Angelic Avenger (35 page)

“Can I keep it?”

My voice sounded like my normal self and the angel blinked as he stared at me. I shrugged and grinned at him, finding my footing. They gave me a new body, right? I can’t be totally and truly dead. I wasn’t ready to be dead.

“Arabella.” He sighed my name, and for the first time in the dozen times I’d seen him he smiled, and it was a beautiful thing to behold. “This is your judgment. You’ve served your duty and set right a bit of the cosmic balance. Your duty to us is finished.”

“I don’t want to be dead,” I objected and frowned at them. “I liked my life as it was, thank you very much. It’s not fair to yank it back when it was starting to really work, for once.”

It sounded petulant, even to me, and I let the anger rise up. I had friends, now, and a man I loved. Granted, he was the half-blood son of my boss, but still, he loved me, too. That had to count for something.

Whatever he had been about to reply was cut off by a child’s voice from the back and I jumped as I spun around to face Elizabeth, her tiny body making the dark angel holding her hand look like a giant.

“She’s right.”

“I thought I saved her,” I whispered as she walked up the center aisle created by the angels stepping back for her to pass.

“You did, Arabella…” she smiled as she came to a halt behind the line created by Gavreel and Gabriel, “…but it’s more than you think. You see.” She dropped the hand of her escort and slipped across the line with a smile, holding out her hands to me.

I dropped and grabbed her hands, pulling her against me in a hug that women reserved for small children who had scared them to death. It effectively stopped her explanation, but she didn’t try to wiggle out of the hold until I loosened my hands to set her back from me. I opened my mouth to ask how she was here, but she simply smiled as she put her hand over my mouth.

“When an angel needs to be taught, they are reborn into a mortal coil until they learn the lesson intended. I am a vain soul that had bled to selfishness. I did not understand the concept of putting others above myself. While we are in chastisement, we are as mortal as any other human. Turel was coming to steal my essence to keep me from my ascension back to my place in Zachiel’s court. You saved me from that at the sacrifice of your immortality, knowing what your fate would be; your only concern was seeing to it that I survived.”

She stepped back from me and the tiny body that had sung Old McDonald from the booster seat in my car just this morning began to shimmer and grow with a light so bright, I had to look away from it. When the flash was enough for me to look back, I gaped at the vision in front of me. She was a neutral angel and her wings flowed out from her shimmering gown of green coated with feathers so red they stood out vividly like blood floating across a pale surface. Her face was still the face of the child, but the planes held the grace of maturity and beauty only hinted at before. I stood, but it didn’t make much difference. She towered over me as she held her hands out to me.

“I’ll never forget the sacrifice you made, Arabella, and will be singing songs to your courage that will rival any hymn you’ve ever heard from us.”

I’m sure I was getting the
Reader’s Digest
version of the story, but I’d never understood the political maneuvering involved in the angelic domains, so wasn’t really prepared to ask questions. It made sense on a basic level and I was happy to take that. Most of the time, angelic reasoning left a lot to be desired.

She kept my hand in hers as she started to Zachiel, but I dug in my heels even as I shook my head. I’d been around the block enough times to know if I let him take my hand, I was as good as sitting in Purgatory waiting for my number to come up.

“You’re welcome.” I smiled as I slipped my hand free and stepped back to Gavreel. “Are you my ride home?”

I ignored the slightly desperate tinge to my voice as well as the audience, which was growing even as the drama unfolded.

“You always were a stubborn one.” Suriel sighed and stepped back. He didn’t look at the judges or anyone else as he pondered what to do with me. “You have a choice. Your sacrifice has earned you the boon of erasing the stain on your soul. Your choice is your corporeal body or your soul.”

I blinked. Compromise? Of all the angels, Suriel was the least likely to bargain with. I knew because I’d tried on more than on occasion and always walked away frustrated and disappointed. I’d also done enough business with angels not to assume anything.

“Can I be taller?”

“No.”

Hell, it was worth a try, but it was somewhat disappointing to see my effort to push my luck didn’t even merit a grin from any of the parties involved.

“So, to clarify.” I began to pace slightly. I always think well when I’m moving. “I can walk through that door and get my mulligan as if nothing ever happened. Five, six, seven years from now, I’ll get born into a new body and live another life without any complications with all the good from my immortal service reaping back on me.”

“No,” Suriel did smile this time, “you can walk through that door and be reborn as you were when you died with the stain of your suicide removed from your soul.”

I grinned back, but didn’t stop moving as I thought about how to get the better end of this deal.

“Okay, then, can’t argue with the fairness of that one. My other option is to take my new body and jump right back where I was with my one-way ticket firmly in my pocket.”

Either way, it was life, right? I stopped and turned to him, a slight smirk on my face as I slipped my hands in my pockets, suddenly realizing he might not have made me taller, but he had made me thinner and fitter, if only a touch. Somehow, I didn’t think I would argue for any more embellishments than that.

“Think very carefully, Arabella,” his voice was low and rife with meaning, “there won’t be another chance like this. Your lover will not share your afterlife with you, so you’ll only have what time he dwells on the mortal plane. He will age while you do not. Surely, having him wait for a century in heaven for you to meet him for eternity is preferable to fifty years of watching him age and die only to have to spend the rest of your eternity with nothing more than the memory of his touch.”

Put like that, it seemed like a shoddy deal, but my head was shaking before he’d even finished.

“You’ve never been in love, Suriel, so you wouldn’t understand how the memory of a touch can fuel so much more. If fifty years is all I get, then that’s all I get. I’ll make the most of it.”

I turned on my heel and walked up to Gavreel, resolution plain on my face.

“So, are you my ride home?”

“No.”

I looked beyond him to see Gray standing at the back of the room. Joy flowed off him like waves and I wondered who had been cruel enough to bring him here to watch my decision. That was a question for another time, though. Right now, all that mattered was he was here. He started forward and I found myself walking to meet him so that we met in the middle of the host of angels watching us.

“I am.”

“You’re what?” I asked softly as I reached out to touch him, making the first move even as my hand trembled.

“I’m the ride home.”

My confusion must have shown on my face as he reached up to cup my cheek like I was cupping his.

“Some of us,” he whispered as he pulled my face toward his, “are allowed to be more.”

“How much more are you?” I whispered back.

“More than enough for you to handle, sweetheart.”

He kissed me and I poured myself into it without a thought to our audience. I didn’t feel the shift that took us home until I found myself being pushed back on my bed with a laugh.

“Don’t waste any time, do you?”

“I just had the light of my life choose eternity in Hell for me,” he breathed as he looked down at me, his eyes shining silver in the moonlight, “I think I’m entitled to a little celebration.”

So celebrate we did.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Noise woke me. I blinked at the clock as my foot slid over to Gray’s side of the bed, already cool to the touch. It was after eight, so he would have been gone a good while. I knew that, but some part of me still craved the security of the evidence of his presence in our bed. The past two weeks since the day my life changed forever had been almost painstakingly wonderful. Of course, Gray was still working on gaining back the ground he had lost.

When my body had blown apart and been given that subtle makeover, the hard wiring on the new one was changed so we were no longer soul-mated. The rest of the changes had been so subtle, no one had commented on them. I was hoping none of the new people in my life thought it was anything more than those small changes a woman makes when she’s settled into a new relationship.

While I was perfectly fine with loss of spiritual connection considering how it had come about in the first place, Gray was groveling. He wanted the whole nine yards, shared magic, life force, and everything. Most guys don’t even want to share an apartment. Maybe he’d be the one picking out the china so I wouldn’t have to.

Raised voices brought me out of my musing and I tossed the covers back. If Honora and Tony were going to fight, at least they could wait until I was up. It was my house, after all. Well, technically, it was still Gray’s, but I’d staked a claim when I had sublet my apartment to Ben. I obviously didn’t need it, anymore. The diamond on my finger caught the morning light and I took a moment to admire it even as I wondered if Ben had managed to evict Foras yet.

We all missed Lizzy, but Honora was the only one who needed an explanation. When I’d told her that Lizzy’s father’s business trip had ended early and he’d sent for her to come home, Honora had asked if she would be back for the wedding. I’d simply said that it was unlikely and hoped Honora would let the subject drop. So far, so good.

There was very little doubt about making the marriage proposition official, but no one said I had to make it easy on the guy. Since he’d not even officially proposed, he had some making up to do on the wooing front. Speaking of wooing, the fight was escalating downstairs, so I tossed on a robe and meandered into the kitchen in search of coffee. The one good thing about Tony living with us was that he was good for making the morning coffee. If it weren’t for that, I’d have made him find his own place to live. With a little bit of luck, he’d be moving in with Honora sooner rather than later. They just needed the proper nudge.

“Lord, do you guys mind? You’re making enough noise to raise the dead. I should know.”

Tony scowled at me, but the look on Honora’s face was angry and hurt. Sometimes, it was easy to forget that there were people in our immediate circle who didn’t know what I am. Before I could say anything else, Tony stuffed a coffee cup into my hand with a quelling look.

“Slept in?”

The bite to his tone didn’t faze me as I took a sip of my coffee. Man, the guy was good at coffee. Of course, I was less than human without it, so he had probably learned his lesson by now.

“Did I forget something?”

“Dress shopping, apparently.”

I was trying for nonchalance. Tony was going for grumpy all the way around. Honora looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here.

“Was that today?”

“You asked me to come by and remind you that sports bras don’t work for trying on formals. We’ve got an appointment with Monique at nine thirty. I thought we’d get some breakfast on the way and talk about what had gone wrong the last time.”

The last time, for the record, was not my fault. There must be something sadistic in a woman who will open a bridal boutique. Last week, we’d met with a woman who insisted a corset would shave three inches off my waist and that was all I needed to wear this awful concoction she had tucked in her back room for “just the right person”. I happen to be fond of my waist, but more than that, I’m fond of breathing. There was a reason Victorian ladies were always fainting. Not needing to breathe had not made the thing any more bearable.

“Well, the woman was a sadist. I’m sure your friend will be nicer about my little bit of fluff. Corsets are not for me.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I think…”

Whatever Tony was about to say faded at the dual glares Honora and I sent him. With a huff, he stormed out of the kitchen. The front door slamming was the only evidence as to his direction.

“Honestly, Bella…”

I turned to look at Honora with a grin. “You know, you could throw him down and have at him. It’d make both of you feel better.”

Her eyes widened and she blushed crimson. Oh, to be blessed, or cursed, depending on how you looked at it, with a fair complexion.

“Bella!”

“Well, it’s true. How long are you going to make him suffer? He’s sorry for what he did and you’ve already admitted partial fault for the situation.”

Her blush deepened and she stared down at her hands on the counter. “Well, as long as it takes. He took me for granted and I’m borrowing a page out of your book. You have Gray eating out of your hand because you insisted he come to terms with who you are instead of bending to suit him.”

Oh, me and my big ideals. My future brother-in-law was so going to make me pay for that once he realized what had gotten into the love of his life. And so started yet another day to make me appreciate the appeal of Vegas. Of course, it ended up where about all my Wednesday nights were ending up these days, safely nestled in my favorite corner of Down The Hatch with an apple martini in hand.

There are days a woman has to pat herself on the back for being lucky. Today was one of them for me despite the beginning. The spotlight shone on the stage as the sweet melody of saxophones soothed the eager audience waiting for Angelic Melodies to put in their scheduled appearance. Gray and Tony were definitely putting on a warm-up show. Tall and lean, they were a woman’s wet dream, and I knew for a fact half the women in the crowd would be dreaming of all sorts of naughty business tonight. Me? I didn’t have to dream. I got the real thing. See what I mean about lucky?

Craig slipped another martini in front of me without wasting one of his smiles on me. I almost teased him about it, but he hurried off before I got a chance. There had been a time when that would have bothered me, but things were different now. Gray made them different.