“I don’t know. But to give that order without thinking it through …”
“In this business we don’t have the luxury of time to think. Lou and I made that decision based on the evidence given at the moment. Isabelle exhibited no humanity in the cemetery in Sicily. She had to be destroyed.” Michael look to Dalton. “Obviously Dalton thought differently.”
“I did. Because I saw humanity in her that night. And I felt she could be saved. As you can see looking at her now, there’s nothing demonic about her.”
“And since Sicily?”
Dalton shook his head. “Nothing.”
“That’s not true,” Isabelle said, interrupting him. “I’ve had dreams where Tase comes for me and takes me with him. And even during the day I’ve felt his presence, heard his voice. He manipulates me on a subconscious level.” She looked to Dalton. “I tried to kill Dalton with a laser.”
Michael stood. So did Angelique, and Ryder moved in front of both of them.
“Is this true?” Michael asked, looking at Dalton.
“Not the way she explains it.”
“It is, too.”
“You’re not helping, Isabelle,” Dalton said.
“I’m trying to be honest. You only want to see the good in me.”
“And you only want to see the bad.”
“There’s both in Isabelle.” Georgie, who’d sat behind them all, finally stood and came to the front of the room. “And that’s why Dalton came here. This is his home. There’s magic here. Magic that can help Isabelle.” She turned to Michael. “Maybe at the time you saw her you saw only the darkness within her. Dalton has the capability to see much more than that. That’s why she still lives, because he feels she can be saved.”
“I don’t mean to be disrespectful, ma’am,” Michael said, “but are you some kind of expert?”
Georgie lifted her lips. “I’m an expert in no things. But I do know some things. And this child has humanity and light within her. Enough to attempt to save her. You would do well to listen to Dalton. He knows what he’s talking about.”
Isabelle smiled at Georgie. “Thank you.”
Georgie nodded and stepped back.
Michael blew out a breath and turned his attention back to Dalton. “I assume you have a plan?”
“Yes.”
“Then why don’t you fill us in?”
Dalton knew better than to assume all was forgiven. For now, maybe they had a reprieve. And that would have to be good enough. He inhaled, exhaled, knowing the time had come for him to come clean. About everything.
“Back at the graveyard in Sicily, when Isabelle and Angelique had their altercation, there was a moment when Isabelle became human again. A fraction of a second when I saw the desperate, pleading human side of her, crying out for help. I knew then that I couldn’t destroy her, no matter what my orders were.”
“Why didn’t you say something to me or to Lou?” Michael asked.
“We were all kind of busy at the time. There was a battle going on. The Sons of Darkness were there. Hardly a moment to call a meeting to discuss Isabelle’s future. I made an executive decision, but honestly even I wasn’t sure at that moment it was the right one. I wanted some time alone with her, to see if I’d made the right choice.”
“And if you hadn’t?” Angelique asked.
He knew what she wanted to know. “If she never came back human, if the demon side of her resurfaced with a vengeance, I’d have killed her.”
Isabelle didn’t even flinch. Instead, she scooted closer to him, squeezed his hand.
“It’s what I would have wanted. I don’t want to be a demon,” Isabelle said. “I’m human. I have demon blood inside me, but that … creature you saw in Italy—that wasn’t me. I don’t want it to be me. Ever.”
“We’re going to take steps to make sure it doesn’t become her again. That’s why I brought Isabelle here to Louisiana, to Georgie. She’s a voodoo priestess, and she can help transform Isabelle.”
“How?” Angelique asked, her gaze incredulous.
Dalton couldn’t blame her. The rest of the story was going to blow their minds.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Isabelle sat back and patiently watched while Dalton explained everything to the wide-eyed group. They too, had a difficult time believing that he was a fallen angel, especially since they hadn’t been around during the episodes she had witnessed. They didn’t have proof, and it wasn’t like Dalton could sprout white wings and hover near the ceiling.
Her lips lifted. She’d kind of like to see that. Dalton would look sexy with wings. With his face and body … yeah, he could be art on the wall of any chapel.
She was probably going to hell just for thinking that.
Bad Isabelle.
“Did Lou know about this?” Michael finally asked.
Dalton shook his head. “No one knew. It wasn’t necessary for anyone to know.”
Michael arched a brow. “Any one of our hunters who possesses otherworldly skills is kind of an important information tool, Dalton. You should have reported it.”
Dalton shrugged. “It was personal, and it’s not like I can levitate. I’m not psychic. I’m basically human in all respects, so I have no advantage over any of the rest of you, other than the immortal thing.”
“That is kind of cool,” Gina said.
“Handy when fighting demons,” Derek added with a quirk of his lips. “You go into a fight knowing you can’t die. If we’d known that, we’d have made sure you were always in the front.”
Dalton snorted. “Sorry. Maybe I should have told you.”
“Does the fact that you’re an angel come into play where Isabelle is concerned?” Michael asked.
Dalton nodded.
“Okay.” Michael turned to Isabelle. “We’re here and we’ll see this through. You may think the Realm wants to do you harm, but we want the same thing you and Dalton do: to make sure that the Sons of Darkness don’t get their claws in you again.”
Dalton tugged Isabelle’s hand and drew her up alongside him. “We’re not going to let that happen.”
“Care to share the plan with us?” Derek asked.
“Yeah. It requires Georgie’s skills as a voodoo priestess. She’s going to merge Isabelle’s darkness with my light.”
“How?”
“Georgie will conduct a ceremony, drawing our souls together via blood and a sword that I once held when I was a Guardian. She’ll bring out Isabelle’s demon side, and the angel within me. The two will do battle.”
“So you’re saying she’s going to tap into your angel side, and it’s going to somehow fight her demon?”
“More like a merger.”
“That should be interesting. And dangerous. What happens to you when this … merger occurs?” Angelique asked, concern evident on her face.
Dalton started to answer, but Isabelle moved in. “If all goes well and the strength of the demon within me vanishes, Dalton will be redeemed and become a full-fledged angel again.”
Michael whipped his gaze from Isabelle to Dalton. “Are you serious?”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
“And you really think this is going to work?”
Dalton shrugged. “Yeah, I do.”
Michael inhaled and blew it out. “This is pretty unorthodox.”
Dalton cocked his head to the side. “Michael. Every thing we do is unorthodox.”
“True enough. So when are you planning to do this?”
Dalton slanted his gaze to Isabelle. “Soon.”
Isabelle wanted to know the answer to that question, too. “When is soon, Dalton? Are we putting it off for any specific reason? I know you wanted to wait for the Realm to get here, but they’re here now. Shouldn’t we get started?”
There was a sadness in his smile that pained her. “Eager to get rid of me?”
Oh, God. If this worked, Dalton would leave her. She kept conveniently pushing that oh-so-important part of the equation right out of her head, refu
sing to face it. She leaned into him, whispering in his ear, her palms warm against his chest. “No. Not eager at all.” She tilted her head back to search his face. “We don’t have to do this.”
He grasped her hands in his. “Yeah, we do. You know we do. There’s no other choice. Sooner or later the Sons of Darkness will come for you. They’ll take you over and you won’t be able to fight them—we won’t be able to fight them.”
She laid her head on his shoulder, feeling the clock ticking. Too fast. Way too fast. She wasn’t ready to let him go.
Dalton kissed the top of her head. “It’s going to be all right, Isabelle.”
No, it wouldn’t. She could already feel him slipping away. Either way this went down, she was going to lose him. If they were unsuccessful, it would only be a matter of time until the Sons of Darkness broke through Isabelle’s defenses and came for her, returning her to the awful demon she had been in Sicily. She couldn’t—wouldn’t—live like that, and if the Realm didn’t destroy her of their own accord, she’d beg them to. Or she’d make sure to ask Angelique to see that it was done. The thought of living as a demon repulsed her.
And if it did work, Dalton would disappear from her life forever.
This sucked. She wanted to grab Dalton and run away, refuse to face it.
Was this her punishment for all her years of being bad? To find the man of her dreams, the one person who accepted her with all her flaws, who loved her unconditionally, only to realize he could never be hers?
It wasn’t until Michael cleared his throat that Dalton gently pulled away. Isabelle sucked in a breath and turned to her sister, who held out her hand and squeezed Isabelle’s.
“Are you all right?” Angelique asked.
Isabelle nodded, hated seeing the worry in her sister’s face. Angelique had always watched over her. Maybe soon she wouldn’t have to anymore. “I’m going to be fine. Everything’s going to be fine. I promise.”
“The Realm will allow you and Isabelle to attempt this transformation,” Michael said. “But if it fails, we’re going to take over.”
Isabelle looked up at Dalton. “What does that mean?”
“It means if it fails and your demon comes up, the Realm will deal with it.”
“Deal with me, you mean.”
“I don’t think I like that,” Angelique interrupted. “You can’t just make a decision about my sister’s life without knowing what’s going to happen.”
“That’s not what I meant, Angelique,” Michael said.
“It’s what you implied.” For the first time in a long time, Mandy had actually spoken. She seemed angry. “It’s just like the last time. You think you already know what’s going to happen. Look at Isabelle. You ordered her death, and look at her. She’s human now, not demon. Maybe if we’d waited, Lou would still be alive. Maybe he could have fought the demon inside him, too.”
“Mandy,” Derek warned. “There was nothing we could do.”
“Wasn’t there? We don’t know that. We had to make a judgment just like that,” she said, snapping her fingers. “What if we’d waited? Maybe we could have gotten the demon out of him somehow.”
“Mandy,” Michael said, his voice soft as he looked at her.
Mandy stared at him, anger lacing her features at first, then Isabelle saw tears well in her eyes. She turned and walked out of the room, Michael watching her.
Georgie cleared her throat. “We can begin tonight, if you’re ready.”
Dalton focused only on Isabelle. “Are you ready?”
No. She’d never be ready. But she could no longer put it off. She could already feel herself weakening. The Sons of Darkness were knocking on the door, and soon she’d be too tired to keep them from busting through it.
“As ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s do it.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Michael excused himself as soon as he could and went in search of Mandy. She’d walked away from the main house, but he couldn’t find her until one of the kids said he’d seen her heading toward the boathouse on the east side of the dock.
The boathouse was a good-sized wooden building where boats were stored during winter and storms. Michael opened the door into darkness, the only light streaming in through small windows high above.
“Mandy?”
No answer.
“I know you’re in here. Why don’t you save me several bruises and just tell me where you are.”
Silence, then, “Over here.”
He turned and headed in the direction of her voice, found her sitting near the back door on a bench, farthest away from the light.
“I’d really like to be alone, Michael.”
He sat next to her on the bench. “Wouldn’t we all. But we need to talk.”
She sighed. “I’m not the touchy-feely type that needs to rehash everything, okay? So if you’re feeling guilty about the sex, don’t be.”
“I’m not feeling guilty about the sex. You wanted it. Why should there be any guilt?”
Okay that was stretching the truth a bit since he did have guilt, but not for making love to her.
“We need to talk about these residual feelings you’re having about Lou.”
“Doesn’t the Realm have counselors?”
“Yeah. You want to set up a talk with one?”
“No. But you’re not one, so you’re hardly equipped to hand out advice.”
God, she was difficult. “True enough, but I am your Keeper and in charge of determining whether you’re fit for duty or not. So I’m the first one you need to talk to.”
“I killed a demon. I can handle my job.”
“We’ve been over this before. You fell apart afterward. You went into shock. And don’t bother trying to deny it, because I was there to pick you up when it happened.”
She stared at the wall on the other side of the room. “It won’t happen again.”
“Yes, it will. Until you face your demons—sorry—it will. And no amount of trying to handle this on your own—not even sex—will make this go away.”
She closed her eyes, and though it was dark in there, he saw the tear slip down her cheek.
“I loved him. He was all I had.” When she opened her eyes again, she turned her head to face Michael, her lashes spiked with tears. “Why do I keep losing people I love?”
“I don’t have an answer for that.”
“He was my family after I lost my family. He was my father after my father was killed by demons. And I had to kill him.”
“No, you had to kill a demon.”
“I killed Lou, Michael. You were there.”
“I know. I know how hard it was for you.”
“Do you? How do you know? How could you possibly know how it felt?”
“Because I had to kill my father.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
He hated reliving it, but it was important she understand that she wasn’t the only one. “The Sons of Darkness had already killed my mother. They took my father and turned him into … one of them, their intent to have me killed.”
“Because you were a descendant, and they want to kill all the Keepers.”
He nodded. “So my father disappeared, and then came back. But it wasn’t him. I knew it wasn’t him. My father was warm, and this … thing was cold. He’d warned me once, told me what I had to do if there was ever a sudden change in him.”
“So you killed him?”
Michael nodded, trying to block out the visuals of that night, but the pain soared back, nearly doubling him over. He stood, walked to the other end of the boat-house. “I got one of the old swords out, and when his back was turned I beheaded him.”
“Oh, God.” Mandy stood, went to him. “Michael, I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
“No one knows, other than the Keepers.”
She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder. “And here I’ve been whining about how I feel, never knowing that you felt the same way.”
“You didn’t
need to know this. I’m just trying to give you perspective.”
Her hold on him tightened. “How do you deal with it?”
“I just remind myself that the man I knew as my father was already dead, and that’s what he would have wanted.” He drew her away so he could look at her. “And that’s what you have to remember. Lou was already gone. You didn’t kill Lou. You killed that demon. Lou would be proud of you.”
“You and I are so much alike. I never saw it.”
He slid his fingers under her chin. “I did. And maybe that’s part of why I said what I did back in Florida.”
“What do you mean?”
“Keepers’ mates are vulnerable, Mandy”
Her eyes widened. “You thought … oh.”
“Yeah.”
“I can take care of myself, Michael. You don’t have to worry about that. I’m not a housewife who’s going to be slaughtered while you’re off fighting demons.”
He closed his eyes and dropped his chin to his chest. Stupid, he knew, because his mind had gone there.
“Oh, my God. You thought that, didn’t you? About you and me.”
“Maybe.”
“That’s a pretty broad jump. From sex to forever.”
“Is it? In our line of work, hello to forever could be just days. We never know how long we have. I don’t like to waste time.”
She blew out a breath. “You scare me sometimes, Mike.”
“You infuriate me sometimes, Mandy. But you intrigue me, and you excite me, and I really like being with you.” And he knew now why he found her so irresistible. Beyond her beauty and her courage, she was just as lost as he was. He pressed his lips to hers, drawing strength from the way she kissed him back, moved into him to draw closer.
He’d prided himself on remaining aloof for years. Like Mandy, he’d lost so much.
But maybe it was time to fight back against the Sons of Darkness, and to take solace in someone else.
Maybe strength came in unity, not solitude.
He deepened the kiss, for the first time in years feeling that strength filling him. With Mandy at his side, he felt more powerful than ever.
They only had a few short hours until night fell. Isabelle felt the clock ticking even louder, the pounding echoing in her heart, tightening her throat like a noose. She tried to stay busy at the cabin as she watched the time click down to the zero hour, grateful at least that Dalton had brought her back here after telling Michael and the others that she needed a few hours’ rest before the big event. She needed to be away from the main house, felt claustrophobic around the sympathetic looks and gestures of Dalton’s friends and even her own sister. She couldn’t handle it.