Kim Harrison - Something Deadly This Way Comes

I didn’t, but Barnabas seemed to relax, and after a quick look behind him, he put his own sword away. Hands now in his deep pockets, he eyed the burning apartment. “She’ll regain her soul,” he said softly.

Tammy made a dart for the opening past Barnabas, and the angel reached out, snagging her. “Let me go!” she shouted, smacking him, and he took the abuse, angling her so no one outside the alley could see her.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Demus said, and I moved closer, hoping the nearby news van didn’t look this way. “The mark either dies or gets a guardian angel. There’s no other choice.”

I smiled, hearing the word. “Demus, we are going to get along just fine. Choice is exactly what I’m going for here.”

“I said let me go!” Tammy insisted, wiggling. “I have to get Johnny. I left him by the lamppost.”

Looking almost cocky, Demus fluffed out his hair to get the sifting ash out of it. “Chill, babe, she just saved your life.”

I exhaled. One reaper down, one more to go. The light reaper, though, wasn’t going to listen to me. I should probably at least try to change Tammy’s resonance, now that I had a moment to think.

“I said let me go!” Tammy screamed, and kicked Barnabas in the shin.

Howling, he dropped his grip on her. In an instant, she was gone. Barnabas took three running steps after her, then skidded to a halt. “You’ll be okay?”

“Go!” I said, and Barnabas gave himself a quick shake. Turning, he vanished into the noisy mass of fire trucks and crying people. Damn, he looked good with his duster flowing and his eyes alight like that.

My attention turned to Demus. He was fiddling with his amulet, his eyes going silver for an instant before turning back to their original green. He was like a bright copper penny, beautiful and gold like Barnabas was beautiful and dark. “You’re not like Nakita at all,” I said, and he looked up at me, his white teeth startling.

“Well, you’re not like Kairos.”

I couldn’t help my snort. “Thank God.”

I came forward to stand at the opening between the two rows of storage buildings, my arms crossed. I was reluctant to step out of the somewhat peaceful spot. Beyond it was noise, lights, ash, billowing smoke, and spraying water.

“We’re going to scythe her later, right?” Demus said. “This is just a way to make Ron crazy and put Barnabas off his guard?”

My head dropped, and I took a deep breath. Two steps back. Linking my arm in his, I started to lead him back into the mess. “Demus, we have to talk.”

“There!” shrilled out a high voice, and we both turned, recognizing Tammy’s voice. “There she is! She’s the one that set the fire!”

My mouth dropped open, and I froze as Demus pulled away. Tammy was in a clear spot with a cop and a fireman. Johnny was with her, pressed into a scared-looking woman holding their dog. Their mom, maybe? Behind them trying to stay out of sight was Barnabas. There was a ting of divinity, and I saw Nakita, facing down the light reaper.

A strong thump came from my heart, then stopped. She’s blaming me for the fire? I’m the one that warned her to get out!

“Puppy presents,” I whispered, feeling Demus drop back and vanish into the crowd. I turned to make my own escape, but the cops were faster, and I found myself yanked around and staring up at a stern, smoke-marked face. God, he was big, and he had a gun.

“She broke into my house this afternoon!” Tammy was yelling, currently being held back by a second cop. “I called and it took you three hours to help me! I told you! I told you and you laughed at me!”

“I did not break into your house!” I said indignantly. “Your brother let us in.”

It looked like the fire was almost out, but they weren’t allowing anyone in yet. The parking lot was full of angry people, and they were all starting to look at me.

“She was talking about a fire,” Tammy said, and the cop holding me tightened his grip. “She told me not to be here tonight. Mom!” she exclaimed. “It’s her! I’m telling you it’s her fault! She said there was going to be a fire. How would she know unless she set it!”

“You . . .” the woman said, her fear finding an easy outlet. The dog in her arms squirmed, and she held him tighter. “You burned down my apartment? Why?”

Her shrill voice carried over the roar of the fire trucks, and I backed up to bump into a third cop. Crap, I was surrounded. Barnabas couldn’t help. The cop looming over me grew even more grim. “What’s your name, miss?”

“I want her in jail!” Tammy’s mother yelled, attracting even more attention. “She set fire to my apartment! I lost everything. Everything!”

I touched the bump of my cell phone in my pocket, thinking of my dad. Oh, God, I didn’t want him to get a call about me being two time zones away. “Uh, I have to go,” I whispered, scared out of my mind.

I jumped when the cop gripping my arm pulled me to him. “I’m sorry, miss. Will you come with me?”

“She burned my apartment!” Tammy’s mother said, starting to cry. “I’ve got nothing!”

You still have your children, I thought, but I couldn’t say it. They wouldn’t understand that Tammy’s and Johnny’s lives had nearly been lost.

“Hey!” I yelped when the cop pinched my arm and started leading me away. “I didn’t set the fire! I just had a feeling.”

“Yeah, well you and your feeling are in deep trouble,” the cop said. “How old are you?” he asked. They couldn’t question me without an adult present if I was a minor.

“Seventeen,” I whispered, thinking of the disappointment in my dad’s eyes. “Look, I shouldn’t even be here.”

The cop opened the door of one of the cop cars. It was quieter at the curb, the entire six lanes of traffic diverted somewhere else. People were everywhere. “What’s your name? How can we reach your folks?” he asked.

I looked at the inside of the car and got in. My mouth was shut, and it was going to stay that way. I was so scared, but I was almost laughing. I was the dark timekeeper, able to stop time, stand down dark reapers, and fly with angels, and I was scared. Better to just go along with it until Barnabas showed up and changed their memories, but the less there was to change, the better. So I said nothing, looking up at him and knowing there would be no mercy.

He made a soft grunt. “Wrong answer,” he said, then shut the door. It made a firm thump, cutting through the noise and confusion. Warm silence took me, comforting almost, though the seat was hard and the space tiny. Outside, the fire trucks thundered and people cried, but inside here, it was quiet.

The cop tapped the glass, and I jerked back. “You’d better remember your phone number by the time I get back, missy,” he said, his voice muffled. Turning, he walked away with a swagger.

“Big strong man put the little girl in her place,” I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest and slumping back in the seat. I had a bad feeling I was going to miss my curfew. I could see Tammy talking to both the fireman and another cop, pointing at me. Her mother was in tears, and Johnny looked lost, patting his mom’s knee as she sat on the ground and rocked their dog. Barnabas was lurking at the edge of the crowd, and Nakita. I didn’t see Demus or the light reaper Barnabas had called Arariel. Maybe they were gone. Maybe all of this had changed Tammy’s future.

Yeah, and maybe I’ve got ice-cream cones coming out of my ears. If the seraphs had sent a dark reaper, then Tammy’s soul was still fated to be lost, and I’d accomplished nothing.

I watched the wall clock as I sat in the swivel chair, tapping my foot in time with its ticks to irritate the cop sitting behind the desk. But mostly I just sulked. Either luck or Grace had landed me here instead of the juvenile detention area, which was apparently full up at the moment. It could have been the fire, but I think it was Grace. My guardian-angel-turned-messenger had shown up halfway to the station, almost getting me into the psych ward when I started talking to her. Luck had stayed with me, so instead of a cell, I was stuck in some cop’s office while they figured out what to do with me. It stank like stale cigarette smoke, and he had dried Diet Coke rings on his scratched desk. Nasty.