Angelic Avenger (4 page)

“Oh, you have some true talent, Honora. Have you thought about going professional? I know a guy who’d so love to hear you sing. Do you have a demo?”

There was my sinker. The man she was dating was trying to push her to go professional and cut him in on a third of her gross. From what I’d heard, I’m guessing that meant for the lifetime of her contract. Unfortunately, young women in love weren’t the most predictable or rational women, especially about trusting sneaky men with their money.

“My boyfriend, Andy, is working on helping me get one.”

She blushed prettily, and it only managed to emphasize how alabaster her skin was, and how it stood out against the deep auburn highlights of her hair and the crystal clarity of her green eyes. Women like this made women like me hate them simply because we look like geese among swans next to them. Somehow, though, I found myself liking the shy smile and the slight uncertainty of her manner despite that.

“Andy Calhoun?” I looked confused as I turned to shake my head according to my scripted part of our encounter. It took more than a little effort not to glare at the angel lurking in the background observing his little one-act play. “You’re Andy’s girlfriend? I’m sorry. I didn’t realize he and Tiffany broke up. I saw them in passing at dinner the other night.”

Her face fell and I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stand there and follow through on Orifiel’s plan to stare into that perfect face and lie to her. I’d have to find another way to get the job done.

“I’m sure I was mistaken, though.” I smiled encouragingly. “I was running in for a take-out order and didn’t even think about it again until I saw him at the club later. After all, with a girl like you on his horizon, no sane man would be looking for greener pastures. Anyway, why I asked about the demo is I have some friends who can help with that, if you’re thinking about it.”

Smiling, I realized with a start how much I really did like her. I pitied the poor fool who thought he was going to use and abuse her, though. I was going to pick my teeth with his bones.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. The presence of greatness has set me on my heels.” I smiled wider and held out my hand, totally ignoring Orifiel’s laughing scowl. “I’m Arabella Morrison.”

“Honora Jefferies.” She smiled back and took my hand and my entire arm tingled from that simple touch. “But then you already knew that, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.” I took my hand away and stroked the tree I’d stopped at more to get a handle on my rioting senses. Maybe I wouldn’t kill it after all. “I did, but it’s very nice to be able to say that I’ll be able to tell people I knew you before you were famous. So, does it ask to be fed?”

“Only if you know how to listen.” Honora smiled in return and it reached all the way up to her eyes, making them glow with good will. “But I can teach you that trick.”

Just like that, I realized, I made a friend.

Chapter Three

The line for Down the Hatch wrapped around the corner at Underground Atlanta, but those standing in line were probably grateful to be lounging and hoping for a seat inside in the old subway tunnel instead of the cold outside. Me? I had a free pass in the door in the form of a note from my new best friend, the star of the evening. The shifter at the door was a bear and he knew me on sight as much as I knew him. A sliver of fear ran through his eyes as I smiled and held up my note. It saddened me to know that I could make a brawny man easily twice my weight and a foot taller than me know fear. Was I really that scary? God, I hoped not.

“Pleasure, Winston,” I assured him with a smile, “I’m only here to listen to the band.”

He took the note and read it with a small smile as he relaxed. The good thing about the innocent, law-abiding types was they didn’t hold my profession against me. I liked them and for the most part, they tolerated me. It was hard for them to accept me knowing someday they might be standing on the other end of my assignment.

“Enjoy the show, Arabella.” He nodded and the man behind him opened the door. “Take a tip from a regular; it doesn’t matter where you sit to watch it. All the people who haven’t been here before will be crowding for the stage, but I find the show is much better when you’re far enough back to take in the view.”

“Thank you, Winston.” I smiled and nodded. It sounded like good advice. “I’ll do that.”

With that last shared smile, I slipped in the door and found the place packed. I wasn’t surprised. Having a note to get in meant I didn’t have to get here early to wait, so the show was gearing up to start. Heading straight to the bar, I ordered a drink, not bothering to try to peer through the groupies at the stage. It would have been wasted effort. If I had any doubts Honora and her band had a fan following, they were doused by the sheer excitement racing through the room. I spotted a stool available at the back corner of the bar and made a move toward it. Toward the back of the club, there weren’t as many people. Those that were there chatted among themselves and lacked the expectancy that was rife in the crowd toward the front of the stage. The regular in-crowd, I assumed and took my place among them as discreetly as I could. Sliding on the barstool, I turned to get my first look at the band that was warming and chatting on the stage.

The only thing that kept me from dropping my drink was that it was sitting on the bar. Honora had told me the band had nine members, other than herself, and that tonight, they’d all said they’d be there. Usually, someone begged off for various reasons and they went on with whoever could get there. The fact that I’ve never seen nine more beautiful people together wasn’t what shocked me, but it was a fact worth mentioning.

They were all carrying angel blood. Every single one sported angelic heritage. They might not have been a full half, but they were all at least a quarter magical.

Honora stepped onto the stage and stood in the center of the men like a rose among its thorns. That made eleven. Apparently, they’d picked up a stray, but I wasn’t going to complain. It was enough to make anyone shiver, but it made me shake. Remember when I said I was dead, but not buried? For those guys, I’d rise from the grave. They were that yummy.

The entire band glowed with various levels of inner light characteristic of halflings, with Honora’s light being by far the brightest. I knew that I was in for a treat. I’d heard the angels sing in full chorus; however, this was going to be a bit wild and untamed in a way that those choirs weren’t. With that much magic creating it, I was willing to bet the room was going to be so full an incubus could feed off it.

I took a drink of my apple martini and tried not to choke on it when a light even brighter walked in from off stage. The dark-haired man carried a saxophone that shone with polish in the dim light, showing how well loved the instrument was. Unlike the others, his light had a distinct color, a trait carried only by the most powerful. His entire body shone with a faint blue light that gave me shivers for a completely different reason. If the other men were enough to drag me from the grave, the newcomer was enough to pull me out of that wonderful crematory vault I paid for and visited regularly, ashes and all.

He was taller than the others were, standing over six feet and he wore his dark hair conservatively short. His jeans were well worn, but the black T-shirt he wore was new and the shoes were shined, as was his belt buckle. I was willing to bet this wasn’t his regular gig because he carried himself with a confidence that depicted high-powered success. When he glanced out across the crowd, I expected to find his eyes dark, but clear, icy blue met mine in a clash as if they were looking for me. With a start, I realized that I knew him, or rather, had encountered him before, that morning. It was the man from the nursery minus his expensive suit. I liked him better in casual clothes, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing, or maybe it was. For the first time, I was glad I didn’t have to breathe. Our gazes locked for a heartbeat and I was glad when he broke away.

He dropped his head down to say something to Honora and her gaze followed his nod to rest on me. I toasted her with my drink and she grinned as she turned her face to him and said something that made him laugh. Whatever it was, I knew I was going to owe her a sincere thank you when he blew me a kiss before taking a space off to the side of center stage as they fell into place for the first number.

The bartender didn’t refill my glass through the performance. He was a shifter, but I didn’t know him personally and didn’t waste the energy to type him. I could tell he was enjoying my reaction to the show. I had been right. The magic in the room was enough to get anyone of a remotely magical bend drunk with it. To say that I was going to be walking crooked when I left was the understatement of the century. It was a good thing I wasn’t driving even though I wasn’t going to pop on any breathalyzer intoxication report known to man.

I blinked at the Irish coffee that materialized in front of me as Honora did her last number of the night. The pianist accompanied her and I realized they might not know the why of it, but they knew their music had a profound effect on their audience and had set up the show to end everything on a mellow note. I could easily see a riot if they’d tried to leave mid-performance.

“Does that help?” I quipped, unable to resist the laughing look in the bartender’s amber eyes.

“Honestly? No.” He smiled at me and I had the sudden moment of clarity to wonder when the lions had come to town before dismissing it as irrelevant as long as they abided by the covenants of secrecy. “But I’m about to lose a hundred bucks to the guy tending the other end because you are
so
not going to be walking straight to the after party. You might as well smell like you had a drink or two to justify it.”

“You bet a hundred dollars on what, exactly?”

Since when was I the subject of betting pools? Of course, as high as I was feeling in the aftereffects of the performance, I really didn’t mind too much. I was glad I hadn’t done anything drastic to embarrass myself like dance on the bar.

“That the big, bad Arabella Morrison wouldn’t be bothered by a little bit of angelic harmony.”

I blinked at him owlishly, which only made him smile broader as he flipped his gaze down me suggestively. Any other time, I might have flirted back. He was tall, muscular, and generally my type with his blonde hair and boyish smile. Any other time, he probably wouldn’t be a flickering candle next to the bonfires of power shining on the stage. It was somewhat humbling to realize I was still woman enough to be sucked into the force of it.

“Okay, for starters,
that
was more than a little bit of magic and you know it. Secondly, you don’t know me well enough to start making bets like that. It would serve you right to fork up and learn your lesson.”

“Your reputation precedes you, darlin’,” he drawled and winked, “maybe some night you can come in when they’re not here and we can…chat?”

My favorite trait about shifters is that they always understand the limits of their abilities. It must be the animal nature that kept them in tune to the natural competition in the world. He knew he didn’t have a chance in hell, figuratively speaking, of landing any woman in here tonight, so his answer was to line up another opportunity. I couldn’t help but laugh as I sipped the coffee.

“Sorry about your bet, honey—” I smiled at him with absolutely no remorse whatsoever, “—but for starters, the only place I’m heading for is a cab outside so I can stumble home to sleep it off. Other than that? I’m only a casual friend of Honora’s. I never got invited to the after party.”

“Now, that’s simply not true.” The laughing voice came from behind, making me jump. “She sent me over here to fetch you and sneak you off before any of the other new folks figured out where the action was.”

I turned on my stool to eye the trumpet player behind me. He was probably the least angelic of the bunch, but that didn’t stop his little boy smile from looking less adorable with a sexy slant. His aura was a bare halo around him, which explained why he was able to sneak up on me in my inebriated state. Thankfully, it lessened his appeal and made my hackles rise a bit. I hated people who could sneak up on me as a rule, even ones sporting blond halos. Well, maybe hate was a bit too strong, but it still put him safely on the shelf as far as licentious pursuits.

“So you’re hoping to avoid the party crashers.” I nodded as I glanced around the room. Though most of the people were still watching the stage, a couple of women were still watching him. “I think your fan base is going to be disappointed.”

He blinked, followed my eyes to the woman who’d risen from her table to head toward them with a decidedly lecherous look in her eye. He blushed before he stepped closer and whispered.

“Sorry.”

I blinked as his lips settled on mine and I froze. It took every ounce of charity I had left not to jump back and tell the man my dates didn’t even get kisses on the first date, much less the first meeting. Okay, every so often, they had gotten that kiss or a little more, but that was beside the point. Let’s say my social life hadn’t improved overly much since Chris had walked out on me. What little time I spent with the opposite sex these days had everything to do with the baser needs of humanity and that didn’t involve kissing men with little boy smiles.

Once I got over the shock of it, though, it wasn’t bad, at all. Okay, it was beyond fabulous, and I might have clung a little harder than I should have when he pulled away. I blinked up at him and made a silent vow: I was never coming into this place again. Ever. It had far too many pitfalls for people like me. I reached around for my coffee and scowled to hide my blush at the laughing eyes of the bartender who had the gall to wink at me.

“Don’t count out that cash yet, Simba.” I stood with my hand on the trumpeter’s arm. “No one said I had to be walking without a hand.”

I saw surprise flash in his eyes as well as my new escort’s.

“Right species, wrong cat,” he quipped, but I could see the pieces falling together behind his astute gaze. I guess it’s hard to stay low-key when my reputation obviously precedes me. Every shifter in the place probably knew I was here.