Page 1 of Consorting With The Enemy

Chapter One

Azazel

“Again.” I barked, not giving my nephew an ounce of leniency. I didn’t want him to be a warrior any more than he apparently wanted to be one, but being unprepared to defend himself wasn’t an option. They would come for him, whether it be Ariel or someone just as deadly, so he had to be ready. The recent battle at Ravenwood proved to me that my nephew was relying too heavily on practicing magic that Gabriel was teaching him instead of learning to master his own strengths.

Marchand rolled his eyes and glared at me. “I’m tired. I’m not good at this. And I don’t want to train anymore. Can’t we call it a day and start again tomorrow?”

If I had a feather for every damn time, I’d heard those phrases, I’d have the fluffiest fucking wings in existence. As it was, I only had more worries and fears heaped onto me every time he failed and wanted to quit. “Again, Marchand. Your wings are your deadliest weapon and you must learn to use them properly. Contrary to what you clearly think, they aren’t just something for your lover to stroke and pet. Now, concentrate,” I ordered.

Because of the deep sleep he’d been in when he was captured by the warlocks, and then the magic veil that had hidden him from me, Marchand’s abilities were sorely lacking for an angel of his age. Like human boys trying to learn to control their arousal in their early teens, a male angel had to learn to control his wings. Marchand was failing miserably. He couldn’t make his wings unfurl on demand but if Gabriel walked into the room—boom. There they were, just begging to be petted.

Thinking of wings, and feathers in particular, caused me to rub the spot on my chest that ached.

“Hey. How’s training going?” Gabriel asked as he stepped inside, interrupting Marchand’s training session for the fourth time in that many hours. Right on cue, Marchand’s wings popped open and fluttered nervously.

I stared at my nephew’s lover in disgust. The witch wasn’t acting a bit more mature or serious than Marchand was. He grinned at me and said, “I can’t help it, man. They are so fucking gorgeous.” Waggling his eyebrows, he added, “And I think I control them.”

“Well, I hope one of you can,” I answered dryly as I started packing up my gear. Just as yesterday, today had been a total waste of time and energy. On top of that, every time I left Marchand, knowing how utterly defenseless he was, my fear amped up. As I shoved my sword into its sheath, I glanced over in time to see Gabriel stroke Marchand’s wings. My nephew shivered from head to toe. Yes, this training session was clearly over.

“At least have the decency to wait until I leave the room,” I snapped irritably. When passing by Gabriel, I hissed, “They are supposed to be weapons, you dirty little witch. If you keep playing with them, he’ll never learn to defend himself.”

“He has all of us to defend him,” Gabriel retorted, looking furious that I’d even hinted that the witches and vampires, although very powerful, would be unable to keep Marchand safe. What Gabriel didn’t realize was that Ariel would be coming for him. If Ariel failed, then another demon would take his place. Even worse, before long the Angel Master would more than likely send a team of angels to this realm to retrieve my nephew and hand deliver him to the Demon Lord.

“Hey. Meeting in my living room to discuss our options,” Gabriel called out. “I’ll be there in a few minutes. You all can go ahead and start without me.” He turned back to Marchand. “I’ve got to spend some time touching these pretties.”

Dear Angel Master! Thank all the gods that I’d never fallen in love if it made you act like Gabriel and Marchand were currently acting. I paused in the hallway…remembering. It hadn’t been love. Itcouldn’thave been love, but centuries ago it had been a deadly case of lust between me and Ariel. We were mortal enemies and should never have touched one another.Ever. It hadn’t stopped us, though. Hell, there’d been no stopping us—not heaven or hell.

My mind drifted back to that first touch, our first encounter. It had changed my life, made me do things I firmly believed were sinful—an abomination in the eyes of all supernatural creatures, especially those of the angel realm. Ariel had always had that ability, though. He could always make me feel things I shouldn’t…make me want things I shouldn’t. I remembered the first time I’d laid eyes on the demon Ariel as if it’d only happened moments ago. He was gorgeous physically, but I’d lived many centuries and seen, touched, and played with many beautiful things in my existence. That wasn’t what had drawn me to him. It had been this carefree and playful aura that surrounded him. It shouldn’t have been there, not with a demon. Yet, it had been and it had been a trap that had taken years to escape…ifI truly had escaped his hold over me.

Rome had a new ruler, and he planned to bring religion back to the kingdom, make it strong again and ensure that the proper symbols and preparations were followed. The Angel Master knew that if Rome made such plans, a demon would be sent to try and thwart their success. I’d been sent to ensure there were no interruptions to the new ruler’s Christian desires. I’d thought it to be a rather tedious task—a waste of my time. Religion would always exist and those fighting against it would, as well. The battle for power had begun with Lucifer and would end only when time no longer existed.

If nothing else, though, I’d been a faithful and obedient servant to the Angel Master, so I’d gone to Rome, ready to destroy a demon. Finding him had taken much longer than I’d anticipated—his scent hidden by some unholy trick. When I had found him, he’d been seconds away from mischief that would have made the Angel Master very unhappy. I’d considered destroying—that is what I’d been sent to do—but there was something about him that had caused me to pause.

Following alone the stone walls, partially hidden by the shadowy darkness, I watched as the demon followed the two men around the mostly empty alleyways and stone walks. He toyed with them, making one of the men trip over his own feet and then causing the other one to fall when he tried to help his partner up. Gusts of wind, created by the demon, blew their togas up, exposing that neither of them had bothered with wearing a tunic or any type of loin cloth. Nothing I wanted to see but had to bite back a chuckle when it happened. At one point, he even made them hold hands. I was seconds away from classifying him as harmless, more like a fairy than a demon, when I saw his black eyes darken even more. He locked gazes with them, causing them to freeze and go into a trance-like state. Tilting my head, I heard the demon whispers inside his head—heard what he intended to make them do.

Intentionally, I made a noise to get his attention. His head spun around and dark eyes locked with mine. Damn, but it would be so easy to be entranced by his beauty. Just looking at him caused desire to begin working its way through my body, focusing on the area below my waist.

He was too pretty to destroy.

With a smirk on my lips, I disappeared into the shadows of the dark alley. The smirk was because I knew the two men were completely forgotten. All the demon’s attention was focused solely on me. His lust, mixed with my own, hung heavy in the hot air. My body tingled with excitement—the kind of excitement you feel when you know you’re about to do something wrong…and that it would feel so damn right.

Careful to move lazily but to still know where he was at all times, I lured him deeper and deeper into the alley. My mind raced—I needed a safe place to take him. I needed to be alone with the demon. Hell, it was a craving that my body wouldn’t be denied.

Just once. What harm could come from sampling a taste of the sinful fruit? No one would know.

My wings unfurled and I launched myself to the top of the building where I could look down and see his approach. He walked with the cockiness of one of the most powerful creatures alive. I had to admit, it was incredibly sexy. When he came to the end of the alley and a look of bewilderment crossed his face, I found it to be sexy, as well. Before he had time to realize he’d been tricked, I swooped down and scooped him up, holding him in a way where I could use my strength to prevent his wings protracting. He struggled a bit and cursed a lot…and I’d been damned if I didn’t find that to be sexy, too.

The pits was all I could think of that would be deserted of any humans, so I flew us there and then dropped him onto the scorched ground. I expected him to come at me, prepared for battle, but he simply stared at me, an odd smile tugging at the lushest pair of lips I’d ever encountered. A magnificent pair of black wings opened as wide as possible and then began to flutter as he looked at me.

Never in my existence would I think to see a demon blush, but a pretty pink stain colored his cheeks when he was unable to calm his wings. Again…sexy. I felt myself smile, in spite of the fact that I’d been determined to not fall for his charms.

“Were you trying to cause some mayhem back there, little demon?” I asked.

“I might have been going to have a bit of fun at someone else’s expense. No harm in that. It’s what us demons do.” As with the men earlier, he sounded more playful than deadly.

Arching a brow and causing my own wings to extend to their full, and very impressive width, I might add, I answered with, “Hmmm…do you know what it is that us angels do?”

“You try to ruin fun?”

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