Redeeming Angel (11 page)

A corner of his mouth lifted as Chase
leaned down, placing a kiss on my damp forehead. The utter relief
ricocheting off him was a viable thing in the small space. I, on
the other hand, wasn’t sure what I was feeling other than intense
exhaustion. My limbs were so weak, as if I’d been stranded on an
island without food or drink. I was dehydrated, and I ached in
places you wouldn’t imagine. It sucked. The inside of my thighs.
The back of my neck. I swore even the tip of my nose
throbbed.

My lashes fluttered up,
locking eyes with the guy who never gave up on me. I lifted my
hand, wanting to feel the side of his cheek, but it never made it.
Chase sucked in a sharp breath, and I was almost afraid to ask.
“What is it?”
Please tell me it was only
an enormous pimple.
In a knee-jerk
reaction, I quickly cast my eyes downward.

Chase wasn’t having it. He placed his
thumb and index finger on my chin, tipping my face upward. His gaze
captured mine. “Your eyes. They’re purple.”

Say what? I had mentally psyched
myself up to hear him tell me my eyes were demon red, but
purple…that was new. Unfortunately, I was going to have to dwell on
my newfound eye color later, because I was having trouble keeping
them open. “Chase, something’s wrong.”

“
I’m sure it’s just
temporary,” he said, downplaying his concern.

I shook my head, my vision starting to
blur. “That’s not what I mean.”

“
Angel…Angel,” he called,
his voice going distant as the room spun. It was hard to hear over
the buzzing that vibrated between my ears.

I felt myself falling, a black hole
sucking me into oblivion, and I swayed. Chase caught me, soothing
me with the sound of my name on his lips.

“
I’ve got you, and I’m
never letting go.” At least that was what I thought he
said.

{Chase
}

Clamping down the emotions
jackhammering in my chest, I kicked the door open, never happier to
leave behind this burrow and to see sunlight. Wood splintered under
impact. The hunters were going to need a new front door, but I
didn’t care about the mosquitos getting in or the hunter’s
secrecy.

What I hadn’t expected to see was Lexi
climbing out of an SUV and Emma pointing one of her arrows at my
head.

Shit
.

“
Doesn’t anyone follow
orders?” I grumbled.

Lexi came flying around the car as
soon as she saw who I had in my arms and stopped abruptly, eyes
bouncing from Angel to me and back to Angel. “Chase?” She
hesitated, confusion circling in her eyes.

I drew in a shallow breath.
“It’s okay. She’s okay.” Or so I kept telling myself, but I wasn’t
sure anything would ever be the same again. And I wasn’t
okay
with that. Someone
was going to pay for the hell she’d gone through. There would come
a time when my desire for revenge wouldn’t be silenced.

Angel’s body shuddered against mine as
it had in intervals for the last forty-five minutes. I just wanted
to get her somewhere safe. Realistically, the connection between
her and Alastair might have been severed, but I wasn’t stupid
enough to believe they would stop looking for her.

Lexi’s aqua eyes glistened with tears.
“How did you—?”

“
It’s not important now.
What
is
imperative
is that she sleeps
and
we let no one know where she is.”

She nodded, unable to take her eyes
off the frail-looking Angel clinging to me. “We’ll protect her,”
she promised fiercely.

I could always count on family.
Rotating toward my car, I met my first roadblock. Barely over five
feet, hair the color of autumn and cynical emerald eyes, Emma Deen
was a constant thorn in my side. “You can stop pointing that thing
in my face.”

She tipped her chin, nodding over my
shoulder toward a door half swinging off its hinges. “Do you
destroy everything in your path?”

Ugh. Her voice grated on my ears. I
winced. This was one of those times having roommates sucked. “Not
now. You and I will talk later.” About why my cousin was with her,
among other things. “I kind of have my arms full.”

“
Don’t you always?” she
mumbled, lowering her weapon and walking straight up to me. She
kept her expression blank. “What color are her eyes?” Her hand
reached out to pull back the dark hair curtaining Angel’s face,
beaded with a cold sweat.

I growled deep in my chest. “Touch her
and die.” Angel nuzzled her face into the alcove between my neck
and shoulder. I could have easily brushed past her, but I just
didn’t have the fight inside me.

“
Christ. What did you do?”
she demanded.

“
What I had to. Brought her
back from the depths of Hell’s claws.” A part of me had hardened,
turning cold forever.

“
This conversation isn’t
over. I want to hear everything.”

Of course the hunters would have an
interest in how I’d broken the link between Angel and Hell, but I
would be damned before I let them use her for a science experiment.
“We’ll see.”

“
Winters!” she called as I
swept past her. “You owe me.”

I knew I did. It was because of Emma
I’d been able to keep Angel hidden and from becoming Hell’s anchor
on Earth. If we hadn’t teamed up, the outcome might have been very
grim for humankind and for Angel.

Frozen for a single heartbeat, I
nodded and then I was gone.

There would be a time and a place to
pay that debt. I ran to my “borrowed” car, concealed under
overgrown brush and the weeping branches of a willow. After
carefully tucking Angel into the back seat, I hustled behind the
wheel, taking one last glance over my shoulder at Angel to ensure
she hadn’t pulled a disappearing act. Her eyes drifted closed,
knees pressed against her chest in a fetal position.

Satisfied that she wasn’t going
anywhere, I hit the gas, preparing for another short road trip. The
idea of getting behind the wheel wasn’t thrilling, but as I drove,
I let my mind wander. A dangerous thing.

Angel had fallen into a fitful, but
deep sleep. She tossed in the back seat, occasionally letting out
little moans of distress. Her body needed rest probably more than
it needed anything else. Freeing her from the demon-darkness had
taken its toll. I refused to let my mind drift toward how close I’d
come to losing her. If I’d been a few hours later, it might have
been too late. The blackness had nearly taken over her humanity.
Her road to recovery wouldn’t be without challenges.

I let out a long, ragged breath,
finally letting go of all the pressure building inside me the last
few days. As I listened to the sweet evenness of her breathing, I
knew that when she woke up, she should be around familiar
surroundings, in a place that made her feel safe and secure.
Somewhere that oozed tons of love and fond memories. College had
been nothing but a curse, bringing angst and misery. It wasn’t
home.

Pulling into the driveway of the only
home I’d ever known, pressure clamped down my chest. I stopped the
car beside Devin’s, staring at the two-story farmhouse. The porch
light was still on as it was every evening. It brought an
affectionate smile to my lips.

I sat in the car, in the balmy
twilight, gazing at the vast woods beyond. They seemed to stretch
endlessly in either direction, but I knew better, knowing every off
beaten path. Evergreens, maples, and even poison ivy thrived in
those woods along with other things.

My eyes wandered to the dark and still
house next door. No life moved inside. Chloe must be at work, which
I’d been counting on. The last thing I wanted to do was explain to
her mom why her daughter looked like she was in a coma. I still had
to deal with Dev, just not tonight.

Gathering Angel, I shot
across the yard to her empty house and managed to unlock the front
door one-handed.
Still got it.
I climbed the stairs in the dark and crossed to
her bedroom, depositing a worn-out Angel on the bed.

I could only sit and stare at her. She
needed rest, I told myself. We both did, but my mind was churning.
Not worrying about Angel went against my nature. I didn’t know how
to turn it off. Peeling back the blanket, I crawled in alongside
her, lying on my side. I interlaced our fingers, needing to touch
her. Her chest rose and fell in a sigh, quieting my anxious heart.
Together, the outside world didn’t seem to matter. All that did was
we were here.

I closed my eyes and finally allowed
myself to sleep.

Chapter 11

{Chase
}

Groggy, I opened my eyes and blinked
multiple times. I waited for the immediate sense of panic that
followed each time I woke. Today, it never came. I was filled with
these dazzling tingles and a sense of tranquility I wasn’t sure I
would ever feel again. It was in that moment I remembered where I
was and what I’d done.

I turned toward the girl still
sleeping peacefully beside me. Her head was curved on the pillow,
dark hair fanning out against the silver sheets. It had only been a
few weeks since she’d become demon bipolar, but it felt like a
year. More than anything, I wanted to pull her into my arms.
Instead, I ran my fingers over my jaw before I carefully swung my
legs over the side of the bed.

My stomach let out a demon-sized
growl. Besides being hungry, I was feeling optimistic. There was
something about being home, with Angel tucked safely in her bed,
that calmed both sides of me.

I moseyed into the kitchen with
nothing but food on the brain. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one
with that idea. Dev was sitting at the table, a mug of coffee and a
bowl of cereal sitting in front of him. Glancing around for a few
seconds, I made sure I was in the right house. Angel and I both
lived in old, huge farmhouses, but that was were the similarities
ended. Chloe had a much different design style. There was no way
Dev would have a leopard print rug and matching dish towels hanging
off the stove.

“
What are you doing here?”
I asked.

“
Hmm. I was going to ask
you the same thing.” I took the seat across from him at the table,
and Dev slid his uneaten bowl of Captain Crunch toward me. “Here,
you look like you could use this.”

I never turned down a bowl of cereal.
“Thanks. I can’t remember the last time I ate.” Shoveling a
spoonful into my mouth, I mumbled, “What time is it?”

He took a sip of his coffee. “A little
after four.”

“
In the morning?” Maybe I
should have asked what day it was. “Wow. I can’t believe I slept
that long.” Or that Angel was still snoring logs. Over twelve
hours.

“
You look like
crap.”

I snickered. “Thanks old man. What are
you doing up, anyway? Got the munchies?”

Behind his salt and pepper beard, his
lips tipped. “I forgot how funny you are. When I realized you were
here, I couldn’t sleep.”

I rubbed the back of my
neck, hating that I caused him stress. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to
worry you. I figured you’d be at
home
.”

“
Yeah, well…”

“
I got it.” He didn’t need
to spell it out. Chloe and Dev had sleepovers. He probably had a
key. Moving on.

He leaned forward, elbows on the
table. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on? Not that I’m not
happy to see you, but I know you. Is everyone okay?”

I poured myself another bowl of the
Captain. “Lexi and Travis are fine. I imagine they’ll be on their
way home soon.”

He uttered a sigh of relief. “And
Angel?”

Fumbling with the spoon, I stared into
the bowl. “She’s been better.”

“
Tell me what happened. The
last I heard was her father was back. Are you guys in trouble?” he
asked, genuine concern in his voice.

“
More than usual?” I added,
cynically.

He gave me one of his stern, yet
dependable looks.

“
He’s not going to be a
problem.”

“
Chase, did
you…?”

Devin knew what I was capable of. That
was no secret, so it didn’t bother me in the slightest that he
immediately jumped to the conclusion I’d killed Chris. “No, but I
wish I had. It was Angel,” I added.

He gasped.

Twirling the spoon with the milk, I
mumbled, “And that was the start of a demon domino
effect.”

“
I think you better start
from the beginning,” Dev said.

And I did, unloading all the sordid
details about her father, the transformation in Angel, having to
keep her hidden, and the lengths I went to get her back, all of the
nitty-gritty—except for Kira. I left out her name, and luckily, he
didn’t ask. The last thing I wanted to do was add an extra layer of
stress and anxiety. When I finished purging myself of all the crap
I’d been through, I actually felt better.

Devin tipped his head back, suddenly
looking much older than I remembered. “I never should have let you
guys go. Maybe then this wouldn’t have happened.”