Contents

Awakened By Power

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

EPILOGUE

Guarded By Dominion

Angel Orders and Demon Classes

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Awakened By Power

“I love you, Thea,” he whispered. “I will always love you, even if you don’t love me. Remember? I am yours.”

Thea is destroyed. Cam’s absence cuts her deeply and causes her to question if she ever really knew him. Devastated by news from the Dominion League, she is sucked into a trap that could threaten Cam, her family, and all she has come to love.

Cam has resigned himself to the consequences of his actions. Although he is devastated, he vows to ensure Thea is kept safe, even if she’s not with him. When he is given one final chance to show Thea the depths of his love for her, to save her and truly earn her trust, he embraces it with a fierce determination that he will not fail.

Awakened by Power is the third book in the Empire of Angels series, a paranormal alpha angel romance series. If you’re a fan of alpha heroes, powerful heroines, gritty paranormal worlds and destined mates, start with the first book, Claimed By Power.

About the end: This book is the final book in Cam and Thea’s story and it has a HEA.

Passionate, sexual scenes and strong language included. Not suitable for readers under 18.

Chapter One

THEA

*Please note, this is the final installment of a three-part story. Assumptions have been made that you have read the previous books. If you haven’t, please return this book and pick up the first in the series, Claimed By Power.*

Cool fingers slid up the side of Thea’s head, threading through her hair. They rested on her head, releasing the refreshing healing energy into her scalp, and she sighed as the intense pounding in her head began to dwindle.

“I’m not sure why your headaches are still so persistent,” said Simiel, her healer. He was a stern-looking Archangel with sad eyes, who had been assigned to her once it was established she needed long-term care.

She opened her eyes to see the puzzled expression on his face. Although he had been extremely strict about her care and treatment, sometimes berating her when she didn’t follow his instructions, she had grown fond of his company. “Is it anything to worry about?”

Thea woke up with a headache almost every morning. She’d been bedridden since the attack by Cam left her half-dead. She was feeling better and a little stronger every day, but her body was still weak.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “Any problems sleeping?”

Thea swallowed. “No.” She held the healer’s eyes hoping he wouldn’t know she was lying. Her nights had been difficult. She’d been stuck in this treatment room with little to do and nothing to keep her occupied. Her mind wouldn’t relax enough for her to go to sleep and when it did, her dreams were disturbed.

With the healing energy from his hands penetrating her skull, the headache faded to nothing.

“Very strange,” said the healer, pulling his hands away from her head. “That should be enough for now. I’ll check on you again later.”

Thea smiled at him gratefully. “Thanks, doc.”

He nodded, a slight smile on his face. He seemed to like the term ‘doc.’

After he left, she threw her covers off and pushed herself slowly onto her elbows. Once there, she inched her way up, pausing to breathe every so often, until she was upright. She waited until her breathing slowed, then moved her legs to the side of the bed, allowing them to slide over the edge. She breathed a sigh and then cursed in frustration. It had been almost four months since the attack and still, her limbs were weak and felt like jelly most of the time. They ached if she pushed them too hard. She hadn’t realized it would take her so long to heal.

From where she sat, there was a partial view of the Angel Realm through the window, though she couldn’t hear anything. Angels soared through the air, their robes flapping in the wind, while others strolled the streets below among the pastel-colored buildings. Same as always. It seemed on the surface like nothing had changed, but it had.

Her beautiful warrior angel, her mate, who she had trusted and given up her world for, had cut her with a blade soaked in demon blood. Then he disappeared.

The day she told Zak that she would see Cam, he never showed. Zak hadn’t returned to visit, either, which was odd. When she’d asked Simiel, he said he didn’t concern himself with anything Powers or Dominions did and therefore wasn’t able to help her. Dani didn’t know anything either.

The plain, white walls around her were the only ones she had seen for months, and she could feel herself slowly going crazy. There was no color, no sensory experience she could latch onto in the room. If it wasn’t for Dani’s regular visits and Simiel’s treatments, she would feel like she had been left there to rot.

A rhythmic knock at the door pulled her attention away from the window, and she turned to see Dani flounce into the room.

“Hey, you’re up!”

Thea managed a smile. “Yeah, and it took ages.”

Dani dropped into the chair next to her bed. Her copper hair remained the same, silky and short. Her relaxed demeanor was comforting, but her violet blue eyes swept over Thea with concern, even as she smiled back. “But it’s progress.”

Thea grunted and turned back to the window. “How’s Amber?”

Dani’s hesitation forced Thea to glance at her. “She said Maddy’s fifth birthday is coming up in six months and she wants you to be there.”

Thea clenched her fist, ignoring the pain that shot through her arm. Maddy was growing up without her, and she had promised Amber that wouldn’t happen. She hadn’t even been able to view the pictures Amber texted her thanks to the non-existence of cell service in the Angel Realm.

“How did she seem?”

Dani shrugged. “I’ve only been communicating with her by text, Thea. I can’t judge her mood. But she didn’t seem too chatty. She was probably annoyed.”

“Fuck,” Thea whispered. She hadn’t considered that she would still be stuck in this room for more than two human years. Dani had been sending and relaying messages between Amber and Thea, and Thea kept them superficial and light. She didn’t tell Amber she was ill. Instead, she pretended everything was fine and that she and Cam were in a good place. But Amber had to be wondering why Thea hadn’t been to visit. “Six months… How long is that here?”

Dani eyed Thea. “About three weeks.”

Thea sighed. “Tell her I’ll try to come.”

Dani nodded.

“What about…” Thea’s throat closed up at the thought of Cam.

“Nothing,” Dani said, shaking her head. “I haven’t been able to get in to see him or Zak. No one answers Cam’s door, and I can’t seem to ever catch Zak at his office in between my assignments. I don’t even know anyone that would pass a message onto them for me,” Dani said, her eyebrows drawn together. “Thea, you might be able to get some answers if you ask yourself. You worked with them both directly and you spoke to the Dominion League. I’m a nobody. No one would tell me anything, anyway.”

Thea sighed. She was probably right. If she wanted answers, she needed to reach out to the Dominion League. “Can you tell Asteroth I’d like to speak to him?”

Dani nodded. “Sure.” She hesitated, chewing her lip in thought before continuing, “Do you really think you’ll be well enough in three weeks to see Amber? Maybe you just tell her you’re sick.”

“I don’t want her to worry, Dani. If she thinks it’s serious, she’ll want to know where I am so she can fly out to see me.” Thea shook her head. “I’ll speak to Simiel and see what he says, but I don’t want her to know I’m ill. Please just send the messages I give you word for word?”

“Okay,” Dani breathed. Dani hadn’t questioned her too much about her attack. As far as she knew, Thea had been attacked by demons and that was as far as anyone knew. Dani rose from her chair and hugged Thea gingerly. “See you tomorrow.”

Thea spent the rest of the day reading. In the last few days, Simiel picked up books for her from the training center common room to help pass the time. She memorized all of the Angel orders and their functions. She read about angelic energy and demon energy and all the different ways in which they were used and the effects of them. She’d even gotten a better understanding of the Stream and its purpose.

Over the next few days, she read a book about treating demon blood wounds and began to understand the depths of what had happened to her and what Zak went through to prevent the blood from reaching her heart. It was quite fascinating, and Thea realized she should have researched the potential risks of her new life when she’d first arrived. Interestingly, the book stated that Power angels were not affected by demon blood at all, which explained why Cam was never concerned about getting blood on any of his open wounds. It probably never occurred to him to warn her properly of the full dangers of it because it wasn’t a concern for him.

Her heart constricted at the thought of Cam. She couldn’t fight the hurt and disappointment that rocked her to her core. How could he not come to see her? Maybe he felt guilty, or maybe he was giving her more time or… No. She couldn’t keep trying to think up excuses for him. She knew Cam, and if he wanted to be by her side, nothing would have stopped him.

Lately, she had been wondering if she would have been better off without him. He had made her so happy most of the time they were together, but if she took away the sexual attraction and the hot sex, what was left? Was the fact that they were natural mates the only thing they had going for them? They couldn’t communicate well, they disagreed on how to deal with his rage, and he hadn’t felt it important to tell her about his previously arranged mate. Annoyingly, though, she also kept thinking back to when she was looking for her mother. He had been so supportive and caring—she didn’t think she would’ve gotten through it without him. Similarly, he was always very keen to encourage her warrior abilities, and it was clear they were compatible in their fighting style. But was that all they had? Was that enough for a relationship to last a lifetime or an eternity?

Thea sighed as she closed the book, resting her head on her pillow and allowing her mind to wander. However, whenever her mind relaxed, it drifted back to the attack: the darkness in Cam’s gaze, the hatred in his expression, his savage actions—

A knock on the door drew her from her thoughts.

“Come in.”

Asteroth entered, stepping slowly into the room. He paused, his dark brown eyes trained on her. “Hello, Thea. How are you doing?” He smiled but there was something strange about it—vulnerability. She had never seen Asteroth look vulnerable before, and it spiked her moderate worry to acute fear.

“What’s going on, Asteroth?” No point in wasting time beating around the bush.

Asteroth stood before her, holding her eyes for a moment. He closed the door and moved to the chair next to her bed. “You look well, Thea.”

“I don’t care about how I look.” Thea fought her frustration and annoyance, trying not to let it affect her tone. “I want to know what’s going on with Cam. And Zak. Why haven’t I seen anyone?”

Asteroth leaned back in his chair, glancing around the room. “What do you think has happened?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking you!”

“Then you need to think about it,” Asteroth said pointedly, his eyes boring into hers.

Thea struggled to understand what he meant. The echo of another headache bounced in her head. She took in a breath to calm her nerves. Being angry wasn’t going to help her. She spoke calmly. “I know you are aware of my relationship with Cam. Has he left me?”

“I cannot discuss anything with you.”

Thea’s eyes flashed. “You can’t do me the kindness of telling me if I’ve been abandoned?”

“You honestly think that would happen?”

“Do you see anyone else here?” Thea snapped, gesturing to the room around her. “This is how it’s been for four months!”

Asteroth didn’t answer, though there was a pain in his eyes that she couldn’t read. He wasn’t telling her something, and she couldn’t figure out what he was holding back, nor could she guess why he would be feeling emotional about it.

An uncomfortable silence crept around them, and as it lengthened, Thea realized he was not going to speak. Her heart dropped. She thought she could trust Asteroth and the Dominion League. Clearly, she couldn’t if they couldn’t give her information when she needed it.

“I only asked you here to find out why I haven’t seen Cam,” Thea said finally, her voice almost breaking. “If you won’t tell me, there’s nothing for us to talk about.”

Asteroth stilled in his chair, looking at her. He cleared his throat. “Did you know angels could have children?”

Thea made a face, surprised at the change in subject. She opened her mouth to say that Cam did mention it to her once, but quickly closed it again. What was the point? Cam told her angels don’t naturally have it in them to want children. Since the Thrones said otherwise, he was clearly talking about himself.

“I had two with my mate,” Asteroth began. “It seems like another lifetime ago now.”

Thea relaxed back in her bed and stared at the ceiling. She was fine to let him talk about something else if he wanted. His voice was soothing, and at least his presence broke the boredom of being alone.

“We had a girl and a boy, and we were happy to give up our duties to have them,” Asteroth continued. “We lived far from the Stream, right over the far side of the Empire where there are numerous gardens, lakes, and mini-forests.”

Thea remembered Cam telling her something about an area of the Realm where angel children lived. It felt like ages ago now. The echo of the headache was now becoming a dull pain warning her of its impending approach.

“The Angel Realm was much bigger then,” Asteroth said, his voice wistful. “All the children played and trained together and discovered all the wonderful things around them. My boy was loyal and dedicated. He dearly loved his mother, sister, and me with a passion that seemed more intense than the other angel children. He was adventurous and loved stories about adventurers. He always told us that he would protect us no matter what, even though he was young.” Asteroth smiled. “He learned faster than most of the other Cherubim his age and was stronger. He figured things out quicker and became more accomplished than most of them too. He began to explore his surroundings, to learn that there was an entire Empire just waiting to be discovered. He frequently separated from the groups of Cherubim when he became bored and went off exploring in the Realm, even though he knew he shouldn’t.”

Asteroth’s jaw hardened and his brown eyes filled with such raw anguish, Thea couldn’t look away.

“He was on the outskirts of the Realm, one day,” Asteroth said, “when the Realm shrunk. A mass area of the human world was in turmoil, instigated by demons, of course, and my boy was destroyed by the forest as it thundered in toward the Empire, shrinking the Realm.” Asteroth paused, his gaze low and distant, his body tense, his fingers twitching as he seemingly fought an inner struggle. He got a hold of himself and raised his head to meet Thea’s eyes. “I was never the same after that, and neither was my mate. Within a year she ran into the forest herself, unable to bear the loss of our boy. My daughter became a beautiful, brilliant Cherubim, but I was a shade of the father I had once been to her. I waited until she no longer needed me before I left that life behind to become a working Dominion once more.”

Tears stung Thea’s eyes. So, tragedy happened in the Angel Realm too. Her voice was hoarse when she spoke, “Why are you telling me this?”

“Are you aware that when angels die we go to Heaven?”

“Yes.”

“While we are there, we exist in a very basic form, scattered as energy—free, unbound, and blissful, mingling and blending with the energy of others—until we make an agreement with the Creator to become form again. Sometimes, if the right components realign in a similar way as before, a being that once existed is recreated. Slightly different, but familiar.” He stood up, his eyes gripping Thea. “My son had chocolate brown hair and gray eyes. His name was Cassiel.”

Thea’s eyes widened, wonder and surprise blooming. Brown hair and gray eyes… like Cam. Cassiel... Camael.

“He learned faster than most others his age and he was stronger,” Asteroth repeated, slowly. “He was adventurous and loyal and dedicated. He figured things out quicker and became more accomplished. He felt love more passionately and intensely than the others, and he always vowed to protect those he loved, no matter what.”

Oh shit. Was he saying… Had Camael once been Asteroth’s son?

Asteroth paused, his eyes flicking away and then returning to Thea’s. “But he didn’t stick to the rules. He went his own way and did not fear danger or death or consequence.”

Thea’s eyes locked onto his and time seemed to fade away as they stared at each other. Asteroth broke their connection, turning slowly to the door.

“So, if you think carefully,” he said firmly, “you will be able to answer your questions on your own.”

He headed to the door and left, as the thudding in Thea’s head became louder.

Chapter Two

CAM

Euphoric energy beamed through Cam’s entire being. It penetrated all corners of his body and soul, radiating with the sweet, satisfying peace that the Creator offered.

Turning his thoughts to Thea, Cam drew on a number of memories he constantly returned to since his time in the cell; their training sessions, their first kiss, the first time she shifted into her angel-form, every detail of her features when she came, her rare moments of coy shyness... beautiful memories of her replayed in his mind, taking him back to her again. As he reveled in those memories, he opened himself up to the Creator’s mercy, baring every part of himself until his blissful state was complete.

“Camael.”

Cam blinked. Thea had spoken his name, but it wasn’t her voice.

“Camael.”

He withdrew from the Stream and the cloud of memories around his mind faded. He lowered his head to see a Throne standing in his cell.

“You are to be questioned today,” the Throne said, his dark-blue eyes hard.

“No.” Every few hours, they came to ask him if he would like to confess anything, but he kept refusing. He just needed a day or two with Thea, even if it was only in his mind.

“There is no choice in the matter now.” The Throne half-turned toward the door. “Your assignments have been checked, your kill sites examined, and your commander interrogated. You will come to be questioned.”

Cam paused. “Zakiel has been interrogated?”

“Yes.”

Guilt gripped Cam. He knew his illegal actions would reflect on his commander, but he hadn’t changed his behavior. “How long has it been?”

The Throne pursed his lips as if considering whether to answer or not. “Five months.”

Cam raised his eyebrows as he realized that time had passed quickly while he was connected to the Stream. It didn’t usually, did it?

The Throne strode to the door then turned his eyes on Cam. “Do I need to request a Power escort for you?”

Cam shook his head, breathing shallowly.

“Good.” The Throne opened the door, and the energy keeping Cam hovering in the center of the room melted away and lowered him to the floor.

Cam followed the Throne down a few different corridors, the thud of their boots bursting the silence that surrounded them. He watched the Throne’s broad back and wondered whether Thea had fully recovered, what she thought of him, and whether she thought he deserved his imprisonment.

They arrived at a mahogany door, and the Throne entered without breaking his stride. Inside, the room was more intimate than the room he had met them in before. Smaller, with a hard wooden floor, there were no windows and no decorations on the walls, only a small side table against the wall with a jug of water. In the center sat a large table where one other Throne awaited. The Throne that led him took a seat and gestured for Cam to sit opposite them.

“Camael,” said the one that collected him as he sat down. “You have had plenty of time to think about your charges. You may now explain yourself.”

Cam stared at him. He remembered this Throne. He was the Throne in the center of the three on the day he was imprisoned. He had a hard, unyielding face, harder than most of the Thrones Cam had come into contact with. His dirt-blond hair was ungroomed and his deep, indigo-blue, unblinking eyes felt like they were penetrating Cam’s skin. Cam had the distinct impression he didn’t like him.

“Well?” the Throne asked. “Do you have something to say?”

“What’s your name,” Cam rasped, his throat dry.

The Throne narrowed his eyes. “Adonai.”

Cam turned to the other.

“Saleos. Or Sal.”

Cam nodded and then looked around the room. “Do you have any water?”

Sal nodded and scraped his chair back to pour Cam a glass of water from the side table.

A short silence filled the room as Cam took a few sips of water. He sighed, refreshed and sat back in his chair. He had forgotten that the Creator’s energy could sustain him for long periods without food—that was one of the reasons food wasn’t a big deal in the Angel Realm like it was in the human world.

“You’re welcome to start any time,” Adonai said.

“How is Thea?”

Adonai scowled. “We are not here to discuss her.”

“She’s the reason I’m here,” Cam said, evenly. “I would like to know how she is recovering.”

“Slowly,” said Saleos. “She recovers slowly. She cannot connect to the Stream and our healers are not used to healing Nephilim in the Angel Realm. Usually, when a Nephilim is that far gone with demon blood, they are turned. It is rare for one to recover here.”

Cam nodded, struggling with his guilt. He took a breath. “And what of Zak?”

“This is not a catch-up session,” Adonai snapped. “Explain why you have carried such rage into your assignments.”

“Does it matter?” Cam almost snarled. “You’re not interested in hearing the truth from me. You made that clear when you declared that Thea is not my natural mate.”

“Natural mates do not attack each other with demon blood!”

“It was an accident!” Cam almost roared.

Cam and Adonai glared at each other, anger bouncing between them.

“So explain it us,” said Sal, his voice softer. “We would like to understand.”

Cam dragged his glare from Adonai to look at the Throne beside him. He was one of the Thrones Cam had met with to request permission to mate with Thea—the one with brown eyes and dark-blond hair.

“We have conducted the investigation, but we need your input to make our assessment,” he explained. “Your state of mind is important, both then and now.”

Cam looked between them and then leaned back in his chair. “I have been nursing a rage for the Creator since my arranged mate died two millenniums ago.”

Adonai’s face hardened, while Sal’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I have refused to connect to the Stream in protest and ignored her soothing after each kill; I barely feel her at all now. I found that if I channel my rage, my hunting skills become more honed and I’m able to take on more demons. I am more effective for the Realm.”

“More effective?” Adonai’s jaw was hard. “You were operating under illegal conditions. Angels are not supposed to succumb to sin.”

“No one complained when I was destroying thousands of demons,” Cam snapped. “No one even questioned it.”

“We have been monitoring you in your cell,” the other Throne said, while Adonai just glared at him. “You are frequently connecting to the Stream.”

Cam lowered his eyes. “Yes. I wanted to keep my memories of Thea intact.”

“Is that the only reason why you connect?”

Cam pressed his lips together as he thought, struggling to answer. “Thea wanted me to connect. She begged me to for months, and I resisted. If I am to Fall, I want to do so as clean as I can possibly be. For her.”

“You accept that you may Fall?” Adonai asked, a light confusion softening the hardness in his eyes.

Cam shrugged. “I don’t deny my actions, Throne.”

“Do you regret them?”

There was another long moment while Cam considered his answer. “I regret that my actions caused the ones I care about to suffer.”

“But you don’t regret your actions?” The hard edge returned to Adonai’s voice.

“My best friend died.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“That’s the only answer you’re going to get,” Cam shot back.

“When you connect to the Stream now,” Sal said, hesitantly, “how does it feel?”

Cam pursed his lips. It felt good, especially when he focused on Thea. “The same as always.”

“So, the Creator doesn’t limit or diminish your experience in any way?” The Throne looked confused.

Cam shook his head.

The Thrones watched him, both with different expressions. Sal seemed thoughtful while Adonai clearly despised him. Cam watched them both back. He couldn’t tell what the point of the interview was. They said they were going to investigate him for the sin of Wrath. He never once denied that he did the things they suggested. If the punishment was for him to Fall, he would suffer it, as long as he could see Thea, make sure she was okay and ask her to forgive him.

Sal stood and gestured for Adonai to follow. “Your commander has asked to speak to you privately. You have ten minutes.”

As they left, Cam leaned forward, his elbows on the table, suddenly nervous. Zak would have spoken to Thea, and he would finally learn how she was really doing. Taking long to heal physically was one thing, but he wanted to know her thoughts, her state of mind, her emotional response to everything that had happened.

The door behind him opened, and Zak walked around to sit in front of him at the table.

“Greetings, Camael,” Zak said, sitting down heavily. His brow was furrowed and he looked tired.

“Greetings, Zak. Thank you for coming.”

“How are you doing?”

“I’m going to lose my wings,” Cam said, bluntly. “They didn’t say so directly, but the questioning did not go well.”

“What did they ask you about?”

“Why I had this rage, why I didn’t connect to the Stream, what my experience was of the Stream now, my state of mind—”

“What?” Zak’s gaze sharpened. “You’re connecting with the Stream?” A looked of wonder and relief spread across his face so intensely, Cam’s guilt intensified.

“Yes. I’m sorry, Zak,” he murmured. “I should have connected to the Stream all the times you told me to. You’ve always looked out for me, I’m sorry I let you down.”

Zak’s hazel eyes pierced him. “You were hurting, Cam. I know you struggled. I should have done more once Thea was involved.”

“But I didn’t make it easy.”

“You never do.”

It was a casual remark, but Cam couldn’t bear it. “I need you to forgive me, Zak. I need you to say you forgive everything I put you through, all the trouble I caused you with the Dominion League—I need to know you’re still on my side.”

Zak jerked forward. “You cannot ask that of me right now, Cam. I have spent the last five months in interrogation. I’ve been pulled from my duties and placed in confinement. They made me go over every single one of your assignments since you started working under me. And I warned you!” He slammed a fist on the table between them as his voice rose. “Repeatedly! You did not respect me enough to even try.”

Cam accepted the angry glare and frustration he could feel rolling off of his Commander and only friend. It was the least he could do.

“So you need to give me time,” Zak said, breathing hard. “I understand it was hard for you, but you cannot immediately ask me to forgive you and expect I will be able to do so easily.”

Cam nodded but an uncomfortable prickly feeling clawed up his throat. Zak had always forgiven him, for everything. Maybe this time he had truly lost him as a friend. He lowered his head.

“The worst of it is that Thea has been left with no answers through all of this.”

Cam’s head shot up.

“Neither of us have been to see her in five months,” Zak pointed out. “No one but Daniah, I assume.”

Shit. “She hasn’t known what’s been happening all that time?”

“I was only just released and Daniah wouldn’t know,” Zak said. “I hope that Asteroth has been able to explain what has happened, but Dominion League members are not permitted to discuss Throne business so…”

All hope drained out of Cam. If Thea had been alone all this time, there was no telling how she felt about him. She could hate him by now, or be truly terrified of him. Either way, it did not bode well.

“What does it feel like to connect to the Stream after all this time?” Zak asked, his voice quiet.

“It feels good,” Cam answered, in the same quiet tone. “I only connected so I could keep my memories of Thea fresh, but the Creator has made the experience more powerful than I could ever…” He trailed off as he realized what the Creator had done for him. Normally the perfect bliss he experienced when connected to Stream only came when his mind was empty, but the Creator had allowed him to achieve it while thinking of Thea.

“She wants you to heal,” Zak surmised. “That’s good. You’re on the right path, Cam.”

“The right path for what?” Cam muttered, sullen. “I told you, I’m going to Fall. The Thrones won’t accept what I’ve done.”

“So that’s it?” Zak asked, his voice hard. “You’ve stopped fighting for your existence?”

“I’m not going to deny my actions or lie,” Cam said. “It’s disrespectful to Thea for me to do so. I am responsible for her injuries.”

“And what about Thea? Do you think she’d want you to give up?”

“Well, neither of us knows what she wants now, do we? I’ve caused us both to abandon her at her most vulnerable time,” Cam said, bitterly. “And I’m not giving up. Once I Fall I can try and find a way to see her.”

Zak frowned. “That’s a shit plan, Cam. You’ll be a fallen angel. You’ll be tormented and broken from not having angelic energy anymore; you think she wants to see you like that?”

Annoyance crept into Cam. He hadn’t thought much about that. “I only want to apologize to her,” he insisted. “I don’t want to be in her life like that if she’s afraid of me.” It almost choked him to say it.

“Fucking liar,” Zak said slowly, his face like stone.

“It’s true,” Cam snapped. Then he faltered. “I mean, I’m not saying I wouldn’t watch her or try to—”

Zak sighed. “I think there might be another way.”

A flicker of hope trembled in Cam‘s stomach. “What do you mean?”

“I’m going to petition the Thrones with a motion to release you under the condition that you mate with Thea,” Zak said. “Everybody has witnessed the effect she has on you and how different you are in her presence. They have to consider how different you would be if you were mated to her.”

The flicker of hope died immediately. Thea wouldn’t forgive him easily. Not after everything he’d done to her—it wasn’t just the attack, it was also how he’d treated her before then, the pain and worry he caused her. Fury and sadness tore at his stomach, threatened to rip him open. It was tempting, so tempting, to push forward with the idea but he couldn’t.

“I cannot mate with Thea against her wishes,” Cam said. “She wouldn’t agree. And it wouldn’t be right to suggest this to her. I don’t think the Thrones will overlook what I’ve done and I don’t want her to feel forced to agree. If I lose my wings because she disagreed… I don’t know how she would feel about it.”

“Her heart would be broken if you Fell, Cam. No matter how she feels about you now,” Zak said quietly.

Cam’s stomach flipped. He wanted to believe that, but she had already warned him, so long ago, not to hurt her. And he had done so in the worse way.

“Maybe you should see how she is before you make assumptions,” Cam said. “She needs to move on from whatever distress she’s been feeling. Help her do that before pulling her into the consequences of my mistakes. I don’t want her to feel obligated to help me.”

Zak studied Cam’s face for a long moment. “Very well,” he said. “I’m not sure how long it will be before I see you again. Keep healing yourself. Stay positive.”

The door behind Cam opened and Zak nodded at whoever was at the door. He returned to look at Cam and opened his mouth to speak but then decided against it.

“Look after her, Zak,” Cam said, his voice low.

“That’s your job,” Zak responded as he stood. “And you seem to be forgetting you were doing it well before you started that assignment.”

Cam remained quiet as he left.

Chapter Three

THEA

“Are you ready yet?” Dani fidgeted as Thea pulled her jeans on.

“What’s the rush?” Thea said, grinning.

“You’ll see.” Dani matched her grin. “It’s a surprise. Simiel knows all about it.”

Thea followed Dani out of her healing room door once she was finally ready. It still ached to move, but the pain had considerably lessened.

She walked slowly down the quiet and empty corridor of the healing temple but paused at the flightway. She hadn’t tried to fly since being ill. “I don’t know if I can…”

“Just try,” Dani said softly. “Simiel wouldn’t say you could come if you couldn’t fly.”

Thea took a deep breath and shifted. Her angel-form shimmered to life expanding within her, and she sighed as the familiar energy she had missed rushed around her being. She stretched her wings and smiled at Dani. “Lead the way.”

Dani led her out of the temple and pass the Stream garden. As always, there were some angels standing there, their heads tilted towards the column of rushing energy. Dani stopped when she reached the golden arch of a portal.

“I’m allowed to leave the Angel Realm?” Thea asked.

Dani took her hand. “For this, yes. Just keep your mind blank and hold onto me. I’m taking you to your destination.”

Thea nodded and did as she was told. On the other side, the warm and humid air pressed in all around her as she took in her surroundings. They stood on a sandy beach that stretched out far on either side. Behind them was a large town made up of white houses and buildings with terracotta roofs, punctuated by wide leafy palm trees. Thea’s hand slid from Dani’s as she watched a group of children playing with a ball in between one of the houses.

“Here,” Dani said, handing her a cell phone. “It’s Amber.”

Thea froze. She could hear Amber saying hello on the other end, but she couldn’t speak.

“Say something,” Dani hissed. “You need to speak to her.”

Thea sucked in a breath. “Amber.”

“Thea?” There was a pause. “Thea. What’s going on? Where are you? Dad and I have been really worried.”

Thea relaxed a bit. “I’m sorry, Amber. I’m so sorry. I-I’ve been ill.”

“Are you okay?” Panic flavored Amber’s tone.

“I’m all right… I’ve been recovering slowly. That’s why… that’s the reason…” She trailed off. She missed Maddy’s birthday six months ago and hadn’t given Dani any messages to send since.

Amber was quiet for a moment. “Where are you?”

Thea glanced at Dani who whispered to her.

“West Africa,” Thea repeated. “But I’m okay, there’s no need to—”

“Where, Thea?” Amber snapped. “Stop being so vague for once. Where are you?!”

Dani whispered to her again.

“Senegal.”

“Come home, Thea,” she pleaded.

“I’m not well enough yet to travel,” Thea replied, which was actually true. Flying had been freeing but it made her slightly nauseous.

Amber let out a frustrated sigh. “So, who’s been texting me on your behalf? Cam?”

“Yeah,” Thea said before she could stop herself. Dani frowned at her, but she ignored her. It was easier to just agree. “I’m really sorry, Amber.”

“No, Thea. No. You don’t get to make everything okay by saying you’re sorry from some distant country,” Amber fumed. “If something happened to you, how would me and Dad know? You never keep in touch regularly and you don’t stick to your promises. We can’t even get in contact with you if we need to; other than when Cam texts me, your cell is off. What if you died?” Amber paused for a moment, her voice dropping to a tone of disappointment. “This isn’t the Thea I grew up with. We promised to look out for each other, remember? If you don’t want to do that for me anymore, fine, but I will never stop looking out for you.”

“Amber, you have every right to be mad,” Thea said, dismay and guilt burning within her. “I just didn’t want you and Dad to worry—I thought I would recover quicker than I did.”

“What did you have?” Amber said hesitantly. “Will you recover fully?”

“Yes. It was a fever that’s local to this particular area—I caught it just before Maddy’s birthday. I just need to rest and continue my treatment.”

There was a short silence and Thea could tell that Amber was still annoyed, and possibly now uncomfortable. She wasn’t someone who liked confrontation and wouldn’t usually initiate one unless she was forced. She almost missed the soft sob that came from the other end of the phone, and tears pooled in Thea’s eyes before she even knew it.

“You never want us to worry, Thea,” Amber said, her voice trembling. “But don’t you ever worry about us? Don’t you think that maybe things might be happening here you need to know about?”

Thea paused. “Has something happened?”

Amber sniffed and blew her nose. “Dad’s mind has been getting bad again. He still remembers some of the more recent things, but he struggles a lot with the past. It makes him angry and miserable and… violent.”

“Violent?” Fear rose in Thea. “Has he hurt anyone?”

“One of his nurses,” Amber said. “I had released him from the home, but they had to take him back. He’s been there eight months. He has some good days and some bad, like before.”

“Okay,” Thea breathed, relieved he was back somewhere he could get full-time care. “Thank you, Amber. I do think about you guys a lot, even if it doesn’t seem like it.”

Another silence grew for a long moment before Thea said, “Tell me about how Maddy’s birthday went.”

Although the conversation began hesitantly, Amber and Thea were soon talking about everything and anything. Amber had left the catering company to start her own bakery business, Maddy was in school and showing an interest in gadgets, and her Dad was on a course of medication for his mental health problems. Dani threaded her arm through Thea’s and led her down the beach as she spoke on the phone and then after an hour, gave her a signal that they needed to go.

“When will you call again?” Amber asked, somewhat nervously.

Dani whispered in Thea’s ear again.

“This time next week. I promise,” Thea said.

After they said goodbye, Thea dropped down onto the warm sand. The salty, fresh scent of the sea drifted in the air around her and the warm sun beat down on her from high in the sky. She dug her fingers into the golden sand and breathed deeply. Her mood had lightened and the pain in her limbs seemed to have lessened considerably.

“Thank you,” she said to Dani, who sat down beside her. “I really needed to speak to her.”

Dani smiled at her. “It was Asteroth’s idea, actually.”

Thea frowned at her.

“Yeah, he said you might heal better in the human world,” Dani said, shrugging.

Thea leaned back on both hands and stared at the ocean as multiple tiny waves rippled its surface. She had repeatedly gone over everything Asteroth said when he came to see her and all she could deduce was that Cam was suffering some kind of consequence for attacking her. Maybe he finally got in trouble with the Dominion League, but she couldn’t figure out how that would stop both him and Zak from visiting. She sighed in frustration, there was just no way to know.

***

For the next five weeks, Thea traveled to the human world on a daily basis to talk to Amber and lay on the beach under the sun. She enjoyed hearing all about Amber’s week and all the crazy things Maddy was getting up to—she was growing so fast, especially when a human week passed with each Angel Realm day. Amber asked a lot about Cam and seemed to sense that things weren’t right but didn’t push the issue. She was more concerned about when Thea would be coming home. A few times, Amber managed to coincide Thea’s calls with a visit to her father, so Thea got to speak to him. He mostly seemed fine, but there were times when he became confused. Dani was sure that nothing more could be done for him but said she would see her commander about it.

Thea healed quickly under the sun’s heat, and soon she felt no pain in her body at all. Her headaches were manageable and infrequent and Simiel decided that she was well enough to be released.

“I’m sure you’re glad to get out of here,” Simiel said, smiling as she pulled her shoes on.

“Definitely,” Thea muttered. “I’m looking forward to…” She straightened slowly, her voice petering out. She was going to say looking forward to going home, but where was home? Cam’s quarters?

“Are you okay?” Simiel asked. “Are you worried about adjusting to the Realm?”

Thea nodded a little too quickly.

“Someone will come and check on you in the evening,” Simiel said. “So any problems you have, make sure to let them know. I think you should still visit the human world regularly until you feel settled too. It might also be a good idea to begin some mild training—”

As he continued to talk, Thea suddenly remembered, with relief, that she had her own quarters on the same floor as Cam. She hadn’t ever spent a night in them, since the whole point was to be close to Cam but now, at least, she had somewhere that was her own space.

She landed on the floor of her quarters and slowly stepped to her door. She paused with her hand on the door knob, looking at Cam’s quarters. Dani explained to her once that most in the Angel Realm didn’t lock their doors. There was no crime and it was expected that visitors would knock. Angels tended to enter their homes through their balconies. Cam certainly never locked his door, and Thea was tempted for a moment to enter his quarters and find out what was going on with him. She ignored the urge. Bursting into his quarters wasn’t the answer—and what if he was in there? Could she really face him? She let herself into her quarters and shut the door.

***

As the months passed, Thea was reintroduced to gentle exercise through training sessions. She was part of a small group of angels who needed to be reintroduced to using their abilities for various reasons. Thea found that her fighting skills came back to her on instinct, while it took some time for her to get used to creating energy weapons. She struggled with an intense apprehension when her trainer, a thick-set Power angel called Hamon, introduced weaponry to the training sessions.

“It’s been recommended that you learn how to use holy blades, Thea,” Hamon said, when she refused to touch one.

“I never learned how to before,” Thea insisted, in a bluster of panic. “I thought I was supposed to be relearning what I already know.”

“You’ve already recovered that,” Hamon said, watching her closely. “Now you need to get over this fear of blades.”

Thea sucked in a breath, realizing it was fear that held her stiff, fear that was making her reject the idea. Cam had cut her with a holy blade.

“It will help you,” Hamon said firmly. He picked up a dagger and held it out to her. “Let’s begin.”

Thea fell into an easy routine. Breakfast with Dani at the food court, then training with Hamon, a long chat with Amber in the human world, then a check-up by an Archangel in the evening. But she felt alone. Her quarters didn’t feel like home, and she missed Amber desperately but wasn’t approved to spend more than two hours in the human world daily. Her mood descended lower and lower, until she was almost going through each day on autopilot. She simply focused on the tasks in front of her and tried to blank her mind from everything else. The only reason she even got out of bed was because she didn’t want to let Amber and Dad down. Also, her dreams were becoming more and more disturbing. She couldn’t remember them exactly but frequently woke trembling with uneasiness.

One day, as she was preparing for her evening check-up, a heavy knock fell on her door. She opened it to see Zak.

She was stunned for a moment.

“Greetings, Thea,” Zak said softly, his hazel eyes taking her in. He looked exactly the same as always, low cut hair, muscular frame, and cinnamon-bronze skin.

“Zak,” Thea breathed, when her voice finally returned.

“I hear you have healed fully now?”

She nodded, struggling with the sudden, powerful conflicting emotions warring within her. It had been months since she’d last seen him, and while there was a great sense of relief, it was hard to tamp down the hurt that he had abandoned her, just like Cam had.

“May I come in?”

Thea stepped back and allowed him to enter then followed him into her social room. She fidgeted and paced, while he sank into the couch and watched her.

“Are you nervous?” he asked, frowning.

“No, I’m glad to see you,” she admitted, still pacing. “I was expecting my check-up…”

“You no longer need those,” Zak said. “I told Simiel I would come and tell you.”

Thea continued to pace and was no longer able to hold her emotions in. “I don’t understand why you and Cam left me alone in the healing temple. Why I haven’t seen either of you?”

Zak sighed heavily. “There is a lot to explain, Thea.”

“It’s been nearly eleven months, Zak. I’ve felt alone all this time. Abandoned by him… and you. Where have you been? Where has he been?” Thea’s voice rose louder than she intended it to. She clamped her mouth shut and stilled before him, waiting for an answer.

“Cam is under investigation by the Thrones. The Virtue angels who did the clean up after your… attack, recognized Nephilim blood and Legion remains at the site. It was reported to both the Dominion League and the Thrones, since Nephilims have never been known to vanquish Legion demons. It was quickly determined that it was Cam’s attack site and they learned about your injuries and put two and two together.”

Thea stilled, shock and fear jumping into her throat.

“He has been contained in their Sanctum since the time I saw you last.” Zak shifted in his chair. “They have been looking into his previous assignments and considering whether he will be able to recover from such long exposure to the sin of Wrath.”

Thea stared at him, hardly breathing. It was much more serious than she thought.

After a long while, Zak continued, “I was also detained and questioned for five months.”

Thea’s eyes flicked to him. “It’s been longer than five months, Zak. Why haven’t you come to see me earlier?”

“You needed time to heal without taking the weight of all this, Thea. I know it might seem like I’ve been cruel to stay away, but I had no choice about the first five months and after that, it didn’t seem right to cause more stress that could inhibit your healing.”

Thea shook her head, her heart heavy. “What will happen to Cam if they think he can’t recover?”

“He will Fall.”

Thea swayed, her knees weak. She made her way to the couch and sat down, thoughts revolving in her head. “Would they really do that?”

“Yes.”

Thea’s chest tightened. Cam could become a fallen angel? That seemed impossible. “Can’t you do anything about it?”

“I have an idea,” Zak said, watching her carefully. “But I need to know how you feel about him now.”

Thea shrugged. “I’ve been trying not to think about him.” She chewed her lip in thought. “But I don’t want him to Fall.”

“Are you still scared of him?”

Thea thought back to the alley; to the darkness in his eyes, the snarl on his lips, the harshness of his attack, and a shiver went through her.

“Don’t think of the last time you saw him, Thea,” Zak said, before she could say anything. “Think about the real Cam, the one you know.”

She dropped her head and pushed away the fear that rose. Cam, her Cam, was loyal… intense, beautiful, fierce. She smiled as warmth blossomed in her chest for him. And he loved her.

Zak leaned forward, an inkling of hope in his eyes. “If you still love him, all isn’t lost.”

“What do you mean?”

A knock at her door prevented him from answering.

“Are you expecting anyone?” Zak asked as she stood.

“No.”

An Angel of the Order stood at the door with a roll of parchment. “You have been summoned by the Dominion League.”

Thea frowned but took the parchment. She turned to Zak as he came up behind her.

“What is this about?” he asked.

The Angel of the Order reached into his robe and pulled out another parchment roll. “Zakiel, you have been summoned too.”

Thea’s heart sank. They wanted to force her to talk about the incident with Cam, and that would be just like reliving it all over again.

“What is it about?” Zak repeated, his voice demanding.

The Angel averted his eyes. “They wish to talk to you both about an assignment.”

Zak dipped his head in a sharp nod and closed the door.

Thea leaned against the wall and breathed deeply. “I thought that was about—”

Zak shook his head. “Both Simiel and I petitioned that you would not be ready to answer questions about that yet.” He broke the seals and scanned both of their summonses. “They want to see us both at the same time. So at least we’ll be there together.”

Thea nodded as he returned her summons but couldn’t ignore the feeling of dread stirring within her. The first time she met with the Dominion League she’d received bad news. If this summons wasn’t about the attack, she didn’t anticipate it would be anything good.

***

They flew to the golden Dominion League building next to the Stream garden and waited to be seen. Zak had been quiet and his silence unnerved Thea more than the summons. Zak had always been reassuring and supportive. He had an air of calm about him, and always had an answer or a suggestion. She now realized how much that was a blanket to her.

“Are you worried?” she asked him in a hushed voice, as they sat in the reception area.

Zak glanced at her and the hard look on his face softened. “I’m concerned that they have summoned us so late in the evening. But if they want to see both of us, and it’s about an assignment, it must mean they think you’re well enough to work again.”

Thea nodded but wondered if that was really a good thing. She hadn’t thought about how she wanted to live her life since she moved back to her quarters. Amber, Maddy, and her Dad were living their lives in the human world. Without Cam, why should she stay in the Angel Realm? Immediately, her chest tightened at what she’d just thought. Without Cam…

“You can go in,” said the angel at the reception desk.

Inside, the full Dominion League turned towards her as she stepped through the door. Once again their combined energy was almost overwhelming, but she ignored it as she made her way to the two spare chairs obviously placed for her and Zak.

Laylah, a friendly angel who was usually the one who spoke to her, greeted her tentatively. “Welcome, Thea. It’s good to see you again. We trust you’re feeling well.”

“Would it matter if I wasn’t?”

Laylah’s smile dimmed. “Yes. You’ve been through a traumatic experience. If you feel you need more time, we will allow it.”

Thea took a breath and reigned in her nerves. “No, it’s fine. Carry on.”

Laylah clasped her hands together on the table, her face serious. “We have made some discoveries about your mother.”

Thea’s mouth opened in surprise. She had completely forgotten that they had still wanted Thea to look for her.

“You found her?” she asked, immediately curious.

“Since your attack, we have had several Powers working on locating her,” Laylah explained. “And we discovered a full picture of her location and circumstance earlier today.”

A blend of wonder, relief, and nervousness stirred in Thea. Her mom had been found; finally she and Dad could get answers.

“Thea,” Laylah said, her tone serious. “Your mother is living in the Demon Realm. She has become a demon.”

Thea’s stomach dropped and her breath left her in a gust as though she’d been punched. It took a moment to process the words. Her heart pounded, her palms became sweaty and soon she was gasping for air as her mind swam. A demon? Her mother was a demon?

“Thea?”

Zak’s voice floated through her daze. “Thea, are you okay?”

How the fuck could she be okay? She lifted her gaze and looked around the table. The Dominion League looked back at her with various expressions; some worried, some curious, some resigned.

“Go on,” she croaked to Laylah.

“We need to send Power angels to kill her,” Laylah said, softly. “But we need your help.”

“To do what?” Thea asked, trying to swallow the lump in her throat.

“Your mother rarely leaves the Demon Realm. We need you to make contact with her and lure her out.”

A shudder ran through Thea’s body. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You want me to help you kill my own mother?” Even though Thea hadn’t known her mother growing up, there was more to her that Thea needed to know. Like why she damaged her father’s mind and why she left them.

“Angels feel extreme pain in the Demon Realm, so we cannot send them in. We need your mother to come out. You are the only one who is capable of reaching her.”

“You are seriously asking me to help you kill her?” Thea rose from her chair slowly, her anger and disbelief rising. “No trial, no questions, no investigation? You just want her dead?” She glared at Laylah with disgust. “I thought you were supposed to be the good guys. I thought you wanted to know the reasons for her actions.”

“They no longer matter,” came the serious voice of another angel to the far right. “We know she stole from the Stream, conceived a child she wasn’t supposed to have with a human she was denied from mating with.” He shrugged. “Her being a demon makes it easier.”

“For who?” Thea shouted, suddenly burning with anger at his flippant attitude. “Who the fuck does it make it easier for? For you? You all sit here in your fucking pretty room passing out orders and assignments, but you’re not the ones out there having to deal with the horror of it all!” She shook uncontrollably, barely registering that she had shifted into her angel-form. “You don’t even seem to register that the child she wasn’t supposed to have is the same child you’re sending after her; the same child that you sent searching for her; the same child who gave you all the initial information you have about her. What benefit is there for me to search out my mother only for you to kill her? Her reasons of why she left matter to me!”

Suddenly she was in the air and some members of the Dominion League rose out of their chairs, watching her.

“You’re liars and hypocrites,” she spat. “You only need me when you want something and you don’t even tell me the whole truth. You don’t give a shit about me.” A choking sob escaped, and her lip trembled as she realized the truth of her words. “You pretend you’re doing what’s best for the Realm but what about what’s best for me? You locked up my mate and want to kill my mother, but you wouldn’t even give me any answers when I was suffering and ill. You wouldn’t even let my mate come and see me when I needed him.” Her tears blurred the room and her throat ached. “You’re cruel and unjust, and I will not do any-fucking-thing you say!”

At that moment, in the height of her intense anger, her angel-form began to vibrate and pulse. Her halo swirled and expanded. It was looking for him. Her mate. He was the only one who could make her feel better. A severe craving for him rose in her, the need to be held by him, to be pressed against his chest while he murmured to her. Cam had always been able to soothe her, to make her feel loved and warm and taken care of. Would she never have that feeling again? She burst into tears.

“Cam!” Thea screamed, between sobs. “Cam!”

Strong arms enveloped her and pulled her back down to the ground, but it wasn’t Cam.

“It’s okay, Thea,” Zak said, holding her close. “It’s okay. Calm down.”

Thea collapsed onto the ground and sobbed, while Zak knelt next to her trying to talk to her and comfort her.

“Thea.”

A hand touched her shoulder, and when she looked up, Asteroth was bent over her, his face crumpled with worry. “Your mother is not the woman she once was, Thea,” he said softly, as though it pained him. “She is a shadow of her former self. She is a demon, not dissimilar to the demons you vanquished without thought. It would be a kindness to kill her.”

Thea calmed a little, pressing her lips together, hesitant. If that was true, if her mother was suffering, shouldn’t Thea end it? Would Dad want to know that her mother was a demon now? She shook her head and she breathed deeply. No, it would break him. The wild emotions swirling within her chest, that threatened to overwhelm her, settled a little.

She glanced up at Asteroth, her face wet and snotty. “I want Cam.”

Asteroth lowered closer to her. “We do not have any power over the Thrones, Thea. It is they who hold him.”

“You can petition them,” Zak said from her side. His voice was bitter. “You should have been doing so all along. After all he has done for the Angel Realm, all he’s done for the human world, you have left him to rot in that cell.”

“We cannot interfere,” said a female angel from further away. All of the Dominion Angels had risen from the table and crowded around either side to watch Thea. “We were there at the sentencing. We can’t interfere now.”

“Then you are weak,” Zak spat, his own anger quiet but clear. “The Thrones cannot possibly know what it takes to track and kill some of the most lethal demons that have threatened humans, that have threatened us. But you do. You know all he has done, all he has seen, everything he has gone through to keep us and the human world afloat.”

“He reveled in his darkness, Zak,” a deep male voice said. “And you harbored it. The rules are there for a reason.”

Thea listened to the conversation, somewhat in a daze. Zak helped her to her feet, but she was unsteady, suddenly exhausted.

“There are rules against Nephilim being treated like Power angels too,” Zak said, turning to them as Thea settled on her feet. “And yet that is what you’ve done. You could see the effect on Thea after the last assignment, you knew of her attack and that her natural mate had been imprisoned. And yet you still continue to abuse her by expecting her to do this assignment anyway. Just because she is able to come here, just because she has proven to be capable, doesn’t give you any right to discard the rules. And you did so anyway.”

The entire atmosphere stilled. Most of the Dominion League looked shocked, a couple of them furious. Asteroth was crestfallen, while the normally confident Laylah seemed hesitant.

Zak didn’t say anymore. He helped her out of the room and took to the air, carrying her like a child. His warmth was comforting, but it couldn’t compare to Cam’s tender hold, his kisses, his scent, his fierce protection of her. She no longer had that. The misery of that thought settled so deep in her bones she grew numb.

Zak was still waiting after she used the pressure vape and got ready for bed. He spoke to her but she couldn’t take it in. Ignoring him, she climbed into bed and fell into a restless sleep.

In her dream, she was walking across a never-ending, flat, red landscape of burning hard rock. It singed her feet, causing a searing pain she couldn’t escape, and yet she couldn’t scream. There was nothing for miles around except a red sky and a rocky landscape; no buildings, no people. As she walked, a feeling of horror engulfed her, increasing in intensity until she could hardly bear it. And then a soft laughter sent a shudder through her. She turned, but couldn’t see anyone. Another giggle came from behind her but when she looked, no one was there. Then, a light touch stroked her arm and her heart nearly leapt out of her chest. Thea looked around wildly and saw a shadow sliding toward her. She backed away, but it snaked and curved around her. The laughter grew louder and more menacing, setting Thea’s teeth on edge, and then the shadow lunged forward with a vicious growl.

She woke up, thrashing around in her bed, her heart pounding. Feeling her cool bedsheets, she calmed, forcing herself to look around and take in her surroundings. Terror still gripped her and she tried to catch her breath.

She tried to go back to sleep, tossing and turning for a long time, fear simmering within her as she blinked away tears at the horror of her dream. It wasn’t just the images, it was the feelings it inspired; hot terror and eerie dread mixed with choking anxiety. She flipped over onto her back; sleep wouldn’t come while she was feeling like this. Closing her eyes, she thought of the only thing that brought her any kind of peace. Memories of Cam. She thought back to that moment he healed her after saving her from the Spectra demons. He had touched her so tenderly, looked at her so fiercely, and buried his face in her hair; he didn’t even know her then.

She smiled and flicked a strand of hair between her fingers. Cam seemed to love her hair. He ran his fingers through it all the time, grabbed it with his large fist, and immediately undid any up-do hairstyle she tried to wear. Once, when he was in one of his dominant moods, she’d been writhing and moaning on all fours, her legs spread wide as she threw her pussy back onto him, when he stopped her.

Wrapping his hand around her hair and holding it above her head, he’d said, in that gravelly, low voice, “Don’t move unless I demand it.”

She panted her agreement and stilled, feeling the slight pull on her scalp.

He gripped her hips tighter and slid into her. She tilted to accept his length, relishing the sweet sensation of being completely filled.

“I said don’t move!” He tugged her hair, and the sharp pain on her scalp sent prickles scattering throughout her body and a spark to her nipples. She moaned and stilled.

He pulled out until only the tip was in, and then pressed in again slow. She whimpered. Incredible threads of pleasure spiraled throughout her body.

“Your body is amazing,” he murmured, running a hand over her lower back and ass cheeks. “I’ll never get enough of it, Thea. Never keep it from me.”

Her body was far from amazing, but she wasn’t about to argue with him now. He squeezed her ass as he continued to fuck her slowly, and she grew wetter as the pleasure became more intense.

“Roll your hips,” Cam ordered.

As she did, he angled himself to hit that sweet spot inside her.

“Again.” The order came out as a growl, and his voice vibrated through her as she rolled her hips again.

He sped up, increasing the pressure and hitting against that spot when she did as he commanded.

As her orgasm built, he slowly pulled her hair toward him, tipping her head back and arching her back. The feel of him, the pull on her scalp, the clear strain of his own pleasure in his rough voice as he continued to issue commands, caused her orgasm to explode within her, bursting through every nerve.

Thea sighed, a peaceful calm settling over her at the memory. She rolled onto her side as the lingering fear of her nightmare melted away. She drifted off into a deep slumber, tranquil for a long while. However, at some point the terrifying images edged back in, filling her mind and taking hold of her senses, but dissolving into nothing as soon as she woke up.

Chapter Four

CAM

Cam clenched his fists and paced in his cell as he waited for someone to come.

Whatever the fuck they were doing to Thea, he felt it. Her anger, despair, and disgust pierced his connection to the Stream and yanked him out. The rawness of her emotions forced him to shift into his angel-form, which caused the energy that was supposed to prevent him from using his Power ability to disperse and linger around the outer edges of the cell. Soon the jagged potency of her emotions faded into a mellow discontent, but it didn’t make him feel any better. After a while, she quietened and her feelings changed. Her attention was… on him. In a good way—a pleasurable way. His angel-form preened, and he tried to stay focused. He kept feeling for her, trying to determine what was going on but her feelings soon faded out of reach. He exhaled harshly. She needed him. Her angel-form was calling for him, he was sure of it.

He continued pacing, his mind on Thea, wondering what happened. Surely they didn’t have her back out on assignments? But then, he had no idea how much time had passed since he saw Zak. Time seemed to stand still while in the cell, even while connected to the Stream. He desperately hoped she wasn’t hurt. He roared, releasing his pent-up frustration. It was his own fault he wasn’t with her.

Eventually, the door to his cell opened and Zak stepped in, watching him closely.

“What’s happened to her?” Cam growled, every muscle in his body tense. “Tell me she’s okay.”

“She’s okay,” Zak said.

Cam relaxed a tiny amount. “What happened?”

“The Dominion League told her that her mother is a demon living in the Demon Realm. They wanted Thea to lure her out.”

“Are they crazy?” Cam asked, incredulous. “They thought that wouldn’t affect her? She’s not a Power!”

“They tried to—”

“Don’t defend them, Zak!” Cam bellowed. “You’re always defending them and their shit choices. How could they think it was a good idea to—”

“I’m not defending them, Cam,” Zak interrupted, his hazel eyes blazing. “I agree with you. They’ve treated her poorly—I told them as much.”

Cam turned in thought and continued to pace slowly, somewhat calmer. “What’s happening now?”

“She’s been in her quarters for the past two weeks since that meeting. She’s only left every two days to call her friend but that’s all.” Zak paused. “Her mood is low, Cam. She barely talks, hardly eats, and I don’t think she’s sleeping well.”

Cam nodded. “That’s how she was before when we were searching for her mother.”

“No. This is different. Her mood is… different. I can’t explain it.”

Cam exhaled in annoyance. “What is her healer doing about it?”

“It’s not a physical issue, it’s an emotional or psychological one. He’s trained to heal angels, not Nephilim—there’s only so much he can help her.”

“Fuck!” Cam exclaimed. “You need to do something.”

“I am,” Zak replied. “I’m trying to get you out of here.”

Cam slowed to a stop, realizing Zak had come to see him in his cell instead of in an interview room. And he hadn’t moved from the door.

“How are you here, Zak?” he asked, suspicion coiling in him.

“The Thrones asked me to come in to see you,” Zak said, shifting on his feet. “They’re concerned that you have somehow disabled the Power-proof energy that should be keeping you restrained.”

“So they sent you in here in case I was in a murderous mood?” Cam said, laughing bitterly.

“They thought I could calm you.”

Cam didn’t respond. They weren’t wrong; he did feel calmer.

“How have you done it?” Zak asked.

“Thea. Her distress…” Cam took a moment to organize his thoughts. “I felt her distress while I was connected to the Stream. She was calling for me and the feeling of it pulled me out and made me shift. I didn’t do it on purpose.”

To his surprise, Zak grinned.

“Is that… good?” Cam asked confused.

“Yes,” Zak said. He glanced to one of the walls in the cell; they were all mirrors. “It means your connection with Thea is more powerful than the Thrones expected. Your Fall would be detrimental to her. If they decided to inflict that sentence, it would affect her as if you were mated. It is also further proof that she is your natural mate. I have already been petitioning them to release you on these grounds and this helps your case.”

“I don’t care about all that,” Cam said, irritably. “I just want Thea to be okay. I need her to be okay.”

“She’s only going to be okay with you, Cam,” Zak said.

“But how long will it take before I get out of here, Zak? She’ll be alone all that time.”

Zak watched him. “Actually, the Dominion League wanted to pair her with Elyon for the assignment.”

“What?” A hot anger burst within him and his angel-form bristled. “You better be fucking joking.”

A ghost of a smile played on Zak’s lips.

“You think this is fucking funny?” Cam snarled. “I don’t want him anywhere near her!”

Zak turned to the same mirrored wall, an eyebrow raised.

Before Cam could say anything, the door opened again, and Adonai stepped in, looking annoyed.

“You are antagonizing him,” he said to Zak, disapprovingly.

“I’m making a point,” Zak responded curtly.

“Your point is moot,” the Throne snapped. “His fate is already decided.”

“The Dominion League are petitioning you,” Zak thundered back.

Adonai scowled. “It is a minor inconvenience.”

“I will go to the Seraphim if I have to,” Zak said, hotly. “You cannot ignore all of the raw evidence in front of you. You could be accused of Envy.”

Adonai’s face twisted with fury. He glanced at Cam, his mouth tightening. “Get him out of his angel-form,” he growled at Zak, “or I will be forced to keep him in an unconscious state.” Without another word, he left.

Cam crossed his arms, a morbid amusement bubbling up in him. Whether or not Zak’s plan to get him out worked or not, at least he was pissing off Adonai. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“The Thrones have decided that your sentence is to Fall, however the Dominion League are petitioning for you to be released in order to assist Thea with the assignment of luring her mother out of the Demon Realm.”

Cam’s eyes widened. “They can do that?”

“If they can provide enough evidence, yes. The fact you are still possessive over Thea, even though you’ve lost your rage and are connecting to the Stream, absolves you from some of the behavior you displayed before.”

Cam grunted. “But helping Thea would only be temporary?”

Zak shrugged. “Yes, but by now everyone can see that your Fall will negatively affect Thea. We can make that case while you’re on the assignment—my original petition still stands.”

Cam lowered his head in thought. “Why is Thea’s mother so important to the League? They seem to be fascinated with her. They’re going through a lot of trouble to get access to her.”

“I know,” Zak said, tightly. “I don’t know the reason, and in all honesty, it’s not the most important thing right now.”

Cam nodded, breathing out slowly. He felt oddly relieved. “Thank you, Zak.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Zak said darkly. “Thea is still suffering. The sooner you’re released the better.”

“Does she know any of this?”

“I’ve told her, but I’m not sure what she hears,” Zak admitted. “She’s so dejected; I don’t feel like she’s listening sometimes.”

Cam’s mood descended as he thought about Thea all alone, upset, and miserable.

“Cam,” Zak said, quietly. “I need you to shift.”

Cam growled and turned away.

“I know you feel more connected to her in your angel-form, Cam,” Zak said. “But you need to stay restrained. Any trouble you cause won’t help us and she can’t feel you anyway.”

Cam exhaled harshly. “She used to be able to,” he muttered.

Zak didn’t bother to answer.

With an annoyed groan, he shifted back into his normal form. The energy in the cell scooped him back up into position and held him firm.

“Be patient, Cam,” Zak said softly, before making his way out.

Chapter Five

THEA

Thea woke up to Dani knocking on her door. She lifted her head and then rolled over. She hadn’t seen Dani for a while but there was nothing urgent they had to talk about. Dani was getting on with her life, undertaking assignments and stalking the many angels she constantly swooned over. Thea didn’t want to drag down her mood. She knew Dani wouldn’t enter, even though the door wasn’t locked. It was considered the height of rudeness to enter an angel’s quarters without permission.

“If you don’t give me permission to come in, I’m gonna get Zak to come instead,” Dani called.

Thea sighed. She didn’t want Dani to hassle Zak. She awkwardly untangled herself from her bedsheets and opened her door.

Dani blinked at her, her arms crossed and her lips pursed.

“What, Dani?” Thea said, her voice thick from sleep and slurred from lack of use. She dropped her hand from the door and headed back to the bedroom.

“Oh no,” Dani said, warningly. She grabbed Thea by the shoulders and steered her towards the couch in her social room. “You’re not going back to bed.”

Thea dropped onto the couch and curled up in a corner. “I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Is that your excuse for not answering my knock for weeks?” Dani said, sternly.

“I’ve been having bad dreams.”

“Tell me about them.”

Thea curled up tighter on the couch. “I don’t want to talk to anyone.”

Dani grabbed Thea’s hands and pulled her up, leaning forward to look her in the eye. “Tell me. It will help.”

Thea took a breath and told her about the horrible dreams. Since the first one with the shadow, they’d continued to get worse and thinking of Cam no longer helped. Sometimes she was running from the shadow in a field of coarse, dead grass while gray ash fell all around her. Another time she was swimming in the ocean, no land in sight, while the shadow grabbed her ankle and pulled her under. Another time she was in her own neighborhood but everyone was dead—corpses were strewn along the street—and the shadow was everywhere.

After hearing Thea’s dreams in full detail, Dani shuddered. “Is the shadow in every dream?”

“Yes.”

“Does it say anything?”

“No, it just laughs,” Thea said, miserably.

“Do you feel pain in the dream?”

Thea thought for a moment. “I feel like I do, but it can’t be real because it doesn’t hurt as strongly as it should.”

Dani nodded. “Your brain is recognizing you should feel pain, but you don’t.”

Thea’s thoughts suddenly turned to her father and her recent conversations with Amber. “Dad is getting better. Did you visit him?”

Dani leaned back, wincing a little. “Yes,” she said, quietly. “But don’t tell anyone. I kinda forced Simiel to give me authorization to do it. I just wanted to ease his pain a bit.”

Thea smiled. “Thank you, Dani.”

“I think you should get some healing from a Virtue too, though,” Dani said, a slight worry on her face. “I know you might be stressed about everything that’s happening, but those dreams sound worrying.”

Thea sighed. “I’ll speak to Simiel.”

Dani smiled and hugged her, before launching into a lecture about keeping herself presentable for visitors and eating properly. She’d brought some food from the food court, which she left in the kitchen.

After Dani left, Thea went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. She had no doubt her looks must have concerned Dani; her face was swollen and puffy from sleep, her eyes were bloodshot with dark circles under them. She’d been sobbing in her sleep and was still crying when she woke up, trying to shake off the terror that swamped her.

She had stayed in her room since the Dominion League meeting, existing in a fog of uncertainty, only counting the days between when she went to call Amber, who was aware of her mood but unaware of the true reason. Now that she had talked about her dreams, the fog seemed to lift a little.

It almost hurt every time she thought about her mother. Of all the things she could have thought up about where her mother was, living in the Demon Realm would’ve never been one of them. Had she been a demon the whole time Thea was growing up? How could she have even become a demon? She hadn’t thought to ask the Dominion League, but then she never wanted to speak to them again. The more she thought about it the more she wondered why she hadn’t left the Angel Realm and gone home.

Her thoughts quietened as the reason came into focus. Camael. She couldn’t leave the Angel Realm for good without knowing his fate. If she wasn’t ever going to see him again, she needed to know before she left. Zak visited numerous times and she hadn’t been able to understand what he was saying to her with the fog pressing in on her from all sides. Now things were a bit clearer, she needed to know what was happening.

Her determination bolstering her, Thea got up and prepared for Zak’s visit, brushing her teeth and combing her hair back into a ponytail. She wasn’t sure if he visited every day, but when he did it was always in the afternoon.

She slipped into a casual shift dress and sat on her couch slowly eating some of the fruit Dani brought her. She soon felt more like herself, although it seemed nothing could erase the despair in the pit of her stomach.

Sure enough, in the middle of the afternoon, a knock fell on the door.

“Come in,” Thea called.

Zak entered cautiously, stepping into her social room with a frown. “You’re up.”

“I am,” Thea said, more confident than she felt. “How are you, Zak?”

Zak almost smiled. “It’s good to see you looking better, Thea. How are you feeling?”

When she couldn’t think of how to truthfully answer his question, Thea shrugged.

Zak sat on the couch opposite her. “I need to talk to you.”

“About Cam?”

“Yes.”

A flutter of nervousness entered her stomach. “Go on.”

“I have been part of a petition with the Dominion League to get Cam released so he can help you with your assignment.”

“I’m not doing that assignment,” Thea said, immediately. “I’m leaving this place.”

“Thea,” Zak said, firmly. “I know you haven’t been treated well but the Dominion League recognize that now.”

“And they still expect me to do this assignment?”

“Don’t you want answers?” Zak held her eyes. “I argued with them that you should still do the assignment because I thought you’d prefer to be the one to speak with your mother; even if it’s only for a short time. Her slaying will happen with or without you; I thought you’d want to be involved so you could at least get the peace you need.”

Thea hesitated. She was desperate for answers, but could she really stay in the Angel Realm and deal with the Dominion League in order to get them?

“You don’t have to deal with the League,” Zak said, as though he’d read her mind. “I’m still your commander, and I will be your point of contact.”

Thea nodded slowly. “How long before you know if the petition will be successful.”

“It was successful,” Zak said, watching her slowly. “He will be released tomorrow morning.”

Thea stiffened in surprise, her mouth dropping open.

The silence between them hung for a moment.

“I need to know how you feel about working with Cam again.”

Thea swallowed. How could she explain? She felt elated and terrified, excited and horrified. So many conflicting emotions rose intensely at the mere thought of him.

When she didn’t answer, Zak leaned forward, his elbows on knees. “How about you just try and talk with him. And take it from there?”

Thea fidgeted. “On my own?”

A flash of shock hit Zak’s face before he quickly schooled his expression. “Yes. Cam has been connecting to the Stream, Thea. He doesn’t suffer from the darkness anymore.”

A weight Thea didn’t even know was there lifted off her. “Really?”

“Yes. He’s been connecting to the Stream since the moment he got arrested.”

Thea chewed her lip as she thought. Cam finally connected to the Stream. Although a giddy gladness brightened her mood, she couldn’t help but also feel apprehensive. “Are you hoping I’ll also want to be with him? Is that why you came to see me? Is that what he wants to know?”

Zak shook his head. “Cam has no expectations. But I do hope you two will be together. I’m just worried that your relationship will be destroyed if you can’t get past some of the things that have happened.”

Thea didn’t know what to say to that.

“Cam will help you find your mother, and he will support you like he did before,” Zak said. “Just tell me if you’re ready to see him tomorrow.”

Thea took a breath. “I’m ready.”

Chapter Six

CAM

Cam flew through the air relishing the feeling of using his wings again after so long.

The Angel Realm looked exactly the same as before he was detained; calm and beautiful with a relaxed atmosphere. He found it both comforting and disturbing. The Angel Realm didn’t develop and evolve like the human world, no matter how long a time had passed. It must have been well over a year, possibly nearly two, since he was detained, and yet nothing much had changed.

He followed Zak, his nerves strung tightly as they ascended higher into the air. He was so eager to see Thea but wasn’t sure how she would respond to him.

There was a point in the past when he realized that his mate was all he needed. Somehow he had forgotten that. He wasn’t sure when—maybe it was when he took the assignment, maybe it was when he felt the darkness again. But none of that was important compared to losing his mate. Losing her to death had been an unbearable thought, but losing her trust was almost as bad. He had lost it before, but it was never like this. If he had to give up his Power duties for Thea, he would do it instantly. He couldn’t take her for granted again. And yet, that wasn’t even an option now.

He didn’t have a lot of time to earn her forgiveness. He had to make sure he remembered his conversation with the Thrones when they released him.

“Camael, you are sentenced to Fall,” Sal had said. “Your wings will be clipped and you will be sent to the human world.”

Cam stood emotionless, facing the group of Thrones in a small hall in their Sanctum. He didn’t look at any of them in particular.

“However, a petition from the Dominion League has been granted by the Seraphim.”

Cam glanced at Adonai, who looked absolutely pissed off. He held in a grin.

“This petition releases you from your detention and grants you with the freedom to take on a particular assignment that will be explained to you by Commander Zakiel. You will be under my supervision, while on this assignment, although you will still report to your commander. Do you understand this?”

“Yes.”

“Once the assignment comes to an end, you will be escorted back to your cell and your sentencing will take place. Do you understand?”

Cam pulled his mind from the Thrones and glided in a slow curve as his building came into view, drifting above the tallest buildings in the Realm, not far from the Stream. This assignment was the only chance he had to spend time with Thea as an angel. Even though Zak was petitioning to get his sentence revoked, he couldn’t rely on that, and he didn’t want Thea to rely on it either.

They landed on the public entrance and used the flightway. It made sense that Thea wouldn’t want them entering through the balcony, but the formality of it felt unnatural to Cam.

Zak stopped outside a door a couple of doors down from Cam’s own. “I’ll wait out here until you’re ready to start the assignment. We have to start it today.”

Cam frowned at the door. “This is Thea’s quarters?”

“Yes.”

“She’s not staying in mine?”

Zak’s expression sobered. “You have a long way to go with her, Cam. Take your time.”

Cam held in the grumble in his throat. She was his mate; even if they were distanced, she should be in his apartment.

He knocked on the door and after a short moment, she opened it.

Thea had always been a beautiful woman. It was as though the Creator had had a direct hand in her creation. Her snowy coloring, her rich brown hair, and sapphire blue eyes always shone with something ethereal and indescribable that Cam had always been drawn to, but seeing her again after such a long time took all thoughts from his head. Intense emotion flooded him—his heart raced, his mouth went dry, and his stomach fluttered. She was stunning. Her eyes met his, her gaze powerful but hesitant. He couldn’t speak. She looked gorgeous, standing there looking up at him. And then her scent crept up on him, that delicious, fragrant aroma he had missed so much. He wasn’t sure how long they stood staring at each other but the urge came over him to be closer to her.

“Thea,” he said, his voice gravelly. Just looking at her made his body react, made him want to touch her, to feel her skin against his. He was overwhelmed with the urge to take her into his arms. He stepped forward but an uneasiness jumped into her eyes and she darted back a tiny amount. He froze, dismay slamming into him. “May I come in, Thea?”

She nodded, her eyes on the floor, before retreating into her quarters.

Zak grabbed his arm before he could follow. “Call me in if she starts to get… restless.”

Cam frowned at him but didn’t say anything. He nodded and closed the door behind him.

Thea sat on the couch in her social room. Her quarters were the same layout and size as his own, but she hadn’t done any decorating. The smooth beige walls were bare and it hardly had any tables, no flowers and no look of being lived in. The only sign of life was the food crowding the kitchen counter. He approached her slowly, noticing she was avoiding looking at him.

He knelt on the floor in front of her but she shrunk back in the chair, clearly uncomfortable.

“I’ve asked you to forgive me before, Thea,” Cam said softly.

She stilled as soon as he spoke, looking down at her hands clasped in her lap.

“And I’m asking you one more time to consider forgiving me. I never meant to hurt you—it was never my intention—and I’m sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you.” He watched her closely, but she didn’t relax. She was truly fucking scared of him. A desperation rose within him so fiercely he had to swallow the growl he wanted to release. He had been wrong—it wasn’t just about trust, it was about something much more than that. “I know you’re scared of me,” he said, trying to keep his voice clear of frustration. “I can feel it. I don’t know if you’ll ever be comfortable around me again, but I will be here for you whenever you need me during this assignment, okay?”

Thea nodded, her eyes still downcast.

“I’ve missed you so much, Thea,” he said, his voice hoarse with gloom. Her behavior toward him was like a knife in his chest and there wasn’t anything he could do about it. “I’m so sorry you had to be alone all these months.”

He raised a hand and slowly placed it on her knee. She lifted her gaze to his hand, and then to his face. Gazing up at her, he could see the lines of stress and fatigue etched on her face. Tiredness and worry were clear in her eyes, and something else… something he couldn’t place… possibly something he had put there.

He scooted closer. She stiffened, but he kept going until he was leaning against her legs. He placed his head in her lap and stroked the back of her calf.

“I love you, Thea,” he whispered. “I will always love you, even if you don’t love me. Remember? I am yours.”

They stayed in that position for a long moment, and then he felt her relax underneath him. Soon the faint brush of her palm stroked his forehead and her fingers gently played with his hair. “I’m yours too,” she whispered.

He smiled into her lap and sighed, a deep satisfaction blooming within him as he breathed in the scent of her and the feel of her. He ignored his hardening cock and resisted the urge to run his hand up her thigh and slip it between her legs.

He focused on her hands touching him, her legs under his cheek. He thought he would never feel her again. He couldn’t deny that he was desperate. Desperate to regain her confidence in him, desperate to protect her for the rest of her life, and desperate to mate with her. With the Thrones’ threat hanging over him, only one of those was possible.

There was a knock at the door.

Thea stiffened again immediately, her fingers curling away from his scalp. He inched backward and away from her slowly until his back was against the couch opposite.

“Come in,” he called.

Zak entered and approached them slowly, a regretful look on his face. “We need to start the assignment.”

“Okay,” Cam said.

Zak sat on the couch next to Thea, and Cam almost narrowed his eyes but Zak gave him a pointed look.

“Your mother’s commander is the first point of call,” Zak said turning to Thea. “She is a Dominion Angel who works in the building opposite my office. She should be able to tell us some information about your mother’s state of mind.”

“Why didn’t we visit her before when we were looking for your mother?” Cam asked.

“Her name was in the file I gave you—you could have visited her.” Zak lifted his shoulders. “But I don’t think it would have been helpful in terms of trying to find her location.”

“Are you going to be doing this assignment with us?” Cam asked, annoyance creeping into his tone. He was an experienced Power angel. He didn’t need to have his commander on this assignment with him.

Zak hesitated before answering. “I will be with you whenever you are pursuing the assignment within the Angel Realm, but not when you go to the human world.”

Cam’s annoyance died quickly as curiosity replaced it. “You never go to the human world anymore,” he said slowly. “Will you be questioned about why you are avoiding it when you’re supposed to be watching me on this assignment?”

Zak’s jaw hardened and he was silent for a long moment. “Just because you have shown poor judgment doesn’t mean you have lost all of the abilities and skills that have made you an excellent warrior,” he said. “I trust you. I trust you will look after Thea. A Throne has been tasked with watching me while I’m on duty, and I’m sure you’re aware there is one who will be watching you. If we act too differently from how we have always acted, they will have cause to question us further.”

Cam nodded, though he wasn’t entirely convinced. Zak’s avoidance of the human world may be a problem for the Thrones in this case.

“If my petition to overturn your sentence is successful, we don’t need them questioning us further about your capability,” Zak said.

Cam glanced at Thea—she seemed to be in her own thoughts. “They seemed pretty clear that my sentence is final and will be exacted as soon as this assignment ends.”

“They can’t carry out your sentence while a petition is in question,” Zak said firmly. “And the Creator has the final say.”

Cam nodded in agreement, not allowing any hope to drift into his thoughts. The Thrones ran the Realm and would have been thorough in their investigations. Their decision would not be easily overthrown.

“How can an angel end up a demon?” Thea asked, suddenly.

Cam straightened at the sound of her voice, but she was looking at Zak.

“Angels and demons have a unique connection,” Zak explained. “We actually have a very similar potency of energy but on opposite ends of the spectrum. It’s not that unlikely or unusual for an angel to scale that spectrum and enter into the vibrancy of a demon. In fact, it is thought that the first Legion demons were originally Power angels.”

Thea looked intrigued by the idea, and Cam almost moved forward to hold her hands.

“Is there a demon Creator, then?” Thea pondered.

“Yes,” Cam answered. He wanted her beautiful eyes on him, and when they settled on his face, a thrill shot through him. “There is a demon that rivals the Creator. No living angel has ever seen him as far as we know, but he does exist.”

“The devil,” Thea murmured.

“Demons have referred to him as the Destroyer or Devourer,” Cam said. “So that’s how we refer to him too.”

“We don’t talk about him hardly at all,” Zak added. “We don’t know much about him.”

Thea nodded. “I just can’t figure out how my mom became a demon.”

“That’s something you have to ask her, Thea,” Zak said. “Are you ready to start?”

Thea glanced at Cam and then nodded.

***

Cam was sure to keep his distance from Thea but couldn’t help watching everything she did. Nothing in her sexy manner or the way she walked or flew suggested she was still feeling any pain, but he sensed something wasn’t right. She was unusually quiet and seemed to lose focus and sink into her own thoughts a lot of the time.

“Has she been this thoughtful and quiet since the attack?” he said to Zak, as they flew.

“I don’t know. I was locked up after the attack, remember?” Zak replied in a low voice. “But she has been getting quieter and more withdrawn since I first met with her.”

“Something’s wrong.”

“Yes, of course it is.” Zak gave him a look. “You’re here.”

Cam bit back a hard remark. Zak was most likely correct—she was trying to deal with his presence. He just needed to give her time, which was one thing they didn’t have.

They arrived at the building and knocked. A harassed looking angel opened the door. A mass of curly blond hair crowded her face, and glasses perched on the tip of her pert nose.

She squinted at them. “Can I help you?”

"Sofia?" Zak said. "We are currently on an assignment and would like to speak to you."

Sofia's shoulders sagged a little. "Can you tell me what it's about?"

"My mother," Thea said.

Sofia stared at her for a moment and then beckoned them into the room.

Her office was not that different from Zak's. Functional, neat, and organized with a desk in the middle and cabinets around the rest of the room. Sofia pulled a couple of extra chairs to the desk and gestured for them to sit down. As they sat, she settled behind the desk and leaned forward on her elbows. Sofia looked just like her office, neat and well put together, but she had a comfortable presence and her large, dark eyes were warm on Thea.

"What is it that you want to know?" Sofia asked glancing over them all.

"You knew her better than most," Zak said. "What can you tell us about her?"

Sofia stared at Thea for a long moment. "Your mother was a good, kind Archangel. She worked hard and really cared about her charges. She kept on top of her workload and even helped out other Archangels who needed support. She was one of the few who happily trained new angels and studied constantly about all kind of topics that could help her do her job better. She was one of kind, really, but in an honest, simple way."

"Well, now she's a demon," Thea said dryly. "So apparently things changed."

Sofia frowned but she didn't seem shocked at Thea's revelation. There was a short, awkward silence. "I don't know much about what happened after she Fell," Sofia said. "I only spoke to her once afterward and I could tell something was wrong."

"Like what?" Thea asked.

"Your mother loved your father very deeply. She was completely happy with her decision, but I've never known any angel who had made that choice before, so after she Fell, I sought her out. I just wanted to see how she was doing."

"And?" Thea seemed impatient. Cam fought the urge to take her hand.

"She settled with your father, but something wasn't right. They kept moving. She was a bit frantic and seemed desperate but... I was shocked that she had Fallen, and I think that made me reluctant to really listen to what she was trying to tell me." Sofia shifted in her chair. "She was scared."

"What exactly did she say?" Zak asked.

"She said they were following her. She asked me if I could help, but she wasn't clear about whom she was talking about. I couldn't understand her and begged her to let me tell someone here about whatever problem she was having. Then…" Sofia lowered her eyes. "Then she told me not to worry about it and convinced me that everything was okay. She told me a little bit about life with her human and then left."

The room was still for a moment.

Cam turned to Zak. "Fallen angels have trouble with local demons, don't they?"

Zak's hazel eyes gained a look of new understanding. "She was running from the demons."

Sofia leaned forward. "What do you mean?"

"Fallen angels do not have their powers as angels,” Zak explained. “They don't have the Creator’s favor and there is no protection for them. Unless they are trained to fight, they need to make deals with the local demons in order to live comfortably. If she kept moving, she could have been trying to escape them."

"Why didn't you help her?" Thea said, sharply.

Sofia's eyes lowered. "It was new for me to deal with someone who had Fallen. I was shocked—I did not behave the way I should have. Oriah was an exemplary Archangel. I couldn't understand why she would choose to Fall for a human male. It didn't make any sense to me. I wasn't willing to listen to her problems—I just wanted to vent my own thoughts." Her voice became quiet. "Obviously, I regret that now."

Thea looked like she was about to snap again, but this time Cam did take her hand. She squeezed his hand back, glanced at him and seemed to calm.

"I recommend going to where she finally settled and speaking to some of the demons there," Sofia said. "They should be able to tell you more about the relationship between them and your mother, Thea."

Thea frowned. "Why would demons tell me anything?"

Sofia didn't answer, but she glanced at Zak and Cam.

Zak turned to Thea. "We have to make them." He glanced at Cam and looked back at Thea. "You have to interrogate them."

Thea digested the information and then slowly pulled her hand from Cam's.

Cam's heart dropped as he realized what Zak was saying. They would have to interrogate demons, which meant being violent with them—and that was the last thing he needed Thea to see him do.

They thanked Sofia and left, all of them quiet as they flew over the Angel Realm back to Thea's apartment.

Cam held his anxiety down, unwilling to believe that Zak felt it was a good idea for him to be in combat with demons around Thea. She was already apprehensive around him as it was. They gathered outside Thea's door.

"I know it's not ideal for you both to be in a situation where you are fighting or restraining demons," Zak said cautiously. "But it is the only way we're going to get the information that we need. So I'm going to recommend that Elyon join you on this occasion."

Cam clenched his fists. "No."

"I cannot send you into the human world to interrogate demons with Thea and not have another Power there with you," Zak said, sharply. "The Thrones will not allow it."

"Give us another Power, then. Give us any other Power, Zak." An unreasonable irritation swept Cam. He could deal with anyone except that fucker Elyon.

"Elyon isn't just any Power," Zak pointed out. "He’s an established warrior, and he will be a great asset to you if you let him. Just give him a chance."

"I don't want him watching over me and my mate," he growled. "Not while we're so fractured."

Zak was about to answer but then stopped and glanced at Thea. She was looking between them, a nervous look on her face.

"What do you think, Thea?" Zak asked. "Do you want Elyon to accompany you to the human world?"

Thea nodded without even looking at Cam.

Cam's anger died in his chest and was replaced with a rush of disappointment as he realized that she would rather not be alone with him. His opinion didn't matter on this point. The only thing that mattered was that she felt safe; she clearly did not feel safe with him without Elyon there. He held in the roar that threatened to burst from his chest.

Zak nodded sharply. "I’ll check if he is currently on any assignments and arrange for him to go with you either tomorrow or the next day. Be ready."

Thea nodded.

"Good night, Thea," Zak said.

Thea looked at them both. "Good night."

Cam nodded his head in response and watched her enter her quarters, quietly closing the door behind her.

Zak beckoned Cam towards his own quarters a few doors down and waited until they were inside to speak. "I'm sorry, Cam, but I had to do what was best for Thea."

"And you think it is best to have her distance herself from me more by having that fuck, Elyon, with us?" Cam tried to hold in his anger, but he couldn’t believe Zak was going to do something that could destroy his chances with Thea. “Why don’t you come with us instead? Get over this avoidance thing you have with the human world!”

"I can’t," Zak snapped. They glared at each other for a moment before Zak looked away. "She needs to feel safe,” he said. “And you need to control yourself. She needs to see that you're able to do that. Are you able to do that?"

Cam exhaled harshly. This was the one chance he had to show her that he could protect her. If he acted too wild, she would be too scared of him to let him get near her again. He grumbled an incoherent response to Zak.

"I'll try and make sure Elyon is available within the next few days, but do not go to see her in the meantime," Zak warned. "Let her be the one to come and see you."

Cam groaned. "Shit, Zak. How many things are you asking of me? Do you know how much I've missed her? I don't know if I can stay away."

Zak's expression softened. "I know it's going to be hard, but please try. If you want to repair things between the two of you, you have to let her be the one to let you know when she's comfortable."

Cam nodded.

Zak turned to go. "I'll be in touch."

Chapter Seven

THEA

Thea tossed and turned in her sleep.

In her nightmare, she was in a room full of corpses, scattered about the floor or strewn over the furniture. Blood was everywhere, covering even the walls in bright scarlet splatters that made the room look like a bizarre art installation. Voices filled her head; whispers urged her to touch the bodies, to relish in the blood all around her. The smell of the blood filled her nose, although it wasn’t coppery or raw—it was sweet and tangy, almost delicious.

A moan came from the corner and Thea followed the voice. She held something hard and rough in her hand but couldn’t tell what it was. She didn’t have control of her body—she was floating around in her own head while it moved of its own volition. Her legs carried her across the carnage to the voice and her terror rose as she saw that it was Amber on the ground, whimpering and clutching her stomach, blood pouring from between her fingers. She looked up at Thea with pleading, emerald eyes and Thea tried to tell her everything would be okay, that she would stop the bleeding and get help, but her mouth wouldn’t move—she couldn’t speak. Instead, her hand came up, rising high above her head. She froze inside as she saw that she gripped a large, dark, jagged rock. She dropped it down hard and crushed her friend’s skull on the first blow.

Thea woke up with a scream, tearing at her blankets and throwing them to the floor. She breathed heavily and sat crossed-legged, shaking as she wrapped her arms around herself, squeezing and rocking to make sure she was in control of her body. As her breathing calmed, she got up and walked to the window. From her position, she could see the Stream beaming and glowing under the dark sky, while the puffy white clouds floated overhead.

Images of the dream revolved in her mind; the sight of Amber’s blood, the sound of her moaning in pain but even as the dream began to fade, the terror still lingered. The dreams were getting worse and she didn’t know how to stop them. Dani had suggested that she see Simiel but she dreaded returning to the healing temple. What if he wanted to keep her for observation? What if she went back there for some advice and ended up in a room staring at the blank walls like when she first woke up? She shivered at the thought.

Turning away from the window, she headed to the kitchen to get some water. Seeing Cam again had been more challenging than she thought. She had almost forgotten how big he was, how tall, how muscular. All of the things that she loved about his physique reminded her that he was a true warrior. His bulky muscles, his fierce intensity, the assured way that he carried himself. She admired all of that about him the first time she saw him, but now it made her a little nervous. Even though he still looked like her mate, he had shown he had the potential to cause true damage. When she saw him again, she had almost been expecting to see the darkness in his eyes still. It was only when he spoke to her with such tenderness in his deep voice and such emotion in his beautiful gray eyes, that she began to feel that nervousness fade. And when he touched her, it was as though she could just forget. As though it was just the two of them again back when he was training her and she didn't know anything about the Angel Realm or the Dominion League or her mother. Back when everything was beautiful and simple. When he had laid his head on her lap earlier that day, she had remembered the way he used to hold her, the way he’d whisper into her ear, how he always reassured her that she was beautiful and smart and perfect. She longed for that comfort, and yet she had to admit; she no longer felt that same intensity of emotion for him anymore.

She made her way back to the bedroom and sat on the edge of her bed, thinking about the assignment. The idea of interrogating demons in Cam's presence had almost made her refuse to do it. Even though she had no preference about whether Elyon came or not, she was glad another Power would be there. To her knowledge, Cam hadn’t fought any demon since the time he cut her. Who was to say he wouldn't turn dark again if he had to fight? She almost felt guilty for thinking it, but she still needed someone else there. At least for the first time.

Thea sighed as she went to her wardrobe to pick out clothes for the following day. There was no indication when Elyon would be available to go with her and Cam to the human world, so she decided that she would go to the training center. Hopefully Hamon would be available to help her practice her blade technique.

For the next few days, Thea trained with a focus and intensity that was similar to her first training sessions with Asteroth. Hamon was impressed with her and encouraged her to include holy blades into her normal practice sessions. Dani also seemed happy that she was taking an interest in her training again. She even joined her one afternoon, and they had one of their competitive training sessions that they used to have when training under Asteroth. Dani won, but not without being taken through her paces. Thea made a call to Amber on the second day and caught up on the latest with Maddy and her dad. Amber stopped asking when Thea was coming home and seemed to be content that she was keeping in touch regularly. Thea felt like she was going through the motions some of the time but was glad to hear all about the life that she was missing out on. Each evening when she returned home, she looked at Cam's door and wondered if he was in there. Neither he nor Zak made it clear where Cam was staying; if he had to return to his cell or if he was free to stay in his quarters. She didn't ask either.

On the evening of the fourth day, there was a knock at the door. When she opened it, a large angel with friendly brown eyes smiled at her.

"Thea, good evening. My name is Sal. I am one of the Throne Angels who investigated Cam. Do you mind if I have a word with you?"

Thea nodded and beckoned him inside. "Can I get you a drink?"

Sal brushed away her offer with a hand. "No, no, no. I won't be here for very long. I'm sorry to interrupt your evening."

Thea led him to her social room and they settled on the couch.

"I understand that your assignment is going to take you into the human world," Sal said, carefully. He paused, watching Thea closely. "I also understand that you are to interrogate demons. I want to know if you are truly comfortable with this?"

Thea swallowed. As much as she had her concerns about Cam, the idea that he would Fall after the assignment ended, made her feel highly disturbed. She didn't want to admit anything that would cause them to inflict his sentence earlier than planned. She needed more time with him, even if she was uncomfortable.

"We knew that this assignment would bring you into direct conflict with demons, Thea," Sal said after a long moment. "That is why some of the Thrones were not comfortable with Cam assisting you with it. However, the Dominion League presented compelling evidence about your emotional state and your need for him. Regardless of this, it doesn’t mean that you should be put in danger or be made to feel that you could be in danger."

"Do you think I could be in danger?"

Sal raised his eyebrows. "We sentenced him to Fall. So, of course, we do think he is dangerous. What matters is whether you think he is a danger to you."

"But he has been connecting to the Stream, hasn't he?" Thea asked. "Doesn't that mean that he’s healed in some way?"

Sal's expression shifted. "Yes, that is the only thing that has caused doubts for me. He has been connecting to the Stream regularly, and the Creator seems to encourage him to think about you during those times. I think he has been healing even though he has displayed some traits similar to those from before your attack."

Nervousness fluttered in her. “Like what?”

“He is very possessive of you.”

Thea couldn’t help the smile that formed on her lips. “He’s always been like that.”

Sal nodded, thoughtfully. “Hmm. It seems that is how the Creator has formed him.”

“Aren’t most angels like that with their mates?”

Sal smiled, although it seemed like more of a grimace. “To be honest, I’m not sure. Most angels do not have anyone or anything standing in the way between them and their mates, especially their natural mates. If the Creator has been healing Cam and he still feels so strongly about you, it could be argued that his feelings are normal. It wouldn’t be unusual for the Creator to form her angels to be protective of the one that makes them whole.” He frowned, lowering his head and voice in thought. “And that means, he didn’t truly intend to hurt you.”

Thea lifted her head in understanding, a flutter of relief filtering through her. If the Creator was supporting Cam, surely he was healing. "I was nervous to see him again," she admitted. "But I have to admit that I feel safer with him, even with what happened. If he has also been healing, then I have no problem facing demons with him. He’s the only one that I trust to make sure I'm okay. He's looked after me before. I don't think anyone else could make me feel safe as much as he does."

Sal seemed appeased by that. He smiled and nodded. "Good. Elyon will be with you just in case—the most important thing is that you feel secure. Demons can sense negative energy, and if they know that you are feeling threatened, they will take advantage of it. I recommend that you do the interrogation without influence or interruption from either Power."

Thea thought for a moment. "They don't get along. Will the demons be able to sense that?"

"It's unlikely," Sal said, a wry smile on his face. "Power angels don't always see eye-to-eye but demons struggle to tune themselves to the feelings of angels, which is why they usually cannot corrupt them. However, you are part human and they will be more sensitive to the fluctuations in your emotions."

Thea nodded. "Okay, that makes sense. Thank you for the advice."

Sal rose from the couch. "I have been tasked to watch Cam, and I'm pleased that he has not left his quarters since being released. He is even continuing to connect the Stream. He is doing well."

So he was in his quarters. Thea's pulse began to race at the idea. He’d been in there all that time and yet he hadn’t come to see her. He was trying to give her space. She accompanied Sal to the door and bid him farewell. She stared at Cam's door wondering if she should knock, but what would she say? In truth, she could do with just being held by him. The nightmares were taking a toll on her and maybe if she wasn’t alone at night it would be easier, but would she just be using him—leading him on? After staring for a while at Cam's door, she retreated back into her apartment.

Chapter Eight

CAM

Cam ignored the tightening in his stomach as he flew to Zak's office.

He had spent the past four days pacing in his quarters, bored out of his brain and wondering what Thea was doing. Being in her presence, touching her and seeing her again only to be forced to stay away, was like torture. But he understood what Zak had said and there was no way he was going to cause his relationship with her to degrade any more than it already had. At least he would see her now that Elyon was available to accompany them to the human world. He wasn't sure how the other Power was going to react to him after he had basically pounded in his face.

Cam landed lightly on Zak's balcony and knocked on the door.

"Come in," Zak called.

Elyon was already inside, standing in front of Zak's desk next to the chair, his hands clasped before him. He lifted his head and nodded at Cam. So, he was going to be civil. Cam nodded in greeting as he moved to stand next to him in front of Zak's desk, a chair between them.

"I've asked you both here before Thea arrives because I want to talk to you about conduct," Zak said, his voice stern as he leaned on his desk. "Whatever issues you have with each other, they do not belong on this assignment. Thea is sensitive and will be greatly impacted by any negativity between the two of you." He looked between them. “Anything you need to say to each other, say it now."

Cam turned to Elyon. "Thea is my natural mate. I won’t tolerate you engaging her in an unprofessional manner. Your conduct toward her previously was unacceptable. You touched her without her invitation and without knowing whether she was mated or not. If you’re able to control yourself, I have no problem with you accompanying us to the human world on this assignment."

Elyon was quiet for a long moment as he regarded Cam with a cool expression. "I recognize that my behavior was unprofessional, however, I was not on an assignment at that time. You’re right, Thea did not invite me to touch her and it was wrong of me to do so, however, your reaction and subsequent assault was excessive considering you have not yet mated her."

Cam struggled with the anger rising in him. He had been reasonable in his request, but Elyon seemed to be trying to make some kind of ridiculous point. Elyon could choose to behave in his usual sleazy way around which ever women welcomed that attention. But not his Nephilim.

"Your attack caused me to give up an assignment that I was looking forward to completing,” he continued harshly. “You’re not the only Power who is capable of great feats, Camael, and just because I didn’t take it any further, doesn’t mean that I will indulge your commands. As far as I'm aware, you don’t have a choice as to whether I accompany you on this assignment. As long as you stay out of my way, I will stay out of yours. Thea is welcome to engage me however she wants, and I will not touch her or treat her unprofessionally in any way… unless she wants that too."

Cam's fists clenched automatically but he noticed Zak watching him with another look of warning. He nodded at Elyon and turned back to Zak stiffly. Although Thea would never be interested in such an idiot, the fact that Elyon was not honorable enough to stay the fuck out of the way pissed him off.

"In terms of this assignment, it’s recommended that Thea conducts the interrogation. Both of you should support her, however if necessary, only Elyon is to step in. If it gets completely out of hand with multiple demons involved, then you are permitted to get involved Cam, but only if it is completely out of hand." Zak raised a brow as he repeated himself. "Do you understand?"

"Yes. I will only get involved if Elyon is unable to handle the situation."

Elyon stiffened and Cam held in a grim smile.

"Good," Zak said, nodding his head in agreement.

Thea arrived a few minutes later and took the chair in front of Zak's desk.

"I don't have a file to give you, Thea," Zak said. "I don't have any records of where your mother was living after she Fell. The only place that makes sense for you to start is the area where you grew up. That was the last place your mother moved to and the local demons will most likely be able to tell you something if you're able to find one that knew of her."

Cam watched Thea from where he stood, behind her and slightly to her left. Her shoulders dropped slightly at the mention that there was no file.

"Do you have any recommendation of how I should… interrogate them?" she asked hesitantly.

Zak glanced at both Cam and Elyon behind her. "Do either of you have any suggestions?"

"I think we should trap them in an alley," Elyon said, quickly. "If they can't escape, then it is easier to torture them into giving us the information we need."

Zak looked at Cam.

"Trapping them in an alley will make them feel desperate," Cam said. "They will fight us to escape and that will be their main focus. Also, we are trying to locate specific demons, not to randomly trap one that happens to be in the area. Elyon's plan would require us to maneuver the demons to a specific place."

"And what is your suggestion?" Elyon asked, glaring at Cam.

"There are two ways we can do this. Thea could approach the demons and suggest that they speak to her willingly, but with the threat of two Powers who are willing to kill them at her command. Or, we capture them and bring them to Thea."

There was a short silence after he spoke. As far as he was concerned, both of his suggestions made sense, but he would prefer Thea not to get involved in the physical act of fighting or torturing a demon. Although she was completely capable, she was vulnerable right now.

"Thea, what would you like to do?" Zak asked.

"I think it's a good idea for me to give the demons a chance to speak to me with no violence," Thea said thoughtfully.

Cam resisted shaking his head. Of course she would think that.

"Okay," Zak said. He looked over them all. "I trust you will be careful and look after each other. You’re only permitted to be in the human world for three days. If you are unable to find a useful demon in that time, you need to return. Everyone understand?"

They all nodded.

***

During the first day on their assignment, it became clear to Cam that Elyon was trying to piss him off. He constantly tried to engage Thea in conversation and stood way too close to her than was completely necessary. Cam kept his annoyance in check, choosing to focus only on Thea's behavior. She seemed somewhat like her normal self, talking to both him and Elyon, asking questions, and making suggestions. He even saw the hint of a smile when he asked her about her friend, Amber. But she was still withdrawn, and he didn't know how to nudge out that humor and wittiness he had always loved about her.

They traveled to the neighborhood where Thea grew up; a dirty, rundown area lined with bars and bail bondsmen, ammo stores, and gambling houses. They questioned Spectra demons, who were scared enough to answer them without too much trouble, and traveled through the dingy residential back alleys and along the strip of fluorescent businesses. They checked as many places as possible gathering information without drawing too much suspicion. Cam could sense the presence of many demons around them, both lower- and higher-class. Somewhere in this neighborhood lurked at least one Legion. Cam felt the demonic energy wafting through the air and he was glad he had come along with Thea.

After returning to the Angel Realm, he walked her to her door and asked her if she minded him coming in. She looked unsure, but allowed it. They spent the evening together in comfortable silence as they ate and then discussed their notes. He didn’t ask her any difficult questions, choosing to just be in her presence. Whenever he had the chance, he brushed against her and touched her, and she didn’t seem to mind. As the evening wore on, she seemed to be returning to her normal self. The only thing that worried him was her sudden tiredness.

“Thea,” he said, following her into the bedroom after she got ready for bed. “Are you okay?”

“I just have a headache,” She muttered, crawling over the bed and dropping heavily onto her pillow.

“You don’t look well,” he said softly, studying her face. She looked exhausted. For some reason, he hadn’t noticed it before.

“I just haven’t been sleeping very well.” Thea sighed, her eyes already closed. “I just need some sleep, Cam.”

He stared at her for a long moment then nodded. “I’ll go back to my quarters.”

“Thank you, Cam,” Thea murmured.

Before he could respond, she was already asleep. He watched her for a while noticing that she tossed and turned restlessly, her eyelids twitching. She looked completely worn out, and he suddenly wondered if her withdrawn nature was because she hadn’t been sleeping and was simply stressed. She had only just recovered from her long-term injury and was now on a stressful assignment with him. It wouldn’t be surprising if she couldn’t relax.

As she turned restlessly, he knelt beside her bed and stroked her cheek, ran his fingers through her hair as he watched her. After a short while, she began to thrash and he watched her eyes darting wildly under her eyelids.

“Thea,” he said, holding her to still her. “Thea.”

She gasped awake, fighting against him.

“Elithea, it’s me. You’re awake,” Cam said, placing a palm on her cheek.

Her eyes connected with his and she immediately calmed. “Cam,” she breathed, her eyes wide.

The intensity of fear in her eyes gave him pause. He moved away slowly, trying not to frighten her further, but she threaded her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

“Cam,” she murmured into his neck.

He propped himself upon his elbows and stared into her eyes. “What’s wrong, Thea?”

She pulled him closer and kissed him. He kissed her back, relishing her soft mouth, the mouth he had missed for so long. He sucked her bottom lip gently and pressed his tongue into her mouth, breathing in her scent and savoring her taste. She pulled him on top of her and the feel of her enticed him to lower his face into her neck and breathe her in. She still smelled delicious and unique and utterly Thea. He kissed her neck and she shuddered and sighed, the sound and smell of her hardening him to rock. He placed little kisses up her neck and along her jawline. She placed her palms on either side of his head and delved her tongue deep into his mouth and sucked gently, their mouths locked together as she grounded her hips up to him.

He pulled away. “Thea, what happened? Why are—”

Her hand reached down between them, into his pants and stroked his length.

Cam breathed heavily as pleasure rippled through him, all thoughts gone from his mind. He leaned onto one elbow as she pulled him closer for another kiss, giving her room to stroke him. They kissed slow and long, while she caressed his cock and gently ran the pads of her fingers over his balls. He groaned into her mouth and dipped a hand under her nightie, ran it over her stomach up to her breasts. She was always covering up her gorgeous body with these unnecessary clothes. He resisted the urge to rip it to shreds so he could see her properly. He palmed and squeezed her breasts, rubbing tiny circles on her nipples, a moan escaped her as she undid his pants.

He slipped his hand down her back and into her panties, cupping and squeezing her ass, before pulling them down and off. He almost rolled his eyes that she was wearing underwear to bed. If he ever got to be with her fully, he would fucking ban them. As he lay back beside her, she threw a leg over his hip. He treaded a hand through her hair, scratching her scalp, and reached down with his other hand to stroke her wet clit.

She whimpered and placed a warm hand on his chest. “I missed you, Cam.”

“I missed you too, Elithea.” His voice sounded so course and rough compared to hers. “I missed you so much.”

Her stroking increased, and he bit back another groan as the pleasure heightened. He hadn’t had her in so long, there was no way he’d last long. However, he didn’t have to wait. She guided him into her and tilted her pelvis so he sunk in deep.

They both groaned and immediately began moving against one another. He had to concentrate so he didn’t come straight away. The tight squeeze around him couldn’t compare to the memories he’d had to be content with all this time.

She tucked her head into his chest, as he plunged in and out of her and thrust her hips harder against him.

He drew in a sharp breath as his climax approached. “Look at me.”

She lifted her head and he was pleased to see her eyes were focused on him, although there was none of her usual fire. He gripped her ass cheeks with both hands and slammed into her, repeatedly. She lifted her knee, spreading wider for him, and dug her nails into his chest as she cried out his name. She came in shuddering convulsions, her face contorting with pleasure, which sparked his own orgasm. It took over his whole body, blazing through him as he squirted into her.

As their breathing calmed, they lay staring at each other, in each other’s arms. Thea looked sleepy and relaxed, but she didn’t smile as she ran her fingers over his mouth and traced his jaw.

Cam watched her closely. “You’re not sleeping well.”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Is it… what happened with me… that caused it?”

Her eyes ran down his face, rested on his lips and then darted back up to his eyes. “I don’t know.”

Cam pulled her to closer into him. “I won’t stay the night, Thea,” he said, tucking her into him and stroking every inch of her he could reach. “I just want you to sleep well. I’ll stay until you fall asleep.”

She sighed into his chest. “Okay.”

He held her until she fell into a deep sleep, this time completely undisturbed. He gently untangled himself from her, fixing her clothing and duvet as he left the bed.

He stood and watched her for a moment, wishing he could strip her and delve his tongue into her pussy and taste her, pure and potent. He had already gotten hard again before she fell asleep. He kissed her forehead lightly and murmured good night to her before heading back to his quarters.

***

On the second day, they located four demons that could potentially answer their questions. While Elyon was on the other side of the square watching one of the demons they were following, Cam took advantage of the time alone with Thea. She had been acting reserved all day, barely looking at him, and it put him on edge. Maybe she regretted last night, or maybe she wished she didn’t have to see him again so soon.

"What's wrong, Thea?" he asked as they stood behind a group of teenagers loitering on a bench. "Something's wrong, and it's not just about this assignment. Would you prefer I wasn't here?"

Thea frowned at him. "No, I want you here, Cam."

"So what is it?"

"I'm just a little bit nervous working with you and Elyon. I know you don't like him." She lifted her shoulders sheepishly, and he got another slight smile. "I keep waiting for something to happen."

"Nothing is going to happen," Cam said, firmly. "We have an understanding. As long as you are not interested in him, in that way, I won’t be breaking his nose again." He smiled at her before adding under his breath, "At least not today."

Thea broke into a full smile and even giggled a little.

He sobered at the beauty of her smile. "I want you to be comfortable around me, Thea," he said, seriously. "I really want you to forgive me. I know I don't have the right to ask that of you, but we don't have much time on this assignment."

Thea’s smile faltered, and he almost regretted speaking. She swallowed. "I do forgive you, Cam."

The weight that had been pressing on him since that moment in the alley when he realized she was hurt, lifted. Suddenly he could breathe easier. He kept his eyes on her, knowing she wanted to say more.

"I don't want you to Fall. I don't think you deserve that, but I also don't know about us. I don't know if I want to be here anymore, following the orders of the Dominion League—they don’t care about me. I came to the Angel Realm for you and… you let me down. Amber and my dad and Amber's daughter are here in the human world, and I feel like I should be with them. I don't feel the same way about our relationship now." She lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Cam couldn't speak for a long moment. She had spent too long away from him and had lost her feelings for him. It was what Zak had warned him about after the attack. Last night had been goodbye, not a rekindling of her feelings for him. As he studied her, he realized he didn’t see the love in her gaze that he had always seen before, the tenderness that Thea normally had when she watched him with her beautiful blue eyes. Now, they were full of indecision and distress, and Cam was helpless to do anything about it. Thea already saw him as her past, someone who used to be important to her; it was something he richly deserved, but that didn’t make it hurt any less to see the lack of passion in her gaze. His mood dropped so low it was difficult not to let it affect his manner.

He tried to smile. "Thea, I don't blame you. I hurt you in a way that no mate ever should hurt the one they love. You don't have to apologize for the way you feel now. Everything that has happened has been my fault; I brought you to the Realm without proper information, I took the job to destroy the Legion task force, I didn't connect to the Stream when you asked me to, and I attacked you. I should have looked after you better. I only want you to feel true forgiveness for me before I Fall."

Thea's eyes filled with tears. "I do. I only wish we had more time to say goodbye."

"If we had more time, I wouldn’t allow you to give up on us," Cam said, with a wry smile. "There won't be anybody that will love you the way I love you, Thea. And I don't believe that anyone will love me the way you do. And you still do, you just need to remember that. It’s not fair for me to try and persuade you when I’m going to Fall, but we’re still natural mates. That hasn’t changed."

Thea lowered her eyes, blinking away her tears and causing them to trickle down her cheeks.

“Can I touch you?” Cam asked softly, unable to help himself from moving before she answered. Thea’s eyes grew wide and she licked her bottom lip, her eyes following Cam’s hand as he lifted it to touch her face. He stroked her cheek lightly with his thumb and for a moment, she leaned into his hand, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. Every muscle in his body wanted to pull her close, to kiss her until she couldn't remember her name, to remind her she belonged to him. But he knew he was lucky to even be touching her.

She opened her eyes and looked back up at him. "Do you forgive the Creator?"

"Yes," Cam said immediately. "She gave me you. Then she allowed me to revel in thoughts of you while I was imprisoned. I cannot continue to hold a grudge against her."

"Why did you blame her in the first place?"

Cam sighed and lowered his hand. He glanced at the demon they were supposed to be watching and noticed that he was leaving the square. "I'll tell you as we walk," he said, gesturing to the demon. They fell into a comfortable walk, side by side as they followed the demon out of the square and down a busy street. Cam took in everything about the surroundings; where Elyon was, the positioning of other demons in the area, the behavior of the humans they were passing.

"Kara and I argued about how we were going to deal with the Legion task force," Cam began. "Kara was an excellent strategist. She researched everything there was to know about their headquarters and what was going on in and around the entire area. She even considered the season and time of the year for humans and had good judgment on the best time to attack. I just wanted to storm the place, but obviously Zak went with her plan.

"We breached their headquarters and cut them down until we got to the center of the building they were using. We fought in almost perfect sync, almost like the way we fight together," Cam said, smiling down at Thea, "but then I felt something change. Kara began to fight strangely—she missed hits and moved too slow. I couldn't figure out what was happening. She shouted to me that she couldn't draw any energy from the Stream. She kept shouting that. I couldn't figure out what she meant. I didn't understand how she wasn't able to draw energy from the Stream—all angels can draw from it. She was fighting in their central control room, while I was fighting at the entrance, just outside. Every time I looked over she was struggling more and more, until she was overpowered by the Legion demons."

The demon they were following walked at a slow pace, stopping to speak to other demons and humans he knew. Thea and Cam walked even slower behind him, trying not to make it obvious they were tailing him.

“How did you get out of there?” Thea asked.

Cam took a breath as the memories flooded him. “As they tore her apart, I continued to fight as though it wasn’t happening. The demons expected me to help her, to save her but I didn’t. She was screaming for the Creator when she died.”

They continued walking in silence for a long while. The demons turned down a side road and entered a building through the side door. Thea and Cam stopped opposite the door and waited.

“So you blamed the Creator because the Creator didn’t help her?” Thea asked.

“No,” Cam said. "I blamed the Creator because she didn’t allow Kara to draw energy from the Stream at the time when she needed it the most."

Thea leaned against the wall, her arms crossed against her chest as she looked down and thought. "Maybe there was a good reason. Have you ever heard of any instance of that happening before?"

"No," Cam said, his voice firm. "I searched the libraries looking for any explanation as to what might have happened, but I found nothing that would explain why the Creator turned her back on Kara."

"What did Zak say?"

"I've never told anybody else but you, Thea," Cam said, turning to face her.

"Why?"

"Because I failed too," Cam said, trying to keep his guilt out of his voice. "I didn't save her."

"But you would have died as well, Cam," Thea said softly. "You did the right thing."

Cam shook his head. "But I didn't even try, Thea. I did what I was supposed to do, what I was trained to do as a Power, but as her friend and her arranged mate, I should have been willing to die to save her."

Thea watched him, her eyes troubled.

"I couldn't share that with anyone, Thea,” he admitted. “Not even Zak."

"So your rage wasn't just about being angry at the Creator," Thea said, almost under her breath. "You were also angry at yourself."

Cam didn't answer. It was the first time he had ever spoken about it since it happened, and weirdly he didn't feel like any less of a Power talking about it with Thea. Maybe it was because she had already seen his failings. Maybe it was because she had already decided that she did not want to be with him anymore—what was the point in hiding one more mistake?

"He's upstairs alone," Elyon said, as he approached. He turned to Thea. "Do you want to do it now? According to what I heard him say to the others, he should be alone for the next hour or so."

Thea pushed up off the wall. "Where will the both of you be?"

"I’ll be right behind you," Cam said, before Elyon had the chance to say anything stupid.

Elyon glanced at him, irritated. "I'll be downstairs in the same building. If I feel you shift, Cam, I’ll come up."

Thea took a deep breath and began walking towards the building. "Okay, let's do it."

Chapter Nine

CAM

Thea entered the building and headed straight upstairs, where Elyon said the demon was.

Cam stayed close behind her, nodding at Elyon when he signaled he would be staying in position on the ground floor.

Thea walked through the door into the office where the demon sat, his orange glow emanating from him as he leaned over a desk snorting white powder into his nose.

He looked up. "This is a private office—" He leaned back into his chair, giving them a cocky smile. "Hello, Nephilim. What can I d—“

His words were cut off by a blast that knocked him over and sent him skidding backward across the room. Cam looked at Thea, surprised at her sudden attack. She made her way over to the demon.

"I'm going to ask you a few questions," Thea said, as the demon groaned and tried to sit up. Thea put a foot on his shoulders and shoved him roughly down against the ground. "If you choose to be difficult, I'll kill you."

The demon sneered up at her. "You think that blast was strong enough to kill me?"

"No, that was just a warning. I have two of the most accomplished Powers waiting for me to tell them what to do," Thea said, with a seriousness that Cam hadn’t witnessed from her before. "If you want to die today, keep pissing me off."

The demon glanced at Cam and his face dropped. "What do you want to know?" he asked, tightening his mouth.

"You once lived on East 33rd, in an apartment building opposite a warehouse. About thirty-five years ago, or so."

The demon nodded.

"Tell me about the angel named Oriah."

The demon thought for a moment. "Yes, I remember an Oriah that lived there. She was a fallen angel though."

"What do you know about her?"

"Why should I tell you?"

Thea punched the demon in the face. Hard enough to break his nose. He let out a curse as blood spurted onto his clothes and dripped down his face. Cam frowned, surprised at the violence Thea was exhibiting. Usually, she blasted demons with energy balls and spikes from a distance, so engaging them this closely wasn’t normal for her. Something about her behavior felt off. He watched her closely.

She grabbed his collar and unsheathed a dagger from her hip. "I know holy daggers burn," Thea said, her voice harsh. "There are plenty of places to stab you each time I don't like your answer."

The demons face twisted in anger.

"What do you know about Oriah?" Thea repeated, snarling into his face.

"She moved here for a short while when she was heavily pregnant. She was looking for work even though she was obviously about to have a child. There were a lot of Legion here around that time, always around her. Flooded the place. I couldn't get any work done while they were here."

Cam furrowed his brow. That was strange. Legion demons weren’t known for flocking together all at once, unless they were working in a task force. There was no task force at that time that he could remember. An uncomfortable niggle in his gut set him on edge. Something wasn't right—he needed to talk to Zak.

"What else?" Thea asked, still annoyed. Cam guessed she wanted more information about her mother specifically.

The demons shrugged. "She gave birth and then within the next few months I didn't see her around here anymore. Didn't see the Legion around here either. I figured she must have gone to do some work with them." A gleam entered his eyes. "Maybe the kind of work that landed her on her back."

Thea punched him in the nose again and he howled in rage trying to fight her back, but she was too quick. Thea kicked and stamped on him before sending a giant spike of energy into him, a spike much bigger than was actually needed to kill him. She looked absolutely furious. Cam walked to her as the demon dissolved into ash.

She looked at him, her features intent and angry. "What does that mean?" she asked. "Legion demons. Why would they be interested in my mom?"

"I don't know," Cam said, stepping closer to her. "But it's unusual. I need to talk to Zak about it straight away." He stepped even closer until he was looking down at her. "Are you okay, Thea?"

Thea clenched her fists repeatedly then placed her hands on her hips and shifted between both feet. "Fine," she said through gritted teeth.

Cam reached out to touch her arm, but she pulled it back sharply.

"I said I'm fine, Cam. I just don't like the idea that my mom has become one of them."

Cam nodded. "I know it must be difficult. Let's go and talk to Zak."

Thea shook her head. "You go," she said. "I need some time in the human world on my own."

"No," Cam said, a little too sharply. "There are a lot of demons in this neighborhood."

Thea scowled. "Yes, this is the neighborhood I grew up in, remember? I'm completely capable of looking after myself, Cam. I want to see Amber. I haven't seen her for over twelve human years."

Cam stared at her, taking in her agitated state. She glared back at him and then relaxed slightly.

"Honestly, Cam," she said, more softly. "I'll be fine. Amber's apartment isn’t even in this neighborhood, remember? And it’s protected. I'll only stay for a night and then I'll come back to the Angel Realm. I'll be back within a few hours."

Cam didn't respond. He didn't want her to leave his sight.

"Please, Cam," Thea said, her voice low. "Don't stop me from seeing her."

Elyon entered the room. "Did we get what we need?" he asked, glancing at the pile of ash.

"Yes," Cam said, keeping his eyes on Thea. "We need to go back to the Angel Realm and speak to Zak. Thea is going to stay here."

"Cool, I'll see you there."

Thea and Cam kept their eyes on each other as he left.

"You’ll be back tomorrow," Cam said, a statement not a question.

Thea nodded.

"I’ll take you there," he said reluctantly, the words almost sticking in his throat.

Thea looked as though she might argue but eventually nodded. They made their way out of the building, then he picked her up before she could protest and flew swiftly into the air, cuddling her against his body as he made his way to Amber's apartment. She trembled against him and he didn't know if her body's response was from desire, revulsion, or fear. Either way, it didn't matter; she needed to be safe.

He placed her down at the entrance of Amber's building and kissed her forehead before she had the chance to move away.

"Have fun with Amber," he said.

She smiled at him, and he fought the urge to take her back into his arms. Then she was gone, heading into the building.

Chapter Ten

THEA

Thea was glad to have gotten rid of Cam. Since she came into the presence of the demon, a cloud of irritation surrounded her and she couldn't figure out why. Cam had been great with her so far and a perfect gentleman during their evening together. He pulled her out of the terrible dream she was suffering from and looked at her with such concern and love, that she wanted him close. It had been incredible having him touch her again, having him inside her. She stared at him afterward, a familiar joyful tingle stirring in her stomach as those gray eyes gazed at her so intensely. But this morning, she felt nothing again. He handled it well when she said she no longer wanted to be with him.

Still, there was something about his presence that irked her, and after she killed the demon, that irritation bloomed into a raw anger. She couldn't figure out where the feeling was coming from; there wasn't any reason for it—she didn't truly feel anger towards him.

When she examined it, she realized it reminded her of when she could feel Cam's distress when he was on the Legion task force assignment, but this felt stronger, more intense. She couldn't be sure the feeling wasn't actually coming from him... it didn't feel like it, but the only way to see if that was the case was to distance herself from him.

As she climbed the stairs to Amber's floor, she thought about all that had changed in Amber's life over the time they had been speaking. Every time Thea spoke to her, her friend had seemed happy and content with her life. She’d had a couple of short term relationships, but her main love, outside of her daughter Maddy, was the business she set up. Amber had opened an artisan bakery in one of the most popular locations in the city. She had some trials with it but loved building her own company. Maddy was much older, a teenager now, and that gave her more freedom.

Amber's life was so different now, she didn't need Thea's protection anymore, didn't need her support. In fact, her life seemed perfect. And what did Thea have? A broken relationship and no one in her life she could trust.

By the time she reached Amber's door, she was in an even darker mood, not helped by the fact that Amber wasn't even in. She sat by the door waiting, her mind rolling over all the decisions that she made and wondering if they had been the right ones. The irritation in her intensified as her thoughts became more negative. After a while, Thea realized she would be grateful for Amber's company if only to pull her mind out of the dark shadows for a little while.

She rose her head as she heard voices coming from down the corridor and stood up as Amber approached with a girl that had to be Maddy.

"Thea?" Amber dropped the bag she was holding and ran down the rest of the corridor. She slammed into Thea, hugging tightly and squealing. "Thea! Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" They held each other for a long while, marveling over each other, giggling and sighing.

"Maddy," Amber said, turning to the girl who approached them. "This is your Aunt Thea."

Thea turned to the girl. She had shoulder length brown hair with reddish tones and a slight build, but Thea recognized her beautiful brown eyes. "Hi Maddy," she said smiling. "It's so nice to see you again."

Maddy smiled, shyly and glanced at her mother. "It's really nice to meet you. Mom talks about you all the time."

"Well, she talks about you all the time to me." Thea gave Maddy a quick hug. "And I can see why she thinks you're such a big deal, you're so pretty—and I hear you’re really clever with electronics."

Maddy opened her mouth but didn't say anything, her face flushing a bright red.

Amber opened the door, chatting excitedly as she let Thea and Maddy in. Thea looked around and marveled at everything. Amber had redecorated and it was cozy and comfortable—decorated to Amber’s usual style, with rich purple and gold accents. It was so different to the plain quarters that Thea hadn't bothered to decorate. She was captivated by its beauty and hominess. Amber poured them all some juice then Maddy disappeared into her room, while Amber and Thea settled on the couch in the living room.

“Thea,” said Amber, her eyes wide. “You look so good! You literally look like you’re still twenty.”

Thea grinned at her, feeling a little nervous. She hadn’t remembered that she would still look like she hadn’t aged due to the time difference between the Angel Realm and the human world. She hadn't thought about what to say to Amber.

“Traveling keeps me young, and so does good face cream," Thea teased. They both laughed. "No honestly, I live in a great environment," Thea said. "I eat well, exercise, and live mostly stress-free." She shrugged. "It must make a difference."

Amber leaned forward and squeezed her arm. "Well, you look like you're doing well."

“How are you?” Thea asked, trying to get the conversation off of her. "Tell me everything."

"Well, I only spoke to you a few weeks ago," Amber said, breaking into a grin. "Not much has changed since then."

Thea looked towards the bedrooms. "I can't believe Madeline is a teen."

Amber nodded. "Sixteen. Isn't that crazy?"

“It’s hard to believe,” said Thea. And it was hard to believe that so many years had passed. Amber had commented on Thea’s appearance, but Amber didn’t look too bad herself. Amber was practically glowing with contentment; her golden hair fixed into a neat, respectable style, her skin wrinkle-free and smooth, and a confidence settled within her that made her seem so much more mature. A blast of envy hit Thea that she immediately felt guilty about; she didn’t know where it came from. It was like a heavy weight deep inside of her, a hot stone smoldering in her body. She ignored it. No matter how out-of-sorts she was, Thea could always get comfortable around Amber in any situation.

"I'd love to see the bakery," Thea said. "Have you been building a client base?"

Amber nodded. "I have a great manager working there who is great at building business partnerships. She just got me a contract at Hunger Hatch."

Thea gasped. "The chain? That's fantastic!"

"I know," Amber said, almost squealing. "I wouldn't have been able to do it without her. She's made such a big difference to the business since she started." She leaned back on the couch, her eyes glassy. "Everything is going well right now. And it all began with the job your friend got me after Leo left."

Thea just smiled at her, although that hot envy burned in her. “Are you with anyone right now?”

Amber blushed slightly and Thea knew that meant she was. The envy intensified into that same irritated annoyance she had been trying to avoid. She remembered what it was like to be excited to be with somebody, to be happy and in love.

“I’ve been dating this guy for only a month,” Amber said. “I met him at a food convention. I really like him but it's so new.”

“What’s his name?”

“Andrew.”

“That’s great.” The smile on Thea's face began to feel fake. “I’m so happy for you, Amber.”

“Thanks,” said Amber. “And what about you? Are you still with Cam?”

Thea swallowed but was determined to act normal. There was too much she would have to explain, and Amber would never get over the fact that Cam had attacked her, no matter what the reason. She forced a tone of cheerfulness into her voice somehow. “We’re still together,” said Thea. “We’re living in France at the moment and for at least the next six months. I love him.” Thea added that last part in without thinking. She was surprised at herself. “Things are good.”

Amber grinned. "France," she breathed. "Is it as romantic as it's made out to be?"

Thea grinned back at her. Amber was such a romantic at heart and it was good to see that hadn’t changed. "Some parts of it."

Just talking about Cam made Thea ache. She wanted to feel that love again. Being with Cam—being happy with him—had been the best thing that had ever happened to her. Thea changed the subject, and the two of them talked about Dad and his latest progress, how Madeline was getting on in school and Amber's vision for her business. Thea tried to keep the focus on Amber; she didn’t have the energy to make up any more stories about how happy she was and how well everything was going.

About an hour later, Maddy came padding into the living room with a backpack. "Mom, I'm heading out to Grace's now."

Amber looked at her blankly and then nodded. "Oh yeah, I forgot you are staying with your friend this week. Have a good time. Make sure you text me when you get there. I want a call each night, young lady. And no cell while you're in bed."

"Yes, Mom," Maddy said, half rolling her eyes as Amber hugged her and walked with her to the door.

"Nice to meet you, Maddy," Thea called as she headed to the door.

Maddy smiled at her shyly. "You too, Aunt Thea."

Thea made a face as Amber closed the door behind her. "Aunt Thea? I'm not sure if I like that."

Amber crossed her arms and tapped her foot, pursing her lips. "Well, you haven't been here to tell her what to call you, what would you prefer—Aunt Thee? Auntie Thea?"

Thea thought for a moment. "Yeah. Actually, I like that. Aunt Thee, that's what she can call me." They both laughed as Amber made her way back to the couch.

“Do you want to stay over?” Amber asked. “We can go to the bakery tomorrow. Or, are you staying in a hotel?”

“I’ll stay here if that’s okay.”

Amber leaned over and squeezed her arm. “Of course, girl. Make yourself comfortable.”

Thea lay awake for a long time that night, tossing and turning on the over-stuffed couch thinking about her life in comparison to Amber’s. She didn't know when she fell asleep but a dream, more vivid than anything she experienced before, filled her consciousness. The shadow that haunted almost every one of her dreams stood before her. It began to take shape and revealed itself to be a beautiful woman, with intense blue-gray eyes that were almost too extraordinarily bright to be real. She smiled warmly at Thea and opened her arms out to her. Her dark hair was puffed out around her face and fell in a cascade around her shoulders and down the length of her. She seemed familiar, though Thea couldn't place where she had seen her before. There was warmth radiating off of her that Thea could feel, it was comforting, pacifying and filled with the promise of hope.

Thea moved toward the woman but she backed away, although she still held her arms out as if to offer Thea an embrace. Thea stepped closer and closer, but each time she stepped forward, the woman moved back a pace. Frustration built in Thea as she grew increasingly compelled to get close to the woman. It felt like that was the only place she would ever be safe, the only place she would no longer be haunted by her feelings, her fears, and indecisions.

Then the woman suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and Thea collided with her.

Thea gasped awake, blinking hard as she looked around the dark room. Something was wrong.

‘Thea.’

A soothing voice was suddenly all around her head, coming from within her. Thea’s mouth opened and closed as she looked around. She knew she wouldn’t see anyone, but was unwilling to believe that she was hearing voices.

‘Thea.’

Thea squinted into the room. No one was there. She sat up slowly, the uncomfortable feeling expanding within her.

‘Thea, you deserve better than this.’

Instantly, Thea knew who it was—the woman, the one from her dream. “What do you want?” she asked nervously, her voice quiet in the large room.

‘Your life could be so much better than this. You are sleeping on the couch of an apartment that is really yours.’

Thea set her feet on the floor, moving automatically. It was true, this had once been her apartment. If she hadn’t left for the Angel Realm, would she be the one living happily here?

‘Of course you would. You work hard, you’re a kind person. You’ve always looked after Amber and your father. You deserve a good life. You have the right to have a good life.’

That was true. Thea got up off of the couch and walked toward the hallway, unsure of where she was even going.

‘Look at this place. Look at the quality of this apartment. Amber doesn’t deserve all of this,’ said the soft voice. ‘All she’s done is take, take, take. You looked after her and set her up with everything she has. And what do you have, Thea? Nothing.’

Thea took a breath in. That was true too. If she moved back to the human world, what did she have to show for the last fifteen years? Amber had grown up barely even knowing how to take care of herself. It was Thea that have made sure they were safe, Thea that organized their jobs, Thea that built connections on the street, Thea that used her shimmer to protect them.

‘Amber has always been weak,’ the voice breathed. ‘She has never been as strong as you. She should not have more than you.’

Resentment flared through Thea so strongly she stumbled and hit her foot on something. She cursed loudly as pain shot through her ankle. Amber's door opened and she padded out squinting at Thea as she rubbed her eyes with a face like a little girl. The gesture annoyed Thea, reminding her that Amber still seemed so innocent after all this time.

‘Take from her. Take what she will not give,’ the voice hissed. ‘You need it more than she does. Focus your mind, draw it from her, feel it entering you. It will be worth it.’

Amber's face was a mask of confusion, and before she could react, Thea reached her hands out automatically and placed her fingers on either side of Amber's neck, touching her pressure points. An energy surged from Amber through Thea’s fingers and into Thea’s body. The energy electrified her entire body, feeling almost like an orgasm under her skin. A power rose within her and beamed and rippled through her whole body, and she reveled in it as it soothed her insecurities. She wanted more. It felt good—amazing, almost better than anything she had ever experienced. It came second only to the feeling of Cam pleasuring her... Cam.

Thea jolted out of her thoughts and snatched her hands back from Amber, who was leaning against the wall, her eyes rolled back in her head. Thea cried out in horror as Amber collapsed to the ground. What the fuck had she done?

Amber was pale and limp and looked just like when she’d been attacked by Leo.

Thea's heart raced as she knelt down beside her, feeling for Amber's breathing pattern. She couldn't believe what she'd done. How the hell had she done that? She barely even remembered getting up from the couch. She needed to call Cam or Zak, or someone, anyone who could help. She jumped up and turned back towards the living room, but her body froze.

‘No. You are not obliged to help her. We need more,’ said the voice inside Thea’s head.

Thea shook her head, but immediately she slipped into a mellow state of consciousness as though she was still inside a dream. Her body began to move without her instruction. All the power inside her seemed to have taken hold of her body.

‘Don't pretend you don't enjoy the power, Thea,’ the voice said, encouragingly. ‘You got high on it. You want more, admit it. You don't have to feel insecure about anything again. You can get everything you want, everything you need. You just have to admit it.’

Her body took her back to the living room and she looked around. Everything around her swam with an unrealistic glow. This was just a dream, it wasn't real.

‘Admit it, Thea. Admit you want more.’

Thea swayed in the effects of the power, which was like the after-effects of a whole body orgasm, and silently agreed.

‘Good.’ The voice sounded pleased. ‘More. We need to get more.’

Her body took her to the door and out of the apartment while Thea barely registered what was happening.

The voice wanted her to get more, so she would get more.

Chapter Eleven

CAM

Cam’s head was full of Thea as he made his way back to the Angel Realm to see Zak.

He debated whether he should have forced her to come with him, or at least stayed in the human world with her while she saw her friend, but she seemed to want the time alone. A bitterness roiled in his gut about the fact that she could no longer feel for him the way he felt for her, but if she wanted to return to the human world, that was at least one good thing, because when he Fell, they would both be in the same place. He wouldn't have to hope for a glimpse of her every time she came to the human world. He would be living in the human world just like she was. He would be able to see her anytime he wanted to.

At that moment, he decided he would spend the rest of his fractured life ensuring that Thea had a happy one, that her life was full of joy and that he would protect her to the best of his ability. The idea of her finding love without him was unbearable. He wouldn’t allow it to happen even though he wouldn’t be a Power angel anymore. He couldn't expect her to want a life with a fallen angel, even her father hadn't wanted that, but he also couldn’t let anyone else touch her.

Cam found Zak in his office. After knocking on the door, Zak called him in.

"Elyon just left," Zak said. He gave Cam a disapproving glare. "I'm not happy that you both left Thea in the human world on her own, Cam."

"She wanted to spend time with her friend," Cam mumbled, as he dropped into the chair opposite Zak's desk. "She hasn't seen her for ages I couldn't exactly say no. Her friend's apartment is Nephilim accommodation; it's protected."

Zak exhaled harshly. "Adonai just came to see me," he said irritably. "He wants to know why the assignment is taking so long."

"He doesn't like me," Cam said, matter-of-fact "He'll try to get my sentence actioned as soon as possible."

"It's not just you he doesn't like. He questioned me at length as to why I didn’t go to the human world with you." Zak’s jaw worked. "He’s fucking annoying."

Cam barked out a laugh. "Yes, he is. You’ll get used to him."

Zak leaned forward. "What happened with the demon? Elyon couldn't tell me anything."

"He wasn't in the room. Why didn't he stay for the briefing?"

"The Dominion League had an assignment for him and he wanted to get back to work. He saw this as a babysitting assignment." Zak shrugged. “What did you find?”

“Apparently there were lots of Legion demons in the neighborhood after Thea's mother around the time that Thea was born,” Cam told him. “I thought it seemed unusual.”

“It is,” Zak said, concern passing over his face. His eyes lowered as he fell into his thoughts. “What did they want with her?”

"I don't know," Cam said, frustrated. "The demon didn't know."

“We should talk to the Dominion League,” Zak said. “They might be able to tell us something.”

Cam groaned. Talking to the Dominion League was the last thing he wanted to do. They clearly and undoubtedly despised him and only petitioned him to get out so he could stabilize Thea.

Zak watched Cam for a moment, taking meaning from his reaction. "Okay, we'll go to Asteroth. We might not need to talk to them if he knows something."

“Asteroth,” Cam agreed. He respected Asteroth. Although he was part of the Dominion League, he had shown himself to be a good man; one who treated Thea kindly and watched out for her, one who had been worried about her recovery, who had gotten her the room and treatment at the healing temple, and who was sympathetic to the circumstances around her attack. Talking to him would be much easier than going to the Dominion League.

Zak hesitated. “You know, once we give this information to the Dominion League… I don't know what will happen.”

“I understand,” Cam said, quietly. The Dominion League only gave them three days and who knew how they would treat this information? They could decide at any time that his work on the assignment was over. Thea was pretty confident handling that demon on her own. “When will my sentence be carried out?”

Zak was silent for a moment. “There’s still the petition.”

Cam didn’t respond. There was no guarantee the petition would go in their favor and he would still be detained in the meantime. His mind turned to his relationship with Thea. His most enjoyable memories of being in the human world were with her; training her, staying in her apartment, and making love to her. He wished he could go back to that time.

“Do you have any idea what you are going to do in the human world?” Zak asked softly, after a few minutes of silence

Cam shook his head. “I have no idea.”

“I’ll send someone to look in on you.”

Cam nodded. Zak wouldn’t visit the human world and it wasn’t advisable for angels to stay in communication with fallen angels anyway, but at least they could still communicate through someone else.

“But Camael, it will be dangerous,” Zak added.

“I know.” Without access to his angel-form, Cam wouldn’t be able to use his Power skills and abilities. He would hardly be able to sense whether another angel or demon was even close by; and with his previous status as a warrior, as a formidable Power angel, he would probably be targeted by demons wherever he went. They would know who he was and be able to get to him easily. But he wasn’t really concerned about that. A large part of him didn’t care—life didn’t seem worth living, not for eternity, not without Thea. “I’ll get by. I’ll keep moving.”

He wouldn’t, though. Cam was going to spend the rest of his life wherever Thea might be in the human world. He didn’t want to tell Zak that, however, as he knew that it would be akin to admitting that he wanted to die. He didn’t want to worry Zak any more than he already had. He had never seen Zak look so worried as he was now.

“Will you keep an eye on Thea?” Cam asked, his gaze unwavering. “Will you make sure she’s happy if I can’t?”

Zak nodded. “I will. I’ll do everything I can, Camael. You have my word.”

“Thank you,” Cam said, somewhat relieved that Thea would always have Zak if anything happened to him. If demons managed to kill him, he wanted her to move on, to enjoy her life without him. A fiery ball burned in his chest. He had gotten himself into this and he regretted every minute, every instance of rage he’d ever had against the demons. It hadn’t been worth it to lose her, to lose his wings.

“Camael, I want you to know something,” Zak said, his voice deep. “I forgive you. It has been a great honor to work with you. I consider you to be a fine angel and a good friend.”

Cam stared at Zak for a moment, regret and gratitude expanding in him. He gave his commander a brief nod and embraced his arm in a warrior’s clasp. Zak’s grip was firm and respectful, and Cam held his eyes as he pulled his arm away.

“But, it’s not over yet. I’m still going to push the petition.” Zak stood. “Let’s go and see Asteroth.”

Zak and Cam made their way to the training center to find Asteroth, hoping that he wasn’t in the middle of a session. The angel spent most of his time training other angels for battle. They were lucky to find him in the common room of the training facility, where he was talking intently to a Power angel trainee. When he saw Zak, he nodded at him, putting his finger up to indicate that he would join Cam and Zak in a moment. Not long after, he beckoned them and led them out into the hallway and up the flightway to a small office.

Cam explained to Asteroth about the Legion demons.

"Legion are attracted to power," Asteroth said, thoughtfully. "They must've felt Thea's power and flocked to the area."

"What for?" Cam asked, a dense feeling of dread climbing within him.

"I have never known of a Nephilim as powerful as Thea. They could have wanted to use her for anything; they could have planned to infect her with demon blood and used her as a weapon against angels. They could have drained her of her unique energy. Or they could have wanted to mate her to a demon."

"Never!" Cam bellowed, unable to control himself. He snarled at the thought, fury rising within him. Thea being forced to go against her very nature, to do something destructive and wicked, especially against angels was akin to a type of slavery. "She was unborn at the time. How could they have such plans for her?"

Zak placed a hand on his shoulder, calming him somewhat.

"Power is power, Cam," Asteroth said. "If she existed, and they could feel her, then they would have wanted to capitalize on her."

"Why wasn't anyone there to protect her?" Cam ground out. "If Legion knew about her, why didn't the Angel Realm?"

"Oriah was a fallen angel," Asteroth explained. "No one knew she could even get pregnant, let alone that she conceived. The demons could have shielded her from being detected by angels so that we couldn’t get involved."

Cam began to pace back and forth in the office, his jaw tense. Thea had been in so much danger from before she was born and yet her mother still left? He stilled. "Why didn't they pursue her after Thea's mother left?" he asked, almost to himself.

"I don't know," Asteroth said, his voice troubled. "Where is Thea now?"

"She is visiting her friend in the human world," Cam replied. "She hasn't been feeling well lately and she needed to see someone from her old life."

"What do you mean? Is she ill?"

"No, she's been having trouble sleeping."

Asteroth straightened, a strange look filtered into his face. "Have you noticed anything strange about her?"

Cam frowned at odd question. "Not really…" He thought back to their conversations. “She told me she no longer has feelings for me.”

Zak’s head snapped to Cam, but Cam ignored him. He hadn’t felt like talking about it, but it was worth mentioning now.

“That’s absolutely not true,” Asteroth stated, his expression tense. “I saw how she was in the Dominion League meeting. She still has feelings for you. What else? Think.”

Cam thought back. "Actually, she seemed more vicious than usual when she was questioning the demon earlier." He glanced at both Asteroth and Zak. "But it's not like I'm the best judge of that."

"But Elyon is with her though, right?" Asteroth asked.

"No," Zak said. "Elyon returned to the Angel Realm. But her friend’s apartment is protected from demons."

"Camael," Asteroth said, sharply. "You shouldn't have left her. You need to go and find her immediately."

"What's wrong?" Cam's entire body tensed on high alert at Asteroth's tone.

"Thea has recently been infected by demon blood," Asteroth said. "And not just any blood but Legion blood. If she has been suffering headaches, sleepless nights, changes in mood, lack of feeling or intense anger, it could be an indication that a Legion demon has been trying to infiltrate her mind. Coupled with the fact that there were a lot of Legions in the vicinity where and when she was born, she could have been marked for demon possession all along. She needs to be watched closely."

“Why didn’t you tell us this was a risk?” Zak spat. “You let us take her on an assignment without telling us this was possible.”

“There are many risks when an angel is infected, Zak,” Asteroth said. “We cannot guess them all. I knew Thea was having headaches but as far as I know they stopped when she started going to the human world to heal. She should have been letting her healer know if she was suffering symptoms of any kind.”

“But no one has been watching her consistently,” Zak shot back.

"Hang on, what do you mean 'infiltrate her mind'?" Cam growled.

"I mean, feed her mind with their own thoughts and take control of Thea's body and her powers."

A stunned silence filled the room.

They all moved at once.

"I'm going to talk to the Dominion League," Asteroth said, as he took to the air. "Go find her and make sure she is still herself."

Cam didn't say another word. He shot down the flightway and out into the Angel Realm, heading towards a portal. He hoped nothing had happened in his absence. He cursed himself for leaving her behind. Of course, he couldn’t have known about the possible connection between her and a Legion demon. Still, he had sensed something was wrong—he had been distracted by her rejection of him. He should have been more worried, considering how sick she was after she'd been infected with demon blood.

He arrived at the portal and noticed Zak was behind him. He threw him a quizzical look.

"I'm coming with you," Zak said, his voice hard. "I should have come the first time."

Cam didn't bother to respond, there was no time. He stepped through the portal and immediately sent his focus to look for Thea. He sensed Thea's general location, but it was interrupted by a strange feeling surrounding her that was so strong it distorted her energy. His heart sank. Something was definitely wrong.

He and Zak took to the air. He didn't know what he would find when he found her, but any demon that fucked with his mate would regret it.

Chapter Twelve

THEA

‘You deserve to be happy, Thea.’ The voice sounded wistful. ‘These people don’t deserve anything. They have never fought for anything like you have and yet they are, cozy and comfortable and content.’

In her dreamlike state, Thea agreed. The people in her dream were selfish and undeserving, and she drained them like the voice said. It was a much more pleasant dream than the terrifying ones she normally had—all the people were alive and walking about—at least until she placed her fingers on their pressure points and pulled that delicious power out of them. All she had to do was enjoy the feeling and wait to wake up.

‘Drain them.’ The voice sounded vicious and demanding. It filled her head, echoing through her mind. ‘They don't even respect you; they don’t appreciate all you’ve been through to rid them of demons. They don’t deserve any happiness.’

Power seeped into her, the intoxicating effect, making her head spin and her whole body vibrate. Her dreams had been so life-like lately that Thea simply let the feelings rush over her.

‘More,’ the voice urged. ‘Take every human you can find. Enrich yourself, Thea. You will become a better person for it, a stronger person. And when you are strong, you won’t need anyone.’

The dream began to blur as she moved so quickly among the streets and neighborhood, placing her fingers on the pressure points of unsuspecting humans and draining them. At some point, she shifted into her angel-form because she was suddenly soaring through the air towards a busy part of the neighborhood and attacking most of the humans there. She came across a group of young people and the horror on their faces at what she was doing sparked a flash of doubt within her. Then the feeling passed as her emotions muted.

‘Yes. Yes! Take, Thea. Take from them like they have taken from you. It’s your right. Enjoy the benefits of your hard work.’

She glimpsed a couple of demons, but strangely they ignored her. They even seemed to herd humans towards her so she could pull more and more energy. As the dream became more disturbing, Thea struggled as she desperately tried to cast the voice aside. She clawed wildly to control any part of her she had left, but the voice seemed to penetrate every part of her now, and the powerful energy inside her was like a drug, twisting her mind and eating at her personality. She couldn't think straight, and her body moved of its own accord. She became more aware of the voice; its feelings, its thoughts… It was as though it was another person on the edge of her mind.

Find more, Elithea, the voice murmured hungrily, interrupting her weak thoughts. Take them all.

The voice ordered her to do its bidding, and yet she had no choice; it had control over her body. Its desires were her desires, its thoughts were her thoughts. And it seemed like nothing could satiate it. It grew louder and more persistent until Thea couldn’t even think. And each time a person’s energy seeped into her, each time that thrilling, orgasmic, luxurious energy entered her body, she lost a bit of feeling. Slowly, her emotions were dulling, melting into nothing and soon, nothing was all she felt.

Chapter Thirteen

CAM

Cam headed to Amber's apartment first. He had a feeling that Thea wasn't there—his connection to her kept dropping out, and even when he did feel her it was too distorted to pinpoint her exact location. Something was wrong with her energy and it made him almost wild with panic. If Zak hadn't been there, Cam probably would have torn down the entire neighborhood. As it was, Zak's calm and focused nature, even in a situation like this, rubbed off on him and he logically thought things through. Thea had been at Amber's; whatever happened, started there.

They arrived at Amber's and hovered in front of her window, peering inside. Cam was shocked to see Amber lying on the floor in the hallway. Thea was nowhere to be seen. They forced the window open and climbed inside.

Zak went to check on Amber while Cam searched the apartment for Thea. The couch had been made up into a bed as though Thea had been staying there. What had happened? He searched the bedrooms. One of them looked like the bedroom of a kid. Cam frowned. Where was Amber’s child? He made his way to the other bedroom. Nothing seemed out of place and yet something wasn’t right. He stood for a moment, trying to pinpoint what was making him uncomfortable. And then he suddenly realized that the energy in the apartment was off. Nephilim apartments usually felt energetically clean and pure, but this one was contaminated.

He made his way back to Zak who was still leaning over Amber. "Something feels strange in here, don't you think?" He walked around the living room and the kitchen again. The strange energy was everywhere. He glanced back at Zak. "Is she okay?"

Zak didn't answer.

Cam returned to him, approaching slowly. Zak knelt over Amber staring at her, his hand on her head, fingers buried in her hair.

Cam frowned. "Zak. is she okay?"

Zak seemed to come out of his daze and glanced at Cam. "Is this Thea's friend? Amber?"

"Yes, is she okay? What's wrong?"

Zak returned his gaze to Amber and stroked his fingers through her hair for a long moment. Then in one swift move, he scooped her up into his arms and cradled her as he carried her to the living room. He laid her out on the couch, gently adjusting her clothes and smoothing her hair.

Cam watched him, bewildered. "Zak!" This was no time to be fucking around grooming Amber.

"She's been drained of her energy," Zak said. "Like what Asmos demons do to human souls."

"So there was an Asmos demon here?"

Zak shook his head but didn't take his eyes off of Amber. "I don't feel any Asmos energy, do you? Something else happened. And… I'm not sure she is going to survive. Her soul already has severe older scars."

"Yes, an Asmos demon was draining her soul since she was a young girl. That was the demon Thea killed that caught the Dominion League's attention."

"Fuck," Zak muttered under his breath. He ran his fingers across Amber's cheek, lingering there for a long moment before brushing his palm across her forehead.

Cam watched him, unsure what was happening. He had never seen Zak touch anyone like that before, not even when he was healing Thea. "Can you heal her?"

"I'm going to fucking heal her if it kills me," Zak ground out, with a harshness that surprised Cam. "My guess is that Thea did this. The energy on the entry points is strange; it’s Thea's energy but it's tainted. I think she has already been taken over so be careful."

Cam swore in frustration. "How do I find her?"

"The strange energy in the apartment is from Thea, I think. Just follow it. Don't try to look for your normal connection with her; seek out the strange energy you can feel." He leaned over Amber and placed his hands on both of her shoulders. "As soon as I stabilize her I’ll come and find you."

“Her kid’s not here, so she might come home. Be prepared for that.”

Zak swallowed, glancing at Cam. “Is she… married.”

“I don’t think so.”

Zak breathed out. “I’ll stay visible in case she shows up, and explain that her mother’s ill.”

Cam dipped his head in a sharp nod, and without further hesitation jumped out of the window. He searched out the strange energy from the apartment and followed an erratic trail across the neighborhood. In its wake were a number of collapsed humans that had been shielded with demonic energy so that non-warrior angels and other humans couldn’t see them.

Cam's concern intensified. Thea did not have demonic energy, even if she was possessed. That meant demons were helping her. His fists clenched at the idea of it. What the hell was going on? What were they trying to do to Thea?

He finally came upon a busy part of the neighborhood where Thea had been. Again, collapsed humans lay in the street shielded from human view by demon energy. And then he saw her.

She was crouched over a human woman, who was on her knees while Thea's hands were around the woman's throat. Cam stared in horror as Thea began to glow. She was taking energy from humans! He watched, shocked. That energy could corrupt her and destroy all angelic energy that remained within her.

He soared down towards her and saw the small smile of pure satisfaction on her face. A wave of nausea rose in him and suddenly he realized what it must have felt like for Thea to see him enjoying the brutality of killing the Legion demons. She must have been horrified and sicked by the sight of him. He pushed those feelings away as he lowered a few feet from her.

The demons around her watched him but did not move to stop him. He noticed that they were shielding her from the other angels in the area, and they were Asmos demons, so they weren’t easily defeated.

The human woman dropped to the floor and Thea straightened, her smile spreading into a grin as she looked up to the sky and cracked her neck. When she lowered her eyes, she caught sight of him an expression of a rage crossed her face, as if the feeling suddenly boiled up inside of her. She turned towards him and he couldn't help noticing how fiercely beautiful she was, even though she looked wild and out of control—her pupils dilated, her nostrils flared.

“Thea,” Cam said, his voice low. “What are you doing?”

“Taking what I deserve,” she spat, her eyelids narrowed. "Taking what you could never give me. Peace, satisfaction, true power."

"Do you know how many humans you've hurt?" Cam asked, his voice hard. He took a step towards her, but she squared herself tilting her jaw upwards and readying herself.

"They're not hurt," she scoffed. "They'll recover. And I'm only taking from those that don't deserve it."

"They don't deserve their lives? That energy is their life-force."

Thea's amusement turned to a scowl. "They don't deserve more fulfilling lives than me. Why should I have nothing because you couldn't keep your promise?"

Cam took another step forward but she flew up into the air hovering above him, her expression ferocious. "This isn’t you, Thea. You've never wanted to hurt anyone."

"And what do you know?" Thea snapped. "You don't know me anymore. You've hardly spoken to me in nearly two years. People change."

"Not that much. Are you aware that Amber may not survive? Where’s her daughter?"

Thea's expression faltered but only for a split second. "Don't try to manipulate me. Amber has the life I should have had. She's ungrateful. I hate her and I hate you."

Cam let her words bounce off of him. This was definitely not Thea. He flapped into the air, hovering in front of her.

“Get out of my way, Cam,” she hissed, as numerous energy balls materialized around her.

Cam eyed them. They vibrated with energy more powerful than anything he felt from her before, but he was glad that she was still using angelic energy. He pulled together a shield. "Are you going to attack me, Thea?"

"I’ll do whatever it takes to get what I need."

Cam drifted closer to her. "And what's that?"

As he came closer, Thea growled. With a flick of her head, two energy balls shot towards him.

Cam braced himself. He would face her if he needed to in order to keep her safe. The more she fed off the humans, the more powerful she was going to get and the more she would become a shadow of her true self. If Cam didn't find a way to stop what was happening to her, she would grow completely out of control.

The energy balls hit his shield and the vibrations rocked him to his core. She was strong, stronger than he had ever remembered her being.

"You can't stop me," Thea taunted. "You might be the most powerful warrior in the Angel Realm, but there are more humans than there are angels. Isn't that what you told me once? I have all the power I need, right here."

No. He couldn't allow that. Cam flew toward her, intending to restrain her.

She closed the distance and threw a punch that he blocked. They exchanged a flurry of hard hits that didn’t connect, before Thea kicked him dead center in the chest. The blow knocked the wind out of him. He grabbed hold of her ankle and pulled her towards him, holding onto her tight. She struggled, eventually kneeing him in the stomach and he was forced to let her go. She twisted and slapped her hand down on his neck. Immediately, he felt energy being sucked out of him. He pushed her back sharply with a growl, and she laughed, her eyes bright and hungry. Flapping away from him, she drew on energy to form a spike, which she shot at his face. He darted to one side but still felt the energy sear his cheek. Blood trickled down his face as she flew backward away from him.

"I’m more powerful now, Cam," Thea called, creating more energy balls. "I'm not the weak Nephilim you trained. Stay out of my way."

Her energy balls pummeled him, seemingly from every angle. He expanded his shield and created another one underneath to absorb the shock waves, but he lost sight of her as he tried to deflect them. By the time they stopped, Thea was nowhere to be seen.

Chapter Fourteen

THEA

The voice was ecstatic.

‘Why didn't I think of it before?’ it said almost gleefully. ‘Angels have the most power. And you can take us to the Angel Realm can't you, Thea?’

Thea was half conscious inside her mind. She sensed Cam but couldn't communicate with him. The voice was controlling almost every part of her now and it wanted even more. This didn’t seem like a dream anymore—it seemed too real.

Drawing from her memories, the voice took her to the nearest portal, but when she arrived, she saw something she hadn't seen before.

A girl stood at the portal. She looked to be about fourteen years old and wore normal human clothes under a pale green robe, like what angels normally wore in the Angel Realm. She had creamy wings and a golden staff, and pure black, curly hair.

She stared at Thea in confusion. "Why can you see me?" she asked.

"Who are you?" the voice made Thea say.

"I'm the Cherubim that guards this portal," the girl said, taking a step towards Thea. "But you shouldn't be able to see me in this form."

"What do you mean?" Thea looked at the wall for the symbol of the angel, but it wasn't there. "Are you normally sketched into the wall?"

The girl nodded. "That is how angels see me. Demons and other beings see me in this form."

"Why? What do you do?"

"I do what all Cherubim's do. I guard the portals against demons and humans and any other beings that are not angels but somehow manage to find them."

"Do you know who and what I am?" Thea asked.

"Of course," the girl said, a smile on her lips. "But you are more angel than you are human, so you have always been permitted. That's why I'm confused."

Thea tried to grasp meaning from what the girl said, but the voice forced her thoughts aside and made Thea shrug and say, "I think it's something that needs to be brought to the attention of Thrones. I'm going to see the Dominion League, I'll mention it to them."

The girl stared at her for a long moment, her eyebrows furrowed. "I'm in direct communication with Thrones, I'll let them know."

For a moment the voice contemplated killing the girl, but the girl tapped her staff and an arch appeared where the portal was supposed to be.

"Thank you," Thea said, with a forced smile. "It's a shame I don't get to see you guys."

The Cherubim lifted a shoulder. "We’re not very talkative or sociable," she said with a wry smile. "We love our families and we draw energy from them to repel undesirable beings entering the Angel Realm. We don't need more than that. It was lovely to meet you, though."

Thea nodded at her and stepped through into the Angel Realm.

She immediately came upon two angels, a male and a female, who seemed to have also just entered at the arrival grounds. Thea smiled at them both, the hunger in her rising at the feel of their energies. She strode to them, blocking their way. Both angels looked at her strangely, but before they could speak, Thea darted forward and clamped her hands on both of their necks. The angel energy surged through Thea like a lightning strike. It electrified her body, crackling throughout her limbs and down her spine. The voice kept drawing all the energy from the two angels until they collapsed on the ground in a heap of limbs.

‘Yes,’ breathed the voice. ‘This is what we need.’ It sounded as though it was high. ‘More,’ it demanded. ‘The angels have never accepted you, Thea. They’ve never looked after you. This is the only way they can ever be of use.’

Thea was vaguely aware of the instruction and what she was doing. All feelings gone, she moved as the voice forced her to, emotionless and with a foggy mind, taking to the air seeking out more angels.

She encountered three Powers walking in the direction of the training center. Swooping down, she sent a massive blast of energy into the back of the head of the male on the right, knocking him to the ground, while she dropped between the two females and placed her hands their necks, pulled on their energy. When she got to the third, he was groggily getting up. She lingered back; he had more energy than the others, more for her to take, and the voice was excited by that. He didn’t even fight her when she lunged at him, the surprise on his face almost comical. She drained him greedily, reveling in his energy until all life left him, and his body evaporated into a curling mist.

The voice was thick with satisfaction, unable to control the glee and admiration in its tone. It praised her and encouraged her as it propelled her forward, heading in any direction. It was only concerned with finding more angels. Thea stopped often, draining singular angels or those in small groups who were out and about, but it was late evening in the Angel Realm and most angels returned to their quarters as it got dark.

‘Is that so?’ the voice said thoughtfully, as it read Thea’s half-formed thought.

It headed her into a nearby spiral-shaped building that housed mostly Virtue angels. Based on Dani’s powers, Thea knew Virtue angels could be extremely powerful and formidable but not all of them were like Dani.

‘Exactly,’ agreed the voice. ‘In your current state of power, none of them will be a match for you. Not even those Power angels were able to get the upper-hand on you, Thea. You should give yourself more credit.’

She flew up to the top floor of the building and forced her way through a window, sliding in and landing in a hallway that connected the rooms of the Virtues. She blasted open the door with an energy ball, then pushed her way inside. She drained the Virtue in that room and moved on to the next one. She moved from room to room, taking the energy from every Virtue she came across before she made her way down the staircase to the next floor.

She arrived on the next floor, only to encounter a number of Virtues, ready for her. One of them shot off a bolt of electric energy that hit Thea like a punch in the stomach. Thea kicked out at the other angel nearby, knocking her over, then felt arms grabbing her and restraining from behind as another Virtue shot another bolt into her shoulder. Thea howled and ripped away from the angel behind her, writhing away from his grasp. She created five energy balls and flung them out in all directions towards the angels. As they hit, she went after the angel that had restrained her. She pulled back her fist and punched him in the face, feeling the crunch of his nose and the warm gush of blood. He fell over and she held her hands out over him, began draining his energy without even touching him, pulsing through her palms as she drew from him with her outstretched palm. The other angel, further down the corridor, began to get up and Thea moved one of her palms to face her and began draining her too, taking from both of them at once.

The voice laughed through her with absolute glee when it realized she didn’t even need to touch them to drain them; she just needed to get close enough.

By the time she left the building, almost all the angels were partially drained of their energy, and it pulsed vigorously within Thea.

‘We still don’t have enough yet,’ the voice said, gently. ‘We need more, and we need to get it quicker.’

Thea stared out over the Realm. As the brilliant blue sky gently darkened, the Stream shone bright and beautiful in the distance.

‘Yes, of course,’ the voice said. ‘We need to draw from the Stream. Hopefully, we can draw directly from the Creator and get all the power we need.’

Thea shot into the air with one powerful flap and made her way toward it.

Before she was even halfway, Power angels surrounded her, keeping their distance.

"Thea," called one of them. He flew closer to her. "Fight it, Thea! You can fight it!"

Thea peered at the speaker and realized it was Asteroth. A jolt of awareness shot through the fog around her mind.

The voice laughed inside of her. ‘Does he honestly think that he can persuade you? Who is he anyway?’

Thea fought against the voice as it delved into her memories, drawing on those of Asteroth training her, speaking to her in the Dominion League room, and seeing her when she was ill.

‘He is unimportant,’ the voice said. ‘If we drain him maybe the others will keep their distance.’

Desperation rose in Thea as the voice forced her hands up against her will, her palms facing Asteroth. No, she couldn't allow this to happen. She had to stop the voice!

"Tap into it, Thea," Asteroth shouted to her. "Tap into the energy, use it for yourself. Use it to repel—"

At that moment, the voice began to pull energy from him. It flowed like a river out of him, folding and twisting itself into her palms, pulling from him relentlessly.

Thea tried to scream at the voice, tried to tell the voice to stop. She fought against the fogginess in her mind, the rigid grip on her body but she could not break the hold it had on her. She watched in horror as Asteroth was drained completely, disappearing into a curling misty smoke.

The Powers hovering in the air, surrounding her, stared at her in disbelief. The voice laughed and moved Thea forward towards the Stream. The Powers kept in formation around her but didn't try to engage her.

Thea's feelings dulled again, the horror of the event fading away.

Chapter Fifteen

CAM

Cam rocketed through the Angel Realm, heading directly toward the strange energy he felt emanating from Thea.

His heart pounded in an erratic rhythm as he kept tight control of the panic and anxiety that swirled in him. Thea entering the Angel Realm was the worst possible scenario. The amount of damage that she could cause here was immeasurable and exactly what the demons would want.

Flying faster than he’d ever done, he was still too far away when he watched Thea drain and extinguish Asteroth. A cold shock shuddered through his body. She killed him. Killed Asteroth. She hadn't even touched him.

He could barely breathe. Thea killed an angel; he grappled with the thought. His Thea, somewhere inside her own mind must be horrified. She liked Asteroth, well, she liked him more than the other Dominion League angels. Surely that act would take a toll on her.

He watched her move towards the center of the square. He’d been too gentle with her when he fought her earlier. He should have attacked her as though she were a demon, knocking her out so that she could be detained. Her energy had changed so much that when he first searched for her, he wasn’t sure where she was and if she had left the human world or if he just could no longer detect her. It was only a guess that she entered the Angel Realm, and it was now clear she had absorbed the energies of many powerful angels. If he had fought her fully, using all the gifts the Creator gave him, he probably could have stopped her from getting into the Angel Realm. Asteroth’s death was on him, not Thea.

Apprehension bubbled to the surface as he made his way to her. He had already attacked her and cut her before and couldn't bring himself to even think about attacking her again. But what was the alternative? He watched as the Powers surrounding her flew with her, staying in their circle formation and yet not sure how to engage her. He was the one who really knew her, the one that had trained her, and the only one who was capable of bringing her down.

As he moved along with her towards the Stream, he could feel the stolen energy from yards away, radiating off her like heat from the sun. She was already so powerful. How much more did this demon want?

Approaching the Stream, the Powers surrounding her seemed to realize that they let her get too far. They began to attack using the method normally reserved for fighting a singular Legion demon. Two Powers on opposing sides of the circle attacked then retreated, then another two did the same, and then another two. This kept Thea busy enough to not drain any of them and stopped her advancement towards the Stream.

However, she learned quickly. Cam watched as she kicked one Power in the face, hard enough for his head to snap back and send him spiraling down, while she drained the other attacking Power.

Cam created a number of energy balls and spikes, readying himself to attack. He moved to release a spike in her direction but hesitated. If he hurt her again, how would she ever get over it? How would he?

Cam saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see three large angels approaching. His breath left him when he realized that they were Thrones, and he knew then that they were coming to kill her. His heart sank. He turned towards Thea.

Flying at her, he launched a spike and an energy ball directly at her. Thea was draining two Powers when the energy hit and sent her spinning away from the Stream. She flapped her wings hard to stop her trajectory, righted herself and turned back towards him in a fury. Cam prepared himself to fight her. He had to. If he didn't, if he couldn't stop her, the Thrones would kill her without hesitation. Thea launched her own energy balls at him, and he billowed his shield out to create another one underneath.

They threw energy ball after energy ball at each other, each more powerful than the last until Thea pulled a dagger from her waist and threw it at him. He caught it, although it cut the middle of his hand. He glanced over at the Thrones. They were watching. He knew that if it looked like he was out of control, they would step in.

"Do you think you're going to make it out of here?” Cam yelled to the demon he knew was in her head. “If you don't stop now, your death will be painful."

"I don't fear death," Thea snarled. "And I have no intention of stopping—you’re not as powerful as you think you are."

"Do you think I’m going to let you get anywhere near the Stream?"

"You’ve already let me get this far. Your incompetence is astounding." Thea hit him again with another energy ball.

This time he did not respond, however he did fly backward as if it had propelled him backward. Each time she hit him he lured her back leading her away from the Stream and towards his building. Suddenly she stopped, glancing back at the Stream as if realizing what was happening. He charged at her, grabbing onto her before she had the chance to send another energy ball. They grappled in the air, Cam trying to restrain her while Thea tried to land punches and kicks on him. She was much stronger now, but he still knew some techniques that could restrain her, even if only for a short while.

He leaned to the side, flapping his wings, heading to the floating building that housed both of their quarters. As they turned in the air, Thea kicked him off of her and he fell, but not before grabbing hold of her and pulling her down with him.

They landed on the roof of their building and immediately continued their hand-to-hand combat, full throttle. They moved so fast, that it was almost a blur. They both used a combination of punches, kicks, and hits as well as energy combat. Cam blocked everything… and so did Thea. They continued to fight and it seemed as though neither could get a good blow on the other. It was as though they were in a fluid duet, choreographed to perfection to ensure neither of them outshone the other.

Cam thought back to how in sync they always were, how they always fit together naturally in their battles with demons as though they read each other's minds. Now that their strength was almost equal, it was unlikely that they would be able to do any true damage to each other, which gave Cam confidence that he would not hurt her.

Thea grew more frustrated as they fought, her face growing dark and tight with anger the longer they remained locked in a stalemate. Cam slowly moved backward, varying his pathways so she wouldn’t be able to tell that he was still leading her. As they got to the edge of the building he grabbed her and leaned over, dropping off the edge and down past the top floor and crashing onto his balcony.

He shielded her from the full weight of the fall, but she still hit hard. They both groaned, and he rolled away from her as quickly as he could, backing away into his quarters.

"Thea," he said, as she moaned and tried to get herself up. "Fight it. Talk to me."

She sat up, her eyes still alive with anger. "That's the second time you've tried to kill me," she said, staggering up to her feet. "There's nothing to talk about."

"I don't know who you are," Cam said, coldly. "But I'm not talking to you, so shut the fuck up. I'm talking to Thea. I know she's in there somewhere."

Her face twisted in surprise, and she glared at him but did not respond.

"Thea, you can fight this." He inched back into his quarters until he was in the middle of his social room. "You’re strong. You’re the strongest being I know. Don't let this destroy you. However this demon has got into your head, remember that nothing it’s saying to you is true."

"She can't hear you," Thea’s voice said, nonchalantly. "She hasn't been able to hear or see most things that have happened."

"I love you, Thea." Cam ignored her words. "Remember how it used to be between us. We lived here, you looked after me and I looked after you." Cam tried to gauge her reaction, confident he was getting through. She hadn't been under the influence of the demon long enough to completely lose her own mind. If he could get her to remember, to realize her true feelings for him, maybe she could fight it. He hadn't planned on what to say to her once he got her back to his quarters, but he knew he needed to say something, he had to try and stop her without hurting her. He slowly backed into the bedroom and she followed, cautiously. At least she wasn't attacking him. Cam took that as a good sign and hoped that it meant she was fighting, somewhere within herself. Maybe he was still able to reach some part of her.

"You loved me, Thea. Do you remember?"

She didn't say anything but stared at him intently. Cam dared to approach her, to stand close to her, but after a split second she backed away further into the room. Cam moved so that he was between Thea and the door.

"We used to spend nights here," Cam said. "Nestling, making love—"

"Fucking," she corrected in a dangerous voice.

"—talking, making plans," Cam continued, as though she hadn't even spoken.

"You destroyed my life. You never loved me, Cam!"

"I love everything about you," Cam said, in a dangerous voice of his own. "I love the way you laugh, I love the way you taste, I love the way you demand my cock in your pussy."

Thea suddenly looked apprehensive.

"I love the way you come, I love your smell, I love the way you chew your lip when you’re thinking. And most of all," he said slowly, slightly leaning toward her, "I love that you’re mine. And I will not let you go without a fight. So whoever you are, demon, you will have to kill me to get Thea out of here."

Thea paused, her face twitching. Her body seemed to be frozen on the spot. She opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it and for a long moment; they just stood there locked in a stare. Thea took a step closer to Cam, and her expression transformed into a determined glare. Her energy swirled and darted around within her, and a snarl graced her lips. And in that instant, Cam suddenly doubted himself—Thea was going to kill him.

Chapter Sixteen

CAM

After what seemed like an endless moment poised to attack, Thea crumpled to the ground, her face deathly pale. Cam rushed to her, cradling her head in his lap and leaned down to listen to her chest to make sure she was still breathing. Her breath was deep and slow as though she was in a heavy sleep. Cam picked her up and lifted her into his arms, carrying her to the bed.

He rested her down, stroking the hair back from her face. She didn't look peaceful; her eyes darted around behind her eyelids as though she were tormented by images she couldn't quite catch, and a moan escaped her lips. Cam lowered to press a kiss on to her mouth. She quietened and settled into a calmer state once his lips touched her and he felt her sigh into his mouth.

He moved to whisper in her ear. “Stay strong, my mate.” He pulled back to stare at her, wishing he could see her blue eyes, wondering if this was the last time he would ever get to feel her like this. He stroked his hand through her gorgeous brown hair just as a heavy knock slammed the door.

He knew who it was before he went to answer it—the Thrones.

Cam closed the bedroom door and went to let them in. A number of Thrones and two Dominions pushed inside, the seven of them crowding the apartment.

Laylah and Barakiel from the Dominion League were among them, as well as Sal. Unfortunately, Adonai was also there.

"How can I help you all?" Cam asked, in his most pleasant voice.

"Stop fucking around!" Adonai demanded. "Where is she?"

"Keep your voice down," Cam snapped. "She is here, but I will not allow you to hurt her."

They made to move towards the bedroom but Cam stepped in front of the door, his chest risen, his arms crossed. He blocked the way standing solidly in front of the door frame.

"Step aside, Camael. She has killed many," one of the other Thrones said. He was a tall, gaunt angel with a nest of blond on the top of his head. "She must be contained."

"Just contained?" Cam asked, a wild heat burning in him. “No other punishment?”

"Elithea is too powerful and too dangerous to be allowed to live at this point," Adonai said, his voice sharp. "She's killed both angels and humans and severely weakened our Realm in the process. She’s damaged many of our best fighters."

"Yes," Camael said, calmly. "So tell me which one of you will also perish for allowing this to happen. She is an unwitting victim; however, you all knew that this outcome was a possibility. You were all aware of crucial information about her mother that was withheld from her, from me, and Zakiel. And yet you let her enter the Angel Realm, you trained her, and gave her quarters. Then you caused her emotional distress, which allowed the demons to make her a target. So tell me, which one of you is going to be ‘contained’ with her?" He paused looking at each of them in turn, breathing heavily. They all looked taken aback, with the exception of Adonai who looked even angrier. "And on top of that," he continued after a moment, "the Dominion League also need to be disbanded and kept in confinement because they knew as well, didn't they? You were too busy sending her on assignments instead of making sure she was properly healed and safe."

"Yes, I suppose it was too much to ask to expect you, the supposed celebrated Power of the Realm, to actually protect her," Adonai said hotly, the viciousness in his voice scratching at Cam. "You’ve done a poor job of that since the very beginning. You were asked to train her and you ended up allowing her to face an Asmos demon on her own. You were asked to help her with her mother and you ended up attacking her. You were asked to accompany her to the human world and you ended up abandoning her so that a demon could take hold of her." Adonai was in the midst of a full-blown rant but Cam was trembling with an anger that he could barely contain. "You have done a poor job all around," Adonai spat, "and now you seek to insult us by placing blame elsewhere."

A roar ripped out of Cam so loud at least two of the Thrones stepped back. "I came to you and asked you to allow me to mate with her," he bellowed. "If you even had an inkling that something like this could have happened, you should have allowed it. You know that possession cannot take place in an angel that is mated. I would not have left her at all if I'd known that this was even possible! But she was already being possessed while I was locked up by you!" Cam glared at them all. "Everything that has happened is on the Throne and the Dominion orders. I will not allow you to place any blame whatsoever on the Nephilim that came here and did everything you asked her to do."

Adonai did not respond, although he looked about ready to attack Cam. Sal placed a hand on his arm and pushed him back slightly as he stepped forward himself. "We didn’t know anything about potential possession when you requested to mate her, Camael,” he said, in a quiet voice. “However, now is not the time to assign blame. What do you propose we do with Thea? I'm assuming you have not managed to relieve her from possession?"

"Let me mate with her now. The demon will be unable to keep control of her if we are mated."

Sal shook his head. "She's too dangerous to mate with. It could kill you. We can't afford that now—if the Angel Realm was attacked at this precise moment, we would be at great risk. We need you to be able to fight."

Cam ground his teeth in frustration and ran a hand through his hair. Of course they needed him now when they were in trouble. Just as always. He thought for a long moment trying to come up with something, anything that would get them to spare her. There had to be something they could do to destroy the demon’s hold on Thea and get her back from the darkness. And suddenly an idea came to mind. “Did you detect Thea when she entered the Angel Realm?” he asked.

“No,” the nest-hair Throne said. “But that was only because a Cherubim let her in. It seems her energy has changed enough that she can no longer see the portals.”

Cam swallowed, willing himself to say what he was thinking—it was dangerous enough that Thea was possessed… his idea would put her in even greater danger.

“If that is the case,” he said, slowly. “She can probably enter the Demon Realm.”

A silence filled the room. Laylah and Barakiel glanced at each other.

“You want her mother,” Cam pointed out. “You know she’s in the Demon Realm. Let me take her there.”

Desperation clung to his chest and they all stared back at him. If the Thrones and Dominion League didn’t take his offer, if they didn’t listen to him, Cam didn’t want to think about what that meant for Thea. No matter what, he would not let them hurt her. Clearly, they wouldn’t want to kill him or hurt him—not when they needed him so desperately, but they also saw Thea as an ultimate threat.

“That is a Dominion League problem,” Adonai said, dismissively. “Such issues are not a concern for Thrones. Our responsibility is the Angel Realm and—”

“Then you are not best placed to make this decision,” Laylah said, smoothly. “Thank you for deferring to us.” She turned to Cam, as Adonai’s jaw clenched.

“That would be a major risk,” Laylah said. “We have never sent any angel directly into the Demon Realm. You do know it would be very painful?”

“It won’t be painful for her if her energy is saturated with such power,” Cam replied.

“I mean for you,” Laylah said.

Cam stared at her evenly. “Compared to having my wings ripped from my back, I’m sure it’ll be a breeze.”

Adonai made a noise of disgust and turned away, heading to the other side of the room.

“Why has she stopped attacking?” Barakiel asked, curiously. “How are you controlling her?”

Cam chose his words carefully. “I appealed to Thea through reminding her of our relationship. She fought the demon.” He didn’t mention that she had collapsed.

“That’s not exactly a reliable method to enter into the Demon Realm with.” Adonai countered, pacing with annoyance. Things might not be going Cam’s way but Adonai wasn’t getting his way either. Cam watched him, a dark amusement stirring in him.

“I just need more time to encourage Thea to reject the demon,” Cam said, ignoring Adonai completely. “If I can reach her, I can help her.”

Sal looked at Laylah. “If Thea is able to gain control of her own mind and body, she will be able to use all of the power she has absorbed.”

“And in the Demon Realm, that would be useful,” Cam added. “She would be a powerful weapon for us in the heart of their Realm.”

The implication of that hung in the room.

Laylah glanced at Barakiel, who was looking at Cam thoughtfully.

“Do you think she will kill her mother?” he asked.

“If she does, will she be pardoned by the Angel Realm for the things she’s done while possessed?” Cam asked back.

Adonai growled at the back of the room and Sal shot him a look of warning. The Thrones and Dominions looked at each other.

“We need a panel meeting,” announced the nest-hair Throne.

“There’s no time for that,” a female Throne said. Turning to address the whole group, she spoke briskly. “I do not believe Elithea would have committed these crimes while in her right mind, and therefore I don’t feel it’s appropriate for us to condemn her to death. There was clearly a failing somewhere in determining her susceptibility to possession, but there will be time to discuss that after this matter is resolved. If this assignment with her mother is of great importance, I am inclined to allow this.”

“Agreed,” Sal said.

“Agreed,” muttered Adonai, from the back of the room.

“Agreed,” the other three Thrones said, overlapping each other.

“I also move that we discard all charges against Camael,” Sal said, smoothly. “There is no point in entertaining any notion that we will be able to carry out his sentence after his importance to us has increased.”

The other Thrones agreed swiftly, Adonai being the last one to do so.

“Tell me why Thea’s mother is so important to the Dominion League,” Cam asked Laylah. “You’ve been very concerned about her from the beginning.”

Laylah pursed her lips.

“Just tell him,” Barakiel huffed in annoyance. “Asteroth would have done so.”

Laylah squared her shoulders. “The Creator asked us to find her.”

All of the Thrones stiffened.

“What do you mean?” the Throne with the nest-hair thundered.

“I mean,” Laylah said calmly, “that the Creator set us on the path of this assignment as soon as Thea became known to us. He was particularly concerned about finding and relieving her mother.”

“How?” Sal demanded. “Did a Seraphim come to see you?”

“No. He contacted us, all of the Dominion League, through the Stream, all on the same day.”

She,” Barakiel muttered, somewhat playfully.

Laylah shrugged. “You feel him one way, I feel him another.”

“This is outrageous,” fumed a thick-set Throne with a reddish tone to his skin. “We are the ones who have the most direct connection to the Creator. We should have been consulted. You have never once mentioned this to us!”

A couple of the other Thrones nodded and grumbled in agreement.

“It is the Creator’s privilege to communicate with us as she sees fit,” Barakiel said, his voice a vicious rasp. “The whole point of the Stream is that she has direct access to all her angels. You have no right to question her choices!”

The Throne who spoke was taken aback while the others bristled. “Thea’s mother must be investigated by us,” insisted the female Throne. “Her crime with the Stream and her pregnancy falls within our domain. You had a responsibility to tell us.”

“No.” Laylah served her with a cold stare. “This is a Dominion League issue since Oriah was a fallen angel and living in the human world. Thrones have no place weighing in on this—we do not work for you. You already took our most capable Power out of commission for two years, after forbidding him to mate with the Nephilim the Creator tethered him to, which would have stabilized him and protected her! Back off!”

Each angel order glared at the other, and Cam realized their hostility was probably caused by the disruption of energy and deaths inside the Angel Realm.

"Why did the Creator want you to find Thea's mother?" he asked before things got out of hand—their dispute didn’t help Thea.

Laylah dragged her eyes from the Thrones. "He wanted us to locate her and relieve her from her suffering, as a matter of urgency. He suggested that Thea be involved so that she can get closure." Laylah's voice softened. "It was never our intention to cause her distress, Cam."

Cam digested the information. The Creator had been behind it all, but unfortunately Cam didn't know why. And the Creator hadn't offered any answers while Cam had been connecting to the Stream. Maybe if he had been connecting to the Stream all along, he would have known more.

"I need a team of Powers who would be willing to enter the Demon Realm, if necessary," he said to Laylah and Barakiel as a firm order. "I need them to gather immediately at the portal at the center of Thea's old neighborhood. As soon as I'm able to get through to Thea, we will be there."

Barakiel nodded. "It will be done."

The Dominion League angels took their leave briskly, and the Thrones followed behind.

Cam turn towards the bedroom door, taking a deep breath to deal with what he was about to do. It would be difficult for both of them, but it was necessary. Thea had to gain control. It was the only way.

He entered the bedroom and stopped dead. The bed was empty, the window had been smashed, and Thea was gone.

Chapter Seventeen

THEA

Thea was deep in her dream, completely lost in a world that wasn’t the one she’d left when she’d passed out.

Her entire body felt like it was being ripped apart when she fought with the voice to spare Cam. It had screamed at Thea to let it drain him, to kill him, and get him out of the way. But Thea held onto every ounce of control and discipline she had to stop it from happening. She knew for sure that this wasn’t just a dream when she felt so much physical feeling in her body; fighting with the Powers, the epic fight with Cam and the drop onto his balcony—it all confirmed everything was real. And if it was real, there was no way she could let anything happen to Cam. With a roar that echoed painfully in her mind, she had fallen, with a swoop, into darkness.

The next thing she knew, she was in her childhood bedroom.

She sat crossed-legged on the small and ragged bed, draped in a long nightgown and staring at the door.

She was waiting for something, but not sure what. She only knew it was extremely important and that she had to be quiet and wait patiently, like a good Nephilim.

After what seemed like a long time, the doorknob turned and she straightened. When it opened, a woman entered—the same woman she had seen before, the one who had been the shadow. Thea stared at her as she floated into the room. She seemed unreal; her skin glowed, her hair rested perfectly around her face and her lilac gown was elegant and flowing. She looked stunning, and the sight of her stirred a deep recognition within Thea. Warmth, power, and feelings of trust and hope enveloped her as the woman came close.

The woman approached the bed and sat next to Thea taking her hands in her own. The woman's skin too hot, almost uncomfortable.

‘Thea, listen to me,’ the woman said, though her mouth didn't move. The voice was directly inside of Thea's mind, filling her skull with a vibration that was both soothing and irritating. ‘You're so powerful now. You need to make careful choices.’

Thea couldn't respond. It was as though the woman's presence had immobilized and mesmerized her.

‘Everyone in your life has hurt you in some way, Thea,’ the woman continued. ‘Especially Cam. He's disappointed you over and over again. He has lied to you. He has put you in danger constantly. He's hurt you when he promised he wouldn’t. Cam doesn't love or care about you at all.’

Thea fought hard against the woman's mesmerizing effect. "That's not true," she managed to say out loud, her voice bursting through the blanket of paralysis. "He's done so much for me. More than I could ever do for him."

‘My, you are a strong one,’ the woman marveled.

Feelings of pride rose in Thea but she pushed them down, knowing they were false.

‘Do you know what your beloved Cam is doing right now?’ the woman asked. ‘He is negotiating to use you as a weapon in the Demon Realm.’

"N-N-no," Thea stuttered. "That's not true!"

The woman laughed, sweet and soft. ‘Listen for yourself.’

“I just need more time to encourage Thea to reject the demon. If I can reach her, I can help her.” That was Cam's voice. “And in the Demon Realm, that would be useful. She would be a powerful weapon for us in the heart of their Realm.”

Thea tried not to let her heart sink. Even if what she was hearing was true, there could be a good reason. Cam always made good decisions.

‘Did he make a good decision when he took the Legion task force assignment?’ The woman asked, her voice embracing a hard bitterness. ‘Did he make a good decision when he refused to heal himself from his pain? Did he make a good decision when he cut you? Right now he is intending to come back in here and trick you into fighting against me.’

Thea tried to shrug off the feelings of doubt crowding her. "Who are you?"

The woman leaned forward and placed a blazing palm on Thea's cheek. ‘I am your mother.’

Thea's head spun, and the resistance that she had been holding onto slipped from her.

‘Come to me, Thea,’ the woman said. ‘You are strong enough. Come to me and get the answers you have always wanted. You don't need Cam. You don't need any of them.’

With no resistance left, her mother's words rooted into the core of her being and she agreed.

‘Good, let's go.’

Thea woke, shivering. She climbed out of Cam's bed and headed for the door but paused when she heard voices on the other side. Looking around, she headed back to the bedroom.

‘Out of the window,’ said her mother. ‘Use your power.’

Thea headed to one of the windows and placed both palms on the glass. Focusing, she sent a hot smoldering energy into the window, shattering it. Shifting into her angel-form, she jumped out and hurdled across the Angel Realm towards the nearest portal.

‘Don't be distracted by anything you see,’ her mother warned. ‘Keep going, I'll direct you.’

Although Thea felt completely in control of her body now, she had the feeling it was a false perception. If she refused to do anything her mother wanted, she would probably be forced.

She ignored the flurry of movement she could see in her peripheral vision and dove through a portal back into the human world and back into her old neighborhood.

‘Head to the main square.’

Thea flew as quickly as she could to the main square, keeping an eye around her for any angels heading her way but none seem to be. As she approached the square, the voice directed her to a nearby alley. It was pretty unremarkable, but as she walked down it, she heard voices.

"… fucking her like he was trying to get out of hell."

A throaty chuckle and a high-pitched laugh rose into the air. "When do you think she's gonna come round to us?"

"Maybe when—"

Thea slowed down as she saw two tiny beings leaning against one of the walls. They were deformed, little creatures with shaved heads and bare feet. Their skin was a slimy metal gray and their eyes were large and bright. They wore no clothes other than a scrap of underwear that was bulging from its contents.

‘Don't worry about these goblins,’ said the voice in her mind. ‘They’re a little sex obsessed. They shouldn't give you any trouble.’

They stopped speaking as she approached them.

"Well, look at this one," said one of them, appreciatively. "Nephilim, unmated, only had sex once in the last couple years."

"That can't be right. Look at her, she's definitely being fucked regularly."

The first one was about to respond when he froze. "She can see us. Shit! She can see us!"

Thea slowed to a stop behind them, unsure what to say but the voice did. "Calm down!" she snapped. "It's me. Let me through."

Their big eyes opened even wider, and they stuttered and almost fell over themselves. It would have been comical if they weren't so disgusting.

"Of course, of course," one of them gushed. "We didn't realize it was you, mistress, please forgive us."

Still gushing, they moved to stand about two feet apart. They placed both of their hands on the wall at the same time, fingers facing each other. A strip of light flicked to life between their hands, and Thea's body began to move forward without her instruction.

She stepped through the beaming light and into the Demon Realm.

***

She stood in a city of metallic buildings of all colors. They rose up; different heights and widths, their gleaming tones creating an odd unity. In the distance, there was one building that stretched higher than any other. Made of a shiny golden material, it was shaped like a cone and shone brightly against the silvery, rose, bronze, emerald, and gray buildings that surrounded it. The cloudless sky was a midnight blue that stretched over the city, offering no stars or moon. In the far distance, through a misty silvery fog, the outline of enormous mountains was just about visible.

Thea didn't have time to look and examine her surroundings further. She walked as her mother directed, heading deeper into the city, down winding roads and crossing busy squares. Surprisingly, the Demon Realm was filled with people. They walked in groups, they lounged about, they laughed, chatted, and hung out in various areas of the Realm in good moods. They didn’t look like demons. In fact, they looked like large humans of all shapes, sizes and colors. No one spoke to her or barely looked her way.

There was something in the atmosphere that made Thea uncomfortable. The air was strange. It had a hard, crackling quality that made it difficult for Thea to breathe. Apart from that, there was also a moisture that clung to her skin and penetrated her to the bone, making her feel heavy and melancholy.

The voice directed her through the city until she arrived at the golden cone building. Two thickset men stood at the entrance but they just watched her, allowing her to walk past them and into the building. Her mother directed her down a few flights of stairs and through a few corridors until she arrived at a set of beautifully engraved silver and scarlet double doors. As Thea stepped to them, they opened automatically.

Inside, the room opened out into a gorgeous, spacious lounge, richly furnished and decorated in various shades of red, cream, and black with gold fittings. On one of the sofas sat the woman Thea had come to recognize as her mother, but she looked nothing like how she looked in the dreams. She sat in a relaxed position on the sofa, her arms stretched out and resting on the back of it while her legs were crossed. She was still stunningly beautiful, with pale skin that almost glowed against the red in the room and deep brown hair piled on top of her head, bouncy tendrils swaying around her face. However, her expression was hard and the look in her blue-gray eyes felt dangerous. She was heavily made up, with smoky eyes and maroon lips that were a stark contrast to the natural beauty Thea had seen in her dreams. Wearing a low-cut, skintight top and tight leather trousers that showed an amazing figure, she didn't look particularly motherly, but Thea wasn't expecting much, she was a demon after all.

“Tsk. That doesn’t mean anything,” her mother said smiling. “Mothers can still dress like this.” Her face softened as she looked over Thea. "Welcome, Elithea." Thea instantly saw herself in her mother's looks. It was almost eerie.

"Release me," Thea said. "I cannot have a conversation with you if you are controlling me."

Her mother sighed and Thea felt her withdraw the strong clutch on her body and mind, yet she didn’t disappear completely. Thea still felt no emotions and she was frozen still, however she could suddenly breathe better, and could turn her head and move her face.

Thea studied her mother. She looked well, confident and self-assured. It seemed like Thea should be annoyed about this, but she couldn't remember why. "Why did you bring me here?" she asked.

Her mother raised an eyebrow. "Is that the first thing you have to say to me?"

Thea thought back, trying to remember all the things she wanted to ask her mother, but her memory was cloudy. She couldn't even remember where she had been before arriving here. When was the last time she saw Cam?

"Oh, this Cam guy yet again," her mother said, exasperated. "Why does he fill your thoughts so much?"

Thea thought hard for the answer, struggling through the treacle-like memories in her mind. "He’s my natural mate."

"So?" her mother said, as if it was the most stupid answer she could have given. "Just because he is your natural mate does not mean he deserves to be. He has to earn it. And from what I've seen in your mind, he hasn't earned anything." She lowered her arms to rest her hands in her lap. "You could do better."

"Maybe that kind of advice would have been useful if you had actually been a mother to me all these years," Thea stated simply.

Her mother scowled. "You have no idea what was going on. You have no idea what it took to make sure things happened the way I needed them to happen."

Thea shrugged. "So, tell me."

Her mother's expression deepened into an expression of pain. She lost the self-assuredness in her manner; her fingers fidgeted, her eyes lowered, she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she thought. When she looked up again, tears were in her eyes. "I never meant to not be there Thea. I never meant for you to grow up without me. I didn't think it through. I made so many mistakes."

Her hold on Thea slightly slipped, and a surge of anger swirled in Thea before disappearing again.

"Why did you leave me?" Thea demanded. "Why did you leave us? You wanted to give Dad a child, and you managed to do it—you fought all the odds to do it—and then you left! Why did you leave?"

Oriah took a breath. "Once I got pregnant, I thought everything would be fine. I would be able to give Mark at least one child and we would be complete, a complete family. But I didn't factor in the demons."

"What do you mean?"

"Demons are attracted to certain types of energy. Angelic energy doesn't interest them much unless it is blended or mixed with something else. In order to get pregnant with you, I took energy directly from the Stream. Pure, undiluted, energy from the Creator. That energy made sure that you were able to survive each time I entered the Realm, but it also made you a unique being; more angel than human but still a Nephilim. Your unique makeup attracted demons, particularly Legion demons. Everywhere we went, they followed us, hounded us, attacked us…" She shook her head, as if the memories were too much. "We moved so many times, but as the pregnancy progressed we couldn't keep moving. I had to think about Mark—he was human, and he was barely able to survive the attacks the Legion decided to throw our way. I couldn't protect him, and I wouldn’t have been able to protect you either once you were born. I no longer had my powers. I no longer had any connection to the Angel Realm. I had to do something."

"What did you do?" Thea asked, after a few long moments of silence.

"I traded myself," Oriah said, her voice low and impassive. Her eyes lowered. "The Legion demons didn't know whether it was me that had the unique energy, or you. I persuaded them it was me, and that they could take me and turn me into a demon provided that they left you and Mark alone. I made an agreement with them that you would be safe for twenty-two years. By then I knew you would be fully trained and able to fight them yourself."

Thea processed the information, hardly able to believe her mother would do something like that. "They believed you?"

"Why wouldn't they?" Oriah shrugged. "They had no idea why my energy felt different. I persuaded them it was because I had taken energy from the Stream and then Fallen. They didn’t know that the energy had been directed into you. Once I made the contract with them, they had to abide by it even after they realized that you were the one who was special, not me."

“How did you take energy from the Stream?”

Oriah pursed her lips. “I asked the Creator for it. And he gave it to me.”

Thea thought through what she was saying, trying to make sense of it. "Why didn't you tell Dad? Why did you leave him so damaged?"

Oriah leaned forward sharply. "What do you mean? How is he damaged?"

"He’s had mental problems since you left. His memory was severely damaged; he could hardly remember anything as I grew up, and even though I tried to get him healed recently, he still can't remember past your Fall. I know you did something to him. I just can't believe that you would inflict him with such pain that caused me an unsafe childhood with a parent who could barely remember anything. The human world has a lot of evil in it, you know? Not just demons."

Utter shock transformed Oriah's face. Her hand came to her mouth, and her expression twisted into an expression of horror. "No," she said, shaking her head. "No, he was fine. I only sealed some of the memories of me that would cause him the most pain, so he wouldn't have to suffer from my choices."

"Well, he did suffer," Thea said. "Just in a different way."

Oriah stood abruptly and paced the room, her expression a blend of pain, disbelief, and anger as she fell into her thoughts.

Thea watched her. She seemed to be truly upset. Thea suspected that she may not have known about Dad but with her feelings still muted, Thea was unable to feel anything for her.

After a long moment, Oriah slowed and looked up at Thea, her eyes soft. "I didn't realize that." Her voice was miserable and almost resigned. "I didn't realize I did that to him."

"How could you not? You were an Archangel! How could you not know what you were doing in someone’s mind?"

Oriah shook her head, and began pacing again but slower. "The process of turning into a demon is a gradual one. I amended all the memories of my charges before I Fell. I wasn’t ever intending to go into your Dad’s mind. I spent my transition time with you both, and then I amended his memories before I left. But I used demonic powers to do it. I was close to being a demon then and I didn't think that mattered because I could still use the techniques I used as an Archangel. I monitored him afterward and he seemed fine… " A tremble her voice stopped her from speaking for a short moment. "So," she said hesitantly. "Are you saying that your father was unable to tell you what you were?"

Thea nodded. "I didn't know what I was until I started seeing demons and Cam came to train me."

Her mother sat down on the couch, her elbows on her knees, and closed her eyes as she thought. “That makes sense, now.” She opened her eyes. “I learned that some Spectra demons had reported seeing a human girl flickering with Nephilim energy, and I sent a message to the Dominion League to watch over you. I thought they already knew about you, but my messenger returned saying he had been questioned harshly and almost captured.”

So that’s how the Dominion League knew about her. Then they gave the assignment to protect her to Cam.

Oriah shook her head slowly. "I didn't mean for you to grow up that way," she said. "I didn't mean for you to grow up not knowing what you were, not knowing who I was… I was trying to protect you." Oriah smiled at her, a real honest smile. "Regardless, I'm proud of you, Thea. I’m proud of who you are and what you’ve become."

Thea watched her, unsure of what to say. It made sense what she was saying, and Thea was inclined to believe it. She wanted to believe that Oriah had become a demon in order to keep Thea safe, that she hadn't chosen that life for any other reason, and yet… something still didn't feel right.

Chapter Eighteen

CAM

Cam alighted at the meeting point.

Approximately fifty angels, mostly Powers, were gathered by the portal in Thea's old neighborhood, including Zak.

“How’s Amber?” Cam asked him as he approached.

“Hanging on,” Zak replied.

Cam pressed his lips together. “Thea has…”

"I heard," Zak said, his face grim. "I cannot believe it’s gone this far. Where is she?"

"She escaped into the human world before I had a chance to draw her out." Cam said, frustration overwhelming him. "I can't feel her." He shot Zak a sideways glance. "You know what that means?"

Zak's hazel eyes widened. "She's already gone to the Demon Realm?" He rubbed his fingers across his mouth. "We've lost our chance. She is going to become a weapon for the Demon Realm."

"No," Cam said, firmly. "I'm going to the Demon Realm to get her back."

"Don't be a fool, Camael," Zak said. "You won't last even half an hour in that place. And if it is as big as the Angel Realm, you will need time to look for her. Plus, demons will not allow you to simply walk around in there looking for her without trying to stop you."

"I'm sure I'll be able to feel her as soon as I enter their Realm," Cam said. "I can endure however much pain I need to until I get to her. I’m not going to leave her in there, Zak. I would rather die than allow that to happen."

Zak held his eye for a long moment, his eyes searching Cam’s. "Okay." He turned towards the group of warriors. "As you all know," Zak said, raising his voice to address them all, "our resident Nephilim, Thea, has been taken over by a demon. This was caused by an assignment she was sent on by the Dominion League, and therefore the Dominion League has taken responsibility for her actions and her current state of being. What you may not know is, Thea is Camael's natural mate."

The angels glanced at Cam, some of them nodding in understanding, others blinking in surprise, and a couple smiling.

"He is going into the Demon Realm to bring her back," Zak said. "I am going with him."

Cam looked at Zak in shock.

"Although you have been directed here by the Dominion League," Zak continued, "it is your choice whether you follow us into the Demon Realm or not. There will be no repercussions if you choose not to take this assignment. To some of you, I’m not even your commander. You have no allegiance to me and I guarantee it will be painful and difficult. Demons will most certainly attack us, and we will be on their territory. No one will blame you if you wish to return to your normal duties. However, if you wish to join us, follow me."

Zak stretched his wings and shot up into the air. Cam did the same, following him to the other side of the neighborhood.

"Zak," Cam called, as they flew. "You don't have to come with me. No one does. This isn't anyone else's problem."

"This is everyone's problem. Thea attacked a lot of angels and killed some of them," Zak said, grimly. "Everyone is responsible for that. She became possessed while she was in the Angel Realm. We all need to pull together to help her. We failed her before, we cannot fail her again without at least trying." He glanced at Cam. “This will be good for Thea and the Angel Realm if we succeed.”

Cam nodded in understanding. If the Angel Realm got on board with Thea's rescue, they would recognize she had unique needs and look out for her more in the future. He didn't know what was going to happen once this was all over, but it would be good if the Angel Realm still supported Thea. Of course, only Zak could think strategically at a time like this.

They landed in front of a dilapidated building and Cam was shocked to see all of the Angels who were at the meeting point land next to them. Among them was Dani who nodded at him with bright, determined eyes, and Elyon who dipped his head in respect.

"I can't believe they all came," he said, in a low voice to Zak.

"They came because of you," Zak said, observing the angels still landing around them. "They all look up to you and support you, Cam. You have never asked anything serious of them before—they want to impress you."

Before Cam could respond, Barakiel landed in front of them.

"That was very presumptuous of you to announce that the Dominion League have taken responsibility before you even knew if that was the case," Barakiel said to Zak, in a cutting tone.

"We don't have time to fuck around pampering your pride," Zak barked at him. "We're busy, what do you want?"

Barakiel's expression puckered slightly, as it did the last time Zak put him in his place. It was clear he wasn't used to being spoken to in that way, especially by Zak who was always highly respectful to Dominion League members.

"I cannot stop you from going into the Demon Realm, especially as we previously agreed it, but you have most of our highly accomplished Powers and warriors here," Barakiel said to them both, his manner deadly serious. "If the majority of you die, or are unable to return, the Angel Realm will be destroyed. The demons will know that we will be vulnerable and they will launch an attack that will kill all of us and descend the human world into utter chaos and disaster."

Cam and Zak shared a look. This was much more serious than Cam had imagined.

"You will need to kill as many demons as you possibly can," Barakiel continued. "And obviously, Elithea's mother must die, or all of this was for nothing. Thea, herself, will need to be killed as well if she cannot be saved."

Cam growled, almost launching at him, but Zak gripped his arm and held him back.

"We will do our best to resolve the situation positively," Zak said. "We will not let the Angel Realm or the human world suffer."

Barakiel nodded, though his gaze was on Cam. Then he took to the air and flew away.

"No one is touching Thea," Cam said through gritted teeth, a vicious anger burning in him. "Anyone that tries will die. I will get her back."

"And if you die? What happens then?" Zak said evenly. "This is no longer just about Thea, Cam. What do we do if you are taken out of action and she is still being controlled? She is able to enter both Realms without pain and detection."

Cam held his eye for a moment. "I will not fail her again, Zak. I won't. I guarantee that she will not remain under any demon’s control."

Zak released his grip on Cam's arm and nodded. He turned to the group of warriors before him and briefed them on what to expect, explaining that they must remain in their angel-form and that only Cam would engage Thea. He went on to explain that on the side of the dilapidated building they stood in front of, there was a portal to the Demon Realm that could only be accessed by the portal guards or by fresh angel blood.

"Do we need to cut ourselves and splash it on the portal in order for it to open?" Dani asked.

"Yes," Zak answered. "And we need to do it quickly because the portal guards will try to stop us." He regarded Dani, frowning. "Daniah, I don't think that you will be able to enter the Demon Realm and survive, even for a short time. Virtues are not warriors—you have a… delicate constitution."

Dani pressed her mouth into a hard line and narrowed her eyes. "If I can affect the environment in the Angel Realm and in the human world, I'm guessing I can also do so in the Demon Realm. Which means I might be able to stop you all from burning to death just from being in there." She glared at him, her mouth tight with annoyance. "You wanna send me home, or shall we try it?"

Zak took in her stance and was quiet for a short moment. "You need to be one of the first that goes in. We will try to pull you out at the first sign of trouble, but I cannot guarantee anything. Looking out for you is not the purpose of this assignment."

Dani nodded, determined.

They made their way to the side of the building, and Zak pinpointed the location of where the portal was even though they couldn't see it.

"How do you know a portal is actually there?" Elyon asked.

"I've seen it before," Zak said.

When he didn't elaborate, Elyon turned back to where the portal was supposed to be. He used one of his holy blades to cut his arm and then flashed the dripping blood onto the wall. A rectangle doorway glowed in a brilliant golden light and Elyon quickly stepped through. Dani went through after him and as the fourth angel went through, flashes of orange lights began to hit them from beside the portal.

"Keep going," Zak called. "It's an attack from the portal guards. As long as your shields are up they shouldn't be able to hurt you that much."

When Cam stepped through, he immediately checked his surroundings. They were in the middle of a city that looked similar to many human cities, except in this one there was no greenery whatsoever. A searing flame seemed to spread all over his body, starting on his face and spreading all the way down. He gritted his teeth, affirming himself against the pain, and then immediately it muted. He looked around and saw Dani holding her hands out like claws, red electricity sparking between her fingers. He nodded at her, and she grinned back.

"No matter what happens," he said to her, "stay with the majority of the group. We cannot lose anyone without consequences to the Angel Realm."

Dani nodded, her grin faltering as she realized what he was implying.

Shouts came from behind them, and suddenly they were surrounded by huge people. Cam frowned; they looked human.

"Do not be fooled!" Zak shouted. "These are demons. They look human in their own Realm, but they still have the same evil intentions, abilities, and powers. Do not hold back!"

The fighting began.

Every single angel launched themselves at the approaching demons without hesitation. Cam was pleased and proud that they had listened to Zak. Angels were hardwired not to hurt humans, so they were going against their instincts by fighting beings that looked human. He dodged a punch from a lithe woman with brown hair and a snarl on her face. Cam grabbed her and tossed her to one side before kicking the knee out of a demon about to attack Dani. All around him, fellow angels were fighting. Dani shot sparks of electricity at any demon who came too close, but Zak was also watching her back.

Cam focused his attention to Thea, trying to sense her presence, to figure out where she was.

The city was grand and imposing but also somewhat majestic. Everywhere Cam looked on the skyline were violent jagged edges of buildings or spires atop certain skyscrapers. It made for a turbulent skyline—one that was also interesting and unique. He could feel a sliver of Thea's energy coming from somewhere among the buildings further into the city. He looked around at his fellow angels, making sure that Zak, Dani and the rest of them were able to handle the demons. They were almost finished with the first wave, but more were coming.

"Go!" Zak shouted at him. "Go to Thea. We will come and help you, but you’ll find her quicker on your own."

Cam took to the air and headed away from them, towards the delicate energy he could feel from Thea. As he moved further away from Dani, the agonizing burning pain returned but he ignored it. Thea was the most important thing now, and he had to focus on getting to her. He shot spikes of angelic energy at approaching demons and was able to take most of them out before they came too close. The ones that did get close, Cam fought with his daggers, but fighting them felt different. As he continued on, getting closer to Thea, he realized it was different because he no longer felt his rage—it didn't fuel him. He dispatched of the demons simply, cleanly and without any unnecessary bloodshed. Hurting them didn't matter now, he needed to get to Thea and nothing was more important than that.

As he drew closer to her, in the inner part of the city, he sensed her location in one of the tall golden cone buildings that seem to be dotted around the city. As he swooped around the building, heading down, he realized that her energy was coming from below the surface—she was underground. He landed directly in front of the entrance sending sharp gusts of angelic energy into the two demons guarding the door. It was harder to pull on the energy from the Stream in the Demon Realm, but he fought them hard and efficiently, dispatching both of them quickly before entering the building.

Ignoring the raging burn all over his body he closed his eyes to focus in on Thea’s location. He headed downstairs and through a number of corridors until she felt close. Even though there was still only a tiny amount of her signature energy he could feel, it felt less tainted than before, as though the demon had reduced some of its power over her. He stopped at the door he knew she was behind, unsure what he was going to find. Regardless of what was behind the door, nothing was going to stop him from saving her and taking her back home.

Bracing himself, he burst through the door.

Chapter Nineteen

THEA

The door banged open and Cam came striding through in all his glory. For a moment, Thea's world stopped. Everything stopped.

Tall and muscular, his body was wired and tense, his muscles tight and his wings ruffled. He was ready to fight.

A tiny seed of emotion blossomed in Thea's stomach, and it expanded throughout her body, branches and tendrils twisted and clawed from inside to her outer extremities. She gasped as a wave of emotion crashed through her, and suddenly she could feel. She was awake.

"Cam?" She stared at him, once again amazed by his beauty. When she first met him, he had looked exactly the same, except he hadn’t looked at her the way he was looking at her now, with that intense gaze that told her she was the only thing that mattered to him. "Cam, are you really here?"

"I'm here, Elithea," he said. His smoky-gray eyes pierced her. "And I'm not going anywhere without you."

Relief washed through her, quickly followed by appreciation and love for the angel who had shown up to support her time and time again. Her need for him rose wildly, fighting for acknowledgment and she had to accept it—she loved him.

Thea stared at him as his eyes swept the room and returned to hers. In his stormy gaze, she saw only love, fierce love for her, and hope and protectiveness. He was here to protect her and she had been pushing him away. Guilt and shame rose quickly. All the things he had seen her do… And he was still here, trying to save her. He must be in pain, isn't that what the Dominion League said? Angels experience pain in the Demon Realm, and he had chosen to come here after her. He had awakened her.

"Focus," her mother said.

Thea frowned. Her mother was trying to reinsert her hold on her emotions, but she couldn't, not with Cam in the room. And suddenly all the memories came flooding back. She realized all that her mother made her do, and she almost choked in horror.

"Why did you make me do all this?" Thea hissed at her mother, glaring at her as her fists curled. "You made me… drain people. Murder angels." Her mouth dropped and she turned to Cam. "Asteroth!"

Cam took a step towards her, but Oriah held up a hand. "Don't move, Camael," Oriah warned. "I can hurt her before you have the chance to get to me."

Cam tensed and then glanced around the room, shock and horror filtered into his face.

“This is a shielded room,” Oriah said, tilting he head as she watched him. “It’s protected from angelic energy. You cannot draw from the Stream in here.”

Cam’s mouth tightened and his nostrils flared.

"Why are you doing this!" Thea yelled, realizing her mother still had some control over her body. "You made out like you had such good reasons for leaving me, but you made me do things that no mother should make her child do."

Oriah looked desperate. "I had to. You're trained now, you're safe. There’s no reason for me to exist here in the Demon Realm. I had to make you strong enough so you could come down here without feeling the pain."

"Why?"

"I don't want this existence, Thea," Oriah said, tiredness in her voice. "I don't want to be alive without your father. I want to die and I need you for that."

"You want me to kill you?" Thea asked, in disbelief. "That's what all of this for was for? You want to die, and you made me kill other beings to get that?"

Oriah stepped towards her, pain her eyes. "You're the only one who can do it—you're the only person I truly love who could come here. I had to make you strong enough to do it."

Thea suddenly remembered what Cam told her during training; demons suffer in hell, forever in a painful state, unless they are killed by someone they truly love, in which case they simply perish into oblivion. Her mother wanted oblivion.

"Why didn't you come to the human world if you wanted her to kill you?" Cam asked. "Why put her through all of this?"

"I cannot leave here," Oriah said, looking down at her hands. "I am a slave to my mate, and he will never allow me to enter the human world, not after I tricked demons into taking me. And anyway, I wouldn’t look like this in the human world." She glanced at Cam. “When was the last time you stopped to have a chat with a Legion demon?”

"Demons can mate?" Thea's asked, in wonder.

"Yes, but it's not like how angels mate," Oriah said. "If a lower-class demon is mated to a higher-class demon, the higher-class demon controls their mate."

"What demon class are you?"

Oriah held her gaze. "Legion."

"There is no higher than you then, is there?"

Cam made a noise in the back of his throat. "The Devourer," he breathed. "You're mated to the Devourer?"

Oriah nodded and Thea gasped.

"I cannot continue my existence like this,” Oriah pleaded. “You must understand, Thea. I was willing to give up my life to make sure that you were safe, but now that you can look after yourself, I don't need to live this way. It is a horrifying existence. Every day is torture. And I have only ever been willing to endure it for you."

Thea rubbed her forehead, trying to make sense of the conflicting emotions fighting for dominance within her. On one hand, all of her mother's choices seemed to have been made for the right reasons; she tried to make things easier for Dad, she tried to protect Thea, she made sure the Angel Realm knew about her. And yet all that pain and death inflicted on others just to get Thea the Demon Realm—it was overly extreme. She looked up at her mother and saw that raw emotion in her eyes again. "Oriah, you made me kill Cam's father. You made me drain a beautiful human who has been my sister all my life. I cannot ignore that."

Cam kept his eyes on her, a trace of confusion in them.

"I know," Oriah said, a small smile on her face. "If you hate me, kill me. You don't have to love me for me to love you, Thea. I never expected you to feel anything for me."

"Is that why you did it?" Thea asked, annoyance raging through her. "So I would be upset with you? I’ve already been upset with you since I found out you were alive! No one needed to die."

“Tell her the truth,” Cam demanded, his deep voice reverberating around the room. “You had demons helping her to drain humans—they shielded her from angels and kept the humans she attacked out of sight. Are you saying they all knew you were bringing her here to help you die?”

Oriah’s smile faded. “I had to tell them something so they would help get her strong enough,” she snapped.

“What did you tell them?” Thea asked.

“Why are you still holding her captive if you want her to kill you anyway?” Cam said over her, fury in his eyes. “You have manipulated her the whole way—and you’re still controlling her!”

“I need her to do it,” Oriah replied, desperately. “I couldn’t risk that she would say no.”

“And how did you get control?” Thea asked, almost hesitantly.

Oriah looked between them, her face hard, and then sighed. “As the Devourer’s mate, I have a direct connection with all the Legion demons. When I started hearing your name among them, I was worried they had found you. I soon realized that Cam was on an assignment and that you were important to him, so I watched and listened very carefully for any chance to get a message to you. When he cut you, I took advantage of my connection to Legion blood to latch onto your subconscious. It was better than I could have imagined because I had direct contact with you. I just couldn’t chance that you’d say no.” She paused, taking a breath. “I explored your mind through your dreams, learning your tolerance for violence and the weaknesses in your mental and emotional state. As I grew more powerful, I began to make suggestions that affected your mood and mind. I deadened your feelings and got you to a state of living on autopilot.” She threw a hostile glance at Cam. “And then you came along and almost destroyed my hold on her by pulling her out of my grip and putting her in a dreamless state when you had sex with her.”

Thea glanced at Cam but he was staring at Oriah, a bitter snarl on his face.

“I had to move quickly after that,” Oriah said. “I suppressed your feelings as much as I could and heightened your hostility when you interrogated the demon. That gave me enough momentum to take over your mind and drain your friend. From the moment you took human energy, I gained full control.”

“I cannot believe you’re her mother,” Cam spat. “You are disgusting.”

“I did what I had to do,” Oriah glowered. “If you hadn’t cut her, I never would’ve had a chance, so the blame lies closer to you than me. You’re lucky it was me instead of—” She stopped and glanced toward one side of the room, as though she heard something. "Legion are coming," she warned, her tone urgent. "Please, Thea. Kill me now. Please! You have to do it now."

Thea froze, gazing into her mother's blue-gray eyes and unable to look away.

"I’ll do it," Cam said. "Let her go. Release her completely and I will kill you. You don't deserve oblivion; you will go to hell and you will suffer there for eternity but at least you won’t be here."

Thea dragged her eyes away from her mother to look at Cam. Thank god he was there. He was experienced in killing Legion and could kill her mother easily. A flash of memory ran through her mind of seeing him fight in the alley, but this time it didn't make her nervous, it made her relieved.

Oriah shook her head. "Being mated to the Devourer has made me too powerful," she said. "If you tried to kill me, and failed, he would be alerted instantly. Only Thea will be able to do it without risking her life."

"I don't fail," Cam snarled.

Oriah smiled at him. "Yes, I know. But you have never faced a demon mated to the Devourer before."

"Doesn't he know what's going on here right now?" Thea asked, nervously.

"No," Oriah said. "He has many interests in the human world. This is happening too quickly to catch his attention. But he will learn of it shortly, and you need to kill me and leave before he comes." She looked at Thea expectantly. "What are you going to do?"

Chapter Twenty

CAM

Cam stared at Oriah in both horror and contempt. The idea that she wanted Thea to kill her, and everything she did to get Thea to the Demon Realm, was so horrific that he was on the verge of just taking his chances and killing her right there. Thea only just learned Oriah was alive not long ago and would have wanted to have the chance to get to know her, especially after her father's revelations about her.

What was even more disturbing, was that Thea was considering it. Thea had never killed a Legion demon before, he trained her to only focus on vanquishing Spectras and maybe the occasional Asmos demon. Yes, she was more powerful now, but why should she have to go through that just because her mother didn't want to suffer in hell for eternity?

It was only when Thea's mother confessed that she was mated to the Devourer that Cam understood why the Creator wanted her destroyed in the first place—killing Oriah would most likely affect the Devourer in some way, and possibly affect the entire Demon Realm. The Angels and the human world desperately needed that right now, especially after what Thea had done under the influence of her mother.

He watched Thea swallow and close her eyes. Her mother still had a hold over her, he could feel it in her energy, and it set him on edge considering what she had already made her do. Regardless of whatever excuses she gave Thea about her previous choices, she couldn't even let Thea make up her own mind and use her own thoughts and feelings. She forced her here and manipulated her the whole way and was still doing so. Even if Thea did kill her mother, how would she have escaped alive if Cam hadn’t come? The woman was was a monster.

"Hurry, Thea," Oriah pleaded, her voice grave and desperate.

Thea turned to Cam, her eyes shining with all of the emotion that had been missing from her lately—love, trust, desire. She looked torn, trying to make a decision that she didn't truly understand, and she needed Cam's help. Cam didn't know what to say to her. He knew deep down she wouldn't want to kill the one woman that had been missing from her life. Even though she grew up believing she was dead the whole time, if Thea killed her, she truly would be dead and it would be by Thea's hand. He considered moving to kill Oriah, but if she was truly mated to the Devourer she was indeed stronger than any other Legion he had fought. He didn't know how far she would go to hurt Thea if he tried to take her out. He couldn't be responsible for that, so he stood, frustrated and annoyed, watching the confusion on Thea's face.

The door swung open and several demons poured into the room. Cam began to fight automatically, but he couldn’t draw from the Stream and there were too many of them.

Finally, he understood what had happened to Kara. She had been inside the demon control room and he had been outside of it. If it had been shielded like this, she wouldn’t have been able to draw from the Stream. The demons had been trying to lure him in there also—if he had tried to save her, he would’ve definitely died. He should have shared the information with Zak, who could have instructed other angels, so any Power confronted by this situation would be prepared and possibly find a way around it.

He glanced at Thea and saw she was still frozen under the control of her mother. Soon, the demons surrounded both him and Thea and he immediately stopped fighting as he saw a demonic blade poised at her neck.

"If you move," said the demon standing next to her, in a low and gritty voice, "I will destroy her with this blade."

Cam froze, his eyes focused on Thea. He couldn't look away from her; her eyes were wide and he could tell she was struggling within herself, fighting to regain control over her body from her mother. The Legion surrounded him in a circle, watching him but not getting too close. The others surrounded Thea. He watched as they looked over her appreciatively, muttering between them.

"You should have killed me," Oriah said, despondent and angry. "Now you will be mated to the Devourer as well, Thea. You were the one he wanted all along. That’s what I promised the demons."

"No!" Cam roared, an acute anger filtering into him with the realization of what she was saying. He could not and would not lose Thea to the endless torment of such a life. His urge to kill Oriah strengthened. She was the one who brought Thea here. He wanted to destroy her completely, so she would no longer have control over Thea. He began to fight to get to her, and the Legion around him tightened as they fought back. In his fury, he was able to destroy one of the Legion who held onto him, tearing away so hard he took the Legion's arm off in a single rip but he didn't care. He needed to do anything he could to save Thea, even if it meant being the beast she hated.

"Cam!" Thea called, her voice weak. The Legion who was holding the dagger to her throat placed the tip on her neck and was drawing it down, creating a slim line of red on her skin. He stared at Cam with a wide grin on his face and dug the blade in deeper. Thea cried out and winced.

Cam stopped fighting and put his hands up. "Stop!" he bellowed. "Don't kill her. I won't fight."

The Legion around him grabbed him and held him tight, while the demon holding the dagger widened his grin. "Oh, we don't want to kill her," he said, playfully. "It's much more fun when angelic beings are mated to demons while they still have angelic energy in them. It's an exquisite experience, actually." He removed the dagger from Thea's throat. "She will be mated to the Devourer. He will want her as she is." He turned to the other Legions around Thea and ordered them to take her.

They began to drag Thea out of the room and away from Cam.

All of the burning pain rushing over Cam's body from being in the Demon Realm, the overwhelming burning sensation that covered his skin from head to toe, was nothing compared to the fury and desperation inside Cam. It coursed through his veins, it filled his whole body, it was more intense than any rage he had ever felt because there was only one thing he could do to save her now, and she may hate him for it. This was it. He would either die or fail her.

"Thea!" Cam cried, focusing on the feeling inside his body allowing it to turn into pure energy as he gathered a bit of his power into his core. Thea looked back at him, met his eye and held it. In that moment, he succumbed to the one thing his angel-form had wanted him to do from the very beginning. Pushing all of that energy into his halo, he reached for her, sending his halo of energy towards hers.

Thea's eyes widened as she saw it—she was the only one who could. Glancing at her mother, she projected her halo back to him.

Over the heads of the demons and her mother, their halo energy crossed and fed into the other, blending into each other's angel-forms as they mated. Power, unlike anything he had ever known shuddered through Cam, coursing into him and filling him with Thea's mind and her feelings. The burning all over his body lessened immediately, and he could feel the sting at the back of his neck where his claiming symbol would now be. But most of all, he felt Thea inside him—her whole heart and mind. He had never felt so complete.

He gazed at her in wonder, and she gave him a wondrous smile back even as the Legion were dragging her away. Inside of her, through their connection, he felt the love she held for him and it was so strong. She still loved him and he couldn't give that up.

Thea, he said to her, knowing she could hear him. We have to fight.

Chapter Twenty-One

THEA

Thea sucked in a breath, a rush of power and emotion coursing through her body. Oriah's hold on her snapped and melted away, and the only thing she felt was Cam. His presence was inside her, comforting, strong, and powerful. She stared at him, unable to take her eyes off him as she felt a pleasant burn at the back of her neck that she knew had something to do with the fact they just mated.

Thea. We need to fight, came Cam's voice from inside Thea's mind. Unlike her mother's, Cam's voice was soothing and comforting, soft as a caress in her mind.

Thea nodded. I'm back in control, she said back to him.

Just as she was about to go through the door, they both sprang into action. She pulled on the Stream… and energy came to her. It was slow at first, but flowed quicker the more she pulled.

I can access the Stream, she told Cam, who was using his fists and daggers. Use the Stream, Cam.

She created a shield and expelled a wall of energy that hit all the demons around her in one blast, knocking them to the ground. Instantaneously creating a number of spikes, she sent them through the necks of as many demons she could before they managed to get up, taking advantage of their shock and slow reaction. One of them sent a flutter of energy out of the room through the wall, and she knew that more were going to come.

Behind her, she felt Cam's progress with his demons and knew he was out of their grasp and moving toward her. She stepped backward toward him and they met in the middle of the room back-to-back.

How will we get out of here? Thea said.

We fight. Either we both get out of here, Cam replied, grimly, or we both die.

Thea smiled, and even though he couldn't see it, she knew he could feel it.

They firmed their stances, as more Legion entered the room and surrounded them. Their shields merged, and energy balls and spikes materialized in the air around them as they prepare to fight. Working in perfect sync as always, they rotated, spun passed each other and crossed to counter the attacks of all the Legion in the room. They threw angelic energy, darted out to land a punch or kick, and even slashed and threw holy blades. As they fought, Thea realized their energies were indistinguishable. She could use and manipulate energy balls and spikes Cam created, and he could use hers. It made their combined attack seamless. At one point, as she turned to direct a spike over his shoulder, she pulled three of his blades from his boot and hip and swung them in various directions across the room, hitting the demons she knew were standing back. Even the cowards would not be safe. Cam chuckled, and a blush rose to her cheeks that he'd overheard that thought.

She glimpsed her mother crossing the room to a door she hadn’t noticed before, and instinctively grabbed the last holy dagger from Cam’s hip. Her mother had agreed with the demons that she would bring Thea there to be mated with the Devourer, which meant if Thea had refused to do what she wanted, that’s what would have happened. Cam had highlighted something Thea struggled to grasp with her mother in her mind, which was that Oriah had manipulated her for her own selfish needs and continued to manipulate her by not allowing her to even have control over her own emotions and body. Asteroth had been right; Oriah was not the angel she once was, not the woman her father had known, and no mother to her. Channeling all of the new energy she had acquired into the dagger, she stepped forward, whipped her body around and threw it at her mother. It slammed into Oriah’s stomach and she collapsed.

As the extra power drained from her, a burning heat engulfed her body, and she grit her teeth as she returned to battling the demons while trying to endure it.

While they fought, more Legion poured into the room soon followed by Zak and a few other angels, including Dani who seemed to be drawing on red lightning. Immediately the burn on Thea’s skin lessened.

The room was thick with energy, heat, and movement as angels and demons fought each other. Dani stayed near the door and channeled angelic energy into the room for angels to use. Thea watched in horror as Zak was thrown backwards by a blow from one of the Legion but as she stepped towards him, he bounced back from the fall immediately, his face a mask of cool anger and blasted the Legion back with something that looked like a giant spike of purple energy. He glanced at Thea and dipped his head. She nodded and returned to Cam's side.

Suddenly it was over. The Legion were lying dead or dying on the floor, and Thea was surrounded by angels. Thea looked around at all of them, at Dani, at Zak. They had sustained substantial injuries but for the most part, everyone looked okay. She sighed, relieved it was over.

"We have to leave now," Zak ordered. "Everyone back to the portal. More Legion are coming."

"Thea," came a weak voice from behind her. Thea turned to see her mother on the ground gripping the hilt of a holy blade protruding from her stomach. She went to her and dropped to her knees.

“Thank you, Thea,” her mother sighed. “You don’t know how grateful I—”

"I did this for Dad. Not for you." Thea said, choking on the tears that threatened. “He’ll never know what you became. That you were willing to enslave your own child to the most evil being that exists to share your torture with you.”

Oriah’s eyes widened and her face dropped. "I'm sorry, Thea," she whispered. "I'm sorry I didn't give you a choice. I'm sorry I made you kill and hurt those people." She winced and shifted onto her side a little. "I was thinking of myself; I didn't think about them or you. I couldn’t.” She struggled for words to explain. “As a demon, it’s not possible for me to… do good. I tried, but this was the best I could do. The choices that demons make are warped and steeped within what we are. Look at your father, I tried to help him and I ended up…" Tears filled her eyes and her voice trembled. "I love him. I have always loved him, and I will always love you. So thank you. I hope you can forgive me one day; forgive me for making you kill and forgive me for bargaining your life with the Devourer for mine. I wish you could have known me before I became this."

Thea shook her head as her nose stung and tears filled her eyes. The room was quiet and she knew the angels must be watching her with her mother. She didn't care.

"Thank you for what you did for me," Thea said, softly. "The sacrifice you made to protect me and Dad. I wish you could have been with me, that we could have been together. I have always loved you too, Mom. And I love you for who you were."

Oriah nodded and reached up to touch Thea's face, then her eyes closed and her head dropped back. Thea felt the energy drain from her mother until she was nothing but a shell. Thea closed her eyes and let the tears come, the tears she thought she didn't have anymore. Cam knelt down, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her away from her mother.

Thea turned into him and he cocooned her with his body, his love, and his attention, sending her comfort through their connection. She buried herself in him and he scooped into his arms and took her away.

EPILOGUE

Thea

Thea sat on her bed staring out of the window. She couldn't bring herself to move in order to try on the dresses hanging around the room for the ceremony in a few days.

In fact, she couldn't bring herself to do much.

It had been three Angel Realm weeks since she had been possessed by her mother. Three crazy weeks during which she wanted to hide and not face anyone. Not only did she have the full memory of everything that happened, she had to deal with the fact that she’d killed angels. That she had hurt Amber, who still hadn't yet recovered consciousness. That she caused panic, and distress in the Angel Realm, completely unbalancing the energy for all of the angels. Apart from Cam, the only person she had been to see was her father and that had been highly uncomfortable—just looking at him would always remind her of Oriah.

Cam dealt with the Thrones and the Dominion League, ensuring her that she would not have to face them. Now they wanted to commend her. She couldn't see why. She killed a Dominion League member, and he wasn't only that, he was Cam's father. Cam couldn't understand it because he had no concept of what a parent was, what a parent was supposed to be. He simply shrugged and said it was a life he didn't remember. But Thea knew what it was like to not have a parent. And Asteroth could have been a parent to Cam; it could have helped him to have someone other than Thea on his side as a true friend and not just someone who helped him in the shadows. Cam argued that he had Zak, but Zak had been different since the events of three weeks ago. He had questioned her thoroughly about Amber; what she was like, who she lived with, who her family was, her relationships, everything about her. He assured her that Maddy was okay and was staying with her father, and then he had hardly been around lately. She wondered if it was because he was trying to avoid her. Maybe he was horrified and disgusted with her for what she had done. She was horrified and disgusted with herself.

She felt Cam land on the balcony and come into the bedroom. He didn't say anything but sat next to her and pulled her into his warm body for a passionate, consuming kiss. Then they sat there in silence, him caressing her bare skin with his fingertips, sending goosebumps all over her body as he nuzzled into her hair.

“Do you think…” Thea began hesitantly, after a long while. She paused, gathering her thoughts. “Do you think my mom knew that the Devourer would be damaged by her death?”

Cam’s fingers stilled on her arm. “I don’t think so. She was desperate for you to kill her. She would have mentioned it if she though it was would help persuade you.”

That was true. “But she must have had some good in her if she couldn’t stand being mated to him though… right?”

Cam looked down at her. “She was a demon, Thea. Look what she did—”

“I know, I know,” Thea said, quickly. “But she did try to protect me.”

Cam nodded, his chin brushing her forehead. “When she was an angel, yes, but as soon as she turned into a demon, she damaged your father.”

“But she did that by trying to do the right thing,” Thea explained. “She sent a message to the Dominion League about me. Not everything she did was terrible.”

Cam exhaled and his fingers continued to trace her arm. “Maybe not. But most of what she did was, Thea.”

“I know.” She sighed. “But I feel better knowing that the oblivion she wanted so badly helped the Angel Realm. Like it was her last act as an Archangel.” She looked up at him. “Do you know what I mean?”

He searched her face with his intense gaze and ran his fingers down the side of her face. “Yes.”

A thrill ran through her at his touch. He pulled her closer to his side.

“Did you speak to anyone about the demons sheltered rooms and… Kara?” Thea asked, after a long moment of silence.

“Yes,” Cam said, his voice gruff. “The Dominion League. They think they’re rare since no one else has reported them. It might be only Legion demons or Legion task forces that use them. They’re going to look into it.”

“I don’t know what changed that made us able to draw the Stream,” Thea pondered.

Cam gave her a quizzical glance. “We mated, Thea.”

“Oh.” Thea thought for a moment. “You think that’s what it was?”

“Yes,” Cam said, resolute. “It makes us stronger.”

They sat for a long while, Cam continuing to caress Thea’s arm.

Although it had been three weeks, they had not yet resumed their full relationship. Cam touched her and kissed her all the time, but didn't take it any further, saying she wasn't ready. It was true that her emotional state was a complete jumble, and he could feel her all the way to her core now so he must be confused about how she felt. She didn’t want to use sex to heal either, it would just confuse things between them.

"You can't go to the ceremony like this," Cam said, snapping her bra strap gently. "Barakiel will have a heart attack."

Thea smiled at him. "Maybe it will loosen him up a bit."

Cam's eyes darkened a little and she felt a surge of possessiveness in him at the idea.

"Hey, you mentioned it," she grumbled as she leaned into him.

He chuckled. "I'm not sure I like you feeling all the negative emotions I have when it comes to you."

"Why?" Thea stroked his chest. "Do you think I don't like them?”

A twinge of surprise stirred in him. "Do you?"

Thea looked up his gorgeous face as desire flooded her entire body. "You tell me," she whispered.

Cam captured her mouth in his own, kissing her hungrily as he ran his hands over her body. She felt his desire rise and blend with her own. It overwhelmed her causing her to gasp and moan into his mouth.

He pulled away and she grumbled.

"Thea," he said, pulling her head back so that he could look down into her eyes. "I have resisted touching you the way I want because I don't want you to use sex to heal. You need to heal yourself and to do that you need to let go. Let go of this anguish, let go of the guilt. None of it was your fault, none of it was your choice. The longer you hold onto it the harder it will be for you to accept. Promise me you'll try."

Thea looked up into his gray eyes and knew he was right. "I'll try Cam, but I don’t know how."

Cam thought for a moment. "Have you tried what Sal suggested?"

Thea shook her head. "I wouldn't even know where to start."

Cam pulled her onto his lap and sat on the part of the bed where they had a direct line of sight to the Stream. "All you do," he whispered into her ear, his warm breath tickling her, “is open yourself up to the energy you can see, and the energy you can feel. You cannot go wrong. I'm right here."

Thea took a breath. The Throne, Sal, came to see her yesterday and suggested that she connect to the Stream. He reckoned that with all of the energy she had absorbed from the Stream through her mother, she should be able to connect to it easily. She told him that she had never been able to, and he asked her if anyone had ever taught her how. Cam agreed to help her, but she hadn't thought it would be so soon.

"I'm right here," Cam murmured. “Remember to calm yourself and search for what you can feel.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tightly to him resting his head on the back of her head and rocking her gently. "Just try."

Thea sorted through her emotions and calmed them, settling herself into a meditative state. She sent her awareness out over the Realm, where she could feel the energy of various angels. As she continued to probe, Cam kissed her claiming symbol—a beautiful, complex design that had been burned into the back of her neck when they mated. It was identical to the one on Cam’s neck but unique to them both. A strong sense of satisfaction hummed in him every time he saw it, and he sought it out often, kissing and caressing it as though confirming she belonged to him. She relaxed further, bolstered by the feel of his possessiveness. Suddenly, a pure, complete energy flickered into existence out in the Realm. Opening herself up, she reached for it and it reached for her.

Cam

Cam watched as Thea stood in front of the Thrones and the Dominion League.

They stood in the Stream garden, and it seemed like the entire Empire of angels was there, witnessing the honor being bestowed upon his mate. The garden was filled with angels, and more hovered in the air and perched on nearby buildings. In front of the Stream, a platform had been erected upon which Thea stood in the center, with the entire Dominion League on one side and ten representatives from the Throne order on the other.

They all looked at her with renewed respect and pride as they spoke of her achievement.

Oriah's death had weakened the Devourer to a degree that no one could have anticipated, except perhaps the Creator. It had vastly strengthened and rebalanced the Angel Realm in the process, and the Thrones were immensely grateful. The Dominion League also believed that all demon activity in the human world had weakened. The forests surrounding the Empire had reduced so far back they could barely be seen.

Pride bloomed within Cam as he watched Thea get her commendation and be inducted into the Power angel order—something that no Nephilim had ever achieved. He also received a commendation for his work in the Demon Realm, as did all of the other angels who had entered it to battle with him and Zak, but it was Thea who received the highest praise, who gained the most attention. She used the extra power within her to slay her mother, fought with her entire body to save the Realm, almost losing herself in the process. Thea didn’t think she deserved it, of course, but the fact was Oriah was dead and the Devourer was weakened. It couldn’t have happened without her.

Cam took her hand and led her off the platform. Several angels congratulated her as she walked down into the garden. Since leaving their home this morning, every angel they met greeted and congratulated her and he slowly saw her coming out of her shell. She believed that the Realm hated her because of the deaths of Asteroth and a few other angels. However, she still did not get that angels thought differently from humans. Death was not seen in the same way as in the human world. Asteroth got to go back to Heaven, he got to return to a boundless form. And it was clearly his time to go, otherwise the Creator would have intervened. That was the one thing he tried to get Thea to understand. The Creator could have intervened at any time. She was not like the Devourer, who left his beings to manage without him. The Creator was always present, she had seen what was happening and she did not interfere. It had been Asteroth’s time.

Although he had been completely in awe of Thea's story about Asteroth's family, Cam didn't have any memory of what Asteroth had told her. The thing he found most fascinating was the idea that Asteroth had lived with his mate and their children somewhere in the Realm, undisturbed and happy.

After the ceremony, the Seraphim sang. They could barely be seen in their ethereal forms, especially as they were high in the sky. But as their beautiful song ended, a bright shining sun beamed down on the Empire. All of the angels in their vicinity gasped and chattered excitedly at the appearance of a sun that definitely existed for the sake of Thea. She had been missing it since she first arrived. She stared up at it in amazement, and then grinned at Cam. He stared at her. That was a real grin and it made her look so gorgeous.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the crowds, heading towards their quarters, and bumped into Dani. As Dani hugged Thea and chatted with her excitedly about everything that had happened, Cam felt a presence beside him.

He turned. "Greetings, Zakiel."

"So formal," Zak said, a ghost of a smile on his usually stern exterior. "Well done, Cam. You said you wouldn't fail, and you didn't."

"It was tough there for a while." Cam grinned. "I wouldn't have been able to do it without you. Thank you for everything."

"How's Amber?" Thea was staring at Zak, and Cam could feel the hope and desperation trembling in her. He pulled her close to him, trying to reassure her.

"She's stable," Zak replied. "She's improving slightly every day, but I don't yet know when or if she will wake up."

Thea's eyes lowered. “Okay,” she whispered. “What about Maddy?”

“She’s still going to school and visiting Amber every day. She’s worried, but fine.”

Thea pressed her lips together and nodded, guilt spiraling in her.

It's not your fault, Thea, Cam reminded her. The best thing you can do is to go and support her and help her to recover.

Thea looked up at him, her sapphire eyes tinged with so much sadness, and nodded.

Cam looked back at Zak, who was looking at Thea with compassion in his hazel eyes. Zak was one of the best healers he knew, and for a Dominion angel, it was a great skill to have. If Amber was taking a long time to recover, even with Zak's daily treatment, she must be really ill. He frowned, realizing something. "Have you been to see her every day?"

Zak's gaze turned on him, and Cam saw something there he did not recognize. "Yes."

“So…” Cam tried to grasp what Zak was saying. “You have been to the human world seven times a day for the last three weeks to treat Amber?" It seemed unlikely that Zak would visit the human world that regularly.

Zak did not respond this time, just held his gaze on Cam, and finally, the realization hit; something about Amber intrigued Zak. Other healers could have and probably should have stepped in already, but it seemed he wanted to see Amber. Before Cam could decide if that was a good thing or not, Thea leaned away from Dani as Dani turned to chat to someone next to her. “So you haven’t been avoiding me? You’ve just been focusing on treating Amber?” Thea asked.

Zak frowned. “I haven’t been avoiding you, Thea. I’m sorry if it seemed that way. I just…” He struggled for words, and Cam tried to push down his shock. Zak, speechless? He never thought he would ever witness that.

Thea smiled, although a sadness twisted in her. “She’s a great person, Zak. Please help her to recover.”

He nodded. “I will.”

Dani turned back to them and threw her hands up. “I still can’t believe it," she announced, shaking her head and looking between Cam and Thea. "I’ve never heard of anybody mating in front of a bunch of demons before.”

Cam frowned. "That's not how I would have preferred it—"

"Are you kidding?" Dani made a face. "Everyone does it the boring way; in front of the Thrones, or their fellow angels or whatever. What you guys did was so cool." She pressed her lips together excitedly and then smiled, a sentimental expression on her face. "So romantic."

Cam grinned at Thea, who smiled and rolled her eyes at Dani. “We almost died, but yeah, romance is key," Thea teased.

"Hey, don’t knock it," Dani said, scolding her playfully. "No one else can say that they mated that way, you know? Angels will be asking for that story for centuries to come. They're already telling it to the new baby angels."

Thea laughed and Cam couldn’t help but smile just seeing her happy. He knew that it was going to take a while for everything to get back to normal in Thea’s mind, but he was glad at least that she could enjoy some laughter in the meantime. Her connection to the Stream over the last few days seemed to have brightened her mood and mellowed her emotions considerably. She experienced the Creator as female, which felt right since she just lost her mother for the second time. It seemed her connection with the Creator was more motherly and comforting with no erotic edge, and it pleased him more than he thought it would. If she felt the Creator erotically as a male, it would have irritated him.

“You two did a great job,” Zak said, approvingly. “I’ve never seen anyone fight together like the two of you. It was really incredible.”

Pride rose in both Cam and Thea at Zak's words. Thea beamed. "Thank you, Zak."

"I look forward to working with both of you now I’m your commander again," Zak said, a smile on his face. "I'm sure the Dominion League will have lots of interesting assignments for the Power couple."

Cam chuckled along with Thea and Dani. However, Zak wasn’t entirely wrong. Cam couldn’t recall any couple who had been allowed to mate and be partnered with each other. They were the first. He was sure the Dominion League would want to keep an eye on them, and he didn't look forward to the Thrones’ attentions. But those were worries for another day.

Thea leaned against Cam as she sighed against his chest. Just the feeling of her close to him, of her warmth, made Cam’s body react. She looked up at him and grinned. She could feel exactly what he felt.

“We heading back to our quarters,” he said to Zak and Dani. "We've had enough excitement for one day.”

"Of course," Dani said, grinning a little too much. "We'll see you tomorrow."

“See you both soon,” Zak said. “I’ll keep you updated about Amber.”

Cam lifted Thea into his arms and took off into the air before anyone could say another word to them. He wanted Thea to himself, in every way possible. Through her healing with the Creator, her emotions had settled and calmed to a point where he felt sure she was happy.

I am, she said. She turned to him wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her face into him. She kissed up his neck and along his jaw, until she reached his mouth. Cam parted his lips to kiss her, slipping his tongue deep into her mouth and sucking on her. As his cock hardened, he felt her desire calling for him and how badly she needed him.

He landed on the balcony and strode straight into their bedroom, before putting her down.

He began to take off his shirt. "Undress," he ordered.

"No." There was a fierceness in her eye, and a smile on her lips. "Make me."

Cam growled, relishing in that look, one she hadn't given him in a long time. As he strode towards her, he could feel her excitement buzzing within him, beckoning him to her. He smiled, as he realized that she liked it when he was dominant. Grasping her around her jaw he tilted her head and said in her ear, "Shift. Now."

A shiver of desire ran through her that he could feel within him and then she shifted.

Every part of his body rejoiced and his wings spread wide of their own accord. Her angel-form vibrated and pulsed, calling to him in a beautiful silent rhythm that only he could hear. As he looked at her hungrily, she stepped away from him, her eyes wide.

"What's wrong?" he asked, sensing a nervousness in her.

"Are we going to..." she paused. "Do you want children? Because that's what could happen, right? If we..." she petered out, but Cam heard the rest of the thought in her head.

Cam eyed her. "Would that be something you would want?"

Thea averted her eyes and her nervousness bloomed.

"Thea. Look at me."

She returned her eyes to him.

"I want everything you are willing to give me," he said. "You gave me your body, your heart, and your soul. If you want to give me children, I would be overjoyed."

She lifted her brows. "Really? I thought you didn't want them. You’d have to give up your role as a Power, wouldn't you?"

Cam shrugged. "I've been a Power millenniums, Thea. And since you have come into my life, it hasn’t been the most important thing. Imagine a girl or boy with your blue eyes and dark hair? They would be beautiful. And imagine the warriors our Cherubim would be guarding portals against demons? It's like it's supposed to be our legacy." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "The only thing is that we would have to deal with the Thrones again."

Thea grinned nervously. "The Creator has suggested it many times."

Cam stared at her in shock. "The Creator has suggested that we have children?"

Thea nodded. "She thinks that the energy I have could create unique and interesting Cherubim, but she doesn't think pregnancy will happen straight away because I’m not fully angel."

Cam rushed to her, joy bursting within him. He lifted her up, spinning her around as she laughed. He lowered her to kiss her hard. “Elithea, do you want to have children?”

She nodded, a little shyly. “I never wanted any before I met you Cam, but I would like to be a mom.”

Cam couldn’t stop grinning. To have the Creator’s blessing was so rare. "You know this means that the Thrones don't have a say?" he said, mischievously. "I can't wait to see Adonai's face."

Thea rolled her eyes. "I think you don't like him because you’re so similar to each other. I'm sure you were also a little mean before I came along."

Cam kissed her again. I don't want to think about him right now, he said, a playful joy bouncing around him. The Creator has said we could have children and that we could potentially spend a long time trying. He grinned. That means we have a lot of work to do.

He lifted her dress over her head, throwing it aside as he kissed her long and deep before lowing her hands to squeeze her ass. She moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck. He kissed her and kissed her, running his hands up her body to undo her bra and play with her breasts.

Spinning her around he pushed her down so that her hands were on the bed. He slipped his hands in her panties, pulled them down and ripped them off. No more fucking panties, Thea, he growled, as he threw them aside.

She laughed at his annoyance and wiggled her hips. Lowering to his knees, he began kissing, licking and nibbling up her right calf, past her knee and up the inside of her thigh until he reached her aroused heated middle. And then he began again on the left leg, as Thea moaned in protest. When he reached the middle again he licked the length of her slit, flicking his tongue into every crevice. He began suckling on her clit greedily, her taste on his tongue and breathing in her potent scent. This was the only thing that could get him to his knees. If he died right now, he would die happy.

I wouldn't, Thea teased, her burst of amusement piercing his haze of desire. Finish what you start, Power.

He pushed his tongue into her in response, and began to alternate between sucking her clit, her lips and delving into her pussy, wanting more. He grabbed her ass and dragged his fingernails over her curves and all the way down her legs, sending goosebumps all over her body that he could feel within him. She gasped and then creamed that deliciousness into his mouth.

As she dripped down his chin, he undid his jeans, pushing them down to release his cock. It had been nearly two years since he had tasted her, scented her in her most fragrant place. He wouldn't last if he tried to fuck her now so he gathered her juices running down his chin, slathered it over his cock and began stroking.

She looked down between her trembling legs at him, a mild snarl on her face as she dropped to her elbows. Don't you dare come, she demanded. I want it. Don't waste it.

But the look in her eye heightened his desire, which in turn heightened hers. As he fisted himself faster, he reached underneath her, rubbing his palm over her stomach where his children would grow and continued on to her breasts. He gripped one roughly, then the other, fondling her nipples until they were stiff. She moaned, her orgasm approaching. He moaned into her pussy as he came close. Their angel-forms were in a frenzy and the energy between them bounced back and forth feeding on each other until their orgasms crested together sending a rushing blend of coarse and tingling pleasure through them.

Thea dropped onto the bed breathing hard. When she looked back at Cam he was watching her, licking his lips. She turned onto her back as he stood and discarded his jeans.

Her scent was in his nose, in his mouth, penetrating him, enticing his angel-form and within a few moments, he was hard again. He walked toward her, and she shuffled back to the middle of the bed, their eyes locked in a fierce gaze. His eyes flicked to the thin white scar on her collarbone and he pushed away the stirrings of guilt. He could feel that she forgave him and he wasn’t going to let her ever regret it. He climbed over her, trapping her between his elbows. Their angel-forms spoke to each other instinctively—his with possession and dominance, hers with urgency and surrender—there was no need for any further words.

He nudged her knees apart and lowered his hips to hers. She rolled her hips against him, coating him with her juices before aligning her pussy up with his cock. He pressed in and released a harsh breath at the feel of her slick tight muscles around his length. She gasped and spread her legs wider. As he seated himself inside her, they were both still for a moment, relishing the feel of each other. Their wings circled around to cocoon them, blocking out everything but each other.

Then he began to fuck her slowly, moving one of his hands to pinch her nipples. He grounded in and out, filling her completely and she moaned and writhed underneath him. Her hips rose up to meet his downward strokes, taking him deeply and trying to rock her hips so he would speed up and take her harder. Instead, Cam held her still and continued to press in and out of her, driving her body crazy. Her wings fluttered and every part of her tingled.

Cam, she said, mock disapprovingly. When will you ever stop teasing me?

He stared into her beautiful eyes, no hint of any humor. You are mine now, little Nephilim, in every way. I will never stop. Ever. His angel-form hummed in agreement and as he lowered to kiss her, her angel-form matched his vibration. They became one; the physical and emotional experience of each shared with the other, intensifying their connection to something beyond their physical selves. Cam sped up, driven by their combined need for each other until he was slamming into her. She responded just as eagerly and soon they were moving in a quick, feverish rhythm as they took each other, the wet slaps of their skin an echo through their vibration.

His wings stretched out, almost of their own accord, and fluttered to lift them both into the air, maintaining a hover above the bed. Thea clung to him, her own wings flapping underneath as she writhed to meet his thrusts. Cam wound a hand around the back of her neck and supported her head so she could look at him with those eyes. He wanted them on him, burning for him with that fire he loved.

When they came, it was together, in an arresting ecstasy that permeated every inch of their beings; a cascade of intense bliss that couldn't be found anywhere but with each other—not even the Stream could offer anything close.

Eventually, after taking her in all the ways his angel-form wanted, Cam found himself lying on the bed with Thea in his arms, her head on his chest, her hair between his fingers. Their angel-forms were blissed out, as were their bodies, and it had long since turned dark outside.

You’re all I’ll ever need, Thea, he said, looking down at her. I love you. She smiled up at him, his sentiment echoed back at him in her heart and mind, her eyes light with joy. In that moment, he realized that everything they had been through together had been worth it, that this moment alone was worth the pain they had suffered together. In their future, all he saw was a shared life; shared assignments, friends and family, and eventually sons and daughters. They would be together, always.

"Always," Thea agreed, murmuring against his chest.

He squeezed her tighter to him. "Always, my mate."

End of Book Three

Thank you for reading Awakened by Power! I hope you enjoyed Cam and Thea’s story. If so, please take a minute to leave a review on your favorite retailer with your thoughts.

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Although this book marks the end of Cam and Thea’s story, the Empire of Angels series continues with Guarded By Dominion, the first book in Zak and Amber’s story.

Read on for the sneak peek!

Guarded By Dominion

Guarding what you own is easy. Guarding what you want… is another matter.

Celebrated Dominion angel Zak lives a simple life in the Angel Realm. Stern and fiercely private, not even his closest friends can get answers about his mysterious past. When he promises to heal Amber, a human woman, from a demon attack, Zak finds himself captivated by her gentle strength, stunning beauty, and sweet nature. In order to protect her from unseen dangers, he is forced to open up to her, but resolves not to let her get too close… even though he desperately wants her for himself.

Successful bakery owner, Amber Clark, has put the demons of her past behind her and enjoys the life she created for herself and her daughter. However, when she wakes up confused, missing memories, and suffering from a strange illness, she begins to feel she’s losing her grip on everything she strived so hard to achieve. As she struggles to figure out what happened to her, her mysterious physician seems to be purposefully getting in the way. Although he is gorgeous and protective and intense, and she cannot let the way he makes her feel distract her from the truth.

Guarded By Dominion is the first book in Zak and Amber’s story and the fourth book in the Empire of Angels series; a paranormal alpha angel romance series. If you’re a fan of alpha heroes, powerful heroines, gritty paranormal worlds and destined mates, Zoey Ellis’ riveting, sexy tale is perfect for you. Also consider reading Cam and Thea’s story about a warrior angel finding his mate, starting with Claimed By Power.

About the end: Although this book can be read as a standalone, Zak and Amber’s story does continue over the next two books.

Sexual scenes and strong language included. Not suitable for readers under 18.

Chapter One

ZAK

Zak stared down Amber.

She looked the same as she always did since he'd been treating her; bouncy, golden hair framed her petite face, her brown lashes fanned out underneath her closed lids, and velvety honey skin. She was a petite woman, and even though she was in her thirties, there was an innocence about her that made her seem younger.

She lay on her bed, a pillow propped up under her head and her hands clasp over her stomach. She looked peaceful, but Zak knew she was still struggling to gain consciousness.

Zak placed a hand on the crown of her head and the other hand on her chest. He closed his eyes and drew on energy from the Stream. Like all angels, Zak had the ability to connect to the pure angelic energy that existed in the Angel Realm. He used the unfiltered, raw energy to treat Amber directly, since her wounds were so severe.

As he fed the energy into Amber, he could feel the resistance within her. The dark ridges on her soul seemed to bristle and burrow into her, trying to reclaim as much of her as they could. Zak had been trying to heal her for eight months, and only now did those scars seem to be losing their potency.

After a long moment of seeping a blast of angelic energy into her, he ceased and opened his eyes. The treatment had to be strong and regular to heal her quickly, and without damage, but it also had to be short. He kept his hands where they were and continued staring at her. She was unlike anyone he had ever met before. Not only was she beautiful, but she had a double quality in her human energy. A softness edged with a mellow strength that permeated her entire being; it was unusual and quite fascinating. He wondered what kind of person she was. He had tried to gain some kind of insight from her sister, Thea, but couldn’t really gain a true understanding. During his time in the human world, decades ago, women who looked like Amber used their looks ruthlessly to get what they wanted, but he had the feeling she wasn’t like that. He continued to drink in her presence; he enjoyed the quiet moments when he treated her, wondering what her voice sounded like, guessing the color of her eyes, what she looked like when she smiled, when she was angry—

"How is she today, Dr. Phillips?"

Zak turned to see a man standing at the doorway. Ethan.

"She’s improving," he said, as he stood. "She is still at risk, but I feel more convinced that she will recover."

Ethan nodded, his blue eyes flicking to Amber before returning to Zak. He was an easygoing man with decent looks; brown hair and slight build. He didn't seem like he was right for Amber but it's not like they were together. They had had a child together and didn’t seem to be any closer than just friends. Plus, Zak had no idea what her type was.

"Thank God," Ethan breathed. He visibly relaxed. "Do you know when she'll wake up?"

"I'm afraid I don't know," Zak said. "It may take more time."

Ethan exhaled harshly. "And you still can't tell me what’s wrong with her?"

Zak schooled his features. Since Amber had been ill, Ethan had been trying to pin down what was wrong with her, but of course Zak couldn't tell him anything that made sense. Amber’s symptoms didn’t align with illnesses in the human world. Zak had to constantly reassure Ethan that he was a specialist in the field of Amber's illness and that he only had to trust him, but he was aware the excuse was wearing thin.

"I've told you, Mr Harris, her condition is extremely rare. I can give you the official name, but it wouldn't tell you anything."

Ethan nodded, and his eyes drifted back to Amber for a moment. "And Thea is paying your fee?" he asked, his eyes snapping back to Zak.

"Yes, and it includes full after-care. I won’t stop treating Amber until she is fully recovered."

Ethan sighed. "Okay. Have you finished your treatment for her today?"

Zak nodded and picked up his bag of medical equipment and medicines that were completely for show. "I'll be back again tomorrow." He made his way out of the bedroom and glanced back to see Ethan approaching Amber's bed. Zak would be back later on that night, however the humans wouldn't be able to see him. He told himself he wanted to make sure no one harassed her too much during the hours he wasn’t there—he didn't trust anybody, not after the way she had been attacked—but really, he enjoyed sitting quietly with her.

He walked through to the living room and noticed Amber's daughter, Maddy, on the couch. Her reddish-brown hair fell over her face as she leaned forward over her cell phone. She was a slim, lanky teenager who tend to be quiet whenever Zak was around but when he was in his angel-form and invisible to her, she came across as a responsible, mature young woman.

"Your father is visiting your mother now," Zak told her, pausing in the middle of the living room. "You can go in and see her too if you want."

Maddy nodded, her large eyes tracking over him. "Is she awake yet?"

"I'm afraid not, Maddy. But I hope she will be soon."

Maddy stood slowly, keeping her eyes on him, and then headed towards the bedroom.

Zak took a moment to speak to the nurse hovering in the kitchen—an Archangel of course. She kept an eye on Amber when no one was there. After he confirmed some minor revisions about her basic care, he exited the apartment.

As he headed to the portal that would take him to the Angel Realm, he resisted the urge to turn back. He hated leaving Amber and couldn't explain the urge to be by her side all the time.

He crossed over into the Angel Realm and shifted into his angel-form. A rushing energy encased him, penetrating every part of his being and he stretched the enormous, creamy wings that appeared on his back.

With one powerful flap, he shot up into the air, heading towards his office. The pale buildings of the Angel Realm stretched out beneath him. It was a beautiful Empire—a city he never tired of looking at. It stretched further than the eye could see and was made up of many buildings, parks, lakes, training centers, residential homes, and of course the Stream; a column of energy that rushed and tumbled toward the sky. Various angels stood in the luscious, green garden that surrounded it, their faces tilted up toward it as they connected with the pure energy to experience the Creator.

As he passed them, he angled toward one of the buildings that hovered above the Empire. He landed on the balcony of his office, and fidgeted with his shirt and tie. Humans tended to wear the most uncomfortable clothes. He couldn't understand why most of them chose to go about their day in stiff, unyielding wear, but it was necessary for him to look like one of them every time he visited Amber so he had to put up with it. He entered his office, intending to head towards the back room and change, when he noticed he had a visitor.

"Finally you are here." A large male angel sitting at the desk in the center if his office, turned to him as he entered. Adonai.

Zak stilled. "I wasn't aware that you had made an appointment to see me," he said, tersely. Adonai was not one of his favorite people. The Thrones were one of the seven orders of angels in the Angel Realm and were responsible for overseeing the Realm and all of the other angel orders. They tended to be cold and logical. However, Adonai was a breed of difficult Zak hadn’t experienced before. He had been purposely problematic in the recent trial of his friend, Camael. And although the Thrones were known to be particularly ruthless about protecting and policing the Angel Realm, Adonai had been overly harsh. Zak had looked forward to not seeing him ever again.

"I've been here for almost the entire day waiting to see you," Adonai said, lifting an eyebrow. His skin was tawny, his face hard, and his indigo-blue eyes attentive.

"Did we have some unfinished business I was unaware of?" Zak asked, making his way to the chair on the other side of the desk.

Adonai shifted in his chair. "Yes."

Zak dropped into his chair and leaned and its arm. "What is it?"

"The Thrones have decided it is in the best interest of the Realm to keep an eye on you, Zak."

"What do you mean?" Zak snapped. "Why?"

Adonai leaned forward. "Although your friends have been exonerated, you have not. Your poor conduct as commander still stands."

Zak forced himself not to react. "I was questioned for five months," he replied, calmly. "I was not told that there would be any problems with me returning to my position."

"You were returned to your position," Adonai said, his hard eyes boring into Zak's, "because the Nephilim Elithea needed you to support her while on her assignment. The Dominion League requested it."

“Thea,” Zak corrected through gritted teeth. Thea didn’t like anyone calling her Elithea except her mate, Camael. Zak worked to push down the anger that was rising in him. "So I could still lose my command position? Is that what you're telling me?" He forced his voice not to rise. "I entered the Demon Realm to help save the Angel Realm. I led that attack and received a commendation for my conduct. And now you are telling me that my command is in jeopardy?"

"You aided a warrior angel to behave sinfully," Adonai said, his displeasure clear. "And it happened over an extended period of time. We’re not saying that we will strip you of your rank. It is recognized that you have achieved a lot for the Angel Realm, and you are well respected. But you command some of the most powerful warriors that we have. We need to know that you are behaving responsibly with all of them."

Zak held himself still. "And what does that mean?"

"It means I will be… keeping an eye on you," Adonai said. "You will report to me for a little while."

There was a twinkle in Adonai's eye that pissed Zak off. "And how long as a little while?"

Adonai shrugged. "Until we are satisfied."

“I’m not a training commander," Zak said, leaning forward on the desk and leveling his gaze at Adonai. "I have millenniums of experience. I don’t need a babysitter."

"We just want to make sure that everything is running as it should be," Adonai replied. "Don't see it as babysitting, see it as assistance."

"I don't need assistance!" Zak boomed. "I'm completely capable of doing my job."

"The Thrones don't think so," Adonai said, his face impassive.

Zak jerked forward over the desk. “You mean you don’t think so.”

“No, I don’t,” Adonai shot back. “But I wouldn’t be here if it were just me that was unconvinced.”

Zak shot out of his chair and paced the room, unable to hide his agitation. He thought that he had gotten rid of the Thrones’ attention. But clearly they were not going to leave him in peace unless he convinced them that he was a worthy commander again.

"So to begin with," Adonai said, his voice now casual, "how many warrior angels do you manage?"

"Thirty-seven," Zak said through gritted teeth.

"And how many of them on active assignments?"

"Twenty-nine."

"Why were you in the human world?"

Zak froze, the question taking him by surprise. "Is it a crime for me to go into the human world?"

"No," Adonai said, watching him closely. "But the last time I met with you, during the trial, we established that you rarely go into the human world anymore. So why are you going in so frequently now?"

"Have you been watching me?"

Adonai stared at him, taking in his tense manner.

Zak forced himself to relax. He hardly ever let his emotions show in his manner or expression, but Adonai had a special way of annoying the fuck out of him. "What gives you the right to watch my movements? I thought this was assistance?"

"I have obviously been keeping an eye on your movements," Adonai said, as if Zak had asked the most stupid question he’d heard. "It has been nearly two weeks since you led that attack in the Demon Realm. I was giving you time to get back to your normal schedule. However this behavior you’re displaying is unusual. Why are you going into the human world so regularly?"

Zak continued to walk across the room. "I'm healing a human who was a victim of the recent attack."

Adonai frowned. "Healers have been allocated to all the humans who were affected by that. You’re not a healer."

Zak thought carefully about what he was going to say next. He had told the healer allocated to Amber that he would be personally dealing with her care.

"I have been trained to deal specifically with healing demon wounds."

"But you're not a healer," Adonai pressed. "Do you not have work that you are supposed to be getting on with as a commander?"

Zak shot him an ugly look. "Healing a human does not interfere with my work as a commander."

"The amount of times you've visited the human world, suggests that it does," Adonai said harshly. "You will not be able to continue healing this human and do your job effectively. If you would like to select a healer yourself, you are welcome to, but you must return to your own workload."

"This human is Thea's sister," Zak said, moving to behind his chair and pressing his hands against the back. "I cannot give her care over to anyone else. Thea needs me personally to look after her. I'm sure you can imagine the guilt she feels about it."

Adonai watched him for a short moment. "Yes," he muttered, leaning back in his chair. "The Nephilim Elithea seems to always get what she wants." He stood, flapping his ice-blue robes as he fixed them around him. "However, she has no right to impede on your work. Hand the human’s care over to a healer of your choosing. That's the best I can offer you. I will visit you again in a few days."

Zak said nothing as he left, but as soon as the door closed he let out a harsh breath. Shit. If the Thrones were worried about his capability to do his job, then he was at risk. He needed to show them that he was still the same Dominion angel that he has always been. Just because he had been protecting a friend, who happened to fall into sin, didn't suddenly make Zak incapable of doing his job. However, it was clear that was how the Thrones thought; very black and white.

He continued pacing in his office in deep thought. All he needed to do was prove to them that they didn't have anything to worry about. It would be difficult for them to remove him from his post anyway, considering all of the mistakes they had made lately with the trial of Camael. They would want to be careful, which is why they gave him Adonai. He shook his head, pausing in the middle of his office. It was just his luck that it was Adonai he had to report to. The guy was miserable and annoying. Still, Zak would not give them the satisfaction of finding anything wrong with his conduct. He would rather die. And that meant he had to find another healer for Amber.

One day in the Angel Realm equaled seven days in the human world, which meant that in order to see and treat Amber every day, Zak had to visit the human world seven times in one Angel Realm day. He managed to organize all of his workload around her treatment times, but obviously Adonai had noticed.

Over the next two Angel Realm days, Zak visited the human world to treat Amber, trying to decide who should be allocated to take over from him. He visited a few of the healers who trained him to question them about their current workload and narrowed down his choice to two, yet every time he saw Amber, his nerves drew tight and he wondered if he could really hand her care over to someone else.

Then on the third day, while he was healing her, Amber moved. Zak froze and then removed his hands from her slowly. She moved again, shifting her torso and arms. Her eyelids twitched, and her breath came quicker.

Zak held his breath and watched her.

Her eyelids fluttered open and she lifted them to the ceiling. They were an emerald green. Zak’s breath left him. She was utterly gorgeous, even in her dazed state.

She looked around the room, her breath increasing, and then locked onto his face.

As they stared at each other, her breathing calmed. And then she smiled.

At that moment, Zak knew without a doubt that he would not be able to hand her care over to anyone else.

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Angel Orders and Demon Classes

Angels

There are seven orders of angels:

Seraphim – the order of angels who govern the entry to the ethereal part of the Angel Realm, which leads to Heaven. They exist in the space between energy and material form, and have a close connection with the Creator. They are elusive and tend to be far removed from the concerns of the human world.

Throne – the ruling angels on any and all Angel Realm matters and the oversee the different orders. They communicate the will of the Creator from the Seraphim and organize the angels accordingly. They tend to be cold and analytical.

Dominion – the order of angels who oversee the duties of all angels as they pertain to the human world. Some are also warriors who work alongside Power angels and sometimes they seek to protect important humans from demons. [A select group of Dominion angels called the Dominion League represent the Dominion order and make decisions on important matters.] They tend to be intelligent and charming.

Power – the order of warrior angels whose predominant purpose is to seek out and fight demons in the human world. Ruthless and powerful beings.

Archangel – the order of angels who guide humans in their time of need and encourage them to pursue their hearts desire. They encourage humans to be happy and make positive choices. They empower humans to fight when they are in need of courage. They tend to be warm and encouraging.

Virtue – this order governs and protects the natural elements on earth. They can inspire courage and good-will in humans, as well as manipulate the human landscape with both beautiful and terrifying results.

Angel – oversees human mood and are very close to the concerns and nature of humans. They can pass messages from humans to the Creator and back again through prayer. They are ones all angels speak to when they wish to understand humans.

Demons

There are four levels of demons organized within two classes:

Legion – highest level (higher class) of demon with direct contact to the Destroyer. They are fierce and dedicated, highly passionate about expanding/strengthening their realm. They organize and construct large levels of destruction on an world-wide and international level.

Asmos – second level (higher class) of demons who cause destruction through the negative emotions of humans through wickedness, lust and dishonesty. They usually target large networks and organizations as well as big families. They work their way through these large connections turning motivations and results negative. They also work on the souls of generations of the same family as the negativity they produce can disrupted childhoods and prime humans for their needs.

Furies – third level (lower class) of demons who enjoy spreading general discord and unhappiness. They look for opportunities to heighten the pain and encourage revenge, lies and evil-doing.

Spectra – fourth level (lower class) of demons who create circumstances that cause humans to make poor choices, sowing sparks of discontentment that other demons can capitalize on.

Acknowledgments

As always, a great team have been involved in making this story the best it can be. Firstly, though, thank you to the readers who have continued with Thea and Cam’s story through to this book. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Randie, what can I say? I don’t know how I would’ve done this one without your great advice, critical eye and helpful suggestions. You’ve been so great to work with and I feel really lucky to have your support.

My lovely beta readers, Lily, Julie, Randie, Steph and Anna it’s been great to get your honest opinions and advice about this book. You’ve helped to shape this series and provided the questions and comments that have made me evaluate what I’m trying to say with the story. I really appreciate the time you’ve taken to feedback to me.

To my ARC readers, thanks so much for reading and taking the time to review these books. Your honest feedback has helped to inform other readers of what to expect and I appreciate those of you who post and share and spread the word about the books.

Many thanks again to cover artist Melody Simmons for the fantastic cover—this one’s my favorite!

To all of my beautiful family and friends, including you crazy-ass Goodreads friends, thanks so much for your continued support. I love ya!

About Zoey Ellis

Zoey Ellis spends her most of her time thinking up stories that explore how love and romance can be tested by the darker side of our personalities and the heart-wrenching challenges that must be overcome for love to win, even if two people belong together.

Passionate about the fantastical, Zoey loves how intense and vast the challenges can be for couples in the paranormal romance genre. Her goal is to build a body of work depicting thrilling, fantastical romances between demanding alpha heroes and fiery heroines, hoping the love they make will scorch ereaders and melt hearts. With a soft spot for angels, dragons and alpha shifters, Zoey blends her love of a Happy Ever After with strangely unique worlds and complex plots.

If you're interested in hearing about Zoey's new releases first, as well as her bonuses and giveaways, sign up to The Realm, her reader’s group.

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