Angelic Avenger (9 page)

His eyes widened until he caught the mischief in mine. I was really going to have to work on my poker face.

“I deserved that.” He sipped his coffee and reached out to spear another bite of apple caramel crumb cake on his fork.

“Yes,” I agreed as I leaned forward with a suggestive wink. “You did.”

He obligingly offered the fork and I stole his bite. We were sharing, after all. So what if I had eaten most of it. He owed me.

“What about you?”

“What about me, what?” I asked around the cake in my mouth.

“Tell me something about you. This entire night has been about me. I’d like to know something about you.”

Here I thought a man’s favorite topic was himself. My guard went up automatically. I’d been having such a nice time, too.

“Not much to tell, really. I was an only child. My parents died when I was in college. My grandmother died a few years back leaving me the trust that I live on. It’s a quiet and simple life, but I like it.”

“Well, I was hoping for something more personal than that.” He smiled his deadly smile. That had to be intentional. I was willing to bet the man had an arsenal of looks designed to weaken the defenses of even the most reluctant woman.

“I like jazz music and tequila sunrises after a hard day.”

I managed to say it in a totally deadpan voice and I could tell it wasn’t what he was hoping for. In a lot of ways, I felt sad that I couldn’t share with him. Truth was there wasn’t much to share. Those were the basic statistics of my life. I really did have a grandmother who had died and left me a trust, but it hadn’t been large enough to live on. It had been enough to pay for my wedding and honeymoon. Chris had been delighted that we were getting married without having to spend any of “our” money. He would think that considering he had gotten to enjoy the honeymoon.

I pulled my mind out of such maudlin thoughts and finished my coffee in a gulp.

“Let’s go on back to my place. You have an early day tomorrow.”

“Is it too much to hope that’s an invitation?”

I blinked at him and shook my head as I chuckled.

“Yes, it is.” I waited a heartbeat to let the full effect of his hope rise before I dashed it with clarification. “Too much to hope, that is. I don’t know you nearly well enough to let you stay the night.”

Yes, the man was going home at the end of the evening, but as to how much longer the evening lasted, I was leaving my options open. Somehow, I think he got that part of it, too. I do love smart men.

We strolled down the sidewalk in silence, enjoying the crisp feeling of the night. My mind was on the more pleasant aspects of the fantasy of what could happen rather than what was likely to happen with the rest of the evening. A girl can dream, after all.

It wasn’t the scream that got me, but the backwash of presence that indicated strong power. I was off and running without a thought, belatedly realizing I couldn’t run to my full potential with Gray hot on my heels. There were times that keeping superhuman secrets was inconvenient. This was one of them. I rounded the corner of the alley in time to see the dark angel standing over the body of a woman; he was glowing with presence and malice as he turned toward the child hovering in an alley doorway.

He sensed me and turned toward the mouth of the alley, his mouth pulling back in a sneer as he hesitated. I could tell he didn’t know whether to come at the child or me. The woman on the ground had already passed, so didn’t waste my effort trying to save her. Instead, I angled myself to the opposite side of the alley, gathering my own power to me and hoped that one Gray Devereau lacked the magical sensitivity of his halfling heritage. I knew better, but it still didn’t hurt to think about it. There was going to be some explaining to do instead of the more pleasant thoughts about the potential ending of my evening.

With a roar, the angel seemed to decide discretion was the better part of valor and disappeared in a surge of magic. But he vanished a heartbeat
after
I saw the madness shining from his eyes.

Hell.

How was I supposed to explain
that
?

I started toward the little girl as Gray bent down beside the woman as if he’d not just witnessed a man disappearing into the shadows. I dropped down in front of her and took her hands. Her hair was brunette, but the red highlights shone through in the light over the door.

“Hey, sweetie.” I smiled as I took her hands, probing her mind to make sure she was okay. “My name is Bella. What’s yours?”

“Elizabeth Monroe,” she replied in a singsong voice as she looked into my eyes. “The bad man hurt mommy.”

Two things hit me almost at once. First, she was a halfling. Where were they all coming from all of a sudden? Were they falling out of the sky? The Great War was over, already.

The second thing was she was not afraid. That was what got me the most. How could a child witness the murder of her mother and not be afraid of strangers?

I glanced over my shoulder at the sound of Gray’s voice, calling 911.

“You need to take her home.”

I jumped and whirled to find Gavreel standing beside the body of the woman.

“She needs to be protected.”

I shot him a glare that said, very simply that I wasn’t exactly alone enough to talk to him right now.

Gray and I began to talk at once as he snapped his phone shut. We effectively cut each other out even as Gavreel stomped his foot.

“We don’t have time to argue.”

“We’re not arguing.” We both turned to snap at him and I blinked.

Gavreel rolled his eyes as Gray’s eyes widened and he suddenly looked very guilty. The shoe was on the other foot. Oh, the man had a lot of explaining to do.

“You can see him.”

“Of course he can see me.” Gavreel sighed with a shake of his head. “Most can, if the blood is strong enough. Isn’t that right, sweeting?”

“You have pretty wings. Can I pet them? They look soft.”

Gavreel was suddenly kneeling beside me, wrapping his wings around so the little girl could touch them. I hadn’t even seen them, but she had.

“This nice lady is going to take you home with her and protect you from the bad man.”

I blinked. I was? Whoa, wait a minute. Since when had I become a babysitting service?

“Gav, honey—” I broke all sorts of protocols and grabbed his hand, “—we need to talk. You stay right there, sweetheart.”

I dragged him off a few feet and glowered up at him.

“I don’t do kids, Gav.” I floundered as I glared at the man across the way. “Send her home with Mr. Look-Who-Sees-Angels over there, who you
obviously
know.”

“He’s mortal and you are not. A mortal halfling is no match for a full blood angel gone mad.”

He made absolutely no effort to clarify my implied question. Somehow, that only made me madder. Why was I left feeling like I was missing a few pieces of a very large puzzle? Oh yeah, because the boneheads in my life were hiding things.

“And I am?” I demanded and let the frustration boil over into my tone.

“No, but you can fend him off long enough for help to arrive. We will not abandon you, but this is a time of crisis. She goes home with you or mortals die. Turel will be stopped, but that is a task for us to manage. Until then, you are charged with keeping her safe.”

“Um…Gav, that could take years. I know how you guys are with time. How am I supposed to care for a human child?”

“She’s not human,” he clarified with a rare smile as I rolled my eyes.

“Fine, a halfling child, then. I don’t exactly have babysitters lined up around the clock, you know. Besides, I doubt Mr. Devereau, over there, is going to let me waltz out of here with a child who witnessed a murder, even a supernatural one.”

“Gray understands the greater good here.”

He was acting as if this was all a run of the mill scenario. Who had abducted my boss and replaced him with a clone? Turning back to the man in question, I wasn’t really surprised to find him staring at us.

“No one saw anything but us,” Gray said, as if that backed up Gavreel’s wild plan. “There’s no reason why she’s not set. She can go home with Bella and no one will be the wiser.”

“Gee, thanks,” I muttered and jumped when a small hand tangled in mine.

“Don’t you want me?”

Looking into those bright eyes filling with tears, I knew I was about to have a crash course in children.

“Are you potty-trained?” I smiled when she nodded enthusiastically, tears instantly dry as if they’d never been. “Then we’re good.”

With a final glare at my boss, I led the little girl from the alley, leaving behind Gray to deal with the body of her mother and the police, if they came at all. At least that wasn’t my headache.

“So, Elizabeth,” I started conversationally, “do you have a nickname or does everyone call you Elizabeth?”

“Mommy calls me Elizabeth Marie when I’m in trouble, but I really don’t like that. Do you have a kitty? I always wanted a kitty, but Mommy’s allergic. She said that I could ask Santa for a puppy when we got a house, but we couldn’t have one sooner on accounts the apartment was too small…”

I had opened the floodgates. By the time we reached my apartment, I wondered if the child even needed to breathe. The thought crossed my mind that Gavreel must have played in her mind, too. My chattering companion wasn’t fazed by what she’d witnessed at all. It worked to my advantage, that’s for sure. I’d much rather have a happy and chattering child than a hysterical one.

How had I ended up on this detail, again?

Chapter Eight

Orifiel laughed at me as I came out of my spare room. Elizabeth had finally been tucked in after begging for three stories. Of course, I doubted very seriously that my selection of reading material was suitable for little ears, so they had to be made up off the cuff.

“Don’t even start with me,” I growled as I flopped across my couch. Orifiel snapped his fingers and handed me a cup of coffee. Oh, the angel had my number, bless him. I so needed it. “What did I do to deserve this?”

“You did a wonderful thing. I really liked the red bunny story.”

“Where do kids get those ideas?” I groaned.

“It’s called imagination. I think you had one at some time or another.”

“Ha ha, very funny.”

There was no heat behind the words. I was grateful for the company. Children terrify me. I have no idea what to do with little people. Did they even eat the same things I do? I was startled out of my tangent when the door opened without knocking as Gray strolled in with Gavreel close behind.

“That certainly took you long enough. What did you do, give them a full detailed report about raving lunatic angels that you’re not supposed to be able to see running rampant through the streets killing off innocent bystanders?”

“Orifiel, thank you for staying. Gray and I will take over from here.” Gavreel acted as if I hadn’t said a word.

I blinked as I stared at them. Surely he didn’t stroll into my house and dismiss my friend? Before I had a chance to say anything, Orifiel was gone.

“Well, that was rude.”

“Bella, sarcasm and petty tantrums aren’t going to get us where we need to go tonight.”

“Where we need to go? Let’s see. How about we start with some answers?” I jumped up and began pacing. I always think better when I’m moving, have I mentioned that? “You, Mr. Devereau strolled in here knowing what I was on the first day, didn’t you?”

I know, of all the things to start with, my wounded ego was the least sensible. Unfortunately, that was only the start of my injury as my mind began spinning out of control and the missing pieces began to fall into place.

“Bella…” Gray started, but I didn’t let him finish.

“You—” my finger jabbed in Gavreel’s direction, “—set this whole thing up, didn’t you? Orifiel’s in on it, isn’t he? This is…”

I blinked and froze. Set us up? Was I really dating this man? Slowly, I looked between them. Spinning on my heel, I stalked over to Gray. Poking him in the chest, I continued.

“I can’t believe you let him pimp you out like this.” My temper went through the roof. If I had blood pressure, I’m sure it would have red-lined. Spinning away from him, I resumed my agitated pacing.

“It’s not like it was that big of a trial, Bella. I had a choice.”

“And that makes me feel so much better, even. What’s the matter? Can’t you find enough women who are breathing to keep you happy?”

To say I was furious was an understatement. I continued my rant without looking to see if either of them was listening. I ran my fingers through my hair in agitation. I couldn’t believe it had come to this. My boss was buying my men. How pathetic is that?

“I can’t believe you would do this to me. Am I so pathetic that you have to use coercion? What did he offer you?”

I was flipping between them, not letting them respond. I wanted to blast them, to hurt them as badly as I was hurting. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized exactly how much hope I’d been pinning on the promise of what Gray Devereau could be to me.

“Arabella.” Gavreel’s voice stopped me cold and I whirled to face him. Before I could fire off another litany, he continued, “You were showing rather questionable taste in your companions so we took it upon ourselves to ensure that you realized there were more viable options out there.”

“Companions? I have companions? Where? I don’t even have dates, much less companions. Hell, ask anyone. It’s not like the lot of you aren’t popping in and out of my apartment at all hours of the day or night. If I were having any type of sex at all, you would know about it.” I threw my hands up and had to remember to keep my voice down because of the sleeping mini-person in my guest room.

“Foras.”

That had my attention. He couldn’t possibly think Foras and I were intimate? I thought about it for a second and had to admit of all the angels, he was the one who was most often hanging out at my place. I’d always figured it was because he was out of a job, but apparently, I was the only one who thought that way.

“Foras? You think I’m shacking up with the Devil’s General? Do I look stupid to you? He’s a nice guy, for a dark angel who excels in chaos. He likes my television and plays a mean game of Scrabble. That’s the extent of it. I won’t even play Operation with him, much less Risk.”