Her Accidental Angel (20 page)

 
 
 
Maybe be won’t see each other again.
 He was back with his own people now.

 
 
  Kari decided to bag all the too large clothes in her bedroom for a second hand store.

 
 
  Doing something, anything, would help her keep her mind off gloomy thoughts about never seeing Rahmiel again. Her mother had slipped out to the grocery store and she could hear the two Angeli women as they continued to clean. She wandered toward the kitchen for some trash bags and stopped just before the door, halted by their conversation.

 
 
  “…Rahmiel and Nadriel back together, now that they are working side by side on Assembly business. They were so gorgeous together in the past. I never thought her association with Deriel would last, and now that all the children are settled…”

 
 
  “But he’s bound to the little Earth girl,” the other Angeli woman protested.

 
 
  “Well, true, but surely in all these years, with all our advances, the binding can be removed.”

 
 
  Kari retreated without a sound to her room, the tears almost blinding her. She’d been so foolish to think there could be anything between her and Rahmiel. She picked up the phone and called Amber at Tressa’s.

 
 
  “What’s wrong?” Amber asked in alarm when she heard Kari’s voice.

 
 
  “Is Auriel there?”

 
 
  ”Yeah. Is something wrong? Is the demon back?”

 
 
  “No, nothing like that. Do you think Auriel would come and get me, so I can drive my car home?”

 
 
  “Are you sure you’re up to that?” Amber’s concern was obvious in her voice.

 
 
  “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Plus, I need my car. Lisbet’s funeral is on Monday, and I don’t have anything to wear. I need to do some running around.”

 
 
  “Lisbet’s funeral.” Amber spoke slowly. “I guess we missed all the others. Listen, I’ll drive back with you. That way you won’t get too tired.”

 
 
  “All right.” Kari called her mom on the cell and told her the plan, and then Auriel was there.

 
 
  When he deposited Kari safely at Tressa’s place, she and Amber were out on the deck, drinking iced tea in the heat. Auriel picked up a glass and drained it. “I’ll be off.

 
 
  Amber, may I come visit you? I have some free time until I start Guardian training.”

 
 
  “Sure. I’ll show you how the computer works.”

 
 
  He smiled at Amber and vanished.

 
 
  The girls thanked Tressa for her kindness, stopped to get gas and snacks and finally headed north.

 
 
  “So what’s wrong?” Amber asked as they hit the interstate. “Is it Rahmiel?”

 
 
  Kari nodded.

 
 
  “Did you have a fight?”

 
 
  “No. I haven’t seen him. He has a lot of meetings to go to, and I went home to be with Mom, to help her get the house back together.”

 
 
  She took a breath and realized she was shaking.

 
 
  “So what happened?”

 
 
  “Well, there are these Angeli women at my house, helping with the clean up.” She wiped a tear from her chin. “One of them said she thought Rahmiel could probably erase the binding, now days. And Rahmiel could go back to some Angeli woman he saw before he was put in prison.”

 
 
  “She said that to your face?” Amber’s eyes were wide with disbelief.

 
 
  “No, of course not. She didn’t say it to my face. She and the other woman were talking in the living room and I overheard. Still, it made me feel awful.”

 
 
  Amber paused. “But—what if being with me is just the convenient thing to do? I kept him out of prison. Then I was the bait to catch Kaphawn. What if he is just with me because of circumstances? And the binding does affect me, so I think it affects him, too.

 
 
  I feel…it’s hard to explain…jittery when we’re apart. And more relaxed when we’re together.”

 
 
  Amber was silent for a moment. “You’re in love with him, then?”

 
 
  Kari nodded. “I know it’s stupid. We hardly know each other. It’s only been a few days. We are from totally different worlds.”

 
 
  “How do you think he feels about you?”

 
 
  “I know he cares about me. He was really upset I was hurt during the fight. I’m sure he likes sleeping with me. That Angeli and human extra attraction thingy.

 
 
  Something to do with smell.”

 
 
  “Ohh,” Amber drew out the syllable. “That explains something. Tressa was watching her soaps but Auriel and I wanted to see a movie. We went to the bedroom to sit on the bed and watch it. Auriel had to move some clothes.”

 
 
  Kari grinned. Amber was a slob—clothes everywhere.

 
 
  “He picked up my shirt and I could swear he was sniffing it.”

 
 
  “He has the hots for you.”

 
 
  “No way. Have you seen him? And seen me? Trust me, men—or Angels—who look like that don’t date girls who look like me.”

 
 
  “Right,” Kari said in a sarcastic tone.

 
 
  “Really. Plus, I will barely see him. He has a year of Guardian training. Sounds very tough. But anyway, I do think Rahmiel cares for you. I know you come from very different worlds, but maybe you can find some common ground. And you like the sex, right?”

 
 
  Kari felt her cheeks turn pink and she was glad the sun was down. “Yes,” she croaked.

 
 
  Amber snickered.

 
 
  A little while later Kari spoke into the darkness of the car. “Thanks for coming along. I feel much better.”

 
 
  “You and Rahmiel have been through an awful lot in a short time. I think you need to give yourselves time to see what you want. Just enjoy what you have and don’t worry so much.”

 
 
  “I’ll try.”

 
 
  It was all so complicated. Angeli, human, the binding…Kari sighed. She and Rahmiel were doomed. Not because there was any fault in Rahmiel. He was…lovely, kind, generous, totally hot. But the crazy circumstances surrounding them—how many couples would make it through that maze?

 
 
  She dropped Amber off at her apartment with plans to go shopping late the next afternoon, and went home to her solitary bed at Mom’s house.

 
 
 
No other guy will ever measure up to Rahmiel. Once it is over I’ll miss him for the rest of my life.
 Her tears flowed freely.

 
 
* * * *

 
 
Auriel followed Kari’s car at a leisurely pace. It was a lovely night, and he enjoyed the Earth scenery. He saw dozens of places he’d like to return to and explore someday.

 
 
  Finally, the car pulled up to a building. Amber got out, carrying her bag. Kari drove off and he rushed into the building. He found Amber entering a room, her long dark hair swinging as she pushed the door wide to pull in her bag. She saw him and her large eyes opened wide. He leaped toward her and took her bag.

 
 
  “Thanks.”

 
 
  She let him in and he got his wings back in the privacy of her apartment. Flopping onto the couch, he picked up a pile of clean laundry and sniffed. “Doesn’t smell like you,” he commented, then tossed them across the small room to a chair.

 
 
  “Yeah. I just washed those. You don’t have to be in the Overland tonight?”

 
 
  “No. Overland is crazy—the Assembly is still in session, members are sleeping on the couches in the Hall rather than going home. People who aren’t Assembly members are standing around in crowds outside the Hall. It’s the most exciting thing that’s happened in the Overland since I’ve been alive. No one knows or cares what I’m doing.”

 
 
  “Do you think they’ll lift the ban on visiting Earth?”

 
 
  “I think they’ll have to. Everyone I know is excited about Earth. They want to come see it. Good thing they don’t know how to get here. My friends, I mean. They would cause chaos.”

 
 
  “Really? What would they do?”

 
 
  “Fly around and look at Earth girls, act stupid.”

 
 
  “Oh. I guess that would be bad.” She looked across the room at a small box with numbers on it. “It’s late, Auriel. I’m going to put on some jammies, okay?” She turned on the TV and tossed him the remote. “Start flipping channels.”

 
 
  “Jammies?”

 
 
  “Loose fitting sleep clothes.”

 
 
  Loose fitting. Parts of him stood up and took notice of that. Maybe it would be loose around the neck, or dip low like that sleeveless shirt she wore while they were fishing.

 
 
  She returned a moment later in a long baggy lavender shirt that looked so pretty on her. No Angeli girls could compare to her.

 
 
  “Want some popcorn?” she asked.

 
 
  “Sure.” The shirt’s v-neck came to a nice low point, and without her undergarments her breasts jiggled enticingly as she moved around. Auriel leaned back against the couch with a contented sigh.

 
 
  Amber put a large bowl of popcorn and two drinks encased in metal on the small table in front of him a few moments later. She sat next to him and took the remote from his hand. He enjoyed the slight touch of her fingers.

 
 
  “Let’s see what’s on. If there isn’t anything good, I have some movies stored. Want to watch a movie?”

 
 
  “Can we watch The Terminator?” They watched that at Tressa’s.

 
 
  “Sure, but would you like to see Terminator Two?” She found the DVD and started it.

 
 
  “So, Rahmiel’s pretty busy?” she asked after handing him a bowl of popcorn.

 
 
  He chewed a mouthful before he answered. “Yes. Samuel and the Assembly circle that oversees the Guardians have been in conference since Rahmiel got out of bed. They aren’t even sleeping. The healers are giving them restoratives so they don’t waste time sleeping.”

 
 
  “So, he’s not seeing any old girlfriends?”

 
 
  “Rahmiel? Seeing an Angeli woman?”

 
 
  “Yeah.”

 
 
  He laughed. “No. Well, not unless she’s on the Guardian Circle. And trust me, most of those women are not the fun and cuddly type, if you know what I mean. Why do you ask?”

 
 
  “Kari heard the textile ladies at her house gossiping about Rahmiel and some old Angel girlfriend getting back together. They said maybe the binding could be removed now days.”

 
 
  “Rahmiel should be getting away from the Assembly soon to see her. And I’m pretty sure no one knows how to remove a binding.”

 
 
  The movie finally started. Auriel watched with rapt attention but aware the whole time of the soft body sitting next to him.

 
 
  “How come you all speak our language?”

 
 
  “Oh. Rahmiel knows your language. He studied it when he was in ice, remember?”

 
 
  “Yeah.”

 
 
  “The Angeli have a link, through the mind. We instantly know other languages.

 
 
  Very handy now that there is actually another language to use. But it’s not perfect. We don’t know all the words you speak. We don’t know your writing or your numerical or monetary system.”

 
 
  “Oh. What else can you do, with your minds?”

 
 
  “Parents can calm their children or find them if they are lost. Bonded couples can do those same things. Healers can ease pain. Liars can be detected, though that is harder for us.”

 
 
  “Wow. Can you do anything in my mind?”

 
 
  “Yes. If we were intimate, or you were injured in some way, I could. Or if there was a bond between us.”

 
 
  “I’m glad we didn’t have to do that. Kari seems so unhappy.”

 
 
  “Kari’s unhappy? Because of the gossiping textile workers?”