Wings of Darkness: Book 1 of The Immortal Sorrows Series (23 page)

     Mairya’s wake was finally over. At
least for me.  Wake…party…sideshow, more like it.  I felt like I was
Fate’s pet freak.  She’d dressed me up like a doll and trotted me out for
everyone to see. Literally, dozens of pairs of eyes had watched my every move,
all evening long.  Some were fascinated, some were disgusted, and all had
judged me.  Did they know I’d been the one to kill Mairya, or did they
only suspect?  I tried to tell myself that it didn’t matter; if they had
proof it was me, then I would already be dead. I was just so tired of being
scared all of the time.  I was worried for my family, for Asher, for
myself.  It was exhausting.

     Clotho had used me to taunt Asher,
and I was afraid it might have worked.  Asher had looked almost jealous to
see me talking to that demi-demon, and on the one hand, that made my heart leap
and do a little happy dance.  On the other hand, jealousy was the last
thing I wanted Asher to feel for me.  That would only give Clotho hope
that she would get what she wanted, eventually. 

     After Asher walked away with Suriel
for a few moments, my heart had dropped into my stomach.  There was zero
chance of getting out of this mess alive, much less unharmed.  Suriel
obviously didn’t know about the sick game Clotho was determined to play, but it
was clear that he wanted me put down like some rabid animal. 

      Incredibly, when he and Asher
came back, Suriel was all smiles. Whatever Asher had said to him, it had made
him ridiculously happy.  He even grabbed Clotho around the waist and
danced her out to the middle of the dance floor. To my surprise, she flounced
away without putting up a fight, just gave me a pointed look from over her
shoulder and smiled that evil smile of hers.

       Asher walked toward me
slowly.  He arched his brow at me and tilted his head as if he were
studying me.  Then he made a “come here” motion with his finger.  My
heart kicked up a few beats.  I had to get away from him, for his own
good, if not for mine.  I started to back away from him. “Where are you
going, Isabel?”  Where, indeed?  That was the question, wasn’t
it? 

     “Um, I forgot I left something in
my room.  Be right back.”  I felt the need to run.  I rushed
past Asher and through the crowd without looking back at him.  I knew he
would follow me, and I also knew that I shouldn’t want him to.  He needed
to stay as far from me as possible.

     No one tried to stop me as I fled
the ballroom.  I took the stairs to my room two at a time, and prayed that
I wouldn’t trip over the hem of my floor-length gown.  At least the
sandals I had on were flats instead of heels; strappy silver things that were
otherwise useless, but very pretty. There was, however, no way to really run in
them without turning an ankle. My heartbeat was in my throat by the time I got
to my room.  Asher was right behind me, so close I felt his breath on the
nape of my neck, and I shivered. I turned on him, almost panicked.  “What
are you doing? She’s going to catch you here, Asher.  You have to
leave.”  He stalked me inside the room, and kicked the door shut with his
heel.  I swallowed hard.  I needed to get him out of here, before
Clotho found out.

     “Hush.  Calm yourself,
girl.”  Asher ran his hand down my bare arm from my shoulder to my hand,
and strangely, it did calm me.  For about two seconds, before I realized I
was alone with him, with the door shut.  A couple of days ago, that might
have been a welcomed thing, but now there were just too many
possibilities.  It was too dangerous.

     Asher’s hand clasped mine tightly
and pulled me towards the over-stuffed, white sofa.  “I have something to
tell you, Isabel; something to share with you, as well.”  I pulled my hand
from his reluctantly, and crossed my arms over my chest. He sat down like he
had all the time in the world, and patted the seat next to him for me to
sit.  I had to get rid of him; one way, or the other. 

     “I’m good right here, thanks.”

     His grin turned wolfish.  “You
will be better over here. Now, come to me, please.”

     “What for?  I’m comfortable
over here.  You really should probably go, Asher.”  The stupid purple
dress Clotho insisted I wear, didn’t cover much.  I had goose bumps rising
along my arms and down my bare back.

     His grin turned into a scowl
quickly.  “Does everything have to be an argument?”  He wasn’t going
anywhere.  Stubborn.

     I shrugged.  “What are you
doing here?”

    “Fine,” he sighed in frustration, and
leaned back against the sofa with his hands on his thighs.  From a purely
analytical standpoint, I have to say he looked awfully good lounging against
that creamy white sofa like that.  He was big and blonde, and that
almost-tux he wore did terrible things to my common sense.  He looked, in
Gwen-speak, delectable.  And dangerous as hell.  I backed up a couple
of steps.  I’m a lot of things, but stupid isn’t one of them.  Stand
too close to the fire, and you get burned.

     “Come to me, Isabel.  I will
not hurt you.”

     I flashed a smile, and barely
stopped a nervous laugh. “Said the big, bad wolf.”

     His eyelids lowered and he smiled a
slow smile that could melt butter; it certainly had me turning into a little
pile of goo.  “Come here.”

     I had to keep my distance.  “What’s
on your mind, Asher?”  From the look in his eyes, he was up to no good,
but that was a stupid thought, wasn’t it?  Why would he be looking at me
like that?  The big, bad wolf, indeed.

     “I could just come get you, you
know.”  His voice lowered into a rumbling purr.  “A little
cooperation never killed anyone.”

     “I guess you would know,” I giggled
nervously at my own stupid joke.  Something about the way he looked at me
had me moving closer, though, inch by inch. 

     This was insane. He was the
freaking Angel of Death, and I was worried about how I would manage to protect
him
from
me.
Clearly my priorities
were messed up. Maybe. I was so mixed up that I just didn’t know anymore. I
took another step closer to him.  He waited patiently; like he had nothing
but time on his side.

     One more step and I was within his
reach.  He watched my reaction carefully as he pulled me down to sit
beside him.  I didn’t bolt and run, although every instinct inside me
screamed for me to do so.  I was afraid of him, but not for the reasons he
thought. I knew that Asher wouldn’t hurt me.  He’d had every opportunity. 
Hell, if Fate were to be believed, I was the one who would end up hurting
him.  To be honest, I was afraid of myself.  I had some extremely
wicked thoughts dancing through my head every time he touched me, and now I
knew how dangerous those thoughts were.  This was just too close for
comfort. 

     This was painful.  Even if he
wanted me, I could never have him; not with all the crazy shit Clotho had in
mind for him.  Even entertaining the idea was beyond stupid.  It’s
like being told you can’t have chocolate; you just want it that much
more.  And Asher was far more tempting than chocolate.

     “See, that was not so bad, was
it?”  I shook my head and tried not to stare at his mouth.  Or his
eyes.  Or anything else, if I could help it.

     “I don’t suppose you came to break
me out of here, did you?”

     That same slow smile came
again.  “In a manner of speaking, yes.  Suriel and I made a
deal.”  I stiffened when he spoke the archangel’s name.  “He will not
bother you again.  I promise you.”  That sounded too good to be true,
and I was always leery of things that were too good to be true.

     “Go on.”  I did a pretty good
job of ignoring the goose bumps running up my arm from where he still hadn’t
let go of me.  I just hoped he didn’t notice.

     “You will be going home soon, but
we need to prepare you; make you stronger so you will not be so dependent on
me.  Also, it should stop you from accidentally draining the energies of
those around you.”  It would be nice not to constantly worry about that.

     “What did you have in mind?” 
I had trouble concentrating.  I thought he meant for me to feed from his
energy like he’d taught me to.  Although, the idea of laying a hand on him
at all, left me slightly breathless and blushing to the roots of my hair. 
I was doing a lousy job of running him off, for his own good.

     “I have to give you some more of my
blood.  A good deal of it.”  And all my happy, hormonal, teenaged
thoughts went flying right out the window.  Total buzz-kill.

     “Um, ewww.  No, thanks.” 
The very idea of sucking someone’s blood was just revolting.  Not to
mention, highly unsanitary.  “Besides, what will it do to me?  I’m
already less than human.”

     “No, you are
more
than human, never
believe otherwise.” He sighed softly. “This should only enhance the abilities
you have already developed.  I am sorry, but there is no other option,
now.  I can protect you most of the time, but I have to make sure that you
can protect yourself, in case I cannot.  We have no way of knowing if the
incident with Mairya was a new ability, or simply luck.”  I shook my head,
still stubbornly unconvinced.  “Suriel’s word cannot be trusted.
 Clotho is as treacherous as a she-demon.  She likes to play with her
victims; give them hope before destroying them. The things coming for you, will
come for your family, as well.” 

     “I already know what she’s got in
mind.  We need to talk about that.” My stomach did a slow turn, and not in
a good way. Would he blame me?  Think I was in on her stupid plan from the
start? Would he leave me?

     “We will talk about it, but later,
once you are home; we do not have much time, now.  Do this for your
family, if you will not do it for yourself.” Those silvery, grey eyes looked
right through me.  “Do it for me.”

     Would it matter, really, if I told
him Clotho was a psychotic bitch?  He seemed to already know it. “You
don’t play fair, Asher.” 

     He smiled, and knew that he’d won
this argument. “No one ever said that Death was fair.  I certainly never
claimed to be.”

     “Tee, hee.  Nice joke.” 
I sighed, ran my hands through my hair to get it off my face, “I don’t suppose
you have another option you’d like to propose?  Something a little less
gory?”  He shook his head.  I blew out a nervous breath.  “Fine,
let’s get this over with.  Um, how do you want to do it?  How did you
do it before, when you were sneaking blood to me?” 

     For the first time since I’d met
him, Asher looked just the tiniest bit guilty.  “A sliced hand, usually,
but this will have to be something larger.”   Um, yeah, cause the
idea of sucking blood from his cupped hand was just a little more than my poor
heart could take.

   “Which do you prefer; neck or wrist?”  He
might’ve been asking what I’d like for lunch.  Ham or turkey?  Artery or vein?

     My eyebrows must have been
somewhere near my hairline.  “You must be joking.”

     He shook his head, deadly
serious.  “I would never joke about something like this.  Keep in
mind, time is a factor, so hurry.”

     Oh, the choices. 
“Wrist.”  If he insisted on doing this, then his wrist seemed like a safer
choice.  Taking blood from his throat just seemed too intimate. Not to
mention, the logistics. I was too short to comfortably reach his neck, if I
were standing, and would have to climb up on something to do it. It was either
that, or lay across his chest. That was a mortifying thought.

     It wasn’t until he scooted back
against the arm of the sofa to make room for me that I realized my
mistake.  There just isn’t any easy way to take blood from a wrist, unless
it’s facing you.  I would have to sit with my back against his chest in
order for this to work.  Oh, hell no, not a good idea.  I’d just
started to move next to him when I jumped to my feet and began pacing, trying
to figure a way out of my predicament.  So far I was coming up with a
stunningly blank mind.

     Asher stood and watched me like a
predator.  He opened his arms for me and waited patiently.  He stood
like stone, his face unreadable; he had all the time in the world.  I
heard footsteps on the stairs, and knew that my time was almost up.  I
tried not to think about what I was about to do. 

     My palms were sweating and my heart
was racing.  I couldn’t do it; I couldn’t go to him like he wanted.
 Realizing this, Asher came to me.  I caught my breath as he circled
around me.  He pulled me back against his chest and the butterflies in my
stomach sprang to life and took flight.  I took a shaky breath and prayed
I wouldn’t make an ass of myself by passing out.  He was so warm against
my bare back. I wanted to sink into him, but forced myself to straighten up.

     That subtle scent of leather and
spice was everywhere and it made me lightheaded.  Why did he always smell
so good? Why was I such an idiot?  “Relax, girl.  I will not bite.” 
He smoothed my hair over one shoulder, presumably so he could see what he was
doing, but I swear I heard him sniff my neck.  I stood in the circle of
his arms and I felt dwarfed.  Chills ran all the way to my toes.  I
saw him bring a small pocket knife up and I started to step out of his
embrace. 

     “What’s that for?”

     “It is just something to make the
cut.  Calm down, this will only take a little while, and then it will be
done.”

     “You’re sure I have to do
this?  I don’t want to do this, Asher.”  A fine edge of panic crept
into my voice.  I’d been doing things that I didn’t want to do the entire
time I’d been here.

     “If there were another way, I would
do that.  This way is best.  Now, close your eyes.”

     “Why?”  Suspicious? 
Me?  Nah.

     “Do you trust me?”  His voice
was soothing, almost whispery, and calming to my frazzled nerves.  I
nodded.  I did trust him, crazy as that may be, but this was pushing the
limit.  “Then, close your eyes and relax into me.  You don’t have to
watch me make the cut.  It will be easier for you, this way.”  He had
to go being all logical and considerate.  I closed my eyes, and held my
breath till I saw little starbursts of light behind my eyelids.