Becca Fitzpatrick - Hush, Hush (Bonus)

“Wrong. Not interested.”

“What if I said it’s about... the archangels?”

“What about them?” I said calmly and with cold indifference. My history with the archangels, the most powerful and authoritative branch of angels in heaven, wasn’t secret. Weeks ago, they’d elevated me from fallen to guardian angel. A lifetime ago, before I fell, I'd been one of them. My involvement with them was cut-and-dried, and I’d put it behind me. Dabria knew this.

“They might have made you Nora’s guardian angel because they were bound by their own laws, but don’t be naive. You tricked them. They don’t forgive and they don’t forget—not our kind. I have a source who tells me they’re going to do away with you. Quietly, of course. They’re laying a trap for you, and you won’t see it coming.”

“What kind of trap?” I asked in a low, menacing voice.

Her mouth twisted into a taunting smile. “If I thought you cared, I might tell you,” she mimicked.

I shook my head again, but this time there was nothing casual in the gesture. It was deliberate and threatening. “Tell me what you know,” I told Dabria in a voice that lacked tolerance. “You found me tonight because that’s what you want. So get it out.” “After what you did to me? You tore out my wings,” she shot back, her eyes giving away the only flash of anger or betrayal. The rest of her—her whimsical smile, her lazy posture, her bored voice—spoke of aloof immunity to what I’d done.

“I don’t regret it. You would have done the same.”

“I loved you. I loved you more than you deserved,” she stated simply.

I looked her in the eye, but I didn’t answer. I couldn’t return the sentiment. It would be a lie, for one. And I wasn’t in the mood to placate, for two. “The archangels,” I reminded her.

“Nora isn’t the only girl out there who needs a guardian angel.”

“Explain.”

“That’s all I know. You can thank me for the heads-up later,” she singsonged.

I watched her walk away, a bad feeling stirring inside me. I read between her words, and instantly a few guesses jumped to mind, none of them good. I’d known all along the archangels weren’t going to let what I’d done slide. I’d conspired to get a human body. I’d plotted a girl’s death. I’d fallen in love with her before I carried it out, but that's not how the archangels saw things. I’d broken their laws, and they’d make me pay.

They were going to send me to hell, and I had a few guesses how.

I knew something was off the moment he picked me up. I opened the front door to find Patch wearing a distracted expression, as though he’d been thinking about something besides me on the ride over.

“You’re late," I teased him, but I was a little annoyed. He’d kept me waiting nearly thirty minutes and hadn’t bothered to call.

“I had a few errands to run,” he said without so much as a kiss or a comment on my dress—a white eyelet sundress that was his favorite. “I had to go back to my place and trade out the bike for the Jeep.”

“Nothing like last-minute errands,” I said, trying not to sound cranky.

“The worst,” Patch agreed absently.

We drove to Enzo’s in almost perfect silence. Patch sat forward in his seat, arms draped over the wheel, eyes watching the road as if he expected to catch a deer in his headlights around the next bend. He didn’t seem to notice five minutes had passed without a single word spoken between us. His thumb tapped the wheel, and the set of his jaw seemed almost rigid.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

He flashed me a quick reassuring smile. “Nope. Been looking forward to this all day.”

“Liar.”

“How’s Vee? Decorations up and ready?”

Patch never asked about Vee. And he never made small talk.

“Seriously, are you sure nothing’s wrong?” I asked.

He gave my knee a quick squeeze. “You look incredible in that dress. I can’t take my eyes off you.”

My mood lifted. “You noticed.”

“It's my favorite.”

I let go of a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding, and returned Patch’s smile. I rolled the window down, letting the wind chase through my hair, The air didn’t feel hot and muggy now, but refreshing and breathable. Funny how it could change so fast.

Just like a moment.

Every time I walked inside Enzo’s, I got a funny feeling. It was one of those uncomfortable wrenches in your gut, reminding you of being someplace when you’d rather be anywhere else. Months before Nora knew who 1 was, I’d sat at a table in the back of Enzo’s, watching her. I’d studied her schedule, her personality, her mannerisms. I’d learned everything I could about her, because I was going to use that information to get close to her, and then sacrifice her for a human body. I’d never told her how long I’d followed her or how meticulously I’d planned. I was trying to forget the memory. I wasn’t the same guy I’d been back then, but I didn’t know if she’d see it that way.

“There she is,” Nora said, grabbing my hand and pulling me forward into the crowd. I sidestepped an unidentifiable ice Sculpture, and there was Vee.

“Well?” Vee asked, pointing overhead at hundreds of red and black balloons twisted together to form a wide snake that dangled from the ceiling. “What do you think?”

“It looks amazing,” Nora answered. “Really, truly amazing. I’m blown away.”

Vee raised her eyebrows at me. She wasn’t asking my opinion. She was daring me to say what I really thought. “ Well, Patch?”

Nora vised my hand threateningly, and I smiled. “Nice work.”

“I’m manning the punch station,” Vee said, turning her body to shut me out of the conversation. “My shift lasts an hour. Come find me and we’ll hang.” And she left.

“Where do you want to sit?” Nora asked me, scanning the tables. “Over there?” She pointed to a table in the back, where the light didn’t reach properly. The same table I’d sat at multiple times while watching her from a distance. It was the last place I wanted to sit. I didn’t want to be here in the first place. Dabria’s words echoed at the back of my mind. The archangels were laying a trap. If I wasn’t careful, I’d walk straight into it. I took a good look at the faces around me, skeptical of them all. Was I being tailed? Probably. The archangels wouldn’t like that I was becoming so intimately involved in Nora’s life. I was new to this, and the rules were old, barely intact memories. I felt my uncertainty rise.

“Here’s just as good,” I said, striding to the nearest empty table and pulling out her chair. I took the adjacent seat and stole a look at my watch under the table. Fifty-five minutes and counting. “I’ll grab us something to drink,” I offered. I was on my feet, anxious to do something.

I thought about telling Nora everything. I thought about telling her the archangels were a serious threat. They were powerful, and they had us outnumbered. But I didn’t want to alarm her until I knew for sure. Right now, I was going on Dabria’s word. I didn’t think she was lying, but I didn’t fully trust her either. She had something to gain from this. What, I still didn’t know.

Bypassing the punch line, I stepped outside. The doors shut behind me, and the parking lot grew quiet. I walked around the side of the building and called Rixon.

“I need you to do something for me,” I told him. “Keep an eye on Dabria.”

“Got a bad feeling?” he asked.

“Worse than usual.”

“Think she’s plotting revenge now that you’ve demoted her to fallen angel?”

“Could be. But I think there’s more. She told me the archangels are holding a grudge and making plans. It’s no secret they don’t like me, but I’m still trying to figure out how they plan on getting rid of me. Dabria claims she has a source. I want to know who it is, and what they know.”