Redeeming Angel

by JL Weil

Still didn’t change the fact I didn’t want my mom to move in with Devin. I didn’t want to move in with Devin. I started to visualize what my life would be like if Mom and Devin got married. It got me thinking. Lexi would constantly be in my stuff, always trying to dress me up. Travis and I would be duking it out for Internet connection. And Chase…

  My head lifted. Oh God. Chase and me. Under the same roof. Twenty-four hours a day. I needed oxygen. Suddenly, living together wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

  Mom thrust her fingers through her tousled hair. “I know that look. What are you thinking?”

  “Chase and I are going to live together,” I whispered.

  “I wondered when you were going to make that connection. Actually, I’m surprised it wasn’t your first thought. You sure you don’t have a fever?” She lifted her hand as if to place it against my forehead.

  I rolled my eyes. “Funny. I leave for a few months and suddenly you think you’re a comedian.”

  “Comedian or not, I’m still your mom, and there are going to be rules. Very strict rules.”

  It was my turn to laugh. Mom didn’t know the meaning of strict, and really what was the point? There was pretty much nothing left for Chase and I to possibly do.

  “I know how much you care for each other,” she stated.

  Did she really though? I wasn’t sure Mom grasped the depth of our feelings. She knew we were serious and I loved him. She knew we shared an unexplainable bond, which summarized our relationship—unexplainable. Not rhyme or reason.

  “But,” she continued, “that doesn’t mean I’m okay with you shacking up.”

  Shacking? Who still uses the word shacking? “I get your drift. Oh, and I’m not calling him dad.”

  She laughed. “I think you’re getting ahead of yourself. I never said anything about marrying him.”

  True, but I knew Mom, and she would never make such a huge step unless she loved Devin and was hoping it would lead to the sound of wedding bells. The woman was a hopeless romantic if there ever was one.

  Maybe this meant she would be giving up her daisy dukes, but something told me that wasn’t happening anytime soon.

  “You’re sure you’re okay with this? Nothing is set in stone. I don’t have to sell the house. I can—”

  “Mom, stop. It’s fine. I swear.” I could see how important this was to her, and by God, if Devin made her happy, who was I to stand in the way? It was like she said; we were all away at college, and I would feel better knowing Devin would be around to look after her.

  Argh. College.

  I’d already missed so much of my classes there was no way I would be able to catch up. Knowing Chase, he had probably used his wily methods to ensure I was getting straight As. However considerate his efforts were, I didn’t want to bs my way through school. As it was, I would probably have to retake the semester, and so would Chase. I just had to convince him. He had his methods, and I had mine.

  “Okay then,” she said, taking a bite of cold pizza and making a funny face. “How about I make us all a family dinner tomorrow? You look like you could use a home-cooked meal.”

  “I’d like that.”

  Change. Change. It was all around me. Everywhere—inside me. Reminders that nothing would be the same. I felt it then, a thread of darkness, residing in me, curving and weaving around my soul.

  I don’t know what happened. I sort of just checked out, withdrew inside myself. The next thing I knew, Mom was calling my name and I was blinking rapidly, trying to focus on where I was.

  “Angel, are you okay?” Her smile slowly fell.

  No. I was far from okay, Mom. I’d just spent almost a month locked in a dungeon possessed by a darker side of me. And I don’t think it’s fully gone.

  Instead I said, “Yeah. I’m fine. I’m just happy to be home.”

  Expression filled with tenderness, she reached up and brushed one side of my face.

  The darker side had once been strong enough to manifest and take over.

  Never again, I vowed.

  ~*~*~*~

  Questions. I only had about a gazillion of them. Chase and I hadn’t had the talk about what happened, neither of us anxious to relive those moments. I remember the pain clearly. It was the before and after that were fuzzy, and he was the only person with answers.

  “Really? You bought a new car?” was the first thing that popped out of my mouth.

  A shit-eating grin unfolded on his lips. “I borrowed it.”

  My eyes went wide with understanding. Borrowed my butt. “Chase!”

  He bumped my shoulder with his. “Don’t worry. It will be safely returned to the owner. No harm done.”

  “Uh-huh.” We were sitting on the stoop of my front porch, watching the wheat field across the street grow. What else did you do in Spring Valley?

  The sharp autumn sunlight bounced off his silver eyes. It was the middle of October, and in Illinois that meant the weather changed from day to day and temps ranged from eighty to twenty. The leaves had started to turn and flutter to the ground, like little drops of fire in the trees. It would only take one good storm to strip the trees of their covering.

  “Everything is so quiet here. It makes me nervous,” I said.

  “The calm before the storm.” He fidgeted, and I couldn’t help but notice how often his eyes darted over the yard.

  “Are you going to tell me what’s got your boxers wadded up?”

  His lips twitched. “You just can’t stop thinking about me half-naked, can you?”

  That was his sad attempt at trying to avoid the question. I wasn’t letting it go. I pinched him on the side at the sensitive area above his hip. “Tell me or I’ll be forced to hurt you.”

  He placed a hand over my knee. “I planned on telling you, but I wanted more time with you before dealing with the past and what’s to come. I’m selfish like that.”

  I placed my hand over his, lacing our fingers together. There was this urge inside me to touch him as much as possible. “Well, thanks to you, we have time to be selfish with each other.”

  His chest heaved. “You’re right. I guess I should tell you what happened in Vegas.”

  “You went to Vegas. Without me?”

  “Yeah well, you were kind of indisposed. But trust me, Angel Eyes; it wasn’t a vacation. I went in search of a demon who might have answers to stop the darkness from spreading, from overpowering you.”

  “A demon?” Outrage city came pouring out. “You trusted a demon?”

  “No. Nobody said anything about trust. I’m not completely witless. Anyway, I knew what I was getting into. This wasn’t the first time I’d gone in search of demons.”

  “You’re just a world of wonder. Why did you never tell me?”

  He folded his hands, propping his elbows on his thighs. “There are some things from the past, things I’ve done I don’t want shadowing the way I feel about you. I’ve never felt like this about anyone, and I’m bound to make mistakes.”

  “I know who you are, and I know you’re not perfect.”

  He snorted.

  “We’ve both done things that have damaged us, but I don’t need all the details of your sordid past. I love who you are,” I said to make sure we were clear.

  After a moment of silence, he said, “The only way I knew how to save you was to step into the darkness with you.”

  “I could sense you. Even when there was nothing but blackness, I felt you. It was the only thing that kept me going.”

  “Our bond is stronger. I was counting on it.” His skin was still a golden summer tan. I was jealous, looking down at my own pasty arms. “When I was searching for a way to bring you back, I had to make a deal.”

  My lips turned down. “What kind of deal?” I asked, scooting to the edge of the step.

  His eyes said it all.

  “Chase! You didn’t.”

  “What did you expect me to do? There was no other way. I wasn’t about to leave you there another minute.”

  I k
new that while I’d gone cuckoo, Chase had suffered. There had been moments of clarity where I felt his pain, but hearing the anguish in his voice, struck a chord. “And you’re worried about the deal you made?” I never knew Chase to let a demon get the better of him. It was disconcerting.

  His gaze got lost in the distance. “It’s not the deal I’m concerned about.”

  I raised a brow. “What then?”

  He deadpanned. “It’s the demon. She’s different than any I’ve encountered. And…”

  She? It was stupid, but I was suddenly filled with jealousy. Me? Jealous of a demon? Redonkulous. But there was something in the way he spoke about her that caused my internal girlfriend radar to go berserk-o.

  “Before you jump to all the wrong conclusions,” he said, sensing the fibers of my jealousy through our link. “She’s Lexi and Travis’s mom.”

  My mouth hit the ground, immediately dousing my irrational possessiveness. “Uh, say what?”

  Fingers dove into his ragged hair. “I know. That was exactly how I felt.”

  “Oh my God.” I got a sick feeling in my gut. “What does she want?”

  “She says she wants to reconnect with Travis and Lexi.”

  “And you don’t believe that’s all?”

  “No.”

  The first lesson Chase taught me was to never trust a demon, no matter what they promised. “What are we going to do?”

  “I honestly have no idea, and that’s what’s bothering me. If Kira really wants to find Travis and Lexi, there’s not much I can do about it. I’ve been trying to decide if I should tell them or not.”

  “Do you think they have any interest in seeing her?” Demon or not, she was their mom, and I knew how much my best friend longed for a “real” family. Yet there was nothing real about a demon.

  “We’ve spent our lives running from and fighting demons. It’s hard for me to imagine they would want anything to do with her.”

  Chase’s feelings for his father were very black and white, and I could hardly blame him. I hated Alastair, but Chase’s hate went deeper—a lifetime deep.

  Some people come into your life as blessings; others come into your life as lessons. Kira was definitely a lesson—and we were still waiting to see what lesson we’d learn. One thing I did know—it wasn’t going to be good. When she called in her deal with Chase, he’d have no choice but to answer.

  Damn her.

  I wanted five minutes alone with the demon. She’d messed with the wrong guy—my guy. A burn started in the pit of my chest, rising. “She wants to use you.”

  “I know.” Helpless anger etched into his face, matching mine.

  That was the thing with our bond. We frequently altered each other’s moods without being aware.

  Just awesome. As if we didn’t have enough on our plates, we also had to worry about mama drama.

  Chapter 14

  {Chase}

  It felt as if a tremendous weight had been lifted off my chest. Telling Angel about Kira lessened my stress levels. Now if only Angel would do the same. She was hiding something. I was sure of it.

  And it wasn’t just the zonking out into space that had me concerned. She was putting an exuberant amount of effort in keeping her emotions from me—no easy feat considering. I know she’d been through an ordeal, but what I didn’t understand was, if something was wrong, why wasn’t she talking to me? How was I supposed to fix it if I didn’t know what was wrong?

  I wanted to call her out on it, but I also didn’t want to push her. She had made it clear she wasn’t ready to talk, and granted I wasn’t all too thrilled to relive those moments either.

  It hurt a little not having her let me in. Maybe more than I wanted to admit.

  Still, I was going to give her the time and space she needed to recover. It would be sort of presumptuous to think nothing had changed. That she hadn’t changed. In reality, the moment I’d set my eyes on her, I’d known her world would never be the same. Darkness and doom followed me like a rain cloud.

  Seeing her struggle only emphasized my desire to kill Alastair. Not just send him back to his domain, but wipe him from all realms. “I’m going to destroy his black soul,” I promised to no one in particular. It was one I made to myself frequently and one I meant to keep, damn anyone who stood in my way.

  Angel had her way of dealing with what happened. This was mine.

  “What are you thinking about?” she asked, sneaking up behind me and wrapping her arms around my waist.

  My heart thudded in my chest. “Nothing. Everything.”

  She rested her cheek on my back. “Do you want to talk it out?”

  Smirking, I turned around, linking my hands at the small of her back. “I hate psychobabble.”

  “What a coincidence. Me too.”

  “Come on. I told Dev we’d take care of our car situation. Want to ride along?”

  “To return our “borrowed” car?”

  My brow arched.

  She rubbed the tip of her nose against mine. “Sure. I’d love to be your partner in crime.”

  I twined my arm around her waist. “Good. Saves me from having to convince you. Let me grab the keys, sidekick, and then we can see how many laws we can break on the way.”

  “As long as we get home without flipping any cars.”

  I coughed as we walked across the yard toward my house, an arm still looped around her. If she only knew what happened to my last car. “Now what fun would that be?”

  “Can’t wait,” she mumbled as we climbed the porch steps.

  I opened the front door with a smile on my face and was greeted by chaos. There were bodies everywhere, all talking over each other. I almost shut the door and turned back around, but Lexi let out one of her high-pitched squeals, making me cringe. In a blink, she was hugging the life out of my girlfriend. They lost their balance and went down in a tangle of curls and girly shrieks. Tears were flowing down Lexi’s cheeks, brightening her aqua eyes. For someone who had a ballet dancer’s body, she was strong and spirited.

  “You’re really okay,” Lexi gushed.

  “I’m still bonded to your hotheaded cousin, so I’m not sure that justifies me being okay,” Angel replied, her voice muffled by Lexi’s natural sun-drenched blonde hair.

  Lexi giggled. A second later her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my God. Your eyes.”

  Angel looked like she wanted to curl up in a hole and die. I could have throttled Lexi.

  “How come all the cool stuff happens to you?” Lexi asked.

  Angel rolled her eyes.

  “Well, this didn’t take long,” I muttered. The whole gang was here. Travis, Lexi, Emma, Hayden, and Craig were all spread out in my family room. Silence followed Lex’s squeals of happiness, and all eyes were on Angel.

  Cheeks flushed, I gave her and Lexi a hand, pulling them to their feet. I kept Angel’s hand linked with mine as we stepped into the room.

  I tensed, waiting to see what was going to happen next.

  Travis swooped across the room, engulfing Angel in another hug and lifting her off her feet. “Thank God you’re back. Chase was driving us all insane.”

  She laughed lightly. “I don’t doubt it. I’m just glad he never gave up.”

  “Chase? Give up? As if he would. I don’t think quitting is in his vocabulary.” He set her down, and I snuffed the immediate desire to wind our fingers together. The yearning to constantly touch her was always present in the back of my mind.

  She took a step backward so our arms brushed. “There are a lot of words not in his vocab.”

  Travis got one of his silly grins. “That’s for sure.”

  Enough was enough. A guy could only stand aside while being talked about as if he wasn’t there for long. Sixty seconds was about all I could take. “I’m standing right here,” I grumbled, taking a seat on the arm of the recliner. Angel sat in the chair, legs tucked underneath her. She nibbled on her lower lip, looking like she was ready to run for the door if necessary. “So what’s
this all about?” I asked, eyes scanning the room.

  And then like a dam being broken, the room erupted into questions galore. They were flung at Angel and me, one right after the other.

  What dumb thing did you do this time?

  How did you bring her back?

  Why didn’t you call?

  Are we going to order food?

  I took a deep breath. “Everyone chill out.”

  “How can you be so calm?” Craig scowled, his broad shoulders stiffening. “There is an influx of demon activity and we’re on the cusp of war. Why the shit aren’t you freaking out? How can we trust her?”

  “Be careful what you say next, Craig.” My voice was low, but it carried across the room.

  {Angel}

  I flinched.

  Something told me things might get ugly fast, as they usually did in a room filled with demon DNA. Chase’s eyes went from silver to gold in a wink.

  “You don’t have to trust me,” I interjected before things got heated. “But whether you do or not doesn’t change the fact we are all going to be under fire sooner rather than later. Just because Hell can’t use me anymore, doesn’t mean they won’t find a way.”

  “Angel’s right,” Travis said. “Losing their key is going to royally piss them off.”

  “What are we supposed to do about it?” Lexi asked.

  “There is only one thing to do. We take out the big players. The higher demons. And I’m not just sending them back to Hell. I’m going to destroy his soul.” It wasn’t lost on anyone that Chase had suddenly switched to referring to a certain demon.

  “Alastair?” Travis interjected.

  “No way, dude,” Hayden added, propping his elbows on his knees beside Lexi on the sofa. “How do you plan on doing that?”

  “Can it even be done?” Craig asked, intrigue in his beefy expression.

  Chase shrugged. “I guess I’ll find out. I’m done playing the cat and mouse game.”

  “Oh great. That’s our grand plan?” Lexi threw her arms in the air.

  “You got a better one, little cuz?” His smoky eyes challenged.

  She slumped back into the couch. “Don’t you ever wish our lives weren’t so complicated?”