Omens (The Dark in You #6) - Suzanne Wright Page 0,85
location, Keenan had sent a teleporting member of his Force to pick up the angel and bring him to Knox’s Underground office. “It’s Eric, right?”
The angel lifted his chin. “What do you want?”
“You can heal illnesses.”
“Of course,” said Eric, arrogance dripping from his tone. “It’s a standard ability for my kind.”
“I need you to heal two people. You’ll be paid for your services.”
Eric flicked a dismissive hand. “I don’t work for or with demons.”
“You do now,” said Keenan, his tone non-negotiable.
Eric narrowed his eyes. “You think I’m afraid of you?”
Keenan stalked toward him. “No. I think you’re kicking up a fuss because you think it’s the best way to make us offer you more money to do our bidding.”
“We don’t have time to sit down and go back and forth while we settle on a price with you,” said Khloé, speaking for the first time. “Two people have been hit with death essence, and they need your aid.”
“Impossible,” scoffed Eric. “If they’d been hit by death essence, they’d be dead.”
“Obviously that’s not always the case or I wouldn’t be standing here right now,” she said. “Both my brother and I were able to drive the death essence from our bodies, but small particles of it remained, and those particles are slowly killing us. See for yourself.”
Eric lifted his hand and waved it, shining a beam of light at Khloé. Keenan frowned. It was no different than someone aiming a torch at her, but that divine light must have enabled the angel to see something he didn’t, because Eric’s face paled. “How is it that your organs haven’t failed?”
“They’re currently protected by magick, but those protections won’t last forever. My brother and I need your help, and we need it now. So let’s stop pussyfooting around—name your price so that I can contact my Prime and we can all move forward with the situation.”
“If Knox Thorne is not your Prime, who is?”
“Jolene Wallis.”
His upper lip curled. “I’ve heard of her.”
Khloé’s lips twitch. “I take it you don’t like imps much.”
“The last time I refused to assist an imp, they emptied my bank accounts, stole the contents from my home-safe, took out bank loans in my name, and posted my address on a BDSM online forum declaring I was having a party and that all were invited. I lost my teaching job after that fiasco.”
Keenan’s demon chuckled, despite its dark mood.
Khloé shrugged. “Sounds pretty tame to me. My grandmother will go to any measure to ensure that my brother and I are healed—I’m not saying she’ll physically harm you, but she has ways of making your life an endless cycle of hell.”
Larkin crossed one leg over the other and said, “The big G can’t help you—he and Lucifer made an agreement not to personally interfere in fights between angels and demons, since past attempts almost resulted in the two deities going to war. Neither likes war, and the Earth would never survive such a battle intact. In other words, you can’t rely on divine help. Be smart, cooperate, and name your price.”
Eric tightened his mouth, staring at Khloé hard. Finally, he jutted out his chin and said, “Twenty thousand dollars each. And before you tell me that’s extortionate, remember that you can’t put a true price on life.”
Thinking he was something of a greedy fucker but relieved that he’d agreed to help, Khloé telepathically reached out to Jolene. Grams, we got an angel here. He says he’ll heal Ciaran and me, but he wants to charge you twenty grand per person.
Jolene’s mind practically leapt at hers. An angel? Where?
Knox’s office. Will you agree to his price?
Of course, her grandmother replied without hesitation. I would have expected him to demand more.
I think he’s too afraid of you and imps in general to test our patience.
So he should be. I’ll contact Ciaran and be with you shortly.
Khloé switched her focus back to Eric. “Jolene has agreed to your price.”
Eric nodded. “When will she get here?”
“Soon.”
It couldn’t have been more than a minute later that Ciaran, Jolene, Orrin, and Vivian abruptly appeared in the middle of the office. Khloé frowned. Why had she brought along Vivian?
Ciaran sidled up to Khloé and gave her a nod, fairly vibrating with optimism. “You okay?”
“Hopefully both of us will be in, say, five minutes’ time,” she replied.
As regal as ever, Jolene fixed her attention on the angel. “I am Jolene Wallis. And you are?”
He licked his lips. “Eric Carlton.”
“Eric Carlton,” she echoed, flashing him a courteous smile. “I will