Angelic Avenger (21 page)

He cocked his head and his dimple winked at me as he thought it through. “It makes sense, I suppose. Magic is either something you’re born with or it’s not. I’ve never known anyone to wield an inherent gift who wasn’t born with it. If he’d been born with it, someone would have known about it. Foras, especially, since he has the entire intelligence network working for him. He would never willingly place you in danger, whatever he feels about the rest of us.”

Was there a trace of jealousy in his voice, still? I let it go. One problem at a time. I didn’t have time to pander to his ego.

“Magic is magic. If it’s in the blood, the minor bits can be taught. There’s that magician out of Vegas who’s a halfling and she does all sorts of magical spells in the course of her act. It’s simple, really. What if he’s not been hiding out, but someone’s sheltering him and teaching him how to use the simple magics that purebloods think they’re too good for?”

I propped myself on his chest and looked down at him, suddenly feeling better. I flexed my neck and realized the aftereffects were beginning to wear off.

“Why do I feel so much better?” There had to be a catch, here. Gray blushed and glanced away and I knew I was onto something. I arched a brow and grinned at him expectantly. The silence lasted for a moment, but he gave in first.

“I’m sharing.”

“Sharing what, exactly?” I prodded when he made no effort to elaborate.

“My magic. You need to recharge before your meeting tonight and this is the best way to do it.” He seemed embarrassed by it, but something more. There was vulnerability deep in his gaze that made me acknowledge it for the gift it was. His very essence mingling with mine. It was far more intimate than sex, but no less heady.

“You can do that?” It was news to me. I certainly didn’t know two people could share magic. Then again, it wasn’t like we were sharing, more like I was taking it from him. I sighed and let my face fall to his chest, kissing it softly. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure, honey.” He hugged me close and began to trace small circles on my back through his shirt. “It’s not something everyone can do, but we’re close enough where it’s possible. Gavreel suggested I try it after he healed you. One of the reasons he had such a hard time healing you was because it was a magical wound that fed on magic, so by the time he realized and nullified that, he was drained to the point of needing to borrow from you to heal the damage.”

“Couldn’t he have borrowed from you? You’re of his bloodline, after all.”

“He did, but it wasn’t working quite right. Apparently, he needed to borrow yours because it was your body in need of healing. Whatever this was, it was designed to be used against halflings, not soulless. Unfortunately, now that Turel knows it works, whoever’s working with him will know it, too.”

Nothing like accidentally putting weapons in the hands of the enemy, is it? Just my luck to make the job more dangerous for all of us instead of being complicated for poor little ol’ me.

“Ben’s going to back you up tonight. None of us are comfortable with you going out like this.”

He got points for not telling me to reschedule and throwing a fit because that wasn’t an option. I smiled at him and shrugged.

“Okay, that’s a compromise. You’re not going to tell me it’s too dangerous and insist I stay home?”

“Would it do any good?” There was hope in his gaze even though his tone was droll.

“No. I have to follow through. It’s not an option to walk away at this point. We have to prevent mass chaos, if possible.”

“I didn’t think so.” I smiled at the sheer wealth of disappointment in his tone. “I thought about it, though. It was one thing to let you go gallivanting into danger when I thought you were invincible, but knowing there’s something out there that can kill you puts a whole new spin on things. A man likes to think he can protect his woman from the big, bad, and ugly. You’re rough on my ego. Why do I think it’s only going to get worse?”

“Does it really matter?” I tried to keep the question neutral and thought I did a pretty good job. His gaze was cool blue and his arms tensed around me, so I guess I wasn’t as good at it as I thought. Oh well. If he was going to have a problem with my profession, this relationship thing really wasn’t going to work.

“Does it matter that my ego is bruised or I can’t protect you?”

Ouch. Put that way, it sounded pretty bad. I didn’t say anything, only shrugged.

“In the grand design, it’s something I’m going to have to live with if I’m going to have a relationship with you. If I can’t live with that simple fact, then I need to walk away now because it’s not going to change.” He waved my protest away before I could interrupt. “No, don’t try to fix this. It’s not your problem. The reality is that both of our jobs are relatively safe with the occasional brush with danger. I wouldn’t want you to start getting all pushy and obnoxious the next time some con I put away starts sending threats, so I’m trying to give you the same courtesy. It’s not easy, so don’t push your luck on it.”

I had to applaud his logic. Making waves about all this right now wasn’t smart. I would have loved to have said I wouldn’t bolt if he’d started that tactic, but I knew myself well enough to acknowledge how close the possibility was. It was slightly scary to know he understood me that well, too. Of course, he had insider information, but that didn’t change the facts. Whether he was managing himself or me was an argument that I wasn’t up for.

“Anyone tell you that you’re one smart man?” I yawned as I lay my head against the deep thud of his heart.

“Yeah, nearly everyone who knows me.”

His chest vibrated with his laughter and the intensity of the moment passed. I had to hand it to the man; he certainly knew how to pick his battles. I suppose that was a good thing. It meant we wouldn’t be fighting all the time. Or was it a bad thing in that we wouldn’t have a lot of fights to make up from?

I smiled at the thought and let the warm comfort of his embrace lull me to sleep again.

Chapter Nineteen

How do you dress when you’re about to meet a zealot? Leather didn’t seem appropriate, too aggressive, I thought. I figured dressing dangerously was an invitation for things to go badly, so I opted for business casual. I’d never seen Ben in anything but jeans or leather, but he cleaned up nicely. Of course, you’d think commenting on it was a breach of manners or something the way everyone glared at me over it. Well, he did look nice in a blue turtleneck that made his eyes shimmer and black slacks. We looked like we borrowed the same style book since my turtleneck was green with silver woven through it and my slacks were brown. Neither of us could have hidden a weapon, but then again, that was the idea.

Don’t threaten the madman was the mantra for the evening. I only hoped we could stick to it.

“No news from the angel front?” I tried to make it sound casual. The more I thought about the attack on us, the madder I got over it all. Someone had to be harboring him as well as teaching him. Of course, that meant the situation became even more seriously complicated than it already was. The list of wizards in town was very short, or at least the ones I knew of, anyway. Of course, who said he had to stay local? He was an angel and could use the cosmic highway. The big question was who among the wizards had a big enough grudge against the rest of us to risk it? The list of spell casters capable of the kind of magic Turel had used wasn’t much longer than the local list, but it was spread far and wide. It made finding him a pain in the ass.

“None.” Foras’s voice made me jump. Whirling around, I found him lounging on Gray’s deep brown leather couch looking none too happy to be there.

“Shouldn’t we be looking a little deeper into that then?” I tried to keep the sharp tones out of my voice, but my irritation bled through as if I hadn’t tried at all. Foras gave me a droll look and didn’t so much as bat an eyelash at my impatience. “Well, chop, chop. I don’t think I want to jump in front of him again.”

If anything, his glower deepened. What had I said?

Gavreel and Gray shot me equally dark looks. Well, hell. I thought they’d be on my side on this. So much for team spirit.

“I don’t like this, really.” Ben sighed even though his face was carefully neutral.

“Tough,” I snapped. I’d had about enough of people second-guessing everything I did today. “It’s got to be done. If we don’t shut this idiot up, there’s going to be an ugly situation we’ll all have to deal with. Mortals and monsters living side by side and everyone being okay with it works perfectly fine for fiction, but this is the real world, gentlemen. It will be slaughter.”

“I’m not arguing that,” Ben countered smoothly, “what I’m suggesting is that I go in your place. Let someone else do it instead. I can negotiate, after all.”

“Sure you can.” I grinned and it wasn’t a friendly, be-my-buddy grin. “Like the time…”

Ben flinched. “Enough said. Can we at least carry something a little more deadly than our wit?”

“Nope. That’s about sharp enough today. We might even get a few heads to roll.” I headed to the door before hesitating. Turning back to the archangels in the room, I waved my hands out. “Why are we taking a taxi when there’s the cosmic highway?”

Clapping my hands, I raised a brow at the two angels, so alike but so different, too. “Come, come…a little drama is exactly what we need tonight.”

“Oh, please, let me.” Foras stood and unfurled his wings enough to make me blink. Large black wings and power filled the room. Uh oh. Maybe I’d been a little too…dictatorial, after all. That’s it, no more stealing magic from the new boyfriend. It had way too many side effects. If they could bottle this, alcohol wouldn’t be the intoxicant of choice any more. Granted, feeling ten feet tall and bullet-proof had advantages. Considering I was about to stroll into a wolf’s den with nothing but Ben for back-up, I’d take it. Any edge, even for the bluff, was better than nothing.

I met Foras’s dark gaze with a raised brow. I’d started this, so I wasn’t about to back down or be intimidated by him despite the fact he could squash me like a bug if he wanted to. Considering the way I’d run all over him lately, it wouldn’t have surprised me if he decided to teach me a lesson here and now. Thankfully, he didn’t, but from the look on his face, my comeuppance was coming in the very near future.

With a dramatic wave of his hand, the room filled with light. Instead of the normal moonlight, we got the brilliance of the sun. Oh well, I did ask for drama, after all. Without hesitating, I stepped blindly into the light with Ben at my back and stepped out into the middle of the dance floor at The Devil’s Playground surrounded by wolves.

To say they didn’t appreciate the gesture was the understatement of the century. I guess the joke was on me. I threw in drama and ended up with chaos. All around us, men shifted to wolves and halfmen. In the back of my mind, I wondered if I could die if they tore me apart. It was worth mentioning and I thought I might get the chance to find out when Gavin’s very crisp and proper voice cut through the noise.

“Hold.”

Whatever I might have thought about him before, my respect for him jumped several degrees as the seething mass around us stilled instantly. Look, my throat was still intact, even.

“They’ve come at our invitation with the promise of safe conduct. Remember your honor, gentlemen.”

“I made no such promise.”

I turned my head to zero in on the voice and was fought down the acute sense of disappointment. I’m not really sure what I expected, but the man who stood in front of the pair of brawny enforcer types reminded me more of a weasel than a wolf. He was slight of build with short brown hair and so totally average as to be unremarkable.
This
was the man who spawned a revolution? It was very nearly ludicrous. Something about that first impression nagged at me, but I filed it away to analyze for later.

“You’ll hold the peace.” Gavin turned his cold blue stare to the other wolf. “This is still my territory and my word is the bond for all wolves in it.”

I saw something in that moment I knew he didn’t. I couldn’t tell among the wolves who was local and who wasn’t. The Wolf King hadn’t secured his throne. That was
so
not good, all things considered. Please God, don’t let the madman stage a coup. I had enough going on at the moment. One disaster at a time, please.

Weasel was the first to look away. Whatever he had going on, he wasn’t ready for a power struggle. While that was good for me, it wasn’t so good for Gavin because it gave ample time for the unrest to spread. I had a feeling I was going to hate wolves before Christmas.

“Well, hell, Bella, I thought you said we were invited. They’re not a welcoming bunch.”

Ben’s drawl brought my mind back to business. I really needed to get my head straight before I said something stupid. Check that. Before I said something deadly considering present company.

“I’m sort of noticing that myself, Ben.” I kept my tone droll as I surveyed the room, trying to decide exactly how big of a hole my ego had dug us with the popping in stunt. “You’d think they didn’t want us here.”

“If I recall—” the weasel’s voice bordered on downright hostile, “—you requested this audience.”

“Oh yeah, I guess I did. I’ve been hearing the most outrageous rumors about you.”

I strolled across the room with Ben at my back, the wolves giving way and falling in behind us. I tried to ignore them. I’d never been around that many shifters in animal form before and it was vaguely disturbing. There was something about walking around with a bunch of creatures that could tear you limb from limb that can make a girl think about caution. Of course, it was apparently a moment too late for it for me.

“And what rumors might those be?”

His tone didn’t get any friendlier, so I guess this was the best I was going to get. Belatedly, I realized we’d not had introductions.

“Oh, somewhere on the grape vine, someone said you were trying to announce to the world that there were monsters among us.”

Okay, maybe not the best choice of wording from the way the wolves tensed and growled around me. I heard Ben’s exasperated grumble, but ignored it. What good was having two archangels in your pocket if they weren’t paying close enough attention to get us out of here if we had to bolt in a hurry? Wait. Neither of them was especially happy with me at the moment, so maybe I concentrate on what I was doing. I had to remind myself that the goal wasn’t to antagonize the weasel so I could put an end to this the good old-fashioned way.