by C. L. Coffey
“For now, I need you talking to everyone you can think of about those traps,” I said.
“I’ll take us to Sydney to see Raguel,” Cupid told Paddy. “He mentioned something a long time ago.”
“Wait, what traps?” Paddy asked, frowning. “I thought all this was to ensure we didn’t walk into a trap?”
“Michael couldn’t escape from a trap,” I said. “Valac knocked him into it, and he couldn’t get out. I thought it sounded like a dark sigil, but that’s not what Michael called it. I think it was something similar. He couldn’t escape from an area only about a meter square in size, and it stopped him from using his connection to get help.”
“There’s no such thing,” Paddy said.
“Are you telling me that the Fallen have managed to work out a way to trap us?” Garret asked. For the first time since I had met him, he looked too worried to glower at me.
“I think so,” I nodded, slowly.
Garret pursed his lips as he stared at me. There was, for once, no malice there. He looked to the other cherubim seated around the table. “I think that some of us should reach out to our brothers and sisters and see if we can find out any more information too. The more people helping Cupid and Paddy, the better.”
I blinked in surprise but I didn’t object. I just held my breath as the cherubim seemed to take an unannounced vote, slowly nodding their agreement.
“We don’t have much time,” Veronica declared. “We shall return to our base and work out who is going where. We’ll report in regularly.”
Just like that, the cherubim vanished from the conservatory, one by one. “Is there any chance we could get Raphael back to help us?” I asked, turning to Paddy.
“He’s checking in with me, but he’s… he won’t be back for some time,” Paddy responded, vaguely. “I think that went rather well,” she said, abruptly changing the subject. “Though might I suggest one small tweak to that plan? Let Cupid drop me off with Raguel, but he should stay here. We need someone to be here if this is the base of operations. Someone needs to gather all the information together when it comes in.”
“I can help with that,” Leon offered. “Joshua and Angel can handle the Ramsey cases.”
It wasn’t the Ramsey’s which had my stomach tying itself up in knots. “What about Asmodeus?” I asked, trying to keep my voice casual. Cupid, Paddy and Leon didn’t seem to catch on, but Joshua’s eyes narrowed.
“He will have left the office by now,” Leon responded. “A Friday night? Black Friday? The last place he will be is work, but maybe we could get one of those teenagers to keep a tail on him to make sure.”
Well hell, my secret plan to keep Joshua safe had just hit its first hurdle.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Apologies
“I know what you’re trying to do, darlin’,” Joshua informed me.
We were in his car, driving back to the precinct. Considering what I was trying to do was conjure up another plan to get Joshua away from this, I sincerely hoped he didn’t know what I was up to. “I was thinking how surprising it was that I managed to get the cherubim to agree.”
“There was nothing surprising about that. There are times when I wonder why I’ve got a guardian angel, but I’ve never doubted you being one.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Never?”
Joshua’s lips twitched. “Maybe in the beginning, but only because you looked too hot to be dangerous: I completely underestimated you. I think others do too, especially that idiot, Garret. He would have been surprised, hell, I know he was. I was watching him the whole time,” he added, darkly. “He is the only reason I don’t like the fact you angels heal so quickly, because I would love nothing more than to watch you kick his ass.”
“Joshua,” I sighed, trying to sound like I was disappointed with what he was saying, but knowing the smirk on my face would do little to confirm it.
“Getting back on topic, I call bullshit. What you are really thinking about is how you could get me wrapped in bubble wrap and locked in a room on the other side of the world,” he said. We pulled up outside of the precinct, taking advantage of the countless spaces the late evening provided us with. Joshua turned to me. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
“My plan didn’t involve bubble wrap,” I muttered. “And I’m not sure I like these newfound mindreading abilities.”
“There’s no mindreading involved,” Joshua laughed. “You’ve got this one written all over your face.” He grew serious as he turned and killed the engine. “I thought we’d had this conversation.”
“I have no objection to you working on the Ramsey case. I don’t even mind that you help out with the reconnaissance,” I shrugged. “It’s the other part I have trouble with: the ‘letting you come along when we try to stop whatever criminal activities a Prince of Darkness’ is up to. It’s not exactly model behavior for a guardian angel.”
“Your clue was in ‘criminal activities’,” he pointed out.
I pouted. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.”
“Nope,” he agreed, leaning over to kiss me.
My scheming went on the backburner when we entered the precinct. The waiting area was chaotic. “Maybe we should come back tomorrow,” I suggested, narrowly missing an arm as one woman argued very animatedly with the guy on the front desk. “Black Friday really does bring out the crazies.”
“It’s perfect,” Joshua corrected me as we went into the back, towards the homicide area. “They’ll be too busy to notice what we’re doing back here.”
I followed him back to his desk and rolled my eyes. “Glad to see you’ve done some tidying since the last time I was here.” The sarcasm was heavy: the city dump was cleaner than his desk.
“It’s really not that bad,” Joshua disagreed, pulling out the visitor’s pass I had been issued months ago and handing it over.
I took it and attached it to my jeans. “Are you sure I shouldn’t send this off to the CDC first?”
“I’ll make a deal with you, darlin’,” Joshua reached for a folder. Given that he barely looked at it, his desk really was organized chaos, or, the more likely option, he wasn’t paying much attention to what he was grabbing. “We get out of here and later, you can have a shower. I’ll even scrub your back,” he offered, his eyes molten.
“You can have your own cold shower?” I returned.
Joshua just laughed as he brushed past me and led me upstairs to a part of the building I’d never been in before. As soon as we entered the fourth floor hallway, automatic lights started to flick on. The effect was creepy yet the fact no one had been up here for some time was somewhat reassuring.
We’d taken Leon’s advice and gotten a cherub posted on Asmodeus’ apartment in the Central Business District and Leon had called to confirm he had been spotted in it, as we had driven over. That didn’t mean I was any less nervous about going into his office though. “You should stay in the hallway,” Joshua suggested as we came to a stop outside an office, Asmodeus’ name printed in gold ink on the frosted glass.
“Like hell that’s going to happen,” I snorted.
“Angel, we’re in a police precinct. There’s not much he can do to stop an officer going in and leaving something on his desk, but there’s nothing to say he’s not got those angel traps littered around. Then what are we going to do?”
Begrudgingly, I stepped back. It really wasn’t because I thought Joshua was going to come to any harm – I agreed with what Joshua had said about him being able to walk in there. I just wanted to have a nosy around the office of a Prince of Darkness. “Fine, I’ll keep watch.”
Joshua stepped inside, but kept the door open. It was a pretty big office, with large windows that overlooked the back of a local Court. It wasn’t a spectacular view by any means, but it was better than the view offered in the homicide department. Joshua hurried over to the desk and pulled open the drawers. “What are your hacking skills like?” I called over, as Joshua ignored the computer which sat on top.
&nbs
p; “Irrelevant,” Joshua replied. “Despite working for the police department, Asmodeus likes to write his passwords down,” he pointed to something in the desk drawer. The next thing I knew the computer had bleeped.
I couldn’t see the screen from this angle, so I focused my attention down the hallway. Down at the far end from where we’d come, the lights were starting to flick off, one by one.
“I’ve got something,” Joshua hissed.
“So hurry up and print it out,” I demanded. I pulled my phone out, ready to take a call from Leon. If Asmodeus started moving, I expected Cupid to get in touch first, but my fight or flight mode was kicking in and I wanted to get out of there.
When Joshua finally left the room, the folder in his hands was considerably thicker than when he had entered. An hour had passed, but it had felt like an eternity. All the lights which had turned off flicked back on as we hurried back downstairs.
It wasn’t until we had gotten safely back in the car that I allowed the relief to flood me. The adrenaline was shooting through me and suddenly I felt like I either needed to throw up or run a marathon. I didn’t realize that the same applied to Joshua until I realized he was speeding. “You need to slow down or pull over,” I told him firmly.
Joshua glanced down, caught his speed, and then slowed the car down. He didn’t pull over so I figured he had calmed down enough. By the time we walked into the convent, I was about to ask him how he managed to do that, what tips he’d learned being a cop, because I was still hopping about like a child on a sugar rush.
Before I could, Leon had stepped out of the conservatory. “I was just going to call home before Felicia put Regan to bed.”
“You go do that. We can wait.” I frowned, realizing the time. “You know, you don’t have to stay? We can catch up tomorrow. Go and spend some time with your family.”
“I’ll be right back,” Leon said, shaking his head. “Felicia knows I’m going to be working late.”
We stepped back to let Leon pass and then entered the conservatory. At some point, the long table had been removed and replaced with a smaller, round one. It was piled high with books and notepads, and I could see from the way Cupid was eyeing it up, he was regretting not having the larger one to spread out on. “What’s all this?” I asked, picking up one of the older looking books.
“While waiting for the cherubim to report in, I decided to see if there was anything in our library which might have a reference to these dark traps.” Cupid raked a hand through his already disheveled hair. “I’ve read them all before, and I don’t remember anything, but maybe I just missed the reference.”
“What language is that written in?” Joshua asked, glancing over my shoulder.
I was ready to respond with English, but Cupid beat me to it. “That one is Persian.”
“You speak Persian?” Joshua asked me.
“Apparently I do.” I set the book down.
“You speak the language of mankind,” Cupid said. “Until mankind speaks one language, we speak them all.”
Well that would have been handy when I was at high school. As it was, it suddenly explained a lot of things. I mean, I knew I spoke a few languages, even if I didn’t know I knew them – Croatian and one of the Chinese languages. I didn’t realize I understood every language, but I could see why it would be needed.
“What did you find?” Cupid asked, spotting the thick manila folder in Joshua’s hand.
“Hopefully an answer to the many questions we have,” Joshua said as he set the folder down. He and I both joined Cupid at the table, moving some books to one side so we could make space for our own research.
Joshua handed me half the pile, an inch thick of paper. I’d thought that was a lot, and then I realized he’d handed me the equivalent of four inches of printing. Not only was everything double sided, he’d only gone and printed two pages to each sheet. “Did you print everything off his computer?” I asked in amazement. No wonder it had taken so long.
“I didn’t want us to have to return later, so I printed every diary entry and every email for the last six months.”
“I’ll get Eugene to bring us some more coffee,” Cupid said, sympathetically.
It was nearly midnight before I thought about the time again. Leon had returned and, with an amused smile, taken some of Asmodeus’ emails from us. Eugene had refilled the coffee twice over before digging out the two large coffee urns we used at breakfast. Veronica and then Noelle had appeared over the course of the night to report that Asmodeus hadn’t left his apartment, and the cherubim at the port were taking six hour shifts. They were safe, but stationary and hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary so far.
It was Leon yawning that made me consider the time. “You two should probably go home,” Cupid announced.
Leon sat back and finished off his mug. “Sorry, it’s been a long day.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Cupid assured him. “You also said you have work tomorrow.”
“I just feel like we’ve missed something in the print outs,” Leon sighed in disappointment.
I knew how he felt. “We’ve been through them twice, but I don’t see anything either.”
“Except for his love life,” Joshua cringed.
The thought sent a shiver through me too, and it wasn’t at the thought of old people dating. It was the thought of a fallen angel taking advantage of a human. I wanted to believe that there was some part of any fallen angel that could experience love, but the guy had nineteen girl’s names in his calendar over the last six months. Madeleine Sophie was his next ‘date’.
“At least that gives us a timeline,” Joshua said, yawning, as he gathered all the paperwork back together.
That was true: between the hours of eight and midnight tomorrow evening, we knew Asmodeus would be on a date and not at the Port – which would be the perfect time to make our move. “I’ll see you out.”
* * *
The following morning, I was sitting in Joshua’s car, working my way through an enormous coffee from Café du Monde. Joshua was inside the precinct with Leon. Despite my visit last night, we had collectively agreed that I shouldn’t be in there when Asmodeus was. Which was why I was impatiently waiting for Joshua to do whatever he needed to and come back outside so we could head back to A. R. International. I had thought it was a bit pointless heading there on a Saturday, but as Joshua had pointed out, shipping was a year-round activity and there had been someone there yesterday.
My attention was so focused on the main entrance to the precinct, watching for Joshua’s return, that when Veronica suddenly appeared in the car with me, I only just managed to stop myself from jerking my arm – and sending the coffee flying everywhere (I wasn’t sure Joshua could forgive me if I got coffee over his car’s interior). “What the hell, Veronica!” I yelled.
“I was bored, and you looked bored,” she grinned from the driver’s seat.
“Are you following me?” I asked.
Veronica pointed to the building in front of us. “One of four covering the precinct. I’m following Asmodeus.”
“There’s four of you on him?” I repeated, dubiously.
“We were going to take your advice and do three, but last night we realized it would leave one corner of a building uncovered. We upped it to four.”
“Makes sense,” I grumbled, setting the coffee into a cup holder. “Only I’m not Asmodeus.”
“True,” she agreed. “But you’re on the same corner as me and I thought I would take this opportunity to apologize.”
“What for?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.
“Okay, I deserve that,” she said, although she did look upset. “It’s nothing new, and I’m not apologizing for something we’re about to do: I owe you a huge apology for pretty much everything up to this point. We abandoned the House and Michael is gone.”
“Michael’s not gone because you left. Even if you’d stayed, he still wouldn’t have let you join us,” I pointed out.
&
nbsp; “No, but we could have been helping you and Cupid out, instead of relying on the angels, not that I’m complaining about them,” she hurriedly added before I could correct her. “They really did do a good job with the food last night, and the convent is a lot cleaner than I expected, so I know they’re more than capable of doing the chores.”
“I wish they would believe that themselves,” I sighed. “They bring a whole new level to ‘self-confidence issues’.”
Veronica looked back to the building, as though she couldn’t meet my gaze. “I think I owe them an apology too.”
I frowned. “I wasn’t implying anything.”
“You don’t need to. Considering it’s not our job to pass judgment on mankind, it’s not stopped us spending millennia doing it to our own kind.” She turned back to me then, her eyes bright. “You did a really good job last night. That was the first time I’ve ever known us to take orders and not complain.” She frowned, briefly. “That’s not completely true. You didn’t really give any orders – just requests. Even Michael has never spoken to us like that.”
“That can’t be true either,” I said.
Veronica shook her head. “Michael never treated us like were equals. Not that I would expect him to – he was in charge of the House, and he was one of Heaven’s highest ranking angels – we have a hierarchy for a reason. But you don’t see that.”
I shrugged. “Maybe it’s because I was a human first. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t care if you’re the cleaning lady or the CEO – you still get treated with the same level of respect until you’re a douchebag to me.”
“Either way, it’s not gone unnoticed. Joshua’s coming,” Veronica suddenly announced. “I’ll leave you, but I just wanted you to know you’re going to make a good lead for the House.”
Then she was gone.
“Is everything okay?” Joshua asked as he slipped in. He let out a groan and turned the engine on. “I need these bruises to go,” he complained as the air conditioning kicked in. He was once again in a turtleneck; despite the fact the temperature was once again bordering on 100F. When I awoke this morning, all trace of injury was gone. Joshua’s bruises were just starting to take on a shade of green. I couldn’t even wear a turtleneck in sympathy. At least I didn’t need to ask him to warm the car up when he set it to arctic temperatures. “The whole team was making fun of me.”
