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The muscles that formed the fallen angel’s chest danced and moved in a beautiful show of strength before he was in front of me, leaning seductively close. “Are you taking the piss, little bird? I’ve been nothing if not completely upfront with you from day one.”
I made an unattractivepfftsound with my lips, beyond entertained. “Please tell me you’re joking. If not, I’m going to hit you with my bat next chance I get because your head isn’t screwed on right.”
Nova’s laughter was annoyingly attractive from this close, and I tried not to give him any sort of win out of our interesting mid-shower banter because I sensed the history behind the demon and thisfriendwas one I wouldn’t want to miss.
Nova hardly talked about himself, and it was a rare fucking day when I wanted to know more details about what he said. But even I knew from one mention of this dude, he was vital to the destruction of Lucifer. I’d be damned if a cute smile and seductive stare distracted me from getting necessary intel from the fallen angel in front of me.
“So, who is this elusive, clearly smart bastard you speak of?” I asked, letting Nova’s hands roam my body as long as he kept talking.
The demon sighed—actually sighed like it wasn’t him who’d brought up the conversation in the first fucking place—and I reiterated to myself that reacting with violence would make it harder to get the response I wanted.
But it was oh-so-tempting.
“An old friend,” he replied ambiguously, and I nearly screamed, ready to break glass and stone with my fists if I had to. “An angel I once fought beside.”
Wait, hold the fucking phone. This person was an angel?!
21
Fable of Betrayal
“OH YEAH, GO RIGHT AHEAD and tell Lucifer to meet us there, too. Might as well die in a blaze of glory if we’re going tobeseech an angelto help two shameless killers, one who has the very same demon blood he fights daily, to take on the Underworld,” I taunted angrily, and Nova only laughed happily like I wasn’t speaking the absolute damn truth.
“You never fail to amuse, little bird,” the man said to my eternal frustration.
Maybe he was an idiot. Could someone be so smart they were stupid? It had to be that. Nothing else made sense.
“You’re thinking I’m absolutely mad in the head, aren’t you?”
“What gave it away?” I retorted sarcastically. “I’ve never heard of a better way to get ourselves killed. Don’t you think maybe the dude wants you dead after youfell in love with the fucking Devil?Why don’t you cut your own head off and serve it to him on a silver platter, that’d be faster.”
Nova cackled like it wasn’t him I was talking about, and I gave up trying to talk to a crazy person. I mean, I was crazy, but Nova was batshit crazy-sauce.
Certifiable.
I eyed the bastard who didn’t seem at all bothered I’d spent a minute ranting he was suicidal, and then I let loose a dramatic sigh of indignation. “What’s the history between you two? Why does he owe you a favor?”
Nova didn’t look over at me, only stared through the glass like he was somewhere else—probably on an island if I had to hazard a guess, the illusion-prone asshole. And for minutes, I waited and washed away the rest of the grime clinging to my body. I’d almost given up on getting an answer. But as I shut off the water and traveled over to the vanity to towel-dry myself off, Nova followed.
His ethereal green eyes met mine in the mirror. “I saved him from Lucifer,” he said, lips downturned.
“Before or after you fell for her?”
Nova smiled in self-deprecation, and I’d be lying if I said the look didn’t tug at some heartstrings left in this cold, dead heart of mine. “After.”
“That tracks. I assume it was after you fell from Heaven or whatever and were on the wrong side of the battlefield?” I pried shamelessly, not one to worry about poking at old wounds.
Nova watched me throw on a tank-top and pair of cotton shorts before I wandered from the bathroom. His footsteps followed me all the way out. Strolling a wide circle around the massive bed only a truly obnoxious rich person would own, I watched the naked man get under the covers and beckon me to do the same.
I nearly rolled my eyes, but I’d spent enough time trying to drag things out of the demon, and I’d prefer not to sabotage my efforts with cute gestures Nova almost always responded to physically. Don’t ask me why he thought that, of all things, rolling my eyes was cute, or how my petulance made the demon want to pin me down to the bed and fuck me until morning, but it got him worked up every goddamn time.
The dude had weird kinks.
“Simply put, yes, but it was…far more complicated than that,” Nova replied ambiguously, and I nearly palmed my face in frustration. The glint in his all-seeing eyes suggested he knew how much a pain in my ass he was being. So, saving himself a violent blow to something sensitive, he went on, “Your father, Creed, was close to crossing over to the human world and poised to kill millions. Tens of millions, actually. His army was overwhelming, and we’d underestimated his intention to claim innocent souls. Or really, his ambitions to rule over the mortal space at all. With what I know now, it may not have been his ambitions that led to that day in the first place.”
“You think Lucifer was whispering pretty things into Daddy’s ear?” I surmised, not surprised in the least.
Nova seemed to react to my blunt retort, his Adam’s apple bobbing. How interesting. It was probably the most uncomfortable I’d seen him in all our time together. “I shouldn’t be surprised you’d be clever enough to come to that conclusion, but I must admit, I’m impressed.”
