Angel's Shield (2 page)

“Huh. You don’t see that every day,” Jeremiel said, staring up at
the sign above the door. “‘Ridgeline Diner’ is a boring name for a place like
this. It should be called—”

“‘The Train Stop.’ Or even ‘Cab Diner’ would be better, right?” a
woman’s voice said behind him. “Melvin insists that Ridgeline Diner is a
perfectly acceptable name, but I think he’s crazy.”

Grinning at the pert exasperation in the voice, he spun around to
find a petite woman with curly brown hair smiling impishly up at him. She
looked vaguely Asian, with deep brown eyes that glinted mischievously. She wore
a uniform shirt that matched the red and white checks on the diner’s sign,
along with a full black skirt.

Jeremiel opened his mouth, but nothing came out. She was gorgeous.
He couldn’t tear his eyes away. Luckily, his best friend had his back.

“Melvin?” Haniel asked mildly.

She nodded. “Yeah, he’s the owner. And a really nice guy.” She
reached for the door and hauled it open. Bells tinkled against the glass. “You
coming in for a bite?” The soft murmur of people eating filtered out through
the open door.

Jeremiel nodded, kicking his brain into gear. “I’m dying for a
burger.”

She held the door open for them. “Then you’ve come to the right
place.”

He stepped inside and gently took the door away from her. “Ladies
first.”

She blushed charmingly, then ducked under his arm and headed for
the bar at the back. “Thanks.”

As soon as she was out of voice range, Haniel kicked him.

“What?” Jeremiel frowned.

“Stop staring at her butt.”

“Says the guy staring at her legs,” Jeremiel retorted, heading
into the diner.

Haniel chuckled. “She’s really pretty.”

“And off limits to us. She’s no angel and we’re not human enough
for her.” Jeremiel watched her disappear into the rear kitchen, a strange
yearning shivering through him.

Haniel shrugged, then stepped up to the bar. The older woman
behind the register smiled. “Two?”

Jeremiel nodded. “Thanks.”

She showed them to a booth near the windows and handed them some
menus. “Charmeine will be out to take care of you in a second.”

Jeremiel waited until she reached the register to speak. “I hope
Charmeine is the woman who led us in.”

“You’re a dog,” Haniel said, opening the menu. “Ah. Burgers
galore.”

“Not a dog, an angel,” Jeremiel corrected. “Besides, you liked her
as much as I did.”

“So?” Haniel put down the plastic covered cardboard.

“There’s no harm in being friendly.” Jeremiel ran a finger down
the menu until he found the burgers.
Swiss burger, Barbecue burger,
Ridgeline burger, Angel burger… Yeah, that’s the one,
he thought, smiling
faintly. “They have an angel burger. I’m getting that one.”

Haniel blinked. “You’re joking.”

“It has blue cheese and balsamic vinegar dressing. Yeah, of course
I’m getting that one,” Jeremiel said, closing his menu and setting it aside.

“That’s disgusting.” Haniel wrinkled his nose.

“What’s disgusting?” the perky brunette who’d led them into the
diner asked.

Jeremiel smiled, delighted that she was their waitress. “Don’t pay
any attention to him. He has no sense of adventure.”

Haniel choked.

Jeremiel ignored him. “We’re ready to order, Miss Charmeine.”

She blushed when he drawled her name. “What’ll you have?” She held
her pencil over top of the order tablet gamely.

“I’m going to have a normal burger. With cheese and fries,” Haniel
said, then he jabbed a finger at Jeremiel. “
He’s
going to eat an angel
burger, which is so wrong I don’t even know where to start. Blue cheese on a
burger?” He shuddered.

Charmeine laughed. “Yes, well, that burger is Melvin’s invention.
Customers like the idea of ordering something an angel might eat. It doesn’t
seem to matter that no one really knows if angels eat burgers or not.” She glanced
down at Jeremiel’s arms. His legacy marks swirled up his forearms, making her
frown slightly. Haniel had his left arm down by his side, but when she looked
at his smooth right arm, her face cleared, no doubt reassured that she wasn’t
in the presence of any member of the exalted species.

Sometimes Jeremiel hid his marks, and sometimes he didn’t. Most
humans they met assumed they were tattoos, but enough weren’t sure about him
that he tended to wear long sleeves fairly often in order to stave off curious
questions. A lot of people got angel-mark tattoos, trying to create for
themselves what the angels were born with. It didn’t matter. Humans couldn’t
fly the winds. They never would, not like the angels did.
Like Haniel used
to,
he mused, losing his humor when he caught the look on his best friend’s
face.

“I hope it’s as good as it sounds,” he said, drawing her attention
away from Haniel.

She smiled and nodded. “Not even a real angel would complain. It’s
delicious.”

“Angels eat the same thing humans do,” Haniel said, unexpectedly.

Jeremiel gave him a sharp glance. What the hell was he doing?

Their pretty waitress raised her eyebrows. “How would you know
that? They keep to themselves, pretty much. Don’t they?” She glanced at
Jeremiel’s arms again.

Haniel lifted a shoulder. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Have you met any?” she asked.

Jeremiel gave his friend a look. No way was he going to explain
this. Haniel got himself into this mess, he could get himself out.

Finally, Haniel sighed. “Yeah, I have.” He didn’t elaborate.

Charmeine looked like she wanted to ask more questions, but when
she glanced at Jeremiel, she nodded briskly, instead. “I’ll put your order in
right away. Would you two like anything to drink?”

“Just water,” Jeremiel said, wondering what expression she’d caught
on his face to make her so wary. Anger? Grief? Homesickness? All three were
there, in his heart. He couldn’t hide them. But there was also loyalty to his
best friend, and a driving need to kill the demons who had ruined Haniel’s
ability to fly.

“Water for me, too,” Haniel murmured.

She smiled and jotted it down on her pad. “No problem. I’ll be
right back.”

Jeremiel watched her walk off, the full skirt of her uniform
swaying pertly across her hips. “Why would you do that?” he asked, once she was
out of earshot.

“Do what?”

He glared at his friend. “Say you’d met angels.”

Haniel pursed his lips. “No sense in lying.”

“Are you trying to draw attention to us?” Jeremiel was angry. He
wasn’t sure why, he just knew that something inside made him want to grab the
long knife from his backpack and start hitting things with it. Haniel seemed to
sense it, too.

“Look, I wasn’t trying to be an ass. Or anything.” He bit his lip
and looked out the window. “I’m just tired, I guess.”

“Of what?” The moment the words left his mouth, Jeremiel winced.

Haniel laughed shortly. “Of hiding.”

There was no way to argue with that.

“Except I’m not really hiding, am I? Not anymore,” Haniel said,
more quietly, turning his right arm up so that the smooth skin of his forearm
was visible. He looked right at Jeremiel, his hazel eyes glinting in the
sunlight. “You are.”

Chapter Two

Charmeine carried out the men’s burgers, balancing plates on her
arms and carrying fresh ketchup and a bottle of hot sauce in her hands. She’d
stuffed extra napkins in her pockets. She’d already fetched their water. When
she’d brought it to the table, the men had been staring silently out the
window. The sun was still fairly high in the sky, despite the late dinner hour,
but there was nothing particularly odd about the day. She had no clue what
they’d been looking at. Neither one glanced at her when she’d set down the
drinks, so she hadn’t felt comfortable asking. The dark-haired one had muttered
a ‘thanks’ while the blonde nodded absently as he’d ripped the paper from his
straw. She didn’t know why the two friends seemed so lost, suddenly. She hoped
they were just hungry. Sad people made her sad, too.

“Here you go,” she said cheerfully, setting the plate down.

Mr. Dark-Hair smiled faintly. “That smells good.”

She nodded. His friend didn’t look away from the window. “Hope you
enjoy it,” she said, trying to get him to turn his head. She wanted to see his
eyes again. Both men were so handsome she couldn’t help staring. She didn’t
really want to walk away, but she didn’t have a good reason to stay.

“Do you see that?” the blonde asked, surprising her.

“See what?” She had no idea what he was talking about. She peered
out the window, but the glare of the sun flared against the glass too harshly
to see anything from her angle.

His friend ignored him, digging into his burger like he was
starving.

“There, along the road.” The blonde pointed. “Is that a dog? Hmm,
no too big,” he murmured.

The dark-haired man finally looked out the window, swallowing. “Where?”
he asked, his voice going low.

Charmeine frowned. His tone worried her.

“Haniel, what do you see?” the dark-haired man asked when the
blonde didn’t answer.

Abruptly, Haniel shoved out of the booth. “Shit. We gotta go,
Jeremiel.”

Charmeine stepped back, not wanting to get trampled. “But you didn’t
eat your burgers.”

The blonde threw a twenty down.

His name is Haniel
, she told herself.
Haniel and Jeremiel, angel names, how
strange
.

“Keep the change,” he said, heading for the door. Something long
poked out of his battered backpack. His friend scrambled after him, face tight.
Neither one looked back.

Charmeine stared as they rushed away, not understanding what had just
happened.

I guess I can pack up their food,
she mused, gathering up the
plates.
Maybe they’ll come back for it.
She hoped they did. Handsome men
like that didn’t come in the diner very often, and she was lonelier than she
liked to admit.

****

“Dammit!” Jeremiel said, pressing the bandage against his arm. “That
was close.”

“Yeah.” Haniel tipped head back against the tree. He was so damned
tired. “Let me get that.” He leaned forward and wrapped the cotton around
Jeremiel’s arm. “It’s not bad. Should heal in a day or so.”

“How in the hell did you even see it up on the mountain? We had to
be a mile away at the diner.” Jeremiel wiped his forehead, smudging dirt along
his cheekbone.

Haniel stared at his friend, mesmerized by the stark lines of his
face. It wasn’t the first time Jeremiel’s beauty caught him off guard. He had
no idea how good he looked.
Like the perfect angel.
Haniel sighed. “I
don’t know how I saw it. I’m just glad I did. These incursions are growing
worse.”

“Alpha Gabriel told me that they haven’t found any new portals. No
one knows how the demons are coming through to our world.”

“When did you talk to him?” Haniel asked, frowning. They’d left
Castle Archangel two years ago. Become wanderers. He knew Jeremiel kept in
touch, but he hadn’t realized it was often enough to keep up on news.

Jeremiel pressed his lips together, blue eyes darkening. “I’ve
been calling once a week, lately.”

Haniel froze. “That often?”

“We’re not the only ones fighting demons. Suriel and Ariel have
been flying across the country, trying to trace patterns. And Zeke wanted to
leave the castle again to help, but Gabriel won’t let him.” Jeremiel rubbed his
face again, as if he had a headache.

“What about Raphael?” Haniel asked, worried about how their healer
and Omega was coping with everything.

“He’s fine, just busy. And worried.” Jeremiel fidgeted with the
bandage on his arm. “We have to be more careful.”

Haniel agreed, but… “We couldn’t just let it roam the forest. It
was a boar demon. They’re huge and dangerous and really, really dumb. What if
it got loose in a city?”

“You think I don’t know that? The damned thing gouged out my arm.”
Jeremiel thrust his hand under Haniel’s nose.

Haniel pushed it away irritably. He loved his best friend, but
sometimes he also wanted to smack him. “Look, the problem is that we’re
fighting all these little demons. The ones with no brains. They’re just
animals, with a lot of power. Where are they coming from?” He took a deep
breath. “Who is shoving them through into our world? Who is the master at the
end of the leash?” His eyes felt gritty from the ash that had drifted into the
air when he’d stabbed the thing in the throat. He coughed. “And I’m still
hungry.”

Jeremiel laughed suddenly. “Yeah, me too. We left our burgers back
at the diner.” He stood up, groaning. “I agree with you, my friend, but there’s
nothing we can do about it now. We killed this one. We’ll kill the next. Let’s
get some food and rest and tackle the mystery of the universe in the morning,
eh?” He held out his good hand.