A cold, driving rain drenched Tajael, but that wasn’t his misery.
That came in the form of a human male named Jerry.
Tajael hovered over Charlotte and Jerry as they huddled together under his umbrella. It was small, so the man kept tugging on her arm to pull her back under the dismal shelter. She seemed to be trying to escape the umbrella, not stay underneath it, and Tajael could sense the ill-intent on the man—he was ignoring every body signal Charlotte sent that she was uncomfortable with their close quarters. But whether she was under the umbrella or not, and even with Tajael’s attempt to shelter them from above, they were both getting soaked.
Meanwhile, Hank was huddled in his tent on his porch this evening. Charlotte didn’t even slow down as she passed. That, even more than the discomfort of watching the interplay under the umbrella, sparked alarm through Tajael’s body. Was it the rain that made her skip her habitual, soul-shining stop with Hank? That hadn’t stopped her two days before. Was it Jerry’s presence? That seemed more likely. Tajael knew why the man was escorting her—Tajael was a silent witness to everything that happened in Charlotte Brennan’s life. Her employer wished her to remain safe, and he was unaware she already had a Guardian watching over her. It was a sensible gesture on Daxon’s part—good-hearted, even. And Tajael was enthralled by Charlotte’s explanations of her physics and experiments and lofty ambitions—he’d seen glimpses of her work, but they had been a mystery of symbols and words before. Angels knew every spoken language, and angelings possessed the gift as well, but the language of mathematics was foreign to him. This was the first time he’d heard Charlotte explain her work, laying it all out in terms he could understand. He was glad for Daxon’s visit, both for the explanation he elicited and the protection he offered. With a private driver starting in the morning, the difficulty of Tajael’s job would be greatly reduced.
At least the portion which involved demon slaying.
This part where he had to watch Charlotte but remain silent and separate and unrevealed? That grew more difficult by the day. Inexplicably more so every time Jerry’s hand touched her elbow. The man wasn’t assaulting her, merely making her uncomfortable, but that was coiling a knot of frustration in Tajael’s belly that seemed unreasonably tight. By the time they finally arrived at her apartment building, it was growing into an anger that bordered on Wrath. Which shook him. It was one thing to battle Lust in the presence of a beautiful woman like Charlotte—that was a well-known danger—but Wrath as well?
Charlotte and Jerry had taken shelter under the eave in front of the apartment’s rotating door.
At last… deliverance from Tajael’s torment was at hand.
“Well, thanks for walking me home.” Charlotte was already clutching her purse tighter and heading for the spinning door.
“You can’t leave me out here in the rain!” Jerry protested.
What?
Charlotte hesitated, one hand on the door. “I thought you were taking an Uber home.”
“Well, yeah, but it could take forever to get here.” The man gestured at the substantial traffic moving slowly through downtown. They’d walked the entire way precisely because the bus has been burdened by the slow-moving cars. “It’s the middle of rush hour.”
In Truth, Charlotte normally worked well past the hour when most people attempted to leave downtown Seattle and return to their homes. “It can’t be that long.” But her tone was uncertain now.
“Come on,” Jerry wheedled. “We’ll toast to getting your experiments funded, and by the time the Uber arrives, maybe the traffic will be better.”
Tajael had landed beside them and stowed his wings. The conflict on Charlotte’s face vexed him. Did she not see the way the man’s gaze fell to her body more than her face? Did she not feel the heat of it, his mind obviously filled with Lust for her?
“All right. I guess,” she said. “Just until the Uber comes.”
Jerry waived his phone at her. “Calling them now.”
They passed through the turnstile door, and Tajael had to wait his turn, frustration mounting again. Perhaps she understood that Jerry wanted more than a simple toast. Tajael had no true sense of her interactions with others—she spent most of her time attending to her work and her screens. Her contact with other humans was infrequent. Maybe the previous night, when she was engaged in those… activities… the Lustful ones where she brought pleasure to herself… maybe she sought more of that. He knew what it was—he’d seen it in the shadow realm and even once inadvertently in the mortal one—but it appeared the greater pleasure came when the Lust was shared with at least two people. In his time in shadow, he’d seen every number and position he imagined possible, but those engaged in sexual acts always appeared to prefer partners.
Was that what Charlotte wanted? A partner for a Lustful celebration of her victory?
And if so, what in all the Dominions of heaven would he do during that time?
Because watching wasn’t something he could endure. Of that he was certain.
Tajael slipped into the elevator and rode along with the two of them, taking care to magick away the water that coated his body before boarding the car, lest he drip. His cloaking worked well enough under most conditions, but odd things had to be attended to, or he would be discovered. And that would unravel every intention in Guarding her.
Especially at this critical time when it appeared she was moving forward with her work.
Markos may have a legion of Guardians watching the human scientists who were targets for the fae, but Tajael was convinced Charlotte was something special. Zephan, the prince of the fae’s Winter Court, had been forced to speak the Truth of his intentions—to eradicate the humans before they developed the technology to cross over into the immortal realm—and now, more than ever, Tajael believed Charlotte would be the one to do it. If it were even possible. Zephan now lay in a magical coma, near death—no small feat when his species were practically immortal, living thousands of years—but that didn’t mean the Winter Court was at rest. Rumor was that rage in the Court was building with an unknown plan for revenge upon all angelkind—their ancient enemy—for felling their favored prince.
If Charlotte made serious progress in the very thing the fae feared—bridging the gap between the realms—then Tajael needed to alert his faction leader, Markos, at once. Although this could prove difficult, given Tajael couldn’t endanger Charlotte by simply abandoning her.
As the elevator rose, and when the three of them stepped out, a war waged in Tajael’s heart. If Charlotte's intent was to engage in sexual activities with Jerry, Tajael could scarce watch without an overburdening of Sins. Lust most of all, and if he were Truthful, it could spark Envy as well. But Wrath would also simmer under the surface of his skin. Not at Charlotte for choosing the rather vile man for her pleasure, or even, strangely enough, at Markos for putting him in this position… but at himself for his lack of control. A compounding of Sins that would be dangerous indeed.
He didn’t serve a month in Penance in Worship Choir only to let temptation threaten him again.
The black magic tattoo he carried on his chest was burned into him by a shadow angel—Elyon, an enemy of the light and humanity both. It was Tajael’s shame and his Penance for his Fall. But he also carried a dragon tattoo on his arm—the ancient symbol of the Original Fall—and this was of his own making, before his return to Markos’s Dominion of the light. It was a reminder that the shadow lived inside him and demanded constant vigilance. By making the Sin visible, he hoped to keep his soul Virtuous.
Did he dare risk a Fall by joining Charlotte and Jerry in her apartment? She was unlocking the door, and the man couldn’t be more obvious in his eagerness to get inside. Perhaps… if she and Jerry were to engage in sexual acts, that might be the perfect time for Tajael to momentarily slip away and update Markos on the developments in her work. And, not coincidentally, spare Tajael the need to witness such acts. But while a Fall was horrific for him, he was actually of no consequence in this equation.
Only Charlotte was.
And so, at the last possible moment, he slipped through the door with them before it closed.
Tajael kept to the far side of the living room. Charlotte’s loft was small and the kitchen open to the main room. The only separation in the whole apartment was between the main room and the bedroom, by a thin hallway. If Charlotte and Jerry engaged in sex in one place, he would Guard from the other.
It would give him a fighting chance at least.
Jerry was looking through the contents of Charlotte’s kitchen, which struck Tajael as odd. Almost as strange as the fact that Charlotte remained in her coat, only removing her rain-soaked tennis shoes, peeling the socks from her feet. The umbrella sat propped near the door, weeping raindrops on the small square of tile flooring there.
“You don’t have anything to celebrate with here!” Jerry called from the kitchen, louder than necessary, it seemed to Tajael.
“I don’t drink much,” Charlotte said, still standing near the door. Her arms were hung at her sides, hands clenched, like she was frozen in place.
“I guess we can use this.” Jerry returned from the kitchen with two short glasses and a can of soda. He handed one glass to her then poured a drink for each. “To more money for science!” He clinked classes with hers.
Charlotte’s lips were pressed into a tight line. “Money definitely helps.”
Jerry raised his glass. “And may all your experiments be outstanding successes.”
Charlotte frowned but drank with him.
Then Jerry wagged his finger at Charlotte and moved closer. “You really do owe me, you know.”
Charlotte glared. “I don’t owe you any—”
“Ah, but you do.” The smile on the man’s face made Tajael’s wings unfurl and his hand itch for his blade. But this was a human… Tajael shook off the surge of Wrath, dizzied by the sudden intensity. “I kept my mouth shut, now didn’t I?” Jerry was moving in on Charlotte, and she was backing up in equal measure.
“I don’t know what you’re talking—” She nearly tripped over the propped open umbrella, and Jerry caught her elbow—ostensibly to keep her from falling, but anyone could see he used it as an excuse to slide his hand along her arm, holding it firm, trapping her one free hand, the other burdened with the glass. Her eyes went wide, and she seemed to shake, from the tip of her nose to the quirking of her shoulders.
Jerry dropped his voice even as he leaned in, nearly trapping her against the door. “I didn’t say anything to Daxon about your pet theory being full of holes. How he’s wasting his money on this fool’s chase.”
“But it’s not…” She stopped because he leaned in too close, a wolfish look on his face as he stared at her lips, licking his own.
“I could have, you know,” he whispered again in an oily voice that had every nerve ending in Tajael’s body screaming to sink a blade into him. The Wrath was so intense, a haze was forming in front of his eyes, a dull ringing hollow in his ears, making Jerry’s words swim through the air to reach him. “I could have sabotaged your whole little fantasy, this little dream of yours… but I didn’t. You owe me for that.”
“I don’t… I don’t owe you…” Charlotte was scared. The fear in her voice cut through the haze in Tajael’s mind like an angel blade through demon spirit.
“I can make this easier for you or so much harder.” Jerry’s words kept coming, thick and oily and heavy with ill-intent. “David’s not there most of the time. You want this to work? All you have to do is open those pretty little legs and lay back and enjoy it.”
“No.” It was a whisper, but it was filled with such horror and fear, that it electrified Tajael. The haze parted. He saw Jerry slide a hand up to Charlotte’s face, grabbing it hard so she couldn’t move away—he had her trapped against the door.
“I’ll tell you when you can say no.” Then he surged his body against hers, pawing at her with his open mouth.
It took everything Tajael had not to bodily throw the man across the room. Instead, he twisted, opened an interdimensional door, and reappeared in the hallway just outside Charlotte’s door. He heard her muffled cries and thuds against the door, but some act of control he didn’t know he possessed kept his Wrath at bay long enough to decloak and conjure clothes that a human male living in Seattle might wear. Then he slammed his shoulder into the door, breaking it clear off the hinges and sending both Charlotte and Jerry flying into the room. Tajael winked again through space, just in time to snatch Charlotte from crashing into the floor. He let Jerry tumble halfway across the room as he set Charlotte on her feet.
But her eyes were wild with fear. She struck out at him and screamed and stumbled away, running for the kitchen. He could see her hands shake—violently so—but she managed to find a large knife, which she wielded in front of her, defensively, as she backed up against the refrigerator.
“Stay away! Stay away from me!” Her voice rose into pure panic. If she were an angeling, Tajael felt sure it would burst out at angelsong level.
“Fear not,” Tajael said. “I mean you no harm.” But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he realized how wrong they were for the situation. He was posing as a human; yet he was speaking Truth—he was here to help, not hurt—and somehow that reached her.
The knife wavered. She pointed it at Jerry instead, who was still picking himself up off the floor. “What the fuck—” He stared at the broken door, now lying flat in the middle of the room. His gaze slowly rose to Tajael. “Who the fuck are you?”
Tajael met his gaze and stepped toward him. Jerry’s eyes went wide, and he took a step back. Tajael easily towered over the man, and his angel nature made his body even stronger than the apparent musculature that was intimidating the man. Good.
He took several more steps toward Jerry.
The man cowered, putting up his hands. “Hey, whatever. I don’t care who you are—”
“You should,” Tajael said.
Jerry’s eyes went even wider.
“I’m Charlotte’s neighbor,” Tajael said, spinning the story as he spoke. “And I don’t think she wants you here.”
“Hey, you’ve got this all wrong,” Jerry said, straightening from his cowering pose. “She was leading me on, man. She wanted…” But the words died with the Wrath Tajael knew was gathering on his face.
Tajael turned to give a slow nod to Charlotte, who was still in a defensive pose with the knife. Then he gave a hard look to Jerry. “Her blade says otherwise.”
Jerry visibly swallowed. “All right. Fine. I’ll… I’ll just be on my way, then.” He tried to step around Tajael, gingerly avoiding the scraps of wood that had flown from the destroyed doorjamb.
Tajael waited until the man was close—then he reached out and grabbed Jerry by the shirt, lifting him off the ground and dragging him up close so Jerry could see the Wrath still simmering in Tajael’s eyes. Jerry yelped and sputtered and grabbed at Tajael’s hand, but his mortal strength was useless. A small warning went off in Tajael’s head about the show of strength, but he warranted it necessary to impress his words upon Jerry.
“You will not touch her again.” Tajael had to restrain the angelsong that wanted to burst out. Battering the man’s eardrums would be satisfying, but it would surely mark him as unnatural. Inhuman. “If you threaten her in any way, anywhere, you will answer to me.”
Jerry was frantically nodding and attempting to speak, but fear had paralyzed his tongue and chattered his teeth. Tajael set him on his feet, and the man nearly fell to the ground. Then he scuttled out the door. Tajael had to fight for a long moment not to go after him, to rein in the Wrath threatening to send him to shadow. It took a long stretch of probably too many seconds before he finally turned to Charlotte.
She was staring at him with wide eyes, knife still out. “Are you… are you like… Special Forces or something?” Her whole body was shaking.
She meant some kind of warrior, but he was Protector Class, not Warrior Class. A distinction that meant nothing, given he was pretending at being human. But he was her Guardian, and while she couldn’t know his true nature, the Truth was she was safe with him.
“Something like that,” he said, holding his hands wide, offering up again that he truly meant her no harm. He tried giving her a small smile. It felt impossibly good to be finally speaking to her, face-to-face. It was a terrible risk, exposing himself like this, but technically still within the rules for Guarding… and he doubted Markos would relieve him of this duty, regardless. The risk was far more in the pull he felt toward her. The desire to comfort her. The need to touch her… “I’ve been Guarding people for a long time. I have a sense about these things. About men like that one.” All Truth, so she should hear the ring of it. “You seemed like you could use some help.” She slowly lowered the knife. He smiled more and gestured to the door lying face down on the floor. “Sorry about the door.”
She laughed a little then captured her mouth with her hand to stop it.
It made his heart sing.
Holy angels of light… what was he doing?