Salvation (The Keepers of Hell Book 2) (5 page)

CHAPTER SEVEN

     It took some effort, but Ash finally got the hang of the whole flying thing. He could dart left and right, climb higher or drop lower, he could even soar on the wind. The whole thing was just too fucking wonderful to stay mad at Antonio for being, well, for being Antonio.  It was his personality, the way he was. Ash had a hard time believing that this all fun and games, light-hearted idiot was a fierce warrior for the Heavens. But you should never judge a book by its cover, right?

     “There,” the angel in question yelled out over the wind. He pointed to a burning building below. Heavy black smoke was spiraling into the air as flames licked toward the sky. Emergency responders were on sight, several fire trucks and police vehicles, and twice as many human bodies working to get the blaze under control.

     “What do we do?” Ash asked, doing his best to hover in the sky.

     “We watch.” Antonio hovered beside him.

     “Watch what? I don’t know what I’m looking for,” Ash reminded him.

     “Great courage and selflessness are key characteristics in a warrior. A warrior in life makes a good warrior in the afterlife too,” Antonio said as if Ash should have already known that. “I figure a blaze is a good place to start looking.”

     Ash watched as the first responders dumped water from their trucks on the blaze. It wasn’t looking like they were going to get the fire reined in. “I don’t think this fire is giving up,” Ash mused.

     “Let’s take a closer look,” Antonio said and started toward the blaze.

     “Wait,” Ash said, grabbing Antonio by the arm. “What if they see us? I know there are supernaturals, but it isn’t everyday one sees a couple of angels.”

     Antonio grinned. “No human can see an angel unless we want to be seen. As long as you don’t want anyone to see you, they won’t.”

     “Oh,” Ash said. Made sense. “Ok, let’s go.”

     The pair dove down and Antonio flew right into the burning building. Ash followed and when Antonio landed on the second story, Ash was right behind him. He tried to slow his speed, but landing was not something Ash had learned to do, so when his feet hit the floor, his top half kept going. He toppled over, and the only thing Ash could do was tuck and roll with it.

     “I will give the landing a three but a ten for the rebound,” Antonio whooped into the air.

    Ash stood and brushed himself off. “Suck it,” he barked at the angel. There were violent flames all around them, chewing up everything in sight. Neither the flames nor the heat had any effect on the angels, though. They were free to watch.

    When Ash heard someone calling for help, his first reaction was to head toward that voice and get the person out of the fire, but Antonio stopped him. “We can’t help,” he said. “We have to let things play out.”

     “What if that person dies?” Ash demanded. “I can help.”

     “If that person dies, then that is the way it’s supposed to be,” Antonio said.

     Ash grumbled. He hated that he couldn’t help. He understood, but that didn’t mean he liked it. He watched as the fire fighters moved through the burning building. The blaze became too much for them and one by one, they had no choice but to go back out.

     There was still a man crying out for help.

     Ash watched as one fireman leaped over a wall of flames and used his body to break through a wall. Flames swallowed him up, but Ash had to follow him. He watched as the man fought through the flames and finally to the person who needed help.

     “Here,” the fireman told the man, “put this on.” He had given the man his oxygen mask. “I’m gonna try not to hurt you, but if we’re gonna get out of this alive, I need you to trust me and hold on for the ride.”

     The man was holding the mask over his face and nodded. The fireman hauled him up and over his shoulder. “Sit tight, princess, we getting outta this castle,” he grinned and took off running. He leaped over a fallen beam that was burning and tried to make his way back to the steps. A huge wall of flames stopped him. “Shit,” the fireman grumbled. He turned and searched for another way out.

     Ash could see through the fire and could see there was another set of stairs on the opposite wall. He blew gently in that direction and the flames flickered down just enough for the fireman to see the exit sign above the second set of stairs.

     The fireman leapt into action and hauled his cargo to the stairs. He went down them, two at a time, until they reached the end. They crashed through the heavy door at the bottom into the fresh air.  They were greeted by EMT’s, who helped take the man from his shoulders.

     “I have to go back and make sure there is no one else,” the fireman announced.

     The EMT shook his head. “You can’t,” he said.

     “The hell I can’t!” He tried to go back inside, but a man even bigger than he was stepped in front of him. “Move, Captain,” he demanded.

     The captain just put his hand on the fireman’s shoulder. “I need you alive. We have evacuated the building. No one goes back in.”

     “But…”

     “No buts,” the captain insisted. “I don’t know how you got him out, but you saved his life. Now I feel like I have to save yours, because if you go back in there, you’re toast. Stay out. That’s an order.”

     Ash watched as the fireman sank to a sitting position, deflated by the order of his superior. “I like him,” Ash announced.

     “Yeah?” Antonio grinned.

     “Yeah,” Ash agreed. “He’s bullheaded, selfless, and follows orders. And he’s huge. So what now?”

     “Now, you mark him and we wait for him to die,” Antonio said.

     “I’m not killing him!” Ash barked.

     Antonio laughed. “No, silly. You mark him so you will always know where he is. When he dies, as humans do, he becomes yours.”

     “I don’t want his soul,” Ash grumbled.

     “You don’t
get his soul
…  He has to accept your offer… Just, don’t worry with it right now,” Antonio said. “Just go mark him.” He accented his words with a not so gentle shove between Ash’s shoulders.

     “I don’t know how to do that,” Ash reminded him.

     “I don’t either,” Antonio said. “I guess you just touch him with that in mind. I dunno, just try it. I’m hungry over here!”

     Ash rolled his eyes and went over to the fireman. He laid his hand on the man’s shoulder. The man shivered for a second and looked around, but then went back to breathing the oxygen that the EMT insisted he breathe.

     “All done?” Antonio asked.

     Ash shrugged his shoulders. “I guess.”

     “Great! Now let’s get some food!” Antonio grinned and leapt into the sky. Ash followed him.

     They flew for a while in comfortable silence. Ash even dared to think that the warrior was growing on him. He even almost sort of liked him. Ash had a feeling of accomplishment, which was a welcome change from the overwhelming dump of information he had received lately.

     Ash was trying to take everything he had learned, everything he had been shown, and file it away in neat little compartments in his brain. That was working about as well as a bull in a china shop. He imagined his brain looked more like the city dump and less like an organized office.

     As he flew, he made a conscious effort to let go of the stress he had been under. He smiled as they passed a flock of geese that were no doubt heading south for the winter. He was really going to enjoy this part of his job…..the freedom.

     A part of him wondered what his sister was up to. As if he knew exactly what Ash was thinking, Antonio said, “Hey, let’s go see about that sister of yours.”

     Ash nodded his head and they were on their way.

CHAPTER EIGHT

     Leanne was sitting directly across from Elizabeth in the small sandwich shop.  “So how are things going on the OB floor these days?” she asked her new friend. Elizabeth was a doctor in the ER when Leanne’s brother had been shot. Thanks to her, Ash had survived what would have been a fatal wound otherwise.  Leanne was engaged to the doctor who had been on call that night, James Tucker, but he hadn’t been there fast enough. Elizabeth had, so it was easy for Leanne to form a fast friendship with the doc. She had moved herself out of the ER and onto the OB-GYN floor shortly after Ash disappeared. That brother of hers was always doing that.  It worried Leanne a bit that he had been gone so long this time. Normally, he would disappear for days or even weeks at a time, but this time he had been MIA for months.

     However, he was a big boy and could take care of himself. She just wished he would answer his damn phone.

     “I like it,” Elizabeth answered her. She cut a piece of her sandwich off and popped it into her mouth. “I much prefer bringing life into the world than seeing it out.”

     “I get that,” Leanne agreed.

     “How’s the wedding plans coming?” Elizabeth asked her.

     “Pretty good,” Leanne answered her. “I wish I could get a hold of Ash, though. I want him to walk me down the aisle.”

     “Still no word from him?” Elizabeth asked. She was more concerned than she thought she should be about that. She knew that she had operated on Leanne’s brother, but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember the man’s face.

     “Nope,” Leanne told her. “I know he’s off doing whatever it is that he does, but damn. He could at least answer the phone.”

     “Men are real considerate sometimes,” Elizabeth said. “How’s James doing with all the wedding plans?”

     Leanne barked out a laugh. “He is staying as far from it as possible. He says whatever I want he will go along with it, just as long as at the end of the day, we’re married.”

     Elizabeth nodded her approval. Just then, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She felt as if someone were watching her intently. She looked around the restaurant but didn’t see anything out of sorts. Leanne was still talking about wedding plans, but Elizabeth couldn’t concentrate. She felt a tight squeeze in her chest and suddenly felt like crying. Damned depression, she thought, choking back the tears and covering it with a cough.

***

     Ash watched his sister eating lunch with a beautiful brunette woman. She was wearing hospital scrubs so he assumed she was someone who worked with his sister’s fiancé.  He watched in silence as they talked wedding preparations. He saw that Lele was well and healthy and hadn’t missed that she wanted to talk to him, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off her friend. Who was she? And more importantly, why did his dick think that he should go over and ravage her immediately?

     Antonio’s head whipped back and forth from Ash to Elizabeth as he watched the new leader of Hell become completely enraptured with the dark haired woman sitting across from his sister. A smile played across his lips. Yep that was her. Antonio had been given a double mission with this one. First, help Ash get assimilated into his new position and pick out his guard. Second, get him back together with the love of his life.

     Antonio had been given the story of how Ash had asked God to make them forget each other. But Ash’s power to lead had been forged by the love he had for this woman. She was meant to be his… his mate. The one he who completed his soul, balanced him out, and was meant to be by his side forever.

     From the looks of things, she was definitely his mate.

     Of course, it wasn’t as easy as just telling Ash that the woman was his. No, he had to find a way to make it happen between the pair without running his mouth. The big guy, God, would never take something as important as a mate away from anyone…. not a vampire, not a shifter, and not a human. Although he had honored Ash’s request, he had put in a little loophole. He didn’t always give people what they wanted, but God always gave them what they needed. And Ash needed his mate. That loophole? Easy-peasy. They just had to touch, skin to skin, and everything they had forgotten would be restored. They already remembered little flashes…. a sound, or a feeling. They just didn’t know what it meant. Antonio intended to change that.

     Of course, Ash was acting like a man without his mate. He was bitchy, grumbly, and although he had kept it in check so far, prone to violence. It was only going to get worse. Antonio felt a smile play on his lips as he watched Ash pretend not to be interested in her. Now, if he could just orchestrate it perfectly…..

***

     “How do I make her see me?” Ash asked, yanking Antonio out of his own head.

     “Shit,” Antonio snapped and grabbed Ash by the arm. He flashed them both out of the sandwich shop and around the corner into an empty alley.

     “What the fuck?” Ash demanded.

     “You made yourself visible,” Antonio answered. “You can’t just be appearing out of thin air like that! People are smart as individuals, but as a whole, they are panicky, easily frightened creatures. You have to think, man!”

     “I was thinking!” Ash shouted back at him. “I was thinking that I wanted to talk to my fucking sister!”

     “And that is how you became visible!” Antonio shouted right back at him. “First you gotta hide your wings. Then make yourself visible. And do it where you ain’t gonna scare the shit out of someone.”

     Ash fisted his hands at his sides. Yep, he was gonna punch the fucker. He took back all those thoughts he had about maybe liking this dick rash.  He knew the angel was there to help, but right now, he was seriously cock blocking him. He wanted to talk to Lele, and he wanted to talk to the brunette.

     There was a deep growling noise emanating from his chest and Ash was powerless to stop it. Before he could rein in his temper, Ash was all over that vampire angel like stink on shit, throwing his body at him and tackling him to the ground. They rolled around a bit before Antonio flashed away from him.

     “Man, what did I say? You gotta get a grip on your temper!” Antonio barked from the other end of the alley. He shook his head. The leader of Hell could easily dispatch his ass if he wanted to; luckily, he didn’t know how to use the power God had given him.

     Ash stood and glared at him. “Fuck you, man,” he growled.

     “Pfft, fuck you.” Antonio replied.

     Ash knew he had lost his shit. “Look…” he grumbled.

     “It’s all good,” Antonio replied, brushing off his pants and the squabble at the same time. “Now, how about we hide these wings and get visible. I want a fucking sandwich.” Ash noticed that Antonio had also ditched the chain mail and was now wearing a black t-shirt and jeans.

     Ash nodded. He imagined his wings disappearing and they did. Then he willed himself to be seen by everyone. He felt the earth tilt slightly under his feet for a split second, then it was as if he were just the same as he always was.

     “Great,” Antonio announced, clapping him on the back. “Let’s eat.”