by Rose Wynters
A loud howling came through the speakers as the song ended. It sounded like something heard in the woods during mating season, and it wasn't pretty. Shayne rubbed his large hand across his forehead, massaging the tight muscles. If it were possible for an immortal endurer to get a headache, he’d have the mother of them all. Shayne knew it was going to be a long night.
Although most of the people were enjoying the season, there were some that were grasping for anything to help them make it through. Christmas was a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, family, and blessings. For someone who didn’t have family or anything else to celebrate, Christmas made them easy prey for demonic attacks.
His job? Protect and save as many of them as possible, which wasn’t always easy. There were a lot of people in the world who loved to wallow in their misery, and they didn’t mind opening the door to demons. By the time they realized their mistake, it was too late. It generally ended in an exorcism if they were lucky or a body bag delivered by him if they weren’t.
Sometimes, it really sucked to be the good guy.
At that thought, Shayne grabbed his glass mug and bellowed for a refill. He glared darkly at the man standing on the opposite side of the bar. The short, red-faced bartender shot him a nervous glance before scurrying over. After topping it off, he quickly retreated to the other end of the bar to serve more amicable patrons. His quick backwards glance made it pretty obvious that he was hoping Shayne would be leaving soon. Shayne shrugged. He had that effect on people.
Men were scared of him, and women couldn’t get enough of him. Who could blame them? With a forty-two-inch chest and eighteen-inch arms, Shayne had the body of a warrior. Modern men spent hours at the gym trying to get the powerful bodies that came naturally to the men of his time.
Catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror hanging over the bar, he realized he didn’t look too bad for an old guy. His long hair and braided beard concealed a lot of his rugged face. His muscled body made him look like a well-defined man in the prime of his life. His mind, though, was another story. It generally felt every one of his years and then some. With Armageddon just around the corner, demons were growing more powerful, and soon the endurers were going to have one hell of a fight on their hands.
A voluptuous brunette slithered over to him. Raising her hand, she placed it over his shoulder. “Hi there,” she said, in a throaty voice. It promised all kinds of unmentionable pleasures. Leaning in until her breasts brushed his arm, she whispered, “My place or yours?” Her other hand slid up his leather-clad thigh, cupping his groin in a practiced manner.
Any other night and Shayne would have taken her up on it. But as it was, souls were at stake, and he took his job very seriously. With a long drawn-out sigh, he gave a brief shake of his head.
“Another night, pet,” he said, moving her hand away. If his dick could have groaned, it would have. In the end, though, he ignored her and took another long drink. With a pout on her mouth, the brunette turned and walked away.
He never noticed the wistful and dreamy look she stopped and gave him before moving on. She felt it wasn’t easy to walk away from something that looked that good. As the years passed her by, she would occasionally look back and wonder what a night spent in his bed would have been like. Shayne might not have known it, but someone else did. And he was about to make his presence known.
A deep chuckle sounded from behind Shayne. “They just don’t leave you alone, do they, pretty boy?” the dark-haired man said.
He walked past Shayne and slid onto the now empty bar stool. He was right around Shayne’s own six foot four but not as beefy. His hair was short and a shiny black, complete with sideburns and a goatee. He was wearing jeans and an expensive black shirt that set off his luminescent skin to perfection. Arch was an angel and an extremely powerful force to be reckoned with. And as much as he tried to fit in and look mortal, it was impossible. Shayne could only describe him as being “too perfect”.
The bartender took a look at the new arrival and did a double take as his jaw dropped open. He couldn’t believe there were two of them. A light sheen of sweat popped up on his forehead, trickling down his now pale cheeks. Grabbing a towel, he quickly tried to look busy by wiping the bar down. Shayne's eyebrows rose as he watched him. It was clear to him that the bartender was a walking heart attack.
He lost interest and turned to face the angel next to him. “Slumming, Arch?” Shayne asked him, polishing off his beer. Knowing Arch, just the fact that he was there meant he was probably bringing news he didn’t want to hear.
Arch was one of the few middlemen between the endurers and Heaven, and when he came calling it usually wasn't good. Shayne grimaced. He missed his mortal days when alcohol would actually give him a buzz.
Arch chuckled again and shook his head, “And here I thought you'd been missing my charming company.”
Shayne grunted in response.
Arch looked over at the suddenly busy bartender. The man was shaking and watching them from the corner of his eye. “Good thing I don’t need a drink,” Arch added sardonically. “Otherwise my feelings might have been hurt.”
Nothing ever seemed to faze the dark-haired angel. He rubbed his goatee and stared at the bartender for a moment. The balding area on top of the bartender's head went from white to bright red. “Have you ever seen a human change colors like that? Next thing you know he’s going to piss his pants.”
Shayne laughed, without humor. “You should be used to it by now, Arch.” To the average modern man they were big, bad, and scary. People left them alone unless they had a death wish. Most of them didn't.
Looking over at Shayne, Arch rested his elbows on the bar. “You don’t ever get used to it,” Arch said, suddenly serious. “Just like you never get used to the pain and desperation that evil leaves behind.”
Shayne could feel his piercing gaze on him, and he knew that Arch was seeing every thought he’d ever had. Even after hundreds of years, Shayne still wasn’t used to having his mind read. Too bad it wasn't one of his skills.
Arch continued on. “Humans. What a funny breed they are. They are so obsessed with how they look. It’s amazing how many lives are defined by something they can’t even control. They haven’t evolved enough to realize that in the end looks has no importance. True evil comes in the prettiest of packages.”
He drummed his fingers on the glossy surface of the bar. “The demons have learned they can convince them to do just about anything they want, as long as they make themselves look good.”
Shayne took a long swallow from the mug to buy himself some time to think of a reply. Arch was getting too deep for him. It was time to change the subject. Raising a brow, he said, “Tell me, Arch. Is that really your name or someone's idea of a really bad joke?”
Arch glared at him in response before slowly perusing the bar patrons. He spoke softly, and Shayne had to strain to hear his words. “Armageddon is coming, and all these people can think about is sex. Tonight, seventeen women under this roof will allow a man they’ve never seen before into their beds. Then when the sex is over, each woman will lie awake wondering if the man will still be there in the morning.”
Shayne rolled his eyes and shook his head. What could he say? Arch was getting in touch with his feminine side.
With a long-suffering expression upon his face, Shayne glared at the angel. “Really, Arch. Really? You look like some kind of wrestler, but you sound like a freakin' woman. What's next? Painting our toenails and shaving our legs while we talk about boys?”
Arch frowned, his own expression dark with irritation. “How many times do I have to tell you? The wrestler looks like me,” he ground out, slowly. “And didn't your mom ever teach you it's rude to interrupt your elders?”
Shayne laughed, feeling extremely satisfied with himself. He loved getting Arch riled up.
The angel just shrugged it off. “As I was saying, fifteen of these women will never be nothing more than a distant memory and another notch on the belt. Tw
o months from now, one of them will be married to the man she went home with tonight. The last one will end up with a venereal disease that will kill her quicker than Armageddon ever could.”
Arch was on a roll. He took a deep breath to continue, but Shayne choked on his beer. “What the fuck, Arch!” Shayne growled, coughing to clear his airways. He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and slammed his mug down on the bar, glaring indignantly at Arch.
It set off a chain of events that neither one of them would have anticipated. At the noise, the bartender squealed loudly as he jerked around. The beer he was holding fell out of his frozen hand and busted on the tile beneath him. His eyes widened impossibly, and he released a high-pitch scream as his foot slid on the wet floor. Afraid to take his eyes off of the intimidating pair, even for a second, he reached out blindly for something, anything, to save him from the fall.
Unfortunately for the short, nerdy bartender, it was a woman’s breast. A very large breast, belonging to an equally large woman, and she wasn't enjoying the contact. Hanging on for dear life, he hyperventilated and wheezed as he tried to get back to better footing. The woman glared at him for a moment before raising her massive arm and slapping him across his bony face—as hard as she could. It was more than he could take.
His glasses flew off of his face as he hit the floor, knocking himself completely unconscious. A collective gasp went through the crowd, as well as a few laughs, before business went back to usual. With a self-righteous huff, the woman turned back to her friends, ignoring her offender as she drank her beer.
Shayne watched it all with a droll look on his face. That had to hurt, he mused, fighting back the urge to laugh. In the end, the laugh won. He doubled over, holding his sides, as tears of mirth ran down his face.
By the time he was finally able to control himself, the bartender was conscious again. Someone had helped him to a bar stool, and he was holding a rag filled with ice against his face. He shot Shayne a dirty look with his one good eye. Shayne smirked at him and held his glass up to him in a salute. He had to give the bartender credit where credit was due. It took balls to survive a slap like that.
Turning back to Arch, Shayne picked up where they left off. “Maybe if you stopped spending your days watching Oprah reruns you’d grow a pair,” he said, with a disgusted snort. What did a man have to do to get some peace? One of the busiest nights of their year, and he had to listen to Arch's drivel.
Arch had remained strangely silent throughout the fiasco, but all of a sudden he chuckled. Shayne shot him a puzzled look as he wondered what he was laughing at. Angels were the proverbial wildcard. Nobody knew how strong Arch's powers were, which always left the joke being on anyone who wasn’t him. It was a feeling Shayne hated with a passion.
“I’ve got a job for you,” Arch said, in a serious tone of voice. “It’s a special assignment.”
Shayne glared at him. “Why am I not surprised?” he retorted, leaning back and crossing his arms. “What is it this time?” He stopped and grimaced, remembering some of his past jobs.
His eyes narrowed at Arch. “At least this time I don’t have to worry that it’s shoveling shit from the barn after your horse ate some bad grass.” Even after three hundred years, he still wouldn’t let Arch forget that one. Why couldn’t he have cleaned up after his own damn horse? Shayne would much rather battle demons than ever take on one of Arch’s “special” jobs.
Arch ignored him. “We have a situation in Alaska,” he said, with a somber expression on his face. His gaze never wavered. “Jesse is back.”
Shayne’s eyes widened, his body learning forward as he automatically went into endurer mode. “You’re shitting me.”
Several years before, Jesse, along with a few of his demonic buddies, had gone on a killing rampage. Arch had gotten word of it and was able to clean up the mess before it was found by the local police department. He’d also arranged for the bodies to be sent back to their families so they could have closure.
Several innocent lives had been lost, though, and Jesse immediately became a priority. Arch had sent a team to Jesse's apartment in New York, but after a short, brutal battle, they lost him. The demons had moved him into Hell to avoid capture, and he hadn’t been seen since.
Arch raised an eyebrow at him as he slowly said, “I don’t shit anybody. He’s back with plans to snatch a woman named Anna. Four days ago, minions killed her mother, Iris. Anna has no idea they are coming for her. It’s your job to make sure they don't get her. You need to get her down here as soon as possible. It's the only way to keep her safe.”
Shayne picked up his mug and drained it before slamming it back down and standing up. This time he didn’t want a refill. He laid a hundred down on the bar, and slipped his wallet back into his pants. “How soon do you need me to leave?”
Arch stood up and jerked his head toward the door. They made their way through the thick throng of people and out into the chill of the night air. Turning towards Shayne with a mischievous smile, he said, “How about now?” With a snap of Arch's fingers, Shayne disappeared, not a trace of him left behind.
Chapter 2
ANNA SPENT HOURS GRIEVING over Iris until finally she felt as if she didn't have any more tears to cry. After her tears had stopped, the silence of the cabin got to her. She decided to turn on the television for background noise, even though her heart wasn't into watching anything. She just felt numb. Numb and frozen.
She settled into a comfortable position on the couch. Exhaustion settled in. She dozed for a moment, then jerked awake. Then she wondered why she even bothered trying to stay up. It wasn't as if she had somewhere else to be.
Within moments, Anna was fast asleep and dreaming.
SEVERAL CARS WERE IN the driveway of the hunting lodge Jesse had rented when Anna pulled up. Anna's brow furrowed in puzzlement when she recognized Suzi Sellers' car. She was sure it was hers, and in Anna's mind, it just didn't belong there. As far as she knew, Suzi and Jesse weren't close. Jesse was her boyfriend, even though the other woman had made it clear she was interested in him.
Anna had gone to school with Suzi, and now she worked with her at the local sporting goods store. As the daughter of the owner, Suzi felt she could treat the help any way she wanted to and often did. The fat jokes and insults never stopped, not unless her father, Mr. Zellers, was around. Anna worked hard to make the best of it while she was on the clock. However, hanging out with Suzi after work wasn’t the way Anna had anticipated spending her romantic evening with Jesse.
Anna had met Jesse at the store where she worked at. He, along with a few friends, was in Alaska for the hunting season and needed supplies. They just happened to come in on Anna's shift.
Suzi was the perfect cheerleader type, but Jesse had walked straight by her to ask for Anna’s help. Within minutes, he had invited her to dinner. Suzi, noticing that she wasn't getting his attention, hadn't liked it. Since then, Suzi had become even crueler, but Anna just ignored her.
Jesse was her first boyfriend. In fact, he was the first man to show any interest towards her at all in the small community she lived in. At nineteen, she was in love, and she believed he was destined for her. It was like a dream come true that the tall, blond-haired stockbroker was interested in a plain, plus-sized woman like her.
Although they hadn’t kissed yet, Anna was sure they would that night. They had been dating for a few weeks, but it was the first time he'd invited her over. She was certain it meant something.
Her cheeks reddened immediately from the cold Alaskan night as she got out of her truck and locked the door. She was anticipating formally meeting Jesse’s friends and finally being acknowledged as his girlfriend. Just the previous night, he’d told her he wanted her to go to New York with him when he left. The future looked bright and cheery as she climbed the wooden steps to knock on the door.
While she waited, she perused her surroundings. Although the lodge was local, it was the first time Anna had been there. It was pretty impressive,
standing two stories high and made from round, glossy logs. It was set apart from town, and it made the perfect retreat for people who were tired of the big city life.
After knocking the snow off of her boots, Anna raised her arm to knock again, but the door was opened before she got the chance. A dark-haired man of average height and weight stood in the doorway. “You must be Anna,” he said, motioning for her to come inside. As she moved forward, he lifted his chin to stare her straight in the eyes.
Anna did a double take at the first sight of his eyes and hesitated in the doorway. They had a weird reddish glow that felt wrong, almost evil. She blinked again and saw nothing but an ordinary brown. Feeling foolish, she gave him a small smile and asked shyly, “Is Jesse here?”
He shot her an impatient look and beckoned her in again. “Jesse will be right with you. Come in before you let the heat out. I can't stand the cold.”
She stepped into the dim room and wondered why the rustic interior was so dark. Various lamps were scattered across the tables, but only one was lit. It was as quiet as a tomb, and so hot it felt like the air was too thick to breathe. Despite the heat, a shiver shot through her as she wondered where everyone was. With so many cars parked in the large driveway, she would have expected to hear a lot of noise.
Anna turned around with the intention of asking, but she didn’t get a chance. He closed the door and left quickly, disappearing down the dark hallway. “Weird,” she muttered, shaking her head at his strange behavior. Left to her own thoughts, she stood and patiently waited for Jesse to come greet her.
Within a few minutes, Jesse came down the stairs. A smile split her face as she pushed aside her uneasiness. He was buttoning up his shirt and his blond, wavy hair was tousled, as if he had just come from bed.
He walked right up to her as she tilted her face, hoping he would finally kiss her. It was an invitation he didn’t accept. Instead, he looked down at her with a scowl. She was very disappointed when he took her arm and led her into the den.