“Doves,” Lilliana whispered. “There are doves in that tree.” She pointed excitedly. “And rabbits. Look over there!”
“Animals.” He stared in awe. He hadn’t seen anything but demon critters since he’d come here. “But they can’t survive here. Not with the demon animals.”
Cat appeared next to them. “I helped Reaver bring in the animals,” she said, but he barely heard, too stunned by this new turn of events. Reaver should hate him, and yet...he was helping to make sure Lilliana was going to be happy here.
“He brought some other Unfallens to help clear the realm of demon creatures,” Cat continued. “And we brought in several wolverines to help with the smaller things. And one of the Horsemen’s mates, Cara, said she’ll loan you a hellhound too, if you need it.”
“No hellhounds,” he said quickly. “They’ll eat the Earth animals.”
“She said she can tell it not to,” Cat’s voice held a note of admiration. “Apparently, they listen to her.”
Still, a hellhound would be a last resort. The things were vicious, unpredictable and, frankly, they were assholes.
Harvester exited the building and trotted down the stairs. “Are you two dense? The animals aren’t the surprise.”
“You’re such a pleasant person,” he muttered.
She grinned. “Right?” She glanced over at Lilliana. “Do you think you could make use of that?”
Lilli blinked. “Of what?”
Harvester pointed at the portal, and Lilliana gasped. “A chronoglass! Oh, my God. Where did you get it? How did you get it?”
Harvester held up her hands in a not-me gesture. “It was Reaver’s doing. Idess overheard Azagoth say he broke his, and when she told Reaver, he made it a mission to secure one. I’m pretty sure he stole it from the Time Travel Department, but hey, it’s yours now.”
Lilliana broke away from them and dashed to the chronoglass, where she hugged it. Actually hugged the thing.
“Thank you, Harvester.” He lowered his voice, even though Lilli was out of earshot. “I know you don’t owe me anything anymore, but if you happen to run into an angel named Chaniel, I would consider it a personal favor if you would beat the crap out of him.”
“Who is Chaniel?”
“Lilliana’s father.”
One shoulder rolled in a shrug as she started for the portal. “Consider it done.”
Lilliana let go of the chronoglass long enough for Harvester to transport out of there. The angel waggled her fingers at them as her body started to dematerialize. “See ya.”
Lilliana and Azagoth lingered for a few minutes after Harvester left, both so enthralled with the amazing work the Unfallens were doing. Azagoth still couldn’t believe that not only had Reaver arranged all of this, but that people were actually volunteering to help clean up his realm.
“Azagoth?” Lilli squeezed his hand.
“Hmm?”
“Why do you think Unfallen are suddenly being grabbed and dragged to Sheoul?”
“I don’t know.” He watched a cottontail rabbit do some kind of spazzy hop and sprint. “Fallen angels have always made doing that a sport.”
“But according to Cat, they’re being hunted.” She looked over at the unused buildings. “I was thinking that since the buildings aren’t being used...”
Of course! His Lilli was brilliant. Besides giving her a purpose and the Unfallens a safe place to live, it would breathe even more life into the place.
“That’s a great idea,” he said. “And bonus, there’ll be a lot of people who will owe me in the future.” She gave him an exasperated look. “What? I’m evil.”
She heaved a long-suffering sigh, but the faint smile on her glossy lips gave her away. “I don’t think you’re half as evil as you believe yourself to be. Come on,” she said, tugging him toward the chronoglass. “Let’s get it into your library. And then, I think we deserve a vacation.”
“Where to?”
“Anywhere in the world you want to go.”
There were so many places for him to choose from, but when it came down to it, he didn’t need to leave to discover the world.
Lilliana was his world, and finally, for the first time in his life, he was content right where he was.
* * * *
Six months flew by before Lilliana knew it. Of course, in the grand scheme of an angel’s life, six months was like a thousandth of a second.
And that’s what it had felt like.
Even on the bad days, when Azagoth had to deal with some new, intense emotion he wasn’t prepared for, time flew by. She didn’t feel the need to escape into the chronoglass every day, and in fact, she and Azagoth hadn’t gone anywhere in a week.
She loved her life in Sheoul-gra, and as long as she didn’t visit the Inner Sanctum, she could almost pretend Sheoul-gra was a paradise.
A paradise full of griminions, fallen angels, and demons who came and went as they worked out deals with Azagoth.
Demons aside, she wouldn’t give up her life here for anything. She was even doing good work with the nearly one hundred Unfallen angels who now called Sheoul-gra’s outer buildings their home.
Every day she helped them to improve themselves and work their way toward making up for whatever sin had gotten them kicked out of Heaven. When they became discouraged, she reminded them that Reaver, now one of the most powerful angels in existence, used to be Unfallen. It was rare that a fallen angel could earn his or her way back into Heaven, but it happened, and she wouldn’t give up. Not on the Unfallens. Not on anything.
This was her realm. Her future. And Azagoth was her mate. She was made for him and he for her.
And as she lay next to him in the huge bed where they both slept in the middle, she fingered the new, unenchanted key necklace he’d given her and realized that freedom wasn’t about wide, open spaces. It was about being able to make choices.
And she chose Azagoth.
Forever.
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1001 Dark Nights story:
The First Night
by Shayla Black, Lexi Blake & M.J. Rose
Turn the page for a full list of the
1001 Dark Nights fabulous novellas...
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FOREVER WICKED
A Wicked Lovers Novella
by Shayla Black
CRIMSON TWILIGHT
A Krewe of Hunters Novella
by Heather Graham
CAPTURED IN SURRENDER
A MacKenzie Family Novella
by Liliana Hart
SILENT BITE: A SCANGUARDS WEDDING
A Scanguards Vampire Novella
by Tina Folsom
DUNGEON GAMES
A Masters and Mercenaries Novella
by Lexi Blake
AZAGOTH
A Demonica Novella
by Larissa Ione
NEED YOU NOW
by Lisa Renee Jones
SHOW ME, BABY
A Masters of the Shadowlands Novella
by Cherise Sinclair
ROPED IN
A Blacktop Cowboys ® Novella
by Lorelei James
TEMPTED BY MIDNIGHT
A Midnight Breed Novella
by Lara Adrian
THE FLAME
by Christopher Rice
CARESS OF DARKNESS
A Phoenix Brotherhood Novella
by Julie Kenner
Also from Evil Eye Concepts:
TAME ME
A Stark International Novella
by J. Kenner
Acknowledgments from the Author
I very much want to extend a special thanks to Liz Berry and M.J. Rose for inviting me to be part of this amazing project. I’ve been
dying to write Azagoth’s story for a long time, and I can’t thank Liz and M.J. enough.
I also want to send huge, squishy hugs to Liz, M.J., Lara Adrian, Lorelei James, Lexi Blake, Shayla Black, Cherise Sinclair, and Julie Kenner for their amazing support during a very hard time (the bracelet is gorgeous, ladies!) You touched me more than I can say!
On a similar note, hugs and thanks to Jillian Stein and the ladies of the Book Obsessed Chicks club. You are all so special, and I love you!
About Larissa Ione
Air Force veteran Larissa Ione traded in a career as a meteorologist to pursue her passion of writing. She has since published dozens of books, hit several bestseller lists, including the New York Times and USA Today, and has been nominated for a RITA award. She now spends her days in pajamas with her computer, strong coffee, and supernatural worlds. She believes in celebrating everything, and would never be caught without a bottle of Champagne chilling in the fridge…just in case. She currently lives in Wisconsin with her U.S. Coast Guard husband, her teenage son, a rescue cat named Vegas, and her very own hellhound, a King Shepherd named Hexe.
For more information about Larissa, visit www.larissaione.com.
Revenant
Demonica, Book 11
By Larissa Ione
Coming December 16, 2014
HELL HATH NO FURY...
For five thousand years, Revenant believed he was alone in the world, a fallen angel beyond any redemption. Now he finds he has a twin brother who had all the light and love Revenant was denied. Caught in a tug of war between Heaven and Hell, he must weigh his thirst for revenge against his desire for a mysterious female named Blaspheme-a female whose very origins could deliver him into salvation... or destruction.
LIKE AN ANGEL SCORNED
Blaspheme has a deadly secret: she's the forbidden offspring of an angel and a fallen angel. Hunted by both heavenly and satanic forces, she has survived only by laying low and trusting no one. When Revenant claims he can save them both, how can she possibly believe him? But the powerful angel is persistence incarnate and for Blaspheme, there's no place she can hide in Heaven or Hell where he won't find her...
* * * *
Revenant was one fucked up fallen angel.
No, wait…angel. He’d only believed he was a fallen angel.
For five thousand fucking years.
But he wasn’t an angel, either. Maybe technically, but how could someone born and raised in Sheoul, the demon realm some humans called Hell, be considered a holy-rolling, shiny-haloed angel? He might have a halo, but the shine was long gone, tarnished since his first taste of mother’s milk, mixed with demon blood, when he was only hours old.
Five thousand fucking years.
It had been two weeks since he’d learned the truth and the memories that had been taken away from him were returned. Now he remembered everything that had happened over the centuries.
He’d been a bad, bad angel. Or a very, very good fallen angel, depending on how you looked at it.
Toxic anger rushed through his veins as he paced the parking lot outside Underworld General Hospital. Maybe the doctors inside had some kind of magical drug that could take his memories away again. Life had been way easier when he’d believed he was pure evil, a fallen angel with no redeeming qualities.
Okay, he probably still didn’t have any redeeming qualities, but now, what he did have, was conflicted feelings. Questions. A twin brother who couldn’t be more opposite of him.
With a vicious snarl, he strode toward the entrance to the emergency department, determined to find a certain False Angel doctor he was sure could help him forget the last five thousand years, if only for a couple of hours.
The sliding glass doors swished open, and the very female he’d come for sauntered out, her blue and yellow duckie spotted scrubs clinging to a killer body. Instant lust fired in his loins, and fuck yeah, screw the drugs, she was exactly what the doctor ordered.
Take her twice and call me in the morning.
He watched her long legs eat up the asphalt as she walked, and he imagined them wrapped around his waist as he pounded into her. The closer she came, the harder his body got, and he cursed with disappointment when she dropped her keys and had to stop to pick them up. Then he decided she could drop her keychain as often as she wanted to, because he got a fucking primo view of her deep cleavage when her top gaped open as she bent over.
She straightened, looped the keychain around her finger, and started toward him again, humming a Duran Duran song.
“Blaspheme.” He stepped out from between two black ambulances, blocking her path.
She jumped, a startled gasp escaping full crimson lips made to propel a male to ecstasy. “Revenant.” Her gaze darted to the hospital doors, and he got the impression she was plotting her escape route. How cute that she thought she could get away from him. “What are you doing lurking in the parking lot?”
Lurking? Well, some might call it that, he supposed. “I was on my way to see you.”
She smiled sweetly. “Well, you’ve seen me. Buh-bye.” Pivoting, her blond ponytail bouncing, she headed in the opposite direction.
Back to the hospital.
He flashed around in front of her, once again blocking her path. “Come home with me.”
“Wow.” She crossed her arms over her chest, which only drew his attention to her rack. Niiice. “You get right to the point.”
He shrugged. “Saves time.”
“Were you planning to wine and dine me at least? You know, before the sex.”
“No. Just sex.” Lots and lots of sex.
He could already imagine her husky voice deepening in the throes of passion. Could imagine her head between his legs, her mouth on his cock, her hands on his balls. He nearly groaned at the imaginary skin flick playing in his head.
“Oh,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “You’re a charmer, you are.”
Not once in his five thousand years had anyone ever called him a charmer. But even uttered with sarcasm, it was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to him.
“Don’t do that,” he growled.
“Do what?” She stared at him like he was a loon.
“Never mind.” Dying to touch her, he held out his hand. “You’ll love my play room.”
She wheeled away like he was offering her the plague instead of his hand. “Go to hell, asshole. I don’t date fallen angels.”
“Good news, then, because it’s not a date.” And he wasn’t a fallen angel.
“Right. Well, I don’t fuck fallen angels either.” She made a shooing motion with her hand. “Go away.”
She was rejecting him? The sudden reality was like a blow that left him completely off balance. No one rejected him. No one.
She started to take off again, and a strange agitation fermented in his chest. This wasn’t right. He had his sights set on her, and she was supposed to surrender. This was something new. Something…titillating. The agitation morphed into a sensation he welcomed and knew well; the jacked-up high of the hunt.
Instantly, his senses sharpened and focused. His sense of smell brought a whiff of her vanilla-honey scent. His sense of hearing brought her rapid, pounding heartbeat. And his sense of sight narrowed in on the tick of her pulse at the base of her throat.
The urge to pounce, to take her down and get carnal right here, right now, was nearly overwhelming. Instead, he moved in slowly, enjoying how she backed up, but he didn’t catch the scent of fear from her.
“What are you doing?” She swallowed as she bumped up against a massive support beam.
“I’m going to show you why you need to come home with me.” He planted both palms on the beam on either side of her head and leaned in until his lips brushed the tender skin of her ear. “You won’t regret it.”
“I already told you. I don’t fuck fallen angels.”
“So you said,” he murmured. “Do you kiss them?”
“Ah…N—”
He didn’t give her
the chance to finish her sentence. Pulling back slightly, he closed his mouth over hers.
Strawberry gloss coated his lips as he kissed her, and he swore he’d never liked fruit as much as he did right now.
Her hands came up to grip his biceps, tugging him closer as she deepened the kiss. “You’re good,” she whispered against his mouth.
“I know,” he whispered back.
Suddenly, pain tore into his arms as her nails scored his skin. “But you’re not that good.”
Before he could even blink, she shoved hard and ducked out from under the cage of his arms. With a wink, she strutted away, her fine ass swinging in her form-fitting scrub bottoms. She stopped at the door of a candy apple red Mustang and gave him a sultry look that made his cock throb.
“Give up now, buddy. I can out-stubborn anyone.” She hopped into her car and peeled out of her parking stall, leaving him in the dust.
* * * *
Blaspheme was practically hyperventilating as she drove through New York City’s crowded streets, wishing she’d taken the Harrowgate to work today. But no, she’d chosen to drive from her Brooklyn apartment one last time, a sentimental stupidity that had not only taken up precious time, but had run her straight into Revenant.
Gods, he’d looked like a giant goth biker, wrapped in leather and chains, his massive boots sporting wicked talons at the tips. Even the backs of his fingerless gloves were adorned with metal studs at the knuckles. She’d always hated the tough guy bullshit, but Revenant had fucking owned it. She got the impression that he lived his life that way; if he wanted it, he owned it.
He wasn’t going to give up on her, was he? At least, not without a fight, which she was going to have to give him. She couldn’t afford to have a fallen angel sniffing around, not when she had a massive secret to hide.