"I love her."
Cassius sighed, a slight frown marring his face. "Yes, I know."
"What do you know of love?" I spat, clenching my hand into a tight fist, my knuckles cracking against each other as I fought to keep my rage at bay.
"I know," Cassius said in a hoarse voice. "Believe me when I say I know."
I didn't point out that Dark Ones didn't love — that love was just as forbidden as mating, just as ridiculous a notion. They felt no love because they gave themselves over to their angelic blood more than their humanity, and everyone knew angels didn't feel, didn't love.
They simply existed and ruled, but never by such human emotions. To feel such strong emotions was the reason the Dark Ones had been cursed in the first place.
"Are we close?" Cassius asked.
"You truly can't trace her?" I was curious, with all his strength, how he couldn't pick up her specific smell. From where I sat, I could even make out her heartbeat.
"No." Cassius sighed.
"There." I pointed at a large house facing the Sound. It was a two-storied beach house; intricate brickwork lined the front. A door big enough for two angels to fit through loomed in front of us.
"Well?" Cassius shut off the car. "Shall we?"
I grunted.
It would be impossible to catch Sariel unaware. He was an archangel, not necessarily all-knowing, but most likely expecting us. What mate wouldn't fight through hell to gain his love back?
We walked in silence toward the door.
I wasn't surprised when it opened.
My heart beat wildly in my chest as the scent of Genesis became stronger, her heartbeat more erratic.
"Easy," Cassius said under his breath.
I clenched my teeth together.
The solid oak door opened before our very eyes. A blast of humidity shot through the air making me hold my breath as the sting of sweet sugar invaded my nostrils. It smelled of angel—of the heavenlies. I wondered how Cassius dealt with it—when my own body was already shaking with the need to run in the other direction. Because that very smell was the one I'd always been warned about. If it smells too good, it is too good—run.
Suddenly the archangel appeared, his wings dripping with purples and blues as his feral face tilted to the side, a smirk lining the corners of his mouth.
"Sariel." Cassius smiled, of course he would. "I think you have something that belongs to the vampire."
"But of course." Sariel nodded. His wings fluttered as he looked me over with a calculating glare. His head tilted to the side. "Vampire, your love for her, is it pure?"
"Yes." It hurt to speak. I could feel her presence. I just wanted to see that she was all right, take the fear away, give her my blood, and get her the hell out.
"Mmm…" Sariel nodded to both of us. His eyes were blazing white. He wasn't just immortal, he wasn't human, wasn't man — more being or spirit than anything else. "After you."
Cassius stepped in the house first.
I followed, my nerves on edge as I pushed past the archangel, not caring that I was being disrespectful to someone who could end me if he willed it.
I didn't turn around.
And maybe that was where my instincts were off.
I always turned.
Always smelled.
Always sensed.
But this, this I didn't see coming, because the minute I moved away from the angel, my eyes locked on Genesis.
Blood. So much blood. I reached for her just as a jarring pain stabbed me in the back.
With a curse, I stumbled forward. Warm blood oozed down my back, mixing with the icy blood Cassius had given me.
"No!" Genesis screamed. "Ethan!"
Cassius turned, his eyes horrified as he reached for my back, and pulled out a single purple feather dripping with red.
"And now…" Sariel pushed me to my knees in front of Genesis. "…we begin."
Genesis
I'd never bled so much in my entire life. Just when I was about to pass out, Aziel appeared by my side and told me to drink. Whatever he brought me tasted funny. I tried to jerk away from him, but I was too weak from blood loss.
I heard Ethan's voice. My heart soared. He was there.
And then Sariel turned and offered a sad smile, almost as if he was apologizing for having made over a hundred different small cuts around my arms and neck.
It had happened so fast the pain didn't even register for the first minute, and then everything stung like a hundred fire ants had all bitten me at the same time.
"Genesis…"
Ethan had eyes for me and only me. I wanted to yell for him to stop because something wasn't right. Something felt very wrong. Cassius moved away from Ethan toward me, maybe to help, maybe to finish the job. When I saw Ethan stumble forward…
I knew.
Things were about to get a lot worse.
Cassius swore, pulling a feather from Ethan's back.