“Destiny.”
I crawled towards the biker who had called my new stage name. Frankly, I hated it. It felt wrong to go by anything but Karma, but it was too risky. What if Jacob found me and then started to piece together the deaths from when I’d been in Pittsburgh and now similar deaths surrounding me in Florida? I really didn’t want to end up in jail. The biker, about mid-thirties, dark hair, dark complexion, cute, waved a stack of bills at me. “How ‘bout a private dance?” He winked, obviously wanting more than just a dance. And oh baby, was he going to get it.
I massaged my breasts and bit my lip. “Sure, babe. Meet me in the back as soon as this song’s over.” Rape, murder, you name it and that bastard had done it. I was going to enjoy giving him exactly what he deserved.
As the final beats of the song played, I pulled myself to my feet and made my way to the back of the bar. I didn’t have to worry about covering up; this was no gentleman’s club by the loosest definition. No pasties, no G-strings, just LIVE NUDE GIRLS NOW, just like the sign promised. It was the equivalent to a fast food place but of the strip club scene. You got service quicker, the girls were cheaper, and most would feel crappier about themselves when all was said and done.
I eyed the MC leather cut that my target was wearing. I’d dealt with guys like him before. It wasn’t the clubs that were bad. Just like any group, there were good and bad seeds. This guy was rotten to the core. I knew I had to be careful. I didn’t want to draw the attention of any of his brothers. For one, I couldn’t take on more than one of them at once, and two, I wasn’t bullet proof. I was going to move on to a new establishment after the night was over anyways, just to be on the safe side.
“Follow me,” I said as I walked past biker boy. He palmed my ass and squeezed, hard. I gritted my teeth and forced a laugh out of my throat. I just had to lure him out of the club. Once I was in the private room with grabby hands then I could pretend that I’d give him whatever he wanted sexually if he came with me.
I led him into a small booth and shut the door behind us. He immediately sat, pulling me into his lap so I was straddling him. His mouth went straight to my breast and I shuddered with revulsion. “Hey!” I pushed at him, stumbling to my feet. “You’re going to get me fired!”
“Come on, baby. Don’t be giving me that shit. I’ve been to these kinds of places before. How much for a taste of that sweet pussy? You’re lucky I’m willing to pay at all.”
“I can only dance for you here. Buuut…” I trailed off letting him finish the thought for himself.
“Bullshit. My brother just got head from a stripper here. She wasn’t worried ‘bout gettin’ fired and she only charged fifty bucks.”
“And she probably gave him fucking herpes,” I snapped. That part was probably true. “You want to fuck me then you play it my way. I’m not some cheap skank and this job is how I get clients. I’m not standing on the corner like a common hooker so don’t treat me like I am.”
Biker boy quirked a dark eyebrow and raised his hands. “All right, baby. I’ll play along but just because you’re so fuckin’ hot. Where you wanna go?”
“Hotel a few blocks from here. Meet me there after my shift is over.”
He rubbed his crotch and groaned. “That’s hours away.”
“Buy me off for the night and I’ll go with you now.” I leaned over him, trailing my hand down my stomach, and paused. “I’ll make it worth your while.” I backed up and cupped my breasts, jostling them for his rapt gaze.
“Fuck, all right.” He stood and approached me, his dark eyes moving up and down my naked body. He grabbed me by my neck and pushed me up against the wall, grinding himself against me. “I can’t wait to be balls deep in your pretty little cunt. I’m gonna fuck you so hard you won’t be able to walk when I’m done.” He released me abruptly and strolled out of the room.
I stared after him with narrowed eyes. Killing him was going to feel amazing.
At least I had clothes on for round two with biker-boy-grabby-hands. I was pretty sure he had an octopus in his family tree somewhere and I was beginning to think I’d bitten off way more than I could chew when I chose him as a target. After all, I was a tad out of practice. At least I’d been keeping up with some of my martial arts and self-defense classes as a workout.
“Hey! Stop!” I forced yet another fake giggle out of my chest. “Don’t make it obvious or—”
“Oh, what, babe?” Biker boy snaked an arm around my waist and then up to grab my breast. “No one is gonna say shit to us.”
I managed to disentangle myself from him and broke into a sprint. Fuck the hotel. We were alley bound. It would be easier that way anyways. The heavy tread of his boots was close behind me.
Just as I got about halfway into the small alley he caught me and spun me around. “What the fuck you doin’?” he rasped.
“I don’t feel like paying for the hotel any more. Fuck me here.”
“Here? I want more than a quickie, babe.”
I pulled away from him again and ran my hand down my body, rotating my hips slowly. “The thrill of getting caught out here is hot. Don’t you think so?” I swayed my hips as I moved towards him. “Come on, it’ll be so fucking hot.” I dropped down in front of him and popped the button on his jeans. He gripped my hair and while he was distracted I pulled a knife from my boot, pressing it behind him. When his pants dropped, I rose up and stabbed. The knife slid nicely between his ribs, and I twisted. Blood bubbled up from his mouth, red and frothy as he dropped to the ground.
He was still breathing when I pulled his body behind the dumpster. I decided to slit his throat for good measure. Once I was sure he was dead and wouldn’t be coming to exact revenge upon me, I wiped my knife off on his shirt and strode casually back towards the street.
“Chance after chance after chance,” a voice spat at me from the dark. “And still you end up killing. You should have been put down long ago, and you would have been if it were up to me.”
I whirled around to see Michael standing beside the dumpster, his white wings flexing ominously. My eyes widened. “You—I—” If Michael was real then— My head buzzed, the very sight of him almost short-circuiting my brain. He’s not real. He can’t be. No. That’s not right. Nothing is right.
“Ah, brother. Did you really think you could keep her hidden from me this time? I knew I could count on you to lead me to her eventually. As always, I just had to sit back and wait.” Lucian appeared behind Michael wearing a black tailored suit, his midnight wings unfurling behind him in a silent challenge.
My forearm started to burn, bright gold symbols illuminating the dark alley. The gold exotic lettering spread in quick secession, covering all of my skin that I could see, and I suspected all of my body. I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. It was then that I realized what had been done to me. I’d been made to believe, forced to think that Lucian and all the rest of my memories—my very real memories were a part of my coma-induced dreamscape. But I’d never been in a coma. Michael had tampered with my mind and my life. He’d tried to mold me into someone else, and planted Jacob firmly in my path as well, which hadn’t been that much of a stretch since I’d already fucked him. My mind, my memories, even my emotions had all been manipulated by Michael in the hopes that I wouldn’t be a problem anymore.
“You can’t have her, Lucian. You’ve known this since the beginning.”
“I can and I will,” Lucian snarled in return. “Because you’ve made another crucial error. She was still running from me before and probably would have kept on going, but you pushed her—fucked with her mind. She won’t take very kindly to that.”
Lucian was right. But he’d fucked with my mind too. I dug my nails into the brick, needing the support. The gold illuminating my skin was beginning to fade, a good sign. “I’m tired of everyone else trying to control my life—lives. Free will, remember? I’m a human not an angel, anymore…I’ll make my own damn choices.”
Michael took a step towards me,
his features threatening and dark. Lucian yanked him back by his wings, laughing. “Uh-uh, brother. You’ll never lay a hand on her again. I have a feeling she won’t be praying for your assistance this time either.”
I glared at the two men, one dark and one light. I hated them both equally in that moment. “Tell me, what’s the point to any of this is?” Michael said nothing and Lucian inclined his head. “What is the point to any of this? Human existence? The world? Life?” I was met with marked silence that only fed my ire. “Tell me! What is the point to any of it? If I’m doing it wrong, if Lucian is doing it wrong—then tell me how to do it right! Tell me what the purpose of my life should be! I save good people by punishing the bad. I do things other people can’t or aren’t willing to. I protect. I help. What should I be doing instead? Looking the other way? Letting the world be a worse place than it already is? What good do you do, Michael? You and all of the angels?” I laughed darkly. “I remember what it was like to be one of you, and I don’t remember any of us doing anything miraculous. Show me the damn miracles, Michael. Show me!”
Michael’s eyes blazed with indignation. “You were never one of us. You were not born angel, you were made.”
“You’re the one who doesn’t deserve to be in Heaven! You, Michael! You don’t care about any of us. What happened to forgiveness being divine? What happened the moment Lucian made a mistake? He was cast down from Heaven. For what? Because he loved me. Love isn’t something dark. It shouldn’t be punished. At least not the kind Lucian has for me.”
I raised my arm, reaching for Lucian. “I never should have ran. I’m sorry. I understand now. I want you to know that I understand and I’ll always love you.” Lucian grinned, his smile dazzling. I wished I could go to him so he could take me in his arms. I wanted it almost more than anything else. But I still couldn’t let him start the apocalypse. That much hadn’t changed.
“Come, my Karma, I—”
“But I still can’t be with you.” I dipped my right index finger in a shallow cut on my left palm. I wiped the blood over one of the dulling symbols on my arm and met Lucian’s gaze. “I’m sorry,” I mouthed just before a flash of white light knocked me on my ass. When the brightness level dimmed, both Michael and Lucian were gone. I collapsed in a heap on the ground. I’d done it. Somehow I’d sent them both back to their respective homes, at least for the moment. Hopefully I would have time to run…and hide…what I did best, before they both came looking for me again.
29
The mansion was huge, and tucked back on sprawling well-maintained grounds. It was located just outside Nashville in Franklin, Tennessee. The woman, my target, her name was Marilyn McAuthor, formerly Marilyn Lanst. She’d left a string of wealthy dead husbands in her wake across the country. The deaths were all suspicious and yet no one had a shred of evidence to pin her down. That’s where I came in. I would be able to know for sure if she was guilty, or merely picking her husbands because they had a high mortality risk. Although shitty, that technically wasn’t a crime and I wouldn’t punish her for that. Buuut… If she was a killer, a black window, then I’d make sure she’d weaved her last web.
I pulled my fake Merry Maids car up to a stop by a silver Jaguar. I wasn’t really employed by Merry Maids but I was posing as someone who worked for the company to gain access to Marilyn. Her regular service was on Thursday, and it was Tuesday. No one would link me to the crime I might have to commit, especially because there was no record of me being in the state. I was just passing through, making a pit stop because of some recent information I’d been able to dig up. It actually had pretty much fallen into my lap. Marilyn wasn’t just a possible target, but her latest late husband was a collector of religious artifacts, and one specifically I was very interested in. It was a blade said to be able to kill angels. I just hoped my protection spells kept me hidden long enough to grab it if it was indeed within my reach. I figured, two birds, one stone and all of that.
I hefted my bucket of cleaning products with a grunt, and headed for the front door. I pushed the bell and listened as it echoed through the mansion. A few moments later the heavy wooden door swung open. A butler, wearing a pristine uniform straight out of an old movie, greeted me with a tight smile. He was elderly with all white hair, his face lined from him probably scowling his disapproval all the time. Maybe it was his appearance, but he immediately struck me as stuck up. Like he didn’t realize that it wasn’t his money that paid my fictitious salary. “Usually a call ahead is expected when Merry Maids needs to change days,” he said sharply. “Mrs. McAuthor will not be pleased to have her schedule disrupted. And—” He peered around me. “There is usually a team that cleans for Mrs. McAuthor. It’ll take too long for just one of you.”
I averted my eyes and tried to appear sheepish. “I don’t make the schedule. I just go and clean where and when I’m told. A bunch of girls got sick, strep throat, highly contagious, and the schedule is all out of whack this week. It’s either I clean Mrs. McAuthor’s place today, by myself, no matter how long it takes, or it might not get done at all this week. We’re too short staffed and there is really nothing Merry Maids can do about it.”
The butler made a sound of displeasure as he tugged on his bowtie. “I told her not to hire Merry Maids as a cleaning service. We need a live in maid to keep up with things. But no, Mrs. McAuthor has been using Merry Maids for years. She’s so stubborn when it comes to change. And where is your uniform? Not only are you here the wrong day but you’re not dressed in the proper attire for the job.”
I wanted to roll my eyes but somehow held myself in check. I mean, what were we in 1955? “I’m an assistant manager, sir, and I usually don’t go on jobs anymore but because we’re so short staffed, like I said, and Mrs. McAuthor is such a good client—”
“All right. Come in. Mrs. McAuthor must have her house in order or all will suffer.” He bustled me into the foyer where I tried not to gape at the ornate—okay, gaudy décor. It looked like Mrs. McAuthor seemed to think she was in a movie. Maybe a noir film? Did she picture herself a glamorous femme-fatale? I couldn’t wait to meet her. I was suddenly filled with a morbid curiosity.
I nodded numbly as Jeeves, as I came to think of the butler in my head, droned on about what I should and should not do to upset Mrs. McAuthor. With a final withering glare he left me in the upstairs bathroom, which was bigger than most places I’d lived. I pulled out a rag and a bottle of multipurpose cleaner, my excuse to wander as I went on a search for Mrs. McAuthor. Don’t mind me, I’m just cleaning.
A high-pitched scream pierced the air, causing me to drop everything I was holding. Out of pure instinct I took off at a dead sprint in the direction it sounded like it came from. I skidded to a halt a few doors down from where I’d been. I clutched at the doorframe to keep myself upright.
There, standing a few feet away from me, his azure eyes blazing, was Lucian. His gaze met mine as a slow predatory smile spread across his face. I looked past him to see, who I assumed was Mrs. McAuthor, laying on the ground in a pool of her own blood. Black wings unfurled and moved restlessly.
“No. But—but—” I brought my hand up to cover my mouth. “Why?” Had he somehow known where I was all along? And why would he help me? If he was always a step ahead of me then he’d know what I was after, so why would he want me to get the blade? Unless he was daring me to try and use it on him, like he thought I couldn’t or wouldn’t actually kill him. Or he’d taken it. Which seemed much more likely than him helping me. I wasn’t sure why I’d thought that Lucian would help me to get the blade to begin with. I guessed just the sight of him sent me into a tizzy, confounding all sense of reasoning and logic.
Lucian winked, and without a word, disappeared. A moment later Jeeves dashed up beside me. “What have you done?” he demanded. “I’m calling the police.”
I remained where I was for a moment, numb. I needed to find the blade, my time had just been cut infinitely shorter by Jeeves’ discovery. I was flustered, wondering if that was L
ucian’s plan after all, to force me to have to leave before I got the blade, if it was even there. I didn’t know where to look. I might be forced to— My gaze caught on a shiny object glinting suspiciously on the ground near the now dead Mrs. McAuthor. I nearly laughed out loud when I stepped closer to see what it was. Of course, it appeared to be the damn blade I’d been after. I recognized the intricate patterns etched into the handle. I didn’t have time to think about what Lucian’s new game was. But it did indeed seem like my initial gut reaction to him being here was correct. Maybe I’d sensed it somehow, picked it up from him the same way I did other things.
I snatched up my prize, staring at the ancient looking blade in a daze. Shaking my head violently I realized I had to get the fuck out of that house. I wasn’t a real Merry Maid and I had no explanation for why I was there. I hastily used my shirt to wipe my fingerprints from anywhere I might have touched and then dashed back to collect my cleaning products. I wiped all evidence of my existence from that room too and made a run for it. I knew I didn’t have much time to get out before the police arrived…minutes probably. Things were too rushed and I was worried I was being sloppy but I didn’t have a choice. I’d thought I’d have more time.
I didn’t see Jeeves on my way back to the car or any police yet as I high-tailed it for the woods surrounding the mansion. I had a change of clothes in my backpack and I’d put them on as soon as I was far enough away that I was comfortable. It had been my plan to ditch the car anyways so not much had really changed. I was good at making snap decisions under pressure.
About a mile into the woods I switched the clothes I had on for the ones in my bag, and then continued on my way. I knew if I kept heading straight I’d come out onto someone else’s property, which, hopefully wasn’t swarming with cops yet.
As I hoofed it through the woods I couldn’t help but think about what had just happened. Lucian knew where I was, and he made sure I got the very object that I could use to kill him. Was he challenging me, or merely being his usual cocky self? I couldn’t help but question how the information about the blade had come to me so easily to begin with. Had he planted the information for me? And if he knew where I was then why hadn’t he come for me? It’d been weeks since the incident in the alleyway with the biker. The fact that Lucian had so willingly handed the blade over to me made me want to second guess everything. Or maybe it didn’t matter. I wasn’t planning on proactively searching out Lucian to kill him. I just wanted protection from him and any other angel. It didn’t matter which team they played for, Heaven or Hell. As far as I was concerned they were all duplicitous bastards. Every last one of them.
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