“Diner just around the corner. Good food, and if anyone is keeping tabs on us, we won’t make it hard for them to find us.”
Morrigan wished she had his confidence. Maybe it was no big deal to him to go up against Lucifer or an angel. Truthfully, she’d much prefer to avoid it at all costs. “Who?” she asked. It had been bugging her since she’d laid her eyes on the contract.
“Who what?” He surveyed their surroundings, his dark eyes missing nothing.
“Who was the angel that put out the contract?” Call it her need to know.
“Gabriel.” He tossed the name out as he turned a corner.
She came to a complete stop, her heart stuttering. She sucked in a deep breath of the early morning air and then wished she hadn’t. The city air was brutal on someone with her enhanced senses.
“The Gabriel? The archangel?”
“Yes.”
Just yes, no trying to soften the blow or sugarcoat anything. It was extremely callous. It was also reassuring. Maccus didn’t bother to waste time lying to her.
And considering everything she’d been through, she actually appreciated that.
“An archangel wants me dead,” she whispered. Why? What had she done to attract an archangel’s attention?
Maccus placed his hand on the small of her back and gave a light push to get her moving again. He guided her toward the door of a rather nondescript diner. The heat seeped through the layers of clothing and into her skin.
“It’s not that big a deal.”
She came to a dead stop in the open doorway. “Not that big a deal,” she repeated. It was official. Maccus was a crazy man. “How can you say that?”
He shrugged. “He’s wanted me dead for years. And he’s likely not the only one. I’ve killed almost as many angels as demons over the years.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Honestly, the man was too nonchalant about killing. She’d been a bounty hunter for a decade, had seen all manner of horrible things, but she didn’t think she’d ever get to the point where it became mundane.
Or maybe she would.
How long had he been alive, anyway? He could pass for mid-thirties, but looks were deceiving. It had to be a very, very long time.
Draping his arm over her shoulders, he eased her inside. The place was long and narrow, the only windows at the very front. “Let’s continue this at our table.” He pointed to a booth at the back. She went straight for it and slid onto the seat where she’d have a clear sightline of the rest of the room, leaving the bench opposite her for him.
He didn’t even glance at it but shoved in alongside her, so she was plastered against the wall.
She should have expected it. No way he’d put his back to the door. He’d always do exactly as he pleased.
Lesson learned.
“Do you mind?” She glared at him and drove her elbow into his side to try to make enough room for herself.
“Not at all.” Was that a teasing note in his voice? She shot him a glance, but he was scoping out the place, his expression dark and foreboding. In other words, totally normal for him.
A waitress bustled up to the table and placed two menus in front of them. “Coffee?”
“Yes, please.” She was desperate for a hit. She hadn’t eaten since yesterday afternoon before setting out on her hunt.
“The usual,” Maccus told her and handed the menu back.
If the waitress knew his usual order, he’d been here many times before. The idea of him having a favorite diner made him seem more… Not human, because he would never be that, but more like her.
Not that she was a normal human. Not anymore.
Morrigan quickly scanned the menu. “Pancakes and bacon. Real maple syrup if you have it. Orange juice, too.” She’d worked up an appetite. And didn’t the condemned get a good meal?
To keep herself busy while they waited, she added sugar to the coffee the waitress brought