Moonlight and Diamonds & The Vampire's Fall (43 page)

Chapter 25

W
hile she was drying off from the shower in the bathroom, Zen heard the door shut and Blade's footsteps rushing up the stairs. It was late in the day, but the sweltering heat had compelled her to hop in for a quick and cool rinse.

“In here!” she called, letting the towel drop to the floor as she walked out into the bedroom.

“Wow.” He walked in and strolled his gaze up and down her naked skin. “That's a nice way to greet a guy.” He thumbed a gesture over his shoulder. “I picked up a salad and sandwich for you. Left it in the fridge.”

“Thanks. I am hungry. But it can wait.”

She climbed onto the bed and patted the sheet beside her. He sat and she kissed him and pulled off his T-shirt. It wasn't necessary to ask him to take off his jeans; he'd already quickly shoved them down. Afternoon sex was awesome, but with the rain pinging the window—and the man always had the windows open a crack—a humid breeze floated over the bed. She nestled into the black sheets and stroked her fingers along his leg, delighting in the soft dark hairs. No blue here.

He kissed her head and drew her hand up to kiss each finger. Down her wrist, and up to her elbow, he paused. “These markings are brighter.”

“Yes, I noticed that. What do you think?”

“Faery?” he offered with a shrug.

“You know as much as I do.” She walked her fingers over his abs and tapped one of his steely pecs. “How did the chat with the halo hunter go?” she asked.

“Interesting. He really wants to get his hands on your halo.”

“Did you tell him it was mine?”

“I did.”

“I own very few things. I value what I have. I would never give the halo up, even if...”

He sat up against the headboard and ran his fingers through her hair, brushing it from her face. “Keep the halo on you at all times, Zen. Promise me.”

“I will. The Casipheans will have to accept it is mine. Does that mean you're worried someone is going to attack me again?”

“The Casipheans still have a chance of luring you to their side.”

“I won't go.”

“But you just said—”

Zen sighed heavily. “I know. I'm not sure what is right anymore.” She stretched out her arm and stroked the marks, which had brightened to white from the original cream. “Why did I fall to become their queen?”

“I can answer that. I spoke to Sim last night before returning and making love to you all night long. That bastard is an angel.”

“He is?”

Blade nodded. “Simaseel, Master of—uh, I don't recall. Doesn't matter. You ready for this?”

“It's not good, is it?”

He shrugged. “We all react and move through life according to how we've been raised. Or in your case, created.”

Yes, because angels were not born and nurtured from an infant, they were created. Come into being fully mature and ready to do...whatever it was they had been assigned—or perhaps even destined—to do.

“Simaseel knew why I fell, didn't he?”

“Do you remember that name?” he asked. “Simaseel?”

“No. Should I?”

“He said you were in his ranks in the Ninth Void. That he sent you to fall. Called you Synestriel, Keeper of the Second Light.”

“Really?” Her posture straightened and she lifted her chin. “That sounds so regal.”

“I think it's a reason why you are into the sparkly stuff.” He tapped the many rings that glinted on her fingers, then took her hand and kissed the knuckles. “Zen, you were destined to become the Casiphean queen. But it's not for the reason you believe. According to Sim, once inserted within the demonic ranks, you were then to open the gates to Daemonia, allowing the angels to invade and kill off the entire Casiphean race.”

Her mouth dropped open. For a moment she was aware that she could not sense her heartbeats. Empty inside, she grasped at her chest. “But that's genocide.”

Blade nodded.

“I don't want...”

Was that what she really wanted? Before she'd lost her memory, had her goal been to infiltrate the demons so her former race of angels could destroy them all?

It was hideous to consider. Unthinkable.

Blade clasped her hand. “Zen. Think about it. When you fell you held tight to your halo. You knew, either right before making the fall, or moments after beginning that long descent, that you didn't want to go through with it. Holding on to your halo prevented you from entering Daemonia. It is what stopped you here on the mortal realm. Don't you see? You couldn't go through with it.”

Shoulders dropping, she breathed out slowly as she drew a knee up to her chest and propped her chin on it. Her heartbeats resumed a more regular pace. His version sounded good. Not so violent. And much less evil.

Had
she been an evil angel? What made her think she could ever move beyond that?

Her lover moved up onto his knees and bent over her, stroking her hair and tilting up her chin to meet his searching gaze. “Zen, you're not that angel anymore.”

“Sure, but what am I? What must I become?”

“Whatever you become, you're not going to join the demons. That's not you, either.”

“How do you know?” came out in a panicked question. “Maybe...maybe the Casipheans
need
a queen to lead them? To protect them from the imminent angel invasion?”

“They've their own means of defense against the angels. Trust me on that one.”

“But—”

“Zen.” He kissed her softly. All she wanted was his kisses. The world faded away when their mouths connected. And that was a world she wanted to live in. “The invasion won't happen as long as you keep out of Daemonia. If you want to protect the Casipheans, stay here in the mortal realm.” He looked aside and said softly, “With me.”

He wanted her to stay? Zen had never felt so needed, so special. So...real. And that she belonged someplace. Could she stay with this beautiful man who embraced her despite his own dark troubles? Of course she could. But would her origins ever remain a brutal reminder to his awful torture by demons?

“I love you, Blade. I mean, I think I do. I'm not sure what love is, but if it's something that makes a person feel certain of their position in the world—right here with you—then that's the definition I'm using.”

He stroked her cheek and brushed his mouth over her lips. Oh, that world that only they two could create. She was in for the long haul.

“You are love, Zen. You've been nothing but open and wondering and positive since landing in this realm. You were meant to be here. I think you wanted to be here. Maybe as an angel, agreeing to the plot to eradicate the Casipheans was your means to escape?”

“Could have been. That's the part I'm still blurry on. Oh, but, Blade, how can you allow me into your heart knowing that I had planned to be part of such an annihilation?”

“Because we all do what we must. I agreed to much the same when Sim asked. When we learn more, we do better. I'm no angel, Zen.”

“Well, no, you're faery and vampire. Which is exactly how I prefer you.”

“Weirdo.” He kissed her softly, his nose nuzzling hers. “I won't force you to stay. I just want to keep you here awhile longer, until we figure things out.”

“Sounds like a plan. So I don't have to worry about angels anymore?”

“I wouldn't go as far as to get comfy. I'd keep one eye out to the sky. I did give Sim something to think about regarding backing off from you. But when he figures out that was a crock I'm not sure what to expect. What we need to do is give the angels good reason to retreat, and the demons, as well.”

“Which is?”

“Haven't a clue. You hungry?”

“I could eat anything you put in front of me.”

He smirked and his eyes flitted down to his cock, which was erect.

“Is that so?” Zen tapped the head of the hopeful appendage.

* * *

“It has to stop with me,” Zen said later as she finished the salad Blade had picked up. They'd had a quickie and then just knowing food waited for her in the fridge, she had dragged herself away from her naked lover for sustenance. “I've been muddling on things, and I recall the moment I agreed to Simaseel to fall and insinuate myself into the Casipheans.”

“You do?”

She nodded, and placed her palms together before her, closing her eyes reverently. She nodded again, decided, and opened her eyes, spreading out her palms. “It was a lie, as you suspected. I wanted to be the change. To stand on the side of life.”

“But the Casipheans are not without sin.”

“Who am I to judge?”

“Well, you do come from divine beginnings. If anyone is allowed to judge—”

“That's not me,” she said. And she felt it in every atom of her being. This was what she had fallen for. To save lives. And to stop an annihilation. “I will stand for the Casipheans. Simaseel must be stopped.”

She laid a hand over his. She had no right to ask, but she wanted to. Because with him she felt whole, strong and capable. “Join me.”

“You're asking me to protect the demons.”

“Yes, the very species who tortured you and left you for dead.”

“I...don't know if I can do that,” he answered. “I can step back. Do them no harm. But protect them?”

“It's a lot to ask. You're right. Let's leave things where they are right now. Me and you. Together. We're together, yes?”

He kissed her and nodded. “For as long as you'll have me.”

She would have him forever, if that was possible. Though she was still torn between two worlds. She must help the demons, but would that wrench her lover from her arms?

And he couldn't commit completely to standing at her side in the defense of the Casipheans. Zen couldn't help but feel her heart fall a little to know she may have to stand alone and risk losing the best thing that ever happened to her.

Chapter 26

W
ith Zen in the house flicking through the TV stations in fascination, Blade stalked out behind the barn and beyond the shed.

From the loft window, he had spied something moving in this direction. It wasn't an animal, because they were more stealthy, and anything from the Darkwood was usually cautious of the wards he'd put up surrounding his property.

Had Simaseel returned?

Now, as he tracked the edge of his property, the Darkwood grew up to his left, a black wall of gnarly barked trees with leaves that appeared drained of life even in the middle of summer. The wildlife within the forest moved about without fear. He liked to think that someday he would be as fearless. Because, really, he did fear some things.

Like losing the best thing that had happened to him lately.

She'd asked him to stand in defense of the demons. He couldn't do that. He wasn't that forgiving. But should he be?

The snap of a twig lifted his head. He stopped, turned toward the forest and looked over the row of red eyes that had likely tracked him since he'd left the barn.

He knew this denizen. All too well.

“Ryckt,” he said coldly.

“Foul One,” the leader of the
mimicus
denizen addressed him.

The demon stood before his ranks. His body was as black as night, his clothing blending in with the foliage—if he wore any—for he was in demon form. Horns curled over and behind his ears, and his elongated face dipped his chin low to a narrow chest. Blade knew well that their limbs appeared emaciated, their black flesh clinging to bone, but they were deceptively strong. And they could take on any form, and go undetected by those of the species they mimicked.

“We are watching you,” Ryckt stated.

“Is that so? Never would have guessed,” Blade said lightly. Though it took all his bravery to do so. The scars on his body pulled tightly.

This was the denizen who had tortured him while Octavia had slowly died. These were the demons that would play with a man's very soul just to see it quiver. And they would stalk a vampire-faery half-breed because their leader had the twisted desire to see how much torture it could withstand. And to test their armor against the ichor.

“Step forward if you wish to talk,” Blade said.

“I know your wards are fierce. I am perfectly capable of conversing with you from where I stand.”

Not fierce enough if they had allowed the denizen so close to his home.

“What do you want?” He had the bowie knife stuffed in his waistband, but wished he held the halo blade.

He prayed that Zen stayed inside the barn and did not come out looking for him.

The demon leader shifted from one foot to the other. “You are giving Kesabel a difficult time.”

“So he sent you to look after me?”

“Indeed.”

“Since when do the royal denizens of Daemonia associate with the lowlife
mimicus
demons who haunt the mortal realm?”

“The Casiphean numbers in this realm dwindle.”

Blade smirked. He'd had something to do with that. Though he'd decided he wasn't going to slay another demon, he'd take out this entire denizen right now if they attempted to cross his wards. Because he had a reason to kill them. Slowly.

“She's never going to join their ranks,” he said. “Tell Kesabel to give up. The angels are determined to infiltrate their denizen—through Zen—and destroy them all.”

“So say you?”

Blade sensed the demon's genuine concern. “So I say. I spoke to Simaseel yesterday. He revealed his plan to me. Best thing for the Casipheans to do? Retreat.”

“Our kind never retreat.”

“Then, your denizen will be obliterated alongside the Casipheans. Idiot demons.”

And Blade turned and walked off, forcing himself not to look over his shoulder.

“The moment she leaves your property she is ours!” Ryckt called.

“You can't force her to enter the portal!” Blade yelled.

“She will do just that if the stakes are high enough.”

Blade fisted a rude gesture at the denizen and strode back toward the barn.

* * *

“Who was that?” Zen asked as Blade topped the stairs in the loft. “I glanced out the bathroom window and saw you talking to someone at the edge of the woods. A brother?”

“The
mimicus
denizen.”

“Demons?” Her jaw dropped open. That was the denizen who had tortured Blade. “I don't understand. I thought you had wards?”

“I do. Guess I need to have them renewed. Kesabel sicced Ryckt and his denizen on me since I won't hand you over to him.”

“But even if you did ‘hand me over'—” she made air quotes for those words “—it wouldn't matter. I'm supposed to go willingly into Daemonia.”

“They know that. They just want to piss me off.”

“Oh.” She rubbed a palm down her arm and gave him a sidelong glance. He seemed just a bit too casual about this announcement. “Have they?”

“Yep.” He smacked a fist into his palm. “I told them the angels have it out for them, and that they should head for the hills, but I don't think the warning was taken for what it was. I need to talk to Kesabel again. If you are intent on protecting the Casipheans, then we need to get them on our side.”

“We don't have a side, Blade. We, or rather I—since you haven't agreed to defend the demons—am the center, trying to keep the peace.”

He pushed his fingers through his hair and tilted back his head. Zen could sense his anger and the uneasy acceptance of her goal to make peace between the angels and demons. Of course he couldn't stand by her side, defending the very creatures he hated most. And now the denizen who had tortured him and left permanent scars in his flesh was watching him?

“I want to stand on your side, Zen, but...” He sighed heavily.

“Your heart is true. But you mustn't sacrifice your principles to please me.”

“Sounds like the best reason to sacrifice.” His smile was genuine. “For you.”

If he was serious, she could so get behind his help.

“You don't need to do this.” She wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. “I am capable.”

“I believe you are capable. And I'm not particularly keen about protecting demons. But I want to stand at your side. If you'll have me.” He pulled her around to stand before him. “You're becoming more faery every day. The moment you are fully faery you are no good to either the angels or the demons.”

“So we just wait it out?”

“No. I don't like hiding, doing nothing.”

“You would not.” She tilted up on her toes to kiss him. “But can we wait through the night?”

“Of course. The denizen can't cross my wards. You're safe here.”

“And so are you.”

“Is that so?” He kissed her. “I do feel safe in your arms. That, no matter what the world tosses my way, I can overcome. Because if you're standing there waiting for me when the dust clears, then everything is right.”

“I'll be there. I promise.”

“What about being queen? Can you give that up?”

“Oh, hell, yes. Though I will miss the crown.”

“You think there's a crown?”

“There had better be. One can hardly be queen without some sparkly headgear.”

He kissed her head. “When this is over I'll give you the prettiest, sparkliest crown I can find.”

“Promise?”

“You have my word.”

* * *

They had sex in the shower, and afterward, Zen curled up on the couch with Blade to watch a late-night showing of
Dracula
. She laughed at all the right places. He loved her for that. He was distracted from the black-and-white flick by the flash of headlights on the ceiling.

Now what?

“Who's that?”

“Stay here.” Grabbing the halo blade from the kitchen counter, he headed down the stairs and outside.

Trouble hopped out of his truck and strode up to the open garage entrance where Blade stood staring skyward. The massive black cloud had returned. “What the hell is that? Can you ever not attract danger, little brother?”

“I can use your help again,” Blade said. “That cloud comes from the nightclub. Must be some form of demonic spy cloud. And you see those red eyes at the edge of the Darkwood?”

Trouble cast his gaze along the forest edge, and he suddenly jumped. “What the hell?”

“The
mimicus
denizen,” Blade confirmed. “They're keeping an eye on me.”

“That's the ones who fucked you up?”

“Yep.”

Trouble punched a fist into his palm. “How do they play into all this?”

“Kesabel hired them.”

“Kesabel?”

“The Casiphean leader who wants to make Zen their queen.”

Trouble whistled. “This is way beyond my story line, bro. You're going to have to catch me up. I just stopped by for some gas. Was headed to the casino in the next town and realized I needed a fill.”

“You can fill up and then come inside for coffee. If I'm right, we're going to have an all-nighter.”

* * *

“So you're a demon?”

Zen sat up from the couch, where she'd almost dozed during a commercial, and eyed the cocky werewolf who approached. “Trouble, hi. Uh, not demon. Yet.”

“That's what Blade tells me. We're heading to the nightclub to take a look around. Guess my casino plans are spoiled...” He plopped onto the couch beside her. “
Dracula
! I love this one. Did my brother tell you we used to tease him about being Dracula when we were kids?”

“And how many times did I let you get away with that?” Blade called as he topped the stairs.

“Once.” Trouble winked at Zen. “He beat the shit out of me and I gave it up. No one ever gets my jokes.”

Zen pushed the blanket off and sat up straight, stretching out her arms. “If you guys are going to the nightclub, I'm coming along.”

“No,” Blade called as he disappeared into the bedroom. He reappeared with the bowie knife and stuffed it down the side of his combat boot. The halo sword he shoved in the sheath strapped at his hip. “You're safe if you stay in the barn. I've wards that will keep everything out.”

“Those same wards that you said needed refreshing? I don't want to stay alone. Not with demons lurking in the woods. Besides, I could be of help. I do have the halo.”

“No,” Blade said at the same time that Trouble said, “She could be helpful. If the demons want her, she could play bait.”

Blade gaped at his brother.

Zen shrugged and nodded eagerly. “I can do bait. I think.”

Trouble winked at Blade. He had to admit he'd rather keep Zen in eyesight even if it meant added danger.

“Fine,” he conceded.

Zen slipped on her shoes and bounced.

“But no bait. You do as I say, and keep out of sight when possible. Promise?”

“Whatever you say, boss.”