Wicked Nights (Angels of the Dark #1)(97)
Author: Gena Showalter

Her breath was a trembling rasp as she disengaged from his embrace to frown at him. “How did you know that?”

“I was forced to watch the fight. I tried to reach you, would have done anything to reach you. I am sorry I did not.” He cupped her cheeks, so glad to feel the warmth flooding them. “I’m so very sorry for all you were forced to endure.”

“Don’t you dare go into a shame spiral. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“At least try to hold a grudge.” He placed a soft kiss on her lips. “You’ll make me feel better.”

The kindest of smiles flashed up at him. “I think that’s the first lie you’ve ever told. So, uh, how am I healed?”

“I gave you the love my brother once carried.”

The smile slowly faded. “Your greatest treasure. You shouldn’t have—”

“You are my greatest treasure, Annabelle. Never doubt that.”

Her eyes filled with another stream of tears. “How can you say that? I helped kill him.”

He wiped away a tear with the pad of his thumb. “No matter what happened, I killed him, then and now. Never doubt that, either.” He would never have the closure he craved, but that was okay. That was life. He had Annabelle, and that was all that mattered. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. And thank you. You’re my treasure, too.”

“Good, because you now have a choice to make. You may meld to me, merging your life span with mine.”

A gleam of hope in those blue—no, blue no longer, he realized. Watery eyes of gold peered up at him, a shade more precious than any he’d ever seen. “Or?”

“Or nothing. That is your only choice.”

She pressed a kiss into his lips, as soft and gentle as his had been. “I thought you said you knew how to bargain, but right now I’m just too happy to instruct you on the proper way. You’ve got yourself a wife. Or a consort. Or a mate. Or whatever you want to call me!”

“You have been my wife since the beginning, I think. That very first day, you taught me how to feel. You saw me at my worst, and helped make me better. What we do next will be a much stronger bond.”

Cheers erupted around them, and he turned. His entire army now filled the room. Thane and Koldo must have summoned the rest of his men.

Thane dropped to his knee, head bowed.

Koldo did the same.

Bjorn and Xerxes, too, then Axel, and then, one by one, the others joined, until the twenty members of his army were showing their respect.

Zacharel pushed to his feet and helped Annabelle to hers. She pressed into his side, her head resting on his shoulder.

“Don’t you dare think about busting on Koldo,” she said. “He might have tricked me into…uh, I mean, he saved the day. And he and the troublesome trio saved Jamila, I think.”

Part of him wanted to throttle the man for daring to place Annabelle in such a dangerous position, but the other part of him recognized the desperate bid for victory. “Is this true?”

Koldo nodded, remained silent.

“He saved another angel, too, I think,” Annabelle added.

The warrior did not nod this time, nor did he maintain his silence. “She is no one else’s concern. I will see to her.”

Something about his tone…a hardness, a coldness Zacharel had once possessed. Like him, like Hadrenial, Koldo would end up on a path to destruction if he wasn’t careful.

His gaze swept over the sea of angelic bodies, white-and-gold wings, hair a kaleidoscope of colors, from the blackest of jets to the lightest of snows. All of these warriors were as he had once been. Adrift, lost. They needed a leader.

More of a leader than he had been.

From this moment on, he would be that leader. With Annabelle at his side, he could be anything, do anything.

“Rise,” he said, and they obeyed. “We are not like other armies, and so I will no longer treat you as such. We teeter on the edge of banishment, and I will allow none of you to fall. You are mine. Changes are coming, and I hope that you like them, but I won’t be bothered if you do not.”

Silence.

“You have all sensed the war brewing in the heavens. The greatest war we’ve ever known—and we’ve known plenty. When it will finally break, I’m not sure. I only know what has been whispered. The Deity’s angels will be fighting the Titans and Greeks—more and more have escaped from their immortal prison. All of this will happen despite the fact that a new queen sits on the Titan throne and she is on our side. Or maybe because she is on our side.

“As for now, go home. Rest. Tomorrow I upend your entire world.”

Thane, Bjorn and Xerxes shared an uneasy look before flying out of the room. Koldo scowled. Then every member of the army was gone, and Zacharel was alone with Annabelle.

He misted her into another room, one that was clean. “You, I upend now.” He backed her into the bed.

Her knees hit and she fell to the mattress with a gasp and a chuckle. Blue-black hair spread around her shoulders. Her robe gaped open, revealing one of his favorite parts of her.

“So naughty, my angel,” she said. “And look! Your wings are solid gold now. And there’s no snow!”

He looked at the left, then the right. “I am now one of the Elite.” One knee on the mattress, two, he straddled her thighs. “That will be celebrated—later. Right now we have a melding to begin.”

She was a sensual feast for his eyes. He was so mesmerized, he missed the movement of her hands. She latched on to his shoulders and pushed him down, placing herself on top.

Her grin was languid. “We’ll get to the melding. After you’ve begged.” A vow.

A vow she made good on. Her hands roamed over him, stripping him, stroking him, and all too soon he was begging, unable to help himself.

Just before she collapsed over him, wings of white burst from between her shoulder blades.

She sat back up, gasping, and looked the wings over. “What the… I don’t… How did that…”

A genuine laugh shook him to his very depths. “When you held the demon essentia, your negative emotions brought forth the demon appearance. You now hold an angelic essentia, and so your positive emotions bring forth this appearance. Now, enough distractions. I want you again, Anna.”

“Well, it is my turn to beg…”

Hours later, when they were both sated, she snuggled in his arms, resplendent and his, all his. This was the life he’d never dared dream for himself. One he would cherish forever, because he knew how close he’d come to losing it.