Dark and Damaged: Eight Tortured Heroes of Paranormal Romance: Paranormal Romance Boxed Set (70 page)

She wrapped her arms around her blue jeans-clad legs as she thought about how much his hand had shaken against hers while he had been changing the time of day for her, bringing about a rapid moonset and sunrise. It had been beautiful.

And she had thanked him with a kiss.

Nina brushed her fingers across her lower lip. They still tingled from the force of his kiss.

A kiss that had been laced with desperation and need that had made her want to ask him what he was thinking about, but he had set her into the light and had turned away before she could find the courage to voice that question.

She had been thinking about it ever since.

That and the man who had kidnapped her and had come back for her.

She leaned forwards, rested her chin on her knees and sighed as she idly stroked the sleeves of the soft cream cashmere sweater she wore.

Her eyes scanned the mountains and drifted lower, tracking down to the woods and charting a path through them. Was it possible to climb the mountains and see beyond the barrier surrounding the valley?

She pushed that thought aside, shunning it.

She wasn’t sure whether she really wanted to see beyond this beautiful place. She wasn’t sure she wanted to shatter the illusion of peace she felt here. She knew that if all that surrounded the valley and castle was black as it had been when she had found the limit of the valley, she would freak out and would have another panic attack.

She had never been one for burying her head in the sand, but right now she wanted to feel safe.

She wanted to feel that nothing would happen to her here.

She wasn’t in danger.

Her thoughts turned to the man again, the one Lucifer had fought to keep her safe.

He must have been sent by her ex-husband.

Nina couldn’t think of anyone else who would want to hurt her, or abduct her.

She had tried to leave her past behind her, had tried to shut out the pain he had inflicted on her, the agony that he had put her through, and she had been managing it until he had contacted her out of the blue.

All of the hurt had come flooding back on receiving a phone call from him and hearing his voice once again.

She had almost broken down in the middle of the shopping mall but had managed to make it to a quiet corner where she had pressed her back to the cool fake stone wall and slid down it to sit on the floor.

She squeezed her eyes shut against the tears that threatened to fill them and cursed his name in her head.

She had given him everything. Six years of her life. Her love. Her loyalty.

Her heart.

She had stood by him during the inquiries into his business and his empire. She had turned a blind eye to the shady dealings he had done with dangerous characters to further that empire, turning himself into a powerful figure, one who was both respected and feared. She had done everything for him.

How had he repaid her?

He had left her for another woman when he had realised that she couldn’t get pregnant.

God, she had wanted children and had wanted to give him what he had desired, but she hadn’t been able to and it had killed her. She had thought that he would stand by her, and he had betrayed her.

He had destroyed her.

She had heard through the grapevine that he had married again.

But it had been a surprise when he had called to ask her to meet him, had sounded so desperate to see her again and had told her that his wife had left him, taking half of his fortune and their children with her.

Nina had foolishly spoken to him, and even stupidly met with him at a café.

Part of her had wanted him to see that she was happy without him, that she didn’t need him and she had moved on. She had wanted him to see that her life was going well when his had gone to hell. She had wanted him to suffer as she had.

She hadn’t expected him to reach across the table in the middle of their conversation, take hold of her hand and announce that he wanted to get back together with her.

It had sent her reeling, throwing her for a moment and knocking her off balance, until he had added that he had children now and they could be together again.

That had stung.

That had shoved a hot needle through her heart.

He had found what he had wanted with someone else and now he wanted to get back together with her, because he didn’t need to have any more children.

He had made her feel as if she was playing second fiddle all over again. A person with a piece missing, one that made her less valuable than others.

Nina had left without giving him an answer, but he had phoned her repeatedly and left messages. Each message had turned more desperate, until the last one she had received just the day before the man had kidnapped her.

That one had sounded threatening to her.

Was it really possible that he had sent the man?

Yes. She knew that in her heart. All those years ago, when they had first met, he had pursued her. He had persisted and never relented. He had done everything to win her.

She felt certain that he would do everything in his power to win her back too.

Even go as far as having her kidnapped in order to make her talk to him again.

She needed to speak with Lucifer and warn him about her ex-husband. She hated talking about her past, had bottled it up and kept it to herself, but Lucifer needed to know what he had gotten himself into by helping her.

He deserved to know.

Nina picked herself up off the grass, dusted the damp backside of her jeans down, and took one last look at the valley. She breathed deep of the crisp cool air, finding a sense of peace, the strength to do what was right and open her heart and reveal her past to Lucifer.

She finally wanted to share the burden with someone.

She turned and entered the tunnel, picked up the flaming torch that waited there, and began walking up the sloping path. The air grew colder the further she moved from the valley, but it no longer chilled her. She felt warmed inside, filled with courage and hope, heated by the thought of finally speaking with someone about what had happened to her.

Finally letting someone back inside.

She reached the apartment and disposed of the torch in the fireplace before approaching the door to the corridor. She hesitated only a second before grasping the handle and pulling the door open. The black-walled hallway was empty in both directions. She recalled that Lucifer had been walking towards the left end of it when she had stopped him last night. Was his bedroom that way?

She stepped out into the hallway and walked along it, opening the door to each room she passed to check whether Lucifer was inside.

She had reached the fifth door when footsteps echoed from ahead of her. Lucifer.

Nina picked up the pace, a smile rising onto her lips as she thought about seeing him again.

That smile died when a brunet male rounded the corner ahead of her. He carried a silver tray with a domed cover on it, and she stared at the reflection in it, unable to believe her eyes, and then glanced at the man.

He looked perfectly normal as he stood before her, dressed in a black suit similar to the one Lucifer wore.

She looked back down at the cloche.

Slowly shook her head.

In the reflection on it, he wore something that resembled black armour over his broad chest, his arms left bare above the elbow, but encased in black guards around his forearms.

Nina backed off a step and flicked another glance at the man.

A thousand hot needles pierced her skull and she grunted as she clutched it, pressing her hands hard against her temples. Tears filled her eyes as she fought to breathe, but she gave up when the suit the man wore disappeared and he stood before her dressed in armour that covered his chest, hips, shins and forearms. What the heck?

She cried out as the pain in her head grew more intense and her eyes widened in horror as huge crimson wings sprouted from the man’s back.

Like an angel.

The hallway twirled around her and she staggered to her right, hit the wall there and crashed to the ground. Images flashed through her mind, whirling together and then separating to reveal them. Her stomach turned as she caught individual ones long enough to make sense of them. The fortress. Lucifer’s powers. The angel before her. His eyes burned red.

As red as Lucifer’s had.

Shadow wings.

A terrible power that she couldn’t comprehend.

The black lands beyond the barrier.

How charming and dangerous he seemed.

Nina clutched her stomach as sickness brewed in it, dread pooling there as she realised who he was and where she was. She had to escape. Her skin prickled, fiercest down the line of her spine, and an urgent needed blasted through her, overpowering the quieter voice that pressed her to find Lucifer and discover what was happening.

She wanted to know, and this was her chance, but she was afraid.

She feared everything she felt for him, everything she had felt while she had been with him, had been a lie.

That word echoed in her head, hissed on repeat, urging her onto her feet. Lies. He had lied to her. She had to get away. She had to flee.

No, she didn’t want to run.

The urge grew stronger, overwhelming her, and she was running before she knew it, bolting down the corridor in a blind dash for freedom.

Freedom from what?

Her heart screamed that Lucifer would never hurt her. He had protected her. He had taken care of her.

Her head shrieked at her to keep running. Lies. All of it. Lucifer was the prince of lies. The sower of discord.

The Devil.

She grunted and held her head harder as she saw flashes of him with great black wings and she zoomed around him, coming to see his back.

Those wings sprouted from the place where she knew scars to be.

He was a liar. He was using her. She had to escape now, before he returned.

Before it was too late.

That need drove her to keep running, even as her heart tried to rebel and make her stop. Whenever she thought about stopping, the pain in her head grew stronger, turning her thoughts hazy and allowing more images to invade her mind. Every charming smile Lucifer had given her. Every time he had asked her about the man who had taken her. Every moment when he had been watching her with coldness in his eyes.

They all crashed together until she saw one final image.

Lucifer standing before her while she struggled to remember the man who had kidnapped her.

And with blinding clarity she knew that he had pushed her in that moment, he had driven her to remember.

He had used his powers against her.

Nina screamed and sprinted down the stairs in the towering entrance hall. The moment she hit the ground floor, she broke right, heading for the enormous twin doors. They opened for her and she rushed through them, and skidded to a halt, her breath leaving her in a gasp.

Black spires of rock rose in a curve around an obsidian courtyard under a pitch-dark sky. Beyond those spires, cragged grim land reigned, and in the distance rose a plateau. Light shone there, pure and warm.

Light that drew her towards it and filled her with a desperate need to reach it, because every instinct she possessed said that she would escape this hell if she made it there.

Nina ran towards it, her sneakers pounding the smooth pavement.

Screams rose around her, garbled cries that turned her stomach and chilled her to her bones. She kept running, pushing herself beyond her limit, unable to heed the part of her that told her to slow down and even stop. She had to keep running. Lucifer was a liar.

The Devil.

A heartless, merciless, and cold being.

It had all been a lie.

Nina’s head turned foggy and she nodded, agreeing with everything that was running through her mind, even when a piece of her screamed not to listen. She scaled the rocks at the opposite end of the courtyard to the fortress, clambered between two of the gigantic spires, and lost her footing. She slid down the slope on the other side, hit the ground hard and rolled, grunting as the small stones and rocks lashed at her.

The air was too thick to breathe, the stench making her gag as she pushed herself up and wearily found her feet. She had to keep running.

Her eyes sought the light again.

She had to reach there.

It called to her.

It filled her heart with sweet promises and she was powerless to ignore them.

Nina kept running, her mind growing numb but her body seemingly alive, able to function without her brain working it. Her feet carried her straight towards a winding path that led up to the plateau without her even noticing it. Her eyes were fixed on the light above her, never straying from it. She couldn’t bring herself to look away from it. She had to keep looking at it.

She had to reach it.

Her breath sawed from her burning lungs as she finally reached the plateau and the bright golden light.

It was so strong that it stung her eyes and blinded her, and she raised her hand to shield them.

“You do not belong here.” A soft melodious male voice curled around her and the light faded enough that she could lower her hand and seek the owner of it.

A man stood before her, his white hair tied in a ponytail and his blue eyes filled with warmth that beckoned her to him.

An angel.

White wings furled against his back and he held his hand out to her.

“I will take you home.”

Nina reached for him and, despite the distance that was between them, her hand slipped into his as if he had been standing only inches from her.

She looked up at his handsome face and blinked slowly.

This was wrong.

She had to speak with Lucifer. She didn’t want to leave him.

The angel’s eyes brightened, darker flakes swirling among the paler blue, and her head felt heavy again.

“Come with me.”

She nodded and stepped closer to him when he drew his arm back. He wrapped his other arm around her and she looked up into his eyes, drifting in them among the incredible blue, hazy from head to toe.