first to admit I’ve had more than one dirty nurse fantasy starring her.
“What the fuck are you up to?” Raz inquires as he leaps down into our den, wings spread. He tucks his wings in and shakes out his wet hair—he must have just snagged a shower—before grabbing a beer out of the mini fridge and throwing himself onto the closest red sofa. Our fearless leader stares into the flames of our roaring fire, his eyes glowing red before his face flickers to one of his nightmare personas and back. Did he just get back from a nightmare? Is he tired? Stressed? I know today in particular has been hell on him, after Katrina disappeared before we could catch her.
Fortunately, Akor’s stalker skills are top-notch, and he found her at the ice cream place with her younger brother. He then followed them back home and, I quote, ”kissed her forehead goodnight.”
I imagine he broke a few human laws tonight. The most pressing one being breaking and entering.
Good for him.
I wish desperately I could see her. Could brush her pink hair behind her ear. Whisper sweet nothings to her, in order to conjure up that adorable blush. Trace the charm bracelet on her wrist with the tip of my finger.
Kiss her sweet, sweet lips.
But I can’t. Not until she’s safe.
Not until the angel fuckers are destroyed once and for all.
“Searching,” I grunt.
Raz moves until he stands directly behind me, his large frame casting shadows over my laptop screen.
“For omens?”
Angels, when they enter earth, usually leave smoke signals twenty miles high. Lightning storms. Unexplained earthquakes. The Coronavirus? That was a fleet of angels nearing one hundred strong settling down. Those winged fucks think they’re so good for humanity, but they can’t see how they upset the balance here every time they descend.
“There’s been nothing to signify angels have landed in this town in the last fifty years,” I explain, closing the laptop and running my fingers through my black hair. It’s slightly longer than it was when I first met Katrina, and the curls feel stiff beneath my hand.
“Lightning storms?”
“Nothing unusual.”
“Plagues?”
“Nope.”
Raz taps his chin contemplatively. “Unexplained deaths?”
“Except for Katrina’s nanny, no.”
That piques Raz’s attention. “What do you know about that?” he asks.
“Only what we gathered,” I admit. “The police report described the night as having clear skies. No rain or snow. There were no other cars in the area, according to Katrina. She claimed a massive bear landed in front of their car and forced them off the road.”
My heart breaks all over again at what my lovely Katrina endured. I know her nanny’s—Ali’s—death haunts her, sinking its talons in her very soul and twisting. A lesser woman would succumb to the pain, but my Katrina has thrived, becoming an even better version of herself, despite it all. Top-notch student, caretaker for her brother, kind-hearted…
“I always thought that was suspicious,” Raz mumbles, more to himself than to me. “Bears fucking avoid roads like the plague.”
“She talked to you about the accident?” I can’t deny the crippling jealousy that pierces my heart at the thought. It’s entirely irrational, but I want to be the one she turns to for solace and comfort. The one she can rely on irrevocably.
Raz waves his hand dismissively, his mind already millions of miles away.
“I need to check on something,” he murmurs, and before I can comment, he turns on his heel and fans out his wings. With a single leap, he’s up over the balcony, and then he’s gone.
Crazy bloody leader.
I remain in the den (not the human den, but our hellfire pit) well past three in the morning. Now that Akor’s fucking stuffed our home full of animals, this is the only place in the house my leg doesn’t have some cat rubbing up against it or a dog humping it. I stare into the flames after all of the other pricks have already retired to bed. I’m assuming they have, at least. I haven’t seen Raz since his cryptic mutterings, and Kastros never showed his face. Akor is no doubt in a tent underneath Katrina’s window right about now. Probably still in his sexy nurse’s costume as he tries to entice our beloved.
But the damn hairy knees… She’ll never come back to us if she sees those.
“What the fuck are you up to?” Van appears at the top of the pit, his leathery wings unfurling as he careens off the edge, landing on silent feet beside me.
“Careful. You’re beginning to sound just like Raz.”