Loving Angel (A Divisa Novel Book 4) (7 page)

I laughed out loud. And to think, this was only the first day. Never a dull moment and I was glad, because without a little bit of excitement, I would be bored to death.

Just as we started to finally make some progress and I could actually see the person behind the table, Angel stiffened. Her back was to me, but I could feel the tension that lined her body. I placed a gentle hand on her waist, and whispered in her ear, “What is it?” I should have known that trouble found her at every turn. It stuck to her like superglue.

New school.

New friends.

New set of danger.

Slanting her head to the side, she had that glint of distress. Something ominous was looming in her midnight eyes.

“Angel,” I snarled when she didn’t answer me. Instinct warned me that this was going to get ugly. And then there was my demon. He perked up, responding to the change in Angel.

Without a word, she took off, leaving Lexi, Emma, and me gaping after her. “Shit,” I swore under my breath.

Here comes the ugly.

“Now what?” Lexi said in exasperation, throwing her arms in the air.

My sentiments exactly.

Orientation was going to have to wait as I set off after Angel with Lexi and Emma in tow. I stifled the urge to run to her side and instead, stayed back, letting her lead the way. Tingles spread over my demon mark, burning. Instinctually, I wanted to sweep her away, because I knew what followed these kinds of tingles—demonic, no doubt.

I bit my tongue to keep from calling her name, not that it would have made a difference. She was in the zone. There was something
wrong
about the look I’d seen in her eyes, and since this wasn’t the first time, I figured it was best to see where this took us.

Maybe then I could get answers.

Angel went around the main office toward the park. As the sight of the dark green foliage of pines, evergreens, and maple trees, a sinking feeling in my gut plunged. I didn’t have to be a brainiac to figure out nothing good ever waited for you in the woods.

Down a flight of stone steps, Angel strode across the courtyard with purpose. Her dark, glossy hair blew faintly in the wind. She was a woman on a mission, and it disturbed me. In her own little world, she was drawn by something or someone.

“Your girlfriend is more fun than you,” Emma said. Her reddish-gold hair was tied carelessly back into a low ponytail. No fuss. Emma wasn’t one of those girls who obsessed with her looks. Nope. She was obsessed with knives and crossbows.

“More trouble you mean,” I grumbled.

Emma gave a one-shoulder shrug. “Trouble. Fun. What’s the difference?”

I couldn’t argue with her there.

Under a covering of trees, the four of us came upon a wooden bench. Nothing could have grabbed my attention more than seeing a demon eating his version of a Big Mac. Some helpless girl had become his afternoon snack. And if that wasn’t enough to jolt my body into action, the hellhound guarding him snapped its sizable jaws.

“OhGodno,” Lexi moaned.

Chapter 10

Craptastic
.

I cracked my neck. “Just freaking dandy. Is there no place Hell hasn’t decided to make their personal playground?” At least my awesomeness wouldn’t get rusty.

Emma reached behind her white tank and pulled out a knife. The silver blade gleamed in the sun. And Angel, well, she was the only one of us who didn’t have some kind of response. She stood eyeballing the demon and his pet in a way that made me antsy. There was no fear as there had once been. The sight of a hellhound used to send her jumping into my arms. I kind of missed that. Now…I only felt intrigue radiating from her.

My reaction, however, hadn’t changed.

I lunged.

Fighting was second nature to me. Thinking was unnecessary. I just reacted, flashing in front of the life-sucker and ripping him off his enthralled victim. The spurred demon hissed at me right before my hand balled, slamming into his gut. A loud cracking of bones thundered, and the demon’s human skin began to slip.

Take that asshole.

Gone was the façade of a preppy, pretty boy, and in its place was a fugly demon with slithering black lips, jagged razor choppers, and the worst case of BO. Dude was seriously an eyesore.

The girl, seeing the boy she thought had been nuzzling her neck in a heavy make-out session was really a grotesque lower-demon, screamed and took off running. D-bag licked his lips, wanting to give chase. The grip I had on the scruff of his neck tightened. “Lexi,” I said, nodding toward the hysterical girl.

“I’m on it,” she replied, and then in a poof of flying blonde hair and black high heels, she disappeared after the girl. Seconds later her cries were quieted.

But the complications didn’t stop there. I had momentarily forgotten about the hellhound until it growled, deep, wet, and throaty. The dog-like creature charged. I rocked on the back of my heels, preparing for its attack while I still tried to keep the upper hand on the demon.

Son of a bitc—

I blinked, and that was all it took for Emma’s ruby blade to make an arch, slicing the beast’s scrawny throat. The thing erupted into dusty ash, littering the lush green grass.

Christ. What a team we are.

“You can thank me later, half-breed,” Emma sneered.

I didn’t have time to throw barbs with her. The demon wiggled in my grasp, seeing the unfortunate fate of his pet. With ninja reflexes, I knocked him to the ground in one sweeping lethal kick. When dealing with the underworld, you couldn’t waste a precious second. I zapped to the bastard, leaning over him and grinding my knee into his chest. “Listen, douchebag. I don’t have time to babysit you. Just tell me why you’re here?” I demanded, curbing the rampant desire to smash my fist into his pasty face.

“I don’t have to tell you ssshit,” the demon spat, a rotten curve to his lips.

Wrong answer. I was used to being obeyed, no matter what the species. Wiping the demon spit from my face, I cocked my head. “Is that so? Well, slick, I think it might be your lucky day. I am betting that you do talk to my girlfriend. She has the magic touch.” No matter how much my mind balked at the idea, it didn’t make it any less true.

The demon’s black pits shifted restlessly. They darted from Angel to me and back to Angel.

Gotcha.

Angel stepped beside me, finally snapping back to Earth. “Who sent you?” she asked, eyes glowing.

I did a double-take.

Her eyes usually changed with her moods, but this time, I got a hunch that they were fueled not by me, not by our bond, and not by her feelings, but by the demon crunched under my foot. She distracted me. There was something about the way her eyes changed colors that I found hot. Really hot, which probably made me warped.

But distractions could be deadly.

Like flipping a switch, the lower-demon slipped back into his illusion of a human. His hand shot forward, striking me in the jaw. It wasn’t the first time I’d been decked in the mouth, and most definitely wouldn’t be the last, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like a bitch. A demon’s punch was like getting socked with a flaming bowling ball. The heat alone was unbearable.

My head lashed to the side, and I felt the metallic taste of blood on my tongue.

Awesome. First blood.

I jerked out of the way just before he was able to get off round two on my other cheek. Bastard was going to pay. No one hit me and lived to tell about it
—
dead or alive. But first, I was going to have to save my neck. Literally. The demon made a beeline with his spiky jaw for the big artery at my throat.

“Don’t. Think about it,” Angel seethed, fixing the scumbag with a glare that made him squirm.

A transparent, smoky smile appeared on the demon’s face as he wavered in and out of form. “I wasss only going to take a tassste.”

On me? Not likely.

Reversing our positions, I put the slimeball into a headlock, making sure he didn’t try to slip away. “Now answer the question before you go up in dust.”

He was suddenly a little more forthcoming. Surprise. Surprise. “I was ordered to defend the
keystone
,” he said in a cool voice, neither friendly nor unfriendly.

“Shit,” I mumbled. Since when did Hell go on foot patrol? And defend her from what? The only thing hostile here was him.

Angel and I shared a look. We needed more answers. “Ordered by whom?” I demanded, squeezing his throat, for fun mostly.

The demon made a wet gasp, his canines dripping with sticky goo. “Alassstair,” he hissed.

Disgusting.

To say I wasn’t shocked was an understatement. Leave it to my demon sperm bank to find a way to meddle with our lives, even from another dimension.

During my interrogation with shitface, I had lost touch with Angel’s emotions, my mind solely concentrated on the demon.

Emma’s grating voice brought my focus back on Angel. “Hey, demon-mutt, there’s something wrong with your mutated girlfriend.”

For the love of God. Now what?

More snags were not what I needed.

Taking my eyes off the deceitful demon, I glanced at Angel. Her usually beautiful eyes were ringed in crimson, and a strange prickle spread down my arms, scalding hot. Tendrils of reddish smoke blanketed the ground at my feet. “Angel,” I called, tentatively.

The demon in my hands gave a creepy laugh, but he wasn’t my immediate concern. Angel’s form had started to dart in and out, a fading inky shadow. The thick smoke rose, billowing up over her as her head snapped back. Her movements were jerky, unnatural. When she lowered her head, a dark, oily substance dripped from her nose. A droplet hit her arm, which immediately caused her hand to fly to her face.

A look of pure fright shone on her face as she stared at the blotch of slick, black fluid that covered her fingers. Fear rammed inside my chest, kick-starting me into action. A fire snapped inside me. “What did you do to her?” I yelled at the demon, pure venom in my words.

A slow, sickening smirk peeled back on his black lips. “Resistance is futile.”

I welcomed the demon and the rising ride of fury building in us both. A rush of anger inched its way into my veins. “Thanks for nothing, asshole.” The muscles in my hand flexed as I cut the oxygen from his human host. “Take a message back with you. Tell my
dad
…I will end him.” Then I twisted, grabbing the knife from Emma’s hand, and with one quick jerk, I drove the blade home.

That was a promise I meant to keep.

The lower-demon froze, shattering into a million tiny flakes of sinister powder, and with his departure, Angel’s face turned the color of oatmeal. A moment later she collapsed.

Whirling, I caught her, cradling her in my arms. My vision clouded at seeing her fall, and for a second, I thought I might also lose myself to the darkness. It wasn’t until I separated our emotions, our bond, that I was able to halt the spinning.

“Chase?” Lexi exhaled, placing her small hand on my shoulder.

“I’m fine,” I reassured her, directing my attention to the limp girl in my arms. “I am not so sure about Angel.” Laying her softly on the bench, I sat down on the edge beside her, feeling a bundle of emotions—none good.

Lexi hovered over us, glancing down at her best friend’s pale face. “What happened?”

“I’m not sure.” And that caused pure fear to bubble in my soul. “At least not yet.”
But I will find out,
I vowed silently, brushing the hair from her face. “Did you take care of the girl?” I asked Lexi.

“She won’t remember a thing,” she said, looking wistful. Travis and I normally didn’t blink at using our skills, but Lexi, no matter what the circumstance, always felt regret afterwards.

It was a pain I frequently tried to spare her, which almost always made me the bad guy, but that was the way I liked it. I had a serious badass reputation to uphold.

Angel’s eyes fluttered open, thick lashes dancing alongside her upper cheeks. She squinted against the blinding sun slipping through the tree coverings. Like a dam being broken, I swam in a sea of intoxicated emotions that inundated me. Our bonds were back in full swing.

“Did I miss orientation?”

A uniform laugh of relief came from Lexi, me, and even Emma. If Angel was worried about a stupid mandatory college assembly, then she was okay. My heart hammered joyfully. “Angel,” I whispered, and then I covered her lips with mine for a quick, searing kiss.

Her face softened, and a pinch of color came back into her cheeks. “What was that for?”

“For scaring the bejesus out of me.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re demented.”

I lowered my head to hers. “It doesn’t stop you from loving me.”

Her heart beat in perfect sync with mine. “I’m seriously thinking of reexamining my sanity.”

“Too late,” I grinned, brushing our noses together. “We’re both already deemed crazy.”

“Wonderful,” she said dryly. “Are you just going to stare at me all day, or are you going to help me up?”

I laughed unsteadily, offering her my hands.

And to think, I thought college was going to be a cinch. Parties. Late nights. Sleeping in. Boy was I in for a rude awakening. Not to mention, my girlfriend was turning into…God knows what, but it didn’t matter. We were a perfect match.

~*~*~*~

“This place has the dumpiest Internet. I thought college was going to be better,” Angel grumbled, looking completely put out. She even stuck out her bottom lip in an adorable pout.

Obviously, she and I were wired into the same wavelength. Except my reasons for college sucking went way deeper than the Internet connection. “You brought your Xbox? Why am I not surprised?”

She screwed up her face. “Duh. A fat wad of good it did me. The connection here blows chunks.”

Lounging on the leather couch beside her, I peered at her under the rim of my baseball cap. “Good, ’cuz we need to talk.”

Her fingers raced over the remote control buttons, jumping from green to red to blue, all at the same time she pulled the trigger. “Shoot.”

“Can you put that thing down?” I wanted her undivided attention. Competing with her video games irked me.

Eyes glued to the TV, she replied, “Hmm. Yeah. One sec. I just need to get to a checkpoint.”

The leather rubbed against my jeans as I leaned forward. “A check-what?”

Tap. Tap. Tap.
“Are you sure you aren’t half-alien?”

I gave her a dark glare.

“It’s a point in the game where it saves my progress,” she rambled on as if I really cared what a checkpoint was. “Have you ever played a video game?”

I snorted. “Let’s just say that Travis isn’t on his first gaming console.”

“You didn’t,” she said in utter outrage.

My brow lifted. “Do I look like I’m kidding?”

“I should have guessed. Destruction is your answer when things don’t go your way.”

Alright. The procrastination had gone on long enough. I was onto her little games. We were going to have this discussion even if I had to force her hand. While she was preoccupied with finding a
checkpoint
, I moved. She didn’t notice until it was too late. “You are going to pay for that,” I said, dangling the power cord between my fingers. One quick jerk and it was game over for Angel Eyes. We’d been here before.

Suddenly, I had her undivided attention. “Gee whizz, Sergeant Buzzkill, I’m listening.”

Good grief. Why did everything have to be the hard way? “We need to talk about what happened the other day,” I said flatly, sitting back down in my seat on the couch.

“I’d rather not,” she mumbled, tucking her legs underneath her.

“Angel,” I said in exasperation, rubbing my temples. “This is serious shit. We can’t pretend it didn’t happen.”

She batted her lashes, folding her hands in her lap. “What happened?”

I squinted. “Cute.” Shifting, I turned so I faced her and laid my arm on the back of the couch, and deliberately, I softened the lines creasing my expression. “Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”