He turned in his seat, grabbed the back of my neck, and pulled me to him. His mouth claimed mine in a rough kiss. Fisting my hand in his shirt, I held him to me. I moaned when his tongue outlined my lips, and he groaned in response. He trailed light, openmouthed kisses down the side of my neck, making little circles on my skin with his tongue. Every nerve in my body was electrified. Goose flesh pricked my skin and my insides melted.
He lifted his head and looked at me. His blue-green eyes were dark, his breathing ragged. I threaded my fingers through his hair and pulled his lips to mine again, taking them slowly.
“Stop with the jealousy, Chay,” I said against his lips. “I don’t want anyone else.”
He smiled and leaned back. Putting the car into drive, he pulled slowly out of the parking lot. “You wanna get a milkshake? “
“You have to ask?”
His lips twitched. “I guess not.”
Chay’s uncle owned a small ice cream shop in town. According to Chay, he had the best milkshakes in South Bay. According to Uncle Stewart, he had the best milkshakes in the entire state of Michigan. I agreed with them both.
“Hey, you two! The usual?” Uncle asked when we walked into the small shop, the bells jingling above us.
“Yes, please.” I hopped on a stool at the counter.
“Two chocolate milkshakes, extra whipped cream, and three cherries… because I love ya,” Uncle said with a wink.
“We love you, too, Uncle Stewart.” I smiled. He was a nice man and happened to be angel. According to him, we were all family—angels and demi-angels. I guess we were.
The chimes tinkled over the door when two women walked in. When I made eye contact with one woman, a tall, willowy redhead, an image of her face flashed behind my eyes, followed by piercing screams. The sound of screaming and the sight of her pale face disappeared as soon as we lost eye contact.
“That’s new,” I mumbled.
“What?” Chay’s voice startled me, and I flinched. I hadn’t realized I’d said anything out loud.
“Um, not sure yet.” I got up and walked behind the counter. Uncle was just walking to the front from the storage area in the back of the store. “Can I do it?”
“Wait on them? Sure, but why?” Uncle looked at the women over my shoulder. “They friends of yours?”
“No… I just… I’m not sure really. I can’t explain it.”
“Darlin’, there isn’t much in our lives that can be explained. Go on before they change their minds and go to Dairy Queen instead.”
I laughed and walked to the women waiting to order. Chay caught my eye, raising a brow in question. I shrugged. I had no idea what I was doing. I just had the urge to wait on the women. I was betting it had something to do with the mini-vision I had when they walked in. Once a vision started, it took on a life of its own. There was very little I, or any other demi-angel, could do to fight it. When we were meant to step in, we had the overpowering urge to do so. It was almost as if our actions weren’t our own any longer. We were at the mercy of our visions.
The pretty redhead looked up, and I stumbled backward. Her face, mangled and distorted, like I was seeing her through a broken circus mirror, flashed over and over again in my mind. The images of her grotesquely misshapen face bounced through my vision, keeping time with the unending screams that filled my ears.
The screech of a chair against the tile floor drew her attention, and she broke eye contact with me to look over her shoulder.
I saw Chay walk toward the back of the shop. He pushed through the swinging door and rounded the corner to stand beside me. “I’ll take care of this. Why don’t you help Uncle? I heard him call you.”
“Oh, sure, thanks.” I smiled at the ladies, searching out the redhead’s green eyes. As soon as our gazes met, the image of her face sprang to life in my brain, her head whipping side to side violently. Her mouth opened and closed, but this time, no sound came. The vision was silent, just a jumble of disjointed images.
Taking a big step backward, I turned away. I sagged with my back to the wall as soon as I rounded the corner.
“Vision?”
I jumped at the sound of Uncle’s voice. “Yes.”
“Who?”
“The redhead.” I peeked around the corner.
“What about?”
“I can’t tell yet.”
Nodding, he stood beside me. “Yeah, that’s frustrating, not being able to force the vision to give us the info we need.” He sighed and scratched the back of his head. “Can’t force it though.”
There was nothing I could do but wait for it to finish telling me what I needed to know to do my job—protect the human.
I listened as Chay took their orders. One ordered a vanilla cone.
How boring. A whole ice cream shop full of sweet treats and she picks vanilla? Wait, focus, that’s not important now. The vision. What is it telling me?
The second lady, her voice soft and melodious, ordered a sundae. It was the redheaded woman. As soon as she started speaking, the vision smashed through my consciousness.