“How closely have you been watching us, Rachel?”
The angel looked up at the succubus standing above her on the rooftop’s edge. She shrugged. “Most folks gotta pay to see first-rate live porn like this. Why let it go unappreciated?”
“We should speak,” Lorelei called down. They weren’t far apart, but the wind had kicked up.
Rachel stood and extended her wings. Within two beats, she caught enough lift to bring herself face to face with Lorelei. A pair of shopping bags sat at Lorelei’s feet. Replenishing her wardrobe was ultimately the furthest thing from her mind, but she wanted to give Alex and Taylor time alone. Then she realized that Rachel likely wasn’t far away.
“You’ve recovered,” Lorelei observed.
“Yeah,” Rachel nodded. “Um.” She paused. “Thanks for that.”
Lorelei’s head tilted curiously. “For what?”
“Nevermind,” Rachel said, waving it off. “What, uh, what did you want to talk about?”
Curiosity remained in Lorelei’s gaze. She could swear that Rachel blushed. The girl was brash, rude, uncouth, and now…bashful? “The other night,” Lorelei explained, trying not to make her study of body language too obvious. “We ran into someone.”
“Yeah. Lydia. I know,” Rachel nodded. “I was there.”
“How much did you see?” Lorelei asked, her brow darkening a bit.
“Pretty much everything at the restaurant and after,” Rachel admitted. She smiled awkwardly. “I wasn’t following anyone into the bath-uh,” she stammered, glancing around at her feet and the skyline. “I, um, kept my distance. You know. Respectful distance. You two wanted to have a nice night out, right?”
The angel’s shoulders were up and back. Her hands alternated between rubbing gently against her neck, twirling her blonde hair and fidgeting. Timid eye contact. Uncontrollable smiles. The signals were all there.
Lorelei looked on in awe, less of the angel and more at her own reaction. She saw clear signs of vulnerability, and yet her thoughts of exploitation fell far short of ruthlessness.
“Was that-is that weird?” Rachel asked if only to break the silence.
“No,” Lorelei shook her head. “No, it isn’t. I should expect as much. So you saw Lydia?”
“Yup,” Rachel nodded. “Can’t hardly miss the cunt. Reminds me of the Grand Canyon that way.”
Lorelei blinked. Rachel glanced away again. “She may mean Alex harm,” Lorelei warned. “If only to strike at me, though he also insulted her.”
“I know. Went and confronted her after you left.”
“You did?”
Rachel nodded. “Soon as I threw off the guys she sent to tail you. I told her that if she fucks with you I’m gonna go nuclear mad dog on her,” the angel said. “Honestly, I’d have put my foot in her ass right from the start, but the angel that holds Dominion over this city has rules about preemptive actions. Just between you and me, he’s kind of an unmitigated cockbag.”
“You are the first angel I have ever heard criticize another.”
The blonde snorted. “Hah! Hell, you should hear ‘em bitch about me sometime. No, I call ‘em like I see ‘em. Turns out we aren’t perfect.”
Lorelei smiled tightly. “I have long had my suspicions.”
Silence fell between them.
“I won’t let her mess with you, Lorelei,” Rachel shrugged. Her voice carried more confidence. Some of the shyness left her. “Not her or anyone else. Alex is my charge, but…he’s not the only one I’m looking out for. I’ve been kinda shitty to you, and you didn’t deserve that, either. And I’m sorry.”
Stunned as she was by the apology, Lorelei didn’t let it show. “We are what we are.”
“No. Not really. I didn’t think before. You weren’t there. At the Fall. You came afterward. You didn’t choose to be what you are, did you?”
“And if I did?” Lorelei asked, her eyes narrowing somewhat. “If I had chosen to be what I am, along with the Fallen?”
Rachel just shook her head. “I’m not gonna judge. I made a long string of bad decisions over a guy once myself. I’m not saying you did, too; I’m just saying shit happens. Sometimes you don’t see how it’s gonna turn out. Even so, if you weren’t there when things fell apart, I’d say you can’t help being what you are…except I think you can.”
“I don’t know whether to feel insulted or praised.” Her thoughts bent toward one, but something within her pushed toward the other. “Perhaps both.”
“I don’t want to insult you,” Rachel mumbled. “I’m just kind of clumsy that way. Like I said, just ask around.”
Lorelei watched her closely. Experience and her cynical nature warred with emotions that had been alien a mere week ago.
“Does it…” Rachel began to ask, somewhat shy once more. “Do you seriously feel it when he’s getting it on with someone else?” Mischief sparkled in her eyes. “Did the ritual actually work?”
“Yes,” Lorelei smiled. “It did.”
“So you feel like you’re getting laid right now while you’re talking to me?” The succubus nodded, closing her eyes. Her breathing deepened suddenly as if to reveal how it affected her, but she resumed her self-control as quickly as she slackened it. “Wow,” Rachel blinked, “how can you walk around right now like this?”
“I have had ages of practice at concealing virtually all my feelings,” Lorelei said, opening her eyes. “I hid a great deal for millenia.”
“Must be nice.”
“The sensations? Yes. Indeed. Rachel, about Alex…”
“I know. I’m not gonna hide forever. It’s your weekend, though. I’ll pick my moment and see where we end up. But I don’t want to interrupt or distract him from you. Even if he’s with her. Weird, huh?”
“Stranger arrangements can be found in this city,” the succubus smiled. “Though I think I shall return to him. It is…good speaking with you, Rachel.”
“Yeah. You, too,” Rachel said, tugging a lock of her hair. “Oh. Hey. Are you headed back in there? Uh…” she glanced down at the shopping bags. “Can you do me a favor and bring me something first?”
* * *
Frustratingly, Daniel had no idea how to find his charge’s friend. He could see Jason just fine-he’d been the boy’s guardian since Jason’s birth-but he had no clairvoyant connection with Jason’s friends. Daniel always took issue with that. He’d always been of a mind that guardian angels should be assigned responsibilities based on personal relations like family, friendship or love. It made more sense than the seemingly random allotment of completely unrelated charges a given guardian took on.
When the succubus showed up in Alex’s life, and therefore in Jason’s, Daniel couldn’t intervene. His charge suffered no mortal or spiritual risk. It was objectionable, certainly-certainly! And it was plain that damage had already been done. Daniel found his charge in the morning so completely and utterly defiled by those two blonde hussies…
Even now, hours later, they still communicated with him. Jason could hardly resist. He fell deeper and deeper into their clutches with every salacious text message they sent.
It was beyond Daniel’s ability to intervene. He knew of only one angel who could take direct action because of her unique handicap. She was also a part of the problem, of course. But Daniel didn’t know where to find her or her charge. As such, he had to ask around. It took all day to track her down.
He finally found Rachel perched on the balcony rail near the top floor of a high-rise hotel overlooking Elliott Bay. She sat in the drizzle and the cold wind, intently watching through the window of one hotel room. She held a partially-empty bottle of Evan Williams bourbon in one hand. Daniel flew up to her, opening his mouth to speak, but Rachel just held up her hand.
“Don’t even wanna fuckin’ hear it,” she said without the slightest change in her gaze toward the hotel room.
Daniel’s eyes flared. Objections formed in his mouth about her rudeness, about the blatantly lewd grin on her face, and about a dozen other improper things. Before the comment escaped his lips, Rachel’s hand shifted from an open palm of “halt” to an upturned middle finger.