Wings of the Wicked

7


AT KATE’S PARTY ON SATURDAY NIGHT, I STOOD BY the snack table, picking out a plateful of crackers and cheese slices, with Will at my side. Nobody was in the kitchen besides us, but the commotion from the thumping music and crowd of people in the den poured over the half wall and allowed us no privacy. Kate’s basement was like an underground finished house, even complete with spare bedrooms. Her parents pretty much let her have the run of the place.

Will reached out randomly and pulled on one of the thick ringlets I’d molded into my ponytail, and then let it bounce back into place. “You’re obnoxious,” I noted, and popped a cheese cube into my mouth.

“Why’d you put your hair up?” he asked. His voice reminded me of a child pouting over not getting a second piece of candy.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Because I wanted to do something different with it tonight.”

“Your hair is beautiful, and I like it better when it’s down,” he said wistfully.

I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye, and the longing look in his gaze made my stomach bottom out. He watched me for another moment before leaving the kitchen. What was he getting at? He could not intentionally be a tease. Will never did that stuff on purpose. But if he was going to play this game, I could work it to my advantage.

As soon as he’d gone, I scooted into the bathroom and pulled the hair tie out of my hair and shook it loose. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken my ponytail out only because he wanted me to, but I’d do it again just for the chance at stealing a kiss from him. Anyone who’d ever tasted his kisses wouldn’t blame me.

When I emerged from the bathroom with my plate, I pushed my way through the pack of gyrating bodies and back over to the sofas, where Kate, Landon, and a handful of other seniors were sitting and laughing. The heavy bass coming from the speakers was beginning to make my left eye twitch.

I sat down in a sofa chair and ate, watching them shout at one another over the loud music. Will appeared next to me and I glanced up at him, catching a triumphant flicker of a smile on his face. He might feel pretty cocky after I’d changed my hair, but by doing it I’d guaranteed that he’d be staring at me for the rest of the night. That smile of his faded when I flipped my hair over my shoulder, exposing my throat, and let my hair cascade down my back.

Will, one point. Ellie, five thousand.

“We have to go to Florida for spring break,” Landon said with certainty.

“Any place but PCB,” Kate groaned.

It took a moment of decoding for me to realize she meant Panama City Beach.

“God, that place is disgusting,” she continued. “The last thing we need on our consciences before college is spending our senior spring break in some cheap seventh-story hotel room with unidentifiable stains on the walls, puking up ten-dollar whiskey.”

I grimaced. Kate certainly had a way of making situations very … colorful.

Landon turned to me. “Ell, are you in?”

“Yeah,” I said through a mouthful of crackers. “If I can afford it and my parents actually let me go.” I wondered if I’d be able to take Will along. As my Guardian, he’d have to go. The most difficult task concerning that would be explaining to everyone why my non-boyfriend would be joining me on my out-of-state spring break.

Will laid a hand on my shoulder and his fingers tightened. I turned my head to look up at him, but instead he bent over and whispered into my ear, “Don’t be angry.”

That was random. “What are you—?” And then I saw him.

Marcus.

The reaper stood just inside the doors everyone used to get in and out of the basement without bothering Kate’s parents. He hadn’t even taken two steps into the party and already he was surrounded by girls. He stood a head taller than most people there, so he wasn’t easy to miss. Plus he was hot and he was fully aware of that, which probably made girls flock to him. Even in the low light, I could see that sweeping smile across his face that made him even more attractive.

Of course I wasn’t fooled.

I shot to my feet, but Will grabbed my hand before I took a single step.

“He’s not going to hurt anyone,” Will said with a serious expression.

That wasn’t even the point. He was a reaper, and I didn’t want my human friends exposed to the supernatural world. Will was more than enough. Despite my annoyance, I couldn’t help but admire Marcus for plainly displaying his gnarled burn scar around his collar as if he wore it proudly and felt no shame at all.

When Marcus spotted me, he waved and pushed through the gaggle of girls. Blatant hate twisted their faces when they saw him ease right toward me.

“Ellie, Will, how are—?”

“What are you doing here?” I demanded.

He blinked in surprise. “Well, I—”

“You shouldn’t be here,” I said, not letting him finish. “I told you not to come.”

Will’s voice was gentle in my ear, soothing. “He doesn’t mean any harm.”

I glared at him. “Don’t defend him.” I turned to the other reaper. “Marcus, you need to leave.”

“Oh, I’m not leaving,” he said with a soft laugh.

“Who’s your friend?”

I practically leaped into the air and spun around to see that Kate had walked up behind me. I slapped the back of my hand against Marcus’s chest, hard enough to force him back a step. “This is Marcus. Ignore him. He’s a bad seed.”

As she checked him out, that growing smile of hers told me she was up to no good. She held out a hand for him to take. “Hi. I’m Kate. I’m a bad seed, too.”

Instead of shaking her hand, he swept it up and bowed his head to press his lips against the back of her hand. “A pleasure.”

If I were Kate, I would have swooned. But I wasn’t Kate and she wasn’t me. Instead of doing something apocalyptically uncool, she let two simple words roll off her tongue as if we were all in some classic Hollywood movie: “All mine.”

Marcus let go of her hand and she turned to me. “Where did you find this one?”

I thought quickly. “He’s a friend of Will’s … from … school.”

She glowered at me. “Why do you always get the hot college guys, and why didn’t you tell me you were bringing an extra?”

“Oh, I’m even more shocked than you are,” I said through my teeth as I smiled bitterly at Marcus. His eyes were glued on Kate. She had that effect.

“So, Marcus,” Kate said. “You go to college with Will?”

His smile widened almost imperceptibly. “Foreign exchange.”

“Interesting. Where are you from?”

“Spain,” he answered smoothly, voice like cream. “While I’m here, I hope to explore every last inch of America.”

Her brow arched suggestively. “Oh?”

I looked up at Will pleadingly. Strangely, he didn’t feel bothered at all by Marcus’s interest in a normal human girl. Was it common for reapers to date humans, or did they just sleep with them? If Will seemed to think it was okay for Marcus to do so, then was he guilty of it himself? The thought of Will with another girl was sickening, but I had to accept the fact that he was a guy, even if he was a reaper. Mortal girls practically threw themselves at him. Not to mention there was Ava and whatever history I suspected they had together.

“Would you like a drink, Marcus?” Kate offered.

“I’d love a drink,” Marcus replied.

“Okay then.” She beckoned for him to follow her into the kitchen.

I looked at Will. “Stay right here.”

He frowned. “I’m not a dog, Ellie.”

“Fine,” I chirped. “Then no biscuit for you.”

When I smiled at him, he grinned and rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to throw him out. Just leave him be.”

“I’m only going to talk to him,” I assured Will, and jogged to catch up with Marcus. I put a firm hand on his arm, stopping him before he went into the kitchen.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I demanded.

“As I please.” He gazed down at me, his eyes challenging. He had no fear.

“Why would you come here, when I asked you not to, and then shamelessly flirt with my best friend? Who is human, no less.”

His expression darkened, and he leaned over me so close that I felt his breath on my cheek and no one else could overhear us. “Need I remind you, Preliator, that I am not your Guardian? You cannot control me.”

The way he said that reminded me of how very dangerous he was, no matter how well I had known him in past lives or the fact that he was an angelic reaper. But I wasn’t about to let him walk all over me. “But you serve the angels. I am the archangel Gabriel.”

He took a deep breath through his nose, brushing the tip of it across my cheek, very much like an animal. “You smell human to me.”

Reapers were very weird. At least Will didn’t sniff me like I was dinner. When I tried to speak, I realized I’d been holding my breath. “What are your intentions with her?”

He drew away, and that devil-may-care attitude returned in a heartbeat. “They’re entirely chaste, I assure you.”

“If you hurt her, reaper, I will take both of your balls.”

He stared at me for a moment before he huffed and smirked. “You’d try.” That momentary hesitation told me he knew I sure as hell would try. I’d probably succeed, too.

Marcus knew me just as well as I knew him from decades ago, and he knew what I was capable of. I didn’t quite remember his full strength, but his pause after my threat gave me hope that I could handle myself if things really went down.

Marcus walked past me into the kitchen without another word.

I closed my eyes, rubbed the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger, emotionally exhausted. These reapers were going to kill me. Again.

Later I entered the kitchen to find Kate and Marcus laughing and joking. Marcus had on a genuine smile, rich and gracious. It was strange to see him act so normal, like he was just another guy at a party talking to a pretty girl and not an immortal Hellspawn fighter. The other vir I’d known acted aloof, like they thought they were better than humans. Or they were like Will, who felt he just didn’t belong around humans. Even Nathaniel didn’t attempt to make friends with humans other than Lauren, and in that case they’d met under special circumstances.

“So really,” Kate said, touching his shoulder. “Where did you get the scar?”

His grin was playful, but I could tell he was dead serious. “I told you. It’s from a fight. The guy had a knife that was practically a sword.”

There was puzzled look on her face behind her smile. “But it looks like burn scars, a very clean line of burn scars.”

“I’m not lying.”

I crossed my arms over my chest when they noticed me. “Well, aren’t you two just hitting it off?”

Kate kissed me on the cheek and petted my hair when she saw my frown. “Marcus was just telling me stories of back home in Spain. We should go backpacking through Europe this summer after we graduate. Wouldn’t that be amazing?”

It would, but only if I survived to see my diploma. “Definitely, as long as we avoid any hostels. I saw those movies.”

Marcus laughed. “That was fiction, Ellie. The hostels are a great place to stay, and you meet incredible people from all over the world.”

“Mmm-hmm,” I said sarcastically. “I’m sure.”

I sensed a body behind me and knew instantly it was Will. I turned to see him.

“So are you and Marcus finally getting along?” he asked.

“She threatened to castrate me,” Marcus said.

I nodded. “Sure did.”

Will blinked and stiffened uncomfortably. “Oh.”

“That’s not nice, Ell,” Kate scolded. “Boys need those.” She turned to Marcus and looped her arm through his. “Let’s go enjoy the rest of the party, shall we?”

As they left the kitchen, Kate flashed me a gentle smile, but it didn’t make me relax. I just had a bad feeling about the whole thing.

“Hey,” Will said. He gave me a reassuring smile and rubbed my shoulders with his hands. “Everything will be fine. Marcus isn’t going to hurt anyone, least of all Kate.”

I frowned. “What does he want with her?”

“Well, he’s just looking for some fun.”

“And by fun you don’t mean playing pool with the guys, do you?”

He averted his gaze and stared without focus into the crowd. “Marcus likes girls a lot, especially human girls. That’s not unusual among our kind. Human girls are different from vir girls.”

“He needs to find some different girls to like,” I said with a huff. “At the very least not my best friend.” I weighed Will’s words for a second and hoped he hadn’t included himself in that observation about reapers and human girls.

Will’s gaze returned to mine. “Ellie, don’t worry,” he said. “He treats them well, and he doesn’t stick around long.”

“So he can use them up and break their hearts?”

“No, he knows the kind of girls he’s after, the ones who are looking for a little fun too. Kate’s a smart girl. She knows how to stay out of trouble.”

“Yeah, but Trouble’s got his eye on her.”

He cupped my chin and lifted my face. “You have to let her make her own decisions, and Marcus too. He can be a little wild, but that’s just his nature. He’s never had to grow up and face consequences the way a human does. Everything’s a game to him. He lives for challenge.”

“But you aren’t like that,” I said. “Are you?”

“Marcus doesn’t have the responsibilities that I have. If he had someone like you, then he might become a very different person.”

I gave him a suspicious look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

His returning smile was warm and beautiful. “You know what I mean.” He leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek, letting his lips linger for an extra heartbeat, but it was long enough to send my pulse racing. He was going to drive me insane.

“Come on,” he said, taking my hand. “Let’s go make you smile some more. You’ll see that Marcus isn’t going to hurt Kate, and you can trust him. You should be spending time with your friends.”

“Okay.” I followed him out of the kitchen and squeezed his hand just a little tighter as he led me through the crowd.