Samael Page 5

  Lexie saw blood on a daily basis, her own dagger bringing death to thousands of vampires and demons. Blood didn’t bother her. The blood giving her nightmares flowed from the neck of her best friend. And there wasn’t a damned thing Lexie could do about it. Her hands were tied.

  “I’ve had many visions before, some that came true and others that didn’t. But this one … this one is madness. I should do something. Go to her and help her. I don’t want her to face this alone.”

  Azazel wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “She isn’t alone. She’s with Samael. This isn’t like what we faced with Kelsey. Jade made her decision, and you two are too alike for you to go behind Jade’s back and tell Ambrose. Like I said, she’s with Samael anyway. He’ll look out for her.”

  Kelsey was another assassin and good friend of hers. A few months back Kelsey had been possessed by a group of spiritual demons. Lexie’s visions had helped save her friend.

  “Which is great, except for the fact that he’s in the vision as well. I see a man’s hands attempting to staunch the flow of blood from her neck. But there’s so much blood I can’t see how bad the injury is. It’s dark as hell. Then I see nothing but her eyes, completely void of life.”

  She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. Not that it helped. The vision flashed through her mind again, so authentic she could have sworn she stood right there by Jade’s side as her friend died.

  Azazel kissed the top of her head. “Did you know Samael was once an Angel of Souls? If Jade told him about your vision, then the process of altering fate has already begun. He, of all people, will know what to do should she take a hit.”

  Lexie pulled away and glanced up at him. “What does his being a former Angel of Souls have to do with someone trying to hack Jade’s head off?” Once the damage was done, and the injury inflicted, a former angel could do nothing.

  “Your vision of Kelsey never came true,” he pointed out.

  She swallowed. That was true, and yet she couldn’t shake the terrible feeling she had concerning Jade. When she had other visions, they normally had something to do with herself in some capacity. She wouldn’t be there when this vision came to pass.

  She didn’t like feeling helpless. “I need to hunt. I need to kill something with my bare hands.”

  “You never fail to turn me on.”

  She smacked his arm. “I’m serious. Let’s go after our next hit.” At least then her mind would be off her visions. Fighting always cleared her head, and right now, she needed peace of mind more than ever.

  * * * *

  “The pizza’s getting cold,” Samael yelled through the door that connected his and Jade’s room. He’d rented rooms on the fourth floor. Close enough to get out should a bad situation arise, and far enough off the ground he didn’t have to worry about potential enemies climbing in through the window. As an assassin, the possibilities of enemies finding you were always a concern.

  When they’d returned to the hotel, Jade had asked to borrow the rental. She hadn’t enlightened him to where she was going when he handed her the keys and he hadn’t bothered asking. She’d returned the keys over two hours ago and she’d been scarce since.

  He knocked on the door. “You coming or what?”

  “Be right there,” she called out in a sing-song voice.

  He scowled at the door. Jade was acting … strange. Ever since they left their last hit she hadn’t once yelled at him or let slip a smartass comment. Now that he thought about it, she’d been acting pleasant.

  Jade. Pleasant.

  A disturbing thought entered his mind. Would she attempt to kill him? She always did get quiet right before a mission. As soon as he thought it, he shot the idea down. She was an assassin, not a murderer. She killed to keep humans safe, not for pleasure.

  She sure liked keeping him on his toes. He’d repaid in kind at their last hit. He shouldn’t have used his demonic powers to kill the vampires so quickly. These missions were for her to prove herself, not for him to protect her. When Domiel had popped in, it had thrown Samael off-guard. Something hadn’t been right about Domiel showing up for a soul and then departing without one. In all his years as an Angel of Souls, that had never happened to Samael.

  When he had called Ambrose he’d lied again. Well, embellished is more like it. Telling Ambrose she’d taken on the toughest being there—that wasn’t too far off the mark. The vamps hadn’t been nearly as scary as the pup.

  Okay, so he’d lied. Big deal. When it came to assassins, Jade was a good one. No one argued about that. Samael just had to sit down and talk with her about her fighting style, and she’d be fine. But there was something she wasn’t telling him. Something happened in the past few months that changed her. He’d made a few calls to those who knew her best, and all had said that Jade did her job well. It was just over the past few months a different Jade had emerged.

  And still he couldn’t shake the incessant need to protect her, which didn’t fit into his goals. If he became wrapped up with Jade he’d lose track of his ultimate mission, which was saving his soul. Dying in this line of work because you were too pre-occupied protecting someone else would prove catastrophic for him—and for her. If Luc found out Samael had feelings for Jade, he’d jump on that weakness.

  What worried him more than his protecting her was the way she was acting right now. It was so out of character it seemed suspicious. Just what could she be up to?

  He recalled the first time he had met her. It seemed like so long ago, when in reality only two months had passed…

  Ambrose turned to Samael as he pushed the doors to the training center open. “Jade is training a class of new recruits right now. If she’s on schedule, she should be focusing on how to fight a demon. She will teach the trainees the skills they will need to fight a being who contains greater powers than they do.”

  Interesting. Samael followed Ambrose, stopping just before they reached the blue mat spread out on the wooden floor. Twenty or so men sat cross-legged at the edge of the blue mat. A few of the trainees glanced at them as they approached, most focusing on Ambrose.

  A dark-haired woman stood with her back to the trainees. She placed a clipboard on a table and turned back to the crowd.

  Samael was no untried lad, but the sight of the female took his breath. She had the features of a porcelain doll, the body of an angel. Her tight, black spandex pants molded to her legs, and the red top she wore showcased toned abs.

  She had the bearing of a commander. She held her back straight, her shoulders were thrown back, and when she faced the men before her she looked them right in the eye.

  She waited until the murmurs died down before she spoke. “Okay, here’s the deal with demons. They can pop up anywhere because they have the ability to materialize. One second you could be thrusting your sword toward their neck, and the next they’re gone. So, here’s what you don’t do. Number one, if a demon disappears on you, expect him back. Demons are fighters. They don’t run from a fight as most vampires you come across will. Secondly, don’t try to locate them with your sight. You’ll be turning circles like a jackass—and then you’ll be a dead jackass.”

  Her words made him smile. She happened to be correct on all counts, but the idea of a vampire gaining the upper hand on a demon was not likely. He’d heard of it happening, though it remained a rare occurrence.

  Again he found himself focusing on the beauty before him. The authority she exuded impressed him. Very few individuals could boast of leadership skills. He’d always respected those who were able to take command.

  A student raised their hand. “Are we going to be training with a demon to hone these skills? Or are you going to show us an example, like you did with the daggers?”

  The trainer glanced briefly at Samael then turned her focus back to the trainee. “We seem to have a demon on site, but he hasn’t been trained yet. I’ll be bringing in a demon tomorrow—”

  “I am well acquainted with the art of sparring. If you need my assistance yo
u only need to ask.” Samael took an easy stance, hoping not to scare the petite trainer.

  She assessed him once again, then shrugged her shoulders in a nonchalant manner. “If you don’t mind, I’m sure the trainees will appreciate the gesture.”

  Samael raised an eyebrow and glanced at Ambrose.

  Ambrose inclined his head toward Jade. “Jade has been an assassin in the Alliance for nearly seven hundred years. She’s training the recruits today because the regular trainer had time off coming to him. She can more than hold her own. You don’t have to go easy on her.”

  Samael shrugged, not knowing why Ambrose considered that information important, and made his way to the middle of the blue mat. Because Jade was an assassin, he’d never have thought to go easy on her.

  Jade lost no time in instructing him. She handed him a dagger. “We’ll square off, and you disappear, simple and to the point. Basically what we are doing is giving the students a show. They’ll need to know what to do if one of their missions includes a demon—it’s imperative to their survival out in the field.”

  “Understood.” He moved a few steps back from her, holding the dagger loosely in his palm. Up close her eyes were a dark hazel, and she had a sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of her nose. She stood five-ten at the most, though her take-charge personality made her appear bigger than she actually was. Her aura proved to be powerful and strong as he stood before her.

  He was instantly taken with her—something that hadn’t happened to him in years—if at all. There had been very little time for women as a Marquis of Hell. The focus always remained on the ultimate goal—a goal he hadn’t believed in for centuries.

  She spread her feet apart, bent at the knees, and nodded at him.

  He de-materialized only to re-materialize right behind her. He brought his dagger to her neck before she had a chance to turn around. She clearly hadn’t expected this move, and yet what better way to train? Expect the unexpected. He’d never trained in Hell. Most demons had been warrior angels in Heaven, so no training needed there. But if they had trained it would have been a no-bullshit session.

  To convince a vampire they had a chance at besting a demon was ludicrous. It would do the students no good to think otherwise.

  A low hum of voices reverberated throughout the training room. Jade smacked his hand away and turned to face him. Her cheeks were mottled with red. “Now is not the time to show off. I’m trying to teach them skills that could potentially save their lives.”

  “Have you ever fought a demon before?”

  She gritted her teeth so hard he thought she might need to visit a dentist soon. “Yes, and those demons never materialized that fast. And by the way, it was my training that brought them down. It’s the reason I’m breathing right now.” She raked him with a glare just before she turned to her students. “Demons will try to disorient you by giving you time to try and locate them. I’ve never seen a demon materialize that fast before. It’s not common for them to do so.”

  So much for teaching them to expect the unexpected. This training seemed useless to him, but with his new boss in attendance Samael decided to play nice. “Shall we try it again, then?”

  She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Very well.”

  He did the best to keep the smile off his face as they squared off again. Jade was sexy as hell when riled. When she nodded at him he de-materialized to wait outside the building, giving her the time she asked for. He gave her fifteen seconds, and when he materialized back to her, he did so in a kneeling position. Wrapping his arms around her knees he brought her down, flipped her onto her stomach and took her dagger.

  With her ass pressed against his groin he lost his concentration. The curves of her body—

  She threw her head back, and her skull connected with his nose—a move he hadn’t been expecting. The loud cracking noise attested to the fact that she had broken his nose. Pain was something he had been trained to ignore, and though he didn’t flinch, he briefly saw stars. Within a heartbeat she flipped to her back and kicked her feet out with impressive force.

  Vampires were strong, and her kick knocked him back a few feet, giving her ample opportunity to scoot away from him. She would have made it too, if his new boss hadn’t been standing only ten feet away. In attempt to save face, he grabbed one of her ankles and yanked her back until he had her pinned underneath him once again, his dagger at her neck.

  Her breathing came fast and hard, her chest merely inches from his. She lifted her chin, even in this submissive pose, and glared at him. If he had retained the ability to read minds, he’d no doubt hear a slew of curse words issuing from her right now. He might even deserve them. This was not what she had anticipated in the training.

  “Training session over,” Ambrose called above the onslaught of shouts from the trainees.

  Samael got to his feet and offered Jade his hand. She ignored it, as he’d anticipated, and slowly rose to stand. Her skills might not kill him, but from the look she gave him he was surprised he wasn’t wearing a toe-tag.

  Ambrose walked up to them, breaking up the energy that hung in the air between them. Jade kept her focus on Samael, rolling the hilt of her dagger across her palm. Samael had no doubt she ached to skewer him with it.

  Ambrose towered over her. “Jade, this is training. You know the rules. We do our best not to connect.”

  “Sorry Ambrose. Instinct took over.” She leveled her glare on Samael. “I explained to him we were here to aid the understanding of the students using a show-only type of training, something to give them an idea of what to expect when on the streets. Not go balls to the wall.”

  “I believe we accomplished that,” Samael said.

  “The only thing we accomplished was to prove you can’t take a simple directive. I don’t know your fighting background, but training in the Alliance doesn’t get rough until the students begin sparring. Then the dangers are mostly from those who cannot distinguish between reality and practice.”

  “Like you just did?” Samael couldn’t help himself. He immediately wished he could take back his comment. For a split second embarrassment had clouded her features, quickly followed by a look of pure malice.

  Jade pivoted on her heel and stormed from the training room.

  Jade’s voice snapped him out of the memory. Suddenly she was standing before him. “Mmmm, smells good.”

  Samael stood dumbfounded. Gone were the leather pants and dusty leather jacket she had sported earlier. In their place were a snug, beige sweater and a tight pair of dark blue jeans. Her hair was down and curly, shining as though she had run a brush through it thousands of times. She wore light makeup and smelled like a field filled with gardenias. She wore no shoes, opting to go barefoot instead. She’d painted her toenails a bright red.

  She was a vision, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out exactly what was on her mind. She had no desire to kill him.

  She was trying to seduce him.

  Chapter Four

  “What’s wrong?” Jade just spent the last hour primping, waxing and lathering herself in fragrant oil, only for Samael to look at her as though she were nuts. Wearing a new outfit and new lingerie, she looked like a million bucks. Instead of the appreciative glance she’d anticipated, Samael looked confused.

  Within the space of a heartbeat his features relaxed. “Nothing. Nothing at all. You ready to eat?”

  Eat, ha. She was ready to suck—in more ways than one. Her fangs weren’t the only body part aching. “I’m starving.”

  She followed him to the small table set in the corner of the room, watching the way his muscles moved under his T-shirt. The tattoos covering his right arm were her favorite part of his body. Hopefully soon she would be running her hands along that flesh. Having a little taste. He turned around and raised an eyebrow. Had he said something? “What was that?”

  “There’s pepperoni with extra cheese and a deluxe. You didn’t specify what you wanted.”

  It wouldn
’t be long before she did. She glanced around for paper plates or napkins. “I take it we don’t have anything to put the pizza on?”

  He picked up a slice with everything on it. “This works for me. I guess having lived in hotel rooms for the last few months, and always eating by myself, I forgot.”

  That was the big downfall to being an assassin for the Alliance. The work grew tiresome and lonely after a while. Yes, she had seen the world, but it had been all by herself. If she had a mission in England she couldn’t share the experience of eating at a nice restaurant, or take in the sights with a companion. There had been times she had done so with Lexie and Kelsey, but those times were few and far between.

  She sat at the table with him and picked up a slice, bringing it to her lips. She caught him watching her. She’d never paid any attention to eating pizza when she was by herself, but with him watching her she found it to be a very un-sexy thing to do. The cheese stretched, the oil found its way to the sides of her mouth, and there were no napkins she could use. It took her several bites, and the use of her fingers, to get the cheese to separate from the long strand it made from her mouth to the slice.

  “When was the last time you fed?”

  As a vampire she couldn’t mistake his meaning. She could play coy, but that wasn’t her style. “Why? Are you offering?

  Demons knew vampires salivated at the mere thought of their blood. Rich and thick, it made human blood taste like tepid water. It could also sustain vampires for a longer period of time.

  “If I was?”

  Hmmm, this seduction thing wasn’t all that hard. Feeding proved a sensual experience for both parties, and for the most part sex was involved. It wasn’t exactly a secret Samael wanted to bed her, either. And now that she felt the same way…

  She hadn’t even touched him yet, and she already felt like her old self.