Redeeming Angel (27 page)

Her head lifted, bringing the tip of
our noses together. “You know?”

I softened the lines on my face. “Kira
told me a few nights ago.”

Her brows drew together, and I could
see the inner workings of her mind as she tried to put together
when I’d found out. “When did you see her?”

“
Travis and I went looking
for her the night she showed up at the house.”

“
Why didn’t you tell
me?”

I moved hand from her waist and lifted
her wrist. I twirled the ring I’d put on her finger, a symbol of my
love. “Because I had other plans, and I didn’t want to darken them
with thoughts of demons.”

She glanced down at the stormy
purplish-blue stone. “Do you believe her?”

I lifted her hand to my lips. “There
is only one way to find out. We test her theory.”

“
You want me to kill a
demon?”

“
Everyone’s got to start
somewhere,” I replied.

The expression on her face was a cross
of being on the verge of panic and the need to prove herself. “And
after that? What are we going to do?”

She didn’t talk about what happened to
her often—the darkness and being possessed by it— but I knew it
preyed on her. And now this…

“
We’re going to roll with
it,” I said.

There was doubt written all over her
face. She might not believe in herself, but I sure as hell did. A
red mark on her wrist caught my gaze. I twisted her hand around so
I could get a better look, and I felt as if I’d been sucker
punched. “You made a deal with Kira?” I hissed.

She snatched her wrist out of my
grasp. “I had to.”

In the dark, I raised my hand and
groaned. The mark I’d received when I’d made a deal with Kira was
no longer branded on my skin. “What did you do?”

“
I did what had to be done.
Just as you,” she rationalized, which in my mind was a lame
rationalization.

“
Angel,” I
growled.

“
You’re making a mountain
out of a mole hill. It’s not a big deal. I traded your freedom for
a deal.”

“
What did you promise her?”
I demanded.

She shrugged. “Nothing I’m not willing
to do. She asked me to destroy a demon of her choice, no questions
asked.”

“
That’s all,
huh?”

She let out a small yawn. “See, I told
you it was no biggie.”

Yeah. We’d see about that. There was
no reason to get all huffy, because there was nothing I could do
about. The deal was done. “I know I should thank you, but I’d
rather be the one indebted to a demon.”

Her eyes fought to stay open, and she
swayed slightly. “You’re welcome.”

I shook my head, and before she fell
asleep on her feet, I grabbed her hand and crawled back into the
bed. She didn’t hesitate and moved into my arms, situating her head
on my chest. The scent of her warmed my mood. “I know it’s a waste
of breath, but I’m going to say it anyway. Don’t ever do that
again,” I whispered.

She yawned a second time. “What? Scare
the crap out of you, or have secret meetings with
demons?”

“
All of the
above.”

As she lay snuggled in my arms, I
thought about hog-tying her to the bed. How else was I going to
ensure she stayed put? I’d rather avoid having another heart
attack, but realistically, I knew there were plenty more times
ahead that were going to stop my heart.

She’d been chosen. She was the
weapon.

Angel
was the demon slayer.

~*~*~*~

{Angel
}

A weird thought suddenly hit me as I
walked through my house. There was plenty for my mind to be
circling about, but all I could think was, I’m freaking engaged. To
Chase Winters. My eyes got huge and my feet tangled slightly,
making me stumble. I caught myself on the wall, the stones in my
ring catching the light dangling from the ceiling. Then, like a
crazy person, I started to giggle.

My smile was ridiculously bright as I
turned the corner into the kitchen. I grabbed a bottled water from
the fridge and chugged, quenching my thirst. Sweat dampened my
forehead and the sides of my flushed cheeks—another grueling
practice with Chase. This time Emma and Travis had joined us. Emma
amped up the stakes. No mercy.

The way she could move while fighting,
it was hard not to be jealous. It was like a choreographed dance
routine. No amount of training was going to make me as graceful as
Emma—or Lexi for that matter. I was the supernatural black
sheep.

I screwed the cap back on the bottle,
and as I turned to head back outside, Mom strutted into the room.
Chase and Travis were each following behind her with their arms
full of grocery bags. “Angel, what have you been doing? Running a
marathon?” she asked, dropping her purse and keys on the counter.
“Are you sick?”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t get sick
anymore, remember?” It was part of the whole healing deal. Pretty
handy, not ever having to worry about the flu and puking my guts
out in the toilet bowl.

She pursed her lips.
“Right. I’m still adjusting to my daughter
being…
special
.”

I snickered at her choice of words.
“What’s all this?” I asked.

She started to unload items from the
bags—green peppers, onions, steak. “I thought I’d make us a
celebratory dinner.”

Quickly, I linked my hands
behind my back.
She couldn’t possibly know
about my engagement, could she?
“Do I dare
ask? What are we celebrating?”

Her lips spread into a grin. “I sold
the house.”

I gripped the side of the fridge for
support. Chase was suddenly beside me. “Um. What?” I shrieked. “How
can that be? It’s only been on the market less than a week.” Okay,
even though I knew someone had made an offer, I thought it was a
joke.

Mom shrugged. “The buyers bought sight
unseen.”

And that only reinforced my theory
that whoever bought this house was cray-cray. “I can’t believe you
actually got an offer on this dump.”

Travis plucked an apple from one of
the bags and took a bite. The crunch echoed over the
kitchen.

“
Well, it was an offer I
couldn’t refuse,” Mom said.

“
What kind of idiot would
do that? Buy a house without even looking at it?”
Buy this house?

Chase cleared his throat, shifting on
his feet.

Mom raised her brows.

And I realized I’d just stuck my foot
in my mouth. “Oh sorry, I wasn’t implying you were an idiot when
you bought this place.”

Unloading a bag of groceries, she
started opening cabinets. “I know you weren’t. Anyway, I remember
you saying something very similar the first time we pulled into the
driveway.”

“
Sounds like Angel,” Chase
added.

I smashed my heel on his
toes.

“
I thought you liked living
here?” Mom asked, looking over her shoulder as she stretched to put
away a box of PopTarts.

“
I do. It’s
my
dump. What I really
liked about this house were my neighbors
.
”
Did I
just say that out loud?

Chase’s lips twitched.

{Chase
}

She looked hotter than the California
sun. Who would have thought having her almost roast me like a pig
would be hot? Little flames danced at her fingertips, and it turned
her sexy all the way up to ten. While she was feeling damn good
about herself, I made my move before she singed all the hair off my
body.

I felt the heat radiate as the ball of
fire whizzed past me.

Angel smiled. “You almost got
incinerated.”

Her aim was improving. “Almost isn’t
going to destroy a demon.” I probably should’ve been grateful her
aim wasn’t deadly accurate. Being burnt to toast wasn’t on my
bucket list.

“
Hurting you would hurt me.
Did you ever think that maybe I’m missing on purpose?” she
asked.

“
No.”

Her eyes narrowed, and I thought she
was going to hurl another one of her flaming missiles, but instead
the white-gold fire cavorting on her fingertips brightened, growing
in size. Her control was definitely improving.

“
I think we’re done for the
day,” I said, before she could change her mind and nail
me.

Hard lines of concentration folded
over her forehead. It took a few tries, but she finally managed to
douse the flames. A faint smile crossed her lips. “You’re the boss.
What do you want to do tonight? Watch a movie?”

Our days and nights had slowly fallen
into a routine. Training during the day and as much normalcy as we
could manage at night. “Rain check? The guys are coming over for
another meeting of the minds.”

“
Wonderful. Divisa
gatherings are my favorite.” Sarcasm dripped in her
tone.

I snickered, knowing she would rather
be doing anything else than discussing strategy. These meetings
seemed to be happening more frequently, and I normally wasn’t much
of a tactic kind of guy. Kicking butt was the only tactical policy
I employed.

She wiped the back of her hand along
her forehead. “I’m going to hit the shower.”

“
Good idea.”

“
Are you implying that I
stink, Winters?” she asked, a playful smile on her lips.

Drawing her close, I placed
kisses all across her skin—nose, forehead, and cheeks.
“Not to me. You always smell like Heaven and
Hell.”

She gave me a kiss on the lips. “Nice
save.”

My hands shot out, capturing her waist
as I pulled her body against mine. “That was a pathetic kiss.” I
wanted to kiss her again.

“
Why don’t you show me what
a real kiss is?” Her hands gripped the front of my sweaty
T-shirt.

“
My pleasure.” I bent my
head and kissed her damp forehead. “I love you.”

Her eyes fluttered open. “You owe me a
kiss.”

Chapter 26

{Angel
}

“
Anyone else think this is
the stupidest plan ever to be concocted?” Emma asked. She was
reclining on one of the chairs in the Winters’ family room, picking
the gunk from under her fingernails with a pocketknife. I didn’t
even want to know why it closely resembled blood.

And so the argument began on whether
to draw out Alastair or wait for the SOB who ruined my life to take
us by surprise. I was all for drawing him out. Our turf. Our terms.
Why wouldn’t we want the advantage? There was only one giant
obstacle in the way.

Chase.

He was like an iceberg, icy and
immovable. “No. No way. Angel is not going to be bait. What if
something goes wrong? What if he—?”

Like I said, one immovable force. I
quickly interrupted before he went to a dark place. “I know the
risks, Chase.” He was more than afraid; he was petrified Alastair
might have something up his sleeve. I wasn’t sure what else the
demon could possibly do to me.

Silver eyes hardened to steel.
“Absolutely not. I will lock you up again if I have to.”

I scowled. “You stubborn
ass.”

Unfazed, he lounged on the couch,
throwing an arm alongside the back. “I’ve been called worse,
sugar.”

Argh. He knew how much I disliked
nicknames like honey, sweetie, or sugar. “Oh, I’m not done yet. I
was just starting with the As. We still have the rest of the
alphabet.”

“
Angel,” he
growled.

“
You’re going to get us all
killed,” I contended. “I, at least, have regard for other people’s
lives.”

Chase shot me a glare. Tension was
high. “I have regard for their lives. Yours is just more
important.”

Protests died on my lips. I had
nothing more to say to him, and I settled down on the couch for
what was sure to be a bitch-fest.

Hayden cleared his throat. “There has
to be another way to provoke him.”

“
I don’t care how, just as
long as I get a crack at him,” Craig said.

No doubt Craig would feed me to the
wolves if given the chance. There was no lost love between us.
College hadn’t made him any less scary or unapproachable. That
internal warning you get when you realize someone is following you
in a dark alley was exactly the feeling Craig gave me.

I shuddered.

Chase eyes meet mine in a silent
question. I nodded. Yes, I was fine.

“
Get in line, brother,”
Chase grumbled, clearly frustrated.

“
Is there no way to summon
him?” Colin asked.

Until he had spoken, I’d completely
forgotten he was in the room. A flop of his sandy hair fell over
his face, and his usual soft brown eyes were sharp. Colin was
serious.