War Angel Contingent (Everlasting Fire Series, Book 1)

by S. J. West

  “So, why is the city being moved?” I ask him. “And where are you taking it?”

  “We’re moving it out to sea, over an ocean called the Atlantic,” he tells me in a rather deadpan voice as he continues to watch me. “Ann … Empress Anna decided it would be safer to leave the city we’re usually stationed above in case the rebellion angels decide to attack us again here in Cirrus. She doesn’t want what happened in Virga to happen here.”

  “Virga,” I say, pondering the name. “Isn’t that the cloud city Helena blew up? The destruction of which she tried to lay the blame for on your empress?”

  Ethan nods. “Yes. When Virga was destroyed, what was left of it landed on the city it was stationed above, rendering it uninhabitable for the foreseeable future. Empress Anna doesn’t want something similar to happen to New York City or its people.”

  “Rather pragmatic of her,” I say.

  “She likes to prepare for the worst-case scenario when she can,” he agrees. “I think any good leader should if they have the resources and the time.”

  “Speaking of resources, are you the one who’s supposed to decide whether or not you guys are going to pay the price I set for my help?”

  “I need for you to answer a few questions before I’m willing to give you our counteroffer,” he says.

  “Counteroffer?” I ask in confusion. “I never said the price was negotiable.”

  “I think we both know that a person like you always starts out high, asking for the impossible because you know you’ll more than likely get exactly what you want in the end.”

  “What I want are fifty gold bars up front,” I say testily. “I don’t think I could have been any clearer to Roan on the fee for my help.”

  “And you should have known that we would never give you that much just on a maybe,” he retorts. “We don’t even know if your tracking device will work. For all we know, this is some sort of ploy you’ve set up to steal the gold and scamper off to some distant planet with Evelyn and Enis.”

  “Are you seriously standing there calling the honor of my mother and uncle into question?” I ask as my voice rises to a fever pitch. “Calling me a thief is one thing. Possibly even something I could eventually forgive, but don’t ever … and I mean ever … talk badly about my family to my face. Are we understanding one another, Commander Knight?”

  I hear a new voice join the conversation with a deep throaty chortle after my outburst.

  I look to my right and see a man standing in the far corner of the veranda watching me. He’s handsome with long dark hair that hangs down to his chest. The white shirt he’s wearing is designed to remain open in the front with a long wide slit in the middle that ends in a point right above where his belly button should be, leaving his rather impressive chest slightly exposed to all who look at him. His tight black slacks hug his hips and legs like a second skin. Although his physique is certainly worth taking note of, it’s his blue eyes that capture my attention. The light of the sun filtering through Cirrus’ shield makes them sparkle with obvious amusement.

  “I don’t care what Gideon says,” the man tells me, as a lazy grin stretches his lips, “I like you, Jules.”

  “And you would be …” I say, leaving my question open to be answered by him.

  “Emperor Malcolm Devereaux,” he replies, walking up to join the conversation Ethan and I are having.

  It’s been my experience when dealing with royalty that they think way too much of themselves and their station in life. However, with Emperor Malcolm, I get the distinct impression that the title doesn’t hold much meaning for him. He carries himself with a self-confidence not many people reach in life. From the stories my mother has told me about him, I know that he’s had to face a large number of trials and tribulations in order to become the man he is today.

  “I respect the fact that you just took up for your family,” Emperor Malcolm says to me. “It’s the same reaction I would have had. But would you allow me to ask you a question before we agree to your terms for this arrangement?”

  “I suppose that would be all right,” I say hesitantly, unsure if I’m about to be played by someone who has probably made thousands of lucrative deals with people within his lifetime.

  I know exactly who Emperor Malcolm Xavier Devereaux is. My mother told me all about Empress Anna’s husband. He is a Watcher, an angel who was sent to Earth by God to watch over the development of humanity thousands of years ago. He and his fellow Watchers made the grave error of falling in love and taking human wives, which was in direct defiance of God’s orders to them. They were cursed with an uncontrollable bloodlust, and their children were forced to live dual lives: humans by day and bloodthirsty creatures at the rising of the moon each night. There are only a handful of Watchers left on Earth now, and oddly enough, three of them are currently emperors of cloud cities.

  “Do you truly believe that you will be able to help us find Helena?” he asks me.

  “Yes,” I say without hesitation. “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t confident I can finish the job I’ve started. I don’t go into anything half-assed, Emperor Malcolm. I’m either all in or all out, and with this job, I’m all in. I’ll find her for you. It’s just a matter of time.”

  He smiles at me, showing perfectly white teeth. “You can call me Malcolm, Jules. I don’t care much for the emperor part.” Malcolm turns his head to look at Ethan. “I think we can accommodate Jules with her request to receive half of her payment upfront, Ethan. I don’t have any doubts now that she’ll help us locate Helena.”

  Ethan doesn’t look pleased with Malcolm’s decision. “Shouldn’t we discuss this with Anna before we just hand over fifty gold bars to this woman?”

  “The gold bars are coming from my private reserves, not Cirrus’ coffers, and I can damn well do what I want to with them,” Malcolm says rather forcefully. “Do you sense Jules is lying to us?”

  I look away from Malcom and back at Ethan only to find the surly War Angel staring daggers straight into my soul. At least, that’s what it feels like to me.

  “No,” he finally answers. “I don’t sense that she’s being deceitful, and she may very well believe she’s speaking the truth. But that doesn’t mean she’ll actually deliver on her promise.”

  “Listen,” I say to Ethan, doing my best to keep my temper under control with him, “I have never failed to find someone once I take on the job to bring them in. I understand that finding Helena is really important to you guys for personal reasons, but this is just a job to me. I have no emotional attachments here, and I can remain impartial and clearheaded. I think if you weren’t so personally invested, you would be able to get past the money issue and realize I’m your best bet to find her before she has the baby. Like I told Roan and Gideon earlier, she looks really close to giving birth. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has the kid within the next week or even sooner.”

  “Did she tell you anything about the child?” Malcolm asks me. “Is it healthy? Has she had any problems with the pregnancy?”

  I shake my head. “She really didn’t say all that much. The closest she came was to tell me that it hasn’t been like a regular pregnancy.”

  “Did she elaborate on that at all?” Ethan asks, looking worried. “What’s been unnatural about it?”

  I shrug. “I have no idea. From what I was able to gather, it’s been painful for her.”

  “Good,” Ethan retorts like a snake shooting out venom. “I hope it has been. She deserves it for what she did.”

  “Ethan, we’ve been over this before. Helena didn’t mean to kill Cade,” Malcolm admonishes him. “You know that as well as anyone.”

  “If she hadn’t blown up Virga, she never would have had the strength to kill Cade. Blowing that cloud city out of the sky and blaming it on Anna was intentional! And Cade was the one who ended up paying the price for her actions.”

  “She’s Hell,” I say in Helena’s defense. “What did you expect her to do? Be someone who sits around and knits
doilies all day? It’s just her nature to cause turmoil whenever and wherever she can to serve her own needs. That’s just who she is.”

  “What are you? Her best friend?” Ethan practically accuses. “If you have so much empathy for her, maybe you’re not the right person to hire to bring her in for us.”

  “I’m the only person who can do what you and your War Angels have failed to do for months now,” I state, lifting my head up a notch in defiance because I’m stating the truth. “And maybe you should learn how to be more empathetic where she’s concerned. You’re so mad at her for killing your friend that you can’t seem to think about her without immediately seeing red. What exactly is your plan to get the baby away from her anyway? Dazzle her with your winning charm?” I scoff.

  Ethan’s expression turns as dark as a thundercloud. “If she won’t listen to reason, I plan to cut her head off and rip the baby out of her womb.”

  I hear myself gasp before I can even stop it.

  “Ethan …” Malcolm chastises him harshly. “You know that’s a last resort move. We promised Anna we would try to convince Helena to give us the baby because it’s the best option for everyone concerned.”

  “Either way,” Ethan says, only barely acknowledging what Malcolm just said, “I can’t allow her to raise Cade’s child. I wasn’t able to save him from her, but I can damn well save his baby. I owe him at least that much.”

  It’s then that I realize Ethan and I share something in common: survivor’s guilt. His guilt over Cade’s death is so great he can’t see that it’s eating him alive and driving him to make rash decisions where Helena is concerned. I can see it though, and I understand where his anger is coming from.

  “I hate to say it, but it might very well come down to you chopping her head off,” I tell Ethan. “From what I saw, I don’t think she’s going to hand over her baby to you just because you ask her to. She’ll fight you for him. In fact, I think she’s resigned to that fact.”

  “I hope she does,” Ethan states. “I think it would save us both a lot of time. I seriously doubt the two of us will be able to talk out our differences and come to an arrangement we can both live with.”

  “Did you just refer to the baby as a ‘him’?” Malcolm questions me.

  “Yes,” I reply. “She told me that the baby is a boy.”

  Both men fall silent as they take in this news.

  “Why?” I ask. “Is that important?”

  Malcolm slowly shakes his head. “Not in any significant way. It just seems to make the situation feel more urgent knowing the sex of the baby. Now all I can see is a miniature version of Cade running around Hell if Helena is allowed to raise it.”

  “That isn’t going to happen,” Ethan states with finality.

  He can’t seem to envision a scenario where he fails to take Helena’s baby away from her. I suppose it might be because he’s an angel. I don’t think he can fully comprehend the strength of a mother’s love for her child.

  “Have any of you considered the possibility that she might just stay in Hell until the baby is born?” I ask them. “That’s what I would do if I were her.”

  “As you pointed out,” Ethan says, “it’s just part of her nature to cause chaos. She can’t do that if she isolates herself in Hell. Plus, she worked really hard to become corporeal and have the ability to roam freely through the universe. Pregnant or not, I’m sure she hasn’t been sitting around twiddling her thumbs all this time. Whatever planet or planets she’s traveled to the last few months have had to suffer through her grief over losing Cade.”

  “Whatever the case may be,” Malcolm says, “we have to do everything within our power to find her, and right now, Jules, you’re our best bet. So I suggest we stop talking about what needs to be done and start doing it instead.”

  “Agreed,” Ethan says, looking over at me. “Roan said that you can tell if she’s on any planet that we go to. How exactly does this tracker of yours work?”

  “The tracer I placed on her emits a signal. I have a handheld device back home that can home in on the signal’s unique frequency. I’ll be able to give you the direction the signal is coming from and the approximate distance we are away from it. It’ll be up to you guys to figure out exactly where on the planet she is.”

  “That shouldn’t be a problem,” Ethan tells me. “We’ve been able to map all of the worlds we’ve been to so far. If you can give me the direction and distance, that should be enough.”

  “When do you want to start, and who will be phasing me to these planets?”

  “I think we should start searching immediately,” Ethan says. “And I’ll be taking you to the various worlds.”

  “You will?” Malcolm questions in surprise. “I thought you were going to …”

  Ethan cuts off the emperor’s next words by saying, “If we’re going to give her fifty gold bars, I want to make sure we’re getting our money’s worth.”

  “If I didn’t know any better, I would say you just insulted me,” I say.

  Ethan looks me straight in the eyes and says, “Well, it wasn’t a compliment.”

  Malcolm clears his throat in the uncomfortable tension that follows.

  “Uh, are you sure this is the way you want to handle this, Ethan? Roan said he would be more than willing to escort Jules.”

  “Having me go with her saves time in the long run. I have the sword,” he says, placing his hand on the hilt of the blade sheathed in the black leather sword belt fastened around his hips. “I can confront her and try to bargain for the baby.”

  “Just remember to talk first,” Malcolm reminds him. “For all we know, killing Helena’s body might inadvertently kill the baby too. Don’t go there to pick a fight with her, Ethan. And remember that this is someone Cade loved. I don’t think he would want you to stab first and ask permission later. You may despise Helena, but keep in mind that she’s hurting too. We’re not the only ones who lost Cade. She lost him and her one chance at finding happiness. Try to keep that in mind when you see her.”

  “I’ll try,” Ethan responds, but his sincerity leaves a lot to be desired.

  “I’ll remind him,” I promise Malcolm, earning a grateful smile from Anna’s husband.

  “I assume the device we need to track her down with is back on Sierra?” Ethan asks me.

  “Yes. It’s in my apartment. If you can phase us to the street Grace House is on, we can walk to it from there.”

  Ethan nods curtly, telling me without any words that my instructions are clear.

  As Ethan walks up to me and gently grabs hold of the top of my right arm, Malcolm says, “Good luck and Godspeed.”

  From Malcolm’s lips to God’s ears, I think to myself just as Ethan phases us to Sierra.

  CHAPTER 4

  Ethan phases us directly onto the sidewalk in front of Grace House. It’s still early in the morning, and the street is virtually empty in front of my mother’s nightclub. I know around five in the afternoon that won’t be the case. People will begin to line up just for the chance to enter her establishment. Being granted entry into Grace House is a difficult thing to accomplish for those among the general population, but if you can manage an invitation inside by the guards, your social standing can take a giant leap forward in the city of Arcas. As a teenager, I never quite knew if my friends liked me or the fact that I could get them inside the city’s most exclusive nightclub. I suppose since none of those people are still my friends, I can assume it was the latter reason.

  “My apartment is a couple of blocks up the street by the city park,” I tell Ethan as I begin to take off the jacket I was wearing. In the mountains last night, it was chilly, but now that we’re in the valley where Arcas was built, the summer humidity is starting to make me sweat. I wrap the thin black jacket around my hips and tie the sleeves together at the front of my waist.

  As Ethan and I walk down the sidewalk together, I notice him giving me the occasional sideways glance as if he wants to ask me something but isn’t sure
if he should or not. I almost stop and ask him what his problem is, but I think better of doing that. Considering our track record with each other so far, we would probably end up fighting over something stupid. I don’t feel like fighting or having to defend myself. All I want to do is help him find Helena and earn the rest of the bounty.

  I didn’t realize the gold bars being offered up as a reward for Helena’s capture were part of Emperor Malcolm’s personal wealth. I just assumed the gold was a portion of the riches Cirrus had accumulated over the years from the enslavement of their down-worlders.

  “How is it that Malcolm is so wealthy?” I ask Ethan. It seems like an innocuous topic that shouldn’t cause us to get into an argument.

  “He’s lived a long time on Earth, and he was sensible enough to save his wealth as gold instead of regular currency. Gold is a universal commodity. There are very few planets that won’t exchange it for legal tender.”

  “That was pretty smart,” I say, finding myself respecting Anna’s husband even more. “A lot of people would have just squandered wealth like that. Since he’s willing to part with it so easily, I assume he probably has a lot more than just a hundred gold bars stashed away.”

  “You seem awfully curious about how much money he has. Why?” Ethan asks, sounding as if my curiosity means I have some nefarious reason for broaching the subject.

  “Geesh, I was just trying to make small talk with you,” I say defensively. “Why do you keep taking everything I say the wrong way? I’m not a criminal, you know.”

  “And yet you basically extorted fifty gold bars from a man who is only trying to save the life of a child.”