Due to the closure of Noble Romance Publishing, this title is currently not available
For four hundred years, angels have been at war with demons while humans fight both, trying to survive. As world after world is destroyed by the conflict, there is a race to terra-form planets for colonization before mankind is wiped out altogether.
Toriane Cresol is part of a team leading the terra-forming charge. On assignment, she stumbles across a scribe and six warrior angels hiding sacred relics. Within a few hours she comes face to face with A’albiel, an angel sent by Archangel Michael to protect her from the demons, who want to know what she saw.
Ripped from her life, Tori is taken on a flight across the galaxy by A’albiel, their destination is Sanctuary, a planet protected by ancient pacts, and the only place the demons can’t get her. Though hate for angels and demons alike is ingrained deeply within her, Tori can’t fight the growing spark of attraction between her and A’albiel. Bit by bit, everything she once thought or believed is eroded away, replaced by the knowledge that if she and A’albiel don’t make it to Sanctuary, the entire fate of the universe could hang in the balance.
Toriane Cresol is part of a team leading the terra-forming charge. On assignment, she stumbles across a scribe and six warrior angels hiding sacred relics. Within a few hours she comes face to face with A’albiel, an angel sent by Archangel Michael to protect her from the demons, who want to know what she saw.
Ripped from her life, Tori is taken on a flight across the galaxy by A’albiel, their destination is Sanctuary, a planet protected by ancient pacts, and the only place the demons can’t get her. Though hate for angels and demons alike is ingrained deeply within her, Tori can’t fight the growing spark of attraction between her and A’albiel. Bit by bit, everything she once thought or believed is eroded away, replaced by the knowledge that if she and A’albiel don’t make it to Sanctuary, the entire fate of the universe could hang in the balance.
Excerpt:
Chapter Two
"Tori, my office. Now."
The message from Tio came through abruptly. No explanation. No niceties. Nothing but an order. Oh geezus. The angels. Tio must have found out, and now she would have to answer for it because she hadn't gone straight up to report the sighting herself.
She'd just gotten back to her cabin after doing overtime down on X-702. Now, long past dinner, she'd forgone the inevitability of Laranian stew and eaten a couple of protein bars instead. She'd been on her way to shower when Tio's command had come through. Which was probably why when she stepped on the elevator to go up to the administrative center, the two other occupants on the lift stood as far away from her as possible. No doubt she smelled like a swamp.
Striding into Tio's office, she found Nakita already seated in front of their supervisor's desk.
"Sit down, Tori." Tio ordered as the door slid closed behind her.
She complied, keeping her expression neutral, while her insides quivered, and her pulse fluttered. People had been fired over less than this.
"I'll tell you the same thing I told Nakita. I'm giving you one chance to tell me truthfully whether or not you saw anything, anything, in your sector this morning."
She took a deep, silent breath and glanced across at Nakita, knowing her closest friend wouldn't have said anything. It'd been such a dumb idea to keep the revelation quiet in the first place. Why did Nakita put up with her? "Since you obviously already know, there's no point in denying it, is there?"
"How many?" Tio's already tense form tightened up even further, making him look like he was about to explode right out of his uniform.
She shifted position, wishing Tio had something other than the utilitarian, hard plastic seats in his office. But her fidgeting went to waste since her butt and thighs still ached. Of course his chair looked more than comfortable. Releasing a breath and giving up on the idea of comfort, she related with brief words what she'd seen that morning. Might as well get used to it. Who knew how many times she'd have to repeat the story?
"Did you know about this?" Tio narrowed his gaze on Nakita.
Nakita shrugged and crossed her legs. "Only what Tori told me on the way back to the station. I didn't see any sign of them myself."
Tio's shoulders became even tenser, his knuckles white where his fingers were clasped together on the desk, as if Nakita's unconcerned attitude was tipping him further toward the edge.
"How did you know?" Tori asked, drawing Tio's attention from Nakita.
Tio tapped a few keys on his inset control panel in front of him.
"In the past month, we've had some new technology loaded onto the station, which can detect angels and demons. Some tech-head worked out they have different energy signatures to humans because of their supernatural abilities." A see-through holo-screen came up in the middle of the desk, showing various blobs of color on a scan of the planet's surface. "We're hoping this equipment will be able to prevent us loosing anymore planets to the sons of bitches."
"Oh, come now. We're not so bad, are we?"
The voice behind her sent a jolt of surprise through her system. Tori glanced over her shoulder and took a swift breath as she pushed to her feet, away from the chair. She backed up until she bumped into the desk and then skirted around it. Not that she wanted to be any closer to Tio, but he seemed the lesser of two evils when put up against the angel who'd manifested into the room. Like all angels, he stood over six feet tall, with broad shoulders, a trim waist and totally gorgeous. His black hair was cut short, almost military, while his blue eyes were crystalline in clarity. He wore a loose, dark shirt over dark leather pants, a luxury in this day and age. No doubt about it. If he'd been human, she'd be trying to work out the quickest way to get him naked. So much hotness wasted on scuzbag.
Tio pushed the security alert, causing the angel's lips to curl into a sardonic grin. "Intership security, you really think I can't block that?"
"What do you want?" she demanded. A sickening chill swept through her, far worse than the apprehension she'd felt this morning. He didn't need to respond to her question, because she already knew the answer.
"I want you, Toriane." His sharp, blue gaze settled on her with disconcerting intensity.
For a moment, there was silence, and the chill turned into a full blizzard, numbing her from the inside out, causing fine tremors to spill through her.
"I think you forgot to finish that sentence. Like, I want you to answer some questions, or, I want you to pretend you didn't see anything." She gripped the edge of the desk, thanking geezus it stood between them. Though if he wanted, he could blast it into oblivion or even walk right through the damn thing. Despite that, the solid barrier gave her some measure of feeling protected.
"No, there was nothing else after that. Archangel Michael sent me to get you."
"And you are?" Though why it should matter, she didn't know. There was no way in hell she'd go anywhere with him, even if he'd been sent by God himself.
He made a small inflection, though it wasn't anywhere near polite. "I am A'albiel. And yes, you will come with me."
Tori felt heat bloom along her cheekbones. The bastard had read her mind. It wasn't surprising. An angel couldn't be trusted. And she hoped he got that thought loud and clear.
She crossed her arms, trying to stem some of the nervous quivers as she glared at him. "You can stop with the mind-reading thing right now."
Ignoring her, he turned his gaze to Tio and Nakita. "Leave us."
Both of their faces took on similar blank expressions, and they left the office with stiff, unnatural movements. The door slid shut again with a soft hiss, and then she found herself alone with someone who could smite her where she stood just by blinking.
"The smiting will come later." Dropping into the hard, plastic chair she'd abandoned earlier, he sent her a mocking smile.
Huh. An angel with a sense of humor. She'd never have believed it if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes.
For some reason, his sarcastic quip calmed some of her trembling. A sense of composure stole through her by small degrees. Either A'albiel was doing some mind-control thing on her, or her sanity had snapped. Neither prospect seemed agreeable.
"Stop reading my thoughts and tell me what you want."
"You're in danger, Toriane. We know you saw one of our scribe angels on assignment this morning and so do the demons. They've already sent Alastor after you, and if he finds you, it won't be pretty."
A shaft of fear shot through her, causing sweat to break out on her lower back. How could the demons have found out so quickly? "But I don't know anything."
"You know the location." His tone came out flat, devoid of emotion. He didn't seem concerned about any of this. And why would he be? She was probably just another job in a long line of jobs. If he failed, and she got killed, she doubted he'd even flinch, just poof himself off to his next assignment. The thought made anger stir, replacing the fear. He could go to hell. Her life and work was important. People depended on her and her team getting X-702 terra-formed so they had homes, not just rooms on over-crowded space stations.
"So move the damn thing, and then I won't know. Problem solved." Surely he didn't expect her to just go happily along with him?
"It's not as simple as just moving it—"
"Why not?"
Getting angry at an angel probably wasn't the smartest move she could make, but she didn't want to be dragged into the middle of some stupid four-hundred-year-long war she couldn't care less about, even if it was for the good of all people. According to the scuzbags, anyway.
A'albiel sat forward in the seat, clasping his hands together, his gaze hard on her. "Because it is complicated in a way a human cannot understand, and Alastor will still kill you, if only to prove a point."
The way he said human left her with no doubt about his feelings toward her. Less important than a space-roach squashed under his boot.
She straightened, antagonism making her shoulders tight. "Tell me what was in the chest then, and I'll think about complying."
His lips compressed into a thin line. "You're lying. You have no intention of cooperating, and even if you did happen to be telling the truth, I would not allow you that knowledge."
Not allow her the knowledge? Resentment turned into a full blaze of fury. Bastard! Treating her as if she was some sub-par piece of garbage. Did he really think he could deal with people like this? "You're an ass, you know that?"
It was possible she was more surprised than him after the words slipped out of her mouth. He stood, unfolding from the chair in a slow, measured movement, his huge body somehow managing to take up more space in the office than it did before.
"You will show me some respect, girl." He took a step toward her and the desk no longer felt like any form of protection against six foot-plus of pissed off angel.
"Or what?" she countered. She might as well stick with the idiotic bravado. No doubt he'd do whatever he pleased with her anyway. "You'll kill me? No need to get your shirt dirty; apparently I can just sit around here and wait for Alastor to do that for you."
An intent gleam lit his blue eyes to bright azure. "Yes, I am going to do whatever I please with you, but I can make it pleasant or it could be disagreeable. The choice is yours."
Time to call his bluff. "How about none of the above?"
Skirting the desk, she walked toward the office door, keeping as far from him as possible in the small space.
"Stop," he commanded.
She got to the sliding panel. He could go to hell before she'd do anything he told her.
"Stop."
Rolling her eyes, she reached for the door's control board since it hadn't opened automatically when she'd approached. Instead, her hand crashed into a solid, male chest.
Shock ricocheted through her, and she jumped back, feeling a strange kind of energy buzz up her arm. Cradling her hand against her chest, she looked up at him looming over her.
"I told you to stop."
He glared at her, an emotion that looked to be confusion on his too-handsome features. But that seemed dumb. Angels didn't feel things like confusion, did they?
"And I told you to go to hell. Or maybe I just thought it. Either way, I'm sure you heard."
The perplexed expression was replaced by one of annoyance, his lips pressing together as his brows lowered. She got a perverse thrill out of irritating him, which was stupid by anyone's standards. Did she have a death wish? It wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination to say he could kill her or banish her somewhere to die a slow death.
The door slid open behind him, and he took her upper-arm in an unyielding grip, hard enough that she'd probably have bruises later. His message was loud and clear—she wouldn't be getting away from him.
Rather than be dragged, she walked with him out into the corridor where Tio and Nakita were waiting, still with identical vacant expressions.
A'albiel glanced at them as he towed her past. "Be on your way." Both of them blinked, as if coming out of a trance.
"What did you do to them?" she demanded, looking back over her shoulder at Nakita's surprised face.
Hauling her along, A'albiel barreled down the hall, sending people scurrying out of his way. Nothing said move like six feet of determined angel. She almost had to run to keep up with him.
"Nothing serious, I just made sure they wouldn't interfere."
Tori opened her mouth to give him another piece of her mind when the ceiling above them exploded into a shower of flames and sparks. She ducked and A'albiel pulled her against his side, sheltering her from the worst of the blast. All solid muscle and heat, it left a strange sensation humming through her again. Must have been an angel thing. They did have all sorts of weirdo powers, after all.
"Geezus, what was that?" The wail of fire alarms sliced through her brain as people rushed past them, evacuating the area.
"Alastor."
Chapter Two
"Tori, my office. Now."
The message from Tio came through abruptly. No explanation. No niceties. Nothing but an order. Oh geezus. The angels. Tio must have found out, and now she would have to answer for it because she hadn't gone straight up to report the sighting herself.
She'd just gotten back to her cabin after doing overtime down on X-702. Now, long past dinner, she'd forgone the inevitability of Laranian stew and eaten a couple of protein bars instead. She'd been on her way to shower when Tio's command had come through. Which was probably why when she stepped on the elevator to go up to the administrative center, the two other occupants on the lift stood as far away from her as possible. No doubt she smelled like a swamp.
Striding into Tio's office, she found Nakita already seated in front of their supervisor's desk.
"Sit down, Tori." Tio ordered as the door slid closed behind her.
She complied, keeping her expression neutral, while her insides quivered, and her pulse fluttered. People had been fired over less than this.
"I'll tell you the same thing I told Nakita. I'm giving you one chance to tell me truthfully whether or not you saw anything, anything, in your sector this morning."
She took a deep, silent breath and glanced across at Nakita, knowing her closest friend wouldn't have said anything. It'd been such a dumb idea to keep the revelation quiet in the first place. Why did Nakita put up with her? "Since you obviously already know, there's no point in denying it, is there?"
"How many?" Tio's already tense form tightened up even further, making him look like he was about to explode right out of his uniform.
She shifted position, wishing Tio had something other than the utilitarian, hard plastic seats in his office. But her fidgeting went to waste since her butt and thighs still ached. Of course his chair looked more than comfortable. Releasing a breath and giving up on the idea of comfort, she related with brief words what she'd seen that morning. Might as well get used to it. Who knew how many times she'd have to repeat the story?
"Did you know about this?" Tio narrowed his gaze on Nakita.
Nakita shrugged and crossed her legs. "Only what Tori told me on the way back to the station. I didn't see any sign of them myself."
Tio's shoulders became even tenser, his knuckles white where his fingers were clasped together on the desk, as if Nakita's unconcerned attitude was tipping him further toward the edge.
"How did you know?" Tori asked, drawing Tio's attention from Nakita.
Tio tapped a few keys on his inset control panel in front of him.
"In the past month, we've had some new technology loaded onto the station, which can detect angels and demons. Some tech-head worked out they have different energy signatures to humans because of their supernatural abilities." A see-through holo-screen came up in the middle of the desk, showing various blobs of color on a scan of the planet's surface. "We're hoping this equipment will be able to prevent us loosing anymore planets to the sons of bitches."
"Oh, come now. We're not so bad, are we?"
The voice behind her sent a jolt of surprise through her system. Tori glanced over her shoulder and took a swift breath as she pushed to her feet, away from the chair. She backed up until she bumped into the desk and then skirted around it. Not that she wanted to be any closer to Tio, but he seemed the lesser of two evils when put up against the angel who'd manifested into the room. Like all angels, he stood over six feet tall, with broad shoulders, a trim waist and totally gorgeous. His black hair was cut short, almost military, while his blue eyes were crystalline in clarity. He wore a loose, dark shirt over dark leather pants, a luxury in this day and age. No doubt about it. If he'd been human, she'd be trying to work out the quickest way to get him naked. So much hotness wasted on scuzbag.
Tio pushed the security alert, causing the angel's lips to curl into a sardonic grin. "Intership security, you really think I can't block that?"
"What do you want?" she demanded. A sickening chill swept through her, far worse than the apprehension she'd felt this morning. He didn't need to respond to her question, because she already knew the answer.
"I want you, Toriane." His sharp, blue gaze settled on her with disconcerting intensity.
For a moment, there was silence, and the chill turned into a full blizzard, numbing her from the inside out, causing fine tremors to spill through her.
"I think you forgot to finish that sentence. Like, I want you to answer some questions, or, I want you to pretend you didn't see anything." She gripped the edge of the desk, thanking geezus it stood between them. Though if he wanted, he could blast it into oblivion or even walk right through the damn thing. Despite that, the solid barrier gave her some measure of feeling protected.
"No, there was nothing else after that. Archangel Michael sent me to get you."
"And you are?" Though why it should matter, she didn't know. There was no way in hell she'd go anywhere with him, even if he'd been sent by God himself.
He made a small inflection, though it wasn't anywhere near polite. "I am A'albiel. And yes, you will come with me."
Tori felt heat bloom along her cheekbones. The bastard had read her mind. It wasn't surprising. An angel couldn't be trusted. And she hoped he got that thought loud and clear.
She crossed her arms, trying to stem some of the nervous quivers as she glared at him. "You can stop with the mind-reading thing right now."
Ignoring her, he turned his gaze to Tio and Nakita. "Leave us."
Both of their faces took on similar blank expressions, and they left the office with stiff, unnatural movements. The door slid shut again with a soft hiss, and then she found herself alone with someone who could smite her where she stood just by blinking.
"The smiting will come later." Dropping into the hard, plastic chair she'd abandoned earlier, he sent her a mocking smile.
Huh. An angel with a sense of humor. She'd never have believed it if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes.
For some reason, his sarcastic quip calmed some of her trembling. A sense of composure stole through her by small degrees. Either A'albiel was doing some mind-control thing on her, or her sanity had snapped. Neither prospect seemed agreeable.
"Stop reading my thoughts and tell me what you want."
"You're in danger, Toriane. We know you saw one of our scribe angels on assignment this morning and so do the demons. They've already sent Alastor after you, and if he finds you, it won't be pretty."
A shaft of fear shot through her, causing sweat to break out on her lower back. How could the demons have found out so quickly? "But I don't know anything."
"You know the location." His tone came out flat, devoid of emotion. He didn't seem concerned about any of this. And why would he be? She was probably just another job in a long line of jobs. If he failed, and she got killed, she doubted he'd even flinch, just poof himself off to his next assignment. The thought made anger stir, replacing the fear. He could go to hell. Her life and work was important. People depended on her and her team getting X-702 terra-formed so they had homes, not just rooms on over-crowded space stations.
"So move the damn thing, and then I won't know. Problem solved." Surely he didn't expect her to just go happily along with him?
"It's not as simple as just moving it—"
"Why not?"
Getting angry at an angel probably wasn't the smartest move she could make, but she didn't want to be dragged into the middle of some stupid four-hundred-year-long war she couldn't care less about, even if it was for the good of all people. According to the scuzbags, anyway.
A'albiel sat forward in the seat, clasping his hands together, his gaze hard on her. "Because it is complicated in a way a human cannot understand, and Alastor will still kill you, if only to prove a point."
The way he said human left her with no doubt about his feelings toward her. Less important than a space-roach squashed under his boot.
She straightened, antagonism making her shoulders tight. "Tell me what was in the chest then, and I'll think about complying."
His lips compressed into a thin line. "You're lying. You have no intention of cooperating, and even if you did happen to be telling the truth, I would not allow you that knowledge."
Not allow her the knowledge? Resentment turned into a full blaze of fury. Bastard! Treating her as if she was some sub-par piece of garbage. Did he really think he could deal with people like this? "You're an ass, you know that?"
It was possible she was more surprised than him after the words slipped out of her mouth. He stood, unfolding from the chair in a slow, measured movement, his huge body somehow managing to take up more space in the office than it did before.
"You will show me some respect, girl." He took a step toward her and the desk no longer felt like any form of protection against six foot-plus of pissed off angel.
"Or what?" she countered. She might as well stick with the idiotic bravado. No doubt he'd do whatever he pleased with her anyway. "You'll kill me? No need to get your shirt dirty; apparently I can just sit around here and wait for Alastor to do that for you."
An intent gleam lit his blue eyes to bright azure. "Yes, I am going to do whatever I please with you, but I can make it pleasant or it could be disagreeable. The choice is yours."
Time to call his bluff. "How about none of the above?"
Skirting the desk, she walked toward the office door, keeping as far from him as possible in the small space.
"Stop," he commanded.
She got to the sliding panel. He could go to hell before she'd do anything he told her.
"Stop."
Rolling her eyes, she reached for the door's control board since it hadn't opened automatically when she'd approached. Instead, her hand crashed into a solid, male chest.
Shock ricocheted through her, and she jumped back, feeling a strange kind of energy buzz up her arm. Cradling her hand against her chest, she looked up at him looming over her.
"I told you to stop."
He glared at her, an emotion that looked to be confusion on his too-handsome features. But that seemed dumb. Angels didn't feel things like confusion, did they?
"And I told you to go to hell. Or maybe I just thought it. Either way, I'm sure you heard."
The perplexed expression was replaced by one of annoyance, his lips pressing together as his brows lowered. She got a perverse thrill out of irritating him, which was stupid by anyone's standards. Did she have a death wish? It wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination to say he could kill her or banish her somewhere to die a slow death.
The door slid open behind him, and he took her upper-arm in an unyielding grip, hard enough that she'd probably have bruises later. His message was loud and clear—she wouldn't be getting away from him.
Rather than be dragged, she walked with him out into the corridor where Tio and Nakita were waiting, still with identical vacant expressions.
A'albiel glanced at them as he towed her past. "Be on your way." Both of them blinked, as if coming out of a trance.
"What did you do to them?" she demanded, looking back over her shoulder at Nakita's surprised face.
Hauling her along, A'albiel barreled down the hall, sending people scurrying out of his way. Nothing said move like six feet of determined angel. She almost had to run to keep up with him.
"Nothing serious, I just made sure they wouldn't interfere."
Tori opened her mouth to give him another piece of her mind when the ceiling above them exploded into a shower of flames and sparks. She ducked and A'albiel pulled her against his side, sheltering her from the worst of the blast. All solid muscle and heat, it left a strange sensation humming through her again. Must have been an angel thing. They did have all sorts of weirdo powers, after all.
"Geezus, what was that?" The wail of fire alarms sliced through her brain as people rushed past them, evacuating the area.
"Alastor."
