Mercy for the Fallen (26 page)

“What’s your name?” I asked, conversationally, pinning him down with one hand.

“Nydas,” he squeaked, sounding as if it hurt to breathe.  Good.

“So, Nydas, out of curiosity, why didn’t you come after me in the bar?”

“Ain’t nobody stupid enough to mess with an arch.”

“I’m not a narc, I could care less about the cops.”

“No, an arch,” he replied, wheezing a touch.  “An archangel like you.”

Was that what they thought?  “What makes you think I’m an archangel?”

“You mean you’re not?” he blinked.  “You shine bright as one.”

“Occupational hazard,” I shrugged.  “You’re a demon, right, Nydas?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

Now I was back on familiar ground again.  “And you feed on innocence?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Does it hurt them when you feed?”

“I… yes, I suppose it does.”

“Does it make you feel good when they suffer?”  He didn’t respond, and I shook him roughly.  “Answer me!”

“Yes, it tastes better.”

“That’s all I needed to know.”  I laid my hand over his heart, my hand glowing with Grace.  “I judge thee, unclean thing.  I abjure thee, and cast thee into the cleansing fires of Hell.”  This time I didn’t hold back as the Grace gathered beneath my hand.  This time I didn’t falter as he writhed and gurgled beneath me.  I held my focus, burning away the stain of his existence until there was nothing left but a scorched blot on the pavement. 

“I did it…” I gasped, falling onto my butt, lungs burning as I dragged in a breath of cool night air.  That was one less slimeball feeding from the innocent.  So why didn’t I feel any better?  All I felt was sick to my stomach, remembering the bulge of his eyes and the stench of burning flesh.  It was enough to send me retching into the scrubby bushes, losing what was left of my dinner, but probably for the better, the skunky beer and hard liquor as well. 

When I was done heaving, I felt weaker, but somewhat cleansed, as if I could start to heal now.  It had been a strange night of revelations.  Of happy news, heartache, and disappointment.  There was only one thing left to make it a trifecta of misery. 

“Adamiel!” I yelled into the air.  “Adamiel, get your mangy ass down here!”  Not that I expected him to come.  I had no idea if he was anywhere nearby; I could sense him out there, but I was lousy at gauging how far away or even in what direction.  So when somebody grabbed me from behind, I screamed.

“Jesus, Mercy, it’s just me!” Adam laughed, pulling me into a hug tight enough to make my ribs creak.  “I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” he said into my hair. 

For a few moments I allowed myself to relax into his arms.  God, he smelled good.  But when he pulled back as if to kiss me, I slapped him good and hard across the cheek.  It always seemed like the thing to do in the movies, but it made my palm sting like a motherfucker. 

His head rocked back in surprise, more than anything else, blue eyes wide with shock.  “Oww… That’s a hell of a greeting.  What gives?”

“I happen to be mad at you,” I scowled, shaking my hand until the sting started to fade. 

“For what?”

“What’s the one thing I asked you to do before I left?” 

“Take care of myself?”

“And?”

He stared at me blankly before offering a hesitant guess.  “Not to tell a soul where you were off to?”

“Except, you were supposed to tell
something
to Parker.”

“Oh, that.”  His shoulders dropped an inch or so, relaxing.

“Yeah that.  What the hell, Adam?  How could you let him think I abandoned him?” I demanded, but Adam was anything but contrite.

“It’s his own fault.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Hey, I went to see him, like I promised I would, and the guy was a total dick.  It’s his own fault if he didn’t want to listen to what I had to say.”

I could see that, the men hadn’t gotten along particularly well on a good day, let alone during times of stress.  “Still, you should’ve tried harder.  Or written him a letter or something.”

“Oh, right, I can see it now. 
Dear Parker, I hope this letter finds you well.  Also, Mercy went somewhere I can’t tell you, to keep you-know-who safe from you-know-what.  Your pal, Adam.
  Yeah, that would’ve cleared things right up,” he smirked.  “It’s not my fault he forgot about you the moment your back was turned.”

“He didn’t,” I snapped, resisting the urge to slap him again.  Not that I had any idea how much time elapsed from when I’d left to when he’d started seeing Luz again.  “Did he?” 

“The guy’s an idiot,” Adam said softly, his arms coming around me again.  “I would’ve waited for you forever.”

“Easy for you to say, you’re immortal.”  I probably should’ve pulled away, but his arms felt warm and strong, and my guard was down again. 

“I think you’ve got that backwards, sweetheart.  Humans are the ones to make an easy promise like that, without thinking what a pathetically short time commitment that really is.” 

“It’s not pathetic if that’s all the time they have.  Time moves a lot slower for most people than for angels,” I pointed out and he tipped my face up to his.

“Time might slip by faster from my perspective, but it doesn’t change the fact that I thought about you every single day you were gone.”

I pulled my chin away from his light grasp.  “Please don’t say things like that to me right now.  I’m way too jumbled up inside to process another emotion, okay?”

“What’s the big deal?”  His dark brows twitched together in genuine puzzlement.  “Parker’s out of the picture now.  That means there’s nothing standing between us.”

“Jesus, Adam, that’s cold, even for you.  How can you say Parker’s out of the picture just like that?”

“He’s married!”

“That doesn’t mean my feelings for him magically go away.”  Couldn’t he see that?  I couldn’t flip a switch and move on to Adam when in my heart I was still committed to Parker. 

“What about the feelings you have for me?” he demanded, the furrow between his brows growing deeper as I pushed myself out of his arms. 

“I’m not having this conversation with you right now.  We need to figure out how to help Evie, that’s why I’m here.”

Adam wouldn’t let me get away so easily, catching hold of my hand.  “She’s safe for the moment.  Mercy… don’t you think you’ve made me wait long enough?”

“The essential facts haven’t changed.”  I couldn’t count on him, not with any regularity and I needed constancy for my life, and for Eve’s.  “Unless you’re just looking for a night of cheap, torrid sex,” I teased, trying to get him to smile, to erase the brand of pain I’d put behind his eyes.  Instead of a flippant reply with that smirk of his, Adam tugged me close, pressing my body against the length of his. 

“It wouldn’t be cheap and it’d last more than a night,” he growled, his breath mingling with mine. 

I won’t say it wasn’t tempting to move my head a fraction and take what he offered, but I also knew the timing wasn’t right.  There was too much raw emotion roiling around inside me, and I couldn’t let myself make any decisions that could have such lasting repercussions. 

“You’re right, it wouldn’t be cheap,” I nodded.  “Maybe if I felt nothing for you it’d be easy to fall into your arms to make myself feel better, but whatever is still there between us complicates things and you know it.  Whatever I do affects Eve too.”

“I know.  I want that complication.”  He showed me so much yearning mingled with regret.  “I’m ready for it now.”

“Well, I’m not.”  Everything was happening too fast.  “Now please, can we talk about the bigger picture here?” 

His gaze locked with mine for long seconds before he nodded, the tension going out of his body.  “Yeah, we can do that.”  Instead of letting me go, he hugged me close again, enveloping me in his comforting embrace.  “I’m sorry, Merce… but damn, it’s good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you too,” I admitted, my voice muffled by his chest, but I could tell he heard me by the way his arms tightened around me. 

“Even if you do look like kind of a mess.” 

I pulled back, glad to see that familiar smirk back in place, and I punched him lightly on the chest for the dig.  “Yeah well, you try being homeless in the rain, and see what it does for your look.”

“Come on.  Let’s go back to my place and hash this out.”  He let me go, keeping an arm around my shoulder as he guided me down the street.  “We’ll invite Sam and Daphne over, it’ll be like old times.”

“They’re asleep.  Like most normal people.” 

“Like you should be.  Let’s go get you some rest and in the morning we’ll figure something out.  Besides, there’s someone else who’s dying to see you too.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

“Nelo!”  I held the little demon tight as he bounded into my arms the instant we arrived at Adam’s house. 

“I knew you’d return, Mistress!” he exclaimed, the top of his head rubbing against my chin as if the hug wasn’t enough.  “Every day I looked for you and Master Adam said I had to be patient and wait one more day always.  And today is the day!” he beamed.  “Is Bunny with you?”

“No, I had to leave her behind where it’s safe.  How are you?  Were you stuck in Midian for very long?”

“Midian?” he blinked, the deportation there a dim memory.  “Oh no, Mistress, not long at all.”  Still holding tight to me, like a monkey, he jabbered on about Remy’s rescue while we sat down on the long, leather couch.  Next he told me all about how Master Adam had built him his own room with his own pink bed, and a kitty tower made of special carpet that’s okay for kitties to scratch.  His words tumbled out almost faster than I could follow, as if five years worth of conversation tried to spill out all at once. 

“Whoa, slow down there, buddy,” Adam said gently, giving his head a pat.  “She’s not going anywhere for a while, you can take a breath.”

“Sorry, Master Adam,” he said with a sheepish smile.  “Am I talking your ears off again?”

“Maybe a bit, but I’ll let it slide just this once,” Adam winked. 

“He’s been living here with you this whole time?”  Somehow I thought he’d stay with Parker.  Then again, not much had gone how I’d thought it would. 

“Yeah, we have a good arrangement.  He does all the fetching and carrying for me and I toss him a bone every now and again.”

“He does not throw me bones, Mistress,” Nelo said solemnly.  “He gifts me with his Grace, like you did.”

“And Mimsy?”  He’d mentioned something about a kitty tower, but I hadn’t seen any sign of her. 

Nelo’s face fell.  “Mimsy has gone.  Did she not find you?”

“Find me?”  I stared at him blankly before understanding dawned on me.  He meant find me in Heaven.  “Oh… Mimsy’s gone,” I murmured, my mood plummeting at the news.  She’d been my sole companion when I’d struck out on my own.  She was Eve’s first pet, and Nelo’s confidant.  I suppose she was starting to get older, but I never imagined she was that close to…  I didn’t even want to think the word.  “How did she…?”

“Master Adam said it was her time.”

“She didn’t suffer, Merce.”  Adam laid his hand over mine and I squeezed it back.  “But, we have a new addition to the family.  Don’t we, buddy?”

“Oh, we do!” Nelo cried.  “Would you like to see?”

“Um, sure…”  No sooner had I uttered the words, Nelo scrambled off me, tearing off down the hall, his feet a blur of shadows. 

“That was nice of you to let him stay here with you,” I said.

“Eh, the little guy needed a place to crash, I had this extra space…” He shrugged it off, but I could tell he’d offered him more than a spare room. 

“Thanks for taking him in.”

“
Ohana
means family,” he said seriously, before cracking a smile I found too irresistible not to return. 

Nelo appeared down the hall, carefully clutching a puff of black and white fur, yellow eyes peeping out from between his fingers.  The new addition turned out to be a tuxedo kitten with a plaintive meow at least twice its size.

“Kittens are a big responsibility,” Nelo reported, settling onto the couch with the kitten in his lap.  “I’m learning to take care of him, like I learned how to take care of Bunny.” 

I stroked its tiny head, earning me an interested sniff and a lick.  “He’s adorable, what’s his name?”

“Bitey.”

After a few minutes of playing with him, Bitey lived up to his name, attacking my hand with a ferocity associated with a much larger cat.  Nelo scolded him each time he bit too hard, picking him up patiently by the scruff of his neck. 

“Master Adam says he’ll settle down after we get him snipped.  Until then, I am on Bitey patrol whenever he’s loose in the house.”

“I’m sure you’re doing a bang up job.  You were always such a great helper with Bunny,” I smiled, patting Nelo on the head while he soaked up the praise.  I was tired, but Nelo was so excited to see me, I didn’t have the heart to beg off and look for a place to bed down until Adam noticed the yawn beneath my hand. 

“I think it’s getting late.  Nelo, why don’t you put Bitey down for the night and close up shop, huh?”

“Yes, Master Adam,” Nelo agreed without objection, though he did hesitate before leaving the room.  “You will be here when I wake, Mistress?” There was such a vulnerability there, I almost choked up again. 

“Yes, I’ll be here,” I promised.  I didn’t imagine we’d solve all of the problems facing us in a single day. 

“Goodnight then, Mistress.”  He ran back over to give me another hug, Bitey mewling in protest.  “I’m ever so glad you came home.”

“Me too, Nelo,” I said, hugging him back.  “Me too.”

“He missed you,” Adam said softly, once Nelo was gone. 

“I can tell.”  I wasn’t sure if he was going to make some kind of crack about how much he missed me too, but the next words out of his mouth were less dramatic and more practical. 

“Time to get some rest.  We’ll call everybody over tomorrow and hash this out.”

“I am kind of tired,” I admitted, rising to my feet with a groan.  “Abjuring takes a lot out of you.”

Adam’s brow went up.  “You’ve done some abjuring since you got back?  You don’t waste any time, huh?”