Heart of an Angel Read online

  Heart of an Angel

  The Fallen Warriors Series

  Rosalie Lario

  In a world where angels rule over humans, twelve outcasts dare to defy expectation, warring with their angel brethren to prevent the extinction of mankind.

  They are The Fallen.

  Book 5

  With war looming between angels and mankind, Abby seeks out the fallen angel who once saved her life…and earned her love. Nate is shocked to see the nephilim he saved as a young girl—and even more surprised at the alluring woman she’s become. Though he can’t deny the spark of attraction between them, nothing prepares him for Abby’s bold claim. That they are meant to be mated.

  Tempting though Abby may be, the thought of loving and losing yet another mate forces Nate to resist her considerable charms. But his fiery little temptress won’t be so easily dissuaded. As the Fallen prepare to battle the angels over the fate of mankind, Abby must convince Nate that loving her is worth risking his heart.

  *****

  Heart of an Angel

  Copyright 2014 by Rosalie Lario

  *****

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Cover Art provided by Brittany Smith, Amaranth Dreams.

  Editorial Services provided by Piper Denna, Freelance Editor.

  License Notes

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

  *****

  Chapter One

  Twelve Years Ago…

  This winter might be the most boring one yet. Go figure. Abby had thought the revelation that angels existed might lighten things up a bit, but so far it had just created more work for everyone. Her mom in particular.

  As she sat on the windowsill of her tiny bedroom, she alternated between doing her homework and staring at white Christmas lights on barren branches outside her window.

  “Looks cold,” she murmured, more to hear noise than anything else.

  At least she was inside, warm and cozy. Had to be grateful for the little things.

  Mom wasn’t due home until close to midnight, which meant yet another evening home alone. Most of the thirteen-year-olds she knew would be happy to have so much time unsupervised by adults. But the truth was, she missed her mom.

  I’m such a dork.

  When her mother had taken the position as resident doctor at the nearby downtown New York City hospital, she’d told Abby it was going to give them a better life. As a single mom, she needed the extra pay the job provided. But then the angels had come into their world and abolished money. Even though they’d instituted a job lottery, due to her mother’s medical expertise she’d ended up keeping the same job. So now it just meant she was working more hours with no benefit.

  Lost in thought, Abby barely noted the wisp of smoke curling up through the air. Only when it tickled her nose did the acrid stench break her from her reverie.

  She turned her head to see vapor drifting in through the sliver of space beneath her door frame.

  What the…?

  It couldn’t be coming from her kitchen. She wasn’t allowed to cook while Mom was at work…which meant she’d pretty much been living on pizza the last six months.

  She set her flowery lace curtain back into place and arose to search out the source of the smell. But when she turned the knob and stepped into the living room, her curiosity morphed into alarm. Ribbons of smoke wafted in from the door leading out to her building’s hallway.

  The voice of Mrs. Mufson, her next-door neighbor, suddenly cut through the relative silence of the small living room.

  “Fire! Help, there’s a fire!”

  “Oh my God.” Abby raced to the front door, but when she placed her hand on the doorknob the heat of the metal seared her skin.

  “Ouch!”

  She snatched her hand back, gasping in pain. Her alarm turned into full-blown panic. There was no way she’d be able to leave her apartment. And she didn’t even hear a hint of a siren blaring outside. By the time they arrived…it might already be too late.

  Oh, crap. Crap!

  The fire escape.

  Thinking quickly, she did an about-face and raced back into her bedroom. After yanking the curtain to the side, she maneuvered the old, pre-war window frame up. It only rose about halfway, but that was enough for her to squeeze through.

  Glad I didn’t have that last slice of pizza.

  One inch more girth and she wouldn’t have fit.

  She stepped onto the metal fire escape and the thing gave an unsteady rattle that tore a shriek from her throat. Mom had complained to the landlord several times about the poor state of the fire escape, but he had yet to do anything about it. Add to that Abby’s fear of heights and the fact that they were seven stories up, and you had the recipe for a full-blown panic attack.

  “You’re okay. You’re alright,” she huffed, sucking in several frigid breaths.

  The wind gusted onto the fire escape in heavy blasts that froze her skin. Her cable knit sweater was no match for this kind of weather. It was better than being on fire, though, so she wasn’t about to complain.

  Suddenly the shrill blast of a siren sounded from several blocks away.

  “Oh, thank God.” Hopefully they’d get to Mrs. Mufson and the other residents on time.

  Emboldened by the knowledge that help was on the way, she took several steps toward the stairs of the fire escape. With a wrenching sound, the metal gave way from its anchoring.

  Abby screamed and grabbed onto the waist-high railing. She held on for dear life as the fire escape shifted and swayed.

  For one brief moment it seemed as if the movement had stopped. But then, with a sickening lurch, the fire escape tilted to the side, vaulting her over the railing.

  “No!”

  The ground rushed toward her at a sickening speed. Mind-numbing terror froze the breath in her lungs. Primal fear vibrated through every fiber of her being…along with an altogether more unusual feeling. The buzzing sensation of awareness.

  “Help,” she shrieked as the asphalt grew closer and closer, all the while knowing her desperate plea came far too late. Who could help her now?

  But seconds before she hit the ground, something closed over her waist. She flew upward with a sickening jerk.

  What the—?

  Squeezing her eyes shut, Abby swallowed the nausea that threatened to force tonight’s pizza back up. Her hands instinctively gripped the vice at her waist.

  No, not a vice. Those were ropy, defined muscles she held onto.

  Arms.

  There were arms around her waist, and she was flying.

  “Holy shit!”

  A husky, masculine chuckle floated to her ears, accompanied by the fleeting scent of vanilla and spice.

  An angel. She’d just been saved by a freaking angel!

  Hysterical laughter bubbled in her throat. She’d thought she was toast. Had her savior been two seconds later, she would have been toast. But instead she’d been saved by one of the members of the elus
ive race that had taken patronage of Earth—a wondrous, amazing angel.

  I finally get to see one.

  She didn’t dare risk opening her eyes until the angel landed on a hard surface and set her on her feet. Taking an experimental peek, she realized she was on the roof of the building across the street.

  “Oh my God!”

  Angry plumes of smoke ribboning up from the blasted-out windows on her floor. Only then did her ears register the blaring siren of the fire truck that had pulled up alongside the street. The ladder had been raised, and the firemen were hard at work at saving the building’s inhabitants. But they would never have made it in time for her…

  “I can’t believe it,” she murmured.

  A deep, velvety voice sounded out behind her. “Are you okay, little one?”

  “Yes. You saved me—”

  She turned around to face her savior…and cut off with a shocked gasp.

  “Ohmigawdd.”

  Her angel didn’t look at all like she’d expected. He was no benevolent creature with long, flowing robes and a bland, peaceful smile. Instead he was the stuff of every teenage girl’s—and quite a few teenage boys’—fantasies.

  The angel’s lower body was covered by a pair of faded jeans that showcased the strong muscles in his thighs…along with a few other things she’d only dared dream about. His upper body was bare, showing off honeyed skin, washboard abs, and a killer set of pecs. And his face…

  God, his face.

  Messy black hair rested atop a long, angular face with a strong, square chin. His eyes were a beautiful blue that brought to mind the skies before a storm. And his lips, framed by the hint of a five o’clock shadow, were devastatingly plump.

  But as striking as the man was, it was none of these features that commanded the majority of her attention. Rather, it was the set of wings that rose from behind his shoulder blades and feathered to the ground in a show of primitive beauty.

  The very black wings.

  Black, not white!

  “F-Fallen,” she gasped, staggering back. Her spine hit the low wall of the roof and for one heart-stopping moment she teetered, fearing she might go right over the edge.

  “Careful,” he murmured, his brows drawing together as he took a step toward her.

  “No.” She brought her hand up, as if that alone could keep the distance between them. “Stay back.”

  Unmistakable disappointment darkened his gorgeous eyes. “I see you, like the humans, are too quick to believe what our former brethren have said about us.”

  Huh? What did he mean? She was human.

  “You mean to tell me you’re not one of the fallen angels I’ve heard about on TV?” she asked.

  The man’s lips curved into a sardonic smile. “No. I am indeed a Fallen. What you’ve been deceived about are the reasons why.”

  Something in his tone rang of absolute sincerity. That, and a depth of sorrow she’d never felt before. It dimmed the fear racing through her veins.

  Slowly, she lowered her arm. “You saved me. Why?”

  One of his brows rose. “You were falling.”

  Yes, but the Fallen agenda was to kill humans. To destroy mankind. That’s what the angels had said to the newly formed Consortium after the Fallen had been condemned to death. After twelve of them had escaped.

  The Fallen were now public enemy number one, and anyone spotting one was to call the Consortium immediately.

  “Why would you bother to save me if you want my kind dead?”

  He let out a low, somber chuckle. “Exactly.”

  Huh.

  Possibilities raced through Abby’s mind, erasing the fear and dread the events of the past ten minutes had spawned. Finally she settled on another pressing question.

  “How did you even spot me to begin with? Unless I’m the luckiest person on the face of this earth.”

  Which she was beginning to think she was.

  “Good question, little one,” the Fallen rumbled. He gave a careless flex of his shoulders, and his wings disappeared with a snap.

  Abby swallowed another gasp. She’d known angels could absorb their wings, making them appear human, but actually seeing it done was another matter entirely. It was nothing less than pure and utter magic.

  “The short answer is I sensed you.”

  She drew back at his unexpected answer. “You sensed me?”

  He nodded. “You are nephilim.”

  Nephilim.

  She pronounced the strange word in her mind. It wasn’t completely unfamiliar to her. She’d heard it before. Somewhere. But as for what it meant…that knowledge escaped her at the moment.

  “What is a nephilim?”

  He began to speak, but then, as if being called from a distance, his head snapped to the side and he gazed out at the horizon.

  Abby swallowed when the Fallen’s muscles flexed with all the grace of a cat. Not a housecat, of course. No, this man was more panther, full of sleek power and effortless strength.

  “I have to go, little one.” His eyes refocused on her, and the shadow of a grin crept to his lips. This time when he closed the distance between them and reached out a hand, she didn’t do a thing to stop him. His strong fingers curved along her jaw, lifting her face so their eyes locked. “You sure you’re okay?”

  “Y-yes,” she stammered, though really she wasn’t. Her limbs were tight and achy, her heart was racing, and she felt like she couldn’t catch a single breath. All because of his electrifying touch.

  “Good.” His fingers stroked the skin of her cheek once. Then he dropped his hand and stepped back. “You should go. Convince your parents to leave this city entirely. It’s a dangerous place for one such as you.”

  His beautiful black wings emerged with one careless flick of his shoulders. When he tensed as if about to take off, she gave in to instinct.

  “Wait!”

  She sprang forward, placed her hand on his thick, muscled arm. Ribbons of electricity pulsed from his skin to hers, making her gasp at the intensity of it.

  The Fallen paused, something dark and grim reading through in his gaze. Whatever the Consortium said about him and his agenda, it was clear the man was suffering. Mourning some sort of loss.

  “I must go,” he murmured softly. “For both our sakes.”

  “At least let me know your name,” she begged.

  “It’s Nate.” He spared one more look toward the horizon. “Take care of yourself, little one. Always be vigilant.”

  With those words, he beat down on his wings and flew up into the sky.

  Abby gasped as a burst of hot air swept over her face, sending her wavy, long hair flying around her. She whirled and watched the angel fly off into the distance, until he was nothing more than a speck in the night sky.

  She stood there until long after he was gone. Until the cold became too brutal to bear any longer.

  As Abby finally turned and fled the frigid temperatures of the roof, she realized she still didn’t know if the Fallen were good or evil. Whether they intended to kill the humans or not.

  All she knew was that, at the tender age of thirteen, Abby Rhodes had just fallen head over heels in love.

  Chapter Two

  Present Day…

  The biting chill of the breeze pressed into Nate’s bare chest. He soared over the Brooklyn Bridge, landing on one of the towered archways that had been constructed on the bridge. As he absorbed his wings, he kept his gaze steady toward Manhattan. That was where the headquarters of the Tribunal—the council governing angelkind—was located. As far as he could tell, other than him and a few of his Fallen kinsman, there were no angels out on this frigid December night.

  Change is coming.

  He could feel it on the breeze, in the tiny flecks of snow that touched down upon his shoulder blades.

  War was on the horizon. Whether it would ultimately be for the better or worse remained to be seen.

  In the several weeks since the Fallen had hacked a central news station and made
public a video of an angel announcing the Tribunal’s intent to eradicate mankind, the world had settled into a tense state of being. Humans had factioned off into two groups: those who still believed that angels were the saviors of mankind, and those who’d accepted the grim truth. That their true design was far more sinister.

  Even though the humans who’d accepted the reality of the videotape called for an uprising, the rest of mankind resisted. But the impasse wouldn’t last much longer. The Tribunal prepared to launch its attack. Soon the angels would begin their bid to destroy humans.

  Unless we stop them first.

  He’d lost so much over his belief that humans shouldn’t be eradicated. Had dedicated his life to protecting them. The Fallen couldn’t fail now. Not as long as he drew a breath in his body.

  His admittedly weakening body.

  Over twelve years had passed since his mate Talitha had been killed for her support of mankind. A dozen years since he’d experienced the intimate relations that perpetuated eternal life for his kind.

  He missed it. Missed Talitha. The touch of a woman.

  More than anything, he missed knowing he was one half of a whole.

  His fellow Fallen had told him he should move on, and he knew they were right. In fact, he’d considered such a thing a few months ago when he’d first met Ruby, the nephilim who’d ended up becoming Jason’s mate. But in the end Jason’s desire for her had won out over his own, and Nate admitted what he’d subconsciously known all along.

  Ruby was not the mate for him.

  The truth was, Nate didn’t know if he’d ever meet a woman he cared for as much as he’d loved Talitha. Suitable mates weren’t exactly in great supply. The only remaining unmated angels were those who sided with exterminating humans…which left only nephilim as possible mates. And they presented their own plethora of problems.

  Not only did most nephilim not even know they were half angel, but any discovered by the Tribunal were executed as an abomination to their kind.