The Timekeeper (26 page)

“That’s good. Word is one of your sisters is taking over for you to allow your father the rest he requires. The last time I saw Azazel, he seemed quite well, and I noticed no reason for him to need respite. I believe Nicolette is fighting her way through the appropriate channels to unseat you, Princess. I hope that will not be the case.”

No one had mentioned anything about Nicolette plotting against me, but I had a feeling this news had something to do with why Darius had been worried and saying nothing. It didn’t surprise me
.
The bitch had been trying to steal my position since birth.

“Yes, I plan to take my rightful place. I might be returning sooner than I’d anticipated. Nicolette will find death if she attempts to seize what’s mine. I appreciate you telling me what no one else would. Will you come back to me, when I decide to exercise my birthright?” He surveyed me
,
up and down
.

“Of course, Azriella. I’ll always be your faithful servant. I expect Neal shall also find his place with you, perhaps that will be the time to make amends.” I gave him a slight smile, caressing his cheek with my hand. He didn’t move, simply observed me.

“This isn’t why we are here, Warde
.
” He moved closer to me, eyes locked.

“You know it’s not, your messengers aren’t so careless, my Lady.” He whispered, his lips near mine.

“I have what you requested in my pocket, but not without a price, and the cost high. It’s going to be difficult for you, it’s one of a kind.” By this time, our faces were only inches apart. I lost myself in him, glancing from his eyes to mouth, studying his fine features
.

“Everything about you comes with a high price, Princess. It’ll work to our advantage. I’m your man, Lady.” Our lips touched, just barely and my pulse sped out of control
.

“You always will be my man. There are few I trust with this task, none as capable as you. We shall find victory, dear Angel. Only death makes way for new life.” Finally he wrapped his arms around me and locked our lips together in an earth-shattering kiss.

Unlike his brother
,
Warde was hard and cruel, even in bed. Neal continued to be loving and sensitive. Their appearance remained the only thing the brothers had in common, and they’d tried to alter that as much as possible.

I felt his need well up in his tight ebon leather pants, but this wasn’t the time, or the place. I needed to save myself for my next husband. I would have to cut back on my affairs. I couldn’t bear the thought of breaking the remaining pieces of Warde’s heart.

Aldaren prepared to share me with Zev and Azul, but not with the other men I’d made a habit of calling on. This marriage signaled the end of many relationships, but I hadn’t married yet. I broke the kiss, pulling the scroll out of the pocket of my robes
,
and slipping the parchment into his hand.

“I can not continue this with you, Warde. Aldaren wouldn’t understand, and I’ve no desire to explain our relationship to him. We always knew this day would come. My life is filling with complicated happiness and simple despair. I sacrifice much
,
and I must ask you to do the same.” My Angel’s face turned hard as stone, completely void of emotion. Inside, his cold heart thawed a little around me, but no more.

“Our relationship’s end has always been unavoidable, I prepared my psyche for the blow. The impact was nothing I could’ve braced myself for. Regardless, it will never destroy my feelings for you. I’ll never leave your side or betray your trust. If the time comes when we might be together again, so be it
.
I’d welcome you with open arms. Until then, I’ll respect your wishes.” I caressed his cheek, longing for that day, knowing it would never come
.

“Read this spell, you will need to make the preparations. When everything is lined up, get the information to the Witch Heid as soon as possible. I don’t care how, but this has to work. I won’t be able to run any more errands for a bit. You’re my man, Warde.” He released me and bowed deeply.

“I am yours, Princess.” I touched his shoulder and rose. I followed him with my eyes as he walked away.

I waited for the moment when he’d turn around, but Warde wasn’t one of those types
.
He’d never look back. He vanished from my sight, and I wandered aimlessly in the direction of the Palace. My heart ached. Aldaren could have filled the empty place in my soul that cruel Angel had left, but he was already in Portlandia. 

The Palace wasn’t my destination; the stroll simply prolonged my stay, gave me time to think. I had to get back to my body, wake up and give my announcement. Echo would be forced to rush in order to meet the deadline. I looked up at my home and smiled. I couldn’t wait to be back here on a more permanent basis. Things had to get better soon. I closed my eyes, letting the early morning sun beat down on my face.

When I lifted my lids again, I found myself in bed, it was still night here. I had spent more time in Aliis than I’d had planned, but not at much as I’d wanted to. Sitting up, I rolled out of bed, stretching as I stood. I heard the boys still playing games and Echo laughing.

I smiled, Echo was going to be so excited that we had a date now. Darius would be shocked and Dalvin would probably just nod. He tried not to get involved in royal politics
.

I walked toward the bedroom door, but stopped mid-stride. Something was in the room with me, a presence that shouldn’t be. I looked over my shoulder. I didn’t notice anything or anyone out of place. Someone was here, even if I couldn’t find them.

“Darius. Darius come here.”

I managed to call before something collided with my head.

When I came to
,
I felt like someone ran over me with a dump truck. My neck ached and I suspected I had a large knot on the back of my cranium. Whoever knocked me out, hit me hard enough to crack my skull. I didn’t think I’d suffer any lasting damage, but it sure hurt like hell.

My mouth was parched. I opened my eyes
,
and quickly shut them again. The bright light blinded me, due to the lack of covers on the bulbs and the concussion. The glare made me seasick and my stomach churned.

I tried to move, but I discovered I’d been bound to a bed. Things could be been worse, at least the mattress seemed semi-soft and I was lying down. The spiciness of males and the flowery fragrance of Angels floated through the room, definitely not Chester or Gideon. I gave vision another shot and pried my lids open slowly, allowing them to adjust to the brightness before I turning my head to survey the area, attempting to get my bearings.

I had to be in Colorado. Despite my dry mouth, I hadn’t been down and out more than three or four hours. It was still dark outside the window, no light coming in from the edges of the cheap drawn shades. I got a strange vibe from this place, which meant I’d woken up near Colorado Springs. Few places made me edgy, and the rest of them took longer than a couple of hours to get to.

I hated the Springs, everything seemed wrong with the location they’d chosen for their city. The original settlement had either been built on a ley line, or land had been obtained violently. I didn’t know and I didn’t care.

The area had a wealth of weirdo’s and religious nuts, and wasn’t a place I wanted to spend an extended period of time. Not to say nice, normal people didn’t live here, they just seemed few and far between. I popped my neck, drawing attention from the other side of the room.

“Ah, Princess. It’s wonderful you decided to wake. I’ve been waiting for a while. Too long in fact, I feared the knock on the head Asher gave you did more damage than intended.” I heard Zamir’s voice
,
softly coming from the corner.

I focused on his raven wings
.
He’d given up on hiding his true form this time. Zamir sat shirtless; ashen skin glowed in the light of the area, causing a harsh glare. His Angelic tattoos appeared stark against his white hide, his ebony hair covering one cold blue eye. The Angel was lean, but muscular now that I’d seen his exposed chest
.
I wondered if he let me take him down the first time we’d met, allowing me to catch him on purpose
.

He crawled onto the bed, leering over me. I couldn’t shake him off; the ropes had been tied to well. I already had the beginnings of rope burn on my wrists. He smiled at me with snowy white teeth, approaching me and licking up the side of my neck. Again with the damn tongue, had to be a fetish. 

“You’ve got serious personal space issues
,
Zamir. What do you want?” It’s difficult to manage any intimidation when you’re strapped to a bed. He chuckled and inhaled my scent, and the bile rose in my throat.

“Oh Azriella, it’s been ages since I held a woman of your stature. You are yummy, Princess
,
a real shame they’re going to kill you later. I suppose we should have some fun before they get here to take you away.” He sat up and brushed my hair out of my face.

My chartreuse eyes met his glowing azure, and I spotted a resemblance to Warde in the color. From what I understood, the wayward brothers had no other relations. I hadn’t ruled out the possibility they weren’t aware of anyone else
.

“What the fuck are you talking about
,
Zamir? What’s the point of this anyway?” The Angel spread his wings and resettled next to me on the bed, his fingers still tracing the lines of the dragon tattoo running down to my breast. I held his gaze.

This Angel made me both aroused and disgusted, and this posed a serious problem. I couldn’t stop the attraction; he was a creature of power. The damn Demon in me begged for his attention. The thought of being attracted to Zamir: Not a great admission on my part
.

“Princess, no one ever bothered to explain this to you
,
I’m sure. We’re all ex-members of the Order of the Seraphim, but we had a bit of a disagreement with the way things were being handled. Some of us found ourselves thrown out… some of us chose to leave. Needless to say
,
many are Fallen and few are renegades, but we’re united in our cause.

“The Veil you protect and maintain has to come down. Armageddon must begin. Angels still in the service of Heaven possess no idea what truly lies on the other side of the magical curtain.” I rolled my eyes, damn insane Angels. Why did they always find me?

“They don’t know what you are in reality, Azriella. The Order claims you’re a Princess who works for the government in control of Aliis Mundi
.
You’re Djinn and right now you’re nothing but a mortal who’s been reincarnated. You can furnish any information we might need for our task.

“That’s not one-hundred percent true though, is it Azriella? I’m sure you can imagine what happened when we found out the prevailing truth in the land had been lying to us
.
Nothing good, Princess, nothing good.” I wondered how long I could keep him talking. Story telling seemed safer than anything else he considered doing to me.

“All hell broke lose when someone leaked you are the daughter of Azazel and the Queen of the Djinn Assassins, the Council you serve doesn’t control Aliis, only small pieces of the world
.
” Who would’ve thought the plague of Angels would lie to protect little old me. I understood why this didn’t go over well.

“Telling a group of Angels they’d have to get information from a Demon-Djinn is bad enough, but sneaking Demons and Angels into Aliis so they could escape judgment, well that’s a slap in the face.” I smiled and fluttered my eyes at him, trying to be charming.

“I don’t agree with your God’s idea of justice, nor do I find Hell’s master plan wonderful either. I know of worse things in life in than death.” Maybe if I related to him, the longer this conversation would drag out. Darius needed as much time to find me as possible.

He nodded giving me a crooked smile, “We agree
.
An Angel shouldn’t be tossed out and de-winged just because we chose to care for someone other than his Holiness. Seems a little harsh when you’re a creature created to love. Your assessment of the situation is spot on. ” He gave me a toothy grin, deciding I was worthy of adoration
.

He was quite handsome when he smiled. Zamir might be demented, and rightfully so, but at least his cause made sense. There had to be a better way of going about achieving their goal, but this group hadn’t been playing with a full deck for a while
.
This particular specimen fell into the “Bat-shit Crazy” category.

“So what’s up with the death threats if we obviously agree with each other?” He shrugged, as if he got asked this question all the time.

“Not my choice, Princess. If I had a say in the matter, sentencing you to death would be the farthest thing from my mind. The Wings of the Daemons retain slightly different views on the subject.

“They want you dead, not because of who you are or anything so trivial, just to interrupt your reincarnation schedule. They know you’ll come back, but your death will allow for a fifty-year leave
.
An absence that will help tear down the Veil a little bit more. Their plan is to teach the Creator a lesson he won’t soon forget, he’s not the only God. He should fight for what he’s claimed as his.” I grasped everything now.