Free Angel's Power by Erin M. Leaf

the more shocking a
moment later.
    Suriel sprang out of the bed, hands
raised. Ariel wasn’t far behind him. The energy flickered through them, even as
another bolt of cold arrowed through their skin.
    “What the hell is that? Another
demon?” she asked, squinting through her dark room. Suriel switched on the
bedside lamp. Her room was empty.
    “Get dressed,” he said, grabbing
his jeans from the floor.
    “Demons. There are demons in the
castle,” Ariel said, still unmoving. She could taste them.
    “Get dressed.”
    Her jeans hit her on the shoulder.
She glared at him, but Suriel was buckling a sheath and knife to his forearm
and didn’t notice.
    “We need to warn my brother,” she
said.
    He finished tightening the straps.
“I’ll go get him. You get dressed.” He glanced at her. “Bring some knives.”
    She nodded sharply. “Be careful.”
    He grinned and brought his hands
up. Sparks flitted between his fingers. “Careful is for cowards.”
    She strode over to him and grabbed
his hands. The sparks jumped to her. She yanked his head down and kissed him
fiercely. “Leave some demons for me.”
    ****
    Suriel banged on Gabriel’s door,
hoping to God he and Raphael were dressed. He did not want to see his
Alpha and little brother naked in their bed. Some things just can’t be unseen
and that was an image he didn’t need in his head.
    The door swung open. Gabriel glared
at him, hair sleep-mussed. “What?” Thankfully he was wearing jeans.
    Suriel said one word. “Demons.”
    Gabriel face went from irritated to
intent. “Where?”
    “I’m not sure. We think somewhere
in the castle.” He shook his head, frustrated.
    “We?”
    Suriel knew they didn’t have the
time for him to gently break the news of his mating to Gabriel. “Your sister
and I. We—”
    “You mated,” Raphael said, opening
the door wider. He smiled widely. “It’s about time.”
    Suriel looked from Gabriel to
Raphael. Honesty was probably the best option at this point. He took a deep
breath. “Yes. But it’s more than that. She shares my power.”
    Gabriel frowned. “Shares?”
    Raphael’s eyebrows went up. “That’s
why your power was always so unstable.”
    Suriel nodded. “Exactly.”
    “My sister is a sorceress?” Gabriel
didn’t sound surprised.
    “Yes.”
    “Okay, let me get my blades,” Gabriel
said, backing into his room. He didn’t bother to shut the door.
    Suriel wondered why he’d thought
Gabriel would be shocked. He shook his head, glad the man was his Alpha and not
his enemy.
    “I’m ready,” Ariel called, jogging
down the hall. She had two blades strapped to her arms and another on her
thigh. “Here.” She shoved a long, leather wrapped scabbard at Suriel. “This is
yours.”
    He automatically took it from her,
though he’d never seen the weapon before in his life.
    “It’s yours. I stopped at the vault
on the way,” Ariel said.
    He frowned. “You shouldn’t have
gone there alone.”
    She shrugged. “It’s on this floor, between
our rooms. I had to hunt for the key in my purse. That’s what took me so long.”
    Suriel let her explanation slide.
“How is this my sword?” He lifted it. The weight felt incredibly balanced.
    “It’s the sorcerer’s sword.” She
pointed at him. “That’s you.”
    “You’re every much the sorcerer I
am.”
    She laughed. “In power, yes. In
size? Not so much. That thing is almost as long as I am.”
    Suriel had to smile. She had a
point. He began unraveling the leather belt from scabbard. The leather was old,
but still pliable. The scabbard was nothing special, just hardened leather. The
hilt of the blade was wrapped with silver wire. It would make an excellent
grip.
    “Put it on. Hurry.” Ariel began
helping him with it.
    He understood her urgency. The cold
was no longer a bolt here and there. It was a wind. A freeze slipping up
through the stones of the castle.
    “The demon is in the basement,” he
said, suddenly sure.
    Ariel strapped the belt