Page 73 of First Offense

On a bed.

A very large, comfortable, soft mattress.

Built for three, maybe four, angels.

I blinked at her, noting the intimate weave of our feathers, then watched as Auric ran his fingers through her fuchsia strands. It was a rhythmic caress, one underlined in possession.

Mine, each stroke said.

I allowed my wing to stretch, locking my feathers more intimately with hers. Auric narrowed his gaze at the movement, and I dared him with a look to tell me to stop. The tic in his jaw told me he wanted to, that if I so much as touched her with my hands, he would break every bone in my body.

I welcomed the violence.Cravedit. And I almost reached out to lay my palm on her exposed midriff just to prove it.

However, his sigh held me back. It wasn’t a sound of frustration but of resignation.

I rolled fully onto my side and tucked my arm under my head, allowing him to maintain the superior position on the bed. Not that I felt inferior. I just didn’t want to pull my wing away from Layla, which I would have to do if I chose to sit up and rival his relaxed stance against the wall.

“You remember that time in Cromwell,” he started slowly, his focus on his fingers as he combed through Layla’s hair. “When that game turned out to be so much more than we realized?”

I grunted. Yeah, I remembered that. We’d played with a Valkyrie, only to have her try to kill us afterward. It’d been some sort of experiment on her part to test her strength. She had not appreciated the results. Or I assumed she hadn’t, since she’d lost her life in the process.

“Do you recall what we found afterward?” he asked.

I glanced around, wondering if he meant what I thought he might.Recording devices. The bitch had recorded every second, including our romantic encounter. We never did find out where that livestream had gone, which meant a video existed somewhere of the two of us playing with and eventually killing that Valkyrie.

Our new room didn’t appear to have any obvious recording devices in it, but there were certainly some admirable upgrades. I arched a brow as I returned my focus to him.

“I didn’t find any either,” he said. “But I wanted your opinion.”

Well, that was interesting. He could have just asked.

With a shake of my head, I told him I didn’t see anything. Of course, I hadn’t examined the room all that closely, but there wasn’t anything lurking in the obvious spots. And considering the bed covered nearly half of the room, I’d expect it to be within view of my vantage point.

“I was just thinking of that incident because of something Sayir said to me on the plane,” he added. “That ritual was a test of power, right? To prove self-worth. There’s nothing Valkyries hate more than a weak link.”

My eyes narrowed, uncertain of what point he was trying to make.

“Sayir said only the strongest deserve reform, that it requires facing death and surviving.” He looked at me then. “But I’m going to guess you’ve survived quite a few of these incidents over the years, yet you’re nowhere near reformed.”

I stroked my black wings for emphasis, daring him to issue an insult. I’d given up on reform decades ago. A new life existed for me among the Noir, one as a feared being no one wanted to tempt into a fight.

Better than trying to earn back my white wings.

What would be the point now anyway? There was no longer a place for me in the Nora world. They’d given up on me. So I survived. I fought. I killed. I ruled.

“He told me you Fell because you disobeyed my command,” Auric continued, seemingly oblivious to the lethal warmth growing inside me. The need tohurt. “I’ve always thought you Fell because of what happened after you made your decision. That rogue Noir went on to kill several Nora only hours after you refused my order. And it was your job to prevent that very situation. As a result, you paid for his sin.”

I stared at him, his version of events causing my heart to race. “No.” That wasn’t what happened at all. “He was innocent.”

“He went on to kill seven Nora.Andhe was a Noir. How the hell could you think he was innocent?”

“They took his mate.” I knew this because I’d witnessed the aftermath. “And my wings turned blackbeforehe killed them.”

Which was how I knew that breaking my oath was the cause of my Fall.

Warriors were duty-bound to protect the Nora and to obey commands no matter what. But I’d spoken to my target that day, had learned his intentions, and hadn’t been able to kill him.

My instincts rarely guided me in the wrong direction, and they had been screaming at me, telling me the situation was all wrong.