“Mm, you’ve got some bite to you, human,” she smirked, marching towards me with deadly intent. The dagger glinted in her hand as she raised it. I waited until the last second to duck. The blade bit through the thin mattress. Just as it did, I kicked at her right knee. She screamed as it dislocated her kneecap, crumpling her to the ground.
“You little bitch!” She tackled me, straddling my body as soon as it hit the floor. She slammed my head into the linoleum. I cried out as pain lanced through my skull. She tried to stab me but I grabbed her arm, stopping it mere inches from my throat. She bore down harder and the tip of the dagger crept closer. My muscles strained and my entire body broke out in cold sweat. I used every ounce of strength, but it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t hold her off any longer.
A shadow fell across the demon’s face. She glanced up for a split second. Michael stood in the doorway. He kicked her square in the temple and she smashed into the adjacent wall. The sheer force knocked her out like a light, and the dagger clattered to the floor next to her.
Michael offered me a hand. I accepted it, rubbing my neck as I stood. “Cutting it a little close there, pretty boy.”
“Sorry. My timing was off. Are you okay?” He pushed my hair back, examining my cheek where the demon had hit me. The skin ached, meaning I probably had a bruise on its way.
“I’ll live. You, on the other hand…” My eyes found the oozing cut the dagger had scored across Michael’s chest, from his hipbone to just below his right pectoral, exposed by the tear in his t-shirt. Blood had seeped into the cotton, painting the white dark red. I hadn’t seen that much since Belial stabbed me. It made my stomach clench.
“It’s shallow. I’ll be alright,” he said, brushing past me to the floored demon. He knelt and picked up the dagger, his green eyes roving over the weapon.
“This is one of the missing items from the museum. Looks like we’ve got our confirmation of the demons’ involvement.”
“Do you think she’s the one from the break in?”
“Maybe.”
“Why just maybe?”
He shook his head. “This doesn’t smell right. If she did this on her own, she wouldn’t feel compelled to kill the guard. She could just fence the stuff, take her money, and leave town. Coming back to eliminate the witness means he saw something they didn’t want him to. She’s under orders.”
The elevator bell rang. I heard several authoritative voices—the police. Michael cursed under his breath and dropped the dagger next to the unconscious woman.
“She’s in here!” He called out. The police rushed in, checking to make sure we were both okay before surrounding the demon. They cuffed her and dragged her out of the room. They took our statements and gave us contact numbers for future involvement in the case. As expected, the dagger was taken into custody as evidence for the heist.
The doctors and nurses on the wing went back to taking care of the startled patients in other rooms. They checked on Sterling, who agreed to let us see him provided that we cleaned up a bit. One of the nurses began dressing Michael’s cut but got called in to help a patient who had started coding. She seemed conflicted so I showed her my card proving that I was First Aid certified. Satisfied, she left it to me instead.
I hadn’t seen Michael without a shirt before. It sounded absurd, but I felt a bit nervous as I mopped up the blood that had dripped onto the waistband of his jeans. I never saw him work out, but his muscles had the kind of definition that suggested he lifted weights and played sports in his spare time back when he thought he was human.
“Well, this is a role reversal,” Michael said, breaking up the tense silence.
I tossed the soiled gauze aside, reaching for the Neosporin. “Don’t get used to it. I have lousy bedside manner.”
He chuckled and it sent vibrations all the way up my arm as I rubbed in the ointment. It made me shiver. I prayed that he didn’t see my reaction. “No argument there.”
“All kidding aside…you mentioned that these weapons can hurt angels. Will you be able to heal this yourself?”
His expression sobered. “I won’t know until we get home. Can’t heal myself here. Too many witnesses.”
I pushed his arm a little higher before I pressed the bandages on until the wound was covered. I then taped them down as neatly as I could. “Here’s hoping for the best. Any other aches and pains, Mr. O’Brien?”
“No, Nurse Amador, I’m fine. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” I started to back up but he caught my shirttail, tugging me closer. He touched the side of my face. A streak of nervousness shot through me until I felt a cool tingling sensation on my skin. He was healing the bruise. It hadn’t quite shown up on my brown skin just yet so no one would notice. I tried to focus on this thought, and not how I could still smell his cologne from this close, or how nervous I felt with him shirtless and only inches away. Calm down, woman.
I cleared my throat as his fingers fell away from my cheek. “Thank you. Let’s go talk to Sterling and get the hell out of here.”