Chapter 33
Adela and Liam listened as Jeff raged next door.
“I wonder what happened,” Adela said.
There was the distinct sound of glass breaking. “That didn’t sound good,” Liam noted. He shook his head, leaned back against the couch, and closed his eyes.
Adela got up from the chair and began to pace. Jeff was yelling, and for the past ten minutes, it had sounded like he was destroying the place. She wanted to comfort him, but she didn’t know what to say.
“Do you think he’s heard something about Sara?” she asked.
Liam still had his eyes closed. “Don’t know, Adela. I don’t know.”
And that, she decided, was the worst thing about being human. You simply didn’t know the answers. As an Angel of Death, she knew what was in store for her every single night: death. Some would go easy, some wouldn’t. The little device at her wrist vibrated and told her exactly what was next. There was never any guessing.
“I think we should go over there,” she said.
“Bad idea, love.”
“Why?”
Liam opened his eyes. “Because when a man is so upset that he trashes his own apartment, you don’t want to get in the way.”
Adela studied him for a moment, then nodded. It seemed as if he were talking from experience. She sat down on the couch next to him.
“Jeff!” a voice called from the hall.
“Missy,” Liam mumbled.
“Jeff!” Missy yelled again.
They listened as the door opened then shut. They couldn’t understand what the muffled voices said, but it seemed as though Jeff’s was getting quieter.
“She must be calming him down,” Adela said, thankful they didn’t have to hear the destruction any longer.
As far as Adela was concerned, it was good that Jeff had a friend who was there for him, even if it was his wife’s friend. She wondered if Jeff thought of Sara every time he saw Missy. Liam was also in deep thought, she noted, as his brow furrowed and a faraway look glinted in his eyes.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
He stood at the sliding glass door and crossed his arms over his chest. Adela noted how his broad shoulders tapered down to a slim waist beneath his white T-shirt. His legs were thick and long, and she thought back to those damn books. He was exactly as they described a hero to be, and an itch of irritation made her squirm in her seat.
How far she had come from thinking of him as a lesser angel and now her wild imagination had him placed in the role of her lover. She shook her head, trying to derail where her thoughts were going, which was somewhere along the lines of, What would Liam look like without clothes?
Liam sighed. “I’m just wondering if—“
“I’m back,” Evangeline stated. Adela jumped off the couch, ready to flee. Even though she had been human for a few days, Evangeline’s habit of popping in and out of their lives was now startling.
Evangeline stood in the middle of the living room, her white wings flapping, and then she folded them behind her back. A very satisfied look crossed her face.
“I’ve received permission to bend the rules on this assignment,” she announced with a smile.
Adela noted that Liam had yet to look at her, his eyes instead focused on the sliding glass door.
“And what does that mean, love?” he asked in a low voice.
“It means that you have your angel wings back, as well as your angel abilities. However, it also means that you won’t be granted this latitude on your next assignment.”
Adela nodded, looking forward to getting back into the role that she knew so well. Perhaps she wasn’t meant for this earth any longer, and maybe, just maybe, she could convince Evangeline or a higher power of this. She hoped there wouldn’t be another assignment, but at the same time, she did enjoy Liam’s company. Perhaps they could both go back to being Angels of Death.
“Before you do anything, I need to tell you something,” Evangeline said in a grave voice.
Adela felt the transformation take place—the wall—or bubble wrap, as Liam had called it—was forming. It was like a cocoon encompassing her and the familiarity was comforting. She shut her eyes for a moment, happy to be back into a role that she knew well. Gone were silly books and slips of silk. She didn’t need to interact with humans. She was once again an Angel of Death and her confidence soared.
“I believe that if Jeff and Sara are not reunited, he will do something stupid,” Evangeline said. “If the blackness consumes him, I’m afraid we’ll be reading about something he’s done in the papers soon.”
“Like what?” Liam asked.
“The worst, of course, being murder. Or suicide.”
“So he just gets his gun and starts shooting people for no good reason?”
“I was thinking more along the lines of a certain someone, like the professor who stole his wife. If he does hurt himself or someone else, he has lost his fight with the darkness within him.”
Adela opened her eyes and looked at Liam. He, too, was once again an Angel of Death. Black wings sprouted from his back, and his black leather pants and vest clung to his body.
“That’s terrible!” Adela blurted. “We need to do something!”
Adela stood and stretched her wings. She noted Liam didn’t look happy, and she wondered if it was because he was an angel again, what Evangeline just revealed about Jeff, or both. He stared at the window, his reflection gone. In fact, as Adela gazed at the window, it looked as if it the apartment was empty. In the reflection she saw the couch, the chair, and the coffee table. It was as if she and Liam simply didn’t exist.
Although she felt comfortable as an Angel of Death, she did exist, and she had done so as a human for the past few days. Not being able to see herself was jarring.
“So your task is now to find Sara,” Evangeline said. “You have full angel abilities. When she is found, we need to move quickly to get her back here and into Jeff’s arms.”
Liam turned. “It seems to me that there’s something not right here, love,” he said, his tone quiet. “This was supposed to be easy. There isn’t anything easy about this.”
“Well—“
“Well, nothing, Evangeline. I just think—“
“Liam,” Evangeline retorted, her gaze hard, “this is your assignment. It’s not up to you or me to question it.”
Liam stared at her for a moment, then looked at Adela. “Ready to go?”
Adela could see that Liam was angry. The twinkle in his eye was gone, as was the lazy grin he usually wore. Adela wanted to comfort him but decided that sometimes it was best to let anger take its course.
“Yes, I am.”
Liam turned and walked through the wall to Jeff’s apartment. Adela followed.