An Angel's Song Read online

  “She’s your mother. You were angry when you left, and she has no idea where you are. The woman taught you to use a spoon. A simple phone call to let her know you’re okay isn’t asking for much in return.” Alec glanced away from the screen to where Tessa sat on the edge of the rumpled bed poking her legs through her panties. He propped a shoulder against the wall, warmth radiating throughout his body, heart drumming in his chest, captivated by the grace of her lithe form as she hopped to her feet and gathered the rest of her carelessly discarded clothes into a bundle. His eyes devoured the sweet curve of her ass swaying in the direction of the bathroom, until she turned in the doorway and planted her free hand in a fist on the delicious swell of her hip. “Also, an apology might be in order. I don’t like being manipulated either, but let’s face it, we weren’t in any danger of making progress on our own.”

  “Let me get this straight. You’re saying I should thank my mother for treating us like children and interfering?”

  “We acted like children, Alec.”

  “Yeah,” he exhaled his agreement on a long, resigned breath, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “I guess we did. So, I’ll text her and let her know we’re fine. And I’ll apologize when I see her. Happy?”

  “Happier than I thought I could be, all things considered. You’ll thank her, too, right?”

  “Yes, dear. Go take your shower.”

  “You know, I’m really liking this attentive, agreeable side of you, husband.” She waggled her brows and beamed at him across the room.

  “Just don’t interpret it as a willingness to become hen-pecked, wife.”

  “Really, Alec! I am so not that girl.” She blew him a kiss and stepped into the bathroom, pushing the door closed behind her. But, just before the latch caught, she called out a final parting shot. “Later we’ll discuss this crazy idea you have about quitting your job, too.”

  They would like hell. There was nothing to discuss. Didn’t she get it? The job caused this mess, at least in part. Alec turned his phone up, texted his mother, and tossed the device on the bed. He would find another job. Not that he needed the money, Earthbound lived long enough to accumulate vast wealth over centuries. Hell, look at his brother. Kassian stood to stuff an additional eight figures in his overflowing pockets as soon as he inked the deal currently in negotiation for McAllister Publishing. Alec’s more modest bankroll didn’t approach his older brother’s affluence, but he could easily finance a small country. For a few hundred years. Maybe a nice teaching job. Easy nine-to-five, no weekends or holidays, no additional obligations save the occasional faculty dinner where he could show off his stunningly beautiful wife. Smiling at the mental picture of Tessa, resplendent in evening wear charming the pants off his fictional colleagues, he yanked on his jeans. Then he dropped his ass on the bed and grabbed a boot. His phone chimed and he picked it up and checked the screen.

  Come home.

  Well, apparently his mother had forgiven his bout of bad temper. Kind of an odd response, though. He shoved the phone in the pocket of his jeans. Hell, he could even apply for a couple of research grants. It would give him something to do with all that free time. He could…the boot slipped from his nerveless fingers and hit the floor. His gut cramped, then churned like a cement mixer. He hadn’t even settled on a job yet and he was doing it already. Propping his elbows on his knees, he dropped his head into his hands and groaned. No, he didn’t care about the money. He craved the chase. He hungered for occupation of mind like a junkie craves a drug.

  Tessa bolted from the bathroom and rushed to where he sat on the bed, dropping to her knees between his legs. Wearing nothing but a towel, her long hair dripped down her back forming a rapidly expanding puddle on the tile behind her. Shit, he forgot he let her in his head. If she sensed his turmoil, then she certainly knew its cause.

  “Alec?” She gently pried his fingers away from his face. “Talk to me.”

  “I can’t.” He shook his head and shot to his feet, keenly aware her wide, worried eyes tracked his restless pacing from one end of the small room to the other. He’d always considered himself a fairly good guy. Not perfect by any means, but not the thoughtless bastard he’d apparently been rocking all these years. How could he open his mouth and tell her he just had a freaking epiphany? That after all they’d been through, after finding their way back, after everything, he would inevitably destroy them again. All this sudden self-awareness shit was really getting on his last nerve.

  “No, you won’t,” Tessa announced, climbing to her feet. “Because I won’t let you.”

  “Don’t you get it, Tess? I’m an addict and the challenge is my drug of choice. Solving the riddle, fitting the next piece of the puzzle, when I’m in the middle of it, I’m consumed. It was never the job. It was me.”

  “Well, you know what they say about addiction. Admitting you have a problem is half the battle.” She moved to a large box in the corner labeled with her name, tore open the flaps, and withdrew a stack of neatly folded clothes. She deposited everything on a chair, then rifled through the pile, tossing clean undies, jeans, and a blue tank top on the bed.

  “I don’t think they have a twelve step program for this.”

  “Alec, you’re an extremely intelligent man with a freakish curiosity that never allows your mind to rest. I love that about you. But, it’s all about balance. You don’t need a twelve step program. You need to set limits. Prioritize.”

  “And you believe I can do it?”

  “I know you can.” She walked across the room and stopped in front of him. “In fact, you already have.”

  “Right.”

  “No, seriously. When I came downstairs last night, you were in the kitchen having coffee with your mother and Luca.”

  “So?”

  “So, where was the packet from my father? I’ll tell you where. In the office, spread out all over the desk. A new puzzle just begging to be solved.”

  “That was a probably a set-up, Tess. A wild goose chase. Part of the great reunion scheme.”

  “Even if that’s true, you didn’t think so at the time. Yet, you walked away. Why?”

  Alec stared down at her raised brows, the defiant, expectant expression, and found himself at a loss to understand her ardent faith in him. He thought back to the previous evening, the confrontation followed by the conversation with Luca, the mental profit-loss analysis of his work for Michael, then heading to the kitchen to find Tessa. The tightness in his chest eased as his second epiphany of the day struck. People make time for the things they choose to make time for, the people they choose to make time for. He’d chosen poorly in the past. This time, he got it right. He walked away. He chose her. He chose what mattered most. Tessa still believed in him. And if her faith remained intact even after the many times he’d failed, then he had no business doubting himself.

  “Because the price of not learning when to walk away is too high.”

  “And my work here is done.”

  She slapped her hands against one another as though brushing dust from her palms and took a bow.

  “You’ve changed, Tess.” Alec cocked his head to the side and regarded her curiously. More confident, more assertive, insightful, more willing to challenge him and make him see things from a point of view other than his own. He’d always seen her as someone who needed to be taken care of. By him. And he’d enjoyed her dependence on him. But now? She still loved him, still wanted him, but he wasn’t so sure she needed him anymore. He didn’t know how he felt about that. But, maybe loving and wanting without actually needing was a healthier situation for both of them. Still his loving, beautiful Tessa but…more.

  “I grew up.” She shrugged. Then she smiled, stretched up on her toes to plant a kiss on his chin, and yanked at the knotted fabric between her breasts. The towel dropped to the floor and Alec’s mind went blank.

  “See? Priorities. Works every time.”

  Alec grinned, springing at her, but coming up empty as Tessa dove for the bed, squea
ling with laughter. She snagged her clothes as the forward momentum carried her over to the other side. Giggling, she scrambled into panties and jeans. Alec raised a foot as though he intended to start around the bed, his grin widening when she bought the ruse and scurried back toward a chair, struggling with her bra. He disappeared before his foot struck the floor, materializing behind the chair. She backed right into him and he flinched at the icy contact of her wet hair against his bare chest. His arms came around her, pinning hers to her sides. She gasped, and whipped her head around, flinging water droplets everywhere.

  “That’s not fair.”

  “I don’t have to be fair. Told you, this isn’t a democracy.”

  “Obviously.” She sniffed, tossing her head. “It’s clearly a matriarchy.”

  “Well, you just keep telling yourself that, sweetness. I’ll even humor you for the moment by playing ladies’ maid.” Alec released her arms and snagged the two dangling ends of her bra. He hooked the clasp, then swept her wet hair to the side and pressed his lips to the nape of her neck. “Now, stop poking the bear and get dressed.” He laughed and smacked her bottom.

  Tessa stuck out her lower lip and marched to the bed. She snatched at the tank top and dragged it over her head.

  “Technically, it isn’t teasing if I’m perfectly ready, willing, and able to follow through.”

  “Oh really?” he drawled. “Well, it just so happens I have every intention of letting you show me just how ready, willing, and able you are.” His phone pinged and vibrated against in his pocket. And again. And then again. He yanked it free and kicked his boots out of the way, glancing at the screen. This time it was Luca. Short and sweet. Not suggesting, but insisting he and Tessa both get their asses back to the villa. Now. A cold knot congealed in the pit of his stomach. Had something happened with Calli? “Later.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Alec materialized in the kitchen of his mother’s villa expecting to find everyone gathered there. Instead, he found only his sister Callista, sipping a tall glass of blood orange juice, and devouring an enormous wedge of fruit torta.

  “Hey, Cal, what’s up?”

  “My weight,” she mumbled around a mouthful of pie. “If your niece doesn’t make an appearance soon, Luca can rent me out as an airship.”

  “Nah, you’re too heavy to get off the ground,” he laughed, jumping back as she speared the fork in the direction of his midsection.

  “Where’s Tessa?”

  “Upstairs. We brought some of her clothes back with us and she’s putting them away. Where is everybody?” Based on Luca’s cryptic text, Alec expected to arrive in the middle of a crisis.

  “In the den. With Mother and someone called Galen. I gather he’s a Defensori friend of Luca’s.” Callista picked up her glass and took a long draught of juice. “Your wife is lovely, Alec. You need to work it out.”

  “Done deal, I hope. Galen? Yeah, I know him. What’s he doing here?”

  “No idea.” Callista broke off another piece of the crisp, fruit filled tart and brought the fork to her lips with a shrug. “No one tells me anything these days. Luca closed himself up in the den last night after you left, and then Galen arrived early this morning. Mother shoved a torta in my face, and then went to join them. ‘Relax,’ she said. ‘Put your feet up,’ she said. Of course, I haven’t actually seen my feet in over a month. I wish people would stop treating me like the least little stress might kill me. I am not some fragile little flower.”

  “No, you aren’t.” Anyone who survived over a century of captivity with a madman, and then escaped from a sealed tomb in time to prevent a pissed off demon from attacking the man she loved could hardly be considered fragile. In fact, beneath his little sister’s delicate appearance and generous heart lurked one of the strongest women he’d ever known. After mourning her loss for so long, his heart swelled every time he clapped eyes on her. Sometimes he still had trouble believing they’d actually gotten her back. “Eat your torta and enjoy the coddling while it lasts. You’ll have your hands full soon enough.”

  “It will be a welcome change,” she said between bites.

  “Let’s see if you still feel that way a few months from now.” He laughed, dropping a kiss on top of her dark head and heading for the den.

  Tessa bounded down the steps just as he reached the bottom. She snagged his belt loop in her fingers and tugged him to a halt in the doorway of the den when she spied the bald giant sporting dime-sized ear gauges with Japanese throwing stars, called shurikens, tattooed all over his shaved skull. Galen hunched over a laptop screen on the desk, his shoulders half as wide as the desk itself. He glanced up as they entered. He sat back, crossed his arms over his massive chest, and cocked a brow, eyes twinkling as the corners of his lips turned up.

  “Wow.” Tessa’s voice echoed in his head. “Who is he?”

  “No one you need to be ogling.”

  “I’m not ogling, but I’m not blind. He’s actually rather attractive once you get past the big and scary. It’s the smile, I think. Or maybe the eyes. The green is so shocking and intense against that lovely caramel skin.”

  “Why do women always say that?” Alec shook his head. The guy looked like any other hulking behemoth to him.

  “Because it’s true?” Tessa poked him in the back, then reached for his left hand, lacing her fingers through his.

  “About time you showed up.” Galen pushed back from the desk and rose to his feet, towering over everyone in the room. He moved around the furniture with unexpected grace, and held out a hand to Alec. “Haven’t seen your ugly mug since you took that animorti knife to the ribs.”

  “Oh, you must mean the time Katrina tricked you, and Jacques Rapier snatched her right out from under your nose.” Alec grinned back, slapping his palm against Galen’s, and jerking his head toward Tessa who’d gasped at the mention of the injury.

  “Yeah, well. Your sister-in-law is quite a persuasive witch when she sets her mind to something. And who knew her cousin would turn out to be a two-faced bitch? Anyway, that damn blade barely scratched you.” Galen grinned, squeezing Alec’s hand to let him know he’d gotten the message. “You didn’t need to carry on like a little girl.”

  “Not exactly how I remember it.” Alec grinned back, pulling Tessa forward. “Meet my wife. This is Contessa. Tess, this big, ugly brute with the selective memory is Galen. He’s the Defensori’s technology whiz kid.”

  “Contessa.” Galen nodded.

  “Just Tessa,” she smiled back, squeezing Alec’s fingers. “Hello, Galen.”

  “Galen also descends from the line of Menelik, better known as King David, son of Solomon and Makeda. Which makes him the Defensori’s resident Djinn expert, too,” Luca interjected, and Alec’s mouth dropped open. “And before you ask, the stories are true. Makeda, Queen of Sheba, was a Djinniyah.”

  Alec picked up his jaw and expelled a long, low whistle between his teeth.

  “Half, anyway. On her mother’s side.” Galen grunted, returning to his post behind the desk. “You know what they say. Can’t pick your relatives.”

  “Well, I guess an ancestry including an Ethiopian queen explains the lovely caramel skin.” Alec winked at Tessa. Galen lifted his gaze from the computer screen and arched a brow in Alec’s direction.

  “I’m flattered, Alec. But, you aren’t my type, no matter how pretty you are.”

  “Very funny. And we need a Djinn expert, why?”

  “Tessa,” Alec’s mother interrupted, reaching for Tessa’s other hand and tugging her toward the door. “Why don’t we go and see what Callista is up to? You must be hungry. I’ll put a fresh pot of coffee on, and I’ve got a lovely cherry torta.”

  “The way Calli was going at it, I’d guess the torta’s been reduced to crumbs too small for mice by now,” Alec laughed. “We’ve eaten. And Mom? I’m sorry about last night. I know you were only trying to help. And though you shouldn’t interpret this in any way as free rein to meddle in my life in the future, thanks.
”

  Tessa beamed and leaned in close to his side.

  “Really, Alec. As though I could ever be that mother.” His mother waved him off, but Alec caught the gleam of moisture in her eyes. “And you’re welcome. Are you coming, Tessa?”

  “Actually.” Tessa glanced from the small notebook in Luca’s hand, to the papers piled beside the laptop in front of Galen, and then finally looked up at Alec. “If this has something to do with my father, I’d really rather stay, if that’s okay?”

  “She’ll have to know sooner or later,” Luca sighed, waving the notebook in Madge’s direction before tossing it on the desk. Alec’s mother threw her hands in the air and made her escape. “May as well be sooner.”

  “Know what?” Tessa asked.

  “How well did you look at this stuff yesterday?” Luca indicated the notebook and paperwork on the desk.

  “My examination was cursory, at best,” Alec responded. “To tell you the truth, last night I even considered the idea Barachiel left it as a red herring. Part of the whole plot to bring Tess and me together.”

  “Always a possibility, I suppose. But, I don’t think so. Calli passed out early last night, and I found myself at loose ends, so I started reading through it. Barachiel had dealings with MFAA, as you suspected. The notebook contains a list of dates and places. Merkers, Altaussee, Seigen. Galen cross referenced the list and confirmed they represent known repositories of paintings, ceramics, books, and religious treasures plundered by the Nazis and the dates the Allies discovered and reclaimed them.”

  “Fairly common knowledge to anyone who’s done any research on the topic, I imagine.” Alec shrugged. He led Tessa over to one of the armchairs by the window, then perched a hip against it, draping an arm across the back once she settled into it. “Hitler was a frustrated artist who fancied himself an art connoisseur. The war provided the opportunity to pick and choose among the greatest European masterpieces and acquire them for himself and his cronies. He planned to turn the Austrian city of Linz into the cultural capital of the Third Reich with Führermuseum as the centerpiece.”