Her Deadly Angels by Ginna Moran
Chapter 7
What Dreams May Come
RAVEN
“LITTLE HELLION,” ANDRE whispers, his voice lacing around me, tugging me from darkness.
Bright light turns my dark eyelids red, and I flutter my lashes and open my eyes. Engulfed in a halo of light, Andre kneels over me with the brilliant blue sky behind him. I sit up and shove him away, confusion washing over me. Where am I? The last thing I remember is falling asleep in Dante’s arms what feels like minutes ago. There is no way it can be light out—or possible that Andre kidnapped me to bring me to this colorful meadow of yellow flowers overlooking the vast sapphire ocean.
“Settle your soul. There’s no need to fight me. This is only a dream. I heard your prayer as you drifted off to sleep. You invited me here.” Andre raises his hands in surrender, scooting back a foot out of my reach.
“Like hell I did,” I snap, pressing my palms against the soft grass. It feels more like a downy pillow than the itchy blades I’m used to. “I would not pray to you.”
“You might not have, but your soul did, and little hellion, I must ask why you allow the devils to sully and break what should be your most precious possession? Hell might have a contract for your soul, but no devil owns it yet. I would think you’d save this kind of torture for when you descend.” Andre puckers his bottom lip, his pout turning his handsome face cuter, gentler. He’s not the badass angel warrior in this moment, and I’m not sure what to make of him.
“I don’t think it was on purpose,” I say, building my guard up as Andre tries to tear it down. The comment comes from my mouth before I have time to think about it, and now that it’s out there, I realize the truth to it. Micah might’ve showed me his kingdom, but I don’t think he purposefully intended to hurt my soul. If he had, he wouldn’t have apologized...right? Fuck. I don’t know. It doesn’t exactly make me feel better either. Actually, I feel like shit.
“Even so, you’ve experienced agony at the hands of the merciless tormentors of Hell, and your soul fissures with its darkness. I bet it feels awful.” Andre risks getting shoved again to scoot closer.
“What the fuck? Are you listening to my thoughts? Get out of my head,” I say, squeezing my eyes shut. I wouldn’t put it past him to read my mind like Micah had.
Andre’s thick brows lower on his forehead. “I don’t understand. I can’t hear what you think and only what you choose to tell me here. I’m dream-walking, little hellion. Telepathy isn’t my forte.”
“So I really am dreaming? And you’re here?” I can barely wrap my mind around it. “Why? How?” I have so many questions.
“Like I said. Your soul called to me. I wanted to help heal you while I still can. I might not be able to grant you a miracle or save your soul from eternal damnation, but I can offer you this small mercy. Please let me.” Andre’s voice lowers, and he extends his hand to me, everything about him so sincere.
As much as I want to tell him to screw off, another part of me begs to stop being stubborn for the sake of it and to let this sexy angel do what he pleases. He wants to fix my pain, so I might as well accept it. It’s not the first time he’s healed me.
Rubbing my lips together, I slowly meet his unintentionally seductive coffee gaze. His eyes search mine as he waits for my response, and I nod my head in agreement. A smirk lights up his features, his relief over my acceptance like a warm bath soaking me in comfort and peace. Andre opens his arms and unfurls his glorious, rainbow-prism wings, inviting me closer. Anticipation builds inside me, my soul practically throwing itself at the angel. I force myself to chill out and let him pull me to him instead of tackling him. His smile widens at my closeness. Leaning in, he cups my face, and I brace for his lips to press to mine. He disappoints me by resting his forehead to mine instead, leaving a torturous inch of space between our mouths.
“This will only take a moment,” Andre murmurs, locking me in his gaze.
I don’t get a chance to respond as angelic light glows from the depths of his eyes and sets my world aglow, chasing the lingering Hell residue from my essence. I gasp and clutch onto him, my lips accidentally caressing his as he leaves me breathless. Static shocks me, humming through my whole body. Andre tenses but doesn’t recoil. He doesn’t pull away either like he savors the sensation of my closeness, of my lips against his, and how we share the same breath—perhaps more in this dream world.
“Raven,” he whispers, his coconut scent strong enough to taste as he talks against my mouth. “You have the most beautiful soul I’ve ever been blessed enough to experience. You do unexpected things to me, even in this state.”
“Like what?” Because damn it. I want nothing more in this moment in the entire universe than to hear him say what I can already feel in the world around us.
Gently combing his fingers through my black tresses, he pushes my hair from my face to get a better look at me without the veil I like to hide behind. “I don’t know how to put it into words. Can I show you?” His cool breath tickles my mouth, and I swear I feel his lips quiver in anticipation, being so close to mine.
Like my soul knows what he means before he can explain what he wants to do, I find myself leaning into him completely, kissing him harder, more fervently. Andre moans against my mouth, devouring my affection like it’s the only thing that matters in the universe. Desire courses over me in a hot wave, emanating from Andre as he shows me what he feels inside him—the lust new and unexpected, uncontrollable and wild, and completely all-consuming.
I push him back, my body buzzing and humming as he lets me take control. His hands tangle in my hair, and he slips his tongue in my mouth, his kiss sweet yet passionate and unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It’s almost addicting how sugary his mouth tastes, how I can’t think about anything else but kissing him until he pleads for more.
Andre’s body awakens under mine, and I squeeze him between my thighs, loving what I do to him. Hooking his fingers to my hips, he grinds my body against his, letting me feel the length of his shaft.
I moan and kiss him desperately, rocking my body, my clit tingling and wanting more. Sliding lower, I reach down and hook my fingers to his pants. He arches up and cups my breast through my shirt, his wild need prodding at me at a soul-deep level.
“I want to undress you,” Andre says, playing with the hem of my shirt. “May I?”
I open my mouth to respond, but an electric bolt of lightning blasts the ground beside us. The world explodes in darkness. Andre disappears from beneath me, taking his light with him. My soul aches in his absence. I can’t dwell on it long, because a rumble shakes me, tugging me from sleep.
I bolt upright and gasp, my clit aching like I was close to an orgasm only to be denied. I huff a breath and can’t stop myself from rubbing between my legs to try to cure myself from my need of relief.
“Damn, pretty soul. Let me help you.” Dante shifts on the bed next to me and greets me with a lust-filled gaze that only worsens my desire.
I automatically nod my head, because this is one of those moments where I desperately want someone else to take care of me. Humming deep in his throat, Dante flicks his tongue like a snake and rolls on top of me. His hot body warms the cool absence Andre left behind. Dante leans down and brushes his lips to mine before jerking away and touching his hand to his smoking lips.
I cover my mouth in surprise. “What the fuck?”
“You taste like Heaven. Who was it, Raven?” Dante remains on top of me, his voice more curious than accusing, but I can tell a dozen thoughts cross his mind. “Who do I need to hunt down and tie up for you to pay back for not finishing your fantasy?”
I laugh in exasperation. “Wait, you don’t want to pluck someone’s wings for dream walking, but punish them for abandoning me before giving me a wet dream?”
“Yes, exactly. Because the bastard’s soul bonding went far longer than it should’ve and now unless you want me to burn you, we can’t fuck like I want. I can feel his essence radiating from my favorite parts of you. What were you doing? It wasn’t a hand job.” Dante touches his fingers to mine without recoiling.
I blink a few times. “I have so many questions. We just kissed.”
“You sure? We can test it, but it could hur—”
“Get up. Both of you.” Kase knocks his knuckles to the open door. “You were supposed to call me the second she woke up, Dante.”
Snatching a pillow, Dante chucks it at Kase, hitting him right in the face. “You try to remember that when the first thing she does is start masturbating.”
I whack Dante with my pillow next and roll out of bed. He lunges toward me, trying to bring me back to him, but Kase retaliates and chucks the pillow hard enough to knock Dante off his feet. I screech and take cover, knowing well enough that devils make even pillow fights deadly, and there is no way I’m risking getting sent to Hell early because I got between Kase and Dante fucking around.
“She wouldn’t have to masturbate with me, fucker,” Kase teases, whipping his tail toward me. He snags me by the waist and tugs me to him. “Isn’t that right, angel-girl?”
Dante watches in anticipation as Kase captures my mouth with his, only to realize something is wrong. Kase groans and pulls away, his mouth pink. I touch my swollen lips and sigh. Fucking Andre should’ve come with a warning label. Dream foreplay cock blocks demons.
Tipping his head back, Dante howls a laugh. “You want to discover where else the bastard angel touched on our pretty soul?”
Kase runs his fingers through his hair. “Don’t tempt me. I can make the exploration painfully fun, but I need Raven to be able to keep up with us. If I start, she won’t want me to stop and we need to go. Elias has been out there long enough. We need him here.”
I tense at his mention of Elias, and the desire Andre awakened in me fades like I jump into a cool lake. Shivering, I face the possibility of failing to complete Lucian’s contract all because my dumbass already made Elias fall in a past life in which he didn’t claim Hell and chose to get reincarnated or whatever. I obviously have too, but I don’t know much more. I will ask later. It’s nice having life’s answers at my fingertips. I just have to rub my devils the right way and they’ll give me what I want.
“Dante will take us back to where we found you, but you will need to guide us from there,” Kase continues, touching my cheek like he knows I lose myself in my thoughts instead of paying attention. “I hope Micah and...Andre didn’t melt your brain too much with their messing with what is ours.” He means my soul.
I almost ask how he knows for certain it was Andre to dream-drop, but I don’t get the chance. Kase scoops me up and slings me onto his shoulder. I hang upside down and listen as Dante grabs a few weapons for us until he takes me into his arms.
He grins with a wicked glow in his eyes. “This is going to be fun, pretty soul. Elias will piss his fucking pants when he sees me again.”
I crinkle my nose. “We want to get him to come with us, not make him put up a fight.”
Narrowing his eyes, he unfurls his wings. “That’s no fun.”
Tightening my arms around his neck, I purposefully lean in, testing to see if he’ll kiss me despite knowing my lips will sear him. He doesn’t hesitate, and I stop short. “Dante, I mean it. He’s mortal now. You can break him.”
“That was the plan,” he responds, wagging his eyebrows.
I purse my lips. “Not anymore. You’re leaving Elias up to me.”
***
I stand between Dante and Kase, staring at what I’m about seventy-percent sure is Elias’s house. No light filters through the curtains, and I’m uncertain whether he’s home. His car isn’t in the driveway, nor was what was left of the car crash and the Good Samaritan who...I can’t think about it. If I do, then I’ll feel bad. I don’t have time for that. Andre can carry the guilt of the man dying. I don’t need that kind of bullshit piled on with everything else.
Kase unsheathes a dagger and motions for me to take it. “The fucker is clever. I can feel the protective shields from here, so I need you to break them. When we have him, I’m going to force him to tell us where he learned this shit from. We don’t have time for wannabe saviors screwing with us, trying to do the Higher Power’s work.”
“No torturing him,” I say, straightening my shoulders. “I mean it.”
Kase scowls and clenches his fingers into fists. “Why the hell not? He deserves it.”
“Because there are better ways to get information. He’s sick, Kase. Desperate. He doesn’t want his soul in the claws of a demon as much as we don’t. If we go running in, whipping tails and threatening to impale him with your horns, he’ll never be on our side.” I lace my fingers through Kase and Dante’s fingers, bringing their hands to my chest. “Please, you guys. I know you have bad history with him, but apparently I don’t. Andre says Elias is my soul—”
Dante covers my mouth, cutting off my words. “Don’t you say it, Raven. He lost his chance when he abandoned your soul. We would never do that. You are ours.”
I smirk against his hand. “Dante, there’s no need to envy Elias for falling from grace for me. Had he not, I wouldn’t even be in this position. You don’t have to thank him or anything. You don’t have to like the guy. All I’m asking is that you don’t torture him and let me do my job.”
“You’re lucky I’m trying to be good for the chance to get in your pants,” he mutters, flaring his nostrils.
I kiss his palm before tugging his fingers from my lips. “Keep telling yourself that. I think you might be keeping your psycho in check because you like me.”
“Not only like you. I’m obsessed.” His diamond-shaped pupils expand and retract. “Enamored. You have no idea of all the things I want to do on your behalf and in your name like the goddess you are to me. You can always count on me to kneel before you to worship that pretty soul and sinfully seductive body of yours.”
I laugh and shake my head. “You’re too much.”
“I have to be with the bastard traitors creeping in and cock blocking me. If I didn’t love having your mark, I would show Andre exactly what this pain is like. I have just the contraption in my collection.” Opening his hand, he reveals the reddish, puckering burn from my kiss. The effects must last longer on devils, because the only thing I felt was the tingling of my soul from his closeness.
“Enough, you two. He’s coming. Let’s wait for him inside.” Kase doesn’t give me the chance to peer around to see what he sees. Tightening his hand around mine, he tugs me, and Dante by default, along with him.
Transforming his fingers, he extends his dagger-sharp claws out and uses one to pop the lock. Headlights flash behind us, and Kase and Dante usher me inside. Kase pushes me behind him protectively, and the three of us stand just out of the way of the door, ensuring that Elias won’t see us when he comes in.
A strange clicking noise sounds through the room, and Dante and Kase tense. Hissing, Dante expands his wings and pulls me to him, wrapping me in the protection of his muscular body. Kase explodes into his monstrous feline form but doesn’t get far. Water rains from the ceiling, soaking everything.
“I cast you back to Hell, demons,” Elias says, flicking his thumb over a lighter.
Whipping his tail, Kase locks it around Elias’s neck and drags him closer. The lighter falls from Elias’s hand. Bright flames ignite across the floor, eating away at something in the carpet that creates a circle with symbols out of the flames until it dissipates and causes Kase to release Elias.
“Nice try, Elias. You should know better than to try a holy banishment on us. Instead of sending us to Hell, you really just pissed me off.” Kase bares his sharp fangs with another growl. “Now fucking break the circle and make things easier on yourself or I’m going to ram my fucking horns up your—”
“Kase.” I smack Kase’s muscular hindquarters from the safety of Dante’s arms. “I told you to let me handle it.”
Red light sparks his devilish gaze, and he shifts back into his handsome human façade. “You have thirty seconds, angel-girl. I’ve run out of patience.”
I wiggle from Dante’s arms, silently begging him to help me keep Kase in control. “I need at least two minutes.”
“You can have three,” Dante says, digging his fingers into Kase’s shoulder. With his other hand, he nudges me forward and pulls Kase against his chest, making him swap places with me.
And damn. I kind of don’t want to face Elias when Dante is pinning Kase to him. I would have more fun seeing what I could get away with while Kase is restrained.
My wandering thoughts distract me too much. I miss Elias raising a silver dagger at me. Rushing forward, he tries to jab the knife into my stomach. I scream and stumble out of the way, holding my hands up in surrender instead of trying to fight.
“You’re dead, you bitch. This is your fault. Heaven won’t help me because of you,” Elias accuses. He swings his arm, slashing at the air.
“Are you kidding me? Heaven won’t help you because you abandoned the Higher Power.” I glower and reach into my jacket for the dagger Dante gave me for protection. I meet his threat with my own. “I should be the one blaming you, dickhead. You doomed me to Hell with you.”
“You’re out of your damn mind!” Elias charges me, his face sharp in anger.
I brace for him to stab me. I expect to see the fiery gate to Micah’s level of Hell.
But then the floor shakes, knocking Elias off his feet. Kase and Dante stomp together. I’m so thankful for their help, even if I did say I wanted to handle this on my own.
Launching from the floor, I tackle him. I aim the blade at his throat. “You have five seconds to chill out or I’ll give your soul to your demon master earlier than you want.” I have the urge to nick him with the point, but I force myself to hold steady. I will not let Kase and Dante hang that psycho urge over my head.
Elias’s eyes widen in fear, his jaw tensing and hiding his lips in his beard. “Please, no.”
Tightening my fingers around the hilt, I shift the dagger. Blood drips from the small cut, and I try not to react. But damn it. The accidental hit works. I can see it in his eyes that he believes I’m as crazy as my devils. And maybe I am. “Fuck off, Elias. I’ll see you in Hell.”
“Wait!” he hollers, reaching to grab my wrist.
My faking him out works, leaving him open. Swinging my fist, I punch him in the face hard enough to jerk his head to the side.
Elias’s eyes roll to the back of his head. He passes out.
