by JL Weil
Hers just happened to be exceptional. She was different now, but still the same. Profound, I know. I couldn’t pinpoint precisely what was different. Physically she looked the same, except of course the eyes. Anything was better than the demon eyes. Honestly, they were quite beautiful on her, illuminating like a tropical sunset.
Inside, she was broken. I felt glimpses of the turmoil spinning inside her.
Tiptoeing down the hall, I passed Chloe’s room, and once I hit the top of the stairs, I broke into turbo. I moved quieter when I was traveling at mach ten.
My mind was thinking ahead to a few things I needed to take care of as I rushed into my house, skidding to a halt. Lexi was in the kitchen being a busybody, pretending to cook. I adored my cousin, but she only experimented with food when something was bothering her.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, leaning my forearms on the counter.
There was a smidge of flour on her cheek and a whole lot more on the counter. “Are you still recovering from that injury?”
“What injury?” I replied, eyes tapering.
She jabbed a wooden spoon into a bowl and began stirring with fervor. “Whatever head injury turned you into an abrupt goon.”
I gave her a puzzled look. “Okay. I’m missing something. What did I do?”
She spun, whipping the spoon from the bowl into the air, flinging cookie dough on the floor. “How could you do that?”
I suppressed a laugh. “Again. No clue what we’re talking about.”
“You took off like that, not letting us know what you planned on doing. The next thing I know you’ve swooped Angel away. You didn’t bother to call or let me know she was okay.”
“I’m guessing sorry isn’t going to cut it.”
She swung the spoon at my head. Thankfully, my ninja reflexes kept my noggin from suffering an egg-sized lump. “You jerk. I was worried sick. The least you could have done was send me a text.”
“I’m sorry, Lex. Truly. It all happened so fast and I wasn’t thinking straight. I just wanted to get her out of there and somewhere safe.”
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. The kitchen timer sounded. She popped across the room and back in a heartbeat. “And I’m so grateful you did, but jeesh, Chase. I was really worried. I didn’t even know if you made it out of there alive.”
“You can see I’m fine.”
“But are you really?”
Me? There wasn’t time to think about how I was feeling. I ran a hand through my hair and wondered when the last time I’d showered was. The last few days had been insane. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters right now is she’s home.”
Lexi sighed and leaned a hip against the lower cabinets, most of the irritation dispelling from her face. “I figured you’d need me, even if you didn’t.”
“I’m glad you’re here, Lex. She could really use a friend.” Angel wasn’t the only one who was struggling. There was something different about my youngest cousin. She looked a little pale and her eyes were slightly puffy as if she’d been crying. “Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?”
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
She was right as usual. Leaving her to trash the kitchen, I pulled out my phone and climbed the stairs to my room. I sent a quick text. We need to talk.
Chapter 16
{Angel}
I knocked on Lexi’s bedroom door and fussed with my hair as I waited for her to answer. Nibbling on my lip, I wondered if this wasn’t one of my more harebrained ideas. Would getting Lexi involved with my problems only make things more complicated? Or worse, get her hurt? That was the very last thing I wanted to do.
But I didn’t know what other choice I had.
“Come in,” she yelled from the other side.
What was that I heard in her voice? Hurt? Tears?
I knew in my gut something had been up with her these last few days, but I hadn’t been able to pinpoint just what. Not to mention my focus had been elsewhere, and now I was feeling like a pretty craptastic friend.
I turned the handle, stepping into Lexi’s very romantic and lovely room. All of her furniture was a soft white, and there were assorted shades of pink butterflies dancing on the walls. Tucked in the corner was a vanity covered in makeup and perfume bottles. It was the perfect sanctuary for someone as tenderhearted as Lexi.
She gave me a tentative smile, turning in the chair, her eyes too bright. Yep. Tears had definitely been shed.
“Hey,” I said.
Hastily she brushed at her cheeks. “Hey, bestie. Chase let you off the leash?”
“Hilarious. Did you get a sense of humor while I was gone?” Truth be told, Chase was just in the next room, probably hanging on our every word.
“Each time I think about you in that place I want to hurl.”
I belly flopped onto her bed, resting my chin in my hands. “Hmm. Me too. But, I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s talk about you and why you’re crying.”
She slumped into the back of the plush chair, the façade she’d been trying to keep hold of faded. “Colin and I had our first fight.”
“Oh.” Chase and I disagreed all the time. We had as many tiffs as we did laughs, but our bond made things different for us. I knew how he was feeling and vice versa. We knew there was no one else. No matter how much of a dickwad he could be, he would never break my heart.
I swung my body over the edge of the mattress. “You want to talk about it?”
She shrugged. “I thought he was different. I was wrong. He said it was all too much for him to handle. Demons. Hunters. End of the world. And the sucky part is I can’t blame him.”
“I’m sorry, Lexi. But if he couldn’t deal with our world, then he wasn’t worth your time.” Holy buckets. This was my world now, too. I wasn’t an outsider who knew their secret. I was part of the secret.
Her lip quivered and I thought, here comes the waterworks, but I watched, impressed, as she reigned in those tough, painful emotions. “I refuse to shed another tear for that jackass.”
That’s my girl. “Do you want me to have Chase—?”
“No! Absolutely not. I don’t want him dead.”
“Right. Too messy.”
Her pouty lips gave a slight twitch. “God, I really missed the crud out of you.”
And I knew just what she needed to take her mind off what’s-his-name. “Think you can find the energy for some sh-shopping?” I tripped over the words. “I really need some new clothes.” Inside I was cringing, but this was the only way I could think to get away from prying ears and her mind off Colin.
She slipped on her sunglasses. “You had me at shopping.”
Lexi’s idea of boyfriend therapy was going on a spending splurge. We each had our own agendas, but I really wished my friend had another hobby.
The mall.
It was the antichrist.
During our car ride, we spent the whole time guy bashing. She needed it, and I didn’t mind. Mentally bashing Chase had been a hobby of mine when I first moved to Spring Valley. I’d grown quite good at it.
She’d quickly moved from self-pity to hating Colin’s guts.
One thing remained constant, no matter how Lexi was feeling, her ability to dress to impress was on point. It was sickening really. Lexi didn’t have a bad day. For me, every day was a bad hair day or an I-have-nothing-to-wear day. The fact that Lexi wore stilettos shopping made me question whether she was human at all, even half, and she looked amazing doing it. She could probably run a double marathon in those things without breaking a sweat.
Definitely not an ounce of human.
As we rode up the escalator, Lexi reapplied her lip gloss. “How did you not see that guy totally checking out your ass?”
“What?” I said, looking over my shoulder. A group of three guys snickered on the opposite side of the escalator.
“How can you be so oblivious?” she asked, shoving her tube of gloss back into her handbag.
My fingers trailed along the railing. “It’s a gift. Guess my cha
rm of irresistibility hasn’t worn off.”
“Seriously, why do you get all the cool abilities?”
I wouldn’t call being the key that almost destroyed Earth cool. But hey, what did I know? “If we could trade, I’d give you all my guy magnet mojo.”
Her phone jingled. When she looked at the screen with a frown and ignored the call, I realized who it was.
“Is that the douchebag?” I asked, as we stepped off the escalator and straight into the nearest store.
“Yep.”
“Aren’t you going to answer?” I prodded when her phone continued to vibrate and light up.
“Nope. I’m so over him.” I didn’t know who she was trying to convince more, me or herself.
“Uh-huh.” No way in hell I believed that. “Maybe you should tell him that,” I muttered when her phone started buzzing again.
Her heels clacked on the floor as she made a beeline to inspect a pair of red wedges. “Oh, he’ll figure it out. Anyway, I’m done ranting about my absent love life. What is it you want to tell me that you don’t want Chase to know about?”
I tripped. “Umm,” I fumbled, uncertain how to approach the subject. I gingerly began to rummage through a bin filled with brightly-colored tube socks I had no intention of buying.
“You don’t honestly believe I bought the whole ‘I need new clothes’ excuse. Spit it out, girl. You can tell me anything.”
That’s what I was counting on. “I need your help.”
“Okay.” She looked at me from head to toe. “Yellow is not your color, especially now with your kickass eyes. It washes out your skin tone.” Her eyes squinted at my feet. “First, let’s find you a pair of really great shoes, something to emphasize those legs—”
“Lexi, I don’t want a makeover. And BTW, I love these shoes.” A semi-attractive guy walked by us, smiling appreciatively as he eyed me up. I groaned inwardly.
“And it shows,” she mumbled under her breath.
I peered down at my Converses. They were comfy. That was all I cared about. “I heard that. You forget I’ve have sensitive hearing now.”
Sitting on a nearby bench, her fingers twiddled with the straps on her shoes. “So does this have anything to do with what happened to you?” She slipped off her heel, replacing it with the red wedge.
I let out an automatic sigh and pretended to be really interested in a pair of pumps with four-inch heels. I don’t know why I was so nervous to tell her. “I guess in a way it does. I need you to teach me to control the darkness.”
She gulped, glancing up. “I thought…”
“It was gone?” I finished, sitting down beside her. “Most of it is. At least for now, but I still feel it every now and then. It sneaks up on me when I’m the most vulnerable.”
Her voice tightened. “And you don’t want Chase to know?”
I shook my head. “Not yet. He is so consumed with revenge and ending Alastair. I don’t want to burden him. He would only worry more, and when it comes to dealing with demons, distractions can be deadly.”
Pulling the shoe out of the box, she slipped it on her right foot. “Why are you so sure the darkness is still inside you?”
My shoulder lifted in a one-sided shrug. “There’s this feeling in me…” Along with the voice, but I omitted that part. “It’s familiar and foreign at the same time. Okay, I know that sounds like crazy talk, but I don’t know how to explain it.”
“You nailed it. That’s pretty much how I feel twenty-four seven. It’s like all the things that make you human feel as if they’re fading away.”
“Oh my God. Yes.”
“I don’t know how it’s possible, but I can’t make sense of anything Hell does.”
I couldn’t imagine what passersby thought catching pieces of our conversation, but somewhere along the way I’d become immune to the world around me. “What Chase did to save me was only a temporary solution. If I don’t find a way to control it, Hell will have the advantage once again.”
“Shit,” she swore.
“I never want to feel like that. Lost. Not in control. Will you help me?”
“I might not agree with your reasons for keeping this from Chase,” she said, “but of course I will. I can’t have my BFF fly off the rails again.”
My attention was drawn to the smoothie stand across the mall. I was dying for a peach-strawberry, the greatest smoothie known to man. “When do we start?”
“Now,” she stated.
“Now?” I echoed. What could I possibly learn in the mall?
She held up only her index finger. “Lesson number one. No smoothie.”
I frowned. “Are you screwing with me?”
She drew an air circle around her face. “Does this look like I’m screwing with you?”
Ugh. “How is this going to help? I’m dying of thirst.”
She folded her arms, pouty pink lips pursed. “Only because you think you are. Your mind is telling you that you need to have a drink. Conquer the urge.”
I was seriously thinking about knocking her flat on her ass and making a mad dash across the mall. Good God. I was a crazy person. “Fine.” I shook out my hair, exhaling. “You’re right.”
She looped her arm through mine, and we stood. “See that wasn’t so bad.”
“So you’re not getting those shoes?”
She plucked the red wedges from the shelf. “Did you hit your head? These shoes were made for my feet. This is your test, not mine. I already know my limitations. Shopping is not one of them. It’s my anchor. It helps me keep the beastly part of me from making poor decisions.”
I rolled my eyes and pouted as she dragged me into yet another store. Although my mind was still on the peach-strawberry smoothie, I started to question asking Lexi for help. Her methods made absolutely no sense to me right, but I was desperate, and she did have way more experience when it came to demon matters than I did.
By the time we left the mall, I expected to feel relieved. Instead, there was this pressure of unease clamping down on my heart, and it wasn’t from all the body lotion samples. I’d tried so many I smelled like I worked at Bath and Body Works, minus the cheery attitude. It would take more than bubbles to turn this frown upside down.
At least Lexi agreed to help me—however bizarre her methods were. That made my hours of suffering worth it.
I guess.
Chapter 17
{Angel}
“Fight me,” I said.
Chase and I just finished a perimeter walk. I couldn’t sit inside, twiddling my thumbs and doing nothing. My tortured mind ended up getting the best of me.
Lexi had been helping me with the mental stuff, control and whatnot. We’d only been at it for a week, and already I felt reinvigorated, but I didn’t just want to be mentally stronger than the darkness; I also wanted to be physically strong. I wanted to test myself, see what I could do with these abilities I was given. Sitting in my room, playing video games for hours, wasn’t going to save the world.
Not that I thought little old me was going to become Earth’s champion alone, but I never wanted to be at the mercy of a demon again. I was tired of being scared and weak.
Chase gave a stunted laugh. “I’m not going to fight you, Angel Eyes.”
I tilted my head as we walked down my driveway toward the house. “Chase, this isn’t a joke.”
The half-grin faded from his lips, and he rubbed the back of his neck, eyeing me. “I can see that,” he said, but it wasn’t what he meant. He wasn’t taking me seriously.
I was going to have to find a way to change that. Whether Chase liked it or not, Hell was furious, and we were the prime targets. It suddenly became important I learn how to defend myself, instead of always looking for him to save me. “I’m stronger. If we’re going to beat Alastair, then I need to fight.”
His eyes darkened, flashing with a glint of gold. I could only guess that the idea of me fighting against his father didn’t make him happy. “I’d agree with you, but then we’d both be wr
ong.”
“Chase,” I whined. “Be serious.”
“No.”
I hated that single, short word. “No?” I echoed.
“No!” His voice got heated. “Any hero ideas you’ve conjured in that pretty head of yours, forget them. You’re not going anywhere near the bastard. Understood?”
I stepped forward, my eyes on his, completely undeterred. “You are being so unreasonable. I can do this, Chase. I’m not the same girl.”
We were toe-to-toe and his gaze softened. “I know, but I’ve come too close to losing you. I’m trying to keep you safe.”
It was going take a whole lot more than one of his dreamy looks to persuade me this wasn’t a good idea. My mind was set. I sighed. “You leave me no choice.” Sometimes the big dope needed to be forced, so I struck out, hitting him with a closed fist on the chest. It was a sad, feeble attempt, but hey, a girl had to start somewhere. And the idea was to provoke him, which normally wasn’t hard. Add my mouth to the equation and it was a done deal.
His lips thinned. “Angel,” he growled.
“What? Are you afraid I’ll kick your ass?” We both knew that wasn’t even a possibility, but…
“No. I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.”
“You already said that,” I pointed out.
“Then let me tell you again.” And he did. Three more times he said no.
When he finished, I said, “I heal, remember. Thanks to you.”
“How can I forget?” he mumbled, tangling a hand through his dark hair.
“I want to learn, Chase. I want you to teach me. You’re the best.”
A brisk fall breeze picked up the slight waves at the ends of his hair. “Flattery isn’t going to get me to teach you to fight.”
“How about this?” Unbidden, I took a step closer to him, pressing my lips softly to his. “Does that change your mind?”
His eyes were closed for a beat. Hard bands wrapped around my upper arms. “This is absurd.”
I angled my face to the side just so I could feel his breath on my cheek. Then I threw my elbow into his gut, not holding back. Touchdown. “Still think it’s absurd?”