“Hey,” Hawkyn said through clenched teeth.“Nice securitysystem you’ve got here.Could do without the electrical current frying myinsides, though.”
“Yeah, well, it wasn’t meant for you.”She closed her eyesand concentrated on the low-level vibration emanating from the trap she’d set.An invisible thread of energy, much like a power cord, stretched from her tothe protective bubble around the house, and with a whispered command,“Rojalis,” it snapped.
Instantly, Hawkyn relaxed,taking ingulps of air, his broad chest heaving under his black turtleneck and leatherjacket.He was magnificent, his long, lean thighs encased in dark jeans thatbunched around well-used combat boots.She never would have guessed he was anangel, but it was a good look, and despite the horror of the past days, herbody grew uncomfortably warm.
Damn her succubus genes.
“That was unpleasant,” he said in a deep, husky voice thatturned up the temperature even more, “and I’m anangel.What the hellwould happen to a human who got caught in your trap?”
“A good human?”She shrugged.“Nothing.The trap wascalibrated for evil.”She paused, an icy finger of fear poking her in thelibido, and she took a casual step back in case she needed to slam the door inhis face.“Um, if you’re an angel, why would it snare you?”
“Long story.Doesn’t matt--”
“Don’t,” she broke in with a wag of her finger.“Don’t evengo there.It does matter, and I want an answer.”
One blond eyebrow arched high, and she suspected he wasn’tused to being cut off.
“Okay, short story it is.”He jammed his hands in his jacketpockets.“My dad is evil.Sort of.”
Well, that wasn’t expected.“Isn’t your dad, uh, God?”
“No.”
“All right, then.I have a lot to learn.”She gestured ininvitation.“Want to come in?Do you need permission?”
One corner of his mouth tipped up in amusement.“I’m anangel, not a vampire from some campy movie.”His voice, just like at thehospital, was so whiskey smooth she thought she could get drunk from merelylistening to him.
“Well, youdohave fangs,” she pointed out, feelinga little foolish.
He chuckled, but his boots didn’t make a sound on herhardwood floors as he walked inside, surprising from such a large male.Sheclosed the door behind him and reached deep for her power, but now that thetrap had been triggered and shut down, she didn’t have enough left to set itagain.Well, she supposed that if worst came to worst, the angel standing inher living room would be adequate protection from the psychopath who’d tried tokill her.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you were released from thehospital.”He swung around toher,more muscle andhotnessthan had ever been in her home.“I assume you took aHarrowgate home?”
“Yes,” she said, without elaborating.He didn’t need to knowthat her people couldn’t see, and therefore use, Harrowgates like normalunderworlders could.That little tidbit of info could stay between her andRuna, whohadbeen able to use the Harrowgate to get Aurora from NewYork to Portland in a matter of seconds.“And it’s perfectly fine that youweren’t there.You aren’t my caretaker.”She maneuvered around him to get tothe kitchen.“Can I offer you a drink or anything?”
“No, thank you.”He followed her, his presence making hersix hundred square foot home feel even more like a shoebox than it already did.“How are you doing?”
As long asshe didn’t think aboutwhat had happened to her, she was A-okay.“I’ll be better once I go to thepolice.”
“Ah, yeah.”He raked his fingers through his hair and lookedat everything but her.“That’s the thing.You can’t go to them.”
She pulled her macaroni and cheese from the microwave.“Excuse me?Why not?”When he didn’t answer, she slammed the microwave doorclosed and turned to him.“Well?”
She almost laughed, because it wasprettyclearhe wanted to use the “long story” excuse again.Finally, hegestured to the dining room table.“Maybe we should talk while you eat your...What is that?”
“What, they don’t have frozen macaroni and cheese inHeaven?”
“I have no idea,” he said with a shrug.“I’ve never been.But it seems to me that you can’t call a place Heaven if it doesn’t have pastaand cheese.And dogs.”
“Agreed.”She opened the silverware drawer.“But let me getthis straight.Your dad is ‘sort of’ evil and you’ve never been to Heaven.Whatkind of angelareyou, anyway?”
A nervous knot formed in her stomach as she palmed a fork.What if hewasn’tan angel?What if he was lying?Oh, gods, who hadshe let into her house?
And how effective were forks as weapons?As one ofPortland’s most in-demand masseuses, she had a detailed knowledge of anatomyand could disable or even kill with one well-placed stab of a fork, but thatwas assuming the target was human.Even if Hawkyn wasn’t an angel, hedefinitelywasn’thuman.
He must have noticed her alarm, because he lowered his voiceto a soothing, almost lulling murmur.“I’m a special breed of earthbound angelcalled Memitim.I was born here, raised by humans, and my goal, same as everyMemitim, is to earn my way into Heaven.”
She raked him from head to toe with her gaze, looking forany sign that he was telling the truth, but he looked like a normal humanoidmale.Well, not normal.Or in any way average.Hell, as far as she could tell,he didn’t have a single physical attribute that wasn’t utter perfection, fromhis flawless tan skin and angular, masculine features to his strong jawline andlush lashes that framed eyes the color of smoked emeralds.
