I, Angel

by JC Andrijeski

  “Which is what?” Phoenix said, her voice still worried.

  He got lost briefly, in those complicated green eyes.

  Forcing his eyes off hers, he shook his head.

  “I don’t know exactly,” he said, gruff. “But I know things can come through it. And things can leave from our end. Veronica called it a door. Given everything from the last few days, I don’t really want to screw around with that, do you?”

  Thinking about that, Dags’ frown deepened.

  “I’ll seal it off,” he said, more decisive. “Fill the whole damned thing with concrete. That should at least keep anyone from stumbling upon it by accident… or using it on purpose, if it turns out there are a whole bunch of devil-worshipping angels out there. At least that would stop more things from coming in. Once I’ve got it cemented off, maybe I’ll see if I can find someone who knows anything about this kind of thing⏤”

  “What kind of thing?” Karver snorted derisively. “Hell portals?”

  Dags looked at him.

  Thinking for a minute, he could only shrug.

  “Yes,” he admitted.

  “Do you know anyone like that?” Asia said.

  Dags looked at her.

  Unlike Karver and Phoenix, she didn’t sound angry, or worried. She sounded afraid. She also sounded curious, but little-kid curious, in a way that mixed with her fear, somehow making the fear more prominent.

  After a pause of studying her pink and purple aura, he shrugged.

  “No,” he admitted. “I don’t know anyone like that.”

  “So you’re just going to… what? Ask around?”

  Dags thought about that.

  “I don’t know, exactly,” he admitted. “Hell… maybe I’ll talk to a priest. Or a good witch, if I can find one. One that isn’t a complete psycho.”

  Realizing he was thinking out loud, and in front of the other three, he glanced down, flushing.

  “But you don’t need to worry. I’ll seal up the tunnel first. Just to be safe.”

  “With a rotting corpse inside?” Karver said, his lip curling. “That’s lovely.”

  “I could take it out,” Dags said, a little sourly. “I could even bury the body somewhere else… somewhere it’s more likely to be found, if you’d prefer that. I guess I could just leave it on a trail somewhere in Griffith Park, but I don’t really see the point in traumatizing some poor hiker or dog walker for no good reason.”

  “So what will you tell Kara?” Phoenix said, drawing his eyes to her. “Do you plan to tell her that Jason Tig was innocent? That it wasn’t his fault?” She studied his gaze. “He must have family, right? And friends? Don’t you think they’d want to know that? That he didn’t really attack Asia?”

  Dags exhaled, making his voice as gentle as he could.

  “I have no way to prove that, Phoenix,” he said, reluctant. “You’ve got to realize. No part of this story is going to fly with the police. Kara isn’t that kind of person. She’d just want to have me committed.”

  Karver snorted.

  Phoenix didn’t.

  She continued looking up at Dags, her green and gold-flecked eyes worried.

  “Will you tell her anything?” she said. “Kara, I mean?”

  Dags exhaled again, gesturing vaguely with one hand.

  “I mean, yeah. Sure. I’ll probably have to. They’ll want to question me again. At minimum about Jane.” He grimaced at the thought, remembering his tenant who’d been his friend, if only in a casual way. “Maybe about Jason Tig, too. Or Veronica.”

  “And what will you tell her?” Phoenix pressed.

  “Look,” Dags said, holding up a hand. “You don’t need to worry about this. Any of you. If there’s one thing this whole mess with Veronica made clear, I need to learn more about all of this. About what I am. About what I can do. Hell, why this even happened to me. What I’m supposed to do with it. That’s not something any of you can really help me with⏤”

  “You’re damned right about that,” Karver muttered.

  Phoenix frowned.

  From the look on her face, she was a lot less in agreement.

  Dags went on as if he hadn’t heard or seen either thing.

  “It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea for me to see if I can find some experts out there, assuming any exist. People who know something about this kind of thing⏤”

  “Experts,” Karver muttered. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

  Dags gave him a harder look.

  “My point is,” he growled. “I’ll deal with the Veronica thing. I’ll deal with that cave. I’m telling you that none of you need to worry about this. I’ll take care of it.”

  “Fine,” Karver said, his voice even angrier as he turned on him. “Just leave Phoenix the hell out of it. I heard that crazy bitch. She thinks… thought… ‘Nix is like you. I don’t know if you think that or not, but if you do, just get that whacko idea out of your head, man. I mean it. I’m not letting you drag her into your insane bullshit.”

  Dags glanced at Phoenix.

  He couldn’t read anything in her expression now, not even worry.

  He looked back at Karver, nodding.

  “Yes,” he said simply.

  “Yes, what?”

  “Yes, I agree. It’s better if Phoenix stays away from all of this.”

  “Excuse me?” Asia said, sounding outraged.

  But Karver spoke over her.

  “You’re damned straight it is,” the movie star snapped.

  He leaned up towards Dags, his arm resting on the side of the jacuzzi, his eyes cold.

  “I don’t want you calling her up, okay? I don’t want you sharing things you find with her, on your little journey of self-discovery. I don’t want you dragging her into this weird, devil-worship crap in any way. You’re not going to jeopardize her career with this crazy bullshit. Okay, P.I. guy? Are you reading me? Are we clear?”

  “Yes,” Dags said. “We’re absolutely clear.”

  “Karver,” Phoenix said. “Calm down. This isn’t Dags’ fault⏤”

  “Isn’t it?” Karver said, turning on her. “Because that crazy bitch sure seemed to think it was about him. That they only wanted you as a way to get to him.”

  Dags frowned.

  He was honestly surprised Karver had heard any of that, much less remembered it, considering his state of mind at the time.

  “Veronica worked for me for four years,” Phoenix reminded him, her eyes and voice warning. “Are you going to say that was Dags’ fault, too?”

  “Stop calling him that,” Karver snapped. “He’s not our goddamned ‘friend.’ He doesn’t belong here. He’s not one of us. He’s just some freak who crash-landed in our lives… and I want him out. Now. Before he gets all of us killed. Before he gets you killed, ‘Nix. Or just fucks up everything both of us have worked for.”

  That time, it wasn’t just Phoenix.

  Asia turned on him, too.

  Her full lips jutted out, even as her long jaw clenched.

  “You’re worried about your stupid career right now?” she said, cold. “He saved my life, Karver. More than once. You’re seriously such a dick.”

  “So pay him!” Karver snapped. “Pay him, say thank you… whatever the hell you need to do to feel better. But I want him out of our lives. The guy is bad news. You both know he’s bad news. If he’s really an angel, he’s definitely not the good kind. He’s like a black hole, sucking everything dangerous and freaky and wrong into his general vicinity…”

  Dags blinked.

  Honestly, he was a little surprised at the perception behind that statement.

  Karver wasn’t really wrong.

  How the movie star had picked up on that, well enough to articulate it, after knowing Dags for only a few days, Dags had no idea.

  Maybe Karver wasn’t as stupid as he’d thought.

  “He knows,” Karver said, raising his voice as he pointed at Dags. “Look at his face! He knows what I’m talking about. That guy is a bad vibes mag
net.”

  He looked at Dags, his eyes hostile.

  “…No offense. You might mean well. You might even be ‘good,’ in the larger sense. Everything that happened probably isn’t your fault. But I don’t want you anywhere near us, man. We’ll pay you for the work you were hired to do. Hell, I’ll give you a huge fucking bonus for dealing with Veronica before she could kill any of us. But then I want you gone, man. As in, tonight.”

  Dag’s mouth hardened.

  Still, he couldn’t really disagree with anything Karver said.

  Thinking about his words, he nodded.

  “Understood,” he said. “I’ll go now.”

  “Wait!” Asia leaned over the side of the jacuzzi, holding up a hand and arm between Karver and Dags, as if trying to separate them. “Just wait a minute!”

  She hesitated once all of them were looking at her.

  She bit her lip, as if not sure what to say next.

  From what Dags could see in her aura, she was trying to think of a good reason for Dags not to leave. Asia wasn’t able to think of a reason, not a logical one, but in that bare pause, Dags saw fear in her eyes again, now tipping into full-blown panic.

  She was afraid for him to leave.

  She still felt safer with him there.

  “Let me get some money to pay you at least part of it tonight,” she said, finally settling on that. “I have cash upstairs, in a safe. I can pay you for⏤”

  “No.” Dags shook his head.

  He knew she was afraid.

  He was even sympathetic, after everything she’d been through.

  Still, better to rip the Band-Aid off all at once.

  He couldn’t let her get attached to him in that way, or dependent on him as some kind of angelic security blanket.

  “I’ll send you an invoice,” he said.

  The panic intensified in Asia’s aura, and he gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. From Asia’s stricken look, it wasn’t all that reassuring.

  “We don’t need to deal with any of that tonight,” he said, calm. “The three of you should get some sleep. Put this behind you. If the cops come by to ask any questions, just tell them the same things you told them before. If anyone asks where Veronica is, just play dumb. Tell them you don’t know where she is… that she just left.”

  All three of them grew silent, staring up at him.

  Realizing he was done here, Dags tried to decide how to say goodbye.

  A few seconds later, it hit him that there was no need.

  Karver was right.

  He didn’t belong here.

  These weren’t his friends.

  “Okay,” he said, conscious suddenly of Phoenix’s eyes on him.

  He didn’t return her stare, but felt it burning into him.

  Clearing his throat, he nodded his goodbye instead of speaking it.

  “Well.” He cleared his throat again. “You have my number.”

  Turning on his heel, he walked around the edge of the flower-shaped jacuzzi, aiming his feet towards the open glass door leading into the house.

  He didn’t look back.

  He wouldn’t let himself look back.

  “Hey!”

  She caught up with him as he was already walking up the long driveway.

  Steve McQueen loped at his side.

  The dog hadn’t been pleased when Dags first woke him from his nap, but the husky had recovered in the minutes since. He was looking around now, eyes pricked, nose in the air, smelling the scents brought to him by the wind whipping around the bluff where the multi-million-dollar house sat.

  Dags figured he’d walk a little ways down the road before he used one of the ride share apps to get a lift back to The Roosevelt Hotel, where his car was.

  “Let me give you a ride,” she said, when he turned.

  Dags hesitated, looking at her.

  She stood there, still wearing the short black shorts and lime-green top he’d first seen her in, only now with a gauzy white wrap tied around her waist.

  Her voice sounded almost annoyed.

  “Don’t leave like this,” she said. “Karver’s being an asshole, but he’s mostly just scared. Regardless, he doesn’t live here. I do. Asia does. And Asia and I don’t want you to leave.”

  Dags shook his head. “Karver was right.”

  “He’s not right,” she snapped. “But if you really have to go, at least let me give you a ride back to Hollywood. What are you going to do, for crying out loud? Walk?”

  He held up his phone. “Ride share.”

  “No,” she snapped. “Let me just grab a T-shirt, then I’ll take you.”

  Dags felt a part of himself leap at the offer.

  He felt the part of himself that wanted nothing more than more time with her. In the car. Stopping for food on the way. Maybe even in the hotel when they got back to Hollywood.

  He tamped that part down, hard, shaking his head.

  “No,” he said. “…Thanks. I’ll just catch a ride from the road.”

  “Why?” she said, exasperated. “That’s stupid. You know that’s stupid, right? It’s also ridiculous. We brought you here. You saved our damned lives. Asia and I know it, even if Karver won’t admit it. The very least I can do is bring you back.”

  He shook his head. “No. Thank you, but⏤”

  “Why?” she demanded. “Why the hell not?”

  He gave her a hard look. “You know why, Phoenix.”

  There was a silence.

  Then color bloomed in her face.

  He could see it, even in the driveway at night, where she was only lit from the windows and the pink, neon trim illuminating the house. He couldn’t see her aura, not even the hint of it, but somehow, he could see her blush from over ten feet away.

  “We need to talk⏤” she began.

  “No,” he cut in. “We don’t.”

  She stood there, staring at him.

  Again, he could practically see the frustration seething off her.

  “So that’s it?” She clenched her jaw, folding her arms. “You’re just going to disappear? We never see each other again? That’s your solution?”

  “Yes.”

  Anger bloomed more prominently in her eyes.

  Not just anger. Hurt.

  Looking at her, he felt a flood of heat fill his chest.

  “Why would you want to?” he growled, his own frustration boiling out as he pointed back at the house. “You and Asia can tell yourselves whatever fairy tale you want about me, but the truth is, Karver wasn’t wrong. Bad things do find me. People do get hurt around me⏤”

  “Why?” she said, folding her arms tighter. “Help me understand it, at least. You’re not a bad person, Dags. I know you aren’t.”

  He stared at her.

  For some reason, her words genuinely threw him.

  After that too-long pause, he exhaled again.

  “I can’t explain it, Phoenix. I can’t help you understand. It’s just how things are for me. It’s how they’ve been ever since the Change. As much as I hate to admit it… Karver’s right. If we keep spending time together, I’m only going to ruin your life.”

  She opened her mouth, as if to argue with him again.

  He cut her off.

  “Go home,” he said, his voice hard. “You’re a movie star, for Chrissakes. You’re at the beginning of your career. Why the hell would you risk any of that? For what?”

  Her full mouth curled into a frown.

  For a few seconds, she only stared at him, her arms folded, hugging her chest.

  He couldn’t tell if she was cold, or if the posture was more defensive.

  It shouldn’t matter.

  Why the hell did it matter to him so much?

  He saw her wipe her eyes then, and realized she was crying.

  Something about seeing that deflated him, bringing a cold knot to his chest.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  She blinked, then shook her head, wiping her eyes harder with the heel of h
er hand.

  Confusion filled her eyes, her expression.

  He thought maybe she’d say something else, even if it was just to tell him off, even if it was just to tell Dags exactly what he could do with his apology.

  She didn’t.

  In the end, she did exactly what he’d done.

  She walked away.

  He watched her as she left, still wiping her eyes, her other arm wrapped tightly around her upper body. He watched her until she disappeared back into the house.

  He tried to tell himself it didn’t matter.

  He tried to tell himself she was better off. That he was better off, too.

  It didn’t really work.

  Truthfully, it didn’t do jack-all.

  WANT MORE DAGS & PHOENIX?

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  WANT TO READ MORE?

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  BAD ANGEL

  Angels in L.A. #2

  Link: https://bit.ly/ALA02-EB

  One stupid hell-portal I can’t close. A super-hot movie star I can’t get out of my head. A whole lot of demons I can’t de-possess fast enough.

  Being a demon-hunting angel in Hollywood just got a lot more complicated.

  I’ve spent weeks trying to forget about Phoenix X, the movie star who might be an angel and the one woman I can’t be with. I’ve hunted demons, consulted with priests, hired witches and psychics. I’ve picked up random women on the Sunset Strip.

  Now a high school buddy shows up at my P.I. office, asking for my help. His wife, another old friend, mysteriously disappeared. I can’t say no to him, or to finding her.

  And, wouldn’t you know it, demons are behind that, too.

  What I don’t know yet, is that things are about to get a lot more complicated. And bloody. And covered in feathers. Bad things are heading my way. Demon pool parties, mystical anti-angel drugs, illicit make-out sessions, and guns, a lot of guns… and I really hate guns.