zach.”

He clasped my fingers with a firm grip. “Uri Lawson.”

I swept my gaze over the open expanse of the building. “Nice place you have here.”

He nodded. “Quite.”

Not very talkative, this one. “William said he’d been sent to protect us.”

His sharp stare honed to mine. “If you have a question, Zach
... ask.”

He might regret his invitation once I was finished with him. “Are you in charge here?”

“Yes.”

“What is the nature of your business?”

“We help those who need assistance.”

I chuckled. “Like the Boy Scouts?”

He gave a wry smile. “Hardly.”

“Why did you bring us here?”

He unfolded his arms and detached himself from the wall. “It was time to make ourselves known.”

Faine had come to join me along with Grace, John, and Natalie. “What’s going on?”
Faine asked, dark brows furrowed.

Uri sniffed, eyeing the lot. “William?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” called the man.

“Are we ready?”

“I believe so, cap.”

So this was a military organization. Despite my reservations, trouble seemed to be the last thing one such as Uri would want.

The man stamped toward the staircase. We filed in behind him, all eager to know what was happening. We were led to a large room where maps and posters took up most of three walls. In the center of the room rested a large oak table with a host of comfortable looking chairs surrounding it.

I let myself take in a few of the maps, which included the United Kingdom, the rest of Ireland, a
nd a portion of France. Pins stuck out of several locations, including Merceyside. It was as if they were tracking events. They could be following the recent deaths, yet it appeared those were new to the area. There were too many pins.

Uri eased onto a chair at the head of the table. He was about to speak when Jessica, Rayla, and Heath came into the room. Rayla’s fallen expression suggested our meeting wouldn’t be pleasant. Faine sat beside me, clasping my hand and giving a squeeze.

It had been centuries since I had someone concerned over my welfare. I rubbed the soft flesh of her wrist and smiled, then focused on Uri.

He waited for everyone else to be seated before he spoke. “Recent events have caused us to take action. We have called you here for the purpose of making an alliance.” His dark brown eyes scanned the room. “What I have to say will not be easy to hear. In old times, sacrifices were made to heathen gods to gain power. Those practices, although once abolished, have come to Earth again.”

The hairs on my arms stood. He couldn’t mean the old religion. We’d worked for millennia to rid it from the planet. Practices of paganism were tame compared to the distant past. Blood sacrifice was unthinkable, and if humans were involved, we were in trouble. Rayla stared at her hands, but she glanced up to give me a nod. Luke pushed back from the table. “How could the knowledge come again? We purged it.” Uri nodded. His stoic expression didn’t offer much hope for a solution.

Grace stayed mostly silent since we’d come into the room, but her demeanor had shifted to one of unrest. “Who are you? Why have you brought us here, exactly?”

Uri glanced at William, who cleared his throat. “We are watchers.”

Luke stood, shaking his head. His fists clenched as his words voiced my thoughts. “You were banished.”

Uri lifted a hand as if to calm my brother. “Please sit. We have much to discuss.”

Luke looked to me, and I nodded. Long buried memories cycled in an incessant loop. My kind arrived after the time of the watchers, but the legends remained. They were said to be fallen angels who impregnated human women. If this man was one of them, we had more to worry about than Valen and Nigel Lambert. “What is your purpose?” I asked, hoping for the truth.

Uri stood and leaned against the table’s edge. His dark gaze swept the lot of us. “As it has always been: to abolish evil.”

AINESSA WASN’T ONE TO BE LET down easily.
If the fire in her emerald gaze was any indication, she would rather blast me to oblivion than let me go. Each time she used her ring, it lost its effect. I eased toward the balcony, since I had no idea if she had backup. The cool breeze wafted through the curtains, which brushed against my legs like specters beckoning me to freedom. I’d made the mistake of discounting the woman, and I wouldn’t do it again.

She lifted her hands as if the motion alone could stop me. “Think about what you’ll be losing. I’m offering you everything you could want.”

Her delusions weren’t healthy. “Look, lady, I don’t want to be rude, but you’re not making it easy. Your first mistake is thinking I’m like you. I don’t care about power at all. I didn’t ask to be part of your world, but I can deal with it. What I can’t take is your bossy expectations. You’re beautiful, and if I were shallow, I’d be all over you in a heartbeat, but I wasn’t raised to take advantage of women. And I sure as hell wasn’t raised to let a woman plow over the top of me. You have nothing. I mean nothing to offer. I’m looking for a real relationship. You can’t give it to me anymore than I can give you my power. It’s nothing personal. We’re incompatible.”

Ainessa’s expression chilled the room. “I never said I cared about what you want, Travis. I care about my people
—”

I couldn’t listen to her lies. “What a load. I didn’t crawl from under a rock yesterday. Power is the only thing in your horizons. I get it. The pull is an amazing high, and the bottom line is you want to rule.” I rocked to the balls of my feet, keeping my face guarded. “The funny thing is Rayla would probably give you the kingdom if you were a decent person.”

Pure hatred spilled from her eyes. “You have no right to speak to me in such a manner.”

“When you kept me here against my will, you gave me the right. Now, I’m leaving, and it would be best if you didn’t follow.”

I didn’t bother to look over my shoulder. The wind came harsher as I made my way to the wall. She inched closer, her stupid ring glowing brighter than ever before. What she thought it was going to do was anyone’s guess. It didn’t matter to me if she thought she could reverse the night. I had one goal: to reach the borderlands. Finding Taylor would be awesome, too.