Angel Series Books 1-3 Boxed Set

Unwanted Attention

Unwanted Attention

The vampire — I’d grabbed a female — didn’t struggle, which surprised me. I turned her around. She had a glazed look in her eyes and a pained expression on her face. There was something about her scent that made me hesitate. It seemed tainted somehow.

“Danizriel,” it was annoying having to call him by his real name, “if you’re not busy, can you come here for a moment?”

Danny appeared a few moments later, tensed for a fight. He glanced around quickly to assess the situation, and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, relaxed.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

I pulled the vampire over to him. She didn’t resist — more zombie than vampire. Could she be some sort of freaky cross-breed?

“She doesn’t seem right,” I explained. “Her scent is mixed up with something I don’t recognise.”

Danny sniffed the air around her. He examined her head, neck and hands, and rolled up her sleeves to inspect her arms. She’d been a junkie in her previous life. The scars were still bright red.

“Did they think they could drug me, via her blood?” I asked, incredulously. Then the uncertainty set in. “They can’t, can they?”

“No. There are no drugs in her system. What you’re smelling is arsenic.”

“Arsenic. Why would anyone want to shoot up arsenic?” There was only one reason I could think of. “Could that kill me?”

“I doubt it very much, although the amount that’s been injected into her would likely have weakened you greatly, and possibly impaired your judgement and senses. You see how she looks — her eyes, and the lack of resistance. I suspect they thought it would make it easier to dispose of you if you were in the same state as this poor wretch.”

“Why would she let herself be used as a pawn like that?” I asked.

Danny continued to inspect her. “She’s very new. They probably created her for this very purpose. She wouldn’t have had any say in the matter whatsoever.”

It made me angry. How many lives had been wasted because of the power others sought or wielded?

“They don’t really care, do they?”

“No. She’s a means to an end. I seriously doubt she’s the only trap they have in store for you, though. You’ll need to be more vigilant.” Danny took me by the arms and looked into my eyes, all serious. “Nothing rash, promise.”

“Yes, yes,” I replied petulantly, shaking off his hands. Gees, he’s big on asking for promises. “I won’t do anything rash. But, is it likely they can inject something into one of their own I won’t be able to detect?”

“No. Anything in a vampire’s system that is not blood will change their scent for as long as it is in their system. Most substances, once in the blood, are hard to get rid of.”

“So is there something we can do to remove the arsenic from her blood?”

“She’s a vampire, Helena, why would we help her?”

“I’m part vampire at least … you helped me.”

“That was different. You’re different.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I wonder …”

“What?” I asked, hoping he’d thought of a way to fix her blood.

“I wonder if they do want to capture you, and not dispose of you. I wonder if they do know how to extract something like arsenic from the blood. Too many questions, as usual.”

“As long as I don’t fall for something as pathetic as this we’ll never find out.” It wasn’t worth the risk.

“I can take care of this one if you want,” Danny offered, seeing how her condition upset me, “if it pains you too much.”

I pulled out my knife and quickly dispatched her myself. I didn’t want Danny to think I was weak. I didn’t want him to do the dirty work I couldn’t stomach.

The odour was more pronounced as the arsenic reacted with the air.

“I’d always been led to believe that arsenic didn’t have a smell,” I said.

“There’s a lot that mortals can’t smell,” Danny replied. “Vampires and werewolves are good examples.”

He reached down and turned her body to ash with a simple touch.

“Do you think you can whip up something I could use to torch the bodies with? Something I can keep here? I haven’t gotten around to exploring the mine shaft yet, and I know you’ve got to start patrolling again, otherwise questions might start being asked.”

Danny looked thoughtful, his eyes lost somewhere in the distance, but unfocused. He blinked a couple of times and his focus returned.

“I do need to report in more often. I might be given a fair amount of free rein, but even that has its limits. No doubt I’ll receive a dressing down from my superior for my laxness. I’ll still come on some of your raids, though. At least a few times a week. You’re quite graceful and it’s very sensual to watch.” He cleared his throat and clapped his hands together. “What would you prefer, flammable liquids and matches, or sulphur filled syringes?”

Which would be better? I didn’t know. “Can I try both and make a choice later?”

Danny created a small hole in the ground near one of the trees, complete with a cleverly disguised trap door. In this he placed five containers of lighter fluid, waterproof matches — I didn’t even know they existed — and half a dozen syringes filled with a yellow substance that stank like rotten eggs.

I was looking forward to trying them out and finding out which burned the body to ash the quickest, and was the easiest to employ. At this stage I was leaning towards the syringe — one step instead of two.

“Shall we be off to work then?” Danny asked.

I pulled him to me and kissed his lips, a long lingering kiss that suggested his work would not be finished when the day was done.

“I’ll meet you back at the cottage at sunset,” I replied. “Don’t be late or I might fall asleep.”

Danny walked away from me chuckling. He waved a hand behind him and disappeared. I was going to head back to where there’d been recent werewolf activity to see if I could pick up a fresh scent.

It turned out there was one recent scent trail, not more than eight hours old. Being able to determine the age of a trail seemed to be an instinctual thing. It was something I’d inherited from Chris when I’d been changed, but did not come to fruition until after I’d gained full strength. I ran swiftly, following the trail as it wove in and out of the trees and changed directions. A number of other scents crossed its path. I made a mental note to come back and follow them later on.

At one point, twelve other scent trails collided with the one I was following. This was a hunting party. Were they hunting werewolves or did they think they were hunting me? Another hour along the trail and the answer became clear. The vampires had surrounded two werewolves. Another werewolf lay dead on the ground.

The werewolves sniffed the air, their ears twitching. Their sense of smell was much better than that of the vampires — and mine — and they’d already detected my scent. I wondered what the werewolves would think of me. Will they be wondering if I was friend or foe? If it suited my purposes, I’d be a friend for now. Between the three of us we might be able to take down half of the vampires before they scattered.

With only an hour left before sunset — I didn’t want to be late home — I’d have to work quickly. Should I go in for a quick snag or suddenly appear in the thick of it, standing with the werewolves. Wouldn’t that give the vamps something else to think about!

It was decided then. A couple of snags to put them on edge — they’d be torn between concentrating on what was going on inside the circle, and what was going on outside the circle — then into the middle. By then the werewolves would know I was no friend of the vamps.

In and out, in and out, faster than the blink of an eye — two vampires gone in less than ten minutes. The rest of the vamps were shuffling nervously from foot to foot, scanning the horizon and trying to determine where the next attack would come from.

Fear rolled off the vampires in waves and the wolves could sense the change. They snapped at the vampires, trying to distract them and make the task of my picking the vamps off easier — they’d realised that helping me could only benefit them.

“Here’s hoping I’m right and they think I’m one of the good guys,” I mumbled, appearing between the two wolves. They stiffened when they realised I was there, but maintained their positions.

The vampires snarled, yet not one of them made a move towards us.

“Check it out,” one of them said mockingly. “A knife on one arm, a feather on the other. What’s she gonna do, knock us down with a feather and tickle us with the knife?” He sniggered. “Who does she think she is — an angel?”

“Shut up, Adro, she’s dangerous. I don’t want her getting mad at me.”

It was a voice I recognised.

I nodded in her direction. “Hey, Shae, how’s things?”

“Same old, same old, Helena,” she replied, the acid apparent in her voice, “and you?”

I waved her question away as if it were old news, boring news. “The usual — killing vamps and scaring the s**t out of the preacher.”

“The preacher?” she asked. “You saw the preacher?”

“Yeah,” I fake-yawned. “I just wanted to make sure he was behaving.”

“Bet he got a kick out of that,” she laughed.

I could have almost forgotten we were on different sides of the line. We chatted easily, like old acquaintances, even though she was bitter and twisted.

I relaxed my stance, my face becoming quite animated. “You should have seen the look on his face when I crushed the bust on his desk into a pile of rubble — with one hand. It was priceless!”

I heard a low throaty growl beside me. The werewolves were not impressed with my casual banter.

“Sorry, Shae, it seems the wolves don’t want to be here.” I looked at each vampire in turn. “If you want to live to fight another day, I suggest you leave now.”

Two vampires turned and fled.

“Cowards!” Shae yelled after them.

I gently brushed my fingers through the wolves’ fur, not touching any skin, and their hackles rose. They might be willing to put up with me if it helped them gain their freedom, yet touching them with such familiarity made them angry.

I let my hands drop and dashed forward, my knife unsheathed and swinging as I reached the first vamp. The wolves struck at the vampires behind me. As the blade finished cutting through the first vamp I swung it in an arc to decapitate the next in line. When my blade struck the second vamp, another one thought to rush me. I’d seen the movement out of the corner of my eye. My free hand darted out — a snake striking — to close around her neck the moment she was within reach. Our eyes met. She could see the hatred mine held and shivered involuntarily. I lifted her into the air, her body dangling like that of a rag doll. I held her there, brandishing the knife at any who sought to stop me, shaking her body gently so that her arms and legs jerked like those of a marionette. You’re my very own puppet on a string!

Each of the werewolves had killed two vampires — by ripping out their throats — and I was on my third. The four remaining vamps scattered and the wolves took off in hot pursuit.

“A thank you would be nice!” I yelled after them.

I checked the bodies. Shae wasn’t among them. Part of me hoped she’d escape the werewolves and part of me hoped they’d catch her. It wasn’t that I bore any animosity towards her. On the contrary, I admired her. Like me, she was a survivor. It’s just that now she was on the wrong side.

That could have been me, I thought, normally I’m on the wrong side.

I had two bodies to burn. It would require two trips to the ranch — I couldn’t carry two bodies and two heads! It’d be safer to take the bodies and heads separately, in case they accidentally reattached themselves while I was gone. Maybe I should invest in a builder’s wheelbarrow!

It only took a minute or so to transport all of the body parts — heads in one pile and bodies in another. I retrieved the matches, lighter fluid and a syringe, then liberally sprayed lighter fluid over the heads and one of the bodies. Three matches, for three body parts.

The stench from the fire was almost as bad as the stink of the ranch, though I could barely smell that anymore, with my good luck charm strapped to my arm.

A huge cloud of dark smoke billowed upwards. If the vamps didn’t see it and know what it meant they were dumber than I thought.

While the flesh popped and burned, I knelt by the remaining body and injected it with the sulphur. I heard a sizzling sound, and before the other parts had completely burned, the body imploded, a pile of ash settling on the ground.

“Wow, that was fast,” I said.

“It is, isn’t it?” Danny had appeared on the other side of the body. “When you didn’t turn up after sunset I thought I’d come looking for you. I thought maybe you’d fallen asleep on the job,” he said teasingly. “You’ll turn into a workaholic if you keep this up.”

I stood up and brushed off as much of the ash as I could.

“I had an interesting encounter with some vampires and werewolves. I think I made a few friends today.”

“Really?” he laughed. “You can tell me all about it when we’re back at the cottage.”

“Shouldn’t we wait until this pile has finished burning?” I asked.

He waved off my concerns. “Not necessary. There’s nothing close by that will catch fire.”

Danny took a step towards me, then stopped. His head jerked around. Had he heard something that was outside of my range of hearing? He grabbed my arms roughly and turned me towards him. A look of anger — or was it concern — crossed his face.

“There’s another angel here,” he whispered urgently. “Do you understand?”

I nodded my head.

“If I leave suddenly he’ll be curious. You have to go, now!”

He let go of me and I transported myself a safe distance away. He hadn’t exactly told me where to go, and I didn’t want to leave him when I knew what was at stake. If this other angel knew about me, well, I’d have to follow him and take care of things … but Danny must never know it was me.

“Danizriel!” the angel said in a whiny sing-song voice. “Sorry to invade your turf. There have been some strange occurrences in the area. I’ve been trying to locate you for some time to discuss them.”

“I’ve been busy tracking something, Amrael.” Danny sounded abrupt and to the point. It sounded as if he didn’t have much time for Amrael. I’d have to ask about it later on.

“And from what I’ve just seen it appears you’ve found it. What was it?” He looked over Danny’s shoulder into the forest, trying to spot me. “Where has it gone?”

“I don’t know what she is.” He squared his shoulders and lifted his head. I’d seen male animals do something similar in documentaries, to make themselves appear larger and more threatening — an alpha male. “I do know she’s an exceptional hunter and killer, and that she’s not evil.”

“Then you have nothing to fear, Danizriel.” Amrael gestured towards the forest with his hand. “Bring her back.”

“I can’t summon her,” Danny said, his dislike of Amrael apparent. “It doesn’t work that way.”

I appeared directly behind Danny and stepped out to one side.

“It’s okay, Danizriel,” I didn’t think it would be appropriate to call him Danny in front of another angel — it smacked of intimacy, “I wasn’t far away.”

“You were listening!” he chided me.

I nodded my head and turned to look at Amrael. For an angel, he seemed kind of sleazy to me. The type of guy who’d sell his own mother if he was offered enough money for her.

Amrael stepped forward and reached out his hand. I cringed and drew back.

“Don’t touch me,” I warned him.

He pulled his hand back and walked a full circle around me. I felt his gaze burning my body and undressing me, wherever his eyes fell — it was like being violated visually. He came close enough to sniff my hair and listen to my heart beat. He made me feel dirty. Dirty girl, dirty girl!

He turned to Danny, excited, clapping his hands. “What a find! You do know what you have here, don’t you?”

“I already said I don’t know what she is.”

“Hah!” Amrael poked a finger in Danny’s chest and he stiffened in response. “Your superior doesn’t like passing on information, does he.” There was a smugness to his voice. “But then, only a few of the archangels share what they know … want to keep their soldiers informed.”

Danny was plainly getting tired of Amrael’s attitude. “And, pray tell, what is she then, Amrael, if you are so knowledgeable?”

Amrael folded his arms across his chest and bounced on the balls of his feet. He was deriving great pleasure from knowing more about me than Danny.

He said, in his annoying sing-song voice, “An earth-bound angel, plain and simple.”

Was he lying, just to get a reaction from Danny? Or was it true, there were earth-bound angels and I was one of them?

“You are going to dispose of her, aren’t you?”

“What do you mean?” Danny asked.

“I mean, you have to kill her. If you don’t I will.”

“Why?”

“My superior has ordered us to hunt down and destroy earth-bound angels. A very difficult task given most of them are mortal. Until something happens to cause the change from mortal to earth-bound angel we have no way of finding them. But this one — even for an earth-bound angel —” he pointed at me “this one isn’t right. She’s an abomination! Even I, who has tracked these things for centuries, wouldn’t have been able to find this one — abomination that she is.”

I didn’t like his attitude one bit. I imagined him as an arrogant little pen-pusher, full of self-importance. If it weren’t for the fact that he’d probably taste like Brussels sprouts, I probably would have gone him then and there.

“She was bitten — while still mortal — by a vampire.”

“Ah, that would explain it. How ironic,” Amrael laughed, “an evil angel.”

“You don’t understand, Amrael. She’s not evil. She hunts vampires and destroys them. No mortal blood has passed her lips.”

“She’s an abomination, an aberration — call her what you will,” Amrael sneered, “and must be destroyed!”

Danny folded his arms across his chest. “No.”

“Are you defying archangel edict, Danizriel?” Amrael challenged him.

Danny stood his ground. “I have no such orders from my superior. I will do nothing until I have consulted with him.”

“I’ll give you forty-eight hours then. After that, it’s open season on both of you if she’s not dead.”

“Amrael, as a fellow angel I’m going to pay you the courtesy of issuing you with a warning.” Danny leaned into him and poked a finger at his chest. “If you value your immortal soul, keep away from her.”

Amrael took a step back. “Is that a threat, Danizriel?”

“No, Amrael,” Danny sighed. “It is simply a warning.”

I didn’t like the direction the conversation was taking. Danny was putting me ahead of his duty. While he said he was giving Amrael a warning, it sure as hell sounded like a threat to me. I’d been on the receiving end of enough of them to know.

I put my hand on Danny’s shoulder and couldn’t resist a final jibe before disappearing, leaving Amrael to wonder how we’d transported without actually moving.

“See ya! Wouldn’t want to be ya!”

Back in the cottage I hugged Danny fiercely.

“I’m causing you a lot of trouble, aren’t I?” I whispered in his ear.

He nuzzled my hair. “It was my choice. I could have left you where I found you, or killed you there and then. The blame falls squarely on my shoulders.”

“What are we going to do now?” I asked. “I’ll leave if you want me to, although I think you’ll be in deep s**t regardless.”

“You, Helena, are to stay here. I will consult with my superior to find out the truth about earth-bound angels, and if there is an edict to kill them, why I was not advised about it.”