Angel Tormented (The Louisiangel Series Book 3) (23 page)

Nothing happened.

I stood, chewing at my lip, wondering if
I’d made a mistake. Possibly. Equally, I wasn’t on the best of terms with the
cherubim and it was also likely that they wanted to see what the catch was. So
I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Eventually, when I figured that standing
in an alley by myself was coming across as weird, I decided going directly to
the Plaza was going to be the only way I could make contact. I took exactly
four steps when something dropped in front of me, making me jump. This something
was one of the cherubim – I think her name was Noelle. I glanced up – she had
dropped gracefully from a two story building. “Hi, Angel. Veronica will see you
now.” She reached out and took my hand, and the next thing I knew, I was
standing in the Plaza Tower.

Veronica and Garret (I refrained from
returning the glower he was sending me) were both standing in front of me, arms
folded. “What do you want?” Garret demanded.

“I was hoping we could talk,” I said,
exuding more patience and calm than I knew I had in me. “Without any fighting,”
I added, giving Garret a pleasant smile. Shame I wasn’t able to throw grace
into that mixture.

“Can you manage that?” he shot at me.

I took a deep breath. “I vow to God that I
am not here to start fighting,” I told him.

Veronica sighed wearily. “Let’s sit,” she
said, indicating to the table.

I followed her over, taking one of the
mismatched chairs near one end. Garret chose to sit opposite me with Veronica
taking the head of the table. Interesting. This whole time I had assumed Garret
had been calling the shots, but now I wasn’t so sure.

“So what do you want?” Garret asked, the
scowl still etched into his face. I don’t think there was a teenager around who
could be more sullen than this one. “Or have you finally gotten your priorities
straight and realized that finding Lucifer is the single most important thing
you can do?”

I rolled my eyes. “No, the single most
important thing I can do is keep my charge safe,” I corrected him. “That’s my
priority.” I was quickly beginning to see why the cherubim were never given
charges, but I wasn’t about to rock the very unstable boat. I really hadn’t
come here to fight with them. “But my charge also happens to have a Prince of
Darkness for a lieutenant and I’m sure we can all agree that removing him would
also be considered an important thing to do, right?” I asked, calmly.

“You want to take on Asmodeus?” Veronica blinked
at me, surprised.

I nodded. “I have information that he’s up
to no good, and lives are at risk.”

“Lives are always at risk when it comes to
the Fallen,” Garret scoffed.

“Children,” I stated, simply, but I aimed
the words at Veronica. “Children’s lives are at risk.”

She considered what I was saying in
silence. “What is your source?”

“A nephilim,” I replied, coolly.

Her eyes went wide and she shook her head.
“There’s no way I’m trusting that source of information.”

“Then trust me, because I do,” I said, not
realizing that was the truth until I spoke it. Huh… I guess I did trust Ty.

“I hope that trust isn’t misplaced,” she
said.

So did I.

“I don’t know a why, or even a how,” I
admitted. “But I do know a who, I do know a where and I do know a when.”

Garret snorted. “That’s not a great deal
to go on.”

“I know,” I agreed. “That’s why I’m here
asking for your help.”

“And how does Cupid feel about you going
behind his back?” Garret sneered.

I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t help it. “If
I was going behind his back, he wouldn’t know about it, would he?” I asked,
unable to keep the derision from my words. “But the thing is, I’m not going
behind his back.”

“You’re not?” Veronica exclaimed in
surprise. “He knows you’re here?”

I nodded. “I told him everything I know
and he agrees that we need to see if there’s any truth to what’s being said. He
also agreed when I said we couldn’t do it alone, and he agreed that you guys
were the only ones that were capable of helping us.”

Veronica slumped back in her chair, pink
tinting her cheeks. “He did?”

“Yeah, right,” Garret scoffed.

I glared at him. “I said I didn’t come
here with the intention of fighting, and I didn’t, but if you’re not going to
contribute anything helpful, and insist on remaining as useful as a chocolate
fireguard, can you just leave me and Veronica to this conversation?”

Garret’s eyes narrowed into thin slits.
“What makes you think Veronica will listen to anything you say without me
present?”

“Oh, for goodness sake!” Veronica
exclaimed impatiently. “Why don’t you go iron a t-shirt?”

I wanted to kiss her.

“What’s the plan?” Veronica asked. “I’m
not agreeing to anything, other than to hear out what you have to say.”

“That’s all I ask for.”

“Actually, no, I ask for something else
from you,” I corrected myself at the last minute.

Veronica regarded me with hesitancy. “What
would that be?”

“I need you to take a vow: that regardless
of your decision, none of the cherubim will act on what I’m going to tell you
unless there’s a minimum of three there at all times,” I told her. I hadn’t
come with the intention of making them take a vow, but every time I thought
about the Port of New Orleans, my mind would always take me back to Michael.

“I don’t know if I can do that,” Garret
responded, with a look which told me the
only
reason he was saying that
was because that had been my response to all of their requests.

“Are you still here?” I shot at him.
“Look,” I turned my attention back to Veronica. “Michael and I went alone, and
now Michael isn’t here.
Michael
. The Michael who, no matter what you say
about him, was Heaven’s greatest warrior. The reason I need you to make that
vow is because I want you to stay safe. I’m not even making you agree not to
act unless it’s with us. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather you worked with us than
by yourselves, but if that’s what you’ve got to do, then that’s what you’ve got
to do. I just want you to be safe doing it.”

“Okay,” Veronica started. “But-”

She was cut off by Garret slamming his
hand down on the table. “Just like that, you’re going to agree when she never
agreed to anything with us?”

“Oh, enough already,” Veronica glowered at
him. “Go and get the other cherubim.”

I sat watching, feeling increasingly
uncomfortable as the tension in the air became so thick it hung like the
humidity outside. When Garret eventually did as was requested, that atmosphere
eased, but only fractionally: Veronica’s expression softened, but her posture
remained rigid. “I was chosen to make the day to day decisions, but if it’s
something that effects all the cherubim, then we vote,” she explained.

“That seems fair,” I nodded in
understanding as the room started to fill with other bodies. Although there was
a lot of noise created by Garret and the other fifteen cherubs taking their
places on the mismatched seats around the table, none of them said a word. It
seemed unnatural: all these teenagers and not one of them speaking? Okay, so
they weren’t actually teenagers, but they normally managed to act so much like a
stereotypical teenager that seeing them like this creeped me out. The more I
thought about it, the more the cherubim creeped me out in general. If they ever
fell, they would be positively terrifying.

“You all remember Angel, right?” Veronica
announced suddenly.

“As if we could forget her,” someone at
the other end of the table – I didn’t catch who – retorted. Their tone
indicated that was anything but a compliment.

“Chill, Dion,” Veronica told him, her
voice dangerously calm. “Angel is here asking for our help stopping Asmodeus.”

“But there’s a catch,” Garret’s annoying
voice rang out.

Veronica’s impatient look matched mine.
“Garret, unless you have something useful to add to this conversation, shut up.
It seems that Asmodeus is up to something which could put children’s lives at
risk.”

“So what’s the catch?” Dion asked. “Much
as I don’t want to return to that House, I’m not about to let children suffer
from my selfishness.”

“I need you to all take a vow to say that
you will not attempt to help, either with us, or by yourselves, unless you go
there with at least two other people. That’s it,” I shrugged. “I want you to
remain safe, and if that means an extra person available to go get help, then
that’s what I’m going to make you agree to. Michael and I didn’t have that
luxury.”

“That seems reasonable,” Noelle agreed. “I
mean, it’s not like she’s saying we
have
to work with them.” She said
them
like we were a virus.

“So we put it to a vote,” Veronica said.
“Majority wins. All those in agreement with the request, raise your hands.” I
looked down the table. Predictably, Garret didn’t raise his hand. Neither did
Dion. Everyone else did. “It’s decided,” she said.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Garret
snapped at her.

“Why?” I asked, loudly.

“Why what?” he grunted at me.

“Why don’t you think it’s a good idea?” I
repeated.

Garret’s eyes narrowed. “I wasn’t talking
to you.”

“It’s a good question though,” Veronica
told him. “Why don’t you think it’s a good idea?”

“How do we know she’s not going to lead us
into a trap?” he asked, staring pointedly at me. “I can tell she doesn’t like
me.”

“I don’t,” I agreed. “You’re a grade-A
douchebag, and if I didn’t have to see your face again, I wouldn’t miss it,” I
told him, truthfully. “The thing is, I don’t hold any ill feelings to the rest
of the cherubim and I certainly don’t want to see any of you get hurt. Hence why
I want you to go in bigger groups.”

“Bigger groups to take us out quicker,”
Garret said, still glowering at me.

“Why?” I asked him. “What reason would I
have to wipe out seventeen cherubs? Just because we’re no longer in the same
House doesn’t mean I want to kill you. If I really wanted to not see you
anymore, I’d just keep away.”

“You keep coming here,” he snapped.

“You keep kidnapping me and dragging me
here,” I snapped back. “I’m here today to ask for your
help
. I might not
be a conventional angel, but I’m still an angel. I earned my wings.”

“So did Lilah,” Garret shrugged. “It
didn’t stop her helping Beelzebub to kill potentials, and it hasn’t stopped you
from killing Michael.”

And there it was. The reason he didn’t
like me.

Veronica gasped. “Garret!”

I ignored her. “Lucifer was an angel,” I
pointed out. “But you don’t see me expecting all of you to start falling en
masse.”

“Lucifer was one of thousands. You are one
of two,” Garret said. “The odds don’t exactly stack up in your favor.”

“I’m not Lilah,” I said, firmly.

“You still managed to release Lucifer,” he
countered.

Whispers started up around the table and
the snippets I heard were siding with Garret.

“That was not intentional,” I said, trying
to remain unruffled. “I thought Lilah was going to kill my charge.”

“Still,” Garret folded his arms. “What’s
to say this isn’t a misguided effort to protect your charge again? Only we’re
the fallout, not Lilah.”

Telling Garret I didn’t like him had been
severely understating how I really felt about him. I don’t think there was
anyone who infuriated me as much as this guy, and there was certainly no one
who evoked such a need for violence than him – and that included all of the
Fallen I’d encountered. “I don’t know,” I said, finally. “I guess you have no
way of knowing that I’m not here to cause harm – intentional or otherwise.
You’re just going to have to trust me, like I’m trusting you.”

“I don’t,” he said, simply.

“Garret,” Veronica said in a low voice.

I stood. “You know what, Veronica? I don’t
even care. I appreciate that you work on the majority’s agreement, and I also
appreciate that the majority of you trust me,” I shot Dion a pointed look. “But
I’d prefer it if we worked on everyone’s agreement, so if that means you don’t
take the vow, so be it.”

“We will take the vow,” Veronica said,
hurriedly. “Like Dion said, we’re not going to risk the lives of children
because of two stubborn individuals, even if he is one of them.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I assured her.
“Because I’m not going to risk their lives either. I’m going to tell you
anyway.”

“You are?” Veronica asked, surprised.

“Yes, I will, but you’re all going to have
to come to the convent to hear everything, because I don’t want to explain
everything again.”

“We’re not welcome there,” Garret snapped.

“Actually, I’ve cleared it with Cupid.
He’s expecting you this evening,” I informed him.

Garret’s eyes turned to thin slits. “You
told him about us.”

“Of for God’s sake will you just chill the
hell out!” I finally yelled at him. “You left and we accepted that. He didn’t
ask where you were and I didn’t tell him. You’re not returning to the House,
it’s an invitation for dinner. The thing is, Cupid’s big enough to admit that
we need your help.” I turned to Veronica. “Now, if someone could get me the
hell out of here, I’d appreciate it.” I folded my arms and stared expectantly
at her.

She nodded and took me back to the
convent. “I’m sorry about Garret,” she muttered when we were alone in the
gardens.

“I really don’t care anymore,” I told her,
wearily. “Dinner is at seven.”

I left her there and walked back into the
convent, heading straight for the kitchen. Eugene was in there, helping my aunt
marinade the chicken. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone look so happy to be
plunging their hands into a bowl of raw chicken and sticky sauce. He looked up
with a grin on his face. “I got some good peppers.”

“Eugene is picking this up very well,”
Sarah said, rewarding Eugene’s delighted smile with a proud one of her own.

“Good,” I beamed. “I guess you’ll be happy
to make things a little more challenging?”

Eugene’s head bobbed enthusiastically, but
Sarah looked wary. “How much more challenging?”

“Cupid told you about another two angels
who might be joining us tonight?” I asked, suspecting that was the first thing
Cupid had done when I’d left the office.

Sarah nodded. “With Joshua and Leon,
rounding it up to four additional appetites to suppress.”

“Make it nineteen additional appetites,” I
offered, sheepishly. “At seven.”

Eugene’s mouth fell open in horror. “But
that’s only a few of hours away” he squeaked. “We don’t have time – we don’t
have enough chicken for fifty.”

“But we have enough ingredients to make
more sauce and we took delivery of shrimp this morning,” Sarah assured him,
calmly. “What did I tell you?”

“A good chef never panics,” Eugene recited
back to her. “But we’ve never made food for this many before.” Sarah held her
hand up and tutted at him. Eugene swallowed. “A good chef never panics,” he
repeated again.

“Good,” she said. “Now, let’s put this
bowl in the refrigerator and get those shrimp out. We’re going to need to shell
them and get them marinating.”

“That would be my cue to leave,” I
muttered. Much as I loved shrimp – and crawfish – shelling them was something I
did
not
enjoy. The thought of the odd leg sticking to my fingers already
had me cringing. I hurried from the room.

“Angel,” Sarah called after me. She
stepped out of the kitchen, and making sure Eugene’s attention was in the
fridge, shut the door behind her.

“Sorry for the lack of notice,” I told
her.

“That’s not what I wanted to say,” she
said. “I just didn’t want to say anything in front of Eugene.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Why does that make
me nervous?”

Sarah laughed. “It won’t make you nervous,
but it will send Eugene into a panic: have you forgotten what’s on Sunday?”

For a moment, I thought Cupid had said
something about Asmodeus, but her amused expression told me this was something
else altogether. “Yes,” I admitted.

“It’s Barbara’s birthday,” she reminded
me.

Barbara was her late husband’s mother.
Unlike a lot of things you hear about the mother-in-law, Sarah and Barbara had
always gotten on and their friendship had remained. Every year, we would travel
to Monroe and spend some time with them. Normally we went the day before
thanksgiving and returned on the Sunday because of school. “Oh crap, we should
be in Monroe now,” I realized with a pang of dismay. “I can’t go.”

“Don’t worry,” Sarah tried to reassure me.
“I spoke to Barbara a few weeks ago and said that you would be unlikely to come
this time because of work commitments, so she’s not expecting you. I pushed it
back because I wasn’t sure if I would be able to leave without those annoying
reporters, but things have been quiet and I spoke to my neighbor earlier who
assured me they’ve gone. I’ll get Eugene through this meal, but Cupid has
agreed to take me home after dinner has been served – I know you’ve got things
to discuss, and I know you need the whole convent present. If I go this
evening, I can pack and leave early tomorrow morning.”

“You don’t mind me not going?” I asked.

“Of course I’d love your company, and I
know Barbara would always love to see you, but we both knew that the time would
come when you wouldn’t be able to make it. I’m going to stay for the week
anyway,” she said. “I just want you to promise me that you’re going to be
careful with whatever it is you have planned.”

I threw my arms around her. “I think you
need to wait until just before you leave before you tell Eugene. I think he’s
going to freak out.” I pulled back. “A chef never panics?”