Tempting Nora (31 page)

"Too true." Robert nodded.

"What is it then?" she asked.

"Forgive Gideon," Robert said.

"What?" Nora went rigid in her seat. "But he lied to me. He
lied
."

And about sometime atrocious too.

"Here's the thing, Nora. I lie to the women I date all the time. I do it to make myself seem better than I am. I once even convinced a woman that I was an ice-skater just because she said she likes the winter Olympics. That's how desperate I was to impress her." Robert paused. "It doesn't surprise me that Gideon misrepresented himself to make you like him."

"So I
should accept somebody who lies to me?" The idea made her blood boil.

"I'm not saying that
. Lying is never good. I'm just saying that sometimes one lie slips out and it can be a heck of a lot easier to keep lying than to admit what you did. If Gideon's truly is a jerk, then you should cut him loose. But the thing is, I never got the feeling that he's a jerk. On top of that, I saw the way the man looked at you. He looked at you like you were his entire world. People can't fake that kind of thing." Robert patted her hand. "The fact also remains that when you were in trouble, you didn't go to me. You went to him. I'm a little offended by that—"

"Robert." She gave an exasperated sigh.

"—but it's the truth. You must care about him. And if you really care about someone, you have to give them a chance." Robert frowned at her. "That's why I want you to talk to Gideon. Maybe he's truly a jerk or maybe he's just a guy who, like me, is so uncomfortable with himself that he stretched the truth to make you stay by his side. Give him the benefit of the doubt. That's all I'm saying."

"Why are you on his side?"
She felt the sting of betrayal for the second time that night.

"
I'm not on his side. I'm on yours. It's just that I've been in the dating world for a long time." Robert gave a pained sigh. "You, on the other hand, are new to all of this. I wanted to give you advice before you lose Gideon and regret it forever."

For a moment she didn't say anything. She just stared at Robert and saw the solemnness of his expression.
You shouldn't listen to his advice. Gideon is a fallen angel. The situation isn't what he thinks it is.
Still she nodded anyway and stared down at her lap.

****

While sitting on the couch in Robert's apartment, Nora warmed her hands on a mug of coffee. Robert sat beside her with his arm draped over her shoulders. As she thought of Gideon, she gave a depressed sigh. At that moment she felt like her heart weighed ten thousand pounds. 

"I think I have something that will mak
e you feel better," Robert said, likely noticing her sorrowful expression.

"Do you have a shotgun and ammo?" She straightened up.

"Very funny." Robert gave her a sour look. "No, I have chocolate."

For a moment she thought about creamy chocolate on her tongue and realized she didn't want it.

"No, I'm not in the mood," she said.

"What?" Robert looked like she'd taken th
e hypothetical shotgun and blasted a hole in his foot. "No chocolate?"

"No." She shook her head.

"My advice didn't do you any good, did it?" Robert bent his head.

She didn't say anything.

"Should I call Meg?" Robert asked.

"
Why?"

"You
know, so you can have some one-on-one time with a fellow female," Robert said. "That way you can bash Gideon and get your anger out of your system."

"I don't want to bash Gideon." She wasn't sure what she wanted to do with Gideon
, but she did know she didn't want to bash him.

"But I thought you were
mad at him." Robert looked thoroughly confused.

"For my best friend, you
sure don't know my emotions very well." She grimaced. "I'm not mad at him. I'm hurt. There's a big difference. If I was just angry, I would have broken his nose and been done with it."

"I suppose that's true." Robert nodded soberly.

As her friend went silent, she shook her head at his ridiculous ideas. He wanted her to call Meg? And say what? The two of them barely knew each other. It would be awkward trying to confide in her. The longest conversation they'd had was when Meg had explained about her crazy friend, Chloe.

Wait a second,
Chloe wrote me that weird note
. She could even remember Chloe's message word for word.

Gideon is more dangerous than you think. Be wary of him.

Judging from Chloe's message, it was almost as if the woman knew everything.

Everything.

Realization struck like lightening, causing her to leap from the couch. The coffee mug slipped from her hand and hit the floor.
Chloe knew that Gideon is a fallen angel. I don't know how she knew, but she did.
Nora was filled with a new sense of purpose. If Chloe knew about Gideon, then maybe the woman had some idea about how she could protect herself from Amon. All she had to do was contact her and…and…

And what?
Talk about demons? What if Chloe didn't know anything at all?

No,
she was almost certain the woman knew about Gideon. At the very least, she had to reach the other woman somehow to make sure. She looked at Robert who, while muttering explicates, stared down at the coffee seeping into his fuzzy blue slippers.

"Nora, what's wrong with you?" Robert said. "Look at the floor."

She waved off his comment. The state of his floor was the least of her worries.

"Do you know Chloe's phone number?" she asked.

"Chloe, who?" Robert was still glaring at the coffee spill.

"Chloe, Meg's best friend," she
said. "You know, the skinny redhead who I met at the bar."

"
Do you mean Chloe Molloy, the woman who runs that matchmaking business?" Robert asked.

"Yeah."

"I don't have her number, but it should be listed on her website," Robert said. "Though I don't know why you would want to call her when there is coffee all over my—"

"Phone," she
said, cutting him off.

"What?" Robert raised an eyebrow.

"Give me your phone." She stuck out her hand.

"Sheesh. So polite, as always." Robert dug out his phone and laid it on her hand.

Since Robert had a fancy cell with internet access, she was able to go online to search for Chloe's website. She found it at once and located a phone number listed on the bottom of the page. In a life or death situation like this, there was no time to waste. She dialed Chloe's number, praying that the woman wouldn't think she was a total nutcase. Then again, the woman had slipped a note under her door, so maybe they were both a little insane.

Chloe answered on the second ring.

"Hello," the woman said. "This is Chloe Molloy."

"Chloe?" She breathed a sigh of relief and stepped over the puddle of coffee. "This is Nora Williams, Robert's best friend.
I met you at the bar. Do you remember me?"

"Oh." Chloe sucked in air. "
Yeah, I remember you."

Nora headed into the hall to get some privacy.

"I know we don't really know each other, but I need your help."
Here goes nothing
. "I think I understand your note now. Gideon is a…a…"

Good grief, she couldn't even say it.

"Hold on one second, Nora, okay?" Chloe said, interrupting her.

"Ugh, okay." Nora was jarred out of the conversation.

"Gabe,
do not
lick your sister," Chloe cried. "How many times do I have to tell you? Keep. Your. Tongue. To. Yourself."

Nora went rigid, wondering if Chloe was really crazy after all.

"Sorry about that. My kids are up to trouble again." Chloe gave a pained sighed. "My son is about to be kicked out of preschool for licking all the other children and my daughter has been sent home from class three times already for lighting various objects on fire."

"Various objects?" Nora frowned.

"The carpet, her teacher's hair, and unfortunately, a fellow student." Chloe gave a dejected sigh. "I know I shouldn't blame her pyromania on her dad, but heaven help me, I try to anyway."

"Right." Nora realized
that there was no way this bizarre woman could help her. "Well, I think that maybe I should hang up—"

"No," Chloe said quickly.

"Huh?" Nora paused.

"I know what you were going to say," Chloe said.
"You found out about Gideon, didn't you? About what he really is?"

"
You know about him?" She trembled from both excitement and misery.

"
Yeah, I know about him," Chloe said. "You said you need help. Are you in big trouble?"

The fact that Amon was after her co
unted as big trouble in her mind.

"
There's someone trying to kill me," Nora said.

"Kill you!" Chloe gasped. "
Are you serious?"

"
Dead serious," she said bitterly.

"
My husband should know what to do about this," Chloe said. "I need to see you right away."

"
Why would he know what to do?" she asked.

"I'll explain everything later," Chloe said. "Where are you?"

"I'm at Robert's," she said.

"Give me
his address and I'll be right there," Chloe said.

After Nora
told her Robert's address, she breathed a sigh—but not of relief.

Chapter Eighteen

Thirty minutes later, Nora left Robert's apartment. Chloe was parked at the curb in a bright red van. Robert trailed behind her, wringing his hands. The guy looked more nervous that she did and she was the one being hunted.

"Are you sure you want to go off
with Chloe?" Robert asked. "You don't know her."

"Meg knows Chloe," she pointed out.

"Meg says Chloe's crazy," Robert said.

"Yeah,
but I say you're crazy too and you're harmless," Nora said. "Well, mostly, anyway…"

"Ah, the power
of friendship." Robert shook his head. "You make me feel so loved."

Nora would have
bickered with him some more, but she was in no mood for it. Her mind was on Chloe and nothing else. Even though she felt weak and exhausted, she forced a smile on her face as she approached the van. When she peered through the window, she saw that the other woman sat behind the steering wheel. The woman's face was pale—though to be frank, Chloe looked like she was always pale—and her red hair was in a bun. The woman donned ugly plaid pajamas that even Nora would have thought twice before wearing. When Chloe saw her looking, she waved.

Nora opened
the door, but she couldn't climb inside because the seat was covered with dolls. Grimacing, Chloe scooped up the toys and hurled them unceremoniously into the backseat. It could have been her imagination, but Nora swore that the van smelled like singed fibers. She wondered if Chloe's pyromaniac daughter had managed to light something on fire.

"Sorry about the mess," Chloe said. "
If my kids were half as good at putting their toys away as they are at making a mess, my life would be a whole lot easier."

"Trust me,
I have too much on my mind to care about messes." Nora climbed into the passenger seat.

Just as Nora was about to shut the door, Robert stopped her.

"Be careful, Nora," he said.

"I will." She nodded, noting the worry in his eyes.

"I love you, even if you're annoying," Robert said.

"I love you too, even though you're a nut." Nora patted him on the head. "Now go get some sleep."

Robert nodded, but he didn't step back.

"Chloe, take care of
Nora." Robert pointed at the woman threateningly. "She's like my sister. If anyone hurts her, they'll have to deal with me."

"Gee, here I was about to tie her up in my closet and keep her as a slave," Chloe said.

Both Nora and Robert stared at her.

"Kidding." Chloe winced, then muttered under her breath, "Man, does
anybody have a sense of humor around here?"

Normally
Nora would have laughed, but she wasn't sure she had the ability anymore.

"We should probably go," Nora said, breaking up the awkward silence. "Bye, Robert."

After waving at Robert, she slammed the door shut. She wrung her hands as Chloe started the car and began to drive.

"I'm sorry I bothered you so late." She
ran a hand through her hair. "I know you probably have to get up early to be with your kids."

"Ah, I would have been
awake anyway." Chloe shrugged. "Dmitri and I are both night owls. Besides, I always make the kids take a nap in the afternoon and use it as an excuse to sleep myself."

"Really?" Nora raised an eyebrow.

"Yep. I always tell the kids that they need the nap, but that's not true. It's me who needs it. I have no idea how children have so much energy." Chloe sighed and took a right. "And with Joan always trying to light things on fire and Gabe licking anyone who happens to be nearby, I always have to be on my toes."

Even as Chloe ranted about her kids
' exploits, she was glowing.

"You
still seem pretty happy," Nora said.

"Oh, I
am," Chloe said. "Being a mom is the best thing I've ever done. Sometimes I just look at my kids and am speechless."

Nora felt a touch of envy.
Even though she wanted children, she didn't think she'd ever have any. After all, she was probably going to die.

Unfortunately, Chloe noticed her
pained expression.

"Enough about me," Chloe said. "Tell me what's going on."

Nora opened and closed her mouth several times. Though she'd come to Chloe for help, explaining what had happened to her was still so darn hard.

As she hesitated, Chloe surprised her by smiling.

"You must be nervous," Chloe said. "Would it help if I told you how I know what's going on?"

"
That would help." Nora wrung her hands. "After all, we hardly know each other."

"
Okay." Chloe nodded. "The thing is, my husband is—well,
was
—my guardian angel."

Nora sucked in air.
Chloe's husband was an angel? Even though her first thought was,
This woman is crazy!
Gideon's face filled her mind. The man had grown wings, for crying out loud! Was it so far-fetched to believe that this woman had fallen in love with an angel? Unfortunately, regardless of whether it was true or not, the information was as hard to choke down as a writhing fish.

"
Your husband was a what?" Nora sputtered.

If Chloe found her stammering amusing, it didn't show on her face.

"My husband was my guardian angel. At least before God allowed him to turn into a human to be with me," Chloe said. "That was why I knew that something was wrong that night in the bar. Gideon radiated power, just like my husband once had. When I told my husband about what happened, he warned me about the guy. You see, Dmitri used to be a demon hunter before he was a guardian angel, so he knows a lot. That's why I wrote you the note. I intentionally made it vague because I couldn't tell you that Gideon was some sort of fallen angel. You wouldn't have believed it."

"Wow." Nora stared straight ahead, trying to digest the information.

"I don't blame you for looking so shocked." Chloe glanced at her warily. "I remember the first time Dmitri appeared. He scared the bejesus out of me. Even though he could walk through walls, I still didn't believe he was an angel. I thought I was going insane."

"Walk through walls?"
Good grief, could Gideon do that?

"Yeah.
" Chloe frowned at her. "Angels can walk through walls and go invisible too. I imagine Gideon has the same abilities. They even have heightened senses. When Dmitri was still an angel, he could find me no matter where I went. Unfortunately, now that he's human, he even manages to lose track of me in the grocery store."

This was just what Nora didn't need to hear
. Maybe demons were following her at this very moment. She peered out the window, the hair on the back of her neck prickling. She saw no one, but if fallen angels could go invisible, then that wasn't so surprising.

"What am I going to do?" Nora groaned and grasped her head. "Th
is means Amon probably knows where I am."

"Oh
crap, I made you even more freaked out." Chloe winced. "I've always been about as comforting as an axe to the skull. Don't worry, though. Dmitri can help you. He's already waiting for us. He actually wanted to be the one to pick you up, but you had such a hard night already I thought being in the same car with him would frighten you."

Frighten me?
She went rigid. Chloe's husband was a supposed ex-demon hunter. She imagined a goliath wielding two battleaxes.

"Is Dmitri frightening
?" she asked, horrified.

"Dmitri?" Chloe threw back her head and laughed. "Oh, that's a good one."

"So he's not?" Nora asked.

"
You don't have to worry about Dmitri. He's a softie," Chloe said. "Heck, he whines if I hit him with my purse."

And this is the man who's supposed to help me
fight off demons?

"I see."
As Nora winced, Chloe glanced at her.

"Do you think you'll be able to tell me what happened
to you once we get to my house?" Chloe asked. "We're almost there and I'm sure Dmitri wants to know what's going on just as much as I do."

Even though
she was still anxious, she nodded.

"Good." Chloe nodded.

Both of them were silent for a moment as Chloe drove onto a suburban street. Houses were small but tasteful. Toys littered many lawns, hinting that this was the sort of area safe enough that kids could play outside. It looked like the perfect middle-class neighborhood to raise a family.

"Here we are." Chloe pulled into the driveway of a small yellow house.

After parking, Chloe turned off the car. Feeling nervous about meeting the woman's demon hunter husband, Nora hopped out of the van and wrung her hands. She wanted to stay outside for a moment longer and do some deep breathing exercises, but Chloe was already summoning her. Probably it was for the best that she went inside anyway. If Amon was stalking her, staying out in the open was not the best thing for her to do.

Even though her stomach squished, she followed Chloe up to the front
door. The woman headed inside and said, "Dmitri, I'm here."

Nora
entered the house behind Chloe just as a man—Dmitri, she presumed—walked toward her. At the sight of him, she froze, but not because he was an axe wielding giant. No, she froze because Dmitri was mind-bogglingly handsome. Shoulder-length blond hair brushed broad, muscular shoulders. His skin was golden as if he spent many afternoons chasing his children around in the sun. Still, even with all of those gorgeous features, his most startling asset was his grey eyes. A woman could fall into those eyes and get lost.

Chloe cleared her throat, bringing her back to reality. 

To her horror, she realized she'd been gawking at some other woman's husband. Luckily, Chloe didn't appear surprised by her reaction. In fact, the woman gave her a this-happens-all-the-time shrug and then pecked Dmitri on the lips. Even though Chloe and Dmitri had likely been married for years, the love between them was evident. Nora could practically feel the intense bond between husband and wife as they smiled at each other.

As
Nora was filled with envy, Dmitri stroked Chloe's arm one last time and then stepped in her direction. He extended his hand for her to shake.

"I'm Dmitri,
Chloe's husband," he said.

"
I'm Nora," she said, still unnerved by how handsome he was.

"I trust you had no trouble on the drive here."
Dmitri glanced worriedly at his wife, his concern for her obvious.

"Well, there was a minor car accident and two hit-and-runs, but besides th
at, we were fine," Chloe said before Nora could speak.

"Sweet cheeks, should I regret giving you the
car keys?" Dmitri gave an exasperated sigh and then said to Nora, "Chloe drives like a maniac. Just last week she mowed down a lawn gnome."

"
I drive just fine, thank you very much. And stop picking on me in front of a guest." Chloe stuck out her tongue at him. "Come on, Nora. Let's sit down and have a cup of coffee. You do like coffee, right?"

"Of course," Nora said.

"Good. Because if you don't like coffee, I don't like you," Chloe said.

As Nora tried to decide whether the woman was joking or not, she was led into a cluttered dining room that was adjacent to a small kitchen. She sunk into a chair, feeling
as though she'd aged ten years. Groaning, she cupped her face in her hands as Dmitri took a seat beside her.

"You look like you
've had quite a day," Dmitri said sympathetically.

Nora nodded
, painfully aware of how damp her palms were.

"Nora," Chloe said from in the kitchen.

Biting her bottom lip, Nora glanced up.

"Are you ready to talk to us now?" Chloe asked gently.

Nora looked from Chloe to Dmitri. She saw nothing but kindness in their eyes.
I think I can trust them.
At that moment, she girded her loins and started to speak.

Telling her story was possibly the hardest thing she'd ever
had to do.

****

As Nora held her cup of coffee, Chloe and Dmitri sat across from her at the table. She'd long since told them about what had happened between her and Gideon. Unfortunately, telling her story made all of her pain re-surface. She felt off-balance and had no hope of ending her inner turmoil. No matter what happened, she knew that she'd never be the same. Her circumstances had morphed her—aged her—until she was somebody that she hardly recognized.

"I'm so sorry
about everything that happened to you, Nora," Chloe said.

"
You don't need to apologize." Nora shrugged. "I just wish I knew how to make Amon go away."

"Have any ideas about that, Dmitri?"
Chloe looked at her husband expectantly.