“I know.”
The elevator doors opened, and I jumped a little when I saw Judd standing on the other side. He had a duffle bag slung over his shoulder and a look of despair on his face.
We both snapped our phones shut and stuffed them in our pockets as I stepped out to meet him.
“Hey,” he said, taking in my disheveled appearance.
“Hey.” I sincerely hoped I didn’t look like a woman who’d just had amazing sex with the enemy. I casually brushed my fingers through my tangled hair and straightened my shirt.
Judd sighed in clear frustration. “Hurry and pack up what you need. We need to get out of here.”
“You shouldn’t be mad at me,” I said. “Go ahead and gripe about MOG or Lois or anybody else who pisses you off. I can deal with that.” The ascending numbers on top of the elevator distracted me for a moment. Good. MOG and Lois were leaving, I thought and turned back to Judd.
He opened his mouth to say something, but I put my hand up and continued. “But you’re supposed to like me unconditionally. We’re partners in this crazy world. You’re the only Angel I can talk to.”
Judd reached around me to push the elevator button for the garage floor and then gave me his attention. “It’s complicated.” He growled under his breath and rubbed a hand over his five o’clock shadow. “Jesus, Abby. I can’t be mad at you. You drive me nuts, and most days I’d like nothing more than to lock you up somewhere so I won’t have to worry about you. But the truth is you’re the only one I’ve got too. And I kind of like it that way.”
Not being able to help myself, I wrapped my arms around his waist. I missed our normalcy. I missed him. And at the same time I yearned to be back with Simeon. What was wrong with me?
Judd enclosed me in his arms and squeezed. “It’s going to be all right,” he whispered into my ear. “We both made mistakes, but we can start over new. I’ll wait for you in the garage, and then we’ll head over to Eli’s and find somewhere for us to sleep.” He pulled back and looked at me with those warm, comforting eyes. “And then we’ll talk tomorrow, okay?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer, knowing MOG wanted me to put on my spy hat. I’d have no other choice than to go straight back to Simeon’s house. Especially since we were no closer to ending the attacks. Quite the opposite now that Piper was gone. And if Malakai was behind this fucking rebellion, Simeon was the only route I could think of to finding him.
“See you in a sec,” I finally said when the elevator doors closed with Judd behind them.
I gathered myself together and went to pack up a few things. If the demons hadn’t located the building already then maybe Felix had been wrong about the tracking device. A girl could hope.
I grabbed a backpack out of my minuscule closet and started stuffing it with clothes. A couple of pairs of jeans, my two favorite sweaters, my pajamas. None of which were made for a temptress who needed to betray a man who’d professed his love to her.
My heart lurched forward just at the memory of his voice saying those words. Stop it, Abby. He’s a demon. He was only toying with you. But dang, it felt so good to hear.
I was so stopping to get some cheesecake on my way to Simeon’s house. Maybe having a little piece of heaven in my belly would keep me focused on the task of finding Malakai rather than how great it felt to be lying underneath Malakai’s son.
I needed a plan. Everything Simeon knew about everyone was on his computer. He’d admitted to that more than once, so he had to have data on Malakai. The hard part would be bypassing any passwords Simeon had set up.
No. The hard part would be getting away from Simeon and alone with the computer. And what if Simeon didn’t want me in his home? I’d left him without even saying goodbye this last time. There was only so much a guy would take. Right? I guess that was where the seduction would come into play.
A loud bang interrupted my thoughts and scared me off my feet and onto my bed, which was shaking from the explosion. It had been an explosion, hadn’t it?
Oh, God.
I scrambled to my feet and went to the window. It was difficult to see out the tinted glass, especially since it was dark out. The only things I could make out were the streetlights and a lone car’s headlights driving along the street below.
Another bang shook the floor beneath me, and the light in my room flickered briefly. What the hell was going on? I didn’t want to stick around to find out.
I flung my backpack over my shoulder, made a mad dash to the door...and stopped short when I smelled smoke. Fire. The building was on fire.
“Shit. Heck. Heck. Heck. What should I do?”
I’d never trained for this type of emergency. Or at least I didn’t recall training for escaping a burning building. No, I probably would’ve remembered that.
Relax. Just get out.
I touched the door to see if it was hot. No, it was okay. I pushed it open and stepped out into the hallway. The fluorescent lights above me were dim and making a buzzing noise. Above the elevator, the floor numbers were blinking frantically and tendrils of smoke were licking up from under the doors.
Definitely a fire somewhere.
“Help!” I heard a muffled cry coming from behind the elevator doors. “Dear God, get me out of here!”
MOG. Holy cow.
“I’m coming,” I yelled. “Hold tight.”
With all my Angel strength, I wrenched the doors open. A dark cloud of smoke whipped into me and invaded my lungs. I coughed the gaseous vapor out and waved it away from my face. It spread into the hallway and all around me, so I pulled my T-shirt over my mouth and nose.
“Abigail,” MOG screamed from above my head. I looked up and saw that the elevator had jammed right below the ceiling, but I could see MOG kneeling down on the floor of the elevator with only about a foot and a half of space showing.
“We have to get you out of there. Is Lois with you?”
“No, she left a little before me. Said she was going back to the office to get her Bible. Said she’d meet me in the garage.”
So had Judd. I prayed to God they got out okay. “Can you squeeze through?” I asked. “Slide out on your tummy, and I’ll help you down.”
“I’ll try, but with the pizza diet I’ve been on...” She disappeared for a second, and then her bare feet shot out of the small space. “Catch me, Abigail. I trust you.”
“I’m here for you, MOG.”
Her tiny body slid through with ease. I gripped onto her waist and helped her to the floor. She staggered a little, gave me a weak smile, and started coughing at the new emergence of the menacing smoke.
I grabbed her hand and guided her into my apartment, closing the door behind us.
“What should we do next?” the Holy Messenger of God asked me. Me?
“Um, I think we should put in fire escapes and a sprinkler system when we rebuild. What do you think?”
“Excellent idea. And for now?”
An abrupt pounding on the window caught our attention. I swiveled on my heel to see Simeon on the other side, gripping onto the outer wall. He pounded again, unable to see us through the mirrored tint.
“Abigail,” he shouted but came to us in a muffled murmur through the thick glass. “Are you in there?”
I ran to the window. “Yes, I’m here,” I shouted in return. “I’ll try to break the glass! Get back!”
He nodded and scaled to the side. This was the first time I’d ever appreciated the wall-climbing abilities of a demon. And probably the last. But boy, was I grateful for it now.
I lifted my leg to kick the window out, but MOG stopped me. “You’ll cut your leg, dear. Here...” She ran across the apartment, picked up my television, ripped the cords from the wall, and my precious DVR, and hauled it over to me. “Use this.”
“My TV? I’m not throwing my TV out the window. Do you know how long it took me to save up for―”
MOG maneuvered around me, lifted the television over her head, and heaved it toward the window, shattering it
into pieces.
“No!” I watched helplessly as my favorite form of mindless entertainment crashed to its death. “Oh, hell.”
“There.” MOG swiped her hands together. “Now we get to live.”
Simeon punched out the remaining sections of glass with his fist, still holding on to the side of the building.
“Let’s go, Abigail,” he said.
I leaned out the window and looked down. Fire was flickering out the first floor windows. “You have to take MOG first.”
His eyes shifted to MOG and then back to me. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not leaving you.”
“Can you carry us both?”
“No.”
I shoved MOG in front of me. “Then come back for me.”
“Damn it, Abigail.” He gritted his teeth. “We don’t have time to waste.”
“You’re right. So take her and hurry back for me. I’m not leaving this building before she does. Got it?”
MOG wobbled beside me. She’d been under too much stress lately, and now her building was crackling up in flames. And it was all my fault. I shushed her before she could argue for me to go first and helped her onto Simeon’s back.
“Hold on tight, okay?”
MOG nodded, and then with haste, he was scaling back down the building, avoiding the busted-out first floor windows. The second story’s windows were blocked up to completely hide the Demon Control office, which was probably ablaze at that very moment. The acrid smell from the floors beneath me stung my nose, burned my lungs, and irritated my eyes. I held my head out the window trying desperately to catch some fresh air, but the rising smoke from below wouldn’t allow me.
I gasped for a decent breath of air and didn’t dare look behind me. I felt the scorching heat on my back and saw the smoke streaming out on each side of me, reaching up for the heavens, and I arrived at a sickening conclusion. The fire was close. Too close.
“Abigail.” Simeon grasped my arm, and I flung my eyes open, not realizing I’d shut them. “Don’t faint, love. You’ll have to hold on to me.”
With the little strength I had left, I sat on the windowsill and scooted down onto him, wrapping my legs around his waist, and my arms around his neck. I continued to cough, and my eyes continued to water as he fluidly scaled down the building.
I don’t know how he’d found the Demon Control building or how he’d known which window to go to, and I didn’t care. He’d saved both MOG’s life and mine.
He leaped to the sidewalk, holding me tight to his body, and darted across the street to where MOG and Judd stood.
Judd? I took a second glance to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. Thank heavens. Judd was okay. He’d made it out in time. His clothes were shredded, barely covering his body, and he had bloody nicks and cuts here and there, probably from the explosions, but he was alive and standing. And he looked so damn good.
I sobbed and coughed against Simeon’s shoulder until he set me down on my unstable feet. Before I could catch my balance, Judd whirled me around and pulled me into a bear hug, lifting me off the ground.
“God, Abby, I’d thought you’d died.”
His tight grip led me into another coughing frenzy.
“Put her down, you fool,” Simeon said. “She needs air, and I need to get her to a doctor.”
Judd eased me down so I could sit in the grass by MOG, whose eyes were glazed over, dazed as she watched Demon Control burn.
“You?” Judd folded his arms in front of him and stood eye-to-eye with Simeon. “You’re not taking her anywhere. You’re the one who caused this.”
Simeon took a similar macho stance. “You think I did this? Why would I try to kill the woman I love?”
“Ha! Love? Is that the bull you’ve been feeding her? Demons can’t love. Abby knows that. Every Angel knows that. But nice try, dickhead.”
Simeon scowled and gave me a quick glance before glowering at Judd again. “I wouldn’t have risked my life just now saving her if I didn’t love her.”
“Don’t play the hero card. You saved her because I told you to crawl your diabolical ass up the building and get her. How did you find us anyway? Explain that one, chump.”
“I followed Abigail after she left my home. She’d left upset, and I didn’t have a good feeling.”
“Nice one, half-breed. Very perceptive of you, considering you planned this shit to happen.”
Sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder by the second.
“I don’t want to be here when the human authorities show up,” I said to deaf ears. “I want to leave.”
They continued to argue, but I was too exhausted to keep up. And we were missing someone, I suddenly remembered. Lois. My heart jolted to a stop.
“MOG, where’s Lois?” I asked.
She shook her head. “She left right before I did... She went to the office... Abigail, she—I don’t think she would’ve had enough time to get out.” A tear rolled down her black-smeared cheek. “She’s gone.”
“Oh, no. I’m so sorry, MOG.”
“Don’t be sorry.” She clasped my hands in hers. “It’s not over yet, is it? You know what to do, dear.” She looked up at Simeon who was now only inches from Judd’s face as they hollered back and forth.
I gulped and nodded my head. I knew exactly what I needed to do.
“I may as well deport your ass right now.” Judd’s face grew red as he shouted.
“Try it.” Simeon narrowed his eyes and tapped his finger on his chest. “Make the first move. I dare you, Ex-Angel.”
“No one’s doing anything.” I quickly stood and squeezed in between the two, coughing up a storm for effect, even though my lungs had cleared. “Simeon’s right. I need a doctor.” Hack. Hack.
Hack. Hack. Hack.
Judd pulled me to him and away from Simeon. “Then I’ll take you to one.” He glanced toward the burning building and warily rolled his eyes. “I’ll call a cab.”
“A cab?” I said, confused. Until it finally dawned on me. “Oh, geez. My VW and your truck are toast, aren’t they?” Could my life get any worse? Yes, I thought, humbled by Lois’ absence. I could’ve been killed today. I could’ve lost my best friend. And MOG, who I respected and was slowly bonding a friendship with.
“I have a car.” Simeon stepped in and took my hand. “And I have a human family member who is a doctor and works at a nearby hospital. He owes me a huge favor.”
“Hallelujah.” MOG stood to her feet. “Abigail, go with the half-breed to get checked out. You’re obviously suffering from smoke inhalation. Judd and I will stay here to deal with the human authorities.”
“No way in Hell,” Judd said. “The AOD center has an Angel doctor. We’ll go there.”
A police car came screaming down the street with a fire truck not far behind.
“Go with him, Abigail,” MOG ordered, grasping Judd’s arm. “Call as soon as you’re done, and I’ll have Judd pick you up.” She turned to Judd and gripped his shoulder. “Besides, you’ll need your Angel status reinstated straight away, as well as all the other Ex-Angels. We’re going to need every Angel we can get to devise and execute a counterattack.”
Judd’s jaw dropped open, apparently shocked and speechless. I wanted to stick around to congratulate him. He’d finally gotten his Angel status back. But I decided this was my best chance to escape with Simeon. I just hoped neither of the men would hate me for it after everything was said and done.
“Let’s go,” I whispered to Simeon.
He wasted no time leading me to a sleek silver Jaguar coupe parked haphazardly on the side of the road. Wow. Where did this guy get his money?
I jumped into the passenger seat as he slid in on the driver’s side. He looked even more delicious behind the wheel of this baby, if that was possible. And I wanted to shoot straight into questions about the engine’s horsepower. Was it a V8? Zero to sixty in how many seconds? How many miles per gallon?
I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn’t. Tears welled up in my e
yes. My car was gone. All the work I’d put into it was pointless, a mere memory with nothing tangible to reward me for my efforts.
Everything was gone. My CD collection, my clothes, my DVR, my favorite pillow, the new hair products I’d purchased the other day.
Pictures of my parents and my sister and her family.
Everything.
I had nothing but the tattered clothes on my body, my jacket, and my stupid cell phone.
The other Angels―Judd, MOG, Pauline, Felix, and the rest―they’d lost everything as well.
Including Lois. She may have been snide and self-righteous, but she was an Angel. And Angels stuck together. Her imperfections were her own as mine were my own. Who would I be if I didn’t mourn for her?
It all whirled around in my head, making me sick to my stomach.
And it could’ve so easily been prevented if I’d looked for a bug before bringing Peter Piper in.
It was my fault. I was the one to blame. Could I ever be vindicated for this mistake? I doubted it, but I could try.
Simeon intertwined his fingers with mine and brought my hand up to kiss. “It’s going to be okay, love. I promise.”
“I can’t go back to them,” I said through sobs that were anything but an act. “It’s my fault they lost everything, and I don’t know if I can ever face them again.”
Maybe this spy thing wouldn’t be all that bad since I was believing every blubbering word that shot out of my mouth.
Simeon was silent as he pulled into the hospital emergency entrance. I’d planned to seduce him to convince him to let me move in with him, but what the heck, a pity party might work too.
“Can I stay with you for a while?” I whispered.
His car jerked to a stop as he parked. “You want to live with me? What would your boyfriend think?”
“Judd? I told you he’s not my boyfriend.”
“Will he be calling and banging at my door at all hours?”
I heaved out a sigh. “How do you want me to answer that, Simeon? I have no control over Judd, just as I have no control over my life right now. I’ve lost everything, and as soon as the Angels find out I was the reason they’re home and office is burned to the ground, I’m sure I’ll lose my job as well.” I rested my hand on his thigh. “I’m asking for a favor that I have no right to ask. I’m aware of that, and I completely understand if you don’t want me in your home.”
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