Fallen Angels (17 page)

She watched me intently while I put my pants and boots on. “I’d still be in bed if I had a date,” I assured her with a wink.

“Then what’s the rush?”

“The city waits for no one after dark.”

“Why are you going into the city?” she said on the verge of panic.

“Abby will be there,” I said, strapping my gun belt on.

“Ravyn? I hate not being able to protect my girls the way you can. I hate not being able to understand what they are going through. Does that make me a bad mother?”

Grabbing my shoulder harness and my coat, I kissed the top of her head. “See you soon.” I didn’t feel her worries about motherhood needed an answer; she knew she was a good mom and so did I.

When I walked out the front door I got a text from Devlin. “Abby just walked in with one of our own. She doesn’t know I’m here, I suggest you get up here now.”

“Fuck!” I growled before heading back into the house to dump my coat and shoulder harness. I had no choice but to fly; it would take too long to drive. I quickly sent Devlin a text. “Be there in twenty. Meet me on the roof and make sure she doesn’t leave. Who is she with?” I flew fast and low, just above the tree line heading toward the bright orange glow of the city lights in the sky.

“Just get here.” Devlin’s message told me Abby’s company would not please me.

Pocketing my phone I focused on getting to the club. Swooping down above the cold waters of Lake Michigan, the city came into view. Pushing my wings nonstop, the water beneath me flashed by quickly as the shoreline grew closer. I glided high into the air to avoid being seen. Landing softly on the roof of DEVLIN’S, I locked my wings within me and rushed to the door where Devlin waited. 

“Hey!” He grabbed my arm before I entered. I glared at his hand. “This is for Abby, not for you to be the damn hero again.”

“Hero?” I laughed as I shook his hand from my arm. “Get over yourself Devlin. This is not about being a hero, it’s about keeping family safe. Something you lost sight of the moment Lilith passed,” I said calmly as I pulled my gun belt off, shoving it at his chest. “Watch the fucking door.”

Entering the familiar nightclub I moved through the crowd, making my way to the bar.  Taking a seat I ordered a whiskey and glanced around, looking for Abby. I found her on the dance floor, grinding her body against a human man. I continued scanning the club for other familiar faces. My eyes focused on the figure lurking in the dark corner of the dance floor. “Interesting,” I breathed, chugging my drink and calling for another. 

It was disturbing to say the least, having to sit and watch Abby’s slutastic dancing with the men and women on the dance floor. I had to wait so I could find out why she was really here, and I had a hunch it had to do with the lurker, who seemed entranced by Abby. 

Six whiskeys later Abby motioned for the figure to come out of the dark corner, enticing whoever it was with a dangerously sexy stripper dance. “Motherfucker!” I growled when Volac stepped into the light.

I cursed myself for not taking the time to kill him in the ring. He was wearing a black leather jacket, torn jeans, a rock band t-shirt, and a wallet chain to complete the look. His shaggy black hair was still greasy, and his unshaved face complemented the bad boy look that women always fell for. Now it seemed little Abby was falling for it as well.

I weaved my way into the crowd, never taking my eyes off Volac even as his hands roamed Abby’s body and his lips claimed hers. Slithering beside Abby and Volac, who were too busy to notice I was there, I grabbed his wrist, pulling his hand away from Abby’s breast. They froze. Abby’s eyes widened in fear, while Volac laughed loudly and pushed my hand from his arm. 

“Find your own pussy Ravyn, this one’s mine.” Volac shooed me away, and Abby giggled. My eyes locked on her as I tsked her behavior.

“I raised this one Volac, so back the fuck off,” I said trying to keep my cool.

“Ravyn, he’s just joking,” Abby said.

I knew Volac, and he rarely joked about anything. “Is he? Why don’t we grab a table so you can entertain us with your jokes Volac?” I said with a grin.

“Not really in the mood right now. You should go home to your woman, or did you pass her to Devlin again?”

Smiling at his comment I started laughing, playing along. “You are a funny guy Volac,” I said. “Abby, why don’t you get us some drinks? I think your friend is ready to entertain us.”

She hesitated, looking to Volac for approval. When he gave her a nod she turned for the bar. My anger burned as she walked away.

How dare she look for his approval. When she was out of sight I reached out and grabbed a fistful of Volac’s greasy hair, pulling him behind me to the empty booth by the dance floor. Shoving him into the booth headfirst, I sat next to him as his head bounced off the wall. “You want to fuck with me Volac?” I growled, banging his head repeatedly against the concrete wall.

“Fuck you!” he snapped.

I slammed his head again. “You better answer my questions Volac, or you will lose your head.”

“You won’t kill me.” He chuckled.

“Oh, I wasn’t talking about that head.” I smiled as I let my demon out, showing him my dagger-like fingernails. Pushing my demon back in its cage I smiled at Abby as she set the drinks on the table and sat across from me. 

Abby noticed the blood dripping from Volac’s head and immediately reached over the table to soothe him.

“Abby, has Volac informed you about his family ties?” I asked, glaring at her.

“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me!” She folded her arms like an angry child.

“Your mother knew his father better than she ever cared to.”

“Huh?” Abby replied, confused.

“His father killed me, well, tried to anyway,” I hinted further. 

Abby stared at me for a minute, trying to figure out what I was getting at. When a tiny gasp escaped her and her eyes closed, I knew she figured out that Volac was Astoroth’s son.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” she breathed, rushing out of the booth. Volac looked at me with hatred in his eyes. “The truth is meant to be told, not hidden. If this is revenge for your father than you are fool. Stay away from my family Volac.”

“Why don’t you just kill me bitch?” he snapped.

“We all deserve second chances Volac. Consider this yours,” I said before seeking Abby out. 

Abby stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom at the nightclub. Dried tears left their mark on her cheek. “Why don’t we take a walk kid?” I offered.

“Are you going to yell at me and give me a big speech about how stupid I was?”

“No, we all make mistakes. We can only learn from them,” I advised with a wink.

We walked along Michigan Avenue talking about random innocent things, like the weather and Chloe. Abby truly did love Kara and Chloe. She felt like she belonged in the family.

“Kara is worried about you. She would be upset to find you with a man like Volac,” I said softly.

“I know, but she really can’t say much about my love life seeing how hers is so messed up.”

“You mean because she loves someone as evil as myself?” I asked, raising my brow.

“You’re not a saint Ravyn. You taught me how to be a killer and left. I didn’t know what to do. You weren’t here to hear Kara’s screams at night. She was so broken and uncaring. I wanted to be like you when I was young, but after watching everything fall apart I decided it didn’t matter. I just needed to feel something other than pain and anger. Volac gives me a release from all my problems. He understands what I feel, and he looks after me,” she confessed harshly.

“I’m here for you. What do you want me to do?” I asked. I honestly didn’t know where she was going with this. The only thing that was obvious was the blame she had pinned squarely on me.

“I want you to teach me.”

“Teach you what?” I asked, irritated.

“Teach me how to walk away from those I love. Teach me to not give a fuck when they are sad or in trouble.”

Her painful words made me stop abruptly, having to focus on keeping my demon caged. “Whatever you want Abby,” I agreed, letting her walk away.

This conversation was far from over, but Abby needed to think I didn’t care what she did, and I needed to calm down before I beat the stupid out of her. As I watched her walk further and further down the street, I tried to think of the best way to handle this. When she went into the Water Tower Place I immediately followed, knowing her night was not even close to being over. 

I kept my distance while I watched her wander from store to store, flirting with every attractive man that she came across. I didn’t fail to notice that the men she flirted with were either with a woman or married. I wondered if Abby realized she had an unfair advantage over these men and women. Being a supernatural creature made us much more alluring to humans, even if they didn’t know why. 

Soon Abby had found a married man to take her to one of the bars and buy her a drink. He was in his late thirties and dressed in a business suit. His lustful brown eyes couldn’t get enough of my little Abby. Rather impatiently I waited outside the bar for her next move as I watched her slut herself out.

The hardest part was keeping my cool as I followed them to the west side, where they stopped at a dumpy little motel. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was the man’s idea to come to this shithole or Abby’s. Entering shortly after they did, I easily coaxed the room number out of the girl at the counter.

Standing by the door I listened, waiting for the right time to enter and finish my conversation with Abby. She was focused on his wife and how often he had cheated on her even while they had sex. I suddenly smelled fear coming from the room, and it quickly went quiet. I kicked the door in and entered, greeted by the scent of fresh blood. Abby still straddled the man, who was bleeding out, compliments of Abby slicing his neck. 

“Damn it Ravyn!” she growled as she slid off the dying man and dressed quickly.

“This is your vigilante work?” I asked, pointing to the man.

“He was a prick.”

Her careless words caused my temper to snap. Walking swiftly to her as she watched with

a smile, I backhanded her with enough force to slam her against the wall. “Spoiled little bitch!” I railed. “All men are pricks! They fuck and cheat all the time. It makes them human! Not evil!”

Abby looked at me, holding her face in pain. Blood dripped from her nose and lip causing me to cringe at the damage I had done. 

“You promised you would never hurt me,” she said softly.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t care what happened to you? That I would let you continue down this path?” I said as I inspected her face, knowing I had hit her harder than I wanted to. “This is not the way Abby. This is not your path, you are better than this.”

“But it’s okay for you to kill?” Abby said sarcastically.

“You are not like me! You’re an Angel, literally an Angel Abby. Killing the innocent is not in your nature. I didn’t save you and give you a home only to watch you become a monster. You are kind and caring. Stop fucking and killing. What is with that anyway? Why the sex if you are just going to kill them?” I asked. I had a feeling this behavior stemmed from her childhood, when she was pimped out to demons. 

Abby shook her head and started sobbing. Embracing her, I tried to soothe her but she just kept crying. “I’m sorry I hit you. We can fix this. Whatever you’re feeling we can get through it. Let me help you.” She didn’t say anything, she just cried while holding onto me as if I were a life preserver. 

Devlin was kind enough to pick us up from the rundown motel and erase any evidence of us ever being there. Abby sat next to me in the back seat of his car, refusing to let go of me.

“Please don’t tell Mom,” she whispered.

I shook my head at the mere thought of lying to Kara as I lit a cigarette. “She deserves to know Abby, she might be able to help you with some of this better than I can. I think you should at least think about letting her in,” I advised carefully.

“Not yet, I don’t want her to know just yet,” Abby pleaded.

I silently agreed as I stared at her bruised face, wondering how the hell I would explain that to Kara.

“Is it bad?” she asked, tenderly touching her cheek. I nodded while taking a drag from my cigarette. “Tell her I got in a fight. She’ll hate you if she finds out you did it.” Abby tried to smile, but winced in pain instead.

“You are asking me to lie to Kara? She is already irritated with me over the smallest incident. So, lying is out of the question.”

“Wait. You really are trying to be better for her, aren’t you?”

“For you too, but trying and succeeding are two different things.”

Chapter Fourteen

Kara

Taking Control

I didn’t sleep very well after Ravyn enlightened me about Abby being in the city last night, and I didn’t hear them come home. So after lying in bed for a good forty-five minutes planning my day I finally got up and threw on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. I crept down the hall to Abby’s room. Quietly opening the door and peering in, I was relieved to find her in bed, sleeping. Glancing at the clock on her wall, ten a.m., I thought maybe we could catch a movie today. Approaching her bed I carefully brushed the hair from her face and gasped when I saw her cheek was black and blue. 

Shaking her awake to make sure she was alive, her eyes widened when she noticed me standing over her. “Mom? Don’t freak out!” she pleaded as she sat up and gently touched her face.

“Who did this to you?” I asked firmly.

“It’s no big deal, please calm down.” She winced in pain as she spoke.

“No big deal? What the hell were you doing in the goddamn city young lady? What the hell happened?” I yelled.

“I did it.” Ravyn spoke up from the doorway behind me.

I spun around to see her cocky grin as she stood there looking at Abby. “You did this?” I gasped.

“I did. She pushed me further than she expected last night,” Ravyn replied.

“Mom, it’s not her fault,” Abby said, immediately receiving the look of death from me.