by Мишель Роуэн
“Valerie!” Nathaniel called after her, and his voice sounded angry and pained. “Come back here!”
She didn’t turn. She didn’t answer. She simply ran. She turned the next corner and skidded to a halt when she saw Lisa in front of her.
“Val!” the girl yelled and waved her arms wildly.
“Come on.” Val ran over and grabbed her wrist to drag her along toward the front doors. She didn’t have the time to ask her how she’d managed to get away from Julian. They’d both escape. Together. But as she grasped the huge handle to the front door of the mansion, she felt
Nathaniel clamp his hand down on her shoulder and turn her forcefully back around.
A line of blood showed above and below his left eye from where she’d scored him with her fingernails. Between, his eyes were fiery. Fierce. Angry. His grip was so tight she knew she wouldn’t be able to get away from him now. He could easily take her and Lisa back out to
Julian. He could take the key.
How had the head office managed to change him so greatly?
She met his fiery gaze and held it as they stood at the doorway.
“Nathaniel,” she said, and noticed her voice was so choked up that it hurt to talk. “I need to tell you something.”
“Is that right? Well, spit it out, angel.”
She blinked. “I still love you.”
The flames strengthened in his eyes for an excruciatingly long moment until it hurt just to look at him, and then extinguished completely. He frowned deeply, and his grip on her arm increased. Then he closed his eyes and she felt warm air and a shaking of the world around her.
After a moment he opened his eyes and released her. “Go.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
He nodded at the doorway and she looked behind her. There was a swirling blue portal there now. It hadn’t been there a moment ago.
Lisa grabbed her hand. “Come on.”
Val tried to touch Nathaniel, but he moved out of her reach. “But, I need to—”
He glanced over his shoulder then back at her. “For once, just once, do what I ask. There’s no time to argue. They’re coming. Go!”
She looked at him, one last time, and then turned and leaped through the waiting portal.
Chapter Twenty-one
“I think we’re just damn lucky that wasn’t a portal to Hell,” Reggie commented as Val and
Lisa ran up Niagara’s Clifton Hill. “I mean, Nate wasn’t exactly acting like his usual uncharming self, was he?”
After more than a day in the strangely tropical Underworld, the earthly realm felt positively frigid to Val, who was only wearing her jeans and tank top. Well, it was December, an easy thing to forget when hanging out among palm trees and beaches, even if it was all fake.
Running like a crazy person back to the motel was definitely helping to warm her up a bit.
She didn’t bother answering Reggie. She had to save her energy for the single-minded goal of getting back to the Paradise Inn and using the key. Thinking about anything else—anything else—was just going to throw her concentration off.
For example, she wasn’t going to think about Nathaniel and what just happened at the mansion. His cutting words doing their damage to hurt her, to shake her confidence in him, and then at the last moment, something returned. It was obvious he’d been given behavior modification as punishment for breaking the rules—that was why he’d been so cruel and heartless. But if so, why did he let her escape . . . even creating the portal himself to allow her to escape?
See? she thought Thinking about stuff like that is only going to slow me down.
Also, thinking that as soon as Julian knew both she and Lisa had escaped from the
Underworld and had the key, he’d be coming after them with a fiery vengeance.
Nope. Not going to think about that, either.
“Where are we going?” Lisa panted.
“Back to the motel. We’ve got to get to Barlow.”
Val tried to clear her mind, but it kept racing as fast as her feet. Was she running to something or away from something?
Here, she’d thought she’d been so in control of what was going on. Just like the glamour on the Underworld, on Donovan, on herself to become an “evil witch.” She’d been fooling herself. All of it was false surfaces. She’d never had any control at all. She thought she could control Nathaniel through the summoning spell? He was a demon with a mind, an agenda, of his own. Maybe opening the portal was just another way to tempt her. To gain her trust after it had almost been lost completely. After all, no matter what Lloyd might have told her, she really had no idea how many assignments he’d had before her in two hundred years of being a demon? Hundreds at least. Probably thousands. Why did she think she was any different? Any more special than the rest?
Lucifer was probably laughing at her right now. As well as everyone else at the head office.
At the stupid angel who’d fallen for a gorgeous demon.
Not a story Trixie L’Amour would be telling any time soon.
So she kept running. And desperately hoped for a sign.
A little of that divine intervention would be really cool right now, she decided.
With Lisa right behind her, she slipped past a parked car and crossed the street. She heard the squealing tires and froze, staring stupidly at the big, black limo that lurched to a stop only inches from turning her into a frozen pancake.
The back door opened and slammed shut. She saw red hair and a fancy Chanel suit quickly come toward her.
“Val!” Becky called. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
Her heart pounded so loud she could barely hear anything. Lisa skidded to a stop next to them. She could hear Reggie panting on her shoulder, which, since he hadn’t been running at all, was a little disconcerting.
“You almost hit me!” Val exclaimed.
“You almost deserved it running out like that and not looking both ways. Geez. You practically gave me a heart attack. Sweetie, you’re shaking like a leaf. And FYI, it’s winter.
You’re a total candidate for What Not to Wear in that outfit.”
Becky waited for a reply but Val had nothing. She glanced at Lisa.
“Where are you two headed?”
“To the Paradise Inn,” Lisa told her.
“I’ll give you guys a ride. Come on.” Becky put her arm around Val’s shoulders and steered her toward the limo, directing her into the backseat.
Seraphina sat on the opposite seat looking at her. Her hair was done in perfect blond ringlets.
Her arms were crossed. She wore a yellow outfit with a cartoon duck on the front with the words GOING QUACKERS.
“I want McNuggets,” she said.
“That sounds like a plan,” Reggie murmured. “Running for my life makes me so hungry.”
Lisa joined them in the limo. Val shook her head and glanced at Becky. “We have to get back to the motel right now. It’s urgent.”
“You need to learn how to relax—I should give you the number for my masseuse. He seriously has the fingers of a Greek god. We’ll drop you off, don’t worry. As soon as we stop at McDonald’s for her majesty.”
Val blinked at her. “What are you doing here, anyhow? Didn’t you just leave for Disneyland?”
Becky shrugged. “Yeah, like a week ago. Thank God that torture is finally over. She made me go on Space Mountain eight times. In a row! They actually ran out of barf bags. I’m so glad we’re finally back. Besides, I still have a ton of Christmas shopping to do.”
Val’s mouth had gone completely dry. “Did you just say you were gone a week?”
“Yeah. We left a ago week today.”
A week? Her eyes widened. It hadn’t been a week. It couldn’t have much more than a day . . . two at the most . . . even though that time felt like an eternity. But back here an entire week had gone by?
“Her mother’s at the spa to recover from the trip,” Becky said, eyeing the little girl waril
y.
“I’m way stressed and we were only gone a week. And when I’m stressed, I eat. If we were gone any longer I might have come back weighing six hundred pounds.”
“McNuggets!” Seraphina whined. “I want my McNuggets.”
Becky sighed. “Okay, just hold on a minute, would you?”
“NOW!”
The limo drove up the road to McDonald’s and Becky climbed over Lisa to get out of the car.
“Reggie,” Val said softly.
“Yeah?”
“We’re going in.”
He nodded. “Where you go, I go. Lead the way.”
They slipped out of the limo and left Lisa in the car with Seraphina who began telling her all about her Mickey Mouse experience, and ran up the stairs to the restaurant.
“This is good, actually,” Reggie said. “I’m so hungry I could eat . . . something large and unruly. Not that that is any different from a normal day.”
“Claire,” Val called as she ran through the front doors.
“On second thought,” Reggie said. “I just lost my appetite.”
Claire was cleaning out a nearby garbage can. She looked up as they approached.
“Well, well. Look who’s finally returned. I don’t think you could have left my place in more of a mess. That was a real treat to wake up to. Steal my man and trash my home. Way to go.”
“Yeah, good to see you too, Claire.”
She put a hand on her uniformed hip. “How did it go, anyhow? Did you end up summoning a good demon?”
“It went okay. I guess,” Val said, knowing that was a big fat lie. “A good demon? That’s debatable.”
“Was he small, hairy, and destructive?”
“No.” She sighed. “Tall, dark, and a major hottie. But I don’t have time to go into the details.
I just needed to return something to you.”
“Oh?”
She pulled Reggie off her shoulder and handed him to Claire.
“Hey!” he protested.
“What’s this?” Claire asked.
“Your boyfriend. Now forgive him, change him back into a human, and start dating again.
Somebody needs to have a happy ending today.”
Reggie’s whiskers twitched. “Val, what are you doing to me? She’s going to kill me!”
Val shook her head. “She won’t. She’s crazy about you. If she wasn’t she wouldn’t get all jealous. Look Claire, bottom line is that me and Reggie didn’t do anything. Believe it because it’s the truth. He can be a dumb guy and he’s made some questionable choices, but underneath it all he loves you. He told me so a bunch of times. He’s been so wonderful and brave since we left, you would be so proud of him. I know I am. So just turn him back and live happily ever after, okay?”
Claire frowned at her, and then she looked at the rat who stared back at her in rigid anticipation of her answer.
She shrugged. “Okay.”
Val was surprised. “Well, that was easier than I thought it would be.”
“But Val—” Reggie began.
“Yeah?”
His whiskers twitched. “Does this mean I’m never going to see you again? You and Lisa are going back to the motel to use the key?”
She nodded.
He sniffed. “I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you, too.”
“But I know it’s what you want—to go back home.”
Val swallowed hard and thought about the word for a moment. “Right. Home. I do want that.”
“Maybe I’ll start praying more often. It’ll be cool to talk to you even if I won’t be able to hear you answer me.”
She opened her mouth to tell him it didn’t work that way. Not on her level anyhow, to the best of her faulty-memory knowledge, but she decided not to. “Sure, anytime. Thanks for everything, Reggie. You’ve been a great friend.” She nodded and then turned to leave.
“Wait . . . Val?”
“Yeah?”
“I just want you to know . . . Nathaniel’s a damn fool if he doesn’t realize how great you are.”
She kissed her fingertips and tapped him on the top of his furry head. “Take care of each other, guys. I’ll miss you.”
With a last look, she left McDonald’s, slipped back into the limo and met Lisa’s concerned gaze.
“It’s just us now,” Val said.
Lisa nodded grimly.
“Fry?” Becky offered.
“No thanks.”
Seraphina blinked at her from the facing seat. “I know you. You’re the angel.”
“You’re the what?” Becky asked incredulously.
“She’s an angel.”
Becky smiled patiently. “No she’s not. She’s my friend Valerie.”
“Actually, she’s right.” Val rubbed her temples gingerly. “I’m a fallen angel. Just got back from the Underworld where I had to retrieve the Key to Heaven. I had a brief fling with a handsome demon, rescued a fellow fallen angel, and now we have to get back to the motel so
I can take my boss back to Heaven before Hell catches up to us. So let’s get this limo moving, shall we?”
Becky stared at her for a moment, then burst into laughter. “You are such a hoot. We should go out more, maybe clubbing or something. Oh, and by the by, my brother is still talking about how much he wants to go out with you. Come on . . . the two of you would make a beautiful couple. Well, you’d be the beautiful one. He could be the Superman expert. Still, a good match. Did I mention that he drives a black Trans Am?”
Val thought about Becky’s comic book lovin’ brother. He would give her a lot less grief than
Nathaniel had. She had no doubt about that.
She forced a smile. “I’ll keep it in mind.”
Or, in other words, Not on your life.
The limo pulled away from the curb and Val stared out of the window as she formulated her plan. Reggie was safe now. She only had Barlow and Lisa to worry about. If all went well they might all be hanging out at the . . . She frowned. She couldn’t remember anywhere she used to hang out in Heaven. What did she do Up There for fun? It wasn’t just a big fluffy cloud like Nathaniel had said. There was form and substance to her existence as an angel. She did things. She knew other angels, like . . . what was his name? The assistant to something-or-other. And they knew her. They were all one big happy family in Heaven.
But she couldn’t remember the specifics. It was gone. And she didn’t have her notebook as a backup anymore.
Didn’t matter, though, she thought. Not much longer and it would all come back to her.
Forever.
“Fallen one,” Seraphina said. “Look at me.”
Val closed her eyes and tried to ignore the brat.
“Be polite,” Becky said sharply. “And don’t call Val that. Finish your apple pie. Use a napkin.
You’re getting the filling all over your Gucci poncho. Do you have any idea how much that costs to dry clean?”
“Fallen one,” Seraphina said again, calmly.
Val opened her eyes to look at the little girl. Her eyes were fully white and she stared at Val with all the creepiness that only a nine-year-old with massive psychic powers could have.
“Uh, yeah?”
“Do you have it?”
She was about to ask what Seraphina was talking about, but had a funny feeling she already knew.
“Yes, I do.”
“There is very little time left. Allow no one to distract you from doing what you feel in your heart is right. No one.”
“Who are you?”
“There is little time—”
“Yeah, you already said that.” Val leaned forward. “Listen, whoever you are, I’ve had one hell of a day. I don’t need any additional pressure, got it?”
Lisa leaned forward. “What if I—”
“Silence,” Seraphina hissed and Lisa promptly shut her mouth. The white eyeballs turned back to Val. “It will only work for a fallen one.”
She sighed. “Old news. Now
I don’t know who you are. But I’ve had it up to here with these cryptic messages. None of it helped me, you know. There was no fragments of light falling to the ground or otherwise.”
“That is because it already fell. A very long time ago.”
“Whatever. Also, just so you know, I’m pretty sure that the darkness prefers the darkness. Not that he had much of a choice in the matter. So everything you told me before was all crap. I’m on my very last nerve ending today, so why don’t you leave me alone? The weight of the world is on my shoulders right now and I’m afraid of throwing it all away by mistake.”
The corner of Seraphina’s mouth twitched with amusement. “Excellent. I believe the right choice has already been made.”
Val frowned and she leaned forward to stare at the little girl. It was then that she noticed the light from her eyes wasn’t just white, it was pure and perfect and filled her with a sudden sense of peace and rightness.
“Boss?” she said so softly she could barely hear her own words. “Is that you? Please, tell me what you want me to do!”
Seraphina’s eyes went back to their normal bright blue and she took another bite of her apple pie, completely oblivious to what had just happened. Val glanced at Becky who stared back at her with wide eyes, a fry dangling from her lips.
“What the hell was that?”
“The pain that is my life,” Val told her just as the limo pulled in front of the Paradise Inn next to a police car. Val eyed the cruiser curiously and grabbed Becky to give her a quick hug before she and Lisa got out of the limo. “Thanks for being a friend. I’ll miss you.”
Becky nodded. “Okay then. I’ll give you a call. Maybe we can catch that new Brad Pitt movie next week.”
Val smiled at her. “Yeah, sure.”
Without waiting to watch the limo pull away, she dragged Lisa with her straight to Barlow’s office. A uniformed police officer emerged from the interior of the office. He held up a hand to them as they approached.
“Can I help you two?” he asked.
