She followed him out the door and into the garage where he held open the door of an Aston Martin for her. She let herself fall back into the plush seat and sat quietly while John drove. He pulled up into a parking garage that was attached to a very tall building made of glass. She followed him out of the car and into an elevator. He didn’t say anything, but looked at her from time to time as if he were afraid she would make a run for it at any time. It wasn’t an unfounded fear. Azerial was a bundle of nerves and bolting sounded pretty good to her right then.
As they entered the office building, Azerial felt a sense of foreboding come over her. She didn’t like it one bit. The air felt heavy and oppressive to her. She felt like she was trying to walk through a cloud of heavy black smoke, except without the smoke. She pushed the instant fear she felt aside, telling herself that it was only apprehension about not being able to remember anything.
“Good day, Sir,” a short man with curly brown hair said to John. He trained his eyes on Azerial. They widened for a moment and Azerial could tell he was choosing his words carefully. “Sir, are you certain this is a good idea?”
“Of course,” John answered. “I have brought my wife here today to help her remember that we are on her side and where she belongs. I hope I can count on you guys to make her feel welcome.” The man looked skeptical at first, but then nodded in agreement.
“It’s nice to see you, Ma’am,” he said with a slight bow of his head. The whole exchange seemed off to Azerial.
She spent the rest of the day just watching and learning. Everyone treated her with the utmost respect and it didn’t take long for her to figure out what kind of business she and her husband ran. Of course, thinking of him as her husband still felt wrong to her; she felt as if it were a lie. She couldn’t make herself see him in a romantic light. John was very sweet to her and he was definitely a looker, but she couldn’t help but wonder what he would look like with all his hair shaved from his head. Perhaps it had been at one time. Maybe she would ask him later to do it again if that was the case.
The business was a distribution company for a local pharmaceutical brand. The drugs they distributed were made somewhere else, and her husband’s job was to find buyers for it. He said it did all kinds of things. It helped with cancer patients and people with terminal illness. Even though her mind still felt out of place, she couldn’t argue with helping people. Now if she could just shake the sense of unease that surrounded her, she would be doing well.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
After they were sufficiently armed, Samuel, Phoenix, Keelie, Rebel, and Jacque headed out onto the streets of LA. Serena and Frankie had said a protection spell for them before they left and gave them a stern reminder not to drop any humans off at the police station. Man that just grated Samuel in all the wrong ways. A criminal was a criminal, no matter the race. But he was very much a part of a family that had political ties and they had to abide by the rules. Angel had given him a direct order on it, effectively tying his hands.
So now they were out again. The first outing they went on was to find the drug and identify it. Done. Fuck him, but it was bad. So now they were going to do some scratch and sniff around the seedy parts of town in hopes of finding something that could lead them to where Abaddon was holding the center of his operations. Samuel understood this dance all too well. In LA, there was no shortage of drug dealers and pushers, and this was no different than what he had dealt with before. Well, except that now he was hunting vampires and demons instead of humans. His new life was all kinds of fucked up and scary, but the cop in him was confident and pushed forward without hesitation.
He had a new set of people to protect now. His new family, for one. And Azerial. She was a mighty Goddess and yet, she seemed so innocent and pure. He wanted to protect her from all the ugliness in the world. Which of course, made the beast in him rear its head and growl in warning for anyone who wished her harm to hear. And that made him remember how he had hurt her. His heart broke right there in his chest. He knew the guys were talking and making strategies, but he couldn’t concentrate on it. All he could think of was the look of hurt in her eyes. It killed him to know he had done it to her. She had been a nearly constant presence in the house for the last few weeks, but now, she was completely absent. Even when he couldn’t see her before, he could feel her nearby. Not now. No, she was hurting good and he had done what he set out to do. She was gone. He had run her off. He should have felt relieved that she would not be witness to the nastiness that was gonna go down, but instead, he felt regret. He felt the pain of loss. He felt like a complete douche.
Someone smacked him on the back of his head. Hard. “Hey, Dickrash,” Phoenix’s voice boomed in the night air. “What the fuck?”
Sam jerked his body around and looked up into the man’s face. He had to crane his neck to see into the fucker’s eyes. How freaking tall was the son of a bitch anyway? Sam was six foot three himself, which meant this Phoenix had to be pushing the seven foot mark. And to top that off, he was built like a linebacker. With wings. And, he could make his own fire. Talk giving a guy an inferiority complex. Was there anything this guy couldn’t do? “What?” Sam barked at him.
“What the fuck did you do?” Phoenix demanded.
“Nothing, what are you talking about?” Sam asked. “I have been on my best behavior.”
“Bullshit.” Phoenix got right up in his grill. “I can feel the regret pouring off you. And as if your self-loathing seeping out of your pores wasn’t enough, you’re growling like a caged bear. That means you did something stupid. Spill.”
“I don’t owe you an explanation,” Samuel grumbled and turned to walk away.
“But you do owe us one,” Jacque pointed out. “We are supposed to be brothers now. If you did something that could potentially put us in danger, we gotta know about it.”
“Yeah, you have been nothing short of a major dickhead today,” Rebel said.
“Fuck you and your cowboy hat,” Sam snarked. “It’s none of your business.
The men came to a halt in a dark alley and formed a circle around Samuel. They crossed their arms over their chests and waited for an explanation. “Look guys,” Sam said, “It’s got nothing to do with you.”
“Actually, it does,” Keelie said. “You are major distracted and we need you to be on top of your game. So we need to know what it is that has you all tied up in knots before we end up being some demon’s dinner because you couldn’t hold it together.”
Sam stared at Keelie. Her pale blue eyes nearly glowed in the darkness. He could see her face clearly and it was painfully obvious that she was right. He needed to get his shit together before he got somebody hurt.
“It’s Azerial, isn’t it?” Keelie continued. “I know that look you’re wearing. It’s total freaking heartbreak. What did you do?”
Sam shook his head before hanging it low on his shoulders. He drew in a deep breath and lifted his eyes to his family. “I sent her away from me,” he finally said.
“What the fuck do you mean, you sent her away?” Phoenix growled at him. “As in, you told her to leave?”
Samuel grimaced at his tone. He wasn’t scared of Phoenix, but he had a healthy respect for the male’s strength. This man-bird-thing held the power of life and death in his hands. Literally. “Look,” he finally said, “She was having some feelings for me and I am just not good enough for the likes of her. I can’t and won’t have her giving up her grace for me. I am nothing and she is everything. She deserves to find love in a man who can give her everything without taking the most important part of her away.”
There was total silence for a heartbeat. Then, they all started talking at once. “What do you mean give up her grace?” “What a dumb fucking thing to do.” “What makes you think you aren’t good enough?”
There were so many questions that Samuel couldn’t even begin to answer them. It was Keelie that got up in his face about it though. “Well, that was a dumbass thing to do,” she said. “First of
all, you are good enough if she believes you are. What she does or does not do with her grace is her decision, not yours. God!” she threw her hands in the air, “I am sick to death of the caveman bullshit that you vampires seem to have about your mates. When we get home, we are gonna call her and you are going to apologize for being such a shit.”
“We are going to call her anyway,” Phoenix said. “We need her”
“You have fought demons before,” Rebel said. “We got you on our side. If she is hurting, she may not come back for a while.”
“Yeah, I have fought demons,” Phoenix told them. “We fought a bunch of them that were hell bent on ruling the world. The thing is, my family and I had a secret weapon. We had an angel on our side. If it comes down to it, and Lord knows I hope it doesn’t, we are going to need some divine assistance. Provided, of course, that dicknugget over there hasn’t run her off for good.”
Well, if Samuel was feeling bad before, he was really kicking himself in the ass now. He was packing his bags in preparation for one helluva long guilt trip when Keelie spoke up again. “If she loves him, she will forgive him,” she said. “She might be pissed off, but she wouldn’t leave the man she loves unprotected.”
“I hope you’re right,” Jacque told her as they resumed their walking through the night.
Samuel did a massive overhaul in his brain and focused on the task at hand, which was finding more dealers. It didn’t take too long. They came upon a man dressed to the nines in front of a local club. He was talking to a prostitute and he handed her a small baggie.
“Let’s move,” Rebel said quietly.
“Whoa, not you cowboy,” Sam said. “You get within ten feet of that dealer and he is gonna know who you are. You fuckers seem to forget that you’re famous and every fucker in this town knows your face. Let me go. Keelie can come with me, we need her nose. You guys hang back and watch our backs.”
Jacque seemed to contemplate the merits of Samuel’s suggestion. “You’re right,” he finally said. “We will not be far.”
Sam nodded and offered his arm to the wolf. She smiled brilliantly and placed her hand inside his elbow and the pair walked across the street. They came up on the dealer with an air of confidence, as if they belonged exactly where they were.
“What’s up my man?” Samuel drawled in a fake southern accent.
The dealer took in Samuel’s clothes, from his black boots and pants up to the leather jacket that hugged his huge frame. Sam was glad that he had shaved his head once again. Shit, he knew this thug. He had arrested him more than once as a human. But he looked different now, didn’t he? The dealer raked his eyes over Sam, then Keelie. A slow smile spread across his face and Sam knew that look all too well.
He growled softly in his chest and the smile that he plastered across his face was full of warning. Not to mention that it showcased his fangs exceptionally well in the moonlight. The dealer nodded in acknowledgement. Keelie was doing an excellent job of twisting a lock of her hair around her finger and looking bored. Man, he really liked her. She was always a bit of a spitfire and he had to give her props for doing the undercover thing like a pro.
“Fine evening for a stroll,” the dealer finally said.
“Yes sir,” Samuel agreed. “We’re new to these parts, just out seeing the sights. Thought we might get a little pick me up, ya know?”
The dealer nodded. “I got that my man. What’s your pleasure?”
Samuel contained his grin. This was going over better than he anticipated. “I’m looking to snag some Magic V,” he said.
The dealer shook his head. “I just gave out my last dose,” he told Sam.
“Such a shame,” he said. “Is there anyone who might still have it around tonight? Of course, I am willing to pay extra for the trouble.”
“I can make a few calls,” the dealer said. “Give me a few.”
Keelie, bless her heart, was on top of things. “I want to see the strip,” she almost whined. “Can’t he just call you when he gets it?”
“I don’t know about that,” Samuel said, thinking Keelie was a fucking genius. “Maybe we can get it from someone else.”
“You don’t want to do that,” the dealer said quickly. “I can get the best shit in town. The others don’t even compare. Hit me with your digits, and I can text you when it is delivered.”
“I surely appreciate it man,” Samuel said, and he did. “I gotta do what I can to keep my woman happy. If she ain’t happy, nobody is, ya feel me?”
The dealer chuckled as Samuel wrote out his cell number on an old receipt in his pocket. “I feel ya my brother,” he said. “I’ll get with ya ASAP.”
Samuel stuck out his hand and shook the dealers. “Thank you my man. We gotta bounce.” He took Keelie’s hand and walked beside her as she skipped lightly along at his side. When they were sufficiently out of the human dealer’s earshot, he turned to her. “You are a fucking genius,” he told her.
Her answering smile was all confidence and knowing. “I know,” she clipped and kept up her happy little kept-wife façade. She even leaned in and rested her head on his bicep for a moment. “You owe me one,” she said softly for his ears only.
Two blocks away, the rest of the guys came out of the shadows. “Did you find out anything?” Rebel asked.
Sam laughed. “No, not yet.”
“What’s so funny?” Jacque asked.
“Keelie should’ve been undercover ops is all,” Sam said with a shake of his head. Just then, his phone vibrated. He read the text message. Meet me back here in 30, it said. “Because of her, we got the dealer’s number.”
“I don’t get it,” Phoenix said. “I thought we were looking for the big Kahuna, not a small time dealer.”
“We are,” Keelie beamed at him. “Now we can trace his phone and see who he called to get the drugs for us.”
Understanding lit the men’s faces and Rebel scooped Keelie up off the ground. He hugged her tight and swung her around in a circle before setting her back on her feet. “Damn, girl, you are good.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
“What’s it like over there?” Brea asked Macy. They had all gathered around in the family room to catch up while the guys and Keelie were out doing their jobs.
“It’s a lot like it is here,” Macy told her. “Only, the air is cleaner. Well, everything is cleaner. There is no hate, no war, and no sardines. Everything is pleasant and peaceful. We are constantly surrounded by love.”
“That sounds wonderful,” Frankie said, and Brea agreed. It helped her to feel a little better about her family members that had passed on to the next life. It was also very reassuring to know that there was something on the other side of death.
“No sardines?” Gage asked with one brow raised.
Macy laughed. “I meant there is nothing stinky or unpleasant there.”
“Oh, I see. How the fuck did you get Antonio there then?” Gage jabbed at his brother. “He is the most unpleasant mother fucker I know.”
“Shut it Gage,” Antonio said with a smile. Brea couldn’t wipe the stupid smile off her face as she watched the boys banter just like old times. She couldn’t help it. Her family was back together again, even if it was only temporary.
“We should get some rest before they get back,” Jessica said. “I get the feeling there is going to be a lot of work to do when they return.”
“I completely agree,” Sebastian said, taking Jessica’s hand. “We should absolutely, um, rest.” The look of hunger in his eyes told Jessica he was thinking of something much more exerting than rest.
“As do I,” Angel agreed. “Everyone get rested and try to get some sleep. Antonio and Macy, your room is exactly where you left it. Ricco, yours is as well.”
“I think I will stay down here if that’s all the same,” Ricco said. “I won’t be able to rest until Keelie is safe back with me.”
Angel nodded. Frankie and Leigh were going to stay with him as well.
Angel pulled Brea up the sta
irs and to their bedroom. When the door was safely closed behind them, Brea finally let it out. She sat hard on the bed and started to cry.
“Shh,” Angel said as he took a seat beside her. “I know what is going on in that head of yours. You need not fear now. We are strong together.”
“I know but, as nice as it is to have them back, I am afraid of losing them again. I don’t want to lose anyone else. No one has heard from Azerial in days. I can’t help it, I’m worried.”
“I know,” Angel whispered. “But for tonight, let’s be happy for what we have been given. We have been given the gift of our loved ones that other people never receive. We know that when they are gone, they are still happy. We have knowledge that so many others only have in faith.”
Brea looked up at her husband with teary eyes. “I’m scared.”
“I am too,” he answered.
“This is going to be bad, isn’t it?”
Angel considered lying to protect his wife’s feelings. He had never been able to lie to her though and this was hardly the time to start. “I fear that it will be,” he finally told her. “We have never had an opponent so strong before or so evil. I fear that it will take all of our combined strengths to defeat this demon.”
“And if we lose?” Brea asked.
“Then we shall all live happily in the heavens.”
Brea’s heart broke for her family. Angel could feel it in the way she trembled and he could see it in her mind. The images were flying past too fast for him to make any sense of it, but he got the gist of it. If he had known that night when he first saw her in the restaurant she worked at what kind of future they would have, he would have walked away and left her to live a life that wasn’t plagued by evil and death. He knew that night that she was his mate, and he had loved her with all his soul then. If he had known, he would have loved her enough to let her go. Now, she was with him in this life and all he could do was help her pick up the pieces when it fell apart. All he could do was be there for her and calm her down when she upset. He wasn’t even very good at it. He didn’t have fancy words or a magic touch. He calmed her the only way he knew how. He dropped his head and kissed her lips.
Into The Divine Page 8