The granddaughter, who was standing beside him, studied him. He knew his appearance would be startling, which was no doubt why she ran her gaze over him with such scrutiny. He gave her a similar once-over, taking in the long, silken strands of gold hair and wide, sea-green eyes. Soft bangs framed a doll-like face, but below the neck, there was nothing innocent or childlike about her. Every curve beneath a clingy white sweater and slacks cried out for his touch, warning him that not possessing her would be a crime against nature.
“What happened?” the girl asked, still eying him.
“She was attacked,” he said. “By three men.”
The girl sank to her knees too. “My god, are you hurt? Should I call an ambulance?”
“Now, Jenna, don’t you worry. They tried to mug me.” She beamed up at Anduron. “But he came out of nowhere and stopped them dead in their tracks.”
“And they didn’t lay a hand on you?” Jenna asked.
“She was struck,” Anduron said. “But I made certain she was uninjured.”
“He healed me,” the woman said. “With the touch of a fingertip.”
Jenna clutched at her throat. “I’m calling the police right now.”
The woman reached out and grabbed her granddaughter’s wrist. “Those men are long gone, and all I need now is rest. I’m just fine, thanks to...well, I don’t know.” She met his eyes. “What’s your name, angel?”
“I am Anduron,” he said. “And I told you I am no angel.”
Jenna was staring at the side of his head, and she reached out to rake back a section of his hair. Her nails dove through the strands, sending an odd tingle through him. “What on earth?” she asked. “Angels don’t have pointy ears, Gran. Let me guess...an elf?”
He pulled away, letting his hair fall back into place while he gaped at her. “Part elven, yes.”
“You got a last name?” Jenna went on. “Or is Anduron it?”
He got to his feet, and she followed suit. “I am Anduron, son of Herne.”
“Oh, of course,” she said. “And I am Jenna, daughter of Athena.”
His brows rose. “Truly?” he asked, letting his gaze roam her once more. Indeed, her sensual figure could belong to a goddess of passion. But no. She bore no immortal blood that he could detect.
Those enticing green eyes rolled upward. “No, not truly. Say, wasn’t the cosplay convention last month?”
“Convention?”
She waved at him. “Long cloak, fake ears, weird contact lenses...is it for some World of Warcraft thing?”
“I do not understand.”
She sighed. “Never mind. I mean, regardless of why you dress up like an elf, you really are a hero, aren’t you? You saved my grandmother, and for that, I’m grateful.” She smiled. “Thank you.”
“And so handsome too, isn’t he?” the old woman said, grinning up at the two of them.
“Yes, Gran. You got saved by an incredibly handsome angel elf.” She smiled at Anduron, whose pulse stirred at her easy acknowledgment that she found him attractive. “This should give her something to talk about at the bingo parlor for at least a month.” Her grin faded. “Are you sure I shouldn’t call the police? Those men tried to hurt her.”
“They were dealt with,” Anduron said, hoping she could be swayed from involving authorities who would ask too many questions.
“They didn’t get my money,” the old woman said. “I’d already spent it at the store. A lot of my groceries got ruined, though.”
Jenna waved a hand. “That can all be replaced.” She glanced down with a loving smile. “You can’t. I’m just so glad you’re all right.”
She sank down on her knees again, hugging the woman. Anduron stood there, witnessing the display, feeling a swell of contentment. He had done the right thing in helping her.
Jenna sniffed when she got up, and he saw a wet shimmer in her eyes. “I should give you a reward,” she said to him. “I don’t have a lot of cash. Is fifty dollars all right?”
He shook his head. “No.”
She pursed her full lips. “I might be able to swing a hundred.”
He took her hands, so soft and warm, in his. “I have no need of your money. I had the means to help your grandmother, and I did.”
She glanced down to where he’d been stroking the back of her hands with his thumbs without realizing it. He let go.
“I guess we should let you get back to your role play game then,” Jenna said. “Good luck with that.”
“Role play game? I was on my way to something far more important than a game.”
“If you say so. Look, I’m not making fun of your costume. If anything, it probably helped you scare those creeps away.”
Costume. Of course. She thought he was merely effecting a disguise.
He smiled at her. “Yes, my costume is quite unique, is it not?”
“Very convincing.”
For reasons he couldn’t quite fathom, a wicked, playful instinct rose up, and he leaned close and pressed his lips to hers. It was a very elven thing to do, stealing a kiss from a human. She stiffened with a gasp but didn’t pull away. The teasing gesture quickly ignited into more, the kiss heating his blood and sending twinges of desire low in his belly. The skin over his heart got hotter, searing him, dragging his attention off the feel of her soft, erotic lips. Then he realized the pendant was heating up. It was trying to balance his presence in this realm, which was fading.
Anduron yanked away from Jenna’s lips, glancing between the two women. Jenna was gaping at him in shock. Her grandmother was grinning ear to ear.
He was being pulled back—and he had little doubt as to why. He would answer to the Counsel for his actions.
“Forgive me,” he said. “I could not help myself. Unfortunately, this is where we must part ways.” As his presence faded, the room fell into a misty haze. “In truth, daughter of Athena, this was no costume.”
He phased out of the realm.
***
Jenna jumped back with a shriek when the man who’d dared to kiss her vanished into thin air.
“What the hell just happened?” she asked, blinking like crazy. “Where is he?”
“I told you,” Gran said, folding her wrinkled hands primly in her lap. “He was an angel.”
“He can’t be an angel,” Jenna said, glancing around the room. “He can’t have just disappeared.”
“But he did.”
Jenna ran her hands along her arms, which were covered in goose bumps. “That isn’t possible.”
“We both saw him, dear,” the woman said, smiling up with a look of sheer innocence.
“You’re sure taking this calmly,” Jenna said, plopping herself down on the couch across from the woman. “And you were the one who got mugged.”
“When you get to be as old as I am, you will have seen a lot of things that don’t seem to make sense. And yet, they do, when you think about it.”
“So you’re saying I should just accept that an angel dropped you off at the doorstep and zipped back up to heaven?”
“And kissed you,” Gran said.
Jenna shot her a look and stuffed her hands between her knees. “He did, didn’t he?”
Why had he done that? To rattle her? Mission accomplished.
“An angel in our midst,” the woman said. “That almost made the entire ordeal worthwhile.”
“You really believe in all that stuff, don’t you?” Jenna asked.
“Pastor Ames talks a lot about it in his book. And there’s that show on the Christian channel about humans being visited by the heavenly host.”
Jenna leaned back against the cushions with a heavy sigh. “Maybe you’re right. At least it would explain him vanishing.”
Still, from what little she’d heard since childhood about angelic encounters, none of them involved a hotter than sin, glowing-eyed male kissing a human until her toes curled. Perhaps her “angel” had a little bit of devil in him.
“I still think we should file a police re
port,” Jenna said, brushing off the image of Anduron. “Even though you got lucky, they’ll most likely try it again on someone else. We want the police to catch them.”
“That’s true,” Gran said. “How would we explain Anduron?”
“Tell the truth,” Jenna said. “A guy in a cloak came and chased the muggers away, escorted you home, and left before we could get his last name.”
The woman’s blue-green gaze twinkled. “I can just see the officer’s face when they ask me for his description. Six-two, pointy ears, golden eyes.”
“One was silver,” Jenna corrected. “They were the strangest pairing.” And yet compelling. Eyes a girl could get lost in if she wasn’t careful.
“I’ll take your word for it. Your vision is better than mine. And you were much closer to him.” Thin, gray eyebrows waggled.
“Gran!” Jenna exclaimed, and the woman cackled. “Stop teasing me. Now let me get on the phone. I’ll call the police—and work, too, to let them know I’ll be late. I’ll stay here with you until the officers are done.”
Jenna was quite late for work, as it turned out. Two hours passed before police had come and gone, and by then, her poor grandmother was utterly exhausted. She’d helped her get into bed before making the drive to the vet clinic. She veered off the highway near the factory, making a face at the tall, gray building with the giant letters V-E-N-E-T-I-A lighting up in order, top to bottom, in garish red neon. A casual glimpse when she drove past the rear delivery entrance brought her foot down hard on the brake. A car horn blasted at her for the trouble. She idled there a moment, watching as animals in cages were offloaded from a van into the factory.
She sneered at the bastards, her heart going out to the terrified dogs, their bodies shaking, who were being offered up as guinea pigs to the cosmetics industry.
Jenna was getting later for work by the minute, but with a set to her jaw, she veered into the driveway and screeched up the alley, blaring her horn. She stopped beeping when she realized the animals were only getting more agitated, but she drove on until she was close behind the van before squealing to a halt. Tossing her ID badge onto the seat next to her, she shoved her door open.
“Don’t do this,” she cried, leaping from the car. “Don’t hand those animals over to be tortured!”
One of the guys, short and squat with square hands and jaw, handed off a cage and folded his arms. “Lady, we’re just doing our jobs.”
“Then maybe you need to rethink your life.”
His taller, leaner companion shot her a scowl. “You want me to call Security?”
The other one eyed her up and down like she was a dirty bum on the street. “Nah. She looks only mildly crazy.”
“I’m not crazy! I’m just thinking of these poor creatures.”
“Save it. You PETA types ain’t paying my mortgage, and what I’m doing ain’t illegal.”
Her fists tightened. “Well, it should be. How can you sleep at night knowing your bed was paid for by the blood of innocent animals?”
He let out a hoarse cackle. “Yeah, my bed was paid for by an animal, all right—my bitch’s ex. Now shove off before we call the cops.”
She took a step closer, focusing on the cage in his hand. A tiny, frightened terrier gazed up at her with his ears perked up and soulful, begging eyes. A lump clutched at her throat.
Jenna relaxed her body, taking the most non-threatening stance she could muster. She nodded to the man. “You know what? You’re absolutely right. I, uh, I haven’t been sleeping.” She glanced at the terrier. “I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, well, lay off the caffeine, lady. Have a nice day.”
Forcing herself to turn away, she headed back to her open car door. She threw a glance over her shoulder and watched as the guy handed the terrier’s cage to the second man, who stood in the roll-up doorway with his cell phone pressed to his ear.
The second the man turned his back, Jenna lunged. She sprinted for the back of the van, grabbed the first cage she could get a hold of, and made a break for her car.
“Hey!” she heard, but she didn’t stop. “Crazy bitch! She’s stealing our cargo!”
Footsteps slapped down after her. She tossed the cage into the car, sending the puppy hurtling to the rear of the bars. It let out a pitiful yelp.
“Sorry about that, baby,” she said. “But this is way better than the alternative.”
She almost hit her head throwing herself behind the wheel and put the car in reverse before she even had the door shut. The pair of wild-eyed delivery men were just a few steps away, and she stomped on the gas, backing out of the driveway. She almost slammed into a sedan when she came out of the driveway, and her heart was pounding high in her throat while she changed gears and high-tailed it down the road. Her heart jack-hammered while she checked her rear view mirror obsessively, but there was no sign of the men coming after her. She’d made it.
“That was stupid, so stupid,” she kept saying. “But how could I not, right?”
She kept tossing glances at the puppy, who turned out to be a male, as he quivered in the corner of its cage. “You’ll be okay now, you poor thing. One less throwaway for the industry to torment and discard.”
The puppy, which appeared to be some sort of cocker spaniel-golden retriever mix, wet itself. Urine dripped through the bars and puddled on the seat. But the dog was safe, and after a few minutes, its piteous yelps turned to soft whimpers.
“It’s okay,” Jenna soothed. “You’re okay now. I’m a friend.” She held her fingers out toward the bars and waited until the puppy’s curiosity overcame its fear. Then it came closer and sniffed her. A gentle lick followed.
“Friends,” she repeated, turning the corner and pulling around to the rear entrance of Happy Paws Vet Clinic. “No one’s going to hurt you. And lucky for you, I happen to work at the best place possible to take you right after a rescue like that.”
Jenna dashed in the back door, barely acknowledging a startled greeting from Gladys, her coworker, before grabbing a wad of towels and heading back out. She removed the dripping cage and set it on a towel spread on her car hood. A second was used to sop up her seat. The rest she tucked inside the cage, giving the shivering puppy something to dry its paws on—and to give it something softer than wire bars to stand on. Carrying the cage inside, she set it on the floor of the staff lounge.
“Hey, Gladys,” she said, tossing the wet towels into a soiled linen bag.
The woman, dressed in kitty scrubs, was shaking her head at the sight of the cage. Her short hairdo bobbed with the motion. “Don’t tell me you found yourself another stray.”
“He’s not a stray,” she said, clipping her ID badge back onto her uniform. “Sorry I’m so late. It’s been an unbelievable day.”
Her dark eyes softened. “I heard. Your grandma was hurt? Is she okay?”
“She wasn’t hurt, she was mugged. And yeah, she’s fine, thanks to this weird guy who showed up and rescued her.” An image of Anduron’s intense eyes and hard muscles accompanied the mention, and despite the pangs of anxiety still rushing through her, she broke out in a silent grin.
The vet poked his head in the door. “I need extra hands in Room Five. Oh, Jenna, you made it. Good. It’s Armageddon out here. Everything okay with your grandmother?”
She nodded. “She’s shaken up and exhausted, but I think she’ll be okay. The police said it was incredibly lucky that her rescuer happened by when he did.”
Dr. Saunders noticed the cage on the floor and nodded to it. “And what’s this little guy doing in the animal-restricted lounge?”
Gladys smirked. “Jenna’s latest stray.”
“I’m sorry, Dr. Saunders, I just put him down for a minute. And he’s not a stray.” Jenna let out a sigh. “I sort of happened across him on the way to work. I was hoping you might have a look at him, make sure he’s all right. I’ll pay for your time, of course.”
Dr. Saunders was tall, slender as a bed post, and had kind, but calculating brown ey
es that regarded her new rescue. “No you won’t,” he said, bending over the cage with his hands stuffed in his lab coat pockets. “You know your money’s no good here. And what’s your name, little champ?” He straightened. “He has no collar or tags.”
“You just happened across a puppy while driving to work?” Gladys asked, folding her arms. “And you just happened to have a cage handy for transport?”
The vet glanced at her. An eyebrow lifted on his otherwise smooth face.
“Okay, okay,” Jenna said, lifting her hands in surrender. “I’m going to tell you guys something you aren’t going to like. But it had to be done.”
“What had to be done?” Gladys asked.
“I may have had a run-in with some animal testing creeps. And I may have lightened their inventory by one scared little puppy.”
“You stole this dog?” the vet asked, his brow furrowing now.
“No! Not really. You don’t understand. They were delivering it to that awful factory over on Third.”
Gladys gasped. “Venetia? You saved the poor thing from going into that house of horrors?”
She nodded. “I couldn’t help myself. All those cages, those terrified animals being handed off for slaughter after getting abused for who knows how long. I couldn’t sit by and do nothing.”
Dr. Saunders let out a heavy sigh. “That was a risky move. And illegal.”
“It was brave as heck,” Gladys said, beaming. “Sounds like your grandmother’s savior inspired you to be a hero today too.”
Jenna looked down at the puppy and hugged herself. “I don’t feel like a hero. I grabbed one cage on impulse, but there were so many others I couldn’t save.”
The vet laid a hand on her shoulder. “You can’t rescue every mistreated animal on the planet. Believe me, I know.”
She glanced up at him. “So you won’t turn me in? Will you look him over?”
He smiled. “I don’t think sending you to jail for an act of humanity is on my schedule for today. Leave him in the kennel for now. What’s the plan after I examine him?”
“I haven’t thought that far ahead yet. I’ll likely foster Anduron until the rescue shelter can come up with a home.”
Anduron: God of Mabon (Sons of Herne, #7) Page 2
