Dark Wings Descending (18 page)

Ashley waved a dismissive hand in her direction. “Hand it over to Dean to wild goose chase. You’ve got better things to look into.”

Rafe bristled at Ashley’s flippant attitude. “What if this is our killer?”

“I’ve told you he isn’t.”

“So I’m to just believe everything you tell me?”

“It would make my life so much easier. But then it wouldn’t be as exciting as me arguing with you and getting to see your eyes ignite with such passion.” Ashley’s voice dropped a register. “It’s very sexy.”

Nonplussed, Rafe tried not to be drawn in by the wicked twinkle shining from Ashley’s eyes. “Why do I feel you’re going to be more trouble to me than a whole hoard of demons on the loose?”

Ashley’s playful chuckle only added to Rafe’s disquiet.
I’m certain to go down in flames and probably enjoy every singe and scorch mark she burns upon my heart.
She reached for her drink, suddenly wishing it was something stronger.

Ashley contentedly chewed her burrito. She finished a mouthful, then asked idly, “So tell me about your family, Rafe. After all, it’s got to be more normal than mine.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Rafe replied. “I’m one of three children born to Carmine and Alisha Douglas. My mother is a trophy wife, my father a dealer in antiquities.”

“You’re kidding me. You’re not from a long line of cops?”

“Nope, my father is still horrified by my less than academic choice of professions. But he’s got my brother Mike, who’s an art dealer in Toronto, working his way to the top in his own right until he can take over my father’s reins. Then there’s Leo, who is learning at the master’s side so he can take over the paperwork while Mike does the creative stuff.”

“Mike? Seems a bit pedestrian a name considering yours. And Leo?”

“Michelangelo, to give him his full name, and Leo is short for Leonardo.” She watched as Ashley digested this. A glint lit up her eyes.
Damn, she is fast
, Rafe thought, cringing at what was going to come.

“Your full name isn’t Rafe, is it?”

“I
prefer
Rafe.”

“You’ve got to be Raphael, though, who, along with Michelangelo and Leonardo, were the great masters of the Renaissance.” Ashley sounded immensely tickled by this.

“Like I said, I prefer Rafe.” Ashley sported a wicked grin that Rafe caught immediately. “Don’t you dare mention the fucking Ninja Turtles or I will throw you off this roof!”

“I prefer Ray-fe,” Ashley drawled out Rafe’s name, “over Raphael. That’s so not you. Does anyone call you Raphael?”

“My parents do, and Leo because he knows it pisses me off.”

“No one whispers it in your ear at intimate moments of sheer pleasure?” Ashley’s voice dropped a register that made Rafe swallow hard.

“No, I think I can honestly say no one has dared to use my given name in that setting.” She wondered at Ashley’s grin. “So now you know.”

“Yeah, now I know. You’re the turtle with the sais, the rebellious, sullen one.”

“Don’t make me regret telling you,” Rafe said with a growl and leaned forward to reach for Ashley when something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. She looked down and did a double take. “That body down there is
glowing
.”

Ashley peered over the edge of the roof. “So he is. What color do you see?”

Rafe squinted. “He’s red with a shot of yellow.”

“Then he’s a Class E demon,” Ashley said.

“Class E?”

“Minor demon, kind of low on the food chain.”

“So he’s a lesser demon but a demon all the same?”

“Sure is.”

“And shouldn’t he be returned to hell before he does whatever demons do?” Rafe watched the guy amble his way along the sidewalk.

“He will be.” Ashley pointed to two white lights that flashed brightly in the sky. The lights shone like stars, growing in size until Rafe could see a distinct humanoid shape and the recognizable shape of wings.

“Can’t he see them?” Rafe whispered, watching as the white lights descended.

“No, he won’t until the last minute. Demons don’t see the light, Rafe. Their souls aren’t pure enough.”

Rafe saw the angels ready their weapons, long spears tipped with lethal points. One flew down and ran the man through with it, pinning him in place.

“He killed him!”

“No, he just trapped him with the Spear of Light. Now he can see them and he knows he has no way of escaping.”

Rafe didn’t blink for fear of missing anything that happened on the street. The first angel had the man held in place. The other descended at a slower rate and circled them, surrounding them in a ball of silver light. Then, like a soap bubble popping, they disappeared in a flash. Rafe blinked at the suddenness. “They’re gone.”

“Yep, on the fast track back to hell with that one.” Ashley picked up a handful of nachos and ate as if nothing extraordinary had just transpired.

“Why him, though? Why catch him and not Armitage?”

“Your demon was a Class B, from what you described. They blend in better, find lesser-traveled portals to enter in by. They also hide better among humans, so they are harder to spot. Unless you know what you’re looking for.”

“The horns being a dead giveaway, eh?”

“You’d see right through their disguise now, but Armitage had quite the life here masquerading as a human. He fit in, so he didn’t send off as much as a blip on our radar. Class B demons can sometimes mask their demon form even from angels. So we have to wait until they do something that exposes their soul. Then and only then can the angels come and take them back.”

“So that night, Eli was taking the demon Armitage to hell? But we had a body. The angels who just took that guy away left nothing behind.”

“Lesser demons can’t form a proper human outer layer. They just pretty much glamour themselves to fool human eyes. That demon wasn’t strong enough to pass fully. Armitage was.”

“And we’re left being unable to tell the difference between demon-shed skin or a real human cadaver.”

“Eli removed the demon from its ‘host,’ if you like and left you the remains. After all, the body is just a shell for what lives inside.”

“What about the Class A demons?”

“They run for government.”

Rafe stared at her aghast. She barely dared to breathe, terrified by the implications, until Ashley finally cracked a smile and then began to laugh. “Shit, Ashley, don’t even joke about that!” She glared at Ashley, who was doubled over with laughter at her expense. “Bitch,” she grumbled, which only set Ashley off more. Rafe reluctantly had to smile when Ashley finally calmed down enough to wipe the tears from her eyes. “You’re such a smart-ass. This zone, do you keep a watch on it in your PI status?”

“Not just me. I’m still new to this area, so I’ve just been taking my turn. We have watchers. They keep tabs on the goings-on and inform those who need to know.”

Rafe nodded slowly, digesting this. “If I hadn’t passed out, I’d have seen Eli capturing Armitage before my very eyes.” A part of her was disappointed she hadn’t witnessed that event.

“You weren’t ready to see it then, Rafe. The light was still blinding and you were too injured to have appreciated it. If you think about it, you helped capture a demon, though.”

“Inadvertently.” Her hand strayed to touch her forehead in what was becoming an unconscious act of self-comfort. “Do you ever get tired of it all? The weirdness?”

“It’s not weird to me. I grew up with it. This is my idea of normal.”

Rafe looked out into the moonlight. “Mine too now, it would appear.”

The rest of the evening passed uneventfully. Rafe stood and stretched to remove the kinks from her spine left by the rickety chair, then she took a careful step nearer to the roof edge. “Guess I’ve had my show for tonight.”

“You got the best seats in the house too. You saw something no one else would have seen had they looked out their windows. You and I alone witnessed that command performance.” Ashley shivered as a chill air blew over them. “Though I think it’s time we head back inside.”

Rafe helped clear up their belongings and followed Ashley back down the stairs to her apartment. Once inside, Rafe looked around it with a critical eye.

“This place is just not right for you.” After throwing away the trash, she wandered back to the tiny living room and cocked her head questioningly at Ashley. At her nod of agreement, Rafe flipped over the whiteboard. Her eyes fell on the familiar photos. “I’ve wondered at the significance of this board since the last time I was here.”

“You mean when you came to yell at me?”

“I didn’t come to yell, merely to chase you off my case.” She eyed the photos. “For all the good it did me,” she said. “How many other police investigations have you been in on?”

“None here. You’re my first. But I’ve ‘assisted’ on a few cases here and there. You are, however, the first one I’ve walked up to and told you point-blank that I needed to be brought in.”

“Why?”

“Because you need me and because you’d already been dragged into my world. I knew we could work together.”

“Yet with the other investigations?”

“Strictly professional. I fed them information, they did all the ground work, and I took what I needed from them by glamouring up and walking right on in.”

“And the child porn case?”

Ashley looked surprised. “I forgot you had your computer whiz dig up my files. That one I wasn’t able to keep out of the limelight quite so well. I went in as myself because I had the lead they needed to follow. Huge case, very nasty.”

“Were they demons? The guys you stopped?”

“No, they were the worse scum of humanity instead. The demon was the one using their sordid depravity to line his own pockets by distributing it over the Internet. He was who I was after.”

“But you got him?”

Ashley nodded. “He’s back where he belongs.”

“Do you always get who you want?” Rafe asked, hoping her gulp wasn’t audible as Ashley’s eyes heated and she moved purposely to invade Rafe’s personal space.

“If I’m lucky.” Ashley pushed her way into Rafe’s arms and cuddled into her.

Rafe couldn’t draw Ashley close enough to her. She breathed in deeply of her scent and just held Ashley tight. Soft lips began working their way up her neck, and Rafe tilted her head so Ashley could reach everywhere she wanted. Teeth nipped at her pulse point and her knees threatened to buckle beneath her. Clinging to Ashley so she wouldn’t fall, Rafe struggled to speak. “God, woman, what you do to me. How can someone so small rock me off my feet so fast?” She rubbed her cheek across Ashley’s hair and trembled as Ashley’s hands pushed under her heavy jacket to spread across her back. Rafe pressed fevered kisses along Ashley’s hairline, then dropped her lips to capture Ashley’s in a hot meshing of mouths. She thrilled to the sound of Ashley’s moan as their mouths locked and tongues tangled.

She cradled Ashley’s face between her palms to hold her still to deepen the kiss. Rafe ran her tongue along Ashley’s full lower lip, caught it gently in her teeth, tugged slightly, then ran her tongue back over to soothe. She lowered her hands to tug up Ashley’s shirt, kneading at the taut muscles in Ashley’s stomach. Ashley’s body tumbled into Rafe, almost knocking them over in her need to get closer. Rafe’s back hit something solid. She looked over her shoulder and caught sight of the lifeless stare of one of the dead women posted on the board. Rafe pulled back. “We have to stop.”

Dazed eyes met hers, disbelief clouding Ashley’s face. “Why?”

“Because this is too fast, too soon, and we have a case to solve.”

Ashley pulled out of Rafe’s arms. “Too fast, too soon?” Ashley tugged her shirt back down to cover her bare midriff.

Rafe’s mouth watered at the sight of the belly button shyly peeking over the waistband of Ashley’s jeans before it was hidden. She all but reached for the shirt to expose it again and explore further. Common sense won out, to her own sense of dismay.

“Rafe Douglas, life is too short. Do I need to remind you that in the space of just a few weeks you have almost died twice? The first time I couldn’t stop, but the second time I was right by your side pulling you back from the edge.” She poked Rafe sharply in the chest. “I have it on good authority life is too short and too precious to waste.”

Rafe hugged Ashley to her, trying desperately to wrap herself around her. “I’m no good at any of this. I’m sorry. You make me nervous and exhilarated all at the same time. I can’t decide between getting hot and naked with you or running as far away as I can from you.”

Ashley caressed Rafe’s cheek. “Why run, sweetheart?”

“Because in the few days I’ve known you, I feel like I’ve known you forever. It scares me, and yet, I can’t explain it away.”

“Do you believe in soul mates?”

Rafe’s eyebrow rose a little. “The idea that someone has only half a soul and when they meet their other half they’re finally at peace?” She smiled crookedly at her. “It makes for a nice romantic tale.”

“What if I told you it’s all true?”