Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
Iwoke up to angels singing. Literally. I mean, there was only one angel, so technically I woke up to angel singing.
I sat up with a lurch, feeling weird. Warm. And that was before I really took in the sight of a shirtless Angel of Death ironing my second-hand duds with a ferret on his shoulder. What was he singing? Was that opera? Where did angels pick up anything that wasn’t a battle hymn?
I slowly looked down and then gasped and pulled up my blanket. I wasn’t wearing anything. Of course not, because he was ironing my clothing, and that would have woken me up sooner if he’d ironed my clothing while I was still inside it.
He turned around and beamed at me. I’d never seen such an open, sweet, happy smile. I smiled back at him because I couldn’t help myself, then I remembered that I was naked and frowned instead.
“Why aren’t I wearing clothes?” Did I take them off without remembering? Did I take advantage of the angel after all? Maybe I’d drunk so much of his blood with the cupid’s lust infection that I hadn’t been able to help myself, even in the deepest states of hibernation.
He smiled sweetly, eyes crinkling. “I took them off you. They smelled like werewolves. I didn’t look at you while I took them off. I promise.” He winked at me and then continued ironing.
“You took off my clothes?” I sounded so confused.
Because I was confused. When people stink, you leave them alone, you don’t strip them and…
how did I stay in hibernation through him stripping me?
And had he really done that without looking at me?
I squinted at him, trying to understand what was going on in his head.
“Have you been drinking enough fluid? I drank a lot of your…blood.” I hated admitting it, but I could taste heaven in my mouth, even then.
It wasn’t like stale blood. It was happiness made liquid.
He nodded as he finished up the last perfect crease of a pair of pants that had never been ironed before, then turned around and came over, sitting next to me on the bed with just a blanket between our bare chests.
“I’ve been taking care of myself and Crucible.
He is the sweetest thing. And so smart. He helps me hold down the top of the leg while I iron the bottom.
” He fed Crucible a nut of some kind and beamed at the creature.
Crucible chirped at him, took the nut and then leapt onto the ironing board and started straightening the pants. It was weird, but not the weirdest thing I’d taught him. I’d had a lot of time between jobs with my ferret in my apartment.
And Gavriel was sitting on my bed, so close I could feel his warmth. Not too much because I was still warm from his angelic blood.
I cleared my throat. “Thank you for taking care of him.”
“A friend of yours is a friend of mine,” he said, eyes warm, soft, too sweet and unguarded. It made me feel naked. Because I was naked.
“Would you please give me my clothes? Also, you should wear a shirt. You’re going to get cold, and also, I drank your blood. A lot of it. And as everyone knows, angelic blood is addictive to vampires. You shouldn’t tempt me more than is necessary.”
He studied me, expression turning serious. “I apologize for the other night.”
I shook my head. “There’s nothing to apologize for. We both did the best we could in the situation we had. I’m just irritated that he got away without giving us the lead we’ve already bled so much for.”
“You don’t want to talk about it? I’d like to talk about it.”
I was incredibly uncomfortable, itchy all over, but I held perfectly still. “If you’d like to talk about it, if it would give you some closure after being poisoned by the cupid, I will listen, but first, I need clothes.”
“Mirabel was my plan, but that was before I discovered that she had ogre blood. My goblin blood mixed with her ogre blood would make our children poisonous to her. I’m not going to follow a plan that is going to ruin someone’s life.”
I stared at him. That’s what he wanted to talk about? All the other things, the words, the looks, the touches, and he wanted to talk about some other girl, the reason he’d fought Lorien? But that hadn’t been real. It was just an excuse to get close enough to catch him. Unless it wasn’t.
I licked my lips. I wanted to lick him. And slap him. And snuggle against him and inhale his skin until there was nothing else. “Sure. Of course you have a reason for dumping her. I didn’t believe the cupid. Like you have a reason for hanging around me. You’re not a shifty guy. I know that.”
He studied me intently. “And what he said about you having angelic blood before you turned?”
I shrugged. “I’d be more comfortable having this conversation if I were wearing more clothes.”
He smiled and handed me the neatly pressed things. “Of course. I was waiting for them to cool so the creases stay.” He turned around, leaving me faced with his broad back, and the wings that curved up, framing his perfect skull.
I dressed quickly, then stood, getting away from the bed. It was far too dangerous. “Thank you for getting out the scent and the fur. Now, what’s the plan? I say we hunt Cupid down to his burrow and smoke him out. Then we torture him to get him back for what he did to you.”
He turned around and moved closer, studying me with that dazzling trust in his eyes that made me so uncomfortable. I took two steps away from him. He should save it for the audience.
“While you were resting, I had a conversation with Lorien. After our battle, he was actually caught by Richard and questioned about us. He didn’t give us away.” He raised a pointed brow at me. People might be listening.
That time when he moved closer to me, I didn’t move away.
When he took my hands, I let him and enjoyed his warmth, his touch, his closeness.
“You’re saying that you were close enough to have a chatty conversation about Richard who is going to die?
” But Gavriel didn’t grab Cupid and torture the information out of him?
“That’s right. I think it’s interesting that he didn’t tell Richard where he could find us, even though he applied a great deal of pressure.
I suppose that’s not too strange. Angels can dissociate from pain.
Torturing information out of us is usually a fail, particularly if the angel in question is incredibly stubborn, like Lorien. ”
I winced and squeezed his hands. “How lucky for us that he didn’t give us away to Richard.
Are you sure you’ve been drinking enough liquids?
What about food? You need a lot of calories after all that blood loss.
And the bruising. You’re saying that I shouldn’t kill Cupid, even after all that he did to you? ”
“I’m saying that you shouldn’t kill anyone. Your soul is precious.” He raised one hand, kissed it, then the other and the same. His kiss was so sweet, it made me ache in all sorts of uncomfortable places, like my teeth. I desperately wanted to sink my fangs into him and never stop.
“And your body is precious. So where does that leave us?” If we couldn’t torture Lorien even if we did catch him, what were we doing there?
“I guess we’ll have to continue lying low, avoiding angelic habitations, and enjoying each other’s company.”
My skin prickled. I was enjoying his company far too much. I licked my lips. “That sounds dangerous.”
“Well, you’re a notoriously dangerous vampire.” He kissed my head and then stepped away, flicking out his wings before folding them more tightly against his back. “We should go down and talk to the crew, try to find out what they do, see if this place is a powder keg ready to blow.”
“How do you make it sound so fun? You’re gifted.”
He flashed me a smile, took my hand, and walked close beside me downstairs.
“I was wondering,” he murmured as we walked.
I glanced at him. Did he want to talk about the words of love? Did he want to assure me that they meant nothing and make sure I knew that?
He frowned slightly and then murmured. “Romi’s contract. Why did you have me check it?”
“It’s good to get another set of eyes.”
“But I have no experience with contracts. You knew exactly what you were doing, but then, it was almost as if you couldn’t see the words.”
Was this embarrassing? Yes. “Words are blurry to me.”
“Blurry?”
I shrugged. “I can’t make out the words. I know how to read and write, but it’s hard to see.”
“I’ve never heard of a vampire with glasses.”
I shot him a frown. “And…”
He gave me a puzzled look. “I thought all the usual senses were enhanced when you turned. People who need glasses as a human don’t need them when they’re turned.”
“Thank you for telling me. Now I can see much better.”
He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me close. “You love books, but you prefer the crypt. Because you can’t read the books. Have you been unable to do something you love for a hundred years?”
I sighed heavily, inhaling the sweetness of him without actually tasting him. “I have been unable to do anything I love for a hundred years. A hundred and ten, more or less. Reading words is a very small thing compared to being alive.”
“Yes, but it’s a small thing that we should be able to fix.”
“Vampires don’t wear glasses. You said it yourself.”
“Neither do angels, but I do know one angel with glasses. He actually is an eye doctor for all kinds of creatures. We could go to him and see about, well, seeing.”
“I can see well enough to catch a bullet between my fingers. It’s just reading.”
“Then we’ll just get you reading glasses. No one will have to know that you’re a vampire with glasses.”
“Except for you.”
He bumped me and tangled our fingers together while he gazed at me with shameless adoration. “Except for me. I won’t tell a soul.” He raised my hand and kissed my fingers, making them itch and burn, also my gums.