Page 14 of The Bell’s Toll (Wanderlust Emporium Presents, Season One)

chapter Nine

Raziel

I stand amidst the rubble of a completely obliterated portal. The brick wall is in pieces at my feet. My anger has my darkness hovering over me as if I’m on fire.

Unina and Conah are busy asking my gatekeepers the crucial questions. From what I’m picking up, they’re just as shocked and confused as I am.

Squatting down, I pick up a piece of brick, the paint from the graffiti still intact. The words are hot to touch. Odd.

“Boss,” Conah calls, getting my attention. Tossing the brick back into the wreckage, I stand, turning to face my ambassador.

“Mei says Rojun just pulled up.”

Tapping down my anger, I reel my darkness back in. I didn’t need my count to see me like this. I was livid, but now was not the time for this shit.

“What the fuck?” Rojun says as he steps into the basement of my club. His gaze scans the wall where the portal is supposed to be and then the rubble on the floor. He looks over at me, his mouth open.

“What the hell happened?”

I give him his courtesy bow, before standing straight.

“I don’t know. The portal was working fine. One of the gate attendees said they heard a grinding sound right before it exploded.”

“Have you ever heard of this before?”

“No,” I answer calmly. “I’ve already reached out to my druid to see if this is normal. She let me know that this is definitely not an accident. Someone purposely sabotaged my shit.”

Rojun rubs his chin as he scans the room. “This isn’t okay. How long will this portal be out of commission?”

Turning back to the gaping hole in my club, I sigh. “About two weeks to fix the wall and another week or so to rebuild the portal.”

Rojun’s eyes widen. “Three weeks without a portal? Shit, Raz.”

Trust me, I was just as pissed as he was. He runs his hands through his hair before turning to the others in the room.

“Leave us,” he demands.

Conah makes eye contact with me. I nod my head. He turns and walks out of the room, leaving Rojun and I alone.

“You have an enemy.”

“No shit,” I reply.

He holds his hands up in defense. “You need to get ahead of this. Do you have any idea who would pull this stunt?”

Lifting a brow, I stare at Rojun.

“It could be anyone.”

Hell, I had a list of enemies a mile long. Just in the last week I’ve pissed off an angel, a fallen knight, a forsaken duke and a fallen domini. However, the moment I think about it, I feel only one stands out as the most likely culprit.

“Gadiel.”

Rojun folds his arms over his chest. “That would make sense. Three days ago, I issued his punishment for the bullshit he pulled with Khalid. I can see him being pissed.”

“What was the punishment?”

“He’s on leave for a month. I have Togon running his district for the time being.”

Damn, I know Gadiel is pissed about that. Well, if I prove his ass did this shit to my portal he will be on an extended leave.

“I need to speak to him,” I tell Rojun.

Rojun shakes his head. “You need proof to take action.”

“I didn’t say I was going to kill him. I just need to speak to him.”

He tilts his head and raises a brow.

“Okay,” I relent. “I promise I won’t kill him.”

Rojun laughs. “Even if I believed you, I still couldn’t let you confront him without proof.

Look, I’m on your side. If you get me concrete evidence that Gadiel is behind this shit.

” He points to the hole in my wall. “I’ll strip him of his title so quick; the only job he’ll be able to have on this realm is a got damn busboy. ”

I understood where Rojun was coming from. There are protocols and rules that we all must abide by. Plus, even if I confronted Gadiel, it isn’t like he’s going to admit to this shit. No, I needed to find solid evidence.

“I’ll get you your evidence.”

He places a hand on my shoulder. “I know you will. But until then, I have to report this. I’ll let Roth know it’s under investigation.”

I hated this shit. Even though this isn’t on me, it looks bad. It looks as if I can’t handle my district. However, there was no way around it. Rojun bid his farewell, leaving me alone amongst the destruction. Conah appeared at my side.

“Get a crew in here to rebuild this wall. I want this shit done as soon as possible. Let the gate attendees know they will get paid leave.”

He nods his enormous head. “I’m already on it. What are we going to do about Gadiel?”

Just the mention of that muthafucker has my anger rising and my darkness spilling out of me.

“I want eyes on him. We need to find someone we can trust to get close to him in his district.

“I can go,” Conah volunteers.

Shaking my head, I reply. “No. The moment you appear in his territory, he will be on guard. I need someone he doesn’t suspect that can catch him with his pants down.”

Conah tugs at the strands of his beard. “I got someone perfect for the job.”

“Good. Set it up.” I turn to look at the disaster of my portal once again. The fury that takes over me almost has me wanting to say fuck protocol and go kill Gadiel myself.

“I need to get out of here,” I admit. The longer I stare at the destruction, the more pissed I get.

Slicing an opening in front of me, I step through the void. I had a nagging desire to be home. Well, not just home, but in her presence.

When I step through the void into my home, I follow the connection I share with her.

It guides me to the library. As soon as I walk through the door and spot her, a calm falls over me.

The darkness that is always at the surface and ready to spill out, settles back down.

My shoulders relax, and the urge to commit a crime fades.

Nasiah is lying on her stomach on the lounge chair. Her knees are bent, and her legs sway in the air. Viewing her ass from this angle has me rock hard in an instant.

She’s in the perfect position for me to slide into her heat. Many men would be intimidated at the thought of fucking a female with an ass like that from behind. But I had just enough dick to still touch the bottom of that pussy from the back.

“Are you going to be a creep and just stare or are you going to come in and speak?” her light voice asks jokingly.

She looks over her shoulder at me, and that vision of me fucking her doggy style intensifies. I tug at my length before walking further into the room.

She sits up on the chair, tucking her feet under her. I take the seat across from her in the fluffy chair she sat in yesterday. I’d much rather sit beside her, but she’s not ready for that.

“It’s nice to see you enjoying my gift,” I say.

Her brow lifts. “Just because I’m enjoying the gift doesn’t mean I forgive you.”

“I’m not asking you for forgiveness for giving you what you wanted.”

She rolls her eyes playfully. “Whatever, Raziel.”

I hate the fact that I like seeing her like this. Watching those succulent lips lift into a grin makes me feel things I haven’t felt in many centuries. It takes away from all the frustrations I have going on in my world right now.

The stunt Gadiel pulled affects not only my status and my job, it puts Nasiah at risk. If I’m stripped of my position, I can’t keep her safe from the number of enemies I’ve accumulated over the years.

“What’s wrong?”

The question catches me off guard. The way her nose is scrunched, and her brows nearly touch tells me she is concerned.

“How do you know something is wrong?”

She shrugs before rubbing at her chest. “I don’t know. I just got a strange feeling in my chest. Something’s bothering you.”

It’s good to see the mate-bond doesn’t just affect me. Which is a reminder, I need to reach out to Khiva to ask her about this bond.

Letting out a sigh, I sink back into my seat. “Just a rough day at work.”

This time when her brows scrunch, they touch. “Wait, what job does a demon have? Did you miss your quota of possessions?” Her question is asked with a serious face, which makes it even funnier.

Rubbing my thumb over my bottom lip, I tilt my head to the side. “Who said I was a demon?”

She looks even more confused. She places her book down beside her, giving me her full attention. “Well, what are you?”

“I’m a forsaken.”

“You mentioned that once before. What exactly is a forsaken?”

Something about her wanting to know more about me had my dick hard.

Why lie, my cock had been on go since I walked in this room.

But I do enjoy the fact that she wants to know more about me.

Humans like to get to know people. I’ve never really cared one way or the other, but for this human I’m finding I like it.

I undo the top button of my shirt and then roll up the sleeves. “I was once an angel.”

Her little gasp draws my attention. I wonder what is going through her head. I hope she isn’t thinking that somehow because I was once an angel means I’m good at heart. She’s going to be very disappointed.

“What happened?”

“There was a disagreement.” I try to think of the easiest way to explain this shit.

“Some of us didn’t like the direction management was going.

A civil war broke out. Those that went against the law of the land, we will call them dark angels.

The others that didn’t have a problem with the way things were going, we will call them light angels. ”

“Let me guess,” she says with a smirk. “You’re team dark?”

I chuckle. She had no idea just how dark I was. “All the way, baby.”

She rolls her eyes but places her attention back on me to finish the story.

“The war went on for far too long. Many angels died on both sides, but there was no clear victor in sight. It was a bloodbath.”

My voice trails as I think back over all the brethren we lost as a result of the war. Many of us were friends, mates, hell, even families were split because of the great war.

“How did it end?” Her soft voice pulls my memories away from the battlefield and back to this room.

Running a hand down my face, I reply. “A powerful dark angel named Khalid switched sides in the middle of the war. He and many of his followers went against the other dark angels swaying the outcome. Because of Khalid, the light angels defeated the other dark angels still loyal to the cause.

“Those that were defeated were tossed from heaven and into the pits of damnation. We are known as the forsaken.”

She’s silent for a moment. I’m assuming she’s accepting the fact that I’m not one of the good guys she was hoping I was.

“The others,” she pauses. “The ones that switched sides in the middle of the war, what happened to them?”

“They are the fallen. Although we are both banned from entering heaven’s gates again, they were forced to live here on the earthly realm.”

Again, she’s silent. For a second, I wish I could read her mind. I’d like to see what she thinks about all that I’ve told her. Even though I’m not a demon like she thought, I’m not that much better. I would never hurt Nasiah.

However, these other humans I couldn’t give a shit about. I still thought them to be a waste of fucking flesh. From the moment Father created them, they’ve been useless. Yet he favored them so much. If I had it my way, I’d watch them all burn and die.

Over the centuries I’ve learned to control my disgust and tolerate the infestation, but I am by no means friendly with them.

Not being able to tolerate the silence for a second longer, I finally ask.

“What are you thinking about, Beauty?”

Those big brown eyes flash up to me as a grin has her dimples appearing. “Just trying to imagine you as a naked fat baby with wings.”

This pulls a laugh out of me. Not just because she actually thinks angels look like cherubs, but because she’s lying. She was scared. I could feel her fear in my chest. Instead of her telling me that for just a second, I frightened her, she opted to make me laugh. In my eyes, that’s progress.

“I could always take off my clothes and help you with your visual.” I start to unbutton my shirt more.

She shrieks, covering her face with her hands.

“Absolutely not, sir.”

I stand up. Walking over to her, I hold out my hand for her to take.

“I’ll keep my clothes on. For now,” I say when she looks up at me. “Come on. I know you haven’t had dinner yet. I can feel your stomach grumbling.”

She stares up at me for a moment, hesitation fills her eyes. I don’t take back my hand or rush the moment. I allow her to deal with her fears the same way she did moments ago. Finally, she shakes her head and places her hand in mine. Progress.

I pull her to her feet.

“What’s for dinner tonight?”

“Whatever the lady wants, the lady gets,” I say, escorting her to the door.

She looks over at me, her eyes narrowing. “I want a seafood boil.”

She’s testing me. I grin down at her. “Alright, I’ll have the chef get to it.”

“I’m still not forgiving you,” she says with a smirk before turning and walking out the door.

I enjoy her smile, even if it is only fleeting.

“I’m still not apologizing,” I call out as I follow her out.

Despite the bullshit that happened today and the consequences I’ll face if I don’t find answers, this small moment with Nasiah makes it all seem minor.