by Laurèn Lee
Visceral pain shot through Charlotte’s entire body. She wanted to scream at Liam and tell him how much she despised his existence, but her throat hurt to breathe, let alone cry out. Instead, she slowly raised her middle finger and glared at him loathingly.
“Ta ta for now!” Liam smiled cheerfully, waved at Charlotte and ascended the stairs. Charlotte heard the distinct click of the lock shifting into place. She was completely alone.
22
“That sounds pretty witchy,” Cyndy suggested. “I thought you were an angel?”
“I have a few tricks up my ivory sleeve.” Mary Elizabeth winked.
“So, how’s this going to work?” Adriel asked.
“Well, you and I will hold hands, and you’ll concentrate on Charlotte the best you can. If it works, I’ll be able to feel her soul and pinpoint where she’s hidden.”
“Uh, you do remember I told you that she’s soulless right now, right?”
“Oh, Adriel. You and your demon antics. You never took her entire soul that night in the hospital.”
“What? How do you know?”
“Charlotte is too pure to lose her entire soul. You merely took a robust chunk. Why do you think she’s not an empty, hateful human?”
Adriel stroked his chin. “I think you’re right.”
“Of course I am,” she said with her head tilted upward.
“I always wondered how she was still able to smile and even find it in her heart to care about me. But, wait! I fell for her when I was a demon; how’s that possible if I didn’t have a soul?” Adriel fretted, perplexed by his idea.
“We all have souls, Adriel. It’s a part of us. You can’t just rip it away.”
“Weird. I thought I had it all figured out.” Adriel looked longingly out of the window and into the distance.
“No one does, love. We are all learning and trying to fight through this thing called life,” Cyndy interrupted.
Adriel nodded while Mary Elizabeth reached for his hands with determination spread across her angelic face. “Ready?”
“Let’s do it.”
They joined hands, and Adriel squeezed his eyes tightly shut. He thought of Charlotte and focused on a memory they shared while preparing to kill Liam’s evil co-workers. As part of the ploy, Charlotte baked cookies so when the men arrived at her condo, the heavenly scent of homemade desserts would permeate the air. Charlotte mixed the ingredients, and when she poured the measuring cup of flour, Adriel jumped out to frighten her. Adriel’s trick led to Charlotte tossing the measuring cup into the air; then the flour rained down on her beautiful blonde hair. She looked like the abominable snowman. At first, Charlotte grimaced with anger, but then she quickly realized how silly she must look and burst out laughing.
Adriel recalled the smile that formed on her delicate lips. He wished more than anything he could kiss those same lips right now. He’d do anything to hold her in his arms.
Despite Adriel’s focus, he managed to catch Mary Elizabeth repeatedly whisper an incantation to herself. He couldn’t make out the language, but it definitely wasn’t English. He pushed the repetition of unknown words and phrases from his mind while he burned the image of his true love into his mind. Charlotte: beautiful, smart and a whole lotta sass.
Mary Elizabeth squeezed his hands with Herculean strength and let go the next second. “I’ve found her!” she cried emphatically.
“Where is she?” Adriel asked.
“Well, I thought Liam would have hidden her more thoroughly, but she’s chained to the wall in their basement.”
Fury rose to the surface as Adriel clenched his fists. “He’s holding her hostage like some common criminal? I will kill him!”
“Don’t hurt yourself,” Cyndy muttered. Adriel flashed her a warning look and turned back to Mary Elizabeth.
“We have to go now,” he urged.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Mary Elizabeth said. “He will have someone watching the house if he’s not home himself. I have to go, and I’m going alone.”
“You can’t be serious,” Adriel fired back. “C’mon! I need to go help her!”
“You can be her knight in shining armor all you want, but not today. Stay here with Cyndy, and I’ll be back in no time.”
For the next several hours, Charlotte sat in the darkness of her basement. Not even a sparkle of light squeezed through the basement windows. She sat, hunched over, desperate and alone. She wondered how long Liam would leave her like this. A day? A week? How would she eat? Sleep? And worst of all, how would she go to the bathroom? The itch of having to go started to peck at Charlotte, and she firmly crossed her legs.
“Mind over matter,” she mumbled to herself. “Don’t give up, Charlotte. Help will come.”
She shook her head at her optimistic thoughts and wanted to punch herself. How could she possibly think she’d manage to get out of this one alive? If she were a cat, her nine lives had to be exhausted by now.
“What am I going to do?” she cried to herself. Her pleas echoed within the cold basement.
“You’re going to come with me, that’s what,” a heavenly voice called out.
“Who’s there?” Charlotte whispered.
“It’s me, Mary Elizabeth.”
“Oh! How did you find me? How did you get down here? Liam has a lock on the door.”
“I’m an angel, dear. Not all the rules apply to me.”
Mary Elizabeth snapped her fingers, and the basement light flipped on. She gazed around and studied Charlotte’s prison, only to wrinkle her nose and frown.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I just walked into Hell.”
“Close enough,” Charlotte muttered. “Can you please get these chains off me?”
“Certainly! I’m sorry.” Mary Elizabeth scooted over to Charlotte. “This may hurt.”
Charlotte groaned and bit her lip, preparing herself for freedom, which seemed to come at a price. Mary Elizabeth put her hands against the metal chains, which turned white hot at her touch. She concentrated on the chains while Charlotte squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to scream or writhe in pain. After a few moments, the chains broke apart and scattered across the basement floor.
Charlotte rubbed her wrists, which had already formed blisters where the chains burned into her skin.
“I’m sorry. It was the only way,” Mary Elizabeth apologized quietly. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll be better once we’re out of this torture chamber. Can we get out of here now?”
“Yes.”
“Where are we going? Not the bar, right? He’ll suspect I’d run there again.”
“No, no. Not there. But I do have an idea. He wouldn’t be able to find you here.”
Mary Elizabeth grasped Charlotte’s upper forearm, carefully avoiding her burn, and closed her eyes. Charlotte knew the drill by now and waited for her stomach to lurch as they traveled through space and time, or whatever Mary Elizabeth did. Charlotte still wasn’t used to having an angel for a friend.
The walls around her swirled, and Charlotte lost focus on the basement. She closed her eyes to avoid the nausea which crept up into her throat. She yelped, but Mary Elizabeth couldn’t hear her cry over the wind rushing through their hair.
As soon as it all began, it stopped. Mary Elizabeth and Charlotte landed on a gorgeous hardwood floor in the middle of a luxurious hotel suite somewhere far, far away from Buffalo. A chandelier hung from the high ceiling. The other half of the room had royal shag carpeting near a breathtaking view of a cityscape from the window. A California king-sized bed stood against the wall with an ivory bedding set that practically called Charlotte’s name.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“The Waldorf,” Mary Elizabeth said airily. “The manager and I have a little deal. He lets me stay here when I have business in town.”
“Of course you do.” Charlotte learned long ago not to question anything out of the ordinary. After all, her fiancé was the up-and-coming demon king; her boyfriend, or wha
tever, was now human after once being a demon prince, and an angel rescued her from the basement. Nothing was too far-fetched anymore.
“Liam won’t be able to find you here.”
“How? It seems like he’s getting even more powerful,” Charlotte worried as she longingly stared out of the window.
“It’s demon-proof,” Mary Elizabeth confirmed.
“What do you mean ‘demon-proof?’”
“While you are here, a demon cannot magically locate you or step foot into this room. You are essentially off the grid.”
“How is that possible?”
Mary Elizabeth nodded around the room, and Charlotte followed her direction. In each corner of the hotel room, there was a faint handprint upon the delicate Victorian wallpaper. It looked almost as though Mary Elizabeth slapped the wall after covering her palm in baby powder.
“My touch secures the room and all those inside. You’re safe here, Charlotte.”
“Mary Elizabeth?”
“Yes?”
“Why are you helping me?”
Mary Elizabeth sighed and smiled at Charlotte. “I must protect those who cannot protect themselves.”
“But aren’t there other people out there who need your help?”
“Sure, but I have a special interest in this matter.”
“Because of Adriel?” Charlotte asked, biting her lip.
Mary Elizabeth nodded.
“Do you love him?”
“At one time, I fancied him very much. But, even then, I knew he was a ladies’ man.”
“I’m sorry you were murdered,” Charlotte said, lowering her gaze.
“Me, too. But God had a bigger plan for me.”
“Weren’t you mad? You know, to be killed so young?”
“I’ll admit, at first, I wasn’t entirely thrilled with the idea. I had many ambitions as a girl. I wanted to do great things with my life. I had the means to do so; I just needed the courage.”
“What did you want to do?”
“I wanted to marry and have children, of course, but I also wanted to start a business. Or become an author. I wanted the world at my fingertips.”
“Weren’t women not really ‘allowed’ to do that back then?” Charlotte winced.
Mary Elizabeth grinned. “That’s right. But, I didn’t want to be a quiet, little wife. I wanted to show my children they could do anything they set their minds to.”
Charlotte nodded, and her respect for the woman—well, angel—before her grew. Mary Elizabeth was murdered, and instead of regretting who she could have been, she focused on helping others. Charlotte wished she could be more like her someday.
Mary Elizabeth strode toward the door.
“Wait! Where are you going?” Charlotte called after the angel.
“I have a few errands to run, but I’ll be back soon.”
“Please don’t leave me,” Charlotte pleaded.
“I promise you’re safe here. Nothing and no one can harm you.”
“Why aren’t you able to do this protection spell thing back at the bar? Why does it work here?”
“There is one tiny little catch; I can’t protect a room or building if a demon has already stepped inside. Once a demon has soiled a part of Earth, it’s impossible to protect it against future attacks. A demon has never stepped foot inside the Waldorf, hence my ability to keep you safe.”
Charlotte nodded but continued to appear crestfallen. “I don’t want to be alone.”
“You won’t be alone. I’m going to have someone stop over shortly to protect you until I return from my errands.”
“Who?”
“It’s a surprise. Although, I suspect you’ll be pleased to see whom I’ve chosen.”
Mary Elizabeth waved angelically and stepped outside of the hotel room, locking the door behind her. Charlotte slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor. Who was coming to see her? Charlotte closed her eyes and tossed her head back. She missed Tori more than anything right now. She wished she could call her best friend and vent about everything going on. She needed her partner in crime, the other pea in her pod.
“Tori, I miss you,” she whispered.
Charlotte thought about where her best friend was at that very moment. Was she with Adam? Were they happy? Was she pissed at Charlotte for falling off the face of the earth? Charlotte hoped someday soon she’d be able to explain everything to her best friend. She could almost hear Tori now.
“Char, what the hell have you gotten yourself into? I know you liked Twilight, but demons?”
She’d have a spunky response for sure after hearing about all of Charlotte’s hellish adventures. Not to mention the steamy once-a-demon hunk in her life now.
Then, a knock on the hotel door shook Charlotte out of her daze. Was this the guest Mary Elizabeth mentioned?
Charlotte gently pulled herself up and tiptoed to the door. She peeked through the peephole, and her heart stuttered inside her chest. She whipped open the door without hesitation.
“Hey, babe,” Adriel said.
23
“Adriel!” Charlotte cried and pulled him into the extravagant hotel room.
“Nice digs.” He glanced around at the amenities, his eyes wide and mouth agape.
“Your friend has quite the hook up here.” Charlotte sounded a touch sour, though.
“Are you jealous?” Adriel teased.
“No!”
“You totally are.” He smirked, never having seen Charlotte jealous before.
“Well, it’s just that you two seem to have a history, and she’s, like, gorgeous. Oh, did you forget she’s a freakin’ angel, too?”
Adriel snickered and pulled Charlotte into his arms. She allowed him to wrap her up in his embrace despite her anxiousness regarding Mary Elizabeth.
“She may be an angel, but she’s no you,” Adriel whispered in Charlotte’s ear, sending chills down her spine. His lips grazed her earlobe gently and seductively.
“What happened to you two?” Charlotte asked carefully.
“Nothing. I tried to court her to get close to her father.”
“Nothing?”
“Not even a kiss,” he said. “I met her soon after I moved to Lockport, and once I found out who her father was, I began paying her more attention. Her father was part owner of the Erie Canal, and I wanted a share of the project. It didn’t hurt that the man’s daughter was quite beautiful, but at the time she was much younger than me. I wanted a woman, not a girl.”
“Well, she certainly looks like a woman now,” Charlotte scoffed.
“I promise nothing happened. I never had feelings for her, and seeing her again only confirms it. There’s just one person who has the claim to my heart, and she’s in this room with me.”
“Phew! That makes me feel much better.” Charlotte’s shoulders visibly relaxed.
“You humans and your jealousy.” Adriel shook his head.
“Hey! You’re a human, too,” Charlotte chided.
Adriel groaned. “Ugh. I keep forgetting that part. Thanks for reminding me.”
“Anytime!”
Adriel released Charlotte, and a devilish look spread across his face. “Are we alone?”
“Yeah. Mary Elizabeth had an errand to run. I have no idea when she’ll be back. How did you know I was here?”
“Perfect. Oh, and she came back to the bar and said she needed me to go someplace for her. There was a damsel in distress who needed watching over.”
Adriel grinned wickedly, then picked Charlotte up and tossed her over his shoulder despite her shrieks.
“Adriel! Put me down!”
“Certainly!”
He tossed her on the king-sized bed, sending Charlotte into a fit of giggles. He climbed onto the bed and crawled toward her, a devilish look glittering in his eyes.
“I’ve missed you,” he said, his voice low and deep.
“I’ve missed you more.” Charlotte bit her lip and pulled her knees to her chest.
“I want t
o show you just how much I’ve missed you.”
“Let’s see it, then.”
Adriel grasped Charlotte’s feet and pulled her under him. His white V-neck t-shirt clung to his body, and his jeans hugged him in all the right places. Charlotte looked up into Adriel’s eyes with glee.
“You may be human, but you’re sexy as sin.”
“You wanna talk about sin?” Adriel asked.
He lowered himself onto Charlotte, and she smiled in ecstasy. Adriel pressed his lips against hers and slipped his tongue into her mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and they moved rhythmically against each other, each thrust more desperate than the last.
“I want you,” Charlotte moaned.
“I want you, too, Char,” Adriel responded, panting.
“What if Mary Elizabeth comes back?”
“Well, then we better hurry it up, huh?”
Adriel peeled his shirt off, and while his demon physique was gone, he still had a body to die for. He undressed Charlotte in a flash, and they plastered their naked torsos together. Adriel stood up and shimmied out of his jeans, then pulled Charlotte’s off, too. He crawled back onto the bed and kissed Charlotte’s legs, each touch traveling higher and higher.
Charlotte writhed as her eyes rolled back, and she ran her fingers through Adriel’s dark, wavy hair. Adriel ripped Charlotte’s panties off with vigor, and she gasped.
“Adriel!”
“You’ll be calling my name again in a few seconds.” He grinned.
Charlotte pulled Adriel closer till their lips connected again. Her heart pounded furiously while sweat pooled at her temples. Adriel grabbed the sheets with his fists and prepared himself for what he wanted more than anything. In the next moment, Adriel and Charlotte connected so blissfully, they moaned in unison. At first, Adriel moved fast and passionately, then he slowed down, focusing on hitting all of Charlotte’s sensitive spots.
She called his name out over and over, much to his delight. Charlotte wanted to climax more than anything, her need building up quickly.
As he neared release, he sped up once more. He wanted them to finish together. Another minute passed, and blind desire filled Charlotte’s eyes.