by May Dawson
"Everyone needs girl friends," she said. "And even if we're not going to get pedicures and go to the mall together—"
"Well, let's not rule that out," I interrupted.
"I really want to be your friend," she finished.
"That was the best apology ever," I said. "You should give Ryker lessons."
She grinned.
"All right, friend," I said. "Jacob and I are trying to track down an angry angel. Do you think you could help?"
"Do you think you could not call me friend? It's a little cheesy." She stuck her tongue out at me.
"You got it, hun," I teased.
She grinned, ducking her head slightly and pushing wild red curls back behind her ears. "Your friendship skills are a little rusty, huh?"
"Very."
It had taken a while to win Olivia over, but she bit down on her lower lip as she tried to hide her smile, and I felt my chest warm.
She'd been here before me, sure. The boys' friend long before they knew me. But now she was my friend, too.
27
Ryker unlocked Nimshi's cell. I saw faint sparks under his fingertips as both magic and technology released. Ryker turned, nodded at me, and walked out of the room ahead of us.
I could still feel the warmth of Ryker's presence near me though. He lingered just outside. He was trying to trust my judgment. But he was also ready to attack, if I so much as stubbed a toe and he thought Nimshi was responsible.
"He seems happy," Nimshi noted. His dark hair curled around his ears, wild like a hockey player's, in contrast with his angelic face.
"Come on," I said, pulling the cell door open.
"You're not going to put the baton on me?" He quirked an eyebrow.
"I'm not into that kind of thing," I said. "There's a room upstairs for you. Let's go on up."
"This feels like a trick." He made no move to leave the cell, crossing his arms over his chest.
I was tempted to slam the door shut on him again. "They're giving you a chance. Please don't make us all regret it."
"No chance." He winked at me as he finally swaggered out.
"I'm heading out for a day or two," I said. "We want to try to get Zuriel off our trail. Meanwhile, you and Ryker and Levi will start sorting out the plans for the heist."
"You're leaving?" Nimshi seemed genuinely disappointed, but he covered it with the same nonchalant charm he always did. "Are you sure Ryker and Levi won't bury me in the backyard once you leave?"
"I'm positive," I promised. "They bury bodies in the woods."
He took a long look at my face as we walked across the basement to the stairs. "Oh, God. You're not joking. They bury bodies here."
"I would expect demons to have fancy demon curses."
"My mom used to wash my mouth out with soap if I cursed," he said. "Not Wendy. My second mom."
"Really? Then how did you end up so..." I waved my hand at him. Well, I was committed now. I had to finish, despite the way he turned to me with an expectant look on his face. "Awful?"
He raised an eyebrow at me, pausing at the bottom of the stairs so I could go up before him.
I shrugged. "We didn't meet under the best circumstances."
"I killed a demon for you," he said.
"That doesn't even get us to even," I said. "You showed me my sister dying a few dozen times."
"She's not dead," he reminded me.
"She might as well be," I said, and then slapped a hand over my mouth, aghast at what I'd just said. I glanced up the stairs; the door stood open to the hallway, and I hoped my mom was nowhere around to hear it.
Nim's brilliant green eyes were soft on mine, and he leaned in toward me. My heart began to beat too quickly as his lips grazed my ear. He said, quietly and surely, "We'll bring her back."
"I thought we shouldn't," I said testily. "How do you even know about what I dreamed?"
He cocked his head to one side. "What dream?"
I shook my head. "I don't want to talk about it."
"And I don't want to talk about my father being murdered, my unhealthy upper-class upbringing, or the way my adoptive family ripped my soul out of my body in cahoots with demons. But here we are," he said. "I'm going to spill it all to my... brothers... which is going to be uncomfortable for all of us. So, what dream, Ellis?"
"Ryker thinks it was a vision of the Far."
"Ryker," he muttered, as if he didn't even care for hearing his name.
"He'll grow on you," I said. "After all, you two are just alike."
Nimshi looked genuinely horrified at that.
"Anyway, in my dream, my sister asked if I had even asked her if she wants to come back to life." I leveled a stern look at him. "I know you can make me see things, because of all those little games we played in the demon's case. So, I'm asking you again. And this time—one time only—I won't be mad if you say yes. Did you make that dream?"
"I wouldn't do that to you," he said. "I didn't have a choice. If I hadn't tortured you, Samael would have blood-let you both on day one."
He said that, and the memory replayed for me: Jacob pinned helpless to the wall as Samael drove the blood-letting nails into his wrists, the blood trickling down Jacob's tattooed forearms, the way I had bruised myself fighting the chains as I screamed for him.
"It might not have been any worse." I said it easily, as if that memory alone didn't flood me with panic.
"It would have been worse," he promised me. His deep green eyes were flecked with gold and silver, so beautiful and eerie that it was hard not to get lost in them. He stared at me as if he saw through my act.
"I'm glad you killed Samael." My voice came out quiet.
"Me, too. Even if it did leave us in this very, very weird place. With those very, very weird guys." He pointed upstairs, where Jacob, Ryker and Levi were working on the plans to meet with Zuriel. More specifically, the plans to meet with Zuriel and not die.
"Did you know you had brothers?" I asked.
He shook his head. "But I have a sister."
"What?"
"Not by blood," he said. "We grew up together. Those guys will never really be my brothers."
Ouch. I knew Ryker was lingering at the top of the stairs, just out of sight. He would have heard that.
"You can get to know each other. You can get to be brothers." I said it firmly. And loudly. "Don't give up on each other before you've even tried."
"It's a nice idea, Ellis," he said, clearly unconvinced.
"Trust me," I said.
He smiled at me, his grin cocksure. "We don't have any reason to trust each other."
"I know." I beckoned him up the stairs, away from his cell. "But I'm going to trust you anyway." I took him on a quick tour of the house. In the dining room, Levi and Jacob were talking over spells to use on Zuriel. Ryker leaned against the table, paging through a book, as if he hadn't just been stalking Nimshi and me. Levi and Jacob looked up at us and fell silent when Nimshi and I walked in.
"You want to talk to the crazy angel?" Nimshi said. "Not that it's going to help because, you know, he's crazy?"
"That's the plan," Levi said.
"I have an idea," Nimshi said.
"Of course you do," Ryker muttered.
Nimshi pulled a chair out from the dining room table. "May I?"
"Make yourself comfortable," Jacob said. "Our house is your house."
Ryker turned and set the book down, with emphasis. Levi flashed him a warning look. Ryker didn't say a word.
"Can I get you anything?" Ryker asked. "Coffee? Warm chocolate chip cookies?"
My mom stuck her head out of the kitchen. "I just started a batch of cookies."
Ryker's eyes closed, his lashes fluttering down to his high cheekbones. "I was being sarcastic."
"Why did you think I asked if you liked pecans in chocolate chip cookies?" Mom asked.
When my mom had retreated to the kitchen, Ryker ran his hand through his hair, leaning forward. "I can't work like this."
"Me either,"
I said. It felt as if my mom were trying to make up for the gulf between us. Nothing would do that but time. I wished I could just hang out with her, but it felt like time was flying away from us. We had too much to do, and I couldn't disappoint her. I had to rescue Ash from the Far. Then we could start all over.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Levi said, his tone mild. "I love cookies."
Nimshi snapped his fingers at us, recalling our focus. "Do you want to learn some demon magic?"
28
That night, Jacob and I sat on the curb in a questionable part of D.C. Rain drizzled down steadily. The tepid water pooled across the streets and raised garbage to float by. The rain soaking my tank top and jeans did nothing to cool the sticky-hot air.
"Reminds me of the last time we were in D.C.," I said.
"When we were kidnapped?" Jacob shook his head. "The lengths I've had to to get a date with you."
"You took me on a nice date," I said. I'd never forget taking the controls of his helicopter for the first time. Or the way he'd kissed me later, his lips tasting like wine and dark chocolate, cool on a hot summer day.
"Better than Ryker's?"
"You are so competitive."
"Deflecting answer. You're being politic. I'll take that as a yes."
"You're impossible."
"Takes one to know one, Princess."
The angel we were waiting for stepped out of the house across the street.
We weren't exactly hiding, but Zuriel didn't seem to notice us as he bounced quickly down the steps of the stoop to the sidewalk. He pulled the hood of his trench coat up, shielding his hair from the rain.
Jacob stood up, striding across the street. I hurried after him. Headlights caught us and there was a screech of brakes. Jacob slid around the hood of the car that had just avoided hitting him. I gave an apologetic wave in the general direction of the driver. I couldn't see anything through the windshield, which reflected the glare of the streetlights.
"Hey, Dad," Jacob called.
Zuriel stopped and turned. His eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Jacob."
"Can we talk?"
"You are here just to talk?" Zuriel asked.
"I'd bring a lot more backup if I aimed to kill you." Jacob glanced at me. There was a maddening smirk on his handsome face, but it didn't annoy me today; I knew Jacob needed his cranky-asshole routine right now to get through meeting his father. "No offense, Ellis."
I crossed my arms over my chest. "None taken."
"That would be wise," Zuriel said.
Jacob pointed down the street, at the dingy white sign above a diner. "Should we get out of the rain?"
"That's quite the public location," Zuriel noted. He had a beautiful, rich voice, but he spoke with little inflection.
"It's not that I don't trust you," Jacob said, "But you've tried to murder me twice now."
"That is not true, son. If I had tried to kill you, you would be dead."
"You must get your charming personality from him," I said.
Jacob rolled his eyes. I wasn't sure if Zuriel would come with us, but when Jacob turned and strode to the diner, Zuriel fell in beside him. The three of us walked down the street together.
Jacob walked into the diner first and held the door open for us. Stepping into the brightly lit, if rundown, diner felt like entering a surreal alternate universe. I shivered as the air conditioning washed over my body.
Zuriel slipped his trench coat off without a second's hesitation, holding it out to me. "Take this, girl."
"Thanks, but I'm fine," I said. A tell-tale shiver ran down my arms, which were covered in goosebumps.
Jacob snatched the raincoat from his father and threw it over my shoulders. He tugged it closed in the front. "Just let him be nice. It's virgin territory for him."
"It is not," Zuriel said with dignity. "I managed to woo your mother."
"And I have so many questions about that," Jacob said.
Too many people in the diner were looking at us. I tapped the top of the black sign that said in white letters to seat yourself, and then led them to a booth in the back of the diner, by the windows. The windows reflected our mirror images: one human girl with wild hair, frizzy from humidity, wearing an oversized trench coat, and two angelic-looking men with handsome faces who appeared impervious to weather. Or time. Or humanity. I looked thoroughly outclassed.
I resisted the urge to try to fix my hair—hopeless—and slid into the booth, plucking a sticky menu from behind the napkin dispenser. Jacob slid in beside me, his broad shoulder brushing mine, and Zuriel took the seat opposite us.
"Let's get to the point," Jacob said. "Why did you come after us?"
"I am out of favor in Heaven." Zuriel raised his hand toward the window, indicating the rainy night, the dirty city. "Trapped on Earth. You should understand how unpleasant that is."
"I'm good with life," I said. "Not in a hurry to move on to Heaven."
"And yet your life revolves around Heaven. You just don't understand yet, girl," Zuriel said.
"Please don't call me girl. My name is Ellis." I said it with as much dignity as I could, with my wet-rat hair and the angel's trench coat around my shivering shoulders.
"And you are a girl." He glanced at me as he offered up this revelation, but his golden eyes immediately swiveled to Jacob. I wasn't worthy of his attention. His lips parted.
"Okay, Cupid," I interrupted, before he could say anything else.
Zuriel's eyes flashed back to mine, full of irritation. "There is no such angel."
"There is now." I pointed across the table at him.
Jacob put a hand over mine. "Please put that adorable, accusing little finger of yours away. Zuriel—"
"Father," Zuriel said. "If we are on the subject of proper names."
Jacob stared back at him, his eyes dark. I thought he was going to protest, and then he asked, "Do you know anything about how Nimshi was...conceived? Father?"
"Your mother did not confide in me."
"Was that maybe because you tried to kill me?"
Zuriel sighed. His golden eyes met mine as he said, "He makes it sound worse than it was. I will tell you the story. It is the beginning of our story now."
"I'm all ears." I jerked my thumb at Jacob. "Always trying to figure this one out."
Jacob rested his hand on my thigh. "Nothing to figure out. I'm a simple man."
His hand squeezed on my thigh. His warm fingers, resting just below the hem of my shorts, made me feel an entirely inappropriate stirring of lust.
"Remember," Zuriel noted, "Lust is how you end up siring bastard children who will hate you forever."
"They're less likely to hate you if you resist the temptation to call them bastard children," Jacob promised.
The waitress stopped at our table just then, carrying three glasses of iced water. Her face was completely neutral, as if she hadn't heard the bizarre conversation. She plunked a glass down in front of each of us. "What would you like?"
"Chocolate chip pancakes," I said.
"I'd like the chicken breast sandwich, lettuce instead of a bun, side of broccoli, black coffee." Jacob said.
"Thanks for reminding me," I said to the waitress. "I'd like a side of bacon, too."
"I would like the same meal as my son," Zuriel said.
Jacob ducked his head slightly, as if that were embarrassing to him.
"Look at you two," I said, unexpectedly pleased, and in retaliation Jacob slid his hand slightly further up my thigh. I squirmed slightly, smiling to cover my unexpected reaction, and put my hand over his hand to stop him. God. And Nimshi was the one named for mischief. Jacob was incorrigible.
Zuriel's golden eyes were level on mine, which made me feel like I was being judged. By Heaven. For my inappropriately sexual reactions in shady diners.
"I met Wendy by chance. I was on a mission to rescue a mere child from a demon's case. However, instead I entered the case to find this human woman, with a child on her hip and a bloody
sword in her hand." He smiled faintly, the smile crinkling the corner of his eyes. It was strange to see that perfect, porcelain skin crack in a human expression. "It was impossible not to love her."
"I thought angels couldn't fall in love," Jacob said.
"It is the nature of every higher being God created to love," Zuriel said. "It is a perversion when we do not show love."
"Then why aren't angels knocking up humans all the time?"
Zuriel's jaw set slightly, as if he didn't care much for Jacob's phrasing. "It is...unfair...for angels to pursue humans. It is impossible for humans to truly consent, given the charm we exert. Therefore, Heaven decreed against any human-angel match. It was rebellious and arrogant and self-centered for me to pursue your mother."
"You pursued her? It wasn't a one-night stand?"
"I had originally intended merely to indulge myself once. One sin, not to be repeated. But I could not be sated. I wanted not just to know her, but to talk to her. To make her laugh, watch her train, watch her sleep." He fell silent for a second. "When I found out she was pregnant, I asked her to marry me. I made a full confession and asked Heaven for a dispensation. I begged them to transform me into a mortal man."
Jacob's eyes widened.
"My superior denied my request," he said. "I was recalled on what I hoped would have been our wedding day. I was able to send a message to Wendy to run, because I feared what they might do to her. I had hoped too much for clemency from Heaven. I forgot that we may serve a forgiving God, but the layers of bureaucracy between him and us sometimes lack a sense of humor."
"That is a truly surprising revelation," Jacob deadpanned.
"I spent several years in penance before I was given a chance to redeem myself," Zuriel said. "If I were to kill you. To erase my mistake. I could return to my work on behalf of Heaven."
"They didn't think that was a little cruel?" Jacob asked. "Maybe not in keeping with the whole love thing you were just talking about?"
"Man's life is a blink of an eye compared to the soul's experience," he said lightly.
"That sounds so deep." Jacob said, with heavy sarcasm. "So I was just a little kid, and you showed up at the door to kill me."