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.Cheshvan.Nephilim.Fallen angels.I couldn’t escape any of it.“Why don’t fallen angels usually possess humans?” I asked.“Why do they choose Nephilim?”“Human bodies aren’t as strong or resilient as Nephilim bodies,” Patch replied.“A two-week-long possession will kill them.Tens of thousands of humans would die every Cheshvan.“And it’s a lot harder to possess a human,” he continued.“Fallen angels can’t force humans to swear fealty, they have to convince them to turn over their bodies.That takes time and persuasion.Human bodies also deteriorate faster.Not many fallen angels want to go to the trouble of possessing a human body if it could be dead in a week.”A shiver of foreboding crept through me, but I said, “That’s a sad story, but it’s hard to blame Scott or any Nephilim, for that matter.I wouldn’t want a fallen angel taking control of my body two weeks out of every year either.This doesn’t sound like a Nephilim problem.It sounds like a fallen angel problem.”A muscle in his jaw jumped.“The Z isn’t your kind of place.Go home.”“I just got here.”“I just got here.”“Bo’s is mild compared to this place.”“Thanks for the tip, but I’m not really in the mood to hang out at home all night feeling sorry for myself.”Patch folded his arms and studied me.“You’re putting yourself in danger to get back at me?” he guessed.“In case you forgot, I’m not the one who called things off.”“Don’t flatter yourself.This isn’t about you.”Patch dug in his pocket for his keys.“I’m taking you home.”His tone told me I was a huge inconvenience, and that if he saw any way around it, he’d gladly opt out.“I don’t want a ride.I don’t need your help.”He laughed, but the sound lacked humor.“You’re getting in the Jeep, even if I have to drag you inside, because you’re not staying here.It’s too dangerous.”“You can’t order me around.”He merely looked at me.“And while you’re at it, you’re going to stop hanging out with Scott.”I felt my anger bubbling up.How dare he assume I was weak and helpless.How dare he try to control me by telling me where I could and couldn’t go, and who I could spend time with.How dare he act like I’d meant nothing to him.I sent him a look of cool defiance.“Don’t do me any more favors.I never asked.And I don’t want you as my guardian angel anymore.”Patch stood over me, and a drop of rain slid from his hair, landing like ice on my collarbone.I felt it slide along my skin, disappearing beneath the neckline of my shirt.His eyes followed the raindrop, and I began to quiver on the inside.I wanted to tell him I was sorry for everything I’d said.I wanted totell him I didn’t care about Marcie, or what the archangels thought.I cared about us.But the cold hard truth was, nothing I said or did could realign the stars.I couldn’t care about us.Not if I wanted to keep Patch close.Not if I didn’t want him banishedto hell.The more we fought, the easier it was to get swallowed up in hatred and convince myself that he meant nothing to me, and that I could move on without him.“Take it back,” Patch said, his voice low.I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, and I couldn’t bring myself to take it back.I tipped my chin up and pinned my eyes on the blur of rain over his shoulder.Damn my pride, and damn his, too.“Take it back, Nora,” Patch repeated more firmly.“I can’t do the right thing with you in my life,” I said, hating myself for allowing my chin to tremble.“This will be easier on everyone if we just—I want a clean break.I’ve thought this through.” I hadn’t.I hadn’t thought this through at all.I hadn’t meant to say these words.But a small, horrible, and despicable part of me wanted Patch to hurt as much as I was hurt.“I want you out of my life.All the way.”After a heavy beat of silence, Patch reached around me and shoved something deep into the back pocket of my jeans.I couldn’t tell whether I’d imagined that his hand had stayed there a half beat longer than necessary.“Cash,” he explained.“You’re going to need it.”I dug the money out.“I don’t want your money.” When he didn’t take the outstretched wad of cash, I slapped it against his chest, meaning to brush past him as I did, but Patch caught my hand, trapping it against his body.“Take it.” The tone of his voice told me I knew nothing.I didn’t understand him, or his world.I was a stranger, and I’d never fit in.“Half the guys in there are carrying some form of weapon.If anything happens, throw the money on the table and head for the doors.Nobody’s going to follow you with a pile of cash up for grabs.”I remembered Marcie.Was he suggesting that someone might try to knife me? I nearly laughed.Did he honestly think thatwould scare me? Whether I wanted him as my guardian angel was irrelevant.The fact of the matter was, nothing I said or did would change his duty.He had to keep me safe.The fact that he was here right now proved it.He released my hand and tugged on the door handle, the muscles along his arm rigid.The door closed behind him, quaking on its hinges.CHAPA TET R-6I FOUND SCOTT LEANING ON HIS POOL STICK AT A TABLE near the front.He was studying a spread of billiard balls when I walked up.“Find an ATM?” I asked, tossing my damp jean jacket on a metal folding chair pushed up against the wall.“Yeah, but not before I swallowed ten gallons of rain.” He lifted the Hawaiian hat and shook out the water for emphasis.Maybe he’d found an ATM—but not until after he’d finished whatever it was he’d been doing in the side alley.And as much as I would have liked to know what that was, I probably wasn’t going to find out any time soon.I’d missed my chance when Patch had pulled me away to tell me I was in over my head here at the Z and should run along home.I spread my hands on the lip of the pool table and leaned in casually, hoping I looked completely in my element, but the truthwas, my heart rate was high.Not only had I just come off a confrontation with Patch, but no one in the near vicinity looked remotely friendly.And try as I might, I couldn’t sweep away the memory that someone had bled out on one of the tables.Was it this one? I pushed up from the table and brushed my hands clean.“We’re just about to start a game,” Scott said.“Fifty dollars and you’re in.Grab a cue.”I wasn’t in the mood to play and would have preferred watching, but a quick scan of the room revealed that Patch was seated at a poker table in the back.Even though his body wasn’t directly facing mine, I knew he was watching me.He was watching everyone in the room.He never went anywhere without making a careful and detailed assessment of his surroundings.Knowing this, I tried on the most dazzling smile I had inside me at the moment.“I’d love to.” I didn’t want Patch to know how upset I was, how much I was hurting.I didn’t want him to think I wasn’t having a good time with Scott.But before I could head over to the rack, a short man in wire glasses and a sweater vest came up beside Scott.Everything about him looked out of place—he was groomed, his pants were pressed, and his loafers were polished [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]