Good Side of Sin (6 page)

Isaiah was right. I couldn’t just drop my soul. There was too much at risk, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t kill two birds with one stone. Thoros couldn’t kill any humans if he was in Limbo with me.

“How hard is it to get into Limbo?”

Thoros smiled.

Being careful not to spill the coffees he was juggling, Ethan unlocked the door of his apartment and let himself in. It wasn’t much, and thanks to his last job, he and his dad would have it for at least another few weeks.

After what had happened with the last job, he sure as hell hadn’t expected to get paid for it. Actually, he’d been dreading the conversation with Carlos, because he figured the guy was going to want either the product back or the money to pay for it. He didn’t have either, but when he called to tell the dealer that he had been robbed by a psycho killer at the drop-site, his employer had informed him quite quickly that he could pick up the payment at his convenience.

Ethan hadn’t questioned it, but he couldn’t imagine a DEA agent confirming with Carlos that the product had been delivered.
Had she paid him? Or had that been taken care of beforehand? Or maybe she had lied about being a narc in the first place?
He knew he hadn’t carried another package back to Carlos, and the guy that had come in and murdered those two guys had stolen whatever he had delivered.

“What was that guy, anyway?” he muttered to himself, turning quickly when he heard a noise from the only bedroom.

Fifty-three years of pathetic stumbled into the tiny kitchen and picked up the coffee pot. It wasn’t the fact that the coffee was cold, or even that it might have been several days old by the greenish film that covered the surface, it was the two flies that floated, unmoving, at the top as the liquid sloshed around with the man’s unsteady movements.

Ethan looked away and fought to control his gag reflexes. “Don’t drink that. Here,” he said, and held out the extra coffee he’d bought.

“Starbucks! You must’ve hit the slots big, eh?”

Ethan’s jaw flexed a few times, but he didn’t respond. He knew they’d just end up in another argument, and fighting never helped anything when it came to his dad. The guy was a drunk with a bad gambling habit, and Ethan had been supporting them both since he was twelve.

Ethan tossed a paper bag on the counter. “Eat your breakfast. I’m gonna take a shower then go pay some bills. Clean this place up while I’m gone.”

He walked the twenty feet to the only bathroom and slammed the door behind him.

Taking hold of the bottom of his t-shirt, he pulled it over his head in one swift movement, and then let it fall to the top of the dirty pile of clothes on the linoleum. After kicking his sneakers off and shedding the rest of his clothes, he just stared at his face in the mirror above the vanity.

The previous night’s events came crashing down on him all at once. His knees buckled under the pressure and he grabbed the vanity top to keep from falling to the floor.

It all had to have been a hallucination, he thought. There were a lot of freaks in Vegas, but none that could blow a door off its hinges with his bare hands or kill a guy just by looking at him. Well, he really didn’t know what had happened to Italian dude. There was no gunshot, or even any blood to indicate how the guy had died.

Then those other guys had come in, grabbed up all the evidence and just popped out of the room like freaking genies or something.

Ethan knew snooping around business that wasn’t his would get him only one thing: killed.

Looking up to the brown eyes in his reflection, he made a wise decision: Regardless of how hard his life had been up until now, he liked breathing.

He stared hard at Josselyn’s nose, the creases in her forehead, her perfect, dainty ears, anywhere but her beautiful brown eyes that held the hurt that he had bestowed upon her three months back, or the pouty mouth that silently beckoned and taunted and tortured him all at the same time.

The heart in his immortal chest cavity was beating erratically at just the thought of being in the same room with her. The damn thing felt like it was banging around his ribcage like a metal ball in a pinball machine, but he fought to control his breathing so she couldn’t sense how weak she made him.

He didn’t know how long he could keep up this game of Charades. He’d never had to pretend to be something he was not. And he hadn’t wanted to until he’d met her!

The thought of being rude and mean to her made him ill to his stomach, but he knew it was essential to get her to leave and go back to Heaven.

And that’s what he wanted.

It’s what was best for her.

It was best for him, too; he tried again to convince himself. She deserved better than anything he could give her, and he was never going to see the other side of the pearly gates, so there was no future for them.

It just happened to be the way the cards fell.

Going to Limbo with her wasn’t in his plan. He wanted her to get away from him before he lost his mind and did something stupid, like ask her to stay here with him forever. Going on a search for her missing angel boyfriend had catastrophe written all over it.

He’d almost blown the whole plan apart when he had grabbed her earlier.
Stupid!
He had only made it more difficult on himself to keep away from her by doing that. Now there was nothing else in the world he wanted more than to kiss her senseless, and for her to kiss him back.

I’m strong. I can do this. I’ve lasted three months without her. What’s a few thousand more years going to hurt?
He closed his eyes briefly and sighed as he answered his inner monologue.
Everything.

Thoros cleared his throat and looked to the other side of the room, even farther away from her expectant gaze. Telling her no was a hell of a lot harder than he’d imagined it would be. He had to get away from her, and fast.

“I don’t think you can do it.”

Josselyn’s eyes grew large with stunned disbelief. “You don’t think I can do what, exactly?

He shook his head and dropped any hint of care from his features. “I don’t think you have what it takes to go get him.”

With cold steel in her eyes, she walked quickly to erase the distance between them.

Thoros shuffled back a few steps in surprise, and then, realizing how that must have looked to her, forced his feet to stop and stiffened up his posture.

As he looked down his nose at her smirk, his jaw clenched involuntarily.
She knows
, he thought.

“You don’t think I have what it takes, eh? Why don’t you tell me the key to entry and I’ll show you just what a big girl I can be.”

His fingers flexed open-closed-open-closed as he let his head fall back and just stared at the ceiling. The soft white of ceiling plaster was a whole lot safer to look at than those chocolate eyes of hers. Her determination and independence had always been a huge turn on for him, and now wasn’t any different from any of the other memories that tortured him day and night.

He itched to grab her, take her in his arms and put himself out of his misery. One kiss wouldn’t hurt. What was the worst that could happen? She might slap him? Hate him? It would all be worth it—she already hated him—but he was petrified one kiss wouldn’t be enough for him. He was almost positive one kiss would make him want a million more.

Would he be able to endure that kind of excruciating pain and torment if he never got the chance to touch her again?

What if he was in his own personal Hell and her kisses were like drink or food in the Syde of Gluttony, the more he took of her would only make him crave her that much more?

His face twisted in anguish from just thinking about all the horrible possibilities.

“Hello? Earth to Thoros,” Josselyn said, and he looked back down at her hand as she waved it in front of his face. “What’s the problem? You constipated or something?”

He growled at her, and then turned toward the door. “You are impossible, woman!”

“Well, tell me what we need to do to save Malcolm and I’m as good as gone, Thoros. It’s as simple as that; I’ll be out of your life forever. That’s what you want, right?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “So give me what I want and we’ll both be happy.”

He turned slowly back to confront her, and then shook his finger back and forth in front of her face. “There is no
we
, skirt
.
I said I would tell
you
how to find your boyfriend if you would promise to go away and leave us alone. I am not willing to do what is necessary to save him.”

Josselyn stomped her foot on the rug and a chuckle escaped Thoros’ throat at the immature action. “That’s not fair! What if it’s not even possible to get him back or you’re lying about knowing where he is?”

He shrugged, nonchalantly. “It appears that’s just a chance you’re going to have to take.” Thoros’ lips parted as he watched her eyes fill with tears. “I thought you said you had your big girl panties on,” he said, and took a step toward her, his hand coming up out of habit to comfort her. “Look. I’m sorry.”
Shit!
“Don’t cry, Josselyn.”

She jerked away from his hand and wiped the moisture away with her fingers. “Don’t touch me, demon. I’m going to talk with Baddon to see if we can get this issue figured out. Then I’ll go find Malcolm myself. Stay out of my way. I’m doing what I was sent here to do. Your help or attention is not required, nor is it necessary,” she said, and then walked past him to leave the room.

He stood there, stunned and staring after her, like she had just spoken a language he’d never heard before. He hadn’t expected her to back out. She was supposed to have agreed to his terms and then left in search of the missing angel.

I’m so screwed.

My hand fell to the bronze door handle and I pushed my way into a grand entrance hall. I could see the front door from where I stood, but that wasn’t the way we had entered the mansion.

Angels had other ways of entry. So did demons, but luckily we didn’t have any trouble with any of the ones in this particular house.

There wasn’t anyone waiting outside the door as I had expected there to be. They were all close by—and waiting. Of course, none of them would be worried that we would hurt one another; we were both immortal, and he was the only one that could actually feel pain.

I would have to nurse my bruised feelings later, though. I’d already known this visit with the demon that played games with my heart wasn’t going to be an easy one.

I ran my fingers under my eyes one last time to get rid of any signs that they had been leaking. I had a mission to complete, and wasting time on things that didn’t even matter anymore could put innocent souls in jeopardy.

“Baddon?” I said in a normal voice, and then waited only a brief moment before the guy walked through a large archway with Troy and the rest of Troop C following at his heel. All of them had some sort of food in their hands.

Anxiety and anticipation radiated from his thick frame as he walked to me, and then his eyes cut to the door I had just walked through, as if he could see Thoros still brooding right on the other side. His growl was threatening, but it wasn’t directed toward me.

I stepped in front of him and shook my head as his direction changed to confront Thoros. “Can we talk?” I gave Troy a quick glance, and then looked back up to a very red-faced Baddon. “Alone?”

He looked down at me and I noticed for the first time that he had a thick scar that ran from the corner of his left eye and curved down and over his jaw line to stop right below his earlobe. Uneven creases just above the collar of his t-shirt promised more scars were hidden away for the time being.

I didn’t even want to imagine the suffering he had gone through before meeting his death. Had he begged for death long before it had been granted? I didn’t know; maybe he would tell me someday.

He offered me his hand and I took it without hesitation.

“Jossel?” Troy said, his voice full of wariness with a heavy amount of caution filling his green eyes.

I looked back up at Baddon. “You won’t let anything hurt me, right?”

He nodded with a grin. “I feel sorry for the bastard that even tries to touch you in my presence.” He looked over at Troy. “Do not worry, friend. Nobody in this house means her harm. I promise she will be safe while under my care.”

Our attention was suddenly drawn to the door behind me as it opened and Thoros stepped out into the vestibule. “You better make sure she leaves soon if you plan to keep that promise.”

After he had paid the last bill of the month and left his landlord’s building, Ethan shoved the remaining seven dollars in his jeans’ pocket. And since everything had already been nearly three weeks late, he would have to find a way to come up with it all again in just a little over a week’s time.

Carlos might possibly have another job he could do, he thought, and then knelt to unlock his bike from the rack outside the rundown building.

“You’re a tough guy to track down.”

Ethan’s head shot up in alarm to find the female voice had indeed been directed toward him. His heart skipped a few beats, and then began to pound rapidly against the walls of his ribcage. Meeting up with a narc, even a pretty one, was not on his to-do list for the day.

He took in a deep breath, and then forced his focus back on the lock and key in his hand. He had to get out of here. Fast. “Obviously not; you found me.”

He heard the soft click of her red high heels on the concrete as she walked closer, and he had a mental picture flash through his mind of what those sapphire eyes looked like behind the designer shades she wore now.

Getting the key to go in the keyhole wasn’t going to happen with how badly his hands were shaking. He gave up and, without looking at her, turned and started walking east, down the sidewalk.

“You’re just going to leave your bike here?”

“Yep.”

“Ethan, stop!”

Despite the hot Nevada sun beating down on him, a cold chill ran up his spine and caused the hair to prickle on the nape of his neck. He stopped and turned back to face her. “How do you know my name?”