Page 72 of Wings of Darkness (Daughter of the Seven Circles #2)

Chapter

Forty-Seven

LUCILLE

R onen radiated threat as his shadows plucked my knife out of Alexei’s hand. “Don’t.”

Just one word—yet Alexei straightened and dipped his head in compliance.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think Ronen reigned over this circle.

He stood like he commanded the land itself.

The perfectly tailored dark suit hugged his body in all the right ways, and the gold accents highlighted the uniqueness of his eyes.

His shoulders were pushed back, his shadows curling around his hands.

The lethal male was temptation wrapped in a mind-altering bow, begging to be untied and discovered.

Oliver elbowed me hard in the side. “You look like you’re about to eat him. Focus! ”

I found it ironic—and a little concerning—that the one person who would absolutely join in on the ogling was chastising me. I took his shaky hand in mine, and he squeezed it.

The heat punished my face. My hair stuck to my forehead.

Sweat soaked the back of my neck and trickled into my uniform.

The Immolation Circle practically suffocated me, and yet Oliver and I had temperature-regulated uniforms helping us.

Judging by the glistening sweat dripping from Ronen, Alexei, and MJ’s foreheads, the way their wings drooped, and the dark splotches blooming across their formalwear, we needed to move.

They were struggling—everyone except Rune and MJ.

Rune seemed agitated but unfazed by the heat, while MJ flashed a smile. Her pantsuit clung to her damp skin, her heels clicked with each shift, and sweat bled through the fabric. Still, a vicious grin played on her lips.

I pointed toward the Hellfire. “Let’s go.”

“Music to my ears,” MJ purred.

Alexei stretched his wings wide, dripping onto MJ’s back. “I seriously think you need help.”

MJ turned, stepping into Alexei’s chest and squeezing his cheeks. “At least I’m not scared.”

He jabbed her in the stomach, forcing her back. “Some would say that’s a problem.”

“Or a strength.”

Alexei let out a derisive laugh. “Well, if you’re so strong, you can carry Oliver then. ”

“Carry Oliver, carry the team, save your asses—sounds about right,” MJ said with a smug smile. “Oh, don’t pout, Lex. Or I’m going to have to go get your binky.”

Oliver released my hand, and strong arms scooped me up, startling me.

“What are you doing?” I snapped at Ronen.

“You said to go. I only listened.” His wings flapped, spraying droplets of water as we rose into the sky. “Trust me. They’ll be bickering for hours if we let them.”

Below us, Oliver clung to Alexei as he pushed off the ground after MJ. His neck muscles tensed, and his wet wings slapped with each pump, struggling against the air.

“Is Alexei okay…” The tendons in Ronen’s neck were just as taunt, and we flew lower than usual. “It’s your wings.”

“They’ll dry soon.”

“How soon?” I hid my face in Ronen’s chest, trying to shield myself from the painful heat. We needed to gain altitude before we reached the Hellfire.

As if sensing my distress, Ronen flapped harder. He hissed with each movement until the air thinned and the heat lessened by a couple degrees. But his face, neck, and any exposed skin were flushed pink.

My Infernus whispered a tune I hadn’t touched since Elora. The haunting melody sent itches scurrying along my arms, begging me to use its power. I ignored it. How could it possibly help our situation?

Peeling off a glove, I tapped into the Glaciation Circle and coated my hand in ice. I touched his cheek. “Are you okay?”

He pressed into my palm. “Better now. ”

He captured me—not just with the quiet longing in his gaze, but with the warmth of his words.

I felt cherished, like I was the relief he’d been yearning for his entire life and had finally found.

But how could just two words do that? How could one look make me feel steadier, stronger, and more than I ever had?

My heart thundered, full and fierce, fueled by his attention alone.

His scent, warm and spicy, filled my lungs, allowing me to breathe deeply again.

And his arms around me? They felt like home.

Truly. Completely.

What was this pull that happened every time we touched or met each other’s eyes? Was it just my growing feelings for him?

“Good,” I whispered.

My ice continued to melt, dripping down his lips, down his neck, sliding over the swirls of his tattoos.

It eased his tight tendons, pulling out a sigh.

I bit my lip, following the glistening trail back up to his mouth.

What would they feel like, pressing mine to his?

Would it be soft and gentle? Or ferocious and claiming?

If just touching him made me feel this alive, his lips would be a drug I’d never quit.

“Don’t.” His breath mingled with mine—his word brushing my skin in a tempting caress. I hadn’t even realized I’d leaned in. “Or I won’t stop, and your prince will have to pry you from my arms.”

I dropped my hand and turned forward. Ronen made me forget about Aspen so easily. We were risking our lives for him. How was it possible he slipped my mind? My feelings for both of them were a tangled mess I had no clue how to unravel.

“Is Rune okay down there?”

She was. But I needed to think about anything else.

“This is where she was created. She’s immune to Hellfire. ”

The beastie zoomed through the purple and black flames at a speed that kept up with us.

“We’re almost there.”

Moments later, darkness eclipsed my eyelids, and cool moisture kissed my skin.

Ronen placed me gently on my feet. Alexei landed with Oliver, MJ right behind them. Rune sprang through the opening, shaking off her fur as if ridding herself of the flames.

“Man, I could lick that,” Oliver said, eyeing a drop of moisture rolling down the cave wall the same way I’d stared at Ronen’s lips.

“I’d probably refrain from drinking anything here. This is a circle of suffering, and I guarantee that’s not water,” Alexei said, scanning the cave. “Have you guys felt the drain?”

“Yes. Since we stepped out of the lake,” Ronen answered.

“It’s worse here, though.”

Ronen nodded. “I imagine we’re beneath the prisons of the Immolation Circle. Our powers will keep draining the deeper we go.”

In the light from the cave entrance, Alexei’s mouth pressed into a hard line, and he gazed back like he wanted no part of this non-plan.

“Looking for your binky?” MJ cooed. “It’s probably burning back there with your balls.”

Alexei elbowed her. She retaliated by stealing the dagger he’d taken from me. His expression darkened like it physically pained him to part with it. Judging by MJ’s smile she knew that.

Oliver drew one of his sheathed daggers and offered it to Alexei. “Will this make you feel better?”

Alexei snatched it. “No. ”

“Lilith may know I’m coming, but not when.

Nor does she know about you guys. We have some advantage if this is a trap.

” Or so I hoped. There was a reason I told Oliver to stay behind, not that he listened.

“Plus, I’ll have my Infernus. You’ll just have to rely on me.

We’ll find more weapons soon,” I said, like everything would somehow work out.

“How will you have your Infernus?” Alexei asked.

“Not sure. But it’s worked against Ember Metal before.” I had a hunch my immunity had something to do with Lilith’s involvement in my birth. Not that I was about to share that.

Alexei shook his head and shoved MJ away from his ear. I could only imagine what taunting remarks she was whispering.

Ronen gripped Alexei’s shoulder. “We’ve fought under worse odds.”

“Yeah, and we learned from our petulant mistakes. This would be repeating them,” he grumbled, but threw out a hand. “Lead the way, General. I’m not leaving you or yours—I’m just the voice of reason here.”

We walked farther into the dark cavern, and I finally felt the drain they’d spoken of, like part of me was falling asleep, or being locked behind an impenetrable wall I couldn’t reach.

“Well, it’s all on you now, Princess.”

A smack sounded.

“Watch it, Nephilim,” Alexei snapped.

MJ laughed.

“Stop being an asshole,” Oliver countered. “If you can’t deal with the loss of your power, then stay behind. We don’t need your fear. We’ve got enough of our own. So, shut up. ”

“I think I’m starting to like you, Nephilim. But I’d like you more if you hit him again.” MJ bumped Oliver’s elbow like they were already fast friends.

I swore I could feel Oliver’s grin.

“This shouldn’t be here,” Ronen said abruptly, and I slammed into his back.

Peeking around him, I saw a black stone archway, framing a gilded mirror. The antique stood out against the dark rock. The mirror glowed and rippled as we approached, distorting our reflections.

“No, it shouldn’t,” Alexei agreed. “And isn’t it just so handy that all around the portal are cuffs, bracelets, necklaces, earrings”—he kicked a pile of objects—“and other odds and ends made of Ember Metal that will suppress your power and allow you to enter the Tenebrous Kingdom?”

“Yes, I told you there would be. And unless you’ve got some demon blood in your lineage, I’d put something on. Unless you’d rather die,” I remarked.

“Is he always like this?” Oliver asked.

Ronen sighed. “Alexei gets pre-battle jitters. But he’s useful. He brings attention to all the details.”

“Hells, I hate when you guys call it that! Makes me sound like a Bowel recruit seeing war for the first time.”

“When you act like this, you are.”

Grumbling, Alexei sifted through the pile until he found a thick, tarnished chain and placed it around his neck. It clashed with his silk tie. “There. I’m ready to be sacrificed to Lilith now. ”

“So when does the fearful griping end?” Oliver asked, bending and picking up a bracelet.

“When he kills something,” Ronen replied, crouching to retrieve two matching bangles. He handed me one and slipped the other on.

“In all seriousness, this portal shouldn’t be here. Neither should this supply of Ember jewelry. The convenience of it all is setting off my alarms—and I don’t mean the trap we’re expecting on the other side. Something else is going on.”

“Like someone—or something—is getting through here,” Ronen said, glancing at Alexei and MJ.

Alexei crouched, surveying the ground. “But how are they getting from this circle to ours?”

They?

“That’s what we’ll have to figure out.”

“The Immolation Lord may know something,” MJ mused.

“I’ve thought of that. But we’d need Lucifer to talk to him. We’re not even supposed to be here.”

Alexei nodded. “So we stay sharp. If we survive, we report our new findings to Lucifer.”

Ronen and MJ agreed. But I had a feeling I already knew what they were really talking about.

Oliver and I divided the rest of our daggers among the group. I gave the black dagger back to Ronen, trusting him with it more than myself.

They accepted the weapons without hesitation, securing them in their belts.

“Prepare yourself,” Ronen said.

Armed, we all circled the portal .

“Why follow us if you think this is a trap? Why risk yourself for Aspen when you hate him?”

Ronen drilled me with a gaze holding more emotion than I’d ever seen in him.

“My soul is already at risk, Lucille. But I’m hoping with all of us, it has a better chance of surviving.

And if not”—he stepped closer, grabbing my chin—“then the world will see a version of myself I’ve hidden away for a very long time. ”

I could taste the wrath behind his words.

“I don’t understand.” He didn’t answer my question; if anything, he left me more confused.

“You will, eventually.”

“On top of all that, this is bigger than a rescue mission, beautiful,” Alexei added.

“You’re talking about the demon infection, aren’t you?”

Ronen nodded and glanced back at the cave entrance—just a pinprick of light in the distance.

“This all is very suspicious. We should’ve seen at least a few souls or Hellhounds on the way here.

It’s eerie that we didn’t. Even if we weren’t rescuing the prince or stealing back my feather, we’d need to investigate. ”

“So if we all die, we can blame you three—since you’d have gone in anyway,” Oliver joked.

No one laughed.

“No one will die today,” Ronen said, like he could command Death himself. “Lucille, do you know where the prince will be?”

I grimaced. Alexei was going to love this. “No.”

“So much for fucking strategy.”