Angel Fever (Immortal Legacy #3) - Ella Summers Page 0,86

gaze swept across the landscape, and I could tell he was just as underwhelmed as I was. “Or it could be we picked the wrong location.”

“Neither location can be wrong,” my father said. “The daggers are infallible.”

I looked at him. “So you think there are Keepers at both locations?”

“Yes.”

“And what of all the rapidly-changing locations the dagger was picking up at the beginning?”

“Cadence, this is the first time you’ve used the Opal Tear. It’s quite understandable that you didn’t master how to use it immediately.”

“It’s not understandable at all.” I smirked at my father. “Because angels are infallible too. I know that because you taught it to me.”

“The daggers aren’t angel magic. So the rule doesn’t apply in this case.”

I sighed. “You really have an answer for everything.”

“Yes.”

“Then you should have no problem finding the Keepers hiding on this rock,” Damiel told him.

“By implementing a proper search grid, that goal is easily attainable,” my father declared.

Then he walked off toward the middle of the island. Which just happened to boast a volcano as its main attraction. And several lava lakes, including the one we were standing beside. I’d have much preferred an undersea excursion.

I started to follow my father, but Damiel caught my hand.

“Leave him be to create his search pattern,” he said.

“And what do you suggest we do while we wait?”

Damiel slid a smooth gaze my way that, at the same time, managed to be both very innocent and very, very guilty.

“Behave yourself,” I hissed, trying very hard not to giggle.

“How can I behave myself when your very presence drives me to all kinds of mischief?”

I knew just how he felt. Usually, the Fever meant days of passion. But our time together had been cut short.

“After not seeing you for two centuries, a family trip with your father is not the kind of reunion I had in mind, Cadence.”

“We have to take what we can get.”

He looked at me for a few moments, completely still, then he tackled me to the rocky ground.

“I didn’t mean for you to literally take what you can get,” I protested. “My father is right over there.”

“And so are the demons,” Damiel replied darkly, pointing across the barren expanse at the army of demons. “And they shot at you.”

One of the demons stepped forward. She wore her long, dark hair up, pinned to her head in an assortment of braids. Gemstones, feathers, and a decorative gold comb accented her hairstyle. A rosy blush touched her cheeks, warming her pale complexion. Her neck was long, and her limbs too.

She wore a velvet jacket, blood-red accented with shiny gold buttons, over a pair of skintight black leather pants and high-heeled boots. The jacket was short in front, showing off her big-buckled belt, and it had a long train in back.

In short, she wasn’t at all dressed for this weather or this terrain. Not that the demon seemed to notice.

That’s Asteria, Damiel told me. Daughter of Alessandro, King Demon and leader of the demons’ council.

Well, I suppose we’d better go say hello to the Demon Princess, I said. Before she tells her army to start shooting at us again.

As we walked toward the demons, Asteria’s catlike eyes, the color of honey, locked on to Damiel, and a smile spread her full lips.

“Damiel,” the demon purred like a cat in heat. “I’m so glad to see you again. I thought you were dead.” Her gaze flickered briefly to me, then snapped back to Damiel. Her smirk grew wider. “That would have been a real shame. You’re always such fun. And a great kisser.”

I knew the demon was trying to anger me. And that by letting her egg me on, I was playing right into her hands. That didn’t make me hate her any less.

“Most people don’t consider getting your throat cut with my sword to be a kiss,” Damiel replied, a searing expression on his face. “But you’re so desperate to be touched, Asteria, that you don’t even care if it’s steel, not flesh.”

The demon laughed. “As fun as this chat is, we have bigger issues. Such as the terrible curse laying siege to this world. Hand over your immortal daggers, and I’ll be happy to break it.”

“How very noble of you to offer to break the curse.” My words were heavy with sarcasm, my eyes sizing up the demon army before us.

We were hopelessly outnumbered.

“You think me evil,” Asteria said. “But I’m not. The chaos that beset the Earth is bad enough. Demons don’t actually want to