The Blood of Angels: Divine Vampires (3 page)

“That’s great, honey!” James exclaims. “Listen, I’m gonna give the phone back to Joe, you give him all your flight information and we’ll pick you up!”

Karen’s eyes are wide and she sits on the stairs, looking between the two men.

“Oh, sorry… I just hired him,” James says into the phone. “Lucas quit and I needed someone fast. Don’t worry, he came highly recommended…”

Alex leans over, grinning, and says, “That was me.”

Maybe
The Maker
knows what it’s doing after all, I think, as Joe takes the phone and begins nodding and writing in a notepad he’s removed from his vest pocket.

“James—” Karen’s voice pleads. She clutches at him again, but his eyes are sad.

“I tried to tell you, but you didn’t give me a chance.” He holds her wrists and presses them down to her sides. “My wife is coming home early, for Christmas. I’m sorry…”

The woman’s face twists and then falls. She doesn’t say anything. She just runs out the huge front door, leaving it open. I fly down and see her fumbling with the door handle of the car, tears streaming down her face.

“Well, my work here is done.” Alex sighs, joining me as we fly out into the still-falling snow. “So… tell me… what are you going to ask for?”

“World peace.” I roll my eyes and flit upward, sticking my tongue out and ignoring the laughter. “See you around, Alex.”

The Maker
has finally sent me another call.

Maybe burying myself in my work will keep my mind off… him.

Cats are the worst. It’s the wings. They love to play with the damned wings. I can’t count how many times, out of nowhere, I’ve become some feline’s personal play toy. You’d think I’d been rolling in catnip, the way they come after me!

One minute, I’m just sitting here minding my own business—okay, so I’m minding someone else’s business—perched on the footboard and watching the show, and the next minute—
wham!
Now I’m rolling around on the bed with Anna and her new Beau, except they’re having a good old time, and I’m trying to save myself from Fluffy’s claws!

“Beau, put him out,” Anna begs.

Brilliant idea! The damned cat’s got my wing pinned and he’s about to pounce on my head! I’m flopping like a landed fish and the cat’s tail is swishing like mad when Beau grabs him by the scruff of the neck. Just in time! I stick my tongue out at the cat and shake off my wings while he hisses and spits and sails out the door.

“Where were we?” Beau climbs back into bed and dives under the covers, making Anna giggle wildly at first, until she begins to moan.

Damned comforter! I give her a little “push,” and she kicks off the covers, revealing the spread of her hips under his hands and the swell of her breasts with their hard, dark nipples. His face is buried between her legs, and he’s making those noises, like he’s eating something sinfully delicious.

Anna rolls her hips, eyes closed, fingers gripping his head, guiding his tongue. The cat mews on the other side of the door, but they’re both oblivious, of course. I’ve got that funny feeling in my belly again, and I’m thinking about what Alex said the other day. I haven’t gotten up the nerve to go back… to the man who could see me. Okay, so I flew by his window and peeked in, but it was dark, and I couldn’t see anything.

“Beau, yes, oh God!” She gasps and squirms, spreading her thighs wider and pressing up against his mouth in fast, rhythmic thrusts. Her head goes back and forth, side to side, and she makes this noise in her throat, not unlike the cat outside of the door. When her body stiffens and threatens to buck right out of his hands, he grips her ass, his mouth fastened tight between her legs, his eyes dark and full of lust as she shudders and quakes.

“Oh God, oh God, oh God,” she breathes as he kisses his way up her belly. She clutches him tight, reaching between them to find his cock. I can’t see well enough, now, and I float down toward the mattress, moving off to the side so I can watch them join together. She strokes him, squeezing, and I watch his face—that look of bliss as she slides him between her pussy lips, guiding him inside.

Their eyes meet, and there it is, that low communication, something passing between them, unsaid but completely understood. It hasn’t even been long, a few weeks since they met, but they are deeply connected in this moment. Is it possible, I wonder, watching them move, their hips rocking in a slow-building rhythm. Is it possible to feel it so quickly, to have an instant feeling of euphoria with someone you hardly know?

The cat’s scratching at the door now, mewing like mad, but they’re kissing, completely oblivious to anything but one another, whispering things, urging each other on. His thrusts become deeper, faster, and her nails dig into the flesh of his back, making him arch into her.

“Don’t stop,” she moans. “Oh baby, please, I’m so close…”

Her words spur him onward, driving him deep into her flesh, the look on his face caught somewhere between pleasure and pain. He looks as if he’s trying to hold onto something, to hold back, as she writhes underneath him.

“Please!” She pleads, her hand slipping between them and rubbing herself as they rock. “Oh, Beau, make me come!”

He groans, and I see something in his face, a surrender, a giving into something bigger than him, bigger than both of them. Shuddering, he breathes her name, giving one final thrust. She gasps, arching up to meet him, and I see that look on her face, too, as they come together. It looks like such delicious agony, and I find myself moving in even closer, lost in the moment with them as they smile and kiss and rub their slick bellies together.

“Mommy!”

The door flies open and they quickly separate, covering themselves, as David leaps onto the bed, my second near-miss of the night. I fly quickly up, vacating the spot he situates himself into just in time to miss being squished under his little limbs.

“What is it, baby?” Anna’s eyes apologize to Beau as she snuggles him down between them, but Beau’s eyes are kind and understanding.

“I had a dream,” David says, only it comes out
‘dweam.’

“What was it about, big guy?” Beau’s big hand ruffles his hair, and David looks askance at him for a moment.

“A fairy.”

Startled, I nearly fall off my perch on the footboard, trying to sense if the kid has any idea at all that I’m present. He doesn’t seem to, but I can’t be sure. Climbing over the edge of the footboard, I hover there, watching them between the slats.

“Like Tinker Bell ?” Anna smoothes his dark hair away from his forehead. He’s a sweet kid, great big brown eyes. Gonna grow up to be quite a heartbreaker, I think with a smile, watching him roll his eyes at his mother.

“No, a
real
fairy,” he insists. Fairy is
faiwy
in David-speak. “She was pretty and she kissed me.”

“Sounds like a good dream, kiddo.” Beau chuckles.

“But she went away, and I was sad…” David’s eyes are big as he looks between the two of them. “And then there was a scary monster who wanted to eat my eyes!”

The grown-ups’ eyes meet as they both try not to smile.

“It was just a dream, baby.” Anna kisses the top of his head. “Let’s get you back to bed.”

He rests his head on her shoulder as she carries him out of the room and I see Beau, leaning up on his elbow to watch her retreating form, his eyes soft and full of warmth. I’m pretty sure David hasn’t seen me, although he might sense my presence. That feels good to me somehow, like some sort of connection.

By the time Anna snuggles back in, the banished cat curling up at the foot of their bed, I’ve slipped out of the room to peek in on David. He’s sleeping, his thumb tucked into his little rosebud mouth. My assignment doesn’t start until the morning and I decide to spend the night in a cat-free zone, curling up on the boy’s pillow to watch him sleep.

“Good morning, David!”

I can’t believe it! It’s Zeph—and he’s looking right at me! I hover over David’s shoulder as he bounds into the little preschool classroom but I stop short the minute I’m seen.

“I dreamed about a fairy!” David sits at a table and slaps a white piece of paper down there.

“I bet you did.” Zeph smiles right at me as I fly quickly into the corner of the room, near the window.

“I’ll draw her for you!” David waves impatiently at his mother as she kisses him goodbye, takes his coat and wishes him a good day. The baby wiggles in a carrier on her back, grinning and grabbing her hair.

“I can’t wait to see it, David. Good morning, Chloe.” Zeph winks at Anna, giving her a smile.

Oh my word, that smile. It’s a white flash, filled with a mischievous sort of charm. And he’s looking at me again. Of course, no one else knows it, because no one else can see me. But he can, and his gaze pins me like a butterfly splayed on a board.

A young girl sucks on a long strand of blonde hair, edging her way around the table to look at what David is drawing. She stands there, quiet, watching the picture take shape. Zeph leaves them as more children filter in and comes over toward the window where I’m trying my best to hide behind the blinds.

“Hi there, Sam…” His voice is low, so no one can hear him. “Here we are again. Is it fate?”

I shrug, watching the door. The woman I’m waiting for should be here any moment now. His eyes on me feel like a heat and it’s hard to look at him… and hard not to.

“You don’t have to be afraid.” He takes a seat at the large desk at the back of the room. “Come on down. I won’t hurt you.”

“I’m not afraid.” I roll my eyes, crossing my arms, trying to appear nonchalant.

“Then come down here.” He crooks his finger and then pats the surface of the desk in front of him, leaning back in his chair to look over his shoulder at me.

Cautiously, I let myself settle gently onto the desk in front of him. It’s so strange, to have human eyes looking right at me. To have
his
eyes looking right at me. They’re dark gray, like storm clouds. And like watching clouds rolling in, I feel both excited and trepidatious.

“Who are you here for today?” He glances around to make sure no one is watching him. If someone was, it would look, of course, like he was talking to himself, but no one appears to be paying attention as they hang up coats and change from boots to sneakers.

“It’s not human business.” I sniff, turning my back to him, looking at the doorway again. I can almost feel his eyes on me. His interest is intoxicating.

“I told you…” He chuckles, and I feel his finger poking me gently in the back. “I’m not like most… humans.”

Glancing back at him, I frown. He sure seems to know a lot about fairies and what we do. It’s disconcerting. I want to ask him how he knows what he knows but just being next to him again makes me feel a little dizzy and unable to concentrate. I’m not even sure I’m going to be able to do my job, considering.

“You’ll see,” I tell him over my shoulder, noting that flash of a smile, the arch of a dark brow. His hair is dark too, so black it’s almost blue under the fluorescents.

Ah, there she is! The woman helps her daughter out of her coat, hanging it on a hook and shooing her into the crowd of kids. She’s making her way toward Zeph’s desk, thanks to me.

“Oh, Mr. Sullivan!” She waves her diamond-covered fingers at Zeph as she approaches. “I wondered…” She leans in now, hand on the desk—I have to sidestep it—her voice dropping conspiratorially. “I have a Christmas dinner to donate… turkey and a ham, all the fixings… do you happen to know a family?”

“I have a feeling I’m going to.” Zeph looks right at me, giving me that sly, secret, knowing smile. It turns me to liquid. I feel like I’m going to melt into a puddle on the surface of the desk. What in the world is wrong with me?

“Is that a yes?” She cocks her head at him, puzzled.

“Yes. I’m sure of it.” He nods, standing, his finger brushing my wings lightly. It looks casual, but I have a feeling it isn’t. His touch sends a shivery wave through me, something bright and hot. I don’t understand it, but I like it.

“Wonderful!” she exclaims. “It’s in the car. I was going to donate it to the church, but I just… had a feeling you might know someone.”

“Thank you.” He gives her a wink. The same wink he gave me, which makes me bristle and frown. He seems to hand out those beguiling smiles and winks without a second thought. “You’ll make some family very happy this holiday.”

“I’ll have my driver bring it in!” She beams, giving him a waggling finger wave as she heads toward the door.

“So, who is it?” Zeph sits again and looks at me, that knowing smirk on his face.

“Go ask
him.
” I nod toward David, realizing fate seems to be running itself, and I don’t even have to do a thing.

“David?” He raises his eyebrows at me, but steps around the desk and squats down beside the little brown-eyed boy, who is still drawing his fairy dream-vision. “Hey guy… that’s a great picture.”

“Thanks,” David says, only it comes out, ‘sanks.’ “Chloe likes it. I’m going to give it to her when I’m done.”

Zeph smiles at him and then at me. I’m sitting on the edge of his desk, knees up, chin in hand, watching it all play out, like dominos falling in a line. And I’m looking at the way Zeph’s suit fits him, which is quite nicely. He has exquisite taste in ties. His is blood red and striking against his white shirt, setting off his charcoal colored suit coat, which almost matches his eyes.

“You like Chloe, huh?” Zeph asks. His gaze skips back to me, something curious there. He is thinking about me, wondering. I can see it on his face. He said he couldn’t read my mind, but the way he looks at me, I wonder.

“She’s nice.” David shrugs. “I feel bad for her, Mr. Zeph. Her daddy lost his job and she says Santa isn’t going to come to her house.”

Chloe is sitting at another table, quietly putting together a puzzle and still sucking on that long strand of hair.

“Oh, I don’t know.” Zeph looks at me, as if I’m the one his words were meant for. “Santa is magic, after all. Maybe he’ll hear her Christmas wish.”

“Really?” David studies his face carefully.

“He knows just what people need, Santa does.” Zeph’s eyes are still on me, and I squirm a little on the desk. “And he has all of his little elves to help make those Christmas wishes come true.”

“Chloe, you forgot your mittens!” Chloe’s mother tucks mittens into the pocket of the girl’s coat and I’m surprised, although I shouldn’t be, that it’s Lynn, Joe’s wife, who had been so worried a few weeks ago about her husband not having a job this Christmas. Lynn waves to her daughter, who gives her a wan smile and waves back as her mother heads out the door. It looks as if the family is going to have Christmas dinner, at any rate.

“You know, David…” Zeph’s voice drops a little, but not so low I can’t hear him. “Another name for an elf… is a fairy…?”

“Really?” David looks at his picture.

“And sometimes, I think Santa’s elves—or fairies—work all year round, giving gifts to the people who need them.” Zeph’s eyes meet mine. “Isn’t that a nice thought?”

“I like fairies.” David nods, coloring his fairy’s hair yellow.

“Excuse me.” We all look up at the sound of the voice, seeing the man in the uniform and cap standing there with a huge box of food. “Where should I put this?”

Again, I shouldn’t be surprised, considering what I do for a living, but there’s Joe, carrying out his new job, delivering a donated Christmas dinner which, unbeknownst to him, is going to end up on his very own holiday table.

“Right here on the desk, thanks.” Zeph stands and points.

I slide out of the way as Joe sets the heavy box down. His daughter has spotted him and comes to give him a big hug. It’s clear Zeph has never met Chloe’s father before, and his eyes widen as the dominos fall into place for him, too.

“Have a good holiday.” Joe gives his daughter another quick squeeze and waves before he heads out the door.

“You, too!” Zeph returns the wave and turns back to look at me. His eyes hold a depth of knowing which calls to me, and I feel like I want to drown there. There’s that funny feeling in my middle again. There’s something familiar about this moment, something so familiar… almost as if…

“Fate.” He says the word under his breath as he sits at his desk, putting his palm near me on the desk. “You never know just what’s going to happen next, do you?”

“Sometimes.” I turn to face him fully, my wings fluttering slightly, brushing over his hand as I settle myself.

“Someone knows.” Zeph puts his chin on his fist and contemplates me. “Who do you think
The Maker
is, Sam?”

I stare at him, everything inside of me going quiet.

How does he know about The Maker?

“Tell me, little one…” His fingers brush my wings, a sweet caress, and he smiles. “What are you going to ask for this year?”

I stare at him, our eyes locked, something caught between us which seems very familiar to me. I gaze at him in breathless wonder.

How does he know?

* * * *

“I don’t get how he knows so much about us,” I whisper to Alex as we stand in line. Christmas Eve requisitions are usually handled easily enough, through regular communication, but those fairies who have unusual or complicated requests have to get clearance through the F.A.B.—the Fey Advisory Board.

“Everything’s gone so corporate.” Alex sighs, ignoring my comment about Zeph as the line edges around the corner of a cubicle. The F.A.B. has set up shop in a high-rise office and simply uses the facility after hours, when humans go home for the night. It’s still decorated from the holiday party, funny tinsel garland hung with paperclips from the drop-ceiling tiles. Of course, this office has been empty since noon today, when everyone shut down their computers and went home to be with their families on Christmas Eve.

“Maybe I should just ask for a vacation.” The door opens and another fairy goes in. “We could go to Hawaii again. That was fun.”

“Yeah, those enormous bugs were a blast.” Alex shoves me forward. “Forget it. You’re asking to be human for a day and that’s final.”

“A human request?” The fairy at the front of the line turns to us with wide eyes. “They don’t grant those, you know.”

“Shhh!” Alex frowns. “They do so!”

We all know fairy requests to become human aren’t granted very often, and the odds are against me. Like I need to be reminded.

“Well, good luck to you, then.” The door opens again and the fairy disappears. We’re next. Well, I’m next. Alex is really just here for moral support—already having received approval for a vacation request. Australia’s nice this time of year.

“Go on!” Alex nudges me toward the open door. Inside, I face a line of fairies, six of them in a row perched on the edge of the large oak desk. This is the F.A.B. I’ve only ever had to consult with them once before, when I asked to have someone’s fate altered. We all go through it, getting so attached, wanting to change things for someone. They gave me two months off work that time, instead.

“Samariel Azuran…” The fairy on the end nods to me. “Your request has been reviewed and provisionally granted.”

I stare at them, open-mouthed.

Just like that?

Okay, seriously, I never thought they would say yes, not in a million years! I can’t believe it. I stare down the line of them, trying to find the reason on their faces. They almost never allow a fairy to turn human!

“Provisionally?” I gulp.

“You realize becoming mortal for any length of time leaves you subject to all the possible consequences, including the possibility of injury or death?”

Nodding, I say, “Yes.”

Of course I know that. But what can happen in twenty-four hours? Never mind what I
want
to happen in that space of time. Remembering Zeph smiling at me makes me feel suddenly weak and flushed.

“We are granting your request, but want to warn you—anything that happens while you’re human will be irreversible and irrevocable. You will be subject to both the laws of the humans and those of the Fey.”

I nod again. Okay, I get it. I feel like I’m watching one of those human drug commercials, where they list all the possible side effects at the end.

“Do you have any questions for us, Sam?”

Hesitating, I shake my head, and then ask, “How does it work? Do I… transform? Will I…?”

The fairy on the end shows a glimmer of a smile and then waves at me, a dismissal.

I’m floating… it feels like floating, not like flying at all.

What’s happening to me?

I have time to wonder before the world goes dark all around me.