by Lisa Olsen
“What, no hug? No ‘Hey Adam, long time no see?’ That’s gratitude for you,” the distinctively male voice at the door snorted. “Whatever moldy old book you’re poring over can wait. Now stop dicking around and let me in.” The new arrival seemed amused by Sam’s stance and easily pushed his way past him Kst nbsp; N, only to stop and stare at me. His eyes lingered in an overly familiar way that made me blush to the tips of my ears. “Who’s this?” he asked with open interest.
Both men were beautiful, the opposites of the same coin. In every way that Sam was light, he was dark, from his jet black hair to his wicked smile. But where Sam’s gentle expression mirrored his goodness and highlighted his angelic qualities, his friend’s presence announced a worldliness Sam could never possess. He was dressed all in black from head to toe. Black boots, jeans, tight fitting t-shirt and motorcycle jacket. The kind of guy that Daphne would have called a sexy beast, and I was inclined to agree, the guy oozed predatory charm. His aura was the same warm, golden yellow as Sam’s and his eyes blazed with the same azure fire that marked him as an angel. But the way he looked at me… it was as though he could see right through my clothes.
If he was an angel, he was almost certainly a Fallen one, and that explained why he was a friend of Sam’s. I could only imagine what that one had done to get cast out of heaven. He reminded me of one of God’s favored angels, tossed out of heaven for getting too uppity. Sweet Mary Mother of God… was that who stood before me, Lucifer himself?
His eyes still devoured me like some kind of new and tasty morsel, and I took a step backwards in spite of myself. Sam looked uncertain as to whether or not he should answer or leave me to speak for myself.
“Oh Sammy, you’ve been holding out on me. It’s about time you got a playmate,” he smirked.
“I’m not his playmate,” I scowled, annoyed that he’d automatically assumed I was a plaything, not a person.
“Good.” He gave me a wolfish grin, advancing a step closer and I could tell I made a serious mistake, declaring myself open game.
“I have to be going.” I tried to sidestep him, but he stepped further into my path.
“Don’t leave on my account.”
“I’m not.” My chin came up a fraction, refusing to be cowed. “I just happen to be leaving now.” I had a feeling he didn’t buy my explanation, and neither did I. There were unresolved issues between me and Sam, but it didn’t seem like an opportune moment to pursue them.
“Well, at least introduce us, brother.” He released me from his gaze, turning to Sam expectantly.
Sam bristled, still hovering by the door as if he hoped his visitor might decide to leave. “Adam, this is Mercy. Mercy, this is Adam,” he said shortly.
Adam. I wondered what it might be short for. Adamus or Adamantium for all I knew. I gave him a short nod but didn’t offer my hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Pleasure.” Adam’s eyes flashed mischievously and I heard a whole other meaning behind that single word.
“I’ll bet,” I murmured, and the errant thought pushed its way into my mind - what would a fallen angel be like after a thousand years or more of sharpening his skills in the bedroom? Adam’s smile held the promise of an ocean of earthly d K of the bedelights, and I resolved to get the hell out of there before my hormones went into overdrive and I did or said something stupid without thinking. Deciding to make that my cue to leave, I moved closer to the door, stopping in front of Sam. “So… remember what we talked about?”
“Yes, I remember,” Sam nodded.
“I meant it, Sam. If you want to see me, call or knock like a normal person.” With that final reminder, I stepped through the doorway.
“She knows, doesn’t she?” Adam’s face was a mask of shocked surprise, perhaps the first unguarded emotion I’d seen from him. His eyes narrowed as he studied me closer, his look penetrating but without the lascivious cast to it anymore. “Holy shit, look at her… Boy, when you fuck up, you fuck up big. Don’t you, Sammy?”
I got out of there before I could hear Sam’s reply.
* * *
I mulled over the strange encounter as I drove away from Sam’s place. It stood to reason if there were other fallen angels out there, they might not all be nice and honorable like Sam was. After all, one did not get cast out of heaven for being a boy scout. Not for the first time I wondered what it was Sam had done to end up one of the Fallen. I’d already considered and discarded half a dozen theories, but none of them seemed to apply. He didn’t seem like the debauching type, or the kind that grasped for power or abused his authority over others. Then again, how well did I know Sam?
Whatever his transgressions, I had the feeling they happened a long, long time ago, and whatever it was, being cast out had taken its toll on him. In all that time, Sam still hadn’t integrated into human society (unlike his buddy Adam), and I wondered why not.
I resolved to put the whole thing out of my thoughts until I had some time to pull it out and turn it over in my mind again. For the moment I focused on more mundane issues, like making dinner.
I’m a good cook with the basics, spaghetti, lasagna, Mexican food (the spicier the better) and your basic meat and potatoes American favorites. Anything too fancy and the results are hit and miss. One thing I have never been able to get the hang of is baking. Even those rolls of pre-made cookie dough… It sounds easy in theory but I always ended up with cookies that were burnt on the bottoms and raw in the middle, so I’m a big believer in store bought goodies.
On the way back to Ben’s townhouse I stopped at the store and got some fresh salad greens, a loaf of crusty French bread and a gorgeous black forest cake. Have I mentioned I’m a sucker for chocolate in any form?
The next hour saw me up to my elbows in Italian goodness, as I assembled a monster lasagna with the ingredients I’d found courtesy of Ben’s pantry and freezer. I took it as a good sign that he had fresh heads of garlic in a basket by the sink and added it to everything I made, from the sauce to the meat to the bread. As long as we both had some, I figured we’d be on equal footing should more kissage occur.
It had been a long time since I had anyone to cook for besides Matty or Daphne, and I was sorta hoping he didn’t think I’d overstepped my bounds in taking over his kitchen. I managed to finish washing the last of the pots and pans from the cooking mess and popped the lasagna into the oven when I got a text from Ben he was on the way home. Talk about perfect timing… Taking the stairs two at a time, I jumped into a quick shower to freshen up.
Luckily, I took an armload of clothes into the adjoining bathroom with me, because as I emerged (fully clothed, thank God) after my shower, I was startled to see Adam sitting casually on the edge of the bed, flipping through the pictures in my wallet. What was it with angels and boundaries?
“What the hell are you doing in here?” My voice went all high and squeaky. While I wasn’t afraid as I might normally have been at finding a strange man in my bedroom, my temper got a pretty good workout.
“I wanted to talk to you,” Adam replied, as if it justified his actions perfectly.
“What is it about angels that makes them think they can walk all over you?” I muttered, shoving dirty clothes into the hamper. “What makes you think I want to talk to you?”
“We don’t have to talk then,” he grinned, stretching out on the bed and patting the spot beside him.
It would have been almost funny if he wasn’t so damned sexy laid out on the bed like that. Deliberately, I turned my back on him, snatching up my comb to work at the tangle of my long hair. “I’ll bet I know what you use your little invisible trick for,” I muttered. He seemed like the type who would have no moral qualms over spying on innocent females.
“But it didn’t work on you. Interesting.”
“You were trying t Kwerew o make yourself invisible?” I turned in spite of myself, regarding him with curiosity, though I was still half appalled at his intent.
“What did he do to you exactly…?” Adam mur
mured, his icy stare intent as it had been before I’d left Sam’s apartment.
“He didn’t tell you?”
Adam shook his head. “Sam’s not usually much of a conversationalist to begin with, but he clammed up tight were you were concerned.”
“Maybe he just didn’t want to tell you? I sorta got the impression you two weren’t the best of friends.”
That got his attention and a momentary look of surprise crossed his face before his regular smirk returned. “Samael and I are the oldest of friends, which is the next best thing.”
“So you’re a fallen angel too?” I asked, looking to confirm my suspicions.
“Guilty.”
“Are there many of you guys around?” It seemed a strange coincidence to run into two of them inside of a week.
“Enough that we all know who each other are, but not so many we need a secret handshake or anything,” he grinned. “What did he tell you about me?”
“Nothing really, he mentioned you help him with money. If that was you he told me about.”
“Yeah, Sam’s got no head for business at all,” Adam sigh K”e="ed. “You’d think after a couple thousand years he would’ve gotten the hang of it.”
A couple thousand years… He said it so casually, as if we spoke about the weather forecast. And in all that time Sam had never really joined the world of the living. Obviously Adam didn’t share his reticence, he looked as integrated as a supernatural being could get in his leather jacket and boots. I was willing to bet his apartment boasted a flat screen TV and all the luxuries money could buy. Idly I wondered how someone who’d been around for so long managed to keep a bank account or rent an apartment in the computer age? Didn’t they run background and credit checks on people? Or could enough cash buy your way past that?
“That’s nice of you to help him out then,” I allowed. It was a softer side to him perhaps.
Adam gave a half shrug. “It’s just money.” Only people who have money ever say it’s just money. “Let’s just say I owe him from way back.”
The unmistakable sound of the garage door opening filtered through the townhouse then, and my eyes flickered to the bedroom door.
“Who is that, your boyfriend?”
“None of your business, now get out of here before he sees you, or…” The last thing I wanted to do was go through dinner with Ben with Adam hanging around unseen and unheard by everyone but me.
“Does he know about your… gift?”
“What do you know about it?” If Sam hadn’t told him much about me, I didn’t hold much hope he held any answers for me either.
“Plenty. Let me guess, good ol’ Sam didn’t tell you squat did he?” Adam smirked.
I faltered, torn between wanting answers and wanting him out of there before Ben came up the stairs. “He told me some…” I hedged.
“Sucks to be you…” he sighed, moving to the window and I took a step towards him.
“Wait, where are you going?”
“You asked me to leave,” Adam blinked innocently.
I let out a long, exasperated breath. “Look, not here but, we should talk…”
“I don’t want to talk.” He gave me a sultry look that made my stomach flutter, but I resolutely tamped it down. Did he really expect me to hop into bed with him just because he was drop dead gorgeous?
“Ugh, never mind then, go ahead and go.”
“You have to understand, it’s not often we get to see something new. Especially something new and shiny like you.”
“I’m not some toy for you to play with,” I retorted, not at all happy with the comparison.
“But I like to play. I think we could have a lot of fun playing together, don’t you?” Adam’s voice was suddenly low and intimate by my ear, he’d moved away from the window in the blink of an eye, his hands brushing lightly over my arms in the ghost of a touch as he stood behind me. I swallowed back the wave of desire that went through me at that light touch, wondering if it was another kind of angelic ability or the Kilipan>himself who affected me that way when he was obviously such a jerk in all other ways.
He chuckled softly, as if he could feel my reaction to him even though I’d remained silent. “If you change your mind just call my name.”
At that I scoffed aloud, turning to see his face. “What you’ll magically know it if I say Adam? Aren’t there like a ton of Adams in this city alone?” What kind of a trick was he trying to pull?
“My true name, Merceline.” It was strange to hear my full name from those lips. “Call it and I will come.” He perched on the windowsill in the blink of an eye.
“What’s your true name?” I found myself asking. Did that apply to all angels, or just to him?
The wry twist of his lips let me know I’d given him another small victory in asking. “Adamiel,” he replied, launching himself out the window.
* * *
Dinner was a success and I was sufficiently pleased by the compliments and yummy noises Ben made while enjoying my lasagna. He told me all about the new case he was working on, without specifics of course, and I couldn’t help but wonder how he managed to keep up, going night and day the way he did. What was such a life altering thing for me was par for the course to him, and he was currently working on putting a half dozen criminals like Weatie behind bars. It was awe inspiring and depressing really, that there were so many people running around out there, hurting each other. It wasn’t something I normally liked to think about.
After dinner we watched movies together and it was very comfortable. I’d been wondering if the make out fest the night before had been more of an aberration or a sign of things to come, but we each seemed more hesitant that second night. I kinda got the impression he wanted to take things slower and that was fine by me. I was confused enough by my feelings at the time.
As I went to bed, my eyes kept straying to the window where both angels made an appearance. Would Sam honor the request I’d made of him, or would he show up and watch me sleep again? Or would Adam return for that promised talk? As I drifted off to sleep, I found I almost wished he would.
Chapter Nine
Monday morning I awoke to a note from Ben propped against a jelly donut telling me he had to go back to work early and he wasn’t sure when he’d be home. With a longing look to the jelly donut, I resolutely put it back in the kitchen and picked out a carton of low fat yogurt instead. Too much donut makes too much Mercy… My mother would have been proud of my restraint.
It’s handy to have a best friend who works crazy hours like I did. After a bit of straightening up around Ben’s place, I pulled out my phone, desperate to catch up with Daphne and let her in on everything that had gone down since we’d last spoken. Was it really only a couple of days ago? Fingers flying over the keypad, I sent her a text message.
*meet for lunch?*
In just a few minutes I had her reply and we traded messages back and forth before deciding to meet up at Togo’s sandwiches and walk to the park. I think it’s important to state here that Togo’s sandwiches are the most excellent on the planet. Their turkey and avocado sandwich is the best money can buy, and I’ve been working on trying to duplicate it on my own with little success. I think it’s the bread. I haven’t been able to find its equal anywhere else. It was well worth the drive to Bellevue and conveniently not too far from Bellevue Highlands Park.
The benefit to knowing someone from childhood was that it’s easy to anticipate their wants. So, seeing as how I got to the sandwich shop first, I went ahead and ordered for the both of us. Our sandwiches were already bagged up and ready to go by the time Daphne arrived, her cheeks pink with the exertion of running late.
“Sorry! I had to stop for gas,” she gave a sheepish grin, reaching for the bag. “How much do I owe you?”
“My treat this time,” I offered. After tips I cleared quite a bit more than she did at her job, and I didn’t mind footing the bill from time to time. “You can pay me back by giving me your unvarnished opinion on
everything that’s been going on.”
“I’d give you that anyway,” Daphne scoffed. “Tell me all about Ben, he works fast, huh? Got you in his bed already?” Her teeth caught her tongue in a teasing grin.
I laughed at that, not quite thinking of it in those terms before. “He’s not like that, he’s… sweet.”
“Uh oh, like the kiss of death sweet?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know what I mean, Mercy, your track record with men sucks. If you had a choice between a decent, nice, sweet guy and a dangerous, two timing asshat, you’d pick the asshat every time.”
Ouch. My cheeks flamed scarlet because I knew that it had been true in the past, my judgment with men was sometimes a little… lacking. “That’s not what’s happening here, I’m not after some asshat I’m…”
“Wait so there is another guy…?” she interrupted, hopping up and down, her eyes wide with excitement. “Is it the one who was following you?”
“Well… sorta. I don’t think he likes me like that.” I wasn’t sure what Sam felt about me, only that he was intrigued. It was Adam who I thought about in that moment though, especially given his visit the night before. Of course Adam fit the definition of asshat well enough. Could an angel be an asshat?
“He’s not gay is he?”
“What?” I blinked, not tracking her at first as I’d been daydreaming about another pair of ice blue eyes. “I don’t think so.”
“What’s the problem then? All men go for you.” A roll of the eyes was given.
I wish… “He’s not a man exactly…” I hedged, looking around. It had been killing me not to talk to Daphne about everything going on and it seemed as good a time as any. No one paid us any mind on the street.
“What, he’s a robot?” she snorted.
“No, he’s… an angel.”
Daphne giggled, “No men are angels, they all have something wrong with them.”
“No, I mean he’s an honest to God, heavenly angel with wings and everything.” I waited for her to laugh again, keeping my expression completely solemn.
