Fractured Souls by Ava Marie Salinger

14

Cassius staredinto the bottom of his third glass of whiskey.

He didn’t feel in the least bit inebriated. He knew the reason for this was the traces of core power that still remained in his veins.

“Shit,” he mumbled, raking a hand through his hair. “I really want to get drunk right now.”

Joyce Almeda’s pale, lifeless face swam before him for what felt like the hundredth time that evening. Cassius closed his eyes and dropped his head back on the couch, remorse twisting his belly all over again. He knew Morgan was right. It wasn’t his fault the old lady had been targeted by that sorcerer. Still, he couldn’t suppress his guilt at having failed to save her.

If only I’d gotten there a couple of minutes earlier.

Cassius clenched his jaw, frustration gnawing at his insides. The demon cat meowed next to him. He opened his eyes and studied the creature with a faint frown.

“I really need to give you a name.”

The cat yawned and propped its head on its paws, its yellow gaze locked attentively on him.

“How about Beelzebub?” Cassius suggested.

The cat’s tail flicked agitatedly, showing its discontent.

“Little Satan?”

Something that resembled a sigh whooshed out of the cat.

“Lucifer?”

The cat glared at Cassius.

“Okay, not Lucifer.” Cassius pursed his lips. “How about Loki, then?”

The cat raised its head, its tail swinging with interest.

“You like Loki?”

Cassius reached over and scratched the creature under the chin. The demon cat’s eyes shrank to slits of pleasure. It licked his fingers, a deep rumble echoing from its chest.

“You look like a Loki,” Cassius murmured. “All trouble and mischief.”

“Just like its owner,” someone drawled behind him.

Cassius looked over his shoulder. Morgan was standing in the doorway of his apartment.

Cassius narrowed his eyes. “I really wish you’d stop treating my place like an open house.”

A smile curved Morgan’s lips. “I brought Chinese.” He lifted the carrier bag in his hand in a conciliatory gesture. “Permission to enter?”

Cassius’s stomach grumbled. He flushed. “Permission granted.”

Morgan’s smile widened at his grudging tone. The smell of takeout filled the apartment when he came inside. He put the bag on the coffee table, went over to Cassius’s kitchen, and rummaged around in the refrigerator. By the time he returned to the couch with two cans of beer, Cassius was already nose-deep in a carton of sweet and sour beef.

“What?” he said defensively in the face of Morgan’s amused expression, chopsticks held aloft.

“You’ve got sauce on your chin.”

Morgan reached over and wiped Cassius’s skin with his thumb.

Cassius stiffened.

The air sizzled between them.

Morgan’s pupils dilated. His gaze moved to Cassius’s mouth.

Cassius’s breath caught at the expression in Morgan’s eyes. It was clear the Aerial was hungry for more than just food. Morgan hesitated before lowering his hand from Cassius’s chin, his face guarded and his movements carefully controlled.

Cassius swallowed as he watched Morgan remove a couple of food cartons and place them on the table. The sexual tension filling the air gradually faded. Cassius dug into his meal again, troubled by how edgy he felt in Morgan’s presence.

It was as if a live wire connected them, amplifying their reactions and desire for one another. Morgan had made it clear he wanted him. And Cassius couldn’t deny that he craved what the Aerial’s gaze and touch promised.

A surprisingly comfortable silence fell between them as they ate the food and drank the beers, Loki earning several morsels of Cassius’s beef and Morgan’s Kung Pao chicken. Morgan got rid of the trash after they finished and made coffee, the angel moving around Cassius’s penthouse as if he lived there.

Cassius let him be, too pleasantly drowsy from the food and booze to put up much of a resistance. The whiskey and beers were finally kicking in.

“Does Strickland know?” Morgan asked lightly as he brought over their drinks.

“Does Strickland know what?”

Cassius accepted the coffee gratefully and nearly groaned when he took a sip. Morgan had made it just the way he liked it.

“That you’re an Empyreal?”

Morgan’s quiet words echoed loudly in the hush that fell across the apartment. Loki got up and sauntered in the direction of the bedroom.

Cassius carefully put his cup down on the table, his pulse accelerating. “Yes, he does.”

He met Morgan’s gaze steadily. He’d known this conversation was coming ever since Morgan had witnessed his fight with the war demons. He’d hoped to avoid it for as long as he could, but it seemed Morgan wasn’t going to be as patient as he’d hoped he would be. Cassius was just glad they were having this discussion in the privacy of his apartment rather than an interrogation room at the Argonaut Agency.

Morgan observed Cassius with an inscrutable expression. “Is that how you defeated Tania Lancaster?”

Cassius hesitated before nodding, not sure what he was reading in Morgan’s eyes.

Most people who found out he was an Empyreal and witnessed his powers usually had the fear of God carved into them from the experience. That had been the case for nearly all the angels, demons, and magic users who had been present at Tania Lancaster’s death, bar Victor Sloan, Francis Strickland, and a few others.

It was one of the reasons why everyone who’d survived that battle had been sworn to secrecy on pain of death. It was also why certain factions in the four agencies had engaged in a deliberate campaign to smear Cassius’s reputation in the decades following the incident that brought down Tania and her sect in London.

Not all angels and demons who had fallen to Earth five hundred years ago had special abilities like Morgan and his crew. Of those who did, Aerials were among the most powerful class. Only one rank stood above an Aerial and that was a Fiery, an angel or demon capable of wielding Heaven or Hell’s Fire.

Victor Sloan was the only Fiery who had fallen to Earth. Though no one retained memories of their past life, his skills on the battlefield had long marked him as someone who had once commanded armies. As such, Victor was deemed to be the most powerful Fallen on the planet today.

But there was one echelon higher still. One that stood far above the Fieries and the Aerials. One that few humans knew of, but that all angels and demons had engraved in the very depths of their subconscious.

An Empyreal. An angel who could wield Heaven’s Light or a demon who could manipulate Hell’s Darkness and Chaos, the most formidable of all divine and accursed abilities. An entity whose powers were nearly equal to those of a God. No Empyreal demons had fallen to Earth. And, as far as the world knew, neither had an Empyreal angel.

“Does it scare you?”

Morgan blinked at Cassius’s question. “What?”

“Does it scare you?” Cassius lifted his chin challengingly. “The fact that I’m an Empyreal?”

Morgan was silent for a moment. “No.” He frowned. “I was just thinking about something.”

“What were you thinking about?” Cassius said curiously.

“I was thinking that you’re a goddamn saint.”

It was Cassius’s turn to stare in surprise. “What?”

Morgan frowned. “It’s clear the four agencies have deliberately slandered you so that the world holds you in contempt. After all, what better way is there to crush a powerful enemy than to make them loathed by an entire planet?”

Cassius scratched his cheek, embarrassed. “I’m not a saint.”

Morgan rose and paced the floor, as if he hadn’t heard Cassius.

“And the fucking gall of the bastards. After all that bullshit about you being some kind of dangerous criminal who should be avoided at all costs, the first one they run to when they can’t solve their goddamn problems is you!” He whirled around and glared at Cassius. “You should have told them to shove it where the sun doesn’t shine!”

Cassius couldn’t help but laugh then.

Morgan paused and flushed. He ran a hand through his hair, clearly mortified by his outburst.

Cassius fought the urge to go over and kiss him. He arched an eyebrow instead. “So, are you saying I should tell Strickland to shove it?”

Morgan narrowed his eyes at Cassius’s teasing tone. “No way are you getting out of the promise you made to me.”

“I don’t recall making any promises to you,” Cassius drawled, now more than a little amused.

He hadn’t realized taunting Morgan could be so much fun.

“You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?” the Aerial said stiffly.

Cassius grinned. “I am.”

Morgan’s gaze dropped to Cassius’s mouth.

The mood changed in a flash. Cassius’s breath stuttered as the air in the apartment oozed with sexual tension once more.

“We should go to bed,” he mumbled. “We have an early start tomorrow.”

Morgan took a step toward Cassius, his eyes darkening. “Is that an invitation?”

Cassius swallowed as Morgan closed the distance between them. “No.”

Morgan leaned down, one hand on the backrest of the couch. “Are you sure?”

Cassius did his best to stay still. Morgan stopped inches from his mouth.

“Pretty damn sure.”

His pulse thundered wildly as Morgan’s heat and the heady scent of his arousal wrapped sultrily around him. It was taking everything Cassius had to keep his hands to himself.

Morgan smiled. “Liar.”

His breath tickled Cassius’s lips.

Shit.

Cassius’s mouth parted in hungry anticipation. He edged forward, lust tightening his belly.

“You’re right.” Morgan straightened. “We should call it a night.”

What the—?!

Cassius scowled as the Aerial whistled a low tune and headed for the front door.

Morgan looked over his shoulder and chuckled at Cassius’s outraged expression. “I would do something about that erection if I were you.”

Cassius flushed, conscious of his raging crotch.

“You’re such an asshole!” he snarled at the laughing angel’s departing back.