My brain did a quick inventory. Despite being on the third floor, the ceilings were high, and the room had the advantage of spanning the entire length of the house. Not only did Abram have a room to himself, but he had the biggest room with its own bath. He had plenty of room for his king-sized bed set, a nice, dark cherry desk, and a seating area around a big flat-screen TV complete with an Xbox and PlayStation.
There were four bodies in the room, and three of them had weapons drawn. Instinct zeroed me in on the most deadly of the group.
“Eli, stop,” I blurted the second I could.
He stood at the center of the room, his arms stiff, hands double-gripping his sword. Abram peered around the big angel from four feet behind. My attention snapped the other way to the business end of Eli’s sword.
“Emma. Thank God. I don’t know what’s going on but they all just started pulling out weapons.” Abram moved to step around Eli, but the big angel shifted to block his path.
The kid was in good hands, so I turned to the real problem. “Dan.” My ex-boyfriend, Officer Dan Wysocki, had his gun drawn, the barrel pointing at my current boyfriend’s head. Not that it would actually hurt the angel, but still. Men.
“Get your dog on his leash, Emma, or I’ll let her put him down.” Dan didn’t take his eyes off of Eli.
The her in question was a female officer standing in front of Eli with an illorum sword pointed at his neck.
“Is this Crissy?” I was happy for Dan when I’d heard he’d stared dating one of his co-workers, but did she have to be so…hot?
“Officer Horton,” he corrected, then risked a glance my way. “And yeah. This is her. Now, are you gonna do something?”
I gave her the once-over. “She’s an illorum?”
Abram pushed to his toes, peering over Eli’s shoulder. “What’s an illorum?”
Dan ignored the kid with the rest of us. “Yes.”
“Your sword?” I asked, already guessing the answer. An illorum’s life isn’t easy. In fact, it pretty much sucks with the demon attacks and fighting for your life every other day. It’s not the sort of life you want to drag the people you care about into. If Dan really cared about his new girl, he would’ve made sure she never came near his sword. But that’s just my opinion.
He huffed, then looked away and back again. “Yes. It was my sword that triggered her power, but not intentionally. It happened before I could stop it. Can we talk about this later?”
“What power?” Abram asked, looking like Kilroy behind Eli.
Before he could stop it. Yeah, I knew what that was like. It’d been like that for me, picking up Tommy’s sword before he could warn me off. It’d sort of been that way for Dan, too. He’d grabbed my sword in the heat of battle before I could stop him, not that he’d wanted to be stopped. Dan knew what he was getting into. He’d wanted it. Dan was a cop, a warrior from the word go. Becoming an illorum was just a natural evolution of the man.
I folded my arms over my belly, giving Dan’s lanky blonde the once-over yet again. She was taller than me and about ten pounds lighter. In my defense, I’m a cute little powerhouse. Those ten pounds are all muscle. Mostly. This chick was rail-thin, all skin and bones.
She was…she was…oh, who was I kidding? She was all long legs, narrow hips, and big boobs. With full lips; thick, cream-colored hair pulled up into a bouncy ponytail; huge, gray-blue eyes; and flawless, sun-kissed skin, even I had to admit my ex’s new girlfriend was a knockout. Crap. Hate that.
“She’s pretty,” I said grudgingly, and not in the least bit worried for Eli. Before he’d fallen, Eli was scary powerful. He’d been on Earth for eons, and before that he’d fought in the first war in Heaven. In angel evolution, age equaled strength, and strength equated to rank. He wasn’t as old and strong as an archangel, but close. The fall had weakened him, but Eli was a fighter. He was good at it. Nothing could take that away from him. Plus with me at his side, the shiny new illorum, Crissy, was about as dangerous to him as a mosquito.
“Emma,” Dan snapped.
I jumped, straightening, refocusing on the standoff at hand. “What? Just put your weapons down. It’s Eli. You guys know each other.”
Abram stepped to the side. “You guys know each other?”
“I knew the angel, Eli.” Dan still aimed his gun at Eli’s head. “This thing is a Fallen.”
“Seriously?” I sighed.
“Angel?” Abram pointed at Eli. “You’re an angel?
Eli gave him a sideways look and a shrug. “Fallen.”
My brother’s strawberry brows went high. “Fallen. Like the devil?”
Eli scowled at the kid and looked away without answering.
“Fine.” I cupped my forehead. I could feel a dull throb starting. “But you know bullets won’t kill angels, even fallen angels.”
“No. But they’ll hurt enough to slow him down, giving my partner the time she needs to take his head.”
“Whoa, what?” Abram’s hands went up. “Seriously? You wanna hack of the dude’s head?”
“You bet, kid. Tell me again why we’re not already doing that?” Crissy asked, sword at the ready.
Oh no, she di’int.
I could see Dan glance her way, and I recognized his frustrated expression. I’d put it on his face enough times in the past. “Just hold your weapon.”
“He knows it won’t work.” Eli scoffed. “And he doesn’t want you to die today.”
Crissy gave him a sassy, squint-eyed look. She was just too pretty to pull off hard-ass. “It’s worked pretty friggin’ well so far. Took out three of you deviants this way. And here I am. Still sucking air.”
“Yes, well, we’ve only just met,” Eli said, all ominous and creepy. He did bad angel really well. Too well.
“Eli.” I held up a warning finger to my handsome lover. “You’re not helping.”
“Yeah, Eli.” Crissy shoved her sword a half inch closer in Eli’s direction. “You really don’t want to piss me off.”
“Oh, no, honey,” I said, kinda bitchy. “He’s not the one I’m worried about. Trust me when I say you haven’t met a Fallen with Eli’s power.”
She glared daggers at me. “How the hell would you know?”
“Because, like you said, you’re still sucking air. This?” I waved a finger at the three of them. “You wouldn’t survive.”
Dan reached over and rested a hand on his partner’s double fisted grip, though he looked at me. “Listen, we didn’t come here expecting a fight.”
“Then what are you doing here?”
Dan’s attention shifted to Eli. I could tell Dan was getting tired. You can only hold your arms out like that for so long before your aim gets shaky. He turned to me. “We were sent to check out the kid. He claims he talks to angels.”
Eli tipped his chin at Crissy. “She offered the boy her sword.” His own outstretched sword held steady as stone, his shoulders straight. The angel didn’t show the slightest bit of fatigue.
“What? You wanted to give him yours?” The pretty cop sneered at Eli, her whitening fingers readjusting their grip. “Steal him for your side?”
“Hey.” Abram’s hands went up again. “I’m not picking sides. I don’t want anyone’s sword. Maybe this is something you guys should talk about. You know, like somewhere else.”
“I want him to remain human.” Eli’s voice remained steady. Only someone who knew him well could see the flare of anger in his eyes and the struggle to suppress the more intense emotions of a Fallen.
Something dark and edged with pain flickered across Dan’s face. “You were never concerned about Emma staying human.”
Eli looked his way, his jaw tight. “No. I was a different man then. I’ve grown tired of war and the deaths of those who had no choice in their fate.”
Dan lowered his gun. “What are you saying? If you could do it over…”
Eli’s pale eyes studied the two cops for a half beat. Deciding they were no threat, he lowered his sword. “My choices woul
d be different.”
Something pinched in my chest, made my throat tight. I tried to take a breath without it shaking through my lungs. I couldn’t.
I blinked, trying to hear over my hammering heart. Crissy met my eyes from across the room and considerately looked away, finally lowering her sword. Even she understood what he’d said without actually saying it. He wouldn’t have made the same decisions. I had been one of those decisions. God, had he really just said that…now…in front of them?
Dan asked the question I couldn’t. “You wouldn’t have fallen?”
Eli blinked, as though he wasn’t sure of the question. “I wouldn’t have agreed to the first war. All events that followed would be moot.”
Like the floor shifted under my feet, I could feel it when all eyes in the room turned to me. Their pity radiated off of them like heat from a furnace. My face warmed, and the sound of my own heart almost deafened me.
Eli followed their stares, understanding slowly coming to his eyes. “No. Emma Jane. I—”
“Wait. What?” Abram covered his mouth with his fist, hiding his laughter. “You fell for her? Like, because of her. And now you’re telling everyone you’d take it back. Dude, that’s cold.”
Eli looked back to Dan, his expression severe. “Falling for Emma Jane was not a choice. Had it been, I would’ve joined her the moment her age was appropriate.”
Dan nodded, but I knew him well enough to see he was just placating Eli. Dammit. This was none of their business. I did not want my love life discussed in front of my ex and his perfect girlfriend.
I plastered a smile across my face and cleared my throat, though doubt clung to me like pinesap: invisible and impossible to wipe off. “So, Dan, you checkin’ out the kid as an illorum or a cop? Who sent you here and why?”
The compact cop looked my way, eyes wide as his brain spun its wheels trying to catch up to the change in topic. “Ham clued us in, but other than that…”
Ham—Humastrav—was Dan’s magister, his angelic trainer the way Eli had been mine. It wasn’t the source I’d expected. It seemed too much of a coincidence that illorum would show up at Abram’s house after I’d just told Michael all about him.
“Why would anyone tell the police about me?” Abram asked, braving notice now that all the weapons had been put away.
Dan glanced at my brother. “He doesn’t know?”
“Doesn’t know what?” Abram waved a hand, trying to get our attention. “Hello? What don’t I know?”
I shook my head. “Not everything.” Hell, I wasn’t even sure how much Dan knew.
Abram got that he was special; he’d been visited by angels. He just didn’t know how special. “Excuse me. Hey. What don’t I know?”
So much for being undercover with the kid. By the sound of things, though, my cover had been blown before it was created. I am so not the next 007. What was Jukar up to?
I sighed. “I’m not just your new landlord. I’m your protector. Sort of.”
“You’re my advocate.” Abram rubbed the back of his neck, his nervousness showing. “I know. They told me you’d be coming.”
I shifted on my feet, an awkward unease jittering through me. If the milk was already spilled, I figured I might as well try to mop it up. I took a breath, feeling like I was about to tell the kid there was no Santa Claus. “Abram, do you know why angels visit you?”
“Not angels,” Dan said, but I shushed him. Dan knew they had to be fallen angels. Seraphim would never stain their spirit enough to speak to a human no matter who he was. They were jerks that way. But the kid didn’t need that tidbit slapped in his face just yet.
“I’ve got this.” I looked back to Abram. “Listen to me. Y’see, you’re not exactly normal. You’re special. You’re half human and half angel. Like us.” I gestured to myself, Dan, and Crissy. “Except your powers are still dormant. As long as you don’t pick up any swords, they’ll stay that way. You’ll have a nice, normal, safe life. Just like anyone else.”
The kid blinked big green eyes at me, his freckled cheeks reddening. “Cool. What happens if I pick up a sword?”
Crap. People don’t value normal enough anymore.
“You’ll be dragged into a deadly war where there can be no true victor.” Eli imbued his words with angelic power, so he seemed larger than life and supernaturally scary. “All those you love, anyone near you, will be at risk. As in any war, innocents often die in the crossfire. Do you want that for your friends, for your parents, your siblings?”
Abram shook his head, suitably scared straight. He wouldn’t be picking up swords anytime soon. He looked Eli up and down. “And what are you?”
“He’s—” Dan started to say, but I interrupted.
I held up a hand to make sure he didn’t say more. “An angel. Like the ones who visit you.” It was the truth, and I looked at Dan to see if it was enough. I didn’t want the kid to know the angels he’d been trusting were Fallen. They hadn’t hurt him, and they wouldn’t, if Jukar had anything to say about it. For now, he was safe. Ignorant, but safe. The only risk would come from the seraphim.
Dan nodded, and Crissy stepped up beside him. Reading the expressions between us, she gave her silent approval as well. They’d let it go, let the kid believe what he wanted. I looked back to Abram, relief relaxing across my shoulders.
I hadn’t told Abram everything, but I’d told him enough to keep him from doing something stupid that would screw up his life forever. It was like letting a baby play with a loaded gun and hoping he didn’t figure out how to flick the safety off. Dumb. Dumb, dumb, dumb. But it wasn’t my call. It was Jukar’s, and I had to play obedient little daughter until I could get enough info to trade with Michael. It sucked, hard. But I’d do whatever I had to for Eli.
Dan rubbed a hand over his peach-fuzz hair and sighed. “We should talk.”
“Right. I’ll meet you downstairs.” I turned to Abram as Dan and Crissy left his room. “Listen, that thing you did, talking to my mind?”
“Yeah.” He blushed, and on his pale skin it looked like a burn. “Sorry about that. I don’t even know how I did it. But it…it felt really…really, y’know…great.”
“Okay.” I felt a little flush myself. “Yeah. Don’t do it again. I mean, unless it’s an emergency. If it’s not an emergency, use a phone. Got it?”
He sunk his hands into the front pockets of his slacks and nodded. “Sure. I can do that.”
“And about that ring.”
I could see his fist in his pocket, but his smile hiked up on one side. “Sorry, Emmy, I’m keeping the ring. He told me it would protect me when I needed it most.”
“It’s Emma actually, and as far as I know, that ring has nothing to do with protection.” My gaze dropped to his pocket. I knew what that ring could do, the damage it could cause, not just to Abram but to everyone around him.
I’d first seen it years ago when my college boyfriend used it to call up a soul-sucking jinni. It’d nearly killed him and most of the underclassmen at California University of Pennsylvania before I banished him with Mihir’s help. He’d insisted he knew how to keep it out of the wrong hands. But there it was, in such wrong hands.
My boyfriend at the time had been a self-centered egomaniac who didn’t have a clue what kind of power he was messing with. I had to hope Abram knew better. Short of wrestling him to the ground, I wasn’t getting that ring off of him. Maybe Jukar could talk some sense into him. Unless he’d been the one who’d given him the ring.
Abram shrugged. “Agree to disagree.”
“Agree to be a fool,” Eli grumbled.
My brother shrugged again with a smug grin.
Idiot. “Fine. Just don’t conjure anything with it.” I gave the nasty ring one last look, then turned to leave.
His head tilted. “Huh?”
“Nothing. I’ll be in touch.” I went downstairs to talk to Dan.
I had to admit, I was kind of glad to see him standing at the base of the stairs alone. I turned back
to Eli. “You mind if I talk to him for a minute?”
Eli’s gaze flicked to Dan. His eyes seemed to go a shade darker, and I watched him swallow. His jaw clenched, but he forced a smile across his lips that didn’t come close to lighting his face and looked back to me. “Take all the time you need. I’ll go speak to Jukar about the ring.”
“Thanks.”
He leaned close, his fresh, soothing scent wrapping around me, filling my lungs. He stroked a finger under my chin to lift my face, the simple touch humming through me. I should’ve pulled away, but then he hesitated a hairsbreadth from my lips and whispered, “I love you.”
My willpower shriveled, and all I wanted was his kiss. It was just a quick touch of his lips, innocent as kisses go, except at the last instant, Eli slipped his mind into mine, let me see and feel his thoughts, his love. My breath caught, and my chest constricted. The angel’s emotions spun through my mind so quick and intense I couldn’t think. Things low inside me pulled tight, reacting to him, to his desire, to his raw, uninhibited vulnerability to me.
Too quickly, Eli pulled from our kiss, leaving my lips tingling and my balance wobbly. I opened my eyes, my mouth gaping. He winked at me from inches away. “Hold that thought for me, would you?”
And then he was gone.
Dan was conveniently checking his email or something on his phone when I turned around. I didn’t think for a second he still had romantic feelings for me, but I got that seeing your ex with her new flame was kind of awkward.
“Thanks for hanging back.” I jogged down the last few steps to stand next to him.
“No problem.” Dan flashed me his old, familiar grin that made his eyes twinkle. “We need to get some things straight, figure out what’s going on, where we stand. It’s been a while since we talked.”
Dan was taller than me by a few inches but still kind of short for a guy. He always reminded me of a wrestler. Maybe because he’d been on his high school team and still kept his muscled body in top form. His hair was still super short, about a quarter of an inch long, and the color of a perfectly done, golden-brown biscuit. It was a hard style to pull off, but I’d always thought he had the right face shape for it with those plump, pinchable cheeks.
Hellsbane Hereafter (Entangled Select Otherworld) Page 9
