Hell's Gift (16 page)

Malcolm didn’t know what was going on or what to believe, but he did know that it wasn’t any of Troy’s business; the less anyone knew, the better. It was actually a good thing that he hadn’t seen Josselyn in the speculum. He would have demanded very secret answers.

“Would you believe that I was practicing for a play?” Malcolm asked hopefully.

Troy shrugged his big, broad shoulders. “If that’s whit ye telt me, I won’t ha’e a choice but tae believe it, right?”

Malcolm sighed dramatically. “You caught me, Troy, but if we can keep my vanity between me and you, I’d appreciate that. I have a feeling it wouldn’t go over very well if Isaiah knew how much I loved myself.”

Malcolm almost gasped. The lie had floated so easily off his tongue that
he
had almost believed it.
What was going on?

Troy gave him a dawdling glance, then snickered. “Awbody kens hoo vain ye are. There’s nae need tae go stating the obvious.”

He walked to one of the tables a few feet away and retrieved a red cap with a familiar ‘A’ clad with a halo and wings, then stuck it on his head. Troy never missed a Los Angeles Angels’ game. The one time he did, it had been seriously hard to put up with the angel’s bad mood for weeks. He was never denied access to Earth again after that.

“Forgot ma hat.” He situated the cap for comfort, then winked at Malcolm. “I’ll leave ye tae finish whit ye started. Sorry I interrupted ye, laddie.” Troy turned on his heel with a mischievous grin on his face and walked out the way he’d come in.

Chapter 20

Josselyn

Hercules let out a low growl and Josselyn’s head shot up in alarm. She had been lounging in Kendra and Adam’s living room, playing peek-a-boo with Ben, when a chill ran up her spine.

Kendra had noticed the change in her mood and jumped to her feet.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know,” Josselyn said calmly, then slowly rose and handed Ben to Adam. “I’ll go check everything out again.” She made eye contact with Adam. “Stay together. No matter what happens, stay together and do what I say. If you have any holy objects in the house, get them and put them on your person.” Josselyn glanced to Kendra. “I promised Rhyan I would do everything in my power to keep the three of you safe. I know of the crazy stuff you’re capable of, so please don’t try to be a hero and get yourself killed. You can’t win in a physical fight against Murry or any demon.”

Kendra nodded and Josselyn left the room.

The uneasy feeling seemed to be getting worse as Josselyn walked through the house alone. She’d never had to go up against a demon before, but she knew she had the instincts to protect herself as well as her charge if the occasion did ever arrive.

She checked the master bedroom, then Ben’s room. All was sound.

Guardian angels met on a weekly basis in classes that taught them how to defend themselves. Even without the lessons, Josselyn felt confident she could take care of Kendra. That was if the female listened to her.

She made her way to the photography studio, but nothing was amiss there, either, and she realized the goosebumps had nearly gone from her skin.

She pulled the French doors closed and looked to her left, where the kitchen was located.

The chill returned to her body and she ignored the urge to run her hands over her arms.

“Kendra!” Josselyn shouted, “Everything still alright in there?”

“We’re fine!” Kendra replied. “Just find the son of a— ow! Don’t poke me, Adam!”

“You’re not supposed to swear in front of angels,” he whispered back and all went silent after that.

Josselyn was still on high alert, but she had to smile at the married couple. She could feel the love they had for one another and knew exactly the misery Rhyan had been going through.

She sighed. She knew Rhyan had been in love with Kendra, but she didn’t have to listen to his thoughts if she chose not to. If you had a charge, you didn’t get that choice. You could turn the voices down, but it was impossible to completely turn them off if you had more control than the guardian demon.

Josselyn made it through the kitchen and down the hallway. She was positive something was outside. Her skin felt like it was on fire the closer she got to the front door. What puzzled her was the fact that, whatever ‘it’ was, wasn’t inside with them already. Usually demons didn’t beat around the bush about their intentions.

Of course, if the demon killed Kendra, Adam or Ben, their souls would go on to Heaven, so it wouldn’t really be benefiting anything from the visit if their souls were what it was after. What could Murry possibly want if he didn’t want to kill them?

She rose up on her toes and looked through the peep-hole in the door. She couldn’t see anyone, so she only had two options: she could go back to the living quarters with Kendra, Adam and Ben and wait for Murry to come to them, or she could go outside and confront him face-to-face.

She groaned and flexed her fingers nervously. Going outside was her
only
option. She needed to keep the danger as far away from the human family as possible.

Josselyn placed her hand on the door handle, took a shaky breath then turned the knob, jerking the door open to eerie silence and not much else.

Her eyes darted all around, and when she didn’t see anything right away, she walked to the edge of the porch and heightened her senses. Something was definitely there, and it was close.

There was a classic red Ford Mustang and a dark green Land Rover parked on the gravel circle drive in front of the house. The wind was blowing slightly and the sky had darkened considerably off in the west. It was evident that a storm was brewing, but Josselyn had a feeling that another had already arrived.

A slight movement to the right of the house caught her attention. She looked and focused in on a handsome lone figure, one broad shoulder propped against an oak tree, shoulder-length brown hair blowing in the slight breeze, arms folded over his firm chest and long legs crossed at the ankles.

She had heard rumors of how beautiful some of Lucifer’s children could be, and she knew for a fact that this male was a demon; she could feel the tiny pricks of evil licking at her skin from where he was standing, fifty feet away from her. But clearly the descriptions of the creatures hadn’t been thoroughly explained to her, or the individuals observing them hadn’t been paying close enough attention to the ones they’d encountered, because the demon before her was extremely well-favored and devastatingly handsome.

She knew he was dangerous, because behind the amusement in his green eyes,
danger
was evident.
Was this Murry? Nobody had bothered to describe him to me. Shouldn’t that have been important for me to know?

He studied her, unmoving, as if he had all the time in the world to stand there and let her ogle him.

Jesus!
She blinked several times.
Am I lusting after a demon? No, I was merely acknowledging that I had been uneducated on their attractive and seductive looking nature, and that was all. End of story.

The demon’s full, pouty bottom lip separated from his equally kissable top lip and Josselyn’s foot slipped from the edge of the porch.

She was too stunned to stop the fall, and she came down hard on her knee beside one of Kendra’s rose bushes. She stayed there in the dirt and mulch on her hands and knees, eyes slammed shut, embarrassment clouding her thoughts and threatening to destroy her sanity.
I’m so stupid.

“I apologize,” the male said.

That voice…
Josselyn inhaled sharply, her body going rigid as the hypnotizing pitch threatened to make her swoon. He was standing right beside her, and apologizing for
her
clumsiness.
Could it be possible that he’s not a demon? Demons don’t apologize; at least I don’t think they do. I am definitely not cut out for this job.

Josselyn took another steady breath, then opened her eyes and got to her feet without making eye contact with him. She brushed at her clothes and hands and boots, then, when there was obviously nothing more she could do to stall, she forced herself to look up.

“And just what would you be apologizing for? It wasn’t as though you pushed me off the porch. I tripped on my own.”

He chuckled and her eyes were immediately drawn to that perfect mouth again.

She cleared her throat, then turned and walked up the three steps to the porch again. She had to get herself pulled together or the Chamberlain family would have wings and halos by nightfall. Well, angels didn’t really have wings or halos, but she was practically handing their lives over to Murry.

“No, you are correct. I didn’t push you from the porch. I’d never do something so cruel to someone so beautiful. I was only apologizing for being the reason the incident occurred.”

Josselyn gasped, embarrassment trying to force its way in, but she quickly disguised it as anger. “Are you suggesting my thoughts were so clouded by lust for you that I couldn’t even pay enough attention to stay upright on my own two feet? Because it isn’t—”

“I didn’t think angels could tell lies.” The demon took in a deep breath, then sighed heavily. His eyes drifted closed and his tongue came out to slowly play along the line of his lips. He took his bottom lip between his teeth and suckled gently. His moans started low, but soon grew in volume.

Josselyn stood there, dumbstruck and mesmerized and completely turned on by the simple events that were playing out before her. She couldn’t look away and she couldn’t stop it; she didn’t want to stop it. She wanted more. She wanted him to rip her clothes from her body and take her right there, on the porch floor.

Just before she opened her mouth and suggested he do just that, he stopped.

Her eyes were filled with desire, but she knew enough to realize that her mind was being tampered with and he was slowly giving her back control over her own thoughts.

Rage quickly replaced any sexual fantasies. Josselyn lunged off the porch and grasped the demon’s throat with her hands. Her body weight and the momentum of the jump caught him off guard and they both fell to the ground.

She pulled her knees up to his shoulders, trapping his arms so he couldn’t grab her. She knew it was only temporary, she wasn’t strong enough to keep him down, but she had succeeded in stunning him for the moment and she took advantage of that.

“Stay away from them and don’t ever mind-screw me again!” Josselyn shouted, then was thrown to her back on the ground by a gust of power.

She didn’t have time to think about what had just happened before the demon was on top of her, his body in between her thighs, and only fabric and about two seconds’ worth of material ripping separated their most intimate parts from getting together and having one hell of a party. He was so strong.

“The phrase is ‘mind-fuck’, skirt. You can say it. Even good girls say it when they want bad boys to do bad things to them. I could do bad things to you and make you beg for more.” The tip of his nose brushed her cheek and he inhaled her scent.

Josselyn didn’t move. She’d been wrong before. She was no match for any demon. She couldn’t protect Kendra, and it would destroy Rhyan when something happened to his charge, the woman he had loved since her birth.

“Don’t hurt them—please,” Josselyn sobbed.

The demon’s body went very still for a moment, then he was on his feet, his back to her. “I’m not here for them.” He shifted so he could glare at her. “Murry knew you were a female, so he asked me to see how difficult it would be to get through you to them.” He bared his teeth, then growled as he looked away from her. “He won’t have a bit of trouble. You are weak,” he finished in a low voice.

He isn’t Murry? And he isn’t here to kill my charge and her family? Maybe there is hope.
Josselyn swiftly got to her feet. “So, if you’re not Murry, then who are you?”

He laughed lightly. “You thought I was Murry? Who the hell is running this show up there, Helen Keller? They send an untrained female angel to take on a male guardian prince. That sounds about right,” he said, then turned to walk back to the tree where she’d first saw him.

“You’re not going to tell me who you are? Why couldn’t Murry just come and take care of his own business, huh? Are you beneath him? Did he force you to come and test out the waters because he is a coward?”

The male stopped and turned to face her. “Murry is my equal. He is Prince over the Syde of Wrath. And he asked me to come check you out because you are a woman,” he grinned mischievously, “and women are my specialty. Murry was busy, but believe me, skirt, you didn’t want him to have come here first, and I would suggest you get back-up for when he does decide to make an appearance. Or he will have you and your perfect little soul in Hell for all of us to play with.”

“That’s not possible.”

“You really believe that, don’t you?” he said, his voice and expression full of amused curiosity.

Josselyn jutted out her chin and squared her shoulders. “Of course I do. You can’t just steal souls that don’t belong to you.”

He walked back to her, the small smirk growing bigger with each step he took.

There were no mind games being played this time, but as he took her hand and placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles, her knees threatened to buckle.

He locked her eyes in his gaze. “We do it every day, and your kind does nothing to stop us.” He released her hand and turned from her once again.

As he walked away she heard him say, “Better bring back-up, skirt. I won’t save you again. And the next time we meet I’ll take you up on those fantasies you were having in that pretty little head of yours.” He turned and winked at her, and then popped out of sight.

Chapter 21

Rhyan

Holding Abbi in my arms felt so good, so natural. We still had a long road ahead of us, but I was convinced we could make it work.

Her sobs had long stopped. She’d battled through a nightmare after falling asleep, and I had held her tight to my body as she fought the demons away.