Angelic Avenger (22 page)

Would anyone notice if I let Ben off the clown? He’d do it. The simplest way around the issue would be if the man in front of us discreetly disappeared. What I was thinking must have shown on my face because a rather large black wolf in canine form stepped between me and the maniac and had the audacity to growl at me.

“Down, Cujo.” I frowned down at it and blinked when I recognized those cold blue eyes. Here I thought Alex was on our side. Well, maybe he was because deep down, I had to admit Alex was right. I couldn’t walk in here and start threatening people. I toned it down a little and offered my hand to him.

“Arabella Morrison, to be polite and offer an introduction since our host forgot about it.”

“I know exactly who you are, Ms. Morrison. There is absolutely no need for polite introductions at this point.” The weasel didn’t take my hand and I took no offense as I withdrew the offer. A lot of supernaturals wouldn’t shake my hand and considering I had been thinking about the long term repercussions of harvesting the man’s soul not a heartbeat before, I really couldn’t blame him. It’s always better to err on the side of caution in my book.

“Shall we get down to business, then?” I smiled at him sweetly as I arched a brow over his shoulder at the muscle mass behind him. “I promise not to bite, can you say the same?”

Gavin’s eyes widened from where he stood just within the side of my vision. What on earth was into me, all of a sudden? I blamed it all on Gray and his little magic trick. That had to be it. I wasn’t usually this…antagonistic. Okay, maybe I was, but I was usually better at hiding my true feelings on a matter.

“It’s generally bad business to make promises you don’t intend to keep.”

See, we were on the same page. This time, my smile had a bit more warmth in it. We passed a look that said we understood one another and I led the way to a table. Ben stood behind my seat, but Gavin and DeFlores took their places at the table. I leveled a look at DeFlores and waited expectantly.

“I’m rather surprised you’re involving yourself in our affairs, Ms. Morrison. I always thought the angels and their minions were above such petty issues as shifter concerns.”

Hey, I’d been upgraded to a minion. I suppressed a chuckle over that and let it slide. Technically speaking, I was neutral, so wasn’t a minion for any of the orders, no matter which side held my leash.

No one offered us drinks, which told me we weren’t even remotely pretending this was a polite meeting. Of course, the growls from the wolves around the room might have been a pretty good indication about where I stood in the scheme of things around here. No, they weren’t my friends. I was the boogeyman and I’d come to call.

“Well, from the way I’m looking at things, you’re trying to get everyone killed and that’s not exactly in the best interest of the rest of the supernatural community. You guys come out of the closet and every Tom, Dick, and Harry will be trying to prove the rest of the legends around the world are true. I think that’s a little much for the mortal mindset, don’t you?”

“The mortal mindset can be trained.” DeFlores sniffed, but the look in his eye was pure anticipation. “Haven’t you ever wondered why we cater to such a weak race? Don’t you see us—” he waved his hand dramatically to encompass the room, “—as superior in intellect, strength and adaptability to them?”

Okay, appealing to his reason wasn’t going to work. What sent the chills up my spine, were the murmurs of agreement circulating through the crowd around the room. Looking at him, a rather large piece to the puzzle snapped into place.

They weren’t following him at all. He wasn’t charismatic enough to garner that kind of a following. He was powerful, yes. I could feel it running along my perception like a shadow out of view. It was his unassuming appearance and his total lack of charisma that worked in his favor. The shifters were following his reasoning, which made the movement all the more dangerous. Taking the head off the revolution wouldn’t quell it. The seeds were sown and were taking root all over the blasted place.

“That’s not a decision for you to make, Mr. DeFlores.” I managed to keep my tone bland and neutral. “The point is that if you go through with bringing shifters to the eyes of the mortals, you will incite panic. They will hunt you down and eradicate every last one of you because they don’t have the capacity to understand what you are enough not to fear you. Trust me, I know.”

“Change may come a little slower than we’d all like, but they’ll come around.”

There was total conviction in his voice. The lack of doubt made the statement seem to be fact rather than wishful thinking. What could I say to counter that?

“Well, just so you know, I won’t let you launch a mass suicide mission. I appreciate what you’re thinking as far as things go, but putting yourself on the front page of the Journal would be that. No one will accept it and will only see the monsters among us, not the good.”

Something passed across his face and I knew we were done before he ever opened his mouth.

“That remains to be seen. We’ll never know unless we try.”

I really didn’t like the look in his eyes when I stood up. “Thank you for your time, Mr. DeFlores. I’d love to say it’s been a pleasure, but you’re a freakin’ madman bent on getting people I care about slaughtered.”

Ben’s groan was low enough so only those closest to us heard it. Gavin rose with me and I smiled at him.

“Care to call us a cab?”

“You need a ride?” There was amusement laced under his gruff tone and his blue eyes sparkled with several contrary emotions. Someday, I was going to sit down with him over drinks and find out what he was thinking right this minute. If he lived that long, of course.

“Yep.” I grinned at him ruefully. “I seem to be making friends all over the place today.”

His laughter rang in my ears as he escorted us out with his enforcers firmly at his back. Safe conduct, all around. Not a bad idea considering the company he was keeping.

At the door, I hesitated and leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek so I could whisper for his ears only. “Sleep with one eye open, Wolf King, if you’re going stay in bed with your present company.”

“Careful, Bella, luv.” He laughed back jovially, keeping up the pretense. “Or I might take the impression that you’re offering your bed instead.”

“It’s a little full, right now,” I smiled back to him, “but there’s always room for one more.”

He inclined his head and my message was delivered loud and clear. I hoped he jumped ship before it was too late to save the wolves that depended on him to keep them safe.

Heaven only knows, I wasn’t doing such a great job keeping my own charges safe, at the moment. I certainly didn’t want his added to it.

Ben, thankfully, didn’t make any comments as the cab meandered through traffic back to Gray’s house. Some men have enough sense to know when to leave well enough alone. Maybe I needed to trade…

Chapter Twenty

I don’t know what I was expecting for my evening when we got back to Gray’s, but it wasn’t what we found. I didn’t recognize the cars in the drive. Okay, fine…I was too distracted to even notice them as Ben paid the cabbie. To say I was unprepared when I strolled into the house would have been an understatement.

“Oh, I so knew you’d hit it off.”

People scrambled as I froze in the middle of the hug Honora launched at me. I blinked and tried to back out of it discreetly. I think Gray was afraid I’d overreact.

Who
me
?

“Sorry, sweetheart,” he said as he slipped up behind me, gently easing me from Honora. You’d think the man didn’t trust me. I wasn’t about to take her soul, but apparently, he wasn’t so sure. “Honora stopped by and I had to share our news.”

News? We had news? I stared at him blankly before looking around for a clue. Gavreel and Foras were both lounging against the wall, but I didn’t know if I should speak to them since I didn’t know if they were playing the invisible men or not. Better yet, I briefly wondered if she could see them if they were.

“I’m so happy for you both. I can’t wait to tell everyone. Have you set a date?”

Date? Oh hell. The blasted wedding that wasn’t going to happen.

“Uhm…” I stammered, but Gray spoke over me.

“Not yet. I think Bella’s still in shock. We moved things along a lot faster than she’s used to.”

Turtles would have been faster than I was used to as far as men were concerned. Who was I kidding? Let’s just try snails. That was just about my speed. Halflings with too much magic and not enough sense were so far beyond my ability to comprehend. Too bad my boss didn’t realize that.

“Would I be too forward if I asked if I could brag about introducing you?”

I blinked and looked up at her beaming face. She really was excited about us getting married. I started to speak, but it came out a squeak as Gray yanked me back against him.

“We were hoping you’d be in the wedding.”

We were? I hoped she took the color in my face for a blush as I set the heel of my boot directly on Gray’s instep and shifted my weight onto it. I felt him tense, but his only outward response was to pull me closer to lift me off his foot. As soon as she was out of here, we were
so
going to fight. After my crushing defeat against DeFlores, I could use a fight I could win.

“Oh, I’d love to be! I can’t wait to sit down and hear what your plans are. I won’t rush the decisions, though. I know you’re probably overwhelmed by it all. I just stopped by to let Gray know we were practicing this evening since he’s only been at a few practices when he can find the time before. We’ve got so much work to do to get ready. Now that we know the reason he’s not returning anyone’s phone calls, I’m sure everyone will understand. It’s all so exciting.”

I watched Honora clasp her hands in front of her and fairly rock on her heels in excitement and totally didn’t get it. Even when I was mortal, my friends getting engaged—or even myself—didn’t cause this much glee. Then I remembered Tony. Honora probably still thought of Gray as her brother-in-law. From what I’d heard of the relationship, Honora and Tony had been all but affianced. Gavreel frowned at me darkly from his corner and I forced a smile while I tried to figure out how to dig myself out of this hole.

“It’s a bit overwhelming. I mean, no one expects to meet a man and fall head over heels. We’re not in any rush to make it legal, though, so please don’t whip everyone up into a fervor about it.”

There, that sounded reasonable, right? I could fairly feel how unhappy the men in the room were at me, though. They’d have to get over it. I may have decided to take a few steps with the man, but that certainly didn’t mean there was an altar in our future any time soon. I refused to be bulldogged into marriage, even a sham one. Something told me, though; marriage to Gray would be anything but a sham. I honestly didn’t think the man had it in him to make vows he didn’t intend to keep, which made my situation that much harder. Gotta love honorable gentlemen…

“You’ll be coming to the practice with him, right? Adam’s going to let us open the Hatch for it, but it’s just us. He doesn’t open to the public on Sundays. A lot of wives and significant others come to visit while we work out the kinks in our show. I know they’ll love to meet you.”

Of course they would. I opened my mouth to beg off, but never got the chance.

“We’ll be heading out right after you. In fact, tell everyone that we’re taking them out to dinner at Alfredo’s to celebrate afterwards. It’ll give Bella a chance to settle in with everyone.”

“That’s wonderful.”

Impulsively, she reached out and hugged us both since there was no chance of getting me without him at this point. I sighed as she practically bounced out the door. I counted to twenty. Ten wasn’t high enough. When Gray didn’t put me down, I hauled off and kicked him in the shin with my boot. He let me go with a muttered curse and I rounded on him.

“You…” I swallowed my words when footsteps clamored up the deck from the backyard. Lizzy led the invasion. Craig was following hot on her heels, as the more familiar sandy-haired muscular man rather than the sleek cougar. If it had just been him, I wouldn’t have blinked, but continued my tirade. At his back was the pianist and the trumpeter from the band.

“Did we interrupt a lover’s spat?”

I glared at the trumpeter and turned to storm up the stairs to the bedroom. I didn’t need this crap right about now. Absolutely nothing was going right today and now I had to put in a command performance and play Gray’s girlfriend. How unfair was that? Was it only yesterday I was playing at being Craig’s? If I wasn’t careful, I’d be hard pressed to explain it if the wrong person spotted me in both roles.

Note to self: No more pretending with men. As soon as this was done, I was extracting myself from the lot of them and going back to the battery-operated sort. They were a lot less trouble. Granted, they weren’t nearly as satisfying, either, but sometimes a woman has to choose her sacrifices.

I heard the cadence of Ben’s voice as he came into the house. Apparently, Honora had waylaid him on his way in. I decided I didn’t care and slammed the bedroom door behind me with a satisfying thud. After a moment, I turned and locked it. It was probably a little spiteful to lock a man out of his own bedroom, but while I was in residence, he was bunking elsewhere.

Yeah right. It didn’t hurt to think it, though. I started to storm into the bathroom and bumped into a solid wall of muscle. I stepped back and glared at Foras.

“I’m not in the mood for any more wounded male pride, thank you very much. Take a hike and let me have some private time, please.”

The look on his face was wounded scorn, but the wings disappeared. I noticed them simply by their sudden absence. Go figure. Angels in full regalia no longer impressed me enough to register on the visual scale of oddities. I needed new friends badly. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask Foras if Hell was better than this and turn in my mortal want-to-be card, but he smiled and I abruptly forgot what I was mad about.

“Don’t do that.”

“I didn’t do anything, sweet Arabella,” he purred as he sat gingerly on the foot of the bed.