I refused to speak. I stared warily and moved my injured body so I blocked him from Myrtle and Steve.
“Your friend will be fine,” he said. His stance was neutral, legs slightly spread and arms at his sides. He carried no weapon, but that meant nothing. He could have all sorts of things hidden in his clothes.
“Yeah,” I snapped. “Until you kill us.”
He laughed. Not chuckled. . .laughed. Hard. What kind of psycho asshole was he? And why did he have to be so pretty? It was distracting.
“What is wrong with you?” My anger eclipsed my fear. I was in no shape to take on the Angel, but my mouth clearly didn’t get the memo.
I needed to freeze him, but my body was so damaged from the impact of the crash all my magic was focused on healing myself. Maybe if I could keep his gorgeous murdering ass talking I could heal enough to render him helpless. It wasn’t great, but it was the best I could do in a bad situation.
“You’re even more beautiful than described,” the Angel commented.
“By who?”
“Some people.” He smiled seductively. My pulse raced and I looked away.
What in the Hell was wrong with me? Had I lost my freakin’ mind? My impulse was to flirt with the Angel who was here to destroy me. Not to mention I already had a soul mate who was equally as beautiful as the Angel standing before me and didn’t want to kill me. Talking. . .I had to keep him talking.
“Do you have a name?” I inquired coldly.
“I do.” He grinned and stepped closer to me. Steve growled.
“Since I’ll be dead and unable to rat you out, you may as well tell me.” I tried to scoot back to counter his advance, but my body wasn’t working yet.
He tilted his head, reminding me alarmingly of Hayden. “My name is Elijah. What else would you like to know, Dixie?”
My stupid name sounded like a caress on his lips and his lips were. . . lips. They were nothing but lips.
“I don’t want to know anything about you,” I informed him rudely. I tried to stare him down, but the stunning midnight blue of his eyes sucked me in and made my heart flutter. My reaction to him brought an unwelcome blush to my cheeks and my body felt hot.
“But I want you to know about me.” My enemy gave me an irresistible grin. I had to fight a major battle of personal restraint to keep from grinning back. Steve growled again and jerked me back to reality.
“Are you psychotic? You want to be friends before you kill me?” I pressed my lips together in anger and self-preservation. I wanted to call him every bad word I knew, but thankfully I remembered I was trying to buy time. My main goal was to protect Myrtle and Steve.
“Oh Dixie, there are many things I’d like to do to you and with you. . .killing is definitely not one of them.” His mouth curved into a smile as his gaze raked over me. “You have nothing to fear from me.”
“Only myself,” I muttered. Elijah let out a bark of joyous laughter at my comment he wasn’t supposed to hear. I should have known Angels could hear as well as Demons. My voice turned to ice. I wanted to slap the smile off of his face. “If you’re not here to kill me, then why are you here, Angel boy?”
“To see you, Dixie, and I prefer Elijah.” He stooped down in front of me. His nearness made me dizzy. I wanted to blame the wooziness on the massive concussion I’d just received, but that would be a lie. “I’ve waited a very long time to make your acquaintance,” he said softly.
My breathing was uneven and it wasn’t from my injuries. There was something about this Angel, an enemy of my race, that was mesmerizing. His gaze dropped to my lips and his hand gently cupped my battered face.
“Will you let me heal you and your friend?” His eyes searched mine. He was so close my brain shorted out. Little bits of silver mixed with the dark blue of his eyes. It looked like flecks of diamonds in a deep blue night. “Your accident was my fault and I want to make it right.”
“Okay.” Much to my chagrin, I was sure I would have said okay to any question he asked. My lack of morals and self-control appalled me. I tried to look away, but he gently held my face still.
Very slowly, with his eyes locked on mine he leaned forward.
Warning bells went off in my head. “No. Stop. I can’t.”
“This is the way it has to be, Dixie.” His voice flowed over me like honey. “I'm an Angel. I will heal you with love.”
He didn’t wait for my reply. There was a tenderness and longing in his gaze that made my heart flutter wildly in my chest. He closed the space between us and pressed his lips to mine. His kiss was slow and drugging. Against my will and to my disgust I found myself responding. He moaned into my mouth and my pulse skyrocketed. He broke the kiss and planted small kisses along my jawline and neck. I refused to put my arms around him, but my traitorous body leaned into his.
A shot of warm soothing heat coursed through my body and my injuries slowly disappeared.
“Are you going to kiss Myrtle now?” I asked as I stood and put some distance between us.
“Nope.” He smirked and pointed a finger at my little friend. A fine golden mist engulfed her body and her bruises, cuts and lacerations disappeared. She slowly began to come to.
“Wait a minute,” I sputtered as I stood and tried to shove the big liar. “You didn’t need to kiss me, did you?”
“Nope.” He smiled as he backed away from my ire.
“You tricked me,” I yelled, forgetting about the differences in our race, height and weight. I was going to kill him.
“I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” Elijah was so serious it halted my pursuit of destroying him.
“I have a soul mate,” I told him.
He approached and fingered my beautiful necklace with interest. He leaned down and whispered in my ear, sending shivers all through me. “Tell him he has competition. Until you're bonded you're a free agent.”
He stepped back and with a panty melting smile he disappeared in a glittering burst of gold. I was healed, confused and off balance.
“What in the Hell happened?” Myrtle, finally awake, asked groggily.
“I have no idea,” I told her truthfully. “I really have no idea.”
***
We walked the rest of the way home with Steve at our heels.
“Where’d you find the wolf?” Myrtle asked as she examined her bloody clothes.
“She’s not mine. She belongs to an old lady in town. Her name is Lucky, but I call her Steve.”
“Oh.”
“Is that all you have to say?” I snapped. I knew I was taking my anger at myself out on her, but I couldn’t help it.
“No, but you made it clear you didn’t want to hear what I had to say back in the commissary.”
“When has that ever stopped you?” I came to a halt and yanked her around to face me.
“Okay, fine.” She laughed at my tough girl stance and winced. “Why does my shoulder hurt and how did we get all bloody and gross?”
“I crashed into the Angel when we were running. It was like hitting a concrete wall. You got knocked out and your shoulder got dislocated. I popped it back in and the Angel healed us.”
“Thanks,” she said as she rotated her arm.
“Aren’t you shocked he didn’t kill us?” How was she so nonchalant about our brush with death? Maybe the impact rattled her brain.
“No.”
“No?” I laughed. She was definitely concussed.
“Dixie,” Myrtle explained as if I were five. “Eden, Kentucky is neutral territory. He can’t kill us here.”
I gave her a brutal stare. “You people suck. Is anybody going to keep me up to speed on the rules here?” I yelled.
“Do you really think Lucifer would have sent you into a war zone before you were ready?” she asked as she tried to bite back her laugh at my tantrum. She failed.
That stopped me and made me miss my father terribly. “No, he wouldn't."
“Dixie,” Myrtle said gently as she took my hands in hers. “You were justified
in doing what you did. The world is a bad place right now and the rules can’t be trusted.”
Steve wedged herself into me and whimpered. I sat down on the ground and stroked her soft fur.
“I need to know everything from you that won't turn us to dust. Can you do that for me?” I asked, idly making circles in Steve’s coat.
"I can."
"Thanks."
“We’re looking for Rogue Demons, but the Angels are not our friends either,” Myrtle reminded me.
“I don’t think he would have hurt me,” I murmured as I laid my head on Steve.
“Not here he wouldn’t.” Myrtle joined in on the Steve love-fest.
“No,” I said softly. “I’m quite sure he would never hurt me anywhere. Neutral or not.”
“You’re crazy,” Myrtle huffed and petted Steve.
“Possibly.” I smiled at her. Guilt about Hayden tugged at my heart as I remembered the kiss from Elijah. “But I really don’t think he would.”
Chapter 26
Blanche was waiting on the front porch steps when we got home. Steve ran over to her, wagging her big tail.
“Why are you here?” I smiled tiredly, happy to see her even though my question sounded snarky.
“Nice to see you too.” She grinned as she scratched Steve. “What in the Hell happened to you guys?”
“Are you talking to your invisible friend?” Myrtle asked as she watched Steve’s fur be manipulated by what appeared to be nothing.
“Yep,” I said as I plopped my exhausted body down next to Blanche.
“Well, tell her I said hi.” Myrtle made her way to the front door. “I can’t stand myself.” She groaned and attempted to rub the dried blood off her arms. “I need a shower.”
She went inside. Blanche and I sat quietly petting Steve.
“I like Myrtle,” she said, absently massaging a very happy Steve.
“Me too. Did you know Eden was neutral territory?” I asked as I found a tickle spot on Steve's belly. Her leg started dancing and I scratched faster.
“I assumed it was,” she replied. “Your dad’s not an idiot. Why do you ask?”
“I had a run-in with an Angel.” I sighed and wrapped my arms around myself. “I thought he was going to kill me.”
“Did he try?”
“No, he. . .” I didn’t have the energy to rehash every sordid detail. “Can’t you just get inside my head and see everything?”
“Only with an invite.” She smiled evilly.
“What are you talking about?" I laughed. “You get into my head all the time.”
“True,” she agreed. “When I’m with you it’s easy. I’m allowed to be privy to the here and now, but the past is a different story.”
“It wasn’t even an hour ago,” I said, trying to get it straight.
“Doesn’t matter if it was five minutes ago,” she explained. “If it’s in the past you have to invite me in.”
“Fine, I invite you.”
It was weird. For the first time I could feel her inside my head. Definitely an odd sensation—like a breeze floating in my mind. My head felt full and my body tightened in resistance.
“You have to relax, Dixie, or it won’t work.”
“Okay.” I took a deep breath. “I’ll try.”
On its own my body went limp. I slumped forward onto Steve’s soft furry body and I heard a click in my head. It was working. Unfortunately for me, the entire scene played back in full color with surround sound. I had to relive every moment as Blanche watched.
My head clicked again when she pulled out. I thought I was tired before. . .
“Great Balls of Hell.” Blanche shook her head. “That’s screwed up.”
“Tell me about it. And by the way.” I pinched the bridge of my nose trying to ward off the headache that was blooming rapidly. “We are never doing that again. It hurt."
“What are you going to do about him?” she asked.
“Do? Nothing. It was a physical attraction, not a soul deep one,” I said truthfully. “I have Hayden.”
“Good luck with that,” she drawled as her mouth quirked with amusement. “It doesn’t look like he plans to give you much choice in the matter. Damn, you go from never having a date to having the two hottest and most powerful Angels in the universe after you.”
Warning bells clanked in my already throbbing brain. “What do you mean?”
“I mean.” Blanche grinned. “They are H-O-T hot.”
“I got that part,” I interrupted in frustration. “What do you mean the most powerful?”
“Well,” Blanche lowered her voice being purposefully mysterious and incredibly annoying. “Hayden is the Angel of Death and Elijah is the Angel of Light.”
“Is that a big deal?”
Blanche looked at me like I sprouted horns. Big ones. “Dixie,” she gasped. “They are True Immortals. . .two of the True Immortals.”
I knew Hayden was—that was why my dad couldn’t kill him. Everything was starting to make sense and I wasn’t sure I was happy about that. Knowledge might be power, but sometimes the less you knew the better off you were. Hayden and Elijah both had to be thousands of years old. That was a little freaky to wrap my mind around. What in the Hell did they want with a twenty-one year old girl? Unless The Kev had been right about me. . .My headache was two minutes from being full blown.
“That’s not even the best part.” Blanche rocked back and forth in excitement.
“What else could there possibly be to tell?” I thought seriously about putting my hand over her mouth so I could find some duct tape to keep her from talking until my aching head could take it, but that could be a very long time. She was going to announce something whether I wanted to know or not. I definitely did not want to know.
“They’re brothers!” she blurted. She grabbed me as I tumbled backward in shock.
I didn’t know why that information made me feel so raw, but it did. I knew Hayden had a brother. He told me he did. He said they didn’t get along. . .
“Do you think Elijah knows my boyfriend is Hayden?” I asked Blanche as she settled me back on the steps after my near pass out. Damn, it sounded ridiculous to use the term boyfriend about someone who’d been around before mortals roamed the Earth. And he wasn't just my boyfriend. He was my soul mate.
“Absolutely.” She nodded. “Do you remember him touching and looking at your necklace?”
I did. I remembered it clearly. “So is this just a competition between brothers?” The thought of that hurt and pissed me off royally. I was nobody’s contest prize.
“If I hadn’t seen the whole thing I would have said yes, but he meant business and his feelings rang true. As true as Hayden’s. You can’t fake that,” she added, making me feel sick to my stomach on top of my headache. “So,” she took on a very matter of fact tone, “two of the most powerful beings in the universe are head over heels in love with you. . .what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to Disney World," I snapped sarcastically. "Wait,” I gasped as I doubled over. “Grandpa said God begat two True Immortal Angels.” My body trembled as I put two and two together. “God is their father, which means they’re my cousins.” I stood up on shaky legs and began to pace the front yard, stepping all over flowers and plants. “Holy Hell, I’m in love with one of my cousins and just kissed the other one!”
And I thought I was nauseous before.
“Hold on,” Blanche yelled, stopping me in the middle of a bed of petunias. “Technically you’re right, but you’re actually wrong.”
“Have you been hanging out with Grandpa?” I shouted. “You’re making no sense.” I continued to destroy the beautiful garden with clumsy feet and a broken heart. Did Hayden lie to me?
“Sit!” Blanche demanded as she put a temporary kibosh on my hysteria. I sat in the bluebells and narrowed my eyes at her. “You are not related by blood to Hayden or Elijah.”
“How in the Hell do you know that?” I shrieked.
“I have n
o idea.” She was bewildered, “I didn’t know it an hour ago, but I know it as true now.”
“That’s completely screwed.” I was quieter now. However, for no good reason I knew she spoke the truth. “Go on."
“In the beginning, when True Immortals first came to be, they weren’t born of a woman and a man like you were. They were created.”
“But my father has parents and so does God.” This made no sense. “My father and God share the same mother.”
“Mother Nature didn’t give birth the traditional way. She used power from your grandpa and God’s father to create Satan and God.”
“Not to be rude, but that sounds like a pile of shit.” I rolled my eyes.
“It does,” Blanche agreed. “But it’s not. So while God and Satan were raised as brothers, they are not blood related.”
I was so confused. “Which means everybody is adopted?”
"Simplistic, but yes. Think of everyone as found and lumped together with caretakers."
"So freakin' typical for my family. . .Spell it out one more time—in English."
“It means you are not related to the ridiculously hot Angels who are after your ass.”
This was too much to take in. What had started as a bad day just kept getting worse. First, Lucy and the Things wanted my friendship, then I almost died, then to top it all off my not-by-blood-related kinda cousin, The Angel of Light, hit on me instead of killing me. Could it get any stranger? Nope.
“So, my dad and his brother were hatched from pods without the benefit of sperm or eggs from their True Immortal parents. . .just some power and some magic hoodoo. Which by the way is really stinkin’ hard to buy,” I huffed in disbelief and continued. “Then God and Satan had children the traditional way, the way we learned about in science class. They had sex. Hayden and Elijah are brothers born of my Uncle God, who I suppose isn’t really my uncle if we get technical. I am born of his non-blood related brother Satan, even though they have the same mother who didn't physically give birth to them. Therefore all of this bullshit boils down to the fact that I am not related to my boyfriend, who is apparently older than dirt, or his brother who I just swapped spit with an hour ago. Who, by the way, is also older than dirt.” I took a huge cleansing breath. “Is that about right?”
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