Page 75 of Baking and Angels

Chris broke away from his grasp just enough to whirl back a fist. It landed across Rafferty’s face as a haymaker punch. His head whipped to one side, and a wave of nausea roiled his stomach as the world spun. Like all the other sensations he had experienced since coming to life, this one was intense as well. His eye felt like it had exploded. Cupping his hand to it, the ground came up to meet his butt, and he decided to stay there until everything else in the world settled.

For his part, Chris loomed over him, cupping his hand in his other one, swearing in pain, having taken as much damage as he had given out. From what little Rafferty could see through his other eye, Chris’s knuckles were split andbleeding.

Then another person stood between them.

Chapter 29

Like a Damsel in Shining Armor

“Stop it, Chris,” Helena said.

Not yelled. Simply said.

She didn’t seem afraid or intimidated by the other man, who still had height and weight on her. Not now. What did a demon—an otherworldly being—have to fear from a mere mortal?

Nothing about her had outwardly changed, but Chris yielded before her, taking an unsure step back. “I just… I don’t want…” he said, then ignored her and turned toward Charlie.

His husband still stood at the top of the porch with Cindy one step down, being a second-level human wall. With her jaw jutted forward, it was evident she had no intention of letting Chris getpast her.

“Charlie, can we just…talk?” Chris pleaded. “If you let meexplain…”

“Why there was a woman wearing my bathrobe inourapartment?” Charlie shook his head, his arms hugging himself as his heart broke. “I can’t. Not right now. And not like this. I don’t even know who you areanymore.”

“You always do that! The second we start to get real about anything, you shut down…”

Helena set a hand on Chris’sshoulder.

“Get off me!” he screamed, swinging his arm back to hit her. Rafferty could see in his mind how it was going to play out in that split second. Her head would snap to one side, she’d fall. Rafferty wanted to move but his mortal body couldn’t go that fast anymore. Couldn’t bend time and space to protect her from the pain coming for her.

And then Chris froze.

He stared at Helena, like he had forgotten how to throw a punch.

There were shouts coming from Charlie and Cindy, but they had no effect on what was happening right there, just above where Rafferty sat. He froze, too, feeling the demonic power bending around them both, burninglike ice.

“I’m going to call the police!” Charlie shouted, storming intoher house.

“Cindy, stop him,” Helena commanded. Cindy jerked at the command, closing her eyes as she wobbled onher feet.

“I should stop him,” Cindy repeated softly, her own desire to do just that juiced with Helena’s power. She followed Charlie inside, leaving Helena and Rafferty with Chris.

“Stop it, Chris,” Helena repeated, setting a hand on the top of his head. “You need to leave for now. Not forever. Justfor now.”

Her touch stilled him, and Rafferty knew what she was doing as he watched her fingers sink into Chris’s skull. Demonic power could not overwrite another’s free will. That was impossible. But it could enhance feelings and sensations a human already felt, bring the ones buried underneath to the surface.

After a few seconds of her touch, Chris’s face twisted into an ugly mask of sorrow. He dropped to his knees in front of them all. A sob ripped from his throat, ugly and broken.

“I’m so sorry!” he screeched, adding to the disturbance that had, in fact, brought some of Helena’s neighbors poking their noses out of doors. “This isn’twho I am!”

“Shh. Quiet,” Helena commanded, touching him once more. Immediately, the wailing sound cut off. But he hadn’t stopped crying. Rafferty could see through Helena’s parted legs that Chris continued to sob and wail, but no sound could be heard. She was stilling the sound waves he should have been making, augmenting reality.

Helena looked down on Chris. Her eyes glowed like twin suns: unearthly, inhuman eyes with no trace of emotion. “You need to leave,” she insisted, not unkindly, just simple facts. Her will was final, and there was no room for negotiation.

Chris nodded.

Then Helena helped him up to his staggering feet, lifting the larger man easily, as if he were a small child. Rafferty tried to get up to help her, but she shook her head. “You stay down. Igot this.”

He yielded automatically to her order. It seemed like the absolutely right thing to do. He wasn’t sure he if he wouldn’t have simply fallen over again if he did try to stand. His vision whirled once more, and he closed his eyes to wait for the swimming motion to end.

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