Forgiven (6 page)

She never heard Peter so intense before, and that told her he wasn’t taking her anywhere he didn’t want to go.

I shouldn’t have called him. I should have just left town on my own.

‘We’ll do what we can at the plant,’ Peter said, quieter now. ‘If we’re lucky, we’ll get a break and then you can tell the hunters you busted the Holy Water scam.’

Which would be a big clue Riley wasn’t on Hell’s payroll.

The bogus Holy Water problem was a recent development. Someone was substituting tap water for the consecrated liquid. Good Holy Water allowed the trappers to capture Hellspawn, at least some of the smaller varieties. Bad Holy Water = dead trappers.

‘You’re not giving me a choice in this, are you?’

Peter shook his head. ‘Got to keep you off the streets.’

His friendship had always been rock solid. Would it survive once he knew about her and the angel?

It took time, but Peter eventually reached the recycling plant in East Point and parked the car in what looked to be as safe a location as any.

‘If this ride gets trashed, I am so dead,’ he said.

‘We’ll keep an eye on it somehow.’

Peter studied their surroundings. ‘That building looks to be the place,’ he said, pointing at a structure across the street from the recycling plant. It was abandoned, windows broken, the inside trashed. Perfect for their purposes.

‘Let’s check out the roof,’ he suggested.

Claiming their gear, they trudged over to find the fire escape was missing. That wasn’t unexpected: metal was worth money and, with so many out of work, scavenging a sizeable piece would be like finding a bag of cash on the street.

The sun was setting as they entered the building. The place reminded Riley of Master Harper’s shop after the Geo-Fiend had trashed it. The roof was intact, but some of the interior walls had tumbled into heaps of broken bricks. Graffiti marked the ones that were still intact. As expected, the building stank of mould, dust and urine.

‘Somebody needs to do some housekeeping,’ Riley grumbled, nearly falling when a brick shifted under her foot. It seemed that every few feet there was another obstruction.

‘On second thoughts, this could be a bad idea,’ Peter said. ‘You saw all the needles and stuff, didn’t you?’

Riley had seen those and tried to ignore them, though that meant the local druggies used the place to do their business. ‘It’s the best location to watch the plant.’

‘Yeah, but it’s not the safest,’ he replied, no doubt trying to be the voice of reason. ‘Maybe we can find another place.’

‘No, it’ll do.’

They’d had to work together to shift a large timber that blocked the stairway before they headed up to the roof. After they’d passed the first landing, Peter turned back. ‘Hold on.’ He began moving junk back in place. ‘We don’t want anyone to know we’re up here.’

There were three flights and all were a gauntlet of debris. Finally, her friend shoved open the rickety wooden door to the roof. The floor underneath their feet felt solid, but they inched their way to the side closest to the plant with great care.

‘Well, that’s a good sign,’ Peter said. ‘No needles. That means the junkies don’t come up here.’

‘But the birds do,’ Riley said, scooping away bird droppings with the toe of her tennis shoe.

‘Birds I’m good with. Drugged-out crazies don’t do it for me.’

It took Peter a few minutes to line up exactly where he wanted to set up camp. From experience, Riley had learned to back off and let him do what he wanted. He had this organizational gene that had to be exercised every now and then. She’d never tell him, but she suspected it came from his mother’s side of the family.

Peter announced he’d found the perfect location and began to unpack his backpack and large black bag. First out was a piece of heavy-grade plastic like you’d use for painting your house. He spread that on the asphalt roof, then placed a heavy blanket on top of it. Out came a camera and a tripod, followed by a notebook, bottles of water, beef jerky, power bars and his phone.

‘You really are scaring me, dude,’ Riley said, making sure to smile while she said it. ‘Look at all this. You’d think you were sitting vigil in the graveyard or something.’

‘I doubt any necros are going to be bothering us tonight.’ He eyed her. ‘So what did you bring? Lip gloss and a hairbrush?’

Smirking, she unpacked the sandwiches Mort’s cook had made for her, along with an ample slice of chocolate cake. ‘You owe me an apology.’

‘Ohmigod, it’s a feast! OK, you’re forgiven.’ He looked up from the food and grimaced. ‘Your disguise is making my eyes bleed.’

The bracelet also sapped her energy. When she undid the snaps and set it aside, the relief was instant.
That’s better.

Once they were settled, they each ate a sandwich and divided up the slice of the cake. He shared his beef jerky. Riley found she actually liked the stuff, and according to Peter there would be a side benefit – they wouldn’t have to pee as often, not with all the salt.

As each truck rolled up to the plant, Riley recorded the times and licence plate numbers in her friend’s notebook while Peter dutifully took pictures and video. Once the truck rumbled off, he would lean back against the short concrete wall and stuff his hands in his pockets to stay warm. After the third truck, Peter pinned his gaze on Riley.

‘In case you haven’t noticed, we are now on a stakeout across from the recycling plant. Time to tell me why the demon hunters have decided you’re Public Enemy Number One.’

Riley wasn’t sure how to start. ‘They’re after me . . .’ she began.

Silence. He wasn’t going to make this easy.

‘Because of Ori. I met him at the market. He
said
he was a freelance demon hunter trying to kill the Five that murdered my dad. He saved my life at the Tabernacle so I believed everything he told me.’

‘Is that the dude Simi was raving about?’

It appeared Riley’s friends had been talking about her social life. That was a bit unnerving. ‘Yeah, that’s him. Last night he killed a Five at Harper’s place and –’ She paused.

Peter knew some of what she was talking about when it came to the different kinds of demons, but not all the details. Demon trappers ranked Hellspawn according to cunning and their ability to kill. Grade One demons were nuisances while Grade Fives were so ferocious they could destroy whole cities It was important her friend understand exactly why she had come to trust Ori.

‘A Five is really dangerous. It creates earthquakes and windstorms. The demon that attacked us flattened Harper’s place. If Ori hadn’t come to our rescue, we’d both be dead.’

Her companion frowned. ‘Go on.’

She had to tell someone, and Peter was more like a brother than a friend.

Riley took a deep breath. ‘I met Ori at the cemetery later and we . . .’ Her voice hitched. ‘We spent the night together.’

‘Together like . . .
together
?’ Peter asked, his voice rising along with both eyebrows.

She swallowed hard. ‘Yes.’

‘I thought you’d never. . . ’ His voice trailed off.

‘No, not until last night.’
Just tell him all of it.
‘There’s something else. Ori’s an angel, wings and all. Honest.’

Her friend stared at her. ‘You went
horizontal
with an angel in a graveyard? Isn’t that like blasphemy or something?’ he spouted.

Riley’s cheeks burned in acute embarrassment. ‘Probably. After we . . . I found out he works for Lucifer. Ori’s a
Fallen
angel and he’s after my soul.’

Peter’s mouth fell open in shock.

‘Oh, and I got to talk to the Prince himself. He’s one spooky guy, that’s for sure.’

Peter’s brain reengaged. ‘You got hot and heavy with a fallen angel and then you chatted up the Prince of Hell?’

‘Yeah. I owe Lucifer a favour so he doesn’t let Ori kill everyone I love.’
Like you.

‘A favour,’ Peter said flatly, then swiped a palm across his chin. ‘What about the soul part?’ he asked, quieter now.

‘It’s still mine.’ She laughed bitterly. ‘Lucifer didn’t want it. He said I was better as a free agent, whatever that means. And I owe Heaven a favour too. That’s why Hell came after me.’

Peter pushed off from the roof and stalked a few feet away, his back to her now. ‘Please tell me this is all some kind of a sick joke.’

‘It’s the truth. All of it. That’s why hunters are after me.’

‘How did they find out?’ Peter asked, swivelling towards her now.

‘I think Beck ratted me out. I went to his house this morning and told him what had happened. He was furious, Peter. I’ve never seen anyone that angry.’

‘Duh! Now
there’s
a surprise,’ her friend replied sarcastically. ‘I saw the way he looked at you at your dad’s funeral. Of course he’d be mad. You’re about the only one on the planet who doesn’t realize how he feels about you.’

‘He never said anything,’ she retorted.

‘Hey, we guys don’t blurt out that kind of stuff,’ he replied. ‘It’s against the man code. Beck may never have said how he felt, but everything he did for you should have been a big clue. I mean, come on, how slow are you?’

She glowered at her friend. ‘I figured he was doing it because of my dad.’

‘Maybe, but the guy is really into you, Riley.’

‘No way. If he’d liked me, he wouldn’t have blown me off and—’

‘Ancient history, girl!’ he countered. ‘You were, what, fifteen? Your dad would have torn him apart if he’d touched you. Beck had no other choice.’

‘He didn’t have to be so mean.’

‘God, will you listen to yourself?’ Peter retorted.

‘You have no idea how much he hurt me.’

‘Give it up, will you? You’re my best friend, but you can be a real self-centred asshat sometimes.’

Ouch.
That was the equivalent of a Peter backhand.

Riley blew out a long stream of air to gain control of her temper. Other than her parents, he was only other person who could get away with talking to her like that. Peter never lied to her, he never treated her like she was stupid, but he never cut her any slack, either.

Her friend returned to the blanket, so upset he kept popping his knuckles. When he ran out of fingers, he seemed to settle down.

‘What will the hunters do to you?’ he asked, quieter now.

‘I don’t know. Probably ask me a lot of questions.’
Or worse.

‘Beck wouldn’t have called them. That’s not his style.’

‘He’s never going to forgive me for what I did with the angel.’

‘He’ll still have your back.’

Riley doubted that. ‘Are you mad at me for what I did?’ That was really important to her. She’d lost about everything else. To have her best friend turn his back on her would be a mortal wound.

‘I’m not looking to date you,’ Peter replied. ‘How I feel about this is totally different.’

‘That’s not an answer.’

He tried to pop another knuckle, but failed. ‘I’m not mad at you.’

God, I like this guy so much.
It was a pity they’d never found each other dating material.

Peter peered down at the recycling plant, then back at her. ‘I’m very worried about you,’ he said, his eyes revealing that concern went heart deep. ‘Too many things are going wrong in your life, Riley. I’m afraid I’m going lose you, one way or another.’

The tears came before she could stop them, surprising her. As she wept, Peter’s arms went round her and she laid her head on his shoulder, tears coursing down her cheeks, wetting his jacket.

‘I thought he loved me. I never would have . . .’

‘I know.’

She snuffled. ‘The deal I made with Heaven was for Simon’s life. That’s why he didn’t die.’

Peter took in a sharp breath. ‘Does he know that?’ he asked coolly.

‘No. He won’t believe it anyway. He’s sure I work for Hell.’

‘Could he have told the hunters you were at Beck’s?’ Peter asked.

‘No.’ Only Backwoods Boy knew where she was this morning.

‘Why does this feel like a bad episode of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
?’

Riley smiled through tears. ‘What would Buffy do now?’

Peter thought for a moment. ‘She’d kick some ass, and look smoking hot doing it.’

‘I’m worried you’ll get caught up in all this, Peter. I don’t want you hurt.’

‘A little late for that. Ayden said I needed to be there for you, that what you were facing was off the scale scary, though she wasn’t exactly sure what it was.’ He gave a lengthy sigh. ‘She doesn’t exaggerate, does she?’

‘No.’ Riley blew her nose on a tissue. ‘She’s going to be totally pissed I was so stupid with the angel.’

‘No comment,’ he replied. Another truck pulled in at that moment and Peter let her go, turning his attention to the job at hand.

Now he knows it all. Well, most of it.
It appeared that her best friend wasn’t going to walk away and let her swing in the wind.