Angels of Darkness

couldn’t tear his eyes away. With a man’s head between her thighs and while kissing another woman’s belly, Radha had looked over and spotted Marc watching from the edge of the courtyard. Her gaze had met his, she’d smiled—and crooked her finger.
    It had taken all of Marc’s strength to walk away. Though many Guardians pursue pleasure, that wasn’t a route he planned to take. He’d decided to become a celibate warrior, one of God’s chosen, as seemed to befit his transformation and honor the gift of life he’d been given.
    So he’d left. He hadn’t expected that a curious Radha would follow him—or that she’d so easily accept that he didn’t want sex from her.
    But he had. God, how he had. The following year was one of torment and bliss, spending hours of each day with a woman who fascinated him in every possible way, who’d quickly become closer to him than any friend he’d had as human or Guardian, and who he wanted so desperately. A year of constant trial, every moment a test, reminding himself that a Guardian who fought demons had to learn to resist temptation, and that a celibate warrior would never touch her.
    Then he had. He’d failed the first test he’d given himself, and he’d paid for it with the end of their friendship.
    He’d dedicated himself to his training after that, determined not to fail again. One hundred and forty years, he’d kept his eyes open, his mouth shut, and done his job.
    But lately that hadn’t been enough, and it seemed as if the Guardians were on the losing side, as if everything was crumbling, ending. The week before, when he’d looked across the ruined courtyard and witnessed her tears and devastation, he’d wished things were different. He’d wished they were still friends enough that he could hold her, that he could say something to make her happy—because God knew, the way things were going, he might not have another chance.
    Her friends Rosalia and Mariko had been there instead. Women who, in their own way, shone as brightly as Radha did.
    She hadn’t needed him, so he’d remained where he was. It was easy enough. For a good portion of his life, he’d done nothing but stay in one place. He didn’t do it so much lately, but whenever he saw Radha, he seemed to recall the skill effortlessly.
    â€œOh, I see. You think that someone else has died or is trapped in Hell or that Caelum has been swallowed by the sea.” Smiling slightly, Radha shook her head. A darker blue than her skin, her lips glistened as if she’d slicked gloss over them. Nothing fragranced, of course. Nothing that might give her presence away to a demon, nothing that would give her an odor to conceal. “No one has been hurt, and nothing has happened. I am taking a holiday.”
    Bullshit. “In southern Illinois?”
    â€œOh, you say that as if there is nothing to be done or seen here. You cannot convince me of that, not when this area has been part of your territory for five decades and you have been living here happily for all of it.”
    Marc wouldn’t have said happily . He’d had a job. He’d done it. “For a vacation, the Midwest doesn’t have anything like your territory does.”
    Nothing at all like the beaches of Southeast Asia or the mountains of Nepal—or the cities in between.
    â€œThat is why I am here. It is not the same at all.” Her gaze swept the parking lot. “Look at them. Each with their own vehicle, well fed, clothed.”
    â€œIf you’re hoping to escape to a place without any poverty, it won’t be here.” And Riverbend was well off, compared to other nearby towns. No open sewers, maybe, but plenty of people were having a rough time.
    And desperation of any sort made a demon’s job easier.
    â€œThat is not what I’m trying to say.” With a hint of censure in her voice, she looked to him again. “I have sensed more happiness from those living in slums than I do at this school. Why is that?”
    Radha had been a Guardian longer than Marc had—and long enough to know very well why this town felt like this. Was she trying to deflect his questions about this vacation nonsense? He knew she wasn’t here for the demon.
    â€œWhat’s going on, Radha? Are you in trouble?”
    â€œIf I was, would I need to come to you?”
    No, and that was the damn point. He