Dragon's Storm (Legion Of Angels #4)(48)

“I’m sure he thinks so,” he said coolly.

“He didn’t kill her. We know that now. Raven, that vampire, saw her.”

Nero said nothing.

“In fact, he has been searching for her for two hundred years,” I continued. “He’s never given up on her. He knew in his heart that she’s alive. We can find her. She’s with the Guardians. If I could get the weapons of heaven and hell working—”

“You are naive. You shouldn’t trust Damiel.” Nero’s voice snapped like a whip. “Perhaps he wants to find my mother, but that’s not all there is to it. There’s something else going on too. I know it. Finding my mother is not the only reason he wants you to get the weapons of heaven and hell working. An angel always has many motives to whatever he does. It’s efficient. And my father is nothing if not the epitome of efficiency.”

“Are you speaking from personal experience?”

“Yes. He never did anything that wasn’t calculated to accomplish at least four things he wanted.”

“That wasn’t what I meant,” I said.

“I know what you meant. You meant me. If what I do has many reasons. The answer is yes. I can’t seem to help myself. Whether I like it or not, there is a lot of my father in me.” He frowned.

“He’s not all bad.”

“It’s always been the same with him. He always manipulated everyone and everything perfectly to make us think we were actually deciding things, but in the end, we just did what he wanted. He never put trust in others.”

“Is that a touch of regret I sense in your voice?” I asked.

“No. I can’t bring myself to regret or feel sorry.”

“I’m the same.”

A hint of a smile graced his lips. “I know.” He seemed to like that about me.

“You should have trusted me,” I said quietly. “You should have told me what Colonel Fireswift had done. And let me decide what to do about it.”

“And what would you have done?”

“I don’t know. He’s too powerful for me to beat in a fight. But I’m not above spitting in his coffee.”

“Since when does he drink coffee?”

Nero had once told me that caffeine was a clutch, a weakness. And to drive the habit out of me, he’d coupled depriving me of my morning coffee with waking me up at four in the morning for weeks on end.

“Since after the incident on the Black Plains,” I told him. “I think I stress out Colonel Fireswift. I’m that little annoying thing he cannot control. Like a paperclip that keeps hopping out of the jar on his desk. He drinks a lot of coffee now. I bet it’s laced with Nectar too. I’m hoping to give him an ulcer.”

“Angels don’t get ulcers.”

“Shush. You’re ruining my plan.”

“What else is part of this plan of yours?” he asked.

“The usual. World domination. Getting Colonel Fireswift demoted to the mail room. Getting you back at the New York office. I have charts and diagrams and checklists and everything.”

He was grinning.

“What? I can be organized when I want to be,” I told him.

“Oh?”

“Of course. I just have to be properly motivated.”

“And getting me back to New York is motivating?”

“Don’t let it get to your head. Your stern scowl of quiet disapproval is much easier on the eyes than that look Colonel Fireswift has, like something nasty died under his nose.” I crinkled up my nose.

“Alas, I don’t think that’s reason enough for Nyx.”

“She thinks I’m a bad influence on you.”

“Can you blame her?”

“No,” I admitted. “Not really. Apparently my complete disregard for rules and regulations is contagious.”

“Yes.”

The way he was looking at me made me uncomfortable. He wasn’t even touching me, not even kissing me, but I felt a flush of heat that had nothing to do with the Fire Mountains.

I kept walking. My foot hit a loose rock, and the ledge collapsed. Nero caught my arm before I tumbled into a nasty fire pit. His other hand rested on my back, holding me steady, safe. My heart sped up. I had to kiss him.

Wait, that was a really bad idea. Kissing him would be forgiving him for marking me. No, worse. It would be an acceptance of that act. He didn’t even want to be forgiven. He thought he was right—and any other angel would agree with him. I’d read all about angels marking people in the angel book I’d brought to Storm Castle. Inside that book lay a whole new world—a world of dangerous delights and brutal sensuality. It was so easy to get sucked in, and once you did, you might never find the way back to your humanity.

“Can I ask you something?” I asked.

He let go of me. “You can ask me anything, Leda.” His voice dipped deeper, as smooth as silk over naked skin.

Why did he have to be so sexy?

“Was that your question?” he asked.

I blushed.

“I wasn’t sure because you didn’t say it aloud.” His face was perfectly serious. Too serious to be real, even for him.

“This isn’t funny.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said. “Now, what did you want to ask me?”