Angel's Messiah (7 page)

I laughed. “Not for a long time to come, Danny. Having a child means being on call
all
the time. Our lives will revolve around the baby.”

“She’s not even born and already I’m wishing she was grown up,” Danny chuckled.

My stomach rumbled and Danny rubbed it.

“I don’t know what I want more, a snack or a sleep,” I sighed. “I never seem to get enough of
anything
these days.”

“I wish I could say the same,” Danny whispered, “me, I’m getting
too
much.”

“When are you going to tell Michael?” I asked. “You might need some time off for a while. I’ll be needing help, I’m sure.”

“I plan to tell him in a few months’ time, when I’m next due to report in. I’m sure there’ll be lots of questions — not only from Michael — and angels wanting to document the whole thing. The longer I leave it the less intrusion on our lives there’ll be.”

I hadn’t thought about that. I hoped they wouldn’t want to come and witness the birth. A whole heap of boring old farts, even if they were angels, weren’t what I wanted hanging around when the time came.

“Maybe you can tell him when I’m as big as a whale and don’t get out much. Whatever happens after that won’t be so much of an imposition if I’m housebound anyway, as long as they don’t want to stay to watch the birth. I flatly
refuse
to have hundreds of angels gawking at me while I’m pushing out something the size of a watermelon. Which reminds me, we need to talk about meals. I probably won’t want to travel far to eat.”

“We’ll worry about whether or not you should dine in when you’re as big a whale, as you think you’ll be. That will be quite some sight to see,” Danny said. “For now you need rest, then a quick bite to eat before you drag me off to be tortured by some woman trying to peddle every gadget and gimmick under the sun that our daughter may or may not need.”

“You’re funny,” I laughed.

Danny gently steered me out of the nursery. “Come on, off to bed with you.”

I blinked. I felt it happen this time. If we’d been upstairs I could have seen Danny walking with his arm around a seemingly non-existent body. I’m sure it would have looked strange and I giggled. Danny said nothing. He simply guided my invisible body to the bed while I focused on trying to blink back. I appeared for a moment, though when I relaxed my concentration I was gone again. It was then I had the deliciously wicked idea of how much fun it would be to …

“What’re you doing?” Danny said.

“Ah, please,” I said. “Just a little bit of fun before I go to sleep. It’ll take my mind off food.”

“I can’t even see you,” he said.

“
Mmm,
but I can see you. I’ll do all the work,” I purred in his ear, “I promise.”

“I think I need a vacation already,” Danny mumbled, but he didn’t put up much resistance and I got my way.

Afterwards he said it was a very surreal experience, knowing something
was
happening, though not being able to
see
it happen. It was not something he really wanted to be on the receiving end of. He was quite willing to practice extending himself though, so I could experience it for myself. The idea made my stomach flutter. There was so little I hadn’t experienced that the thought of something new was a big turn on. Or maybe it was just my hormones in overdrive.

The sun had well and truly risen when I finally woke up. Danny was already awake.

“What time did you get up?” I asked.

“I didn’t go to sleep.”

“Why not?”

“Your dreams are a little too weird at the moment, even for me.”

Danny featured in virtually all of my dreams, so I’d be none the wiser if he didn’t venture into them with me. Since I’d found out I was pregnant I didn’t remember any of my dreams and put it down to vagueness.

“Define weird,” I said.

“The last one I hitched a ride on had armies of babies — boys and girls — ascending to heaven and killing angels, or descending to the pit, killing demons. They feasted on the flesh of immortals, yet left everything on earth untouched.”

“Oh,” I said, “that
is
pretty weird. Must be the hormones.”

At the moment I could blame hormones for anything. It was great to have a ready-made excuse for anything slightly out of the ordinary.

“Perhaps we should stay at the La’miere for a couple of days. We’re going to need somewhere for all your purchases to be delivered,” Danny said.

“And won’t the staff find it a bit suspicious if one day the room is full of baby stuff and the next day it’s not, especially if no one sees us leave with it?”

“You’re right, of course.” He smiled. “How do you feel about a little drive?”

“What do you mean?”

“We hire a car. I load it, we drive around for an hour or so, transport the goods to the cottage and come back for however many loads are required. That way the staff will think we’ve been moving the stuff ourselves.”

“That’s not a bad idea. I’ll do the driving though. You’ve never driven before.”

We headed to the forest once I was dressed. It would be best to eat, then come back and shower to get rid of the wolfy smell, before we ventured into the city.

“You’re decimating the werewolf population in this region,” Danny said, stating the obvious. “We’ll need to start travelling further afield, until you can stomach vampire again.”

It was such a hassle that werewolves couldn’t reproduce unless there was a full moon. I was amazed they hadn’t already become extinct.

“Okay. You can show me what other options we have later. If I behave myself, this meal,” I gestured to the five mummified wolves, “will last me for a few days.”

The wolves had now taken to running in packs of seven. Danny led two off and killed them, fearing that seven would be too much for me. He felt the risk was too great. It would be better to travel to a different hunting ground for a time, where the wolves travelled in smaller packs.

“I can’t really see you behaving,” Danny said dryly. “It’s just not in your nature.”

I gave his arm a playful whack, knocking one of the werewolves to the ground. He was right, though I wasn’t going to admit it.

“Cheeky,” I said.

“Shall we head back for a shower now?”

“Wait,” I whispered. “I heard something.”

I let my eyes lose focus and saw three vampires running as fast as they could in the opposite direction. They’d seen what had happened here. Either they feared for their lives or felt they had to report it to a higher authority, most likely Drake. There was no way I wanted the knowledge of what I was doing to reach anyone.

“Three vamps heading south,” I said. “They’re trying to make it to the nearest underground entrance. We need to stop them.”

I grabbed Danny’s hand and transported us to the mouth of the entrance they were running for. We ran towards the vamps, me with my knife Death in one hand and Danny with a small vortex of angel fire swirling in the centre of his palm. They were surprised to see us in front of them, rushing to greet them. Like antelope scared by predators, they turned to run away from us.

I blinked. It was unintentional once again, though I used it to my advantage and transported ahead of the vamps. I lashed out with Death, beheading one vamp while unleashing fire from my other hand at the second vamp. The third vamp was already engulfed in flame, courtesy of Danny.

“Helena, you’re really going to have to try and keep that in check if we’re going shopping.”

“I know,” I sighed. “If it happens, maybe you can create an illusion of me to fill in while I’m gone.”

“I’ll have to be fast,” Danny said.

“You can do it,” I said encouragingly. I had an idea. “Hey, is there any way you could somehow tie an illusion to me, so that if I’m here it’s gone and if I’m gone, it’s here?”

“I’ll think about it while we’re showering.”

I knelt down beside the bodies and whispered to them, telling them to go to the cavern. The air stirred around them and they vanished.

When we were ready to head to the La’miere Danny produced a silver necklace. He stood me in front of the bathroom mirror as he clasped it around my neck.

“It’s very pretty, Danny, thank you,” I said, touching the delicate chain.

“Try blinking,” he said.

I concentrated on becoming invisible and for the briefest of moments — something a mortal would never have seen — I did, and then I was back again, but I felt I was still gone. It was a weird sensation.

“Okay, it worked. You can come back now.”

“You mean I’m still invisible?”

I lifted a hand to my face and poked my cheek. I could see it happen. It was me doing it, yet I still had that weird sensation of not being there. To prove I was still invisible Danny removed the chain from my neck and my reflection instantly disappeared.

I concentrated again and saw a brief flicker in the mirror. I was visible again. Danny clasped the chain around my neck once more.

“Wear it whenever we’re amongst mortals. That way you won’t attract unnecessary attention.”

“I
knew
you’d think of something.”

Danny offered his hand and I took it, letting him transport us behind the dumpsters near the service entrance of the La’miere. Thank goodness it wasn’t collection day.

We headed to the front desk, hand in hand. It felt strange being here again, with the mix of good and bad memories. I stared at the man behind the counter. Could it be that this man was Peter? He looked so much older than the last time I’d seen him and was wearing glasses now. I kept forgetting that over seven years had passed.

“Peter?”

The man looked up and adjusted his glasses to get a better look. It was definitely Peter.

“Helena Malakh. Could it really be you? You look
exactly
as I remember you.”

“Peter, it’s so nice to see a familiar and friendly face. I’d like you to meet someone. Peter,” I pulled Danny a bit closer, “this is the
elusive
Mr Malakh.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you at last Mr Malakh. You are truly blessed to be married to such a beautiful creature.”

“You’re going to give me a big head, Peter, and call him Danny,
not
Mr Malakh.”

Danny extended his hand and Peter shook it.

“My wife tells me you were very kind to her the last time she stayed. How can I ever repay you?”

“The look on her face is payment enough. She looks truly happy,” Peter said before turning to me. “You’re positively
glowing,
Helena.”

Danny wrapped an arm about my waist and drew me closer, beaming.

“She is, isn’t she?” Danny said.

I leaned on the counter and cupped a hand around the side of my mouth, so that no one else would be able to hear me. “I’ll let you in on a little secret, Peter. I’m
pregnant
.”

Peter reached out for my hand and kissed my knuckles. “Congratulations lovely lady,” he looked from me to Danny, “Congratulations to you
both.
”

“We’ll be staying here for a few days, shopping.”

Danny rolled his eyes and Peter laughed.

“It seems Danny is not a willing party to your shopping expedition, Helena. I’d be quite happy to go in his place.”

Danny narrowed his eyes, though he wasn’t really angry. I elbowed him in the ribs to make him stop.

“If Danny doesn’t want to have to deal with my wrath for the rest of eternity he’ll come shopping with me
and
enjoy it.”

Peter laughed and so did Danny.

“Women,” they both said at the same time, then laughed again.

I held out my hand. “If you’re done having fun at my expense can I have the swipe card please?”

“Certainly, Helena,” Peter said as he handed me the card. “I hope you enjoy your stay.”

As we headed to the elevators I turned and waved to Peter. He might be older, but he hadn’t changed at all. He was still accommodating and helpful.

“Do you think you could give him a bonus?” I asked. “He’s such a nice fellow and it would be good if we could help him along when he’s ready to retire.”

“How much?”

“Would a million to a billionaire who spent
eight figures
on the penthouse suite, including ten years of its upkeep, be too much?”

“That reminds me, I should pay for another ten years, and no, a million isn’t too much to ask. It’s the least I can do if he made your life more bearable.”

I kissed Danny on the cheek as we stepped into the elevator. We travelled all the way to the top the regular way — no transporting and no blinking.

“Did you want a rest before we head out?” Danny asked.

“No, I’ll just grab my credit cards and a purse and we can be off.”

There were three stores that catered solely for babies and mums-to-be, all on the outskirts of the city. A number of the larger department stores also carried a range of baby goods, but I wanted to go to the baby stores first. I thought they were the best place to start.