carry out his mission his future within the Alliance was forfeit. Then he’d be open season for Luc, but he didn’t give a damn. He had no intention of putting his safety before Kelsey’s right now. She needed him, even if she wouldn’t admit it.
Ambrose’s lack of emotion concerned him, and at the same time that concern made him feel alive. All the emotions he thought he didn’t have seemed to be ignited by this one woman and her circumstances. For the first time in millennia he felt as though something mattered.
For the last few months he’d relished his new-found freedom. In Heaven he’d served his duty as an Angel of Souls. Death was only a different level of existence, and he’d helped souls with the transformation without thought to emotion or pain.
Taking a job with the Alliance had been easy. They weeded out the bad so that the good of their species could thrive. The fact he was an emotionless bastard would work well with his new occupation. Holding true to form, when Ambrose had given Domiel a mission that should have been devastating for him to deliver, Domiel had done his duty and took off after her, thinking he might have to do the unthinkable.
Not anymore.
Memories should have made the sentencing difficult for Ambrose. A strong bond between two people built on friendship and memories. It was the one thing Domiel ached for, and now Ambrose proved the insignificance of it with his actions.
Ambrose had told him the Alliance had concrete evidence, and Kelsey had been tried in her absence. Sven, Roger, and Ambrose—who comprised the judge and jury—had been in a meeting for hours. Her sentence had been decided upon, and Domiel’s course of action had been laid out.
And that was that.
The pictures on the wall of the vacant house mocked him, and no doubt mocked Kelsey as well. He picked one up, his thumb brushing the wood of the frame. The normality of family photos brought to the surface what he’d really yearned for when he’d fallen. He’d expected to build connections with others. To feel a common link. Only no matter how close he got to people—and he’d gotten as close as one could get—he didn’t feel that emotion that bonded people together. He loved no one.
But he felt something for Kelsey.
She’d never really spoken to him much, nor sought him out to share a meal with, but it was with her friends that she really caught his attention. She had a light about her that drew him in. She was sweet when off duty and determined when on.
He was infatuated with her. Had been for some time.
His escapades involving the other sex had been limited to activities shared between the sheets. He’d be lying to himself if he said it hadn’t been intoxicating. Sex was, without a doubt, a highly addictive form of entertainment, and yet that was all it was to him. An emotionless, seductive way to pass the time. Hell, he couldn’t remember one woman from the next.
He knew if he carried out his mission as Ambrose had instructed, Kelsey wouldn’t cease to exist. Death was only a transition. But he wasn’t ready to say good-bye. He couldn’t use his own hands to kill her physical body.
And yet Ambrose hadn’t had a problem with giving the task to end her existence to another assassin. He was also too cowardly to see to it himself. He couldn’t look her in the eye and end her life, but Domiel, who’d stared the human equivalent of death in the face countless times, was fit for the job. Or so Ambrose thought.
“I was surprised when you merely walked away. You could have had the easiest assassination in history.”
Glancing at the clock on the wall, he realized he’d lost track of time. A little over an hour had passed while he’d been on the phone and lost in thought. Domiel put the picture back on the mantle and turned. She looked nothing like she had earlier. Her blond hair hung down her back, full and shiny. Her skin was fresh and pink, which accentuated the blue of her eyes. She reminded
Ambrose’s lack of emotion concerned him, and at the same time that concern made him feel alive. All the emotions he thought he didn’t have seemed to be ignited by this one woman and her circumstances. For the first time in millennia he felt as though something mattered.
For the last few months he’d relished his new-found freedom. In Heaven he’d served his duty as an Angel of Souls. Death was only a different level of existence, and he’d helped souls with the transformation without thought to emotion or pain.
Taking a job with the Alliance had been easy. They weeded out the bad so that the good of their species could thrive. The fact he was an emotionless bastard would work well with his new occupation. Holding true to form, when Ambrose had given Domiel a mission that should have been devastating for him to deliver, Domiel had done his duty and took off after her, thinking he might have to do the unthinkable.
Not anymore.
Memories should have made the sentencing difficult for Ambrose. A strong bond between two people built on friendship and memories. It was the one thing Domiel ached for, and now Ambrose proved the insignificance of it with his actions.
Ambrose had told him the Alliance had concrete evidence, and Kelsey had been tried in her absence. Sven, Roger, and Ambrose—who comprised the judge and jury—had been in a meeting for hours. Her sentence had been decided upon, and Domiel’s course of action had been laid out.
And that was that.
The pictures on the wall of the vacant house mocked him, and no doubt mocked Kelsey as well. He picked one up, his thumb brushing the wood of the frame. The normality of family photos brought to the surface what he’d really yearned for when he’d fallen. He’d expected to build connections with others. To feel a common link. Only no matter how close he got to people—and he’d gotten as close as one could get—he didn’t feel that emotion that bonded people together. He loved no one.
But he felt something for Kelsey.
She’d never really spoken to him much, nor sought him out to share a meal with, but it was with her friends that she really caught his attention. She had a light about her that drew him in. She was sweet when off duty and determined when on.
He was infatuated with her. Had been for some time.
His escapades involving the other sex had been limited to activities shared between the sheets. He’d be lying to himself if he said it hadn’t been intoxicating. Sex was, without a doubt, a highly addictive form of entertainment, and yet that was all it was to him. An emotionless, seductive way to pass the time. Hell, he couldn’t remember one woman from the next.
He knew if he carried out his mission as Ambrose had instructed, Kelsey wouldn’t cease to exist. Death was only a transition. But he wasn’t ready to say good-bye. He couldn’t use his own hands to kill her physical body.
And yet Ambrose hadn’t had a problem with giving the task to end her existence to another assassin. He was also too cowardly to see to it himself. He couldn’t look her in the eye and end her life, but Domiel, who’d stared the human equivalent of death in the face countless times, was fit for the job. Or so Ambrose thought.
“I was surprised when you merely walked away. You could have had the easiest assassination in history.”
Glancing at the clock on the wall, he realized he’d lost track of time. A little over an hour had passed while he’d been on the phone and lost in thought. Domiel put the picture back on the mantle and turned. She looked nothing like she had earlier. Her blond hair hung down her back, full and shiny. Her skin was fresh and pink, which accentuated the blue of her eyes. She reminded
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