Beloved Purgatory (Fallen Angels, Book 2) (4 page)

"Everything worthwhile in this life dies," he
interrupted softly. "Don't speak of it anymore."

His lips pressed against my
forehead, and I twisted my hands in his shirt. "Oz, it's just so
messed up."
It's not good enough. You
shouldn't accept it--I can't accept it.

He brushed my hair behind my ear. It was a
little damp, and so left a cool trail on my cheek. "We each have
things we don't want to talk about," he said. "Just remember that I
don't regret anything."

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. "I
do, though."

"Please don't," he whispered. "For the first
time in my life I feel fragile, and precious."

He felt fragile and precious to me, too--like
a newly plucked leaf that would soon wither in my hand.

If the curse was real, I would kill
him--because my heart had been enchanted by those deep, green
eyes--because I loved him. He loved me too, and somehow that just
made it worse.

The flashlight fell between us. Long shadows
from my arms spread over his skin like bars as I wrapped my arms
around him and twisted my fingers into his back. It must have been
uncomfortable, but I didn't stop and he didn't push me away.

I'd stolen him, an action as innocent and
heedless as a child picking a leaf, because he was so beautiful.
And so it was by these innocent and heedless hands he would
die.

How much time did we have left? Days, years,
decades? It didn't matter. Whatever the amount, it would never be
long enough, because there is never a good time to hurt the one you
love.

***

I turned over and glared at the sunlight
peeking through my blinds. What the hell? Now that it was fall,
wasn't it supposed to stay dark until at least...

I glanced at the clock. 12:30. Alright, I
guess that meant the sun wasn't coming out early just to spite
me--and the fact that I thought the sun was even interested (or
capable) of screwing around with me proved that I hadn't gotten
enough sleep last night.

I stretched out my arms and flopped to the
side.

And hit Oz right in the face.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!"

He winced and pulled his hand away. An ugly,
dark bruise covered the corner of his eye. "Devi, did you just give
me a shiner?"

My stomach rushed into my throat. Then I
remembered that demons healed almost instantaneously. "I can't
believe you did that," I whispered, and tossed Beauty in his
face.

"Did what?"

"Don't pretend like you don't know. You made
the bruise show up, didn't you? That's really, really mean."

He pried the pillow from his face. There
wasn't a 'shiner' there anymore, of course. "Come on, I think it's
cute."

"Yeah, me beating you up is hilarious."

"I wouldn't mind being woken up every morning
like that--as long as I woke up next to you." He grinned. "By the
way, you hog the bed way more than Princess. And you steal the
sheets."

"You're impossible." I shook my head and sat
up.

And saw another guy in my room.

And screamed.

My voice echoed through the room like a
banshee rising from hell. Instinct took over. My hands flew to the
nearest weapon--the princess Beauty pillow--and I threw it straight
into the intruder's face.

Only it wasn't an intruder. It was the angel,
which meant I'd just assaulted him with a pillow for the second
time.

His glacial expression remained intact as the
pillow bounced off of him. Those cool, unjudging eyes never left
mine. And for some reason, that frightened me more than anything
else he could have done. "He's going to kill me."

Oz pulled me in into his arms. "Hush Devi.
You're fine. It's just Camael."

But I threw something at him. Again. I'm
going to be turned into salt. I'm going to feel my skin peel as I'm
thrust into a pit of purifying fire. Oh God, please don't smite
me.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. I wasn't sure if I
was directing my apology to the angel, Oz, or the Almighty...maybe
it was all three.

"Devi," Oz murmured.

"I didn't mean it. I just
looked up and saw--" I thrust my finger at the angel. He still
hadn't moved. He
still
watched me. "I saw that."

Oz rested his chin on my shoulder. "I know,
angels are pretty scary, but that's all he does. It's all he'll
ever do."

I gulped. "What's all he'll ever do?"

"Watch you," Oz replied.

My hands balled into fists
as I stifled another scream. "Are you suggesting that every
morning, for the rest of my life, I'm going to wake up to
that
?"

I could hear Oz take a deep breath. Knots
formed in my stomach. "I can't say for sure--"

"Did he stand there all night, staring at
me?"

"Yes," Camael answered.

No
.
My whole body screamed it, but I couldn't speak. A shiver ripped
through me. His voice had the same haunting, ethereal quality as a
Gregorian chant. I found it alluring even as it terrified
me.

A sharp knock at the door interrupted my
thoughts.

"Devi, are you alright? I thought I heard a
scream."

Mom
.
My hand fisted Oz's shirt. Suddenly I was very aware that I had an
angel by my door and a demon in my bed. And that that demon
currently looked exactly like the pierced, tattooed punk who'd
driven me home last night after I'd disappeared for three days
because 'something bad' had happened on our date...

My mom's sharp voice made me jolt.
"Devi!"

I cleared my throat. "Everything's fine. Just
woke up."

"What was that scream?"

"Um..." Panic made my voice
warble.
Get a grip on yourself. You can do
this.
"It was a squirrel," I called
out.
No! Squirrels don't scream.
"Wait, I mean a cat."

"Devi, are you alright?" I could hear her
hand jingle the doorknob.

This wasn't working. I threw the covers over
Oz's head. "Mom, don't come in."

"What's going on?"

"Angel, under the bed," I hissed.

"She won't see the angel," Oz replied. His
whisper sounded a bit muffled under all those sheets.

"Is there someone in there with you?" The
doorknob turned and hit the chair. "Is there something in front of
the door?" She began to beat the door with her hip, and that
ridiculous little chair rocked back and forth.

I turned to the heap of blankets that covered
Oz. "Get under the bed!"

Too late. The door flew open. "Devi!"

My mom raced forward, straight through the
angel. Camael's form quivered like a cheesy dissolve effect in a
low budget movie, then reformed once she'd passed.

She grabbed my shoulders. "Devi, talk to me.
What's going on?"

But my eyes were entranced by the angel. She
really hadn't seen him. Even his white t-shirt and jeans were
immaterial.

She grabbed my chin and forced my head down.
"Honey, what's wrong?"

I couldn't say anything except stare into her
wide, wild eyes.

And then the blankets moved.

My mom yelped. "What is that?" She asked,
pointing to the bundled heap beside me.

"Uh..." What could I say? I snatched her
hands. "Don't look."

No, that wasn't suspicious
at all. Great job, Devi
. My mom frowned and
shook her wrists, trying to free herself from my death grip. "I
love you, mom," I said between grit teeth as I tried to hold on.
She gasped and shook harder.

"Hi."

My mom stopped struggling. My grip on her
wrists went lax. It was Jasmine's voice, but the body beside me,
underneath the blankets, was very much Oz's. What was he thinking?
He couldn't show himself. My mom was going to flip--

The sheets rustled. Was he revealing himself,
now? I watched my mom's eyes twitch. Her teeth sunk into her bottom
lip. "Who are you?"

"I'm Jasmine."

My head whipped around. Jasmine held the
sheets up to her chin. Long black hair spilled over her shoulders,
sort of masking the fact they were a little too broad for her
delicate frame. Her sweet, red-cheeked face looked like a topping
on an oversized cupcake.

My mom looked down. "Oh. Jasmine."

I frowned. Alright, finding a random girl in
my bed was a lot better than finding the tattooed guy I'd
supposedly run away with, but wasn't she taking this a little too
well? It was still weird. Maybe last night I'd taken all the fight
out of her.

My mom wiped her hands on her floral skirt as
she stood. "I guess you already know, then."

"Already know what?" I blurted out.

At that moment, I noticed what I should have
seen the moment she opened the door. She was wearing her pair of
low, red heels, and an ironed dress shirt. She'd pulled her hair
back in a low knot, and around her neck was a silver cross on a
silver chain. My father had given it to her on their honeymoon in
Mexico, years before Kai and I were born.

The moment I thought of my father, my
mother's hands moved to her throat, clutched the cross, and slowly
ran it back and forth on the chain. "The school called. I didn't
really have time to tell you last night." She swallowed and
squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them she looked at the
covered window instead of me. "You, and Kim, and Jasmine are
scheduled to go in at 1:30."

I felt like I'd been sucker
punched. I heaved forward, my breath too shallow and my heartbeat
too fast. Oz put his hand on my back.
No,
no, no.

James' parents had told the school. There
could be no other explanation. It didn't matter that the football
team routinely drew dicks on anything with a flat surface--we'd
used tampons and pads with wings.

I looked up. My mom still gazed lifelessly
out the window, thank God. My eyes bugged out, my throat had
closed, and I swear I could feel the blood drain from my face.

My mom turned, took three steps, and rested
her hand on the open door. "The principal said he wanted to talk
with the three of you and some boy--Jake, I think it was."

No, it's
James
, I corrected silently. Something
pierced my heart--a shard of guilt I couldn't banish, no matter how
many times I conjured the image of his frosted tips or orange tan.
Oz ran his fingers up my back. I shivered.

"Devi, do you want to talk?" My mom asked
softly.

I could feel her eyes on me. I didn't want to
know what she saw. The truth was I didn't care if I got caught.
It's not like anything would change. My grades were crappy and I
didn't do any after school activities. But Kim was different. She
had big dreams. She could lose her chance for a scholarship because
of this.

"It will be okay," my mom said. "I made
pancakes."

A small smile played across my
lips--completely inappropriate, but I was desperate for anything
that could take my mind off of what would go down at 1:30.

"Blueberry?" A sultry, feminine voice said
from behind me.

My mom raised her eyebrows. "Of course."

"Thanks," I said, and my mother's entire face
brightened. That hurt more than anything, I think--that such a
small gesture from me could make her so happy.

That look that stayed with me when she exited
my room and shut the door.

***

The moment I couldn't hear her footsteps
anymore, I tossed the covers off of me and Oz. "I knew it!" I
whispered, pointing at him.

He still had Jasmine's signature pouty lips
and her gorgeous eyes with thick, long lashes, but from the
shoulders down he was Oz.

Jasmine's cheeks flashed red and she turned
her face into the wall. "This isn't exactly a great moment for me,"
she stated in her wispy, girlie voice. "Could you maybe look away
while I change?"

I did my best to mimic Oz's infuriating
demonic grin. "You mean I can't watch you?"

She looked up at me behind long strands of
black hair matted to her face. "It feels weird."

I sat beside her, putting my arm on Oz's
shoulder. Of course it was a little weird. That's why I wanted to
see it. I wanted to know all about him. "What if I said you could
watch me change if I could watch you?"

She didn't even stop to think. "Alright, you
can watch me."

My stomach fluttered. "You sure answered that
fast."

Jasmine grinned, but it was Oz's grin--all
dark and full of innuendos I didn't understand. "Are you really
that surprised?"

My stomach tingled. "I just changed my mind.
Neither of us will look at the other."

She put her 'man hand' on my wrist. "Oh Devi,
come on!"

"I'm serious." I spun around and leaped off
the bed.

Jasmine pouted and wrapped herself up in the
sheets again. "Alright." Then she winked. "If you peek, I'm peeking
too."

"That's not going to happen. I wouldn't even
think of doing such a thing," I blurted out.

Jasmine chuckled "Okay, okay." I'd definitely
considered taking a quick look until she'd threatened to do the
same, and something about her tone suggested she knew.

I picked up a t-shirt and pair of jeans from
the top of the 'clean pile' in the middle of my room. "You're not
watching me either, angel, though that goes without saying."

The angel's cobalt eyes narrowed into slits.
"Alright."

My shirt dropped from my
trembling hands. Damn, what was wrong with me? No, what was wrong
with
him
? His eyes
were still fierce. I didn't understand it.

So I looked at the floor and fumbled as I
tried to pick up a different shirt.

"Devi." The angel's cool tone sliced through
my thoughts.

Don't look at
him
, I chanted internally, but of course I
did.