“Ashriel, what are they doing? What’s going on?” Amaranth shouted over the com-link in his ear.

The number of battleships flying into the Edenian solar system numbered in the trillions. Bursts of fire exploded everywhere. It was like heading straight into a nest of newborn suns. Only the fire died out quickly, leaving nothing in its wake but dust, debris, and death. Ashriel stared at it all in bewildered horror.

Hours ago, before the Edenian solar system registered on his screens, he sensed something wasn’t right…something was missing.

Closing his gaping mouth, he scowled. “Where the hell are they?”

“The Edenian Master Guardians?” Amaranth was breathing hard. ”I can’t get a feel for them either. It’s disturbing, Ashriel.”

His gut tightened with apprehension.

He’d always felt the Edenian archangel’s roiling power hours before the solar system even registered on his tracking screen. There was nothing but a strange vacuum-like void now.

Devon was the lead archangel of the Edenian Master Guardians, half demon, half wingless Seraph. Son of the angel of destruction, and the most powerful Master Guardian in Edenian history—Davariel and Luciel—he was a force to be reckoned with.

Ashriel was at a loss for words. He knew Devon’s powers were godlike. Anything that could wipe him out without a trace was more than all reaper kind could contend with.

The other twin. He’d never been found. What if it was the other god-forsaken child Dava spawned?

“God save us,” Ashriel rasped swerving to dodge a beam of purple laser fired their way. Amaranth flew tightly behind him, their transports, called Fire Chariots, locked in synchronization.

“We need to call the others, Ashriel. This massacre must stop.”

“We can’t,” he snapped wincing when a star freighter exploded into a giant blue-white ball before winking out just as quickly. He swallowed past the impotent rage choking him. “It’s forbidden.” He knew frustration and fury bearing witness to the lives being lost… men, women…children. Why? Why was this happening?

“But Ashriel...“

“We can’t,” he roared, and then took a deep breath, fighting to control himself. There was nothing to do, but keep a level head and try to find…her. “Reapers are forbidden to interfere in these matters.”

One of his superiors had told him of the mayhem occurring in this quadrant of the galaxy. An important gathering of rulers and high government officials was supposed to take place on Earth. It couldn’t have been any safer with the uber-powerful Master Guardians standing watch, but Ashriel could not feel them…he couldn’t feel Devon and his angels—couldn’t feel her.

Anniel.

“We can’t interfere? But you sent three more reapers to Earth and another to Pluto. Why?” Amaranth asked in exasperation.

“They are to help Dresdael, Nimael, and Yuriel guard the portals. Iophiel is doing a personal errand for me.”

Alpha 7 came into view, half of its silver-grey hull dimly lit by the sun, the other half completely black.

Ashriel flicked his gaze briefly to the clock showing Alpha 7’s timeframe.

She should be resting right now. Only Devon, Rowie, and Seth were supposed to be patrolling. The others, including Anniel, were supposed to be inside. Just this morning he’d spoken to her mother. It was how he monitored Anniel. He pretended it was official business inquiring about his brother’s son, Gareth, and the child’s mother.

However, as he drew closer to the hangar entrance, he sensed nothing living within.

Annie-Annie, please— he thought in despair.

Ashriel slapped his hand upon the com unit screen.

“Alpha 7, this is Ashriel of Angelos. I am coming in.”

As a high priest reaper, Ashriel didn’t require permission to board any space station, especially during a situation like this.

Still, there was no human answer, only Alpha 7’s automatic defense system asking for identification.

Before he could transmit his biorhythms and DNA code, his defense systems blared a warning. Fighter transports closed in fast behind him and Amaranth.

“Ash, they’re trying to get inside too,” Amaranth exclaimed.

Ashriel cursed and opened a link to the pilots crowding behind them. “You are not authorized to enter. Desist. The space station’s defense systems will vaporize any unauthorized ships trying to gain access.”

The small fighter transports drew ever closer.

Amaranth gasped,” Ashriel.”

Again, Ashriel tried to warn. “Stop now. I repeat. The space station’s defense systems will attack unauthorized ships attempting to enter Alpha 7.”

Lights flashed and his Chariot shook. They were being attacked from behind making Ashriel unleash a slew of expletives. He regretted letting Amaranth talk him into allowing her to accompany him.

“Amaranth, go to the ninth planet. Find Iophiel. He’s retrieving Gareth, Anniel’s son. She’s been leaving him with her mother.”

“The weres’ colony?”

More firing behind him had him swerving and rolling crazily. Another round of cursing ensued.

“Yes, Amaranth, hurry. See if he needs help and meet me on the outskirts of our solar system.”

Amaranth began to talk but he ripped his com unit earpiece off after yelling, “Just do it.”

With a white-knuckled grip, he pushed the throttle levers full forward. Blue-white fire streamed from the Fire Chariot’s rear jets. His wings automatically spread and twitched behind his back within the slightly cramped interior of his Fire Chariot.

Spinning back right over Amaranth’s Fire Chariot, he flew straight at the oncoming fighter transports. From the marking on them, he surmised they were Hoobrundt warriors. The hairy reptilian creatures were known to hunt and eat humanoid flesh.

Ashriel opened fire upon them. “Eat this,” he snarled swirling around the fighters with a spray of laser pulses.

If there was anything Ashriel could do better than wield a sword, it was fly.

Teasing them into following him so they’d ignore Amaranth’s escape, he allowed one of them to land a hit at the edge of his Fire Chariot. He swerved the throttles hard, pitching the craft into a rapid belly-roll.

Grinning when they closed in, thinking his transport was damaged, he let the Fire Chariot continue to roll out of control. His Fire Chariot’s defense monitors warned plasma canons were locking onto his craft.

Ashriel activated the rear jets of his Chariot, and sped at almost blinding speed straight to the bottom of Alpha 7. He opened a com link to request access again. The station’s defense system responded, requesting identification.

Hands sweating, he slapped his palm against the screen and transmitted his biorhythms and DNA code to the ship, praying it would allow him access before he was blown to bits.

Alpha 7 grew bigger on his view screen until it was all he saw. It would take him three seconds to pass the initial security shields before disintegrating upon the first airlock barrier if he didn’t pull back quickly. His eyes widened when he saw the space station’s plasma canons taking aim. The fighter pilots behind him were closing in. At least they weren’t shooting anymore. They probably thought they could tailgate him into Alpha 7.

They had another thing coming. He just hoped he wasn’t blown to tiny bits along with them.

Alpha 7’s automatic tracking beam was trying to get a fix on his rapidly approaching Fire Chariot. The system was ordering him to pull back on his throttles.

Not yet. Just a few more seconds.

The screens in his Fire Chariot blared another warning, but Ashriel was too busy counting.

On three, he yanked the throttles full back and was thrown out of his seat. His face and wings slammed against the front view screen, making him bounce off and crash back into his seat. Lights danced before Ashriel’s eyes before he lost consciousness, or it could have been the fighter transports being vaporized… he didn’t know. It didn’t matter now.

*****

His ears rang and his head throbbed. Black fluff floated around inside his Fire Chariot. With a grunt of annoyance, he swatted the evidence of his youth out of his face. He’d been molting his baby feathers for the past twenty years. Most of the fluffy down was gone, but he still had a few annoying bits of fluff amidst his shiny new adult plumage. Unfortunately being a mere one hundred and four years old meant he’d be molting a few embarrassing years more.

Rising to peer over the edge of the control panel, he blinked out at the absolute darkness in the hangar. The only light source was the lone spotlight over his transport.

Nothing changed when he opened the hatch of his Fire Chariot and unfolded his seven-foot bulk from the cramped interior. The silence was overwhelming as he brushed back his shoulder-length dark hair. Darkness yawned out to infinity. Overhead he could make out the metal webbing holding up the roof and walls of the hangar. At his feet, a lighted path showed him the nearest exit into the interior of the space station

At one time, there were legions of Fire Chariots resting within Alpha 7.

But, that was before. Time wore on. There were less Seraphian Master Guardians after the Edenians became part of the League of Stars, or LOS. Ashriel knew the Edenian government disapproved and distrusted Master Guardians, beings with extrasensory powers. They preferred to rely on well-trained Guardian soldiers and barely tolerated their own Master Guardians, which had dwindled down to only seven; Devon, Lucien, Sethaliel, Raguel, Remien, Zachariel, and Anniel.

Now, the transports utilized by the seven Master Guardians, called Vipers, were nowhere to be seen. The hangar was empty.

Ashriel lifted his wings and looked around. There were hundreds of metal double doors leading into the interior of the space station. The closest one was about two hundred paces away, where the lighted path was indicating he should go.

He couldn’t spare a second to walk or run to the doors. He needed to see with his own eyes if the Edenian Master Guardians were indeed missing. The fact the Vipers weren’t there didn’t convince Ashriel. Maybe they were shielding themselves. Maybe Devon had finally snapped and had them power bound and shielded somewhere on this damned floating space station. Devon could have rounded the Vipers and destroyed them.

Of course.

That’s why there was mayhem out there. He was making it easy for every alien coming into Edenia to kill themselves off, create total chaos, and then have no trouble finally setting his father and Lucifer free.

“I’ll fucking kill him with my bare hands,” Ashriel hissed as he spread his wings wide.

He was airborne in seconds, making the trip to the closest set of doors quickly. Before his second boot touched the hangar floor, silver doors opened with a soft hiss.

Tucking his wings tightly to his back, he walked through the open doorway. The serene pearlescent grey walls and glossy black floors of the corridor did nothing to soothe Ashriel’s inner turmoil. The lighting was soft and dim signaling Alpha 7’s night cycle.

Ashriel knew his way around, and in no time, he was on the one hundred and eleventh level…where they slept…where she slept.

Devon’s quarters were first with Lucien’s next. Anniel’s quarters were just before Zachariel’s, with Seth, Rowie, and the new red weredragon’s afterwards.

Ashriel entered her rooms, the scent of feminine perfume filling his lungs with every breath. Silver and furry white throw pillows decorated an enormous fuchsia seating area. The fire pit in the center was unlit, with a lone glass sitting on one of the transparent plastiform end tables.

Ashriel lifted the glass and sniffed. Pink lemonade. It was her favorite.

He stepped into her sleeping chamber, dazed, absently noting she’d left her bed undone. Bright pink sheets covered the round bed sitting atop a pedestal, flanked by frosted glass partitions.

For a moment, when it finally hit him that she really wasn’t here, he lost all of his strength and collapsed into the rumpled bed. He sprawled across the fragrant sheets, gripping her pillows to bury his nose in them and breathe her in.

“Anniel,” he sighed, his eyes filling with tears. He couldn’t help it. He loved her. She was good, loving, sweet… beautiful.

Turning back to stare at the thick glass that held back the dark void of space, he wondered once more “Where are you?”

Three glowing orbs of varying sizes on the nightstand near his head caught his attention. Ashriel picked one up to peer inside the holographic orb. It contained an image of Anniel sitting on her son’s bed, reading him a bedtime story. The tiny boy, with golden ringlets and blue-green eyes smiled at his mother. His lone white wing spread out in relaxation as he grinned up at her. The boy’s skin was golden brown, made more noticeable by the stark whiteness of his wing. One wing.

His brother, Garethiel had sired the child before callously abandoning Anniel. If he knew his child had been born deformed, he’d probably hate them even more. Garethiel was conceited as well as a cad. Ashriel never told him what he knew, but had always kept an eye on the female and his nephew, guarding them as best he could.

“Until now,” Ashriel said on a shuddering breath.

With a snarl of rage, he slammed the orb back on the nightstand and sprung off the bed. Stomping out of Anniel’s quarters, he headed back to the hangar. He’d seen enough.

His heart was breaking, but there was still the boy to rescue. He wouldn’t mourn the loss of Anniel yet. His mind and his heart would not give up hope of finding her. He’d search the entire universe if need be, but the priority right now was the boy. Gareth.

He needed to go to Pluto, find Amaranth, Iophiel, and Gareth, and head back to Seraphia. He’d garner special permission to raise the boy himself within the holy city. If not, he could always count on one of the parents of the many reapers taken to live in Angelos. Perhaps that might even be better since he needed to search for Anniel.

Flying out of Alpha 7 in his Fire Chariot, he found himself surrounded by Edenian soldier guardians. There were fifty Edenian battleships with plasma cannons pointed at the space station.

“What the hell?”

Ashriel opened his com link to them.

“What are you doing? What have you done with your Master Guardians?” he accused.

A white-haired Merulian appeared on the com unit screen.

Merulians had both feminine and masculine organs, and usually retained an androgynous appearance unless they preferred one gender over the other. At that point, their bodies would reflect those traits more. The strong jaw line on the alien on Ashriel’s screen showed him the hermaphrodite had chosen to live his life as a male.

“Greetings, reaper.” The Merulian gave a small smile, showing little pointed teeth. “We don’t know where those demons have gone to. They could be on any of the ships attacking our solar system.”

Ashriel frowned. “That’s ridiculous. Devon doesn’t need a battalion of battleships to destroy this entire solar system.” Ashriel clenched his fists. “All he needs to do is look at the sun and will it to detonate to wipe everything out.”

The Merulian winced. Of course, he knew that. They all knew. Devon was a menace, a ticking time bomb the Seraphian Master Guardians thought they could tame with love and gentleness. Sheer stupidity when his father’s tainted demon blood ran through Devon’s veins.

Looking at the destruction around them, Ashriel shook his head. “I should have killed that bastard when I had the chance.”

“Move out of the way. We’re about to open fire on that space station,” the Merulian ordered snapping Ashriel back out of his memories.

“What good would that do? They’re not in there. They’re gone. I don’t feel the power of any of them—anywhere.”

“Good. They’ll have nowhere to slink back into when they’re done trying to destroy everything.”

Again, Ashriel thought of Anniel. He knew she was innocent. She barely even had powers. “I told you, I don’t feel their presence. They’ve disappeared. They have nothing to do with what’s happening here. You can’t condemn all of them. You...“

“Don’t dictate to us who is guilty or not,” the Merulian hissed, black eyes flashing. “They’re all vile, unclean, immoral scum. We’re sick of all these things with supernatural powers trying to take over, wreaking havoc.“

“Their powers aren’t supernatural…” Ashriel snapped, his fists slamming the console. The Merulian blinked and then scowled, making Ashriel take a deep breath in order to regain his composure. “Well, except for Devon, maybe. The reapers can help...“

Again, the Merulian snorted. “We don’t want or need your help. Get out of the way. We’re opening fire in ten seconds whether you do or don’t.”

With that, the com unit screen went black.

Ashriel opened his mouth to hail them back online but the sight of the plasma canons firing up had him spinning his Fire Chariot around and zipping away from Alpha 7.

They were mad—crazy—all of them. Destroying Alpha 7 would accomplish nothing.

Amaranth’s distress signal distracted him from the destruction occurring behind him.

Homing in on her signal, he headed farther from the Edenian solar system.

Where was Iophiel?

A group of Utuduodian hunter ships zipped past him, but up ahead, he saw the saucer-shaped vessels of Grei aliens. Amaranth’s signal was coming from within one of them.

Ashriel’s blood boiled with rage and he zipped full throttle toward the Grei ship.

Entering the landing hangar was easy. It always was. It was getting out that was lethal.

Ashriel piloted his Fire Chariot down next to Amaranth’s. They allowed him to land, to climb out of his transport and walk to stand next to her.

Amaranth stood, black wings spread and divine sword drawn. Her hair was a vivid splash of fiery red down her back and her leather clad legs crouched down in battle stance.

“What happened?” Ashriel murmured coming up next to her, his eyes never leaving the horde of Greis surrounding them.

Amaranth turned her head to look at him. The inside of her eyes were completely black with no whites showing. A reaper in kill mode.

“They grabbed my Fire Chariot with a tractor beam and hauled me in here.”

He swallowed twice before trusting his voice not to break. “What about Iophiel and the boy? Did they get away?”

Even as he asked, he knew Iophiel would never abandon her to her fate. The platinum blond reaper would have circled back and fought for her release.”

Amaranth’s voice trembled with unshed tears. “There was nothing left of the ninth planet. Ashriel, I saw the Edenian battle ships decimate it.” She sniffled, directing her gaze to the Grei aliens surrounding them. “Iophiel never got off the planet. I tried to hail him, but there was no answer...

A wave of shock and anguish washed over Ashriel, almost knocking him on his knees. Not only had he pretty much sent Iophiel to his death and almost included Amaranth to his list of guilt, Anniel’s son was also dead. Someone else he’d failed to protect. Anniel would never forgive him when he finally found her. He’d never forgive himself.

The pain was so great it numbed him, made him cold with fury.

The air around him distorted as he opened his wings. Had the aliens standing before him been demons or devils, they would have all been dead right now. As it was, they only backed away nervously at his show of power.

“Release us. You have no right to abduct two Seraphian high priests,” Ashriel hissed.

Amidst the sea of aliens around Ashriel and Amaranth, a large tattooed Grei made his way to the forefront. He was without a doubt, the largest Grei alien Ashriel had ever seen. Dressed in deep grey leather-like pants with an array of weapons strapped to his legs and bare torso, Ashriel had the feeling he was looking at the leader of the Grei race.

The alien puffed his chest out more with a lopsided grin as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his tight pants. “You are Ashriel,” his raspy voice hissed. Tiny pointed teeth peeked through his lipless mouth.

Ashriel’s eyes narrowed. “That’s right. Release us now.”

Although his almond shaped huge eyes were a glistening solid black, Ashriel could sense the Grei alien’s gaze moving back to Amaranth.

The Grei’s grin became leering as his head cocked to one side. “I’d like her for a mate. She can be one of my queens.”

“Blasphemy,” Ashriel snarled. “Reapers must remain chaste.”

The Grei alien’s head turned to regard Ashriel. “That is a waste. The reapers are the superior beings of your race. Why do you suppress the superior genes?”

“We are holy warriors. We are the only ones with the ability to kill beings from Ainrodon.”

The Grei leader grinned. “More the reason you should procreate between yourselves. That would make more black-winged ones.”

Ashriel scowled. “Release us. Abducting reapers is not tolerated by anyone. Your kind will be hunted down and slaughtered until you are wiped out.”

The Grei frowned now, especially when his people began to murmur nervously amongst themselves. Everyone still remembered the horror of Davariel’s reign as dark prince--demons and devils running amok. No creature was spared the bloody horror. Only reapers were able to slaughter the demons and devils almost effortlessly. Reapers were revered throughout the galaxy. To hurt one was unforgivable.

The Grei snorted and waved them away before turning and snarling out orders to his people.

The Grei’s moved aside, giving the two Fire Chariots enough room to fire up and fly away.

Ashriel waited until Amaranth boarded her Fire Chariot first before boarding his. He followed her out and once they were far from the Grei ships, they turned back toward Seraphia.

Behind them, war waged.

“Ashriel, what happened? Why were all those aliens attacking each other?”

“I don’t know, Amaranth. Power, greed, slaves? How it happened, who is behind all this—now that is a more valid question.”

“Poor Iophiel. Are you sure we can’t do anything?”

His eyes brimmed with tears. “I am sure. We are not allowed to interfere in those matters, Amaranth.”

“B-but they killed one of our own, Ash. I saw the Edenians blow up Pluto. There was an entire colony of weres there too. It was horrible. I was getting ready to land when I noticed the battleships’ plasma canons firing up.”

Ashriel closed his eyes as shame, frustration, and fury filled him. He’d been too late to save Anniel and her son. He’d sent Iophiel to his death. They were gone...gone forever and it was his fault.

He would not rest until he found her. Ashriel needed to find her, even if it meant she’d hate him for not trying to save her son first. As long as she lived, he would bear her hatred. Nothing else mattered.

Chapter One

 

More than three hundred years later; Haddasha.

There she was. Alive. After being lost—disappeared—for about three hundred years, his secret love had returned.

He swallowed hard and stuck his suddenly sweaty hands into the pockets of his leather pants.

She was about forty paces from him across the crowded dance floor in the gothic castle nightclub called Haddasha. The air felt cold despite the thousands of undulating creatures swaying to the beat of music reverberating throughout the enormous three-tiered interior of the castle. It was dark, only candles lighting the interior from massive black iron chandeliers hanging from the vaulted ceiling. Clashing with the gothic décor were discreetly concealed strobe lights and laser beams making the white fog swirling on the floor boil in iridescent colors.

Ashriel was oblivious to it all, his eyes focused solely on Anniel.

He’d never laid eyes on her in the flesh and seeing her for real was like a punch to his gut. He felt like he couldn’t get enough breath into his lungs.

He closed his eyes in an attempt to gain control over his emotions. Taking a deep cleansing breath after swallowing repeatedly, he mulled over the facts in his head.

That fateful day, when the intergalactic war had started, the Utuduodian hunters had captured the Edenian Master Guardians in suspended animation orbs. Now, the Edenian Master Guardians had renamed themselves Alpha Angels and they no longer guarded the Edenian solar system. The Utuduodian hunters no longer abducted men—or so they claimed. How they managed to capture Devon and his angels was still a mystery. They claimed it had been a terrible mistake.

There was more to it than that. Ashriel was sure. Devon had been found first, and then with the aid of his current mate, a rescued Crystalian sex slave trained in the ways of the Venushtian priestess warriors, they had located and rescued the rest. Somehow, through all the intrigue, plotting and scheming, Lucien had fallen and become the new dark prince. He was Davariel’s other son, but Ashriel knew he wasn’t nearly as powerful as Devon, or Dava. Not much of a threat, for now anyway.

Ashriel stared unabashedly at Anniel, who was oblivious to his existence. He knew he shouldn’t stare at her so, but he couldn’t help himself. It was all Garethiel’s fault. His blond twin had shown him the pretty girl he’d deflowered aboard Alpha 7 so many years ago, laughing and boasting how he’d seduced her. Anniel had become Ashriel’s heaven and hell. A dark angel made to make Ashriel rue his black wings and his vow to remain a virgin.

He’d foolishly admonished his brother, Garethiel, for defiling such a young female, but then had to blush in shame when Garethiel showed him Anniel’s lush curves, her dark satiny skin and glowing green-gold eyes. Ashriel’s mouth had watered at the sight of her tight-nippled breasts and rounded bottom. The girl was tall, long-legged, with big luminous eyes and large breasts. Ashriel had groaned pathetically when she licked her lush lips and panted as Garethiel plowed her ruthlessly. For a moment, Ashriel would have given both his wings to experience the rapture of being embedded within her too.

He still remembered his brother’s mocking leer as he fisted Ashriel’s long hair and forced him to stare into the crystal-vid orb he held almost pressed to Ashriel’s nose. “Her cunt squeezes, Ashriel. Squeezes so hard it makes you crossed eyed—“

A clumsy Chidadent crashed against Ashriel, spilling cold liquid all over his chest and, thankfully, breaking him out of his erotic trance.

The small orange-skinned man stared horrified with amber eyes and a mane of hair slightly darker than his flesh. He shivered before Ashriel who snarled viciously at him, making sure his feathers puffed out menacingly.

The Chid squeaked in dismay, a wet stain appearing at his crotch, and fled screaming.

Ashriel looked down at his wet torso in annoyance, but then he stiffened, his gaze darting back to Anniel. For a moment, he felt fear. What if she’d witnessed his rude behavior? She might grow wary of him, or worse, fear him. Everyone feared him…Except Devon. He needed to stop being so…overbearing. Father Reushuel told him he needed to work on his humility and…

His train of thought screeched to a halt as Anniel turned her head to the side to massage the back of her neck, making her long red-brown ponytail brush against her back. The jumpsuit she wore exposed her entire spine, almost to the cleft of her ass and the front dipped down below her belly button. How she kept the material over the jutting roundness of her full breasts was mind-boggling to him. Every time she moved, he held his breath thinking her outfit would fall off her shoulders and expose her. He knew if that happened, he would not be able to keep from bolting to her side to cover her nakedness with his wings. The thought of anyone seeing her bare made his blood boil.

Anniel sighed, her lip quivering a bit as if she wanted to cry. It gave him pause. Did she miss her son?

A jolt of guilt and pain pierced Ashriel’s soul.

His nephew. That was as close to having a son as he’d ever get. Garethiel had no intention of siring any offspring for a few siglons yet, and, of course, Ashriel was to die a virgin and childless. It ate away at him sometimes.

Anniel chose that moment to lean over and grab a napkin, giving Ashriel a view of her lush breasts. The sight of so much dark satiny skin made his already engorged cock swell even more. He groaned, feeling himself twitch painfully in his breeches.

Cursing inwardly, he was about to turn to adjust his shameful weakness when he noticed someone heading straight toward him.

The male had a thick mop of blood-red hair cut into wild layers spilling to his waist. His eyes, glittering with evil mischief, were bright green-gold rimmed in black. Silvers hoops decorated his lower lip as well as his nipples, peeking out from within a long, black, leather overcoat. His entire torso had various tattoos, and around his belly button, were five silver studs with a chain wrapped around them to form a five-peaked star. The male had the most insolent, conceited, overbearing grin on his face.

Ashriel didn’t need introductions to know which Alpha Angel this was. His troublesome notoriety preceded him. Remien Fyre—the red weredragon.

Ashriel’s entire body stiffened at the weredragon’s grin. It could only mean one thing. Remien Fyre knew. The insufferable bastard knew Ashriel’s lustful thoughts about Anniel. His insolent grin said so.

Ashriel pulled his shoulders back as he straightened to his full seven-foot stature, crossing his arms over his chest, and ruffling his feathers to appear more menacing. Unfortunately, Remien Fyre looked unfazed by Ashriel’s attempt to look foreboding.

The weredragon pulled a young girl in his wake. Her wide golden eyes showed whites and she seemed to be dragging her feet as she stared at Ashriel.

Her skimpy attire barely covered skin the color of caramel, almost as dark as Anniel’s, and her hair was a silken flow of black down to her hips. He’d seen her with the golden weredragon, Zachariel, and wondered why Remien had her by the hand. He knew the red weredragon, Remien, was mated to the vampire girl called Rowie, then again, Ashriel had heard rumors of how the Alpha Angels lived a life of immorality, sharing sex with one another without boundaries.

The girl’s eyes traveled down his torso, and to his dismay, stopped on the prominent bulge in his pants.

Damn, he thought flushing to his roots.

The weredragon stopped right in front of him his grin showing molars. “Hi. Ashriel, right?”

Ashriel made his tone as frosty as ever. “Remien Fyre.” He narrowed his eyes for good measure and deepened his scowl.

Unfortunately, Remi’s grin widened, to Ashriel’s astonishment and irritation. “Anniel is dying to invite you over for a drink, but she’s a bit shy.”

What?

Reality fell away as Ashriel gaped at the grinning red weredragon. His eyes darted to the vision of beauty sitting forty paces away. Anniel wanted to share a drink… with him?

He blinked in astonishment.

Anniel stirred her glass of lemonade absentmindedly. He looked back down at the red-haired weredragon and noticed how the young female next to him gaped at Remi before snapping her mouth closed to dart Ashriel a nervous grin. Her eyes were as big as Orbreg eggs and her smile looked more like a grimace. The thought that the weredragon was most likely playing him for a fool had Ashriel snarling in rage. The girl jumped and gripped Remi’s tattooed arm tightly.

Remi lifted his hands with a red drink in either of them, “Look, I’m just trying to do her a favor, man. Don’t shoot the messenger.”

Ashriel looked back at Anniel. She was sipping her drink. She closed her eyes and licked her lips, and then proceeded to pluck a bright red cherry out to twirl her tongue around the juicy fruit.

Ashriel had to remember to breathe…and close his gaping mouth. He remembered how she’d licked at Garethiel’s nipples and felt his own shrink to sensitive little points.

Oh.

Fuck.

Ashriel shook his head adamantly. He felt dirty and evil. The girl had lain with his brother and bore him a child. His attraction to her was wrong on so many levels. Plus, he was a high priest, sworn to remain chaste.

“No?” Remi scoffed incredulously, his black-rimmed green-gold eyes wide. “You’re going to turn her down?”

Ashriel took a deep breath through his lips. “I’m here on official business.” He was supposed to be observing all of them, especially Devon. “I cannot consort with… I shouldn’t…” he clenched his teeth in confounded annoyance. “I am a high priest.”

Remi nodded. “I get you, Ash. It’s okay.” He nodded. “At least don’t turn down the female’s drink. That would be totally rude, man.”

Remi pushed one of the drinks into Ashriel’s hand.

Alarm shot through Ashriel. He’d never indulged in alcohol fearing he’d become weak and fall from grace, as so many other reapers had.

He swallowed pushing the drink back at Remien Fyre.

“Aw, come-on, Ash, seriously?” Remi laughed loudly, drawing the attention of all nearby. Ashriel’s face flamed even as his scowl grew. “No sex, no drinking? No wonder you’re always frowning, man. Live it up a little. Even Ama drinks.”

Ashriel growled at the insolent weredragon snatching the drink back from him. Some of it sloshed onto Ashriel’s hand making Remi laugh harder. How dare the stupid weredragon ridicule him.

“Just remember, dude,” Remi said walking away with the girl, “she’s watching what you do with that drink. If you take forever to sip it down, it’s like an invitation for her to come down here and flirt with you.”

A shudder of desire ran through Ashriel. To speak with her—no, to have Anniel flirt…with him. Oh, God. What would he say? Would he be able to resist her? Would he wrap his arms around her and fly them to the darker balconies in the gothic castle? Haddasha’s upper levels were for privacy after indulging in Liquid X. Beings of all races and shapes would fornicate without restraint.

He could kiss her. That wasn’t forbidden for his kind. They were allowed to kiss—to do anything really, except penetration.

But…

Just kissing her would not be enough. He would fall from grace. His family would lose their prestige, he would be publicly deplumed and cast from Seraphia, his home…forever…

All that just to know a moment of bliss in Anniel’s arms.

Ashriel bit his lower lip, feeling his heart pound with excitement. Yes. It was all worth it. She was… she was…

He swallowed past the lump in his throat as uncertainty assailed him. Would she keep him as her lover? Would she laugh at his inexperience? Ashriel did not know the first thing about sex. He knew how to kiss, but that was it. One of the female reapers had confessed feeling weak with desire when a Chidadent tourist kissed her and had wanted to show Ashriel how pleasant it was. Ashriel hadn’t felt a thing when the girl clutched him and swirled her tongue in his mouth.

However, if Anniel did that to him…

His cock hurt. He was too aroused and…

Ashriel’s eyes widened when he saw Remi talking with Anniel

Oh-god.

What had he been thinking? He’d make an utter fool of himself. A woman like Anniel would find his lack of experience laughable. She’d regret having lain with him and would probably never want to see him again. She probably thought he was a fallen reaper seeing him in Haddasha and most definitely become annoyed when she found out he was nothing more than a foolish virgin. Her hatred would grow when he confessed to be Garethiel’s twin. He had to tell her. He wouldn’t touch her otherwise.

It was no use. He knew he’d never be able to bear her disdain.

He stared at the drink in his hand. If he drank it fast and walked away, she would think he was appreciative of the gesture of sending him a drink but wasn’t interested in socializing. Ashriel bit his lip and looked back up. Remi was blocking his view of her except the shapely legs crossed at the knees and clad in wicked thigh-high spike-heeled boots.

Oh, but Ashriel was very interested in… socializing with Anniel. Maybe they could just talk. He’d let her know he was chaste if the conversation went in that direction. No harm, right? She wouldn’t get mad if he told her. But, should he tell her about his relation to his cowardly brother?

He frowned. Again, the thought that perhaps the red-haired weredragon was playing a prank had sweat beading up beneath Ashriel’s wings.

Ashriel narrowed his eyes. If Remien Fyre were up to no good, Ashriel would choke the living shit out of him.

*****

“Annie,” Remi blurted, slamming a glass of red liquid in front of her. “Ashriel sends you this. He wants to talk with you.” He jerked a thumb to gesture behind him with a huge grin.

Ashriel. The name sounded familiar. Where had she heard that name before?

She tapped her chin, deep in thought, but Remi’s hand pushing a suspicious looking red drink under her nose had her blinking back up at him.

Remi had this huge shit-eating grin on his face.

Oh, that couldn’t be good.

He was still gesturing somewhere behind himself, to this Ashriel, no doubt.

Anniel looked from his too smug face to Alluna’s wide-eyed one. The feeling that she wasn’t going to like whomever Rem was pointing at grew.

Carefully, Anniel craned her head to look beyond Remien’s mop of hair. If she hadn't been firmly seated in the barstool, Anniel would have fallen to the floor in a faint. She couldn’t help the squeak of outrage that erupted from her lips and glared at her Alpha Angel brother. “Remien Fyre, what are you up to?”

Remi pouted. “Me? I’m only bringing you this drink he told me to give you. He’s a little shy, Annie. Give the guy a break. Go talk to him.”

The vision of the tall dark reaper was still emblazoned in her brain.

A freaking reaper.

He had to measure like seven feet, which was what the majority of those black winged death angels measured—really. But this reaper—holy friggin heaven above—he made Zachariel look like a wimpy teenager, and Zak was big as a star-freighter—muscles bulging everywhere with size fifteen feet.

Ashriel, as Remi had called him, was a study of bronzed skin pulled taut over pure brawn—B-R-A-W-N—in capital letters with like a gazillion exclamation points behind it. How else would you describe a black-winged Seraph with an eight pack and pecs like that?

Just…wow.

A face sculpted to masculine perfection and framed by a spill of silken dark hair just past his shoulders accompanied that killer body. Behind wide, bulky shoulders, Anniel had seen the outline of jet-black feathers. The wings of a reaper. Anniel tended to avoid males with wings in general--Seraphians. She’d been hurt by one long ago. He’d played with her heart, her feelings, her body, and left her pregnant—not happening again, thank-you.

She scowled at Remi. “I am not going to talk to that Seraphian reaper. You should know better than to ask me.“

Remi raised his hands in mock surrender. “Hey, I’m only the messenger. Don’t shoot me. If I were you, I’d drink whatever it is he sent you, give him a smile and a wave, and turn away before he gets the nerve to sashay his feathered ass up here.”

Next to Remi, Alluna winced. “They have feathers on their...“

Anniel rolled her eyes. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Luna, don’t listen to Remi. He’s just being a smart-ass.”

Remi barked out a laugh and leaned over. Before she could utter another word, his mouth covered hers in a chaste kiss. “Gotta go, gorgeous. Zak and Row are going to start onstage. Luna and I don’t want to miss a thing.”

He gripped Alluna’s hand and, with a swish of blood-red hair, chains, and black leather, disappeared through the throngs of aliens dancing around them.

Anniel stared, mouth and eyes gaping at the brooding reaper forty paces away. God—but he was totally beautiful. His dark hair set off his glowing silver eyes and looked striking against the tops of his bulging pecs. From there, her eyes just automatically drifted down over his washboard abs, her mouth literally drooling at the ridge delineating his abs from his hipbone, clearly visible over his indecently low-slung black leather pants. Curled over, tucked up to his left hip was the bulge of a very healthy, very stiff and thick, long cock. Her favorite flavor too—angel cock.

A shiver of lust jolted through Anniel.

Get a grip, girlfriend.— she thought—Ten foot pole and all that. She grimaced when she realized that thinking of poles, ten foot or otherwise wasn’t going to cool her traitorous body’s longing for the fine piece of black-winged male flesh forty paces away. Gripping her glass, she tossed back the drink before he took her hesitance as a sign she wanted him to join her.

Well, she did, but she shouldn’t. She wouldn’t.

Closing her eyes, she let the cool liquid slide down her throat. Garethiel broke her heart once, and although he was blond, blue-eyed, white-winged and the complete opposite to the dark reaper, she’d sworn to stay away from Seraph’s. She had a terrible weakness for their beauty and a bad compulsion to want to wrap her legs around their waists and ride them raw while running her fingers through their soft wings.

It suddenly got too hot.

The wave of desire that hit her had Anniel dropping her glass. She gripped the edge of the bar as she felt her sex begin to throb and her nipples peak painfully. A low growl erupted from her lips as the points of her wolf fangs grew enough to prick her mouth.

What the fuck— she thought.

“Hey, baby, are you okay?”

Anniel snarled viciously at the vampire sitting next to her.

He frowned and stood, “No need to get all uptight. I’m not the one who slipped you Liquid X.” With a disdainful sniff, the blond vampire walked away.

Liquid X.

Anniel’s lips peeled back from her teeth in rage. The reaper had sent Liquid X with Remi. What an asshole. She was going to kick the red weredragon’s ass. He had to have known—damn his matchmaking ass.

Another wave of lust had her gripping her crotch as heat flooded her tiny panties. Panting, her eyes sought out the reaper. People were screaming in terror as he opened his wings and took flight to the upper balconies of Haddasha.

“Son of a bitch,” she spat locking onto his life force. He wasn’t getting away that easy.

Anniel teleported within a few feet of him. The reaper was on his knees, crouched over and panting near the concrete railing at the edge of the balcony. It was dark and the scent of sex permeated the air. It was a lair for the sexually depraved, a place she thought she’d never plant her fine boots on.

Anniel didn’t care. Her whole body trembled with the onset of her heat cycle, artificially induced by Liquid X.

“There you are, you son of a bitch,” she cried out rushing to him. The second he raised his face, she slapped him hard. “How dare you do this to me.”

The reaper cried out, but not from pain. His back arched and his hands gripped his straining erection, poking up from the open V of his pants. Cum shot out in thick spurts, decorating the floor and his leather-clad thighs in ropey lines. Head thrown back in ecstasy, Ashriel’s entire body shook as his breath tore in and out of his mouth in ragged gasps. Even his black wings quivered uncontrollably.

He looked up at her, blazing silver eyes full of shock and confusion. Another shudder went through him as he swallowed convulsively. “Help me,” he whispered, “please.”

What could be hotter than a gorgeously muscled black-winged angel on his knees begging for help?

She took a deep breath, letting his sweet musk fill her lungs and growled.

Anniel fell on him, his scent too intoxicating to resist—a fully aroused Seraph.

He lost his balance and fell against the railing, his wings shooting out to either side of his torso. Anniel fisted his hair, shoved her tongue into his mouth, and pressed as tight against him as possible. The orgasm that shot through her at that initial contact had her screaming into his mouth. Her fingers sank into the downy softness of his wings to grip the thick muscled flesh beneath as she rode him in ecstatic frenzy. His wings twitched and she felt his fingers knead her ass hard enough to bruise. He bucked against her wildly, his arms and chest bulging with his strength. Somewhere in the back of her frenzied mind, a little thought about him chafing his lovely dick on the seam of her pantsuit floated about, but it was like a little mosquito buzzing around during a five-alarm fire.

She was on fire, and she needed more contact.

Anniel arched her back and pulled open the top to her one-piece pantsuit. Grabbing a breast with one hand and fisting Ashriel’s satiny hair in the other, she squished his face against her aching nipple.

Another scream tore from her throat when he savaged her tight bud with teeth and tongue, devouring her like a starving man. Warmth bathed her exposed belly as another shudder shook Ashriel. Anniel’s fingers found the source of warmth at the tip of his erupting cock. Her fingers came away dripping with his seed. With a moan, she popped them into her mouth and sucked greedily. His taste exploded on her tongue, setting off another orgasm.

“Fuck,” she panted. “I need you to fuck me.”

As she struggled to pull the rest of her clothing off, Ashriel shoved her back. They landed on the ground with him on top of her. He muttered something, and she was sure she heard him wrong because it sounded as if he’d said “I can’t.”

Right. No way.

Somehow, she’d managed to kick off her boots and jumpsuit before curling her fingers around his gloriously distended erection. He was definitely a big boy and she could barely wait to stuff him inside herself. Hell—she hadn’t had sex in over three hundred years. Talk about a dry spell.

Ashriel cried out and in the blink of an eye, Anniel found herself lying alone and bereft on the cold floor.

She cried out in dismay, scrambling to her knees as her eyes searched the dark balcony.

What the hell was wrong with him? He was the one who’d started this. Why was he playing hard to get now?

There were many curtained off doorways on the opposite side of the railing. She heard moans, panting, and screams everywhere, the slap of wet flesh and hard thumping, but the sight of a lone black feather sticking out from beneath one doorway had her scrambling inside.

The private room was enormous, and made entirely of stone. A rumpled bed occupied the center, but what had her gasping in astonishment was the sight of Ashriel ramming himself into the walls and ceiling like a trapped bird. Streams of blood spattered the walls where he hit and feathers floated down.

“Stop,” Anniel sobbed. “Why are you hurting yourself?”

He flew high to an opening near the ceiling and perched precariously on the ledge.

He was leaving?

“No,” Anniel cried out in a shrill voice. She raised both arms to him and begged. “Don’t go. Please.”

Ashriel looked over his shoulder at Anniel.

“Please,” she begged shamelessly. “Please, don’t go, Ashriel.”

He hesitated a moment and then spread his wings to drift down to her.

He stood tall, but unsteady. He bled from the corner of his mouth and his body was scraped and bruised.

Silver grey eyes, fringed with the longest, thickest, blackest lashes she’d ever seen, almost glowed in the darkness. “Anniel,” he whispered.

Strands of tousled dark hair wafted around his face as he panted hard. His erection was still ramrod straight and poking gloriously from his pants, which now hung even lower on lean hips. Anniel wanted to run her tongue over every inch of exposed flesh. She was on him in the blink of an eye.

Ashriel collapsed when she tried to climb him. She ended up sitting astride him. Throwing her head back, she rubbed her naked pussy against his hard shaft and felt him quiver. It was too much, felt too good.

Hungry to feel the reaper embedded deep within her, she gripped his meaty shoulders, leaned over to take his mouth and spread her thighs to either side of his hips. Angling her ass up, she wiggled her hips and bore down on his straining cock.

He went wild beneath her. If she didn’t know any better, she’d almost think he was trying not to fuck her.

When his tip breached her hungry hole, Ashriel stiffened, cried out, and shuddered. Hot cum shot up into her, easing the way for the rest of his thick cock. Anniel pushed hard until she sat all the way down on him…and then she came too.

*****

He was no longer a virgin. Anniel’s heat gripped him tighter than a fist, and it was the most painful and pleasurable thing he’d ever felt. She shook and cried out in rapture, her nails digging into his pectorals. Her hips rose and fell on him, the agony of orgasm after orgasm making him feel as if he were going to die any minute. But it wasn’t enough.

He rolled them over, gripped her waist, and flew to the bed.

Ashriel began to thrust into her mindlessly. Anniel wrapped her legs around his waist and arched her back in surrender. His wings fanned frantically as he fucked her without restraint. Every few seconds he’d shout out as orgasms threatened to explode his hammering heart. His balls felt as if they were going to turn inside out and his dick was so hard it hurt. No matter how many times he came, it wouldn’t grow soft, wouldn’t become too sensitive. On the contrary, it ratcheted his lust higher and higher.

He couldn’t stop fucking. He didn’t want to. It was insane. He felt insane.

She shoved him away with an animalistic snarl. Ashriel fell on his ass stunned and panting. Anniel turned over on hands and knees, spread her brown thighs, and presented her bare ass and pussy to him. She was swollen and wet with desire. Her cunt looked like the most beautiful exotic flower he’d ever seen.

“Fuck me more,” she demanded with a throaty growl, her eyes luminous in the dark.

Ashriel dove for her, his hands gripping her waist. His entire body convulsed when his cock sank into her heat.

Tight. She was so fucking tight. He had to fight his way in and out of her, but he rammed her ruthlessly.

Anniel whimpered, panted, and groaned in pleasure. Every once in a while she’d scream out her release and he’d feel her sweet pussy quivering around his prick. Her breasts filled his hands to overflowing and she slammed her ass back against him so hard, he feared they’d both be black and blue afterwards. Her back arched as she shouted out her release for the hundredth time. He wanted to see her face. See her rapture as he stabbed repeatedly into her.

Ashriel pulled out, tossed her onto her back and shoved back inside her. His hands trapped her wrists to either side of her face and his thighs shoved hers wider apart. He fucked her harder, making her breast bounce wildly. Anniel bowed her back, opened her mouth, and screamed his name as she came beneath him. He sprayed her womb with hot jets of cum and then filled her mouth with his plundering tongue, claiming, owning, mastering her. He had no idea his body was capable of doing what he was doing. His hips just continued to jerk back and forth as if on an automatic switch.

She whimpered in surrender, arching and rubbing her body against his. Their hips continued to slap endlessly, sweat pouring off overheated bodies to mix with their intermingled cum on the sticky rumpled sheets. Ashriel’s wings continued to beat rapidly, trying to cool his hot flesh, but it was like fanning a fire. The heat only grew.

It was only when he felt her legs begin to slip from his waist that he noticed her tears.

Alarm had him stopping cold. “I’ve hurt you.”

Anniel remained limp beneath him. She shook her head weakly. “The Liquid X. It’s wearing away.”

Ashriel backed away and whimpered when his cock erupted again as it left her clinging cunt. A flood of semen poured from her deep strawberry folds, swollen from his harsh treatment of her. Shame filled him, overpowering the painful need to continue to fuck. He stared at her through the tousled strands of his hair. “Forgive me. I should have had more restraint. This is my fault.“

She sat up and took his mouth. Ashriel cupped the back of her head. Her ponytail had long ago come undone and his fingers sank into the heavy mass of waves that fell to her waist. His body tensed with sexual hunger, but she kissed him gently, making his eyes burn with tears. He loved her—had loved her for siglons. The harsh punishment that awaited him back on Seraphia seemed insignificant now in the warmth of her arms. He could happily die in her arms.

Anniel stiffened, and pushed at his shoulders sending a jolt of disappointment through him.

“Something’s going on. The others…” She struggled to get to her feet. “I can feel their emotions.”

Ashriel watched in dismay as she activated a hygiene ray. Blue light engulfed the room and he was left feeling strangely clean.

“No,” he protested, already missing her scent on his skin. When his pants materialized encasing his legs and hips, he glared up at her. She’d had her fill and was now walking out on him. He still wasn’t sure what happened, but he wasn’t through. His loins still ached.

Anniel acted once again as if he didn’t exist.

He opened his mouth to protest her treatment of him. She’d stripped him of his virginity. Did she not realize that? Did she not care?

An inhuman roar shook the entire castle.

“Oh, God. That’s Zak,” she exclaimed. “Something must’ve happened to Alluna.”

His flesh prickled with bumps making him scramble off the bed. He sensed the presence of evil…of devils or a demon.

Ashriel was out of the room before Anniel. Spreading his wings, he sprinted up on the balcony railing and descended toward the throngs of aliens below.

As he drew closer, he overheard their shouting.

“Give her to us,” Seth, the platinum blond weretigri demanded as he and the other Alpha Angels took a menacing step forward.

Four dark-skinned Arborian Master Guardians stepped back. They were dressed in their dark blue flight suits with a red insignia denoting their status over their left pectoral.

The Arborian holding Alluna shouted, “We will not.” The others pulled out their swords when the Alpha Angels advanced more.

Ashriel landed in the middle of the confrontation.

“Then you shall give her to me,” he growled, black wings spread out behind him ready to strike.

The Arborian holding a dazed Alluna, shoved her at Ashriel and fled with the rest of his cohorts like cowards.

Alluna collapsed in Ashriel’s arms. He didn’t have power like a Master Guardian, but he did have certain abilities as a reaper. One was the ability to break enchantments. Ashriel felt the golden haired Alpha Angel named Zak pulling and hitting at his wings as Ashriel cocooned himself and the girl within his jet feathers.

“Give her to me,” Zak shouted enraged.

Ashriel stared deep into Alluna’s eyes and spoke in the angelic tongue of the Dominatios, “ressasurei… remember.”

Alluna’s big golden eyes blinked slowly, her small hands sliding up his naked flesh to grip his shoulders. Her lips trembled as she blinked again, her pupils focusing on Ashriel’s face.

“Remember,” Ashriel repeated watching as shock turned into fear.

She feared him. The realization saddened Ashriel. He was a holy warrior, a reaper, still most beings galaxy-wide only saw him as a death angel—a monster.

Ashriel’s black wings folded back and he pressed the girl into Zak’s arms. The golden weredragon’s expression was wild with anxiety and rage. Zak snatched Alluna from Ashriel, bared sharp teeth, and snarled viciously at him. His sapphire blue eyes were wide, the irises filling the entire orbs, showing that he was losing control over his beastly side. The second indicators of his quickly unraveling control were the gold dragon wings spread out behind his back.

Ashriel merely backed away, without saying a word.

Seth looked at Ashriel with narrowed eyes.

His aura. He could see Ashriel’s aura. He knew Ashriel was fallen.

Ashriel was now a fallen reaper. He felt the blood drain from his face as the reality of the situation began crashing down on him.

Seth moved as if to come closer, his brows furrowed, but Ashriel turned and rushed out into the night. He didn’t want or need an Alpha Angel’s concern or pity.

Ashriel assumed full responsibility for his actions. He had fallen from grace. It was time to face the consequences of his sin.

*******

This is the story that follows The Witch and the Dragon, from the Alpha Angels Series I have available on Amazon. Dark Angel has not been released for sale yet. I just wanted to give it a test run on Lush to see how many people like it. Your comments are greatly appreciated, good or bad.