Samael Read online

At least he hadn’t asked her any more questions she was unwilling to answer. Right after he’d had that visitor of his, he’d closed himself off from her for an entire day. He hadn’t even answered his door when she knocked. At least he no longer felt the need to interrogate her.

  Thankfully, Ambrose hadn’t called her, which meant Lexie had kept her mouth shut as well. That was a time bomb waiting to go off. Lexie wasn’t exactly a patient person. The fact that she remained silent after two months of having the vision was shocking in itself.

  A snowball smacked her on the side of the face. She turned her head in the direction the hit came from, snow falling from her cheek. She found Samael behind a tree, smiling as though they had time to frolic in the snow. As if four vamps weren’t planning more murder and mayhem in the house across the street. And she thought she was the child.

  “Do you have a fucking problem?” she snapped. He always seemed so relaxed right before a hit. She envied him that ability. Before the vision, Jade had been the exact same way. Now she was a virtual basket case.

  He gave her a look of astonishment. “I have no problems in the fucking area, thank you very much.”

  She took a deep breath and focused on the house once again. It was set in a cul-de-sac, far away from the other houses on the road—but close enough so that she had to calculate every move she made. It was the perfect mission for her. She’d have to be careful not to bring attention to herself.

  Samael could be so irresponsible at times. She had to be vigilant with each and every mission. Anything and everything could go wrong. She had to get this mission right, or else he would have no other option than to give her a bad report. And though she was terrified of being an assassin with the vision fresh in her mind, she was even more afraid of the unknown. This she could do … if they allowed her to do it her way. It was the not-in-front-of-humans rule that sucked ass.

  Last night in the hotel she’d thought about joining Samael in his room. She had yet to figure out what held her back, other than a fear of getting too close to him. She could only imagine what he would say about her to the other assassins. He didn’t seem the type to talk about his latest screw, but you never really knew.

  Another snowball hit her in the face, and she stood up and drew her weapon—a nine mil. She pointed it at his crotch, smiling when the merriment melted off his face. “I am going to shoot your balls off.”

  In the distance the movement of a black car caught her eye. The driver carefully made his way down the slick road. She fell into position again, ready to go on the attack. The car took its time pulling into the driveway of the house they were watching. The garage door went up, and the car disappeared inside.

  She looked back at Samael. They would have to move fast. Out here in the middle of nowhere the vamps would sense a demon’s energy. He gave the motion to move in, his face a mask of deadly intent now.

  Now that was the side of Samael that turned her on the most. Silent and deadly, she could only imagine what he’d witnessed and done in his lifetime. Talk about a bad boy. He’d created the mold. This was the side of Samael that everyone else saw—and all the women drooled over. It struck her then that she had access to all of Samael, even his playful side.

  No time to think about it now.

  When the garage door went back down, she jogged to the side of the house and went around to the backyard as Samael had signaled. He was going in through the front door. Having been by herself for almost all of her missions, she found it difficult to take orders from him. Giving orders likely came very naturally to him. As a Marquis of Hell he’d led many demons. Which begged the question … what had been his job as an angel? She gave herself a mental note to ask him later and concentrated on what she was here for.

  Her heart beat like a hummingbird’s wings, which was becoming the norm just before a hit. She hunkered down by the sliding-glass door, the crackling of her leather jacket the only sound she could hear, and waited for another signal. A blond vamp sat at a desk in the cluttered living room, playing a game on his computer. Dishes rattled in the kitchen, and the sound of a microwave came on. A domestic scene if she ever saw one. She found it hard to believe the assholes in this house were feeding from the homeless on the city streets, leaving them for dead.

  She could see her breath come out in small, white clouds, and the frigid air made her toes numb. She glanced around the house, wondering where Samael had gone. Scanning the backyard behind her, she saw no hint of the demon.

  Puffs of white air coming from behind a potted plant caught her attention. What the hell?

  Her acute hearing picked up on the front door being kicked down—that was her signal. Apparently vampires weren’t the only species that had acute hearing. Pit Bulls also boasted of the talent, and one proved it by knocking over the potted plant, barreling at her in an attempt to reach its masters.

  * * * *

  Samael felt the energy of an angel inside the house. With his powers he locked the sliding glass door so Jade couldn’t come in. The plan was to unlock the door and let her in, but something wasn’t right. The angel’s presence was familiar. An Angel of Souls had arrived to collect the soul of one or more of the vampires.

  He kicked the door in and tried to locate the angel. Domiel appeared before him and suspended time. The vampires had been in the dining room and kitchen. They were in various poses of movement, frozen in place. A cup of coffee had been knocked over, the liquid hovering in the air.

  “I’m glad to see you finally came around.”

  Samael hadn’t seen Domiel since his fall. They had worked closely together in Heaven, both having the same occupation. “I see the temptation to fall has not affected you.”

  Domiel clasped his hands behind his back. “We all desire to experience something more than which we have.”

  Samael frowned. “Drop the act, Domiel. What the hell have you been doing since I saw you last?”

  Domiel leaned against the back of the couch, laughing. “Not a damn thing. You remember what it’s like, don’t you? The cries of the humans, the pleas that threaten to tear your resolve when it comes to taking the soul of a loved one. What’s it like for you? Do you still work for him?”

  “I quit. I’m working for the Alliance now, a group of assassins headed up by Ambrose.” Domiel would also recall Ambrose, as he had been a Warrior Angel.

  Domiel’s silky white slacks and shirt flowed around him as he moved. “What’s it like to have freedom?”

  Samael shook his head. “Don’t go there. Remain where you are.” That little, inconspicuous question led many an angel down the wrong path.

  “I’m just asking. Is falling from grace worth it in your opinion?”

  Samael had been asking that question of himself since he’d made the decision to fall. “It’s not a black or white issue,” he answered honestly. “There are some things you can do that seem to make falling worth it, and other things that make me curse the day I fell.”

  “What of the woman outside?”

  “Are you asking about sex?”

  “Perhaps.”

  Samael laughed. Part of him believed if it had been possible for angels to have sex, then most of them would have remained in Heaven. It was one of the many things denied them, and it had its place at the top of many angels’ reasons for their fall. An entire constituency of angels had fallen out of lust for human women in the Second Angelic Revolt.

  “I’m not going to knock it.”

  “How did I know that would be your answer?”

  Samael wasn’t willing to add fuel to the fire. “Why are you here? For one of the vampires?”

  Domiel’s face darkened. “I was, however your presence has changed my course of action.”

  How could that be? His presence would have no affect on the final destination of a person’s soul. “What does that mean?”

  “I will see you soon, brother.”

  And with that Domiel was gone, and the vampires sprang into action once again.

&nbs
p; * * * *

  Jade tried frantically to open the sliding glass door. Locked. Samael was supposed to have opened it for her. There was no fence surrounding the yard, so she couldn’t outrun the dog to the fence and bound over. Maybe they used an electric doggie fence? She didn’t want to hurt the poor bastard. She loved dogs.

  With no more time available to mull over her limited options, she jumped onto a glass patio table and immediately realized her bad decision was going to get her bit.

  The tiny table wasn’t in the best condition, and it tumbled over when a leg gave out. The glass shattered, sending shards of glass all over her and the protective dog.

  The snarling beast lunged at her.

  She snatched up a chair and held it off. “You bite me buddy, and I’ll bite you right back.”

  She didn’t want to hurt the hound from hell. It was only protecting its deranged owners. Wasn’t this typical? She was going to get a bad report because she wasn’t in the house helping Samael. All because she happened to be an animal lover.

  No, she had to find a way in. She started walking around the dog to get to the sliding glass door. Instinct told her to break through the glass, but if humans had heard the table shatter, their attention would now be on this house. The old Jade wouldn’t give a shit. The new Jade had to abide by the rules.

  Seconds later the sliding glass door opened. “Looks like you made a new friend.”

  Jade thrust the chairs legs at the dog again, wondering how in the hell Samael had completed the mission so quickly. White, foamy slobber dripped from the dog’s mouth. The dog bent at the legs, looking from her to Samael, then back at her again. The hair on its little behind stood straight up.

  “You’re telling me you can’t take care of one little dog?”

  “I don’t want to hurt him, Samael. Can’t you materialize him somewhere else without hurting him? Is that asking too much?”

  “What? Don’t tell me you’re a PETA member.” Samael clapped his hands together. “Sit!”

  The dog not only sat, he rolled onto his back and whined. She glanced up at Samael, whose nose was red from the cold. He was actually very cute at the moment, bundled up in his black jacket and black knit hat. “How did you do that?”

  “Dogs can sense evil, I guess.” He shrugged his massive shoulders. “He doesn’t want me to open a can of whoop ass on him like I did his owners.”

  She still couldn’t believe he had finished the mission himself. So fast? This was going to look terrible on her report. “Why did you complete the hit yourself? I thought this was supposed to be a test.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “I had no choice. You have a few missions to go. I didn’t want to interrupt your playtime with Cujo here.”

  She rolled her eyes, trying to push back the nagging thought that he was coddling her on purpose. Why would he do that? He had no reason to. In fact, his job demanded he didn’t. “I’ll call the body pickup in this area.”

  “No, I’ll do it. You can make nice with your furry friend until we take him to an adoption agency.”

  He disappeared inside the house just as her cell played “Promiscuous Girl.” She flipped it open. It was Lexie.

  Lexie giggled on the other end before she spoke. “I have been having the best sex of my life. Training makes me sore at times, but I’m not sure I can even get out of my bed without help right now. How are you doing?”

  Jade eyed the now complacent-looking pooch. While lying on his back and giving her puppy-dog eyes, he wagged his tail. “Is that why you called me? To tell me about your sex life?”

  “Well, considering you were so interested in it for the past two hundred years, I thought you’d like to know I was happily sated.”

  The dog rolled over and came sniffing around her feet. She kept still, wondering what in the hell Samael had done to get the mutt to behave like this. “Yeah, good for you.”

  “Okaaay, so I heard you were on probation. That meshes with my vision, doesn’t it? You aren’t working alone anymore, you’re working with Samael. I think it’s time to tell Ambrose.”

  So, the news had already made the rounds. Perfect. “It’s just for the time being. I’ll be back on the beat in no time. There’s absolutely no reason to tell Ambrose.” Not if her missions kept ending like this one. She’d be training with the newbies like some washed-up jackass.

  “I had another flash of the vision. The hit is going to take place in a dark building. I couldn’t see much because there didn’t seem to be any light at all.”

  Jade nodded, though Lexie couldn’t see her. “See? Everything is going to be fine. The more I know about the surroundings the better. Did you hear anything in the background?”

  “Yeah, I could hear a lot of people. So it’s a public building. Why it would be so dark, I don’t know. Guess the lights went out or something.”

  Shit. Jade would have to deal with the not-in-front-of-humans rule. “Okay. I’ll stay alert.”

  “Do me a favor and tell Samael about the vision. At least you’ll have two pairs of eyes looking out for you.”

  “Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea. He’ll probably tell Ambrose.” There was no way in hell she was going to tell Samael about the vision. If she happened to be right, and he was coddling her during their missions now, he’d go overboard if he found out she was destined to die.

  “Promise me you’ll tell him, and I’ll keep my mouth shut. If you don’t, then I’m calling Ambrose the second after I hang up with you.”

  Jade gritted her teeth and crossed her fingers. She briefly imagined knocking Lexie out. “Fine.”

  “Promise.”

  “I promise I’ll tell Samael.” Like hell I will.

  “Are you crossing your fingers?”

  Jade uncrossed them. “No, now will you relax a little?” She had no desire to lie to Lexie, but Lexie would do no different if she were in Jade’s shoes. Actually, Lexie would be daring immortals to slash her throat.

  “Well, be careful. Sometimes my visions are skewed, you know that. And that’s the only reason I’m giving us time to figure this out. So, Samael still got the hots for you?”

  Jade held her breath on that one. She’d told Lexie about Samael’s advances, and Lexie would expect her and Samael to jump into bed without hesitation. “He sure does.”

  “You have him walking bow-legged yet?”

  Jade had never mentioned her attraction to Samael to anyone. She acted blasé around him and made everyone believe she thought him to be the lowest of the low. Still, Lexie knew Jade’s view on sex. As long as there were two consenting adults, she saw no problem in getting a little naughty. And there was no single straight woman on earth who would turn down Samael’s advances. “Hell no.”

  “So that’s why you’re so pissy? Why don’t you just have sex with him? ‘In and out, let ’em pout’ was always your motto. You said sex was your stress reliever. What’s wrong with sucking on a little demon lollipop?”

  “I’m not very fond of him, if you recall.”

  “That’s never stopped you before. Are you infatuated with him? Do you have any real feelings for him?”

  “Only you would use the word infatuated. And hell no, I’m not.” Hell yes, she was. Jade had listened to those who fell in love say they didn’t know what exactly made them feel the way they did, but that the attraction was unmistakable. She felt the same way about Samael. There was just something about him.

  He was trouble. But love? She was too old to fall for someone so quickly.

  “Wow, you sure are defensive about feelings you say you don’t have.”

  The sliding glass door opened once again, and Samael stepped out of the house. She turned away from him, knowing he could hear Lexie were she to speak again. “I’ll talk to you later, Lexie.” She snapped the phone shut and clipped it back to her belt. The last thing she needed at the moment was Samael hearing Lexie over the phone talking about Jade’s possible feelings for him.

  She searched his face for a hint th
at he’d heard her from inside the house. Nothing. Thankfully he’d been too preoccupied on the phone to eavesdrop on her conversation with Lexie.

  “Let’s load up the pooch and get out of here. I called the clean-up guy and he’s on his way.”

  She turned back to him and gave him a once-over. A demonic lollipop. The thought made her wet and had her aching in places that had been long ignored. It had been a while since she’d had sex, and even longer since she’d fed. Samael was more than willing to fill one of those needs, possibly both. Could she push thoughts of forever out of her mind and just enjoy the feel of his body, the taste of his blood?

  She’d have to feed soon, and if she fed off him, then she wouldn’t have to go out looking for it.

  “What are you thinking about? You seem tense.”

  She shook her head to clear the erotic images in her mind. “After we drop off the dog, are we going back to the hotel?”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “Where else would we go? We have a day off coming to us tomorrow. Is there something you would like to do?”

  That’s right. She’d forgotten. Samael had rented out two rooms for proprieties’ sake, though now that Lexie had brought Jade’s needs to attention, propriety was the farthest thing from her mind. Ever since Lexie had told Jade about the vision, she’d concentrated on staying alive, not getting her groove on.

  “No. I was just asking.” She glanced around the yard, unable to meet his questioning stare. “Sorry I wasn’t more help to you.”

  He walked up to her and slapped her on the rear. “Yeah, but you didn’t blow anything up or push someone in front of a bus. I’d say that’s a definite improvement.”

  * * * *

  Lexie put her cell phone on the nightstand and ran a hand through her hair as she leaned against the headboard of the ratty motel bed. Keeping her vision from Ambrose was a mistake. She could feel it, and yet she understood Jade’s decision to keep it from him. Lexie would do the same thing if she were in Jade’s position. She couldn’t imagine not being an assassin.

  “You’re going to worry yourself sick.”

  She laid her head on Azazel’s shoulder. He was right. The vision of Jade’s death consumed her thoughts, both day and night. She couldn’t even escape the vision in her dreams. Nightmares woke her in the middle of the day, a cold sheen of sweat always covering her body.