Free Dark Wings (Never Dark Book 1) by Skyla Madi

still sleeping peacefully on my bed. I showered and made myself comfortable on my desk chair. When I closed my eyes, all I could see was Violet and suddenly I missed her.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Parting
     
     
    Violet
     
    Dragging myself to headquarters at six a.m. was torture. I didn’t get any sleep last night after Lucas left. And the guilt of sending fellow angels to their inevitable death bothered me. I should’ve never taken Cole up on his back-up deal. It was my fault, really. I had all the means necessary to kill Lucas, but I didn’t. Instead, I tried to fuck him. If my superiors knew I tried to bed a demon, I’d be banished from the Never Dark realm— A fallen angel —a cat four demon, forced to live amongst the demons until I die.
     
    ***
     
    “I sent three angels down there. Two of them are dead,” Cole groaned, slamming his hands down on the desk and then falling into his chair. “The third one came back so shaken up we had to send him back to the realm to be fixed.”
    “Are you sure they’re dead?” I asked carefully.
    “I found two god damn heads mounted on stakes right outside our fucking door. Of course I’m sure!”
    Behind me , Janet closed the door and stood beside me. She pulled her new red hair around her shoulders and it irked me, making me want to change my hair color.
    “ You sent three angels to a demon headquarters?” I asked, ignoring Janet’s puppy dog stare as she watched me in awe.
    Cole narrowed h is brows at me. “Do you have a hearing problem?”
    Sternly, I folded my arms across my chest. If I wasn’t so eager for his permission to get off this demon-ridden planet I’d knock his condescending tone back into his greasy mouth.
    “ Yes, I sent three angels. I thought that was all you would’ve needed,” he continued.
    I ran my hand over my face and exhaled. This guy was possibly the biggest moron I’d ever met. “That place is packed to the roof with demons—what were you thinking?”
    “But you went in alone…” Janet muttered in a confused tone.
    I turned toward her. “Shouldn’t you be tending the reception desk?”
    She fixated her puppy dog eyes toward Cole.
    “She can stay ,” he said and I rolled my eyes.
    “ I went in alone because I had been close to Luc—Death before he became a demon… romantically. I was using that to my advantage.”
    “And what happened?”
    “It’s in the report I gave you,” I replied, not wanting to disclose what I’d written in my report in front of Janet.
    “Well, I’m not in a reading mood today ,” Cole responded, taking my folder off his desk and tucking it under his arm. I fought off a disgusted grimace as my report touched a small sweat patch on his shirt. “So, what happened?”
    Immediately, my hands became moist with sweat and my throat dry. Cole and Janet watched in anticipation—well, Janet watched in anticipation—Cole seemed bored.
    “He was one step ahead of me.” I cleared my throat. “ He always has been and always will be. I need to spend time tackling issues I can handle, not chasing after ex-lovers in hopes of freeing them. Besides, there are angels more capable than me, maybe they’ll stand a better chance at taking him down.”
    “But it’s so romantic ,” Janet cooed, twirling her hair around her index finger. “And I bet this guy is, like, a total babe.”
    I watched her with a blank expression on my face as I pondered what exactly went through that chemically abused skull of hers. Today, her choice of makeup consisted of sunflower-yellow lipstick and bright golden eye shadow that framed her nice green eyes. She was definitely creative… and brave. I, for one, would never leave the house with such ridiculous colors on my face.
    “What’s your plan now?” Cole asked, saving me from replying to Janet’s stupid remark.
    “I want to leave Earth and go back to the Never Dark for a new assignment.”
    “Why on earth would you want to leave Earth?” Cole and Janet said in