Jingle Hells (8 page)

I’d just clicked the order button for a
flame red T-shirt that read, “Firemen do it with water” on the
front when Keisha dragged herself into my office and plopped into
the chair.

“OMG, I’m so hung over.” She sunk down and
closed her eyes. Her attire today included snowmen earrings and a
Santa hat.

“Oooh, that’s it,” I said, going back to the
search engine page. “I need a Santa outfit.”

She popped one eye open as if it were too
much work to open both and frowned at me. “Since when do you dress
up as Santa?”

“Since this is Adam’s first Christmas here
on Earth.”

“You don’t believe in Christmas.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t believe in Jesus’
birth, I just didn’t observe it. “But he does.” I scanned the
outfits on the screen and picked the sexy one with fishnet
stockings instead of pants. “And I want this to be one holiday he
never forgets.”

She closed her eye, leaned her head back and
smiled. “Nice to see you getting into the spirit of things. What
are you doing about Luc and Emilia?”

After clicking the express delivery button
for my new outfit, I closed the laptop and settled back in my
office chair. “I’m glad you asked. Can you perform a charm that
will keep her off Luc’s radar until I smooth things over with
him?”

With slow deliberation, Keisha straightened
and opened both eyes. “Smooth things over? Em cast a spell on the
Devil that made him vulnerable to her and sent you, the woman he
loves, into the arms of another man. Exactly how do you propose to
smooth things over?”

“I’m blaming it all on Gabriel.”

Keisha took her time thinking that over.
“Sly. Just might work. But still, it was Emilia who started the
whole thing. You’ll never make Lucifer believe she’s totally
innocent.”

She was right, but I had to try. There was
no other way to get Em out of the jam she’d put us all in and her
intentions had been good. “Leave Luc to me. Can you hide Emilia
magically from him?”

Keisha closed her eyes and sighed. All this
thinking was hurting her hung-over brain. The bell on the shop’s
door tinkled and she started to rise to go tend to the
customer.

I stopped her. “You just sit and come up
with a spell or hex or charm or a mix of all three to keep Em safe.
I’ll handle the shop.”

Again, only one eye popped open to look at
me with a hint of incredulousness in it. “What has gotten into
you?”

Adam and his return. Sam and Dee’s wedding.
The realization my sister wasn’t the wicked witch of Eden as I’d
feared. “Love is in the air.” I shrugged. “And so is the spirit of
Christmas.”

Keisha went back to lying in the chair.
“Well, Tiny Tim, bring me two aspirin and a café mocha milkshake
when you come back.”

Chapter
Eight: Midnight
Rendezvous

By Christmas Eve, everything was
perfect.

Samson had brought me a fresh tree which Em
and I decorated. We’d never had a tree as kids. Our crazy aunt, who
was our guardian, preferred celebrating Jack Daniels instead. No
tree required. So while I hung glittery purse and shoe ornaments,
Emilia strung popcorn into garlands and tied red berries from her
holly bush to the branches. She’s such a Wiccan.

And for once, I was glad my sister was a
goody-two-shoes. There was something to be said for balance being
restored.

All the presents for Adam were wrapped and
under the tree, and I’d hung an assortment of stockings on my newly
repaired book case since I didn’t have a fireplace. Delilah and
Liddy had gone to town making fudge and decorating cookies, and
several plates of the delectable treats were hidden in a high
cabinet out of reach of the calico.

She was still hanging around despite my best
attempts to get rid of her. Once I even got her to Liddy’s house
only to find her on my doorstep in Adam’s arms that afternoon.
Apparently she’d been sitting on the landing waiting for him when
he returned to my apartment from work.

Adam had two hours off to attend church
services. After the stress of the past few days, I needed a Witches
Anonymous meeting more than an hour listening to gospel verses and
choir songs, but I agreed to attend mass at Immaculate Conception
with him.

At the church, I scanned the choir and the
congregation, keeping an eye out for the Siamese Twins. I never saw
them or anyone else suspicious during the mass, although, with the
church overflowing with holiday visitors on top of its normal
membership, it would have been easy to miss them.

On our way out, Adam and I shook hands with
Father Leonard. “Oh, I have something for you,” he told me. “Will
you be home later so I can drop it off?”

The priest had gotten me a present? Was that
some obscure Christmas tradition I’d overlooked? “Sure, I’ll be
home.”

We took our time driving back to my place,
weaving around town to look at the lights and displays. That was
one of the few things I’d always enjoyed about the holidays through
the years, and I was happy and content sitting next to Adam and
holding his hand while we took in both the corny and the
brilliant.

When we finally got back to the ice cream
shop, the place was dark. Keisha had closed up early and gone to a
party. Adam put his arms around me and kissed me long and deep.
“Thank you,” he said, once he broke for a breath.

“For what?”

“For going to church with me tonight. I know
it made you uncomfortable.”

One of his hands was stroking my inner
thigh. “If this is how you say thank you, I’ll be happy to go any
time. Besides, you attended the solstice party with me. Turn about
is fair play.”

He laughed softly and kissed me again. “I
don’t get off work until eight a.m. and then I have a couple things
to do before I come over, ’kay?”

“Okay,” I said. We spent another minute
kissing before he chased me out of the cab of his truck. I
reluctantly stood on the sidewalk and watched him drive away.

Half an hour later, I had just finished
tidying up my apartment when Father Leonard arrived. There wasn’t
an ounce of mockery in his voice as he admired my Christmas tree
and the wrapped presents beneath it. “I see you’ve embraced much of
the Christian spirit of the season.”

I took his coat and steered the conversation
away from my beliefs. “Thank you for marrying Sam and Dee the other
night.”

“My pleasure.” He sat in the chair facing
the tree and handed me a Bible. “This is for you.”

I should have known he’d try to convert me.
“Thank you,” I said, not wanting to be rude. I accepted the Bible
and was relieved it didn’t burn my hands or explode at my touch.
“But I have to be honest and tell you I’m not embracing
Christianity for myself so much as for Adam’s benefit.”

“Oh, I’m not trying to get you to bat for my
side.” He waved a hand as if that was a ridiculous idea, and the
knot in my stomach relaxed. “I was asked to give you that Bible by
a friend of yours. He wanted me to direct your attention to the
book of Genesis.”

“A friend?”

Father Leonard pursed his lips before he
answered as if suppressing a grin. “A certain cliché I met the
night you first came by the church?”

Luc.

But why was Luc sending a priest with a
Bible to me and recommending I read Genesis? Hadn’t I already
walked through the abbreviated version of Creation back at
Halloween?

“Did the cliché explain why I needed to read
Genesis?”

“He said you’d find the solution to a
problem that’s been plaguing you. He said your life might depend on
it.”

The only problem plaguing me was how to talk
to him about Emilia’s spell. I seriously doubted I’d find an answer
to that in the Bible. “Father, if you had to break bad news to the
Devil, how would go about doing it?”

A dozen questions must have flitted through
his mind, but he didn’t ask them. After a moment of contemplation,
he said, “I’d call upon his counterparts in Heaven, the archangels,
for assistance.”

Archangels. My track record with them wasn’t
good, but the idea of forcing Gabriel to face the music with me had
a wicked appeal. “And how would I go about calling on the
archangels?”

He leaned forward as if to share a secret.
“Very, very carefully.” Then he sat back and laughed. A joke.

I laughed, too, more from stress than humor.
“Seriously. Can you help me?”

His smile turned charming and he winked.
“Thought you’d never ask.”

* * *

At midnight, Father Leonard performed a
special mass at church. Once it was over and the place cleared out,
I met him on the front steps. He said a prayer over me and handed
me a small piece of paper with tight lettering. “A prayer to help
you call Gabriel.” A second piece of paper followed the first. “And
this prayer will bring Lucifer.”

I read them quietly and was struck by the
way they both sounded like magical spells as much as prayers. For
the first time, I realized how much the good Father and I had in
common. “Why don’t you call Gabriel? I mean, you are the priest in
this twosome. Odds are he’d come for you over me any day.”

He eyed me speculatively. “You didn’t tell
me the whole story, did you?”

“I may have left out the part about me
sending Gabriel back to Heaven against his will.”

Father Leonard’s mouth dropped open. “You
sent Gabriel, an archangel, back to Heaven against his will?”

What could I say? “Yeah, that’s why I doubt
he’ll answer this prayer and appear for me.”

“My, my. You are a powerful witch.”

“Ex-witch,” I corrected.

“Still.” He rubbed his chin with a thumb and
forefinger. “You’re the one in need of protection against Satan, so
you have to be the one to call Gabriel and petition him for help.
He can’t deny you help.”

Right. Father Leonard didn’t know Gab the
way I did. Archangels had free will and Gabriel was no milquetoast
in the free will department.

“Now, are you ready?” He positioned himself
a step behind me on my right.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I mumbled.

He nodded. “I’m here should you need
spiritual assistance.”

Last rites were more like it. I held up the
prayer for Gabriel and began to recite. “Earth and air, fire and
sea, bring forth Gabriel to protect me.”

I finished the prayer and we both waited.
Nothing happened. After a minute, I started to turn to Father
Leonard to say, “See? I told you so” when out of nowhere came the
flap of enormous wings, a typhoon of wind, and there was Gabriel,
in the flesh, at the bottom of the church steps. Flowing hair,
china white skin, angry eyes.

“Amy Atwood.” My name sounded like a
damnation coming from him as he floated, rather than walked, up the
steps, wings rippling. He shifted his gaze over my shoulder and
took in the priest. “Father.”

Father Leonard made a funny gurgling noise
in his throat right before his eyes rolled up in his head and he
fainted.

So much for spiritual assistance. I ran to
the priest’s side and felt his wrist for a pulse. What I found was
light and thready, but there. “Is he all right?” I demanded from
the archangel.

“He’s seen a miracle. Few men witness such a
thing without being affected.”

Could he be any more full of himself? The
tone of his voice led me to believe there was a jab in his
statement intended for me. As usual, the archangel brought out my
inner bitch. “Yeah, Clive Owen has a similar effect on me.”

His wings fluttered. I’d learned my lesson
that last time around him. Fluttering wings meant he was pissed.
“What is it you want?”

I stood up and faced him, forcing my voice
not to waver. “Time for you to pay the piper.”

“Indeed?” He seemed rather smug, as if he
doubted my ability to make him pay for anything.

“Indeed.” I held up the second sheet of the
Father’s handwriting and quoted, “Sole Almighty Ruler of Hell, I
invoke thee through the mediation and protection of Gabriel.”

I probably didn’t need the prayer to call
Luc. As I’d proven the other night, he was always listening for my
invitation. But because of Father Leonard, I wanted to do things by
the book, and it worked. Lucifer appeared from the nearby trees
with a frown of confusion on his face. “Amy?”

At least he didn’t rush me like he had in my
bedroom. In fact, when he saw Gabriel, he stopped walking and stood
stock still. “What is the meaning of this?”

Gabriel fluffed himself up. “Exactly what
I’d like to know.”

I ignored Gab and talked directly to Luc.
“The night of the fall equinox, Emilia cast a spell to protect me
from you.”

He searched my face and scoffed. “That’s
ridiculous. Emilia has no power over me, then or now.”

“She asked for the powers that be for help.
Gab, here, came to her rescue. He made sure her spell worked, but
it backfired, causing you to be uncontrollably attracted to
her.”

Gab’s wings fluttered violently. “You
lie.”

Luc shifted his focus to the angel and
scrutinized him, taking a definitive step forward. “One thing Amy
never does is lie.” He looked at me again, his eyes blazing with
contempt. For who, I wasn’t sure. “Where is Emilia now?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Emilia
never meant to hook up with you or do all the evil she did under
your tutelage. She can’t be held accountable for Gabriel’s
Machiavellian manipulations.”

He took the stairs with slow, deliberate
ease, even as his red hot energy enveloped me. “Whether or not the
spell backfired, Emilia is responsible for our break up. Tell me
where she is.”

Without thinking, I grabbed Gabriel’s arm
and forced him to shield me from Luc’s heat. “Protect me, damn it,”
I ordered.

Gab balked at the rough treatment and Luc
stopped, not out of fear of the angel, it seemed, but out of
surprise. “You think I would hurt you?”