I gulped. "What needs to be done?"
"Telling you defeats the purpose, now, doesn't it?"
"So I'm your prisoner… until blood is spilled?"
"Think of it as a vacation." He shrugged. "I've provided for all of your needs." He pointed to an open kitchen I hadn't noticed before. "You won't starve, you won't thirst — unless it's blood your body craves — and you have a view. What more could you want?"
"Is that a trick question?"
His grin blinded me. "I enjoy humans… so small."
My eyebrows knit together in frustration. "Thanks."
"…and interesting."
"You said you had sons." I tried changing the subject.
His face shadowed. "I have… sons, yes."
The conversation must have been over because he quickly walked out of the room.
I thought he'd left me alone…
Until someone or something walked in. I wasn't sure how I knew since I hadn't actually seen anything, but I felt something.
And then I heard chains.
I had a brief vision of watching Christmas Carol and shivered, sitting on the nearby couch and pulling my knees to my chest. "Hello?"
"Hello." The voice was smooth, like a caress against my face.
The couch sunk next to me.
A hand reached out of the air. I followed the fingertips up an arm; the body slowly came into focus.
It was a man. Not an angel.
A Dark One — or something else entirely.
He had chains around his feet, though clearly he'd still been able to walk, and his hands were chained together as well.
"I'm Aziel." He leaned back against the couch. "I hope you're stronger than the last human who visited."
"The last human?" I repeated.
"She looked like you." His eyes went cloudy as he stared out through the windows, his jaw set in a firm line. "The same blood flows through your veins."
"She died?" My mouth was like cotton. I wasn't sure how much more I could take.
"She was murdered." His teeth snapped. "I would have made her my queen."
I tried to scoot away, but he put his chained hands onto my legs, holding me in place.
"She was tested," he sighed in a cheerful voice, "and found lacking."
"Why was she tested?"
"Because she wanted too much — because it was within our capacity to give it to her — but we were too early. The prophecy never said when balance would be restored. And we are not perfect."
We?
"We are still flawed." His voice was hollow. "And we were wrong. I was blinded by her face… then again, I've always had a fascination with pretty things." He turned his head to me. "You remind me of her."
I flinched, trying to move my body to the side. His hands grew heavier and heavier on my lap.
"And you will probably die just like her."
Ethan
"The last time you called for me was over a hundred years ago," Cassius said from behind my spot in the kitchen. I'd been pacing for the past ten minutes, waiting for him to arrive.
Stephanie and Alex tried to get me to feed.
I didn't want blood from a bag.
If I couldn't have her — if I didn't have her — I wanted nothing. Death. I would welcome death.
"She's gone." I didn't recognize my own voice. It was hoarse, like I'd been choked and barely survived. "An archangel—"
Cassius moved by me and held up his hand, his eyes blazing white for a few seconds before he uttered a curse. "Sariel."
Mason whistled and fell down into a chair, hanging his head in his hands. "We should have kept better watch of her. We should have—"
"Mason…" I shook my head. "It wasn't your fault." I turned my attention to Stephanie. "Care to explain how you earned the angel's mark?"
Cassius's head craned to the side, his eyes so white they almost glowed. He stalked toward Stephanie then with one hand pushed her up against the wall, pulling her head to the side to glance at the mark. "Decided to whore yourself out?"
Stephanie's face paled. "I had—"
"Do not lie." Cassius dropped her to the ground. She crumpled against the floor, holding her head in her hands. "He didn't say he was going to hurt her."
I lunged for her.
Mason intercepted me.
"He said she needed to be tested. You all knew there was another way." Slowly, Stephanie inched to her feet. "If an archangel deems the human pure, he'll restore balance, regardless of the prophecy!"
"And that worked out so well last time," Cassius hissed.
Lost, I simply waited for someone to explain. When nothing happened, I pretended to lose my irritation. Mason's arms slackened. I lunged for Stephanie's throat, my fangs hovering over her artery. "What. Exactly. Did he promise you?"
Her heartbeat picked up.
"Worth dying for, siren?"
"Love always is," she whispered.
It wasn't a lie.
I stepped back. Tears filled her blue eyes. "He promised me Cassius."
Cassius went completely still next to me. The room temperature plummeted, causing a frost to cover the granite countertops. "So, you thought to enslave me?"