After Dark Page 3

  Teeth grinding together, he turned on his heel and strode away. “You will find it difficult to get into trouble here, so I suggest you do not even try.” His voice echoed behind him.

  Please. She could get into trouble with nothing but a toothpick and a spoon. “If you leave, I’ll rearrange everything.” Not that there was any furniture to be seen.

  Silence.

  “I’ll get bored and take off.”

  “Try.”

  It was a response, at least. “So you’re seriously going to leave me? Just like that?” She snapped her fingers.

  “Yes.” Another response, though he didn’t stop walking.

  “What about that bed you were going to chain me to? Where is it?”

  Uh-oh, back to silence.

  “You didn’t even tell me your name,” she called, irritated despite herself. How could he abandon her like that? He should hunger for more of her. “Well? I deserve to know the name of the man I’ll be cursing.”

  Finally, he stopped. Still, a long while passed in silence and she thought he meant to ignore her. Again. Then he said, “My name is Lysander,” and stepped from the cloud, disappearing from view.

  CHAPTER 3

  Lysander watched as two newly recruited warrior Sent Ones—Sent Ones under his training and command—finally subdued a demonic minion charged with influencing a human to commit evil. The creaure had whispered in a human female’s ear, stirring her up with fear in an attempt to open a doorway to her mind so he could slip inside and live. The creature was scaled from head to hoof and little horns protruded from its shoulders and back. Its eyes were bright red, like crystallized blood.

  The fight had lasted half an hour, and both Sent Ones were now bleeding, panting. Demons were notorious for their biting and scratching.

  Lysander should have been able to critique the men and tell them what they had done wrong. That way, they would do a better job next time. But as they’d struggled with the fiend, his mind had drifted to Bianka. What was she doing? Was she resigned to her fate yet? He’d given her several days alone to calm and accept.

  “What now?” one of his trainees asked. Beacon was his name.

  “You letsss me go, you letsss me go,” the demon said pleadingly, its forked tongue giving it a lisp. “I behave. I do good. Ssswear.”

  Lies. As a minion, it was one of the weaker demons and quite low on the chain of power. Oh, yes. Even demons had a hierarchy, one they strictly followed, and a fact that never failed to baffle him. But the war between good and evil demanded no less as chaos could never win.

  “Execute it,” Lysander commanded. “No longer shall it reign in terror.”

  The minion began to struggle again. “You going to lisssten to him when you obviousssly ssstronger and better than him? He make you do all hard work. He do nothing hissself. Lazy, if you asssk me. Kill him.”

  “We do not ask you,” Lysander said.

  Both Sent Ones raised their hands and fiery swords appeared.

  “Pleassse,” the demon screeched. “No. Don’t do thisss.”

  They didn’t hesitate. They struck.

  The scaled head rolled, yet the warriors did not dematerialize their swords. They kept the tips poised on the motionless body until it caught flame. When nothing but ash remained, they looked to Lysander for instruction.

  “Excellent job.” He nodded in satisfaction. “You have improved since your last killing, and I am proud of you. But you will train with Raphael until further notice,” he said. Raphael was strong, intelligent and one of the best trackers in the lower heavens.

  Raphael would not be distracted by a Harpy he had no hopes of possessing.

  Possessing? Lysander’s jaw clenched tightly. He was not some vile demon. He possessed nothing. Ever. And when he finished with Bianka, she would be glad of that. There would be no more games, no more racing around him, caressing him and laughing. The clenching in his jaw stopped, but his shoulders sagged. In disappointment? Couldn’t be.

  Perhaps he needed a few days to calm and accept.

  * * *

  He’d left her alone for a week, the sun rising and setting beyond the clouds. And each day, Bianka grew madder—and madder. And madder. Worse, she grew weaker. Harpies could only eat what they stole (or earned, but there was no way to earn a single morsel here). And no, that wasn’t a rule she could overlook. It was a curse. A curse her people had endured for centuries. Reviled as Harpies were, the Greeks—the former leaders of a lower realm of the skies and offspring of fallen angels and humans in a much higher concentrate than Bianka’s people—had banded together and decreed that no Harpy could enjoy a meal freely given or one the females had prepared themeselves. If they did, they sickened terribly. The Greeks’ hope? Destruction.

  Instead, they’d merely ensured Harpies learned how to steal from birth. To survive, she would do just about anything.

  Lysander would learn that firsthand. She would make sure of it.

  Had he planned this to torture her?

  In this palace, Bianka had only to speak of something and it would materialize before her. An apple—bright and red and juicy. Baked turkey—succulent and plump. But she couldn’t eat them, and it was killing her. Liter—freaking—ally.

  At first, Bianka had tried to escape. Several times. Unlike Lysander the Cruel, she couldn’t jump from the clouds. The floor expanded wherever she stepped and remained as hard as marble. All she could do was move from ethereal room to ethereal room, watching the murals play out battle scenes. Once she’d thought she’d even spied Lysander.

  Of course, she’d said, “Rock,” and a nice-size stone had appeared in her hand. She’d chucked it at him, but the stupid thing had fallen to earth rather than hit him.

  Where was he? What was he doing? Did he mean to kill her like this, despite his earlier denial? Slowly and painfully? At least the hunger pains had finally left her. Now she was merely consumed by a sensation of trembling emptiness.

  She wanted to stab him the moment she saw him. Then set him on fire. Then scatter his ashes in a pasture where lots of animals roamed. He deserved to be smothered by several nice steaming piles. Of course, if he waited much longer, she would be the one burned and scattered. She couldn’t even drink a glass of water.

  Besides, fighting him wasn’t the way to punish him. That, she’d realized the first day here. He didn’t like to be touched. Therefore, touching him was the way to punish him. And touch him she would. Anywhere, everywhere. Until he begged her to stop. No. Until he begged her to continue.

  She would make him like it, and then take it away.

  If she lasted.

  Right now, she could barely hold herself up. In fact, why was she even trying?

  “Bed,” she muttered weakly, and a large four-poster appeared just in front of her. She hadn’t slept since she’d gotten here. Usually she crashed in trees, but she wouldn’t have had the strength to climb one even if the cloud had been filled with them. She collapsed on the plush mattress, velvet coverlet soft against her skin. Sleep. She’d sleep for a little while.

  * * *

  Finally Lysander could stand it no more. Nine days. He’d lasted nine days. Nine days of thinking about the female constantly, wondering what she was doing, what she was thinking. If her skin was as soft as it looked.

  He could tolerate it no longer. He would check on her, that was all, and see for himself how—and what—she was doing. Then he would leave her again. Until he got himself under control. Until he stopped thinking about her. Stopped wanting to be near her. Her training had to begin sometime.

  His wings glided up and down as he soared to his cloud. His heartbeat was a bit...odd. Faster than normal, even bumping against his ribs. Also, his blood was like fire in his veins. He didn’t know what was wrong. Sent Ones only sickened when they were infected w
ith demon poison, and as Lysander had not been bitten by a demon—had not even fought one in weeks—he knew that was not the problem.

  Blame could probably be laid at Bianka’s door, he thought with a scowl.

  First thing he noticed upon entering was the food littering the floor. From fruits to meats to bags of chips. All were uneaten, even unopened.

  Scowl melting into a frown, he folded his wings into his back and stalked forward. He found Bianka inside one of the rooms, lying atop a bed. She wore the same clothing she’d been clad in when he’d first taken her—red shirt, tights that molded to her perfect curves—but had discarded her boots. Her hair was tangled around her, and her skin worryingly pale. There was no sparkle to it, no pearllike gleam. Bruises now formed half-moons under her eyes.

  Part of him had expected to find her fuming—and out for his head. The other part of him had hoped to find her compliant. Not once had he thought to find her like this.

  She thrashed, the covers bunched around her. His frown deepened.

  “Hamburger,” she croaked.

  A juicy burger appeared on the floor a few inches from the bed, all the extras—lettuce, tomato slices, pickles and cheese—decorating the edges of the plate. The manifestation didn’t surprise him. That was the beauty of these angelic homes. Whatever was desired—within reason, of course—was provided.

  All this food, and she hadn’t taken a single bite. Why would she request— It wasn’t stolen, he realized, and for the first time in his endless existence, he was angry with himself. And scared. For her. He hated the emotion, but there it was. She hadn’t eaten in these past nine days because she couldn’t. She was truly starving to death.

  Though he wanted her out of his head, out of his life, he hadn’t wanted her to suffer. Yet suffer she had. Unbearably. Now she was too weak to steal anything. And if he force-fed her, she would vomit, hurting more than she already was. Suddenly he wanted to roar.

  “Blade,” he said, and within a single blink, a sharp-tipped blade rested in his hand. He stalked to the side of the bed. He was trembling.

  “Fries. Chocolate shake.” Her voice was soft, barely audible.

  Lysander slashed one of his wrists. Blood instantly spilled from the wound, and he stretched out his arm, forcing each drop to fall into her mouth. Blood was not food for Harpies; it was medicine. Therefore her body could accept it. He’d never freely given his blood to another living being and wasn’t sure he liked the thought of something of his flowing inside this woman’s veins. In fact, the thought actually caused his heartbeat to start slamming against his ribs again. But there was no other way.

  At first, she didn’t act as if she noticed. Then her tongue emerged, licking at the liquid before it could reach her lips. Then her eyes opened, amber irises bright, and she grabbed on to his arm, jerking it to her mouth. Her sharp teeth sank into his skin as she sucked.

  Another odd sensation, he thought. Having a woman drink from him. There was heat and wetness and a sting, yet it was not unpleasant. It actually lanced a pang of...something unnameable straight to his stomach and between his legs.

  “Drink all you need,” he told her. His body would not run out. Every drop was replaced the moment it left him.

  Her gaze narrowed on him. The more she swallowed, the more fury he saw banked there. Soon her fingers were tightening around his wrist, her nails cutting deep. If she expected some sort of reaction from him, she would not get it. He’d been alive too long and endured far too many injuries to be affected by something so minor. Except for that pang between his legs... What was that?

  Finally, though, she released him. He wasn’t sure if that gladdened him or filled him with disappointment.

  Gladdened, of course, he told himself.

  A trickle of red flowed from the corner of her mouth, and she licked it away. The sight of that pink tongue caused another lance to shoot through him.

  Definitely disap—uh, gladdened.

  “You dirty rat,” she growled through her panting. “You sick, dirty, torturing rat.”

  He moved out of striking distance. Not to protect himself, but to protect her. If she were to attack him, he would have to subdue her. And if he subdued her, he might hurt her. And accidentally brush against her. Blood...heating...

  “It was never my intent to harm you,” he said. And now, even his voice was trembling. Odd.

  “And that makes what you did okay?” She jerked to a sitting position, all that dark hair spilling around her shoulders. The pearllike sheen was slowly returning to her skin. “You left me here, unable to eat. Dying!”

  “I know.” Was that skin as soft as it looked? He gulped. “And I am sorry.” Her anger should have overjoyed him. As he’d hoped, she would no longer laugh up at him, her face lit with the force of her amusement. She would no longer race around him, petting him. Yes, he should have been overjoyed. Instead, the disappointment he’d just denied experiencing raced through him. Disappointment mixed with shame.

  She was more a temptation than he had realized.

  “You know?” she gasped out. “You know that I can only consume what I steal or earn and yet you failed to make arrangements for me?”

  “Yes,” he admitted, hating himself for the first time in his existence.

  “What’s more, you left me here. With no way home.”

  His nod was stiff. “I have since made restitution by saving your life. But as I said, I am sorry.”

  “Oh, well, you’re sorry,” she said, throwing up her arms. “That makes everything better. That makes almost dying acceptable.” She didn’t wait for his reply. She kicked her legs over the bed and stood. Her skin was at full glow now. “Now you listen up. First, you’re going to find a way to feed me. Then, you’re going to tell me how to get off this stupid cloud. Otherwise I will make your life a hell you’ve never experienced before. Actually, I will, anyway. That way, you’ll never forget what happens when you mess with a Harpy.”

  He believed her. Already she affected him more than anyone else ever had. That was hell enough. Proof: his mouth was actually watering to taste her, his hands itching to touch her. Rather than reveal these new developments, however, he said, “You are powerless here. How would you hurt me?”

  “Powerless?” She laughed. “I don’t think so.” One step, two, she approached him.

  He held his ground. He would not retreat. Not this time. Assert your authority. “You cannot leave unless I allow it. The cloud belongs to me and place my will above yours. Therefore, there is no exit for you. You would be wise to curry my favor.”

  She sucked in a breath, paused. “So you still mean to keep me here forever? Even though I have a wedding to attend?” She sounded surprised.

  “When did I ever give you the impression that I meant otherwise? Besides, I heard you tell your sister you didn’t want to go to that wedding.”

  “No, I said I didn’t want to be a bridesmaid. But I love my baby sis, so I’ll do it. With a smile.” Bianka ran her tongue over her straight white teeth. “But let’s talk about you. You like to eavesdrop, huh? That sounds a little naughty for a goody-goody angel.”

  He’d never been naughty before. The goody-goody, though... Was that how she saw him? Rather than as the righteous soldier he was? “In war, I do what I must to win.”

  “Let me get this straight.” Her eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms over her middle. Stubbornness radiated from her. “We were at war before I even met you?”

  “Correct.” A war he would win. But what would he do if he failed to set her on the right path? He would have to destroy her, of course, but for him to legally be allowed to destroy her, he reminded himself, she would first have to commit an unpardonable crime. Though she’d lived a long time, she had never crossed that line. There was a solution, of course, but one he found distasteful. He would never stoop to the level of the
demons and try to trick her into warring against the Most High or even Germanus—the only way to ensure her death happened now rather than later. When it came to heavenly laws, breaking one meant death, but that death didn’t always manifest right away. This would. Other Sent Ones would come after her and treat her just as they treated the demons. And yet, he...didn’t like the idea.

  Maybe because it was too messy, he told himself. He liked things neat and orderly.

  Perhaps he would simply leave Bianka here, alone for the rest of eternity. That way, she could live but would be unable to cause trouble. He would visit her every few weeks—perhaps months—but never remain long enough for her to corrupt him.

  A sudden blow to the cheek sent his head whipping to the side. He frowned, straightened and rubbed the now-stinging spot. Bianka was exactly as she’d been before, standing in front of him. Only now she was smiling.

  “You hit me,” he said, his astonishment clear.

  “How sweet of you to notice.”

  “Why did you do that?” To be honest, he should not have been surprised. Harpies were as violent by nature as their inhuman counterparts the demons. Why couldn’t she have looked like a demon, though? Why did she have to be so lovely? “I saved you, gave you my blood. I even explained why you could not leave, just as you asked. I did not have to do any of those things.”

  “Do I really need to repeat your crimes?”

  “No.” They were not crimes! But perhaps it was best to change the subject. “Allow me to feed you,” he said. He walked to the plate holding the hamburger and picked it up. The scent of spiced meat wafted to his nose, and his mouth curled in distaste.

  Though he didn’t want to, though his stomach rolled, he took a bite. He wanted to gag, but managed to swallow. Normally he only ate fruits, nuts and vegetables. “This,” he said with much disgust, “is mine.” Careful not to touch her, he placed the food in her hands. “You are not to eat it.”

  By staking the verbal claim, the meal did indeed become his. He watched understanding light her eyes.