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As he settled behind her, Anna wondered if her angel realized that, even without the physical presence of his wings, she could feel them. For he was right--she'd never felt so safe and content in all her life.
SHE slept for hours. He was content to stay there holding her, even dozed himself. But Jonah knew she wouldn't think of herself long once she woke, and so was already working up the strength to rise to his feet when she stirred.
Anna lifted her upper body onto an arm and looked down at him, her hair tumbling over one breast and tickling his abdomen, a tempting rope for his fingers to climb to her face, the delicate line of ear and jaw. Her fingers stroked along his feathers, the wing curved around his shoulder.
"It's night," she observed.
"It is."
She smiled, but there was something sorrowful in the back of her gaze he understood, but knew she didn't want him to probe, particularly when she added hastily, "We've been down here all day. We should--"
"Go check on Maggie." He nodded. "Let's go."
As they dressed, Jonah watched her closely. Though pale, Anna looked far more herself today than she had in a couple of days. He would make sure she was back to her ocean before that changed. Even if she had to be taken kicking and screaming.
For the time being, though, he kept that thought to himself and followed her out of their temporary haven from the world, taking a last look back at the enchanted area. It was ironic that in less than twelve hours he would be likely to find something as unpleasant awaiting him in the Schism as this had been pleasurable. Such was the nature of magical places. Unpredictable, turbulent, fraught with peril or joy.
When they emerged from the cellar into the kitchen, Anna saw a very comfortable cooking and sitting area, with carved benches by a handsome oak table. Maggie apparently had made them dinner, and it was waiting on the stove. Matt was against the counter with a cup of coffee in his hand, his other arm around his wife. Maggie lay against him, her head resting on his shoulder, body leaned into the formidable shadow of his.
She hadn't had much time to get an impression of their male rescuer, but Anna now saw Matt was as tall and broad as Jonah, no mean feat, and had that same resolute look to him. Confident, protective. Still more than a little shaken, but masking it well enough beneath the surface, probably to keep his wife calm. He had gold-flecked hazel eyes and brown hair, kept trimmed close beneath a bill cap with some type of contractor supply logo on it.
When Maggie straightened, Anna noticed she kept her backside firmly pressed against Matt's thigh, a reassurance, maintaining that connection. Jonah had healed her, but he couldn't take away the memory. Having had only a brush with the Dark Ones herself, Anna assumed Maggie would be peering in closets and under beds for the rest of her life.
Matt's hand stayed on her shoulder as he put down the coffee cup.
"I'm sorry," Maggie said. "I should have checked on you."
Two strangers, who had risked their lives for both of them. It was a gift that could never be repaid, and Anna found herself momentarily overwhelmed, as she often was, by unexpected kindnesses. "You're not yourself," she managed matter-of-factly. "I expect it's not every day you have to rescue an angel and a desiccated mermaid from the desert."
"You'd be surprised," Maggie said with a shaky smile. "We've seen some strange things out here. When Sam told us we had to go get you, I . . . Well, I guess last night was a new experience for us. Let's eat. I'm actually starving, and though Matt's too nice to say, I know he's always hungry." She gave his tall frame a fond look. "It's hard to keep a man that size full, especially when he works outdoors all day."
She glanced toward Jonah. "I didn't know if you'd eat, but if there's something special you prefer . . ."
"This is fine," Jonah assured her. "I don't need to eat, but I enjoy a bite or two, and it smells . . . comforting." His gaze searched the room, and Anna had to suppress a smile.
"Baking," Maggie explained. "I bake to settle my nerves. Thought you two might like an apple pie."
Anna took Jonah's hand and looked up at him, her eyes sparkling. "I don't think there's any food he likes better. That's perfect, Maggie."
During dinner, Anna found out Maggie and Matt had come from the South some years before. They worked together on carpentry projects across the region, explaining the beautiful woodwork in the house, complete with curving staircases, handmade furniture and picture frames, arched windows and a variety of detailed moldings that Anna admired freely when Maggie gave her a tour later. By that time, Matt and Jonah had gone onto the back porch to sit, Matt with his after-dinner coffee and Jonah with another slice of pie. Their male conversation was a comfortable rumble drifting through the open windows along with the cool desert air, as the two women explored the house.
When they went to see the upstairs bedrooms, they could see the men from the master bedroom window. As Maggie smiled down at her husband, who appeared unaware of her regard, her eyes filled with sudden tears. Anna immediately stepped close, her hand closing on Maggie's arm, but the woman shook her head.
"I'm sorry. I'm fine, really. Your angel's healing skills are formidable. It was short, so it seems ridiculous--"
"It doesn't," Anna said emphatically. "I've seen them. Felt them." I have a friend who is haunted by their blood. And now she wondered if every day was like that for Mina. Did she always fight that despair and darkness?
Maggie nodded. "It was like being imprisoned for ten years in the most horrible place you could imagine. But please don't think I'm complaining. Memories shouldn't be forgotten, good or bad. They make us who we are."
She gazed down at her husband for a long moment. "He'll tease me when you're gone, because I've always called him my angel, and here one came, wings and all. You know that country song, about a woman who just knows that her man's a real angel, and so she just smiles when he insists he's from Houston? I was saved by Matt from terrible circumstances, but I fell in love with him beyond that, too. I was blessed with his love as well. We give to each other. Just as he's done for me today, I can make it better for him, too, when he's hurt or mad or lonely, in a way no one else can . . ."
She shook herself, gave a little laugh. "That's my Matt. I'm just silly about him, I guess. I do believe there are angels here on earth, though, and he's one of them. Maybe they don't have the wings because all their good deeds are done with feet solidly on the ground. It scared him so badly tonight," she added abruptly. "I think he's always assumed it'd be him attacked, because he's on the front line more often, and he's so protective of me. But Sam, that's the man your angel's come to see, he's always warning him the Dark Ones know the best way to defeat an enemy is not to take his life, but to take his heart."
"He might mean that literally," Anna murmured, remembering Mina's words.
Jonah was sitting on the top step, one leg crooked, his back against a post, listening to something Matt was saying as he sat in the rocker, leaned forward, the cup in his large hand. She couldn't help smiling a bit, and Maggie squeezed her, seeing it.
"They're really big babies, aren't they? Males of every species, when all's said and done. I can't get him to pick a shirt off the floor, but he won't let me lift a single thing that weighs more than he thinks it should, and at night, he always curls around me, puts his arm over me. Not once in all the time we've been together have I woken without him that way. Doesn't turn away, even in his sleep."
She sighed. "Like I said, this scared him, and he doesn't scare easily. He's never liked being so close to the Schism. Not because of himself, of course. He has enough courage to turn my hair white. To see the things he's done and faced . . . They do tend to be overprotective, but think nothing of risking themselves."
"Why did you stay out here instead of going back down South?" Anna asked curiously.
"Is it that obvious we don't really fit here?" Maggie gave a wistful smile. "I do miss the South, something fierce. We came out here so he could build an overlook at the Grand Canyon. We were married on it. Af
ter that, we intended to head back, because Matt has a home in the North Carolina mountains, but then we met Sam, and he introduced us to the Schism. He said we'd be needed here, and so we've stayed. We've done a lot of things, seen a lot of things here, but I think rescuing the two of you was what he meant. He'd said a night would come where we'd be needed more than at any other time. That the future of everything else could hinge on that particular night."
Anna didn't want to think about all the meaning behind that statement. "Have you been together long?"
"About five or six years now. We met one snowy night in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was on his way to the job at the Grand Canyon. I was . . ." She took a breath, looked at Anna. "I was homeless, living out of my car, one step away from desperation. I ran into the back of his truck when I was trying to get a better look at him through my windshield. His mirror was angled, so I could see his forearm. Just his forearm. So strong and capable, tan . . ." She gave Anna a mischievous wink. "I found out the rest of him was just as fine, awfully quick. Matt has a tendency to go after what he wants . . . knows what that is right off."
Anna looked at the woman's perfect skin, light blonde hair, her willowy form. "I can't imagine you as . . ."
