by Cassie Ryan
15
Noah raised his arm to block out the glare of the sun and give his eyes a chance to adjust so he could see who was on the other side of the truck door.
“What the hell?” The man’s voice sounded angry and annoyed as Noah blinked and his features slowly came into view.
He was a middle-aged man with a large pot belly and small beady eyes. His dark hair was streaked with gray and cut so short to his scalp that it only accentuated his deeply lined face. He wore a blue-and-gray flannel shirt tucked into well-worn blue jeans.
As Noah scrambled for something brilliant to say to extricate them from this mess, the man’s expression morphed to one of surprise and then a slow smile spread across his face.
“You look just like . . .”
Suspicion curled inside Noah’s gut and he whirled to find Jezebeth in full Kate Beckinsale form behind him, complete with the boots and the tight-fitting outfit right out of Van Helsing.
Noah bit back the urge to both roll his eyes and groan. Were they destined to meet every man in the country whose fantasy woman was Kate Beckinsale?
“Hello.” Jezebeth stepped past him in her new form and headed toward the door of the truck. “I’m really sorry to intrude. One of my mates locked us in here for a joke.”
“Are you really . . .” He studied Jezebeth critically with a frown.
“Yes, sir,” Jez said with a sexy British accent as she sat on the back edge of the truck, her legs dangling toward the ground as she held out her hand to shake.
The man stumbled forward to take Jezebeth’s hand, his face a picture of adoration. “I’ll be damned! The guys will never believe this.”
“I don’t believe this,” Noah muttered under his breath as he hopped off the end of the truck to stand near Jezebeth. Jez’s Kate form was definitely growing on him, but watching men slaver all over her was definitely bringing out his territorial instincts. “I’m Noah.” He held out his hand to shake. “Can you tell us where we are?”
“Don,” he said as he shook Noah’s hand in a too-firm grip. “You guys must’ve really tied one on for them to be able to lock you up like that and me not notice. I haven’t opened the back since Odessa.” He glanced at Jez one more time, shaking his head in disbelief. “We’re in Tucson.”
Noah slowly blew out a breath at the confirmation that they were closer and not farther from their destination. He turned to grab his phone off the bed of the truck and glanced at the time display to find that it was nearly one P.M., which meant they had eleven hours to get to Yuma, assuming Uriel’s house would switch over to Greece at midnight local time.
His Arizona geography was a bit rusty, but he guessed it was only a four- or five-hour drive to Yuma from here. But that assumed they’d evaded all the demons and other beasties gunning for Jezebeth along the way—which seemed unlikely.
There were way too many assumptions in those last few thoughts for Noah’s comfort. Things to this point had been relatively easy, which scared him all on its own.
Jez cleared her throat. “I’m gonna run into the gas station and use the loo. I’ll be right back.” She winked at the man. “And then I’ll give you an autograph for being so nice and not pressing charges for us being passed out in your truck.”
Noah had almost forgotten Jezebeth had said she had to go to the restroom even before the truck had opened. He started forward to follow her when out of the corner of his eye he noticed Don’s eye color ripple.
“Jez!” He darted forward and shoved Jezebeth out of the way as he whirled to face the man who was now convulsing, his arms held wide.
“Run,” he said over his shoulder. When he didn’t hear any footsteps, he cursed under his breath but kept his gaze on the man, whose eyes were now so black they looked like deep pits of tar.
“Hello, follower of Lilith.” The gravelly voice that came from between the man’s lips sent primal fear scurrying through Noah and he had to lock his knees to keep from running away as fast as he physically could.
His research had shown demons that could possess mortals weren’t strong enough to have their own earthbound forms, but one of their abilities to help compensate for that weakness was the ability to cause unreasonable fear in mortals.
Since he knew it wasn’t real, he forced himself to shove the fear aside, and he stood his ground even when the being turned its gaze on him.
“Human,” it said with a sneer.
“Who the hell are you?” Jezebeth demanded in her Kate form as she tried to push past Noah. He held out his arm to prevent her from going around him.
“I’m the one who will be collecting a very lucrative reward from Semiazas for your capture.” The demon shot forward so quickly, all Noah saw was a blur before his air supply was cut off as the demon’s fingers closed around Noah’s throat in a tight vise.
Noah barely had time to claw at the tight grip before he was lifted off the ground and found himself flying backward until he slammed against a nearby car. Pain shot through every inch of his body as bright silver flashes of light popped in his vision. He tried to blink back clarity as an evil laugh floated from the demon’s lips and it advanced toward Jezebeth with slow steps.
Jezebeth crouched into a very competent-looking fighting stance, and fear coursed through Noah, goading him to shake off his disorientation and push himself off the ground. He lurched forward to stumble in between Jezebeth and the demon.
“Noah, stay out of this. You’re hurt.” The very American inflection of the words coming from Kate Beckinsale’s mouth was a bit jarring, but Noah pushed it aside.
“Bite me, Kate.” He scowled at the slurring of his own words and the demon grinned.
A sharp pain lanced through Noah’s chest a split second before he found himself flying backward again to slam into the side of another car. Several loud cracking noises rang inside Noah’s ears as pain lanced through his back and chest before he crumpled into a heap on the ground next to the front fender.
He opened his mouth to suck in a breath and nearly threw up as renewed pain spiraled through him.
After a few long moments, he figured out how to take short, shallow breaths so he could at least breathe.
He forced himself to turn his head to look for Jezebeth, ignoring the wrenching vertigo and the black dots that edged his vision as a result of the movement.
When his vision finally cleared he saw the demon shoot forward toward Jezebeth. She dove to the side to roll out of its path, hitting the gravel hard.
Jezebeth found her feet a split second before the demon grabbed her by the neck and lifted her off the ground until her feet dangled and kicked.
Noah tried to roll over, to make it to Jezebeth, but he ended up scooting only a few inches in the dirt as unconsciousness tried to close in.
“What the hell is goin’ on? Put her down!”
Noah blinked and realized he’d blacked out for at least a few seconds. A group of men now stood ranged around the demon where it held Jez. They’d probably come out of the gas station behind them as their arms were full of beer and munchies.
When Noah glanced toward Jez, she was still in her Kate form, but with larger breasts and a low-cut top. Her gaze met his, and even though she showed only stubborn defiance in the face of being strangled by a demon, he had enough fear for the both of them.
“Stay out of this, boys.” The gravelly voice of the demon cut through the crowd of men.
A few of them stepped back—most likely because of the wave of fear that had increased to neck-ruffling, gut-wrenching levels—but several set down their groceries and slowly advanced on the demon.
The leader looked like a linebacker, and he stepped forward, his hands out in front of him. “Look, man. Put her down and we can work this out.”
Jez still clawed at the hand constricting around her throat, her feet kicking uselessly in the air. Noah tried again to force his body to move, but a slow numbness had set in as his body began to distance itself from the constant pain.
T
he demon’s head snapped around to glare at the man who had stepped forward. “Stay clear of this, human. This one is mine.”
“Human?” The man stopped, his brow furrowed as he stared at the demon. “Nice eyes there, sunshine. Borrowed a body, did ya?” He pointed a threatening finger at the demon. “I’ve seen this kind of thing on that show, Supernatural. Let the girl go.”
Apparently the burly leader was sensitive. Noah wondered if the man had known that fact before now or not.
The demon’s eyes narrowed. “This is your last warning before I kill you all.” He shook Jezebeth like a rag doll. “So stand clear.”
“Joe,” the leader called over his shoulder. “Get salt and lots of—” His words were cut off when the demon’s arm shot out to slam against the man’s chest, tossing him backward as if he weighed nearly nothing.
The man’s body slammed into the side of a semitruck parked near the car Noah lay in front of before he crumpled to the ground, totally still.
The sounds of the fight in progress reached Noah before his fuzzy brain could register that the rest of the men had attacked the demon.
One man crouched near the leader and rolled him over to lay his fingers against the large man’s throat. He sighed with what Noah thought was relief.
Tiny granules of white flew everywhere like a sudden snowstorm, which only increased the sounds of the ongoing battle. Noah blew the tiny granules out of his face and tasted salt.
“Kosher salt,” Noah forced out. “It has to be kosher.”
Another man flew by to land in the dirt near Noah. His body bounced a few times before he groaned and pushed himself back up to stumble back into the fight.
The friend who crouched near the leader shuffled over to Noah. “Are you all right, man?”
Jezebeth slid next to him as if she’d crouched in midrun; dirt and gravel sprayed against Noah’s legs as she slid to a stop. Relief coursed through him that she was still alive. “Jezebeth . . .”
“Your phone. I need your phone.” She laid a gentle hand against his cheek as she shoved her other hand into his front jeans pocket and pulled out his cell phone.
Noah tried to make sense of what she was doing, but his vision had slowly turned gray and he couldn’t keep his eyes open.
Movement and the sound of Jezebeth’s surprised cry made Noah force his eyes open in time to see the demon leaning over him, black eyes boring into his until he could no longer feel the hard-packed dirt underneath him.
Jezebeth completed the incantation to summon Raphael, dry pain scratching up her throat with each word. She swallowed hard, her throat still raw and aching from the death grip the demon had had on her.
Movement in front of her made her snap her head up, just in time to be batted to the side by the oncoming demon. Pain lanced along her side and Noah’s phone flew from her hand as she landed hard on her back. Dust puffed up around her to choke her as she tried to suck in a breath.
She rolled over in time to see the demon loom over Noah a split second before they both disappeared.
“Noah!” She scurried on all fours over to the spot Noah had just been as panic clawed up her throat.
A small glimmer began in the air in front of her and she swallowed a sob. She would have time for reaction later, right now was about finding Noah and getting them both safely to Lilith’s lair.
The glimmer in the air reminded her of a diamond catching the light, but then it grew and morphed into a blazing glow until Jez had to shield her eyes and turn away.
She huddled over the empty spot where Noah had lain, waiting for Raphael to materialize—too late to save Noah. Hot tears welled and spilled down her cheeks at the unfairness of the situation even though she tried to keep them at bay.
“Damn it. I don’t have time to cry.”
Noah had been taken because he’d been here to help her. She would gladly give herself up in his place, even if it meant an eternity at Semiazas’s mercy.
A sudden silence fell as the oppressive presence of an Archangel buzzed against Jezebeth’s senses.
Jez glanced up, careful not to meet Raphael’s gaze, to find the entire scene frozen. All around them in a wide circle men lay broken and bleeding from the fight with the demon.
Raphael walked forward, his black steel-toed boots filling Jezebeth’s teary vision. “Please . . . the demon took Noah.” She heard the desperate edge to her voice and fisted both hands to try to gain control of her galloping emotions.
“We meet again, little succubus. You do seem to attract trouble.” He walked toward her and knelt.
Jez resisted the urge to look up at him as memories of their last meeting filled her mind sending a shudder through her.
He chuckled. “Still haven’t forgiven me for that accidental soul gaze, I see. I give you my word that I will warn you before that ever happens again.”
“You can’t just promise me it won’t?” she bit out; the words scratched along her throat and were out before she could think about what she was saying. After all, she was hoping for his help. Irritating him probably wasn’t the best plan.
Raphael laughed, a good-natured sound that clashed both with Jezebeth’s raw emotions and with the scene of badly injured men strewn around him like broken matchsticks. “I sometimes need to look inside souls for what I do, so I can’t promise it will never happen again. But I can promise to warn you first.” He spread his hands wide. “That’s all I can offer.”
Jez slowly raised her gaze to look at the dark, clean-cut Archangel with the smiling hazel eyes. “I suppose I’ll take what I can get. Can you help rescue Noah?”
Raphael smiled, turning him from handsome to devastating. “Is that why you summoned me?”
Jez swallowed hard and nodded once. The time to pay up had come. “I had summoned you to save him. He was injured and close to dying . . . but then . . .” Her throat closed up as a sob escaped.
Raphael slowly reached out and placed his fingers around her neck as the demon had done, the scent of musky night deep inside a forest surrounded her as warmth tickled along her skin pushing back the raw pain. Tension slowly left her body and her emotions slowly calmed—an effect of proximity to one of the heavenly host.
Anger snapped through her, and she bit it back. She felt like she was betraying Noah by letting those emotions lessen, but she knew that wasn’t logical. After all, just a few minutes ago she was cursing because the emotions hadn’t stayed buried. Damn, she was losing it.
When Raphael dropped his hands, she swallowed experimentally and sighed as no pain knifed through her.
“Thanks.” She rubbed her neck. “Can you find Noah?” She craned her head back to meet his gaze. “I’ll pay whatever price you ask. Please.”
“And if I do find him and retrieve him from the demon, then what?” His words weren’t mocking, but only held a calm request for information.
“We have to get to Yuma as soon as possible.”
Raphael’s brows slowly rose. “Interesting. I don’t recall any portals in that area of Arizona.”
Jez closed her mouth and rolled her lips between her teeth as she tried to figure out how to respond. Obviously Uriel hadn’t shared the “pass to his place” information with Raphael. Jez hoped she hadn’t screwed up by sharing too much with the Archangel. Not that she would be able to lie to him anyway—Archangels could sense lies. Besides, if he agreed to help Noah, she’d tell him anything he wanted.
Way to open your mouth, Jezebeth.
Raphael stepped forward into her personal space and smiled. “When did Uriel visit you?” He held up his hands in front of him. “Wait, don’t tell me. Better if I don’t know.”
Jez wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or still worried by Raphael’s cryptic remark, but they were running out of time for small talk. The current scene might be frozen, but somehow Jez doubted time for the entire planet was frozen. “So can you help us?”
“I’ve been ordered to not interfere in any manner with you and your three sisters.”
>
A heavy weight settled firmly in the pit of Jez’s stomach, and she opened her mouth to beg him to help her anyway.
“But there was no mention of my helping your companion.” He pursed his lips as he studied her. “Do you trust me, little one?”
She boldly met his dark hazel gaze, looking inside herself for the truth since she knew any lie, even one to herself, would be detected by the Archangel. Finally she slowly nodded.
“You and your sisters are tangled in something larger than you know. Watch your backs—on all sides.”
When she frowned, he laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I can only promise to do my best to locate him.”
Hope filled Jezebeth’s chest like a warm burst of helium, making her feel suddenly lighter. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“In the meantime I think you need to head toward your rendezvous point as quickly as you can.” He laid his index finger under her chin and smiled. “Stay low, stay safe, and I’ll do the best I can on this side.”
“What’s my payment for summoning you?”
He grinned, a playful nearly wolfish smile. “You said you’d pay whatever price I asked.”
She nodded once, dislodging his finger from under her chin. “I will. Name it.”
“Even if it’s forbidden?” His tone was teasing.
“Yes,” she immediately answered, meeting his gaze boldly, but only hazel eyes filled with amusement stared back at her.
He cocked his head to the side as he studied her. “You would risk everything for this human you’ve only known a few days, little one?”
“Noah. His name is Noah, not human. And why does everyone always call me ‘little one’?” She huffed out a breath, fluttering her bangs, and held the Archangel’s gaze, daring him to refute her. “And, yes. I told you to name your price, and I meant it.”
Raphael’s soft laughter confused her, and she frowned and stepped back, only then realizing she was back in her comfortable nonhunting form. Probably an effect of Raphael’s healing. “I have some cleanup left to do here before I can look for Noah. You’d better go.”