“Yeah, sure. I’ll be on the lookout then.”
“Good, that’s all I wanted to tell you.”
“You sound kinda freaked out though.”
“Wouldn’t you be if someone wanted to trick you into sleeping with them to escape being imprisoned for thousands of years?”
“There are worse ways to go, Merce,” he laughed. I swear, sometimes my brother acted like he was still twelve. “Just keep your knees together and you’ll be fine.” A woman’s laughter came through the phone, high and grating.
“Is there someone else there with you?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Remember this is just between us, right? No one else can know anything about it.” I wasn’t sure he was listening though, because I heard him talking to her in the background. “Matt!”
“Right, yeah, of course,” he replied all too quickly and I was pretty sure he hadn’t heard a word I’d said. My only saving grace was if he ever
did
say anything about my… situation, no one would ever believe him.
“I’ll let you get back to it then.”
“Later, Merce.”
I’d done my part in trying to warn Matty about the dangers headed my way. More than likely it wouldn’t affect him in the slightest, but I felt better about giving him the heads up. After the way that phone call went, I wasn’t sure if I should bother Daphne with my troubles. Maybe I was making a mountain out of a molehill? With both Sam and Ben looking out for me in the real world and Adam protecting me in the Ether, what could go wrong?
Oh, how I wish I’d never tempted fate with that question…
Chapter Four
Daphne took the worry out of having to decide whether or not to fill her in by demanding I tell her all the juicy details from the moment I stepped into her apartment. I have to admit it felt good to have someone to talk to who wouldn’t try and pressure me into going to live with him, judge me for letting Adam get to me when I had Ben in my back pocket or push me to find a way to make a little bit of money off of my ordeal.
Her apartment was even smaller than mine, more of a studio, with a curtain closing off the bedroom. The apartment was decorated in flea market and second hand store cast offs, in a jumble of different styles. The result of Daphne’s tendency to impulse buy. That meant when I took a seat on the loveseat that served as a couch, I fought for space with a soft, leopard print throw blanket and a Hello Kitty pillow.
“What happened to you guys? The party barely started and you slipped off together. Wanted a little bit of romantic alone time?” Daphne’s eyes were bright and ready for gossip, and I did my best to return her smile.
“No, Sam showing up was a bit of a buzzkill.”
“Oh, right, I almost forgot about that. Did you tell Ben about it all?”
“Yep,” I sighed, hugging the pillow to my middle.
“How did he take it?” She sat beside me, leaning forward expectantly.
“Pretty well I guess, all things considered.” I waved my hand back and forth. “He didn’t believe me until I proved it to him though.” I launched into a description of my trick with the knife and I noticed a wistful look come over her face. Though I’d healed her minor aches and pains plenty of times, I could tell she wished she’d gotten to see something a bit more dramatic like healing a cut before her eyes. Well, she could be wistful all she wanted, I wasn’t about to cut into my arm to satisfy her curiosity.
“See, I told you, you had nothing to worry about! You should have told him a long time ago. Don’t you feel better getting it off your chest? Maybe you’ll finally let him in all the way without having to keep so many secrets from him.” Her observation that I hadn’t completely let myself fall for Ben caught me by surprise, and she pressed on as she noticed it. “You know you’ve been holding back with him, Mercy, admit it. Normally you’re the type to jump first without making sure there’s water beneath you.”
It was true, I did tend to jump into relationships before I had all the facts. Not that I’m a slut or anything. I meant in the sense that I had a history of risking my heart (not my body) without thinking about the consequences. “That’s not what’s been holding me back with Ben,” I admitted aloud.
“Then what… oh, Mercy, I recognize that look,” she sighed as realization dawned on her. “Not the stuff with Adam again? I thought you finally had him out of your system?”
“So did I.” But even before he gifted me with his Grace I’d felt the same pull towards him. And the connection had grown even stronger.
Daphne’s eyes narrowed. “What else happened last night?”
For the next fifteen minutes I talked nonstop, filling her in on everything Sam told me in the club and at his place, the ‘dream’ in the Ether, and, after a moment’s hesitation, what Adam shared with me before we parted.
“Wow.” She blinked, leaning back against the couch. “You don’t mess around, huh? When you step into trouble you really go for it.”
“I didn’t step into anything,” I protested. “I was minding my own business, trying to make a life with Ben, remember?”
“Sorry.” She fell silent for a few seconds. “So, what’s the plan?”
“Plan?” I looked back at her in surprise. “I’m still reeling from all of this, I have no plan.”
“Come on, Mercy, without a plan there’s no attack. Or defense, as the case may be… The demons can’t get you unless it’s night time and Sam’s got protection duty covered, that leaves Azazael. Maybe we should try to find out more about him? The more you know about him the easier it’ll be to spot him when he tries to pull something, right?”
That was one of the reasons why Daphne was my very best friend. I could always count on her to give me a swift kick in the pants when I wallowed in despair, and I’d do the same for her in a heartbeat. “You’re right. It’s time to stop worrying about what’s gonna come out after me and think about what I can do to stop this guy. So, what do you suggest?”
“Me? Oh, well, let’s see…” Daphne’s eyes roamed around the room, looking for inspiration. “The internet!” She all but shouted in triumph, talking quickly when she saw my eyes start to roll. “No, really. It’s not all crap, there’s a lot of useful information on the web.”
“I know, but what are the chances I’ll find something real about Azazael that Sam and Adam don’t already know?”
“Yes, but what you get from them is through the filter of their experience, and unless you know the right questions to ask, you don’t know what you’re missing.”
She had a point. “Alright, let’s check it out.” Following her to the computer tucked away in the corner of the room, we typed in his name, spending the better part of an hour looking into all the links. In addition to finding similar passages to what Sam read to me from his book, I also learned that Azazael was generally credited with the fall of mankind leading to the floods in Noah’s time. Just about every sin committed by man was attributed to his influence. Curiously enough, he was also the original source of the word scapegoat. It made me wonder if some of what we’d found was just bad press? After all, the bible was written by men; who better to hold responsible for their sins but a fallen angel? It was far easier to place the blame somewhere else than on themselves. Not that I started to feel all warm and fuzzy about the guy, but it did give me more to think about. Still, it was hard to get over the countless stories of his debauchery and excess, there wasn’t a single redeeming quality attached to his name.
“None of that looks good,” I frowned, sitting back after my eyes started to burn from reading over her shoulder.
“It also says he’s trapped. I don’t think he can actually hurt you in that - what did you call it? Ether.”
“According to Sam, he can possess someone here and I might not even know it. I don’t know if I would see his aura projected on the person, or anything to clue me in to the fact that it’s him.”
“Maybe you should ask Sam about that?”
“Yeah, I’ll have to bring it up tonight when he’s on guard duty.”
“At least Sam’s not hiding out from you anymore.”
“Yep, brownie points for Sam. For once he decided to disregard what Adam told him to do.”
“I’m still a little foggy on why Adam didn’t want you to know about any of this.”
“Who knows what the hell goes through that head of his…” I muttered darkly.
“But you know he cares about you.”
“Yeah.” A long sigh left my lips as I laid my hand over my heart. “He does. He just has a funny way of showing it.”
“You make it sound like when we were in the third grade and Rupert Miller put those worms in your lunchbox, remember that?” she laughed, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Yeah, only instead of worms, he actually gave me a piece of himself.”
“I can’t even get a guy to spring for flowers.” Daphne gave a disgruntled sigh, and I hid a smile behind my hand.
“What about that guy you were with at the party, Jake? He seemed pretty into you.”
“It’s going pretty well, but it’s new. You know how that goes.” She shrugged and I nodded in commiseration. “What’s it like, having Adam’s Grace? Does it feel different from Sam’s?”
I thought about it a good while before I answered, trying to find the words for what it felt like. “It’s like… like I can feel him out there, far away, but still close. I know that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” I added at seeing her confusion. “It’s like I can feel a piece of him here with me, close to my heart. It’s comforting, but at the same time, I can tell he’s not anywhere near by and it feels like he’ll never come back.” I swallowed back a wave of dismay at that last realization. Somewhere in the back of my mind I realized I always thought I’d see Adam again. But was giving me part of his Grace his final goodbye? I wasn’t sure.
“Well, you look different at any rate.”
Sam had said something similar. “What do you mean, different?”
“I don’t know… like someone turned a light on inside of you. You’re practically glowing with good health. Even with the pouty, scared thing you have going on, it looks good on you.”
“Yeah, well, you try dealing with a bunch of bad guys after you at once and see how pouty and scared you look,” I grumbled.
“I know, I know. But do you think you can spare a little? I think my complexion could use a little dose of Grace.”
There was no way I was gonna start down that path. “Daph, you know I can’t…”
“I’m kidding,” she giggled. “Oh man, you should have seen the look on your face!”
“I can imagine,” I murmured sourly, not finding it quite as funny. “I think I’ve done about as much sleuthing as I can for one afternoon. I’d better get going on some errands before it gets dark and I have to worry about demons too.”
“Do you want some company?”
Her offer caught me by surprise. “Are you sure you want to be out in public with me? I’ve got a lot of people after me.”
“Of course. We still have plenty of hours of daylight. And if this guy Azazael comes after you, I’ve got your back.”
“If Azazael comes after me, I want you to run for the hills, okay?”
“Why? He’s not after me.”
“Because he’s dangerous. Promise me, Daphne, at the first sign of trouble I want you out of there.” From the look on her face I could tell I was gonna have a hard time getting that promise out of her and I could understand why. If she was in trouble it’d be hard for me to turn my back on her and run too. But the last thing I needed on my conscience was anything happening to my best friend because she wanted to spend time with me. If it came down to it, I’d avoid her like the plague to keep from involving her in any of it.
“I promise I’ll go for help at the first sign of danger,” she relented finally. It wasn’t quite the same thing, but I recognized it might be the best I’d get from her for the moment. “Now, you said something about errands. Does that mean shopping?”
* * *
It was hard to enjoy the afternoon when I looked over my shoulder at every turn. In the end, I’m afraid I wasn’t very good company, but Daphne didn’t make any bones about it. At the end of the afternoon I had my favorite dress back from the dry cleaners, bought stamps, and dropped off my overdue library books. I even found a new collar for Mimsy with a tiny little bell on it, designed to drive her absolutely insane. Daphne refused to leave my side until it was time to meet Ben for dinner at La Hacienda, our favorite Mexican restaurant.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay and wait with you?” she asked when we got to the restaurant parking lot.
“Not unless you’re going to join us for dinner.” It didn’t make much sense to me for her to stick around to hand me off to Ben’s care.
“No, I can’t. I’ve got plans with Jake.”
“Then what are you sticking around here for? You’d better go get ready. Maybe he’ll bring you flowers tonight,” I grinned. At seeing her look towards the darkening sky, I added quickly. “There’s still at least an hour before it’s full dark, I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’ll be waiting in a public place.”
“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”
I bit back the response that leapt to my lips. Namely, what did she think she was going to do against a demon if she was with me? “Yeah, I’ll be fine, really. You go on ahead, have a great time and call me tomorrow, I want details.”
“Okay, see you later, Mercy.”
I hopped out of her car, waving as I watched her drive away. The restaurant entrance was less than thirty feet away. What could possibly happen to me? Still, I was a little nervous as I crossed the parking lot, a flicker of movement in my peripheral vision catching my eye. Checking, without trying to look like I was checking, I spotted a tall, dark haired man in a long, black coat walking in the same direction.
No big deal, it was a public place. It wasn’t that unusual for the guy to be going out to dinner like I was. I slowed my walk, opting to let him go through the doors ahead of me, but he slowed his speed as well, keeping pace with me. That was a little odd, but maybe he was trying to be polite? A ladies first kind of thing?