Redeeming Angel (15 page)

That was the thing with our bond. We
frequently altered each other’s moods without being
aware.

Just awesome. As if we didn’t have
enough on our plates, we also had to worry about mama
drama.

Chapter 14

{Chase
}

It felt as if a tremendous weight had
been lifted off my chest. Telling Angel about Kira lessened my
stress levels. Now if only Angel would do the same. She was hiding
something. I was sure of it.

And it wasn’t just the zonking out
into space that had me concerned. She was putting an exuberant
amount of effort in keeping her emotions from me—no easy feat
considering. I know she’d been through an ordeal, but what I didn’t
understand was, if something was wrong, why wasn’t she talking to
me? How was I supposed to fix it if I didn’t know what was
wrong?

I wanted to call her out on it, but I
also didn’t want to push her. She had made it clear she wasn’t
ready to talk, and granted I wasn’t all too thrilled to relive
those moments either.

It hurt a little not having her let me
in. Maybe more than I wanted to admit.

Still, I was going to give
her the time and space she needed to recover. It would be sort of
presumptuous to think nothing had changed. That
she
hadn’t changed. In reality, the
moment I’d set my eyes on her, I’d known her world would never be
the same. Darkness and doom followed me like a rain
cloud.

Seeing her struggle only emphasized my
desire to kill Alastair. Not just send him back to his domain, but
wipe him from all realms. “I’m going to destroy his black soul,” I
promised to no one in particular. It was one I made to myself
frequently and one I meant to keep, damn anyone who stood in my
way.

Angel had her way of dealing with what
happened. This was mine.

“
What are you thinking
about?” she asked, sneaking up behind me and wrapping her arms
around my waist.

My heart thudded in my chest.
“Nothing. Everything.”

She rested her cheek on my back. “Do
you want to talk it out?”

Smirking, I turned around, linking my
hands at the small of her back. “I hate psychobabble.”

“
What a coincidence. Me
too.”

“
Come on. I told Dev we’d
take care of our car situation. Want to ride along?”

“
To return our “borrowed”
car?”

My brow arched.

She rubbed the tip of her nose against
mine. “Sure. I’d love to be your partner in crime.”

I twined my arm around her waist.
“Good. Saves me from having to convince you. Let me grab the keys,
sidekick, and then we can see how many laws we can break on the
way.”

“
As long as we get home
without flipping any cars.”

I coughed as we walked across the yard
toward my house, an arm still looped around her. If she only knew
what happened to my last car. “Now what fun would that
be?”

“
Can’t wait,” she mumbled
as we climbed the porch steps.

I opened the front door with a smile
on my face and was greeted by chaos. There were bodies everywhere,
all talking over each other. I almost shut the door and turned back
around, but Lexi let out one of her high-pitched squeals, making me
cringe. In a blink, she was hugging the life out of my girlfriend.
They lost their balance and went down in a tangle of curls and
girly shrieks. Tears were flowing down Lexi’s cheeks, brightening
her aqua eyes. For someone who had a ballet dancer’s body, she was
strong and spirited.

“
You’re really okay,” Lexi
gushed.

“
I’m still bonded to your
hotheaded cousin, so I’m not sure that justifies me being okay,”
Angel replied, her voice muffled by Lexi’s natural sun-drenched
blonde hair.

Lexi giggled. A second later her hand
flew to her mouth. “Oh my God. Your eyes.”

Angel looked like she wanted to curl
up in a hole and die. I could have throttled Lexi.

“
How come all the cool
stuff happens to you?” Lexi asked.

Angel rolled her eyes.

“
Well, this didn’t take
long,” I muttered. The whole gang was here. Travis, Lexi, Emma,
Hayden, and Craig were all spread out in my family room. Silence
followed Lex’s squeals of happiness, and all eyes were on
Angel.

Cheeks flushed, I gave her and Lexi a
hand, pulling them to their feet. I kept Angel’s hand linked with
mine as we stepped into the room.

I tensed, waiting to see what was
going to happen next.

Travis swooped across the room,
engulfing Angel in another hug and lifting her off her feet. “Thank
God you’re back. Chase was driving us all insane.”

She laughed lightly. “I don’t doubt
it. I’m just glad he never gave up.”

“
Chase? Give up? As if he
would. I don’t think quitting is in his vocabulary.” He set her
down, and I snuffed the immediate desire to wind our fingers
together. The yearning to constantly touch her was always present
in the back of my mind.

She took a step backward so
our arms brushed. “There are a lot of words
not
in his vocab.”

Travis got one of his silly grins.
“That’s for sure.”

Enough was enough. A guy could only
stand aside while being talked about as if he wasn’t there for
long. Sixty seconds was about all I could take. “I’m standing right
here,” I grumbled, taking a seat on the arm of the recliner. Angel
sat in the chair, legs tucked underneath her. She nibbled on her
lower lip, looking like she was ready to run for the door if
necessary. “So what’s this all about?” I asked, eyes scanning the
room.

And then like a dam being broken, the
room erupted into questions galore. They were flung at Angel and
me, one right after the other.

What dumb thing did you do
this time?

How did you bring her
back?

Why didn’t you
call?

Are we going to order
food?

I took a deep breath. “Everyone chill
out.”

“
How can you be so calm?”
Craig scowled, his broad shoulders stiffening. “There is an influx
of demon activity and we’re on the cusp of war. Why the shit aren’t
you freaking out? How can we trust her?”

“
Be careful what you say
next, Craig.” My voice was low, but it carried across the
room.

{Angel
}

I flinched.

Something told me things might get
ugly fast, as they usually did in a room filled with demon DNA.
Chase’s eyes went from silver to gold in a wink.

“
You don’t have to trust
me,” I interjected before things got heated. “But whether you do or
not doesn’t change the fact we are all going to be under fire
sooner rather than later. Just because Hell can’t use me anymore,
doesn’t mean they won’t find a way.”

“
Angel’s right,” Travis
said. “Losing their key is going to royally piss them
off.”

“
What are we supposed to do
about it?” Lexi asked.

“
There is only one thing to
do. We take out the big players. The higher demons. And I’m not
just sending them back to Hell. I’m going to destroy
his
soul.” It wasn’t lost
on anyone that Chase had suddenly switched to referring to a
certain demon.

“
Alastair?” Travis
interjected.

“
No way, dude,” Hayden
added, propping his elbows on his knees beside Lexi on the sofa.
“How do you plan on doing that?”

“
Can it even be done?”
Craig asked, intrigue in his beefy expression.

Chase shrugged. “I guess I’ll find
out. I’m done playing the cat and mouse game.”

“
Oh great. That’s our grand
plan?” Lexi threw her arms in the air.

“
You got a better one,
little cuz?” His smoky eyes challenged.

She slumped back into the couch.
“Don’t you ever wish our lives weren’t so complicated?”

“
Some people should thank
their lucky stars that everything I wish for does not come true,”
he replied coolly.

I rolled my eyes.
Good grief.

“
Okay, so how do we go
about destroying the soul of a higher demon?” Hayden asked, always
so loyal and trustworthy. He would walk blindly into a battle
because Chase asked.

Chase shook his head. “If you guys had
half a brain, you would all walk away now.”

“
You always were a
showoff,” Travis sneered. Emma and he were smooshed onto the
loveseat. She’d been quiet, which worried me. The hunter was
indubitably plotting away.

“
You’ll be putting yourself
and those around you at risk. I can’t be responsible for anyone
else getting hurt. Or worse…”

Travis’s gaze narrowed. “Can it be
done?”

“
Is the sky purple?” he
retorted.

“
Meaning you have no idea
if it’s possible,” Emma finally chimed in. This was right up her
alley.

“
I have a source,” Chase
informed. His body language said, don’t ask questions.

I groaned. Fan-freaking-tastic. More
dealings with Kira. If he struck any more contracts with this
particular demon, he was going to end up being indebted to her in
this life and beyond.

I wasn’t the only one suspicious. Lexi
was onto him, and she was not in the least put off by his stubborn
tone. “What kind of source?”

“
Let me worry about the
details,” he said irritated. “And in the meantime, we send as many
of those assholes as we can back down to roast in Hell.”

Emma cleared her throat. “Speak for
yourself, half-breed,” she hissed. “I’ve had enough of
demons.”

I think everyone in the room got
whiplash, heads turned so fast in her direction. “Giving up the
family biz?” Chase scratched his head, looking doubtful.

Emma glanced to Travis briefly. “Let’s
worry about keeping Earth from burning and extinguish these
bastards. I can’t retire if we’re all dead.”

She had a point. “I don’t expect any
of you to stand by my side. I can’t promise that you’ll come out of
this unscarred…or at all.”

The room lapsed in silence, the
severity of our situation settling over us. This wasn’t about us
anymore; it could very well affect the world. No
pressure.

Chase played with my hair,
twirling the strands around his fingers as they worked out patrol
details around town. The demons
I
had let loose before being caged were our
immediate problem. Hell was coming with backup.

I cast my attention to the wheat
fields outside, the room of people fading into the background. My
nerves felt shot, and there was a buzz humming between my ears.
What I wouldn’t give for five minutes of blissful
silence.

“
You ready to go?” Chased
asked in what felt like only minutes later.

I blinked.
Oh crap.
I’d forgotten
all about returning our “borrowed” car.

The room had pretty much cleared out;
only Lexi lingered behind. I smiled. It was all I could do, because
inside I was a mess, and I didn’t want Chase to know. Keeping those
feelings from him required effort, and I wasn’t sure how long I
would be able to hold out.

I was stronger than I used to be; yet
I still didn’t know exactly what I was doing. There was untapped
potential and power inside me. I felt it simmering and swirling
under the surface, ready to break free, but had no idea how. And
that scared me almost as much as losing myself again to the
darkness.

Chase was already burdened with worry
and had done so much for me. This was something I would find a way
to handle on my own. Looking up, I met his eyes. “Let’s
ride.”

Leaning down, he whispered a ludicrous
response in my ear.

I whacked him on the arm, smiling
faintly. “You’re still a dickwad.”

Unfolding his legs, he stood. “And
that makes you happy?”

I hopped to my feet, eager to get some
fresh country air. “Yeah, it does.”

He gave me a wicked grin. “It’s nice
to know I still have no clue how your mind works.”

The feeling was mutual. You’d think
being able to sense each other’s emotions would have made it
easier. Not the case. Sometimes I wondered if it made it more
complicated. “Ditto.”

Part 2

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

—
Lao
Tzu

Chapter 15

{Angel
}

The sun had gone down and
with it a cold slapped over the air, punching from the northeast. A
storm was coming, the kind that made you want to stay inside, curl
up, and sip a hot drink. Sitting by the window in my room, I
wrapped my hands around a mug of tea.
Patter. Ping. Pang.
The rain pelted
against the glass. I watched it curtain the view and waited for the
next round of lightning to ignite the gloomy sky.