Fallen Angel (11 page)

Chapter Eight

His head still reeling,
Nathaniel grabbed his robe from the floor and pulled it on. The
sister and a nurse were hovering around Eloise and checking her
vital signs as she lay unconscious on the bed.

“
Her blood
pressure is nearly back to normal,” said the nurse.

“
That’s
great,” said the sister. “Wake her, and then leave her for a while
longer.”

Nathaniel sighed with
relief. Though he was happy Eloise’s soul was back in her body, he
wanted to see her conscious to make sure she was all
right.

The nurse patted her
hand. “Eloise, it’s time to wake up.”

Opening her eyes, she
blinked at the bright lights, then drifted off again.

“
Can you hear
me, Eloise?” The nurse tapped her arm.

“
Yeah,” she
mumbled, her eyelashes fluttering open for a second.

The nurse put another
blanket over her. “Okay, we’ll leave you for a bit
longer.”

“
Thank
goodness for that,” said the sister, following the nurse out the
door. “Check on her again in ten minutes.”

Nathaniel peeked down the
corridor to make sure Devlin wasn’t around, then he hurried back to
Eloise’s bedside. Why on Earth had he told her he was her guardian
angel? Now he had to erase her memory of him before she woke and
remembered her dream. Closing his eyes, he made a mental note to
delete her memory of Devlin as well. No way was he leaving her
thinking an evil angel like Devlin was her guardian.

Standing near the cot, he
gazed down at her and wondered what she was dreaming about. She
certainly looked peaceful and serene, so he hoped it was a good
dream. But then a frightening thought crossed his mind and he
prayed she wasn’t dreaming about him.

Knowing he was about to
find out when he entered her psyche, he felt suddenly afraid. What
if she
was
dreaming about him and the kisses she’d given
him? As the memory of her touch came flooding back to him, he held
his head.

Holy Heaven!
He
couldn’t stop thinking how good she felt in his arms and how
gorgeous she looked in his robe—and without it.
Oh, my God,
no!

He quickly crossed
himself. This couldn’t be happening to him, it just couldn’t.
Covering his face with his hands, he fell to his knees and prayed
for the lustful thoughts to go away. Angels weren’t supposed to
have these emotions and now he was no better than Devlin—probably
even worse. After all, Devlin hadn’t kissed her—had he?

He jumped to his feet.
Well if Devlin had kissed Eloise, or if she’d kissed him, he had to
know. Determined to find out, he closed his eyes and entered her
subconscious mind.

Her lips broke into a
beautiful smile. “Oh, you came back. Are you going to tell me your
name? If you really are my guardian angel, I should at least know
that.”

“
Eloise,
please listen to me. I’ll tell you my name, but first I have to
know if Devlin kissed you. Did he?”

She bit her lip. “Why do
you want to know that? Are you jealous?”

“
Eloise,
please
, I have no time for games, just tell me, it’s
important.”

She folded her arms. “Not
until you tell me your name.”

Nathaniel sighed. She was
as stubborn as ever. “Look, I’m your guardian angel. Devlin is not.
He’s a bad angel. He just wants to tempt you to do bad
things.”

Her eyes went wide. “Oh,
like what?”

“
Just answer
my question. Did he kiss you?”

She smiled as if she was
enjoying herself. “He might have. He’s quite hot you
know.”

“
Eloise!”

Smirking, she looked him
up and down. “But he’s not as sexy as you, or as
pretty.”

Nathaniel held his head.
Oh, great. That’s not what he needed to hear. “Come on, please
answer me. I haven’t got much time.”

“
Why? Where
are you going? If you really are my guardian angel, you should be
by my side all the time, shouldn’t you?”

“
I am by your
side all the time. I never leave. You just can’t see me. You’re not
supposed to see me.”

“
Prove
it.”

“
For goodness
sake, you’re the most infuriating ward I’ve ever had.”

She frowned. “Oh, and how
many
females
have you had?”

“
Eloise,
don’t be facetious, I’m an angel.”

“
But I don’t
even know what facetious means, so how can I be it?”

“
It means
inappropriate, and you know what that means.”

She grinned
mischievously. “Okay, if you can prove you’re my guardian angel,
I’ll tell you about Devlin.”

“
All right,
your best friends are Brooke and Ruby. You love One Direction,
Johnny Ruffo, Birdy, and ...”

“
Oh, my God,
you know all that? Okay, what song do I play the most?”

“
Well, I
don’t know who sings it because it’s new, but you drive me nuts
when you play it over and over all the time.”

“
What’s it
called then?”

Nathaniel rolled his
eyes. “It’s called ‘You’, and I should know because I’ve heard it a
million times.”

Eloise’s held her mouth.
“Crikey! You really must be my guardian angel if you know
that.”

“
That’s
right, so now you know that I’m only looking out for your safety,
you can answer my question?”

Leaning towards him, she
ran her fingers though his curls, sending a thrill across his head
and down his neck. As quick as he could, he yanked her hands away.
“Please don’t do that.”

“
Why
not?”

“
Because I’m
an angel. Do you
want
me to get my wings burned
off?”

She bit her lower lip.
“Oh, so you
do
fancy me after all.”

“
Eloise, just
stop this, please.”

Wrapping her arms around
his neck, she gazed into his eyes. “If you
did
get your
wings burned off, would you kiss me?”

Oh no! Her beautiful
mouth was so close to his, he was tempted to kiss her. Instead, he
closed his eyes and wrenched her arms away. “Eloise, this is
serious.”

“
So am I.”
She grabbed his wrist, sending a pleasure buzz right up his
arm.

Terrified of how she was
making him feel, he pulled his hand away and glared at
her.

She sighed. “Okay, I’ll
tell you about Devlin if you tell me your name. I
promise.”

He stared at her. “You
know, I can find out by reading your thoughts if I have
to.”

She squinted at him. “So
how come you’re begging me to tell you?”

Glancing upwards with
exasperation, he sighed. “Because I want to hear what you have to
say. Thoughts can change, but spoken words can’t.”

Folding her arms, she
grinned. “Well, if you don’t tell me your name, I’ll just have to
call on Devlin when I’m in trouble.”

Nathaniel glowered at
her. “That’s not funny, and if you knew what he had planned for
you, you wouldn’t say such a thing.”

Her mouth opened wide.
“What do you mean?”

From the look on her face
he’d obviously scared her, but time was running out and there was
no time left for her silly games. “Okay, Eloise, I’ll tell you my
name, but you’d better keep your word.”

“
I will, I
promise.”

“
I’m
Nathaniel, Angel of Fire, and I am your guardian angel. Devlin is
not, so don’t ever trust or believe him.”

Without warning, she
stretched up and wrapped her arms around his neck, then before he
could stop her, she crushed her lips to his—and just like before,
he was zapped with a powerful volt of electricity that thrilled him
to the very core.

Gripping her wrists, he
pushed her away. “You mustn’t do that!”

“
Why
not?”

“
Because
angels are not supposed to kiss human girls.”

A huge smile spread
across her pretty face. “You felt it too, didn’t you?”

He blinked twice. “Felt
what?”

She held her hands out.
“Electricity. Every time I kiss you, I get a zapped—and
you
twitch.”

Nathaniel’s jaw dropped.
“That’s because it shocks me that you do it.”

She grinned. “Maybe, but
you still like it. I can tell, so why don’t you admit
it?”

“
Don’t be
absurd. I’m not admitting any such thing. I’m an angel.”

“
Well, guess
what? That song I play all the time is sung by a singer called
Nathaniel. How cool is that?”

Speechless, he just
stared at her, but when she grabbed his hand again, his whole being
vibrated with joy.
Good Heavens
, what was she doing to him?
Now he had an urge to take her in his arms and fly up to his cloud
with her. He yanked his arm away and crossed himself again. Then he
realised with horror that if he didn’t erase her memory of him in
the next minute, he’d get his wings burned off for sure.

In a panic, he shouted at
her. “What about your promise?”

A look of humiliation
crossed her face and she lowered her eyes. “So you don’t even think
it’s cool about the song?”

“
Eloise,” he
said in a softer voice. “I’m sorry, but I really do have to go now,
so if you want to keep your word, you have less than a
minute.”

“
Okay. Devlin
did try to kiss me, but I turned away, so he just kissed my
cheek.”

As Nathaniel stared at
her pretty face, a sudden rage took over him and he clenched his
fists. How dare Devlin take her soul away and try to kiss her? Now
he knew what he was up against, he felt no guilt about burning his
friend’s wings off, but first, he had to remove Eloise’s memory of
both of them, as well as her romantic feelings for him.

Gripping her arms, he
looked deep into her eyes. “Eloise, you must never have anything to
do with Devlin. He’s a bad angel and he will put your life and soul
in danger. You must wear your crucifix at all times and order him
to go away. Promise me you will?”

She looked up at him.
“Okay, but only if you kiss me before you leave.”

He shook her shoulders.
“Eloise, I’m deadly serious about this. It’s no joke.”

She bowed her head as if
he’d crushed her very spirit, then she gazed up through her lashes.
“Now you’re angry with me.”

He let go of her. She was
melting his soul, but he daren’t smile at her. It was difficult
enough to do what he had to do, especially when she looked at him
like that. But just as he was about to wipe her memory of him, she
whispered, “I love you, Nathaniel.”

Shocked at her words and
a pain deep in his psyche, he entered the most intimate part of her
subconscious mind and zapped out her memory of him, then he deleted
all of her recollections of Devlin.

Chapter Nine

Standing at the foot of
the bed, Nathaniel held his head in his hands. Removing himself
from Eloise’s thoughts was the right thing to do, but there was no
way he could wipe away the emotions he now had for her. Only
another angel, or God, could do that. Raking his hands through his
hair, he tried to think of who to call, but it was just too
embarrassing. He decided to use self-control instead of humiliating
himself in front of Archangel Michael, after all, he hadn’t sought
any of this.

When a disgusting
familiar stench filled the air, Nathaniel spun around. Just like he
thought, Lucifer was standing grinning at him, and like before, he
was dressed in his Father Luke attire.

Ripping the crucifix from
his chain, Nathaniel pointed it at him. “Get the Hell out of
here!”

Lucifer snickered, then
lifted Nathaniel’s gown up with his staff. “Hmm, so Eloise likes
your sexy silk undergarment, does she?”

Whacking the cane away
with his hand, Nathaniel glared at him. “Oh, I should’ve known you
were behind all this. Trying to tempt me to sin, were you? Well, it
didn’t work, did it?”