Chicago

by Tiffany Aaron

  “Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Dominic hung up.

  She snapped her phone shut before turning to see Grant watching her. “Someone will be here tonight and Dominic will be here tomorrow morning.”

  “Who’s Dominic?”

  “An Enforcer I met in New Orleans. I helped him out while I was down there working.”

  “An Enforcer? Isn’t that like a Mafia hit man or something?” Grant looked uneasy.

  “Not really. The Enforcers are more like angelic police officers.”

  “Angelic police officers?”

  “Sit down.” She waved him to a chair at one of the tables while she stayed next to the skeleton. For some reason, she felt a measure of peace in keeping a vigil over one of her brethren.

  Grant cleared his throat and she looked up at him. “You were going to tell me what an Enforcer was.”

  “When we were banished, some of us asked—begged—for God to forgive us and allow us back into Heaven. For reasons known only to Him, He chose to ignore us.”

  “Why would He do that? Isn’t He supposed to be a forgiving and loving God?”

  Shrugging, Danielle slipped the gloves on before running her fingers over one of the tiny wing bones. “I almost drove myself crazy wondering the same thing until I figured out it isn’t important for me to know why. I just need to accept the decision. God has His reasons and someday I might learn what they are. For right now, I try to live as normal a life as possible.”

  Shaking off the depression threatening to swamp her, she continued, “For some of the fallen, their own arrogance turned them away from forgiveness and they went insane. Those are the unrepentant. They’ve never asked God for anything and never will. Most of the unrepentant look at mortals as fodder for their own war. Without the Enforcers, they would destroy all mortals in a fit of rage.”

  “So the Enforcers protect humans?”

  “Most of them do. Mika’il approached the Enforcers with the choice of keeping the unrepentant in check or being hunted down and destroyed like them. A majority chose to hunt down their fellow fallen and so they were branded with a cross on their chest.”

  “You don’t have one,” he pointed out.

  “I don’t. I told Mika’il I refused to become hunter or hunted. The one time I thought about being like God, I got banished from Heaven and my wings taken from me. I wouldn’t play God with the lives of my brethren.” Lifting one of the fragile wing bones, she held it up to the light. It gleamed a startling white under the harsh glare.

  “Do you believe the Enforcers play God?”

  She nodded. “Yes. They judge and punish those unrepentant who have fallen into the abyss. If that’s not playing God, I don’t know what is.”

  “Do the unrepentant look different from you? If I ever ran into one, would I be able to tell what he is?” Grant asked.

  Danielle went over to sit next to him. Shaking her head, she said, “No, you wouldn’t. They have managed to disguise their true selves from mortals. If you run into one that doesn’t hide himself, look into his eyes. Instead of being bright blue like mine, his eyes will be dark, almost black. As the light leeches from their soul, they get crazier and soon it is more merciful for them to be destroyed, so I’m told, though I’ve never been able to work out that dilemma enough to justify the need.”

  Grant nodded, but she could see the confusion in his eyes. There was no way he could grasp everything at once. She would go easier on him, introducing him to her past slowly. She whispered a kiss over his lips.

  “Go do some work, Grant. I have to go out for an hour or so, but I’ll be back before whoever Dominic sends shows up.”

  “Okay. Where are you going?” He gave her a suspicious glare.

  “I still have a business to run. Though I’d love to, I can’t spend all my time here with you.”

  Laughing, he hugged her. “I could tie you up and keep you as my sex slave.”

  “That sounds like it might be fun.” She kissed him again before pulling away. “I’ve got to go. Put the skeleton back in the vault and I’ll be back before you know it.”

  Before she stripped off her gloves, she stroked a palm over the fragile skull, saying a silent goodbye.

  * * * *

  Grant answered the phone when it rang several hours later. “Dr Carson.”

  “Dr Carson, it’s Jeffery up at the security desk. There’s a couple here asking for Miss Weston. She hasn’t returned yet.”

  “That’s all right, Jeffery. I’ll be up to get them.” He hung up then stood.

  Nervousness raced through him. It was stupid to worry about what they would think of him, but these were Danielle’s brethren. When had the need to be judged worthy of her become so important to him? At the beginning, he had convinced himself that all he had been looking for with her was a couple of great nights in bed. Those feelings had changed. Now he wanted to stay in her presence and learn all there was to discover about her.

  Making his way to the security desk, Grant saw a tall blonde woman and a huge dark-haired man talking in front of Sue, the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton in the lobby of the museum. It was obvious they were a couple by the way the man’s arm was wrapped around her waist and her head rested upon his chest. He didn’t want to interrupt what looked like a private conversation, but he wanted them down in the lab in case Danielle got back soon. Clearing his throat, he approached them.

  Whirling around, the man tensed like waiting for an attack. The woman faced Grant more calmly—her beautiful face held a smile though there was a hint of sadness in her brilliant blue eyes. He moved to the couple with a wary step.

  “I’m Dr Grant Carson, the head archaeologist here at the Field.” He held out his hand.

  The woman took it, shaking with a firm grip. “I’m Celeste Montgomery and this is my husband, Adam. Dominic LaFontaine asked us to help out Danielle Weston.”

  After shaking hands with Adam, he gestured for them to follow him. “Yes, Danielle is working with me. I found something on my last dig she feels might cause some trouble. Well, in fact, it’s already caused me a lot of trouble.”

  “What is it?” Celeste asked.

  “I would prefer not to say anything until we’re in my lab. I’ll show you what I have and maybe Danielle will be back by then.” His cell phone rang. “Excuse me.”

  Walking off a little ways from the Montgomerys, he answered the phone. “Carson.”

  “Hey, looks like those guys after the emeralds figured out who Danielle is,” Nevan’s voice grated over the phone.

  “Is she okay?” Concern rushed through him.

  “Sure she is. Her office has seen better days though. I guess they decided since you don’t have the emeralds, she must. Trashed the place pretty good.”

  “Is she with you?” He needed to hear for himself she was okay.

  “No. She told me to take care of things then headed out to meet you at the museum. She said she had some people to meet. Danielle called in more of her friends, didn’t she?”

  “Didn’t she say anything to you about them? Two of them are here now and I believe more will be coming in tomorrow.”

  “I’m glad you finally told her about the skeleton. She needed to know, Carson. That’s one of her brethren you have on that cart and it should be treated with respect.” Warning sounded in Nevan’s voice.

  “Don’t worry. I treat all my artifacts with respect.”

  “It’s not just an artifact. It was once a person, just like you. How would you feel if someone dug up your body and put it on display?” A voice sounded in the background. “I’ve got to go. I’ll try to stop by later on tonight. If I don’t catch you at the lab, then I’ll get you at Danielle’s house.” The detective hung up.

  “Danielle’s on her way here.” He led them down to his lab. Opening the door, he was surprised when he saw Danielle sitting in one of the chairs. Ignoring Celeste and Adam, Grant rushed over to her and hugged her. “Are you okay? Nevan called me.”

  “I�
�m fine, Grant. They trashed the office pretty bad, but they were gone before I got there. I’m just glad my assistant had the day off.” She glanced over his shoulder to where the others were standing. After gaining her feet, she went to them, offering her hand. “I’m Danielle Weston.”

  “We’re the vanguard, you could say. Dominic will be arriving with William Bradford tomorrow. I’m Celeste and this is my husband, Adam.”

  Danielle was impressed, having heard of Celeste Montgomery. There were only two fallen on earth more powerful than Celeste, and Danielle really didn’t want to run into either of them. “Where do you live, Celeste?”

  “We’re from Detroit. That’s why we got tagged for this,” Adam commented. Looking around the lab, his eyes glinted when he saw the gold armbands and the necklace. “So what’s the problem?”

  Celeste laughed at Grant’s move to stand between Adam and the gold. “Don’t worry, Dr Carson. Adam’s a reformed thief. Now he robs people legally.”

  “It’s hell on a life of crime to live with a fallen angel with morals.” Adam grabbed Celeste and kissed her.

  Danielle enjoyed seeing them acting like newlyweds. “We have two problems. The first problem seems to be that someone tried to smuggle ten million dollars’ worth of emeralds into Chicago using Grant’s artifacts as cover.”

  Adam’s eyes gleamed at the mention of the jewels. “What’s the problem with that?”

  “It seems the shipment got misplaced. I’m missing an entire crate of artifacts, mostly bones. We think the emeralds are in that shipment. My lab and apartment have been broken into.” Grant waved for them to sit.

  Danielle sat next to Grant and the other two shared a chair with Celeste sitting on Adam’s lap. “Grant was attacked two nights ago and now today, my office was trashed as well.”

  “Write down what shipping company you were using, Carson. I’ll call some associates and see what we can find out about your crate.” Adam set Celeste aside, then stood. He took the paper from Grant before heading into Grant’s office, pulling out a cell phone on the way.

  “Who’s he calling?” Grant asked.

  “His associates are best left unknown.” Celeste smiled after her husband. “So what’s the second problem?”

  Danielle looked at Grant, gesturing toward the vault. “Show her what you found.”

  While Grant opened the door, she filled Celeste in. “Grant was digging at a new site in the mountains of Peru. He made a rather startling discovery.” She handed the blonde Enforcer a pair of gloves. “In case you want to touch it.”

  Celeste gasped then blanched when Grant revealed the skeleton. At the same moment, Adam returned to pull her into his arms.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “It has wings. It’s one of our brethren, Celeste. He must have died before Mika’il could take his wings.” Danielle stroked her gloved fingertip along the jawbone of the skull. “This is our second problem. One of the unrepentant has already been here looking for it. She didn’t have time to search the entire lab because she would have found it for sure. Yesterday, she attacked me and nearly drained me of my power. She told me in an earlier meeting that Lucifer might be interested in this.”

  “Shit, there is no way we can deal with Lucifer. Have you contacted Mika’il yet?” Celeste took a wing bone and showed it to Adam.

  “Not yet. My first thought after Grant showed it to me was to call for help. I knew I couldn’t handle whatever was coming on my own. I’ll try Mika’il now.” She shut her eyes and drew upon her connection to the archangel.

  “Mika’il, we need your help.”

  There was no answer. She frowned and tried again.

  “Mika’il, we’ve got trouble here and we need your help.”

  First there wasn’t an answer then faintly she heard, “ I’m sorry.”

  “I’m sorry? What the hell does that mean?”

  But he was gone.

  Opening her eyes, she glanced at Celeste. “See if you can contact him. All I got was ‘I’m sorry’.”

  Celeste closed her eyes and tried. A puzzled frown wrinkled her forehead. “I’m not getting anything. It’s strange not having the connection with Mika’il. I mean, I have nothing, and that’s never happened before.”

  “So is mine. What do you suppose he’s sorry about?”

  Sighing, Celeste shrugged. “I don’t know. Hey, do you think we could talk about this tomorrow when the others get here? It’s been a long day and a longer drive to get here.”

  “Sure. You’re welcome to stay at my place while you’re here. It’s not the Waldorf, but it’s clean,” she offered while Grant put the cart away.

  “We’ll take you up on that. We could find a place if we tried, but I think it’ll be better for everyone if we stick close to each other.” Adam herded them out of the lab.

  “Who’s the Enforcer for Chicago?” Celeste looked around at the exhibits as they made their way to the exit.

  “I don’t hang out with that crowd normally, but it might be David Randolph. If Mika’il were around, he’d know for sure, though I’ve always gotten the feeling David didn’t care much for mortals.”

  “Some are like that. They take their duty to protect mortals from the unrepentant—as you call them —very seriously, but they feel no urge to keep mortals from hurting each other. One less mortal is one they don’t have to worry about.” Celeste watched Adam flag down some cabs.

  “Why does Mika’il allow that attitude?” Danielle couldn’t help but inquire.

  “Mika’il takes what he can get most of the time. None of us will ever win any gold stars for great attitudes. Right now, he’s just happy there are more Enforcers than there are unrepentant, but some of the good guys are getting closer to the abyss every day.” When two cabs pulled up, Celeste said, “Give our cabbie your address and we’ll meet you there.”

  Danielle did that then they headed off.

  “Have you ever met Celeste before?” Grant asked her as they rode toward her house.

  “No, but I’ve heard of her. She’s one of the most powerful fallen.”

  “Really? She looks capable enough. Who’s more powerful than her?” He reached over and placed his hand on her thigh where the hem of her skirt met her flesh.

  The heat of his hand traveled up her leg to rest on her mound. She was getting wet and he hadn’t even started seducing her yet. “Lucifer and Christian. You know about Lucifer, but Christian stood behind only Mika’il and Lucifer in the Father’s affection.”

  “How did he fall?” He crept his hand up in short, small swirling moves. Soon the tips of his fingers were resting against her pussy.

  She spread her legs as wide as her skirt allowed. “No one knows except for Christian. He always tried to talk reason to us. He tried to fight the rebellion, but when the tide of the war was over, he stood on our side of the gate. One of the few whom God loved most of all had been barred from Heaven with the rest of us.”

  He slipped one finger over her clit with hard strokes. “Who do you think the skeleton is?”

  Whimpering, she shifted her hips as he passed his fingers by her wet opening, then dipped in. “I don’t know.” It was getting harder to focus on what he wanted to talk about. “I’ve never heard of one of us disappearing.”

  He twisted slightly, shoving his finger in deeper. His cheeks were flushed and his breathing was quickening. With his other hand, he grabbed one of hers to cup his cock. She bit her lip to stop from crying out as he scraped over her sweet spot with each thrust of his finger. Danielle couldn’t believe she was letting him do this in the back of a cab. Grant kept pushing in then pulling out, just alternating the speed and angle with each move. Finally, when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore and would start begging him to take her, they pulled up in front of her house.

  Grant paid the cabbie as she climbed out of the vehicle and stood on shaking legs. Celeste and Adam’s cab arrived a few minutes later while she was trying to unlock the door. Her body didn’t want t
o let the lust drain from her and she could feel how slick her thighs were from her own juices. She might have to drag Grant into her bedroom for a little before-dinner sex.

  “I know it’s rather early still, but I was up all night working. I’m hoping it isn’t too rude if I head off to bed,” Celeste apologized.

  “No problem. I’ll show you to your room.” She took them upstairs, to where her guest rooms were. “You can take this room and the bathroom is the third door down.”

  “Thanks. I’ll stay up here and do some work of my own. We’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Adam shut the door firmly behind him.

  They weren’t going to get any argument from her—she was glad to be alone with that annoying man. She managed to get back downstairs with decorum, but the minute she saw Grant, she dragged him to her bedroom to finish what he’d started in the cab.

  * * * *

  It was still dark out when Grant woke up. A restless feeling drove him to climb out of bed before pulling on some clothes. Danielle murmured something, then buried her face in his pillow and went back to sleep. Opening the door, he tried to leave the room without making any more noise. He wandered down the hall, heading for the kitchen.

  “Couldn’t sleep either, huh?” a voice emitted from the shadows in the living room.

  He tensed until he realized the voice belonged to Adam. “Yeah, I woke up and for some reason couldn’t get back to sleep. Thought I’d get some water.”

  “Water? I need something stiffer than that when I wake up at night.” Adam’s harsh chuckle came from the dark. “Of course, I doubt your past is full of nightmares like mine.”

  He figured Adam was right. “Did you find the liquor?”

  “Yeah, your lady has good taste in alcohol and possessions. Did she tell you the sculpture on her end table is a Michelangelo? And that she has a Da Vinci hanging in her hallway? Whole house is a fucking museum.”

  “No, I didn’t know. How can you tell?”

  “Used to make a living as a thief. I haven’t done anything illegal in a while. I promised to clean up my act.”

  “Did Celeste make you promise that?”