Soul Thief-Demon Trappers 2 (30 page)

Ori’s good humor disappeared. “I’m a freelance demon hunter.”

She was surprised he’d let that one slip.

“Figures.” Beck smirked. “Lancers aren’t welcome here, not unless ya decide to become a trapper and join the Guild, do honest work for a change.”

“You’re very cocky for someone who almost lost his soul to a Mezmer in a pool hall.”

Beck’s face went pale. “Now look here, ya son of a—”

“Did he tell you about that?” Ori cut in. “Apparently not. I’d be ashamed, too.”

Riley cringed. “Enough, guys,” she said, tugging on her escort’s arm.

“Girl…” Beck said, his voice a low growl.

She stepped between them again, though it was a dangerous place to be with all the testosterone in the air. “I don’t care what you think, Beck, so just leave me alone. It’s time I made my own decisions.”

“Then don’t come cryin’ to me when it all goes to hell,” Beck replied.

“Deal.”

She turned her back on him and walked away, Ori at her side. Behind them she could hear Beck swearing in both English and Hellspeak.

“Colorful fellow. Do you think he’s watching?” Ori whispered.

“Oh, definitely.”

Ori ran his arm around her waist and pulled her so close their hips bumped. “Good. I hope he gets an eyeful.”

“You’re wicked,” Riley said, grinning up at him.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Ori replied.

*   *   *

When the adrenaline
from the encounter wore off, Riley found herself more tired than she’d expected. It’d been a long and pretty much fruitless day. The only positive part was walking next to her. She felt good around Ori, much like she had when she’d been with Simon. She wasn’t sure what that meant.

Abruptly her companion slowed his pace, then he stopped and scanned the area around them.

“Is Beck following us?” she asked. A shake of the head. “Is the Five?”
Would it come for me here?
Of course it would. Being in the market wouldn’t mean a thing to a demon.

“No.” He mumbled something under his breath and then began walking again, faster now, forcing Riley to catch up with him.

What’s got him spooked?

As they turned the corner toward the road where she’d parked her car, someone bumped her from behind. Her head spun for a second, and then her vision cleared. When she looked around, whoever had bumped her was gone.

A sharp stinging sensation came from her left hand. “Ouch,” she said, shaking it to clear the discomfort. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it, but it still stung. From the way it felt, she’d expected to see a big welt or something.

Ori swore in Hellspeak.

“I’m okay,” she said, rubbing the sore area. That only seemed to make it worse.

“Let me see.” He took her hand in his, and the pain eased.

“Wow, how did you…” Riley looked up at him as she spoke, then all the air fled her lungs.

Ori shimmered in a harsh, pulsating light. She might have been able to ignore that, but the immense wings behind him pretty much sealed the deal. They sat tight against his back and were pure white, each feather shimmering in the lights from the tents around them. As she stared in wonder, a woman walked by them toting a basket and humming to herself, failing to notice that Riley’s
date
glowed like a supernova.

I’ve been holding hands with an angel?
Having hot thoughts about one of Heaven’s peeps?

“You’re an—”

Ori shook his head in dismay. “Not here,” he said. He flicked his hand and the scene changed.

*   *   *

Riley found herself
surrounded by a deep green carpet of grass, blades bending in the faint breeze. Nestled within the green were bluebells, and in the distance, white clumps. The clumps moved.

“Sheep?” she asked, surprised.

Every now and then one would raise its woolly head, move a few steps, and start grazing again. They didn’t have sheep in the market, and there wasn’t grass like this, or a big blue sky.

“What is all this?” A scent tickled her nose and she placed it immediately.
Watermelon.

Riley found Ori under a broad oak tree that had to be at least a century old, his wings hidden now. A dark blue blanket lay on the ground, along with a wicker picnic basket. On the blanket was a white china plate with slices of succulent watermelon, the black seeds dotting the firm red flesh.

“I thought we needed privacy,” he explained.

It was all so real. “Where is this place? How did we get here?”

“Just accept this as a gift from me.” He waved her closer.

A picnic with an angel?
Her mind finally completed its reboot. And went suspicious.

“You’re not here to have me stop Armageddon or anything, are you?”

“No,” he said smiling.

“How do I know you’re not a demon playing games with my head?”

“You don’t,” he said. “You just have to trust me.” He smiled and beckoned to her again. “Come on, the watermelon is really good.”

Riley groaned to herself as she hiked up the hill. She paused at the edge of the blanket, arms crossed over her chest. She still wasn’t buying all this. “Why haven’t I been able to see your … angelness until now?”

“Because the timing wasn’t right,” he replied. “Unfortunately, one of the other Divines thought it would be amusing to alter that situation in the middle of the marketplace.” From the low rumble in his voice it was clear he wasn’t pleased by the prank.

“You mean I got bumped by an angel?”

A nod. Ori gestured toward the plate of watermelon. “Your favorite, I believe.” He knelt next to the picnic basket and retrieved a bottle of red wine, followed by two crystal glasses. Then a plate of cheese, sliced peaches, and frosty grapes.

“How do you do that?” she quizzed.

Ori’s face lit with a smile. “Divines are allowed small bits of creation,” he said, as if it were nothing.

She took another look around, inhaling the fresh air. “This isn’t small, Ori. This is amazing!”

Finally Riley gave in to the moment. What else could she do? It beat being bored to tears in a church basement. Besides, the smell of the watermelon was getting to her.

He fed her sliced peaches by hand, then the wine and the watermelon. They laughed as the juice rolled down her chin. The taste was extraordinary, like it was the best ever.

“Why does it feel different when I’m with you?” she asked dreamily. “Is it because of what you are?”

“That’s it exactly.” He seemed at ease here, not tense like he’d been at the market.

“So are you like my guardian angel or something?”
That would totally rock.

“No, I’m not.”

“Oh,” she said, sincerely disappointed. “But you kept the Five from killing me.”

“It wasn’t your time to die,” Ori said simply.

Which meant he knew when her time
was
up.

She couldn’t ask that question. “So what do you do as an angel?”

“You mean besides giving pretty girls roses?” he said.

“Yes, besides that.”

“I’m a problem solver. I handle difficult situations.”

“Like…” she quizzed, beckoning with her hand for further information.

“Like that Geo-Fiend who killed your father. It’s a rogue demon. It must be destroyed.”

“So that’s what you do all the time?” she said, sneaking another piece of watermelon.

“I told you I was a demon hunter,” he said, brows furrowed. “I didn’t lie.”

“You just shaded the truth, a lot. You so didn’t mention the ‘I’ve got wings’ thing.”

“I didn’t want to scare you,” he said, his voice softer now.

“Do you always hang around pool halls?” she jested.

“Not usually. It was lucky I was there that night, or the Mezmer would have had your friend’s soul.”

Riley stilled. “Was it that close?”

“Yes. He was at the breaking point. I made sure it didn’t happen.”

She let out a whoosh of air in relief. “I wasn’t sure if he was okay. Beck wouldn’t say much about it. Pride and all.”

“He is his own master. Pride and all.”

Riley cocked her head. “Why did you save him?”

“Because he’s important to you, so that makes him important to me.”

She opened her mouth to protest, then realized it would be futile. “I do like Beck, at least when he’s not being a jerk.”

“I thought so,” Ori said, then popped a grape into his mouth. “Besides, you’ve lost too much already.”

“Like my dad,” Riley said. “Do you know who summoned him?”

“No, I don’t. It might shock you to know that Divines aren’t all-knowing.”

“Of course. That would be too easy.”

Ori put his arm around her, drawing her close. Initially she wasn’t sure if she wanted that, but eventually she snuggled next to him. She knew from the post-Allan experience that rebound romances weren’t a good idea. A rebound with an angel? That didn’t even register on the cosmic scale of “not a good idea.”

“I disagree,” Ori said. He delicately tipped her chin up with a finger. His eyes told her what he intended. And then he kissed her, without waiting for her verdict on the subject. Like the wine and the watermelon and everything else around them, the kiss was beyond what it should be. Every nerve in Riley’s body tingled, a Simon-level kiss on steroids. They kissed again, this time more deeply. Her body began to hum, like it was lit from within by a strange erotic fire.

Riley pulled out of his arms, her head swimming. “Too much wine,” she said, though she’d only had one glass.

Ori graciously allowed her the fib. He leaned back against the tree, one foot propped up. A scoundrel with that black hair skimming over his shoulders and those bold, dark eyes.

Get a grip, girl.

“Why are you are doing this? Spending time with me, I mean. You could have just followed me and I would have never known you were there.”

“I feel alive when I’m with you.”

She barely subdued the snort. “You’re an angel. You hang with God and all those other divine guys. I’m just … me.”

“You’re Riley Anora Blackthorne,” he replied, as if that settled the matter. “You deserve better than what you’ve had.”

Her mind traitorously returned to Simon and how he found more comfort with his rosary than he did with her. And Beck, the constant annoyance in her life. What would they think if they knew she was hanging with an honest-to-God for-real angel?

Riley felt a faint touch on her arm.

“Neither of them can know the truth.”

“Okay, that’s way freaky,” she replied. “You know what I’m thinking.”

“Only when there’s a lot of emotion behind the thought.”

Then Ori was near her again, looking into her eyes, his lips barely brushing her cheek.

“One more kiss,” he said, “then I’ll take you home.”

They took their time, and when they finally broke apart Riley could feel her heart hammering.
Amazing.

“Amazing?” he said, that wicked grin blossoming.

He’d read her mind. Again. “Stop that,” she chided.

“You’ll get used to it.”

“Only if I can hear your thoughts.”

“Maybe that’s possible. Let’s find out.”

The angel pulled her close. His skin felt warm, toasty even. There was nothing at first, then the silent brush of wings against her mind.

Hello, Riley.

She yanked herself away, blinking in surprise. “I heard you!”

He nodded, satisfied. “It is said if a mortal can hear an angel’s thoughts, they were meant to be together.”

Together?

He pulled her close again, putting his forehead against hers. She heard him as plain as if he’d spoken the words.

You will be my downfall, Riley Blackthorne.

She surrendered to another kiss, one that seemed to stir something deep inside her, like a flower unfolding in the glorious sunshine. For the first time wild, impossible futures began to form in her mind.

“Good night, Riley,” he said, and then she was standing next to her car just outside the market, keys in hand. Ori was nowhere to be seen, but she could still taste his kisses on her lips, the brush of his fingers on her cheek, the warmth in her belly.

Then it all faded, like a dream. Even the watermelon on her tongue was gone.

As if it never existed.

*   *   *

Beck felt like
an idiot. He’d been sitting in his truck for the past hour, playing the same Carrie Underwood song over and over until it sawed across his nerves. It was now close to eleven, and Paul’s daughter wasn’t at the church yet.

“Where the hell are ya?” he snarled. “If yer…” He clenched his teeth, trying hard not to think of what might be happening between that slick bastard and Paul’s little girl.

One moment Beck knew what he was doing was right, then the next he felt like a damned stalker. She wasn’t a kid, even if he tried to act like she were. He’d not been fair when he said all her boyfriends had been jerks. There were a couple boys between Allan and Simon who had treated her decently. But deep in his gut he was sure this Ori guy was a bad move.

During his hour’s vigil he’d come to one conclusion: He was losing his mind when it came to Paul’s daughter. He was jealous. No way to deny it. When he’d seen that man put his arm around her, he’d wanted to rip the guy to pieces.

I gotta get a grip on this. Can’t keep goin’ down this road.

Beck blew out a lungful of air in relief when Riley’s car pulled to the curb and she stepped out. She had a strange look on her face and wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings, so he tracked her until she entered the church and the door closed behind her. At least he knew she was safe.

And alone.

He started his truck, then just sat there. After a moment’s consideration, he headed toward the Westin. Justine might know something about this Ori guy, and besides, she had her own brand of magic, the kind that would help Beck forget the one girl he’d never have.

*   *   *

Ori found his
nemesis in the old cemetery near the master trapper’s empty grave. The earth had been returned to the hole now, but it had settled, causing cracks to form along the edges where it met solid ground. He made no effort to cover his approach but landed squarely in front of Sartael, wings unfurled and prepared for battle.