two
He knew her name.
He'd said it without hesitation and without reading it off of a paper. He knew it.
And yet he had never interacted with her. Never spared a glance to appreciate her beauty.
Or so she thought. All those times she'd been certain that she'd faded into the background...no way.
The first time she'd laid sight upon her dark, lustrous angel had been while sneaking into Bane Tower, a training headquarters for The Elite Guard. All on a stupid dare. She'd boasted to her friends that she'd slipped in like a silent assassin when in truth she had walked in and no one had questioned it.
The dare was to steal a gold tipped arrow from the armory, but the place had been so enormous that Lav had given up after she realized she had a bigger problem: remembering where the exit was. And then she had spotted him while turning down yet another corridor that blended with the rest.
He was in the midst of sparring with an angel in training. Shirtless.
It was like a sign from the great archangels themselves.
His black wings had shimmered a deep blue with every fluid movement against his opponent, darting left and right. Like a raven. Graceful and lethal, all at the same time. The other angel, a brawny redhead, had no chance of winning. His hits were too sporadic. Not properly aimed. He was a mess.
Even with the knowledge of what the outcome of the fight would be, she'd slipped into the room like a ghost under a spell. A handful of angels had halted their sparring, also enthralled by Obsidian's prowess.
No one paid her any attention. Not even Obsidian, his concentration solely on his opponent who threw a punch that never landed. It was the first time she'd felt like shouting and screaming to obtain a guy's attention. Notice me.
His hair had been a little longer at the time, brushing his broad shoulders. And his eyes, such a dazzling steel, brightened by the energy of a battle. He was the most breathtaking warrior she'd ever seen and with skills honed by what had to have been centuries of training. A stretch of time that she couldn't even begin to fathom.
Her panties had never been more ready to hit the floor when he suddenly spun to the side and launched a brutal kick into the ribs of the other angel. An audible crack had been followed by the angel soaring back and hitting the far wall.
The small crowd that had been observing cheered and called out his name. Obsidian.
She had whispered it to herself, testing out the unusual name on her tongue. It suited her dark angel.
He didn't seem to care about the victory or his fallen opponent, who would heal quickly, and his gaze swept over the crowd instead. As if he'd heard her voice, he searched every face and just before his eyes were to drift over the area she occupied, Lav backpedaled out of the room.
Every muscle in her body had tensed in anticipation of him seeing her. She wanted it to happen. So badly. To have those silver orbs latch onto her.
But she couldn't allow herself to be caught.
Even with the failure of the dare, her heart raged in her chest and there was no way to stop her soul from jumping off a cliff and falling endlessly, hopelessly, desiring to one day be caught in the heated embrace of blue black wings.
And then two years passed before she saw him again.
Athena had been caught sneaking in cigarettes from the human realm to some fellow angels at the academy. Not her finest moment. She'd been sent to a holding facility for questioning and containment until someone could bail her out.
Since Ellra hadn't been sober for three days straight, Lav had received the honor of fetching their friend.
Imagine the delight when she spotted her dark angel upon entering the facility. Her surprise had quickly turned to disappointment that he was wearing a shirt this time.
He looked less like an angel made for sin and more like a reaper with all black attire and a matching wool coat. And his wings were gone, a trick done with glamour magic that further proved how powerful he was. Not having his wings on display must've meant a visit to the human realm.
With an impassive expression, he was speaking to the female angel at the front desk. And of course Lav noticed how pretty she was. Baby blue eyes and a head of tawny curls. Pouty lips and a dainty nose. Her wings sealed the deal, a riveting array of cerulean feathers.
They would look lovely beside his blue black ones. The thought tightened in her gut and she hated it.
She wanted to scream again this time, anything for him to just peer in her general direction. Notice me.
But her dark angel was on a mission. And technically, so was she. Athena was waiting for her.
Lav had checked in at the next open window and while the clerk picked up the phone to request that Athena be brought out, she had dared a glance to the side.
The pretty angel had walked away, leaving Obsidian waiting. He kept his gaze trained on the oak wood of the front desk, as if it held the answers to the universe. Truly amazing that her thunderous heart hadn't reached his ears. It was like she was one with the air particles in the room.
If he would just look at her, the oceans would probably part and the skies would explode. She felt a firm tingle of energy thrumming in her wings with his presence alone. It had to mean something. And yet Obsidian didn't ever notice her any more than one noticed a grain of sand at the beach.
A normal girl would have eliminated him from all thought and moved on. But Lav couldn't shake off the appetite of her desire. Sure, she made out with other angels and played around in the Forsaken City but if anything, it was all a game. A silly warm-up for a fantasy that was so far out of reach and yet she still kept flying towards it.
It hadn't gotten her anywhere good, either, because now she'd been arrested and was in the same cell that Athena had been in all those years ago. Oh, the memories.
"Where's my phone call?" Athena shouted through the gold bars confining them to a brick cell.
"You watch too many movies, Athena. Humans are the ones that get phone calls." Ellra looked bored as she studied her nails.
"This is absolute bullshit," She seethed in response, "They're robbing me of my freedom! I have rights!"
Ellra sighed, "Freedom and rights. That's humans again."
"You think anyone has ever tried to break out of here?" Athena switched tactics as she studied the cell intently. There wasn't much to look at. One bench. Grey floors. A door locked by powerful magic that they didn't quite possess.
Lav was surprised her friend hadn't tried to break out last time she'd been locked up. Or maybe she had and it had yielded embarrassing results that clearly had gotten her nowhere. Yeah, that sounded like Athena.
"Break out? Have you seen the view? Why would you want to break out?"
Lav and Athena swiveled to look beyond the bars, towards the so called view. Well, hello. Members of The Elite Guard milled about, the most lethal and beautiful of the angel race. No wonder Ellra was totally content where she was. Eye candy to the max.
"You think if I start taking off my clothes, they'll give me some love and attention?" Ellra pondered with a wicked gleam in her eyes.
"Hate to break it to you, but you're practically naked to begin with and they're like robots." Lav pointedly allowed her eyes to trail over Ellra's minuscule top that was pretty much a bra and the skirt that sat low enough for the bands of her thong to show.
"I just don't get how they can ignore this temptation." She grumbled as she sank onto the bench with defeat.
Athena began to nod her head in agreement but then stopped. "Actually, Lav here gave some temptation tonight."
Ellra sat up straight, her disappointment forgotten. "And to Obsidian, no less."
"Also, the knife in your panties? Brilliant." Athena raised a hand to fan herself. "I seriously thought he was going to ram his tongue down your throat right then and there."
"Not likely to ever happen." Lav felt dismayed saying the words out loud. He was just as much of a cold-hearted angel as the rest of The Elite Guard. Her and her friends were delusional, horny nymphs in comparison.
"Gonna have to agree with Lav here. He's practically soulless." Ellra said.
Athena rolled her eyes at both of her friends. "You two are as blind as ever. There's a fire in his soul and our girl Lav here ignited it."
Lav scoffed and turned her attention to her boots. If only they knew. She hadn't even told her friends about what had happened on the rooftop. The way Obsidian had hastily wiped her tainted kiss from his lips. She was the last person he wanted touching him. His soul didn't burn for her.
And yet he'd known your name.
So stunned by the revelation, she hadn't been able to coherently speak to ask him how he knew. Not that he gave her the chance, anyway. Obsidian had all but ditched her after the divine cuffs had been sealed over her wrists. A different Guard, a handsome blond angel, had come up a few moments later to escort her to the holding facility.
And now the three girls waited while their charges were being marked. Oh, how she already missed the high of quicksilver.
Athena suddenly gasped and smoothed a hand over her long hair, "Quick! How do I look?"
"Almost as good as me." Ellra's teasing nature was enough to bring a smile to Lav's face.
"Seriously!" Athena turned to the side and brought a hand to her face to sniff her own breath. She mumbled something about needing a mirror and straightened her posture as she went to stand against the wall facing the gold bars of the cell. "Watch and learn, bitches."
What? Lav exchanged a bewildered glance with Ellra.
Their questions were suddenly answered as a Guard approached their cell. His hair was a dirty blond mop of curls and he would have looked too young if it weren't for the light scruff that covered his sharp jaw. Paired with amber eyes, he was a total babe. His uniform stretched tightly over his towering, muscular form. He met Lav's gaze and tossed her a wink.
This was Madden. He was part of The Elite Guard now but once upon a time, long before that, he'd worked at a holding facility much like this one. He knew Athena quite personally from her teenage days of detainment. And he met Lav during her unruly days as well. But Athena was winning that contest without a doubt.
He didn't look super thrilled to see all three of them together but he offered a charming smile anyways. "Thought you learned a lesson last time, Athena."
The flirtatious glint in her eyes as she sauntered up to the bars to stand directly in front of him was like second nature. "Maybe I just wanted to see you again."
Madden grinned at that. He was a flirt himself and, for a moment, he eyed her like he was going to eat her up. "Trying to flatter me?"
"Flatter you? I can think of a million other things I'd rather do to you." And then she licked her lips and leaned in a bit further, "Horizontally, if you catch my drift."
Ellra let out a low whistle and fanned herself. Madden didn't lose his grin and Lav watched the encounter hungrily. And maybe a little enviously.
He crossed his arms over his chest and wow, those muscles were spectacular. "End up in here one more time and you can forget all about those things you want to do to me."
Ha. No matter how much Athena might've wanted to hook up with Madden, she would never be tamed.
"Really?" The excitement in Athena's voice was tangible despite knowing that she would most likely end up in trouble again. "Is that a promise?"
Before he could respond, another Guard, this time female, neared the cell and ran a hand over the side of the door to unlock it. She had vivid red hair and soft grey wings. Lav immediately thought of Obsidian's eyes. Fuck.
"You three will be escorted back to the academy." The Guard seemed bored as she notified them. She was probably used to dealing with unruly fledglings.
"Well, hello to you too." Lav muttered.
"You're interrupting a really good conversation here." Ellra told the Guard as she pointed at Madden and Athena.
The Guard ignored them as she held the cell door open and waved an impatient hand for them to step out. Realizing that her time was up, Athena blew Madden a kiss. "See you around, babe."
He tried to give her a stern look but amusement danced in his eyes. Yeah, okay, Lav was officially more than jealous. But not because she wished it was her being flirted with. It was the fact that Madden at least had the decency to play along with Athena's antics. It was so unfair.
An image of Obsidian running from her flared in her mind. Heat rushed to her cheeks. He'd humiliated her. And she wasn't going to let him off the hook. Not when he knew her name.
Madden tugged on a short strand of her hair as she passed by him, "Keep her out of trouble, Lav."
She almost laughed. Almost. "As if anyone can do that."