“I thought, after all this hard work, you and I should celebrate.” Jonah winked, his lips curving into that sexy smile of his.

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “Where did you get that? I didn’t think alcohol was allowed here.” There had been a few rules floating around, and most of them I didn’t pay a lick of attention to. That one, I had.

  “I swiped it from one of the Elders.”

  Standing awkwardly in the middle of the room and painfully aware of the bed behind me, I suddenly felt as though the intensity between us might ignite into a blaze of fire if he moved any closer. “Michael’s son? A thief? I never would’ve thought it.”

  He moved toward me, closing the distance slowly, as though I was nothing more than a wild animal that he was quietly moving in on, careful not to frighten me into running off. I met his gaze, but inside I wanted to skitter away. I could face down demons and vampires and gargoyles, but not this man.

  “A thief, huh? And yet, I still haven’t been able to steal your heart.”

  The words sent my heart into overdrive. The way he looked at me, with his eyes glued on my lips and his head slightly tilted as though to provoke a response with his flirty words, made me want to give myself to him right there and then, regardless of whether it was right or wrong.

  His eyes scanned my face, then fluttered down to the curves of my breasts and hips, and I found I could barely breathe. He took another step forward. He was now so close, I could almost taste him.

  “Who’s to say you haven’t?”

  The pounding of footsteps in the hallway startled me, but it was just a few Angels moving along as they headed back to their rooms for the night.

  Still, it was enough to interrupt a moment that I wasn’t sure I was that comfortable with. I took a deep breath and let it out, letting some of the fire escape my lips. The desire I had for Jonah was stronger than anything I had ever felt before, but now just wasn’t our time.

  “So, um, did you bring any glasses with you?”

  With the bottle of wine still in his right hand, he conjured two long-stem glasses with his left. They clinked together softly in his fingers. “Of course.”

  “Well,” I replied with a smile, “let’s get this party started.”

  Every room in the building was equipped with a bed, a nightstand, and a small table with two chairs. It was situated just beneath the window, which looked out over one of the many plazas near the dorm. I pulled out a chair and gestured for him to take the other one.

  Jonah poured us each a generous helping of wine, the dark red liquid swirling in the glasses. I kept my eyes on the table as I took my glass, anything to keep from looking at him. I took a drink, letting the wine sit on my tongue for a moment and warm my mouth.

  “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

  I didn’t mean for it to, but it sounded snarky. After all, Jonah and I had been here together at High Command for almost two months. If he was going to come to my room, then why hadn’t he done it before? We had flirted back and forth every day, and yet it had taken him this long to do anything about it. I didn’t understand.

  He looked away, his eyes distant and slightly hard for a moment. “Things have been…chaotic.”

  “I know. I’m in training too, remember?” I knew what it was to work all day and then want to come home and collapse, but Trinity had been right, we had to live our own lives, too.

  “I’ve been doing other things after training.” It was his turn now to look at the table. He slowly tipped his glass, watching the dark liquid spin lazily in response. “My father has many things in mind for my future.”

  Suddenly, I felt like a jerk. Of course, he had family things going on after training. Of course, Michael would want to see him, even if it was only just to spend some time with him.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that.”

  He waved off my apology and smiled. “It’s not a big deal.”

  “Maybe just a medium deal?” I joked.

  He laughed softly. “Yeah, something like that.”

  A thick silence descended between us, and I couldn’t stand it. Things should be easy between us, like they used to be, yet something was bothering me—something I couldn’t shake free from my mind.

  “So, how about you and Hannah?”

  There was something like a smile on his face, the lift of one eyebrow.

  “What about me and Hannah?”

  “It seems you guys have gotten along rather well in training.” I buried my nose in my wine glass to keep from saying anything more as a jolt of jealously ran through me.

  “Well, we work well together, if that’s what you mean,” he said slowly. “But there’s nothing more to it.”

  I’d already drank most of my wine, and it was going to my head quickly. I could easily pull the alcohol out of my system as Jonah had taught me to do, but I didn’t want to. It was easier to be slightly detached from reality, held to it only by strands, instead of a solid wall.

  “Look,” I said, setting my glass down with a thump. “I see how you look at her. I also noticed how easy you were going on her during practice. Why would you do that if you didn’t have any interest in her? And I’m not trying to attack you here. I just think we need to be honest with each other.”

  In the back of my mind, I yelled at him for leading me on when he was truly interested in Hannah. I couldn’t blame him. She was tall and slim, with a sleek body that even Angels hoped for. I had my curves, true, but nobody had ever called me thin. Throw Hannah’s sweet personality in on top of that, and I had no chance with the son of Michael.

  His eyebrows shot up, and for a minute I thought he was going to growl at me. “You can’t be serious?”

  “I’m very serious.”

  “Woah. Hold on.” He held up his hands, unable to suppress a chuckle. “There isn’t anything going on between me and Hannah. We’re training partners, but that’s it.” He reached across the table and set his hand on top of mine.

  It was warm and heavy, and I didn’t want him to take it away. But somehow, I couldn’t get my mouth to quit. “If you say so.”

  “I only have one woman on my mind, Rumor.” He rubbed his thumb over the side of my hand before pulling back.

  I didn’t know what to say to that, and I took another long draught of wine. I caught his eyes flickering to the bed, and I wondered if he was imagining the same things I was. The air between us in that moment was tense, like the spark of the Lightning we had mastered in class, flickering between us and never letting up.

  But he was here, in my room, and this was what I had wanted all along. But I was not the temptress. It was his job to get me into bed, to gently pull the hair away from the nape of my neck and sprinkle kisses down my skin until I melted inside. It was his job to make the first move no matter how much I fought him, to break down my walls and let me admit to myself that yes, I wanted this.

  My core warmed at the thought, and the heat in his eyes let me know that I was not alone. But we couldn’t do that, not there, not now. There were too many other things going on, and there was that massive ball of doubt that swam around in my stomach like a ship on the stormy seas.

  “It’s beautiful out tonight. Why don’t we take a walk?”

  “I’d like that.” I stood up, reeling slightly as the wine caught up to me. I was too eager to get out of the room and away from the bed.

  “You sure you’re okay? I can get that out of your system for you if you’d like.” He lifted his fingers to touch my temples.

  I batted them away gently. “No. That’s okay. It’s just…a little stronger than I’m used to.” Normally, I could hold my alcohol just fine, but the stuff they made at High Command was something else.

  As we stepped outside, I realized why I had been so sensitive. I wanted Jonah, but I wanted him to chase me, as old-fashioned as that sounded, and it was frustrating when he didn’t do that. But he was here with me, walking alone with me in the moonlight, and that had to be enough for the moment.

  “It really is nice out here,” I commented. The path below our feet shone in a different way than it had during the day. Instead of the grounds being filled with light, everything was limned in silver. The sidewalks glowed against the dark expanses of grass, and the trees bore silver leaves against their inky trunks. The buildings, most of them unoccupied now that everyone had gone back to their room, were silent edifices that blocked out the stars.

  “Just wait.” Jonah took long steps as he headed slightly downhill toward the arenas. We passed the big circular buildings quickly, as though we were worried that if we lingered too long we might be pulled into training.

  After a few minutes, we moved away from the more developed area. There were still definitive paths, but they were composed of tamped earth instead of pavement. The trees were thicker and fuller out here, and the grass grew longer. It was quiet except for the soft rustle of the wind through the trees.

  “I didn’t know this existed,” I breathed as tiny fireflies made stunning light-shows over the surrounding fields. When I looked up, I saw that the stars were brilliant, thousands and thousands of them, brighter than any diamonds I’d ever seen.

  As I watched, one flew across the sky, a comet with a bright tail streaking behind it. Before it disappeared, I closed my eyes and made a wish. A wish for Jonah, a wish for a future together.

  “It’s so peaceful out here. It really puts things in perspective, sets your mind free…and your heart.” Jonah’s voice was soft in the darkness. When I opened my eyes again, the comet was gone. Somehow, I felt different, as if the world had moved a few degrees in my favor. As if whatever deity riding the comet had heard my secret wish.

  Our arms brushed against each other, and then I felt his hand reaching out for mine. I was grateful for the darkness, so that he couldn’t see my cheeks burning once again.

  Why did he make me feel like I had never been around a man before? He punctured right through the warrior’s armor I had worked so hard to build around myself and dug straight down into my heart and soul.

  “I see why you like it out here. You feel like you’re far away from everything…the pressures, the demands, the people.” As a slayer, I reveled in the moments when I didn’t feel any other presence around me. I cherished Ember’s company and now Jonah’s, but there were times when I wanted to be completely by myself. No psychic messages from other Angels, no beacons of evil from demons. Just me.

  “It seems that way, but I promise you, we’re far from being alone.”

  I turned my head slightly, tuning into my psychic senses in case I had missed something. “What do you mean?”

  “You’ll see.”

  The path split and Jonah immediately turned left. The rugged path turned uphill, but the incline was no problem for our well-trained legs. I felt myself starting to relax, to let go of all the stress of training and worrying. My shoulders unclenched, my teeth stopped grinding together, and I let my guard down.

  But a rustling in the brush brought it right back up again. I dropped Jonah’s hand and immediately took on a fighting stance, with my feet shoulder-width apart and my fists up and ready. I knew things must truly have been getting bad in the world if enemies were here.

  Jonah wrapped his hands around my biceps and pushed them back down against my sides. “Easy there, slayer. There’s nothing that can hurt us here.”

  The grass parted, and a dark shape moved slowly onto the path in front of us. It had bushy fur and a long tail, and it appeared to be carrying something in its mouth. The creature skated around us, the tips of its fur grazing my leg before it disappeared into the darkness.

  “A shadow cat.” I dropped my fists and relaxed. I felt like an idiot, which seemed to be happening a lot lately. “I should have known.”

  “You’ve been fighting for so long on Earth, I can understand why you are always on guard, Rumor. I’d be, too. That was the one thing about visiting my father here throughout the years…I could relax, knowing there were no enemies here, waiting in the shadows.”

  “What was it like? Growing up as the son of Michael?”

  Small creatures croaked and chirped in the distance, filling the few seconds that it took for him to answer.

  “I spent most of my time on Earth, with my mother.” He glanced over his shoulder at the glow of the city behind us. “But we always came here, at least once a year.”

  “It must have been difficult to know there was something so fantastic here, yet you were stuck on Earth.” I had never resented my time among the humans, but I had never known how wonderful High Command was.

  “Not really,” he replied. “There’s plenty of beauty to be found there as well. And I had my mother.” He laughed softly. “Besides, I was terrified of my father for most of my life.”

  Reflecting on the Archangel I had seen in the throne room, I couldn’t say that I blamed him.

  “Was he kind?”

  “Yes, very.” In the moonlight, I saw him smile and it set my heart fluttering like a bird’s wings against my ribcage. “But, even at a young age, the weight of what he had achieved and his importance in this world wasn’t lost on me. I was terrified of the Angel who had defeated Satan. But I was also proud, and as I grew up, that overpowered my fear. There’s a lot of pressure on me to live up to being his son, but I think I’m doing a pretty good job so far.”

  That much I understood. “You’re doing an awesome job. I only hope I can do the same for my parents.”

  “You already have.”

  As we crested the hill and looked down into a valley, my breath caught. The center of the meadow was bathed in a silvery light. It took my eyes a moment to adjust well enough to see that it wasn’t moonlight. The creatures, who had stamped out a circle in the grass to bed down for the night, were creating their own illumination. Long, spiraling horns protruded from their foreheads and emitted a luminescence that outshone the moon. Their hides were sleek and pure white, and they were easy to see, even at a distance.

  “Unicorns,” I breathed. The creatures had disappeared from Earth so long ago that they were thought of as purely mythical. There were several adults mingling in the circle of trampled grass, brushing their cheeks against each other and swinging their silky tails. The young ones, tiny versions of their parents with stubby horns, frolicked in and out of the circle but never strayed far.

  Slowly, Jonah’s hand slid around my waist, reaching down, resting on my hip. He smiled, his fingers tensing against my skin. We remained at the top of the hill, just watching. I felt my body ease against his warmth, just like it always did, and I never wanted the moment to end. I could have pulled him right down into the grass, shadow cats and all, and done everything I had fantasized doing with him, but in that instant, it felt right simply being together and sharing such a tender moment. Maybe it was the magic of the unicorns, or maybe I was just tired, but I was satisfied just being in his arms.

  He reached up and gently touched my cheek, then ran his fingers across my lips. I felt a streak of fire run down my spine at the softness of his caress, and from the way he looked at me, ever so intently.

  “You never have to worry about any other woman.”

  He leaned forward, eyes locked with mine, and then his lips were on my mouth, the rest of his words lost, as he kissed me. For a moment, I held back, but the sweet longing that rose inside me was too strong to resist.

  I lost track of the time we stood beneath the stars, the moonlight shining above us, his mouth on mine, devouring me, as if I were the only woman in the world. And I believed him.

  I gave back equally, my lips and tongue meeting his in that dance of fire.

  Dizzy with desire, I finally took a step back. In the faint light, his eyes were luminous, hazy silver, and heavy-lidded as he looked down at me. One corner of his mouth curved into a smile so knowing that it felt as if he were looking right through my clothes and my skin, right into my heart.

  He wasn’t ready to let go or stop kissing me. Not just yet.

  He closed the distance between us with one step, pulling me into his strong arms, weaving his fingers through my hair, tense against my scalp. His lips found mine again, crushing and passionate, his kiss searing, leaving me breathless.

  Every sense was alive, every touch of his fingers on my skin left a trail of fire, fanning the flame of desire deep that I had for this man.

  “I want this to work, Rumor. I really do.” His forehead was tilted, resting against mine, his hands wrapped tightly around my waist as though I belonged to him.

  Perhaps I did.

  “I want this too, Jonah. More than anything.”

  His lips curved into a knowing smile, and he stepped to the side, bringing my back and shoulders against his chest this time, so we could look off in the distance, at the wondrous unicorns who now held our secret.

  It was so comforting and so peaceful, standing cradled against him, his arms wrapped around me protectively, my head resting against him. I felt safe for the first time in many years, and it occurred to me that despite being a slayer who could hold her own on the battlefield, I needed this more than I ever thought possible.

  After some time, I stepped away. It was growing late, and we needed to get some rest before our final day of training. He walked me to my door, sprites lighting the way along the path, guiding us home.

  “I’ll see you in the morning?” His face was wreathed in shadow, but his voice carried the rough pitch of desire.

  “Of course.” A smile tugged at my lips, and I longed to see the intensity in his eyes.

  I stepped forward, and pressed my lips to his. He drew me into his arms once more, his lips softening under the pressure of mine and his arms binding around me, pressing his hard body against my curves. I felt the muscles in his arms and shoulders as my fingers moved over him, and when he pulled me even closer, I could feel the hardness beneath his jeans.

  I had no idea what would happen tomorrow after training, or where we would be sent for our first mission, but somehow in that moment, I knew that we would always find our way back to one another.

  Chapter Ten

 

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