Angel Eclipsed (The Louisiangel Series Book 2)

by C. L. Coffey

  “I’m your drug?” Joshua said slowly. I could feel his chin rubbing against my head as he nodded his head. “I think it’s safe to say you’re certainly my drug. You’re intoxicating,” he admitted inhaling deeply.

  My heart swelled but it didn’t take long for that feeling to deflate. I sighed. He might find me intoxicating, but I was completely, and utterly, addicted to him. I tried going cold turkey to give him up, and I’d failed.

  Joshua’s hand grabbed my own, and he gave it a squeeze. “Don’t,” he requested.

  I shifted my head to look at him, and found that his eyes were closed. I frowned. “Don’t what?” I asked.

  “Don’t retreat into your head,” he instructed. He raised his head and looked down at me with an intense gaze. “And don’t say what you’re about to say.”

  I pulled a face. “How’d you know what I’m about to say?”

  “We can’t do this. It’s against the rules. If I fall I can’t protect you,” Joshua recited at me.

  I pulled away from him, sitting up so I could glare down at him. “Don’t mock me,” I snapped at him.

  Joshua pulled himself up slightly, resting his weight on his elbows, and looked at me with a surprisingly calm expression. “I’m not mocking you, darlin’.”

  “Really? Because it sure sounds like it,” I retorted. “Michael was pretty clear on the rules. Lilah fell because she broke them: Lilah fell because she slept with her charge.”

  Joshua’s calm expression evaporated and was replaced with one that told me I’d somehow offended him. “Just so you’re absolutely clear on this, Angel,” he said taking the time to enunciate each word. “When I say I want to be with you, I’m not just trying to get you into bed with me. I know you have your rules, and even if you didn’t, I’m not about to push you into something you are not ready for.” I opened my mouth, ready to object, but he held his hand up. “Michael may be adamant that Lilah fell because she slept with her charge, but according to you he is also adamant that there is no possibility that Lilah succeeded in raising Lucifer. Lilah seemed pretty convinced when she said that in order to release Lucifer she wouldn’t have been able to fall. You can’t be completely convinced that both of these are true when they contradict each other?”

  “I can’t risk it,” I admitted. “Michael showed me what happened. I lived that memory of him killing his brother.”

  Joshua cocked his head as he studied me, a small frown appearing on his face. “But you still think Lilah released Lucifer?” he said.

  “I still have to trust Michael,” I responded.

  “That’s not what I asked,” Joshua said, with a quick shake of his head. “Do you think Lilah released Lucifer?”

  I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, nodding. “I want to be wrong, I really do, but I have this feeling,” I explained, gesturing to my stomach. “I can’t shake it. I watched Lucifer die through Michael’s memory. I really, really want to believe what Lilah said about not falling,” I added. “But I also can’t forget the fact that she kidnapped you - she sent you out in the middle of a hurricane and made you crash your car - and pulled me away from my post which affected the strength of a protective shield around New Orleans, in order to trick me into killing her. As much as I want to believe her, I can’t help but think there was an agenda.”

  Joshua got to his knees and leaned over to me, resting his hands on my thighs. “Do you like me?”

  What kind of question was that? Of course I liked him. “Yes,” I told him, once again feeling my face heat up.

  I expected him to smirk at my response. Instead, he nodded slowly. “Forget about Michael, forget about Lilah, and forget about any other celestial being. Do you want to be with me?”

  “Yes, but-”

  “No buts, darlin’,” Joshua cut me off. “Everything you’ve told me has always come back to one thing: sex,” he said. My face once again flamed. “I kissed you just now, and correct me if I’m wrong; you still have your wings?” He waited for me to nod. “I told you before and I’ll tell you again, this isn’t about sex. I want to be with you and, I think we can do that without you losing your wings. I also think that when the time comes, and you are ready for us to sleep together, by then we will have worked out how we could do that so that you don’t face any consequences of that. I do think that time will come, and I will wait until then.”

  Once again he had rendered me speechless. I didn’t share his confidence that we could ever truly be together, but his words, and confidence, had my heart doing flip-flops. “I,” I cleared my throat, surprised my words sounded so thick. What I wanted to say, I couldn’t get myself to voice. Instead, I leaned forward and kissed him.

  When we eventually pulled away, Joshua smirked at me. “I knew you thought I was hot,” he muttered, his voice as soft as the fingers that were playing with my hair.

  I rolled my eyes. “How on earth you manage to fit through any door with an ego that size, I’ll never know.” I took another deep breath. “We can’t tell anyone, Joshua,” I told him. “I’m not willing to take the risk.”

  “I know,” he responded. “So, what are you doing for dinner?”

  I blinked at him. “When I said we can’t tell anyone, I thought it would go without saying that we can’t really be a couple in public?”

  Joshua leaned in. “I know,” he repeated. “Trust me.”

  I reined in my skepticism and shrugged. “I’m doing whatever you’re doing?”

  * * *

  We spent a little longer at the lake, waiting for our clothes to dry out a bit more before we headed back into the city. Joshua was not about to let us get back in his car with soaking wet clothes again. I didn’t care. For the first time in a long time, wrapped in Joshua’s embrace, the sun beating down and a gentle breeze coming in from over the water, I felt at peace. When we finally started to drive back, I asked Joshua if we needed to get changed, but he assured me that we were fine in what we were in. Although I trusted him, I was a little bit dubious, especially when we didn’t head to his place.

  He eventually pulled up outside a familiar blue house, and I couldn’t stop a large lump forming in the back of my throat. “Why are we here?” I asked him thickly.

  He looked over at me and looked concerned. “We don’t have to be here, Angel,” he told me, gently. “If you don’t feel like you can see your aunt, we can go back to mine. I just know she has been worried about you, and I know she would love to see you.”

  I gave him a small smile. “I don’t look like death warmed up?” I asked him.

  Joshua sat back and looked me up and down, tilting his head slightly. A smirk slowly formed. “Drowned rat dried out?” he offered at last.

  “Thanks,” I muttered, although I couldn’t help but grin at him. I got out of the car and made my way up to the front door. Joshua was right behind me, and when I paused before knocking, ready to request that he didn’t say anything to Sarah about what had happened when Tabitha had hit – or since – he slid past me and opened the door. My mouth fell open as he just walked in, calling Sarah’s name.

  I stepped in after him, when I heard Sarah responding from the direction of the kitchen. “Through here, Josh,” she called.

  “Since when are you and Sarah on first name terms?” I asked him in surprise.

  “Since he has been coming round for Sunday dinner to fill me in on why you’re too busy to visit me,” Sarah responded for him, appearing in the kitchen doorway. She stepped forward, rubbing her hands on her apron, and wrapped her arms around Joshua. I stared at them, wide-eyed, as he hugged her back.

  “Told you I’d get her here eventually,” Joshua informed her.

  “I never doubted you,” Sarah responded with a squeeze. “Now,” she stepped back and eyed him. “You go set the table, and if you help yourself to any more than one macaroon, I will know.”

  “Yes, m’am,” he said, giving her a cheeky grin, before disappearing through the door Sarah had appeared from.

  I continu
ed to stare at my aunt, my eyes wide and blinking rapidly. She took a couple of paces towards me, her hands on her hips. “I don’t care how old you are, or even that you’re immortal, if you still lived under this roof, you would be grounded right now,” she informed me. “What’s more, if you don’t come here and hug me, I will make sure Michael grounds you when you get back to the convent.”

  I did my best to rein in my shock, and moved towards her, allowing her to envelop me in her arms. When I stepped back, I gave her what I was sure was a sheepish smile. “So, um, what exactly has Joshua been telling you?”

  “Oh don’t worry,” she said, giving a slight wave of her hand. “I know he can’t tell me too much.” She turned and started to head back into the kitchen, when she paused and looked back at me. “I know you’ve been busy, Angel, and I know that you have a new responsibility now, but you can always pick up the phone,” she sighed, before continuing on.

  It wasn’t accompanied by the same body-wracking pain that it normally was, but a wave of guilt flooded through me. It wasn’t long ago that I had felt terrible at the fact I not only wasn’t allowed to see her, but she would never be able to know what had happened to me. When I had accidentally visited her in a dream, Michael had allowed me to keep seeing her. I had been given a gift that no one on the planet had, and I had been wasting it.

  I hurried after her, ready to give her another big hug, but stopped short in the doorway. The kitchen was an average sized room, with a breakfast counter: the dining table was in a separate room, and only used if there were guests. Most of the time, Sarah and I had eaten our food out on the large porch. Evidently, Joshua was considered family as he was busy setting the table outside. What’s more, he seemed to know where everything lived.

  “Just how often has Joshua been around?” I asked my aunt in a low the voice: the patio doors were open.

  “More than you,” she told me. She was definitely upset that I hadn’t been to see her, and I didn’t blame her.

  “I’m sorry,” I told her. “I should have called.”

  “Yes,” she agreed. “You should have. But you’re here now, and that’s what is important. Now, stop slacking off and put this on the table.”

  She handed me the salad bowl and a pitcher of iced water. I took them off her and carried them outside, setting them down. “Why are you visiting my aunt?” I asked Joshua. I wasn’t angry, only curious.

  “It was something you said,” he shrugged as he sat down.

  I stayed standing opposite him, leaning back against the porch railings, and cocked my head at him. “And what was that?” I asked.

  Joshua slowly shook his head. “I’ll tell you later,” he said. My aunt came outside then, carrying dinner, and I decided later was a good idea.

  “Are you going to stand there, or are you going to go get the plates?” Sarah asked me. I gave her a grin and darted back into the house. I reappeared a couple of seconds later. “Oh my goodness,” she muttered, her hand over her heart.

  I had to set the plates down and dart over to grab the lasagna before she dropped it. “Sorry,” I told her as she slumped into her chair.

  “You really are an angel,” she said, staring at me in astonishment.

  I pulled a face. “You’ve both said that to me recently. Did neither of you believe me when I told you what I was?”

  Sarah quickly regained her composure and gave me a stern look. “The last time I saw you, you were still an angel in training. Joshua here had to tell me that you had earned your wings.”

  That guilty feeling made a reappearance, so I dished out the food for something to do. We ate in silence and it wasn’t until Joshua had finished his meal, set his cutlery down, and stared off into the garden in an effort to avoid being the first to speak, that I sighed. I’d been picking at my food, and now resorted to pushing a tomato around the plate in an effort to keep my eyes trained on anything other than my aunt. “I killed someone,” I mumbled.

  It was Joshua's impatient grunt which had me looking up. “You killed someone saving my life,” he corrected me.

  “I still killed someone,” I pointed out, glaring at him. “Stop trying to downplay that fact.”

  Joshua glared back at me. “I’m trying to stop Sarah from thinking that you just randomly went up to someone and shot them, Angel. And I’m also reminding you, why you did it.”

  “Because you think I’d forget?” I snapped at him.

  “Enough,” Sarah said, loudly. I blinked and found her watching us, strangely calm. “Joshua, I appreciate that you’ve been hiding something from me for a couple of months now, and I understand that the reason you’ve done so is because whatever has happened Angel needs to be the one to tell me. So let her.” She turned her attention to me, and gave my hand a squeeze. “Tell me,” she urged me gently.

  So I did. I skipped some of the details – food and drink aside, I could feel that pain building back up and I didn’t think my aunt would cope with seeing me keeled over. Instead I kept it brief, but let them both know what had happened since I had left my room. By the time I had finished, the sun had set. Neither of them interrupted me, although Joshua did briefly disappear inside to turn the porch lights on. “And St Patrick is really a St Patricia,” I finished, doing my best not to let Sarah see how much I was hurting.

  “At least we know why I needed a guardian angel,” Joshua added, when Sarah didn’t speak.

  Sarah ran her fingers over her lips, looking between myself and Joshua. “I wish you had told me sooner,” she said, finally. “I understand why neither of you did, but I wish you had. Should anything like this ever happen again, I don’t want you to think that you can’t ever tell me.” She gave Joshua a stern look. “And that goes for you too, mister.”

  “Yes, m’am,” Joshua quickly agreed, giving her an appreciative smile.

  “Now we’ve covered that,” Sarah said, turning her attention back to me. “Do you want to give me a good reason why I shouldn’t be calling an ambulance for you?”

  My attempts to hide the pain had failed. “It’s the guilt,” I admitted. “It’s as though someone thought I would forget what I did. I can usually manage it, but sometimes it hurts more than others.”

  For the first time since I had started speaking, Sarah looked alarmed. “Angel, I wasn’t exaggerating when I suggested calling an ambulance.”

  “I know, but it’s really not as bad as it was, and now that I’m eating and sleeping, that helps,” I assured her. Keeping my attention on her, I pushed the feeling down and sat upright. For good measure I flashed her, what I hoped was, a reassuring smile.

  Sarah considered me for a moment then turned to Joshua. “Go get the macaroons.”

  “I’m fine,” I said, as Joshua disappeared into the house.

  “I know when you’re fine, and when you’re not, and right now, you’re not,” Sarah corrected me. “You barely touched your dinner, so you will eat the macaroons.”

  I knew better than to argue. When Joshua returned with a large plate piled high, I took two and started to eat them straight away. “It’s a good job I can eat as many of these as I want,” I muttered.

  I had to eat four before Sarah let up. When she did, she looked thoughtful. “I don’t think Lilah was the reason you needed a guardian angel, Joshua,” she told him.

  “Angel saved my life,” Joshua disagreed.

  “I do not doubt that, and before you say anything,” she said, cutting him off. “You may have been a key, but if Angel hadn’t have stopped Lilah, she probably would have decided to kill you anyway. Michael assigned Angel as your guardian angel for a reason, and the fact that you’re still her charge tells me you haven’t accomplished what you need to.”

  Joshua and I stared at each other. It was evident from his surprise that he hadn’t really considered that. “Any suggestions on how we work out what it is that Joshua needs to do?” I asked, chewing at my lip. “I only just managed to keep him alive last time.”

  “But you did keep him al
ive,” Sarah pointed out. She offered me the plate of macaroons and waited until I took another one. “You will also do well to remember that angels are not infallible. If they were, then Lucifer would not have fallen from Heaven in the first place.”

  “That’s the problem,” I returned. “I don’t want to fall.”

  “You just have to do your best,” Sarah shrugged. “You’re not exactly on the level of Lucifer yet. As for working out why you’re Joshua’s guardian angel, I don’t know. All you can do is continue to help him. It can’t hurt to spend some time with each other.” I looked over at Joshua and found him smirking: I was sure I knew exactly what he wanted us to be doing together. “I’m not sure if what you two have in mind is the kind of thing I was thinking of,” Sarah chuckled.

  Joshua’s face went read and I couldn’t help but smirk back at him, despite my own embarrassment. He quickly cleared his throat. “You helped me last time by seeing the pattern in the murders.”

  “You think there’s another serial killer in New Orleans?” I asked in surprise.

  “Well, no,” he admitted. “But I didn’t last time. Maybe I’m supposed to help someone that way though?” he suggested.

  “Well this will be interesting, considering Leon doesn’t want me anywhere near the precinct,” I sighed.

  “Angel, is there something else you want to tell me?” Sarah asked, looking expectantly at me.

  “No,” I hurriedly responded.

  She got to her feet. “Right, you two can do the dishes. Joshua, the left over lasagna is all yours, Angel, you’re taking the macaroons.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Grim Reaper