Claire turned to the voice, and her breath quickened.
The angel, impossibly lovely, towered over her. Her black hair ruffled in the breeze she had just created, and a slight smile played at her lips. She met Claire’s gaze head-on with those crazy, flaming eyes.
“What are you doing here?” Claire’s gaze darted around. “Is there another demon?”
“No.” Everything’s fine, Claire.
The last bit popped into her head like a ray of sunshine, and her heart slowed.
Claire blinked hard and tore herself away from the dancing flames. The way the angel said her name was almost like a melody. “You have me at a disadvantage. I don’t know your name.”
The angel laughed, and music once again filled the air. “That’s right. Normally, I hang out in the shadows. Influencing people by sending a thought here or there. You know, Step back onto the curb; a bus is coming. That kind of thing. I never actually meet my clients, so there’s no need to introduce myself.”
Claire waited.
“Oh, sorry. Tamiel. Tam for short. Although I can’t remember the last time anyone called me that. You can, though.”
She was a chatty thing. Before today, Claire would have put hard money on angels being reserved and dignified, but this woman acted like she was starved for conversation. Claire wasn’t sure she minded, though. Tamiel’s voice was deep and rich with just a hint of breathiness at the edges. She had also assumed angels would sound like trumpets or choirs. Crazy. A lot of her presumptions were turning out to be wrong.
“Tamiel,” she repeated. The name was strangely familiar on her tongue, as if she had said it a million times already. “Twice in one day. Is this going to turn into a habit?”
What am I doing? Am I flirting with her?
“Goodness, I hope not.”
Claire winced. Not the answer she had been hoping for. Son of a banshee. She did want to flirt with Tamiel.
“I mean, I hope the reason I’m here doesn’t continue.” Tamiel’s body stiffened slightly. “Can we talk?”
Claire nodded. She glanced around and, seeing no one, quickly morphed into her true form. The action broke about a dozen rules, but she wanted Tamiel to interact with who she really was, not some kid in pigtails.
“I know the FGC has a history of not trusting the GA. And at another point, I would love to get to the bottom of that. But you’ve got to believe me when I say, again, that comes from you. The FGC, not you personally, I hope…”
Claire said nothing. Every written and unwritten rule of her world told her to walk away. This could be a trap. The angels were a wily bunch.
But what if everything she had been told was wrong?
She raised her head and met Tamiel’s gaze. The burning flames were soft, like a warm fire at the end of a cold day. Claire fought the desire to fall into those eyes. The desire to be bathed in that warmth was almost all-consuming.
“We at the GA feel like we’re on the same side…” Tamiel raised her eyebrows as though she was challenging Claire.
“Well, the FGC kind of feels like we’re playing catch-up.” Claire dropped her gaze.
“You’re not. You have all sorts of misconceptions about us.”
“Okay,” Claire said, not knowing exactly to what she was agreeing.
“Great, so that’s settled.”
Not quite, but Claire kept her mouth shut. Let the angel spill whatever information she’d come to share.
“That demon in the alley wasn’t completely sentient, but it’s programmed with a mission that obviously it will die for.”
“To kill Frankie?”
“Or to take her somewhere. I’m not sure. Basically, I need to talk to Frankie. To see if she knows why she might be targeted. But I knew you wouldn’t like that. So I came here first. We can go together.”
Claire didn’t know what to react to: the fact that demons were apparently around every corner, that Frankie’s attack wasn’t random, or that she now had two partners on this case.
“I usually work alone in the field.” Although strangely, this partner seemed far better than her boss.
“This case is different,” Tamiel said. “I’m sure you’ve already realized that.”
That tactic hadn’t worked with Juliette either. “I’m beginning to. More and more.” Claire swiped a hand through her hair. “What do you want to talk to Frankie about?”
“Whether she has any idea why the demons would be after her.”
“Demons? As in plural?”
“Oh yeah. They always come in threes. And they get stronger with each incarnation.”
“Maybe you should have led with that?” Claire pulled out her wand. Frankie’s ring was still maroon; no alarm was sounding. The girl, as far as Carothann was concerned, wasn’t in any danger.
“And then there’s this. They’re always tagged by the sender. If I can just look in its eyes, we can find out who has it in for your client.” Tamiel swiveled on one heel. “Meet you there?”
“Wait.” Claire raised a hand. “How do I know this isn’t some ploy to get my guard down and then steal Frankie from me once we get there?”
“Because it isn’t.”
“And I’m just supposed to accept that?”
Tamiel nodded. “I don’t lie, and I told you the GA isn’t in competition with the FGC.”
Claire tilted her head and raised her eyebrows.
“Fine.” Tamiel pulled a pair of smoking-hot sunglasses out of thin air and slid them on. They were so dark, they masked all hint of the flames in her eyes. She couldn’t steal Frankie if her eyes were covered. “Better?”
“Yes.” Claire flicked Carothann and slipped into the magic, wondering the whole time why her heart was racing.
As the Hollywood street faded away, she prayed that breaking the cardinal rules of the FGC was the cause, or maybe it was racing off to meet demons in another epic fight…
It couldn’t be that Tamiel looked awfully sexy in those black glasses.
Could it?
Claire glanced around Frankie’s room in surprise. She had expected a typical teenager’s room. This was basically a laundry area with a single bed in the corner. The space was dominated by a huge washer and dryer with so many buttons and digital readouts that they might blast off to Mars at any moment. A large sink, an enormous pile of clothes, and shelves overflowing with every single detergent, dryer sheet, and stain remover known to man crowded the rest of the room. One glance reminded Claire what Frankie’s job was in this household. No wonder she had run away for three years.
Frankie sat on her bed, her back to the wall, softly crying.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Claire rushed over to the girl. At least she was still alive and alone.
“Fairy Godmother? Is that you?” Frankie’s chest heaved as she flattened herself deeper into the corner.
Claire mentally kicked herself. With all the distractions, she had forgotten about the anime version and had appeared as her real self—a stranger to Frankie.
“Yes, it’s me.” She opened her arms, and Frankie leaped into them. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m so scared. Please don’t leave me alone again. Are they coming back?”
Claire glanced at Tamiel, who stood silent and mostly glamoured in the middle of the room.
“Yes, and we need to be ready,” Tamiel said, literally stepping into view as she dropped into their frequency.
“Who is she?” Frankie shrank deeper into Claire’s arms.
Good question. Claire rolled a bunch of answers around in her mind and finally settled on, “A friend.”
Tamiel tipped her head to Claire and smiled at Frankie. “Do you have any idea why they’re after you?”
“Of course not.” Her voice cracked. “I’m just hanging around, throwing down my art, and then there’s this d
emon after me.”
“Actually, demons.”
Claire threw Tamiel a stern look. Good thing she didn’t fraternize with her clients; she had a terrible bedside manner.
“Oh God.” Frankie had taken only a second to process demons and now pressed into Claire. “Don’t leave me,” she whimpered.
“We won’t, and next time we can be ready,” Claire said, giving the girl a quick hug.
As if on cue, Carothann’s alarm blared. The floor shook. A crack, several inches wide, sliced across the room, ending right at Frankie’s feet. Roaring flames shot out of the breach. Mother Chimera. The next time was already here, and they were most definitely not ready.
Claire pushed Frankie behind her and jumped to Tamiel’s side. The angel’s blazing sword swung out in a wide arc, waiting for whatever would slither out of the fissure. Claire drew Carothann, but it looked small and weak next to the angel’s glowing weapon.
From the crack, a long, sharp talon attached to a massive hand reached for the ledge, and a demon, thickly muscled and covered in the same leathery hide as the last one, pulled itself up. Even before it had cleared the breach, Tamiel’s sword came down hard against its neck and hacked with repeating blows until the creature’s head popped from its body.
Another demon, larger, bursting with muscle, came right behind the first one. It let out a primal wail, picked up its fallen comrade as a shield, and continued climbing.
Claire lifted Carothann. She had thought about what to do on the way over, but hadn’t expected to be tested this soon. When she flicked her wand, deadly pulses of magic exploded from Carothann and whistled around the demon shield like auto-targeting missiles. They hit the second monster straight on but did no damage except to fill the air with a putrid stench.
Somewhere behind her, Frankie screamed, and Tamiel yanked Claire back as the demon lumbered out of the ground.
It heaved the dead demon up and over its shoulders and flung it toward the threesome. Tamiel vaulted in front of Claire and Frankie, waving her sword in a downward arc. A wall of flame streamed down from the weapon, and when the body hit, it exploded like a bomb. Seared demon flesh splattered every corner of the room. The curtain of flame offered some protection, but chunks landed on Claire’s bare arm and ate into her flesh like acid. She wailed. Her vision tunneled. The room began to close in on her as the pain jumped from nerve to nerve. She shook the demon chunks off. Oozing, bloody welts covered her entire forearm. Fighting to stay in control, she bit her lip to tamp down the searing pain.
The demon howled. The sound vibrated with power, its evil resonating throughout the room.
Frankie whimpered, and Claire reached behind with her good arm to give the girl a quick squeeze of comfort, but her gaze remained on Tamiel.
“Tell me what to do,” she said through clenched teeth. She was ready to fight, but the angel needed to send her instructions. She emptied her mind and waited.
Instead, Tamiel stepped out from behind the wall of flame, slid the sunglasses off her face, and leveled her gaze at the creature as though she was studying it.
“Yakum.” Tamiel’s voice cracked.
What or who would make Tamiel tremble? The thought of grabbing Frankie and fleeing to the safety of the FGC office flitted through Claire’s mind. But she dumped the idea almost as soon as it came to her. Tamiel had battled twice now to save them. She couldn’t abandon her.
The demon roared.
Tamiel took a running start and, leading with her sword, leaped, fast and sure. It sprang into the air to meet her head-on.
The metal of her sword clashed against the demon’s outstretched talons, the force of the blow sending them both spiraling to the ground. Tamiel’s sword flew out of her hand and skittered across the floor to a far corner with a clatter. She stretched out a hand for it; the sword trembled in response and began a slow slide toward her.
Sword! The word burst into Claire’s mind with a bright light. Almost without thought, she flicked Carothann, and the sword raced into Tamiel’s grasp.
Tamiel was on the demon in an instant—hacking and cutting.
The smell of seared flesh almost made Claire retch, but the beast seemed unaffected as it blasted Tamiel with blow after blow.
“Kill it!” Tamiel’s voice was strong, but the last hit of the monster’s massive fist almost had the angel on her knees. Claire didn’t know how much longer she could hang on.
“Tell me what to do,” she shouted over the chaos.
The answer didn’t come from Tamiel. Instead, Carothann twisted in her hand, and without knowing who or what she was obeying, she leveled the wand at the creature.
She sent the thought destroy the beast to the wand and waited for the torrent of magic to blast out. But instead, Carothann pushed back against her. Little strands of magic pulsed into her palm, and like horses pulling at their bits, asked for their head. Not with words. No, Carothann’s request wasn’t even a thought, more like an unformed question wrapped up in the beginning of an idea.
Tamiel had buckled. Her breath came in gasps, and the demon stood, towering above her, fists in the air, ready to deal the deathblow.
“No!” Frankie cried.
Yes, Claire answered and let the tight control of her wand slip out of her hands.
A blast of magic poured out. She closed her eyes and let it tear through her. Instead of a caress, it rode wild and rough, but there was real power in its touch. The torrent of energy ripped the demon’s side wide open.
With a thunderous roar, the beast whirled to Claire, clutching its side. Thick ooze poured out of the wound. In two bounds, it was on her.
She twisted away too late. The talons hooked her shoulder and dug in. Starbursts exploded behind her eyelids as a burning sensation attacked her upper back. Her legs left the ground as the beast pulled her toward it.
“Come on, Carth.” Claire gritted her teeth. Together, she and Carothann were harnessing a power she had never felt before.
She shot the magic straight up into the demon’s gut. It hit like a laser, and she dragged the beam with all her strength across its body, ripping a wide gash in its stomach. The beast howled, dropped Claire, and reared up on its haunches.
Tamiel jumped across the flaming crevice in a single bound and darted between them. Her blade struck the monster deep in the wound Claire had opened. Her hands hissed when they met with oozing flesh, and still, she pushed in deeper until her whole body shook with the effort.
Claire watched, dumbstruck, until her wand started writhing in her hand again. She let herself go, gave in to the magic, and pummeled the creature with everything she and Carothann had. Too much power. The tingling started in her belly and spread quickly to every nerve ending. She was on fire. Everything she knew screamed at her to drop the wand and run, but she hung on.
The monster roared, and suddenly, everything went black.
She came to before she opened her eyes. Something was jabbing at her. A poke on her shoulder, a nudge at her side. Tamiel? Frankie? What the hell was it?
Her mind was a haze. First things first. She shook her legs and then jostled her arms. Everything was still attached but hurt like a bitch. Her shoulder was a blazing ball of pain, and her forearm continued to burn raw.
She extended her senses beyond her own person. The room was strangely silent. Had they won or lost?
When she opened her eyes, the light hit them hard, and Tamiel came into view with a sudden sharpness. The angel’s sunglasses were back in place, and she knelt beside Claire, peering down with a furrowed brow.
Frankie stood just behind, biting her bottom lip. “She okay?”
“I think so,” Tamiel said. “Whoa, don’t get up. It’s over.”
Claire sank back down. Sitting up hadn’t been a good idea anyway. The light was too bright, and the room had started to spin the minute she raised her head.
More jabs in her side.
“Carothann?” she said with sudden recognition. “Where is it?” The wand was searching for her. Was it hurt? Something crazy had happened to it during the fight. That magic hadn’t been standard FGC issue. “My wand?”
“Oh. We couldn’t find it. I looked,” Frankie said. “Maybe the demon got it.”
“No, it’s here. I can feel it.” She pointed past Tamiel to the pile of boxes that had fallen from the shelf above. “There. Under that, maybe.”
“I’ll get it.” Frankie started to the other side of the room.
“I’m closer.” Tamiel moved in front of the girl, dug through the containers of powder detergent and dryer sheets, and found the wand under the bottom one.
Claire braced herself for Carothann’s alarm at being touched. But nothing hit her. In fact, the wand lay peacefully in the angel’s hand as if it belonged to her.
A few seconds later, Tamiel dropped the wand onto her palm. Carothann sank into her touch, burrowing in. Somehow they had survived the onslaught. She sat up and glanced around the empty room. The jagged crack still ran the entire length, but both fire and demons were long gone.
“What happened?” Claire asked.
“We got them.”
“You saved me.”
Tamiel and Frankie spoke at the same time.
Relief swept over Claire, and she gave a half laugh of disbelief.
“That was something. I had no idea you godmothers controlled that kind of magic,” Tamiel said.
“Neither did I.” Claire looked at the wand lying on her palm. It looked so unassuming, as if she had just randomly plucked a branch off a rowan tree on an afternoon walk. But something had happened to it and to her in that fight. Something revolutionary, if she could just figure out what it was.
“Is it…? Are they…coming back?” Frankie asked as if the thought had just occurred to her.
Claire looked at Tamiel for the answer.
The breeze that always blew around Tamiel died, and her body stiffened. “They answer to Yakum. I read it in that last one’s eyes. Yakum’s not going to give up.”
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