Jeremy (Broken Angel #4) Read Online Free

and her eyes lit with blue fire, he knew he was seconds from yanking her into his arms and taking her down to the bed waiting only a few steps away.
    “I have every right to ask. I care about you. You’re my bro—”
    “Damn it, Naomi! Can’t you see what you’re doing to me?”
    “I’m trying to help you.”
    “You’re not helping. I can’t be here with you like this.”
    “Like what? Caring about you?”
    “Yes! Can’t you see it hurts me more than anything else? You care for me like a sister.”
    “What’s wrong with that?”
    “Nothing . . . everything. I know I should be grateful for any piece of you I can have. Having you as my sister should be enough. Having my brother and my family with me should be enough. I want it to be, but it isn’t because I—”
    He gritted his teeth before he let the words fall from his lips. If he let them go, there would be no turning back.
    “Oh, Jeremy, we’ve talked about this before. I thought you agreed.”
    “I know. I know. You think these feelings I have for you are all in my head. But it’s not, Naomi. It’s here.” He slapped his hand against his bare chest. “It’s all in here. All for you because you’re all I can think about, all I dream about. And I shouldn’t think about you—not like that. I can’t do this anymore.”
    “What are you saying?”
    “I need to leave.”
    She blinked, disbelieving. “You can’t. It’ll crush Lash. What about your parents? You can’t just leave.”
    “There’s no other way. Gabrielle will grant me long-term status on Earth if I need it. I’m sure of it.” He looked at her devastated face and wondered how long he could live a separate life from her and his family. “I have to leave long enough so that when I do come back, I can love you like a true sister.”
    If it’s even possible. He swallowed the lump in his throat when he thought of how he might never see her or his family ever again.
    He stepped to the edge of the window, tucking his wings close to his body. He paused. Turning to Naomi, he reached to her. His hand gently caressed her cheek.
    “Tell my brother I’ll miss him.”
    “No. You tell him.” A tear rolled down her cheek, wetting his thumb.
    He dropped his hand and shook his head, turning away from her before he changed his mind. “It’ll be best for us all if I don’t. Please do this for me, Naomi.”
    Without hearing her answer, he leapt off the edge, freefalling into the sky. As his body rocketed down the mountain, wind rushed past, filling his ears with white noise and blocking Naomi’s sobs. When he was about to hit the ground, he flashed out his wings and lifted his body upward, missing the ground by only a couple of feet. He headed to the Hall of Judgment, the one quiet place where he could be alone and think about how he was going to convince Gabrielle to let him leave.

5
    O pening thick mahogany doors , he stepped into the dim room. Candles lined the walls. At the far end of the vast room, sitting high on a three-tiered platform, was a high-backed chair made of rich wood. The plush red velvet cushion gleamed beneath the dozens of candles surrounding the seat of judgment. He’d been in the room dozens of times with Lash, and sometimes with other angels who’d fallen. He always stood off to the side, watching as Michael passed judgment, wondering what it felt like to be kneeling in front of the powerful archangel, vulnerable, pleading for forgiveness and to be taken back into Heaven. Though he bent the rules from time to time, he’d never entertained the thought to go against Heavenly law to the point he’d be banished. Why would he? He’d had everything he’d ever needed or wanted . . . until now.
    The flames flickered as he walked swiftly to Michael’s chair and knelt before it. His head dropped to his chest. He didn’t have to wonder anymore about how the others felt in this position. He felt it in every single part of his body. His chest grew heavy as the past few