Angel in Waiting

by Sharon Saracino

  ****

  Dimitri’s eyes had never left Elle’s slight form as she climbed from the cab and walked stiffly to the front of the house. Well concealed in the small thicket of trees standing between the house and its nearest neighbor, he frowned as she bent to retrieve a key. He expected Mac would have put a stop to his wife’s sad lack of security by now. On the other hand, the McAllisters hadn’t spent any time here in months, as far as Dimitri knew, and aside from items with sentimental value, he doubted there was much of anything worth stealing. Hell, even now, Mac said his wife insisted on doing her own grocery shopping and continued to use coupons despite their wealth. His frown dissipated, replaced by a smug grin as he realized she probably did it more to annoy Mac than for any other reason. He liked Kat McAllister more all the time.

  Dimitri scrubbed a hand over his face, wondering when he’d suddenly become so easily distracted by the contemplation of relationships, and returned his attention to Elle. Creeping forward, his gaze scanned the area closer to the house for a place to hide. Then he straightened to his full height with a growl. Why skulk around out here like some crazy stalker, anyway? It would be a hell of a lot easier to protect her if he knew what exactly he was protecting her from. It was high time Elle Gates understood she could run, but she couldn’t hide. At least not from Dimitri Radchenko. He would simply walk right up to the front door and demand answers.

  He faded to the front porch, stepped up to the door, raised his hand to knock, and then hesitated. Okay, so maybe he’d give her a couple of minutes to get settled in before totally pissing her off. Not that he was especially concerned about pissing her off. He was just trying to be considerate. Yeah, that was it. He decided to kill a little time by working his way around the house, being careful to duck under any windows. The place was a security nightmare. There were at least a dozen ways to get into the place, and that was assuming you were human and didn’t have the added advantage of being able to fade. He circled the place again, this time working his hands in intricate patterns around the house as he set protective sigils in place, which would keep out anyone except those whose molecular signatures he’d woven into the ancient angelic characters.

  As he started back around the opposite side of the house, to weave the sigils around the front, a flash of movement near the road caught his eye. A bicyclist turned in the drive and dismounted. As the man removed his helmet, Dimitri immediately recognized the wrinkled khakis, oversized polo shirt, and thick, black framed glasses. The guy had gotten off of Elle’s bus at the terminal.

  Dimitri crept to the side of the porch, flattened himself against the house, and watched as the visitor climbed the steps and approached the front door. A bubble of rage simmered in his chest as he considered for the first time perhaps Elle wasn’t running from someone, but to someone. But this guy? Seriously?

  Listening to their exchange, it was all he could do to stay hidden and refrain from jumping up on the porch and choking the stupid out of the creep. Then he found himself biting back a smile. She was quick on her feet. He’d give her that. He swallowed a laugh as the guy tripped down the stairs and ran for his bike.

  As soon as he was out of sight, Dimitri faded into the trees along the road. Two hundred yards away a black van idled along the shoulder and as bike boy approached, Dimitri saw the side door slide open. The guy was yanked off the bike and dragged into the van leaving the bike to tumble into the ditch at the side of the road. Dimitri faded closer for a better look. Then he felt the unmistakable shocks traveling up and down his spine signifying the presence of evil. There were either Fallen or some of their animorti puppets in that vehicle. What were they doing here? Dimitri palmed his stilettos from the intricate tattoos on his forearms and prepared to move in.

  And then he heard the scream.

  Chapter Seven

  Expecting anything, Dimitri faded directly into the house still clutching his weapons. The first thing he noticed was the front door standing wide open. The second was a shrieking Elle dancing madly around the center of the living room with a shell-shocked squirrel clinging desperately to the front of her sweater.

  The hilarity of the sight made him temporarily forget about the van and its occupants. Making no attempt to hide his amusement, Dimitri allowed a low rumble of laughter to build in his chest as he slapped the knives against his forearms where they faded back into the ink. Tattoos really were a handy way to carry a weapon. He let out a piercing whistle between his teeth capturing the attention of both Elle and the squirrel. The animal looked relieved. The woman, not so much. The squirrel scampered up Elle’s chest and over her shoulder to hop into Dimitri’s outstretched hand where it happily crouched, quivering with an expectant expression of near adoration.

  Dimitri stepped to the open door, squatted, and released the animal onto the porch. Straightening, he closed it and turned back to the woman standing wide-eyed and speechless in the center of the room. She smoothed her palms along the front of her sweater and tugged down the hem with visibly trembling hands before clearing her throat and taking a step in his direction.

  “What are you doing here?” she whispered.

  “Saving your ass apparently.” He grinned. “Seriously, woman, you survive a demon and lose it over a squirrel?”

  “Well, rodents carry diseases, you know,” she huffed, twisting a lock of her dark hair around and around her finger. “And did you see those teeth? They were…well, they were really big. And sharp. And big. Anyway, how did you do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “Get the damn thing off of me? He hopped right into your hand like you were his new best friend.”

  “Yeah, well, I have a way with animals.” Dimitri felt the heat rush to his face. In fact, if there was an injured animal within a five mile radius, it honed in on Dimitri Radchenko like a drunk to whiskey. It didn’t do a helluva lot for his badass reputation to be interrupted in the middle of a raging battle by an injured animal seeking comfort. But shit like that happened. All. The. Time. And his brother Defensori took great delight in busting his chops about it. Frankly, he couldn’t understand why anyone considered it a big deal. He always took out more than his fair share of the evil ones before turning his attention to the animal.

  “Obviously. Who knew? I should have been calling you Dimitri Doolittle all this time.” Elle quipped with a faint smile.

  Dimitri shrugged. “Grew up on a farm.”

  “Really? You never told me that.”

  His jaw clenched. There were a lot of things he’d never told her. Didn’t seem to be much point in dredging up ancient history. He’d find the Fallen responsible for the death of his parents and everyone else he’d known…eventually. He didn’t know the name the bastard went by these days, but the face was burned into his brain. If the son of a bitch still lived, he would know him on sight. It was simply a matter of time, and he had plenty of it. Elle’s eyes searched his face and then dropped to the book and envelope at his feet. He saw a flicker of something—fear?—before her expression hardened. “Well, kudos on your timely appearance, Doc, and thanks. But now you need to go.”

  “Is that right?” He replied in a deceptively mild voice, crossing his arms over his chest and glancing down at the clutter. Then he looked back at Elle who stood with her arms hanging limply at her sides, though her fists clenched and unclenched spasmodically. “Well, how about I help you clean up this mess, and then we’ll talk about it?”

  “No!” She cried hurrying forward and gathering up her things as he stooped to do the same. “I mean, I’ll get those. Really, Dimitri…go kill some bad guys or something. I just need a little time alone, okay?”

  Dimitri examined her pale face. Clutching the book against her, her chest rose and fell rapidly, and beads of sweat dotted her forehead. Most telling was the fact she couldn’t meet his eyes. He reached to wrap a hand around the side of her neck, burying his fingers in her hair and tilting her face up to meet his gaze. His breath caught at the desperation he saw there.

>   “I promised Kat I’d keep you safe, and I keep my promises, so I guess you’re stuck with me. Now maybe you’d like to tell me why you’re being watched by animorti.”

  “What?” Her face went a shade paler.

  “You heard me. I killed two of the lousy bastards in the garage under your building this morning. Naturally, I thought they’d followed me. But, your little friend who stopped by for a visit just now was picked up down the road by a couple more. So spill it, Elle. Why are there animorti keeping tabs on you?”

  “I, uh, I’ve no idea,” she whispered faintly, dropping her eyes.

  “You’re a very bad liar, Elle.”

  She swallowed audibly, then took a deep breath and wrenched herself away from him. Stepping back out of his reach, she laughed bitterly as her features contorted. Shuffling through the book she gripped tightly in her hands, she tugged an envelope free.

  “Actually, I’m an excellent liar. My entire existence has been nothing but one big, fat lie after another. I’m trying to do the right thing for everyone, but clearly you aren’t willing to walk away and let it go. So, here.” She shoved the envelope into his hand then walked over and tossed the journal on the sofa before spinning back to face him. He glanced down at the envelope.

  “What’s this?”

  “That’s it, that’s everything. The whole ugly truth sealed up in a neat little package. Knock yourself out. I’m going to take a shower, so I’ll just say goodbye now as I don’t expect you’ll be hanging around after reading it. If you could pass it along to Kat, I’d appreciate it. Tell her…” her voice cracked and she swiped at her eyes. Dimitri curled his fingers into a fist to keep from reaching out to her. “Never mind. I guess there really isn’t anything to say.”

  She stepped around him and started up the stairs.

  “It can’t be as bad as you think.” He moved to follow her, but she held up a hand to stop him and her throat convulsed.

  “Yeah, it can,” she croaked. “Goodbye, Dimitri…and thank you. I didn’t deserve any of it, but I do appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I-I think I’ll really miss your big leather-clad ass.”

  Before he could say another word, she turned and stumbled up the stairs as though all the hounds of Hell were on her heels. He tapped the envelope nervously against his thigh. After stepping out to the front porch and finishing up his sigils to secure the house, he came back inside, strode to the sofa, and dropped onto it. Hard. The pipes gurgled in the wall as the hot water from the boiler in the basement was called upon by the shower upstairs, and still he continued to turn the sealed missive over and over in his hands. Well, he’d wanted to know what was going on, right? But now after seeing her reaction, he wasn’t so sure. He blew out a deep breath in a long, low whistle and slipped a finger under the seal, carefully sliding it along the seam. Elle seemed convinced the information in this envelope was catastrophic. It couldn’t possibly be as bad as she thought, could it?

  Five minutes later, with his pulse pounding in his ears and his jaw clenched tightly enough to crack teeth, he reconsidered his initial assessment. He needed air. Leaving the pages to flutter to the floor unheeded, he stormed from the house, slamming the door nearly off of its hinges behind him.

  ****

  Elle flinched as the force of the slamming door shook the house. She’d been expecting it, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. Dimitri was gone, and the life she’d known was truly over. Her plan hadn’t gone exactly as she intended, but the end result was the same. The truth was out, and there was no going back. Surprised to discover she actually had any tears left, she turned her face into the spray and let the anguish consume her as she waited for the water to wash her sorrow and regret down the drain.

  Both the sun and the hot water were long gone by the time Elle hauled herself from the shower and pulled on an old robe of Kat’s she’d found hanging behind the door. Dragging a brush through her wet hair, she peered into the steam fogged mirror. Yep, her eyes could easily pass for the bloodshot golf balls they felt like. It wasn’t an attractive look, but then again, there was no one here to impress. Elle originally planned on spending a few days at the farmhouse until she could figure out her next move, but since Dimitri already had plenty of time to get back to the city and fill Kat in on the truth, it now seemed more presumptuous than ever to stay. Besides, according to Dimitri, she was being watched. She gathered her things, took them into Kat’s old room, and dumped them back into her bag. It was too late to go anywhere tonight. She’d enjoy one last night in this house that had once been a home and leave first thing in the morning. Destination unknown.

  She shrugged off the robe and hung it on the back of the closet door. Then she pulled Dimitri’s shirt over her head, poked her legs through a pair of silk boxers, grabbed her bag, and headed downstairs. Dropping her bag in the hall, she flicked on the lamp and saw the pages of her letter to Kat littering the floor where they’d fallen. Apparently, Dimitri had decided to simply give Kat the gory details in person without any of the emotional bullshit that probably came through in the letter. Didn’t really matter. There wasn’t any way to make it pretty. She gathered the loose pages together, shoved them back into the envelope, and tossed it on the coffee table. She would give Kat the option to read it herself, along with the journal, if she ever chose to do so. With nothing left to do, she curled up on the sofa and pulled an afghan over her bare legs.

  She simply lay there, staring at the ceiling. She knew she should be making plans for her future, but she couldn’t stop thinking about her past, the people she loved, the people she’d hurt, the people who were now lost to her forever. She threw a forearm across her aching eyes to block out the light from the hallway. Her head throbbed, too. In fact, everything seemed to hurt at the moment. But nothing hurt half as much as her heart.

  ****

  Dimitri propped his boots on the front porch railing. After reading the letter, he’d slammed out of the house and stomped the perimeter of the yard like a raging bull, seething with an almost pathological need to tear her father limb from limb. What kind of father uses his daughter as a lab rat? The son-of-a-bitch was damn lucky Dimitri didn’t know where to find him. Yet.

  When he’d calmed down enough to think straight, he’d sent his mind out in search of hers and discovered Elle was still in the shower. As she appeared in no hurry to emerge, and trusting his sigils to protect her for the short time he planned to be gone, he faded to a small convenience store a couple of blocks away and picked up a few things. He also surveyed a one mile perimeter around the property and didn’t see any sign of the van or feel even a whisper of evil. Whatever their reason for being in the area, the Fallen had cleared out for the time being. When he returned to the house, he decided it might be better if he cooled his heels for a while until could speak without verbally crucifying her bastard of a parent.

  He didn’t need telepathy to know she was crying. He could hear her through the old parlor windows, which were badly in need of re-glazing. He splayed a hand across his chest and rubbed at the uncomfortable twinge her grief caused. If her ailment was physical, he could fix it. Emotional torment? Yeah, not really his specialty.

  He should probably at least let her know he was still here, since she probably assumed he’d taken off. Hauling himself to his feet with a grunt, he grabbed the grocery bags and rolled his head on his shoulders to loosen his tense neck muscles. Approaching the front door with all the enthusiasm of a condemned man walking to the gas chamber, he crossed the wide expanse of the porch. His slow, measured footsteps echoed on the wooden planks. Reaching the door, he shoved both bags into one arm and curled his fingers around the knob. He drew in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. He had no clear idea of what he would say, no idea what she needed to hear. He would just have to wing it. Yeah, this should go well. He turned the knob and stepped across the threshold into the dimly lit hall.

  Dimitri’s head exploded. At least it felt that way as the pepper spray caught him just under the c
hin, soaking the front of his shirt and sending fumes and fallout everywhere. His skin burned like he’d been face planted on a hot grill. Thank God, she hadn’t hit him directly in the eyes. Still, the substance was a potent irritant, and his body reacted immediately. It was impossible to avoid inhaling it unless he stopped breathing altogether. His eyes clamped shut automatically, leaving him temporarily blinded, and tears poured from beneath his tightly closed lids. His nose streamed, his chest heaved, and a fit of coughing damn near sent him to his knees as the irritated cells in his throat and lungs tried to rid themselves of the chemical. It had been years since he’d taken a shot of pepper spray. He hadn’t liked it much then, and he liked it even less now.

  His first instinct was to rub the offending substance away, but he knew that would only spread the burn and make it worse. Keeping his hands away from his face through sheer determination, he dropped to his knees and began to rummage blindly in a grocery bag. Somehow he forced his eyelids open wide enough to find the milk and pop the lid. He tipped his head back and poured the milk directly onto his face, feeling the almost instantaneous relief as it neutralized the burn.

  He blinked rapidly and turned to face his attacker. Elle’s shapely bare legs poked out below the hem of his shirt, and he could detect just a hint of pebbled nipple through the thin cotton. Her thick, dark hair was a riot of tangles, and her bare feet were braced shoulder width apart as she gripped the small canister at her side. Her lips formed a perfect “O” and her blue eyes were wide and swollen, surrounded by tear spiked lashes. His groin twitched in involuntary response. It was official. He’d lost his mind. He had to be nearing the point of insanity if he stood here just shy of respiratory arrest getting aroused by the woman who’d caused it.