Rachel blinked. “Who the fuck are you supposed to be, the truancy police? I thought they didn’t do that shit in college!”
“I’ll go get her some clothes,” the redhead mumbled. “She keeps talking dirty like that while she’s naked, I’m gonna be really distracted.”
* * *
He didn’t park in the garage. Not with the outside window broken. Alex parked his motorcycle outside, jumped off, and ran up to the gate entrance to his home while fighting to get his helmet off. Along the way, he discovered the thick white spray, shell casings and blood strewn across the walkway.
He stopped. Alex had made it through two sessions of first aid since signing up for it last week. The instructor emphasized that a first responder has to be careful on coming upon a scene, lest the responder become another victim.
Alex took a deep breath. He forced himself to slow down. Lorelei was either fine or she wasn’t, but odds were that two seconds wouldn’t make a difference on that either way. Not after he’d had to ride home from downtown, dodging traffic all the way.
He kept moving in, but slowly. If Lorelei and Rachel were both gone, he wouldn’t be able to rest until he found them. Not that he knew where to start. He’d have looked before now into how they were both summoned up by that priest, but he had no leads. It wasn’t like Alex knew any better than Lorelei or Rachel where to find crazy magic dudes.
Lydia. He’d have to start there. Way out of his league, but he’d have to start there. They probably paid for dinner at the restaurant with plastic, and that would leave behind a name. Alex didn’t know how he’d get that, but he’d have to find a way. Or maybe he could go back to the church where they brought Gorge. Maybe the angel there would help.
Alex would have to call up the guys. They were smart. They’d help him figure this out.
He opened the door to receive a punch in the face. Darkness and stars both exploded in his vision. He was rocked backward and then tripped by someone’s leg. Alex fell onto his back on the concrete in front of his building’s main door.
Someone reached down to grab him by the lapels of his jacket. He was large and strong in a black trench coat. He wielded a short sword, like one of those ones the Romans used in all the movies. The pommel came down at Alex’s head, but Alex narrowly ducked away. Alex flung his helmet up to crack it hard against the attacker’s skull. His assailant staggered back.
A blonde woman in a corset and black leather pants took the swordsman’s place. She sprayed something at Alex’s face from a small plastic device. Scorching hot pain overwhelmed his eyes. He could hardly breathe. Alex grunted and growled in pain, reflexively trying to cover his face.
“Pepper spray, Natalia? Really?” someone asked. Alex tried to throw a kick at the voice. He hit nothing.
“As if you were doing better, Talon,” the woman responded.
“A lucky shot. He won’t catch me like that again.”
“Why’s the demon just watching the sky like that?”
“I watch for threats beyond your ken, corpse,” said a voice that sounded like a distant roar. “Is he warded from clairvoyant sights?”
“Before the first blow fell,” said a new voice.
“Then finish this,” the otherworldly voice ordered. “Our good timing may not hold long.”
Something hard and round and painful hit Alex in the head. He reeled, turning away from it. The object came down on his head again.
Unlike in the movies, it often took more than a couple of solid blows to knock someone out.
Chapter 16:
Friends Help You Move. Real Friends Help You Move Bodies.
“Alex is so scared right now,” Rachel said with obvious worry. She tugged the black cargo pants on over her hips, having already donned the Sisters of Mercy t-shirt that Molly threw into the warding circle. Her wings spread right through the cotton fabric. “If you did this to protect him, you could at least call him and tell him I’m okay. He’s on his bike and he’s so fucking freaked out that he could get in a serious accident.”
“We’re not doing anything until we figure out for sure what you are,” said Onyx.
“I told you. I’m his guardian angel”.
“Never heard of anyone sleeping with their guardian angel,” Molly frowned.
Rachel shot her an irritated, resentful look. “Alex is kind of a special case.” The angel made a point of holding her tongue. She had more than a few choice words for these two, but gaining release as quickly as possible took priority over flinging insults. Rachel’s foul mouth wasn’t a symptom of thoughtlessness.
“Why’s that?” Onyx asked evenly.
Rachel bit back her instinctive reply. “You obviously know a good deal of magic. You read his palm. I imagine you looked him over in other ways before you made love with him. You recognized how special he was after your first kiss. Those were the first words out of your mouth: ‘This is really special.’ You knew you that you could trust him with every imaginable intimacy. And as much as you truly and deeply love your girlfriend here,” Rachel noted, glancing meaningfully at Molly, “you can’t deny to yourself that making love with Alex was one of the most fulfilling experiences of your life. You never expected to open yourself to him the way you did, or to be let into his heart as you were. Not so quickly. But you were, and you long to resume that connection.
“It’s not because he’s good in bed,” Rachel continued to her stunned listeners. “It’s because he’s a good soul, and your awareness of the universe makes you more sensitive to that than most people will ever be.”
Onyx’s eyes were wide. Molly looked to her with concern.
“She’ll never leave you,” Rachel added calmly, looking at Molly. “Whatever her feelings for Alex might become, you are first in her heart. Onyx loves you like no other. You define and embody love in her heart and her mind. She loves you and accepts you and would never do anything to hurt you. Much of what made her time with Alex so special was the ever-present thought that she owed all of that happiness to you and your approval. She saw him in part as if he was a gift from you. He’s not a rival. There can be no rival.”
“…huh,” Molly said.
Rachel looked to Onyx. “Your partner loves you every bit as much as you love her,” she said. “She doesn’t want you to worry about anything. She’s a bit shocked right now, but she doesn’t want to come between you and Alex. What you feel for one another is beautiful.”
“How…?”
“I’m an angel. There is nothing I understand as much as I understand love.”
There was a long silence. Rachel sniffed. Tears welled up in her eyes. “He’s so scared for me. He’s rushing home because he probably hopes to find help there, and he doesn’t know what else to do.”
Onyx drew in a long, deep breath. Her back stiffened. “Well,” she breathed, “now that we’ve established that you were watching me with Alex on Friday without my knowing it…”
Rachel let out a frustrated breath, looking upward. “Oh, fucking hell,” she groaned. “I try to say something nice to you bitches, and-”
Then she Rachel gasped. She looked at the other two women in terrible fear. “Something’s wrong,” the angel declared. Her eyes darted back and forth as if she watching something far away. “I can’t see him!”
* * *
“I’m off work and home all alone. What’re you up to?”
“Just leaving my friend Drew’s house. Me an’ him an’ our friend Taylor were hangin’ out. Playin’ Xbox. Chillin’.” Jason adjusted the cell phone earpiece as he walked down the steps from Drew’s apartment building and headed for his car. The odd fog that had rolled in had already rolled out again.
“Taylor? That girl from the party?”
“Yeah.”
“She’d better not have any designs on you.” Britney sounded more playful than jealous, but Jason hadn’t known her long. He had no idea if she was psycho or not. Nor did he have any experience with psycho girls. Or sane ones, for that matter…last weekend aside, of course.