Shadow Of Death

He’d just turned the corner when he saw Angelica standing at the entrance of the subway station looking down into it without Syn at her side. He watched as she looked up at the bright sky wishfully then descended down the steps into the dim interior.

With his interest peaked, Michael followed her discretely down the stairs. He didn’t fear getting caught because the stairwell was full of people between them… he could quickly pull the shadows around him and hide from her if she turned around. Michael smirked wishing he’d known this trick when he was a child.

His eyes narrowed when he saw a large man purposely push Angelica against the wall and keep going. He was surprised by the instant rage he felt. Taking a deep, calming breath, Michael kept walking and blatantly put himself in the man’s path. When the big man was in front of him, they both stopped and stared at each other. He suddenly had a flashback of something he’d once seen Damon do to a demon that had pissed him off.

“Where’s the fire?” Michael asked with a cold smile.

The big man’s lips parted, showing a mouthful of rotting teeth that made Michael almost sick. His hand flashed out and he palmed the center of the demon’s chest… not hurting him, just simply touching him. He smirked seeing the demon’s confusion.

“Ever heard of spontaneous combustion?” Michael asked curiously before pulling his hand away. “If not, you’re getting ready to have a crash course on it.”

Michael stepped back and quickly flickered out of sight when the demon looked down at his chest then screamed in agony. People around the man started yelling and running when his clothing began to smoke. Within seconds, all visible skin turned red before blistering and burning away like cinders in a campfire.

Angelica paused and looked back around the corner of the stairwell when she heard the man start screaming and wondered what the hell had happened. He had been a demon, she knew that much, but who had attacked him in such a painful manner? Angelica cocked an eyebrow actually wishing she’d thought of it first then sighed figuring it was probably another demon attacking it.

Shrugging her shoulders, she continued down the steps and smirked when she heard the unmistakable cracking of bones as they burned. Storm had been right when he’d said most of the demons would destroy each other. Angelica quickly moved out of the way when several subway security officers took off up the stairs to find out what had people in such a panic.

Michael wrapped the shadows around him and traced to the bottom of the stairs, staying out of sight as Angelica emerged. She walked right by him and he suppressed a smirk. He didn’t know what she was doing down here alone but he was actually having a little bit of fun following his mother around.

He knew Angelica didn’t remember him, but his own memories of her were crystal clear… even her name was the same. It was because of her that he’d never found a woman to love… no one compared to the way she had loved not only him, but the temperamental Damon as well.

He’d spent so long thinking the only form of true love was the love a mother had for her children. It wasn’t until recently that the people around him had caused him to start second guessing that theory.

Angelica stood on the platform watching the people intermingle and go about their lives. Seeing a small boy peek around his mother at her and smile reminded her of what Syn had done at the hospital. She smiled back at the boy wishing she had the power to give him a demon repellant since his mother had unknowingly brought him down into this tunnel with a bunch of them.

She cringed realizing her thoughts had just went full circle… right back to Syn. Feeling a little reckless, she approached the guardrail that kept people from falling down onto the tracks and leaned over it a little bit, looking one way and then the other. Turning to the left, she followed the railing to the end of the massive room and leaned over it again to take a closer look into the tunnel.

All she saw was darkness broken by bits of light from the dim fluorescents that served to illuminate only a few feet around them. They were spread too far apart to be any real help. It was no secret that she hated tunnels and darkness. Right now she was actually wishing Zachary were here with her. With a wave of his hand, he could brighten up anything he wanted with a suspended flame.

When he’d first summoned the small flames in front of her just to show off, she’d called him her little fire fly for weeks. She smiled at the memory. At least Zachary could have provided some entertainment and he was a hell of a lot safer to team up with than a certain Sun God that made her want to press her thighs together in frustration.

Unzipping her shoulder bag, Angelica removed a palm sized crystal orb that she’d acquired from the castle’s private arsenal and hopped down onto the maintenance walkway leading through the tunnel.

She didn’t look back at the platform… if she had, she would have seen Michael slip into the darkness following silently behind her.

Michael continued to track Angelica’s movements through the tunnel and turned his face away when one of the subway trains went flying by him back toward the platform. The draft it created made his hair and clothing whip around him but with it also came the scent of demons… a lot of them.

When he glanced down the tunnel again, he saw Angelica pause and look behind her. As he stepped into the shadows he frowned wishing she wasn’t a part of PIT. No good son would like the fact that his mother’s job was this dangerous.

Hearing what sounded like scratching underneath him, Michael stopped and leaned over the railing seeing the dark edges of a narrow passage exposed just under the concrete he was standing on. His eyes narrowed wondering what kind of monsters were down there.

Glancing back up the tunnel, Michael hissed not seeing Angelica. With all the hatch and maintenance doors, not counting the fact that there were sub tunnels under this one, he would have to figure out which way she had gone.

Speeding up his movement, he became little more than a blur, slowing down when he came to a cross section that broke off in four different directions.

“Syn,” Michael whispered not liking the odds.

He felt Syn brush against his mind letting him know that Angelica was all right and in good hands. He wasn’t about to ask his father any questions about that and almost wondered how Syn knew he was there. It would have been a stupid question… Syn always knew where his children were.

Michael looked to the far left, sensing his father’s aura down the darkest tunnel and felt relief knowing his mother was safe. Feeling the vibration of another train coming, he leaned back against the wall and stared straight into the long train as it passed.

Sharpening his sight, he caught the quick images of people in their seats then noticed something else. As each separate car went past… there was a lapse between them to where he could see the other side of the double track. Standing there staring back at him was a woman with long platinum blond hair blowing around her from the wind coming off the train.

Michael no longer cared about the passengers as he focused only on her. She was dressed in an oversized white shirt that fluttered from the pressure of the air. He noted the top four buttons were undone and dangerously close to exposing more than just her flawless cleavage.

He lowered his gaze to see her shirt came to mid-thigh along with the edges of a black pleated skirt that was covering maybe two inches more than the shirt was. The bottom of the cloth was followed by long shapely legs. Slowly raising his gaze back to her face, Michael wondered if she had enthralled him. Even dressed like a street rat, she was the loveliest thing he had ever seen.

Aurora had been caught off guard when she’d felt the power near her skyrocket and crept out of her hiding place. She readied herself for a fight thinking maybe one of the master demons had caught her scent and was closing in on her. She was tired of running from the powerful ones… she’d been running from them since escaping Samuel and coming through the rift.

She wasn’t a coward though… she’d killed most of the demons she’d come across, but there were those that actually frightened her so she’d spent an equal amount of time trying to stay one step ahead of them. She knew what would happen if she was captured by the wrong demon… Samuel had taught her that lesson the hard way.

Zeroing in on the soul in front of her now, she felt confusion having nothing to compare it with. The soul wasn’t human… nor was it demon. It was more akin to staring into the sun. Her lips parted as she drew her gaze away from the soul and looked at the man with strange amethyst eyes in wonder.

Michael gripped the guardrail ready to leap over it as the end of the train came closer. No matter what she was… she appeared lost and alone and she was staring at him as if he were her savoir.

Aurora inhaled sharply when he was suddenly inches in front of her but she still didn’t feel the need to run or fight as she did with the demons. She slowly raised her gaze, pausing at his perfect lips before staring up into the most beautiful eyes she’d ever seen.

“You shouldn’t be down here… it’s dangerous,” Michael warned fighting his instinct to reach for her… to save her from whatever she feared.

Aurora’s eyes lowered right back to his lips as he talked and she took a step closer. “Are you real?” she raised her hand wanting touch his face but hesitated. “Can I touch you?”

“I wish you would,” Michael breathed as every emotion within him strained to shatter. The second her soft fingertips touched his cheek, one emotion broke free of the rest… want. Dipping his head, he captured her lips in desperation.

Chapter 2

Aurora inhaled the stranger’s shuddering breath, sliding her fingers into his silky hair to grip it and pull him even closer. She tilted her head back when his arm came around her like a steel band and jerked her flush against him. His show of strength didn’t frighten her… it only made him more real to her.

Michael backed her up against the block wall as he deepened the kiss. He could feel the swells of her breasts touching his chest as she started moving against him in a very seductive rhythm but nothing could be more seductive than the sounds she was making against his lips.

He had a fleeting second where he wondered if she was some kind of demon that fed on sex then pushed the thought away. At the moment he didn’t care… if that was what she wanted then he would feed her as much as she needed.

Moving his hand down to her upper thigh, he lifted her and guided both her legs until they were wrapped securely around his waist. As his hand slid up in under her skirt to hold her, he lost his breath again feeling her naked ass in the palms of his hands.

Michael growled straining upwards toward her. He couldn’t have been any harder as he pressed himself against her core feeling her heat all the way through his clothing.

Aurora was heady with the sensations of being kissed so fiercely and held by the only male Fallen she’d ever encountered. Running her hand down his chest, she marveled at the rippling muscles the shirt concealed. In her rush, she didn’t take time to expose what was hidden there… her true destination was lower.

She reached down between them and cupped the straining hardness she found there. It pulsed against her eager hand, causing her to make a strangled sound deep in her throat. On instinct, she used her hold on him to lift herself and quickly free his thickness from the confines of the cloth. In one smooth motion, she had him where she wanted him.

Michael pulled back from the kiss and stared into her eyes as the throbbing head of his erection pressed upward against her tight, heated opening. His breath left him when that tightness encased and squeezed the first inch of him with disturbing slowness. Their gaze held as she gripped his shoulders for leverage and pushed… impaling herself down on him.

The air rushed back into his starving lungs as he thrust upwards to get even deeper inside her. Did she have a clue what she was doing to him?

Surging forward, Michael trapped her against the wall burying his face in the arch of her neck when his fangs suddenly lengthened. He growled harshly against her ear and lifted her… only for her to fight the separation and force herself back down on him. She rolled her hips and ground against him shattering any control he had left.

Planting his palms against the wall on each side of her, they met thrust for thrust ignoring the train that was coming.

Closing his lips so she wouldn’t see his exposed fangs, Michael leaned back and watched her ecstasy as the wind from the subway train made her hair flutter around her angelic face, her cries mingling with the thundering sound of the train as it passed. He felt her pulsate around him as she came and knew the sight of her like this would forever be ingrained within his mind’s eye.