by C. L. Coffey
As soon as the door clicked closed behind us, I looked to Joshua and pulled a face. “Ms. Connors? You know he knows about us, right?”
Instead of responding, Joshua laced his fingers through mine and made an abrupt turn, pulling me through a door to the soundtrack of my girly squeal. Before I could work out where we were, he had tugged me against him, the door falling closed behind us. I only just managed to get my free hand up on his chest to steady myself before I head-butted him, when he leaned over and claimed me with his lips. I couldn’t stop the startled gasp, and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. Not that I was complaining: not at all.
When he pulled away – far too soon in my opinion – I pouted up at him. He smiled, leaning down so his mouth was close to my ear. “I never told Curtis about us,” he murmured. “And darlin’, I don’t care who does know about us, because honestly, I want to show the world that my girlfriend is hotter than theirs.” His words sent a hot flush flooding my skin, and I could feel his lips forming into a smile as he moved his mouth lower to kiss my neck. “But you said no one could know about us and I couldn’t wait until later to do this.” His lips were back on mine.
The next time we pulled away, I had to take a second to catch my breath, before I grinned up at him. “I missed you too.” He pulled me back to him, wrapping his arms around me as I rested my cheek against his collar bone. I finally looked at the room we were in, and couldn’t help but laugh. “Did you pull us into a janitor’s closet?” I asked, staring at the collection of mops and cleaning products surrounding us.
“I always wanted to do that,” he admitted.
This time, when I pulled away, it was to look at him in disbelief. “You’re telling me you never pulled a girl into the janitor’s closet when you were in school?”
“Nope.” When the skepticism remained firmly on my face, he gave me a cheeky grin. “The janitorial staff kept those doors locked. I learned when classrooms were empty and used them instead.”
“That sounds like a lot of happy girls,” I muttered, wryly.
Joshua wiggled his eyebrows at me. “Jealous?”
“So long as they don’t become girls you’re pulling into the janitor’s closet here,” I shrugged.
Joshua’s expression grew serious as his hand sought out mine once more. “Darlin’, that won’t be happening,” he assured me, raising my hand to place it over his heart. “Because this is yours.”
If Cupid was right – if I was interfering in whatever plans there were for him… No… No, God could not be that cruel.
“What’s wrong?” Joshua demanded as my face gave away the fact something was troubling me.
We needed to talk – it was only fair he knew everything – but in a closet was not the right place for it. Later, once we had finished what I had come here to do, I would tell him. “I love you,” I told him.
“And that’s why you’re frowning?”
I shook my head. “I was just wondering if we could put off what we needed to do and stay here in a bubble.”
A smile reappeared on Joshua’s face, but it was accompanied by his bedroom eyes. “Darlin’, I’d love that, because it would involve you losing some of these clothes.” Proving I had greater willpower than I thought I did, I bit the inside of my cheek, ignored the fact that my face had gone beet-red, and led us back into the corridor. “Spoilsport,” Joshua muttered, although he was smirking.
The blush had just about faded when we joined Leon in Asmodeus’ office. The lettering had been removed from the door I noticed as we walked in, but it had yet to be replaced with another name. Leon was waiting patiently for us and stood when we walked in. “Thank you for doing this,” he told me, handing over a manila folder.
“Not a problem,” I assured him as I took it, flicking through the information.
“I’ve arranged for her to meet us in an abandoned location on South Rampart,” he added. “If we’re right and she is one of the Fallen, I don’t want to make a move in this building. Yes, it’s quiet at this time, but it’s still a precinct and there are still plenty of officers around.”
“She’s just going to turn up to a random abandoned building?” I asked. Much as it made sense to do this somewhere far away from other people, I wasn’t sure she would go for it.
“I told her Leon was looking to put together a taskforce,” Joshua jumped in. “Said we were interested in having her join us, but we needed to have the conversation away from here. She agreed.”
“Whether she is one of the Fallen or not, I think her curiosity would be piqued enough to at least want to find out what it is on offer,” Leon added. “We should leave now and get into position before she arrives.”
Allowing him to take the lead, Joshua and I followed Leon outside to his car. I hopped in the back, and settled in for the short ride past the Superdome to the location Leon has selected. We parked in a vacant lot which looked like it had once had a building there, half a block from the place Leon had chosen. The three story building had once housed a shop on the ground floor, and what looked like apartments above it. Architecturally, it still looked like a nice building, but like so many along the street, it had been abandoned and forgotten about.
The door was boarded up with metal sheets, like the ground floor windows, in an attempt to keep trespassers out. It looked like the only way to open it was with a key. I was surprised when Leon produced one. “You rented a place for the evening?”
After looking up and down the street, making sure it was clear, Leon shook his head, turned the key and then pushed the door open with his shoulder. “I found the key in Asmodeus’ desk. Joshua and I checked this place earlier in the week. We’re not sure what he used it for, but it’s not being used now.” I followed him inside and upstairs to a room in the back. The front side of the building overlooked a hotel, whereas here, the view, from what I could see through the pieces of wood covering the windows, was of nothing but abandoned lots that had once held buildings probably similar to the one we were in.
Joshua flicked a light on. We were in the sitting room, judging from the old couch. Although there was a smell to the apartment, it wasn’t as musty and stale as I expected it to be. On closer inspection of the couch I could tell it had likely been brought in recently.
“Melinda should be here shortly,” he continued. “I thought it would be best to do it up here so we would have a bit of warning if someone else comes in.”
“Doorbell no longer works?” I asked.
Even though my question was more rhetorical, I didn’t get an answer as a female voice called through up into the apartment. Leon looked at both Joshua and I, and nodded. “That’s her.”
Leon disappeared back down the stairs and I moved closer to Joshua. “Stay behind me,” I instructed him, my hand already reaching into my pocket and gripping my dagger.
Moments later, Leon appeared with a woman who was the last person I would have suspected to be one of the Fallen. She was tiny, with curly brown hair which was busy trying to escape the bun it had been pulled back into. With her nose and cheeks covered in a splatter of freckles, she looked like she was still in high school and not a thirty year old woman, as her file had told me.
“Thank you for coming, detective Monroe,” Leon greeted her as they walked in. “I appreciate you taking the trip up from Vice.”
That would explain a lot, though I had to suppress a shiver at the thought of what role she would have in Vice.
Melinda gave Joshua and I a suspicious look, but quickly returned her focus to Leon as he walked over to her and held his hand out. She hesitated. I hoped it was because it wasn’t normal for detectives to be so formal like this, rather than she suspected something was up. Either way, she took his hand. “Sir.” For a moment, there was nothing but awkwardness as Leon clasped his left hand over the top and held it there a fraction too long to be considered appropriate. I started to breathe a sigh of relief, but then she dropped her hand. “Ow!” she exclaimed.
I hadn’t fail
ed to notice the wisp of smoke that had appeared as she extracted her hand from Leon’s grip and waved it about. My hand clenched tighter around the dagger.
“I’m sorry,” Leon quickly apologized. I was amazed at his acting skills as he managed to look both appropriately apologetic and completely nonplussed. “The wife has been insisting I wear my ring,” he explained, holding up his hand. “I turn it around because I keep catching the diamond and I keep forgetting about it. I do hope I didn’t scratch you too badly?”
“It’s fine,” Melinda responded, shortly. “But what am I doing here, sir?”
“Cupid?” I called out, while Leon was busy giving an explanation to Melinda. “We’ve got one.”
“I will be there in one minute,” Cupid’s instant response informed me. “Do not attempt anything until I am there.”
“I’m not sure if this is something I would be interested in,” I heard Melinda say as I tuned back into the conversation. “Thank you for your time, sir, but I should be returning to my job.”
“Before you go, just have a chat with detectives Walsh and Connors,” Leon suggested, clearly stalling.
Thankfully, I reigned in my surprise before Melinda turned around and narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re a detective?” she asked, looking at me. I just nodded. “I don’t recognize you.”
“Connors has been undercover for some time,” Leon explained.
Something flashed through Melinda’s eyes, and in that second, I knew she knew who and what I was. I also knew she knew I knew what she was. I took another step closer to Joshua. “Yeah, I can see how that hair would be discreet enough for undercover work.”
“This was my celebration for wrapping up,” I shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant.
She stared at me, unblinking, and I stared straight back at her. At the same time that she had pulled her gun out, I had yanked my dagger out and had it at full size. “You might want to put that away,” I told her. “That’s just going to piss me off.”
“Not with these bullets.” She gave me such a smug grin, that I suddenly doubted my ability to heal from a bullet wound.
“Why would that b-?”
Before I could finish my question, pandemonium erupted in the room as both Cupid and Gabriel both flashed in. In the few seconds it took for everyone to establish what was happening, Melinda sprung into the air. I tensed, ready for her attack, but I had read her wrong. Instead of going for me, she had flipped straight over me and gone straight for Joshua. By the time I had spun around, Joshua was on his knees, grunting in pain as she yanked his head up by his hair, pointing her gun at him. “Well, well, well… if it isn’t Cupid and Gabe,” she tutted. “Two thirds of Michael’s back-up dancers.”
Cupid and Gabriel had moved to my side, the three of us creating a wall between her and Leon. Gabriel was armed with a sword, like me, whereas Cupid already had his bow trained on Melinda. “Who are you?” Cupid demanded.
“You mean you don’t recognize me?” she asked. “I suppose this human onesie is a little different to the last vessel.”
“Who are you?” Cupid repeated.
“Why, cousin, it is I: Jezebeth.”
“Jezebeth?” Cupid asked, sharing a look with Gabriel.
“Cupid?” I questioned.
“You might have beaten me in a few archery tournaments back in Heaven, but I can assure you I’m much better with a gun than I am with a bow. And I was great with a bow.” Beneath her, I met Joshua’s eyes as he tried to send me a silent message. The second I gave the slightest shake of my head at him, Jezebeth wrenched her hand – and Joshua’s hair – upwards so he let out a yelp of pain. “Whatever you’re thinking, stop it, pretty boy.”
I held my free hand up, my palm facing her, as the yelp made me wince. “Okay, let’s not do anything rash,” I suggested.
“You’re outnumbered, Jezebeth,” Gabriel pointed out. “You kill him and then what? You think you can take on three archangels?”
I kept my face neutral as Jezebeth focused on me. “You’re an archangel? When the hell did that happen?”
“About the time we took out Asmodeus,” Cupid answered for me. I forced my expression to remain as it was – glowering at Jezebeth – hoping she wouldn’t be able to tell that Cupid was lying.
Jezebeth’s eyes narrowed. “Then I guess I need to level the playing field a bit.”
Three things happened simultaneously. First, I was shoved to the side by Cupid. A fraction of a second later, Jezebeth turned the gun from Joshua and aimed it at me, firing it twice before I could work out what was happening. Then Cupid crumpled to the floor.
I barely had time to process that Cupid was down as Joshua slammed his shoulder up into Jezebeth’s chin, making her fire her weapon again. Joshua twisted around as she stumbled backwards, grabbing her gun and twisting it from her grasp. He didn’t have a chance to point it at her as she grabbed him by his collar and flung him at the window.
“Joshua!” I had barely finished screaming his name before I heard him speak.
“I’m here,” he said from behind me. I looked to find him in Gabriel’s arms, being set back on the ground, safely beside Leon. I allowed myself a moment of relief: Joshua had been thrown out of a window once before, and that was one time too many as it was.
“Well, this has been fun!” Jezebeth exclaimed. She turned, already leaping towards the window and her escape, but before she could hit the glass, Gabriel had appeared in front of her, impaling her on his sword.
My eyes widened as her body slumped to the ground. “Get Cupid!” I bellowed at Gabriel as he pulled his sword from Jezebeth’s limp body. As Gabriel vanished, I charged at Leon and Joshua, ignoring their startled protests as I wrapped my arms around their waists and kept going full speed to a boarded-up window. At the last moment, I jumped, just managing to keep hold of them as I spun in the air, hurling myself back first out into the air.
CHAPTER NINE
No Longer Bulletproof
We had just made it out, falling through the air when the building exploded, pushing us further away. Joshua started to slip from my grasp as we plummeted towards the ground, but he wrapped his arm around me. I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact, but it didn’t come.
“Sweet baby Jesus,” I heard Leon mutter.
When I opened my eyes, we were hovering just above the ground. I looked over my shoulder and caught the brilliant golden light of my wings for a millisecond before they disappeared. The fall to the ground was nothing more than if we had stumbled off a step.
Behind us, there was another explosion in the building. I let go of Leon and Joshua and looked around for Cupid and Gabriel. “Can you see them?” I yelled over the commotion coming from the crumbling building.
“I’m sure they’re both fine,” Joshua tried to assure me as we hurried back to the front of the building.
There was a small crowd forming in front of the hotel. I wasn’t paying them much attention, but Leon was. “I need to attend to this,” he told me. “Before we have another incident like the Port on our hands.”
“You go,” Joshua said. “I’ll stay with Angel.”
Leon nodded his agreement. “It’s probably best that you two aren’t seen here.”
“Angel!”
I skidded to a halt and whirled around, spotting Gabriel. Changing direction, I started running back the way I had come. “Gabriel!” I yelled, the fear still pumping through me as I failed to find Cupid with him. “Where is he?”
“Back at the convent,” he explained.
The fear ebbed, but only slightly – I knew it would remain until I knew he was okay. “Take me to him.”
“Wait,” Leon called, jogging back to us. “Can you go back in there?” he asked, pointing to the building. “Find the gas tap? If we can’t give the fire department something to find as the cause of the explosion, so soon after what happened at the Port, we’re looking at another potential terrorist attack.”
“Give me a minute,” Gabriel agreed, befo
re disappearing.
“Good call,” I thanked Leon.
“I need to get over there and call it in – make it look like I was passing by or something.”
“Following Melinda,” Joshua corrected him. “Her car is probably parked under all that rubble somewhere.”
Leon nodded, running away from us, towards where the crowd was forming. I could see him pull his phone from his pocket, but Gabriel appeared back in front of me and my attention was back on him. “Done.”
“Can you take us to Cupid?” I asked, looking to Joshua. He nodded, reaching for my hand.
“This is not going to be pleasant for you,” Gabriel informed Joshua. He didn’t give him any further explanation as his large hands clamped down on a shoulder.
I blinked. In the time it took for that to happen, Gabriel had transported us back to the convent and into Cupid’s bright green bedroom. Beside me, I heard Joshua moan. Feeling sympathetic, I pointed to a door on the other side of the room. “The bathroom is that way.”
My attention, however, was on the figure lying on the bed. Nyle was tending to Cupid, wiping his brow with a damp cloth. I darted over. “Cupid!” I exclaimed in relief as my eyes met his. It was short lived as I realized he was struggling to breathe. His muscles were taunt, the strain on his face as he fought back the pain. He was alive, but angels didn’t suffer from injuries like this. Something wasn’t right.
“He won’t let me touch it,” Nyle whispered, his eyes round with fear.
Cupid was wearing a grey shirt which shimmered enough that it looked silver in the right light. Over the top was a pewter waistcoat. He was clutching at a spot midway down the right side of his chest, his hands covered in blood.
“He needs a doctor,” I barked at Gabriel.
“No doctors,” Cupid gasped.
“Not…” I chose not to finish that sentence and instead focused on Gabriel. “Can you go to the morgue and get Henry?”
“Henry?” he asked, looking torn between wanting to get him, and staying where he was.