Domiel (19 page)

The streets were already dark. She paused at the top of the twisting iron ladder and scanned the alley for assassins. The Alliance would cover every possible retreat. Her hands shook on the cold railing as she descended the four stories, and amazingly there were no immortals waiting for her on the landing. The small things in life…

She jogged a few blocks and hailed a cab. The park was just east of the city of Paris.

Damn the Alliance. She didn’t have a cell phone, and neither did Domiel. She did her best to collect herself, knowing damn well if she met Lachlan in her current state she’d be fair game if he thought to kill her. She had to get her head in the game.

It didn’t take long to reach the park. Hell, she was so worried about Domiel, the landscape had passed by in a dark blur. She handed the cabbie his money and slid out of the car.

The Bois de Vincennes Park at eleven at night reminded her of a magical getaway compared to the streets she’d left behind.

She quietly made her way to the Buddhist pagoda, where she’d agreed to meet Lachlan. Nearly twenty years ago, Lachlan had come to the city for the first time on a mission, and he’d come back to Headquarters demanding to set his home of record in Paris. Ever since, he’d only taken on missions within the city limits.

She remembered him well. Quiet and deadly, with an old Gaelic lilt to his speech. They were never chummy, but she felt as though she could trust him for a twenty-minute conversation. Still, even with that trust in mind, she scanned the dark recesses of the park and kept her senses attuned to immortal energy. He was, after all, employed by the Alliance, who just happened to be enemy number two at the moment. Her rogue status would be watercooler buzz within the league of assassins.

The last thing she needed to do was lose her concentration and focus on what happened back at the hotel. Her stomach remained in knots.

There were a few lampposts to light her way, and it didn’t take her long to find the meeting spot by one of the many lakes in the park. Everything was cast in shadow. The lights of the city were miles away, but with her enhanced vampire night vision, she could see everything clearly.

Lachlan’s energy electrified the air around her. He approached the building from the other side. She could only feel his energy, so she made her way to the front of the building carefully, making sure to stay by the water in case she needed to make a fast retreat. The weight of her weapons made her feel somewhat secure.

Lachlan finally came into view as the stone scraped beneath her boots. His long blond hair fell to his shoulders, and he wore a black leather jacket that could hide numerous weapons.

She stopped about ten feet from him. “You came alone?”

He also rocked to a halt. “I said that I would.”

An assassin’s word meant nothing. “I’ve come to ask you about an incubus.”

“An incubus?”

“An incubus who invades my dreams. You’re aware of my power?” She waited for his nod before continuing. “The demon is the one who granted me that power, and now he’s framing me for things I didn’t do. I’ve asked around and someone told me you’d mentioned an incubus was living in your city.”

Her words seemed to give him pause. “Do you have a name?”

“Piece of shit dirt bag?”

He chuckled. “There are a few of those in this city. Anything more specific?”

He was stalling. She didn’t make a move to palm her dagger, because he’d take that as a threat, and she had yet to discern what his intentions were. “I only need a building name or a general place to start my search. It won’t get back to you.”

“You are trying to prove your innocence? The Alliance announced your guilt not three days ago.”

Definitely stalling. “Is there anything else you can tell me, other than what I already know?” Actually, she hadn’t known the Alliance had informed all of the assassins of her sentencing. Scuttlebutt could be expected, but a general call for an assassination? Interesting.

He shifted slightly, enough to tell her she wasn’t safe. The change in stance could have been a signal. There could be a sniper in the vicinity with a rifle trained on her. The Alliance had the best weapons, and having an immortal handle that weapon meant perfect sighting and aim.

“There are three incubi in this city that I know of. Unfortunately, you will not be free to explore those leads.”

She hit the ground. A bullet whizzed by overhead. She unholstered her gun just as he drew his level with her chest. He didn’t get his shot out. She took him down with her power.

The sound of his gun leaving his limp hand and clattering to the cement sent her into action. She brought them both back to full consciousness with her gun at the ready. Just as he shot to his feet, the impact of her bullet sent him flying backward.

Bullets hit the concrete by her head, their dull thud raising her heartbeat. Two immortals, both wearing black and blending in with the night, came at her from both sides of the building. She was blocked in. They weren’t shooting to kill, they were warning her. Maybe they had the old news, that she was only to be brought back to Headquarters to chat with the heads of the alliance.

She wasn’t going to give them the same courtesy.

I want your misery.

She nailed one with bullets, and then the other, then ran into the lake, knowing the dark water would be a shield until she came up for air.

She surfaced about thirty feet away from the building and a bullet immediately lodged into her shoulder. She kicked beneath the surface again and didn’t come back up until her lungs were screaming for air and she’d reached the shore. She scrambled onto land and hid in dense brush, cognizant the sniper was still out there.

Her shoulder stung like a son of a bitch. She had seconds to figure out which way to get out of the park without enabling the sniper to nail her ass good.

* * * *

The Alliance arrived to the chaotic sounds of gunfire. Immortal energy rippled throughout the area, though the sound seemed to be coming from phantoms. Domiel couldn’t locate the shooters, but he knew their target: Kelsey.

If they were too late he’d kill every member of the Alliance.

“Snipers.”

Domiel, weapon pulled, spared a glance in Alexia’s direction. Her white eyes glowed in the darkness of the night. “I’ll dematerialize and take them out if you can locate them.”

“The shots are coming from the south side. That’s all I can give you.”

He wasted no time, dematerializing in increments of thirty yards—once landing in water—until he reached a clearing. There, just on the other side of the clearing, two more shots cracked before he was able to reach the sniper.

He’d been out of his fucking mind for the past hour worrying about Kelsey, and he wasted no time in taking all of his pent-up aggression out on the male hiding in the tree. He shot him once in the head, and the bastard fell to the ground. Within the span of a second Domiel added two more bullets to his skull.

The assassin quit twitching, but he wasn’t dead. You had to decapitate a vampire to kill him. The thought crossed his mind until he realized the action would slow him down.

He had to find Kelsey.

Domiel’s head snapped in the direction the vampire had been aiming. He dematerialized again, over and over, until he found the source of Kelsey’s energy. She was hidden behind some brush, dripping wet like him and scouring the area with the same white, glowing eyes Alexia had sported.

When she saw him she jumped up and grabbed his arm, pulling him behind the bushes. “Get down, you fool!”

He grasped her to him, relief flooding through his body even while fighting could be heard somewhere to their right. He should have never let her go to the meeting by herself. Then again, Lachlan had been the lesser of two evils when compared to the heads of the Alliance.

Hell, what was he thinking? She’d been an assassin for hundreds of years, and likely faced worse than what she had tonight. That’s what assassins did. They risked their lives on a daily basis.

He tightened his grip, and she let out a little grunt. She was injured. He immediately stopped squeezing her and leaned back. “What happened?”

“I got shot.”

“If I had a nickel for every time you were hurt…”

She cracked a small smile, but he knew she was in more pain than she let on. “Listen—”

“They followed you!” She pushed against him and leveled her weapon at someone behind him.

She’d hate herself if she shot one of her friends, even if they’d heal within the hour. He dematerialized himself a few inches back to put himself in front of her gun. “Samael woke. The Alliance is no longer targeting you. They also have a few leads on incubi.”

Her gaze remained fixated on someone behind him. She slowly lowered her weapon, myriad of emotions flitting across her face. He wasn’t sure what she would do, so he stayed in front of her.

The sound of gunfire melted into silence. Immortal energy became stronger as Sven, Roger, Azazel, and Alexia made it to where they were standing. Kelsey raised her gun again.

Alexia, who now stood beside Jade, stepped forward. “Kelsey…”

“No.” Kelsey shook her head wildly, her thumb caressing her gun. “At my lowest the Alliance should have been there for me. I risked my life countless times in their name.” She took a deep breath and leveled the gun in their general direction. “How could you possibly think I’d hurt innocents? I’d have laid down my life for any one of you, and look what you were willing to do to me.”

Roger holstered his weapon. “The evidence against you was staggering. None of us wanted to take your life, but we had no choice. We were focused on saving your soul. Can you, for a moment, imagine the predicament we found ourselves in?”

“I’m not doing this right now. Lachlan—”

“Has been apprehended and told of your new status,” Roger asserted. “All we need to do now is follow a few leads and track this incubus down. We have extensive paperwork on incubi sitting on Ambrose’s desk. The Alliance will take it from here. You’ve been through enough.”

Kelsey lowered her weapon and went completely still. Domiel couldn’t believe Roger had the balls to say that to her. Then again, he had no clue how personal this mission was to Kelsey. None of them did.

“Fuck. You. Fuck all of you!” Kelsey turned to leave, her body language screaming,
I don’t need anyone but myself
.

She walked about ten yards, then turned around, apparently not finished with them. “You know what else? He’ll rip your asses to pieces just to get at me. None of you have the power it will take to bring him down. So leave this mission to
me
. Just think of it as my last mission, because that’s exactly what it’ll be.”

“You know we can’t do that,” Roger said.

Kelsey’s free hand went to her injured shoulder, where the blood still flowed. She looked undecided as to how to proceed. Domiel stepped forward. “We’ll need to work together. They have information that we need, and we have to get the bullet out of your shoulder. Splitting up at this point isn’t going to help anyone. With their intel and your powers, we can nail this bastard and move on.”

He hoped she caught the underlying meaning in his last words. With this mess behind them, they’d have a chance to explore a possible future together.

She stood silent for long moments. No one spoke. Finally she looked back at them. “How is Samael doing?”

“He’s recovering,” Jade said simply.

Kelsey nodded once. “Then let’s get this finished.”

Chapter Thirteen

Alexia crouched atop the roof of the Champs Elysees cathedral. This wasn’t the first place she’d laid eyes on Azazel, but it was the place where they’d first established an uneasy trust.

Part of her had fallen in love with him that night. She remembered following his dark energy to the cathedral, and before she’d made her presence known, she’d stood there and watched him. He’d been standing on the roof of the cathedral, looking as though he owned the city. Broad shoulders made wider with arrogance, he’d cut a damn fine figure. When he’d finally turned to look at her, she’d landed a solid kick to his shoulder, sending his ass over the edge of the roof. He’d held on by the tips of his fingers while she’d looked down on him, thinking,
This could be the one.

Being here strengthened those feelings, even though Azazel hadn’t spoken a word to her since their fight. Everyone was back at their hotel piecing together their next move. Domiel had removed the bullet from Kelsey’s shoulder, and Roger had contacted Ambrose for the intel they needed to end this. She’d come here to clear her mind and figure out her own course of action where Azazel was concerned, but she knew everything was out of her hands at this point.

She’d always known her brazen attitude would eventually rub him raw, but had she changed? No. Could she change? Honestly, she wasn’t sure. Brazen had kept her alive all these years as an assassin.

Would brazen end her marriage?

Was that the crux of all this? Did she have to choose between Azazel and her job? She knew what she’d choose, but what would the decision cost her?

“And what would you choose?”

Her body tingled from being caught unaware, but she didn’t show her surprise, instead stayed where she was, facing away from him, just as he’d done to her a little over a year ago. Azazel had promised not to read her mind, but then again, she’d promised not to use demonic power against him. “You know what I would choose.”

“Do I?”

“I’m not apologizing again. I did what I had to do.” She was dying inside.
Run to him, tell him you’re sorry, and don’t let go.
“Quit playing the role of a martyr.”

“Quit being a bitch.”

Touché.
The strange feeling of helplessness concerning the future of her relationship had gnawed at her for days. She was used to being in control of various situations, making difficult decisions on a daily basis. That she was failing at her own marriage…

His energy grew stronger. “You forget I know what you’re thinking.”

“Guess I’d never get away with fucking around on you.”