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“Are you saying you’ve been entirely honest with me this whole time?”
“Why would I lie?” I gave him my best innocent look.
“Why indeed?” he murmured, regarding me with what, in other circumstances, I might have interpreted as affection. “One question, an honest answer.”
“What’s the question?”
He laughed softly, and my knees threatened to go weak at the sight of it. Heaven help me, but he was the most stunning male I’d ever seen. His laugh was so beautiful, so delightful, I wanted to bottle up how it made me feel so I could dose myself with it in times of desolation.
“You’ll find out if I win,” he said with a wink.
I weighed my choice. The chance at a TV versus the risk of having to truthfully answer whatever he asked me. Decisions, decisions…
I chewed on my lower lip, then took a deep breath and shrugged. Eh. I’d take my chances.
“All right.” I gave him a firm nod.
He smiled. “Good.”
The telltale whisper of magic over my skin spoke of the binding agreement we’d just struck. We were both magically bound to honor the terms of our bet now.
I charged him, remembering to account for my shorter size and lesser strength. He easily parried my strikes, and because of his farther reach, I wasn’t even able to get close to his body with my blade. Instead, I’d have to rely on speed and agility to more or less dance around him, waiting for a gap in his defense to open up that I could use.
“Watch your footwork,” he said in between strikes. “You’ll need to move faster.”
I huffed out a breath as I evaded a blow that would have almost smacked the sword out of my hand. “Like it’s that easy.”
“It is.” Another swipe, forcing me more into defense. “Physically, it’s all there. You’ve got what it takes—you’re an angel now. It’s your mind that’s giving you trouble.”
I had to retreat a step with every blow, barely able to block his attacks. My boots crunched on the pieces of gravel littering the cave floor.
“You still think in terms of human strength and speed,” he said, mercilessly driving me back. “You’re moving slowly because you don’t believe you’re capable of more, perceiving your body bound by human limitations.” He shoved me into a huge stalagmite, the only thing keeping him from touching me my raised sword pushing against his. Leaning in, something unfathomable darkening his eyes, he said roughly, “But you’re not human anymore. You’re an angel. So act like one.”
The heat of his body and the prickling force of his power robbed me of breath for a second. It was unnerving because it seemed like I knew his intimate touch, knew what it would feel like to have his naked body pressed against mine, to have him move inside me. There was a familiarity, caused by my dreams, that defied the fact that I’d just met him. He should have been a stranger.
But he didn’t feel like one.
Focus.
I gritted my teeth. He wanted me to act like an angel? Okay-dokay.
With the push of a thought, my wings extended from my back. At the same time, I shoved forward with my innate power, driving Aziel back a step. A quick flap of my wings and a well-aimed jump, and I was on the other side of him just as he turned, my sword swinging for his upper arm.
He parried at the last second, obvious surprise widening his eyes, his lips parting as his gaze tracked to my wings. His breath left him on a startled laugh.
“That’s more like it,” he murmured, his praise feeling like a physical caress.
We circled each other, his attention flicking to my wings again and again, something like awe lighting his eyes.
Taking advantage of his distraction, I darted closer, launching a swift attack. He sidestepped my charge, our movements fluid and yet again graceful like a dance.
I scoffed. “One might think you’ve never seen a pair of angel wings before, the way you stare at mine.”
He executed a deft maneuver that forced me to hop out of his way with the help of my wings. “Oh, I’ve seen a lot,” he purred. “Yours are simply the most beautiful ones I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
Heat rolled up into my face. Smooth talker. “All angel wings look the same.” Except for those of the archangels, of course. “How can mine be more beautiful, then?”
The clang of metal echoed in the cave as our blades crossed again, back and forth in a quick succession of strikes.
