“Is that why you were affected so badly by the crossbow bolt?”
“Exactly.” She absently rubbed her sternum. “But really, you get a hole the size of a fist blasted through you, and see how you fare.”
“I’ll pass.” He pulled off his gloves and tossed them to the kitchen table. “You poofed right after that. What if he does the same?”
“He won’t. I have a trick up my sleeve.”
His jacket went next, leaving his arms mouth-wateringly bare in his short-sleeved T-shirt. “Which is?”
“Powdered Benedictine monk wine.”
“Monk… wine?” He paused in the middle of unbuckling the leather weapons harness strapped across his chest. “As in, wine made by monks?”
She nodded. “Wine made in a secret chamber at Buck-fast Abbey in England is blessed by monks and dried. Once powdered, it can be used as a temporary antidematerialization weapon against fallen angels.” And angels, which was why it was kept under lock and key. If it were to fall into the wrong hands, it could be used to immobilize God’s army of angels during the Final Battle.
“How temporary?”
“It’ll give us only a few minutes.”
“That sucks, but it’s better than nothing.” Lore laid out his harness and systematically checked each weapon. If they weren’t going after her brother, she’d actually think his efficiency and confidence when handling the weapons was incredibly sexy. “So where do you think he’ll be?”
“Sheoul. The Forbidden Abyssal.” Her voice was stronger than she felt on the inside.
Lore’s foul curse scorched the very air. “That’s the nice name for it. Do you know where it is? What it is?”
“I’ve heard of it.” Who hadn’t heard of it?
“It’s known as the Butchers’ Playground.” His voice was grim. “It’s said that nothing is off-limits there. There are no rules except that nothing can die quickly.”
It was also one of the few places in Sheoul that angels couldn’t enter at all. Some claimed that Satan himself liked to hang out there. No doubt it was a great vacation spot for someone like him.
“That’s why I know he’ll be there. He was never one for half-measures, and if he’s gone evil, he’s gone evil.”
“Dammit,” Lore muttered. “Since it’s in Sheoul, you can’t flash us there, and if the rumors are true, the nearest Harrowgate is days away. This could throw a King Kong– sized wrench into things. Twenty-four hours, and game over for me, angel.”
Idess glanced at the clock on the wall. They had forty-five minutes. And even if Rami wasn’t in the Playground, if they didn’t find him within an hour, they’d be screwed for another twenty-three.
Which put them dangerously close to Lore’s deadline.
She looked at the demon standing in front of her, a demon who had more honor and love in his heart than many of the humans she’d kept safe over the centuries. Fate had dealt him a bad hand, and he’d been paying for it for over a hundred and thirty years.
Fate had also made him Primori, which meant she had to protect him. He couldn’t face Rami in the Playground alone.
And he wouldn’t. If this was a test, she would pass—but she’d have to cheat to do it. She could go with him, but only if she was no longer an angel.
“Lore?”
“Yeah?”
Licking her lips, she placed her palm on his chest, right over his assassin mark, and then dragged her hand down. Slowly. By the time she reached the waistband of his jeans, his nostrils were flaring, as though taking in the scent of the arousal that had sparked in her the moment she touched him.
“Make love to me.”
Twenty-two
“Idess…” Her name came out in a strangled rush of air.
“Please.”
Taking a step back was the hardest thing he’d ever done. “Now isn’t the time.” What was he saying? Any time was the time. Especially since they could both die and this might be the last chance for having sex with anyone.
“It’s the perfect time.”
“Guess the Butchers’ Playground thing isn’t a big deal if you’re looking death in the face, huh?”
“Guess not.”
“But… your vow. What happens if you break it?”
She stepped into him again. “Some sort of penance. Nothing I can’t handle.”
Common sense told him the penalty for an angel’s breaking a vow of celibacy wasn’t going to be minor, and he couldn’t allow her to suffer no matter how badly he ached for her. But when he tried to back away, she gripped his hips and pressed the entire long, sexy length of her body against him. Still, he might have had a chance against her… until she awkwardly palmed his crotch.
Tenderness flooded him. She wanted him but didn’t know how to initiate sex. Not that he was so great at that either. Neither one of them was technically a virgin, but emotionally? He so was.
He’d fucked. He’d been sucked. But he’d never made love to anyone.