you back." I hung up and dialed Hugh. "Hey, Dr. Mitchell. You volunteered me to be auctioned off?"
"It's not that different from what you usually do," he argued. "And it's for charity."
"I buy the peace-on-Earth-and-good-will-toward-men thing from Peter and Cody - but not from you. You don't care about those kids."
"I care about the group's director," Hugh said. "She's a fucking fox. I get some high quality candidates to raise money, and I can probably get her in bed."
"You're using a children's charity to further your sex life. That's horrible. And why didn't you ask Tawny? If anyone needs a date, she does."
"Her? Jesus Christ. It'd be a disaster. We're trying to make money here. Do you hate kids or something?"
"No, but I don't have time to do it. I'll write them a check."
I hung up on his protests, just as I turned onto Queen Anne Avenue. I was a little early for my shift and decided to stop home and grab an apple and a granola bar. Last time I'd worked, we'd been so busy that I'd skipped my lunch break. I figured that this time, I should come prepared. My immortality wouldn't let me starve to death, but I could still get lightheaded and weak.
Halfway down the hall to my apartment, I felt a shock wave of crystalline goodness. Angelic auras. I opened my door and found the whole gang: Carter, Yasmine, Whitney, Joel, and Vincent. None of them spoke; they were all just watching me expectantly. The angels would have sensed me long before I sensed them. They all sat in my living room, casually occupying my sofa and chairs as though they weren't a host of heavenly warriors. Well, not all of them were casual. Joel sat as stiff and formal as he had the first time I met him.
"Oh, man," I said, shutting the door behind me. "It's just like that They Might Be Giants song."
Vincent grinned. "'She's an Angel'?"
I nodded. "Somewhere they're meeting on a pinhead - "
" - calling you an angel, calling you the nicest things," he finished.
"What are you doing here?" demanded Joel, interrupting our jam session.
"Or not so nice," I muttered. I turned from Vincent and glared at Joel. "I live here, remember?"
"We're having a meeting," he said.
"Hey, when you asked if Vince could stay here, you never said anything about making this your top secret tree house headquarters. I don't care if you guys hold your choir practice here or whatever, but don't try to throw me out while you do."
"Sorry," said Yasmine. I did a double-take. Apologies from angels were about as rare as from demons. From the look on his face, Joel was about as surprised as me. "We probably should have asked first. We can go somewhere else." She leaned over my coffee table and started gathering up newspapers. Interesting. Apparently Vincent's fixation with the news was more than just a personal hobby. I glanced back up at Yasmine and tried to act like I hadn't noticed anything.
"No, it's fine. I'm actually heading right back out. I just came by for some food."
She pushed strands of long, black hair out of her face. They'd slipped out of her ponytail. "You want Vince to make you something?"
He turned to her, startled, wearing an astonished, yet still-amused look. "What am I, your personal assistant?"
"Not with the kind of respect you show us," she grumbled.
I hid a smile. "Thanks, but I'm fine. I don't have the time."
"Good," said Joel. "Then hurry up."
Whitney sighed and looked a little embarrassed - but not enough to contradict him. Yasmine had no such qualms and elbowed him in the ribs. "What was that for?" he exclaimed.
"You have no manners," she scolded.
Grinning broadly, I went to the kitchen and found an apple. When I opened the cupboard to look for my granola bars, I found the box empty. "Hey," I said, carrying it out to the living room. "Did somebody eat these? I had two left this morning."
Carter spoke up for the first time. "I was hungry."
I stared at him, incredulous. "You ate both of them?"
"I was hungry," he repeated, not looking contrite in the least.
"Does it ever stop with you?" I exclaimed. "First the Christmas tree, now this? You didn't even throw the box away!"
"I was hoping you'd forgotten about the Christmas tree. That was an accident, and you know it."
I sighed loudly and put the apple in my purse.
"I'm going to the grocery store later," said Vincent helpfully. Aubrey jumped up and