He moved through the cobbled street between the squat stone houses that packed the fae town, towering over all of the people who passed him but blending in perfectly. He had mastered the art of it over the past century, learning to dress in the fashion of the era and to keep his head down to avoid drawing too much attention.
The last part was the hardest. As an angel, he had been raised to stand tall and command all those below him with a stern gaze and steady hand suited to his rank, but here in the mortal world he had to do quite the opposite. Even though every creature who occupied the small underground town situated beneath a mountain in the heart of the highlands of Scotland was definitely below him.
Still, he wasn’t here to interact with them. He was here on a mission, steadily closing in on his target, and once this task was concluded, he would be able to return to his duty and Heaven.
It had been a long time since he had set foot in his home, kept away from Echelon Headquarters by his hunt, only able to report his findings through messengers. His comrades believed it vital that he remain in the mortal realm, on hand to detain his target should their paths cross.
He had little love for the mortal world, but his duty had always been here. He had been born to hunt demons and eradicate them, ensuring that all but the stupid ones remained in Hell where they belonged, and were safe from his kin. The fallen angel, Satan, had ensured that by invoking barriers that stripped angels of their powers, rendering them weak in his realm.
This time, it was not a demon on his dance card.
He had been dispatched to locate a female and the fae towns spread across the globe were a perfect hiding place for her, and the perfect place for him to hunt for her, since she had been raised a witch.
His intel, and his orders, said that she wasn’t a witch though. She was a female torn between Heaven and Hell. A product of both realms. She was powerful, but he doubted she knew it, because she didn’t know that she was born of a union between an angel and demon.
A rare half-breed.
It had been two centuries since her mother had fled Heaven and used all of her tricks and powers to conceal herself from the angels hunting for her. When the angels had eventually found her, she had already placed her infant daughter with a witch family and had lost track of her so the angels could interrogate her but would never discover her daughter’s location.
Now, that half-breed believed she was a witch, that her powers came from that blood in her veins, and he had been sent to bring her over to Heaven’s side.
He had been hunting her for close to a century, a mere blip in his lifetime, but one that was beginning to feel like an eternity as it kept him from his home in Heaven.
He felt eyes on him but ignored them as he marched forwards, weaving through the crowded shopping street. Canopies stretched out on both sides, bright jewel coloured canvases decorated with various crests and designs, each unique to the witch running the store. They peddled spells as ridiculous as love potions from the small cramped spaces, allowed their copper stills filled with foul smelling concoctions to stand on the streets and clutter the place, making it even more difficult to move around the town.
His intelligence said the female was here though, somewhere in this busy underground settlement, buried among the several thousand people who occupied it, a mixture of witches, shifters, immortals and fae.
And demons.
The skin on the inside of his right wrist burned and he rubbed it with his left hand, stroking the pad of his thumb across it and feeling the heat of the mark beneath it. He looked down at the stylised black cross on the inside of his wrist and wasn’t surprised to see a faint golden glow emanating from it.
It triggered often when he was in a fae town, warning him of nearby demons.
The burning grew more intense and he stopped and looked at the mark, and then at the creatures moving in colourful streams past him, all going about their business.
Being on the mortal plane had always disturbed him for some reason, but he had never quite figured out why. After speaking with the other Echelon, he had put it down to the mixture of fae, demons and other creatures who mingled with the mortals, and the fact that he rarely crossed paths with his own kind down here. He preferred the company of his own species over the disgusting ensemble of creatures who populated the fae town around him.
The buzzing in his mark faded to a more manageable level, telling him that the demon had moved on. He looked around the street, scanning the faces of everyone present for that of his target, and then moved on, venturing deeper into the town, towards the centre of it.
A clock tower rose ahead of him, high into the cavern, and the sound of music drifted from that direction. He looked around again, noticing for the first time that most of the people in the street were heading in that direction as evening fell in the outside world above them.
It might be a good place to scout for his target.
He followed the flow of foot traffic, mingling with them and pleased with his job of blending. With his wings concealed, and his mortal clothing of thick-soled black leather boots, black jeans and a black t-shirt, he didn’t stand out at all. Many of the Echelon chose to wear robes or their armour when visiting the mortal plane. Nothing drew the eye like a seven-foot-tall male in full regalia with huge white wings.
He had tried explaining the meaning of the word covert to his comrades, and it hadn’t gone down well. Being the youngest at only four hundred and sixty-seven years old, his opinion was often listened to and then immediately discounted.
The thought of having his wings out made the ridges of tissue lining his shoulder blades itch though. It had been too long since he had taken a moment to unleash them and take to the skies. He preened them every night before resting, but it wasn’t the same as flying.
The smell of magic swirled around him, stronger now, and the music grew louder ahead of him, but it didn’t stop a moment of silence from dropping like a shroud over him when the scent of a demon hit him and the mark on his inside right wrist flared hot.
Positively combusted.
Golden light glowed from it and he slapped his hand over it, hiding it as a few heads turned his way, curious gazes drawn by the sudden burst of light.
An urge went through him, dark and dangerous, screaming at him to call his blade.
A demon.
He could feel it somewhere close to him and it wasn’t the normal kind, the sort that crawled from Hell and declared themselves as demons from realms that were numbered.
No. This one was strong, born of the Devil’s blood, still under his command.
He scanned the crowd, hunting for the male responsible for the sudden burning in his wrist, and the rising desire to materialise his sword in his hand and do battle. It was hard to keep his focus when that hunger was clamouring in his blood, his instincts as an angel of the Echelon driving him to destroy the demon threat.
This sort of demon required a more cautious approach though, because some of them were old enough that they were a match for his strength and all had been trained in fighting.
Running headlong into a battle against a demon from the Devil’s ranks would be a mistake, and he wasn’t the sort of male who made mistakes.
He ran his eyes over the people surrounding him again, searching for the demon. Where was he? Satan’s demons rarely left Hell, so what had drawn this one to the surface?
He huffed when he couldn’t spot the male. Perhaps they were down a different street. If they had been on the same one as him, he would have easily spotted them. Most demons from the Devil’s ranks matched his seven-foot height, a gift from their fallen angel DNA.
The music swept back in as the burning in his wrist began to fade and he forced himself to move forwards, towards the square. There seemed to be a festival happening. Now that he was closer, he could see colourful rectangular banners stretched taut across the front vertical beams of wooden stalls selling goods. People formed small groups, with some in the centre dancing to the band that had set up beneath the clock tower.
The festivities distracted him from thoughts of the demon and he managed to quell his mark, so the burning became little more than a dull ache.
Until his eyes settled on a female across the square from him, sitting on a stone ledge that was at least six feet high and formed a pathway that ended in steps that led down into the square to the right of her.
Not his target.
Something else.
He curled his lip at the sight of her, dressed in a rather revealing fashion of a short black corset and even shorter skirt. She swayed as she laughed, swinging a mug in her left hand and spilling some of the contents onto a group of males below her. They all stared up at her, enraptured. Well, almost all of them did. Judging by the angle of some of their heads, they were busy looking up her ridiculously small skirt.
Her wide smile flashed short fangs but it was the black horns that protruded from her long onyx hair and her gender that gave her away.
A demon, from the Devil’s service since that fallen angel had eradicated all females from the ranks of the species who had mutinied against him, those from the numbered kingdoms.
He had never seen a demoness.
He arched an eyebrow as he studied the crowd and noted that the demons from the numbered kingdoms kept their distance from her as diligently as they kept it from him. They were wary of her.
Why?
He stepped into the square.
Her laughter died on painted red lips and her face instantly sobered, her eyes leaping straight to him. They narrowed. The males below her all turned his way. Not demons. They were a mixture of fae and shifters if their appearances were anything to go by.
The demoness calmly set her tankard down on the stone ledge beside her, hopped off it and landed on her feet. The males stepped aside and she stalked towards him, the crowd parting for her and revealing her to him. She didn’t take her eyes off him, not even to acknowledge the males who wolf-whistled or called out lewd things to her.
Those males’ eyes followed her as she sashayed, swinging her curvy hips.
Temptress.
Her ways wouldn’t work on him though.
He stood his ground as she approached and resisted the urge to call his blade. Covert. Causing a scene in the fae town might cause his target to bolt if she was near or heard about the fight. As much as he wanted to cut the demoness down, he had to remain calm and in control.
She stopped right in front of him, tipped her head up and flashed him a smile that made her ethereally blue eyes shine brightly amidst the sea of black she had daubed around them.
“What’s an angel doing here?” she said in English and looked him up and down.
Her smile grew a little wider when his right hand twitched at his side, eager to call his blade, a reaction he hadn’t been able to hide.
She could see through him.
He had never met a demon who could tell he was an angel before. His wings were hidden, his clothing of mortal fashion, but she knew what he was.
He had a flash of her looking right at him the moment he had entered the square.
Entered the vicinity of her senses.
She had felt him.
“What I am doing here is none of your business.” He schooled his features, hiding his curiosity from her and the slow trickle of other emotions. Not fear. He did not fear her. “I should ask you the same thing, Demon.”
“Ah, but I asked first.” She twirled the gold-to-crimson streak down the right side of her hair around her slender fingers and shrugged her bare shoulders. He refused to look at them. He would not be tempted. Her smile widened. “So… what are you doing here?”
Meredith Wild is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of romance. Living on Florida’s Gulf Coast with her husband and three children, she refers to herself as a techie, whiskey-appreciator, and hopeless romantic. When she isn’t living in the fantasy world of her characters, she can usually be found at www.facebook.com/meredithwild.
