Chapter Eight

 

CAM

 

Cam watched Elithea march along the street. She looked even more beautiful since she had settled into her powers. She glowed from within and had grown sexier in the way she held herself, moving with the confidence and pride of a lioness. Cam couldn’t help but admire her body, tracing her every curve with his eyes. His agitation softened as he drank in the sight of her, then he remembered his purpose and firmed his goal in his mind. He couldn’t keep getting distracted.

He flew down to her and cut her off, landing so close they almost collided.

She jumped, startled, and her eyes fluttered with surprise. “Oh!” She sucked in a breath, staring up at his face.

They stood there for a few long seconds, eyes locked. Cam could smell her scent, fragrant and spicy, but ignored it. He firmed his stance, forcing her to take a step back.

“Elithea. I know you struggle to believe the obvious but you are not safe out here. You need protection. I can guarantee you that once you’re fully trained, you’ll have a better life than your current experience.”

“Why should I take your protection?” She dropped her weight onto one hip. “No offense, but you’re kind of an asshole.”

Cam’s stomach twisted with arousal. “Asshole or not, you need to learn how to use your powers. It’s only a matter of time before you’re attacked again. You’re in danger just walking around out here.”

“I’ve been fine since you left me.”

“That was by design, not a happy accident.”

She frowned. “What?”

“You have a protection shield around you at the moment. Demons can’t detect you.”

She stared at him, her eyes narrowing. “And you did that without telling me?”

“You do not seem to value your life. So… yes.”

She exhaled harshly, turning away in annoyance.

He couldn’t understand this woman. “Did you expect me to leave you vulnerable to an attack? Were you hoping for another assault?”

She snorted and began walking again, heading around him.

Cam stepped out in front of her and blocked her path. She tried to go around him again but he blocked her with ease, able to move faster than her without much effort. It frustrated her. She closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose, then rubbed her forehead and looked up at him sharply. Something in him softened.

“Get out of my way!” She punched Cam in the chest with more strength than he would have guessed, but it had no impact on him. He took her wrists and held her hands still, which made her nearly growl at him in anger. His cock jolted at the sound.

“Why are you so reluctant?” he asked, irritably. “You don’t want anyone to defend you, but you don’t want to protect yourself. It is senseless.”

Her eyes flashed with fury. She twisted her wrists out of his hands.

“My life, and the lives of many I know, hasn’t been easy. And much of it is through no fault of our own,” she said, her sapphire eyes hard and steely. “It’s not like angels have ever been on my side before. Angels have never helped me or my best friend, Amber, from suffering. I’ve worked hard to get to where I am now, and it’s still not great. I have no regular job, no credit history, no idea where this life will lead me. And then you come along and casually destroy my home that I worked hard to secure. You’ve forced me to live like I was living five years ago, on people’s couches.”

Cam swallowed. He hadn’t anticipated that she would be angry about her hovel. Of course he knew humans were very much concerned with their belongings, but she had forced his hand. He couldn’t have allowed her to stay there.

“I’m sorry for destroying your home,” he said, awkwardly. Apologies were not his best way of communicating. Orders, those were his strength. “I couldn’t risk the demons finding you there. At least if you’re out moving around you’re alert and aware of your surroundings.”

“And what about the people that might’ve been hurt by that fire?”

“It was localized to your apartment,” he said. “No one was hurt. As for your quality of life…” He paused, unsure how exactly to explain it to her. Humans tended to think that angels followed their every move, keeping a benevolent eye out in order to guide a person in the right direction. But that wasn’t the reality—angels were assigned a number of different humans, to guide and inspire them, but they could never be there all the time. The fact she was not suffering constant physical, mental or sexual pain was a testament that demons had not overtaken her area of the world completely.

“Angels are not the only beings that exist,” he said, finally. “There are demons and other unsavory creatures that roam this world too. Those demons that tried to kill you the other night were following you because they could sense that you’re an untrained Nephilim. The main responsibility of the Angel Realm is to help the human world from becoming worse than it is, not to make it a utopia. Your life might not seem great to you now, but if I hadn’t been there to save you…”

“Stop,” she snapped, glowering.

And he suddenly realized. She would never concede that she had had to be saved by him.

“I can help you learn to fight them,” he said, trying with great effort to keep his voice calm and quiet. “I can help you learn to kill them. That’s what Nephilim do.”

“What do you mean? What do they do?”

“Almost all Nephilim are demon-hunters. They work for the Angel Realm to vanquish lower-class demons. It’s rewarding work and it’s paid.”

She didn’t say anything. She studied his face, her eyes barely glancing at his lips, then back upward to hold his eyes. She lowered her face as she pondered. A flame of longing licked through Cam, and he tried to hold himself back from taking her mouth with his own.

“If I let you train me,” she said, looking up at him, “will I be left alone by the Angel Realm?”

“Yes,” Cam said, unable to stop staring at her. Just looking at her made part of him grateful for the assignment just to be in her presence. He tried to fight that part of him but it kept bursting back up to the surface, impossible to keep down while he was near her. “Through training, you will reach your full potential and you will be able to protect yourself sufficiently. There would be no need for the Angel Realm to interfere with your life unless you request support.”

She thought again. “Okay. I’ll do it. I’ll train with you.”

Relief washed over him and he was almost giddy with the unfamiliar feeling. It stemmed from something deep within him, something deeper than his duty to train her. He ignored it. He had to suppress it if he was to train her successfully. He would not fail this assignment by being infatuated with her.

“So when do we start?” Thea asked.

Cam studied her for a moment. A weariness clung to her. She was tired, very likely stressed, and could do with putting on more weight. She needed to rest first.

However, even through her exhaustion, she was radiant, her blue eyes sparkling under her dark lashes, standing in the glare of the sun. A stir emanated from his stomach, pulling him toward her at the hips. For an instant he wanted to know what it would feel like to mate with her, to feel that budding energy surrounded him, melting into his very core. He exhaled sharply when he thought of it, fighting against the idea with all of his might. He shifted out of his angel-form.

“We start in a week,” he said, turning away to heading down the street. “Follow me. Please.”

She rolled her eyes at him but began to follow him anyway.