to their table. The first sip settled her nerves somewhat.
The diner was like a million others around the country. It was clean but ordinary. No fancy decor, just booths against the wall, a few tables, and stools along the counter and in front of the window. The daily specials were on a whiteboard behind the cash register, and the cook worked nonstop at the grill. It looked as though it had been around for decades and would likely be for more to come.
The pleasant scents of food filled the air, and the prices were good. And so was the service because in no time the waitress was putting plates on the table.
She only had one. Maccus got four filled with everything from waffles to eggs and toast and, of course, bacon.
“You need anything else?” the waitress asked.
“We’re good,” he told her.
“Sure you’ve got enough?”
One corner of his mouth quirked the slightest bit upward. Morrigan held her breath and waited, but the smile never appeared. “Need to keep up my energy.”
Pointedly ignoring the sexual innuendo, she flooded her pancakes with syrup before taking her first bite. Delicious. “So what’s the plan?” she asked as she chewed.
She hoped he had one. She sure as heck didn’t.
“We enjoy our meal. Someone will show up eventually.”
She shrugged, not nearly as confident as he was, but she wasn’t about to let worry spoil her appetite. She was itching to ask about his past, what it was like being an angel, how he’d ended up falling, but that wasn’t the kind of thing you just asked a guy, even if you’d had sex with him.
Still, the curiosity gnawed at her. There was so much she didn’t know about him. “So,” she began but stopped when the door opened. She carefully put down her fork. A man walked in, a blast of power preceding him.
Big and blond, his intense blue eyes missed nothing as they swept the room. The dress shirt he wore with a pair of faded blue jeans was so white it seemed to glow. He also didn’t seem to be the least bit interested in Maccus as he wove his way toward them. No, his attention was all on her.
What little she’d eaten curdled in her stomach while her brain flashed a warning sign. Danger!
The humans in the diner shifted uneasily. Their instincts hadn’t totally deserted them. Several threw some money on their table and left, while others seemed too enthralled to move.
“This wasn’t what I’d expected,” the man said when he casually stopped alongside their table. She hated being pinned into the corner, unable to get to her weapons quickly. Ever so slowly, so as not to attract attention, she drew the blade, keeping it tucked down by her thigh. It was better than nothing.
Maccus kept on eating, supremely uninterested in and unconcerned by their visitor. A quick jab in the ribs from her elbow, and he sighed and set down his fork and knife. “You’re interrupting my breakfast,” he told the man. “This is the second morning you’ve disrupted my first cup of coffee.”
“You’ll just have to forgive me.” The sarcasm was so cutting she was surprised Maccus wasn’t bleeding.
“No, I don’t.” It took her a second to realize he was telling this man he didn’t have to forgive him.
“We had a contract.”
Holy shit! This was the archangel, Gabriel. A Catholic in her previous life, she had the overwhelming urge to cross herself. Except this angel had put out a hit on her. Kinda put a damper on her first encounter with a real angelic being.
“I haven’t signed it.” Maccus picked up his coffee and sipped.
Frustration bled from the angel, but he made no move toward her. Which really surprised her. As an angel, he could kill her without breaking a sweat. Why then was he trying to hire Maccus?
Feeling a little safer, she relaxed, but only slightly. Things could change in a heartbeat. It was always best to be ready. But it was also a smart tactic to make her opponent angry. Angry men made mistakes. Didn’t matter if