A Witch's Beauty (Daughters of Arianne 2)

"Mina." He sobered, putting his hands on her hips. "I just need to know you're safe. I've let Jonah know we're coming. He'll make sure no one bothers you."

"Thirty minutes," she said at last.

"An hour is what we said at first."

"No more than. Thirty minutes would be better."

Even as she got a nod from him, the dread clogging her throat told Mina she was making a mistake. Not going at all was best. What was that expression? Out of the boiling water, into the fire. She'd wanted off this island so she could avoid the terrifying and absolutely ridiculous idea that an angel thought he was in love with her. But going to the Citadel to avoid further conversation about it might be taking things too far.

Damn it, she should hate this. She did hate this. He needed to be gone, far, far away. She didn't want anyone to expect more of her than she had to offer. She didn't want to want him, to be drugged and completely intoxicated by him. To forget the day would come when the truth would permeate his unusually mortal heart and mind, and he would realize she was something repulsive to his kind.

How had he done this to her? Gods, there was no secret to it. It was pathetic, really. No one in her life, with the exception of Anna, had ever shown her lasting kindness, and she'd kept Anna at bay. David was overwhelming, with all the charisma and potency of an angel as well as the appealing darkness of a human mortal. So for the first time in her life, she had someone interested in her for herself, and she didn't know how to handle it. She'd just agreed to go to the Citadel, and she feared the only reason she'd said yes was for that tiny curl of warmth in her belly at the pleasure in his eyes. She was going to have to find a way to end this, once and for all.

He's an angel. She repeated it to herself, because she wasn't sure her heart and body were listening. It radiated from him. She'd know it by doing nothing more than looking into his dark eyes, feeling it through the touch of his hand, seeing it in the noble turn of his head, the magnificent spread of his wings. A young angel, to be sure, but an angel, no question. What had he said? That being an angel was something that "just was." Like her nature.

She had the strangest desire to talk to Anna about this, and wondered if she'd be at the Citadel.

What? Startled, she shut down that avenue with a resounding slam in her mind. See? She was actively wanting to see her. Be friendly. Gods.

"I'm not being carried," she said, backing away from him. "I'll fly."

David stopped in the process of sliding his arms around her to lift her. "What? I thought you said-"

"I did. But I'm flying myself. Or I don't go."

A muscle flexed in his jaw, that appealing indication of annoyance or temper that only intrigued her, made her want to trace her tongue over it...

Focus, damn it.

"It's a long flight," he pointed out.

"Good thing I'm well rested, then."

HE could have made it much faster at his usual pace, but David was surprised at how swiftly she could move through the clouds, the dragon's scales glittering with the sun's light, her large serpentine eyes blinking as she adjusted to his course changes smoothly.

They went to Shamain, of course, the level of Heaven closest to the Earth. To his amusement, when she got there she insisted on maintaining the dragon form. She perched on a gray stone spire, wreathed with ivy blooming with white flowers. Grasping the steeple like structure in long talons, she hunched there like a misplaced vulture.

Jonah was reading on the open balcony to the bailey below. As she settled fifty feet above him, he tilted his head to eye her, while she glared back balefully.

"And a good day to you, too." He nodded to her, then glanced over at David as he landed next to him on the mosaic tile ironically depicting St. George's fight with the dragon. "So much for an inconspicuous approach."

"It was the only way she'd come, short of dragging her kicking and screaming. Sure you don't mind?"

"I'm just glad you called ahead, so to speak. Some of the more eager of our ranks would have used her for archery practice."

A rumble from above drew Jonah's dark gaze.

"From what I've seen of their aim," she rasped, "they likely need the practice."

"Hurry," Jonah advised David. "My patience has limits."

David nodded, but found himself uneasy about leaving her. She was unsettled, a certain urgency to her that he could attribute to her dislike of angels, though that didn't feel like all of it. But she'd refused to say anything further on their flight here.

"Feeling a little overprotective?" Jonah's shrewd gaze was on him.

David shrugged uncomfortably. Glancing down at the book Jonah was reading, he saw the commander was reviewing a text on the spiritual history of the Australian Aborigines. She likes books. And her eyesight is very good, if the book is turned in the right direction. That might help keep her occupied.

Jonah gave him a curious look. Shifted casually in accordance with David's wishes. She doesn't know what you're really doing here, does she?

David shook his head. "I'll be back so

on."

"A male lying to a female is already in trouble," Jonah observed, though David thought he saw a glint of humor in his commander's gaze. Before he could respond to that, the older angel waved a hand. "Gabriel is bringing the Resurrection Trumpet here to readjust the latest tonal spells on it, so I'll be here anyhow."

David recalled the Trumpet protections had to be modified before every new moon, since its magic was organic, ever changing. "Do you need my help?"

"No, I've got the Master of Music meeting him here. You know Gabriel. He just prefers to do the adjustment at the Citadel, where more angels congregate. Ezekial's battalion is meditating in the bailey, and he'll use them to raise the light energy, for a smooth transition."

David nodded. "I'll be right back," he repeated.

Jonah raised a brow. If you think there's someone more capable of watching over her...?

David had the grace to flush. But when he started to take off, Jonah stayed him with a gesture and a sigh. Anna had a thought about where you might take Mina after this...

When he projected the location into David's mind, the younger angel's brows raised and he met his commander's gaze. "Are you certain-"

It might give her a temporary place of safety. As well as resolve the issue of how to take care of her human needs, if you're determined to keep her land-based for a while. Think it over. But go now and we will discuss it later. Your witch is getting restless and she's marking up the stone.

David gave his commander a look of thanks that Jonah returned with an inscrutable nod before David ascended the necessary elevation to hover at Mina's side.

"Jonah will be just below if you need anything," he said. "And I'll return shortly."

She fluttered her lashes at him, a very disconcerting effect when she bared teeth that were half a foot long. "I'll count the minutes."

Well, at least she and Jonah had that in common. Feeling that sense of uneasiness again, he placed a hand on her broad, scaled shoulder, even knowing he might be risking a stump for Raphael to repair. "Thank you for coming with me. It eases my heart to know you're safe here."

"I'm not safe here, David." She kept up a darting surveillance of her surroundings, her talons rasping along the stone as she shifted, the ivy rustling. The movement resulted in several crushed flowers, and the fragrance wafted up. When she sneezed, David glided back at the short flash of fire, a puff of smoke.