Мишель Роуэн - Angel with Attitude

Nothing.

Val felt a hand on her arm and opened her eyes. Lisa looked at her with great concern. “I knew Barlow,” she said. “And I know one very important thing about him.”

Val sniffed. “What?”

“He’d still want you to use the key. To go without him. To save yourself. I know he would.”

Go without him. A breath caught in Val’s throat. She was right. That’s exactly what Barlow would want for her. She could still go. She and Lisa.

She reached down into her top, into her bra, to pull out the object that had caused so much pain, so much stress, so much . . . hope.

The key.

Once she got back to Heaven she could find somebody, talk to somebody. Barlow had only been gone a short time. It might not be too late to still save him. But she had to go now. He’d had faith in her. He believed in her. And she wasn’t going to let him down again.

It was her brand-new plan—she figured she was probably at Plan Z by now—and she clung fiercely to it. Go back to Heaven and do what she could from there.

And she was taking Lisa with her.

“We’re leaving,” Val said. “Fasten your seat belts. This may or may not get bumpy.”

Bette Davis, she thought. Sort of. Reggie would be so proud.

Val held the key close to her face and turned it in the dim lighting while she read the ancient—but strangely readable—words etched into its surface. She felt the power hum through her, the essence of the golden key coursing up her arm and through her entire body.

When she’d finished speaking, she hardly remembered saying anything at all, what the words were or if they made sense. But at that moment power filled her with a feeling of peace and goodness, equal to the light that emanated from Seraphina’s eyes. The power seemed to solidify and grow larger until she felt like a glass of water about to spill over or shatter into a thousand pieces. And when it finally felt too much, the energy streamed out of her in a single line of power, hitting the far wall of Barlow’s living room, in the corner where the rabbit-

eared television sat. It trailed up from the floor, six feet high, then across, then down. The outline of a door. Val watched in awe as the inside of it began to grow opaque, glowing until it was nothing but a rectangle of glimmering light in the dark room.

She let out a long, shaky breath.

Not bad for a first try if I do say so myself, she thought wearily.

“Val,” Lisa said from behind her.

But Val was busy looking at the doorway of light. Only a few steps away. So close and all that had happened to her would become a fading memory.

A tear slipped down her cheek.

“Val,” Lisa said again. “I think we have a bit of a problem.”

“Let’s get a move on,” Val said. “We don’t know how long it’s going to stay open.”

There was a sound then. A jingle, like the bell on the door to the manager’s office. A cold draft of air swept into the room.

Val turned around to look at Lisa and felt her stomach sink down, down, down . . .

Well, hell.

“You were so right, Nathaniel,” Julian purred as he stepped through the beaded curtain. “She is terribly predictable, isn’t she?”

Nathaniel entered through the curtain and stood next to the grinning blond demon. He stared at Val with an expression that looked like . . . disappointment? Right, she thought.

Disappointment that she was oh-so-predictable. So naïve. So stupid.

Three out of three.

There was nothing in his expression to indicate he was there to help her. Nothing at all. The behavior modification must have worked after all. The Nathaniel she’d gotten to know over the past few days was gone forever.

She exchanged a worried glance with Lisa and turned back to the glowing doorway. Note to self: Must remember to make sure no demons are present before opening a gateway to

Heaven.

“I command you to close,” she said to the glowing light. She shook the key in its direction.

She knew it wouldn’t work, but figured it was worth a shot.

Julian laughed. “Nice try.”

Val shrugged. “Not really. But thanks for saying so.”

“No, I’m very surprised, fallen one. That you just made it so easy for me. For us.” He glanced at Nathaniel, then back to her. “Looks like your little spell over the halfling here is definitely over, isn’t it? He isn’t exactly riding in on his white horse to save you now.”

Nathaniel just continued to stare at her, expressionless. Blank.

She swallowed. “White horses are overrated.”

Julian’s grin widened. “I truly thought you’d make it more difficult before you did exactly what I would want you to. You see, a little bird told me that only a fallen angel could use the key.”

“A little bird?” Val thought about that, then frowned.

“Yes,” Julian continued. “A little bird that flew away before I had the chance to cage it properly.”

Val glanced at Lisa who shrugged back at her. “I was trying to buy a little time so I could escape. It actually worked.”

Julian scowled at her. “Yeah, well, you turn your back for one moment . . . Plus, I was kind of distracted with the mayor and . . . oh, never mind. You won’t escape again. Now, back to the matter at hand.” He gazed at the doorway of light. “Pretty isn’t it? Though I did organize a little something in case you weren’t willing to open it.”

Val stomach was in knots. “What do you mean?”

To her left there was a sudden flash of fire and Yasmeen appeared, smiling.

“Ow, that’s hot . . . ouch!” a familiar voice yelped.

Behind Yasmeen was Reggie, no longer a rat, but a man as he was before. He was naked, and held two McDonald’s food trays—now slightly melted from the trip there—against his front and back to cover his nakedness. Claire stood next to him clutching his arm and staring around the room with fear as naked as Reggie’s body.

“Reggie!” Val exclaimed.

“Val?” His gaze darted around the room. “This isn’t good, is it?”

“Not even slightly.”

Julian looked them up and down. “Now that you’ve already opened the doorway, I don’t need them, do I? What should I do with them?” He turned. “Nathaniel? Any thoughts?”

Val’s uneasy gaze moved to the other demon and she watched as the corner of his mouth twitched into an unfriendly smile. “I can think of many things. Reggie, remember how I promised I could put you out of your misery? That offer is still available.”

Reggie blinked. “Uh, gee, thanks for the offer, Nate. But I think I’ll pass.”

Val’s eyes narrowed. “You touch him and you’ll be sorry.”

Nathaniel turned to her with the smile still in place, but he didn’t say anything.

“Now.” Julian took a step toward the doorway of light and rubbed his hands together. “Time to get this party started.”

She stepped in front of him. “Julian, listen to me. You can’t go through there. You’ll shift the balance and it’ll destroy everything. The earthly realm, Heaven, Hell. Everything. You hear me?”

He raised an eyebrow. “How incredibly exciting. Don’t you think so, Nathaniel?”

“Absolutely.”

She shot the other demon a dirty look. Yasmeen had slipped an arm around his waist and stared at him as if he were the greatest thing since sliced bread. Really bad analogy, Val thought. But she was too busy freaking out to come up with something good.

Julian was just about to walk into Heaven and obliterate everything up by his mere presence.

And again . . .

All her fault.

She was sensing a theme. The theme of Valerie Grace. Throwing everything away that she cared about because of her stupid, selfish, predictable behavior.