by Missy Jane
“I told you, you don’t have a head injury.” He sighed again. “And I do, in fact, have wings.”
Firelight hit his back as he paced away. The thin outline of a finely etched pair of wings glimmered on his skin, and she blinked a couple of times before realizing they were really there.
Relief made her giddy, and she laughed. “Your tattoo.”
He faced her again. “It’s much more than a tattoo.”
Then his white wings were back, slowly rising past his shoulders and stretching across the room. Fire singed her lungs as every ounce of breath left her. Her heart raced, and panic seized her by the throat.
He froze and stared at her with his hands held up. “I would never hurt you, Eleanor.”
That actually calmed her. Despite the absolute unreality of the situation he was still Cam.
“Turn around, please.”
He complied and proved that, yes, the wings were fully attached. They melted into his skin seamlessly so she couldn’t tell exactly where they began. The feathers seemed to move to an invisible breeze, and she longed to touch them, but maybe it wasn’t safe. Maybe he wasn’t as safe as she’d always thought.
The image of another pair of wings from another time popped into her mind out of nowhere, and she gasped. She covered her eyes with one hand and rubbed the other over her chest to soothe her still-racing heart. He faced her again, concern on his face, but she ignored it.
“What are you, Cam? Why do you have wings, and what else can you do besides fly? And pull swords and armor out of thin air?”
He took a deep breath, and his wings disappeared. Then he dragged the coffee table closer to her and sat on it.
She listened closely as he explained that he wasn’t actually human.
No, of course not.
The seven Maxwell brothers were actually Archangels. They had been living as humans in this realm for centuries and changed their personas every ten to twelve years to keep the humans around them from realizing they weren’t aging. That’s why he had “retired”—because it was time for him to make that change. That’s why he’d disrupted her happy life by laying her off. So he could become someone else.
Anger filled her. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
He stopped his explanation and blinked. “Excuse me?”
“You really mean to tell me you think your clients would notice you’re not aging? That’s why I’m unemployed?”
He blinked again then choked out a laugh. “That’s what you got out of that whole explanation? That I let you go?”
“Well, no, that’s not all, of course, but… I loved my job, Cam. It really hurt when you said you were retiring. None of your clients have even been around for ten years.”
After staring at her a moment he started laughing. He wrapped his arms around his belly and let his head fall back as he laughed and laughed.
“Oh, you…asshole.” She grabbed a pillow off his sofa and threw it at him hard enough that it knocked him backward off the coffee table. “Hah. Not so strong are you?”
Still laughing, he climbed to his feet. “Yeah, actually I am. You just got in a lucky shot.”
“Oh…whatever.”
He chuckled a bit more before his amusement finally ebbed. “I’m really sorry, Eleanor. I didn’t mean to upset you so much by sending you away. I thought I was keeping you safe. My brother Rafe has had a terrible feeling the past month, and I was worried something bad was coming. And it looks like we were right. I do need to change personas but could’ve waited another year. I just wanted to get you away from me while it was still safe.”
That deflated her a bit. “Oh.”
He shook his head. “I guess I wasn’t quick enough. Despite everything, you’ve still become a target, and I don’t know why other than your association with me. I’m really sorry.”
Guilt ate at her as she watched emotions cross his face. He thought it was all his fault just because he was an angel. But she had a past he knew nothing about.
When it came to the war between good and evil, she had become a player at a very young age.
Those memories were pushed deep down so they wouldn’t keep her up at night, but it wasn’t hard to set them free and drown in them. She had to be very careful not to let the bad stuff creep in and take her over completely. Maybe it was time for her own confession.
“Anyway,” he said, “you now know my deep, dark secret. Mine and my brothers’, actually. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this has to remain a very well-kept secret, right?”
She frowned and considered throwing another pillow at him. “Of course not. I’m not an idiot. No one would believe me anyway. I’m not sure I even believe, and I just saw you sprout wings…again.”
But she couldn’t mention that this wasn’t the first time she’d seen something so unbelievable. If anything, his being an angel was a relief in comparison.
He grinned. “I know you’re not an idiot. But strictly speaking, I’m not supposed to reveal my true nature to anyone. It’s against our unwritten rules.”
“Will you get into trouble?”
“No. Mike will understand. He might give you a hard time about it though. Just be honest. We can tell immediately if someone is lying.”
“What else can you do?”
He sat on the coffee table again, only a foot of space separating them.
“Telepathy, telekinesis, moving between one realm and the next, superior senses and strength. I can look at most people and know at once if they’re good or evil, for the most part. Very few are solely one or the other. You’re a rare exception.”
That almost made her forget his list of unbelievable abilities. “Oh?”
“You radiate pure goodness. Like freshly poured snow, your aura glows white as a beacon in the darkness around you.”
A shiver raced down her spine, and she shook her head. “No. That can’t be true.”
“I assure you I would know if it wasn’t. You’re one of the kindest, gentlest, and most caring people I’ve ever met. Why wouldn’t you believe that?”
She hugged herself tightly, and her breath hitched. “You don’t know. You don’t understand. I was bad… I was a very bad little girl.”
He shook his head, pulled her arms open, and held her hands. “I find that very hard to believe. Remember, I’ve encountered millions of humans throughout my existence. I know what true evil looks like, including bad little girls. You’re not one of them.”
“But I…” She pulled her hands away and stood, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. She couldn’t look at him when she confessed her greatest sin. She couldn’t stand to see him look at her with hate and distrust. “I’m the worst kind of person. When I was little, I killed my mother.”
Breathing became a struggle, and her lungs burned with the effort, but she had to let him know the truth. The image of her as a beacon of purity and light was ridiculous considering her past. Shame infused her like an ache in her bones, and she couldn’t bring herself to face him again.
…
Even as his heart raced at her words, Cam knew Eleanor’s statement to be false. But the conviction in her voice and eyes, her very aura, told him she wholeheartedly believed it to be the truth. Had she somehow been given false memories? There were too many possible scenarios to guess.
He stood and grasped her elbows, steering her back to the sofa. “Why don’t you tell me everything that happened? I need a full explanation, from the beginning.”
She sat but immediately shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to think about it, to remember. It was so horrible. I just can’t go back to that ever again.”
His frustration conflicted with his urge to care for her. Her emotions were all over the place and volatile. Shame and guilt warred with fear and anger. Pushing her right now could have dire consequences.
“Getting it off your chest might help.”
She covered her mouth on a sob and shook her head again. “That’s the co
unselor in you talking.”
Unexpected anger hit him. “No, this is your friend talking. I care about you. You know that.” She gave him a strange look, and he felt her skepticism. Did she honestly think he didn’t care about her? He gave in to the urge to close the distance and sat beside her. She watched him warily as he ran a finger down one side of her face. “I really do care about you. Any time I might have seemed distant, it was because I was trying not to get too close to you. Now that you know about me being an angel, I don’t have to worry so much about distancing myself from you.”
She glanced down at her lap as he dropped his hand. “Just maybe give me some time, huh? I need to…get everything straight.” She grasped her head in both hands. “In here. I’ve pushed the memories away for a very long time. I need to think things through.”
Leaving her to her thoughts was the last thing he wanted to do, but she obviously needed time and space. Forcing her wouldn’t help matters, he would have to be patient. He pulled her hands away from her head and gave them a reassuring squeeze.
“All right. I need to listen in on the assembly anyway. It’ll be starting soon, so my attention is going to be spilt.” But he didn’t move away as indecision warred inside him.
“Assembly?”
“Yeah, Mike called a bunch of angels together from all over the U.S. They’re called Watchers. He’s going to get input on the earthquakes and see if any weird stuff has been happening that we don’t already know about.” He hesitated. “It’s probably going to take a couple of hours at least.”
A weak smile finally graced her lips. “I’m fine. Really. Go ahead.”
He looked into her watery eyes and tenderly wiped the moisture from beneath one of them. “Okay, but we really need to talk…about your past.”
She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. “I’d rather not.”
He sighed. “I wouldn’t ask you to relive bad memories if it wasn’t extremely important.”
“I know what I’ve said is probably eating at your curiosity, but is it really important for you to know the details?”
He nodded grimly. “Not just to me. Possibly to everyone. Mike certainly needs to know so we can figure out if it has anything to do with the current threats against you.”
She looked away.
“But it can wait for a bit, okay, sweetheart? I’m going to listen in on the assembly while you rest.”
She gave him an odd look. “Okay.”
He kissed her forehead and stood, then left the room. Walking away from her was a lot harder than he’d expected, and the urge to say damn the gathering and turn around froze him in his tracks. What was wrong with him? Yes, he cared about her, but it was the same surface emotion that he felt for many humans. Wasn’t it? He might’ve known her for four years, but there was nothing more than a professional relationship between them.
Not anymore.
He closed his eyes, and the image of her red lace-covered form filled his mind. A groan escaped, and he opened his eyes to stare sightlessly at the empty hallway.
“What the fuck is wrong with me?” he mumbled.
With a frustrated sigh, he headed to find a comfortable spot to relax and listen in on the rally. His unexpected feelings for Eleanor would have to wait.
Chapter Five
Cam sat, unmoving, with his mind wide open to Sel, Uri, and Mike. The assembly was in progress with Watchers present from all over the U.S. Mike led the talks, but others stepped forward to speak about troubling events in their areas that seemed out of the ordinary. A representative from Europe listened in as well and sometimes spoke directly into Mike’s mind. Cam could hear his skepticism.
We have no reason to believe this is anything other than a natural weather phenomenon, as it is happening only on American soil, Michael. Don’t you think an assembly was a little…hasty?
“No,” Mike replied. “It’s been too long since our last gathering, and evil permeated the fissure here. Natural phenomenon or not, the fissures have created a crack in the realms that must be mended.”
He spoke for all to hear, and no one else replied against him.
Cam wondered at the negativity from their European brethren. He had never met this particular Watcher, however, in the past, many had followed Mike’s lead without a moment’s hesitation. Had something changed over the past few hundred years?
“Armoros stirs, and his followers wait impatiently for a chance to free him into the human realm,” Mike said. “We must be vigilant, more watchful than ever before, and fully aware of his movements.”
“We are to watch and guide from a distance, no more,” someone called out.
This was the crux of their problem with most of the angels present—Watchers had been created to do exactly as their name suggested: watch. However, over the centuries, many of them had taken a more hands-on role with the humans around them. They righted wrongs and meted out justice, acted as humans in order to coexist and be an influence of good against the evil, helping out where they could while pretending they were only human.
Then there were the Watchers who stuck to the original credo under which they’d been created—they stood watch over the humans in their midst and merely remembered all the rights and wrongs. When true evil presented itself, they reported back to the Source and listened in vain for a voice that had gone silent. They did no more and no less, which would be very little help in the coming struggle against Armoros and his legions.
“We must be vigilant in our efforts to keep the demon from gaining a foothold in this realm ever again,” Mike said. “Every one of you knows the consequences of a high-level demon walking amongst humans. For those who choose to remain unseen, continue to watch. But tell us as well as the Source what you observe. Keep my brothers and me informed since we can’t be everywhere and see everything for ourselves.”
“There is another concern, brother,” called out a Watcher from the north.
“Yes, Noah?” Mike asked.
All eyes turned to Noah as he stood. “What has long been thought to be random acts of violence among the humans may be more. Other Watchers in my area and I have been tracking disappearances for the past few years, and there are too many similarities for there not to be a common link. I’m bringing this up here and now, because it escalated mere days before the quakes, and bodies were found near one of the sites. The humans don’t know of it yet. We’ve been studying the site for answers, but if there are more mass burials, then we may have found how these fissures were opened.”
Murmurs spread throughout the assembly, and Cam felt how it disturbed his brothers.
“We must speak more of this,” Mike said.
Noah gave him a nod then sat back down. Mike resumed talking.
Cam continued to listen as he used his brothers’ sight to glance around the assembly. They filled the Astrodome’s seats and large floor. All eyes tracked Mike as he spoke. Most seemed to be listening attentively, but doubt crossed a few faces as well. Perhaps it had been too long since Mike had led these very angels into battle against a legion of evil. Perhaps in the vast centuries, a few had forgotten what that evil could and would do if given half the chance.
Cam pulled out of his brothers’ minds and stood to stretch out the kinks of sitting for multiple hours in one spot. He groaned and closed his eyes to listen to the silence of his home. Then there was a noise.
He was halfway through the room before he remembered that Eleanor was somewhere in the house. That froze him in place, and he abruptly turned to head into another room. Constantly forgetting about her couldn’t be a natural occurrence, and now that he knew she’d been targeted by a mid-level demon he needed to find out more. Angels didn’t forget things easily. Forgetting the beautiful Eleanor for even a moment was a crime. Time to find the remedy.
He found the book that had part of the answer, and it led to two more. After an hour of research, he realized what was going on. Luckily, becoming aware of the geas that had been placed on her made it lose
some of its power—he wouldn’t easily forget her ever again. He replaced his books and slowly made his way through the house to find her. Anticipation filled him at the thought of seeing her again.
Why had that never happened before? She hadn’t changed physically, but it seemed his awareness of her had increased a thousand-fold. Was it because she was in danger? Or because of the geas?
As he climbed the stairs, he mulled that over. He had helped and saved beautiful women before without being physically attracted to them. But he had to admit that something about Eleanor intrigued him and made him want to be around her more, to touch her and make her smile. His quiet Elle was an enigma he wanted to learn and keep close.
…
Eleanor ran her hands over the array of books before stopping at one large, ancient tome. She’d been exploring for hours and had finally found the treasure trove, a room full of ancient texts and scrolls. Some of the books were ancient leather that creaked when she tried to move them. Many were locked in glass cases that she imagined must be temperature controlled. No way would paper that appeared older than time itself be able to handle the humidity in the area otherwise. Up until now she hadn’t given more than a cursory glance to any of them, but this one definitely intrigued her.
Carefully, she moved it to a large table in the middle of the room and slowly opened it. The pages were thick and faded with age, but still colorful. The script looked like calligraphy, and she couldn’t make out a single word. But the pictures! The painted images of angels in every shape and size filled most of the book. The scenes depicted them in every aspect of living, fighting, working alongside human men and women. And loving them.
One page made her blush as she viewed the image of an angel in bed with a human woman. His long, brown hair and muscular physique made her think of Cam, and her face heated. She ran the tips of her fingers along his white wings and shivered. What would it be like to have all his attention on her like in the image?
The painted angel had both hands on the woman’s breasts as he leaned over her on an opulent rug. Her head was back, mouth slack and eyes closed in ecstasy. His eyes burned a brilliant copper as he gazed at his sensual feast. Eleanor’s blood boiled, pooling in low places as she thought of Cam’s eyes, Cam’s heated gaze.