Page 40 of The Angel's Kiss
He picked up the Hanged Man’s card from the table and extended it to me. “Don’t forget this.”
I took the card and felt a sting from my scalp. I rubbed the sore spot and looked at him. He was grinning. “What the fuck? Did you just snatch some of my hair?”
“This concludes our transaction,” he said, then rose and took off his hat and bowed like it was the Victorian period. I felt a rush of air and disorientation and then all of a sudden, both Azazel and I were standing in my living room in the middle of the doorway to the Magic Shop sigil that was on the floor. “That motherfucker,” I snapped as I staggered a bit to the sofa to steady myself.
“He took some of our hair,” Azazel said and he was standing tall, seemingly unaffected by the teleportation.
I sighed in annoyance but nodded. Once I had my senses in check, I looked down at the card in my hand and noticed that it was different. “What the hell?” I gasped with a frown.
“What?” Azazel looked at the card. “Is that me?”
The card had changed from what it was at the Magic Shop. Now, it was clearly Azazel holding an hourglass with the sands of time, and inside was the hanged man. Did it mean that Azazel had some control over me? Or was he waiting for me to break out of it? Hell, I hadn’t a damn clue and The Owner wasn’t here to explain this tricky shit.
“It’s definitely you, not sure what it means, and I don’t have time to worry about it,” I said and tossed the card on the end table. I walked over to the girl and she was still breathing and looked to be in the same shape she was in before we left. I untwisted the cap to the potion and lifted her head a little so she could drink, and she did. With each swallow, she grew stronger and I saw the color come back into her dark brown skin andher veins were no longer black and protruding. The potion was working.
“We’ve only been gone less than two minutes in this realm,” Azazel said. “Time is different there.”
“That’s good,” I said, it explained why he said I had time for his little Tarot reading. I put the empty vial on the end table and watched the girl as she blinked her eyes. I knew I was going to have a lot of explaining to do.
“Ahhhh!” Her brown eyes shot open and zeroed in on me, then she screamed. She jolted into a sitting position, her chest heaved, arms flailing as she looked around frantically.
“It’s okay! You’re okay,” I said over and over again as I grabbed her arms and tried to get her to calm down.
“Help,” she screamed, tears flowed from her eyes and I could see the sheer terror in them. The last thing she must have remembered was the demons killing her family.
“It’s okay, Veronica. We’re here to help you,” I said.
Still, she shook her head and cried. I turned to Azazel to see him standing there with an unreadable expression on his face. “Are you going to help me with her or not?” I snapped.
He rolled his eyes but walked over to her. “The demons who killed your family are dead. They can’t hurt you, calm down, you foolish human.”
“Oh, for fu—” I had to cut myself off because I didn’t want to curse in front of the hysterical girl, but Azazel annoyed me to no end. He only shrugged when I tossed him a heated look. I sighed and returned my attention to Veronica and she was starting to breathe normally. She also stopped fighting me. It was as if Azazel’s coldness was the only thing that could calm her down.
“See, you can talk to her now,” Azazel said.
I rolled my eyes but took the opportunity. “Veronica, we’re here to help you. But you must listen to us, because that’s the only way I can protect you, okay?”
Her cheeks were soaked with tears and she huffed as she looked at me. “Who... who are... you?”
“My name is Rai and he is Azazel. We fight the forces of evil,” I said and I heard Azazel snort and snicker behind me. I turned to him. “You’re not helping.”
He waved his hand. “I apologize. It’s just... that line was so cheesy.”
I sighed in exasperation “I don’t have time for you.” I turned back to Veronica. “I’m so sorry I didn’t get to you before they could hurt you and your family.”
When I said that, she began to cry all over again, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. “They’re... gone... are they really gone?” she asked.
I nodded. “I’m so sorry.”
“We need to know if those demons told you why they were there,” Azazel said.
“Give her a minute to process all of this, all right?” I snapped at him.
“They are still looking for her, I’m sure. We need to get her someplace safe,” Azazel said.
“They didn’t say anything,” Veronica said suddenly, cutting off the conversation Azazel and I were having.
“Perhaps it wasn’t in English. What sounds did they make?” Azazel asked.
