Redeeming Angel (6 page)

It wouldn’t be the first time I’d lost
myself.

I shuddered.

Unfolding my tourist guide I’d picked
up from the motel, I scanned the list of bars. There was one that
literally jumped from the page. Demon’s Breath.

Now that was my kind of
establishment.

The last thing I wanted was
for
them
to know I
was coming. I wanted the element of surprise on my side. I was sort
of counting on it, really.

I took off down the alley, weeding in
and out between businesses, staying in the shadows. The trickiest
part was keeping my demon at bay. Bloody bastard was being
persistent. If anything were going to give me away, it would be the
eyes.

Bright moonlight filtered in between
the alleyways, and the balmy evening air rushed over my face as I
moved over the uneven ground. Minutes later, I was standing outside
the backdoor to what had to be the seediest joint in
town.

I mean it reeked of dirty deeds, among
other things. There was a distinct smell of smoke and alcohol in
the air. Vines so thickly covered the side of the building that it
resembled a tree.

Placing my hands on the steel door, I
gave a push, expecting to find it locked. Not that a locked door
was going to keep me out, on the contrary, but as luck would have
it, there was no need for forced entry. The door squeaked as I
quickly eased it open and stepped into a dark hallway, bathrooms on
either side. Sticking to the shades of blackness, I hugged the
wall, my eyes flitting down the corridor leading into the
lobby.

Jaw clenched tightly, I stepped out
into the main room. I was used to drawing attention, so when no one
bothered to so much as glance at me, I raised my brows and looked
around. Nothing special, a few pool tables, scantily dressed
servers, and plenty of dim lighting. As my eyes roamed the room, I
counted at least a handful of demons. Not unreasonable, I should be
able to hold my own.

It was in that moment one of them
noticed me. I leaned my hip against one of those cigarette vending
machines, waiting to see what would happen next. Eyes void of color
met mine. My nostrils flared. I was about two seconds away from
snapping someone’s neck. Anyone would do. I wasn’t feeling
picky.

Smiling coldly, I let my demon
encompass me, flaring to the surface. This was where things could
have gotten hairy, and I needed to tread carefully. If I didn’t, my
biggest problem wouldn’t be a demon brawl. It would be the internal
battle with my temperamental other half.

The demon looked me over and I was
sure he was going to fly out of his human suit, coming straight for
my heart, but he only turned back toward the bartender and downed
the tumbler of whiskey.

Feeling I’d dodged a bullet, I
continued my perusal, seeking out a demon who looked like he wasn’t
dumb as rocks. Big Boy and his buddy at the bar were nothing but
lower demons. I needed someone higher on the food chain. Good lord,
this better not be a bust. I couldn’t afford to waste a single
second. Already, I was beginning to feel the first inklings of
being apart from Angel. In twenty-four hours, I’d be lucky to throw
a worthy punch.

Then I saw her across the bar.
Instinctually, I wanted to dagger her.

Demon. Male or female, my instincts
didn’t discriminate.

Curious, I stayed where I was, waiting
for… Actually, I didn’t have a clue, but as I stood there she
leaned over the pool table and expertly sunk the nine ball into the
left corner pocket.

Dropping the end of the cue stick to
the floor, her cherry lips curled in a satisfied grin. She was
dressed from head to toe in black leather that fit like second
skin. Great. A demon hustler and a temptress.

With a sinister sparkle in
her unusual eyes, her bold lips puckered as she spun to face the
two pathetic suckers. There was something about her that struck a
chord of familiarity.
Had we fought
before? Was she one of the countless demons I’d sent back to
Hell?

I shook my head. It didn’t really
matter. She was only the means to get what I wanted.

One of the guys she’d been playing
went for his wallet, but Duck Lips put her index finger in the air,
waving the blood red nail from side to side. “I’m not interested in
your money, boys.” I heard her say. She ran the tip of her nail
down his shirt. “You’ve got something else I want.”

“
Oh yeah,” the scruffier
one replied, intrigue lacing his tone.

What a fool.

I knew exactly what she was looking
for, and it was most definitely not what this imbecile was
thinking. No one was going to get lucky tonight. Not even the
platinum-haired seductress. I was about to ruin everyone’s good
time.

Hey, I was just that type of
guy.

Letting my eyes rim in gold, I stepped
out of the shadows and intercepted. This wasn’t me being a nice
guy; it was me being selfish. My wants and needs came first. “Let
me do you both a favor,” I said, catching them each in my gaze. The
ability to force my will on humans was second nature. I’d been
doing it for far too long. “Scram. You don’t want to get on my ugly
side.”

Their eyes went glassy, and
it wasn’t from the booze. Another few seconds went by as my
compulsion worked its way into their tiny brains. The tension in
the air went up several hundred degrees.
Shit
.
Nothing like pissing off an entire bar of demons.
I positioned myself between her and the two jokers
stumbling toward the exit.

She spun on the spike of her heel,
facing me. “Now, that wasn’t nice.” She drifted toward me. “You owe
me a soul. Two actually, Halfling.”

My nostrils flared. “By the end of the
night, it’s going to be you who owes me.”

She looked me up and down. “Intrigued.
Take a seat. I’ll let you buy me a drink.”

Chapter 6

{Chase
}

The high-handedness of demons drove me
nutty. Sure, I could be a pompous ass when I wanted to be, but it
was different. I slid into one of the round barstools, dark shadows
drifting over my face. “My name’s—”

“
I know who you are, Chase
Winters, son of Alastair,” she said, slinking into the seat beside
me. A subtle scent of jasmine and something a tad bit tangy
followed her.

I made an ugly face. “Well that’s
unfair. I know nothing about you.”

“
Kira.” She
smiled.

“
Cute. Is that what they
call you in Hell?” I couldn’t keep the judgment from my tone, and
why should I?

“
I’ll hand it to you. It
takes a lot of balls showing your face in this town.”

“
That’s me. I’ve got
kahunas of steel.”

She let out a husky laugh, her slim
fingers wrapping around a glass half filled with a pink
drink.

“
I didn’t come here to
amuse,” I stated flatly.

“
You do know that Daddy has
sent out an amber alert on your girlfriend and a wanted bounty on
you. Dead or alive.”

“
What’s new? I’ve spent my
life sending his devoted kiss-ass puppets back to Hell.”

“
But I’d bet my soul you’re
here more out of desperation.”

She was toying with me, and the
knowledge made my blood pressure spike. “Tell me what you know
about why I’m here,” I grated out. I was grabbing at brittle
straws, but it was better than doing nothing. That nearly drove me
over the edge.

She put her lips to the rim
of the glass, taking a sip and leaving behind a perfect imprint of
her mouth. “You have something Hell would destroy for,
will
destroy for. You’ve
been lucky up until now.”

I snorted. “Obviously, you haven’t
heard the best thing about me.” I leaned over and whispered, “I
don’t give a flying feather about the wants of Hell.”

“
And that will be your
fatal flaw. Like father, like son.”

My voice dipped into frozen tundra
levels. “Don’t ever compare me to that bastard.”

“
I guess I don’t have to
ask how you feel about Alastair.”

“
Oh, and you’re a
saint?”

“
We’ve both done things.
It’s in our nature.” She plucked the spear from her drink, twirling
the cherry at the end. “But believe it or not, we do have a few
things in common.”

“
How about we cut the crap?
I didn’t come here to bond over Dirty Shirley’s and chitchat about
whose killed more people. If you know who I am and why I’m here,
why haven’t you taken my soul? Why haven’t you turned me into the
a-hole who condemned me?”

Crossing her legs, she sat back in her
chair. “Good question. I’m still considering it, but I believe we
can help each other.”

I snorted. “What could you possibly
want from me besides my life source? I’m sure it’s almost run dry.”
I’d challenged the lines of life and death one too many
times.

“
The strength of your soul
is not in question. What I need to know is just how far you’re
willing to go to save the girl you love.”

I cast a dark look. “Tell me how to
save her.”

“
Who said she could
be—?”

Determination burned through me like a
righteous fire. “Don’t say it. I refused to believe she is lost to
me. Let’s get that clear right now. Got it?”

There was a pause. “If you say so.
Doesn’t change that I can’t help you.”

My fist came down on the bar top,
splashing her drink over the rim of her glass. “I have a lot of
pent-up anger I’m just dying to take out on someone. Don’t push
me.”

Her scarlet eyes moved from her glass
to me. “Duly noted, but don’t forget what I am,
halfling.”

“
As if I could. The stench
in this place is sickening.”

“
Boys,” Kira said, sliding
off her chair. “I think the halfling has overstayed his
welcome.”

Chairs scraped against the sticky wood
floors, but I wasn’t the least bit concerned. “I’m not leaving
until you give me what I want.”

The short-fused demon who had earlier
given me the stink eye took a step forward. “You think you can take
me, hybrid?” he spat.

“
Why don’t we find out?” I
scoffed, cracking my neck. A hot rush of rage twisted my insides
into giant knots. Whipping around, I let out a deep roar just as a
demon shot across the bar, heading straight for me.
So much for escaping without a fight.

We slammed into each other like a
crashing avalanche. Everything in our path was destroyed. The
impact shook the walls, knocking over bottles and glasses. Gripping
onto his forearms, I spun around, pinning his back to the wall.
Plaster cracked and paint chips sprayed the air, but I hung
on.

“
You should have listened
to me,” Kira said.

The strong SOB swept his arms up,
looping them in a circle that forced me to lose my grip. His
shadowy arm coiling out, aiming right for the center of my life
source. I was pretty keen about keeping my soul intact, whatever I
had left at least.

Darting to the side, I threw my fist
into his beer belly. “You should really lay off the spirits, old
man.”

The demon hissed.

“
Boys. Boys. Boys! Cut the
shit, before you piss me off,” Kira warned, sounding more than a
bit miffed. She strutted between us, putting a palm on either side
of our chests, separating us. “I’m in no mood to clean house.”
Kira’s frown grew into a menacing scowl. “You were leaving if I’m
not mistaken.”

My head snapped up, eyes narrowing. “I
was, but I’ll be back. Every. Damn. Day. Until I get what I want.
This isn’t the last you’ll see of me.”

She angled her head, a glint in her
red eyes. “Oh, I’m counting on it.”

{Angel
}

Huddled into a corner on
the bed, I stared at the crisp apple, ignoring the hunger
pains.
I’m not going to eat that
apple,
I repeated like I was Snow White and
Emma was the evil Queen. Huh. In reality, Emma was kind of an evil
bitch.

As long as they kept me prisoner, I
was going to do every tactic my devious mind could come up with,
including starvation.

It was a lot harder than it
sounded.

Travis paced back and forth on the
cold, splotchy gray floors, his cell phone pressed to his ear. I
was really hoping the darker stains weren’t blood. As dark as it
was, probably demon blood. Ew. The thought of hunters torturing
demons down here started a campfire of rage in my belly.

“
She’s not eating,” Travis
said to Chase on the other end of the phone. He’d called to check
up on me. How sweet. It made me want to barf. “And I doubt she’s
even sleeping,” he added.

Give that half-demon a gold star. What
had started out as an experiment, turned into another way to
manipulate my newly assigned babysitters. I discovered my body no
longer needed as much rest. A few hours here and there were just
enough to function.