Dark Admirer (9 page)

Picking it up, Eve held the folded paper up to the light. It was origami, folded to resemble wings.

“Hello?” she called, knowing
he
had been the one to do this. “Are you here?”

Sometime during the night, he had covered her up with the blanket and had left her, but not before doing this. Eve wondered if there was something written inside it, although she was loathe to unfold the design, knowing she’d never be able to fold it back up into its proper shape.

But what if he had left her a message?

Eve tore it open to find the most beautiful handwriting she’d ever seen. It was scripty and flowing, curling in lavish detail. Below it was a strange symbol. She read it over, the words not really registering in her brain. She was too focused on the style of writing and the strange symbol that was located on the bottom right corner.

It was only when she read it over once more that the words became clear. The events of last night also became clear, and the paper slipped through her hands and fell to the floor where the beautiful script looked up at her.

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Hebrews. Chapter 13. Verse 2.

Had she really entertained an angel? Or had he been something else? Did angelic beings really have those strange, frightening markings all over their bodies? Did they truly land in the back alleys of people’s businesses for no good reason?

Eve glanced at the paper once more, her gaze straying over the mark. What was it, that strange symbol? What did it represent?

There was only one way to find out. Eve headed to the bookcase that held all her religious texts. She could hardly believe what she was about to do.

She found what she was looking for and pulled the green leather tome from its spot high on the shelf.

‘A Natural History of Heaven and its Angels’.

Eve didn’t know what she was going to find within the pages. She didn’t even know if the symbol meant anything. She was only certain of one thing. And that was the fact that she had entertained an angel last night. And not only had she entertained him with food and reading, but she’s also entertained the idea of sharing their bodies.

And that, she realised, had probably gotten her a one way ticket to hell.

* * * *

Empty pizza boxes and beer cans lay scattered on the tables and floor. Walking between the prone bodies, Anael sniffed at the air, grimacing when the staleness of unwashed bodies and leftover food greeted him. On the TV, hard core porn action was flickering across the plasma screen. Anael turned and watched it, studying the way the bodies moved, the way the males dominated the female and the way she cried out in fake pleasure. His chest grew cold.

The passion he had gifted to the mortals had turned into something ugly. There was no true pleasure on the screen, just sex, just body parts ramming into each other.

Booze and porn. It was one hell of a way to break in the New Year.

Snorting in disgust, he turned from the big screen and surveyed the occupants of the room. Now which one of these losers was the one who had summoned him?

He walked in a circle, studying each human male as they lay sleeping—hung over—from their New Years Eve binge of booze, porn and God only knew what else. The entire room reeked of sex and debauchery.

Walking to the corner, Anael kicked aside another box with a half eaten pizza, then bent to his knees, staring at the body before him. The mortal was face down in a pool of drool. His mouth was wide open and his boxers were wet where he’d urinated in them. A gold wedding ring shone from the ring finger of his outstretched hand.
Amazing
. This loser had actually gotten lucky and found someone who had agreed to tie herself to his pathetic soul.

Shaking his head, Anael stood and with his hands in his coat pockets, he walked around, studying each face until he came to the end of the couch, where a man held the angel oracle in his lax hand.

So this was the one.

Anael picked his way between the bodies to the one who was asleep on the couch, his face mashed into the plush leather arm. The mortal was wearing a pair of jeans and no shirt. He was tall, with long legs. His chest and shoulders were fairly muscular; he had the sort of physique that would catch a woman’s notice.

At least all was not lost. It made Anael’s job so much easier when the one summoning him had at least something to offer a lady.

“Wake up,” he commanded, nudging the human’s foot with the toe of his boot. When the man didn’t stir, Anael cleared his throat and tried again. Damn his voice was hoarse. It had been a while since he’d used it—like the last time one of these pathetic mortals had summoned him. That was the only time he had a voice, and man it burned him that he had to waste it on them, these pathetic mortals who only summoned him when they wanted to get laid.

He heard the moaning and guttural groans of fucking coming from the TV and wished he could drown it out. Wished he didn’t have to be here, wished he didn’t only have a voice when he needed to talk to the ones who called upon him. What a waste this loser was going to be. Anael hated the thought of wasting his precious voice on this guy. He would have much rather used his voice to talk to Eve.

Christ, he would have given anything to have spoken to her last night instead of just sitting there, staring at her, wondering what she thought of him. Probably felt sorry for him and his pathetic mute mouth, not to mention his weird ass face.

Yeah, no voice box when he’d needed it. The fucking thing only worked when he was required to communicate with the souls he was forced to serve.
Fucking curse
.

Impatient and pissed off, he took a handful of the male’s brown locks into his fist and lifted his head up from the arm of the sofa. “Wake up.
Now
!”

The man’s heavy lids lifted, his eyes clearly glazed. “Who?” he asked, then his eyes began to clear, then narrow. The scent of the man’s fear seeped out of his pores, just as his mouth trembled out, “Who the fuck are you?”

“Who the fuck do you think I am?” Anael snarled back.

“Oh, Christ, you’re him, aren’t you? You’re Anael, the angel of love.”

“Not love. Just lust, there’s a difference.”

“Yeah,” the man muttered, wiping his face with his hands. “Yeah, whatever.”

“No, not whatever. I don’t do love. You got that straight? If you’re looking for love you’ve called on the wrong seraph. You want a love match, sign on to eHarmony, or better yet, say a few prayers to Cupid. You want hot sex, I’m your angel.”

“Okay, yeah, I want hot sex, sure,” he groaned as he pulled his hair out of Anael’s hold. “Who the hell doesn’t want it? But I’m looking for something a little…different.”

“You into the kinky shit, then?”

The human male grinned and Anael saw his eyes light with fire. “I’m into getting what I want. Let’s put it that way.”

“You might want to be a bit more specific if you want to get anything out of me.”

“You know what I want. I used the oracle. It speaks to you. You heard my wish. So now that you’re here, go ahead and do your thing.”

Anael’s lips curled with disgust and indignation. “It doesn’t work like that, mortal. I’m not a damned genie that grants you a wish. I’m not the tooth fairy who just lays a treasure beneath your pillow. My job is to assist you in finding your desire, not just handing it to you. You should have read the fine print in the oracle before you brought me down here. You’re actually gonna have to do a bit of work if you want to get whatever it is has you summoning me.”

“Nah, that’s not how it’s gonna work,” the male said, suddenly sobering up and strapping on his balls. “I summoned you, and now you’re at my beck and call.”

“Wrong, asshole. I call the shots. You want sex, you’ll get sex—on my terms.”

“You see, I’m not going to play it that way.”

“No?” Anael drawled. “You think you’re gonna mess with me? Try it and see.”

The man’s eyes shifted to him. Anael felt a blast of pure menace come into the man’s penetrating hazel gaze. This mortal had evil lurking in him. There was no doubt about that. He could just imagine what this piece of shit wanted out of him. He felt sorry for the female who was going to be on the receiving end of this guy’s desires.

“Look, seraph, I see it one way—
I own you—
”

Anael lunged forward and reached for the male’s throat. Grabbing him, Anael thrust him forward till they were face to face. “Let me tell you something, I’ve got one master, and one master only. And I see it two ways; one, I can disappear right now before giving you what you want, or two, you can just fucking deal with the situation. Either way, it’s my game, and my rules.”

His eyes blazed—pure evil—but he obviously had some intellect, because he slowly nodded his agreement.

“Alright then, I’ll deal.”

“Good. Now get a shower, you look like shit. I’ll be back when you’ve sobered up and decided to play nice.”

Thinking it prudent to leave, Anael turned away from the human and sauntered to the door of the apartment. He stopped when he heard the man speak.

“You’re not what I expected.”

Anael snorted and reached for the door handle. “Funny, you’re exactly what I expected.”
Loser
.

“What’s that shit on your face? And where are your wings?”