Angel Warriors

by Stephani Hecht

  “Why would the council give a rip about that?” Cam asked.

  Appolion raised a dark brow and gave a snide grin. “The council thinks that using holy water is too human from what I hear. Angels can be so hypocritical.”

  Abdiel took his longsword and handed it to Appolion. The younger angel took it and shot off a confused look.

  “What’s this for?” he asked.

  “I want you to have this. You need a proper weapon if you’re going to be out here alone.”

  “I can’t take this. I know how you archangels treasure your swords. You guys treat them like they’re your dic—” He stopped and flashed a guilty grin in the female’s direction. “You treat them like they’re your right hand.”

  “You’re more important to me than any weapon. I just hope someday you realize that.”

  Appolion took the sword and looked down at the gleaming blade. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times like he was trying to think of the right way to thank Abdiel.

  As usual, Gabi the diplomat, found a way to ease the awkwardness. “Why don’t you tell Abdiel the good news, Appolion?”

  “You sure?” he asked her. When she nodded, he announced, “You and your mate are having a baby, Abdiel.”

  “Really, is he right?” Abdiel grabbed Gabi and made her look at him. When she smiled in response, he pulled her into a tight embrace.

  “It’s going to be a boy,” Appolion added. “He’s going to have Rachael’s blue eyes.”

  “You mean your blue eyes too.” Abdiel smiled when Appolion gave him a dismissive wave. “Maybe he’ll sing his own soundtrack too, just like his Uncle Appolion.”

  Cam rolled his cat eyes. “The last thing we need is another angel karaoke machine.”

  “Please,” Appolion rolled his own eyes. “Don’t let him hang around with his Uncle Cam too much or else the kid will be hooked on hockey and female demons. Keep the kid around Rachael. She’ll make sure he’s halfway decent.”

  With those parting words he flashed out of the street leaving them standing there alone.

  The first thing Gabi wanted to do once she got home was take a nice, long shower and wash all the demon gore out of her hair. As soon as she flashed herself into the kitchen, she heard the T.V. blaring. She turned and frowned at the others.

  “Did one of you guys forget to turn the set off?” she asked them.

  “It’s Ana.” Cam sighed.

  Now why the hell was she here at this time? They all went to the living room to find out. The usually graceful and regal angel was sitting with her head hanging off the end of the couch and her feet propped up against the back. Her hair was loose for once, and Gabi could not help but admire how beautiful it looked when it was free. The honey-blonde locks were soft, curly and streaked with both highlights and lowlights. Gabi wondered why Ana chose to always pull it up in a tight bun when most females would give their hind teeth for hair like that.

  Instead of her usual formal white, she wore a pair of blue jean shorts and a Red Wings shirt. She had fuzzy, pink bunny slippers on her feet. All around her were wrappers from various candy bars and empty chip bags. She pumped Skittles into her mouth. Gabi and the other three angels just stared at Ana in shock.

  “You guys stink,” Ana said in way of greeting. She never took her eyes of the T.V.

  “We’ve been kind of busy tonight,” Cam said warily.

  “I know. You guys destroyed some demons.” She made a sarcastic yippie motion with her finger. “Quick someone call CNN. It’s not going to do any good you know. There will be more stepping up to take their place. Demons reproduce faster than bunnies.”

  “Well aren’t you in a foul, rank mood,” Cam snapped at her. “Besides it wasn’t just any demons, it was Douma and Forcas.”

  “Oh.” Her blue eyes grew wide. “I just picked up that you destroyed some demons. I didn’t know that it was The Brothers Grimm.”

  “What do you mean ‘picked up’ Ana?” Cam narrowed his eyes at her. “Only a telepath could do that.”

  She took off one of her bunny slippers and threw it at him. “Because your big spinster of a sister is good for something besides wiping snotty noses and getting you guys out of trouble. Did it ever occur to you that you might not be the only telepath in the family?”

  “Since when have you been a frigging telepath?” Cam asked.

  “I’ve always had some ability, but it’s always been very weak.” She shot him an accusing glare. “But not thanks to you my mind has more traffic in it than Woodward Avenue.”

  “What did I do?” Cam was indignant.

  Rachael gave a knowing chuckle. “When you kept going into her mind you inadvertently taught her how to create and maintain a physic connection. Way to go, Einstein.”

  “But I didn’t do it on purpose,” Cam protested. He still was holding the pink bunny in his hand, he pointed it at Ana. “She never told me she was physic.”

  “That’s because I didn’t even know myself, not really.” Ana rifled through the empty wrappers before finally finding a full one. She ripped it open with her even, white teeth. “I always assumed that it was wistful thinking on my part. Remember Mom was such a powerful telepath and I have always wanted so bad to be just like her. Like I told you before the power was very weak. I kept telling myself that I was imaging things.”

  “Is that why you’re on my couch pigging off?” Gabi could not help but smile at the sight of Ana putting an entire peanut butter cup in her mouth at once.

  “No it’s not the reason why,” Ana said in a garbled voice. “But you guys really need to take a shower before we talk anymore. You smell like burned garbage and it’s making me lose my appetite.”

  “I can tell,” Abdiel drawled out.

  Ana raised one long, elegant middle finger up at him. Cam hooted in laughter before tossing the bunny slipper back at her head.

  It was several minutes before they had all cleaned up and met in the living room again. Rachael had gotten a whole gallon of ice cream out of the freezer and her and Ana were eating it straight from the carton. Cam sat on the other side of the room with a travel coffee mug in his hands that Rachael had forced him to take. With each sip his color improved, and the shakes started to leave. Abdiel sat down on the couch and Gabi settled into his lap.

  “Cam,” Rachael said slowly. “Every time we’re home, you get all cranky and pasty looking. Is the house making you sick?”

  “You’re a telepath so you should already know the answer to that question,” Cam’s tone was as sour as the look on his face.

  “It’s the protective spells isn’t it?” Gabi asked him the color draining from her face.

  “Yeah,” he admitted. “The little monster in me doesn’t like the shielding chants. It’s no big deal though I’m adjusting.”

  “We could weaken them,” Abdiel offered. “It might help some.”

  Cam shook his head. “You’ve got to protect Gabi and Rachael not to mention the future Baby Dark Angel. Don’t worry about me. I’ll deal with it just fine.”

  At the mention of his child, Abdiel put his hand protectively on Gabi’s stomach. Even though it was still flat and there was no indication that a baby was in there, he didn’t doubt Appolion’s words for a second. Wow, I’m going to be a father.

  “I’m all out of food,” Ana complained.

  “I’ll go get you my stash from my room,” Cam offered.

  “That was your stash,” Ana moaned as she held her stomach. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  “Serves you right, you little hog,” Cam shot back with an amused glint in his eyes. “Are you going to tell us why you’ve gone on this bender or not?”

  “I got sacked,” Ana wailed. Rachael threw her arms around the crying female and tried to comfort her.

  “I thought that you quit the council. How can they fire you?” Cam was clearly angry that anybody would upset his sister.

  “Not from the council,” she sobbed. “They told me that my services as a
justice angel are no longer needed.”

  “It’s because of me isn’t it?” Cam closed his eyes and let out a disgusted sigh.

  “Actually you’re name did even come up in the conversation. They refused to tell me why. I just got my walking papers.”

  “Come on Ana cheer up,” Gabi urged. “Don’t let those bastards get you down.”

  “It’s not just that, Gabi,” Ana said with a delicate sniff. “Today I dropped Barakiel off at his new home in Flint. It wasn’t until I met his big, bad archangel and his Britney Spears look-a-like healer that it finally settled in. All my brothers are gone.”

  “His healer looks like Britney Spears?” Rachael asked.

  “Yes, the early skinny one not the later fat, post-Kevin one,” Ana told her.

  “Okay back on topic guys.” Cam rubbed his forehead. “Why would the fact that we are all gone bum you out? I would think that you would be glad to get rid of us.”

  Ana took a shaky breath before she continued. “I sat there in that cold, empty house and realized that after all these years, I have nothing. My whole life has always been you boys, the council, and being a justice angel and now all that’s gone. I’m nothing but an old spinster. I may as well go out and buy twenty cats and get it over with.”

  “You know what you need?” Rachael announced. “A girl’s day out. Tomorrow, you and I are going to get all gussied up and hit the mall. Nothing like shopping yourself silly and having male humans ogling you to make you feel better.”

  “Please Rachael,” Ana said dryly. “No male has ever ogled me, demon, angel or human.”

  “That’s because you’ve always kept you best assets hidden,” Rachael argued. “You need to let that gorgeous hair of yours down more. Not to mention you’ve got a killer set of gams. You borrow one of my skirts and we’ll see how much attention you get.”

  “No way, Ana,” Cam ordered. “You are not stepping foot outside of the house in one of her outfits. I forbid it.”

  “You forbid it?” Ana arched a brow at him. “You forget that I was the one who changed your diapers, little male.”

  “Abdiel,” Cam groaned. “Ya wanna help me here?”

  “Sorry bud,” Abdiel told him, thoroughly enjoying the archangel’s discomfort. “You’re on your own.”

  “Rachael, stay away from my sister. You’re a bad influence.”

  Rachael wrinkled up her little, button nose and stuck her tongue out at Cam. The young archangel stuck his tongue out back at her. Abdiel let out a loud bark of laughter. Cam was easily six-foot four and every inch hard muscle. His black tee shirt and leather pants added to his bad ass look and that was even before you tossed in the fangs. The sight of this menacing warrior sticking his tongue out like a kindergartner was hilarious. Soon the entire room cracked up, Cam included.

  “I wouldn’t nag too much if I were you anyways, Cam,” Ana said. “Not with the way you’ve been carrying around with that female demon.”

  Cam’s jaw dropped open before he recovered and snapped it shut. “You know about that, huh?” He looked down at the ground.

  Ana let out an aggravated breath. “I knew the very first time when we came to pick you up from that warehouse.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” Cam startled to shuffle his feet. Old habits died hard.

  “What was I supposed to say?” Ana shot him an incredulous look. “Hi Cam, nice to see that you finally got laid.” That would have been just a little awkward.”

  Gabi ducked her head into Abdiel’s shoulder so that Cam wouldn’t see her laughing at his completely dumbfounded look. Abdiel wasn’t as considerate. He smirked right in the young archangel’s face. Cam shook his head before he leaned forward and put a bullet on the coffee table. He sat back and shot a questioning look at his older sister.

  “Do you know what this is?” he asked her.

  “Duh, it’s a bullet.” She shrugged her shoulders as she looked at him like he had lost all of his marbles.

  “It’s just not any bullet, Ana.” Cam fixed her with a stern look. “It’s a bullet that’s been infused with holy water.”

  “Where in the hell did you get that?” She picked up the bullet and looked closer at it. “Did you go to some freaky vampire fan convention or something?”

  “We got them from Appolion tonight.” As he talked, Cam watched her face closely, looking to see what her reaction would be. “Guess what? They work. What I want to know is did you know anything about this? Appolion said that the council knew all about holy water working.”

  Ana gave him a hurt look. “Do you really think I would keep something like this from you boys? My God Cam, every day I worry that something is going to happen to you or one of your brothers. I would never hide a potential weapon from you guys. I love you too much.”

  “What about angel’s blood?” Cam took her hand in his and gave it a slight squeeze. “Do you know anything about that being sold on the black market?”

  “Why would that be sold on the black market?” Ana’s face grew pale. “Aren’t you the only one who needs it?”

  “No Ana, it seems that rogues and some demons use it in order to delay the change.”

  Gabi cast a worried look at Ana before she added. “Is it possible that some members of the council kept this from coming out? Would there be anything for them to gain from keeping us in the dark?”

  “Yes, I can see certain members using this information to manipulate others.”

  “How would that help them?” Rachael asked.

  “For starters, they now know a major weakness of a member of the Order.” Ana went over to Cam and gently stroked his face. “They know that Cam needs angel’s blood to survive. They could possibly hope to manipulate the market and control Cam by cutting off his supply. We didn’t tell anyone that we were donating our blood to him, so they may think that the black market is the only way he can get it.”

  “What do they have against the Order?” Gabi wondered out loud.

  “I have a some ideas,” Ana snapped. “Give me a few days to prove them though. They’ve gone and pissed me off which is a big mistake.”

  “Would you mind watching over Chip and Dale here for a few days, Ana?” Abdiel pointed at Rachael and Cam. “I’m taking my mate on a honeymoon. Now that my brothers are dust, we might actually get some time off.”

  “Go have fun, you kids deserve it,” Ana replied with a wicked smile.

  Cam and Rachael started to argue that they didn’t need a babysitter, but it was a waste of their breath. Abdiel had already flashed himself and Gabi out of there.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “Suck me, Empath King.”

  Cam was back at the neutral bar again, and this time he was with three succubi. He had slipped Mangus a wad of cash in order to use the demon’s back office, and it was a damn good thing he had done so. It would have been a might bit crowded in the bathroom. Cam still did not know how he had ended up with the trio. It had originally only been him and Lilith going at it but, but after a few rounds, the blonde demon had left. The others had come in, one by one, and Cam wasn’t about ready to turn down a free meal.

  Right now he was only using one of the females, a real flexible redhead. He had her pinned down to the ground in the missionary position. An oldie, but a goodie. The other two were sitting close by, naked, watching them.

  One of the voyeurs, a tall brunette, must have gotten sick of waiting her turn because she came up to Cam and stretched out over his back. Cam moaned aroused further by the sensation of her soft body and breasts pressing into his back while yet another warm body was underneath him. Cam reached his hand back and stroked her finely shaped rump, lest she think he did not appreciate her efforts, all the while still screwing the first demon. He could feel the redhead tighten around him as she started to come.

  “Suck me,” she commanded again.

  So Cam bit her in the neck. He meant only to take a little bit. He had already drank so much demon blood tonight that everything was
starting to get hazy, but she grabbed him by the back of the head and jerked his fangs deeper. Cam both tasted and felt her come then and that was enough for him to join her. The brunette reached down and gently squeezed his balls, giving him the orgasm of his life. He felt her fangs sinking into his back as she drank from him even as he was feeding off the redhead.

  No sooner had he finished than the brunette grabbed him by the shoulder and threw him on his back. Before one could say, “What da fuck?” she had already straddled him and was riding him. The fact that he was already hard and ready to go again didn’t surprise him. Ever since his transformation, he couldn’t get enough sex. In fact, he craved it almost as much as blood. But he was tired, damn tired. He had let the demons take too much of his blood. Derel had warned him about this when he saw Cam coming home almost every night with bite marks. He had said that if he let them feed too much from him or if he took in too much demon blood, it could throw his whole body out of whack. Dumbass that he was, he had gone and done both tonight.

  As soon as the brunette finished using his body, he scrambled to his feet and pulled his clothes on. The room spun in slow, lazy circles, and his head felt fuzzy. He had never been drunk before, but he was pretty damn sure this is what it felt like. He steadied himself by putting a hand on the wall and tried to act casual.

  “I’ll be right back,” he told his demon posse. He would just go out, drink some angel blood, and then he would be back in shape. He wasn’t about to call it a night yet.

  The one female demon that he had not taken yet came up and pressed her naked body against him. “You can’t leave.” She pouted and ran her hands over the bulge in his pants. “I haven’t had my turn.”

  Cam chucked her softly on the cheek. “I’ll be gone for only five minutes. Just make sure that you’re ready for me when I come back.”

  “What are we supposed to do while we’re waiting for you?” The brunette frowned.

  “Keep yourselves occupied.” Cam smiled as a wicked thought came to his addled mind. “Better yet, keep each other occupied.”