Angel Tormented (The Louisiangel Series Book 3) (15 page)

“Layers,” Eugene exclaimed. “You have to
keep it cold and have plenty of layers.”

“We’re making salmon en croute,” Sarah
elaborated. “For thirty. We wanted to get a head start because there are other
things to be done.”

I couldn’t help but stare at Eugene. Last
night he had seemed so despondent that I couldn’t help but be surprised at his
new-found excitement for pastry. Oh well – each to their own. “I’ll just get
breakfast sorted then,” I announced, leaving the pair to start gathering up the
ingredients they needed.

Once the breakfast was out, I waited for
Nyle to appear. As soon as he sat down, I grabbed a cup of coffee and a bowl of
cornflakes and hurried over, taking a seat opposite him before another angel
could. The angel gave me a scowl and sat down next to me, but I ignored him and
turned my attention to Nyle. “I got Cupid to agree.”

“Agree to what?” he asked in confusion.

“What we were talking about last night:
fighting?” I prompted. “You know, you guys learning to self-defense?”

“I’m not sure it’s a good idea,” Nyle
quickly responded.

I glanced around the table at the
horrified expressions the angels shared and frowned. “That’s not what you said
last night.”

“I didn’t think you’d get approval,” Nyle
muttered.

“Look, you’re not allowed to use weapons,
and it is only self-defense, but why the sudden change in heart? Surely knowing
how to protect yourselves is a good thing?” I asked, still confused.

“It’s not our jobs,” he said, finally. “We
just deliver messages.”

I stared at him and then shook my head.
Much to the table’s further mortification, I stood on my chair and cupped my
hands around my mouth. “Hey!” I yelled. “Could I have your attention?” The room
fell silent as the angels gaped at me in a mixture of confusion and annoyance.
“I just wanted to say that as of this morning, I will be offering self-defense
lessons to any angel who wants them,” I announced. “You’re not required to
come, but considering the amount of fallen angels in the city, I wanted you all
to have the opportunity to learn to protect yourselves.” I paused, but the room
remained silent. I guess I was hoping there would be some form of positive
response, but I could barely get an acknowledgement out of them. “Like I said,
it’s not compulsory, but for those of you interested, please be in the gym at ten
o’clock.”

I sank to my seat, my face hot, and found
Nyle staring at me in disbelief. “Why would you do that?”

“Apparently because I think your lives are
worth more than you do,” I declared, my voice still carrying around the
abnormally quiet room. I gathered up my untouched breakfast and left the table,
dumping my things at the hatch, and leaving the angels to undoubtedly talk
about me.

I made my way to the gym, making a quick
detour to the armory to collect my sword, and found Paddy already waiting for
me. Her long red hair was pulled back into a thick braid, and she was wearing
sweats and a vest-top like me. “Nice speech.”

“You heard it?”

She nodded. I hadn’t even noticed her in
the dining hall, but she was the shortest person in the convent by at least a
foot, so maybe she had been behind an angel and out of my line of sight. “I
think it’s a great idea. When Raphael and I eventually return to Ireland, I’ll
suggest we do the same in our House. New Orleans has clearly had Asmodeus and
Beelzebub here for some time, despite Michael’s presence, and while I hope that
we haven’t missed one of the Fallen moving to Dublin, I don’t think we can rule
that out anymore.”

That was surprisingly reassuring. “Thank
you.”

“So the last time you were with Raphael
you were working on recoveries. I was going to pick up there, or is there
something else you wanted to focus on?”

My heart sank. Recoveries was another term
for Raphael throwing me around the room – something which certainly didn’t hold
much appeal – but as Valac had proven, something I certainly had room to
improve on. “That’s fine,” I said, trying to sound a little more enthusiastic.
“But could we work in an attack?” I asked, surprising myself with my own
request. Sure I was getting the basics of picking myself up and blocking an
attack, but I’d not had much practice at fighting back.

Paddy’s smile turned into a grin I didn’t
like the look of. “Not a problem.”

I had a horrible feeling I was going to be
aching more than if Raphael had been here.

I was right. Less than three hours later
and all I wanted was to soak in a hot bath. I was picking myself up from the
floor for the umpteenth time when Joshua appeared, right on time. “Do I need to
be worried?” he asked, watching as Paddy helped me up off the floor.

“Quite the opposite,” Paddy assured him.
“Failing just means that you’re learning.”

“I’m hoping that means I’m improving,” I
groaned, dusting myself off. I certainly felt like I was. My reaction time was
getting faster, and I’d just about mastered drawing my dagger from my trousers
mid-air, and landing with my sword ready to block an attack. I’d even managed a
few attacks and parries. Paddy had claimed she wasn’t as good as Raphael, but
I’m sure the only advantage he had was that he was faster.

“Improving, definitely,” Paddy nodded.

“But?” I sighed.

She shrugged. “I’m not a fallen angel.”

I blew out a long breath. That was true:
Paddy, like Raphael, would keep repeating the same moves over and over, and
they were sinking in. She might not be a fallen angel, and I certainly wasn’t
an expert fighter, but with every move I mastered, the better I could look
after Joshua, even if that was just long enough for him to run away.

I looked over at him, remembering that
Paddy was still in the room and launching myself at him was not appropriate. He
was in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt – dressed in something comfortable, as
I’d requested. He smiled when he caught me looking. “Now what do you need me
here for?”

I sheathed the sword and sauntered over,
giving Joshua a wide smile. “Joshua.”

He tilted his head and arched an eyebrow.
“I’m sure you’re trying to be all sweet and innocent, but you kinda look a
little crazy.”

Behind me, Paddy snorted. I looked back at
her and shot her a withering glare. Then I turned my attention back to Joshua
and toned the smile down. “I offered the angels a self-defense class, I mean
they’re out in the city, unarmed, while the Fallen are running around causing
trouble.”

“Okay,” said Joshua, drawing out the word,
and then his eyes widened. “You offered them a self-defense class run by me?”

“No!” I quickly disagreed. “I have every
intention of running it. I just don’t really know much about self-defense and I
was hoping you could help out,” I added, looking up at him with what I hoped
was a much more ‘sweet and innocent’ expression.

He shook his head. “That one’s no better.”

I looked helplessly at Paddy, but she
merely held her hands up. “Don’t drag me into this one. I’m going for a shower
and then I’m coming back with popcorn,” she laughed, disappearing from the
room.

“You know, puppy dog eyes do work on me,
but that,” he walked over, waving his finger around my face. “You need to work
on that, darlin’.” I snapped my hand out, grabbing his finger. With a quick
check over my shoulder to make sure Paddy had definitely left the room, I tugged
him to me. I stood on my toes and kissed him. Joshua pulled his finger free,
and wrapped his arms around my waist. As his hands suddenly went lower, seeking
out my back pockets, I couldn’t help but laugh, pulling away. He was smirking,
but he didn’t look the slightest bit embarrassed. “Mine,” he shrugged.

“Yours,” I agreed, my voice barely above a
whisper. I sighed and leaned forward, resting my cheek against Joshua’s chest.
We only had a few more minutes before the angels would start arriving.

“I’ll help,” Joshua said into my hair, as though
he could read my mind.

I reached up and kissed him one last time,
before reluctantly pulling away. “Thank you. Hopefully you won’t have to do
much.”

‘Much’ equated to nothing. Not a single
angel showed up. “I don’t believe it,” I muttered. Despite what Nyle had said at
breakfast, I had been certain that the conversation last night meant that at
least he would have turned up today.

“You want to give it a few more minutes?”
Joshua offered.

I shook my head. “What’s the point? I’ve
already given them twenty. No one is coming.”

“You wanna go get some lunch?” Joshua
asked. “Shrimp po’boy?”

My stomach answered before I could – a
shrimp po’boy was easily my favorite food. “Let me shower first.”

* * *

“What’s the matter?” Joshua asked.

I blinked, and looked over at him.
“Nothing.”

“Bullshit,” he declared. At my startled
expression, he pointed to my plate. “Untouched.” That was a little unfair. I
had picked a few shrimp out. “You don’t leave food, and you certainly don’t
leave a shrimp po’boy uneaten. Which means there’s something on your mind.”

I glanced around. It was lunchtime and the
restaurant in Mid-City was packed, but the surrounding tables all seemed
focused on their own meals. “I just don’t understand why they won’t help
themselves,” I blurted out. “They tell me that they’re sick of being treated the
way they are, and they get given an opportunity to do something else, and they
don’t.”

“They actually said that?” Joshua asked.
“That they don’t like the way they’re being treated?”

“Well, not in so many words,” I scowled.
“But they did acknowledge that they’re only seen as mindless and shallow.”

“That doesn’t exactly sound like they
want
to change things,” Joshua said, slowly. “I think you know that too.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Have you ever considered
a different career path?”

“Why would I do that when I’m annoyingly
good at this one?” he smirked.

“This whole ‘rules’ thing is still bugging
me,” I admitted with a sigh. “I don’t mind following rules, whatever they are,
but they seem to change with everyone I speak to. And then I spend so much time
thinking about this when really I should be thinking about Asmodeus and
Beelzebub and how I need to get them out of this city,” I frowned. “Okay,
that’s not going to help: they need permanently removing from this planet.
Let’s not forget that Lucifer is running around somewhere in the world.” I
slumped back into my seat and watched a mother scold her child for throwing
food a couple of tables over. “I just keep having the same things running
through my head on repeat and it’s not doing anyone any good. I made a list
yesterday, you know, and I’ve crossed nothing off it other than a change in
clothing,” I said, pointing to my jeans. I looked up and found Joshua smiling
at me. “I’m glad my shortcomings are amusing someone.”

“I’m not amused at your shortcomings,
darlin’,” he responded. “I’ve just gained a very valuable insight into your
mind and I like it.”

My eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”

“Who do we need to speak to, to get your
answers?” Joshua asked, instead of answering my question.

“I wish I knew,” I shrugged. “Darell
didn’t help. Cupid is turning into Michael 2.0. Hell, I’d go talk to Beelzebub
if I thought that he wouldn’t lie.” I sighed. “Angels hide the truth, the
Fallen twist it, and humans don’t have a clue.” I reached for the coke and took
a long sip, my attention back on the mother and child in the corner. He was
busy making a mess while eating, stuffing bread into his mouth. Slowly, he
started glowing white.

I sat, momentarily mesmerized, as I
usually was, whenever I could see auras. They were so pretty: the room was a
rainbow of softly glowing light. I turned back to Joshua to be greeted by his
silver aura, lines of hot pink shooting through it. The sight of it had
butterflies swarming in my stomach. The longer I stared at it, the more I
realized that the pink was turning to into red the closer it was to Joshua.

“I don’t know what’s going through your
mind right now, but I think I’d like it,” Joshua muttered, his dark blue eyes
fixed on me.

Given that my mind was about to turn into
something R-rated, I wasn’t surprised. I ignored my blushing cheeks and brought
my attention back to the aura. Hot pink was apparently a sign he liked me. I
was hoping that red meant something more.

I sat up sharply, blinking the auras away
as I stared at Joshua. “Hot pink,” I blurted out.

Joshua tilted his head. “Next hair color?”

“No, the auras,” I said, excitedly. “Mama
Laveau- oh what was her name…? Mrs. Johnston. We saw her about her son,
Preston, who had been murdered by Lilah.”

“I remember,” Joshua nodded. “You think
she would have answers? She seemed like she was missing a few key pieces
upstairs.”

“She seemed to know what I was,” I shrugged.

“Then let’s go,” Joshua said, throwing
some bills on the table as he got to his feet.

I frowned. “Don’t you have to be in work?”

“I have a couple of hours,” he replied.
“If we go now, you won’t have to wait until tomorrow.”

We both knew I was capable of going by
myself, but I appreciated the company. Abandoning my sandwich, I followed
Joshua out to his car.

* * *

The trailer was a lot more battered
looking since we had last been there. I tilted my head and stared at it. “I
don’t think anyone is in there,” I said.

“I don’t think anyone has been in there
for a while,” Joshua agreed. “Mrs. Johnston’s records still have her listed as
living here,” he added, though doubt lined his tone.

I wasn’t feeling hopeful as we walked up
the overgrown drive. The need to speak to Mama Laveau and see if she could shed
any light on angels was so great; I could already feel the disappointment
weighing me down. If she wasn’t here, and it was growing even more likely that
was the case with every step we took, then I was never going to get the answers
I needed and the afterlife was going to be a constant uphill battle of trying
to work out what was truth and what wasn’t.

Joshua climbed the few steps to the
trailer and rapped on the door – the screen long since gone. My fears were
confirmed when the door swung open. Even in the dim light within, I could see
that the place had been emptied. “Damnit,” I cursed, kicking a stone hard
against the broken wooden trellis at the bottom of the trailer.

Joshua took the steps back to me in one
leap, reaching out for me. “I’m sorry, darlin’,” he sighed, wrapping his arms
around me.

I allowed him to do so, relaxing into his
embrace. “I thought she would still be here,” I grumbled.

“She was old,” Joshua muttered, rubbing at
my back.

“If the legends are true, she was a couple
of centuries old. I was hoping she could have been around a little longer,” I
said. The words came out as unsympathetic, but I wasn’t – I was just so
disappointed she wasn’t there.

“Centuries?” Joshua repeated, slowly.
“Mrs. Johnston?” He stepped back and peered down at me. “Are you sure?”

“Mama Laveau – Marie Laveau?” I prompted.

“That’s not possible,” Joshua disagreed.

“You’re beginning to sound like me,” I
muttered. “But apparently it was possible. Michael was aware of her.”

Joshua didn’t say anything. He just
frowned, and then pulled me back to him. I glared down the short drive to the
road, wondering what we were going to do now. It took a few minutes of allowing
Joshua’s hands rubbing my back to distract me, when I realized we weren’t alone.
“We’re being watched,” I said.

Joshua’s hand went for his gun, but I
stopped him, stepping back so he could see what I could.

A child.

She was probably about eight, black,
pudgy, sat on a bike, and glaring at us. “Hi?” I called.

“She don’t live there no more,” she
responded.

“Mrs. Johnson?” Joshua asked.

“The witch lady,” the girl said, shaking
her head. “You gonnuh follow, or whut?”

I blinked several times and looked at
Joshua. Before either of us could respond, the girl was turning her bike around
and riding off. “I guess we are,” Joshua muttered, heading back to the car. I
hurried after him and we got in, following the girl.

It was a slow drive, and I caught Joshua
muttering about how he felt like a curb-crawler as we followed the girl.
Eventually, we turned down a dead-end street and she came to stop outside a
pale yellow house, pointing.

Joshua pulled the car into the drive and
we got out. The girl was already heading into a neighboring house, the bike
abandoned on the front lawn. We made our way to the porch, ready to climb up
and knock on the door, but a voice called out. “I’m out back!”

Joshua and I shared another look, and then
made our way into the back garden. Despite the ongoing heatwave the city was
suffering from, this garden was luscious and green, with all kinds of colored
flowers blooming.

It was a long garden with a backdrop of
tall trees covered in Spanish moss and tall leafy bushes. Right in the back
corner was a small pergola barely noticeable under the multicolored trumpet
shaped flowers. Other than roses and irises, I didn’t really know many flowers,
but there were dozens of different ones in this garden, all in full bloom. Even
the lawn, freshly cut to create stripes, was a rich green.