Devil's Paw (Imp Book 4) (13 page)

“How about we not sleep?”

“Now, that’s a plan.” I tugged him toward the stairway.

~9~

I
’m not done yet. I’ve got twenty–four more hours,” I said, my voice rising in panic. Gregory had appeared quite unexpectedly in my living room, his face serious as a heart attack. All I could think of was those four–nine–five reports hanging over my head like a sword of Damocles. I hadn’t even started the damned things. Wyatt and I had enjoyed a sleepless night then I’d run out to get donuts while Nyalla proudly made coffee. I was planning a nice long nap, but from the look on the angel’s face, I wasn’t going to get it.

“I’m not here about the reports. There’s another dead demon I need you to examine.”

I was beginning to feel like a coroner.

“Okay. So where’s the head?” He was usually dangling one by the hair when he arrived.

“You said you wanted to see the intact body. I’m not able to transport it here, so we need to go to it.”

I glanced between the angel and the enormous stack of paperwork on the kitchen bar. “It better be a short trip.”

Yes, I realized it would be in my best interests to find this devouring spirit before I became even further implicated, and especially before he killed another angel. Still, those damned reports had a deadline, and a terrible penalty for tardiness.

“I’ll persuade the Ruling Council to give you an extension,” he promised.

I shrugged, pushing aside the reports and walking over to the angel. He looked stern, worried. My skin prickled. When a six–billion–year–old angel is troubled, it’s time to take notice.

“So where is it?” It had to be somewhere close — Virginia or North Carolina maybe. Or Mexico.

I stood in front of him, expecting the usual. He’d pull me to him, wrap his arms around me tightly and teleport us in a disorientating jolt. Instead, he stared down at me, his frown deepening.

“Seattle.”

Seattle. I’d used that angel gate a lot when coming from Hel. It was the gate I went through forty years ago when I began my very long stay with the humans. A wave of nostalgia hit me. Seattle was a favorite place.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

I couldn’t understand his hesitation. He continued to frown down at me, absently rubbing his chin with his hand.

“I can’t. Can your horse teleport you?”

What the fuck was the problem? He was able to create inter–dimensional passageways; he could certainly pop us both at the other end of the continent.

“I’ve only had Diablo teleport small distances — usually line of sight. He’s pretty unreliable, even then. There’s no saying he wouldn’t take off without me.”

“Can you create your own gate there? Like the one you made into Aaru?”

Stupid angels. “I
told
you I didn’t make that gate, or the one in Waynesboro. They’re wild gates. Naturally occurring.”

His expression clearly conveyed disbelief. “Fine. Then go back to Hel through the gate in Columbia and come back in through Seattle.”

“This is such bullshit. Just gate me there, already. I’m not haring halfway across Hel, through four hostile elven kingdoms, because you’ve got the lazy bone going on.”

Gregory shook his head, chestnut curls dropping across his forehead. “I can’t. For that distance I’d need to jump you through Aaru, and you’re not allowed.”

Even with the Sword of the Iblis, most of the angels didn’t recognize me as holding the title. And even the ones that did, didn’t want me in their precious homeland. That’s why we had to hold the Ruling Council meetings in a fricken Marriot. I did sneak into the forth circle every now and then through the wild gate and leave Gregory odd presents, but I think he exerted some influence to have those infractions overlooked.

Still, I didn’t believe him. There was no reason to have to go through Aaru to get to the west coast. Why was he lying?

“Well then, I guess we better start walking. Or we could always manifest wings and fly.”

It would be a ridiculously long flight, but I’d do it just to catch a glimpse of his wings. I wondered what they looked like, if the scars from his battle with the previous Iblis were noticeable.

His eyebrows shot up. I swear a light bulb appeared above his head.

“We’ll fly. On a human airplane.”

I stared, dumbstruck. Angels on a plane? It was like the beginning of a really bad movie. I’d flown commercial loads of times, but I was willing to bet Gregory would be the first angel to ever do so.

“Right. Just gate us. Explain the detour through Aaru to the other five dwarves later.”

“There is no need to involve dwarves in this matter,” he said, clearly not understanding my reference. “Book our flight, and we’ll leave straight away.”

This was getting ridiculous.

“Book your own flight. I’m not paying for two cross–country tickets because you don’t feel like transporting me. Besides, you need to learn to do these things for yourself.”

I felt the wave of power scorch me as his face darkened with anger. Black irises bled out to encompass the whites. I was pretty sure under those grim lips hid sharp piranha teeth. Gregory could never hold his form when angry, and I’d evidently pissed him off by refusing to do his bidding.

“Do you know who I am? I am not about to do these menial human things myself. You will do this.”

The compulsion thudded into me, only to slide right off. You would have thought he would have learned by now that sort of thing didn’t work on me, bound to him or not.

“Is that the sin of pride I hear?” I mocked. “Better take that massive ego down a notch because I’m not doing it. I’m not one of your peons to order around.”

He started to glow. Yeah, it probably wasn’t the smartest thing to egg him on like this, but I got a rush out of driving him to lose control. Gregory in a rage was even sexier than when he was seductive.

“We have a short window here,” he hissed. “I don’t have time for your contrary behavior. Do it.”

“Fuck off. If it’s that urgent, then just gate me there. Or get your pansy ass gate guardian to do it.”

He hesitated, considering my words. “Would she know how?”

I snorted. “Probably. She works all day in a mall. She’s probably got every tech gadget sold there at this point.”

“Good.” He waved his hand at me. “Contact her, and have her make the arrangements.”

I raised my eyes to the ceiling and shook my head. This angel had taken the art of delegation to an extreme. Still, I wasn’t going to do it.

“No way. She works for you; call her yourself.” I dug in my pocket and hit a speed–dial number. “You can use my phone, since I’m sure you don’t have one.”

He took it from me in astonishment. “She has a phone? You call each other?”

I motioned for him to put it to his ear. “Of course. We do lunch pretty regularly. Sometimes we buy shoes.”

I heard the guardian’s voice from the phone. Gregory put it up to his ear, looking as if he were afraid the phone might remove a section of his head.

“Get me two plane tickets to Seattle on the next flight,” he ordered.

There was silence then I heard a shriek of laughter from the receiver. The angel got that furious look again. I slapped a hand over my mouth to cover my grin.

“Sam, knock it off. I’m wise to your pranks. You seriously owe me lunch for this one,” I heard the guardian say.

“It’s me, you worthless dreg of ether. Get me the tickets. Now!”

Well. That wasn’t very angelic of him. The guardian laughed again, and Gregory exploded in anger. I mean
exploded.
There was a flash of light and heat that obliterated his physical form and stabbed my eyes with pain. I heard a sizzle, and the smell of burnt electronics filled my nose. Before I could react, Gregory had spun me around and grabbed me in a tight embrace as everything tilted away.

A second later, the world erupted into chaos. I heard screams and crashes. A voice in front of me wailed a frenzy of panicked apologies. I fixed my destroyed eyes and blinked, looking around to see where Gregory had taken me.

We were in a store, facing the huge glass panes and wide entrances to the mall area. Racks of brightly colored children’s clothing lay before me, scattered to the side in a pile. A figure I recognized as the gate guardian groveled on the ground, screaming out for mercy and covering her head. The angel’s arms were still around me, tightly holding me against his chest.

“What the fuck?” I struggled to break free from his arms, hearing the din of screaming voices behind us. They were so loud they drowned out the shrieks of the gate guardian. Normally, humans had a sort of bemused worshipful air about them when they saw Gregory. What the heck was going on?

He released me. I stumbled forward a few steps before turning around. Then I gawked, my mouth open. Before me stood an angel. A furious angel with an indistinct humanoid form that glowed with the light of a million watts. My eyes watered and I had to squint to properly focus. I heard humans screaming and crying from behind him, but I couldn’t see anyone. His wings completely blocked my view.

Wings. Gorgeous, huge wings that reached from one wall of the store to the other. They were a sort of cream color, with a pattern of dove–grey across them and along the bottom edges of the feathers. And there were six of them. Three pairs. The main ones filled the store, but the other two sets appeared to be for embellishment rather than function. Two came from beneath the main wings in an elegant “S” shape that trailed along his legs to touch the floor. The other two were above the main wings, curling in an arch several feet above his head. They were beautiful, but so ridiculously frou–frou that I couldn’t help but laugh.

Gregory was busy castigating the sniveling gate guardian as I took in his appearance. At my laughter, his wings beat in irritation, causing items of children’s clothing to fly about the room. He turned his glare on me, and his glow intensified.

“Turn down the light,” I complained. “You already burned up my retinas once. I don’t want to have to keep fixing my eyes because you can’t keep your temper in check.”

“What is so funny?” he hissed.

“You and your pretty–boy wings.” I laughed again. “Why the fuck do you have six wings? A little ostentatious, isn’t it?”

“They reflect my level, my status,” he snarled. “They are
not
ostentatious.”

The gate guardian took this moment to crawl closer and rub her face against what should have been his feet. Sheesh. And I thought Eloa was a sycophant.

“Well, put your non–ostentatious wings away. You’re trashing the place and scaring the humans behind you to death.”

He turned to look at the panicked crowd trapped behind him. Unfortunately, his massive wings didn’t allow for much maneuverability in the store. One sent another rack of clothing flying, the other knocked the cash register and display items off the check–out counter. Blue poured from him, and the humans at the rear of the store went silent. Even the gate guardian was affected. She stopped shouting apologies and wrapped herself around his ankles. I wasn’t completely unaffected, either. The blue always calmed us demons, but when it came from him, it did more. I wanted to rub myself against him, fill myself with him in every way, rest forever in his embrace. It was hard enough to resist him without the blue stuff.

“I didn’t know it was you. I thought it was the imp playing a prank. I’ll do as you say; please don’t banish me,” the guardian begged, her face tight against the blurred glow of his legs.

He turned back to her, sending additional merchandise across the room.

“Two tickets to Seattle on the next available flight,” he commanded.

“And an iPhone,” I added.

The angel frowned at me.

“What? You melted mine; you owe me a replacement.”

“And an iPhone,” he confirmed to the guardian.

Her head bobbed. Gregory shifted slightly, nudging her away with one leg. He was starting to glow less, his voice returning to a more normal tone. The wings were still out, though. Those silly, beautiful wings. I walked closer to one, wondering if I could see the scars from his terrible battle two and a half million years ago. When our spirit selves were damaged, they never healed properly. Sometimes they didn’t heal at all.

He twitched his wing away from my outstretched hand. “What are you doing? Don’t touch them.”

“You’ve got little girl’s dresses and jumpers hooked on your wing. I’m just trying to get them off.”

He pulled the wing around, nearly knocking me to the ground with the tip, and tried to reach the lilac ruffled pinafore dangling from it.

“Hold still,” I ordered. “Let me do it.”

He paused, in internal debate, then consented. “Don’t bite me,” he warned.

Now
that
was a tempting idea. I walked over and carefully removed a carnation–pink dress, allowing my fingers to caress the feathers. They were so unbelievably soft, the grey a slightly different texture than the cream color. I let my personal energy, my spirit self, extend out to feel him on a different level and closed my eyes to savor the experience. Never in all my life had I thought I would be touching an angel’s wings. They felt smooth, powerful. The ridges of scarring like a pattern of lace throughout their form. Oddly, the scars were just as beautiful as the wings. They revealed history, told a story. I opened my eyes and trailed my fingers along the feathers as I reached for the lilac pinafore. Everything in the background faded away. The store, the humans in their stupor, the cowering gate guardian — it all vanished from my awareness. All I knew was the feel of his wings. I wanted to rub my face against them, breathe in their sweet scent, wrap them around me…

“Hey!”

I landed flat on my back, knocked to the ground by that powerful wing. The lilac pinafore flew out of my hands and onto the floor.

“You licked me!”

Well, yeah. How could I help but lick him? I licked an angel’s wing. I licked
my
angel’s wing. And, oh, it tasted so wonderful.

“Settle down. It’s not like I bit you. You didn’t say anything about licking.”

I got up and dusted myself off. Gregory’s eyes were intense as they watched me. I felt the pull of attraction, the increased heat of the power he leaked. My eyes rose to meet his, and I longed for him to grab me, for us to merge together as we’d done months ago in my house. The atmosphere thickened around us, the air pulsing with desire. I didn’t dare move, waiting for him to initiate contact in this oh–so–public place.