Saving Her Angel (Archangels) (4 page)

“I wish I knew,” Mike said.

“That’s just…”

“Yes.”

Cam let his sword and armor disappear as Mike did the same, then he turned his attention to the fireplace. Eleanor’s large brown eyes peered back at him from behind the only intact sofa cushion left. She dropped it and crawled out of her pristine fireplace, standing in the midst of her destroyed living room.

“Wh-what…what the hell is going on?” she asked.

Rushing over, he pulled her into his arms without questioning his urge to do so. She not only allowed it, but clung to him for a moment. The contact calmed his anger from the fight, and he looked down into her questioning gaze.

How the hell do we explain this one?
Cam asked.

Mike just shook his head.
Be creative and vague. I’m going to walk the perimeter of her house to see if there’s any sign of how long the demon had been here.

Cam slid a finger down one side of Eleanor’s face. “Are you okay?”

She slowly pushed back from him and set her hands on nicely curved hips. “Are you kidding?”

“I mean physically. Are you hurt?”

“No. Physically I’m fine.” She looked around her destroyed living room. “Emotionally, I’m on the verge of a breakdown and kind of surprised I’m not already screaming. What the hell happened, Cam?”

He ran a hand through his hair, momentarily at a loss for words. Mike reappeared and closed the distance. “Had you ever seen that man before today?”

Surprise lit her face. “No. I mean, he was kind of dirty so maybe he looks different cleaned up. But I’m fairly sure I’ve never seen him before.”

He looked at Mike.
She’s telling the truth, but I sense some doubt.

Me, too. She isn’t absolutely certain and is definitely confused. She’s also scared, but I’m not certain if it’s because of the demon or us as well. I should wipe her memories.

“No.” He scowled at Mike, who simply raised a brow, making Cam realize he’d spoken aloud. He cleared his throat and looked at Eleanor again. “I’m getting you out of here. I don’t know why you’re a target, but you are.”

Surprisingly, she stiffened her spine and crossed her arms with a frown. “A target of whom? I’m your secretary, not a secret agent. I don’t have any enemies.”

Mike snorted and walked to the still-open front door. “I’ll leave you two to sort this out. I’m heading home.”

They both watched him walk out the door and close it behind him. Silence filled the air, but Cam felt her confusion, frustration, and fear. He didn’t like any of it.

He grabbed one end of her sofa from where it was blocking the doorway and pulled it back into place. Then he grabbed the one good sofa cushion and replaced it. “Have a seat, please.”

Her skepticism was palpable, but she did as he said. He sat on the uncushioned spot, still a head taller than her, and clasped his hands together as he considered what to say.

“Cam, did I… Did you… Jeez, this is just too weird.” She dropped her head into her hands. “I haven’t been sleeping well lately, and I think I’m starting to hallucinate.”

Rather than getting into what she may or may not have seen, he decided to concentrate on the bigger problem. “Eleanor, there have been threats against my family. Threats from an unknown source, that may or may not include those closest to us. Since I’m not married or dating, and really don’t have close friends other than my brothers, you’re probably the hu—um, person closest to me. I got here as fast as I could once I heard about the potential danger to you. I’m sorry that I can’t give you details right now, but I really need you to trust me.”

“I…I’m still not sure any of this makes sense.” She shook her head as if having an internal debate then turned her big brown eyes to him again. “I trust you with my life, Cam. But I expect you to explain everything to me as soon as you know all the facts. I’m not going to follow blindly without at least knowing why.”

It was the best he was going to get from her, and he knew it. “Deal. The why is because you’re obviously not safe here. So right now I need you to pack for a few days and come home with me.”

A pretty flush pinkened her cheeks, and his breath caught. For a moment she wasn’t his secretary, she wasn’t a human in danger, she was a gorgeous woman looking at him with her heart in her gaze, and he had the insane urge to kiss her. Then she shuddered and broke the spell.

“Maybe I should call the police.”

Instant denial rose to his lips, but he held it back to speak calmly. “You could, and we could say some strange man knocked on the door and then attacked my brother and me when I opened it. Then they’re going to want a description, and they’re going to try to search for him, because no one who didn’t see it will believe for a second that he disappeared.”

“And if we try to tell them what occurred step by step, they’re going to either laugh at us or take us to the nearest psych ward,” she finished.

A grin spread across his face and some of his tension eased. “You see why I think we should keep this under wraps.”

“For now.”

Tension straightened his spine again. “For now?”

“I’ll give you this for now, Cam. But I can only wait by passively as someone threatens my life for so long. I trust you, so I’ll listen to you
for now
.”

“So long as there’s breath in my body I will never let anything happen to you, Eleanor.”

The widening of her eyes accompanied the racing of her pulse. He’d surprised himself with the declaration but didn’t regret it for a second.

“I didn’t realize I rated so high in your book. Especially now that I’m no longer your secretary.”

Irrational anger made him lean into her space. He clasped her forearms and stopped a breath away. “Just because you no longer work for me doesn’t mean I don’t care about you, Eleanor. And right now someone is trying to hurt you for some reason. Please, pack a bag and come with me.”

No sound emerged as her throat moved. Then she nodded. “Um, okay. I can do that.”

Moving slowly, she pulled her arms from his grasp, rose, and walked out of the living room while he was still trying to sort out what had just happened.

Deep, even breaths calmed his heartbeat but also dragged her fresh scent into his chest. Sitting in her living room, among her things, surrounded him with the scent and feel of her. There was no escaping it—or the madness creeping into his emotions. Why now? Why her? Scenes of their interactions over the past few years flashed through his mind, but suddenly he was seeing them with new eyes. Her laugh was infectious, her smile radiant. How had her beauty seemed so muted before now? Perhaps it was the same effect that had caused him to forget about her.

Ten minutes later, she returned with a tote bag over her shoulder, and he still hadn’t shaken the want running through him. Her hair was up again in that stupid, tight bun he was really starting to hate. Why did she wear it like that anyway? Sure, it made her oval-shaped face more visible. Her high cheekbones stood out beneath her wire-rimmed glasses. But it made her seem so untouchable, so uptight, and he didn’t like it. The urge to remove the tie and sift his fingers through her soft locks gripped him, but he fought it and clenched his hands into fists. This wasn’t the time to indulge.

Something red and lacy stuck out of the top of her bag. He held his hand out for it, and she let him take it, then gasped and shoved the red, lacy thing in deeper. Her face flushed a deeper crimson, and he choked back a laugh.

“Thank you,” she whispered then headed out the front door.

She froze right outside the door, and he nearly walked into her back. He followed her gaze to the sight of her lone car in the driveway.

“Uh, Mike drove. So I’ll just go with you in your car,” Cam said.

“Okay. Sure.” She pulled her keys from her purse locked the front door. They got into her car with its busted-out windows and hit the road.

…

Eleanor tried to think of all the reasonable explanations for what had just happened at her house, but she was coming up empty. She’d seen that man on the ground facing the Maxwell brothers. Then there was an explosion, and he was gone, replaced by a scorch mark. So, if her eyes hadn’t lied earlier, he’d blown up. She had thought he was some kind of suicide bomber or something, though why he’d have any interest in her she had no clue. Perhaps it was her closeness to the Maxwells? She really didn’t know much about them. She only really knew Cam and that he was a marriage counselor. But over the past four years he had often been embroiled in helping his brothers with things he never talked about. What if one of them was CIA or FBI?

Memories about another time in her life when weird things happened tried to creep in, but she ruthlessly shoved them away. Though she seemed to be having vivid hallucinations again, she fought against the urge to tell Cam about them. At best, he would give her a pitying look and try to talk her through things using his medical skills. At worst, he would drive her to the nearest psychiatric facility and have her committed. She would much rather be ensconced in his house than with strangers who thought she might be losing her mind. Better not to bring that up now.

No, that was a long time ago, and her childhood couldn’t have anything to do with today’s strange events. No one who knew her then was in her life now. She didn’t even know if any of those people still lived. Huntsville was hundreds of miles away from where she’d grown up, and not a single person from her past knew where she had ended up. Impossible. She was just going to have to take Cam’s word that he would explain everything in time—for the most part, he’d been honest in the past. But waiting with so many unanswered questions would be a bitch.

There was the whole disappearing-armor thing. Could she have just imagined that? Twice? Maybe she was hallucinating like she had when she was younger. As she drove toward his house nestled deep in the Sam Houston National Forest, she glanced at Cam.

Over the years, she had visited a couple of times when he needed her help with organizing his library, but she hadn’t even been in every room full of books. He was as much a mystery to her now as he’d been the day they’d met. Sure, she’d learned how he liked his coffee and which newspaper he read, and also his favorite color and that he never celebrated his birthday. But what about his past relationships? For all she knew, he might even be gay, but she seriously doubted it. Though he’d never mentioned a girlfriend or ex-wife, he’d also never mentioned a boyfriend or ex-husband.

With a mental eye roll, she went back to concentrating on the road but hated the quiet—the explosion had damaged her radio, too, so she couldn’t even use that as a distraction. Finally, she decided some answers were in order.

“So, are you going to explain why you and your brother came to my aid without bothering to finish dressing?”

She noticed his grin from the corner of her eye and had to fight to concentrate on the road as her pulse jumped from the sight. That devilishly handsome face had starred in too many of her fantasies to count, without any effort on his part. If he did decide to turn on the charm, she’d never survive.

“We were playing basketball when I got the call from Zerach that people we are close to might be in danger. We just forgot to grab our shirts.”

“Ooookay. There’s something else I really need to know.” She hesitated, almost afraid to hear the truth. “I thought I saw…disappearing, reappearing armor and swords. Did I really see that? You’ve mentioned sword training before, but you don’t have one on you now, even though I know you were fighting with one.”

He was quiet so long her heart sped up in fear. She glanced over to find him frowning as he rubbed a hand through his hair. When he noticed her looking, he pointed at the road, and she turned away again.

“You really did see the armor and swords, but that’s one of the things I can’t explain…yet. I know it’s weird and unbelievable, and you probably can’t think of a single reasonable explanation, but can you just take it on faith that I only want to protect you?”

Breath rushed from her lungs on a relieved exhale. “I know that, Cam. If I know nothing else, I do believe that you have my best interest at heart.” She almost didn’t care about the explanation now that she knew she wasn’t losing her mind. Almost.

“I’m sorry to disrupt your life, Eleanor. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be in danger.”

“Well, it’s not really your fault, is it? I mean, you said it was because of your brothers.”

“Yeah, well. We aren’t really sure of the exact reason. It could really be any one of us.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense. I mean, you’re just a marriage counselor, not a…whatever your brothers are.” He laughed out loud at that, and she frowned. “What?”

“Oh, Eleanor. If only you knew the whole of it.”

“Well then, tell me all of it.”

His amusement died a quick death, and she felt him staring at her. “I’m afraid I might have no choice but to do just that.”

She opened her mouth to ask for an explanation when he let out a long sigh. “I just need your faith a bit longer, okay? Once I know enough for it to make some kind of sense, I’ll explain.”

After thinking it over, she decided it was a fair request. “All right, fine. But don’t think I’m going to drop it. I’ve lived my whole adulthood without violence, and now I’ve been targeted twice in one day. That’s just…uncanny.”

He laughed humorlessly. “Yeah. That it is.”

She nearly opened her mouth again to mention how relieved she was at not having hallucinations, but she clamped her lips shut. Saying that might spark questions she wasn’t prepared to answer. She had always been honest with Cam about everything, including her past and family, but she had never given him specifics, and, thankfully, he hadn’t pried. The last thing she wanted was to bring up the horrors of her childhood.

No, that had nothing to do with what had happened today, so she didn’t need to bring it up…ever.

Chapter Three

The drive to Cam’s house wasn’t a short one. After an hour, Eleanor was aching from sitting for so long, but they finally found his driveway. She turned in and navigated the dirt path to his house.

“You have to pack a lunch to get here, but man, is it worth it,” she said.

He chuckled. “Yeah. I love living in these woods.”

“You’re far enough from the public parts of the park not to be bothered by campers?”

“Pretty much. I’ve only found one person wandering lost on my land in all the years I’ve lived here. Do you like to go camping?”

She shuddered and quickly shook her head. “Absolutely not. I can’t stand tents of any shape or size.”

“Oh. Well, there are cabins, you know.”

“Yeah,” she agreed quietly.

Luckily, he dropped it, and they rode in silence. Ten long minutes later, they finally arrived. Once she cleared the last of the trees and the monstrous house came into view, it took her breath away. It was a three-story historical masterpiece. A mansion, hidden within the deep woods, that very few even knew existed. Cam once said his great-grandfather had built it for his great-grandmother. Eleanor thought it was terribly romantic.

She pulled up beside his rugged four-wheel-drive SUV and parked. Cam grabbed her bag and headed for his front door without a look back while she took her time to marvel at the wraparound porch and the beautiful exterior. Even after hundreds of years, the construction appeared solid. She wondered if he’d kept the original coloring when he’d repainted.

Cam held the front door open for her, and she stepped inside. The interior was a mix of antique and modern furniture, but it all worked somehow. Most of the rooms were lined with bookshelves and glass cases that held texts older than her, but she’d never had time to explore them before. Well, there was no way she’d spend multiple days in this house without checking things out.

The central staircase always made her think of Tara. What she wouldn’t give to have him carry her up them like Rhett Butler, even with the male anger thrown in. Sure, she was no Scarlett O’Hara, but a girl could dream. And while she was at it, she would just imagine he was taking her straight to his bedroom to set up for a few days of mind-blowing pleasure. If only.

Though he did lead her to a bedroom, it was obviously a guest bedroom. The pale orange décor was slightly feminine but not too much to offend a male guest. The antique four-poster bed and matching furniture had probably cost a small fortune.

He set her bag on the bed and turned to face her. “Are you hungry?”

“Uh, no.”

“All right. The bathroom is there.” He pointed to a closed door. “Let me know if you need anything. It would probably be best if you text me rather than trying to actually find me in this house. There are over thirty different rooms.”

“Oh, uh…wow.”

He simply shrugged. “Every generation has added on. My library takes up most of it.”

“Okay. I’m going to shower and then maybe lie down for a bit, if that’s okay with you.”

“No problem.”

They both glanced at the bed, and heat filled her face. She smiled and stared at him for a moment. His bare chest was a distraction, and her fingers ached to touch his skin. Would the light pelt of hair be soft or wiry? It looked soft.

He matched her stare, then seemed to realize what he was doing and cleared his throat. “Okay then.”

She bit her lip so she wouldn’t ask him to stay. What if he said yes? That possibility almost scared her more than the possible rejection of him saying no. Needlessly, she smoothed her hand over her hair.

“I wish you had left it down,” he said.

Her head shot up. “What?”

“Your hair. You had it down when I got to your house, and it was the first time I’ve ever seen it that way. I liked it.”

Her pulse jumped. “Oh.”

Stepping closer, he reached his hand out slowly, smoothing a stray lock back against her scalp. “You should wear it down more often.”

All thought fled, and she licked her suddenly dry lips. His gaze dropped to her mouth, and she had the insane idea that he might kiss her.

With her thoughts short-circuiting she blurted out the first thing to pop into her mind. “Did you cancel the movers and your meeting with the realtor?”

The spell broken, he frowned. “Shit. Nope. I’ll do that right now. See you later.”

Then he walked out the door.

Still frozen in place, she put her hand over her galloping heart. What the hell had just happened? Had he been about to kiss her? If so, she was such an idiot for talking about the movers.
Damn
. With a sigh, she pulled a change of clothes out of her bag and went into the bathroom.

…

When the images on the map started to move around on their own, Cam rubbed his eyes in frustration. He was actually tired, something unusual for an angel. Of course, he rarely pushed himself this way—he’d been studying the geographical map of the U.S. for hours. A glance out the window proved night had fallen, but as an angel, he didn’t have human needs and hungers. He could study the map nonstop for days if needed, and he feared it would be before he was done charting all of the unnatural quakes that had already occurred. Luckily, they had all happened within a single hour that morning, and nothing else had happened since then. So far.

An unexpected scent hit his nose, and it wasn’t until his stomach rumbled that he realized what it was…cooked food. Someone had cooked food in his kitchen. He had the ingredients?

A surge of alarm hit him as he quickly left the map room and headed down the stairs to his kitchen. Despite the distance, his angelic nose had picked up on the scent easily. He didn’t smell evil, though—a demon breaking into his house to cook was beyond ridiculous. Still, he cautiously made his way down the hallways leading to the least-used room in his home. He eased the swinging door open slowly and froze at the sight of Eleanor at the stove.

Eleanor
.

Shit. He’d forgotten all about her again.

As she stirred the contents of the shining metal pot, she hummed and chuckled to herself. The urge to dive into her surface thoughts brought him up short—that wasn’t something he’d allow himself to do.

Gaze wandering around the kitchen, he wondered what she thought of it. He had a decent set of dishes and utensils that were brand new. The pots and pans were spotless and top-rated items, but the pantry and cabinets were bare. Luckily his refrigerator and freezer held a few staples for when his brothers and sisters-in-law visited.

Eleanor suddenly stopped humming and released a sigh filled with disappointment.

“What’s wrong?” Cam asked from behind her.

She yelped and jumped, dropping the spoon she was using onto the pristine tile floor. “Crap.”

He grinned and picked it up. “Got it. I’ll get you a clean one.”

“Thanks. You startled me.”

“Sorry.” He dropped the dirty spoon into the sink and opened a drawer, then closed it and opened another. He spent a couple of minutes going through his kitchen before finding another utensil for her to stir the stew.

She chuckled. “I guess you don’t come in here much, huh?”

Sheepishly, he chuckled and shrugged. “My sister-in-law is the only one who cooks when she comes by. I usually just eat out.”

“Ah.”

He grabbed a paper towel and cleaned the spot left on the floor from the fallen spoon. “I didn’t think I had much food in the house.” He leaned over to peer into the pot. “Whatcha making?”

“Beef stew. At least, I’m pretty sure it’s beef. The writing on the butcher paper was kind of illegible. I found it in the freezer.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s beef. Asta doesn’t eat much else.”

“Your sister-in-law?”

“Yup.”

“Well, thank her when you talk to her next. I was starving before I realized you were too engrossed in your maps to notice I was staring you down.”

Everything in him stilled. “You were watching me?”

“Only for about five minutes. You were mumbling to yourself and seemed really into it, so I didn’t want to bother you.”

Equal parts annoyance and anger at himself filled him, and he turned away to hide his expression. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even think about feeding you. I’m glad you found your way to the kitchen.”

She smirked. “Me, too.”

He felt like an ass. An oblivious ass. How could she have gotten close enough to watch him without him even
feeling
her in the same room? And why in the hell did he keep forgetting about her? It was strange. He prided himself on being one of the most caring of his brothers. He usually took notice of the humans around him, and Eleanor was the human most often around him.

Maybe that was it. Maybe he’d somehow grown immune to her presence? He remembered the book he had found about similar occurrences and decided he needed to finish reading it.

As he mulled it over, he set about the task of getting bowls and utensils for their meal. Then he searched for something to drink. “Um…I have beer and water.”

She flashed another pretty smile at him. Like her hair, it was something he really hadn’t paid much attention to the last four years.

How could he have remained so oblivious to her for so long? Unfortunately, he was no longer oblivious, and this was probably the worst time for him to start noticing her, now that he was leaving his life as Dr. Maxwell behind. Especially with the new threat of multiple portals trying to open all over the continent.

She interrupted his thoughts. “I’ll take ice water, please.”

“All right.”

The beer he’d grabbed for himself went back into the fridge, and he got two glasses of ice water instead. He set them on the large, granite-topped island that dominated the center of the huge kitchen. When he’d originally built the house, there had been no electricity or running water. The space had been made to accommodate servants doing the daily routine of feeding a houseful of people. True, he’d never really had a houseful of humans who’d need to eat, but he’d liked the idea of being able to accommodate them if necessary. Then, once electricity and indoor plumbing came about, he’d upgraded everything. Just ten years ago he’d upgraded again to make the kitchen one that would rival any professional chef’s dream. Asta certainly loved it and baked enough to feed an army every time she visited. He looked around at the stainless-steel appliances and professional-grade cookware and wondered what Eleanor thought of it.

“Since you’ll be here for a couple of days, we can run into town in the morning and get some groceries,” he said.

“Is that safe? I can survive on whatever you have.”

He fought to keep his surprise from his face. He’d already known she was relatively low-maintenance, unless he messed with her filing system, but it still surprised him.

“One of my brothers is on his way up here already, so he can go with us if that will make you feel better.”

At her smile, his breath caught.

“It will.”

When she went back to stirring the stew he breathed easy again. What the hell was wrong with him all of a sudden? They had worked shoulder to shoulder on occasion, and he’d never reacted this way to her before. Was it because she was no longer technically his employee?

“I hope there’s enough for him, too. Is he a big eater like you are?” she asked.

That threw him, until he remembered they were talking about his brother. He had to stifle a laugh. “Yeah, we all are. My brothers and I. But we can both make do. Anyway, since we’re going to the store, we can pick up snacks, too.”

Though the angels didn’t actually
need
to eat, they all enjoyed human food immensely. It wasn’t unusual for them to overindulge a bit. Especially on Asta’s baked goods.

“Good, because I’m hungry and don’t plan to let you hog all of it.”

He chuckled and was happy to see her smile hadn’t faded.

She spooned stew into their bowls, and they sat at the island to eat, which is where he always sat when he did eat here, rather than at the small wooden table near the bay window a few feet away. The window faced the backyard and had a picturesque view, but he usually ate too fast to enjoy it. This time he ate slowly and did enjoy the view, but it was of the woman sitting beside him.

“So, which brother is coming by?” she asked.

“Sel. He’ll be here soon.”

“Ah. He’s the one I met last year, right? Just before Christmas? He was there this morning, too, along with Uriel and Michael.”

“Yeah. He, Uri, and Mike were there this morning. Why do you always say their full names?”

Her gaze met his, and she blinked a couple of times, a habit he realized she always did when thinking. “Um… I don’t know. I just like the way their full names sound when compared to the shorter version.”

“But not mine?”

She set her spoon down and tapped her chin with one finger. “Camael. I do like it, but I’m so used to calling you Cam now. That’s what you’ve always told me to call you.”

When she returned to eating, he followed suit, while stealing glances at her. She was so proper and dainty, her head barely reached his shoulder, and her slender build gave her a fragile appearance. It also made her seem nonexistent sometimes, and he hated to admit he often forgot her presence in the office. Luckily, she’d never seemed to notice. But she was always there when he needed her help with the day-to-day needs of a human marriage counselor. She had run his office like a well-oiled machine, and he wondered what he would’ve done without her.

“So, you think this threat will be over in a couple of days?” she asked. “Does it have something to do with the earthquakes, or is that a separate thing you’re working on? I noticed how you were marking up that map.”

For a second, he thought over what to say. “I’m really not sure on either of those subjects.” He set down his spoon and turned to face her fully. “It’s just really weird that you were attacked right after an earthquake where no fault line has ever been found.”

Though she also stopped eating, she didn’t face him. Instead, she just stared into her nearly empty bowl. “I’ve said I trust you, Cam, and I do. But I hope you plan to be honest with me, no matter what you find out.”