by C. L. Coffey
“I think my opinion of plaid shirts is changing,” Joshua announced from behind me.
I jumped and whirled around. His towel hung low around his hips and I could feel myself blushing as my eyes landed on Joshua’s naked, glistening chest. I absently ran my fingers over my lips as I stared at the lines of his abdomen. “Like what you see, darlin’?” he asked.
Still somewhat dazed at his appearance, my eyes trailed up his body, despite myself. They fell on the scar on his shoulder. That had been where Lilah had stabbed him. The dull throb intensified, but for the first time, it didn’t leave me doubled over.
I cleared my throat and mentally told myself to behave. Regardless of what had happened last night, it had only been a dream, and that was all it could ever be. Much as I was falling for Joshua I couldn’t risk anything happening between us. If there was one thing that Lilah had proven to me, it was that I would rather not be with him and have him alive, than lose my wings and not be able to protect him. I pulled my gaze up and found him smirking at me. “It may have been a while ago, but we had an agreement,” I informed him. “Quit with the flirting.”
He tilted his head, frowning slightly, and opened his mouth. Whatever he was going to say, he stopped himself and shook his head. “I didn’t mean to wake you,” he told me. “You only had a couple of hours sleep and I was going to let you rest for longer.”
“I feel better with what I had,” I told him, honestly.
He nodded. “You look it.”
I shifted, suddenly feeling uncomfortable under his gaze. “So,” I said, searching for something to change the subject to. “You couldn’t have had much more sleep than I had. Why are you up so early?”
Joshua sighed and raked a hand through his damp hair. “Leon called. I’ve got to go in.” He glanced over at the clock and shrugged. “You’re more than welcome to stay here and get some more sleep?”
“Can I come with you?” I asked. The fact that I felt better being near him was just a theory, but I wasn’t in any hurry to test it yet. Besides, how else was I supposed to fulfill my job as guardian angel if I wasn’t near him?
He gave me a smile and nodded. “Do you want to call in at the convent and get something to wear?” he asked me.
I looked down at the clothes I’d slept in and frowned. “Not really,” I muttered.
“I thought you might say that,” Joshua said. Before I could question him, he had disappeared into the living room. He returned a few moments later carrying a large cardboard box. Scrawled along one side was Bethany’s things.
“Ex-girlfriend?” I asked, trying to ignore the jealous feeling which was creeping through me. Joshua placed the box on bed and opened it, silently pulling out a photo frame and handing it over. I took it off him and gazed down at the swimming certificate. Bethany Walsh. Of course, Bethany was his sister. “I’m sorry,” I said, feeling like an ass.
“I dug this out last night,” Joshua explained, taking the frame back and placing it gently on the bed. “I knew I had a box of her things around here somewhere.” He pulled out some clothes and a pair of red cowboy boots and placed them on the bed. “She was shorter than you, but I’m sure some of this will fit,” he added.
He left me alone to get dressed and I pulled out a pair of jeans. He was right, she was shorter than me. I ruled out the few pairs of jeans in the pile, which left only a dress. I quickly pulled it and the boots on, thankful that either Bethany had large feet, or mine were small.
I dipped into the bathroom and studied my reflection. Despite the lack of effort with my hair, it had reverted to the flicked out style which should have taken hours and several cans of hairspray to pull off. My skin was back to its natural pink color and my face no longer looked skeletal. Joshua was right – I did look better. Aware that Joshua had to leave soon, I grabbed his toothbrush, hoping he wouldn’t mind me borrowing it.
I walked into the living room and found Joshua already dressed and pouring some coffee into a travel mug. “You ready, darlin’?” he asked, turning. His eyes looked me up and down, and although I could see the sadness pass through them, he didn’t comment. Instead he handed me a second mug. I took it, nodding, and followed him outside.
The storm had temporarily relieved the air of the usual humidity and the rising temperature hinted that the rain would soon be a distant memory. The car, parked in direct sunlight, was already steaming up. I heard Joshua sigh audibly as we drew near. Wordlessly, he opened the trunk and pulled out a couple of blankets. “So you don’t have to sit on wet seats,” he explained as he handed it over to me.
I took the offered blanket, placing the coffee mug on the roof while I spread the blanket out. I was grateful for the protection. We had been soaking last night and never bothered to think about his car. Judging from the expression on Joshua’s face, he was regretting that now. “It’ll dry,” I assured him as we set off.
We drove in silence, listening to Joshua’s country music radio station of choice. It wasn’t until after Joshua had stopped at a gas station to fill the tank up that we actually spoke. “About last night,” Joshua started.
I could feel my face heating up and there was no reason for it. We were both adults. There was nothing wrong with us kissing. Well, there was, but not that it should have me turning beet red.
“I’m not going to report what happened,” Joshua continued.
I closed my eyes and winced. Of course he wasn’t talking about our kiss. That had happened in a dream. He was talking about the fact we had been held at gunpoint. “You’re not?” I opened my eyes, and found Joshua alternating between watching the road and glancing at me.
“On a scale of one to unbelievable, where do you think this sits?” he asked me. “I messed up and had my gun and phone taken off me by a known drug addict, but retrieved it when I was saved by an angel who survived being shot?”
“Won’t you get into trouble by lying?” I asked him.
Joshua sighed. “I thought about it, but the only person who got hurt was you. Unless you want to press charges?”
“I’m fine,” I told him. “The bullet wounds have completely gone.” That was true: I had checked after brushing my teeth. “Besides, my job is to protect you. If reporting this will get you in trouble, I’m hardly doing my job. It’s just…” I frowned.
“What?” Joshua asked, sparing me a glance before he maneuvered through the traffic.
“What if he does something to hurt someone else?” I asked.
“I’m going to have to risk it,” he admitted, though he looked less than pleased at that thought. “He’s still an informant: I will track him down again.”
I stared at the back of the truck in front of us, chewing at the inside of my mouth. I didn’t particularly want Karl to get away with what he had done, but I wasn’t sure what other option there was. Aside from the fact Joshua was likely to get into a lot of trouble, there was also the chance that Karl would tell anyone who listened that he had seen my wings. I hoped that people would assume it was the drugs talking.
“What do they look like?” I asked quietly. “My wings,” I elaborated when I found Joshua shooting me a questioning look.
“Not what I expected angel wings to look like,” Joshua responded. “They were long, and elegant, and they looked more like they were made from light than from feathers. They were breathtaking, Angel.”
“I’ve never seen them,” I admitted. “I…” I trailed off as a memory popped into my head. Completely unrelated to what we had been discussing, I wasn’t sure what had caused its appearance, but I was grateful. “There was someone who knew about Lilah,” I realized.
The traffic was moving too much for Joshua to take his attention away from it, but I saw him frown. “Who?”
“I don’t know,” I told him. “Lilah: she said a cop told you that Maggie had returned home. Who was that?”
“I found a note on my desk,” Joshua shrugged. “A missed call, apparently. But I have no idea who left it there.”
“Did you ever find out who had been removing statements from the murder files?” I asked him.
Joshua shook his head. “When I finally got released from the hospital and went back to work, I went through everything that happened with Leon. Or at least, as much as I could without admitting to the existence of angels. I told him that Paige Kenworth had admitted to working with Elliot Claymore and Simon Wilson-”
“Who are they?” I asked, cutting him off.
“Lilah’s accomplices,” Joshua replied. “I checked the Missing Persons database. They were reported missing about eighteen months previously.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. All this time I had been focused on the fact that I had killed Paige, but there had been two others who had died because of me. Until now they had been nameless – I had assumed they had been in their own vessels, but I had assumed wrongly – I had killed two other innocent people too.
“Are you alright, Angel?” I heard Joshua ask, as his fingers reached over to touch my cheek.
“I thought I’d killed two of the Fallen,” I muttered. “I didn’t realize that I’d killed two humans too.” I took a deep breath, waiting for the blinding agony to appear. It did, but it was nowhere near as strong as I was used to. That was strange. Even when I thought about Paige, it didn’t hurt much more than a dull throb. I blinked, waiting. The pain didn’t get any stronger. “You were saying?”
“Angel?” Joshua questioned, carefully. I waved him on. “I told Leon that Paige had admitted to working with Claymore and Wilson, and they were both found with weapons on them. One had a sword, the other a dagger, both of which matched the wounds in the open investigations. I tried to explain to him that we had been looking into those cases and discovered missing information, but as we had closed the cases, Leon wasn’t interested.” He caught me staring at him and slowly shook his head. “Leon’s worked with these guys longer than I have. I don’t think he wants to believe it either.”
“But you still think there’s someone in there who was working against us?” I checked.
“I do,” Joshua agreed. “I wish I didn’t, but I do.”
CHAPTER FIVE
The Archangel and the Saint
Our destination was not the police precinct, but Jackson Square. There was a handful of officers busy cordoning off the area, trying to keep the early risers away from the crime scene. Thankfully it was just before the Monday morning rush hour, but there was still a small crowd gathering – mainly of the local artists who were arriving early to claim the ‘good’ spots.
I followed Joshua up the path, marveling at the St. Louis Cathedral which, with its beautiful white stone towers, was creating a more Disney-esque backdrop than the scene for a murder. As we rounded the monument of President Jackson and grew closer, I could see a crowd of officers and the CSU busy near the fountain. It wasn’t until we reached the edge of the fountain that the collection of police personnel parted leaving me with a view of the victim.
I let out a small gasp at the sight of the woman lying on the bottom of the shallow fountain, her glassy eyes staring unseeingly up at the blue skies above her through the red water. The pump was shut off just as I took a step back; cutting off what looked like a fountain of blood. As the water started to settle, I could see that she was wearing a wedding dress. Beside me, I heard Joshua swear.
The words caught the attention of one of the detectives who was coordinating the scene. The tall black man turned back and spotted Joshua, nodding grimly at him. When Leon’s eyes swept over to me, his expression changed to one of confusion. He gave the officer next to him a set of orders then hurried over to us. “Josh, why is Ms. Connors here and not in class?” he asked, directing his question at Joshua though keeping his attention on me.
My eyes widened in surprise. Class? The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. I was supposed to be battling my way through my third year of college now, worrying about what I was going to do with my life once I had graduated. Well, technically I hadn’t attended any of my sophomore year finals, so I was more likely to be repeating a year. Either way, I was instead wondering what I could do to right the wrongs I had done when I had killed someone, protecting a guy I liked, but could never be with. Suddenly, I had a pang for a pop quiz.
“She’s here to help,” Joshua told him.
Leon finally gave his attention to Joshua, frowning. “Excuse me,” he said to me, before leading Joshua away from me. Not far enough. I could make out what he was saying. “Joshua, you’re already skating on thin ice in the department after that incident last month. Bringing your crush to a crime scene is not a smart move.”
“She’s not a crush,” Joshua objected, sending a glance in my direction. I tried to keep my expression neutral, even though my insides twisted for a different reason. “And she can help. She has Asmodeus’ permission to help, remember?”
Leon rolled his eyes and I couldn’t fault him for it. In order to explain my presence in the precinct, Joshua had gone to his lieutenant claiming I was a psychic. Somehow he had believed it. Leon, on the other hand, was one of the many people – myself included – who thought it was a load of garbage. However, seeing as it was easier than trying to explain that I was an angel (which also went against Michael’s rules) I went along with it. “We don’t need a psychic to solve this case,” Leon told him. “We already arrested the suspect.”
“You did?” Joshua asked in surprise.
Leon nodded. “The husband. Officer Holiday found him while on patrol this morning. He was standing over the victim, covered in blood, the weapon still in his hands.”
While Leon continued to fill Joshua in, I was distracted by the coroner appearing. There was something familiar about the man who hurried up the path, pushing a gurney. As I stared at him, trying to figure it out, a golden hue appeared around his outline. I blinked, and then looked at the crowd of officers. It was like looking at a rainbow. I turned to Joshua, seeing the silver glow outlining him, finally recognizing the lights for what they were. Auras.
According to Michael all archangels have the ability to see a person’s aura. I hadn’t earned my archangel status yet, and although I could see auras, it tended to be an intermittent ability. I focused back on the glowing coroner. Gold was the color of angels. I made my way over to him, meeting him as he neared the fountain. He looked up and spotted me, a look of recognition washing over him. “You’re the new recruit I heard about,” he said, addressing me quietly.
“You’re an angel too?” I asked him, matching my volume to his. I should have known – all the angels I had seen so far had been young and good looking. This guy was no exception.
“Henry, Angel of Death,” he greeted me, offering his hand. “And you need to stop taking the souls away before I can get to them. That’s my job, not yours.”
I blinked. “Taking souls?”
“Yes, like this poor dear here,” he said, indicating to the dead woman. “Peter is going to think that I’m slacking off.” He sighed and looked down at the body, cocking his head. “Oh, I see now. Never mind.”
“See what?” I asked, forcing myself to look down at the body.
“Angel,” Joshua called, joining my side. “We’re not needed here anymore.”
I opened my mouth to object, but he gave me a look which said not to argue. I glanced over his shoulder, and found Leon watching us, his arms folded. I looked back to Joshua and sighed. “Of course not,” I agreed.
“Come on,” he said, indicating we should return the way we had arrived. “I have something else I need to do anyway,” he added.
I followed in silence, keeping quiet until we got back to his car and I had fastened my seatbelt. “Did I get you into trouble?” I asked him.
Joshua kept his attention on the traffic, as he pulled out of his parking spot. “Leon’s not a fan of psychics,” he explained. “Besides, they’d already arrested the guy who did it. They’re just dotting I’s and crossing T’s now.”
I nodded, not really listening as I chew
ed at my lower lip. Outside, rush hour was underway and we weren’t moving very far very quickly. My mind, however, was moving at a much faster speed. Over and over, I couldn’t stop myself from repeating Joshua’s words. She’s not a crush. Which was exactly what I needed him to think: I couldn’t keep him safe if I no longer had my wings... so why were those words bothering me so much.
His touch startled me out of my thoughts, and I looked down, finding him holding my hand. I blinked and turned to look at him. “You’re doing that thing again,” he told me, looking over at me.
“Eyes on the road,” I snapped at him.
He nodded at the windshield. “Gridlock,” he grinned.
I looked forward. He was, unfortunately, correct. We weren’t going anywhere soon. Annoyed at him being right, I grunted. “What thing?” I asked, grumpily.
“Retreating into your head,” he explained, reaching up to tap at my temple, all while keeping his grip on my hand.
“I was doing no such thing,” I objected.
That earned me a bark of laughter. “Of course not, darlin’,” he said. “What was I talking about?”
“Dotting I’s and crossing T’s,” I returned.
“I moved on from that about two blocks back.” There was another bark of laughter. “So what were you thinking about?”
I sighed, searching for something to tell him that wasn’t the truth – there was no way I was going to admit to what I had really been thinking about. “I just really like this song,” I shrugged.
The look Joshua gave me was both skeptical and amused. “This?” he asked, turning the volume up with the control on the steering wheel. A female country singer’s voice filled the car. “You like this?”
“Yes!” I declared, defensively, ready to proclaim that country music was my all time favorite, but I was suddenly distracted by the thumb which was beginning to trace circles on the back of my hand.
