Chapter 21

Levi crossedhis arms and stared at me. "And how is that?"

"Offer myself."

He blinked, as if he hadn't heard me right. Then his eyes darkened. "You're insane."

"Why? Doesn't he collect rare items? What's rarer than a powerless angel who's being hunted by the entire world? He"s probably heard about me too; he knows I'm valuable. He'd probably love to lock me away in his art gallery." Or wherever it was he displayed his collection.

"Sweetheart, do you really think he'll do that and buy himself a fight against the angels?"

Shit, I hadn't thought about that. "Perhaps not, but if he's a real collector, he would love to take a look at me, even if for only a minute. That would be enough to grant us entry into his house."

I had gone nuts. Here I was, coming up with a plan to continue working with Levi, when a minute ago, I was willing to break the bond and let him go.

But I needed him. If this worked, then I could definitely break the bond after. He would be free of me; I would be free of him … no harm, no foul.

"I hear you, sweetheart, and I agree it isn't a bad plan, but …" He glanced around. "Can we talk about this somewhere else? We shouldn't be out in the open like this."

At least he was right about that.

We walked to the car, he hopped behind the wheel, I took the passenger seat, and then we were on the road again.

"Where are we going?" I asked, as the scenery changed and we merged onto the interstate.

"There are demons everywhere around here. We need to keep moving."

It made sense, of course. And the fact that he was going northwest, toward San Francisco, told me he was considering my proposition.

Then I remembered. "What about the angel? We didn't go back for him."

"He's not our concern anymore."

"What do you mean?" I gasped. "Did you kill him?"

Levi's jaw popped, his eyes narrowed on the road. "He's gone."

By the light, Levi had killed the angel.

I couldn't believe it. I wanted to punch him, to strangle him, but I restrained myself. I pushed down on my anger and resentment for now. If my plan succeeded, I would soon be free of him, and nobody else would have to get hurt.

I sank into my seat, fighting tears, and ended up falling asleep. I woke up almost one hour later when we passed a drive-thru and got ourselves dinner. We found a motel off the road that had a main building with several single rooms and cabins around a stone path just behind it.

Levi got us the key for one of the cabins. It was quite charming with a gas fireplace and rustic decorations, though it wasn't much better than the single rooms, since it had just one bed.

Levi saw me staring at the bed. "Don't worry, sweetheart, I'll take the couch."

My cheeks heated up and I was sure he felt whatever I was feeling—even I couldn't place it. My feelings for him were so messed up. We had started with me hating his guts, then he grew on me, we had shared one amazing night of hot sex, and now he was back to being evil and me to despising him.

And yet … No. I shook my head and forced myself to forget everything else. Right now, Levi was a temporary business partner. That was all. No feelings or past involved.

"Can we talk about my plan now?" I asked as we unwrapped our burgers.

"I would rather eat without losing my temper, sweetheart."

I frowned. So, he wasn't considering it? Or that was him acknowledging that this was a sensitive topic, and he would really listen to me later.

So, we ate in tense silence. It was awkward and I wanted to say something to break this tension, but why? Didn't I just tell myself that Levi was my business associate, nothing else. I didn't need to fraternize with him. All I needed was for him to agree to my plan.

If it all worked out, I could have my wings tomorrow night. Just the thought made me feel lighter. With a new bounce to my step, I took a quick shower, changed into black leggings and my sleep shirt—I wouldn't be pantless again near him—and sat down on the bed.

I watched as Levi paced in front of the fireplace.

"Aren't you going to take a shower?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Later."

"Then … can we talk now? Or are you busy brooding?"

He stopped and turned his frown at me. "There's nothing to talk about."

I stood. "What do you mean? You promised we would talk about my plan."

"I didn't promise anything, sweetheart. I said we would talk later to get you out of there."

"What?" I almost shouted. "What the hell?" I started after him. "You—"And I bumped into an invisible wall. I almost fell back, but bumped into the bed, and was able to find my balance. I reached forward and felt it. "What is this? What did you do?"

"I can't have you doing something stupid, sweetheart." Levi moved the couch three inches to the side and I saw it—the lines of the circle he had drawn around the bed and part of the cabin.

Rage bloomed in my veins. "You did what?!" I banged against the wall, but it was to no avail. Maybe if I had my magic, but without it … I was as useless as a human. There was nothing I could do against the simplest witch or demon circles. "Levi, get me out of there right now!"

"I can't do that, sweetheart."

"What, then? You're holding me so you can hand me over to the angels yourself?"

Levi walked up to the circle, just out of reach. "I'm doing this for your own good, sweetheart?—"

"Don't sweetheart me!" I yelled as loud as I could. "You asshole! Let me go, damn it!"

"Hate me all you want," he said with a growl. "You'll thank me later."

He spun on his heels and walked out of the cabin.

I shouted his name, screamed, threw the side lamp at him, only to have it bounce off the magical wall and break on the floor.

Desperation suffocated me. How could I get away from here? From this?

The truth was, I couldn't.

* * *

Now I understoodwhy Levi had fed me and waited until I took a shower to lock me in the circle—because he didn't come back that night.

I called his phone, but he didn't answer. At some point, my phone died and the charger was on the other side of the circle.

Bored and angry, I lay down on the bed and ended up sleeping.

I woke up early and realized he had come back in the middle of the night: now the circle had an adjacent one that included the bathroom.

At least he had thought about that …

No, he wasn't getting any sympathy from me.

How much more would he have to do for me to remember he was a vicious demon? Shortly after I first met him, he killed a demon who had been his captive. After that, he would have allowed demons to kill innocent humans, if it weren't for the Blackthorn Hunters showing up at the park. He had captured and tortured an angel, and now he had trapped me in here against my will.

And according to him, he was going after my wings.

I wondered. Would he give them back to me, or would he sell them? Maybe add that to the angels' offer and get a larger reward?

At this point, I couldn't discount anything from him.

It was the middle of the morning when the cabin door opened and I opened my mouth to yell at him—but Lacey was the one walking toward me.

I swallowed the words, their taste turning my mouth sour. "Lacey?" I was confused. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, Ariella." She halted right outside the circle. "I'm so sorry. My stupid brother?—"

"Whatever you're saying about me, you can stop." Levi walked in, a white bag and a cup of coffee in his hands. He stared at me with his lopsided grin. "Good morning, sweetheart."

If I could, I would punch him.

"What's going on?" I asked, and then I remember why she had stayed behind. "Shouldn't you be with Heidi?"

"She's much better," she said. "I was thinking about leaving when Levi called me."

"Wait. Are you in on this?" I thought Lacey wasn't as bad as her brother.

He reached inside the circle and placed the cup and the brown bag on the floor. "I can't leave you alone while I go retrieve your wings, so I asked my sister to come babysit you."

"For the record, he asked for help. He didn't give me any specifics until I got here." She shot him a glare. "He knows I'm against this."

He held her stare. "And I told her she either behaves, or she'll join you inside that circle."

Lacey stood still, clearly afraid of her brother. "I'll behave," she said softly.

"Good." He turned his smile at me again. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a break-in to plan."

"There's an easier way to do this," I told him.

His smile faltered for half a second. "I'll be back later." He gave one last warning glance at his sister, then he walked out.

I opened my mouth, but Lacey held her finger over her puckered lips.

She counted to ten before going to the window and spying from under the curtains. "He's leaving." She rushed back to me. "Holy cow, I thought he was joking when he told me he had trapped you." She shook her head. "He can be so stubborn."

"Stubborn?" I scoffed. "He's evil. Terrible. I'm disgusted and appalled, and I want to get out of here now!"

Lacey pulled an armchair close to the circle and sat down. "Tell me what happened."

I crossed my arms and didn't say a word. What if all of this was a game? What if she was helping him?

But that wasn't it, was it? Lacey was different. Levi had protected her from their father, from his evil fate. He had sent her away so she wouldn't turn out like him.

So, I sat down on the floor, grabbed the breakfast I was brought, and I told her. Not everything—I didn't tell her how we danced at the nightclub, and what happened when we got to the hotel—but I told her all the rest.

"I … I don't even know what to say." Her shoulders were down and her voice low. "Our father is evil. He might not be the worst and highest ranked demon out there, but he's terrible, and Levi lived with him for far too long. He worried he would become like him and at times, he is. A while back, right after Levi left our father's house, he wanted to make a name for himself. Being a demon was all he knew, so he became the worst one in town." She paused, clearly remembering those days. "Heidi and I tried hard to be a positive force in his life, and I think that we succeeded, but not completely. Here and there, I know he still uses his reputation to take advantage of people and situations, and sometimes he has to act on that reputation to show others he still has it." Her eyes misted. "If he was always this evil, then he hid it well from me."

"We never fully know a person."

"I would like to think I do know him. I would like to think something is causing him to lose his mind and act out of character."

I swallowed the last sip of my coffee. "The bond and I are the only variables in his life right now. That I know of."

Lacey frowned. "Maybe it is the bond. Maybe your feelings are disrupting his, and he is losing his mind and acting out of character."

That was a plausible answer, but I thought she knew that it ran deeper than that. A person couldn't be evil one day and good the next. It had to come from somewhere, from something.

Maybe the bond and the broken dam of unwanted feelings were the trigger, but that meant he always had evil inside of him.

"Either way, I'm stuck in here, while he's going in to get my wings by himself."

"A few of his demons are coming to help him."

I could help him. Hm, maybe I had an idea. I crunched the white bag and the empty coffee cup and pushed them to the side. "Lacey, could you break the circle?"

She stared at me with huge eyes. "I …" Her jaw opened and closed several times.

"That tells me you can. So, hear me out. I think I can help him. He doesn't need to go in for a fight, but I need to get out of here to make that happen."

"I can't … he told me not to. He threatened me."

"Has he threatened you before?" I asked. She nodded. "Has he followed through with his threats?" She shook her head. "Then I don't think he'll do anything to you. You're his little sister. He'll never hurt you."

"But what about you?"

I wasn't so sure about me. "Who's more important to you? Your brother or me?"

"Well …"

I offered her a small smile. "Your brother, I know, and I wouldn't expect anything else. So, help me so I can help him. Please."

"I don't know …"

I leaned back against the bed. "It's okay. I'm just offering. We don't need to do anything."

Lacey glanced at the door, as if looking after her brother. This was probably killing her and I felt bad for her, but only a little. I had no time for sympathy right now.

"If I break you out, how are you going to help him?" she asked, her unsure eyes back on me.

I had to fight a smile. I was going to win this one. "Do you have a phone?"