Hunting Angel 2 (17 page)

And I saw a hint of sparkle in his teal eyes, just like the old charming Travis.

There it was. What I was looking for.

A ray of hope.

Chapter 16

“Angel!” Mom bellowed from downstairs.

I just barely heard her through my headset. Flipping the off switch on my Xbox, I put aside the controller, and opened my bedroom door. “One sec!” I yelled back as I started to descend the stairs.

It was the start of Thanksgiving break and that meant quality time with my mom. Seeing her in the kitchen mixing a bowl of what I hoped would be pumpkin pie, I realized how much I missed her. Between my school, her job and now Devin, we hardly saw each other. Sometimes it felt like we were more roommates than mother and daughter.

She had an atrocious apron tied around her waist, a jazzy CD on low in the background, a streak of flour on her cheek, and her honey hair piled like a nest on top of her head. She looked beautiful. For the first time my house didn’t feel old and creepy. It felt homey.

I jumped up on the corner of the counter, the only one without clutter and food ingredients, and my mom grinned at me. I tried not to think about the last time I’d been up on this counter. How I’d been wrapped around Chase. Pangs of longing I couldn’t control stabbed my heart. Days without him were taking its toll, but my stubbornness won out.

“What’s up?” I asked, sticking my finger in the bowl.

She swatted my hand, but not before I scoped some batter. “So, I wanted to run an idea by you,” she began. Her spoon paused.

Uh-oh. What now
?

“Please tell me you’re not preggers,” I said. Apparently I had sex on the brain, and it wasn’t wasted on me that there was probably a good chance my mom was doing the deed with Devin.

I shuddered at the thought. Ick.

“Angel, you’d make a great big sister. But no, there are no little babies in our future.” She gave me a pointed look. “Right?”

“Funny.”

“Just checking. Anyway, that is not what I wanted to talk about. I was thinking about having the Winters clan over for Thanksgiving dinner. Devin isn’t much of a cook, and I thought it would be good for them. And us. A family dinner.” She looked at me with her big brown eyes, waiting to see how I would respond.

At the end of the day, I knew that what I wanted was all that really matter to her. So if I made a stink about this, we would be having Thanksgiving with just the two of us. The way it had been the last few years and I liked it that way. But I also knew that things never stayed the same. Change was inevitable. I looked into my mom’s warm eyes and I saw, really saw that Devin made her happy. She sacrificed so much for me. Didn’t she deserve happiness?

“That sounds great,” I heard myself say.

“Really?” she asked like she couldn’t believe that I was being serious.

I jumped off the counter. “Really, Mom,” I assured and gave her a hug.

“Devin and I weren’t sure. He thought that you and Chase had a lovers’ spat. Is everything okay?”

My mom usually lacked the normal internal motherly instinct, so I wasn’t surprised that Devin might have mentioned something to her. I still wasn’t pleased by it.

“We aren’t lovers,” was the first thing out of my mouth. “And we’re fine.”

Lie
, screamed a voice inside my head. He still hadn’t spoken to me.

“Well it should be eventful,” she said, squeezing my shoulder.

I didn’t doubt that.

~*~*~*~

Thanksgiving with a bunch of half-demons, my mom, and her boyfriend…sounded like a recipe for disaster. The dreaded holiday was upon me in all its anticipated emotional conflict. “This is going to be worse than a root canal,” I mumbled to my bedroom ceiling. We had the kind of ceilings that had the little popcorn balls on them. Sometimes if I stared long enough, I could make out creepy shapes and faces. To say my house more than often gave me the willies was an understatement.

Laying there on my back, my thoughts drifted to Chase, and how I would be forced to be in close quarters with him. We had successfully eluded the other like pros and the space was bittersweet. Now, the thought of seeing him filled me with a mixture of apprehension and impatience. Whether I wanted to admit it to myself or not…I missed the jerk.

What was wrong with me?

I’ll tell you. It was the damn curse that bound my soul to his for all eternity.
Lord help m
e.

Swinging out of bed, I headed into the bathroom to steam in a very long, indulgent hot shower. Afterward, I threw in some hair product and dried my dark locks. I guess since it was a holiday, I could attempt to look nice, but that still meant no dress. Scurrying through my closet, I tugged on a pair of skinny jeans with no holes and a blouse with the tags still on.

My mom was going to be so impressed.

Butterflies buzzed in my belly as I rounded down the stairs. I knew before I even left my room that
he
was in the house. It might have been why I lingered upstairs for as long as possible, not yet ready to face him, and at the same time bursting to see him. I couldn’t explain. It wasn’t logical.

My mom’s gentle humming could be heard over the clattering of pots and pans. I stepped into the kitchen. “Glad you could join the living,” she said when she saw me. “Oh Angel. You look lovely.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled, a ball of nerves moving through the room. And then the smell of something familiar tickled my nose, and it wasn’t turkey. Sharp tingles frolicked along my skin. My heart rate spiked.

Chase.

I had to fight every crazy and irrational instinct to turn around and throw myself into his arms. Knowing D-bag, I’d probably end up on my butt. Deliberately, I spun around ever so slowly. When my eyes latched onto him, I immediately forgot to breathe. Sooty lashes, fanning the tips of his cheeks hid his eyes as he looked me over. I found myself impatient to see the color of his eyes. Silver or gold? Which would they be?

Was his heart beating a thousand miles a minute like mine was?

Had he suffered as I had the in last week?

God, I hoped so.

The room around me vanished and the suspense was killing me. I willed him to look at me. And then our eyes met. A burst of sunlight exploded inside me, filling my entire being with warmth. I took a step forward. Wanting…Needing…to be closer to him. It was unfair that only this guy could make me feel so crazy,
him
of all people. A lazy smile crossed his lips as his eyes ran over my face, eating up the sight of me.

I shivered.

“Angel.”

That was all he said. Just my name and I was melting faster than an ice cream cone on a hot summer’s night. The sound of his voice tore through me. I never wanted anything so much in my life as I wanted the touch of his hand and to feel his arms around me. My control was only so great, I had to close me eyes against it, and my hands balled to fists at my side.

Still it wasn’t enough.

As if he understood what I wanted, his hand moved toward my face. I leaned forward and–

“Angel.” My mom said my name behind me like she was disciplining a bad puppy. “Why don’t you offer our guests something to eat or drink while I finish up with dinner,” she suggested, breaking our enthralled contact.

That had been close. Too close.

He hadn’t even touched me and I’d made a complete and utter idiot of myself standing there like I was awestruck by his hottness. Okay, let’s face it, I had been. That was irrelevant. What I needed was stronger willpower for frickin’ sake. There was no reason we couldn’t have a nice
family dinner
without ripping into each other or jumping each other’s bones on the dining room table.

Or so I hoped.

With one long deep breath, I turned and grabbed a platter from the island. Smiling sweetly I walked into the family room, stopping in front of Chase. My eyes glittered with sarcastic humor. “Devil egg?” I asked, holding out a tray of the little white halves with gooey yellow tops.

Travis coughed covering a laugh. Devin frowned. Lexi giggled. The corners of Chase’s mouth tilted, and I tried not to stare at his lips, failing miserably.

This was going well.

Setting the platter down, I joined the others. There was a football game on the TV, occupying the guys’ attention. I caught Chase glancing at me as much as I snuck glances at him. Lexi was thumbing through a few of my mom’s magazines looking bored.

Excusing myself for a moment, I needed air. Being within arm’s reach of Chase was making my insides go bananas. So I snuck off into the hallway thinking I could cure myself of him with some distance. But he was like a deadly disease. There wasn’t a cure. No pill. No remedy. No medical procedure. I leaned my head against the wall and blinked.

Chase popped in front of me and I shrieked. My heart pounded in my ears, and I swung at him, hitting only air. He moved to the side. “Christ. I hate when you do that. I swear you do it just to piss me off.”

“Which isn’t hard to do Angel Eyes.” His eyes were laughing at me.

I made a face.

“Are we going to kiss and make-up now?” he asked, blocking any escape with his powerful body. It was rippled, chiseled, and toned in all the right places.

I gave him an uninterested expression. “Don’t hold your breath.”

The ghost of a smile lurked on his lips. “Doesn’t hurt to try.”

I stood as still as possible with the wall pressed to my back and tried with all my might to not be effective by his close proximity. My teenage hormones had other ideas.

I hated them.

A moment passed between us and he must have seen it in my eyes, because he took a step back. “How about a truce? For Devin and your mom. What do you say?” A brow arched.

It was a dirty trick to play the mom card. He knew I wouldn’t do anything to upset her. “Like I have a choice, but this doesn’t mean I forgive you.”

His hand reached out and twirled the ends of my hair. “What exactly am I supposed to be forgiven for?” The sound of his voice was like dark silk.

I socked him in the chest.

He grinned, not budging an inch. “I’ve missed you Angel Eyes.”

My eyes flashed to his. I knew that he said it offhandedly, jokingly, but that didn’t stop my breath from hitching. I fumbled with something smart to say. “Devin seems a little on edge. What gives? Did you piss him off too?”

He snorted. “You wish. Actually, he is worried about what is between us now that he is shacking up with your mom.”

I cringed. “Do not ever mention shacking and my mom in the same sentence.”

He grinned, his eyes dancing with mischief. Someone was in a playful mood, a complete turnabout from the other day. He made my head spin. “My uncle is afraid that we will either get too close or have the explosion of the century. Both in his mind are not good outcomes.”

I relaxed into his body without realizing I was doing it. His fingers played with mine as we talked. “He should stop trying to knock her up and spend more time worrying about our current hunter pollution.”

He chuckled. The sound hit me straight in the gut. “Whether you believe it or not, Devin has your mom’s best interest at heart. Yours too. He wants to protect her from all this. He doesn’t want her to be touched or tainted by the dealings of the underworld.”

Like me
, I thought. And so did Chase. I could see the guilt and blame reflecting in his smoky eyes still. It was in his voice. He still believed everything that happened to me was his fault. I sighed. “We should get back before someone notices we’re both missing.”

“They probably think we’re kissing and making-up.”

“In your dreams.”

“I know I’m in yours.”

“Do you always have to have the last word?”

His face was expressionless. “Is a frog’s ass watertight?”

I groaned. This was going nowhere fast. Pushing off the wall, I brushed past him. “Jerk,” I muttered under my breath, but grinning inside.

“Brat,” he countered just for my ears alone.

By dinner we had waved the white flag – a ceasefire. Well, at least through the holiday. After that it was fair game again. Dinner was loud, boisterous, and chaotic. Everyone talked over everyone. Chase and Travis ate enough to feed a small country. There was so much laughter that I actually swore water came out of my nose once. The muscles in my mouth were sore from grinning so much.

It felt normal.

Seeing my mom that happy was worth putting up with Chase. It was worth every horrible, painful, and scary thing that had happened to me since moving to Spring Valley. When dessert was served, I was positive I couldn’t stuff another bite in my gorged belly.

“You going to eat that?” Chase asked, eyeballing my piece of pumpkin pie piled with cool whip. Just the way I like it.

I shoveled a heaping spoonful in my mouth, looking like a chipmunk.

He chuckled, sneaking a fork full of my pie. I slapped at his hand. “Do you want to lose a finger?” I threatened my mouth still full of pumpkin goop.

Moving closer to me, he pushed aside a fallen piece of hair behind my ear. The intoxicating scent of him fluttered over my face, overriding the sweetness of the pie. From across the table, my mom raised an eye, and I quickly swiped at his lingering hand.

“Knock it off,” I scolded, only to be rewarded with one of his dazzling smiles. Pushing my plate in his direction, I knew that if I ate another bite, I would hurl. He ate the whole darn thing. Bottomless pit.

Lexi and I retired to the couch after dinner in a practically comatose state. Food does that. I played with the sleeves of my cardigan. “What are you doing tomorrow?” I cringed even as I asked. Tomorrow was the biggest shopping day of the year. Duh. Lexi was going to be riding high on caffeine and start shopping before the sun even cracked.

From the other side of the couch, she looked at me over the pages of Black Friday ads. “Probably check out the sales.”

“So, I was thinking of tagging along.” I regretted the words even as they tumbled from my mouth. I wanted to be a good friend, best friend, but this was just going too far. If it had been Travis, none of this would have even been an issue. But Lexi was my best friend, so…