Tigress (Night Hawk Series) by J.E. Taylor Read Free Book Online Page B

coming.
    “That I’ve been watching over you for a very long time,” he said and his gaze bounced from Damian’s to mine and back.
    “I failed to save your daughter. Why the hell would you watch over me?”
    “Because, you are Gabriel’s son.”
    Damian shrugged. “What does my father have to do with this?”
    I stared at Michael and my mother’s catholic upbringing brought forth the names of the archangels. Understanding sank in and I gasped. “You mean to tell me, Damian is your nephew?”
    Silence descended between the three of us and when Michael nodded, I stepped back, digesting the implications. Angel blood bound us and that was the principal difference between Damian and the rest of the vampires.
    “But ...my parents died when I was a child,” Damian whispered.
    “ Yes, unfortunately, they did. My bringing Athena to Greece wasn’t a coincidence. Our brother didn’t know about you because he had been exiled from heaven before you were born and Gabriel had seen what kind of destruction he was capable of. If our brother knew about you, I think you would have had the same fate as my son.”
    “Athena was my...cousin?”
    “Yes,” Michael said.
    Damian shivered and turned away, stalking toward the van without another word.
    “You let him screw around with his cousin?”
    “Times were different back then and I knew he had a strong need to protect her,” Michael said. “I knew he’d die for her and that’s the best a father c ould hope for, especially with my brother on the warpath.”
    I paused with my hand on the door handle. “So while you’re in human form, you can die like Gabriel?”
    A bitter smile surfaced. “Yes.”
    “And if your other brother w as to find you in this form?”
    “I would be just as screwed as the two of you.” He reached past me and opened the door, holding it so I could climb into the cab.
    Damian glared beyond me at the being who had kept him in the dark for millenniums. The hostility in the cab was enough to make me take a deep settling breath. Anger traced its way through the muscles in his face and the tightness of his jaw. His lips presented a thin white line and the only thing holding more resentment was his challenging blue eyes.
    “Fucking angels,” he muttered and pulled out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.
    I still had a wealth of questions pinging through my brain and when Damian lowered his hand to my knee and gave it a squeeze, I glanced at him. The sheen covering his eyes told me more than any words could have and I went to cover his hand and stopped myself just before our skin touched.
    Gritting my teeth, I pulled my hand away, opting to squeeze his arm through the fabric instead and found my vision distorted by my own tears. I didn’t give a damn if he was an angel or a vampire or some weird half-breed like me, I just wanted to hold him and love him again.

Chapter Ten - Damian
     
    I glanced at the clock on the dashboard and her hand on the crook of my arm before refocusing on the road ahead of me. My mind still reeled from Michael’s revelation and I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, never mind speak. For thousands of years, he played me for a fool and I wondered if this was just another part of his twisted game.
    The steering wheel creaked and I dropped my gaze to my hands. My knuckles were white from squeezing the metal and I inhaled, forcing my muscles to relax and the grip on the wheel to loosen. I chanced a glance at Naomi and the tear slowly tracking down her cheek shot straight to my heart.
    I sent a glare at Michael and focused back on the road.
    “Why now?” I asked once I was sure I could speak without lashing out.
    Michael didn’t answer and when I glanced in his direction, he was busy studying the landscape.
    “Well?”
    When his gaze slid to mine, I clenched my teeth, expecting another ultimatum, but his sigh and the shift of his gaze told me all I needed.
    “So, if Naomi hadn’t played the ‘he cares about