Touched by Death: (Sins of The Fallen book 3)

PRESENT

She’s shoved back through the door, through the wall of fire and into my arms. The door slams shut and then it’s gone.

Breathing hard, I blink at the empty space. My thoughts swirl too fast for me to untangle as she asks, “When did you realize that Genesis hides in the shadows inside me?”

I’m stiff behind her, arms banded around her slim waist. “Soon after we arrived back here.”

“You didn’t throw me to the darkness to get back at Daemon…”

Staring at the flames, I remain silent, not yet ready to admit the truth or the secrets I keep hidden from the world. She sees them anyway, her sweet voice drifting through the haze of my thoughts.

“You were trying to lure her from the shadows.”

“Genesis is dead.” My voice crackles as much as the flames dancing closer on the floor.

She slowly turns around in my arms, and I’m suddenly very aware of how warm she is from the flickering flames; how small and fragile she seems. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I had no solid proof.”

“I don’t believe you.”

My throat jumps, but I stay silent.

“You’re ashamed to admit you have feelings other than those born from the darkness in you.”

The flames flicker in her eyes when I finally look at her, my throat bobbing on a swallow. “You need to be careful. The past needs to remain in the past.”

“But how can it when you keep coaxing it to the surface? Tell me, Amenadiel, do you like playing with fire?” She pushes up on her tiptoes and walks her fingers up my chest, over the fabric of my shirt, caressing each button. “It looks like the past caught up with you and your brother.” Her sweet breath fans the stubble on my chin. “Genesis is back, Amenadiel. The missing original.”

Heart thrashing in my chest, my gaze scans over her ethereal face. I step back, clearing my throat. It’s not her. She died. “Why did time not reset when you returned to Eden?”

“You’re asking the questions now?” She huffs a mocking laugh. “Trust you to focus on the unimportant details.”

“You went back. You should have reset the timeline.”

“Or maybe evil cares less about timelines and more about seeking revenge?”

I grow still, not daring to breathe. “Genesis?” Is it really her? It can’t be, can it? Yet, when she looks at me…

Behind us, the flames grow taller, flickering wildly, until she puts them out with an effortless click of her fingers. She motions to the scene in front of us, the shocked and worried looks on Daemon’s and his friend’s frozen faces. “Now, if you excuse me, Amenadiel. I have a mess to create.”

And with another click of her finger, time rewinds before I can stop it.

Before I can stop her.

AURELIA

“Why is it that the longer I watch you, the more familiar you seem?”

I stay silent, acutely aware of the shift in the air when Lucifer starts to circle me. A blind person could sense the crackling tension in the air.

Dariana tries to break it. “It’s nice to have you back, Lucifer. You’ve been gone for a while.”

His eyes remain laser sharp, focused entirely on me as if he’s peeling me like the layers of an onion. “What is your intention with my son?”

My eyes automatically find Daemon, who remains a statue. I remember this from last time. He barely moves when his father is around. “Intention?”

Lucifer stops in front of me and buries his hands deep in his pants pockets. His shirt stretches tight across his shoulders, and his dark hair is styled back. “Yes, intention. You’re not marrying my son.”

My eyes pop wide open as my heart takes flight. “Who said anything about marriage?”

“Oh,” he hums. “So you admit my son is nothing more than a fling?”

I’m so confused. Shifting on the spot, I open and close my mouth in search of the right words.

Lucifer speaks first. “My son is the only heir to the throne. He will be the ruler of Hell one day. Naturally, there is the question of marriage.”

“Marriage—” I start, but he continues before I can speak another word. “My son is already betrothed to a woman of high enough standing to be worthy of serving by his side.”

My heart ceases to beat, and Lucifer tilts his head with a smile, attuned to reading a room.

“You didn’t know?”

“Father,” Daemon warns, his tone low and threatening.

If anything, it makes the smile on Lucifer’s face grow. His eyes flick over my shoulder, and he holds his hand out. “Come here, Dariana.”

I gasp, my mouth falling open as she rises from the couch and walks up to us with obedient steps.

“Meet Daemon’s future wife. His betrothed. The female angel who will one day produce an heir to the kingdom.”

Tears prick the backs of my eyes as they lock on Dariana. The girl I once fell for. It turns out she knew all along and never thought to tell me. She let me fall for him when he played his twisted power games. She let me fall for her.

My feet carry me backward, first a single step, soon followed by two more.

When Daemon notices, he flies up from the couch and gives me a warning glare. The kind that tells me not to go anywhere or I’ll be in deep trouble. I don’t heed his warning, intent on protecting the damaged, bleeding organ in my chest.

I’ve desperately tried to gain their love again, but it turns out it was never mine to own.

I look back at Dariana, and for the first time, I see what she is. She’s a royal in waiting.

She’s the woman chosen for Daemon. The one deemed worthy. She’s the one who’ll get every damaged and imperfect part of him.

The one who’ll get to feel his child kick inside her.

Not me.

It’ll never be me. I’m a placeholder. The heartache I’ve endured to get them back has been for nothing.

Everything was for nothing…

A sob escapes me—a pained, haunted sound that cuts through the silence like a sharp knife. It slices my heart, tearing the organ into tiny pieces that float through the air like confetti.

My eyes collide with Dariana’s, who watches me carefully while Lucifer arranges her hair to lie over one shoulder as if he’s making sure she’s perfectly presented. A cruel smile tugs at his lips when he pins his dark gaze on me and says, “You didn’t think they cared for you, did you?”

My hands seek the cold stone wall behind me. Tears blur my vision as I choke out, “I need to leave.”

“Wait!” Daemon hurries after me when I escape out the door, but his thunderous footsteps come to a skidding halt at the commanding tone of his father.

“Let her go! It’s for the best.”

As soon as I round the corner, I fall apart, opening up like an empty void, my soul swallowed whole by blackness. I tried everything to win them back. I fought Daemon. I put up with Dariana’s toxicity. And it was all for nothing.

What was even real? I don’t know anymore. All I know is that my heart lies splintered on the floor, fragile and broken, and at risk of blowing away at the slightest breeze from an open window.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

Returning to Eden is not an option anymore. I have nowhere to go but back to Amenadiel’s. I can’t stay here, where I’ll be taunted by the four tormentors of my splintered heart.

Faced with my poor choices, Amenadiel and his son feel like the safest option.

I push off the damp stone wall at my back and hurry down the hallway toward the front doors, desperately swiping at my wet cheeks. As I round another corner, I’m met with a wall of guards. They block the doors with their big builds. Their wings are nowhere near as impressive as mine but threatening nonetheless.

“Let me pass,” I rush out, looking behind me briefly to ensure Daemon and the others aren’t in pursuit. Unwelcome disappointment shadows my heart when I find the hallway empty, but I shrug it off and focus my attention back on the guards. The flickering flames on the walls highlight their sharp features, lending them an air of cruelty and deceit. Exchanging amused glances, the tallest and biggest guard smirks in my direction. “You’re not to leave this building. Boss’s orders.”

“Which boss?” I bite out, taking a careful step closer. “While Daemon might not want me to leave, Lucifer does.”

Uncertainty flickers in their cold eyes. They look at each other again. The guard at the front clears his throat. “Master Daemon.”

“And you fear him more than Lucifer? The ruler of Hell?”

“The girl has a point.” One of the guards to the left speaks up but then clamps his mouth shut when the guard in charge cuts him a glare.

His body shifts to the side, and he looks anywhere but at me as he lets me pass. I don’t hesitate, slinking through the wall of bodies and escaping into the night.

It’s not until the cold air slaps me in the face that I manage to inhale a full breath into my burning lungs. My wings explode from my back, and I shoot up into the sky, knowing full well that Daemon won’t let me go. But he’ll have no other choice.

Now I know the truth.

Landing on the soft grass outside Amenadiel’s house, I suppress a shiver. Memories of the groups of humans I killed assault my mind as I peer up at the gargoyles that stare down at me with a wicked gleam in their soulless eyes. Thick ivy crawls the length of the stone walls, and as a lick of breeze slides through my long hair, the leaves rustle softly. A lone candle that flickers behind the stained-glass window draws my attention.

Walking up the stone steps, I debate my choice. Is this a good idea? No, it’s not. It’s a very fucking bad idea, but where else can I go?

Imaginary eyes track me as I lift my hand to knock on the door. I pause, peering behind me at the thick woods surrounding the property. The sensation of being watched quickens my heart, and I turn back around and bang my knuckles against the door before I can talk myself out of it.

I count the seconds, ears pricked for movement behind me. It doesn’t take long before heavy footsteps sound behind the door, followed by the groan of the rusted hinges as it creaks open to reveal Amenadiel in all his glory.

His eyes flick past me to the trees, and without speaking a word, he steps aside and lets me pass.

My shoulder brushes his hard chest, and I emerge into the spacious hallway.

The door creaks shut and then he walks past me, leaving behind a cloud of his masculine scent, like that of the night. Looking to my right, where his long cloak hangs from a peg on the wall, I clear my throat. “Are you not gonna ask why I’m here?”

He draws to a halt and slowly turns around, so slowly I hold my breath while my heart tries to climb up my throat’s narrow passageway to escape. “Does it matter?”

“Yes,” I answer, trying not to fidget. “It does.”

Interest piqued, he steps closer, strangely wary of me. “Why?”

My curious eyes slide over his wings, the way they rise high above his broad shoulders and grace the stone floor, his dark feathers dragging across the grit and rock. “I’m trying to understand you.”

“Don’t.”

“All this time, you tried to coax the darkness to the surface. Why? I know you have an agenda, Amenadiel. What is it? How does my monster benefit you?”

He goes to speak, but I interrupt him. “You want to dethrone Lucifer, and you tried to buy me to piss off your nephew, hoping he would break the treaty. You also know about the betrothal between Daemon and Dariana. But this is about more than that, isn’t it? Why would you lure my monster out from the shadows and fuck me in my dreams if it was all about Lucifer? Why would you steal something for yourself? That’s what you did when you fucked me.” Closing the distance between us, I look into his eyes. “You stole something for yourself.”

His hand flies out, and he wraps his long fingers around my throat. “What do you remember from tonight?”

Confusion furrows my brows as his hand shifts on my neck, and his thumb drags over my bottom lip. “Tonight?”

His dark eyes excavate me in the ensuing silence, hunting for the truth, before he drops me like I’m worthless and strides off in the direction of his office. “Thought so.”

My wings slump as his door slams shut. I don’t know why I held on to some futile hope that he would tell me the truth. Of course he won’t. If I want it, I’ll need to dig it out myself with a spade and endless patience.