Wounded Angel (The Earth Angels) - By Stacy Gail Page 0,53
intervened.”
Nate shook his head. “I don’t know if it’s the same one. There was nothing out of control about Richard Rainier. Both he and the demon were calm and deliberate.”
Kyle adjusted his webcam, making the picture jostle. “Hey, Kendall? Did Zeke ever say what happened to the demon?”
“Just that it seemed fairly weak, opting to run away when Zeke tried to banish him from this realm by using a technique all angels of death have—he calls it soulfire.”
“Did he notice anything else about it? Characteristics? Abilities? Did it say anything?” This, from Sara.
Kendall pursed her lips. “You’d have to ask Zeke, but he’s never mentioned anything like that. The only thing that stuck out in Zeke’s mind was that when he had the demon by the throat, he described the exact same face-melting visual you mentioned, Nate. He said it seemed to get stuck in mid-shift before throwing Zeke off and high-tailing it out of there. I have no idea if it ever said anything, though.”
“Kinda hard to talk when your mouth melts away,” Kyle offered.
Nate shook his head. “That’s not a problem for this demon.”
“After Zeke and I started going out, I looked into some of the supernatural stuff he had to deal with, to familiarize myself with the world of the twenty-first-century version of the Nephilim,” Kendall went on, then hit a decisive keystroke. “Nate, I just sent you some research on shape-shifting demons. Macbeth and I will continue to look for the identity of the one you’re dealing with, but so far we’re coming up empty on any specific reference to a demon that transforms into people who are supposed to be dead. Apparently, this is a really rare one.”
“I vote for this being a demon that governs over zombies,” Kyle said, perfectly serious. “Is there such a thing? I feel there should be such a thing.”
Sara sighed. “We’ll keep looking, but in the meantime do you need anything, Nate? Whatever it is, just name it. As of now, LSI and all of its resources are at your full disposal.”
“Dude! Ask for a plane!”
“Shut up, Kyle. First and foremost, LSI is a globally based private security firm, so you can believe me when I say we’re good at it.” Sara lifted a brow while Macbeth hooted and munched on CheeZee Puffs, and Kendall chuckled into a coffee mug. “If you’d like a security detail for Ella, we could have a team on the ground in Chicago in less than four hours. I’d be happy to head up that team myself.”
Kendall nearly choked on her coffee. “Whoa, hold up, Sara. Isn’t there a problem with the Nephilim descendants being together in the same area? The way Zeke explained it to me, I thought there was a possibility of...I don’t know, getting a celestial spanking if you guys congregated.”
“A spanking I would enjoy. Thoroughly. It’s the inevitable smiting that would be a drag.” For once there was no trace of humor in Kyle’s face before he looked right into his webcam. “But as far as I’m concerned, none of that matters. I don’t like how this dick of a demon eats up innocent people just to get to us, and I sure as hell don’t like the idea of it showing your girl the face of her torturer, Nate. That’s officially unforgivable in my book.”
“Mine too, but for right now Ella and I are holding our own. I’ve decided to get in touch with the Rainier family attorney, Archibald, and see if I can get any more information on Richard Rainier. That man sold his soul—maybe to get his hands on his grandmother’s money, but then again maybe not. Whatever the case, I want to know why. I also want to know why Rainier seemed so content to ride around with the image of a dead woman by his side. No matter how you look at it, being all cozy with one of the murdered victims of his serial killer brother is profoundly messed up.”
Kendall made a notation. “What was her name again? Lana...?”
“Lana Dever. According to the police report, she was the first woman Charles Rainier abducted.”
“I can research her while Macbeth, uh...troubleshoots Richard Rainier’s personal finances. Sorry to volunteer your computer whiz, Sara,” Kendall added, wrinkling her freckle-dusted nose. “But if anyone can get to that kind of sensitive information in a hurry, it’s Macbeth.”
“I really am that good,” Macbeth nodded.
Kyle snorted. “Modest, too.”
“If I’m able, I’ll get back online around six this evening, my time,” Nate