"Okay, what are you thinking about?" she asked as they came to the water's edge. "You look like you're thinking too hard."
The moon and the stars were bright tonight, and under them, with her dark hair tangling about her face, she looked like a vision.
"I was just thinking I hadn't told you how beautiful you look tonight."
She smiled and turned to look at the water. Something was bothering her, and it wasn't the appearance of the angels. How had she recognized the angels? He had read the recognition in her eyes the instant she saw them. What was she hiding? He wished she would trust him with whatever it was she was withholding.
Apparently her trust didn't extend that far.
Hell, if his wife had never trusted him how could he expect a woman whom he'd just met to trust him?
"I'm to the point I don't know what to believe anymore."
He found her response confusing. Was she lost in thought, or was she answering his earlier comment? "You do not think yourself beautiful?"
She laughed, the sound carrying in the wind. "I'm referring to Kelly. To the situation." She turned, her gaze catching his under the moonlight. She looked vulnerable and innocent. "My feelings for you."
At her words something inside him broke free of the constraints he had placed for his own protection. He had loved once, and those people had been ripped from him. Ironically by his own hand. If he allowed Brianna in what was left of his heart, what would happen to her? What injustices would she suffer from loving him?
Instead of replying to her, he turned to face the blackened water of the ocean. Everything changed with time. Especially one's feelings for another person. How would she feel about him when everything around them fell to pieces? And it would. It was only a matter of time.
Brianna felt like an ass. Somehow she had forgotten the reason for his presence. He was currently with her because he was trying to find out what she was hiding, nothing more. He wanted to know her motive for coming back to Naberius's house. They were friendly enemies. He had made that perfectly clear the night before. Enemies did not share their feelings on a moonlit beach.
The silence was broken by Asmodeus's cell ringing.
He fished it out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Hello?"
She dragged her foot through the sand, wishing she could bury herself in it.
"It is the Demonic Book of Spells that makes her ill. When the witch uses spells contained in that book she is not only using the energy of the earth, but the energy of her life force as well."
Brianna stilled, knowing he spoke of Kelly. Raum had found her.
"I will be there shortly."
He closed his cell and put it back in his pocket. "You will accompany me to Raum's."
He turned on his heel and headed back to the car.
So it was back to the old Asmodeus? Withdrawn and calculating? She moved quickly to catch up with him. Why was he acting so indifferent to her? "Where does he live?"
"He lives a few miles from here, in a house overlooking the beach."
"Kelly is ill?"
"Do not ask me any questions."
She put her hand on his arm and pulled him to a stop. He slowly turned to face her. Again, he reminded her of a cold, terrifying man. If she didn't know any better, if she hadn't felt the warmth beneath the façade, she would have believed him capable of anything.
"What are you afraid of?" she asked, confused as to why he had gone from a laughing gentleman to total indifference.
"I am afraid of nothing."
"You are," she argued. Was it her? Did he find her lacking? He was holding himself back from her, but why?
He locked eyes with her. "If I am afraid of anything, it is hurting you. If you knew what was best for you, you would leave the conversation at that. The only reason you are with me is for your safety."
Her safety? "Are you deliberately trying to hurt my feelings?"
Without answering her he turned and began walking back to the car. With no choice left to her she followed. When they reached the car she took his shirt off and handed it back to him. He slipped it on without another look in her direction.
During the short ride to Raum's the silence seemed to gnaw at her. When had she gone from planning to kill Asmodeus to having feelings for him? That's what was happening, wasn't it?
She searched his profile. The hard line of his jaw, set in anger, made him look dangerous. Would he hurt her? Never. She could feel the truth of that deep inside her soul.
Was she falling for him? Yes. It was likely from all of the times he had saved her life. Always there when she needed him. He seemed unbreakable. Her feelings toward him could be nothing more than that of indebtedness, because she didn't really know him.