ANGEL'S KISS (A Dark Angel's Novel) (16 page)

B had said not to fight the burning in my veins, and I didn’t. I welcomed it. My blood boiled, creating tension and strength in my arms and legs. Thousands of ants sped along my veins, creating faster reflexes and thought processes.

He seemed to act like a cat. Well, I’ve always been more partial to dogs, and they don’t play with their food.

I rushed him, hoping that the surprise attack would knock him through the glass wall of the sun room. I caught him off guard and pushed him through the glass wall, just as I’d hoped, but it didn’t have much effect on him. He grabbed me and we both tumbled through the glass. I got cut. We grappled, and I worked free of his hold. We circled inside the sun room, taking each other’s measure.

“What?” I yelled. “You’re surprised I didn’t just fall down at your feet?”

“Actually, yes, but this is much more fun.” He licked the blood from his hand. “I’m going to enjoy draining you, your blood is incredible. Damn, what are you?”

“Who sent you after me?” Maybe I could at least get some answers from him, since B hadn’t given me any.

“Oh, that contract has been canceled, as you know. But I’ve tasted you, and nothing else matters now, not even the wrath I’ll face after I kill you.” He smiled and the rage boiled inside me like a pot spilling over.

I had managed to keep a piece of glass in my hand from the fall, even though it cut me. I held it like a weapon when I rushed him. He caught my arm and flung me back through the glass wall that we had shattered, but I was back on my feet before he could jump on top of me.

We circled again. This time he attacked first. I used his momentum to thrust him away, and I got one good swipe with the glass across his face.

“You wicked little wench!” he said, holding his face. Blood as dense and dark as black sludge oozed between his fingers. As I watched, the cut closed.

“Just that little taste of you, and I can heal almost instantly. Once I drain you, I’ll be invincible!” I swear I saw his tiger-mouth watering as he rushed me again. I readied myself for the blow, but instead, a dark cloud-like thing caught him in mid-air and hurled him into the side of the house.

Glass showered down around me, and I closed my eyes for just a moment to shield them. When I opened them again, I saw a dark blur with arms and legs swinging. The motion was so fast I couldn’t see clearly, but I heard a terrible ripping sound and something—a ball?—flew off, or was thrown, into the woods. The action reminded me of a dog playing with a stuffed toy.

Then the blur slowed down, and the irony almost made me laugh—the blur was a dog playing with a toy. Only the toy was my attacker. And Zeke was the dog.

But Zeke wasn’t an average dog. His expression reminded me of a great white shark after it has ripped apart its prey. He watched me with black sludge dripping from his massive jaws.

Frightened, not sure what he’d do next, I took a step back.

He rolled his head and shook his huge body. Black sludge sailed from his jowls, and then I swear he shrugged as if such doings were normal. As the dog started dragging the body into the woods, I realized that what I’d taken for a ball had been the man’s head soaring through the air.

Since I was out of immediate danger, I lost my will to stay upright. I sank to the ground and closed my eyes. Using my extra strength had drained me.

Lightning Strike

“No, Ma’am, I...”

I couldn’t force my eyes open to see who was yelling. Hell, who was I kidding? I couldn’t even understand what they were saying. The voice sounded like an old Charlie Brown cartoon. Wait, did he say ma’am? Bad guys don’t say ‘ma’am.’ Do they? Whatever. They aren’t hurting me, so I need to concentrate on waking up instead of worrying. One problem at a time, as Daddy used to say.

I tried to coax my body into waking up. I felt weighted down like I’d been buried in sand. Please... Shit. The pinpricks start as soon as I wiggle my fingers. Okay. Okay. Moving just makes it worse, so don’t. Too late. What started as little pinpricks turned into explosions. With the worst pain concentrated in the palm of my right hand. Damn it, that hurts.

Then I remembered grasping the only weapon available at the time—the jagged piece of glass. I knew it would leave a nasty cut, but the pain now is white hot. I feel like I’m holding a branding iron and I can’t let go. Plus, my whole body feels like one giant NOT funny bone. I held as still as I could, gritting my teeth against the pain.

“Yes, Ma’am, she’s breathing...”

I tried to distract myself by listening to the angry voice moving around me. It’s a man, I realized as the pins and needles continued their assault. I hope the fact that I’m breathing is good news to whomever he’s reporting to. I wanted to get up and shake myself to hurry the process along, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. I wiggled my toes and nearly screamed, it hurt so badly. I tend to sleep with my arms folded under me and they fall asleep. That’s how this feels, times a hundred.

“…don’t know what… a lot of blood…” The man panted, as if he’d just had a long run.

He said “a lot of blood”? Is it mine?

“Yes. It won’t happen again.”

Why was he apologizing? Just then the pins and needles kicked the pain up a notch. An electric shock zapped through me faster than lightning and then just as quickly receded. I heard myself whimper.

“I have to go. She’s starting to come around. I know. Yes, ma’am. I’ll take care of her.”

I listened to the footfalls of my company, wondering if my body was smoldering like a burnt-out tree. Nah. If I was burning from a lightning strike, he’d put out the flames. Right? Without thinking I fisted my hand, and my knuckles cracked. Hey, I could move my fingers and toes without cringing. Yay for me.

“
Alexandria
, can you hear me?” Something was familiar about the way he said my name. The floor vanished from under me, and my head landed with a thud against his chest. Thank God, the electric pain had subsided. But I wasn’t out of the woods yet. The pins and needles had been replaced by the normal getting-the-shit-kicked-out-of-you pain.

“What were you thinking? You know someone’s after you—so you ditched me? That wasn’t smart. You don’t listen! You’re acting like a child, and I told Beatrix. Thank God the Hummer has a GPS tracker, or I might not have found you.”

Ben. Ben’s carrying me. I recognized his voice now. Boy, is he in a pissy mood. I’ll bet B reamed him a new one when she found out I left without him.

“Are you listening to me?” Anger bubbled over in his voice.

Not really. I’d stopped listening to his rant a few seconds ago. I was too caught up remembering the fight. Man, I was so strong and fast. I needed to work on this passing out thing, though. The price for that speed is a doozy.

How long have I been out? I could feel my strength coming back as he laid me down. I guessed we were inside the house now, and from the feel of the fabric under my hands, I was on the living room couch.

“You’re smiling.” His tone was patronizing.

I hadn’t realized that I was smiling. I guess I am pretty proud of how I fought.

“
Alexandria
. Answer me.”

I stuck my tongue out at him. Since he thought of me as a child, I might as well act like one. Besides, he wasn’t my only protector. I had Zeke. The last thing I remember was him dragging the body off before I collapsed in a heap on the wet grass.

“Nice. Very grown-up. Your hand is healing.” His hands ran down my sides. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

“No.”

“Do you know who attacked you?”

“He’s gone. Just one.” I still couldn’t open my eyes. Sleep just sounded too good.

“Come on. We need to get out of here. He won’t need long to heal.” Ben started to pick me up, but I struggled to stay on the couch. “Stop fighting me! We need to leave.”

“No. Zeke took care of him.” He let me go, and I gratefully laid my head back on the soft pillow of my down-filled couch. Ahh…

“What? Who is Zeke and what do you mean, ‘took care of him’?”

“I mean!” Damn it. I get mad when someone wakes me on a normal day; I am exhausted and annoyed now. “Zeke ripped his head off and dragged the body into the woods. I guess you’re not my only protector, so stop being such a jerk. I feel like shit.”

“You feel like shit. Ha! You feel like shit. You have no idea how lucky you were today, do you?” I finally opened my eyes to peek at him. His face was red, and he looked ready to explode. Of course, I could be wrong. He was pacing so fast that getting a good view of his face was difficult.

I’d had enough of people pacing around me today.

“If you’re going to stay, sit down. Watching you is giving me a headache.”

He stopped in front of the fireplace and stared down at me. As his anger faded, his skin turned back to its natural golden tan. Yum. With those hazel eyes, the dark hair, and those full lips, I bet he’d… Jeez, snap out of it. Someone just tried to kill me, and I’m fantasizing about Ben. What is wrong with me?

I sat up with about as much grace as a 105-year-old woman. “What luck? I was attacked.”

Suddenly he was inches from my nose. “You have no idea what you’re involved in, do you?”

“Back off!” I pushed his chest. “I know that man was trying to kill me, and I survived again. So I think I’m doing pretty well, all things considered.” I folded my arms across my chest. Being able to move my arms again felt good. I didn’t think I’d try standing yet, though. I was trying to make a show of how strong I was and it wouldn’t look good if I fell flat on my face. I’ll stick to looking tough while seated for now.

“
Alexandria
?” The way his eyebrow raised when he questioned me was really cute. What a rascal.

“No, I don’t have a clue what I’m involved in. B left me with more questions than answers,” I said with a huff. No wonder I felt like a child. Everyone but me knew the rules to the game.

“You cannot go off on your own like you did today. You could have been killed. You should probably be dead right now.” He shook his head and then leaned back in the chair, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Who is this Zeke and what exactly happened?”

“Well, I was attacked, obviously.” Looking at his worried face and knowing that some of his anger was gone now, I cooled my own temper before I continued my run down of events. “It was the same guy who attacked me the other night. He said his old contract was broken, but he enjoyed the taste of me soooo much, he came back for me on his own. Nice to know I have such appeal, huh?” I winked at him.

Ben just rolled his eyes. “Continue. Why is the car so torn up? Did you try to run him over?” He chuckled a little. I guess he was more relaxed since we weren’t in immediate danger. He’d gone back to teasing.

“He attacked the car first.” Then I remembered what I’d nearly done. “What kind of hold do they have over me? I was so close to opening the door and just walking over to him.”

He looked sad now. “They’ll try to manipulate you. Fortunately, this one wasn’t very strong.”

“My birthmark saved me. It started itching, and that distracted me long enough to snap out of it. I smashed him into the trees to shake him from the car. I drove back here and dashed for the house and my guns, but I never made it inside. He was waiting by the back door. Oh!” Panic struck.

“What?”

“Thank God Alan wasn’t here. They know where I live, Ben.” I got up and paced without thinking about what I was doing. “I should have known. The guy on the phone knew my middle name. Of course he’d know where I live. That’s easy to figure out.”

Ben was on his feet, too. He grabbed my arms and forced me to stand still. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up! What guy on the phone? And who’s Zeke?”

“Zeke is the dog that I saved from the rose bushes the other night. I mean, last night.” So much had happened in such a short time that I was losing track.

“He’s like a bear, actually. He’s huge.” I held my hand chest high to show him how tall Zeke was. “He looks like a mastiff. He’s been hanging around the house ever since. Alan got into it with him last night. I had another of my lovely dreams or whatever the hell they are. Alan came home to find me digging up the jasmine in the front yard with my bare hands and Zeke was watching me. He must have been trying to wake me, because—well, I saw him in action today. If Zeke wanted me dead, I’d be dead.”

“Okay, you saw him drag the body off. Correct?”

“Yes, he dragged him off in the same direction that he’d thrown the head a moment earlier. Satisfied? He took care of it.”

“I would have rather found a body, but for now let’s go on to the next problem. Who is this guy on the phone, and why is it important that he knew your middle name?” He gave me a sort of crooked smile. “What’s your middle name?”

I had a more pressing question. “How could he have attacked me in the middle of the day? I mean, I thought B said that these immortals were, you know, like vampires?” I hated to say the word. I felt stupid, like I was trapped in a bad movie of the week. I think I even blushed. Just as I feared, Ben burst out laughing.

I pulled away from him and walked out the front door. Now instead of embarrassed, I was furious. Ben was still laughing. Yeah, it’s hysterical.