The Angel's Fire

by Holley Trent

  He appeared beside her before she could register his energy, if she even could. She remained coy about her abilities.

  “Papa!” she gasped.

  Tarik hadn’t seen such a guilty look on anyone’s face since he’d found one of Gulielmus’s boys red-cheeked in a strip club dressing room.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked her. “Where’s your mother?”

  “Mama?” Angela shifted her weight and glanced into the van. “Um, well, I don’t know.”

  “Whose vehicle is this?”

  “Um. Some friends?”

  Holding his wayward offspring’s gaze, he breathed in deeply.

  She had friends that smelled of Jaguarism, apparently.

  Fuck.

  He hadn’t given any thought to those women in ages. He’d been preoccupied with so many other pressing things and hadn’t encountered them anywhere since that time Tamatsu had led him to them.

  Apparently, their descendants had not only survived into the twenty-first century, but had made their way to Maria.

  How?

  “What are you going, Angela? Spare me the lies. Whatever magic you have comes from me and your mother, and I understand it all intimately well.”

  Her expression went from guilt-laced to defiant in a flash. She tossed heavy curls over her shoulder and huffed. “Maybe I just wanted to get out. Maybe I needed to.”

  “Your mother had it right when she tried to confine you. You’re so young and know nothing! Do you understand how many creatures there are who would kill you on sight simply because of whose loins you sprang from?”

  “Oh, I have a pretty good idea. You can find pretty much anything on the Internet, Papa, including mentions of legendary fallen angels who everyone seems to think has no conscience whatsoever. Do you? Have one, I mean.”

  “What kind of devil are you, child?”

  “I’m my father’s daughter. And my mother’s. The spawn of two chronic liars who’ve lived as long as they have by hiding everything that matters.” She scoffed, and in that moment, she looked more like him than he’d ever seen. He didn’t think that was a good thing. “One of you is so mired by rules and order that flexibility is anathema. The other probably has never encountered a rule he hasn’t broken. I have all the best and worst qualities of both of you.” Her gaze was so steady and focused on him, putting her in the handful of dangerous creatures on Earth who had no fear of him. The other three were her mother, Tamatsu, and Gulielmus.

  He didn’t know if children were supposed to fear their parents, though. Respect them, yes, but fear was altogether a different thing. She hadn’t known him long enough to respect him. She only knew the bullet points about him—the extract, not the full history.

  But maybe that was enough.

  She balled her hands into fists and pounded them lightly against his chest. “I…just want a chance to be what I am, whatever that means. Shouldn’t that be my choice? I’m a grown woman, many times over. It’s time for me to seek out my course.”

  He took her wrists gently in his hands and brought them together, squeezing. “And you would choose to do that with strangers? Not with your mother or brother?”

  Or with me.

  “I wanted to be free,” she said with a wistful note. “Just like you did. You remember falling, don’t you? You remember the circumstances that got you there? Well that’s where I am, Papa. I want to fall. I’m already so close to Earth. Why won’t you let me?”

  His pulse thundered at that jab. There would be no debating it. “There is danger in freedom. Pain. Consequences will chase you for every little ripple you make in this world, and some will catch up to you for things you had nothing to do with.”

  “So give me that famous sword of yours and let me handle my problems on my own.”

  There hadn’t been even the slightest note of humor in her voice, but he waited for her to laugh all the same.

  She didn’t.

  She’d meant every word.

  “I cannot give you that, precious. It isn’t meant for you to hold.”

  “Isn’t meant for me to kill with, you mean.”

  She was too smart, but of course she was. She’d been raised by powerful cynics and had all the right DNA to be one herself.

  Letting go of her wrists, he took a breath. “There are Jaguars here. Certainly, you’ve heard their side of the tale, and maybe some of your mother’s. None of mine. That doesn’t matter. What matters is why.”

  “Because I want what they have. Their camaraderie. The sisterhood. Something to belong to. A few days ago, their leader sent me a message saying they’d encountered someone with Mama’s mark, and maybe I was jealous. Maybe I said too much that I shouldn’t have.”

  “Who did they encounter?”

  Angela shrugged. “Some woman named Lily.”

  Ice water shot through Tarik’s veins and doused every bit of fire left in him.

  Lily was one of Lola’s favored pets. A good friend to Tito and December.

  Lily wouldn’t have kept such an encounter a secret. Lola had to have known, and she hadn’t said anything. She could have phoned him. They’d agreed they would both try to be more normal. Maybe she hadn’t meant it after all.

  Trust me, do you, Butterfly?

  He gritted his teeth and turned toward town. Those Jaguars weren’t going to find Lola. He’d ensure that, and then he’d send them away with whatever magic he felt like sparing.

  He’d get Angela squared away—find some stronger tower to lock her up in until she came to her senses, perhaps.

  And then he’d deal with her mother. It seemed they were having another of those unfortunate misunderstandings. The last one had ended with his memory being lifted and him missing his daughter’s formative years. Like hell if he was going to be the sucker again.

  ___

  Angela appeared beside Lola the moment she and Elizabeth landed in Maria. Before Lola could part her lips to give her child the telling-off she so obviously deserved, Angela said, “Don’t try to stop me. I’m going.”

  “Going where?” Lola and Elizabeth asked in unison.

  Angela glanced over her shoulder and dragged her tongue across her lips before turning back.

  Tarik arrived then, angry and leering. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  Angela crinkled her nose. “You smell like them. What did you do?”

  Tarik put his hands against his thighs and lowered himself a foot or so to meet his daughter’s gaze. “The Jaguars, you mean?”

  She nodded warily.

  “Oh, well, one is being coddled by the locals.” He cut Lola a look.

  She gritted her teeth. She wasn’t about to let him goad her when they needed to be presenting a united front.

  She wasn’t even sure they were united.

  “Others are waiting at their van, but they won’t get very far.” He held up a spark plug and a radiator cap.

  Clearing her throat, Angela reached for them.

  Tarik deposited them into his pockets.

  “Are we going to go through this again?” she asked. “The same lecture as before?”

  Lola wanted to hear the so-called “Deathbringer’s” obviously memorable parenting lecture. She didn’t say so, though.

  “You owe me an apology, miss.” Elizabeth’s foot tapped with incessant impatience and she folded her arms over her chest. “You did a real dirty thing.”

  “Put yourself in my shoes, Aunt Liz.”

  “I should hope I never have to. I had a hard-enough life the first time I was in this place, and I was doing real fine in Bermuda, thank you very much.”

  Angela’s shoulders fell, reminding Lola yet again that no many how many years the child had, it still wasn’t nearly enough. She was still a baby in her estimation.

  “I just want to live,” Angela said.

  “Me too.” Elizabeth’s full, dark brows darted up ominously. “Me too, kiddo, and that’s what I was doing in that little cottage, day in and day out for years with
you.”

  “Now you can go have fun.”

  “I got all the fun I wanted. After all this time, you don’t understand, do you? I was there because I wanted to be. I volunteered, you brat. I told Sophie I’d go so she and Oscar could get themselves together, and because I knew my nephew would be just fine with them. He didn’t want to go anywhere else. You needed someone, though, and I wanted to be useful. I wanted it to be me.”

  All the color drained from Angela’s face.

  Elizabeth sighed and turned to Lola. “I don’t even recognize this place anymore. I’m a dinosaur. I’m the lady all the Cougars laugh about because the generations before all thought I was off my rocker because I was hearing things and talking to myself. What am I supposed to do here? Huh?”

  Lola pressed her hand to the mark at the back of Elizabeth’s neck and gave it a gentle rub—a reminder, really, that Lola would always do the best she could for her. “Go find Miles Foye. She’s works at the clinic down on the corner. Tell her who you are. She’ll take you home and make you comfortable.”

  “As comfortable as I was in Bermuda? I’m too old for excitement.”

  “You could go back to Bermuda,” Angela offered.

  “All by myself?” Elizabeth scoffed. “I’m happy with boring. Lonely, I can’t abide.”

  In a rare act of sentimentality, Lola pulled Elizabeth into her arms and held her tight. “You’ll never be lonely. You know this.”

  “Yeah? Who’s gonna want to be around this old used up bag of bones?”

  “It’s a new world. Maybe you’ll be surprised at your options.”

  Elizabeth laughed and swiped her wet eyes. “I don’t like surprises anymore.”

  “So maybe we should find you someone who’s grown out of them as well, hmm?” Lola sent Elizabeth on her way, pointing toward the clinic again. It was closed, but Miles usually worked late. “I’ll visit later. After…”

  Elizabeth waved dismissively over her shoulder. “Yeah. After. Mad at that brat.”

  Lola understood. She, personally, was a little more than mad.

  And obviously, so was Tarik. She’d never seen him so flustered and out of sorts. She figured out some of the cause of that consternation when Tamatsu appeared. His hands were in his pockets, gaze cold.

  “I knew something was off,” the other angel said, looking at Angela with some combination of hurt and curiosity. Lola was still trying to get used to hearing him speak and it’d been a year since he’d recovered his voice.

  “There is a story,” Tarik said. “I would tell it to you, but I do not yet know all the pieces.”

  Angela extended a hand to Tamatsu. “I know nothing about you, but pleased to meet you, anyway.”

  Dangerous creature that he was, Tamatsu managed to shake her hand with the utmost of decorum and gentleness.

  “You look like your mother,” he said.

  She smirked. “Most of the time, yeah, I guess I do.”

  He turned back to Tarik and shoved his hands into his pockets again. “So.”

  Tarik nodded. “So.”

  Tamatsu grunted. “Interesting.”

  “Quite.”

  “And she’s…”

  “Who the hell can know what she is?”

  Tamatsu grunted again. He looked less annoyed, and just curious. “Later, then?”

  Tarik glowered at Lola. “Perhaps tomorrow.”

  Lola kept her teeth clamped. He assumed they’d be ready to take an intermission from their argument by then. Lola had her doubts.

  Tamatsu went on his way.

  “What was all that about?” Angela asked when he was out of earshot.

  “Stay out of grown people’s business,” Tarik said.

  She rolled her eyes. “Here we go again.”

  And the three of them all started talking at once.

  Lola said, “I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I made as a young immortal,” while Tarik said, “You won’t last long out here without proper guidance, and Angela said, “I’d be perfectly safe if the two of you pulled your heads out of your asses.”

  They all seemed to need a moment to untangle that mass of words.

  Tarik spoke first. “What do you mean?”

  “Having you two in front of me at the same time,” Angela said breathlessly, “it’s so obvious that your magic tempers when you’re near each other. It’s so familiar to me because it’s like my own and I can tell when the shapes of it change.” She rubbed her arms as though she’d caught a chill. “You modulate each other, don’t you? When you’re open enough, that’s what you do, but before the mixing can do any good, you pull away or something happens that makes you part, and I think you should just…” She pounded her fists against her thighs. “Just stop.”

  “Just stop,” Lola repeated, incredulous.

  “Yes, Mama. Just stop. You love him. I’d bet my life you do, and you know as well as I do that you’re never going to find that with anyone else.” She added drolly, “He’s the only creature on the planet who can tolerate your bullshit.”

  Lola gaped. She’d never felt so betrayed, and she’d once created an entire race out of scorn.

  Angela turned to Tarik. “Don’t smirk, Papa. You’re no better.”

  His smile fell off.

  “She tries to micromanage you like you’re a doll for her to play with, and maybe you need that. Maybe you need a century or two of grounding like I had to make you logical.”

  “I’d hardly call you logical, precious,” Tarik murmured. “In fact, I’d call you entirely erratic, and worse, you manage to look so damned serene all the while.”

  Angela shrugged. “I never claimed to be perfect. I’m learning how to be me, and no one’s going to get in my way. Know why?”

  “Why?” Lola and Tarik asked in unison.

  Angela took one hand from each parent and squeezed. “For one thing, I’m going with the Jaguars. I think they’re going to find it in their best interest to ensure my continued safety.”

  “In what way?” Tarik asked ominously.

  “Well, I’m not going to kill them. Not my style.” Her forehead creased and she swung their arms playfully. “At least, I don’t think it is.” She shrugged again. “Anyhow. They need el fuego to keep going, huh? Gotta keep the magical fire burning or they’ll all die off by thirty because the two of you half-assed their ancestors’ resuscitations? Well, I’ve got a little life in me to spare.”

  She clapped her hands over her parents’ mouths before either could rebut.

  “I’ve thought this through,” she said. “I think it’s the right thing to do. You say you can’t give them years and that they have to take mates if they want a fix. Maybe I can convince them to swallow that bitter medicine so the next generation is whole and unfettered. They’ve never kept their men, did you know that?” She crooked her thumb toward her father. “Because of him. Apparently, the group you’d made thought he’d treated you rudely and so decided not to allow men in their cult. I can try to make them see reason. I’m not saying it’ll be easy, only that I’m the best person for the job.”

  The idea had potential, but Lola still wasn’t ready to set the girl free.

  She was going to make so many mistakes. She was going to hurt so much, and Lola had wanted to spare her child that as much as she could.

  “I’ll be fine, Mama,” Angela whispered into her mind. “You can’t grow up without getting a few skinned knees.”

  She’d be getting more than skinned knees, but Lola didn’t want to argue with her. She was tired of arguing with her children.

  She took Angela’s hand from her mouth and studied her wayward child.

  She’d learned her lesson with Yaotl. She wasn’t going to lose another child for years on end over petty squabbles.

  “You will check in.” Lola didn’t bother lacing authority into her voice. It was pointless to try to fool anyone anymore.

  Angela grinned. “Constantly.”

  “When will you meet your brother,
then?” Tarik asked her.

  Angela’s knavish smile fell off and she shifted her weight, suddenly bashful. “As…soon as I have interesting things to tell him about. Tell him that, okay?”

  Tarik looked at her a long while, probably deciding if he found the answer acceptable.

  He likely didn’t, but he gave her the radiator cap and the spark plug anyhow.

  She gripped them tight and started away, likely to some discreet corner to vanish from. Apparently, that was one lesson she’d learned quickly.

  But she returned then, shifting the van parts to one hand before reaching for Tarik’s wing with the other.

  Too slowly, he tried to pull away.

  Lola could feel the magic passing between them, but in the wrong direction. Not father to child, but the other way around. The medicine he wouldn’t let Lola give him. Before she could push her away, she was done.

  Lola put her arms beneath her before she could fall.

  “Why would you do that?” he bellowed. “Why?”

  Angela laughed, and then groaned and Lola pushed her upright. “They can’t find me now. It’ll be ages before that power recharges, huh?”

  “What?”

  Exhausted and flagging, Angela rubbed her eyes. “Your dastardly enemies, Papa. Keep up. You’re supposed to be wickedly smart. That’s what the internet says. Anyway, I’ve got enough juice to keep the Jaguars from dropping dead in the next couple of years, but beyond that—I’m tapped out until it regenerates. My hunch is that it will eventually, just like Papa’s does.”

  “You should not have—”

  “Taken the risk? Well, I had to find out, didn’t I? I had to find out what the two of you made in me. And I don’t want you to hurt, don’t you understand that? You’re quite obviously in pain and have been for a very long time. What’s it to me that right now I don’t have some magic I wasn’t using anyway, huh?”

  Tarik took a deep breath for responding.

  Lola understood the tendency to want to push back quickly with Angela all too well, but Tarik was going to have to navigate their daughter in his own way.

  There was no roadmap for a child like Angela. After all, she was still discovering who she was herself.

  “You sure you don’t want me to have that sword?” Angela asked through a shaky laugh. “Without the magic, I’ve got to protect myself from the big bad world somehow, huh? I mean, it’s either that or the Swiss Army Knife I took out of Aunt Liz’s purse.”