Redeeming Angel (9 page)

I held out my wrist. “Get it over
with.”

She kept her foot steady on the gas,
never letting the car slow or waver. With her left hand on the
wheel, she used her right index finger to slice across my wrist. I
watched as blood pooled, streaming down my arm. Then she took that
razor sharp nail and opened a small gash on her own wrist, but the
color of her blood was black. She smashed our two wounds together,
mixing her gunkiness with mine. Her lips formed a chant I couldn’t
pretend to understand.

A blood oath.

The area around the cut seared. I
yanked my hand back from under her grasp and glanced down. As
usual, the wound began to slowly heal. It wasn’t a deep cut and
should have been gone from sight, unscarred within minutes, except
it did leave a scar, a bright red one in the shape of her
mark.

The deal was done. I was bound to my
word, to come when she summoned and give her what she sought. God
only knew when or what she would ask of me, but it seemed like a
small price for what I was getting in return.

My brow lifted and my body tensed.
“Happy now?”

A sadistic grin curled her lips. “For
the first time in over a decade.” Gliding down the highway, a light
mist of rain fell from the cloudy sky. She told me what I sought,
every gritty, knee-buckling detail. The drizzle was background
noise as she spoke, listening as she revealed a method to ridding
Angel of the darkness that claimed her soul.

I gasped at one point, uncertainty
weaving through me like tangled vines, intertwining around my
organs and squeezing. “I don’t believe you,” I spat, disgust
spewing in the air.

“
What? Did you think
breaking a bond from Hell would be a piece of cake?”

No. I hadn’t been that daft,
but…

I’d rally a whole slew of Divisa if
necessary. Whatever it would take to protect those I loved. What
she was telling me had to be done made the demon inside me shiver
and not in a good way.

Intrigue shone beyond her red-rimmed
eyes. “I have to say, your reaction is fascinating. Or rather, the
reaction I can feel from your demon is what I find
interesting.”

I rubbed my damp palms on the thighs
of my jeans. My body had broken out in a cold sweat. “He tends to
get upset when her safety is threatened.”

“
As do you, I see. If you
do nothing, her life is damned. Your dearly devoted wears the mark
of servitude to Hell. The only way to save her is to step into the
darkness with her. What do you have to lose?”

She was right. What did I have to
lose?

And with that being said, it was time
Kira and I went our separate ways. Our journey together ended here.
There was no way on this green earth I was going to let her
anywhere near my family. She might have bested me in the motel, but
it was time to reciprocate. I might not be able to kill the
she-devil, and it was impossible for Lexi and Travis to hide from
her. They both bore her mark, which meant if Kira really wanted to
find them, there was nothing I could do about it. I got the feeling
what Kira wanted was for me to assure my cousins she didn’t mean to
hurt them.

No go.

I had already sealed my fate, soul be
damned, and someday I would pay the price for the deal I struck.
Someday was not going to be today.

No doubt Kira expected me to do
something foolish, and she was absolutely right. I just don’t think
she expected I would also put myself in danger. Cruising down the
highway at speeds over seventy, I shifted my eyes up, peering at
the side mirror to check the road was clear. Things were about to
get bumpy.

Kira glanced over at me with wariness.
I grinned and gave no other warning. She blinked, and during that
nanosecond, I extended my arms in nothing but a blur, grasping the
wheel. Then I yanked with all my might.

Bon voyage, mother
trucker.

Motionless, her eyes went wide. The
sound of rubber shrieking was followed immediately by the
ear-piercing crunch of metal, like a sonic blast that shook me to
my very core. Glass fragmented, showering the inside of the car and
nicking my flesh as I was thrown from every which angle in my seat,
but I didn’t feel it.

While the car tumbled and rolled again
and again across the pavement, I went for the blade sheathed in my
sock. The bone-shattering impact of each complete spin made the
simple process of reaching down difficult, but I battled against
gravity until my fingers wrapped around the handle.

The demon herself couldn’t be sent
back to Hell, but I could force her out of her host. It would buy
me the time I needed to get to Angel.

I was quite acquainted with
the feeling of spinning wildly out of control. Kira? Not so much.
She let out a war cry of frustration, snapping her seatbelt.
Bad move, bitch
. Her head
whacked the roof of the car, neck angling in a way a human’s was
not meant to bend.

Shit had definitely gone
downhill.

When she came back down, she dove
straight at me, nails extended like claws and flaxen hair floating
around her face. It made my job of running the blade into her heart
as simple as pie. She basically landed on it. I gave my wrist a
twist, driving the dagger home. “Apstergo,” I said.

As soon as I finished the chant to
expel the demon from her body, the car finally stopped rolling. It
teetered on two wheels before falling back down to the ground in a
tremor that rumbled as if it reached the earth’s crust. Kira’s
weightless body slumped on top of mine, and I waited for that
pivotal moment when she disintegrated to ash.

Damn demons.

Of course she wouldn’t follow
protocol. Pushing aside the body of some nameless woman who’d been
unfortunately possessed by Kira, I dragged in a long deep breath,
and as soon as I was sure my lungs were working, I padded my hands
over my body. Hella-freakin’-lujah. I was still in one piece.
Mostly. No missing limbs—maybe a broken rib or two—and the cuts
would heal in a few hours. In a situation like this, it was good to
be supernatural.

Removing my seatbelt, I leaned to my
left and kicked the door with my foot. Blood seeped down the side
of my face and dripped down the back of my throat. The door
clattered to the ground, and I stepped out of the car, taking in my
surroundings. There was a line of trees in the distance. The car
had tumbled off the shoulder into the grass.

I climbed up the embankment and looked
down at my handiwork. Good grief. My car insurance was going to
cost me a fortune. Two totaled cars in a year. I sighed at seeing
another one of my vehicles charred.

The roar of flames licked the car and
caught, burning metal and melting plastic. A steam of heat rose up
in the vicinity, creating a mirage. Smoke billowed in the air,
escalating and disappearing into the clouds. It carried the smell
of roasting oil and grease, hardly pleasant.

Dusting the glass and dirt off my
rather ratty clothes, I ran a hand through my hair, shaking loose
any debris. I needed new transportation and quick. I could travel
the entire way running, and heck, it probably would have been
faster, but I’d only wear myself out. Saving Angel was going to be
exhausting in itself.

So I was going to “borrow” the first
car I came upon, and hopefully the burning pile of metal beside me
would only aid my plight. As luck would have it, I didn’t have to
wait long.

A silver sedan flew by, breaking when
the driver caught a glimpse of the crash and me beaten up on the
side of the road. I walked up to the driver’s side
window.

“
Hey, do you need me to
call for help?” a man with slightly receding hair and crow’s feet
around his brown eyes asked.

Granted, this wasn’t my first rodeo.
Travis and I had been known to hotwire and hijack cars for shits
and giggles, mostly Dev’s until he bought us cars of our own. I
doubted Devin was going to get a kick out of me doing so now, but
desperate measures and all.

Holding the man’s gaze captive with
mine, I said, “I need to borrow your car, mate. But don’t worry it
will be returned. There is no need to alert the authorities. I’m
just a friend using your car for a few days. Do you
understand?”

He nodded.

“
Good.” It was far easier
than hotwiring, but not nearly as fun. “You have quite a walk home.
Better be on your way.” That should buy me a few days. Just long
enough to do what I had to do. No harm done.

At least that was the idea.

And my plans had a way of backfiring
in epic proportions.

Without a second thought, I slid into
the driver’s seat, wrapped my fingers around the key, and turned
the engine over. I put my foot on the gas and steered the vehicle
back onto the highway with one sole purpose.

Two state lines later, I came to a
fork in the road, and its symbolism to my current situation hit me.
Do I go left or right? Could I really do what Kira had suggested?
Even now, thinking about it, my demon balked and the man rebuffed.
It went against my very nature to protect her at all costs. And
that was where the conflict came.

When it came down to it, would I
actually be able to follow through? I was scared I wouldn’t, but
even more scared I would.

Chapter 9

{Chase
}

I made the long trip back to Illinois
in record, law breaking speeds, only stopping to pee and grab a
bite to eat. My eyes darted to the rearview mirror for the
hundredth time, making sure a demon wasn’t stupid enough to trail
me. I thought for sure I’d be pulling over to exercise my ninja
skills, but maybe Kira had something to do with my uneventful trip
back.

It was hard to admit that maybe, just
maybe not all demons were self-serving assholes.

I went straight to Angel, not
bothering to stop home or let anyone know I was back. The need to
see her with my own eyes overwhelmed any other function—including
food.

I did not pass go or collect my two
hundred dollars.

This was it. Do or die.

Walking down the stairs, I detached
myself as much as I could, knowing I was about to partake in
something that would darken my soul, whatever was left of
it.

My stomach lurched.

Angel was lying on the mattress,
curled on her side with her back to the door. I expected her to
jolt out of bed and start cussing at me, demanding I let her out.
So the fact she didn’t even acknowledge I was here was unnerving,
especially since my body was having a sensory seizure. Tingles of
every emotion, and some I didn’t even know I was capable of,
rocketed around my organs.

My heart rate picked up as I reached
into my pocket, pulling out a set of keys. Maybe she was sleeping,
probably a darn good thing. “Angel?”

Not a muscle twitched.

With an objective eye, I looked at
her. Too skinny. Too pale. Too still.

Something was wrong.

My hand shook as I turned the key, the
lock clicking open, followed by the second and then the third.
Slipping inside, I quickly closed and locked the door behind me. I
called her name again, returning the keys to my pocket. The
jingling sound vibrated through the soundless room.

There was no answer, and by now, the
Angel I’d come to expect would’ve been jumping down my
throat.

Please God, tell me I’m
not too late.

I refused to believe it.

Zapping to her side, I sat on the edge
of the mattress. Her face was partially hidden by a curtain of dark
hair. I brushed back the strands, my pulse throbbing at being this
close to her. The days I’d been gone had done a number on me
physically and mentally. I could only imagine what it had been like
for her. Guilt started to weasel into my belly. “Angel,
I’m—”

The air whooshed out of my
lungs on a grunt as her feet slammed into the center of my gut. It
knocked me off the bed, but I caught myself and crouched on the tip
of my toes, hand touching the ground for support.
Dirty little sneak
. I
knew better to let my guard down.

She took her split-second of surprise
and jumped to her feet. With a feral cry, she lunged off the bed,
coming down on me. I could have darted to the side, but I was
afraid she would hurt herself, which was not what I wanted. Landing
on my back, her legs locked around my waist, squeezing like a pair
vice grips.

“
What do you think you’re
doing?” I hissed, reaching up as her arms wrapped around my
neck.

“
Shut up.” She pulled back,
putting her full weight into the movement, and down we went,
tumbling to the floor.

I rolled, making sure I took the brunt
of the impact and groaned as her body hit mine. The damn wiggle
worm twisted, throwing her legs over mine and weaving them between
my legs. “If you wanted to snuggle, all you had to do was ask. No
need to get aggressive, unless of course you like it.”

Her answer was to press her lips to my
ear lobe and take a nip. It wasn’t hard, but a warning. She wasn’t
playing around.