Still of Night (Thorne Hill 4)

“Ugh, I get no service in here,” I grumble when my text doesn’t go through. I look at my phone as I move toward the double doors. “Shall we?” I ask, blinking when I look up from the bright screen. Binx jumps from the windowsill, shifting back into shadow form. My other familiars follow suit. Lucas unlocks the door and lets them out, waiting a beat before taking my hand and stepping onto the porch as well.

He pauses, keeping a tight hold of my hand, and looks around, sniffing the air.

“Anything?” I ask.

“Nothing.”

I magically lock up the house again, and by the time we’re walking down the porch steps, my familiars have come back, letting me know they haven’t found anything.

“Thank you,” I tell them as they shift back into cat form. “Head home, and I’ll bring you my leftovers.” I run my hand over Binx’s sleek fur. “And then we’ll find a new show to watch in the morning. It’s been a while since we just sat around and watched TV.”

“They like to watch TV?” Lucas asks, zooming to the passenger side of the Jeep and opening the door for me.

“It mildly entertains them. It’s more so the cuddling that they enjoy. Binx loves to be held and have his belly rubbed. Freya snuggles under the blankets, and Pandora sleeps on my pillow. It’s glorious.”

“You really are a crazy cat lady even though you don’t really have cats.”

“Should we change that?”

Lucas laughs. “What about a dog?”

“I’ve never been much of a dog person. Mostly because I’m not home enough to take care of one.”

Lucas closes the door and speeds around, getting in the car. He fires up the engine and I try sending my text again as the Jeep bumps down the makeshift driveway.

The house is situated on a large plot of land and sits back away from the road. The driveway is long, but I like being set back like this. In the winter when there are no leaves on the trees the house will be visible from the road, but the view will still be obscured.

Suddenly, Lucas slams on the brakes. I jerk forward in my seat and the phone flies out of my hands, clattering to the floor. Lucas brings his hand out, protectively holding it over me, though I don’t know what good that’s going to do against the man standing before us.

My lips part and my breath leaves me. I’ve seen this man before, and he’s seen me.

He knows what I am…and I know what he is.

An angel.

2

Before I can form a coherent sentence, Lucas is out of the car, racing with vampire speed to the man. Bright light from the headlights illuminates him, and when I blink, I swear I can see the dark outlines of wings behind him.

He’s the man from the alley, the one that led me to the demon in the old warehouse. I still don’t know if he led me there in hopes of killing me or if he knew I could beat the demon.

I did, but not without almost dying first. If Michael hadn’t intervened, I would have. Frantically, I unbuckle my seat belt and rush out of the car.

“Lucas!” I yell, seeing him grab the man by the throat. He goes in for the kill, mouth open and fangs bared. “Stop!”

Lucas jerks his head back but tightens his hold on the angel. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t tear this winged fucker to shreds.”

The angel leans away, fingers glowing bright with energy, similar to the way I conjure raw energy. It’s a rare skill for a witch to have, but not totally unheard of. I always thought my energy-summoning was part of being a witch. But is it from my angel side instead?

I shake myself. It doesn’t matter. “I know him. I think. Or at least I’ve seen him before.”

“It’s true,” the angel says. “She has.”

“What are you doing here?” Lucas demands and the angel tries to jerk away.

“I was sent to watch over Callie.”

“Sent by whom?” Lucas pulls his lips back, showing off his fangs.

“Y-your father,” the angel chokes out, looking at me. “Michael.”

“What do you want?” Lucas could easily crush the angel’s throat with his bare hands. It wouldn’t even take him much effort. But would the angel die? They’re immortal in the same sense as vampires, right? Never aging, never getting sick, but will die if they’re murdered.

The fact that I hardly know anything at all about angels is unnerving, considering that I’m half one.

“To watch over and protect Callie.”

“You’ve done a shitty job.” Lucas releases the angel but doesn’t retract his fangs. The angel staggers back, rubbing at his throat.

“I wasn’t supposed to intervene unless other angels went after her.”

I step forward, moving into the stream of light from the Jeep’s headlights. “You’re the only other angel who thinks I should be allowed to live, aren’t you?”

The angel nods, and Lucas looks at me in question. “How do you know that?”

“Michael told me there’s one other angel who agrees with him on my, uh, fate.”

“I’m working on convincing others,” the angel assures me. “Hypothetically speaking, of course. We need to keep your identity as concealed as possible.”

?

??What are you doing here now?” Lucas demands.

“Michael sent me to protect Callie,” he repeats.

“I can do that,” Lucas growls, flashing his fangs.

“Against an angel?”

“I could drain you dry in seconds.”

“Lucas,” I hiss, shaking my head. I am not about to watch them get in a pissing match over who’s better fitted to protect me. I’ve been very good at protecting myself, thank you very much.

The angel shrugs. “You could try, but you’d fail.”

Lucas growls again and I hold up my hand. “Enough!” I turn, eyes wide, and look at the man before me. “You’re an angel,” I state, needing to say it out loud.

“Yes.”

“I have so many questions for you.” Our eyes meet, and something passes through us both. He’s familiar in an unfamiliar way, and it occurs to me that we’re related…somehow…someway.

“I wish I could answer them,” he says gently.

“Why can’t you?” I shake my head and my hair falls in my face.

“I…I shouldn’t.”

“Please?” I’m not above begging. “I just found out I’m a Nephilim and I could really use some fucking answers.” Light from the headlights flicker, and the angel’s jaw tenses.

“I really shouldn’t.”

I curl my fingers into fists, thinking back to the night when I saw him outside the old warehouse. I followed him and he was gone, making me think he can teleport or fly or something—so why did he get caught now?