Chapter 6

"Sweetheart,can this old junker go any faster?"

Leviathan was a real player. His tone and the fake smile on his face, the way he turned his torso toward me in the passenger seat, it was all perfectly measured. But his words had a bite to them, revealing how much of a jerk he was.

We had been on the road for fifteen minutes in my old Civic, headed toward Houston, and I was already regretting this entire deal. If this demon continued this game, I would strangle him in no time.

He couldn't hurt me, but I was sure I could hurt him.

"Just … sit back and relax," I told him as I stepped on the gas. I wouldn't go a lot over the speed limit for a freaking demon.

Since we had summoned him when he was alone at home, Leviathan didn't have anything with him other than the ripped black slacks, so we ended up going back to Khalisa's for the night. She didn't have a room at her shop, but there were couches in the back room, and we rested there until morning. She also found a t-shirt and sweatpants for the demon, for which he didn't even thank her. In the morning, we entered the first shop we saw, and Leviathan bought himself some slacks and a button-up shirt. At first, he had asked me to pay for them.

"Hell, no," I told him once I saw the price tag. I didn't have that kind of money.

Leviathan charmed the female sales associates and convinced them to let him just give them his credit card info for the payment.

Once we were outside, I asked why he didn't wish for clothes or money.

"I can't use my magic on myself, sweetheart. If I could, I wouldn't be in this situation." He winked at me, but I could see that under that flirting, he was still furious with me.

Well, we had over five hours until Houston, which he insisted we stop at. If it depended on me, we would go directly to San Francisco, but Leviathan was adamant about it. Plus, if we chose the southern route, Houston was practically on the way, sooo …

"Sit back and relax? It's Thursday morning, sweetheart. I have business waiting for me." He reached into the center console and grabbed my phone from its stand. "Speaking of which, I need to make some calls."

"Hey! I need that!" My old Civic didn't have a screen and I couldn't hook up my phone on it for the GPS. I had to look directly at the phone, thus the stand.

"We will be on this interstate for over two hundred miles, sweetheart. Just drive."

I opened my mouth to object, but he raised his hand between us and spoke into the phone.

I gripped the wheel hard so I wouldn't reach across the seats and land a punch on his chin.

Bastard.

He made the first call and started working. I turned on the radio in the car and raised the volume so I couldn't hear him. If he was dealing in more wishes and taking advantage of others, I didn't want to know.

Leviathan threw me an irritated glance because of the music, but he turned his back to me and stared out the window, while talking about meetings and clients. I focused my attention on the road and the songs, though here and there I heard Leviathan talking other languages. Was that French? And Russian? And Mandarin?

Angels knew all languages, but when my magic was stolen, that ability went away with it.

It was despairing, to be an angel and not be an angel. Things had been bad before, when I had lost my wings and had the other angels hunting for me, but it got exponentially worse when I lost my magic too.

No, I wouldn't focus on the dreadful things.

Finally, I had something going for me. Leviathan knew where my wings were, and I would soon have them back. That was the first step of many. Hazel and Khalisa said they would research a way for me to get my powers back—I didn't even want to think about that. It made me giddy, and I was afraid of getting too excited, only to be disappointed if they couldn't do anything for me.

First, wings.

Second, Molraz.

The rest, I would figure out later.

We only stopped once to get gas and a bathroom break. We arrived in Crosby at almost two in the afternoon. Since we would be away for a few days, I needed to pack a bigger bag. I also needed a shower.

Thankfully, Leviathan waited in the car. I really didn't want him to see my shoddy apartment. I had rented it not even four months ago, and had bought only a mattress, an armchair, a small TV, and a stool for the bar area in the kitchen. That was it.

After all, I never planned on staying, on settling into a human life. Even if I never got my wings and my magic back, I would have to move every few months. In fact, now that I had seen the Seraphim, it was probably time to get going.

When I went back to the car, Leviathan entered an address on the map app on my phone, and we headed to downtown Houston. The address led to a high-rise building, and Leviathan told me to enter the underground garage.

He directed me to the visitors' parking spaces, then told me to follow him. A doorway led to a small sitting room with a sofa that looked modern, but probably uncomfortable, and two golden-trimmed elevators. Leviathan glanced at a camera in the top corner of the room and nodded.

On the elevator, he positioned himself in front of the panel and entered a series of numbers—like a password. Then he pressed the button for the twentieth floor, the last one.

The elevator opened to a short hallway and gray double doors. Leviathan pressed his thumb to a keypad, entered another password, and the doors clicked opened.

I followed him inside but couldn't stop gawking.

I had expected a super luxurious penthouse with fifteen bedrooms, nineteen bathrooms, rugs and curtains.

The place was one giant rectangle, about twenty feet tall, and mostly surrounded by glass.

To the left, there was a rug and a huge gray sectional in front of a pillar, from which hung a ninety-inch TV. To the right was another rug, a bed that had to be custom made, because it was double the size of a normal king, two nightstands, and an armchair. Farther to the right, there were four doors and I was assuming one had to be the bathroom. Leviathan disappeared inside one of those doors and I got a peek—it was a closet.

In the center was the kitchen comprised of gray counters. The tallest thing in there was the fridge, which was against another pillar. But everything was top notch: the appliances were stainless steel and looked too expensive to touch. Even the stools around the counter that formed a seating area were big and heavy, giving the impression that each of them cost thousands of dollars.

The place smelled like him: a deep wood, spicy, and musk scent, masculine and good on him.

While he was gone, I spun around, amazed by the simplicity, and yet elegance of the few things he had in this place. The floors were light gray marble, the walls between the giant windows and the pillars were that industrial concrete look, but it worked.

There were no frilly decorations, no superfluous stuff, and lots and lots of open space and natural light.

I walked past the kitchen and went to the windows. You could see the entire city from here and it was beautiful. Breathtaking. After a moment, I turned around and looked at the apartment again.

This place was awesome.

Leviathan walked out of the closet, and without his shirt, entered the bathroom. I could hear the water running, so I went back to the window and focused on the view outside. It was hard, though, knowing his glorious body was naked behind a thin door.

I shook my head. What the hell was I thinking?

He might be hot, but I had seen plenty of hot men before and had not lost my thoughts to desire so easily. Besides, he was a demon who takes advantage of others. Ninety-nine percent of demons deserved to be dead or in the underworld, imprisoned for eternity.

After fifteen minutes, Leviathan exited the bathroom with damp hair and wearing crisp, dark blue slacks and a white shirt. He reached inside the closet, grabbed a small, wheeled suitcase, and left it beside the front door.

He turned to me. "I know the view is great, sweetheart, but it's time to go."

I cringed. "Can you stop calling me that?"

With his half-grin, Leviathan asked, "Why, sweetheart?"

Groaning, I walked toward the front door, but didn't give him an answer. If he had half a neuron, he knew why.

"Not that way." Leviathan sidestepped me and walked back to the four doors. He grabbed the knob at the third door. "Through here."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, sweetheart." He opened the door and stepped into the darkness.

Where the hell was he going? I followed him, but halted when I walked through the doorway and total darkness surrounded me. A feeling like I had been in a twister hit me hard and fast.

Then it was gone.

I blinked and found myself past a door and in a large, musky room. There were no windows, though the ceiling was high, and a few naked bulbs hung from wires.

In the center of the room, a man was tied to a metal beam.

"Has he said anything?" Leviathan asked, and only then I noticed there were three men in the room, a safe distance from the other one.

"No, sir," one of them answered.

My gut hardened. What was I seeing?

Leviathan tsked. "Igor, Igor. I've tried being nice, my friend, but you're forcing my hand."

Nice? I took a few steps to the side, to take a better look at the man tied to the beam—his face was lolled to his chest, and blood stained his white shirt.

Leviathan had tortured him. Or his goons had.

And he had brought me here.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked, approaching the scene.

"Stay back, sweetheart." Leviathan pointed at me but kept looking at the tortured man. "This demon has a taste for angels."

The man's head snapped to me and his eyes—completely black—fixed on mine. His long, forked tongue slithered out and licked his dark lips. "Angel," he hissed, dragging the vowels.

A shiver rolled down my spine.

Leviathan glared at me. "Stay. Back."

I wasn't afraid of a demon, especially one that was tied up and beaten, so I held my ground. Mostly to defy Leviathan than anything else.

"Sweet angel," the demon said.

Leviathan walked up to him and punched him squared on the cheek, forcing the demon to turn his head. "You look at me, trash. You answer to me. Where is it?"

The demon licked his lips again. "Give me that angel, and I'll tell you everything."

Leviathan's hands enveloped in darkfire—a demon's dark magic. "I won't ask again."

A low chuckle came from the demon.

Leviathan drew back to punch him again, but the demon pulled up his legs and kicked Leviathan in the chest, sending him back a few steps.

Taking advantage of those precious seconds, the demon pulled hard on the chains tying him to the beam. The beam, which seemed like a sturdy piece of metal, groaned and bent under the effort, and the chains loosened.

The demon crawled up the broken beam, twisted his arms under himself, and got free.

He lunged at me.

I raised my fists and held my ground. I may not have my magic, but I wouldn't run from a fight.

I punched the demon when he was close, but he didn't budge.

"What the?—"

He was stronger than he had let on. When Leviathan hit him, he had not resisted. Now, he felt like a boulder under my aching hand.

Before I could finish my sentence, the demon closed his hands around my neck and drove me to the floor, slamming my back and head against the concrete.

My vision darkened and pain exploded through me.

I fought for consciousness and kicked the demon, but he was strong.

His mouth opened wide, his many sharp teeth around that nasty tongue.

I screamed, throwing all of my strength against him.

The demon flew back.

Dizzy, I sat up.

Had I done that?

Then I saw it. Leviathan had wrapped the demon in darkfire.

"Like I said, I tried being nice," he said before forming a stake out of darkfire and driving it into the demon's chest.

The demon let out a piercing shriek and I covered my ears. Then, he crumpled to the ground in a messy heap.

Leviathan staggered to the side. Blinked twice.

His goons ran toward him. "Boss?" one asked, reaching for him.

Leviathan raised his hand. "I'm fine." He blinked again; his eyes found mine. "It's your pain and dizziness I'm feeling. Are you fine?"

My mouth opened. Then closed.

Oh, wow, for a moment there, I had forgotten he could feel whatever I felt.

I nodded and pushed to my feet. Everything went dark, but I recovered. "I'm fine," I said, seeing as Leviathan was almost to me.

He stopped abruptly.

As if nothing had happened, he turned to his goons. "Clean up and find me another. I'll be back in a few days. A week at most."

"Yes, sir," the goons answered in unison.

Without ceremony, Leviathan walked back to the door we came through and opened it for me. "Ladies first."