The Angel Trap

by Michelle Madow

  “Sage?” Raven opened the door a crack and peered inside. She frowned when she saw me, and she opened the door slightly wider. “The vampire blood is out of my system.”

  “No blood hangover?” I asked.

  “The witch who lives here gave me a potion to counteract it,” she said. “The guys sent me to come get you…” She pointed her thumb behind her and trailed off. “What should I tell them?”

  The concern on her face gave away what she was thinking—I didn’t look ready to re-emerge. But I couldn’t lounge in bed for days on end. I needed to get out and face my problems.

  That started with getting myself together.

  “I need to freshen up.” I rolled out of bed, feeling huge and bloated after my massive pig out. Carbs never sat as well with me as pure protein, but they were so delicious that sometimes I couldn’t resist. “Tell them I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

  The reprise from all the craziness had been nice.

  But now, it was time to get a grip on myself and face reality.

  Sage

  I walked through the living room and saw my and Noah’s suitcases sitting in the foyer. Thomas must have sent someone to Nashville to retrieve our stuff. That was great, since we had weapons and potions back there that I didn’t feel like taking the time to reacquire.

  Hopefully he’d also checked us out of the hotel. I’d have to call later and make sure.

  For now, I heard voices coming from the dining room, so I headed in that direction.

  Thomas, Noah, and Raven were all gathered around someone sitting at the head of the table. Raven moved aside and I saw that the person who’d joined us was Cassandra—one of the witches who lived in the Bettencourt. On the table in front of her was a cloth, an atlas opened to a map of the central United States, a pendulum, candles, and crystals. Her blonde hair was longer than I remembered, but other than that, she didn’t look like she’d aged a day since the last time I’d seen her. We looked the same age now.

  The moment her eyes met mine, she smiled and stood up. “Sage.” She walked toward me and embraced me in a hug. “It’s been too long.”

  “Four years.” Well, almost four years. It would be exactly four years by the end of summer.

  She pulled away and studied me, watching me with concern. I was sure she had a lot of questions for me. But Cassandra was the queen of proper manners, so she’d wait for a more appropriate time.

  Meaning, a time when Thomas, Noah, and Raven weren’t hovering over our shoulders listening to everything we said.

  “While you were sleeping, Thomas and your two new friends caught me up on what’s going on,” she said.

  My heart leaped into my chest, and I glanced at Noah in panic. “Everything?” I asked.

  “We covered the basics,” Noah said. “My quest from the Earth Angel, you getting on board, Raven joining our group, and our most recent hunt leading us here.”

  I nodded, understanding exactly what he’d left out. Mainly, every crazy, weird thing that had happened to us from Noah being the First Prophet, Raven’s missing memories and her knowing about the power of vampire blood, to Flint making a super shady alliance behind my back.

  “Cassandra agreed to scry for the location of the final demon,” Thomas added.

  “Great.” I avoided Thomas’s gaze and smiled at Cassandra. “Thank you.”

  I should have been excited—this was the last demon we’d scry for. Assuming Cassandra was able to locate a demon, we were getting closer than ever to finishing this hunt. Especially given how much quicker each kill had been with Raven on board, given that the demons were drawn to her like moths to a flame.

  It also represented the end of an era. Sure, I’d only been on this hunt with Noah for a few weeks, but it felt like we’d known each other for so much longer. And while the hunt was dangerous, it was also exhilarating and fun. It gave me a purpose I didn’t know I craved.

  Once it was over, I’d have to go back home and face Flint. Then, once I leveled with him and helped him out of whatever bind he’d gotten himself into, everything would go back to normal.

  I should have been glad. Relieved. Happy about the prospect of returning to my pack.

  But I wasn’t sure I wanted normal anymore. Especially given the state of the world right now. With the demons lying low, too many supernaturals were in denial that they could actually overpower us. They didn’t think enough demons had escaped Hell to do the type of damage people were claiming they could.

  Not me. I’d seen firsthand how dangerous the demons could be.

  If we wanted to survive, we needed to step up, band together, and fight. I intended on being a part of that.

  Cassandra walked back over to the head of the table. “Are you ready to begin?” she asked.

  “Yes.” I walked to the edge of the table and put my hands on the glass. “Let’s do this.”

  Sage

  Cassandra set the candles in their places—each one representing a point of the compass and an element of the Earth—and lit them. As each flame caught, I smelled the element the candle represented. Forest for earth, sea salt for water, flowers for air, and smoke for fire.

  She reached for her pendulum and glanced at Noah. “I’ll need the heavenly weapon you’ve been using to hunt the demons,” she said.

  Noah pulled the slicer out of his weapons belt and handed it over.

  The moment the slicer was in Cassandra’s hand, the pendulum started to move.

  That was fast.

  The only other time it had started moving that quickly was when Amber had located the demon that had been a few miles away in LA.

  Cassandra moved her hand to follow the swinging of the pendulum. Sure enough, the crystal ended up right above the dot labeled Chicago.

  “Flip to the city’s map,” she instructed, since if she broke contact with either the pendulum or the slicer, the spell would be broken.

  Raven reached for the atlas, flipped through it, and placed it back down once it was opened to a map of Chicago. The pendulum started swinging again. It eventually settled on a place a few blocks away—a street full of bars and clubs.

  Of course. If there was one thing we’d learned on these hunts, it was that the demons were searching for people in crowded areas. It made popular bars and clubs the perfect places for them to prowl. We still weren’t sure why the demons were choosing certain humans to kidnap, but given that Raven had been one of the humans selected, we hoped to figure out the answer soon.

  Well, Noah and Raven hoped to figure out the answer once they reached Avalon.

  I might never find out, since I’d be going back home.

  Again, I wished this hunt wasn’t so close to ending. There were too many questions still unanswered. A part of me—a bigger part than I cared to admit—yearned to go with Noah and Raven to Avalon. There, I could join the Earth Angel’s army and continue doing my part to stop the demons from taking over the Earth.

  But I had to figure out what was going on with my brother and help him out of whatever mess he’d created.

  Pack first, always. Especially since Flint was a stickler to tradition, which meant if I joined the Earth Angel’s army on Avalon, I’d be a deserter to the Montgomery pack. I’d never be welcomed back again.

  The pack was my family. Leaving them would feel like ripping out part of my soul.

  “Sage?” Noah pulled me out of my dark thoughts. “Are you ready to head out and kill our last demon?”

  “Yeah.” I shook the thoughts out of my mind and forced a smile. “I’m ready.”

  “Good.” Thomas looked at Noah, then at Raven, and finally at me—that annoyingly gorgeous self-satisfied smirk on his lips the entire time. “So am I.”

  Sage

  “What do you have to be ready for?” I asked.

  “The hunt.” His eyes twinkled with amusement. “I’m coming with you.”

  “No.” I shook my head adamantly. “You’re not.”

  He held my gaze, not saying a word.<
br />
  I stared right back. If this was how he was going to play it, so be it. I could hold my own in a standoff when I needed to.

  “I’ll leave the four of you to discuss how you plan to proceed.” Cassandra blew out the candles and gathered her materials into the cloth she’d laid out on the table. “I’m glad to have helped, but I have some work I need to attend to in my apothecary. Hopefully I’ll be seeing more of you soon.” She flashed me a friendly smile and made her way out of the penthouse.

  The moment she was gone, I turned my attention back to Thomas. “The three of us have this under control,” I said. “We don’t need help.”

  “Are you so sure about that?” he asked.

  “Of course.” I crossed my arms, annoyed at him for doubting my competency. “We’ve been doing this for a while.”

  “I know you have,” he said. “But you told me yourselves that the last demon you hunted was stronger than the others—you suspected he was a warrior demon. He had a potion that prevented you from shifting. And he brought that red-eyed wolf with him. If Raven hadn’t risked her life by using Noah’s heavenly weapon, there’s a good chance you would all be dead by now.”

  “We just have to be more careful this time around,” I said. “We’ll find a smaller alley to corner the demon in. We’ll make sure no one’s with him. Now that we know to look out for an accomplice, we can be more prepared.”

  “You’ll be more prepared if I’m with you,” Thomas said. “I’ll be another set of eyes. Plus, that potion that prevented you from shifting won’t do anything to me. What’s the harm in my coming with you?”

  I fidgeted with the cloaking ring around my finger, looking for a reason other than you broke my heart and I don’t want to be around you for any longer than necessary. “The demon will know what you are,” I said. “You’d give us away before we had a chance to strike.”

  “Come on, Sage.” He shook his head in disappointment. “I don’t normally wear it because I have no need to hide what I am, but do you really think I don’t have a cloaking ring of my own?”

  “I’ve never seen you wear one.” I shrugged.

  “I have one,” he said. “And I’m happy to wear it if it means I can accompany you on your mission.”

  “It’s not a bad plan,” Raven chimed in. I glared at her, but she continued anyway. “I mean, we definitely could have used his help last time. And we still don’t know what that red-eyed shifter was. For all we know, the demon tonight could also have one with him—or more than one. We’ll be more prepared if Thomas comes with us.”

  “So the vote’s one to one.” Thomas turned to Noah. “Looks like the decision is up to you.”

  Noah looked back and forth between Raven and me. From the apology in his eyes when he looked at me, I knew what he was going to say before he said it.

  “I agree with Raven,” he said, confirming my suspicion. “Given the possibility of another—or more than one—red-eyed shifter, and the fact that the last demon we fought had that potion that stopped me from shifting, it’ll be beneficial to have a vampire on our side. Especially a prince with a gift for controlling technology.”

  “You’re smarter than I initially gave you credit for,” Thomas said to him.

  “Not so fast.” Noah gave Thomas a stone cold glare that shut him up immediately. “Sage has been hunting with me since nearly the beginning. I wouldn’t have gotten this far without her help. So unless you can get her on board, the three of us are going on this hunt alone.”

  Thomas nodded in respect. “Understood,” he said. “Would you mind giving Sage and I some time alone?”

  “Five minutes,” Noah said. “We’ve already pinpointed the demon’s location, so we can’t afford to lose any more time than that.”

  “Five minutes,” Thomas agreed.

  Noah reached for Raven’s hand, and the two of them exited the dining room.

  The moment they were gone, the doors slid closed, leaving Thomas and I alone.

  I faced him with fire in my eyes. “What are you going to do?” I asked. “Keep me locked in here until I agree to let you come with us?”

  “I wouldn’t keep you anywhere against your will,” he said. “You should know me better than that.”

  “I used to know you.” I huffed. “Not anymore.”

  “You know me well enough to trust that I’d help Raven, even though you had information that any other vampire would have killed you for knowing,” he said.

  “That was different.” I crossed my arms, wishing he’d get to the point. The seconds were ticking down, and he hadn’t come close to getting me to change my mind.

  “Really?” He tilted his head, curious. “How so?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” I didn’t want to get into this again. “Why do you want to come with us so badly, anyway? Don’t you have more important things you need to be doing?”

  “More important than making sure you’re safe?” He tilted his head, looking at me like the question was absurd. “Never.”

  It was something he would have said to me when we were dating, and the flash of the Thomas I knew from back then made my heart pang. But I forced the feeling away. Because while he might love me in his own way, he didn’t want to be with me. And wasn’t that what mattered?

  Once this demon hunt was done, I’d go back to LA and Thomas would stay right here. Having him join us on this final hunt would just make it hurt more when this was all over.

  “Look.” I swallowed away a lump in my throat, needing to get my feelings out there no matter how hard it would be. “I wouldn’t have come here if it wasn’t the only way to save Raven’s life. You made your choice not to be with me, and I’ve accepted that. But these mind games you’re trying to play with me… they need to stop. Just let me go. Please.”

  “I wish I could,” he said. “But I can’t. And I’m done trying.”

  He rushed toward me and lowered his lips to mine before I could say a word.

  I realized what he was going to do a second before he did it, and my first instinct was to push him away. He couldn’t break up with me and then kiss me and expect… well I don’t know what he expected.

  But once his lips were on mine, every rational thought disappeared from my mind. Fireworks exploded in my chest and warmth rushed through my body. I felt happier and more alive than ever. For years I’d been numb, guarded, and detached. It was like my soul had been broken, but now it was mending itself to become whole. More than whole.

  It felt like it was joining with his.

  I leaned into him, kissing him back with every bit of raw, passionate energy that had built up in me these past four years. From the way he kissed me back, it was like he felt exactly the same.

  No… I knew he felt the same. I don’t know how I knew. I just did.

  Just as strongly as I could hear our hearts beating as one.

  I broke the kiss and took a few steps back, staring up at him in shock.

  “Sage.” He spoke my name with so much desire that it took every ounce of my strength not to rush into his arms and kiss him again. “That was…” He ran his hand through his hair and shook his head, like he was searching for a word and couldn’t find it.

  I knew why.

  Because what had just happened between us wasn’t something that any vampire had ever experienced before. It wasn’t something that I’d ever experienced before.

  “It was different than any other time we kissed?” I guessed.

  “You could say that.” He looked at me in a daze, moved closer to me, and wrapped his arms around my waist. “What just happened between us?”

  “It shouldn’t be possible.” I gazed up at him with wide eyes, feeling just as dumbfounded as he was. “But I think we just imprinted on each other.”

  Raven

  I had no idea what had happened between Sage and Thomas in the dining room, but they both walked out of there looking like their worlds had been turned upside down. I wanted to get the dirty details—Sage was a friend,
and something had clearly just gone down between them—but now wasn’t the right time.

  She mumbled that Thomas was going to come with us, and we got him up to speed on the technique we’d devised to reel the demons in and kill them before they had a chance to launch an attack.

  The entire time we spoke, Thomas and Sage moved closer toward each other until their hands were nearly touching.

  It was only when my hand brushed against Noah’s that I realized we were doing the exact same thing.

  “Fascinating,” Thomas said once we’d finished explaining, although he focused on me. “So the demons are always drawn to you, and you have no idea why?”

  “Yep,” I said. “We’re hoping to figure out why they’re drawn to me once we get to Avalon. For now, we’re just using it to help us on the hunt.”

  “Smart,” he said.

  “Thanks.” I smiled, since it had been my idea. “I thought so too.”

  “So modest,” Noah joked, throwing his arm around my shoulders and pulling me close to his chest.

  I laughed and leaned into him, feeling more relaxed than ever. Which was crazy, since we were about to head out to hunt a demon. I should have been nervous or scared. But being with Noah—working with him like this—felt so right. No matter what happened, we’d get through it together and we’d be stronger for it. I knew it deep in my soul.

  I still had so much ahead of me—getting to Avalon, passing the Angel Trials, and saving my mom. But as long as I was with Noah, I trusted that everything was going to work out.

  Better than fine. Because I could no longer imagine my life without him in it. And despite his talk about how he didn’t think we should mate because he wanted to protect me from never finding love again if he didn’t make it through this war, I didn’t think he could resist the connection between us any more than I could.