Bound by Time (27 page)

“Wait.” Isobel followed the two angels outside. “Joan of Arc was a channel?”

“She was, and a strong one. She managed to take out the demon in Chauchon as she died. Stubborn too.” Lucian glanced at her. “A lot like you. Always ready to die for the greater good, unwilling to allow others to wade into danger she herself would not face.
La Pucelle
was touched by the Higher Powers numerous times.”

Isobel stared at him, wondering why she was surprised. “How did you die?”

Damien’s brows drew down. “He died defending her against capture at Compiegne when one of the soldiers managed to get close enough to take his head. Though you won’t find that in any history book. We aren’t here to become the praised and remembered heroes of humanity, and the Higher Powers ensure our acts are forgotten.”

He turned back to Lucian. “Now tell me what happened that involved Isobel drowning.”

Lucian opened the grill and cocked a grin at Damien as smoke billowed out. “Well, it wouldn’t have happened if you were here.” Damien glared at him and he held up his hands in surrender. Lucian grabbed the long spatula and began flipping the hamburgers as he relayed the story.

Damien clenched his jaw as he listened. The stakes had just been raised even more if Xapar was willing to see her dead by any means. The demon was scared and he should be.

Amelia and Elijah returned and the rest of the dinner preparations were in full swing while Damien filled them in on everything that had happened. Isobel stood with Amelia and the three younger dark angels in the kitchen while Rose and Isaac took over the grill.

Amelia’s eyes were radiant when she looked at Elijah. The looks shared between the two warmed Isobel’s heart. Amelia turned to Isobel. “If there are going to be as many demons as Damien says, maybe Elijah and I should come with you.”

“No.” Elijah’s voice was hard and he tightened his arm around Amelia’s waist. “It’s dangerous enough here and bad enough Isobel must go. There is no way I’m letting you get within a hundred miles of that city.”

Amelia raised an eyebrow. “
Letting
me? I don’t recall asking your permission.”

“She’s got you there.” Lucian laughed.

Worry, frustration, and concern flickered across Elijah’s face. “I apologize; you are right. You don’t need my permission, and I will always follow where you go.” His hazel eyes looked pained. “I would rather you didn’t. Please,
mi dulce
, don’t push this.”

Lucian rolled his eyes. “You two are disgusting. Already calling her “my sweet” and falling all over yourself.”

Elijah shot him a glare before turning an imploring look on Amelia. “Besides, how can you leave only Rose and Isaac to handle Xapar and what he may bring here?”

“I suppose you’re right. This time.” Amelia smiled at him.

Damien draped his arms around Isobel’s waist and pulled her back against his chest. He lowered his head and whispered in her ear, “They are cute together, are they not,
meae deliciae?”

Isobel nodded and then ducked as a spoonful of potato salad came flying in her direction. It splattered Damien’s shoulder. Lucian, still holding the spoon, shook his head. “You two are just as bad.”

Damien wiped the food off his shoulder with a paper towel and narrowed his eyes. Isobel squealed and ducked away as Damien lunged, a spoonful of coleslaw sailing from his hand. It hit Lucian square in the forehead.

Before Isobel knew what was happening, there was a three-way food fight in the kitchen with Amelia and Elijah using one end of the island as a shield to duck behind. Isobel and Damien used the other, and Lucian paid no mind to the food that smacked him.

“What in the name of the Higher Powers is going on in here?” Isaac’s yell cut through the shrieks and shouts.

Everyone froze, their eyes on Rose and Isaac who stood on the far side of the bar, each with a platter of grilled meat in their hands. A glob of coleslaw clung to Isaac’s hair; the white juice ran down his forehead and dripped off his eyebrow. Isobel exchanged abashed looks with Amelia.

Lucian shrugged nonchalantly. “War is messy.”

Isobel didn’t look at the older couple while she tried unsuccessfully to extract baked beans from her hair, though she couldn’t help smiling. After weeks of stress the food fight had been too much fun for her to regret it.

Rose narrowed her eyes and walked into the kitchen stepping carefully around splatters of food on the floor. “I hope you know you four are cleaning this up.”

“Absolutely.” Damien nodded, a smile on his face. He glanced down as Isobel grabbed a paper towel to wipe away the baked bean juice that ran down her neck. “I can help you with that.”

Isobel laughed as he kissed her neck, his tongue sending quivers of pleasure across her skin.

Lucian shook his head. “I see war hasn’t tempered you two one bit. You
sodales in aeternum
types are impossible.”

Amelia giggled and tried to shake coleslaw from her shirt with Elijah’s help.

Isaac frowned while he wiped his head with a napkin though it looked to Isobel like he was trying to keep from smiling. “I hope there’s enough food left to eat.”

Lucian snorted. “There should be. Amelia and Elijah bought enough to feed a small nation.”

Rose shook her head. “You can clean this up after dinner. Right now you can help bring it all to the table. Maybe we can eat it before you decide to start throwing it again.”

Everyone grabbed a dish and headed for the dining room. As they sat down some of the happiness from the food fight faded. Isobel ate dinner without really tasting it. In the morning she, Damien, and Lucian would begin the long drive toward a city full of demons.

I
sobel sat quietly staring out at the dark countryside as Damien guided the car down the road. Soft snores from the backseat underscored the quiet music flowing from the speakers. Lucian had bunched up his tall frame across the backseat to catch the few hours of sleep he needed so that one of them would always be awake later that night.

They had left Tulsa behind about an hour ago and the darkened landscape slide by with no definition other than the distant lights of farms. Isobel yawned behind her hand, wondering why riding in a car for hours was so exhausting. She glanced at Damien as the car slowed and he steered onto an exit. “Where are we going?” Ahead, the lights of a small truck stop lit up the night.

“You need to sleep. I’m going to find a motel for us to stay in for the night.” He reached over and laid his hand on hers while using the other to direct the car once they reached the bottom of the exit.

“Shouldn’t we keep driving? The sooner we get there the better, right?” she asked trying to suppress another yawn.

“You’re tired.” He smiled though it quickly faded. “I have no intention of taking you into a city full of demons when you’re tired. I want you to be rested and your mind sharp.”

Isobel didn’t argue. It wouldn’t do any good, and she had to agree with him. She didn’t want to confront a bunch of demons out for her death while exhausted.

Damien pulled into the parking lot of a small, single-story motel. Neon letters proclaimed it as comfortable as home above the vacancy sign. Isobel snorted. She highly doubted it was as comfortable as home. Then again, it probably didn’t have any demonic windows either so maybe it would be better.

Lucian woke with a start when Damien reached over the seat and whacked him on the shoulder. “What?” He pulled himself up awkwardly in the backseat, his golden hair tussled.

“Wake up, sleeping beauty. We’re at a motel. I’m headed into the office to get a couple of rooms. Try not to let Isobel drown while I’m gone.” Damien flashed her a smile as he stepped out of the car and unfolded his tall frame. The muscles under his shirt rippled as he stretched for a moment before walking toward the lit office.

Lucian growled under his breath, opened his own door, and dragged himself out of the backseat. Isobel laughed softly and stepped out into the night air. Even here the cicadas sang their late summer song. Moths flittered around the lights so convinced they needed to reach the source they forgot about living.

Isobel rounded the car and leaned against it next to Lucian as he ran his fingers through his hair to straighten it out. For a long moment only the sounds of the bugs and the ticking of the engine as it cooled filled the silence between them. Trucks lined one side of the parking lot, the idle of their diesel engines adding to the backdrop of sounds.

Isobel looked at him. “It wasn’t your fault, you know.”

“What wasn’t?” He glanced down at her briefly before returning his eyes to the night.

“My drowning.” She slid her hands into the front pocket of her jeans. “I would have died in the water if not for you. Damien should quit bugging you about it.”

Lucian snorted. “I know that, Isobel. So does Damien. I expect the ribbing from angels like him. They’re all like that.”

Isobel frowned. “Like what?”

He turned his gaze to her again. “Dark angels are always over protective of their channels. When that channel is also the dark angel’s soul mate they become even more so.”

She stared at the asphalt beneath her shoes. “Is that why you find them so amusing?”

“Exactly why.” Lucian chuckled.

Damien emerged from the office and crossed the lot. He tossed a key at Lucian. “Your room is next to ours just in case there’s trouble.”

Lucian snagged the key out of the air with ease and pushed away from the car. He opened the door and pulled his duffle bag out of the back floorboard. “See you in the morning.”

As he walked away, Damien opened the trunk and pulled out two more duffle bags. Holding them both in one hand, he slung them over one shoulder and slipped his arm around Isobel’s waist as they walked to their room.

Isobel wandered into the sparse room. Poorly rendered watercolor paintings hung on the walls and everything was a different shade of beige except the garish paisley bedspread on the single queen- sized bed and matching curtains.

The lamps, phone—even the TV—all seemed to be nailed down in one way or the other. Isobel was willing to bet money that even the paintings were secured in some way. Someone would probably have to rip off the sheetrock behind them in order to remove them.

The bathroom was tiny, serviceable, and surprisingly clean. She took one glance at herself in the mirror before poking her head around the door. “I’m going to grab a shower.”

Damien nodded absently, pulling his new phone out. “I’ll call Isaac and let everyone know where we are.”

Isobel nodded as she dug through her bag for her shampoo and other necessities. The hot shower felt good after so many hours spent in the car. Damien was still on the phone when she left the bathroom draped in a towel and began rummaging in her bag for clothes. He hung up and laid the phone on the table as she pulled on a nightshirt.

Damien’s arms wrapped around her from behind, and he buried his nose in her damp hair. She smiled as he lowered his head, and his lips grazed her neck. “I love the smell of your skin,
meae deliciae
.”

Isobel smiled as he bent and traced kisses down the side of her neck and over her bare shoulder. He gave her one last kiss then headed into the bathroom for his own shower.

Later that night, as she lay in his arms, Isobel watched the neon sign light up the curtained window, afraid to sleep. What would the next day bring? Anxiety swirled through her system. Hours ticked by before sleep finally stole over her.