Beneath (Heven and Hell #3.5) Read Online Free Page A

welcomed back into heaven’s grace. “What happened?” I demanded of Sinead the minute we weren’t in earshot of anyone else.
     
    “It must have been hanging out there in the woods. Perhaps it was hoping you would come back so it could get even for the dagger wound.”
     
    “So it was a hellhound?”
     
    He nodded. “First one I’ve seen in years.”
     
    “How do you know it was the same one I saw?”
     
    “They don’t run in packs like other shifters, and they’re fairly rare. I highly doubt there would be two in the same area at the same time.”
     
    I nodded, not totally convinced, but unwilling to challenge his knowledge and the training he went through over the course of many years.
     
    Sinead stopped walking and turned to face me. “Don’t worry about this. I killed it. It’s dead.”
     
    “You’re sure?” I asked, thinking I’d thought it was dead, too.
     
    “Absolutely.” He smiled a blinding bright smile and it melted away all doubt in my mind. “Let’s go get something to eat. Our trip made me hungry!”
     
    He didn’t bring it up again after that. It was like it was completely gone from his mind. But for me, it was something I wasn’t able to forget.
     
    After that, I met Callum in secret. Secret, meaning I told no one that I was meeting with a human after every assignment I had on earth. Callum also promised to tell no one, and for several months I would complete my assignments and then rush to the stream, hoping he would be there. And he always was.
     
    At first, I only went because I was curious about the way I felt when I was with him. Like I was teetering on a cliff, only I didn’t have my wings. It was slightly terrifying but also thrilling. I wasn’t used to feeling that rush of emotions. I was used to a level head and level sentiments.
     
    But then I realized curiosity wasn’t what kept me coming back.
     
    He was sitting at the water’s edge, his scuffed-up jeans rolled up around his calves and his feet submerged in the stream. He had his hair back in a low ponytail at the base of his neck, and he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Instead, he had it tossed over one of his shoulders. I landed on the opposite side of the stream, my feet making a light splash in the water, and he looked up.
     
    Surprise flickered in his eyes and he smiled, his grin stretching out across his face. He stood up as I flew myself over the water, closing the distance between us and hovering just over the ground so we were eye to eye.
     
    “You’re not hiding your wings,” he said, his voice hushed.
     
    “I figured after all this time, hiding wasn’t necessary.”
     
    “They’re beautiful.” His eyes swept over them and I could see the pleasure in his face. It gave me a warm tingling feeling across my entire body. “So soft looking, but strong, you know?”
     
    “Kind of like you,” I said shyly.
     
    He laughed. It was an abrupt sound, kind of like a bark. “I look soft?”
     
    I couldn’t help but glance at the muscles in his chest. It certainly wasn’t the first time I’d seen a man without his shirt—the angels preferred little clothing—but it was the first time I’d seen him without one. He wasn’t smooth and white like the angels. Instead, his skin was golden, like the sun was shining directly on it, and he had dark hair growing out of his chest that was curly and looked rough to the touch.
     
    I cleared my throat and looked up from the hard expanse of his torso. He watched me with an amused expression on his face. “You don’t look soft… but I happen to know that what’s in here”—I reached out and laid my palm right over his heart—“is.”
     
    He stilled and scarcely moved except to glance down at where I was touching him. Thinking I’d done something wrong, I moved to pull away my hand, but he covered it with his own, pressing it firmly in place.
     
    I’d been right; the hair on his chest was rough.
     
    But I liked the way it felt against my