Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Noa didn’t noticeif it was warm or cold as she fled the housekeeper’s home in the cover of darkness. She had sneaked out, unseen, and trudged over the manor’s vast grounds. She passed perfectly manicured gardens, greenhouses filled with roses, masses of trees, and private, secluded groves until she finally saw the man-made lake Diel had told her about. Flutters invaded her chest as her eyes landed on a fairytale building just beyond it.

The folly.

Noa smirked. Diel had chosen a building suitable for weddings and romance and the confessing of true love for their confrontation. But all they would be bringing was violence and pain and the facing of their inner demons.

Noa’s long pink hair blew around her face, creating a momentary veil. She had left it free from the braid tonight. She wore top-to-toe leather and clutched Gabriel’s stolen remote in her hand. It felt like fire in her palm, but its freedom flooded into her veins.

She could almost taste it, the indescribable sensation that came from such freedom. The sense of liberation she’d felt when she pushed her knife into the heart of a Brethren priest who had hurt her as a child. Watching the life drain from his eyes, pulling her scarf from her face so he could see exactly who had come to send him to hell.

The lake rippled as she walked along its perimeter. The full moon reflected off its black surface, and a fountain lay dormant in the center. The statue looked like a stone mermaid holding a man in her hand—a lover, perhaps? Noa stopped when the image became clear, and the smirk she had been wearing spread into a wide smile. No, it wasn’t a mermaid holding a lover, but a fang-toothed siren with long wavy locks and bare breasts dragging a screaming, terrified sailor to the sea’s watery depths—it was more than apt. Whoever had built this manor Noa now had much admiration for. She idly wondered if it was the man in the painting in Gabriel’s office. She recalled his eyes; there was a darkness lurking in their depths.

The sight of that savage siren only bolstered her mood. Her feet quickened on the manicured grass beneath her heavy black boots. In minutes she arrived at the folly’s entrance. It was made of gray stone and was swathed in green ivy. The folly had two circular turrets on either side and an imposing wooden door. There were gargoyles on the ledges, and intricate sculptures of flowers carved into bricks here and there.

Noa reached for the doorknob, and it turned under her hand. Either Diel was already here or he had opened the building earlier that day in preparation for their meeting tonight.

Noa slipped inside and descended the stairs before her. Lights had been lit, and she squared her shoulders as she stepped into the main body of the building. The folly wasn’t big, and Noa could see every part of it. As Diel had said, it had been fashioned into a training ring of sorts. Both dummy and real weapons hung on the wall. But despite the training additions to the old building, some of the original features still remained. The large hearth on the main wall raged with flames.

They danced before Noa’s eyes as she took calming breaths, her body prepped and primed for the fight that was about to commence. The impressive heat kissed the skin on her face, and the smoke began to sink into the strands of her hair. Noa closed her eyes and took a deep inhale. On her third exhale, she heard the door to the folly open behind her, and she smiled.

He was here.

Noa turned and stood dead center in the room, chin high, waiting for Diel to walk through. She slid the keys into a hidden pocket … then Diel appeared at the entrance. It felt as though he filled up the entire alcove.

Noa’s heart fired into a sprint and her lungs sucked in extra air at the sight of him. He was dressed in dark jeans and boots, and nothing else. His chest was bare but for his Fallen brand, his mass of scars and his collar. His dark hair was mussed, and random locks fell across his forehead, failing to conceal the bright blue eyes that had immediately captured Noa in their trap.

Noa’s legs clenched together as he slowly descended the staircase, his head ticking as man and monster fought for dominance.

Not long now.

The wind blew outside, sneaking down to the hearth, whistling as it escaped into the room. Diel’s collar crackled, anticipation clogging the hot air. Noa’s gaze traveled over every inch of him. He was magnificent. Broad and toned and filled with the hedonistic promise of death. Nothing excited Noa more than life and death hanging in the balance.

The unknown.

“You showed,” Noa finally said. The logs on the fire hissed and spat as they burned behind her.

Diel smiled, and Noa felt her stomach flip. He really was such a handsome, impressive killing machine. His head jerked. “I wanted to see you.” His voice was deep and graveled, and Noa knew she was speaking to the monster at that moment.

She took a single step forward. The veins in Diel’s muscles protruded, and his neck tightened with strain. Then his smile fell, and Noa knew it was the man. “Stop stalling,” he said. Noa felt just as excited to face him as she had the monster. The lovely monster was tamed; it was the man who needed to be unleashed.

Diel curled his hands into fists, but his face adopted a mocking expression. “Killer,” he said. Noa took a pause. “Killer, killer, killer,” he repeated, trying to get a rise from her.

But the taunt fell off Noa like hot blood off a freshly sharpened knife. “You think that offends me?” She took a step backward as Diel moved forward. He stopped in the center of the folly. An ancient iron chandelier hung from the domed ceiling above them, the wind from the chimney rocking its considerable weight back and forth—a countdown to their oncoming collision.

Noa began to circle Diel’s wide, cut body. There wasn’t an inch of his torso that wasn’t scarred or viciously marked, yet to her his ruined skin was as beautiful as a burnt-orange sunset.

Noa felt the darker side of her soul clawing to the forefront. She didn’t fight it. She knew which part of her was needed tonight. That part of her needed to be unconstrained in this folly, just as much as the caged monster Diel had fought back since childhood needed to have his jail bulldozed down. By the end of this night, there would be no cages for either of them. Gemini souls finally being embraced and given the respect that they deserved.

“I am a killer. It’s who I am.” Noa whispered those words to the back of Diel’s neck. She saw his skin bump where her breath had touched him. When she rounded his front, she moved back several steps. “As are you.” She shrugged. “I’m not ashamed.” Her stomach dropped as she said those words. There was a part of her that still carried guilt, such heavy guilt. But she pushed it aside. That guilt didn’t belong in this folly tonight.

In a flash, and with the crackling of the collar and a jerk of the neck, Diel’s monster rose to the surface. “I like that you kill,” he growled, pride in his tone. Noa saw his jeans begin to tent and his breathing increase in speed. “I like that you tear those fuckers down. They hurt you. They hurt us.”

Noa smiled at him, feeling the warmth of that protection, the mutual attraction that grew between them. The darkness inside her preened under his myopic attention. “My pretty monster,” she said, voice soft and true. She lifted her hand and stroked his stubbled cheek. He closed his eyes as if he had never experienced affection before. Noa realized he probably never had.

Diel’s skin was hot under her palm, yet it sent icicles down her spine. “I’m going to need you to let Diel come to the surface.” He shook his head, his hands balling into fists once more. “You’ll be free soon enough,” she promised and met his eyes. “We’ll be together soon. No more being pushed aside.”

“He’s going to try and destroy you,” the monster said, keeping Diel pushed down inside their shared body.

“I’m going to save him.” She held her head high. “I’m going to save you both.” Diel’s dark eyebrows fell in confusion. “Trust me, pretty monster,” she soothed. “Trust me.”

He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, Diel the man was staring at her once more.

Noa stepped back, then widened her stance. Crooking her finger at him, she said, “Let’s begin, shall we?” She grinned, showing her teeth. “Show me what you’ve got.”

They charged. Noa didn’t know who moved first. One second they were on opposing sides of the room; the next they were two bodies slamming together, the force as blinding as a stellar collision.

Noa’s breathing was heavy, echoing in her ears, and she twisted around as he reached out to take her in his iron hold. Noa kicked out a leg, knocking Diel back. He turned, fury in his expression, and charged at her again. Noa ducked, her hair a swirling riot of pale pink falling around her body as she did. But before she could twist away, Diel grabbed her by the arm and wrenched her to his solid chest. He wrapped his hand around her neck. Lifting her off the floor, he cut off her breathing, then slammed her into the wall of the folly like he had done in the priest’s home when they first met. His face was in her face, his minty breath ghosting across her cheeks.

“What’s this?” he snarled, his nose pressing against hers. “This is the great fucking Noa, second in command of the Coven? The fighter you boasted about in the Nave today? The one you claimed could take on me and my brothers?” He smiled mockingly, his lips grazing over her cheek, his perceived victory evident in his expression. “You’re weak. And now, I’m going to destroy you.”

Sucking in as much breath as she could through her closed-off throat, she croaked, “What makes … you think … that I didn’t … want … this … ?” Diel frowned, then pressed his chest against hers, pinning his superior weight against her, suffocating her lungs even further. Noa noted the flash of panic in his blue eyes—the monster inside him was clearly preparing to take his alter ego down.

Noa lowered her hand, reaching into her pocket to discreetly pull out the key and remote. Diel didn’t see her hand move, too locked in the internal fight with his monster.

He gasped, the man managing to hold on to the control, and squeezed her neck tighter. Noa’s tiptoes scraped the stone of the floor. All her energy was being used on staying conscious, but she fought her darkening vision to thread her hand into Diel’s black hair. She edged him closer toward her until his forehead touched hers. “Try to seduce me all you want,” he growled. “I will never release you.”

“No,” she whispered back, then brought the key to the back of the metal collar, pushed it into the small hole and turned it clockwise. “But I … will … release … you.” Before Diel even knew what was happening, the collar split apart and fell from his neck. Noa clutched the discarded metal in her hand.

Diel’s eyes widened, and his hand immediately dropped from Noa’s neck. Noa was ready. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she scrambled to her unsteady feet and ran at the fire. Without even hesitating, she threw the collar, its key and the remote into the flames, as a deafening roar sailed from behind her. She turned, lip curling in rage at the massive red scar on Diel’s neck, angry skin that had been tormented by shocks of electricity for far too long.

Diel turned, eyes wide, and Noa breathed in deeply. She planted her feet into the stone, holding her ground, then watched as the monster and the man began their battle for the person they were always meant to be.