The Gates of Paradise (9 page)

er stepmother had named it Penthouse du Rêves. A palace of dreams and an interior decorator’s nightmare. Just as Bliss had guessed, the house was still running, and although she didn’t recognize any of the staff, they all seemed to know her.

“Welcome back, Miss Llewellyn,” the housekeeper said. “Shall we make up some rooms for you and your guest?” she asked, as if Bliss had been away for merely a few weeks and not a few years. She would have received the same welcome, Bliss thought, no matter how long it had been. Forsyth’s trust funds would have seen to it—that there was a haven for Lucifer’s daughter. Once in a while, her terrible heritage did have its privileges, and Bliss was not shy about using them.

She asked the butler if he could arrange for a passport for Lawson, and tickets to London for the both of them. “Through whatever means necessary,” she said, and hoped that this new butler would be as effective as the previous one had been.

The butler gave a nod. “Whatever you request, Miss Llewellyn.”

Lawson’s mouth had fallen open a bit, though Bliss wasn’t sure if it was from the horror of the rococo decor of the apartment or her ease at ordering servants around.

“You’re going to catch flies in there,” she teased, and Lawson snapped his mouth shut.

“This was how you lived?” he asked, after the servants had gone.

“Oh, it was much worse than this,” she said. “Much, much worse. We used to have a chauffeur who drove me
half a block down the road to school. In a Rolls-Royce.” Lawson was looking at her as if she were a stranger, and she didn’t like it. “Yeah, I know, gross. If BobiAnne were here, she’d probably make the driver take me around in a Prius, now that eco-friendly is the new smug.”

Lawson looked around and grinned, pointing to a life-size sculpture of a golden-haired princess with heaving bosoms.

Bliss laughed. “Hey, I didn’t decorate this place. My stepmother had ambitions for Versailles. The room we’re putting you in isn’t that bad. We should really get some sleep—we have a lot to do tomorrow.”

“I could probably use it,” Lawson admitted, and followed her up the stairs.

The guest room was one of the more tastefully appointed, at least in a relative sense. It had a hunting theme—the walls were dark green, and the curtains, lamp shade, and bedspread were all plaid damask, in shades of navy, maroon, and beige. Bliss thought it wouldn’t have been so bad were it not for the deer heads dotting the walls. Trust BobiAnne to always find the detail that went too far.

“Sorry about the taxidermy,” Bliss said.

“Makes me feel right at home,” Lawson deadpanned.

“Oh, and if you’re hungry, the cook can make you whatever you want.”

“Kind of like that hotel we stayed in.” He smiled. “Remember?”

The hotel where they had totally hooked up? Yeah. She remembered. How could she forget? She nodded, trying not to blush.

“Listen, I know we never talked about what happened that night, and I’m sorry that things got a little out of hand,” he said. “You were right to stop me when you did.”

So that’s how he felt about it. That it was all a big mistake. Bliss took a deep breath and avoided looking him in the eye. How could she ever have thought he’d really been interested in her? “Good thing,” she agreed. “Would have been a huge mistake, you and me.”

Lawson looked a little stung. “I didn’t say that. I never said it was a mistake.”

“But you think it,” she said.

“Is that what you think?” he asked, challenging her.

They stared at each other. Finally Bliss said, “No.”

Lawson’s face broke into a smile. “Neither do I.”

Bliss didn’t know what to say to that.

“Keep me company?” he asked suddenly.

Bliss hesitated for a bit and wondered why she was hesitating. She’d been waiting for this exact moment since the first time.

“Okay,” she said, not sure what it meant. Maybe it didn’t mean anything. Maybe, like her, he just didn’t want to be alone.

The lights were off and the house was quiet. She turned toward him at exactly the same time that he turned toward her, and before either of them could say anything, they were already kissing.

Her attraction to him was unlike anything she had felt before. It was instant, powerful, and when they were together she felt as if he knew every inch of her—not just her body but her soul. She fell asleep in his arms.

“Bliss…Bliss.” He was gently calling her name.

Still half asleep, she reached toward him, thinking it would be fun to do that again…but instead of his warm body, her hands only found an empty space where he should have been.

She blinked her eyes open.

Lawson was sitting at the edge of the bed, shirtless in his boxer shorts. “Mac just called,” he said, putting his phone away.

“Something wrong?” she said, pulling up the covers around her chest.

“Yeah. They went back to the cavern to see if Arthur
was there, but he wasn’t. Hadn’t been for a while, apparently. The place was completely trashed, just like the Repository. I
don’t know if it was hounds or what, but they said it was a disaster. They think he’s alive, though—there was no blood anywhere. They don’t know what to do next, but we have to find him.”

“
We?
But what about my friends?”

“I have to go with them,” he said. “They’re my pack. My place is with them. With the vampires missing, Arthur’s our only chance of getting back into the passages and the underworld for the rest of the wolves. I want you to come with me.”

“Lawson…” Bliss put a hand on his cheek. “I have to go to London. I can’t come with you.”

His face turned red. “Why not?”

“My friends…they need me. They’re counting on me. You saw that Silver Blood in the Repository. They’re your former masters; you know how strong they are,” Bliss said. “That’s what we’re fighting. The vampires can’t handle them alone.”

“But I need you too. Your pack needs you.”

“You don’t understand,” she said, sorrow in her voice.

“You’re right, I don’t,” he said, getting up and putting on his clothes. “You took an oath.”

“And you promised you would help me too,” she said quietly, reminding him of his pledge to her when she became one of his pack. “Lawson, please.”

He laced his boots.

“Lawson—” She struggled to stand up. “Where are you going? Lawson!”

He didn’t look back. Not once. Bliss knew before she heard the front door slam and the elevator doors open that he was gone, and she was alone again.

ne day the baptistery doors would grace the most beautiful cathedral in the world. Tomi was satisfied with her work for the day, and took a moment to admire the piece before she returned to her quarters. When she arrived at home, the door was ajar and the room was empty of servants.

“Gio?” she called. “Gio, are you here, my love?”

“In here.” That wasn’t Gio’s voice, Tomi thought, immediately putting a hand on the knife she carried around her waist.

“Who’s there?” Tomi walked inside the bedroom and screamed.

Andreas ran to her, and she screamed even louder. “Get away from me! Where is Gio?” she yelled, pushing him away. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM?”

“Tomi, please, Tomi.” Andreas shook her. “Gio’s gone. He must have known I would return, and escaped before he
had to face me. Tomi—it’s all right. It’s
me
.”

“DEMON! Stay away from me!”

“Tomi, listen. I am so sorry—I have been trying to get back to you—but I was detained. I was sure you were safe with Gio…until I realized. He’s the one we’ve been looking for all along. He has been turning the Venators against me, spreading lies, alienating my men. He even tried to kill me in Verona.”

“The Black Fire,” Tomi whispered. “But how?”

“I contained the fire. It responded to my magic,” he said.

Tomi looked at him in confusion and fear. Unable to understand. But if it was true, then…She held her stomach, feeling sick all of a sudden.

“Lucifer had returned to us. He was alive…and his spirit was in Gio,” Andreas said. “I trusted him like a brother. I loved him like a brother. But he was not who we thought he was.”

“No! No! That cannot be.”

“He was with Simonetta. He was manipulating her all along. That child was not the first. There are others. He has bred a host of half-human demons, the Nephilim. He has kidnapped brides for the Dark Fallen. The trigylph is a symbol of their union—serpent and sheep.”

“No.”

“Tomi. I know he was your friend. He was mine as well.”

Gio had been more than a friend. Tomi turned away from Andreas, the sick feeling in her stomach only growing. She was utterly horrified and unable to accept what he was saying. Gio…? Lucifer? But…

Andreas walked to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned to him slowly. He smiled, and she was stunned as she recognized her love once again.

Just as she had thought: Andreas was Michael. Prince of the Angels, the Valiant, Supreme Commander of the Lord’s Armies. Michael, her eternal love. Only an angel with a power like hers could have stopped the Black Fire of Hell. Only Michael, Pure of Heart, the Protector of the Garden, the Champion of the Light.

She had known Andreas was Michael the instant they had met; but as the months passed and he’d kept away from her, doubt had crept in. They had been separated far too long.…He had left her, and in his absence, Gio had fed her lies and misinformation.

“It is not too late,” Andreas told her. “Thank God you are alive. When I heard he was with you…I feared the worst.”

“Michael,” she breathed. “You are Michael returned to me,” she said as she put a hand on his cheek. She remembered what Gio had said to her that night:
I’ve waited for so
long
; remembered the way his love had bruised her, how he had coveted her body with a fierce and territorial pleasure. Something had been off.…He was unfamiliar.…Her body had known even though her mind had not.

She had been deceived.…

She had been betrayed.…

“It is all right; you are alive, we are safe. The devil is safe behind the Gates of Hell once more,” Andreas murmured, folding her in his arms.

Tomi felt an ache at the deep familiarity of his embrace. She had been right all along.…She
had
known.…How could she have doubted him? How could she have let Gio manipulate her love? How could this have happened?

Andreas kissed her face, her hair. “I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost you again.…”

Lost you again.…

And there was the knowledge she could not bring herself to accept. Michael had triumphed over the Dark Prince during the Crisis in Rome. Had won the day, won the battle. But it had come with a price.

Tomi returned Andreas’s kisses, but she could not bring herself to tell him the truth…that the worst had already happened.

That she had bonded with Gio, had said the words, and now…Her hand rested on her belly. What had she done?
What have I done?

She had lain with the devil, and conceived a child in deceit.