True Angel: a Fallen Angel romance (Curse of the Othersiders Book 1)

by Jessica Lynch

  But someone had been here. Cam was sure of it.

  He held his hands out and closed his eyes. Instead of pushing away the echoes that imprinted on the street, he opened his senses up to it. He could feel the tremors of racing feet, sneakers slapping against the asphalt, panicked breathing as someone tore down the street. The reverberation of heavy, big paws padding after the terrified mortal. A voiceless scream rose up behind him.

  There was something wrong, though. There were two presences, but one of them was broken. Fractured. It chased, but it didn’t want to, and when the female ran, it pounced—

  “Cam?”

  He didn’t know what pulled him out of the trace first: the soft, obviously confused whisper of his name, or the tug low in his gut that had his eyes snapping open, his body turning to face the female that had somehow snuck up behind him.

  She’d changed. Her light brown hair was pulled back in a messy bun, showing off her delicate features. She’d pulled on an oversized hoodie that she was all but drowning in. He could sense the exhaustion pouring off of her, could see her red-rimmed eyes and the puffy purple circles underneath.

  Cam stared up at Avery in disbelief. She wasn’t supposed to be here. She was supposed to be sleeping. No human had ever been able to ignore his suggestion before, and he had put enough force behind it earlier that Avery should’ve been out until morning.

  Yet there she was.

  Huh. Looked like his suggestion hadn’t quite taken, had it? Add that to how she’d managed to get close before he realized she was there and Cam was more than a little rattled.

  Pulling in his energy, letting the last of the trace slip through his fingers like grains of sand, Cam lowered his hands to his side. “Avery?”

  “Yeah. I… I thought that was you. What are you doing here?”

  He could ask her the same question. “What about you? I thought you were going home to sleep.”

  Her forehead wrinkled, a slight frown, as if she just remembered that that had been her plan. “I was gonna, but the apartment… Heather’s not home. I have a hard time sleeping by myself.”

  Cam wanted to be good. He really did. He worked hard at being as saintly as possible, but he often understood that was a losing battle. The most he could hope for was being better than bad. Times like these he was sure he’d fail because only a true bastard would’ve had as positive a reaction at her confession as Cam just did.

  Not because he liked to see her suffering. The female needed sleep, that much was obvious; it was why he felt justified giving her his suggestion earlier. But whether she meant to or not, she gave him an opening that he wasn’t good enough to leave alone.

  “It’s just you two? No soul’s there keeping you company while she’s gone?”

  “Me? No. That’s why I’m so worried about Heather. We lost our parents pretty young. Since then, it’s always been just us.”

  “No mate?” When Avery’s frown deepened, Cam cleared his throat. Mortal. Right. “I meant boyfriend.”

  “I know what you meant. And no. Not for me, and Heather used to date this guy, Jason, years ago until that loser cheated on her. There’s been no one since. Not that I know of anyway. Why? Is that important?”

  Her suspicion lashed at him like a whip. He had to remember that he was only doing this because she needed his help. Asking her about a mate was crossing a line that she obviously wasn’t interested in crossing—and that Cam, as an Othersider, never could.

  “It might be,” he said. On a burst of inspiration, he added, “Because of the shifter. I was just thinking about that. You said that your sister was worried about a feral coming after her. You don’t think it could’ve been her mate, do you?”

  “I sure as hell hope not.” Avery winced. “Oops. I’m probably not supposed to say that around you.”

  “It’s fine. I’ve heard worse. But, for future reference, you can call it the down below instead. If that makes you feel better.”

  “I don’t know if anything’s gonna do that. That’s why I’m here, actually. When I couldn’t sleep… I thought I’d come back. Look around. Heather’s phone was here.” She stepped around Cam and crouched down, pointing at the asphalt. It was maybe three inches away from the curb. “The wolf print was right next to it.” She moved her fingertip to hover over a patch of dried mud. “I know you can’t see it now but that’s ‘cause I kicked it with my shoe. I was afraid to leave any tracks out in case it brought the Cage cops to Spring Valley. Now I’m wondering if I’d called them, maybe Heather… maybe she’d be… I don’t know. I don’t know anything right now.”

  She sounded so defeated. Even worse? As she kept her head bowed, staring at the same spot that had called out to Cam, he could sense the grief spilling out of her. Grief and… mourning?

  That was it, wasn’t it? She already thought her sister was long gone—and she was blaming herself for not getting to her sooner.

  “She’s not dead, you know.”

  Avery’s head whipped up. “What?”

  “Your sister. She’s not dead.”

  “You found her?” Pushing off of the blacktop, she scrambled to her feet, hands folded in front of her chest. Pleading. She was pleading. “You found Heather? She’s okay?”

  As much as he hated to dash her sudden hopes, he had to be honest. Not only would any kind of lie—even a lie of omission—cost him a few points, but he thought he had a handle on his client by now. She didn’t want platitudes. She just wanted her sister back.

  He shook his head. “No. Sorry. I should’ve led off with that.”

  “No. No, that’s all right. I should’ve known better.”

  It was painful to watch Avery deflate like a balloon. Almost as if it was his fault for not having the best of news within hours of taking the job. But, hey. At least he could give her some hope.

  She seemed to realize that a moment later. With a self-reassuring nod, she wiped the bits of asphalt and dirt on the side of her jeans. “Okay. I didn’t think it would be that easy, but… she’s alive? You’re sure?” At Cam’s nod, she seemed to perk up a little. “How do you know?”

  “I’ve got a couple of contacts who understand what I’m doing.” Camiel’s do-gooder schtick, they called it, not like he was going to admit that to his client. Some of the local Othersiders couldn’t understand his obsession with hoarding points while he was barely in his first century. Then again, he couldn’t understand waiting when tipping the scales in his favor meant he’d go up above sooner, but none of that mattered. Not now. “Anyway, I made a couple of calls. Have you heard of Azrael?”

  “I don’t know. The name… it’s a name, right?” When Cam nodded again, she said, “It sounds familiar.” Avery pursed her lips, trying to remember, and then—

  “Oh! I know! There was this cartoon my mom showed us when we were little. Came out way before I was born, but it was cute. It had these little blue people, and this cat, too. Bad guy’s cat. I remember because I went through a kitten phase… I was always bugging my mom for one. But the show… I think the cat’s name was Azrael.”

  Well. She wasn’t wrong.

  As if he needed the reminder that he had more than four decades on this mortal. Sure, to one of his kind, Cam was considered to be just as young, but he hoped Avery never realized that, while he looked like he was the same age as she was, he’d been around since before the Paras were forced into the open—and well before the Smurfs first aired on television.

  There had been a bit of a scandal when the cartoon first aired, too. In a world grappling with the reveal that vampires, shifters, Othersiders, ghosts, and more were real, humans were ready to believe that tiny, blue gnome-like creatures lived in mushroom-shaped houses. Not just the Smurfs, either. Any mythical creature you could think of, some soul was sure it existed. Decades later, and there were still annual Smurf hunts because pea-brained mortals thought they were Gargamel and they could gobble up imaginary creatures to become more powerful than Paras.

  Cam made a mental note
to never mention Avery’s reaction to Az. He’d be less inclined to help if he knew Avery thought of him as a cartoon cat instead of an awe-inspiring angel of death.

  Clearing his throat, trying not to chuckle, Cam said, “The Azrael I know has a cat, but he definitely isn’t one. He’s like me, but a little different.”

  “You lost me.”

  “You know how I’m an Othersider, right?” When she agreed, he explained, “Othersiders aren’t quite angels yet. And we’re not demons, despite the rumors I’m sure you’ve heard. It can go either way. But Az… he’s already ascended. He’s an angel now, but the lucky bastard got his halo early because of his job.”

  “His job? Like what you do?”

  Cam wished. He did favors and performed acts of good because he wanted to head back to the up above where he belonged. Azrael could visit the celestial plane whenever he wanted, only returning to the mortal plane when he had to do his duties. And since his recent promotion about a decade back, he wasn’t as busy as he used to be. There was plenty of time for Azrael to amuse himself.

  The angel of death didn’t even have to cross over to find some entertainment, especially of the female persuasion. He might’ve ascended because of his calling, but he was a true angel now. The curse of the Othersiders didn’t affect him.

  He really was a lucky bastard. Cam had never really thought of it like that before—only in the context of being a true angel free to live on the mortal plane—but after what happened after he met Avery’s gaze earlier… he might just have another reason to be jealous over his old friend.

  “Not quite like me, but close,” he finally said. “Az is good at what he does. If he says your sister’s still alive, I believe him.”

  “At least that’s something.” From beneath the fringe of her thick eyelashes, Avery glanced up at him. “He’ll let you know if that changes, right?”

  Being good didn’t always mean being kind. “Yes,” Cam told her. “He will. And then I’ll let you know.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  “I said I’d help you find your sister. Even if I can’t, I’ll help you get closure. It’s the least I can do.”

  Avery paled, but she gave him a grateful grin that had Cam’s pulse pounding. “Okay.”

  Cam should leave it at that. The female was already so worried, she seemed stretched to the breaking point. Lying to her would only make things worse, but he could be honest and give her a little more hope.

  He didn’t have to be kind, but with Avery, he wanted to be.

  “You asked me what I was doing here before? Well, I might not be a true angel like Az just yet, but there’s a reason Shea figured I was your best bet. I stopped by because I wanted to see if I could get a read on what happened here. I was gonna visit the library first, but this spot called to me. You already confirmed this was where she was taken. Now I can tell you that you’re right. It was definitely a wolf.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I just do,” Cam said. “I could try to explain it, but I wouldn’t get it right. But I have a better idea of what happened now.”

  Avery started to say something—probably to ask him about that—but before she could get a word out, it was swallowed by a huge yawn. She covered her mouth, murmuring an apology that Cam brushed off. When she went to take a step and nearly stumbled, though? He’d had enough.

  “How did you get here?” She’d just appeared behind him so he didn’t see how she arrived. “Did you drive?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “Where’s your car?”

  She turned to wave behind her. “I parked at the library. It’s only a couple of streets away. Before I took the walk over, I stopped and checked in with Janice. She’s Heather’s boss,” Avery explained. “She thinks Heather’s in Grayson General. I had to tell her that my sister had an accident. It’s bad enough I might not have a job to get back to after this. When Heather comes home, I want her to be able to still have hers.”

  Cam was glad that Avery was looking away from him. If nothing else came of his chance meeting with this mortal, maybe he’d finally understand what it meant to be that selfless.

  He shook his head. By the time she remembered he was still standing there, he’d adjusted the growing bulge in his jeans and schooled his features of any of the strange awe he was feeling toward her.

  Instead, he gestured back the way she had come from. “Come on. I’ll walk you to your car.”

  “You don’t have to do that. I can make it on my own.”

  He was sure she could. But, though he knew he was playing with fire, seeing her safely to her car was something he had to do.

  “Humor me. I exist to do good deeds.”

  “Bleeding heart?” she asked, a hint of a tease eking past her exhaustion. “Like how you refuse payment. Is that it?”

  “Something like that.”

  He started to walk. Avery hesitated, then fell in step with him.

  If he thought she was going to come along meekly, though, he had another think coming. After they’d walked in silence for a few minutes, she peeked behind her again, then asked, “Where did you park yours? I didn’t see it, and I don’t want you to have to go too far out of your way just for me.”

  “You didn’t see it because I don’t have one.”

  “Then how did you— oh.” Avery stopped dead in her tracks. “You flew?”

  “I thought you knew I’m an Othersider.” She made that clear back at the office. “Why do you seem so surprised?”

  “I’m not. Not really. It’s just…” A wistful tug on her lips as her eyes brightened. “I’ve always wanted to fly.”

  He almost offered to give her a ride. Like, opened his mouth and said, “It would be my pleasure.” Luckily, he managed to snap his jaw shut a split second before it spilled out.

  What was he thinking? She was a client. For angel’s sake, she was a mortal.

  A mortal who set his heart racing with the tiniest smile. A mortal who was beginning to look at him as if he was her only hope in this world.

  A mortal who didn’t care that he was an Othersider.

  “Do you want to see my wings?”

  6

  Power of suggestion

  Cam was suddenly extremely grateful that Dina had decided to stay behind in Grayson. Do you want to see my wings? Holy shit. If he didn’t know better, he thought he might be… flirting.

  He immediately dialed it back. “If you want to. I mean—”

  “Do you think it’s okay?”

  The better question was: did she? She was the one who lived in Spring Valley. With that strange barrier working against paranormals, it probably wasn’t the smartest idea.

  “Where exactly did you park?” he asked.

  Even without his sensing abilities, Cam wouldn’t have been able to miss her disappointment. “Oh. Um. The library’s lot is over there. Just around the corner.”

  And they were still walking along an empty stretch of road, hidden behind the tall oaks that lined it.

  If Dina had tagged along instead of staying back at the office and pout, she would’ve had a hundred reasons why Cam shouldn’t do what he was about to do, spelling each one out in her crisp accent. Even with her missing, Cam could just about hear her nagging concern in the back of his mind, all punctuated with that sharp Camiel.

  Did that stop him?

  Huh. Not even a little.

  He removed his coat. The shrunken version of his wings were flat against his back. With a mischievous grin, he relaxed his shoulders, releasing them until they stretched to their full reach.

  And then he held his breath for her reaction.

  Avery’s mouth opened. She let out a soft sound, her hand lifting up as if she wanted to reach for the nearest feather.

  “I didn’t know they’d be like that,” she whispered.

  His jaw tightened. “Black?”

  “No. Beautiful.”

  Oh.

  Her fingers trembled. Avery took one step closer, t
hen another. It hit Cam that she was approaching him, her intent to touch his wing pretty fucking obvious.

  And he wanted her to. More than anything, he wanted to feel her fingers on his wings.

  Yeah, no. That was a lie.

  He wanted more than that for her hand to travel south, to go so far as to relieve the ache in his suddenly throbbing cock. She liked his wings. He liked her eyes. Her mouth. Her soul—

  Cam backed away from her.

  He didn’t quite put his wings away, though he did contract them. Again with the disappointment, only this time he was damned sure he felt it more than Avery did.

  “It’s late. I want you to go straight home now,” he told her, lacing his baritone with more than enough suggestion that she should actually follow it this time. “Eat dinner. Sleep. Take care of yourself. I’ll take care of your sister.”

  She blinked a few times, frowning, almost if she could tell what he was doing—and she was trying to fight it off. Which was impossible since there was no way that a mortal should be able to tell that he was doing anything at all. It wasn’t mind control exactly, but a well-meaning type of encouragement toward doing what the Othersider thought was right.

  And this stunning mortal was pushing back against it.

  “You’re trying to take care of me, too,” she said at last. Her fingers curled into a fist before bumping into her thigh. “Aren’t you?”

  Honestly, Cam didn’t know what he was doing. So he shrugged.

  Avery bit down on her bottom lip, taking him in. “You look like you’d be the bad guy. And I don’t mean because of the wings ‘cause they’re gorgeous. It’s the way you look through people with your dark eyes. I thought that as soon as I first met you, but then I saw you with your cat and, even if you give her chocolate, you’re so good with her. You can’t be the bad guy.”

  If she had any idea the kinds of things he’d do to her if only he could, she might reassess her opinion of him. Good thing that that would never happen. Dina was right. Tempting the curse of the Othersiders wasn’t worth trying to understand the way Avery made him react.