Gates of Paradise (a Blue Bloods Novel)

“You’re right, I don’t,” he said, getting up and putting on his clothes. “You took an oath.”


“And you promised you would help me too,” she said quietly, reminding him of his pledge to her when she became one of his pack. “Lawson, please.”

He laced his boots.

“Lawson—” She struggled to stand up. “Where are you going? Lawson!”

He didn’t look back. Not once. Bliss knew before she heard the front door slam and the elevator doors open that he was gone, and she was alone again.





NINETEEN


Tomasia (Florence, 1452)


ne day the baptistery doors would grace the most beautiful cathedral in the world. Tomi was satisfied with her work for the day, and took a moment to admire the piece before she returned to her quarters. When she arrived at home, the door was ajar and the room was empty of servants.

“Gio?” she called. “Gio, are you here, my love?”

“In here.” That wasn’t Gio’s voice, Tomi thought, immediately putting a hand on the knife she carried around her waist.

“Who’s there?” Tomi walked inside the bedroom and screamed.

Andreas ran to her, and she screamed even louder. “Get away from me! Where is Gio?” she yelled, pushing him away. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM?”

“Tomi, please, Tomi.” Andreas shook her. “Gio’s gone. He must have known I would return, and escaped before he had to face me. Tomi—it’s all right. It’s me.”

“DEMON! Stay away from me!”

“Tomi, listen. I am so sorry—I have been trying to get back to you—but I was detained. I was sure you were safe with Gio…until I realized. He’s the one we’ve been looking for all along. He has been turning the Venators against me, spreading lies, alienating my men. He even tried to kill me in Verona.”

“The Black Fire,” Tomi whispered. “But how?”

“I contained the fire. It responded to my magic,” he said.

Tomi looked at him in confusion and fear. Unable to understand. But if it was true, then…She held her stomach, feeling sick all of a sudden.

“Lucifer had returned to us. He was alive…and his spirit was in Gio,” Andreas said. “I trusted him like a brother. I loved him like a brother. But he was not who we thought he was.”

“No! No! That cannot be.”

“He was with Simonetta. He was manipulating her all along. That child was not the first. There are others. He has bred a host of half-human demons, the Nephilim. He has kidnapped brides for the Dark Fallen. The trigylph is a symbol of their union—serpent and sheep.”

“No.”

“Tomi. I know he was your friend. He was mine as well.”

Gio had been more than a friend. Tomi turned away from Andreas, the sick feeling in her stomach only growing. She was utterly horrified and unable to accept what he was saying. Gio…? Lucifer? But…

Andreas walked to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned to him slowly. He smiled, and she was stunned as she recognized her love once again.

Just as she had thought: Andreas was Michael. Prince of the Angels, the Valiant, Supreme Commander of the Lord’s Armies. Michael, her eternal love. Only an angel with a power like hers could have stopped the Black Fire of Hell. Only Michael, Pure of Heart, the Protector of the Garden, the Champion of the Light.

She had known Andreas was Michael the instant they had met; but as the months passed and he’d kept away from her, doubt had crept in. They had been separated far too long.…He had left her, and in his absence, Gio had fed her lies and misinformation.

“It is not too late,” Andreas told her. “Thank God you are alive. When I heard he was with you…I feared the worst.”

“Michael,” she breathed. “You are Michael returned to me,” she said as she put a hand on his cheek. She remembered what Gio had said to her that night: I’ve waited for so long; remembered the way his love had bruised her, how he had coveted her body with a fierce and territorial pleasure. Something had been off.…He was unfamiliar.…Her body had known even though her mind had not.

She had been deceived.…

She had been betrayed.…

“It is all right; you are alive, we are safe. The devil is safe behind the Gates of Hell once more,” Andreas murmured, folding her in his arms.

Tomi felt an ache at the deep familiarity of his embrace. She had been right all along.…She had known.…How could she have doubted him? How could she have let Gio manipulate her love? How could this have happened?

Andreas kissed her face, her hair. “I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost you again.…”

Lost you again.…

And there was the knowledge she could not bring herself to accept. Michael had triumphed over the Dark Prince during the Crisis in Rome. Had won the day, won the battle. But it had come with a price.

Tomi returned Andreas’s kisses, but she could not bring herself to tell him the truth…that the worst had already happened.

That she had bonded with Gio, had said the words, and now…Her hand rested on her belly. What had she done? What have I done?

She had lain with the devil, and conceived a child in deceit.