by Eden Crowne
They held each other for a long time, the silence full of words unsaid. Words that did not need to be voiced to be heard. Evie shivered, feeling the chill at last though the rain had stopped. Trick gently withdrew, stopping to kiss her once more on each eye.
Buried in the sand and slightly singed, his shirt lay in a pile with some of their other clothes. Shaking it out, he ripped at one seam, clumsily fashioning an opening for her remaining wing and then buttoned it up over her chest.
“There, that'll do until we can get you some proper clothes.”
He dug out her short leather boots. Everything smelled like smoke. Her socks had disappeared somewhere in the melee as had his T-shirt and shoes.
“So now I work for...” he raised his eyes and pointed up.
She smiled, punching him playfully in the shoulder. “No silly, you work for me. By killing Marcus, I inherited your contract. Now that you're alive again. Whatever he promised you about your freedom was a lie. All contracts have to run their full term – even if you come back from the dead. 'Death' being a somewhat fluid term in our worlds. I'm the one who no longer directly works for...” she pointed up as well. “Or not until I get my wing back and redeem myself. A Celestial paid me a visit while you were, um, away. Apparently I need to learn humility.”
Despite the gravity of the situation, Trick couldn't stop a little snort of laughter.
Evie gave him an affronted stare.
Instantly he was all contrition, “No Evie, I didn't, I meant...”
Evie was nothing if not honest and couldn't help seeing the humor in it as well. “I know, right? Humility. Of all things. Going to be a long climb back up Jacob's Ladder for the both of us.”
“Was it because of you and I, because we had...”
“Sex?”
He reached out to wrap his hands around her head and bring her face closer, “We did not have 'sex', Miss Grace. We shared something far more significant than those three letters imply.”
Giving him a lingering kiss, she agreed. “I know, and no. That is not why I am being censured. I questioned my mandate.”
“I made you question your mandate.”
“Stop interrupting and let me finish!”
He made a zipping motion over his lips and she continued. “Passion, as I said, is part of what makes an Avenging Angel tick. That wasn't it. Nor that I questioned my orders. As it turns out, questioning is good. Who knew? Complacency is what's bad. And pride. That's worse. The Celestials felt I should have presented them with my doubts instead of just barging ahead, thinking I had all the answers. I'm a bit...”
“Pig headed? Stubborn?”
She glared at him and he made the zipping motion again. “I was going to say, independent, thank you very much. Anyway. I am in a heavenly time-out for now.”
“But we'll be together.”
“We will.”
“Then that's okay. We'll make it better, Evie.”
For a time they stood, staring out to sea, wrapped in each other's arms. “You're going to miss flying. I can teach you how to trance jump. Not as good as flying, I know.”
Without warning he was enveloped in a burst of white smoke shot through with bright flashes of gold. His arms dropped as Evie was suddenly gone. Just as quickly the smoke cleared only to burst out again. She waved from the top of a tall boulder farther down the beach. In a moment she was back by his side.
“Actually, I can still vaporate.”
“Okay, Angel cool factor still remains off the paranormal charts.”
He pointed to the leather scabbard at her side, her sword waiting for her in the sand. Indeed no other hand could raise it except hers. “They left you your sword as well.”
Lifting the sword, she slipped the bright blade back in the scabbard. “Though slightly altered, my mandate remains even in my tarnished capacity. Avenge the innocents.”
“And mine is to find the Baron and get your wing back.”
She nodded.
Trick's brows drew together in a look of worry; “He's not going to bring on the apocalypse now or anything is he?”
“The Baron? Oh honestly Trick, this isn't TV! You can't just 'bring on' an apocalypse. That being said, the Baron has waited thousands of years for that wing and I don't think it's so he can go joy riding over Disney World.” She stared out at the waves, her mind just as turbulent. How they were to take on a Fallen she couldn't begin to guess. “Even with my full powers I couldn't, I can't defeat him one on one.”
Trick flashed her his crooked smile, the one that made his eyes crinkle up at the corners. Walking over to the blackened circle of sand, he dug around until he found the leather case that had held the relic. As Evie watched, he seemed to work some hidden catch at the back of the case and a panel popped open. Just as before, a miasma of evil spilled out. Trick shut it quickly, rewrapping the leather straps covered in protective amulets, locking in the evil.
“To be honest, I left one little detail out of my story. There were two blades in that tiny Hungarian Church my Master apparently raided. I'm not sure if even your handlers knew that. One I was to use on the Angel. The other was for the Baron at some point. Like I said, Marcus had more than one game in play. He just hadn't figured on encountering the formidable Miss Evangeline Grace. Nor had I.”
She smiled at Trick. The odds were now just a little more in their favor.
He moved to hand the case to her, saying, “Be careful with it.”
She shook her head, “Keep it for me.”
Nodding solemnly, he acknowledged the trust she was placing in him. He slipped the spell-bound leather case into his jacket's inner pocket. The jacket had survived the burning more or less in intact.
“So if I'm not a Reaper and you're not an Avenging Angel, what exactly are we?”
She kissed him.
“Ah, that.”
He kissed her back, deeply. He had fallen so hard for this woman, he could hardly breath. Breaking away, he looked into her eyes, opened himself completely to that mesmerizing gaze. “Whatever else we are or become, I will forever and always be that for you, Evie.”
Staring back at him, soul to soul, she saw the truth of those words.
Kissing her again, he said, his lips still on hers, “Just please, as my new boss, promise me we don't have to go back to Arizona. I hate that damn desert.”
She laughed, loudly, joyously. The clouds lifted and the sun burst out, startling them with its brilliance. The sea shifted from gray to blue and Evie inexplicably felt full of hope. Holding hands, she and Trick jumped from the beach, heading for the Pacific Coast Highway. The road, like their future, stretching out before them in the new morning sun.
To be continued
Note from the author: Thank you for reading Fall From Grace. I hope you enjoyed the story and the characters.. I certainly had a good time writing about Evangeline and Trick and especially the Voodoo bail bondsman Roman Barracuda. I feel like if I hightailed it over to Compton, I just might see the sherbet-yellow house. I'm excited about continuing everyone's adventures as they search for the Fallen and Evie's lost wing.
Author Bio: Eden Crowne is from San Francisco, California. In her other life, she is an international journalist writing on technology, pop culture, trends, and travel in Asia. She calls Tokyo, Vienna, London and L.A. home. She loves traveling, champagne, hanging out with her kids, espresso at sidewalk cafes, people watching, really fast express trains, and laughing like crazy – though not always in that order.
If you are interested in receiving emails from Eden about new books, contests, story and character insights, and giveaways, please join her mailing list at: www.edencrowne.com.
Upcoming titles from Eden Crowne:
Dust to Dust, Book 1: Fangs For Your Memories
Fear Club, Book 1: Tokyo Masquerade
Deathgods, first in a series.
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