Мишель Роуэн - Angel with Attitude

The handsome stranger’s smile held. “No, Valerie, I’m not Batman. Unless you’d like me to be, of course. I’m sure I could scare up a cowl and cape if I needed to.”

She tried to swallow the nervous lump forming in her throat. “How do you know my name?”

You will know a Tempter Demon when you see one.

A flame flickered to life in his hand. He held a lighter and with it he lit the cigarette he’d removed from his jacket’s inner pocket. Val watched the tip of the cigarette glow red, a flickering glow that lingered in the stranger’s eyes longer that it should have. “I know all about you, Valerie. Sorry it’s taken me so long to show up. I was . . . unavoidably detained.

Have you been waiting for me?”

Tempter Demons are assigned to lure fallen ones to Hell for an eternity of torturous servitude.

She racked her brain. What else did the scroll say?

Eat regularly. Three meals a day is standard for human sustenance.

That wasn’t going to be very helpful.

She pressed her hands together to stop them from shaking. And she’d thought having to deal with a mugger was the worst thing that could happen to her that night?

The demon smoked his cigarette and waited patiently for her to find her voice again. But her voice had gone on vacation. Somewhere warm, with palm trees.

Just one more day, she thought miserably. I only need one more day. Why did he have to show up now?

Of course he was attractive. All Tempters were. In Heaven she’d heard all sorts of tales about demons from the other angels. She’d listened with distracted amusement, never thinking she’d ever have to personally face one. Otherwise, she might have paid more attention to what was said. Taken some notes, maybe. But, she knew Tempters had to be tempting. After all, it was their job, wasn’t it?

How could she have been so out of it not to see this coming? Was she that sick?

TEMPTER DEMONS ARE VERY DANGEROUS. Their methods are underhanded and almost impossible to resist.

“Take it back,” she finally said, her voice weak but present and accounted for.

“Take what back?”

“What you just did to my ankle.”

He took another drag of his cigarette, then flicked it against the wall. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I know what you are. I don’t want to owe you anything. Take it back. Make it broken again.

Please.”

He smiled and tried to meet her eyes. But her eyes were shy—they weren’t prepared to meet anyone tonight. Or maybe ever again.

“What I did was a favor for you. I expect nothing in return. Is it so wrong that I don’t want to see you hurt?”

Val managed to laugh at that. Just a little. It came out sounding jerky and pathetic. “Right.”

“My name is Nathaniel.” He took a step closer to her.

She took a step back and felt the brick wall, cold and unyielding behind her. “I’m happy for you. Leave me alone.”

The demon pulled something out of his pocket. A cell phone. He flipped the lid open, pressed a few buttons, and looked at the display screen.

“According to this, your last name is Grace.” He looked up from the phone and those dangerous eyes of his tried to catch her in their weirdly hypnotic gaze. “Valerie Grace is a very beautiful name.”

“I’m going to leave now. Don’t try to stop me.”

He frowned, creasing that handsome face into a semi-serious expression and cocked his head to one side. “But we have so much to talk about.”

“No, we don’t.” She tried to keep the fear that filled her chest from showing in her words.

“Yes, we most certainly do.”

“No,” she managed to put more emphasis on it this time. “We really don’t.” Her head ached, and she was overcome with exhaustion. She attempted to walk past him but he moved to block her escape.

“You don’t belong here, Valerie.”

“You’re absolutely right. I don’t. That’s why I’m going back.”

“To Heaven?” A grin appeared on his perfect lips. “Are you, now? And how are you going to manage that, little angel?”

Is he mocking me? she thought with a sudden jab of disdain.

“Because this is all a mistake, that’s how. And I’m going to fix it. So you may as well not waste your time with me.”

“A mistake, huh?” His grin widened. “Are you so sure about that?”

“Positive. I didn’t do anything wrong.” Her throat hurt as she said it. Her memories had grown so faulty that she was no longer positive that was one hundred percent true. However, he didn’t have to know that, did he?

“If you haven’t done anything wrong than you needn’t be afraid of me.”

“I’m not afraid.” She jumped as he took another step closer to her. “I’m not.”

“In fact, I can make things so much better. Just listen to what I have to offer and perhaps you won’t need to spend another two months in a frozen wasteland like this.”

She crossed her arms. “What part of ‘I’m going back to Heaven’ didn’t you understand?

Besides, I hear Niagara Falls is beautiful in the springtime. Lots of tulips and happy tourists.

Not that I’m going to be here to witness it, that is.”

She had to get out of there. From what she remembered about Tempters, they preyed on the weaknesses and insecurities of the newly fallen—loneliness, fear, naïvité. And, she had a very long and detailed list of human weaknesses that he could poke at, right at the top of which seemed to be her immediate need for a Kleenex.

“I can give you beauty for all eternity,” he said. “You’ll never be cold or alone, or want for anything ever again.”

“Right now I want to be cold and alone. Please, just go away.” Her voice caught on some unexpected emotion and she forced herself to keep from crying. She swallowed hard.

His brow furrowed and he took a step back at her expression. And as suddenly as his change of mood came on it disappeared, replaced by a confident, drop-dead sexy grin curling up one side of his full lips as he shook his head.

“I can’t leave you alone, Valerie.”

Don’t look at him, she told herself.

She wondered what had taken him so long to show up. It would have made more sense for a

Tempter to arrive early, while the fallen were still fresh and gullible. But she’d had two months to adjust to the unpleasantness of being human, albeit kicking and screaming, so there was no way he was going to tempt her.

No way.

Do not let your guard down when confronted by a tempter or you will regret it. Big time.

Then she made the mistake of fully looking into his eyes. Grayish blue, that was the color.

He’d moved fully into the light of the lone street lamp so she could see him a bit better.

Grayish-blue eyes framed with thick, dark lashes. Chiseled cheekbones led down to full lips.

A square jaw with the slightest indication of a cleft. He looked like an angel, but she knew he was just the opposite. The balance. The flip side. And he was trouble.

He reached forward and stroked his fingertips along her cheek. She didn’t try to move away and it wasn’t just because she was pressed up against the hard wall. His touch left behind a warmth that made her entire body tingle, much as her foot had, but this time it seemed more . .

. more something. He traced a finger along her bottom lip, probably feeling the remnants of the Chap Stick she’d applied before leaving her safe motel room to go on her fateful trip to the drugstore.

She couldn’t stop staring into his eyes, and noticed her head was starting to feel fuzzy.

Just the head cold, she told herself. Ignore it. Ignore him. Push him away right now.

But she didn’t. As she looked into his eyes she began to wonder if maybe he was right. What if they didn’t take her back? What if she was stuck in this awful place? And not just Niagara