Page 24 of A Hunter Cursed
She was proved right a moment later as Destin made the introductions. That Archer’s brow shot up when he heard her name, and his eyes took a closer look, suggested that Jeremiah had mentioned her. The accompanying smile, genuine and bright, as he held out his hand also told her that whatever her wolf had said to his alpha, it had most likely been complimentary.
She didn’t waste any time satisfying her need to know. “Is Jeremiah all right?” she asked as she clasped the alpha’s hand.
“He’s good,” Archer told her with a nod and Keegan couldn’t hold back her sigh of relief which had the alpha grinning as he added, “He’s looking forward to seeing you tonight.”
Before she could reply that she was looking forward to seeing him as well, another knock sounded leading Destin to remark, “He made good time.”
Keegan frowned, wondering who this newest arrival was. Destin hadn’t mentioned anyone else joining them. As the others began settling into seats, talking amongst themselves, Keegan stuck close to the living room door, her curiosity piqued.
The man Destin ushered in had glossy black hair that fell in a messy tumble over his forehead and around his ears. His skin was a cool ivory, his bone structure, model perfect, but it was his eyes that drew her attention and held it – liquid silver framed by thick black lashes.
He was frowning thoughtfully, nodding as Destin said something to him, something Keegan didn’t catch, when suddenly those unusual eyes lifted to her and a lopsided smile lit his features as he said, “Hello, again.”
Again?Keegan frowned. What did he mean by that? Had they met before? She was pretty sure she would have remembered him. Those eyes…
She’d have asked, but Destin was leading the man into the living room to join the others and Keegan needed to step back or risk being squashed against the doorframe. The guy had some broad shoulders on him. Maybe he’d been a customer when she’d waited tables? During the busy season, she was hustling too much to note every face, every pair of eyes no matter how unusual the color. Satisfied with that explanation, she relaxed and took a moment to look him over.
He was dressed all in black, not so unusual that. Kane Fletcher and Morgan Rhys were both currently all in black as well, though this man was wearing cargo pants with plenty of pockets paired with his black T-shirt and combat boots rather than jeans and biker boots like the vampires were wearing. Perhaps he was former military? He had the physique, that was for sure. He didn’t read vampire to her senses but there was definitely power there, and a lot of it. She could practically hear it crackling in the air. Maybe he was one of the coven leaders Destin had called in to help out.
Keegan was so distracted by her own thoughts and speculations about this newest arrival, she realized she’d missed the introduction though Destin helped her out a moment later when he motioned toward the couch and said, “Make yourself comfortable, Mister Strong.”
The man sighed out a “Thank God,” but instead of taking a load off in one of the seats as she would have expected, he rolled his shoulders releasing a massive set of glossy black wings that nearly had Keegan hitting the floor in surprise.
Wings of startling bronze, wings of glossy black, wings of brilliant white. It was her vision come to life. Or, at least, one-third of it. She was pretty sure she was gawking, mouth opening and closing like a beached fish, but a quick look around showed her that she wasn’t the only one. Every eye in the room was trained on those black feathers in slack-jawed amazement. At least that proved she wasn’t hallucinating.
As if he hadn’t just caused a massive stir, the angel – a real-life angel! – rolled his head on his neck as if to loosen the muscles there before casually remarking, “So, I hear you have a possible demon problem.”
Destin was the first to recover, the big man visibly shaking himself from his fascination, though his voice sounded a little rough when he finally said, “Um, yes. Please, take a seat Mister Strong and I’ll tell you what we know so far.”
“Call me Cam, please, and if it’s all the same to you, I’ll stand. Give the wings time to decompress.”
Destin glanced at those wings again, his fingers twitching as if he wanted to touch them. Keegan could totally relate. She was tempted to do the same simply to ascertain for herself that what she was seeing was real.
Jourdain cleared his throat and took a step back, probably to put distance between himself and the temptation those wings presented. He then quickly and concisely explained the area they’d discovered that Jourdain suspected was a thinning between the realms and his suspicions that Evangeline Duvalier was the one who had caused it. That last revelation was news to Keegan. So much for Destin keeping her in the loop, she thought wryly.
The angel frowned with confusion as his hand came up to scratch at the back of his neck. “Why would this Evangeline person want to release a bunch of Smudges?”
“I’m sorry,” Kane Fletcher piped up, moving to sit at the edge of his chair, brow raised in inquiry. “Smudges?”
The angel’s lips twisted with disgust. “Low-level demons. We’re talking nasty little bottom feeders. Parasites, that can only be on this side of the veil if they possess a human host. They’re the reason exorcisms were so big back in the day.”
“Demonic possession?” Kane swiped a hand over his face in agitation. “Fan-fucking-tastic.”
Destin uttered his own expletive, too low for Keegan to hear before he released a beleaguered sigh. “Evangeline acquired a great deal of her power through a demonic source. We could only assume she was hoping to open this new breach to obtain more but I can’t imagine she was looking to be possessed.”
The angel’s face looked intrigued. “A demonic source? Interesting,” he drawled before holding up a finger. “Give me just a moment.”
A boom of thunder sounded, surprising everyone into jerking their heads to the window to see a flash of lightning despite there not being a cloud in the clear blue sky. When they turned back, the angel was gone.
“Well, that’s handy,” Kane uttered with a wry twist of his lips.
Conversation erupted, voices competing to be heard as they each expressed their surprise at seeing an angel in the flesh. Kane Fletcher going one further, questioning how the angel might have been able to conceal that massive wing-span. “I mean, where does he keep them?” the vampire asked. “Do they fold up like an accordion?”
“You can ask him when he gets back,” was Morgan’s response, followed by a disgruntled growl from Archer as the alpha added, “Ifhe comes back.”
Amidst the chatter, Destin approached Keegan. “You’ve met the angel before?” he asked quietly, standing beside her with his hands gripped together behind his back.
“I saw him in a vision,” she confided in a whisper. “Or, at least, I saw his wings. It was years ago. Remember that vision of the church I told you about?”
