Chapter Fifty-Six
The bed was queen sized, big enough for two – if you cuddled closely. Angel sat down on the edge of the bed, and Jake took a seat beside her and bent over, resting his elbows on his knees. “Angel,” he said without looking at her, “I promised I would answer your questions, and I meant it.” He dropped his head and closed his eyes. “But before you say anything, let me ask you something first….” Angel studied him in silence. He seemed highly troubled. His jaw was tense, and he kept his eyes closed when he asked, “Did I hurt you?”
Angel blinked, confused. “What?”
He turned his head a little, and green shards of light struck her when he opened his eyes. “When Malek was controlling me… did I hurt you?” His voice was so quiet, his tone so tight. Angel’s chest ached, and her heart began racing.
“No, Jake. Not once. Please believe me.” She shook her head, her expression adamant. “Why would you think you had?”
He gave her a wry smile. He was still bent over, head hanging low. “Your walls are all up again,” he said. “They weren’t before. And you didn’t say anything about it. When you were giving your story.” He shut his eyes a moment, then opened them again. “I don’t remember anything of what happened and I thought you’d be filling in the blanks for me too… but you didn’t talk about it at all. So I thought… maybe….”
Angel was alarmed. “No!” She gently pulled on his shoulder so he would sit up and face her. He did, and Angel took one of his hands in hers. “Jake, I didn’t say anything about what happened with you and David because I didn’t want Gabriel to know. I don’t want to give him any reason to hate you.”
Jake smiled at that, but he was still visibly a little unsure.
“Jake I swear to you that you never hurt me,” she told him emphatically. “In fact, we did fight at one point, but none of your blows did any damage. You were infuriating! You were trying to wear me out or knock me off balance or something. On the other hand, I kicked you in the face.” She gave him a guilty look as blood rushed into her cheeks. “Pretty hard, too.”
Jake stared at her a few silent seconds, and then he laughed, and Angel watched the tension leave his body. “Good,” he told her. “I’m sure I deserved it.”
“Oh you did.”
He laughed harder, and she looked away, still pretty embarrassed about that. In fact, the evidence of her attack was still on his forehead. It peeked out every now and then from behind locks of his jet-black hair.
Angel took a deep breath and asked him, “Jake, what happened? How did Malek get to you? And why? Why not just come for me himself?”
“Normally the magic of my clan keeps out influence like his,” he admitted softly. “So Malek sent a Terror after me and Dave. The bitch shot us with some sort of bullet that worked a spell on us from the inside. And he didn’t come after you himself because of this.” He reached out and touched the bear claw that dangled just below her breasts. When he did, he brushed against one, and she felt a hard electric spike move through her. She managed to stifle the gasp, but barely.
Jake’s eyes shot up, catching hers. His lips curled, and his eyes flashed. “Remember I told you it protected the wearer against dark spirits, and that meant unseelie fae.”
Angel did remember. “Damn,” she whispered. “It was like you somehow knew.”
Jake looked guilty then. “The truth is, I did. Not that it was Malek himself after you, but I’d been warned a Taal might be interested in you.”
Angel couldn’t be upset with him. After all, Gabriel had warned her of the same thing. She sighed and nodded. “But what happened after David shot me with that sleeping dart… I guess neither of us will ever know.”
“Dave shot you?” Jake’s teeth clenched. “Son of a bitch.”
“Jake, he wasn’t himself. Remember? And it was a sleeping dart. No harm done.”
Jake took a slow, tight breath and sighed, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “I know.” He hesitated a moment, then said, “No, we’ll probably never know what happened after the sleeping dart took hold. But probably nothing, in all honesty. Warden sleep darts don’t work very long against healers, as you probably know. A few minutes at most. I’m guessing you passed out just long enough for us to contact Malek and for him to arrive.”
Angel thought about that. “I did wake up still in the forest – just when Malek was slapping cuffs on me.”
Jake stiffened next to her. She could feel it on the bed. “Jake, he didn’t hurt me either. I wasn’t lying when I told the sovereigns that. He fucked with my head a little,” she admitted. And that wasn’t fun at all. Unless you’re into that kind of thing. “But I can see why he felt he had to do it. And once I gave him permission to do the Taal Kiss….” Her voice trailed off. She realized that Jake’s eyes had begun to glow. He was staring at the floor again, not really seeing it. His hands were together, one holding the other in a tight fist.
Maybe this isn’t the best topic of conversation, she thought. “In short, I passed out. And when I woke up, I was in your arms.”
Jake was still for a long time. When he finally turned back to face her, the glow had gone back out of his eyes, and he was radiating a lot less pent-up frustration. “What did David and I do to you? You said we didn’t hurt you. But Angel, I can’t tell you how much it’s killing me that I have no idea what I might have put you through.”
Angel sighed and took his hand again. “You did what you do best. I ran and you tracked me down. There was really nothing more to it. You have to believe me.” She gently touched his cheek, and he closed his eyes, leaning his face into her hand. “Okay?”
After a long moment, he finally nodded. “Okay.”
“You know,” she said slowly, “I could really go for a Hot White Russian.” She let her hand rest on her lap now and smiled a slow, sweet smile because the drink automatically reminded her of… things.
Jake chuckled. As always, the sound sent rivulets of pleasure coursing through her.
“I’m assuming Santiago has a bar somewhere in this joint?” he asked, looking around. His eyes scanned over the cold metal walls.
Angel nodded. “On the other side of the dining room.”
“Then you stay here and get comfortable, and I’ll be right back with the drinks.” He stood up, but didn’t leave the bed. His eyes continued to scan the metal walls around them. Without looking at her he asked, “Angel… do you like being a warden?”
The question took her very much by surprise. It wasn’t that she hadn’t been thinking about it of late – since she was planning to accept Dmitri’s offer. But she definitely hadn’t expected Jake to ask it.
She licked her lips and said, “Like any job, it’s not perfect. There are things I love about it. Those are the things that made me decide to do it and keep doing it. Then there are things I hate about it.”
Jake looked down at her. “Do you like being a Vega member?”
Angel’s brow furrowed. She gazed up at him and wondered why he would ask. Finally, she replied, “Yes. Very much so. Vega took me in when I had no one and nothing.” She gestured with her arms as if she could see past the walls. “These people are the only family I know.”
Jacob lowered his gaze. He fell silent, and she wondered what he was thinking. Then he nodded, as if accepting something, and turned to go. But she stopped him with a hand on his wrist. “Wait,” she said, coming to her own feet. “On second thought, you still have dried blood on your forehead.”
Jake stared at her in confusion. “I… what? Blood? Whose?”
Angel felt a pang of guilt. “Well, actually it’s your blood,” she told him. “Remember, I told you I kicked you in the forehead. It healed, but you still have some of the blood on you.”
Jake continued to stare at her a long while. Finally he touched his forehead. “Here?”
“To the left a little.”
“Here?”
She nodded, and he rubbed. Then he looked at his fingers. By now, the blood was dry, but he could no doubt see dust of it on his fingertips. Angel watched his pupils dilate a little. He seemed pale suddenly. Unsteady.
“Why don’t you take a shower while I make the drinks?” she suggested. She watched him, trying her best to wear an innocent expression.
But Jake looked at her with a raised brow. “And what would I wear when I got out?” he asked. His tone had lowered a little, becoming more intimate.
“I’ll have your clothes cleaned, and in the meantime, you can borrow something from that closet there.” She gestured to the closet on one side of the room. It had a mixture of clothing for every size. It was an emergency guest room, after all.
Jake gave a small laugh, shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter. I can clean the clothes myself with a spell.”
Angel blinked up at him in surprise. But, of course he can. He had an innate ability to affect inanimate objects. She guessed she could add laundry services to his list of talents.
“Okay then it’s settled. Go take a shower. You smell like another woman’s perfume.” Angel paused and frowned, turning back. “What’s up with that, anyway?”
Jake dropped his head and pinched the bridge of his nose as if a headache were coming on. “That would be the Terror you’re smelling.” He sighed. “It’s a long story. I’ll see you in ten.”