The three of us watched in hypnotized silence, our mouths full. Lacey was the first to swallow. “You should talk to people who knew her around the time she would’ve conceived. See if anyone remembers a guy hanging around. Maybe someone who seemed overly interested in her.”
“Yeah, okay,” I said. It was a good idea, but who was close enough to my mother twenty-three years ago who might’ve known she was with someone other than my dad?
Mom had been married for eight years when I was conceived. Lacey would’ve been six. I’d seen pictures. There was one of my parents sitting on a glider at Grammy’s house with Lacey climbing up on their laps. Mom’s sister, Aunt Sara, and her husband, Uncle Greg, were standing behind them.
Maybe Aunt Sara knew who my father was and didn’t realize it. It was worth a shot. Hell, it was the only shot I had. At the very least, she could clue me in on who else I might ask.
“So, how’d the boyfriend take it?” Lacey asked.
“Huh?”
“Your client’s boyfriend. How’d he take finding out the daughter wasn’t his?”
“Oh. Not well,” I said, then I realized this could be another chance to use the fake client to my advantage. “In fact, he was pretty freaked. Yeah, she, um, had to take out a restraining order on him. And, uh, so did I.”
“What?” Mom and Lacey said in unison. They both stared at me, their faces mirror images, both creased with worry.
“Yeah, he blames me for not figuring out who she cheated on him with,” I said, taking a quick swig of soda, giving me time to form a plausible story. “He thinks I’m holding out on him to protect her and the other guy.”
“Well, that’s nonsense,” Mom said. “How could you possibly know? You’re not psych—”
Awkward pause.
“Did he threaten you?” She used her mother lion voice, like she’d tear anyone to pieces if they dared touch her baby.
My mom’s awesome.
“Not just me. He threatened my family, too, unless I told him what I knew,” I said. The lie was beginning to sour in my belly. I had to protect them on the chance Liam was right about demons trying to get to me through my family. But I couldn’t remember a time I’d lied to my mother and it had turned out well.
“You told him you faked it, right?” Lacey said. “I mean, you told him it was all for fun. That you can’t really tell people’s futures or explain the problems in their love lives or any of that junk. You told him you couldn’t possibly know if she cheated on him except for what the DNA test proved, and that wasn’t your fault.”
“Uh…no.”
“Emma,” Lacey said, like she was about to punch me in the arm.
“Lacey, I can’t ever say anything like that and then expect to be taken seriously in this business.” Never mind that it was a moot point.
“Whatever,” she said. Lacey knew the truth. I just weirded her out sometimes.
“Besides,” I said, “I don’t think he’s that much of a threat. The only reason I’m telling you guys is so you can keep an eye out. Just in case. I doubt he’ll bother you, but if you see someone hanging around that seems kind of…off, male or female, don’t let yourself be alone with them.”
“Why female?” Lacey asked.
Because demons can take any form. And I like you with a head. “Because he might…he might use a friend to get around the restraining order. I’m covering all the bases. Okay?”
“We’ll be fine. Lacey has a different last name, and I live an hour away,” Mom said, always the voice of reason. “He’d never find us, even if he bothered to try. Don’t worry about it.”
Maybe she was taking this a little too casually. I didn’t want them to be afraid to leave their homes, but they’d have to be on guard when they did.
“Right.” I sighed. There was nothing I could say that wouldn’t tip the balance too far one way or the other. So I just took a bite of my ginormous sandwich.
“So, Emma Jane,” Mom said, and I felt my gut tighten at the familiar tone. “Are you dating anyone new?”
Angels, illorum, and demons be damned, some things never change.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“You’re late.”
I checked my watch. “Only a half hour.”
Tommy opened his arms, his sword loose in his hand. “Yeah?”
My brain shifted. Oh, crap. The Hellsbane family time issue strikes again. I’d become my mother. “Right. Sorry. I overslept.”
“You were sleeping?” Tommy said, crestfallen. “It’s three am, and I’ve been standing on this overlook for almost an hour. You think I don’t need sleep?”
“I said sorry.”
“Sure. Whatever.” He sliced the air with his sword, obviously still angry.
“Hey, this was your idea. Mount Washington isn’t my neighborhood,” I said.
“Yeah, I know. You’re right.” He looked dutifully pitiful. “I’m so whipped. Just got off work. I wanted to get some training in with you before I hit the sack. My apartment’s like two blocks away, but I don’t have a backyard. This was the first place I thought of. After this, I’m hitting the sack.”
I shrugged. “It’s okay. I love it here. This place is kind of visually epic, you know?”
With the Appalachian foothills as an observation stage to the city, the view from the Mount Washington overlook was fantastic. On a clear day you can see for miles, beyond the city and off into the nearby suburbs.
But at night, the scenery is even better. It’s like a postcard, buildings twinkling like Christmas trees, stoplights blinking color, neon signs adding a rainbow of hues and the lights tracing over the bridges shimmering along the dark rivers. Epic.
I kicked off my flip-flops, the cement cool against my feet, and drew the hilt of my sword from its sheath, willing the blade to gather and form. Knees bent, feet wide, I assumed a fighting stance, hands double-fisting the hilt.
“I’d like the place better after a few hours sleep,” he said.
I straightened. “Me too. I had five live readings today and four phone readings. Plus, I had lunch with my mother and sister. Tired is an understatement.”
“You should keep your distance from them,” Tommy said. “From anyone you care about. Never know when a demon’s gonna show up.”
“I didn’t think about that,” I said, trying to keep the guilt from showing on my face. “I mean, I’m used to talking to them all the time. Damn, this sucks.”
“Tell me about it.” He sighed. “Okay, enough complaining from both of us. You need the training, and if this is the only time we can get together, so be it.”
“Yeah, except when we’re done, you’ll be home in bed two minutes later. I’ll still be on the road.”
“Ah, grasshopper, the road to true wisdom is long and full of potholes,” he said in his best Master Po voice.
“Ah, Master Tommy, you spew much bullshit.” My Master Po wasn’t so hot. But he got the point.
“Right.” He raised his sword and I mirrored him. “Remember, you have an instinct for using your sword. Just relax and trust your gut.”
“Absolutely. Wait—no. We’re not actually going to hit each other with these things, are we? I mean, ’cause…that’d hurt.” My side gave a quick little twitch of phantom pain from where I’d been stabbed by the demon.
He shook his head. “Don’t worry. You won’t get through my blocks and I’m just going to push you hard enough for you to feel your power take over. It’s just practice. No going for the kill. Besides, we heal fast, right?”
“Riiight.” I’d worn sparring clothes just for the occasion: khaki shorts, loose on my hips, and two ribbed tank tops—pink over white. I’d even scooped my too-short hair into a spastic ponytail…mostly. A lot of the pieces had already slipped free from the elastic ring. Not sure why I bothered.
We circled each other. Tommy swung and I blocked. I swung and he blocked. He swung again, faster, and I blocked. I sliced down fast enough that the blade was a blur, spinning as I advanced. Tommy
blocked and then sliced straight out toward my gut. I jumped back and he lunged, stabbing forward. I blocked. Somewhere between the first couple attacks and parries, I stopped thinking about any of it and just did it.
The clanks and metal hisses of our swords hitting and sliding against each other echoed off the nearby townhouses and over the cliffside.
The upside to innate ability is that it doesn’t take much mental concentration. I realized conversation was surprisingly easy.
“I met a guy today.”
“Should we celebrate?” Tommy said, driving me back three steps with a volley of blows. After the third strike, I found an opening and drove him back.
“Har-har, cute and funny. I’m all a-twitter. I didn’t mean I met a guy guy. I meant I met a person who happened to be a guy,” I said. “He was an illorum.”
“Hold it.” Tommy took several quick steps back then lowered his sword, rested it point down against the cement, effectively stopping our sparring. “Are you sure? How do you know?”
“He told me.” I shrugged. “After he got done bitching about me not having my sword on me, that is.”
“Did he tell you his name?”
“Liam.” I rocked on my feet, knees bent, waiting for Tommy to raise his sword again. “He told me a lot of stuff. Stuff you and Eli conveniently forgot to mention.”
“Emma, you have to be careful,” he said. “There are some illorum who’ve been at this so long their view on things is kind of…”
“Twisted?” I said.
“Yeah.”
“I got that.” I straightened. “He’s kind of developed a God complex. Actually, I guess it’s more of an angel complex. He’s convinced human laws don’t apply to us because of the stuff we can do. Some of which, by the way, would’ve been nice to know. Why didn’t you tell me we don’t age?”
It dawned on me then that Tommy didn’t just look like he hadn’t aged since high school. He actually hadn’t. He’d put on some weight and changed the cut of his hair, but he was still an eighteen-year-old kid.
“You weren’t exactly taking the whole ‘nephilim, illorum, killing fallen angels and demons’ thing well to begin with,” he said. “I figured it was best to hold off on the sticky details until you’d accepted your situation.”
“Eternal life is not a sticky detail,” I said. “It’s pretty much the whole enchilada.”
“Not eternal life,” Tommy said. “More like…extended life. Just until you find the angel who fathered you.”
“Yeah, so I’ve heard. How’s that working out for you?”
Tommy shrugged, his lips sweeping up to a brilliant natural smile. My heart skipped a little at the sight of it. When he wasn’t trying to be cute, he was positively stunning. It was almost like he glowed from the inside, his whole face lifted, his eyes brightened, and his dimples made his expression irresistible.
“I think I found him,” he said.
“Your sperm donor? Seriously?”
Tommy nodded, excitement stretching his smile. “I’m not sure. I mean, I saw him on TV the other day and then in person in New York, but from a distance. It looks like him. I haven’t been able to get close enough, though. He’s got an army of people around him twenty-four-seven and most of them are demons. Not that the humans he’s seduced are any easier to get around. A lot of them were nephilim.”
“What do you mean, humans he seduced?”
“He’s an angel, Emma,” Tommy said. “Even though he’s Fallen, he still has an angel’s magnetizing qualities. Just being in the presence of a Fallen can be seductive if he doesn’t do anything to temper the effect.”
“And why would he?” I said.
“Exactly.”
“So, once we get past the besotted humans and the ever fanatically faithful demon army, we still have to be on guard that the creep doesn’t seduce us?”
“Basically,” he said. “Being half-angel, we aren’t as susceptible as humans, but we’re not completely immune.”
“Perfect,” I said, dejected. I took a deep breath and pushed past it. “So who is he?”
“Richard Hubert. He’s a televangelist.” Tommy said it like he’d had something to do with the fact and was weirdly proud of it. I knew it was all from being tickled stupid at finally being so close to getting his life back.
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks. Yeah, it’ll be sweet to get into the swing of things again,” he said. “Y’know, after it’s all over. Hey, can you believe my little sister’s graduating high school next year? Until a few days ago, I figured there was no way I could risk going to watch without exposing her.”
He laughed to himself. “Eight years ago she was a whiny little pain in the ass, now…I miss her, y’know? And Jill, my older sister, she had a baby, a son. He’s two and I’ve never met him. He’s too young, too vulnerable. The demons could take him and use him against me. I can’t let that happen.”
I nodded so Tommy would know I understood. I didn’t know Tommy’s family well; I hadn’t even known he had an older sister. But I could imagine what he was feeling, wanting so much to be with his family, but needing to protect them more.
His eyes met mine for an instant, glistening. Then he sniffled and looked away. “Man, I’ve missed so much. Nothing turned out the way I thought. Figured I’d be a pro ballplayer by now, rolling in money. That I’d have a big house, cars, women. Now, I’d be happy just to have my family back.”
My chest pinched. In high school, and even over the last few days since he’d turned my life upside down, Tommy had been so cheery, so strong. It hadn’t occurred to me that he’d lost his future too, when he picked up that sword. Just like me, but worse, because he’d only been eighteen. His life hadn’t even gotten started before fate had snatched it out of his hands.
I cleared my throat, swallowed the knot of emotion. “So, your angelic fertilizer is a cult leader? That’s different,” I said, turning the conversation to a less tear-jerking topic.
“Well, he’s not a bigwig or anything…I don’t think. At least not yet,” he said. “I had the TV on the other day for the news, and there he was. They were reporting on some religious conference in New York. I went to check him out—his seminar was packed. Standing room only. That reminds me, I have to ask Eli about some of the nephilim I sensed in the audience. There was something weird about them. I could feel their power, but I know they weren’t marked.”
“Ah, unfair,” I whined.
“I know, right? Anyway, I couldn’t get close enough to the Fallen to feel him.”
“I’m sorry—what? Feel him?” All sorts of odd images flickered through my head.
“When we’re near enough to a Fallen, the scar on our wrist burns,” he said.
“Burns how? Like pins and needles? Or a tingly warmth kind of thing?” I hope—I hope.
“Naw, kind of feels like it did when you first got it,” he said.
Crap. “See, this is the sort of thing you should tell a person straight up at the beginning.”
Tommy shrugged. “Sorry. You have to be pretty close—like striking distance close. I figure it’s so we don’t hack the head off the wrong dude.”
“Clever.”
“They think of everything.”
“Castration’s an idea.”
“That plan never goes over well with guys,” he said. “Don’t worry about it. Most of this stuff just comes to you. It’s hardwired. You don’t know it’s there until you need it.”
“Oh. Well then, by all means I’ll put my full faith in that theory.” Not. “So, what happens to everyone else? I mean, I assume raping human women is kinda like eating potato chips—you can’t stop at one. A Fallen could have hundreds of kids. What happens to them once Dear Old Dad is sent to the abyss? Are they just, y’know, off the hook? Do they automatically get their lives back?” Hope bubbled up from my belly like a hot spring.
“Yeah,” he said.
“Sweet. How will we know? I mean, what happens? Do we get an email, ce
rtified letter, winged messenger, a strategic bolt of lightning?”
Tommy shook his head. “I don’t know. I guess Eli would tell us.”
“Eli. Right,” I said. Why didn’t I trust that plan? Liam. Despite my effort to ignore his mistrust, some of it had seeped into my brain anyway. I pushed the doubt from my mind. “So this guy, this televangelist, what makes you think he’s your…guy?”
“I saw a picture once,” he said. “But my dad…I mean, my mom’s husband, burned it. I only caught a glimpse. He said he just felt like getting rid of the picture. He didn’t even know who it was.”
“That’s it?” I said. “You got a glimpse at a picture, how many years ago, that you think might have been your angelic father who might, kind of, look like this famous televangelist? That’s what you’re going on?”
His brow tightened. “Well, after I sat in on his seminar in New York, the demon attacks started picking up. So he must’ve sensed me. I know he’s a Fallen. I just…know it. I’m going after him, either way. I’ll know for sure if he’s Fallen when I get close enough. I’ll know if he’s the one after I take his head.”
“Then what?” I asked. “If he’s your mom’s baby-daddy, what happens? How will you know he was the one?”
“I fall off the radar. I’ll be able to stand face-to-face with a demon and they won’t even raise a brow,” he said. “’Course I won’t notice them anymore either. I won’t see or sense any of the messed-up stuff we do now.”
“You lose your power, your sword?”
“Yeah. All of it. Eli says the blade will just stop forming.” He laughed to himself. “Honestly? I don’t care. I’ll be normal again.”
I hoped it worked out for him and wished I had his confidence and experience already. “How many Fallen have you killed?”
He looked away. “Two.”
“Two? You’ve been an illorum for eight years now, and you’ve only killed two fallen angels?” The weight of our duty pressed against my chest. I’d never get my life back.
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