As we walk toward the humans, we play our parts, making sure we create lots of noise like we have no cares in the world, just enjoying life. When we reach the humans, there are five of them surrounding the innocent bear they shot. My heart sinks at the sight. Poor thing.
From his voice, I know it’s the first guy we heard talking, the one who sounds like he’s in charge. “Hold up, folks, hope you have some bear spray on you, they’ve been swarming the area. This one here came right at us ready to attack. You haven’t seen any close by, have you?” What a fucking liar.
His eyes pass right over me, focusing on the men around me. Clearly, he’s one of those men who always expects other men to answer to him. Whatever. It serves my purposes to be overlooked. Alex runs around sniffing near the bear and a few moments later, Derrick passes along what Alex said to them.“This bear has no traces of magic, so it’s not our girl. You know, cup half full and all.”
Thank goodness! I swallow down the disgust of what I’m fixing to say. “Oh, thank you so much for protecting all of us from such a rabid animal. We haven’t seen any yet ourselves. God bless your souls for making the world a better place.”
The main asshole finally glances at me, and his eyes brighten as he takes me in. “Just doing our duty to make the world a safe place. Glad to run into fellow God fearing folks unexpectedly!” Mmmk, yep, so many fakes when it comes to human religion. Now is my moment to shine...
Reaching for my magic, I lift into the air and huge wings shift out of my back. They’re pure white bird wings that are large enough to resemble those of an Angel, and then I create a glow around me. Instantly my guys play along and all drop to their knees and bow down. Klaus helps things along by saying, “Praise Lord, an Angel took over her body!”
Keeping to my role, I use a sugary sweet voice. “Children, please no need to bow, your Lord father sent me with a message. He values the hard work you’ve put forth into finding those heathens who escaped Hell. Your work has been noted and your rewards will be awaiting for you in heaven when it’s your time. You’ve accomplished your mission here, wiping the last demon from earth, and the gates to Hell have been sealed. Knowing his plans are stopped, the Devil has found a way to trick you and your brothers into taking the souls of the innocent. God has sent me to command you to stop killing his children, and to ignore all signs you’ve previously used to track and find demons. It’s all a smoke screen from the Devil and must be ignored no matter what! Now you must spread the word before you take more of God’s precious innocent children from their lives too early.”
As soon as I finish talking, I drop the shift and golden glow around me before slowly dropping my body to the ground and acting like I’m passed out from the ordeal. Everybody swarms around me, my guys and the five sycophants alike. “We all saw the Angel, right? I didn’t make it up?” Derrick asks, acting like he saw a miracle.
“Oh, she must possess the purest of souls to house an Angel,” Klaus tags on.
One of the strangers, one who hasn’t spoken around us as of yet, speaks up, “We need to reach out and tell the others. Our Lord and savior gave us a mission to stop killing his children and to not stray into the temptation the Devil is setting us up for.” His fellow men nod their heads, a few pulling out phones to immediately start their outreach.
Alex slinks off into some bushes, presumably to track where the calls are being made and to tap into the phones around us to make sure this ruse does its job. Marcus places a soft hand on my cheek and his thumb makes small circles. I lean into his touch and let out a small moan, as if I’m just now waking up from the ordeal.
“What happened? Did I faint? I swear I’ve been staying hydrated.” My words are directed toward Marcus, but loud enough for everyone around us to hear.
Responding like any attentive boyfriend would, Marcus coos and soothes my hair back. “Shh... you’re okay, my sweetheart. I knew before, but now God himself has sent me the sign. One day you’ll be my wife, and we shall spend the rest of our lives together. An Angel came down and used you as its vessel to pass on a message from God himself to these men over here. You’re a miracle, my love.”
I know his words are meant to continue on our show, but they cause a simmering of warmth inside my chest, and I can’t help but grasp his head and pull him down to me, landing my lips right on his. Our kiss is hard, full of teeth and passion. By the time we pull apart, we’re both panting for breath, lust shining in our eyes. His words were an act, but they held so much truth behind them as well.
While we were lost in the kiss, Derrick and Klaus worked on herding our hopefully no longer enemies away, sending them off to do the work the Angel assigned to them. They come walking back with matching grins, Klaus with his hands in his front pockets and Derrick stuffing his in his back pockets. “Well done, Sunshine. I never had any doubts, but boy, do you have a flair for the dramatics, don’t you think?”
Offering a smug smirk back, I can’t help but sass him back, “Not worth my time if I don’t do it with style! Go big or go home, right?” For good measure, I stick my tongue out at him.
“Whoa! Careful where you stick your tongue! Already gave me blue balls this morning, don’t need a second round... unless you plan on following through?” Alex quips as he joins us from the bushes. Rolling my eyes, I brush off the dirt from my ass. Knowing he won’t get more of a reaction from me, Alex carries on, “I was able to place spyware on their phones, we should be able to track every call made and their movements to see if Angel’s plan worked. So far it seems like it has, at least better than any of our previous attempts.”
The rest of the guys nod their heads in agreement. Marcus takes the two steps over to me, so he can put his arm around my waist. Pulling me into his side, he whispers in my ear, “I’m proud of you, baby. Even though you didn’t need me, just know I’m always here to protect you. I wouldn’t hesitate to blow them away if I thought they were a threat to you,” sealing his words with a kiss to my temple.
I’m blown away by how much has changed between us in such a short amount of time. It was so exhausting trying to push him away constantly, not to mention the huge strain it caused on our bond. Wariness still clouds my thoughts, and I don’t see it changing until I figure out what happened the night in the dungeon. For now, there’s no arguing the fact of Marcus’ thoughts not matching the life I know he lived.
I may be allowing myself to float in a temporary bubble of bliss where Marcus is concerned, but I can’t stop myself from enjoying it while I can.
Chapter 22
Cecily
Present
The guys all talked about how Derrick is the best at tracking, so while he’s working on magically picking up the trail on our bear shifter, I kneel next to the bear who needlessly lost its life. Not for the first time, I wish my magic would allow me to bring someone back from the dead. Instead, I send a prayer to the Fates for a life cut too short.
Not wanting its life to go to waste, I quickly use my magic to cure the hide and meat. Klaus helps me pack it all away in his pouch and by the time we’re done, Derrick is ready to lead us to the shifter.
According to Derrick, we’re close to the shifter, so there’s no need for us to change forms. Alex is walking right behind him, and a wave of guilt passes over me. I’m uneasy with him feeling left out. I know he uses a jesting tone every time he brings it up, but there’s a thread of truth to it, and worse, just a hint of hurt.
Hurrying my pace up, I catch up to Alex and hold his hand, threading our fingers together without glancing over at him. His grip immediately tightens on my hand and I can feel his spirits brighten with my attention. His thumb rubs against my hand, and we silently follow Derrick, making sure we don’t frighten the shifter before we can make contact.
Fifteen minutes later, Derrick holds up his fist and Alex pulls on my arm forcing me to stop walking. Derrick continues to make gestures with his hands, which means nothing to me, but the guys understand what he’s trying to say. Finally, as if he just remembered it was a possibility, Derrick uses our connection to let me know what’s going on.“Our shifter is about fifty yards that way.”His hand points to the direction he means.“Marcus, Klaus, and I will go surround her on the other side, and I’ll let you know when we’re in place. I assume you have a plan of some sorts...?”
Well, shit... having a plan ready would’ve been smart.“Yeah, sounds like you thought it through. Alex staying with me?”Like he can hear the words I speak to Derrick, Alex steps behind me and wraps his arms around me. I sink into his hold, allowing his touch to envelop me.
“That’s the plan, Precious. Let me know if you need anything.”A moment after his answer, they head off to take up positions on the other side of our shifter, only pausing to shift into wolf form.
