True Angel: a Fallen Angel romance (Curse of the Othersiders Book 1)

by Jessica Lynch

  Once he thought he had a better understanding of it, he dared a peek over at Dina. The cat was curled up on the top tier of the cat tree, fast asleep; no matter how often she reminded him that she wasn’t really a cat, some built-in memories of her chosen shape were too difficult to break. Case in point: the hoard of cat toys.

  Still, if Dina wanted to use the toilet, drink out of a glass, and eat off of a plate, that was fine with him. And if she welcomed a scratch behind the ears and laughed gleefully when he took out the laser pointer, that was fine, too.

  Cam slipped out of the office, going upstairs to grab a fresh glass of ice water for Dina when she woke up. Then, still thinking about his new job, he decided to make a call. Not his favorite thing to do, but it seemed necessary before he started his next step.

  One thing for sure: it definitely came in handy, having the angel of death on speed dial.

  4

  Two sins out of seven

  A quick phone call later and Cam had his first lead. Azrael was across the country, stationed on the west coast on a hunt of his own, but he was able to confirm that Heather Hayes was still alive. Whether that was on a temporary basis or not, there was no way to tell, but at least Cam could be sure that this was still a rescue instead of a recovery.

  It was a start.

  The phone call didn’t last more than a few minutes. Az might have a magically enforced communicator, courtesy of his job, but Cam was too low on the Fallen food chain to warrant anything like that. He had to make do with a rotation of burner phones, hoping that his celestial aura didn’t short them out too quickly.

  Ah. That was being an Othersider for you. He could tap into his senses, rely on suggestion, fly, but that touch of the other planes—both the up above and down below—that marked him as one of his kind made it difficult to exist on this side. On Earth.

  It wasn’t just how mortals got one glimpse of his black wings and started freaking out, thinking he was a vicious demon. Some figured he was already an angel and had an in with the powers that be up above. Yeah. If only. The only miracle Cam could pull off was remembering to keep cans of tuna in the pantry for Dina. Saving lives? He dreamed of being a hero if only because he’d cash in on a ton of points doing that. If it was as easy to be that selfless, to make such sacrifices… hell, he would’ve done that long ago if it got him his halo.

  But nope. Cam relied on day-to-day kindnesses, hoping it would eventually be enough. Staking out the crosswalk. Picking up litter. Feeding the true neighborhood strays that congregated in the back alley behind his building. Anything to keep his darker urges at bay...

  The phone started to sizzle and crackle after Az confirmed that Heather Hayes was still kicking. Knowing the warning signs well enough, Cam ended the call before it blew up on him. The last thing he needed was to visit Shea Moonshadow because he burned the shit out of his hand.

  Again.

  He tossed the smoking phone aside before turning to fill Dina in on his call—only to discover that, while he was occupied, she had disappeared from her perch.

  That wasn’t so unusual. Dina often took off without warning, always returning when Cam called for her; kind of like how a mortal could summon him if they used his true name. But since he wasn’t looking forward to hearing Dina lecture him about promising to help Avery, he decided to leave her be. Instead, Cam swiveled in his desk chair, reaching for the pad with Avery’s scribbles on it.

  The sloppy and looping letters filled the first page and half of the next. She’d put the deets that Cam had asked for—name, age, address—for both herself and her sister, then jotted down answers to questions that he hadn’t gotten the chance to ask before she left.

  Cam approved. While he might’ve let his wayward cock do the thinking there for a bit, at least one of them knew what they were doing.

  Avery explained in her notes how a psychic had warned her sister that a feral shifter would be after her. That was Thursday of last week. Less than forty-eight hours later, Avery received the fateful call from her sister where Heather only managed to tell Avery that there was a seemingly rabid—feral, she used the word feral—wolf chasing her in Spring Valley before she screamed and her phone went dead.

  Since then, all Avery had to go on was Heather’s abandoned car, her cell phone left behind in a puddle, and a wolf print in the mud next to the puddle. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together: if a psychic with purple eyes warned about a feral shifter, then a wolf print was found where Heather wasn’t… yeah. Cam could see why Avery was convinced that the shifter was responsible for her sister’s disappearance.

  Leaning back in his chair, the tips of his wings hit the walls again as he shifted his hips, propping his boots on the edge of his desk. He folded one arm behind his head, the other hand lifting the pad up so he could read her notes for the third time.

  Why, Cam wondered. It didn’t make sense. When ferals were more animal than man, why would he hunt a mortal down and keep her alive?

  Especially a mortal who lived in an infamous human-only settlement?

  Now, if it was a regular shifter—either predatory or gentle—who made off with Heather, Cam’s first instinct would’ve been that he fell prey to the mate bond. Though it shattered the Bond Laws, some Paras just didn’t care. For shifters in particular, who had instant physical proof when a male scented his fated mate, the shock of the bond being triggered at first scent made them lose their mind. The urge to grab their female, mate their female, claim their female… it was supposed to be the most basic instinct. Only knowing the price they’d pay—a silver collar and a stint in the Cage, not to mention scaring the shit out of their mate—kept their beasts leashed. They would want to run off with their mate, but most knew better.

  Most. Not all.

  Of course, Cam wouldn’t know about that instinct. Just what he heard over the decades, and usually because a shifter’s animalistic nature extended to their mating habits. Othersiders very rarely found their soulmates, thanks to the curse, so he couldn’t quite understand risking everything for a woman he believed might have been meant for him alone.

  Then again, maybe he did.

  Cam exhaled softly as he gripped the pad, thumb rubbing the letters, ink transferring to his skin. He could sense Avery on the page, could remember her emotions calling to him earlier, and compare it to the worry and resolve imprinted on each hand-drawn letter.

  And then there was what he swore he glimpsed when he looked in her eyes…

  Dina had told him not to take this job. Some part of Cam had immediately rebelled against the idea. Even now, he still tried to convince himself it was a matter of professional pride to throw everything he was into this search because he’d already accepted Avery’s request. It had to be him. The pack wouldn’t help, and when it came to the human cops, she didn’t want to involve them. All good reasons, but it was more than that.

  What it was, though? He wasn’t quite sure. And when he thought about how she made him feel off balance just by looking at him, how she stopped him from breathing when she smiled at him, Cam purposely turned his thoughts toward something else.

  Like feral shifters and why they would attack a mortal, then leave her alive.

  Feral shifters… they were like rogue vampires. Man-eaters. Killers. More beast than man. If Heather Hayes was unlucky enough to have been on the wrong side of a hunt, she shouldn’t be alive. The feral shifter might have played with her for a while, but in the end a mangled, broken, bloody body would’ve been found.

  So what was he doing to her now? More importantly, what had a feral shifter been doing in Spring Valley in the first place? The psychic… Avery’s clue that the female had purple eyes led Cam to believe she was a witch who was so confident and sure, she didn’t bother hiding behind a glamour. Was her prediction just that? Or was it more of a premonition?

  Cam made a note to find out more about the psychic. But first, he wanted to go to the scene of the crime. He had a good read on what Avery thought this s
ituation was, but he’d get an even better one if he used his senses right where it happened.

  Heather’s attacker was a rogue Para. No matter why that shifter had gone after her, now he had to deal with an Othersider. Cam might not have ascended yet, wielding the powers of a true angel, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have some tricks of his own.

  Still. Cam hoped that recovering Heather for Avery would be enough to finally help him become what he was always meant to be. Ascending to the up above as a true angel was all he wanted, and if he had to play PI and hunt down a rogue shifter on his own, then that’s exactly what he would do.

  It would all be worth it in the end. Not surprisingly, given the nickname bestowed upon the most infamous of his kind, true angels were like stars: compelling, mighty, and completely untouchable. A true angel was more powerful than most mortals and even some Paras could comprehend. They could manipulate energy, light, space, time, and more. They could transform easily, changing shapes and sizes, switching from a celestial being to a human-like form in an instant. With their sphericals senses, angels could sense everything in all directions at once, past, present, and future. They could fly so fast, they made Cam look like he’s trudging through molasses.

  Their presence can either soothe or terrify, depending on an angel’s whim. A true angel could share visions, and even plant unbreakable suggestions in a mortal’s mind. Piss one off? It didn’t matter that they wore their halo proudly. So long as you’ve sinned, a true angel could turn you to dust where you stand and do it with a higher power’s blessing.

  A power like that could come in handy, Cam admitted. And then he mentally deducted a couple of points from his tally for just thinking about smiting people who probably didn’t deserve it.

  Not like he had a prayer of that happening anytime soon. As an Othersider, Cam was stuck in his physical form around the clock with only his wings to prove he wasn’t as human as he appeared. Because of that, his abilities—while still pretty damn impressive, if he did say so himself—were more like parlor tricks compared to what he could pull off once he finally earned his halo. The biggie, the one that should help him find Heather Hayes, was how he could sense things undetectable by even the best Para hunters. Unlike shifters and vamps, he didn’t use his nose, but his gut. He liked to call it a psychic trail that he could trace, even though it had everything to do with the past instead of the future. Strong emotions, bursts of energy, decisions made at the crossroads of life… he could sense them.

  Usually, unless it might add to his tally, Cam ignored the never-ending tugs. There wasn’t a patch of land anywhere that wasn’t touched by something once upon a time. A quick trip to Spring Valley, walking the same path Heather would’ve taken Saturday night when she vanished… he should have a better sense of what really went down.

  According to Avery, it all started at the Spring Valley library. Cam dared to turn his computer on just long enough to get the address. He imprinted on it by writing it on the same pad with Avery’s notes, then laying his hand over it. There. He should be able to find it during his flight, no problem.

  Standing up, he tore the two pages from the pad, folding them up and sticking them in his back pocket. He was just tucking his wings behind him so he could head out of his office when he sensed the shift in space directly behind him. Turning to look over his shoulder, he watched as Dina leaped from her portal, landing gracefully before she padded over to him, blocking his path.

  Cam rolled his eyes. As always, his auditor had perfect timing.

  Waving toward her cat tree, he said wryly, “Your ice melted.”

  Dina slapped her tail against the floor. “Why did you take that girl’s case?”

  “Not even going to say ‘hello’, are you? Just start with the lecture. Well, maybe because I thought it was a good thing to do.”

  “But I told you not to.”

  “That’s the funny thing, Di. I don’t always listen to you.”

  “And when you don’t, you always regret it.” When Cam opened his mouth, prepared to argue, Dina cut him off. “Don’t start. You know I’m right. Now, tell me. You know better than to get involved with a rogue Para.”

  Cam raised his eyebrows. “You don’t think I can handle one feral shifter?”

  “He’s not the one I’m worried about. I saw how you responded to the female, Camiel. Seven decades and you’ve never looked at a mortal like you did today.”

  “Yeah? And how did I look at her?”

  “Like you saw something there. Something you liked.”

  Cam thought about what he saw when he looked in Avery’s pretty, honey-colored eyes. He shook his head. “I saw a client. That’s all. I saw a chance to do some good and get some points.”

  And if his cock liked Avery more than it should? Well, he was an Othersider, but he was still male. He knew how to take care of that problem.

  As if she was reading his mind—and sometimes Cam suspected that his auditor could—Dina reminded him, “Lust is one of the seven deadly sins.”

  “Yeah? Well, so’s pride,” he muttered.

  “What was that?”

  “Nothing.” Cam reached for his jacket and slung it over his arm. He’d need it when he landed but, for now, he’d have to hold onto it. “Are you coming with?”

  “Are you sure you want me to tag along?” Dina huffed. “There’s a lot more I’d like to add in regards to this being a huge mistake.”

  “Dina…”

  “Fine. Where are we going?”

  As if Dina didn’t know. “I took the job. Breaking my promise would make me lose at least—”

  “I know exactly how many points you would lose,” Dina interrupted, her cat features still managing to show off her annoyance. “And, I must say, I still think it’s worth taking that hit than playing around with the curse.”

  He’d been wondering when Dina would bring that up.

  “I’m not worried about the curse.”

  “You should be.”

  “Why?” When Dina stayed quiet, he narrowed his gaze. “There something you’re not telling me, Di?”

  “Nothing that I’m sure of.”

  A typical auditor answer. “Well. Let me know when you are.”

  “Just don’t lose sight of what’s important, Camiel. That’s all I ask of you.”

  Cam crossed his office, opening the door, waiting for Dina to trot through first. “Don’t worry about me. I’ve got everything under control.”

  5

  The Smurf scandal

  Little less than an hour later and Cam wasn’t so sure about that.

  Finding Spring Valley wasn’t an issue. Normally, he would have avoided the idyllic small town on the edge of Grayson if only because its reputation was well deserved, but he still knew where it was. You couldn’t be a cautious Para in Grayson and not know.

  As he flew closer, concentrating on staying hidden since it was still light out, Cam sensed something… off. His feathers ruffled, his wings pumping as some instinct warned him to go a little higher. Down below, he spied the wooden sign marking the entrance to the town and, as he approached, he encountered some faint resistance. It was as if something was telling him to turn around.

  Not likely. Soaring upward, he flew until he couldn’t sense the whisper of the invisible barrier on his skin. He crossed into Spring Valley, though he couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t supposed to, before following the imprinted route.

  He’d meant to start at the library. Heather hadn’t been scheduled for a shift on Saturday, but she’d covered for an older co-worker suffering from a stomach virus. If he wanted to get a read on what happened to the missing mortal, tracing her steps from the beginning seemed his best bet.

  Until he felt a burst of strong emotions snaring him from down below. Desire. Need. Want. Fear. Above them all, he caught the echo of someone who was terrified.

  Interesting.

  Cam arrowed to the ground. At the last second, he angled his body so that he touched down on
one knee, a fist slammed to the Earth beside him for support, clutching his jacket to his chest with his other arm. His wings stretched behind him, visible again. The strong emotions that called to him were battering against his senses, but he pointedly ignored them as his head swiveled around, searching. First, to make sure that no soul saw his descent, and then because he was surprised to find that he really was alone.

  He’d expected Dina to meet him as soon as he was on the ground again. Despite their spat back at the office, he didn’t really think that she’d go off to stew and leave him to investigate on his own. They say curiosity killed the cat, and while Dina wasn’t really an Earth feline, she was just as inquisitive. Not a fan of flying with Cam, she should’ve slipped through a portal as soon as he touched the ground, joining him for the first stages of his search.

  But there was no sign of her. Even when he broke down and called for her, she didn’t show up.

  Fine. She wanted to be stubborn, fine. Two could play that game.

  Jumping to his feet, Cam snapped his back, flattening his wings beneath his shirt. He could hide them completely, but in case he needed to make a hasty exit, it wasn’t worth the few seconds’ wait releasing them when all he had to do was flare them again. They were shrunken enough that they weren’t noticeable from a distance, but habit had him slinging his jacket back on to shield them.

  There. As far as any of the local mortals could tell, he wasn’t a Para.

  Now that he was sure he was alone, he glanced around to get his bearings. Something about this empty street had just about ripped him out of the sky. But what?

  It was a stretch of asphalt. A curb on one side. A thicket of trees on the other. Streetlights dotted the space every fifty feet or so. Behind the trees and across the sprawling, perfectly clipped grass, Cam could sense the mortals all snug inside of their homes. No soul was around where he was, though. Not even a single car.