“Well, doesn’t that just beat all.” He ran both hands through his hair. “So, what I saw in that poor cafeteria worker’s mind really did happen?”
“Yes. The devil slayed Michael and ate his heart.”
Naomi shuffled back into the room with pale cheeks and wet eyelashes. She blinked and gave me that sickly smile. From the looks of it, her morning sickness was acting up again.
“Agent Williams, you wouldn’t happen to have any ginger-ale?” I asked.
He stood and crossed to the refrigerator, pulling out a can and handed it to Naomi and then turned back to me. “Call me Steve,” he said. “Can I get you a drink?”
I smiled and stuffed my hands into my pocket. “Scotch,” I said, knowing that was his drink of choice as well.
He brought two glasses and set them on the coffee table and retrieved a bottle of Glendronach. I nodded my approval and he poured me a glass.
“It may take me a little while to digest all that I’ve seen. In the meantime, you might want to do that angel proofing thing.” He raised his glass.
“Do you have a bar of soap?”
“I think we have one in the bathroom cabinet.” He pointed the same way Naomi came. “Why?”
“I know it works on archangels, but I have no idea if it will trap him here, so, I figured you probably don’t want the symbols to be permanent.”
“I don’t know about that,” he said and gulped his drink down.
“Fuck you, Williams,” the voice spat out and I couldn’t help but smile. His relationship with his guardian angel was one I didn’t quite understand, even with the history I received.
“You seem to be a magnet for redeemed killers,” I said and received a snort from the air, followed by laughter. Instead of continuing the conversation, I turned in search of soap because between the three of us, someone was bound to fuck up and say Lucifer’s name out loud.
I drew the symbols on all the first floor windows as low in the corner as possible, trying to make them inconspicuous. I drew it on the front door, garage door and the back sliders as well. Any place that allowed passage between the inside and outside was marked. When I finished, I stepped back into the family room and pointed to the ceiling.
“Yeah, go ahead,” Steve nodded and continued his conversation with Naomi.
I took my time; not only drawing the angel hex, but also digesting the memories I had been given. When I completed my rounds, I dropped the soap in the soap dish in the upstairs bathroom, cleaning off my fingertips before returning downstairs.
“When do you think your family will return?” I asked, rounding the last step.
Steve looked at the clock and then me. “Anytime.”
I nodded and slid next to Naomi. “How are you feeling?” I asked and rubbed her belly.
“Okay,” she said and I knew she was lying. Her cheeks were too pale and dark rings appeared under her eyes.
“Did you need to lie down?” Steve asked and Naomi hesitated.
“We’re safe for the moment,” I said and moved my gaze to Steve’s. “Right?”
He nodded. “We have a couple of guest rooms,” he said and stood. “Let me show you where they are. I’m also assuming that you two will be our guests tonight?” he asked, glancing at me.
“Honestly, I hadn’t thought that far in advance.” I met Naomi’s gaze and she shrugged, leaving the decision to me. She was too tired to function right now and needed sleep. “We’ll play it by ear,” I replied.
“When my wife was pregnant, she used to shut down all of a sudden, too,” I heard Steve say as he escorted her upstairs.
Left to my own devices, I poured another glass of scotch and stepped to the sliding glass doors leading to their back yard. A covered pool took up half of the vast lawn and the ocean view was stellar. I had to give it to Naomi, this place was beautiful. A bit colder than Greece, but it would do.
The sound of the garage opening pulled my attention to the door we entered and the man who stepped in the house a few minutes later could have passed as my twin. I shuffled through Steve’s memories and readily identified him as CJ Ryan.
He blinked and stopped, blocking the doorway as he stared at me with wide eyes.
“Who are you?” he asked and stepped aside, letting the rest of the family into the house.
“Damian Andreas,” I said and turned to face them, their names coming just as quickly as their faces appeared. Tom Ryan and his wife Raven followed by Steve’s wife, Jennifer.
Raven nearly dropped her bags when her gaze fell on me, and what color had been in her face bled out. The way CJ’s gaze shot to her, and then back to me made me shift. For a moment, I wished for Naomi in tiger form standing next to me, with her formidable force, I’d feel a hell of a lot safer than I did right now.