George’s cheeks flushed bright red. Struggling to get up off the floor earlier while Gladys licked her face in sympathy had left her feeling—and, she was sure, looking—like a beached whale. But Dex had pulled her upward, straightened her wings out, and told her everything was going to be fine.
That’s what he said about everything. It was going to be fine. Everything was fine.
And George wanted to believe him. She also wanted to believe she’d be able to make her wings disappear and reappear the way he did simply by snapping his fingers, but she had her doubts.
All in good time, he’d said, and did she really have a choice but to believe him?
Nope. So here she was, in the middle of paranormalpalooza, with outrageous stories of accidental turnings amidst laughter and smiles and friendships like she’d never before witnessed, lying low and trying to take it all in.
Dex tugged at her hand and pulled her toward the window seat at the breakfast nook, where pillows sat against the icy windows and the night sky had fallen.
“Anything yet?”
Sighing, she shook her head, taking her hand from his and putting it back in her lap in order to ignore the feelings he’d begun to evoke in her. She leaned against the icy window, grateful for the cool against her back.
“Nope. Nothing but what I told you happened when I first put the wings on.”
Dex had said, shortly after her wings arrived, she’d know what her assignment was. It would just come to her like a thief in the night.
But it hadn’t, and she wasn’t at all surprised. Not a lot had gone right for her lately; learning to be an angel was turning out not to be so different from her real life.
He cocked his head. “Huh.” Then he patted her leg and slapped on that eternally handsome, optimistic smile. “Don’t worry. It’ll come. I promise it will. Until then, how are you feeling? Any better?”
“I don’t know, to be honest. I’m feeling weird and good all at the same time. I mean, it’s nice to have company, because most of the time it’s just me and Gladys and the occasional dysfunctional boyfriend, but is this the kind of company I wanted?” She looked over at the table where everyone had gathered to await Arch’s delicious meal.
They talked, they laughed, they teased one another. They moved like one entity and they behaved more like family than friends. They’d taken lemons and turned them into a tight little community of paranormal lemonade, and as she watched them communicate, her heart warmed.
She wanted to be a part of something.
She’d always wanted to be a part of something, but her failure had always lie in trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. And this angel thing, this paranormal thing, felt like another round hole.
Dex chuckled. “They’re good people, George. I promise you. You’ll never regret having them in your life, and once they’re in your life, they’re in forever. Plus, you’ll have a whole battalion of winged friends pretty soon. You can’t beat that kind of support.”
George glanced down at her feet, almost uncomfortable at the ease with which these people interacted. She’d always longed for interactions like these, but now that she was witnessing it up close, she didn’t know how to deal with it—or maybe the better phrase was, how to immerse herself in it without saying or doing something stupid.
“That’s nice,” she murmured. “They all seem really nice. I didn’t mean anything else by it. I’m sure they’re great.”
His phone chirped and he pulled it from his pocket, his brow furrowing as he looked at the incoming text. “Titus is here.”
George froze. “Titus? Who’s he?”
“He’s our superior, remember? I told you about him yesterday.”
Frowning, she shook her head. “You’ve told me a lot of things, Dex. Wings and vampires, werewolves and demons, to name a few. I’ve rather lost track of what you’ve told me. Is he going to make me go…” She paused and pointed upward. “Up there? To check in, or whatever it is I do as a guardian angel?”
He grinned again, making those two deep impressions on either side of his mouth deepen. “No. Not right away. You’re a little different than most guardians, in that it’s my fault you’re a guardian to begin with and you didn’t die to become one. That means the typical check-in upstairs for roll call, etcetera, isn’t a huge rush. Titus thought you might like time to adjust and acclimate before you head upward anyway, and I agreed. I’ve caused enough upset. I didn’t want to cause more.”
Twisting her fingers together, she nodded. “Thanks for looking out for me. I’m still adjusting to the idea there really is a Heaven. Seeing it might be just the shove I need to tip me over the edge of the cliff.”
He grabbed her hand again, making her skin come alive with goose bumps. “It’s amazing. I promise you, George. Nothing to be afraid of.”
She blew out a nervous breath. “Anyway, you were saying, Titus…?”
“He’s here, and he’d like to meet you. You good with that? I don’t want you falling over the edge of any cliffs,” he teased.
In no mood for jokes, she suddenly felt exposed. Like she was on some job interview she’d never applied for. On a hard gulp, she asked, “I mean, he’s my boss, right? Do I have a choice whether or not I meet him?”
“It’s not like that, George. He’s a great guy. You’ll like him. I promise.”
She rose and straightened her sweater. “You know, you say that about everything. ‘It’s not like that, George,’” she mimicked. “What is it like, Dex? What is anything like?”
But he didn’t take the bait at her defeatist attitude. Instead, he motioned toward the big front door made of the finest wood and stained glass where a Christmas wreath still hung, and said, “You’ll see.”
He pulled the door open to reveal a cheerful giant of a man with red hair, busily stomping out a cigarette, dressed in long gold and white robes and wearing a bright, welcoming smile.
With the most amazing wings she’d ever seen.
Big, fluffy, gorgeous, softly glowing wings. Unlike her own, which could have lit up an entire football field, his had an incandescent glow, as though someone had turned the dimmer down
“Now those are wings,” George whispered, her heart once again full when gazing upon the large man who emanated joy and peace.
“They are for suresies. You’ll have them someday, too. Don’t you fret.” The big man chuckled as he stepped inside and Dex closed the door behind him, shutting out the bitter cold of a Buffalo winter’s night. He stuck out his hand to her—a big, pale hand. “Anyway, I’m Titus. Good to meet ya, George.”
She put her hand in his and when she did, the warmth of a thousand sunny days coursed through her veins. “Nice to meet you, too.”
He looked to the couch, where her wings rested by some plump red and white Christmas pillows. “So, you have your temp wings, I see? Duff dropped them off all right? They fit okey-doke, or do we need adjustments?”
With a pensive glance upward, she nodded. “I do, he did and they fit fine. Awkward but fine.”
“They can be weird at first, but you’ll get used to ’em.” He didn’t let go of her hand after he spoke, instead he gave it a warm squeeze. “How are you feeling, George? How are you really feeling? Tell old Titus your deepest thoughts. Don’t hold back. That’s what I’m here for.”
“I’m afraid,” she blurted out, tears stinging her eyes. She hadn’t meant to be a crybaby, but the words spilled from her lips almost before she was even aware they were out. “I don’t think I’m right for the job. In fact, I’m sure I’m not. I bet Dex has told you what a mess my life has been, especially this last year. How can I possibly help anyone else figure their lives out when my life is anything but healthy, or orderly, for that matter?”
Titus let go of her hand and cupped her chin, his hand warm and gentle, his eyes kind in the glow of the Christmas lights around the door. “Sometimes, helping someone else ends up helping you. You’re perfect for the job, George, because you know firsthand ho
w hard life can be…”
Her stomach dropped to the floor, her intestines twisting into a knot. His words meant he also knew everything about her life—about what had happened last year.
About a time she didn’t want to ever revisit. But knowing that he knew, knowing Dex knew, was almost more than she could bear.
That humiliating time in her life was best left where it belonged. Buried in the past. But how could you hide it from angels? Didn’t they know everything? See everything? Or was that only the person in charge who knew everything? And if Dex had been her guardian for almost a year, had he been sent because of what happened?
Her eyes fell to his broad chest, but Titus tipped her chin up, forcing her to look at him. “George, you’re a true warrior. And if you don’t know that now, you will. I promise you’re right for the job. With pain comes the assurance of understanding. But for the moment, I want you to remember, experience like yours will make a difference in someone’s life. In many someones’ lives. That much I can promise. Can I ask you to trust that? Trust me? Trust that I know what I’m doing because I’ve been doing it for a very long time?”
A hot tear slid along her cheek, one she couldn’t hide. “Okay,” she whispered. “But if I mess up someone’s life, I don’t want it on my angel resume, because I was honest about my qualifications and they weren’t exactly a Heavenly fit.”
Titus chuckled, deep and resonant, using his thumb to wipe her tear and chuck her under her chin. “Noted. So, questions? Thoughts? More misgivings?”
“I have a million questions. I just can’t articulate them right now. They’re all like a big wad of chewed-up gum, stuck to my brain. I want to know everything and nothing. Does that make any sense at all?”
Titus winked. “It makes mad sense, George. And don’t you ever be afraid to ask anything of me. Never.”
Gulping, she nervously wrapped a strand of hair around her index finger. “Dex said I can stay here and be a guardian angel. Is that true?”
Titus winked as he pulled out a silver flask and took a long gulp before he offered some to her.
She shook her head. “No, thank you,” she declined. That’s what had gotten her into this in the first place. And what the what was happening here? A head guardian angel who drank and smoked?
“Tell her it’s true, Titus,” Dex coaxed.
“It is for sures. As long as you handle your assignments—some harder than others, mind you—you can stay here with occasional check-ins upstairs. I’m sure he already told you that you don’t need much shuteye. I mean, you can sleep if you want, but it isn’t necessary. So if keeping your job and handling assignments is the goal, yeppers. You can do that.”
“That’s good…because my job…I…”
He nodded his curly red head, putting his hands behind his back and rocking on his gold sandals. “Love it. Yep. I know. The folks at Mom and Dad’s really love you, too, George. We’d never want to take you away from them if it can be avoided. And before you wonder why anyone would choose to leave Earth if they can stay as a guardian and keep all their earthly possessions, too—because that would mean no one would ever die, right? But the truth is, not everyone can be a guardian. That aside, you’re a special case anyway, George—because technically, you didn’t really die.”
“Right, I get that, but if my wings are detachable, and all I’m going to do is offer my help and advice, why do I have to be an angel at all? Guardian or otherwise?”
His smile was almost secretive. “Because there are things you’re going to be able to do that humans can’t, and they have to be monitored by your upstairs superiors to be sure they’re used appropriately. Things you’ll see soon enough. Things that make you undeniably an angel. Also, we need people like you in our ranks, George. People with life experience.”
Yeah. She had loads of that. Loads of it she’d prefer not to share with the people in the room.
Nibbling at her thumb, George blew out a pent-up breath. “How about the permanent wing thing. How long does it take to get permanent wings?”
Because if her life was any indication of the kind of guidance she’d dole out, she’d be slapping those temp wings on her back for eternity.
Titus smiled easy and relaxed. “It takes as long as it takes, George. There’s no rush. This isn’t a race. You’re afforded every luxury any other angel with perm wings is, with very few exceptions—like the hassle of having to take them on and off when you need to prove to a human you’re an angel or if you need to fly. But that’s it. And the day you do get your perms? Oh, George, it’s magic.” he said with a soft laugh of wonder. “You can’t even believe how magical. For right now, you should just focus on the assignment. Believe me, you’ll know when you get your perms. Ask Dex. He can—” Titus quite suddenly stopped, likely realizing his mistake.
Now she stared at both of them, leaning her hip against the sofa. “I thought Dexter only had temporary wings. You’ve had permanent wings before, Dex? I don’t understand…”
Dexter and Titus both looked at each other before Dex said from a tight jaw, “It’s a story best left for later. I did once have permanent wings, and how I lost them is very personal.”
For the first time since this whole thing had gone down, George heard a bit of anger in his tone. Instantly, she reached a hand out to apologize. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude—”
“It’s not an intrusion,” Titus insisted, his eyes bright and cheerful. “It’s a valid question your team leader Dexter should and will explain. But not right now. For now, you have enough on your plate. There’ll come a time when you bare your souls, as it were. Then he can explain the sitch. Until then, I need to have a word with Dex about some official business before I go off to gather my herd of greased cats…er, I mean, angels. Will you excuse us for a quick sec?”
Unnerved and uncomfortable, George nodded. “Of course.”
Titus reached a hand out to her again and pulled her into a warm embrace she couldn’t resist tucking against. “Welcome, George. We’re all kinds of happy to have you. When it’s time, I can’t wait to personally show you Heaven. It’s amazing.”
“Thank you,” she whispered before she turned and headed back down the long stretch of light wood flooring to the other side of the enormous open space and offered to help Arch set the table, where she would try not to think about Dex and his wings and Heaven and whatever else being an angel entailed.
Of course, her mind was whirring at warp speed about what Dex may have done to lose his permanent wings. How bad did whatever you did have to be to lose them? But she was going to try not to dwell on that right now—mostly because he’d looked pretty pained when she’d asked about them.
Hearing the front door shut, George busied herself folding napkins as Dex made his way back to the kitchen. She was avoiding his eyes completely and immersing herself in the silverware when she heard Nina holler.
“What the shit?”
In a total blur of limbs and hair, Nina raced past them like the Flash, so quick, it made George blink twice as her hair whooshed around her face and the frigid air from outside rushed at her feet across the space from the entryway to the kitchen.
But two seconds later, Nina returned with George’s wings in hand, holding them up with her index finger as though they weighed nothing more than a dish towel. She dropped them in a heap at her feet, leaving feathers to shoot up in the air and lazily float back to the floor.
“I think these belong to you, Wings. I get the feeling maybe you shouldn’t leave them the fuck out where just anybody can get their grubby-ass hands on ’em, huh?”
Chapter 6
George blinked, gripping the back of a chair by the massive island to hold herself up. “Did that just happen?”
“You mean did I just save your ass and your wings? Yeah. Yeah, it fucking happened.”
Saved her wings? From what?
“Nina?” Marty said, her brow furrowed, her hands at her hips. “Explain.”
Wanda,
standing behind Marty, her hand on also on her hip, nodded. “Yeah. Explain.”
“Please,” Dex agreed, crossing his arms over his broad chest.
Nina tucked her luxuriously thick hair behind her ears and gave them an aggravated look. “Somebody tried to steal her fucking wings. I smelled him before I saw him. His stench is real, people. I can’t believe you two Nosy Nellies didn’t smell him, too,” Nina said, looking to her friends. “He’s ripe. Anyway, he snatched those fuckers up off the couch in the living room and took off. I ran after his sorry ass, but he dropped them and blew. Like disappeared into the fucking dark. Poof.” She snapped her fingers for emphasis.
Marty and Wanda sniffed the air in the direction of the front door and then Wanda covered her mouth and gagged. “Oh, heavens, that’s awful. What is it?”
Nina rocked back on her work boots and gave them an ‘I told you so” look. “No clue, but didn’t I fucking tell you there’s always a motherfucker just waiting to stir shit up? There’s always a motherfucker. Every single time. Who’s the motherfucker, Dex?” she asked with leering eyes.
Fear coursed through George’s veins. She didn’t like the idea there was a motherfucker. “Who would want to steal my wings? What is happening, Dexter?”
Dexter’s mouth turned into a thin line, his eyes full of worry as he ran his hand through his dark hair and shook his head. “I don’t know. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. There is no, ahem…motherfucker, as far as I know.”
Nina made a face before she slapped Dex on the back. “Well, you’d better call your fucking ginger pal and ask him WTF, dude, because somebody wants the kid’s damn wings and he smells like puke.”
George’s finger flew up in the air. “Hold on. What can wings do for someone who isn’t a guardian angel? I thought they were specific to us?”
Dex rasped a sigh. “Well, they are in that no mortal can use them and take flight, but a malevolent force could— Wait…you all don’t think…”
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