by Celia Kyle
“You claiming it was planted?”
I gestured to the rows of liquor bottles and beer taps. “Does this look like the kind of place where people order bottled water?”
I refrained from calling him a dumbass.
The cops pulled a couple of cases out of my supply room and I gritted my teeth. I had no idea how it’d gotten there, but it hadn’t been there a few days ago. Papa Finn scanned the entire bar and I hadn’t let any new shit past the threshold.
A setup. Nice. Apparently the puppeteer realized a gang of thugs couldn’t take me down so they’d decided to play dirty.
“The only reason you’re not under arrest is because we don’t have enough evidence to prove you bought and served this with intent.” His smile widened, evil slithering from his skin. “But until further notice, this place is shut down.”
“Shut down? Seriously?” I clenched my fists and pushed down the rising hellfire. “For what?”
“Public health concerns. Until the health department can do a complete inspection, you’re closed.”
I rubbed a hand over my eyes, mumbling. “This is unbelievable.”
I could smell the influence of a dem all over this mess. I knew human law stated he should be hauling me in, but apparently the demon pulling the strings didn’t want that. It just wanted me shut down and off balance.
And it was really pissing me off.
The cops let Jezze and I gather our shit before we left, and then they posted a big obnoxious sign on the door announcing our closure until further notice. I was given a citation I could contest in court, though the date was set for two weeks from now. No fucking way I was gonna leave my bar closed for two weeks.
“What are you gonna do now?” The witch frowned at my citation and I crumpled it in my hand.
“Go raise Hell down at City Hall.” The average human might not know about the supernatural elements in Orlando, but the mayor did.
“Like, actual Hell or metaphorical Hell?”
I couldn’t blame Jezze for needing clarification. Especially since I hadn’t decided on one way over the other yet.
The fuckhead had me sitting outside his office for over an hour before he finally let me in. By the time I stepped over that threshold, I was edgy and ready to unleash actual Hell on him. When I saw that smug little smile on his face, I realized he’d kept me waiting on purpose.
Stupid.
Hellfire tingled on my fingertips, anxious to be set free, and my wolf was one hundred percent on board with that.
Instead, I slapped the citation down on his desk. “What the fuck is this?”
Mayor Boyd picked it up, eyes scanning the page. “We’ve been having a problem with a lot of businesses in the city. I’m sorry yours was targeted as well, but we need to nip this problem in the bud before it grows beyond containment. I’ve ordered the health department to shut down any store or establishment selling tainted goods.”
I crossed my arms, glaring at him, letting my demon blood flicker my eyes red. He tugged on his collar and then rubbed a hand over the bald pate on top of his head.
“You know this is bullshit. I’m investigating this issue. It’s a demon drug and my problem. Not yours.”
“I gathered it wasn’t normal.” He spread his hands apologetically. “But I have to do something. This isn’t just about the tweens. It’s affecting humans, too. It’s not like I can call a press conference and tell people they’ve been poisoned by demon magic. But don’t worry because the local Lady of the Damned is handling things.”
“What you can do,” I leaned forward and planted my hands on his desk. “Is let me re-open my bar. Hell’s Chapel is a center of tween activity. I’ve been getting leads from customers.”
Not good leads, of course, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.
He fidgeted and licked his lips. “As it happens, there might be a way we can be of assistance to each other.”
Fuck me sideways. It wasn’t the demon after all. Just a grasping human giving me shit when I’ve already had enough.
I stood back up, letting my head fall back while I stared at the ceiling. “I scratch your back,” I lowered my chin and stared at him once more, “you quit being an asshole?”
Boyd shrugged, sheepish smile on his face. “It’s simple, really. Nothing beyond your capabilities.”
I rubbed a hand over my eyes. I had too much balanced on my plate to deal with the mayor’s dirty errands. But it’d be quicker and more painless than beating the shit out of him to get my way. Not that I was taking the ass kicking prospect off the table. It was an election year. The city could get a new mayor while this one recovered.
I set aside those dark urges. For now. “What do you want?”
“I have a… lady friend.”
I snorted. Typical human. Wife at home, girlfriend on the arm. “Of course. And let me guess, since I’m the one dealing with it, she’s a tween.”
He nodded. “Meadow is… quite a woman.” His face turned pink and I nearly gagged. “We’ve had a nice run together, but lately she’s…” He shook his head, staring at his hands while he fiddled with the edge of his desk calendar. “She’s been acting uncharacteristically. Erratic and emotional. Demanding more of my time. She showed up at my house. My wife nearly saw her!”
“Hey, you know what they say about a woman scorned.”
He grimaced. “I don’t think it’s that. I haven’t done anything to piss her off. But her erratic behavior…”
I nodded, realization slowly edging forward. “It started around the same time as everyone else in the city losing their minds. And you can’t take her to a human hospital.”
He nodded. “Look, I just need this situation taken care of. It’s an election year and I can’t afford a scandal.”
I snorted. And humans thought I was evil. “Fine. Give me her address. I’ll take care of it.”
He jotted down the information and handed it over but resisted when I went to tug it free of his grip. “You won’t hurt her, will you? I’m still fond of her. If she would just be a bit less obsessive…”
A real winner there.
“I’ll deal with it.” I rolled my eyes. “And you’ll call off your dogs. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” He flashed that smug grin, the mayor back to being a dick.
I turned my back on him and shoved the paper in my pocket. This was the last round of bullshit I needed, but as errands went, brushing off the mayor’s tweener fucktoy shouldn’t be too difficult. And maybe if I was lucky, I’d find some leads along the way that would help me track down where this drug was coming from.
10
I wasn’t ready to deal with Boyd’s side piece yet, so I just headed home, needing Bryony in my arms for a little while. I’d deal with the chick tomorrow sometime.
I strode through the front door, anxious to see Bry and see where Jezze was on her research. I found the witch pacing the living room, nose in a book, while Momma R gently rocked my son in a rocking chair. It was such a contrast, purity and the woman who scared even On High.
“Got something?”
Jezze spun toward me eyes wide and sparkling with excitement. She stabbed at a page. “I think I’ve found a spell that’ll help. It’s archaic, not something I ever would have thought of on my own. I don’t think it’ll do anything for the humans, but at the very least, it’ll reduce tween symptoms.”
I looked over at Bry, face still flushed with illness. “Get it done.”
“I need some supplies. Is the Crazy Cauldron still open?”
I snorted. “Tell Agatha it’s for me and she will be open.”
“On it.” Jezebeth dropped the book and snatched her keys from the end table before racing from the house.
Or she would have, except she slammed into Sam on the front porch. Literally. She stumbled back a step and stared at him for a moment before glancing at me. I read the question in her eyes even if the rest of her expression remained neutral.
Did I want to be left alone wit
h him? Just me, Momma R, and Bry with a fallen?
I locked eyes with Sam. “Go, Jezze, we’re good here.”
“All right.” She skirted around Sam and bolted, leaving us alone.
I stared at him, his dark hair and red eyes, his pale skin and rough jaw. I could still taste the kiss we’d shared, the taste of him on my tongue. I resisted the urge to let my eyes roam over his body, though I couldn’t help a quick, hungry glance at his cock. I swallowed the whimper of need that tried to rise and instead looked away. “What’s up?”
He stepped into the foyer, nudging the door shut behind him. Those two steps had him filling the space, surrounding me with his mere presence. “I received a message.”
My eyebrows shot up. “From who?”
Sam licked his lips, taunting me, and I really wished he wouldn’t do that. It’d been nothing but my hand since we were last together. I hadn’t been boned in a year. “A representative from On High.”
I twitched, a shockwave shooting through me and it left me stunned. I’d given up on the powers from above having jack shit to do with the lowly peons in the tween. It always seemed like the cloud surfers wanted tweeners to deal with their own shit.
Which was seriously unfair.
What was the whole point of being worshipped if he wasn’t gonna deliver when he was needed most? Am I right? That was just one of the reasons why I never so much as paid lip service to the old fart.
Besides, we had to be enemies merely because he was On High and my uncle ruled Hell. It was loyalty-hate.
“A representative?” I ran my hands up and down my arms, a sudden chill making goosebumps freckle my skin. “And they sent you to fetch me?”
“Not… exactly.”
“Then what… exactly?”
Sam leaned back against the closed door, arms crossed over his chest and gaze on the floor between his feet. Unsure. Uneasy. And that had me feeling the same way, my wolf picking up on my mate’s distress.
“I felt the summons. He wants to meet with me and I…” He sighed, running a hand through his long hair. “I didn’t feel like I could meet with him alone.
“Aaah.” That kind of exactly. I looked down at my feet, tucking my hands in my back pockets as I rocked back on my heels. It made sense. Sam wouldn’t be too keen on meeting with one of his old comrades now that he was a fallen. “When and where?”
“Now,” he held out his hand, palm up. “I’ll take you there.”
I hesitated but pushed past my unease and took his hand. I quickly called out to Momma R, letting her know I had to go, and she promised to keep an eye on Bry.
So. Now we’d go.
I figured we might fly, Sam pulling me into his arms and spiriting us through the clouds. But… not so much. We took my car instead, the hunk of metal grumbling along down the streets. I followed his directions, our destination one of the older, remote graveyards on the edge of town.
I climbed out first, Sam soon following, and the quiet of night enveloped me. The moonlit tombstones looked like hulking beasts, goblins and dwarfs crouching and waiting to pounce. A warm wind blew over the stones, whistling through the scattered marble and shoving the scent of old moss and decay forward. It seemed like an auspicious place for a meeting though I understood why the rep from On High had chosen it. It represented the boundary between life and death. The ground was consecrated, yet it bore an undeniable link to the forces of death in Hell. It was about as close as they could get to neutral grounds.
We picked our way across the graveyard, dim moon lighting the way, until we spotted the representative standing before one of the larger mausoleums. We changed our direction, the moon at his back and framing him in the ethereal light.
Was there an angel of dramatics?
He was tall, with broad shoulders and a muscular chest. Flying with those massive wings had to give a guy a workout. He wore a light, long coat, a shirt of chainmail somewhere beneath it, and clutched a glimmering sword in his hand. Prepared for battle then. He changed his grip on the blessed weapon and drew a single line across the ground in front of us. The light from the blade flashed as it fed the furrow with a tendril of divine energy.
We stopped before the line, not daring to attempt crossing it. I knew a Hellborne creation and a fallen angel wouldn’t be able to take one step over that mark.
Apparently the gel didn’t quite trust us.
Weird.
“Samkiel.” The gel gave Sam a nod.
“Gabriel.” Sam raised his chin.
I raised my eyebrows, attention bouncing between the two men. I hadn’t really expected the messenger from On High to be the messenger. This was the guy who’d had to break it to the Virgin that she was knocked up without the sexual benefits. Personally, I woulda been pissed, but what are ya gonna do?
Gabriel wasn’t exactly someone sent down with a note that the milk was about to go sour. It looked like maybe On High was taking the situation seriously after all. Aw, I might have to take all of my evil thoughts back.
Fuck it. I wouldn’t.
“Okay, Gabe, darling.” I stared him down like I wasn’t at all impressed. And I wasn’t. Not really. I wasn’t gonna fangirl the hottie. “You got something you can do for us?”
“I come bearing an offer of aid.” Gabriel’s voice boomed.
“Right,” I popped my ears. “Turn the volume down a smidge.” I shook my head. “It’s about damn time On High got off his ass. Maybe he can clean the drugs out of the water?”
The gel shook his head. “Our Lord cannot interfere directly.”
“Typical.” I rolled my eyes. “They rocked the water into wine show. Back in the day, He never hesitated to rain down fire and brimstone. And the plague! He got cranky and it was all forty days of raining. But when we need help, it’s all ‘I can’t violate the Prime Directive.’”
A confused frown fell over the gel’s features and I didn’t care to explain it to him. The winged ones needed to spend a little less time tattling on mortals and more time keeping up with pop culture.
“So, why are you here?” I propped my hands on my hips.
Gabriel ignored me and looked to Sam. “True angels are limited in our ability to meddle in mortal affairs.” I opened my mouth, ready to thank Captain Obvious, but he kept speaking. “You are fallen.”
I glared at the angel and Sam just lowered his eyes in… shame. Fuck no. Just… Fuck. No. “So, what? Just because he’s already dirty, you figure it doesn’t hurt to do a little more? Do you know what he sacrificed? It wasn’t like he pledged allegiance to Satan’s flag! He saved—“
“Silence your tongue, spawn of Satan,” Gabriel snapped.
“Technically, I’m the spawn of his sister.”
He opened his mouth and then clicked it closed again, apparently unable to conjure up a decent comeback. Score one for evil.
Gabriel ignored me and looked at my mate again. “For the duration of this situation, a measure of your grace shall be returned. You may use it to bless and cleanse those humans who have been infected by this tainted substance.”
“Great,” I clapped my hands and rubbed my palms together. I flashed Sam a smile, though he kept his head hanging. I really thought he’d be a little happier. “We can fix all the humans—“
“Not all of them,” Gabriel interrupted.
Sam’s head shot up. “What? Why not?”
“Those that are too far gone, you may not touch.” He planted the tip of his sword in the ground and folded his hands over the pommel. “Those that have only suffered illness and hallucination may be cleansed. Those that engage in violence and murder may not.”
“What? I call bullshit! They were violent because of the drug.”
That earned me a cold stare and I wondered if On High’s messenger had a little bit of fallen creeping in on him. “Not all who were infected walked down the path of violence. Those that did already had darkness in their souls.”
“So fuck you very much, then? Is that what you’re saying?”
I glared at all that purity and light. “They weren’t perfect little believers so send them all down to Uncle Luc.”
The angel raised his chin, pulling his eyes from mine. “They may seek redemption. It is not our place to bestow it on them if they have not earned forgiveness.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but Sam cut me off. “It’s free will, Caith.”
Even if I hated what he was saying, I liked hearing my name from his lips.
I snapped my mouth shut, scowling at Gabriel. I’d never really gotten how On High operated. Sure, maybe on some level those people made a choice, they had free will. But when they were stoned on some demon drug, it wasn’t like they were in their right minds. It seemed massively unfair to deny them the same cleansing and redemption as everyone else. Didn’t demon manipulation count for anything?
I sighed. I supposed it wasn’t my business though. Maybe it was just part of the whole “free will” shtick.
“Go,” Gabriel spoke again. “Consider this your own penance, Samkiel.”
Between one heartbeat and the next, the angel vanished. Where he had once stood was nothing but dancing mots of dust in soft beams of moonlight.
I looked at Sam, at his slumped shoulders. No doubt he struggled beneath the burden of the task he’d been given. And I… didn’t know what to say to him. I wanted to reach out, to touch and hold him.
But it wouldn’t stop there, would it? It’d end with us coming together—fucking, making love—and I didn’t think that would help his case with On High.
So, as much as I wanted him, as much as I craved his touch, I took a step back. I pushed aside my selfish, asshole nature, and put space between us. “Let’s go. We dropped most of those juiced boys off at a clinic. We can start there.”
Sam nodded and we headed to the car. It was time to find the people who needed his help. I still didn’t think it was fair that he couldn’t help all of them, but it wasn’t up to me.
Though, if I ever got a chance to see Him up close and personal, we were going to have a come to Jesus—wait, he already had Jesus so that saying didn’t really apply. Dammit.
We were going to have words. Strong, big, ass-kicking words.
