UnGuarded (27 page)

Beck glared at me, then answered,
“C-convince you to go t-to Rhea and get the scrolls.”

“Which dark one did you strike this deal
with?” Raphael asked.

“The d-deal…was with Moros,” Beck stammered.
“B-but others of higher power w-were involved. I d-don’t know
who.”

Raphael’s mouth quirked. “Are you leaving
anything out?”

Beck swallowed hard as he raised his hand
and pointed in my direction. “She doesn’t belong here! I was doing
all of us a favor! She’s on their side—”

Micah blasted more blue flames at Beck,
silencing him for good this time. Then he gave a final nod in our
direction. “My guardian will be stripped of his powers, effective
immediately. I will seek the remainder of his retribution from
him
. Thank you for bringing this to light, regardless of the
pain it also brought forth.” At that moment, Micah and Beck
vanished.

Completely shaken, I let out a breath
without even realizing I’d been holding it in. My face was soaked
with tears, my throat constricted and dry. I slumped back against
Raphael, feeling complete anguish. “Beck was my friend. How could
he have done something so cruel?” I wondered aloud.

“Perhaps he was envious…or jealous,” Elijah
offered.

I looked his way, seeing just plain blue
eyes with no trace of the burning intensity of before. I shrugged,
then pulled away from my archangel. “What will happen to him?”

“I must go now,” Elijah announced.

Raphael flashed him a smile, then gave a
small nod.

“Thank you,” I said just as Elijah
disappeared, taking with him the flaming blue walls that concealed
us. Then I met Raphael’s gaze squarely.

“I cannot predict exactly what will happen
to Beck,” he explained. “Micah will make that decision with
his
guidance just as I must do with you.”

“But before you do anything, please let me
get Caitlyn back. Please.”

“Once she passes, the light will have her,
regardless of who has hold over her now,” was his answer, but it
just wasn’t good enough for my taste.

“Raphael, you must let me save her,” I
pleaded. “Grant me permission to go to my dark friends one last
time. They can help me. I swear it on my existence. And then you
can do with me as you see fit.”

“Selene, I just can’t do that.” He closed
his eyes and shook his head. “What if your so-called dark
friends
are involved with taking your charge?”

“It wasn’t my friends!” I shot back, feeling
confident in my words. “They would never do anything to hurt
me.”

“We’ll see about that,” he replied
doubtfully. Then his head twitched as he instantly became alert.
“Mihr is close by. I must go now and inform him of the situation
with Aurora.”

“But what about Caitlyn? Raphael, we can’t
just leave her—”

“I cannot help you with your charge. Your
actions have decided her fate—more than once now. Please let things
be. I will summon you once I’ve decided your consequences.” With
that he vanished so he could inform Aurora’s archangel that Ezariah
was looking for her. Maybe Aurora would be all too willing to run
right back into the arms of her former lover. I understood all too
well how easy it was to love those of darkness—even with the threat
of becoming fallen.

My chest tightened. I felt more overwhelmed
than I could handle. I’d betrayed my charge, then my friend had
betrayed me. Caitlyn. I couldn’t just leave her with those wretched
shadow sliders, but I had a feeling the only way to get her back
was through Ezariah himself. My only chance of fighting that
powerful demon (yes, demon; that’s what happens to angels when they
fall) would be with the help of my forbidden friends. Somehow
Ezariah got his hands on some extremely potent magic, but as I’d
learned earlier, I knew someone with access to that same level of
power. But how far did Luke’s favors go with him, and would he be
willing to help me? Only one way to find out. Raphael definitely
wasn’t going to like this.

23

NIGHT HAD FALLEN OVER A COLD, CRISP Denver
like a velvety black sheet with stars that resembled sparkling
crystals. Surrounding me were trees swallowed by shadows, leaving
their true size to a human’s imagination. But I could sense their
depths, and feel their shapes, and I wondered how much of that
ability was still angelic. Everything I could do seemed to have a
different vibe. My angel powers still pulsed inside me, but there
was a deeper thrum I didn’t fully understand. Still, I couldn’t
focus on that now—I was here to find someone. And I didn’t have
much time. I’d already lost precious minutes to those annoying
orbing side-effects before shimmering into my human form.
Thankfully, the one I sought was somewhere in the shadows just
ahead.

Suddenly there was a cool rush of wind, and
then I was squeezed inside two hard, strong arms. “Selene! I’ve
been so worried. Please tell me this is really you.”

“It’s really…”—my voice was muffled against
his chest—“me.” I stretched my arms around him, trying to pull him
closer still. Another swish of movement and his soft lips were
caressing mine, causing heat to spill across my face, seeping down
the back of my neck. Then reality set in, and my ticking time clock
started back up. I pushed away from Cole, my breathing heavy and
short. “We can’t. There’s no time. I needed to see you before…” I
let my words trail off with the weight of their meaning pressing
heavy on my heart. My chest tightened and I sniffled back a few
tears.

“Before what?” he asked with concern in his
tone. “What happened to you? Where did you go?”

How to put it quickly? “My archangel
summoned me to Europa. He’s not happy with me, but thankfully there
are other issues he must address before handing down my sentence.”
I shook my head with a sigh. “I’m not sure how much time I have,
but I must try to free Caitlyn from those demons with whatever
moments I have left.”

His lips compressed, but he said nothing.
The look in his eyes was all I needed to see anyway.

“Cole, I don’t have a choice,” I stammered,
then filled him in on the rest of my plan.

“You have no guarantee they’ll help you, or
that it would make a difference even if they did,” he said at last,
clearly very upset.

“But it’s worth a shot. Caitlyn deserves
that much at least.”

“Why? Because it’s all
your
fault?”
he shot back. “If you’d never done this, or never done that, then
she’d never be in trouble at all?” He rolled his eyes. “Selene, you
can’t live by hindsight! ‘Coulda, shoulda, woulda’ doesn’t change
the reality of the situation. Quit dwelling on that!”

My teeth ground together. “I’m going to
dwell on it until I save her! I’m not giving up on my charge!”

Cole waved his hand. “But what about your
consequences? If you keep this up, you may lose…” He sighed. “Every
thing.”

“I may have already lost everything”—my tone
sounding subdued. “This might be the last time you ever see me, and
this is how you want it to go down?”

“What do you mean by that? Your archangel
would never destroy you.”

“No, you’re probably right about that, but
it isn’t fully up to him—”

“If that happens, I’ll find you!” he shot
back with a sharp tone. “If you become fallen, I’m still going to
love you.” He scooped me up in his arms and his lips crushed
mine.

I savored the kiss for a moment longer than
I felt comfortable. After all, the heat from that kiss would fuel
me for the treacherous journey ahead. My hand cupped his cheek,
feeling his jawbone beneath the soft flesh. “I love you, Cole.
Always.”

“I love you too.”

I stepped away, closed my eyes, and had
begun focusing on Luke’s aura when Cole snatched my hand. “I’m
coming with you!”

My eyes shot open. “If anything were to
happen to you, it would destroy me. Besides”—I shrugged my
shoulders—“you and Luke can barely stand to be in the same room,
let alone fight side-by-side in some kind of black-magic-demon
war.”

“Selene, if the situation was reversed,
you’d never stay behind. Please don’t ask that of me now.” His gaze
narrowed. “I’d rather you not be near that vampire without me there
with you.”

Cole was right. If he were in trouble, I’d
be there no matter what he said. So why should I expect it to be
any different when I’m the one in hot water? Plus, knowing how
jealous vampires were, Cole was actually handling the Luke thing
considerably well. I had to give him credit there too. But what if
bringing Cole would make Luke not want to help me? Perhaps I could
go straight to Huron, but going through Luke would certainly
increase my chances of gaining the voodoo Indian’s help. I
considered my options a few moments longer, then finally decided to
let Cole tag along. “But if it poses any kind of problem helping
Caitlyn, then you will leave,” I added seriously. “No questions
asked.”

He nodded. “Done.”

“Okay.” My fingers tightened around his,
then once again, I focused on the one who hopefully would help
us.

About an hour later, I’d regained my memory,
and I was sitting in Cole’s lap staring across the table at a very
upset Luke. His arms were folded in front of him as he glared at
me. “The nerve you have to bring him here,” Luke stated irritably,
raking Cole over with his eyes.

Cole’s hands were on the table, and his
fingers started tapping against the wood. I nervously looked over
at him, holding my breath, waiting for the verbal assault that was
building, I could sense, on Cole’s tongue, and it made me wonder
what all had been said while I’d been recovering from my orbing
side effects. But after a beat, Cole’s lips quirked but he didn’t
speak.

I sighed with relief, then turned my
attention back to Luke. “I need your help.”

“That’s becoming a pattern here,” he smarted
as his eyes locked on mine.

“Ezariah isn’t who he claims,” I explained.
“He really
is
fallen, and has become the demon ruler of
Rhea. Which explains why shadow sliders and messenger demons have
gotten involved.”

Astonishment flashed across Luke’s face.
“You know this for sure? How?”

Cole leaned forward, his chest pressing into
my back. “Her archangel told her, right before he promised a severe
punishment if she tried to do anything about it.”

I elbowed Cole’s solid stomach. “I’m in big
trouble whether I help Caitlyn now or not.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Luke asked. “Go
back to Rhea and fight every demon that attacks us while you return
the scrolls and grab your human?”

I shook my head slowly. “I don’t think it
will be that easy. There’s something else going on here, I just
don’t know exactly what it is.” Then I filled him in on what had
happened with Beck in Europa.

“So the whole thing was a setup?” Luke
asked, his eyes wide with shock.

A chill gripped my spine as I considered his
question. If Beck had been talking with dark ones, then he’d known
of the deal I’d made with Moros. Once he confirmed what had
happened to my charge, he waited until he saw Raphael and I arguing
in Europa, then approached me as if he’d overheard our fight. When,
in fact, he’d already known everything and his side of the deal was
to get me to Rhea, where Ezariah would be waiting. But what I
couldn’t wrap my head around was if Ezariah wanted me, then why did
he let me leave with the scrolls in the first place? I nodded
grimly. “Yeah, I guess the whole thing was a setup.”

“Are you going to help us or not?” Cole
asked flatly.

Luke’s gaze hardened. “If I do choose to
help, it will be for her…not you.”

Anger and jealousy thick enough to suffocate
drizzled out of Cole’s aura. I felt the vibrations of a growl
building on my back, but surprisingly, Cole stifled it back. I kept
my wary eyes on Luke, hopeful he’d agree to help. “Please,” I said
sincerely. “If we don’t have access to the dark ones that helped us
on Charon, then we need Cole to come with us. And we definitely
need Huron.”

Luke studied me a moment. “My favors with
Huron have expired, Angel. The only reason he helped me get you
from Nempha was because he didn’t want to disrupt the natural
balance of good and evil. And you being in hell was definitely
messing with that balance.”

“Isn’t it more messed up that they’ve taken
an innocent human?” I asked, fighting tears.

“Selene, forget him!” Cole spat. “Let’s just
go, return the scrolls and get Caitlyn. If there’s trouble,
I’ll
back you up.”

Luke stood up in a rush, slamming his fists
on the table. “I never said I wouldn’t help!” He squared his
shoulders, fixing his eyes on mine. “You’re not going without
me.”

Cole let out a threatening growl. I
nervously rubbed the top of his thigh, hoping to remind him of the
promise he’d made. When he didn’t do anything else, I let out a
sigh of relief and refocused my attention on Luke. “Let’s hope we
find Huron in a cooperative mood.” I reached across the table to
grab Luke’s hand, twining my fingers around Cole’s with my other
one.