Chapter Two
A slayer was never technically off duty. If we sensed evil, it didn’t matter whether we were on the job or not, it was our obligation to defeat it from the Earth. Thankfully, there were hundreds of Angels assigned to different districts throughout the city. That meant that we could focus on protecting our assigned grids, and not have to patrol the entire city on our own, which would have been an impossible task, especially in a city like Los Angeles.
“I had a dream about them,” I said, as we walked toward the bar, a place visible only to supernatural beings.
“What? Who?” she asked, and I realized she hasn’t been tuned in to my thoughts.
“My parents. That’s probably why I’m in such a funk.”
“Oh,” she said quietly, placing a hand on my arm. “I’m sorry, Rumor. It’s almost that time of year again, isn’t it?”
I nodded, keeping my eyes on my feet as they swallowed up sidewalk. “Yeah. Fourteen years.”
“It feels like it was yesterday—to me, at least. I’m sure—” she stumbled, clearly feeling like she had said the wrong thing. She always had a hard time talking about my parents, as though she was worried that I’d fall apart all over again.
“It does to me, too… sometimes,” I said, reassuring her.
She smiled sadly, scanning my face to make sure I was okay. I gave her my best smile. I did feel okay, just a little nostalgic.
“Well, we’ll have to have a drink in their honor,” she said as we approached the bar, Good Spirits, tackily headed by a wide, sparkling pair of Angel wings. Mortals would pass it, unable to see through the repelling field that altered their perceptions, blending the bar into the two shops on either side of it so that they both appeared much wider than they were. We made our way through the front door, and I smiled as we approached the bouncer, a Mage I had met a few times before.
“It’s Rumor, isn’t it?” he asked, scanning our minds for identification and clearly tuning into my recent thoughts. “I remember you know. I didn’t realize who your parents were though. Your parents are legends.”
“Grayson, right?” I asked, and he smiled, apparently pleased that I had remembered his name.
“That’s right.” He extended his massive hand, and I shook it. Grayson was a broad-shouldered Mage that stood over six-feet-tall—he was well-qualified for a job as a bouncer.
“This is my friend Ember,” I said, noticing that her smile was a little bit strained. I sometimes got recognized, and it always seemed to make her uncomfortable.
“Ember, it’s nice to see you again. You two are quite the team from what I’ve heard.” Grayson shook Ember’s hand just as enthusiastically as he had mine, and she looked mollified. “Tell the bartender that your first round is on me,” he added, ushering us in.
On the inside, the place didn’t look that different than a human bar. The dim lights and the wood-paneled walls gave a sense of privacy to the couples and groups who sat at the booths around the perimeter. A long bar, with its wood carved intricately, took up the entire left side of the space. Almost every stool at the bar was occupied, and I could see why. The beautiful, female elf bartender, a lithe creature with remarkable green eyes, had attracted the men like moths to a flame. Another fae dragged a cleaning cloth across the wooden surface of the bar, working hard to keep it clean. In the corner, on a pedestal all its own, sat a phoenix that was in varying stages of life and rebirth. At that moment, it was nothing more than a pile of ashes, and I regretted missing the show. Hopefully, it would regenerate before we left.
I loved this place for the diversity it offered. Every type of supernatural creature—as long as its intentions were good—could be found here. I’d had conversations over whiskey and beer with gnomes, dryads, and even an elemental witch, or two.
Ember and I headed for a table near the back, but I caught a scent so strong—so outright masculine—that it stopped me dead in my tracks. It spun me around, eyes scanning the space, looking for the source. And then I saw him.
He stood in the doorway, a battered leather pack slung over his shoulder and a devilishly handsome grin on his face. I froze, rooted to the spot as I took him in. I was so intrigued by him that I paid no attention to the other customers who were trying to get around me. He was at least six feet tall, and muscular in a way that told me he came by it naturally. Even more telling was the look on his face, that confident, sexy smirk that said he lived and breathed danger. He wore a black t-shirt, a battered leather jacket covered in scratches, and faded jeans that fit him well enough to show off all the good parts.
It was obvious to me that he was an Angel, but the build of his body also told me that he must be a slayer. His hair was a warm brown, clipped short enough to show his ears but long enough in the front to give him that boyishly, sexy look. For just a moment, the light overhead fluttered through his hair, and I saw that it was streaked with the subtlest strands of silver.
His steel-gray eyes were on the darker side, but carried a lively spark as he came into the room. One of the Angels at the bar scrambled out of the way to let the newcomer have a seat, and the rest of the patrons were instantly cast in an unflattering light next to him. I got the sense that my reaction at seeing him was probably something he’d gotten a hundred times before—women gushing over him, abandoning their dignity just for the chance to bathe in the warmth of that gorgeous smile.
From my vantage point, his skin looked naturally sun-kissed, the tone of an urban hunter. His lips, forming a half-smile at whatever the Angel next to him said, were full, and as he bit down on his bottom one, thoughtlessly, I felt a rush of heat take over my cheeks and the insides of my thighs. I had to force myself to look away. I reluctantly turned and followed Ember to a table.
Finally seated, we ordered shots called Hell Fire, and chased them slowly with a strong beer called Noah’s IPA. As much as I mocked the cheese-factor at places like this, there was something fun about the blatantly pandering Bible puns and kitschy angel décor.
“Don’t look now,” Ember muttered, casting her eyes sideways toward the other side of the bar. Of course, I looked anyway, and my body immediately tensed.
“Lud,” I hissed, spotting the slack-jawed face of a fae I knew all-too-well. In the safe space of a supernatural club, he had let out his wispy wings and pointy ears. Fae’s were typically gorgeous, but Lud defied that stereotype with a vengeance. His dark hair hung down to his chin in greasy strands, and his wings drooped unattractively off the back of the stool. Instead of the wiry build of most Fae, he was downright skinny. To top it all off, Lud was dull, idiotic, and couldn’t, for the life of him, take a hint. I had been refusing to go out with him for months. He never got creepy, just really annoying.
I glanced over to the other side of the bar to find the gorgeous Angel watching me. Our eyes met, and despite myself, I couldn’t help but smile at him. His eyes rested on mine for a moment, then moved lower, like a caress, before coming slowly back to my face. It was a frank look of admiration that sent a shiver down my spine.
Suddenly, I was conscious of how I looked. My t-shirt was a little on the tight side, my jeans—well, my jeans were just as tight as they always had been. My long, red hair, beautiful if it was combed thoroughly, was likely a ragged mess from fighting away the day. I ran my fingers through it, but pulled them back out when I snagged a knot. Sure, guys had looked at me before, but his look was different. This guy looked at me like he knew what was beneath my clothes, like he knew all my secrets. The look was trouble. But I had never been one to walk away from trouble.
I watched as he eased onto the barstool that had been vacated upon his entrance, dropping his pack and jacket on the floor at his feet. Suddenly, my view of him was obscured by Donovan, the other bartender who was working the floor.
“That guy over there wants to buy your next round,” he said in a teasing, lilting voice.
“Really?” I asked in surprise.
“Yep,” Donovan replied, chuckling.
“Well,” I said, leaning back and crossing my arms. “Tell him that if he wants to buy us drinks, he should bring them over himself.”
“You sure about that?” Donovan raised an eyebrow.
“Positive.”
“You got it,” Donovan responded, turning away.
“Um, Rumor,” Ember replied with confusion, as I made eye contact once more with the gorgeous Angel, waiting for Donovan to approach him with my message.
“What?” I asked distractedly as Donovan walked not toward the Angel but to the opposite side of the bar.
“You know he was talking about—.”
“Lud!” I gasped, as Donovan bent down to speak to the fae. I shook my head, and looked down at the table, dreading the impending approach of one of the most unbearable creatures I had ever encountered.
I felt Ember’s hand on my arm. “Rumor!” she hissed. Before I could raise my head, I heard a voice, low and deep, like the rumble of a thunderstorm.
“Hey, there.”
I looked up and came face to face with the Adonis that had been sitting at the end of the bar. He looked just as good up close as he had from across the room, and the scent of him was even stronger. I shivered with desire, but tried to hide it. Some stranger in a bar shouldn’t be able to do that to me with merely a look. Not even when he added his sexy voice on top of it. Getting caught up in a guy because he was gorgeous wasn’t my style. It always took much more than that. Except, somehow, this guy was breaking all my rules.
Damn, that face. A cross between sinfully handsome and boyishly charming, he had a forehead and jawline that seemed as though it was carved from the Nordic fairytales of old. His lips were full and curvy, with a lusciousness that had no business being owned by a man.
“I’m Jonah Wilder,” he said in a voice of smooth whiskey over gravel, his eyes sweeping the table and finally settling on mine once again. His smile was almost as radiant as his eyes. He reached out to me, offering his hand, and I just stared at it for a moment, stupidly. Finally, I reached out in response and the moment we touched, I wanted to pull away. The intense ripple of heat that tore through my body made me feel anxious and insecure. I felt my pulse race as he gripped my hand firmly, and I got the distinct impression that he was the kind of man that always got what he wanted. My suspicions were only confirmed as his fingers curled around mine in a possessive grip. It took me a moment to regain my composure, and then I finally pulled away as though his touch had scalded me.
“Nice to meet you, Jonah.”
Before I could say anything more, I saw Lud, out of the corner of my eye, headed our way. He was oblivious to the fact that Jonah was standing next to me, and I knew this was about to get awkward. Jonah cocked an eyebrow, momentarily confused by why I was staring off into the distance, so he turned to see what had captured my attention—as though anything could compete with him. When Jonah turned back to me, he had a smirk on his face.
He sat down next to me and stretched his legs out in front of him. Suddenly I became conscious of how close he was to me. I desperately wanted to look away, but I felt helpless as my eyes travelled up his long legs, noticing how the material of his jeans hugged his body, outlining his muscular thighs. I swallowed reflexively, willing myself to meet his gaze.
When I met his eyes, he was watching me, and his mouth curved into a knowing smile — a smile that made me feel as though he could read my mind, even though I knew I had blocked him from doing so. Pulling myself up straight, I took a deep breath and forced myself to act like the strong woman that I was and not some bumbling fool with a silly crush on a boy.
“Here he comes,” I whispered to Ember who had suddenly gone quiet.
“Oh no, not tonight,” Ember groaned, looking at Jonah as though it was his job to help us get out of this situation. “I can’t handle his crap tonight. Not again.”
“You don’t want him to stick around? Have a drink with you?” he asked sarcastically. It was obvious that he was amused by the situation. My head felt floaty; in part from the alcohol and in part from his attentive, smoldering stare.
“It’s nothing we can’t handle,” I replied, pushing him just a bit to see if he had the spine to back up the sexy confidence that was written all over that gorgeous face. “He just doesn’t take rejection very easily.”
“I see,” he replied, and even though I looked away, I heard the smile in his voice. He took a sip from what looked to be straight whiskey and licked his lips.
“You know, guys that don’t take no for an answer usually respond a little differently when another man’s around.”
I rolled my eyes and caught Ember doing the same. “Is that so?”
“Sure is,” he responded easily—his lips curving into that sexy smile once again. “Listen, I was looking for an excuse to come talk to you. Not that I needed one…” His eyes glittered, and for a moment I prayed he would look away and break the spell that I was under. “Wanting to say hi to a beautiful woman is a good enough excuse for me.”
Like I said, I’m not one of those gushy, instant-love kind of girls, and so this outrageously ridiculous attraction I felt for this guy—no matter how hot he was—was pissing me off. I tried to say something sarcastic, but the words caught in my throat.
“Sounds like a line to me.” I replied with a smirk, finally finding my voice. I knew the blush on my cheeks betrayed my attempt at hiding just how intrigued I was by this man, but still, I held on to the last bit of denial that it was just not possible that I was this attracted to a man I barely knew.
“Yeah, and not one of my best,” he chuckled, his riveting gaze holding mine a moment longer, before he turned to Ember. “Does she realize that she answers every one of my questions with a question of her own?”
Ember snorted, and turned her eyes to me. Clearly, she was staying out of this.
“And does he realize that he comes on a little strong?”
Ember stifled a laugh, keeping an eye on Lud as he threaded his way through the tables.
“When you know what you want, why not go for it?” Jonah countered. I looked at him, speechless, as he turned to watch Lud walking toward us. The fae still hadn’t noticed Jonah at our table; his eyes were too busy concentrating on balancing the tray of drinks he held in his hands.
Jonah turned back to me, his eyes travelling over my face, down my neck, and back up again. His smile deepened, and it sent a ripple of heat through me. I resisted the urge to fidget under his gaze. “So, I have a question of my own.”
“Go for it.”
“Do you want to have another drink with me?”
I glanced over to see Lud, who hesitated briefly when he finally spotted Jonah talking to us, as he continued making his way toward us. The closer Lud got to our table, and the longer I looked at Jonah with that smoldering gaze that made me shiver from the heat, the more I wanted him to stay.
“You can stick around. You might prove to be useful.”
He chuckled, eyebrow cocked. “Oh, you have no idea.”
I snorted, shaking my head. “Just long enough to get rid of that dude.”
He took another drink of his whiskey, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Well? That okay with you?”
When he set his glass down, his lips curved into something halfway between a smile and a smirk making a blush creep up my cheeks.
“I’ll see what I can do.” He suddenly leaned over, dropping his hand over my shoulder and I instinctively leaned into him, breathing in his masculine scent.
Lud froze a foot from the table, and narrowed his eyes toward Jonah—specifically on the hand that rested on my shoulder.
“Hi, Lud.”.
“Hello.” He glanced at Jonah, his brow drew tight into a frown.
“Are those for us?” Ember asked.
“They were,” he muttered begrudgingly as he set the tray on the table.
“That’s nice of you,” I said, smiling. “But we’re good. Thanks, though.”
“Who is he?” he asked, his jaw tightening as he glared at Jonah.
“Jonah.” Jonah squeezed my shoulder a little more tightly, pulling me closer. “I’m a friend of Rumor’s. Nice to meet you.”
Lud’s lips lifted in a snarl that spoke loudly of his irritation. “Yeah, sure.” He folded his arms across his chest, mulling over the revelation.
“Thanks again,” I replied, pressing sincerity into my voice even as annoyance bubbled inside of me. The one time he was respectful of my disinterest, came only when there was another man claiming me. “Have a good night.”
“Yeah, same to you,” he said bitterly. He lingered for only a few more minutes, clearly trying to gauge my relationship with Jonah, who kept his arm wrapped around me protectively. Lud eventually left us alone, taking the tray of drinks with him.
“Hey, you really are useful.” I nudged Jonah in his side, playfully.
“Glad to be of service,” he replied. “So, I’d ask your name, but I do listen to gossip, and, well, you know, Rumor is—your name.” His eyes danced, acknowledging the cheesiness of his joke. It should have been a big red flag that this guy knew my name when I hadn’t introduced myself. Somehow my suspicious mind was clouded by the part of my brain that couldn’t stop staring at him.
“So, you’re a slayer?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yeah. Demons and Vampires, mostly.”
“Rumor took out one of each just before we got here,” Ember said, somewhat pointedly. I shot her a look and she smirked.
“Of course, you did,” Jonah replied. “I heard you’re one of the best slayers in the city.”
“Oh, yeah? And where did you hear that?”
“Everywhere,” he shrugged. “It’s not exactly a secret.”
Donovan interrupted the conversation when he appeared at the table asking if we wanted another round of drinks.
“I better not,” Ember replied, standing and stretching. “I have a ton of stuff to do tomorrow.”
Jonah shot back the rest of his drink and shook his head against the burn. “It was a pleasure meeting you, ladies. I hope we run into each other again soon. I mean, who knows when you’ll need a stand-in boyfriend again?”
He tilted his head in farewell, letting his steel-gray eyes linger on mine for a moment. Then he stepped back, all slow and easy, and disappeared into the crowd.
As Ember and I made our way out, pointedly ignoring Lud, she elbowed me in the ribs. “He knew your name.”
I glanced behind us at the bar, and tried to clear my head enough to read the room inside. “Yeah, he did,” I muttered, as the vision came back in a clouded, formless mass. “Damn, I need a coffee.”
“So, am I overreacting?” Ember looked at me searchingly.
“Maybe he reads the monthly reports from the Legion.”
“No one reads those,” Ember replied. “You know that.”
“Maybe he does,” I insisted.
“Whatever you say.” She swayed slightly on her feet. “I really need to get home. You want to share a ride?”
I didn’t hear her at first. I was distracted by thoughts of Jonah and regretting that I hadn’t asked for his number. Should I go back in and ask him before he leaves?
“What?” I asked, hoping she hadn’t been reading my mind. “Oh, no, I think I’ll walk. Maybe it’ll help me sleep better tonight.”
She squinted at me for a moment suspiciously, but then shrugged. “Suit yourself. I hope it helps.” She raised her hand and flagged down a cab. “Call me tomorrow?”
“Of course,” I replied, as I watched her drive away.
“You’re still here.”
I recognized the voice before I even turned around. My heart did too, and it did a little two-step against my ribs. It had been a long time since just the sound of a voice did that to me. Holding back the urge to straighten my hair, I turned to face him. Jonah quickly closed the distance, his steel-toed boots thudding against the pavement.
“What can I say? I missed you.”
“Oh yeah? You should miss me. I’m your part-time boyfriend, after all.”
“Yes, you are.”
The glare from the streetlamp was blinding as Jonah stood with his back to it, his face wreathed in shadows. I squinted in the harsh light, trying to see his face. I was certain he still had that look of charm and confidence, cocky smile and all.
“So—um…” I gave up squinting into the light and turned my eyes to the ground. “Do you live around here?”
“I do,” he nodded, taking a step toward me. The space between us became charged with tension, the air crackling with a mix of magic and something else. I could finally see his face. “I was born and raised in New York, but moved here a few years ago. Love this place. City of Angels, and all.” His lips curved into a smile.
“Do you have family here?”
He nodded. “My mom lives here. Everyone else is pretty far away.”
“That’s too bad. I hope you get to visit them often.”
He shook his head. “Not really. I haven’t seen them in quite some time, but I’m sure I’ll see them soon. I hope so, anyway.”
“Is your Mom a slayer?”
“No, she couldn’t harm anything. Not even a fly,” he replied with a chuckle. “My mom isn’t an Angel. She’s human.”
He said it as if that somehow explained everything. It didn’t. If anything, I had even more questions, but I felt too awkward to ask them. Instead, I simply smiled, then as I attempted to take a step forward, I wobbled. Jonah reached out to me and held my shoulder. “I guess I had more to drink than I thought.”
He looked at me in confusion, and then his face broke into a grin. “I take it you don’t use healing magic very often, Rumor?”
“What do you mean? Of course, I do.”
He reached out and placed his fingertips on both sides of my face, index fingers at my temples, and pinkies flanking the middle of my forehead. I felt a pressure in my head, and then I suddenly felt cool, as though I stepped into the freezer section at the grocery store. I smelled the sickly-sweet stench of alcohol breaking down and then suddenly, my head was clear as though I hadn’t drunk a single drop.
“No way! You can use your healing for that?”
Jonah laughed, wiping moisture from his hands onto the leg of his jeans. He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket, and I looked at him in disbelief as he handed it to me.
“I’m sorry—what century are we in again?” I teased him as I dabbed at my face. The truth was that I couldn’t have cared less that he was carrying such an old-fashioned item—I was thoroughly impressed.
“Oh, come on. Sweat gets in my eyes when I’m fighting the monsters of the Underworld. I tried a headband, but I looked like a total dork.”
“You could never look like a dork,” I said quietly. I looked up at him, that invisible thread between us, rooting me in place. “But, seriously,” I said more loudly, breaking the tension, “How did I not know this?”
Jonah shrugged, a smile playing at the corners of his lips. “And you asked me what century we were in?”
I laughed. “Yeah, yeah. Thanks for sharing that with me.”
“You’re welcome.” The moonlight cast his eyes into deep shadows. In profile, I saw the fullness of his lips, and then kicked myself for noticing.
He moved his fingers up to his own head, but then looked at me hesitantly. “Want to try?” he asked, and we both knew it was an invitation for contact as much as an invitation to test the magic.
“Yeah,” I replied eagerly, and he chuckled. I placed my fingers on both sides of his face, mimicking the way he had placed his on mine.
“It’s detoxifying, so just focus on the specific chemicals you want to target,” he instructed. I was so close to him that I could smell the alcohol on his breath, and the proximity made my lips tingle.
“Like we do for poisoning,” I replied, and he nodded. I closed my eyes, focusing, and soon I felt beads of liquid spring about underneath my fingers.
“You’re a natural,” he said, sounding genuinely impressed.
I wondered if he was messing with me, but I realized that I didn’t care. I handed him his handkerchief, but before he could take it from me, he turned his head abruptly as though he could sense danger.
“Rumor, do you feel that?”
I looked at him in confusion and saw that he was scanning the area around us, his brow furrowed in concentration. I looked around uneasily, sensing nothing and then it hit me. My mind was suddenly filled with images of monsters, a sense of urgency flowing through my veins as the darkness inched closer, its inky fingers invading the space between us.
“Dark magic.” I heard the worry in my voice. Jonah drew a breath, his voice low in the dark.
“Yeah. We need to find it and destroy it. Now.”