Dark Wings Descending (31 page)

“I’m not quitting mine either. It just means that sometimes the regular nine-to-five work will include some nighttime investigations. I doubt we’ll come across any more human-demons for a while, but we can always help out with the more common garden variety.”

Rafe caught Ashley’s hand in her own. “Now that this case is solved, do you have to move on?” The fear of Ashley’s departure tore a gaping hole in Rafe’s chest. She was surprised Ashley couldn’t see it.

“I’ve asked to stay. I’d like to see what Chicago has to offer a girl with a glamour.” She ran her hand through Rafe’s blunt hair, tickling her scalp. “I’m sure I can find something to keep me busy here. If nothing else, there’s the demon hub by my building.”

“Do you have to live there in order to protect it?”

Ashley’s face creased into a sly smile. “Why, Detective, are you proposing I rent out a U-Haul already?”

“I’ve seen your place. Trinity could carry out what you have to live with.” Rafe tugged Ashley toward her, settling her between her legs. “If I’m to become a hunter by your side, I want you by
mine
.”

“You’re a fast worker.”

“I’ve lived a lifetime in the last few days, Ashley. I don’t intend to let time go to waste for propriety’s sake. It’s too short and unstable not to cling on to what is dear.”

Ashley caressed Rafe’s cheek. “You’re such a romantic behind that badge. I like that a lot.” She kissed Rafe softly and tenderly until Rafe took over and the kiss became more heated and raw. Rafe tugged Ashley tight against her center. The pressure of her pants seam against her clitoris was enough to rip a moan from her throat and she quickly forgot where they were.

“There are cameras in this room,” Ashley mumbled against Rafe’s hungry lips.

“Let them see.” Rafe cupped Ashley’s buttocks and pulled her in even closer.

“You keep that up and they’ll see more than either of us would wish!” Ashley placed a restraining hand on Rafe’s chest and pushed back. Rafe groaned at the loss of Ashley’s warmth against her.

“You’re right. I know you’re right, but just once I’d like to remember something nice in this office instead of the death we’re surrounded by.”

“You keep kissing me like that and your desk will bear witness to something you would have a hard time forgetting!” Ashley took a step back and straightened her shirt. “You do amazing things to me, Rafe.”

“Can we continue this tonight?” Rafe couldn’t help herself. She ran her fingertips over Ashley’s swollen lips and shivered when Ashley licked at them with a quick flash of a warm tongue.

“It’s a date.” Ashley turned to leave but halted once more at the photos displayed behind them.

Rafe rested a hand on Ashley’s shoulder. “I’m really sorry about your brother. Truly I am.”

“We’re in a constant fight on this planet. Good versus evil. Good won out last night where he was concerned. It’s the side I’ve chosen to fight on.”

“It’s not that simple, though, is it?” Rafe knew how hard it must be for Ashley to live with what had transpired. Killer or not, demon or not, Lucas Thorpe had still been family. He had been the last link to a father who had already been taken away from them. And he was her brother, one whose sibling rivalry had proved deadly.

“It will take time to reconcile it. For now, a killer has been stopped in his tracks. Any comfort I need I draw from that.”

“You really are an angel.”

Ashley smiled wryly. “Hardly,” she drawled, placing a kiss on Rafe’s lips. “My thoughts concerning you aren’t in the slightest bit angelic.”

“Can I thank God for that?”

“You can thank whoever you like, my love. But I’ll expect you to thank me later when I’m done with you.”

Rafe flipped the valuable silver pen over the backs of her knuckles one way then another in a nervous gesture. She sat atop the roof of Ashley’s former building with her attention fixed firmly on the street below.

“Are you sure we’re expecting visitors tonight?” she asked Ashley, who was sitting back in her chair ripping open a large bag of chips.

“Yes.”

“Shouldn’t we be down on the street?” Rafe stopped her movement with the pen and waited for an answer. “Unless you’re expecting me to throw this like a streak of lightning from up here.”

Ashley shook the bag vigorously and got to her feet. She tipped out a line of chips along the edge of the parapet and then trailed a line across the roof of the building, dumping the remainder of the chips in a pile. “This demon is said to have wings.”

Rafe moved further forward in her seat. “So you’re laying a food trap for him?”

“He’ll be drawn to the smell. Winged demons are voracious eaters. He’ll come straight to us. We grab him while he’s busy stuffing his face.”

“And then?”

“Then the cleanup squad comes. They can take him back to where he belongs, and you and I can go home.”

“I like the sound of that last part. It’s the whole luring the winged demon straight to us I have a problem with.”

“It will make for a nice change from the lesser demons that you capture.”

Rafe made a face. “Yeah, let’s hear it for variety.” She winked at Ashley to take the sting out of her sarcasm. Rafe had never been happier since Ashley had moved in with her. It gave her a sense of peace she’d never experienced before. Ashley had brought so much into her world, not least of all love. Rafe wouldn’t swap a second of it, even the hours spent on top of a run-down building waiting for demon bait to fly by.

“Heads up; I smell sulfur,” Ashley said.

“I don’t know how you can smell anything over the smell coming from the chips.” Rafe strained to see if she could spot anything escaping from the sidewalk below.

“Would you care to step back into the shadows with me and get your spear ready?” Ashley reached for Rafe’s hand and helped her up from her chair.

“I’d feel happier with my gun.”

“I know, sweetheart, but bullets just don’t cut it.”

“I only need the Spear of Light,” Rafe said, reciting what was drilled into her brain. She’d heard it often enough from Ashley every time she brought up the fact that, sometimes, she’d really just like to stick a bullet in a demon and have it count. She stepped back into the shadows of the doorway and readied her weapon with a press of the button. The spear appeared with its regular speed.

“That’s my girl.” Ashley cuddled against Rafe’s back as they waited.

Rafe heard an ominous sound. It was the heavy, labored flap of wings unlike any bird she had ever heard fly. Accompanied by a rasping breathing noise, the air suddenly began to vibrate around them. Rafe looked over her shoulder at Ashley. “Just how big is this thing going to be?”

“Nothing you can’t handle. I have the utmost faith in you.” Ashley smiled up at Rafe, her love shining from her eyes brighter than any glamour she could employ.

That faith spurred Rafe forward with Ashley by her side, confident that, together, they could face anything hell threw at them.

Lesley Davis lives in the West Midlands of England. She is a die-hard science fiction/fantasy fan in all its forms and an extremely passionate gamer. When her Nintendo DSi is out of her grasp, Lesley is to be found seated before the computer writing.

Visit her online at www.lesleydavisauthor.co.uk.

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