Page 70 of Beneath the Watching

I knew who Matthew was, I’d heard of him although we’d never met. He was a disgraced archangel with a taste for rare and forbidden archeological wonders. Rumor had it that the lower level of his compound in California was loaded with the items.

“Are we sure this is a good idea?” Historical rewriting was a more palatable term for time traveling, going back to a particular point in time and changing life-altering circumstances. Interfering with curses and magic was never a good idea as the fates took great displeasure in being mocked.

Ilya crushed his cigarette in a crystal tray on the mahogany desk. “I’m sick of the mind games. I agreed to bring Matthew on board with Fulgere; he’s been looking to expand. This is the perfect opportunity.”

It was projection on his part, as he’d been the one engaging in games with the woman he’d claimed to love. His pride must've taken a nosedive if he was making risky business deals with the company he’d created with his rival. None of my thoughts would be verbalized since he hadn’t listened to me so far. He was a lost cause.

“Has this been discussed with Kiara?” The number of things that could go wrong had been escalating, with every decision these two men made regarding the young woman.

Lucian began clearing papers, shoving them into file folders. “The whole point is that she can’t know anything. She needs a firm hand and the opportunity to make the correct decisions.”

“And the angel believes this is for the greater good?” Matthew’s class of angels, while not especially holy, aimed for behaving in manners that contributed to favorable outcomes. Favorable being extraordinarily open to individual interpretation.

“It doesn’t matter what he believes, it's what he’s going to do,” Ilya said, gripping his armrests.

Letting out a deep breath, I replied, “When are we doing this?”

“You’re fucked up, you know that right?” I placed my empty tumbler down on the bar counter and arched a brow at Ilya.

He smirked, looking awfully pleased with himself. “It worked,” he said, shrugging a shoulder. “And I got rid of Ramone for a while. Who knew the devil had a heart?”

He’d paid the man to put himself in a soul coma—a temporary death of sorts—by appealing to Ramone’s supposed heart strings and reminding him if he continued his path, he’d end up killing the girl whether he wanted to or not. Magic, like what she had contained in her being was too strong to withstand the addiction.

Ilya wasn’t immune himself, but all of us demons had our individual differences and characteristics with some having greater self-control in the same areas that were the downfall of others. Without the humanity running through my veins, who knows what I would’ve been like, but I liked to think I’d act more as my best friend did than Ramone.

I nodded toward the table where Kiara sat with her friend Madison and their group. “What’s with the damn wine?” The bartender had brought over a bottle of the beverage that Mabel had claimed regenerated and was pouring it into a glass for the woman.

Ilya leaned back against the counter and watched, his expression softening. “It wasn’t until she drank some that she came back to the Fourth and I found her in the woods.”

“I never thought to question it but where did it come from?” The beverage had always been around, seemingly never running out. Apparently, it contained some blood—blood from Kiara’s birth mother and now some of her own, according to Ilya.

He lifted his glass and sipped before answering. “Not sure, never asked.”

“Mm,” I murmured, keeping a close eye on the festivities taking place across the dance floor of the casino’s club. Kiara seemed to be enjoying herself. She had no idea what was coming for her, and I was intrigued as to how all this would play out. Ieyed Mabel’s ex, Al, sitting there. Little did he know his former girlfriend was safe and sound.

I’d listened as Kiara grilled him and he didn’t miss Mabel at all, his aura not allowing for the deceits that were spilling from his lips. It was obvious to us, but Kiara bought his lie of sadness hook, line, and sinker. Satisfaction filled me, knowing Mabel would never have to settle for second best ever again.

Never mind that, Al wasn’t even fifth best if I were being truly honest. The man looked like a hirsute horsefly and as far as I could tell, never encouraged her to develop into the woman she could be. He’d been content to let her flounder through life.

“Thanks for helping me move the body. The motherfucker was heavy.” Ilya was talking about our transporting of Ramone’s comatose body to Julian’s oceanside manor. Having word spread too far about Lucian and Ilya’s machinations was unacceptable so we kept things quiet and involved the least number of individuals possible to fulfill the men’s plans.

We watched as Kiara and her friends celebrated her birthday. She was oblivious to all the treachery and deception that’d led her to this moment. The whole charade even went as far as to have her be employed at Ramone and Ilya’s company, keeping her close in case anything should go awry. I almost felt sorry for her.

Almost.

Ilya straightened up, adjusting his sleeves, and smoothing both his jacket and his hair. “Time to do this,” he stated, eyes glowing.

He stalked across the dance floor, moving in for the kill. Kiara had stopped moving, her shoulders stiffening, and I had the feeling that things weren’t going to work out quite how my friend had envisioned.

Not my problem.

25

MABEL

The plans were drawnup for my bake shop. Benjamin and Jack had come in, the two men grinning from ear to ear, with a box of crayons and a large art pad and we got to work, letting our imaginations and creativity fly. Granted, I had no idea what building I’d set up in or even what I’d end up having to work with, but it was fun to dream. I would’ve preferred to sketch with pencils, even colored ones, and it was hard to reconcile the two burly, scary looking men with their odd habits, but I was grateful anyway.

“Right here, you should put a ball pit,” Benjamin jabbed a yellow crayon at the front corner of my shop layout drawing.

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