Hell's Angel (Dark Desires Book 3) Read online

  HELL’S ANGEL

  DARK DESIRES BOOK 3

  M.L. MOUNTFORD

  For my amazing husband and two wonderful daughters.

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Coming soon…

  Mailing List

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  1

  MICHAEL

  I was leading drills, and I loved it. Putting the new recruits through their paces was one of my favourite tasks. If someone wanted to be part of the celestial army, you better be sure they had to earn that spot with blood, sweat, and tears.

  I was proud to lead, proud to have the strongest men who would follow me to Hell and back. I was their commander, and they never questioned my methods or my motives. That was why when I asked a couple of soldiers to monitor the Devil—and in particular, his new flame—they did so without question.

  They were to observe and report back to me, and I especially wanted to know who she was and what made her so special to him.

  I despised Lucifer. He was so self-righteous. Thinking he was better than everyone else. Thinking he was God’s favourite, despite everything he’d done. He was an arrogant, egotistical, selfish bastard, and one of these days I’d rid the world of him. I’d take pleasure in watching the life drain from his body, knowing he would never be at peace.

  But that’s exactly what this woman had done: she’d given him peace, and I hated her for it. He shouldn’t get to appreciate those feelings, and he shouldn’t get to be happy.

  “Harder, you all need to work harder. If this is the most you have to give you may as well give up now, you pathetic bunch of pussies.” I knew I was taking my anger out on them. I didn’t feel bad about it, though—it would make them stronger in the long run. It meant they would have no weaknesses to exploit and nothing would be able to get to them.

  Before this woman—whoever the fuck she was—Lucifer had been arrogant, took what he wanted when he wanted. He’d shown little regard for anyone or anything except Hell and the empire he’d built there. Now, he had a weakness.

  In my peripheral vision, I saw soldiers loitering on the side of the training ground. “What the fuck is it? Shit or get off the pot, gentlemen.” The pair approached cautiously.

  “Sir, it’s about the information you asked us to get. We have an update for you.” He sounded surprisingly pleased with himself.

  “Go on, then, spit it out. I don’t have all fucking day.” Contrary to popular belief, angels weren’t sunshine and light—in fact, it was my job to be the opposite. As the commander of God’s army I had to make the tough choices and dirty my hands more than any of the other angels. Not that I minded—Lucifer wasn’t the only one who had darkness in him. I held my hand out and the soldier handed me a brown envelope.

  “Everything we have is in there. I think you’ll be pleased with the work, Sir,” the older of the two soldiers said, his friend nodding along in agreement.

  “Is that right?” I replied with a fake smile on my face. “I’ll be the fucking judge of that. Now leave me.” I turned my back on them and stalked away before they could reply.

  I tore open the envelope, pulling the contents out. There was information about the girl: her name, place of birth, etc., etc. Nothing of interest to me. I carried on thumbing through the information. If this was the best of what they’d uncovered, I’d have them running double-length drills for an entire week. Maybe I’d block their teleportation abilities for a month too, make them do everything the hard way. Fucking amateu—

  I stopped when I came to some photos. He had such a smug fucking face, one I was desperate to punch every time I saw it. I wanted to pummel his face till my hands bled and he wasn’t so fucking pretty anymore. I glanced over at the woman who had turned the Devil into a “better man.”

  I gripped the photo tightly, stared down at her face, and studied it, taking in every inch of her on the photo. After a minute, I leafed through the rest of the shots, examining her carefully, poring over every one of her features.

  Fuck.

  I knew that face, I’d seen that face before. But that was years ago, so it can’t possibly be the same person. How can it be? She’s dead, so how come she’s looking up at me from these photos?

  I found the first sheet of paper and reread it. Tess Adams. London. The early nineties.

  Fuck.

  It wasn’t her. It was her daughter. I scanned the birth certificate and found the father section was blank.

  Fuck, fuck.

  She was my daughter, she was nephilim, and she was in love with the fucking Devil. I was utterly fucked. There was absolutely no way of talking my way out of this one. I’d broken the rules, and God would be pissed. He would make sure I would pay, in the most brutal way possible, in front of all of Heaven. He wasn’t as merciful as everyone assumed; in this instance, there would be no room for forgiveness. Not for this particular sin.

  No, this was my mess, and I’d have to put it right.

  2

  LUCIFER

  How is this even possible?

  I desperately tried to make sense of what Gabriela had just said. I tried to get my head around the bombshell, but I was struggling.

  This changed everything, absolutely everything. Tess’s father was an angel. An angel, for fuck’s sake. It was impossible. It had to be a mistake.

  “Are you sure, Gabriela? This is just…” I trailed off, unable to gather my thoughts.

  “Sí, she is nephilim. I have never been more sure of anything, Sir.” Her voice was shaky—like she was afraid of what she was saying. Gabriela knew the magnitude of this revelation as much as everyone else in the room. Everyone except Tess, that is. I glanced at Tess as she moved from my side to sit down on one of the sofas. She hadn’t said anything, instead remaining tight-lipped and pensive. I desperately tried to contain the sense of foreboding that flooded my thoughts; Tess didn’t need the added stress of dealing with my anxieties.

  Even though Tess had had some experience with the demons and creatures of the world, she didn’t fully understand how many supernatural beings walked alongside her on a daily basis. And now she was one of those creatures.

  Does her father know? Did he know about this amazing young woman that was living her life unaware of what she was? It was impossible—if he knew things would be very, very different.

  “Lucifer, we need to contain this. Come up with a plan, some form of strategy to keep Tess safe. We all know that she’s in danger—more than she ever has been before,” Bee u
ttered softly. She glanced at Tess, who’d seemed to have drifted off somewhere, deep in thought after Gabriela’s disclosure.

  I watched her; she was in a complete world of her own, probably trying to process that everything she’d ever known about herself was a lie. She didn’t understand the true significance of what we’d just learned, and she was too busy trying to come to terms with the knowledge that she wasn’t human. Her brows furrowed together as she stared at the floor—she was picking her fingers subconsciously. This was all too much for her; I had to get her out of here, explain everything, and give her the clarity she so desperately needed.

  “Lucifer, Bee is right. We need to come up with a plan. As soon as possible,” Levi said, with an edge to his voice that I hadn’t heard in years. All of them were uncertain—even scared—of what we’d just found. Not scared of Tess, but fearful of what was coming.

  “Tess will remain in Hell with me indefinitely. Other than me, you two are the only ones who can enter my circle, and I trust the two of you implicitly. We’ll formulate a plan soon. But for now, I think we all need to take a minute.”

  I leaned over to take Tess’s hand in mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I think we all need some time. What do you say, Red? Are you happy to stay with me for a while? Emma is here, so you can keep an eye on her until she’s recovered. Remain here until we come up with some more answers and a plan,” I reaffirmed in the calmest voice I could muster.

  “What? Sorry I was…” She turned to face me, and I noticed her eyes were glassy—red around the edges, but with no tears spilling.

  I brushed my thumbs over the back of her hands and slid closer to her on the sofa. “Hey, Red. I know this is a lot to process, but we can figure it all out together. We can do anything together.” Even though I’d told her that dozens of times before, I wanted to reinforce to her that I’d protect her. “I promise you’ll be safe. Trust me.”

  “Really? How can you promise that? I saw the look on your face—on all your faces,” she said, eyes flitting between all of us. “You were scared. All of you were scared. Are you scared of me, or that this revelation will place you all in danger? If it’s the latter, can you really keep me safe from something that dangerous? Because as it stands, your reaction isn’t filling me with a lot of optimism.” Her voice was a mixture of anger and fear in equal measure.

  Times like this I wish she weren’t so astute, perceptive, and honest. Everything she said was true, and I couldn’t deny it. I was scared. Not of Tess, never that, but of what would come for her if she were to be discovered.

  “Red, I will never stop protecting you. Ever,” I uttered, hoping that she wasn’t picking up on my uncertainties.

  “You’ll try to keep me safe, but you can’t guarantee it. I can feel your anxiety, Lucifer. You don’t think I’ll ever be safe again. On this occasion, the link isn’t doing you any favours—I know just how much of a shit show this actually is. Look, all of you have already done so much for me. I don’t want any of you, or anyone in Hell for that matter, suffering because of this. If you need to cut me loose to protect yourselves, then I… I understand.”

  I fucking love this woman. Her only concern at that exact moment was for everyone but herself. She didn’t want anyone to be put in danger for her. However, she didn’t truly understand—if anything happened to her, the whole world would be in danger; I’d be consumed by grief and I wasn’t sure anyone would be safe. There was only one option here: to keep her protected and, hopefully, hidden from any possible danger.

  “Hey, I’m not leaving you now. I can’t, Red. I love you too much not to have you by my side. You aren’t going anywhere.” I hoped I was convincing her of everything I couldn’t say with words—I had to make her believe me. Thankfully Bee came to my assistance.

  “Tess, Lucifer is right. None of us will let anything happen to you. You’re important to him, and therefore you’re important to us and to Hell. I think you should stay here; your friend will be here until she regains consciousness anyway. I assume you’d want to stay with her?”

  It was at times like these I was glad Bee had a softer side. Despite millennia spent with Levi and me, she’d managed to preserve her compassion. Of the three of us she was the one who had retained her angel-like qualities. Bee approved of Tess, and given time, I was sure they would be good friends.

  “Is she okay? Has she woken up yet?” Tess questioned, her eyes a little clearer than they had been.

  Levi responded, “No, she’s still out. I should get back to her, relieve Conrath—”

  “Not yet,” I interrupted. “I need you here for the time being.” I wasn’t sure why he was so eager to get back to Emma’s side. Levi has never been this bothered about a human before. It was strange and I’d be sure to ask him about it. He nodded in agreement, yet I could see something in his eyes I couldn’t quite make out.

  “Gabriela, we still have much to talk about, but before you leave, could you please check in on Tess’s friend?”

  “Of course, that would be fine,” she replied, nodding in agreement.

  “So that’s settled. Tess and Emma will stay here until we have a plan of action. I want any ideas or potential solutions as soon as possible. For now, we lie low, carry on with the mundane so we don’t draw any attention to things—”

  “Wait,” Tess interjected. “What about my condo? If we are trying to act normal then should I be there? Won’t it look odd if I’m spending all of my time in Hell?”

  “Red, by now everyone will know that Lilith took you from me. Keeping you with me in Hell for a while is what they would expect. The population of Hell, and all the other creatures of the world, know me well enough to realise that I’d probably spend the next week—maybe even two—buried balls deep inside of you.” I saw her pale face flush as she shot me a look. “You staying here wouldn’t cause anyone to bat an eyelid.”

  Bee and Levi nodded in agreement—they’d been with me long enough to know that’s exactly what I would have been doing had the shit not hit the fan. Gabriela, as a witch, also seemed unfazed—they were also very sexual creatures. Tess, however, had now turned a pretty shade of pink, and she tried to put a bit of distance between us.

  Instead, I tugged her towards me, placing her on my lap and holding her close. She was going absolutely nowhere, not even the other end of the sofa.

  She leaned in and whispered in my ear, “I can’t believe you—you’ll pay for that later.” Her voice was playful, and it made me feel at ease. She would get through this, I’d make sure of it. I placed a kiss on the back of her neck, giving it a light nip with my teeth. I felt her skin heat before I saw the blush once more creep across her cheeks. She playfully swatted me away.

  “At least now we know why you were immune to my powers—it wasn’t just me losing my touch,” I said with a laugh, desperately trying to lighten the mood in the room. Levi gave a small smile, but it was Bee who answered.

  “Yeah, because it’s all about you, isn’t it?” she said, snickering.

  It explained so much: the powers she had, why she was immune. I knew at that moment that Lilith had told the truth about knowing what Tess was. Tess’s blood would have danced on Lilith’s tastebuds. I wondered if she’d told anyone before I ripped her heart from her chest. Did anyone else know?

  “Lilith’s vampires, did we get them all?” I asked no one in particular.

  “We killed or captured most of them, but a couple escaped, along with Serena, the witch. We need to keep an eye out for them, put bounties on their heads. It won’t take long for us to find them. You’re worried Lilith told them?” Bee questioned.

  “I am. If Lilith shared her discovery with anyone, we need to track them down and deal with them. In the meantime, we need to keep this to ourselves. No one shares this information, on pain of death.” My words were aimed solely at Gabriela—Bee and Levi would never betray me. The pair of them nodded in agreement, and then they turned to Gabriela.

  “I will tell no one. If it’s oka
y with you, Sir, I will check on the girl and then return home. If you need me, you can contact me at any time,” Gabriela said. She was clearly keen to get a bit of distance from us all. I was about to speak, when Tess shifted on my lap to face the witch.

  “I have some questions, Gabriela. Would you mind answering them?”

  I thought I would have had more time to prepare her for the dark history of the nephilim, but Tess was too eager for any of that. She wanted an explanation, and I didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news.

  3

  TESS

  I needed to know more, and Gabriela seemed to have those answers. If she left now, I'd have unanswered questions—and no clue when I'd get the answers. If I didn't get them at that moment, I might just lose my shit. This was my life and I deserved the truth.

  Gabriela didn't say anything; instead, she looked to Lucifer. He nodded and gestured for her to take a seat. She positioned herself in one of the comfortable armchairs opposite me, sinking into it. "What do you want to know?" Her accent was thick Spanish, and as I studied her closer I took in how incredibly beautiful she was—even when her face was etched with uncertainty. She was stiff, clearly uneasy—whether because of my presence or because she had to answer my questions, I wasn’t sure.