Мишель Роуэн - Angel with Attitude

See? she thought Thinking about stuff like that is only going to slow me down.

Also, thinking that as soon as Julian knew both she and Lisa had escaped from the

Underworld and had the key, he’d be coming after them with a fiery vengeance.

Nope. Not going to think about that, either.

“Where are we going?” Lisa panted.

“Back to the motel. We’ve got to get to Barlow.”

Val tried to clear her mind, but it kept racing as fast as her feet. Was she running to something or away from something?

Here, she’d thought she’d been so in control of what was going on. Just like the glamour on the Underworld, on Donovan, on herself to become an “evil witch.” She’d been fooling herself. All of it was false surfaces. She’d never had any control at all. She thought she could control Nathaniel through the summoning spell? He was a demon with a mind, an agenda, of his own. Maybe opening the portal was just another way to tempt her. To gain her trust after it had almost been lost completely. After all, no matter what Lloyd might have told her, she really had no idea how many assignments he’d had before her in two hundred years of being a demon? Hundreds at least. Probably thousands. Why did she think she was any different? Any more special than the rest?

Lucifer was probably laughing at her right now. As well as everyone else at the head office.

At the stupid angel who’d fallen for a gorgeous demon.

Not a story Trixie L’Amour would be telling any time soon.

So she kept running. And desperately hoped for a sign.

A little of that divine intervention would be really cool right now, she decided.

With Lisa right behind her, she slipped past a parked car and crossed the street. She heard the squealing tires and froze, staring stupidly at the big, black limo that lurched to a stop only inches from turning her into a frozen pancake.

The back door opened and slammed shut. She saw red hair and a fancy Chanel suit quickly come toward her.

“Val!” Becky called. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

Her heart pounded so loud she could barely hear anything. Lisa skidded to a stop next to them. She could hear Reggie panting on her shoulder, which, since he hadn’t been running at all, was a little disconcerting.

“You almost hit me!” Val exclaimed.

“You almost deserved it running out like that and not looking both ways. Geez. You practically gave me a heart attack. Sweetie, you’re shaking like a leaf. And FYI, it’s winter.

You’re a total candidate for What Not to Wear in that outfit.”

Becky waited for a reply but Val had nothing. She glanced at Lisa.

“Where are you two headed?”

“To the Paradise Inn,” Lisa told her.

“I’ll give you guys a ride. Come on.” Becky put her arm around Val’s shoulders and steered her toward the limo, directing her into the backseat.

Seraphina sat on the opposite seat looking at her. Her hair was done in perfect blond ringlets.

Her arms were crossed. She wore a yellow outfit with a cartoon duck on the front with the words GOING QUACKERS.

“I want McNuggets,” she said.

“That sounds like a plan,” Reggie murmured. “Running for my life makes me so hungry.”

Lisa joined them in the limo. Val shook her head and glanced at Becky. “We have to get back to the motel right now. It’s urgent.”

“You need to learn how to relax—I should give you the number for my masseuse. He seriously has the fingers of a Greek god. We’ll drop you off, don’t worry. As soon as we stop at McDonald’s for her majesty.”

Val blinked at her. “What are you doing here, anyhow? Didn’t you just leave for Disneyland?”

Becky shrugged. “Yeah, like a week ago. Thank God that torture is finally over. She made me go on Space Mountain eight times. In a row! They actually ran out of barf bags. I’m so glad we’re finally back. Besides, I still have a ton of Christmas shopping to do.”

Val’s mouth had gone completely dry. “Did you just say you were gone a week?”

“Yeah. We left a ago week today.”

A week? Her eyes widened. It hadn’t been a week. It couldn’t have much more than a day . . . two at the most . . . even though that time felt like an eternity. But back here an entire week had gone by?

“Her mother’s at the spa to recover from the trip,” Becky said, eyeing the little girl warily.

“I’m way stressed and we were only gone a week. And when I’m stressed, I eat. If we were gone any longer I might have come back weighing six hundred pounds.”

“McNuggets!” Seraphina whined. “I want my McNuggets.”

Becky sighed. “Okay, just hold on a minute, would you?”

“NOW!”

The limo drove up the road to McDonald’s and Becky climbed over Lisa to get out of the car.

“Reggie,” Val said softly.

“Yeah?”

“We’re going in.”

He nodded. “Where you go, I go. Lead the way.”

They slipped out of the limo and left Lisa in the car with Seraphina who began telling her all about her Mickey Mouse experience, and ran up the stairs to the restaurant.

“This is good, actually,” Reggie said. “I’m so hungry I could eat . . . something large and unruly. Not that that is any different from a normal day.”

“Claire,” Val called as she ran through the front doors.

“On second thought,” Reggie said. “I just lost my appetite.”

Claire was cleaning out a nearby garbage can. She looked up as they approached.

“Well, well. Look who’s finally returned. I don’t think you could have left my place in more of a mess. That was a real treat to wake up to. Steal my man and trash my home. Way to go.”

“Yeah, good to see you too, Claire.”

She put a hand on her uniformed hip. “How did it go, anyhow? Did you end up summoning a good demon?”

“It went okay. I guess,” Val said, knowing that was a big fat lie. “A good demon? That’s debatable.”

“Was he small, hairy, and destructive?”

“No.” She sighed. “Tall, dark, and a major hottie. But I don’t have time to go into the details.

I just needed to return something to you.”

“Oh?”

She pulled Reggie off her shoulder and handed him to Claire.

“Hey!” he protested.

“What’s this?” Claire asked.

“Your boyfriend. Now forgive him, change him back into a human, and start dating again.

Somebody needs to have a happy ending today.”

Reggie’s whiskers twitched. “Val, what are you doing to me? She’s going to kill me!”

Val shook her head. “She won’t. She’s crazy about you. If she wasn’t she wouldn’t get all jealous. Look Claire, bottom line is that me and Reggie didn’t do anything. Believe it because it’s the truth. He can be a dumb guy and he’s made some questionable choices, but underneath it all he loves you. He told me so a bunch of times. He’s been so wonderful and brave since we left, you would be so proud of him. I know I am. So just turn him back and live happily ever after, okay?”

Claire frowned at her, and then she looked at the rat who stared back at her in rigid anticipation of her answer.

She shrugged. “Okay.”

Val was surprised. “Well, that was easier than I thought it would be.”

“But Val—” Reggie began.

“Yeah?”

His whiskers twitched. “Does this mean I’m never going to see you again? You and Lisa are going back to the motel to use the key?”

She nodded.

He sniffed. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too.”

“But I know it’s what you want—to go back home.”

Val swallowed hard and thought about the word for a moment. “Right. Home. I do want that.”

“Maybe I’ll start praying more often. It’ll be cool to talk to you even if I won’t be able to hear you answer me.”