by Debra Dunbar
“Umm, I don’t want him.” I stepped over the angel to approach the seated Ruling Council members. “What the fuck would I do with an angel? Can we just make him do the naked and restrained thing for a few years? Make him do community service? Send him to bed without dinner?”
I really, really did not want responsibility for this angel. Besides, I already had one duct taped in my basement. Where would this one stay? That addition Nyalla had proposed wouldn’t happen overnight. And what the fuck was I supposed to do with him, anyway? Some angel following me around for all eternity? It didn’t sound like he had any chance of reinstatement.
Gabriel shrugged. “Do whatever you want with him. Per our last meeting, Fallen angels are now your responsibility.”
“Fallen humans are my responsibility. Not angels. I don’t have anything to do with angels.” I didn’t vote for that. Or did I?
Gregory choked back something that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. “Yes, Cockroach. The Iblis handles the Fallen of any species as well as those whose vibration levels have descended to unacceptable levels.”
What a crock of shit. I stared at Eirnilius, who had risen shakily to his feet and was accepting his fate with a placid face.
“If there are no other matters to discuss, then I suggest we adjourn the meeting.” Gregory still had that note of amusement in his voice. The other angels nodded as one and vanished, leaving me, the big guy, and my new blond accessory.
“So … what are you going to do now?”
Eirnilius frowned in confusion. “Go with you. Unless you want me to go elsewhere.”
I waved a hand. “Just gate off somewhere. I don’t care where you stay.”
There was a moment of awkward silence. “I can no longer teleport myself. My skills are severely restricted without my halo.”
I looked at the space just above his head, and then looked at the same space above Gregory’s. They looked the same to me. No glowing lights, no circles of shining gold floating above their hair. Whatever. This angel shit was incomprehensible most of the time. Who was I kidding: it was incomprehensible all of the time.
“Fine. I’ll take you home, but I have to warn you that we’ll make a few side trips before I get it right. Teleportation is a pretty new skill to me.”
He nodded. “Am I assigned a specific task? My life belongs to you now.”
“Stay out of my way? My house is a bit high–traffic right now, so you’ll be running into humans, werewolves, angels, and demons on a pretty regular basis. I’ll put up a cot in the nursery until I can figure out a long–term spot for you.”
“I’ll give you both a lift back.”
I turned in surprise to Gregory, and he grinned at me. “What? Maybe I’d like to see this nursery your new angel is going to be living in?”
Yeah, right. Still, this was better than fifteen out–of–the–way trips before I finally wound up in my living room. I took a step toward him and hesitated.
“Do we do a big group hug? How do you want to do this?”
His lips twitched. “You, I will embrace. The Fallen one can just stand where he is.”
I’d figured as much. I closed the distance between us, and he crushed me tight in his arms. My face pressed against the angel’s chest, and I felt his lips at the top of my head. With a jolt, the world tilted, and I pulled away to see my living room. Eirnilius was a few feet away, gawking at his surroundings like he’d never seen a human home before.
“Go wait outside while I speak with the Iblis,” my angel commanded.
The Fallen turned to stare at Gregory boldly. “I don’t take orders from you anymore.”
That ratcheted up the tension in the room one–hundred fold. Shit. I didn’t need Gregory getting into a fight with my new angel. I had enough to worry about.
“Go outside.” I pointed toward the French doors. “There’s a pool out there. Swim if you want, or just admire the flowers. I’ll be out in a bit.”
It took him a few tries to figure out how to use the doorknob, which made me wonder how often he had gotten out of Aaru prior to his encounters with Dregvant. Hopefully he wouldn’t drown in the pool. I watched him manage to close the door behind him before I turned to Gregory.
“So, what’s up?”
I didn’t get the feeling I was in trouble, nor did I get the idea we were about to engage in angel nookie. His presence in my house was making me a bit nervous. What if he sensed the angel in the basement? Had it been him who’d blown the whistle on Harper? I loved him, but how far could I really trust him?
“I was about to ask you that very same question.”
I squirmed. Since our bond had been broken, he couldn’t truly read my mind anymore, but he still seemed to know my emotions and have a level of pre–cognition as far as I was concerned. Of course all of that probably came with being over five–billion years old.
“Well, I have a house full of humans, and now I find out that I’m somehow responsible for any Fallen angels — whatever the fuck that means. I don’t see how your inability to keep things under control in Aaru translates into more work for me.”
When in a hot seat, it was always best to go on the offensive.
“Fallen angels have always been under control of the Iblis. Always. And it’s no longer ‘us and them’. You’re an angel, too, and you need to fully pick up the reins of your position.”
He didn’t seem angry, but I was becoming so. “I wasn’t even alive when this fucking treaty was signed! Keep your Fallen angels, or send them to Detroit or something. Don’t give them to me.”
“You voted ‘yes’ with no discussion. Maybe if you actually paid attention in meetings, you wouldn’t be surprised by these things.”
“Fine. Well, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a new angel I need to make accommodations for, and an ongoing situation in Hel that I’m now too short staffed to deal with.”
He smiled. It was that slow, sexy smile I loved. My anger diffused.
“No time for date night?” His voice was just as sexy as his smile. “I’ll admit the hot wings weren’t to my taste, but I was hoping you’d show me the sinful joys of chocolate.”
There were all kinds of sinful joys I wanted to show him. I hesitated, wondering how well duct tape held, and what would happen if a certain captive of mine began banging around the cellar.
“Rain check? Maybe in a few days?”
Days were like seconds to an ancient angel, and I hoped to be rid of at least one of the angels in my house, the one Gregory didn’t know about, by then.
“Although there is currently no precipitation in the area, I’ll agree to postpone for three days.”
Angels. They were so literal and exact. “Thanks. It’s a date, then.”
His smile broadened. “Yes, it is a date.”
He vanished, and I found myself standing in my living room, grinning like a fool for several minutes. I had way too many houseguests for the sort of activities running through my imagination. Which reminded me that I needed to check on the latest arrival.
It seems Ernie could swim. He’d stripped out of his clothing and was doing laps in my pool. Naked. And from the view I got, falling from grace seemed to have enhanced his body in rather significant ways.
I left him, thinking he might welcome some alone time to ponder his new life. Nyalla was elated to find out we had an angel in the house, besides the one in the basement. Harper didn’t look elated at the news. She began fingering the knives in her belt when I told her he’d be staying in the nursery.
“That’s right next to my room,” she protested.
“He’s an angel. It’s not like he’s going to sneak into your bed at night or anything.” Then I remembered Ernie’s naked form and the fact that the father of her child was an angel. “On the other hand, maybe you should lock your door and keep a few of those knives under your pillow, just in case.”
“Oh, let’s order Chinese delivery.” Nyalla was already digging out the various menus. “This is going to be so
much fun! I wonder if he likes the same chips as Gregory. Shall we try the hot wings with him? Perhaps losing his halo will cause him to develop a taste for meat.”
I heard the door open and close then saw the transfixed expression on both the girls’ faces. Great. What now?
I turned around and saw the fallen angel looking like something from the cover of a romance novel. He’d put on his jeans, which were rather snug, but he was shirtless. He’d also shorn his blond curls into a military–style buzz cut. Droplets of water lingered on his shoulders and chest. I know I wasn’t the only woman in the room fantasizing about licking them off.
“Hair.” The strangled word was all I could get out.
“I hope you don’t mind. I just couldn’t … it was too much like an angel, and I’m not an angel anymore.”
Why did that make my heart twist in sympathy and horrible, horrible guilt? Because it was all my fault. I should be the one punished, not this poor guy.
“You’re still an angel,” I argued. “Just one in disgrace. Once I get all this figured out, I’ll work at getting you back in Aaru where you belong.”
“There is no Aaru for me anymore. I’m Fallen, without my halo. I’ll walk either in this realm or in Hel until my death.”
I heard Nyalla take a breath and realized that her weird angel–gift was kicking in.
“I know it seems pretty bleak right now,” she said. “But it will all be okay. I promise. Frithcandl avrisa thill daegraeth.”
His eyes widened at the elvish words.
I waved my hand. “This is Nyalla, and Harper.” Nyalla walked forward, while Harper took up a defensive posture beside the stove. “Girls, this is Ernie.”
“Eirnilius,” he corrected. Then his face scrunched up as if he’d bitten into a lemon. “Nils. Just call me Nils.”
Harper’s curiosity got the best of her, and she leaned forward to better see the angel. “Are you really Fallen? What did you do?”
The angel opened his mouth to reply then stopped, gaping at the woman’s rounded belly. “You’re … you’re.”
“Pregnant. Humans breed like rabbits. Seems they’re always getting pregnant. I mean, I like sex as much as the next demon, but I don’t go getting myself knocked up every time I fuck.” Not that I could. Demons could only impregnate females when it came to other species. It seems angels had the same restrictions.
And from Nils’s horrified expression, he somehow knew that the father of this child wasn’t human. Or demon.
“I want this child.” Harper splayed a hand defensively across her stomach. I saw a flash of sympathy in Nils’s blue eyes before they hardened into cobalt.
“You are not to blame for the sins of my brethren, but you must understand that this is no child you carry but an abomination.”
I’d heard that before in reference to Amber. My blood boiled, but before I could express outrage at the misapplication of that term, Harper grew a set of balls.
“Bold words from a Fallen angel.” She marched forward and punched a finger into Nils’s naked chest — his sculpted, muscular, beautiful chest. “Maybe you’re the abomination. It doesn’t matter though, because this child is mine, and I’m not giving my son up. And let me tell you right now, buster, if you do anything to endanger my child, I’ll strip the skin from you one piece at a time and roll you in salt.”
Well done! I held back, letting Harper handle this one. She’d shown herself to be surprisingly gutsy from the moment I’d met her.
“You can have more babies. Normal babies. This one is a monster.”
Ernie, I mean Nils, clearly had no sense of self–preservation. Angels just didn’t understand humans at all. Harper took a sharp breath. Her eyes flashed. Then she slammed her knee into the angel’s groin. He bent over double, but not before I saw the look of shock on his face. Harper then sucker punched him, and the angel hit the floor, writhing on the solid maple.
“If you ever call my son a monster again, I’ll cut your balls off.”
The woman stomped up the stairs while Nils rolled around in a fetal position. Nyalla and I exchanged resigned looks.
“She’s serious,” I warned the angel. “I’ve seen her stabbing a pillow, and she’s not hesitated to attack angels with cutlery in the past. Better watch your tongue around her, or better yet, stay clear of her all together.”
Nils grunted, trying to get to his knees and failing miserably. Nyalla and I watched him as he finally managed to stand.
“Okay.” I gestured toward the stairs. “Now that this particular issue is resolved, why don’t I take you up to the nursery, where you’ll be sleeping for the next few months?”
“I don’t sleep,” Nils groaned, still clutching his man–parts.
“I’m willing to bet you do now.”
–13–
Nils did, in fact, sleep. And snore. And he came downstairs at sunrise sporting an impressive morning wood. The girls were still asleep, so my new angel friend and I bonded over coffee, and then went out for a swim. It was nice to have someone that enjoyed my pool as much as I did.
After a few laps, I climbed out and sprawled onto a lounge chair to catch the early sun. Nils kept going, swimming even after his strokes grew labored and his breath gasped as his head surfaced. Finally he slapped his hands against the edge of the pool, staring into the flowering geraniums.
“What happened to Dregvant?”
I wasn’t sure why he cared. I shrugged, watching him carefully for his reaction. “After he handed over the breeding contract, I gated him to safety. Well, I gated him somewhere. I think we wound up in the National Zoo. I’m not sure where he is now.”
Nils contemplated the flowers for a few breaths. Finally he crossed his arms and rested his chin on them. “Do you think he made it safely back to Hel?”
I needed to nip this in the bud. “Look, Dregvant is a total shit. He’s selfish and spoiled and cares only for material things. Greed is his sin. You can do so much better.”
I was fully aware of the irony in my words. Here I was, an imp, skilled in lust and greed and frolicking with an ancient on the Ruling Council. But the difference was that I loved him. I was pretty sure Dregvant had no especial feelings for this angel. I wasn’t sure Dregvant had any feelings at all.
“I’m sure he made it back to Hel. After he got out of the Komodo dragon pen, that is. I hope the reptiles ripped up that hideous shirt he was wearing. That demon has no taste in clothing whatsoever.”
Nils barked out a laugh. “Yeah. I agree with that wholeheartedly.” He looked down at the puddle of water forming from his dripping skin. “And yeah, he is a bit of a jerk.”
“Then why offer him a breeding contract? Honestly, Nils, what could that ass possibly contribute to an offspring?”
His muscular shoulders, wet from the pool, glistened as he shrugged. “He was the only one who didn’t run off screaming the moment he saw me. Kinda hard to discuss a contract like that while the demon is frantically racing for the nearest gate.” He shot me a quick, charming grin. “Of course, discussing a contract like that when you’ve got a demon restrained and pinned under fifty tons of concrete isn’t easy either.”
I laughed. “You should have waited a few more years. I’ve got this great idea for a dating service. Infernal Mates. Angels and demons will be hooking up all over the place.”
“And if you think that’s going to come to pass in a few years, you’re crazier than I thought.”
“Just you wait and see. Aaru will be full of demon mates before you know it.”
The air grew thick with sorrow. “Well, it will happen without me.”
He was kicked out. Forever. And it was my fault. I doubted I could do anything to force the angels to take him back, and I wasn’t sure how life would be for him there anyway. Everyone had to have known what he did. They’d probably ostracize him. Nils ran a hand over his short, blond hair, sending drops of water like rain to the flagstone patio. Maybe there would be forgiveness in his future, but in the meantime t
he guy had a life to live. Might as well make the best of it.
I watched a barn swallow swoop down low before arcing up into a nest on the inside of my porch. “We’ll get you some clothes. Nyalla is the queen of internet shopping. Or she can take you to the mall. My human boyfriend will get you some identification. You’ll learn to drive a car. Think of this as a new adventure.”
The angel swung out of the pool, dripping water from his magnificent, naked body. “I miss Aaru. Hunger, exhaustion, and all the other sensations of this human form are too much for me. Parts of my body now seem to have a will of their own, and my emotions swing from extreme to extreme. I think death might be preferable.”
A blast of white hit him in the shoulder, sending him flying into the geraniums. I spent precious moments in wide–eyed shock before rolling off the lounge chair and summoning my sword. White streamed around me like tunnels of lethal light, disintegrating part of my lounge chair and digging trenches in my hardscape patio. I didn’t have time to think about how badly Nils was hurt. I just kept rolling into the edge of the brush line. Then I jumped to my feet and ran.
It was morning, but I could still see the glow of the angels surrounding my house. My sword wasn’t effective at a distance, so I launched bursts of raw energy as I ran, weaving through the shrubberies and trees. My aim was pretty accurate, and each time I hit one, he flew backward, skidding along the ground.
One of the angels managed to hit me. I felt the burning pain through my leg as I crashed onto the dirt, my sword bouncing out of reach through sparse patches of grass. They must have dialed it back a notch because instead of a missing leg, I looked like I’d been filled with buckshot. The wound hurt like fuck — far more than buckshot would have, and it bled like a motherfucker, but I had no time to fix the wound. Or heal it, for that matter. I twisted on the ground, groping for the sword. The angels cautiously approached me, and I gave up on the sword, readying a blast of energy instead. They’d hardly kill me, the Iblis … would they?