What? I was the one whose life was being threatened here. Didn’t she see there was a sharp-ass knife cutting into my neck, only a brief nudge away from ending my existence as an Earth Angel? Did she not know that this lunatic demon had put some crazy spell on me and took control of my body?
Which had started to fade but... I wiggled my toes a little. Hmm... I clenched my butt muscles. Yep. Those worked too. I already knew my arms were mobile.
What was I waiting for? Death?
I don’t think so.
I watched Judd help a groggy and freshly bleeding Kaleb to his feet, and another thing occurred to me. Why wasn’t Malakai using his magic to immobilize anyone? And why hadn’t he ordered any of his cowering minions to take MOG into custody?
And was it just a coincidence that Malakai’s body-freezing spell had faded when MOG was near?
Duh. Why else would he be shaking in his tacky cloak right now, not saying a word when he was so confident and chatty earlier? It was so simple.
Malakai couldn’t use his powers around MOG.
That had to be the case. Okay, it was possible I was wrong, but that was my theory, and I was sticking to it.
Maybe I should test it out.
My wings had come in handy when knocking the gun out of Eli’s hands. And practice makes perfect so... I gave in to the urge and released them. With pent-up, boiling force they jutted from my shoulders and knocked Malakai away.
Yay! I was free.
I took that victorious moment to tie the straps of my chemise back together, knowing I wouldn’t exactly look threatening with my boobs on display. But I faltered when a shearing pain ripped through my right wing.
Damn, that hurt! I quickly assessed the damage. The middle of my right wing had been sliced halfway through. A clean cut. With that freaking dagger, no doubt.
Enraged and with only one strap tied, I spun around to face Malakai, Angel to monster.
A fight broke out around me, I realized just then. Judd had taken on Eli and Freddie. MOG had cornered Leo and another demon against the log cabin wall. Cesar and Victor were nowhere in sight.
But I couldn’t concentrate on that now. Malakai was crazy-eyed and pointing that damn knife straight at me.
“You’ll die one way or another today,” he said, clearly his cocky self again.
I willed my wings to curl in, cringing at the pain it caused. They should heal internally, I hoped anyway. They’d never been sliced in two before.
“I wanted to cut them to pieces and have them as a snack,” Malakai said. “I’ve heard they’re quite delicious.” He actually looked disappointed he hadn’t had the opportunity .
I took a defensive stance, spreading my legs and readying my hands out in front of me. “You’re a whack job, buddy. And you’re going to pay for all you’ve done to the Angels and to Simeon. And to my fucking car, my home, my CD collection―”
“You should try digital music. CDs are so archaic.” He jerked forward and jabbed the dagger toward me. I slipped to the left and dodged it. He repeated the move, nicking my forearm this time.
It pissed me off a lot more than it hurt. “CDs are classic. And ooh, you’re gonna get it.”
“You okay, Abby?” Judd yelled.
It looked like he’d deported Freddie already and was now wrestling with Eli. With Eli, for crying out loud. I still couldn’t get over the fact that he was now the enemy.
I didn’t know what MOG was doing behind me but there was an awful lot of demon screaming going on back there. Go Isabelle!
“Super,” I yelled back.
I distracted Malakai with a front kick that barely missed his family jewels, and then I pivoted and came around with my left leg, finally knocking the weapon from his grasp.
Go me! Look who was about to kick Satan’s Senior Servant’s ass. That’s right. Little ole Abigail V. Angel.
Then he jolted forward and tackled me to the ground.
The back of my head hit the dirt hard. Thankfully, it only shocked me and gave me a start of another headache.
We struggled on the ground. His hands gripped my throat. His claws dug into my skin. My hands made punch shots wherever they would reach. His gut. His ribs. His back. I ripped at his cloak and clawed at his undershirt. His chest was somewhere under there. If I could only reach it.
Panicked because I couldn’t breathe, I wrapped my legs around him and squeezed. Air gushed out of his mouth and onto my face. Gross. Apparently white teeth didn’t equal fresh breath in his case. All the more motivation to get him off me and―
“Abigail!” MOG yelled right by my ear. “Would you like some help or do you want to deport him on your own?”
If my eyes weren’t bulging out of my head right then, I’d have rolled them. I lifted my hand to give a thumbs up and felt something leathery and hard slip into it. I gripped and weighed it.
It was the dagger. MOG had handed me the dagger.
So MOGs were smart after all. When we got out of here alive, I was so going to give her a hug. Or a joint.
A new rush of adrenaline pumped through me, and I pushed Malakai off me. I rolled with him, still in his tight grasp, until I was on top. With a weapon!
I lifted the dagger to show him I had it and intended to do some major damage if he didn’t let go of my neck pronto.
“You little bitch.” He grabbed for it with both hands.
I gasped for air but kept the dagger out of his reach. “You...” Cough. Cough. Deep breath. “You’re going to go to Hell, and you’re going to tell Satan to let Simeon go. Got it?”
Malakai gave me a look of surprise and started laughing. Hysterically.
Whatever. I pressed the blade to his undershirt and ripped it open, revealing his chest. Then I threw the dagger across the open clearing and into the trunk of a tree at the edge of the forest. I was going to do this the right way.
“Malakai, you piece of shit. You’ve violated codes one thru seven, lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride...on multiple occasions, I’m sure.”
His smile faded fast. “Your fucking MOGs have seen nothing.”
I shrugged and lifted my thumb. “Let’s not play that game this time.”
Panic finally dawned in his silver eyes. “Angels have no power over me. You will not prevail.” He attempted to sit up and knock my hand away, but MOG clutched his wrists and held him down.
She nodded. “Go on, Abigail.”
Malakai squirmed underneath me and spewed out a string of words in a language I’d never heard before. As if that wasn’t freaky enough, a thin reddish layer clouded over his eyes, and his body heat rose about a hundred degrees between my thighs.
But nothing happened. His magic was useless.
I bent over him and met his sinister stare. “If you have an ounce of goodness in your soulless body, you’ll make sure Simeon comes back home safely.”
Then I pressed my thumb to his chest. Once, twice, three times.
Heat shot up through the ground with a violent force that knocked me off Malakai and onto the ground.
Damn. Someone in Hell was anxious to see him.
I stood to my feet and watched, no, made sure the Hell Spirits seized Malakai. I didn’t want to take any chances. A demon this malicious didn’t belong on earth. Ever.
Ten feet away, MOG had the same idea, her huge innocent eyes taking it all in. The deportation was faster than usual. The ground below Malakai groaned as it opened up, splitting in two jagged pieces. The demon met my eyes through the inky smoke.
“You’ll die, Angel. You’ll all die,” he said and then let out a horrendously painful scream as the tendrils of smoke clutched his body. They dug their fingers into his skin and squeezed him through the narrow opening.
The ground snapped shut. And it was over.
Instead of nausea assailing me, I was overcome with a strong sense of relief. Malakai was gone. With any luck, he’d spend eternity in Hell, and no one would ever suffer from his evil transgressions again. I didn’t even
want to think about the damage he’d already done. The ideas he’d planted in other demons’ heads.
“Good job, Abigail.” MOG came up beside me and tied my other chemise strap. “Why don’t you tend to Judd and your new friend while I go see if I can catch up with the demons who escaped?”
I tucked the chemise back into my jeans. “I can go with you.”
“Not necessary. We’ll locate them later if they’re too far gone. They no longer have Malakai to hide behind.” She grinned and squeezed my hand. “I think you’re needed here anyway.”
Needed here? What did I miss? I scanned the area but only saw Judd and Kaleb. Judd was breathing heavily, leaning against the cabin wall, his hands braced on his thighs. Kaleb was sitting against the opposite side of the wall, watching me. At that moment, I detested that he looked so much like Simeon. How could I miss him this much in the small time he’d been gone? It didn’t help that Kaleb’s presence jarred my guilt. Simeon would still be here if it weren’t for me. How I was going to live with that, I didn’t know.
A new knot formed in my throat. I gulped it down and wondered if Kaleb wasn’t so thrilled to see me either since I was the reason his uncle was suffering in Hell.
How could he not hate me?
I avoided meeting Kaleb’s dark eyes as I walked toward him. The least I could do was apologize.
He stood up, grunting a little from his new wounds. All that licking for nothing.
“Hi,” I said and gathered the courage to make eye contact. “I’m so sorry about Simeon.” I took a calming breath, so I wouldn’t start bawling. “I understand if you’re angry with me. Heck, I wouldn’t mind if you and Harley formed an ‘Abby Sucks’ club and charged admission. You could probably make a living off it.”
A gorgeous smile spread across his face. “What are you talking about, sugar?” I pointed over my shoulder. “I... Sim... You know...” He brushed his knuckles across my cheek. “I know that you saved my life.”
“Yeah, but I sacrificed your uncle in the process. He’s in Hell because of me.”
“Nah. He’s in Hell because of Malakai. And, well, for making all those bad decisions when he was with Malakai. None of that is your fault. I’m not angry with you, sugar. In fact, I believe I owe you a car.”
“Weekend visits,” I reminded him and couldn’t help but get a little excited at the idea of spending any amount of time with that car. Darn, if Angels could get strikes for violating codes, I’d give myself a big fat thumbprint for Greed.
“You got it, sugar.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek, his silky black hair falling across my face. “You did save my life,” he whispered against my ear. “And I plan on making it up to you. That’s a promise.”
My cheeks blazed as my traitorous thoughts took a nosedive where they didn’t belong. Don’t even go there, Abby. Anything but friendship with Kaleb was only asking for trouble. Besides, he was talking about a car, not hot, sweaty sex in the back of a car. What was wrong with me? I backed up a few inches, gave Kaleb a friendly smile, and went to see how Judd was doing.
Judd was walking away from me and over to where the trees began, so I hurried to catch up with him. The sun was slowly rising, peeking through the forest, and casting an orange glow on everything. As Judd turned to look at me, I noticed tiny flecks of amber in his blue eyes I hadn’t seen before.
“I hear cars coming up the road down there,” he said, frowning and pointing down the slope of the mountain at a windy road.
It was the first time I’d realized we were so high in elevation. Now that daylight was creeping in, I could see how just a quarter mile or so away, the land dropped significantly. And, like Judd said, a paved road swerved up the mountain.
“I wonder how MOG got here,” I said. “She’s one mysterious lady. Don’t you think?”
“Abby?” Judd’s hand slipped into mine. He angled toward me and cupped my face with his other hand. “I had to deport Eli, you know.”
“Yeah, I know.” I figured as much, but I’d been trying not to think about it. “I’m sorry you had to do that. Eli made a huge mistake.”
He sighed and wrapped his arm around me, taking my hand with his. He was bloodied and bruised, looking mighty gritty, but he was still my Judd.
“Forget about Eli. I’m pretty pissed at you.”
I rewound through my mind all the reasons why Judd could be angry, but figured I’d better not guess in case I picked the wrong one.
“Why?” I asked and braced myself for the worst.
“Why?” He didn’t look happy, but he hadn’t pushed me away either, and I rather liked the comfort of his strong arms just then. “Abby, you tried to leave me. You wanted to follow that half-breed to Hell and leave me behind.”
“Oh.” I understood now.
“I don’t get your fascination with him. I’ll admit that it’s grated at my last nerve, but I never thought you would go that far to be with him. I thought he was something you needed to get out of your system. A little fling. Something to boost your ego. But I guess it was more than that.”
“I guess so,” I whispered the admittance. I couldn’t lie to Judd by denying I had deep feelings for Simeon and how I hoped to God he would come back so I could at least know he was okay. “But...” But that didn’t change my feelings for Judd and that I’ve always had an insane crush on my best friend. With all that had happened, how close we’d all come to death, I needed to tell Judd—to finally tell him—about how I felt about him. “You see...I...uh...”
A roar of engines gained his attention, and he pulled away. “The rescue team arrived. Come on, Abby. Let’s get out of here.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Four weeks later
The new Demon Control building was being rebuilt without a glitch. We’d decided as a whole to take the chance and re-erect it in the same spot. The high chance of being attacked again didn’t outweigh the fact that Angels, Inc. was short on human funds. Well, that was MOG’s reasoning.
I was going more with the just try to fuck with me again logic. That and the additions of the extra tight security, fire escapes, smoke detectors, and sprinklers had me thinking staying in the same location was a great idea.
Whatever it took to get things back to normal, I was all for it.
Living at the AOD center, in Eli’s old room, wasn’t as awful as I’d imagined, mainly because I’d kept a low profile and had thrown myself back into my work.
Today was no different. I’d just gotten off a double shift and was about to fall face first into my tidily made bed. Pauline and I were roommates now, and I was happy that, first, our paths hardly ever crossed because of our opposite work schedules, and secondly, she was a total Martha Stewart. I can’t tell you how much I loved having clean laundry, lavender-scented pillowcases and a stocked refrigerator. Talk about heaven on earth.
My head hit the freshly fluffed down pillow. I snuggled in and closed my eyes. Maybe I’d dream about Simeon again. I’d been doing that a lot lately. Not full-fledged dreams but tangible glimpses so real I’d wake up and look around to see if he’d come back and was here in the same room with me. Like the taste of his tongue in my mouth or the warm touch of his hand on my breast. The brush of his knuckles against my cheek. His arms wrapped firmly around my waist.
I know. My mind was screwing with me big-time. But I didn’t mind. I kind of liked it. It gave me hope that he was okay. As long as he remained imbedded in my brain, he was a part of this earth. Call me crazy, but I liked to think that Simeon was sending me these dreams somehow. Like an incubus, he came to me in my sleep. Was he reaching out to me from the otherworld of Hell? Could it be my dream state was his sanctuary?
I sighed and smooshed the pillow against my head. I was definitely going crazy. But at least the siesta visits saved me from feeling completely alone.
Judd had done a thorough job of avoiding me the past few weeks. Besides a smile or a wave in passing, I hadn’t really had contact with him. No, I never had the chance to tel
l him how I felt about him, which I admit now would have been a monumental mistake. I could only imagine how much my confession would’ve scared him, a man whose single phobia was being committed to one woman. I couldn’t blame him though. Heck, the whole becoming human through marriage idea scared me too.
He’d eventually get over being mad at me for what happened with Simeon. I was sure it was only a matter of time, and I wanted him to feel comfortable in our friendship when he did. I had to believe we still had a friendship.
It was just past eight a.m. when I fell into dreamland, and it seemed like only seconds later when something woke me.
A noise. The strike of a match, maybe. Someone was in my room. I opened my eyes and realized I was facing the wall. Not to panic though. It was probably Pauline lighting one of her scented candles. Yet another subtle hint for her roommate to hit the showers before hitting the sheets.
Nice try, Pauline. I admit I’d let myself go the past few weeks, showering less, shaving never. It’d take a rake to go through my hair on most days and don’t even talk to me about makeup. Why? Who cared what I looked like? I didn’t. I was too busy working to care. When I wasn’t working, I slept.
I kicked the covers off me and grunted. I swore if she was lighting that fucking orchid candle again, I was going to scream. Vanilla and fruit scents I could handle. Flowers, forget it. They gave me a migraine every time.
I waited for the smell to reach my nose. Sweet. Tangy. Way too pungent. Overwhelming.
What the hell?
I sat up to see MOG sitting at the end of the bed, puffing on a joint. Nice.
“Oh, Abigail.” She shifted and faced me, her long straight hair flowing over one shoulder. “You’re awake. Lovely.”
“Please tell me you’re not smoking a doobie in my room. Pauline is going to freak.”
MOG waved away my concern. “Pauline doesn’t freak. You know that.” She took another drag and sighed. “You don’t mind, do you? I haven’t had one of these in almost a month. The AOD MOG tells me she’s allergic. Allergic. Can you believe that? The poor thing.”
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