Free Hope in Love by J. Hali Steele

angels, though they wielded the power of lightning,
were susceptible to its white-hot fire. God damn Luke.
    Ramiel, answer me, damn it . Her voice shook with fury
because he tried to shut her out.
    I will be fine. I need to— Had she cursed at him?
    Oh hell, the demon found him and he wasn’t ready yet. He
encircled his body in a camouflaging light to hide from the creature. He saw it
high above him in the very tree from which his body had recently torn bark.
    Can you see it? Yael would know about the light demons
and their use of deadly white lightning.
    Yes . The pain eased in his back.
    Look at it. NOW , she yelled in his mind.
    What did she think she could do? Then it hit him. Yael wielded
the magic of storms. And that included lightning bolts.
    But you can’t see it . Ram still didn’t understand.
    I felt your pain. We are meshing. I may be able to see it
through your eyes if I concentrate hard enough. Look at it . He felt
her enter his mind and search for a mental path. He helped guide her and knew
the moment she saw the demon through his eyes.
    He’s not expecting a fight now that I’m injured .
    He heard the fierce rumble of thunder in the sky and saw the
lightning dance above him. Damn, she was strong .
    A bolt shot in a blue-white arc and smashed into the back of
the demon. The air split with the piercing, high-pitched sound of death. The
branch broke away and fell with the demon to the ground at Ram’s feet.
    “Nasty little fucker,” he said as the creature disintegrated
in a blinding flash.
    Are you all right ? she asked.
    I’ll be fine. I need some time to mend my wing. He
couldn’t assume his human form until the damage was fixed. It would be healed
in the same way he did his bones. Mentally he would put it back together. Yael ,
he whispered in her mind, thank you. I look forward to our dinner together.
    Hurry back.
    Ram sat under the tree, and as he mended his wing he thought
about her. How was it he could mesh with an exulted? Meshing was a magical
coming together, an irresistible and uncontrollable bonding of souls reserved
for angels. Something they were only allowed to do with each other. Exulted
were, after all, humans. To mesh with one would make him no better than the
fallen angels who had been cast from Heaven millennia ago.
    “Shit,” he said out loud. “Michael will kill me this time.”

Chapter Seven
     
    It took awhile for Yael to calm herself after the attack.
    She’d explored until she was content and now sat in the
largest bath in the world. Everything in the room contained varied teals and
coral colors of the sea. The towels were so soft she couldn’t believe it. Why
did Deborah live so sparingly if she had all of this at her fingertips? She
must be careful not to covet the luxury.
    She found the answer to her dilemma about what to wear in
the closet of the room they would share together. An array of clothing waited
there. Her knowledge about this time period was nonexistent. She’d have to
trust Ram. She could not believe the small bit of clothing women wore today. It
was no wonder the angels came down here to rut with humans.
    Earlier she put on a pair of shoes she found in a box and
thought she would teeter over. But she practiced in them, and after a few
tumbles, she finally mastered how to walk in them. They were a shiny black with
thin strips of material laced across her foot and little silver bows at the
back on another tiny piece of strap. The footwear made her feel womanly. And
sexy. Her hips swayed sensually when she walked in them.
    He’d told her to wear a black dress and she found two of
them. She’d prepared the dress for tonight and it waited for her. It had no
straps and she prayed her ample breasts would stay inside. It clung to her
curves and showed off her body to no end. She refused to think about bare
knees.
    The underthings she found were mere bands but she liked how
they felt on her.
    Yael hadn’t given much thought to why she could feel Ram’s
pain or