The Timekeeper (2 page)

Tattoos inched up his arms, and if you were ever lucky enough to sneak a peak at him shirtless, you would see they crept up his throat and well-muscled chest. That accursed shirt hid the brands and scars littering his body, but those are things we aren’t going to get into, it’s his business to share, not mine. Scuffed combat boots and tight leather pants made him a favorite with the ladies. To top everything off, he’s easy to talk to and always polite. The perfect bartender.

“Hey, Drake. What’s new in the world?” He raised an eyebrow and continued to wipe down the counter, one of his typical activities. I smiled as I thought about how well he fit into this establishment. The black and red interior of the club suited the large, leather clad Demon. His deep voice rumbled like an eighteen-inch subwoofer. Barry White took lessons from this guy.

“I assume you don’t mean this one. In truth, I’ve been waiting for you to show up, Princess. I received a message from the Aliis with your name all over it. Must be a big to do going on.” I tapped my fingernails on the black lacquer bar top and rolled my eyes.

I didn’t need to ask him what was moving and shaking before the Demon snorted, “Same shit, different day. You’re going to fucking love this.” Drake did a lot of message taking for me. I’m sure he didn’t appreciate being my secretary, but he would never say so, like I said, he owed me.

“What’s shaking big guy? I don’t want to hear any nonsense to do with political fallout. I’m not in the mood to listen to a damn thing about who those moronic muffin-heads are in a pissing contest with now. I’m also not interested in who my father has decided to wage war on either. However, I am willing to entertain some of my mother’s conquests as of late. Those are always so entertaining.” He gave me a pearl white grin, which appeared whiter against his ebony skin.

“Apparently,” he muttered as he started to prepare my usual rum and coke, “The Goddess Hel, from the Norse Pantheon placed a contract out on a Seer’s capture.” I gave him a questionable look. I couldn’t put my finger on what seemed odd about the event, a scenario which happened all of the time.

Oracles were often traded by courts and kidnapped by others. Hot commodity in short supply, soothsayers were few and far between and led a dangerous life. It was beyond me why a Goddess would want with a Seer when her pantheon already had one. Whatever, not my business.

“And? Nothing message worthy about
that
. A little strange, but not uncommon.” He smirked and I knew there must be more to this than his simple assessment of the situation. If someone’s going to leave me message with Drake, the situation was more important than a basic kidnapping. Who had relayed something like this to me in the first place? I was a pain in the ass to track down, most messages weren’t worth the effort, only the crucial ones.

“A nabbing contract put out on the Seer isn’t pertinent here, Princess. It’s the who and why that are going to interest you. Lady Jaylynne Kwan is the target, and Hel intends to sacrifice her so she can be free from Helheim.” He placed the drink in front of me on a little maroon cocktail napkin and slid a small stirring straw into the rum. Now he had my attention, far more than the clink of the ice in my glass.

“You’re right, very interesting. I assume this is Lady Kwan, daughter of Oracle Meredith Kwan and Marquis Dante Nicolai? The girl who happens to be the Vala for the Norse Pantheon?” He nodded, confirming it was in fact the same woman. “This message came from my granddaughter as well?” His head bobbed again.

I should’ve been aware something like this would happen. Jaylynne was vital in the future, I didn’t realize just how significant. Had I been paying more attention, I would’ve already figured this out. Unfortunately, I had my head up my royal ass. This situation was of serious concern, no one got to mess with family and walk away unscathed.

“How ironic, the Vala of the Norse Pantheon is a target of a Goddess in her own mythology. Regardless, I’m sure Aural will be able to take care of everything, or is there something else you need to tell me? You’re not being forthcoming with details today, Drake. I’m a tad bit disappointed.” I continued to rap my fingernails against the counter, a habit that drove him crazy. I believe he was afraid I would scratch his perfect countertop. Like he didn’t wipe the bloody thing down enough to buff out all but the deepest gouges.

“Princess, Aural requested that you assist her in tracking down a particular Fallen Angel and inform him of what’s going down. She seems to think the Angel might be of some use. They’re having a difficult time trying to locate him with their Dragons.” Well, that didn’t surprise me.

Marquis Nicolai relied far too much on his Dragons, and gave them more credit than they deserved. Dragons are a wonderful group to keep around, but certain situations required a distinct skill which the race seemed to lack. Finding and tracking Angels was one, fitting the behemoths into small spaces was another. I would put finding him on my list of things to do as soon as possible.

“Did she happen to say who they had assigned to be Jaylynne’s Guardian? I assume she still lives in Portlandia City. The Werewolf she works for is hardly going to do the job, he’s growing old and while he may be formidable, this is a little over his skill set. The whole West Portlandia Pack wouldn’t stand a chance against a Goddess and her henchmen.” I watched Drake continue to wipe down the counter for no reason at all, it couldn’t get anymore pristine.

“Aural informed me a certain Prince, Alston Halverson of the Northern Ice Colony had been assigned as her Guardian and yes, the young lady still resides in that shit hole of a city.” Prince Halverson is an excellent and curious choice of Guardians, but more than qualified for the task at hand.

I felt bad for the girl, she hadn’t had an easy time of things. Her mother, Meredith had been a dear friend to me in life. I had been a part of her children’s birth. The personal issues I had with Dante, her father, never mattered when it came to their children. As the girl’s godmother, a title that I took very seriously, I put all difference aside. My own granddaughter had quite an interesting attachment to the young Vala.

“When you speak to Aural, please let her know I plan on making as many arraignments as I can from over here. Maneuvering would be easier from Aliis, unfortunately neither of us has control over my present locale.” I no longer wanted anything to do with this world, and I longed for my complicated life as a Princess, it wasn’t lax by any means. It was simply a different set of problems, ones I was more equipped to deal with, this woman wasn’t made for the mortal world.

I would get home soon enough and I could see no reason to rush. Besides, death could wait. I couldn’t bear the painful affair, and tried to avoid it for as long as possible.

I sat in my stool for a moment, lost in thought and dazing off as I watched Drake continue to shine the counter. He didn’t say anything to me, just carried on with his wiping, until someone caught his attention coming into the almost vacant facility. If his glasses hadn’t been in the way, I was certain the world would have been exposed to his glare, his stern jaw clenched, muscles twitching with tension.

I felt the Angels’ presence behind me and cringed. Splendid, I hadn’t seen an Angel in a month or so, and I was starting to enjoy the break. It appeared the winged monsters had decided to make up for the hiatus by doubling up on Angels at the table.

A pair of unreasonably handsome men surrounded me at the bar, one on each side. I glanced to the left at the taller of the two. Like all Angels he was lovely from head to toe with short, slightly curly, dirty blond hair, wide shoulders and broody, gentle green eyes. With a stern jaw, it appeared that he hadn’t laughed or smiled about anything in the past two thousand years.

His tight white shirt showed off every inch of muscle making up his torso, black angelic tattoos shown through the thin fabric and covered his entire upper body, except his face. If I had to guess, this guy had no sense of humor and had been God’s henchman for a small eternity.

I briefly looked to my right, expecting a carbon copy, and ended up doing a double take. To my surprise, this man was considerably less stoic. He had a shaved head and smile lines in the corners of his kind bright blue eyes. The men had identical builds, however this one was a bit shorter.

Angel boy’s lips appeared full and kissable, a quality an Angel shouldn’t possess. I could tell the man was covered in angelic tattoos, the ink was mostly hidden by his black tee-shirt, only exposing the skin on his bulky arms. Each Angel was sexy as hell. However, something about this one screamed sensuality.

“Gentlemen, it’s such a shame your God made you Angels so good looking, mainly because you’ve got no interest in women.” The shorter of the two, whom I couldn’t take my eyes off of, gave me a smile hot enough to set the room on fire. I heard Drake behind me, growling.

Male Demons and Angels didn’t get along, ever, at all. Female Demons, on the other hand, had a taste for Angels that rivaled the worst addictions and proved to be completely unshakable.

“Ilana Rose, how anyone wouldn’t be interested in you is baffling. Angels have plenty of interest in women, it should be obvious by the number of Fallen. More than one Angel has Fallen for you last time I checked.” He replied confidently.

I always loved a sweet taking Angel, and I was well aware his boss didn’t appreciate my antics. God, an entity that was quite the stickler for the rules. I felt the cold drifting off of Drake and became aware that he was also disinterested in my shenanigans. Males, so territorial.

“Take a seat boys, and explain to me what exactly you’ve tracked me down for this time. Oh, and you’d better come up with something I should call the two of you. Especially you. I despise not knowing who I’m speaking to, a pet peeve I’m sure you understand.” I said pointing toward the stool next to the evidently more fun-loving of the pair.

I loved an Angel who would play a game with me. They took up residence on either side of me. The charming one spoke to me, leaving his partner to brood. They couldn’t tell me their real moniker. Angel’s true designations were not pronounceable. Names had power, and no one was interested in giving any of that away, so Angel’s were only spoken in Heaven.

“How rude of us not to introduce ourselves in the first place, please forgive us, Princess. My name is Gideon and this is Chester.” He said, giving a gesture directing me to peek at the stuffy man on the other side of me. It took every ounce of control not to fall off my chair with laughter. His alias had to be a punishment, possibly some cruel joke. Either his parents or God hated him.

“Chester, huh? No wonder you wear a perm-a-scowl. I going to guess that name doesn’t win you too many prizes in the popularity contests. I envision you being picked on a lot in Angel school.
Evet
?” I grinned at him and his expression didn’t change. When he finally spoke to me, his voice had an amazing, deep timbre that swept chills up my spine. I thought Drake sounded good, but this guy’s vocal cords were astounding. I wanted to listen to him talk for hours, too bad I didn’t care to hear anything he had to say.

“Picking on my name is not why we’re here, Azriella.” I served him an eye roll and turned back at Gideon. He was a perfect specimen, one I only hoped would take the Fall soon. As a rule, Angels shouldn’t be good looking. He gave me a muted smile in return, as if he knew what I was thinking. Damn Angels, I wondered if they all possessed inappropriate thought radar.

“I understand. Please share with me exactly why you are pestering me, if you don’t mind. I would hate to subject you to any more attitude, Chester. And do yourself a favor and don’t call me Azriella in this world again, for the rest of this life I’m Ilana Rose Purcell.” I took a sip of rum and coke, waiting for one of them to respond. I grinned when Gideon chose to spoke, grateful. I loathed to deal with Mr. Cranky Pants again.

“We’re with the Order of the Seraphim. We’re looking for a renegade Angel and a Fallen Angel. Someone told us you might be in the possession of some information on how to track them down so they may be brought to justice.” I raised an eyebrow and glanced at Drake, who simply shrugged.

Well, at least it wasn’t my Demon who was to blame for the leak in intelligence. When I got my hands on them, that person was in some seriously deep shit. This made the third time I had been harassed by Angels because I supposedly had a tidbit of info I would share with feathered friends. I was well aware of where to find the Angels in question, that wasn’t the point. I’m no rat and I didn’t give two shits about Heaven’s justice.

“
Hayir, üzgünüm
. Who in the world would tell you such a story? Believe me when I say I do try and avoid dealing with Angels. I’m a Demon, half anyway, and our kinds run together like oil and water. I don’t particularly care for the purity of your kind, no offense Gideon. I’m not sure I’m any help to you at all.” I heard Chester snort behind me, but Gideon continued to smile.

I wasn’t going to get away with this, I was acquainted with the Angels they were looking for, and I would never give the two brothers up. There was something to be said about the loyalty of my kind.

“No offense taken, Ilana. We are what we are and none of us can help it. We can’t tell you where our information comes from, but the Order is positive you are familiar with the Angels. Warde and Neal are two individuals that are extremely difficult to forget. I’m also positive that our source was right when you were named as the person harboring them.” Few people had access to knowledge of my arrangement with the brothers and I started running through the short list in my head. As soon as I figured out who turned me in, they would find themselves in a shit load of trouble.