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I pursed my lips, suspicion gnawing at my gut. She seemed so casual about this, but there was an undercurrent of intensity humming just beneath her placid facade. Like someone who’d laid a trap and was now closely watching their prey step in it.
“As much as I would like to unconditionally trust that claim,” I said, “I can’t quite believe it.”
She rolled her kohl-lined, turquoise eyes. “Well, all right, if you need a quid pro quo to accept this offer, how about this? You will owe me one small favor for my providing you with a skilled combat coach.”
“How small?”
She waved a hand, the bangles on her wrist jangling with the movement. “Something like serving drinks at one of my parties. Or delivering a message for me to someone.”
I considered it. “Okay. Deal.”
“Splendid!” She clapped her hands. “I’ll talk to him, and then I’ll get back to you with a time and place. In the meantime, best not to mention this to anyone—he’s from another territory, and I know for a fact that his superior angel won’t like him training someone who doesn’t belong to and benefit his domain. You know how the idiots in charge are.” She rolled her eyes again. “It’s all about jurisdiction, and liability, and all sorts of boring technicalities.”
“Yeah, sure.” I nodded eagerly. “I’ll keep this to myself.”
Not that I had many people to tell it to. Naamah was pretty much my only friend.
“Good.” She pointed at me with her finger, then winked and breezed past me to the door. “So, do you have time for a quick flight and possibly a few water bombs dropped on unsuspecting angels?” As if to underscore her point, she summoned a small balloon filled with water, threw it in the air, and caught it again.
I stuttered out a laugh. “I’ll get in trouble!”
Her eyes sparkled. “Only if they catch us.”
“Naamah!” I bit my lip to hide my grin.
“You’re a wicked-fast flyer, and I’m capable of illusions.” She tossed the water bomb again and caught it with a flourish. “They’ll never know it was us.”
“You’ll be my ruin,” I faux-grumbled, but I toed on my boots and followed her out the door.
“No, my dear,” she said and slung an arm around my shoulders. “I’m your saving grace.”
The angels in the sunset-lit hallway gave us a wide berth as we passed, and this time it wasn’t because I stank to the highest heaven. They all eyed Naamah with a healthy amount of respect and not a little longing.
“What’s his name, anyway?” I asked as we stepped outside and into the courtyard.
“Hm?” Naamah looked at me with raised brows, folding her hands in front of her to make a launchpad for me to take flight.
“The angel you’ll get to help me.” I unfurled my wings and set one foot onto her folded hands.
“Oh.” She gave me a serene smile. “Aziel,” she said and launched me into the air.
CHAPTER 3
I had one of those dreams again.
The ones with the male who felt like a lost part of me, like the missing piece to my puzzle, yet I never clearly saw his face. Night after night, I’d dream of him—visions of warmth, of passion, of humor. Fleeting images and sensations, whispered words, and such deep yearning. And though I’d always wake with a feeling of something precious being wrenched away from me, with a pulsing hole in my chest, I continued to seek sleep despite not needing it.
Because those dreams…they were the most genuine things I’d felt since opening my eyes to the reality of being an angel.
Tonight, in the recesses of my mind, I found myself—not knowing how we got there, as it usually was the case with dreams—backed up against a wall by this mysterious stranger, his body hard and hot and pressing into mine in all the right places. All my nerve endings responded to his nearness with electric excitement, my skin tingling and my breath going fast.
As always, I couldn’t make out his face—every time I tried to focus on his features, my vision swam or something would happen that would pull my gaze somewhere else.
But even though I didn’t know what he looked like exactly, the feel of him was branded into my very soul. His scent, his energy, the push of his power against my senses.
He grasped my right hand and pressed something into my palm. I blinked as he wrapped my fingers around the long, slender object and then brought it up between us, his hand enveloping mine holding the item—a dagger, the black blade gleaming with iridescence in the light of the torches near us.
With wide eyes, I watched how he steered my hand to lay the weapon against his throat.
