Chapter 24
“Adela, wake up.”
Adela slowly came to consciousness, her eyelids still heavy. She didn’t want to wake up, so she rolled over.
“Adela, please.”
Then she realized it was Evangeline’s voice. What was she doing here?
She forced her eyes open and met the angel’s gaze, the sun just barely filtering through the blinds. It was early morning. “What’s going on?”
Evangeline looked worried. Her brow furrowed as her white wings created a breeze throughout the room. “It’s Liam. Where is he?”
Adela sat up, rubbing her eyes. “He should be in his room.”
“He’s not.”
“Well, I don’t know. He went out last night.”
“He’s not here, Adela.”
A cold stone settled in Adela’s chest. Where had Liam gone? She threw back the covers and got out of bed, suddenly awake. “What do we do, Evangeline? Can’t you find him?”
Evangeline shook her head. “I can locate angels, but he’s technically human. I can’t locate a human.”
Adela stared at the angel a moment, then saw the stack of books on her nightstand. A slow blush crept into her cheeks, and she hoped Evangeline wouldn’t notice them.
“Let’s go to the living room,” she said, hoping the angel would follow. She felt as though she had to busy herself and decided to make some coffee.
“That nightgown looks lovely on you,” Evangeline noted.
Her cheeks burned even more as she looked down at the slip of purple silk. “I . . . I found it in one of the drawers.”
“It’s a wonderful color for your complexion.”
“I should go change,” Adela said, hitting the brew button.
Just then, the door opened and Liam stepped in, looking worse for wear. He stopped and stared at Adela with heat in his eyes, his hand clenched at his side. She wanted to run so he couldn’t look at her any longer, but a small part of her enjoyed his eyes grazing over her form, studying her. Feeling powerful and beautiful, she met his gaze. His eyes raked over her body, longing shone in his gaze. It was as if she had suddenly been transported into one of the books she’d read.
“Where have you been?” Evangeline demanded, breaking the spell.
Liam held Adela’s stare a beat longer, then turned to Evangeline. “I was . . . out.”
Evangeline narrowed her eyes on him. “Where have you been all night, Liam?”
“I just told you . . . out,” he snapped, shutting the door and heading for the kitchen. “Do I smell coffee, Adela?”
“Yes,” Adela whispered.
“Liam, stop right where you are,” Evangeline ordered.
Adela could see Evangeline was angry, and Liam must have sensed it as well, because he did what he was told.
“I need to know what events have transpired, Liam. And if I can’t get the truth out of you, then I will be forced to head back to Heaven and read the History Scrolls to find out for myself. I would much rather have a trusting work relationship with you, but I need to be kept up-to-date on what has happened. If you remember, what occurs on this mission affects all of us.”
“What’s a History Scroll?” Adela asked.
“Every move, thought, and feeling of a human’s life is recorded,” Evangeline explained. “You are both now living as humans, and so once again, you are back on the scrolls.”
Adela thought she heard Liam curse under his breath, but she wasn’t sure.
“Fine. I went downtown. I got smashingly pissed on tequila, and went home with a woman named Grace. Now, can I please get my coffee?”
Adela felt as though he had just physically hit her, and the air rushed from her lungs. Tears stung her eyes as she thought of how childish she had been. Reading those books and putting Liam in the leading role as her seducer had been stupid. Becoming emotionally attached to those thoughts was ridiculous. He was Liam, and he would never find her, a three-hundred-year-old witch, as he liked to call her, attractive.
And, it didn’t matter because they were both dead. They were angels who had an important mission. She shouldn’t have let what was written in those silly books spark her imagination, regardless of her longing to know what being in love entailed.
Liam sunk into the couch and sipped his coffee. “This tastes good. Did you make this, Adela?”
She nodded, suddenly not feeling powerful or sexy, but naked and ridiculous. “Yes,” she mumbled. “Excuse me, please.”
Rushing down the hall and into the bedroom, she quietly closed the door and took a deep breath. She needed to get her angel game-face back on and realize that nothing would happen between her and Liam. Yes, she had needed him to show her the ways of this world, and she would probably need him in the future. She could now work the microwave, the coffeemaker, and the oven, but she was certain that there were things she wasn’t going to understand, and Liam, as her partner, would be there to help her.
But that was as far as it was going to go.
She walked over to the nightstand and stared at the pile of books. Longing tore at her heart: she wanted what the women on those pages had. They had men who adored them, who would walk to the end of the earth through cut glass for them, and made them tingle with waves of pleasure. She would never have that.
“Damn you,” she cursed the books, and shoved them into the bag. She fell to her knees, pushed them under the bed, then got up and grabbed some sweatpants and a sweatshirt from a dresser drawer.
Inhaling deeply, she made a promise to herself that she wouldn’t allow her focus on their task to shift again. She stepped out into the hallway and closed the door.
“I can’t believe you’ve done this, Liam,” Evangeline fumed as Adela came down the hall. “You’ve left us very little choice.”
“I wasn’t thinking, Evangeline. Let me just talk to him.”
Adela sat on the loveseat kitty-cornered to Liam. She avoided his gaze. “What’s happened, Evangeline? What has Liam done?”
Evangeline met her gaze. “First, I’ve confirmed that Jeff is indeed our target, which is the good news. Last night Jeff was at the same club as Liam. I checked his scroll before I came down. I’m not certain, but my guess is that Jeff saw Liam with another woman and now thinks Liam has cheated on his beautiful wife, which would be you. He’s angered over it because he is a man of substance who would never think of doing such a thing.”
“Look, I already told you, I wasn’t thinking,” Liam moaned, closing his eyes and rubbing his head. “Just let me think about this. There has to be an answer.”
“The darkness in Jeff is very profound this morning,” Evangeline said. “I’m afraid we’re going to lose him to it.”
“Well then, why don’t you go check the scrolls and find out where his damn wife is so we can get them back together?” Liam asked.
“Because that’s not the way it’s supposed to work!” Evangeline exclaimed, her voice a high-pitched trill. “You two have been tasked to this mission for a specific reason. It’s my job to oversee it.”
Adela studied Liam. He winced at Evangeline’s voice as though he was in pain, and she wondered if it was from the alcohol he had consumed. She couldn’t help but feel her own agony, as though he had really cheated on her, which was silly. They were simply playing roles—this wasn’t real life. Their real existence was not of this earth.
“I’ll take care of it,” Liam bit out.
“Very well,” Evangeline said, “but I’m afraid that you’ve completely blown this mission. If Jeff is upset because of your actions, how is he going to trust you? To confide in you? How is him ignoring you going to help further our assignment? We need information, Liam, and I hope you haven’t cut off our source.”