by Lesley Davis
“Daryl, does it hurt?” Blythe asked, her hand instinctively reaching out to her but pulling back at the last second as if fearing she’d disrupt what was taking place.
“It just feels like an enormous pressure on my shoulders trying to press me into the floor. My eyes are focusing like a zoom lens. Usually, this is where I focus in on a street name or on a location on a map. It doesn’t exactly hurt as just feels really strange. I’ve gotten used to it.” She shifted slightly and the feathers rippled on Virgil’s wing. “I’m just a little freaked that Ashley and Rafe can see something that I only feel.”
“Okay Virgil, point made. Get your face out of her head. You’re freaking me out,” Rafe grumbled before addressing Eli. “Damn glad you don’t pull that kind of stunt with Ashley.”
Eli raised a pale eyebrow at her. “Indeed.”
Daryl shrugged as the pressure eased off her shoulders as Virgil stepped back. Ashley noticed her eyes were back to normal and she didn’t display any lingering effects of what had just taken place. Ashley had never seen an angel interact with a human in quite that way before, and she was doubly impressed by the fact Daryl took it all in her stride and had never really questioned it.
“So now we know. Daryl has an angel who is a child finder. Could this job get any fucking weirder?” Rafe said.
Daryl reached out to catch at Blythe’s hand and pull her close. “Could you see anything?” she asked her.
Blythe shook her head sadly. “Just you getting a very intense look on your face. So now can you two let Daryl in on your part in her case?”
Ashley shot a look at Rafe who was looking resigned. “I think we have to, so there are no more misunderstandings.”
Blythe had the grace to look sheepish. “I’m sorry, but it’s been horrible hiding secrets from Daryl. I don’t want us to have that.” She lifted Daryl’s hand to her lips and kissed her knuckles softly. “We’re a team now.”
“Tell me what’s really happening here,” Daryl said. “I think I have a right to know what is going on concerning my case.”
“Your case is more than you’d ever realize.” Ashley couldn’t stop looking at Daryl’s angel. He was as handsome as Eli but not as tall. His light didn’t shine as brightly either, and he seemed younger, although she knew that angels never aged. He and Eli had some kind of silent conversation and then they disappeared. “Okay, the angels have just departed. It’s just us here now, and I think Daryl needs to be brought up to speed.”
Blythe leaned forward. “Are you going to show her what you can do? Because I think you might need to get all the fantastical stuff out of the way before you lay all the facts on her.”
Daryl’s eyes fixed on Ashley. “What can you do? Isn’t it enough you say you have a guardian angel too?”
Rafe let out a sharp laugh. “Oh, believe me, Detective, you haven’t seen anything yet.” She nudged Ashley. “Go on, blow her mind.” She leaned in to whisper in Ashley’s ear, making her shiver at the warm breath that tickled her. “And no Tomb Raider this time. It’s not fucking fair!”
Ashley laughed at the disgruntled look on Rafe’s face. “What’s your favorite film, Daryl?”
“Aliens.”
Rafe groaned. “Oh come on! You can’t pull a Weaver and not have me see it.”
Her disgruntled pout made Ashley chuckle.
“Sorry, Rafe, it’s another of your dream girls. One kick ass Ripley coming up,” Ashley announced and got her glamour on.
Chapter Twenty-four
Her head pounding from the stress that the evening had piled upon her, Daryl scrambled for some pain-killers from the medicine cabinet. She shook two tablets from the bottle and tossed them into her mouth, swallowing them down with a large gulp of water.
“How are you feeling?” Blythe asked from behind her.
“She turned into Sigourney Weaver right before my eyes. I mean, right before my eyes. How the hell do you ever explain that away?” Daryl closed her eyes but couldn’t exorcise what she had seen. From one second to the next, Ashley had changed into someone else. “I swear it feels like my head’s going to explode from all this.”
“It’s a very cool trick she has, isn’t it?”
Daryl appreciated Blythe trying to make it seem fun and exciting, but she didn’t think she could cope with any more. I have an angel. Oh my God, I have an angel.
“It’s terrifying. I mean, honestly, between that and the whole ‘we’re surrounded by angels and demons’ discussion I was privy to tonight, I have no damn clue who I am any more. I don’t know how Rafe copes. Her girlfriend shape shifts and is the product of an angel/human coupling.” Daryl picked up the bottle of pills again to see if she could take another dosage. Blythe took them firmly from her grasp.
“Rafe loves her and they have a great thing going. They fight demons together.”
“And what are we supposed to do now? Just continue on as if nothing has changed? I have an angel, for God’s sake. What kind of freak does that make me?”
“We do our job as usual. Only now, both of us are aware there’s an extra element to the case. And you are no freak. You never have been. You’re still you. Nothing changed except you know now where you get your talent from.”
“Lailah is a demon, according to Rafe.” Daryl still wasn’t sure if she could believe any of what she’d been told.
“Specifically a child-snatching demon working with a human partner who traffics the children on to new parents.”
“God, what did I start here?” Daryl leaned her head against the cool wall tiles and closed her eyes tight.
“You didn’t start anything; they did. You’re the one who’s going to put an end to it when we catch them in the act of giving us a child.”
Daryl cracked one eye open to look at Blythe. “How can you be so calm about all this? They announced I have an angel who follows me around and you don’t flinch.”
“I’ve known for a while that there was something special about you, darling. Today only confirmed it. Angel or not on your shoulder, I still love you.”
Daryl felt her heart soften. She needed to hear Blythe’s reassurance when her world had just been altered irrevocably. “Even though I stormed out like a five-year-old?”
“Oh, honey, wait until I pitch a fit over something. My mother used to say I had a temper as dark as my hair when it flares. As long as you always come back to me, nothing will change my love for you. I don’t care what superpowers you possess, what angel impresses on you, or any of that. I love you. I also need you to know that I didn’t reveal your dream to my friends to embarrass you. I did it because I felt it would help them understand you and, hopefully, help you too. I’d never do anything to hurt you, sweetheart, because I love you too damn much.” She laid a soft kiss on Daryl’s lips to seal that promise.
“I have to admit I felt betrayed.”
“I know, and I will never forgive myself for hurting you like that. It’s killed me keeping these demon secrets from you. I want to share everything with you. When you mentioned your dream, I thought I had the perfect chance to tell you what I’d been told.”
“Today started off so well,” Daryl muttered, leaning her head against Blythe’s shoulder seeking comfort. Blythe wrapped her arms around Daryl’s shoulders and cuddled her.
“Yes, we got our name on the baby snatching list and we made love. That was the best part of the whole day for me. You’re a fantastic lover. And your body is seriously hot, even in these unnecessary pajamas.” She plucked at the soft material Daryl was wearing.
Daryl grinned despite herself, her pulse starting to race as she remembered what they had shared together. She tightened her grip on Blythe’s hips, enjoying the feel of the soft silk that was Blythe’s short nightshirt. “You turn me on like no one else. But then I spoiled it all.”
“We’ll both take the blame and move on from it. What I really want us to do now is what my plan was for us this afternoon.”
“Which was?”
“T
o go to sleep with you in my arms.” Blythe drew Daryl’s head back so she could look into her eyes. “You need to rest. I can see the pain in your beautiful blue eyes.”
“It’s been a stressful day. Finding out my mom could see this Virgil as she was dying just blew me away.”
“I’m glad she did. That was the thing that made you finally believe what they were telling you, wasn’t it? That your mom knew your angel’s name.”
Daryl nodded. “The rest all just sounds like something from a horror film, but I was there when my mom died and I heard her last words. They make sense now.” She smiled sadly at Blythe. “Everything makes sense now.”
“Do you think you can cope knowing you have a silent partner?” Blythe led Daryl to the bedroom.
“I don’t honestly know. I’ve been alone so long, or so I thought, in my investigations that to realize there’s always been someone else helping me is a bit much to digest.” She shook her head in disbelief. “That’s without even going near the whole angel business that just boggles me beyond belief.” She got into bed, letting Blythe direct her. She was too tired to fight anything any more. Lying in Blythe’s arms, her head resting against Blythe’s breast, Daryl just wanted to close her eyes and go back to when Blythe had first told her she loved her. Just to freeze the moment and savor it. It had been perfect, and then all hell had broken loose.
Literally.
Blythe brushed her hand across Daryl’s brow. “Stop thinking so much. Close your eyes and sleep now. We’ll see what tomorrow brings soon enough.”
Daryl tightened her hold on Blythe’s waist and cuddled in closer. Everything she knew to be real was in her arms now. Everything else scared her and baffled her. She had a fleeting thought of her mother’s last words. Watch over her, Virgil. Now they made perfect sense, even though the situation hadn’t. I hope you’re watching over me too, Mom, because I don’t know how to believe in angels. That was your thing, not mine. You were the one that believed, and you taught me to respect, but I never truly understood your conviction that if you prayed you would get heard. Someone heard me, Mom, and I don’t know how to deal with that. I wish you were here to guide me. For a moment, Daryl felt something as if it had been spoken aloud to her, a conviction that left her in no doubt.
You already have a guide.
Daryl squeezed Blythe a little tighter, hoping that if she held on tight enough Blythe could keep her anchored to her side. It was the only place she felt safe now. Her safe, orderly world had shifted. There were angels and demons in attendance, and Daryl had never given them any thought in her life. Now they were all she could think of.
“Shush,” Blythe whispered, leaning over to turn out the light. “I can hear your thoughts from here clamoring inside your head. Get some sleep, and tomorrow we’ll face the new world together.”
Daryl laid her lips on Blythe’s breast and listened to the steady sound of her heart beating beneath her ear. It soothed her until, finally exhausted, she fell mercifully to sleep.
*
Even in slumber, Blythe’s arms had held Daryl close. Daryl awoke after a night where she’d swung between bouts of fitful sleeping and jerking awake with anxiety gnawing at her chest. Restless, she shifted back a little so she could feel Blythe’s body tighter behind her. She could feel the softness of Blythe’s breasts pressed against her and feel her breath tickling the back of her neck as she slept. The weight of Blythe’s arm across her hip was comforting. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes to the morning and began searching the room for the angel she was said to have attached to her. She saw nothing, felt nothing. She couldn’t even sense another presence in the room. Sighing, she leaned back even more into Blythe’s space and sought comfort from their position.
“You’re thinking too much,” Blythe said sleepily. “You haven’t slept more than a few hours either.” She shuffled closer to nuzzle Daryl’s ear. “Try to go back to sleep now. There’s nothing we have to do today. Just snuggle with me and sleep.”
Blythe’s voice was husky with fatigue. Daryl closed her eyes again, but her head was already wide-awake and processing all the information it had received the night before. Her eyes shot open as once again she surveyed the room.
“You know full well you can’t see him.” Blythe butted her head against Daryl’s shoulder.
“How the hell did you know my eyes were open?”
“Because I can feel you tense like you do when you’re working. You switch to investigative mode and your whole body becomes alert. It’s too early in the morning to be that alert.” She butted Daryl again. “Switch your brain off.”
“How can I believe in something I can’t see, Blythe?”
“You don’t have to whisper, darling. Remember Ashley told you he was only around you for the investigations and in times of stress.”
“Oh, I’d class this as a time of stress, wouldn’t you?”
“She stated that the angels do not watch over us in intimate times like the bedroom or the bathroom. Your angel is a ‘going to work’ angel, so the rest of the time you’re on your own.” She squeezed Daryl around her ribs. “Unless you’re with me, and then you’re never alone.”
“How can you believe so easily?”
“I’ve known Rafe for way too many years. What she told me sounds like something from a B-list horror movie plot, but she has never lied to me. I saw what Ashley can do. That’s not normal. I can’t explain it, I don’t think I can entirely wrap my head around it, but I know it’s real.”
“How can you be with someone who has something like this hanging over her?”
“Oh, sweetheart.” Blythe crowded in and rested her chin on Daryl’s shoulder and held her so tightly Daryl could only take small breaths. “Nothing would ever stop me from loving you. I knew you had a talent in your job before all this. It didn’t stop me from falling in love with you. It hasn’t changed you. You were special in my eyes way before it was revealed you have angelic assistance.”
“I’m frightened by what this means.” Finally admitting it out loud, Daryl closed her eyes and hugged Blythe’s arm to her.
“It just means there’s more to this world than we ever knew. We’ve always probably known, deep down, that there’s so much hidden from our human eyes. Now we’re aware of it.”
“But I can’t see it. If I can’t see it, how can I truly believe?”
“I think it’s a little something called faith, Daryl. Faith to believe in yourself and what you know to be true.”
“I don’t think I know what is real anymore.”
“Rafe had this information forced upon her because of nearly dying at the hands of a crazed demon. You, my sweet love, were gifted with it as a blessing. Your angel sought you out. He heard your prayer and came to assist you in finding the missing children. Maybe you don’t need to see him because you already see the truth of what you two can do together. You’ve seen him all along with your heart.”
Daryl digested this. She’d always felt safe when the weight had descended on her shoulders. She’d never felt frightened by the power she’d had gifted to her. “I really wish I could see him though. Ashley says he’s a handsome man with hair my color. I’ve never seen anyone with hair as pale as mine.”
“I think it’s cool you share that. It shows that this is meant to be. You have an angel, Daryl. But even if you didn’t, I’d still love you because, angelic BFF or not, you are all I could wish for.”
Daryl had to laugh at the best friend forever dig. “You’re picking up Rafe’s sarcastic wit,” she grumbled, turning in Blythe’s hold to face her. “I’ve always been different. From the time I began to aid my dad finding these kids, I’ve always been seen as a little odd. But I got the results so the comments were kept hushed and the cases were directed my way. I’ve always known it wasn’t just me. I tried to hide that fact by pouring all my energy into investigating the leads I got so that I wasn’t just pointing to a map and saying ‘let’s go here now’ and not having anything to back up my claim. But
no matter what, even with this knowledge, I’m still the odd one who can find children.”
“So you’re considered odd.” Blythe softened her words with a gentle kiss on Daryl’s mouth. “But you do your job. Your purpose on this planet is to find missing children. You have an angel who guides you to them. You have a calling. Not everyone can claim something so great.”
Daryl stared up at her. “Do you think I’m odd?”
“I think you’re gorgeous.” Blythe’s kiss developed into something much more amorous as she lowered herself onto Daryl’s chest and pinned her down. “I also think that if you’re not going to let us go back to sleep this morning that I should use the time more productively.”
“What do you have in mind?” Daryl was already tugging at the nightshirt that had ridden up Blythe’s hips and was in the way of where Daryl wanted her hands. She’d had enough thinking about her “calling.” Her libido was calling loud enough to drown her insecurities and fears out for now.
“I think I need to show you I can do soft and slow.”
Blythe’s lips took Daryl’s in a very soft, increasingly slow, sensuous kiss that dragged a moan from deep in Daryl’s chest. She gasped for breath when Blythe finally pulled back a fraction. “What if I don’t want soft and slow? You turn me on so much and I’ve been waiting for you for so long, all I want is for you to take me fast and hard to make up for lost time.” She loved the look that lit up Blythe’s dark eyes and made them smolder. She wanted to get closer to that flame and burn in it.
“I can do that too.” Blythe got up on her knees and whipped the nightshirt off. “Someone is determined that we aren’t going to sleep in late today so I should have plenty of time to do everything I want to do to you.”
Daryl shivered at the promise. She roughly tugged at her pajama shirt and was struggling with the shorts when Blythe’s mouth descended on her breasts and began to mercilessly tease at Daryl’s nipple. “Oh God,” Daryl moaned as the sensation sent shockwaves straight between her legs. She redoubled her efforts to get her shorts off fast.