by Willa Blair
“Oh, gee, look, it’s the mighty warrior come to put his foot down. Well, let me clue you in, MacRath, I answer to no man.”
“And I’m not just a mon. I’m your protector, an immortal, and I’m getting fast irritated with your misplaced anger.” He advanced a few steps toward Abby, who in turned moved a fraction closer to Sean. A movement that did nothing to eclipse Darach’s own growing anger. He turned to Sean. “What did she do?”
“Oh please, why does it always have to be my fault? And how can you say ‘misplaced’? You’ve turned my entire life into chaos.”
“Hush Abby, it wasn’t by my design. Ye placed yourself into danger and a demon’s path by choosing to follow a vision. Ye insisted on being there when both bodies were found, and going to work when ye should have stayed home. All of these reasons have brought about your present circumstances.” Darach eased forward a bit more. “And let’s not forget, ye were a willing participant when I made love to ye.”
“Like I had a choice.” He could almost hear the silent Take that.
“Abby, are you saying Darach took you against your will?”
Sean’s question rained into Darach’s head. Did the woman truly believe he would make love to her against her will, and when he didn’t even have the pleasure of attaining his own release.
“Well, no, but he kissed me senseless, and I…”
“Hell no!”
Both their comments came out at the same time. Sean looked to Darach who turned his gaze back on Abby after a look of warning to the lieutenant.
“Okay, then, why don’t ya’ll work out what we are going to do tonight, and I’ll get back to you.”
“No, I need to know what she did. What does she need to tell me?” Darach knew he’d have to drag it out of Abby. The woman’s face was a testimony of her refusal to do anything he wanted. Her blue eyes flashed, her lips were set in a grim line, and he hated the way she tapped her foot on the wood floor.
Sean turned back, gave Abby a pitying glance, and then spit out. “Your woman, whom you need to control better, was at the first crime scene. I found her going through the victim’s computer.” Having dropped that bomb, the halfling left the room, but Darach was too stunned to acknowledge his leaving other than a grunt. Abby kept silent.
His anger grew stronger, egged on by fear that ripped his inner organs to shreds.
“Do ye really believe I didnae leave ye a choice?”
Abby’s cheeks reddened just a bit and then she shook her head.
“Good, now answer this question. Why in all that be holy did ye go out and to a crime scene?” His words were low but ferocious.
“Because I thought maybe I could find something.” Abby sounded defensive, as she should be.
“Well that was the most ignorant move ye have made so far. Whoever killed Cecil could have returned to the scene of the crime.” Darach’s hands fisted together. He was close to having a coronary.
“What did you want me to do, Darach? Just wait and see if they find who killed him?”
“Dammit, aye! I dinnae want anything to happen to ye.” At her disbelieving look he added, “And it has nothing to do with following Michael’s orders.” As he watched, her look changed to chagrin.
“I’m sorry. I just feel helpless sitting here. Besides, it was daylight when I left. I’ll be more careful next time.”
Darach frowned. The woman still didn’t get it.
“Stop looking like Mr. Gloom-and-Doom. I’m fine. Now let’s talk about what you have planned for me tonight.”
Hell, he hoped she’d forget about that. He should have known better.
“Sean and I are going out and looking for demons. Ye cannae go with us. ’Tis not—”
“Well I don’t cotton to being put in protective custody, while you two go off and act the heroes hunting human and demon murderers. That wasn’t what I had in mind for tonight.”
“What did you have in mind, lass?”
A blush bloomed on her cheeks and then darkened. “I thought we could stay home and continue what you started earlier.”
Lust ran rampant throughout his lower body, as his brain tried to assimilate the bomb she’d dropped on his head. Women, although adorable, could be the most confusing people alive.
Darach closed the distance between them and pulled her close. “I think that idea has merit, but not tonight, Abby. We have to find who is doing the killing or ye willna never be safe.”
“I’m warning you right now, I’m not going to spend the night in jail.”
He dropped his head to rest on top of her silky silver mane, and inhaled the jasmine scenting the air.
“Don’t worry about it, we’ll work something out.”
****
Angus laughed. Everything was going much better than he planned. If all went well tonight, then he could have Darach in his grasp and dead before the next few sunrises. He loved it when everything fell into place. It made his life so much easier. And once he had Darach out for the count, he would still go after Abigail. The woman was a prize he would love to lay open.
Michael closed the ledger of notes he’d made on Sean Black, checked off what he could use on his notepad, and then turned his attention to Darach. He’d closed the cloud opening earlier in order not to see the immortal violate what he’d been told. He wanted to call him forth from Earth and give him more than a wingful of admonishment, but Abigail Dupree was not fighting Darach’s touch. Could it be she felt something for his warrior?
Chapter Twelve
Abby walked beside Darach, so closely tucked to his side, she could almost crawl under his skin. The wafting fragrance of his cologne tickled her nose, and she wanted so badly to drag him back to her house.
His way of working it out was for her to be installed at a bar where he would leave her with someone he knew. He and Sean would be in the area and all Abby had to do was call him. Of course that facilitated having to buy a cell phone for Abby. She didn’t really think she needed a new one, but Darach insisted he wanted something more up-to-date.
“Almost there. You’ll like Rae.”
Rae? That was a woman’s name!
“Who is Rae?” She hoped the tinge of jealously burning in her heart didn’t coat her tongue.
“She’s a waitress. I’ve known her since first coming to NOLA. She works at the Highlander Bar.”
Abby had heard of that place, and not all good things either. A place where some of the meanest ex-cons, lowlifes, and other sorts who bided their time until their next fix or crime hung out.
If a woman waited on tables there, she’d have to be one tough lady. Probably old looking with a body that had seen better days, and wrinkled to boot. No need to be jealous—no need at all.
She squeezed the hand encircling her waist. “I’m sure I’ll love Rae.”
Bourbon Street housed a lot of bars and restaurants, some fancy, some not. The more seedy types were established on the lower end. Soon, the bar came into sight. It didn’t look so bad on the outside with its medieval-type front doors, dormer windows, and an old-fashioned lantern lighting up the exterior. The building itself was made of some sort of sturdy-looking wood, with concrete blocks reinforcing the foundation around it.
Darach opened the door, motioned Sean inside, and then pulled Abby across the threshold. The room was a semi-dark cavern filled with a variety of bodies. Some were clean and some stank just a bit.
Sean stepped back and allowed Darach to take the lead and he led them both to a booth in the back of the room. After he scooted in, Abby slid in beside him, and then Sean. Now she felt like the filling of a sandwich.
“Darach, I missed you for the last few nights. Where have you been?”
The lilting voice belonged to a woman in her early thirties. Blonde hair was pulled back into an intricate design on top of her head, with a few loose bangs, drawing attention to the high cheekbones and green eyes of the waitress. She wore a low-cut peasant blouse like she was born to it, and the short flared skirt show
ed off more than enough of her legs.
Abby hated her already. This had to be the infamous Rae, since she didn’t see any other women in the place.
“Rae, darling, ’tis good to see ye. I’ve been a bit busy lately. Could you bring a round of drinks for me and my friends?”
Abby listened as he ordered a beer for himself and Sean after conferring with the lieutenant, and then a margarita for Abby. The camaraderie between the immortal and the barmaid was hard to watch. It didn’t take having a satellite fall out of the sky onto her head for her to know Rae was in love with Darach.
The woman finally moved off to fill their order, and Darach turned to Abby. “What did I tell ye? Rae is an angel, isn’t she?”
At his question, even Sean’s mouth opened a bit. Was Darach blind as well as dumb as a piece of clay? Couldn’t he see what was going on?
“Well, I’ll take your word for it, since I just met her and all.”
“Rae is not like a lot of women who work in this district.”
Oh, and just what type of woman is she? Abby wanted to scream.
“She works here at night to bring in money for her children. During the day, while her kids are in school, she does the same. Her husband is a slimy piece of offal. I’ve tried to convince her to leave him, but she’s afraid he’ll try to take her kids.”
Oh great, the fact the woman was a jewel of a person made it worse.
Rae brought their drinks, and Darach pulled a bill from the vicinity of his pants pocket. Sean followed suit.
“Hey, that’s way too much for the drinks.” Rae’s features looked stunned.
“I always tip, ye know that, Rae.”
“Yes, but your friend is giving way too much also. I don’t want a handout, Darach.”
Now the woman deserved a gold metal. Even Abby couldn’t keep pretending there was something wrong with Rae.
“Consider it payment for doing us a favor.”
Now Rae’s green eyes slanted a bit in probably curiosity and confusion. “Look, you don’t have to pay me for doing you a favor. Without you… my kids might not have what they need for school.”
Darach closed Rae’s hand around the two bills. “Keep it, ye have no idea how much trouble this job can be.”
“Really, now that sounds intriguing.”
Abby didn’t care for the insinuation that she was trouble, but decided to keep quiet for now.
“Okay, what’s the job?”
Darach cleared his throat. “I need ye to watch Abby here, while Sean and I take care of some business.”
“What’s wrong with her that she can’t stay by herself?” Rae’s tone, to be honest, was curious, but Abby chose to take it entirely in a different way.
“Okay, that’s enough. I’m a grown woman, and I don’t need a keeper. I’m so out of here.” As before when she tried to move the mountainous bulk of Darach she didn’t succeed. Now, she tried pushing her way past Sean. Another roadblock, one she was not happy with—not at all.
“Abby, settle down for a minute. This is for your own good.”
“Oh please… you did not just pull the I-know-what’s-best-for-the-little-woman routine, did you?” Rae’s caustic tone caused Abby to swing her gaze that way.
“Rae, there be a reason Abby needs to stay here, and she knows what it is.”
“Your charming accent won’t work on me. You can’t go around treating women like underlings.” Rae stared him down.
Now it was Darach’s turn to be on the hot seat, and Abby was going to enjoy it with a vengeance.
“Rae, how can ye say that? I’ve always treated you as a—”
“Woman? Yes, and when you do every so often it smacks of I know better than you do. So why not leave it up to Abby to decide if she wants to stay here or not. I’m sure she has some sense of what she feels is right.”
Abby’s estimation of Rae continued to climb. If only the woman didn’t wear her heart on her sleeve when it came to Darach. Of course, he must seem like a knight in armor to Rae.
“Well, thank you for asking me, Rae. I don’t want to be here, but I don’t want to be in the way either. If they”—she motioned to the men—“had bothered to ask and not just tell me this is what we’re going to do, then I might have been more amenable to this solution in the first place.”
Darach’s expression as well as Sean’s was confused to say the least. Men! She and Rae exchanged glances and even grins at the men’s continued dumbfounded looks.
“So ye will stay put while I go out?” His question sounded awfully tentative to Abby. She wondered what he would do if she said no.
“Fine, I’ll stay here. Just make sure you two supermen don’t get into any trouble.”
The look he leveled on her this time took her breath. The cocked eyebrow, silver-gilded gaze, and the sexier-than-hell cast of his lips as he leaned over and whispered in her ear made her want to climb his body like a cat up a tree.
Rae slid into the booth after the men left.
“So what did he say?”
Abby wasn’t sure if she wanted to tell the woman Darach told her she was the only trouble he wanted.
“Let’s just say, he’s not upset anymore.”
Rae laughed, and then her expression turned serious. “You in some kind of trouble?”
“Not the kind you think. You know about the teacher found dead?”
At Rae’s nod, Abby continued. “He works at the same school I do. I was with Darach when they found the body. Now, he’s afraid someone is targeting me.”
“That’s so not good.” Rae caught Abby’s hand and gave it a light pat. “Listen, you’ll be safe here. And just so you know”—she gave Rae a woman-to-woman look—“Darach has never looked at me like he does you. He’s been an incredible friend. My husband…” Rae stopped for just a moment and took a deep breath. “He tries hard, but he’s…he’s…”
“Abusive?”
“Yeah, but he looks after the kids at night, so I can’t divorce him, not now. Once I get finished with school and get a real job, then I can take care of my children all by myself.”
“Rae, if you need a bolt-hole, you could stay with me.” Abby wasn’t sure who was more surprised her or Rae. She’d never asked anyone to stay in her home. She valued her privacy and with the visions and dreams, she scared herself sometimes when she woke up screaming.
“That’s really kind of you, and if I need one, I promise I’ll call you.” Rae blinked back tears and then stood up. “Listen, can I get you anything to eat? I’m not sure how long they’ll be gone, but the bar’s open until six a.m. It could be a long night.”
“I’m fine for now. Thanks for asking. Hey, I don’t suppose you have a paperback novel I could read or something to pass the time?”
“I sure do! Give me a few and I’ll bring it out.”
“Thanks!”
****
Several hours later, Abby was deep into Witch Of Air and Fire, by Eliza March. She munched her way through a bowl of mixed nuts, had another margarita, and an order of fries. The book was good—hot, and a bit more than what she was used to in a romance, but she loved the characterizations. The sex scenes made her want Darach in a truly erotic way, but she tamped those thoughts down.
Abby thought about what would happen after her life settled back down to normal.
She knew Darach could not be a part of it, but it didn’t stop her from wanting it to work or from dreaming about the what-ifs. The more she studied their situation, the more she realized she just did not want to let him go. He made her feel like a woman, someone worthy, not just a fractured loner who scared off people by what she could see.
Normal people tended to shy away from those not so normal.
So now, she had a decision to make. Take what she could get from Darach and act like it didn’t bother her when he moved on, and he would have to sooner or later, or shut it down now.
Her heart, soul, mind, and body screamed no to the latter solution. At the moment, she wanted to
tell all four to shut up, but then that would make her as crazy as she felt at times.
Deciding she could solve nothing tonight, she went back to her book. Right in the middle of the sentence describing the Trinity Ceremony the strains of “How Great Thou Art” greeted her ears. She snatched her coat off the seat and unearthed Darach’s phone. He must have dropped it out of his pocket when he slid out. Should she answer it? The old gospel song seemed to get louder, and some of the patrons in the bar looked in her direction.
“Hello?”
“Abigail?”
“Yes, who is this, please?”
“Ah, you have Darach’s phone.” The deep baritone on the other end sounded like an angel. She wondered who it could be.
“Yes, he must have left it when he went out.”
“I see. I assume he’s out hunting demons?”
Abby’s heart stopped. How did this person know what Darach did? Was he friend or foe?
“I am a friend, or to be exact, Darach’s boss.”
The cell phone dropped from her suddenly nerveless fingers. Oh my gosh, it was Michael, the archangel.
“Abigail?”
Abby fumbled for the phone. Her thumbs were like cotton balls. Finally, she had it back to her ear. “Yes, sorry, I dropped the phone. I guess I’m a bit nervous.”
The deep rich laughter coming through the phone bathed her in a pool of calm. “I tend to make a lot of people nervous. Your immortal included.”
“Yes, Darach does seem to have a healthy respect for you.”
“If it would only last more than a few minutes at a time, I would be most grateful.”
“Is there something I can tell him? I know you can do the mind thingy or whatever it is when you communicate with Darach but…”
“I called to tell him to be especially careful tonight. There are several demons on the streets. More than there have been. I don’t like it, and I think it has a lot to do with what’s been going on.”
Abby tried to quiet her fast-beating heart. “You think Angus is behind all this, don’t you?”
“You are a bright mortal. Yes, I do.”
“I don’t know how to get in touch with him. Wait, I could probably track down Sean.”
