Two nights later, Daryl accompanied Ashley to the rooftop of the parking garage opposite Miller’s Adoption Agency. It was supposedly under the guise of inter unit unity, but Daryl had a feeling Ashley wanted to talk to her alone. One angel bearer to another.
“So this is where you first caught sight of Lailah?” Daryl lifted the high-powered binoculars that Rafe had loaned her and trained them on the building opposite. She couldn’t detect any movement in the building.
“She’s not in there yet. There’s no ghostly glitter trail going from room to room. She’s a bit of a wanderer when the cleaners leave.” Ashley placed her elbows on the wall in front of her and rested her chin on her hands. “As soon as I spot her I’ll give you the heads up.”
“Blythe told me what happened to Rafe that makes her see the glitter trails. It must have been terrifying for her.”
Ashley smiled softly. “My girl is made of strong stuff,” she said with an edge of pride. “She’s tackled plenty of demons since then and isn’t exactly shy about standing up to angels either.”
Daryl shifted uncomfortably and let out a sigh that came out more heartfelt than she wished. “Ah yes, angels.”
Ashley turned to regard her. “I’m guessing you’re still a little shell-shocked. I can understand that. It’s a lot to take in after a lifetime of having a power that you couldn’t explain and then it’s revealed as angelic interference.”
“I wasn’t expecting an angel,” Daryl admitted, finally lowering the binoculars so she could look at Ashley. “I was actually more concerned I was possessed by something less….”
“God-given?”
Daryl roughly ran a hand through her hair. “I’ve never given much thought to stuff like this. My mother was the religious one. She had her beliefs but never forced them on to me as a child. She always said I was too much my father’s daughter. I’d need evidence and a signed confession before I’d put my trust in any belief system.” Her chest constricted as she remembered her mother. “I wish she were here now so I could share this with her. I think it would have shown I had a part of her in me too.”
“Virgil revealed his presence to her when she was close to death. The very act of dying opens humans’ eyes to the existence of angels around us, but he wanted her to know you had him beside you.”
“Just like she always believed.”
“Exactly. By the way, he apologizes for making you cry.”
Daryl’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Excuse me?”
“In the agency, he told Eli he made you feel an emotion so powerful it made you cry. It was the only way he could think of to get you out of the room and into the bathroom where he was aware Lailah was heading.”
Daryl was stunned. She remembered vividly the strength of her emotions that day. The uncharacteristic crying that had suddenly taken her over had been surprising to say the least. “Virgil made me get upset so I could cross paths with our suspect?” Ashley nodded at her. Daryl had to smile. “I really wish he could have just written something on the bathroom mirror so I could have gotten a clue as to what I was doing in there and why. And I hated the fact it made me look weak in front of Blythe.”
“Oh, Daryl, I don’t think Blythe sees you as weak at all. That girl thinks the sun rises and sets on that pale head of yours.”
Daryl knew her cheeks were reddening under Ashley’s frank appraisal. “How can I expect her to be with me when I have an angel at my shoulder and an obvious calling to find lost children? That’s quite a bit of extra baggage to take on.”
“How can you not expect her to jump at the chance? You’re not meant to forge a path through life alone. Can you honestly admit to wanting to return to your ‘normal’ life after spending however many weeks it’s been at Blythe’s side?”
The terrible ache in Daryl’s chest almost made her gasp out loud at just the thought of having to step away from Blythe’s side. Ashley obviously saw the pain in her eyes.
“I thought not. So you come with an angelic attachment. It’s no biggie. I do too and Rafe wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s who I am, what I do.”
“But it’s not safe for her anymore with me. I’m more connected to your world now, thanks to Virgil, than I could ever be to hers. She doesn’t need to be sucked into a world where demons are the standard. With me, she stands no chance of a normal life.”
“So you do what? Leave the love of your life behind because you need to face this demon-infested world alone?” Ashley shook her head. “Believe me, Daryl, finding that someone who accepts you for all you are is the sweetest blessing life can bestow on you.”
Daryl nodded, but she knew she wasn’t the same person Blythe had met back in New York. Daryl didn’t even feel the same herself. And Blythe deserved to be with someone who didn’t have a calling to find children that was obviously heaven sent.
“Can I tell you something?” Daryl asked, steeling her courage to do so.
“Sure.”
“When I was out on a run a week or so ago I was….attacked.”
“Attacked?” Ashley frowned at her. “I’m getting the sense you don’t mean mugged for your running shoes.”
“Something dressed all in black hit me with such a force I was blown off my feet and left bruised.”
Ashley stepped closer. “Where did they hit you?”
Daryl pointed to her chest. Ashley held her hand up.
“May I?” At Daryl’s hesitant nod Ashley rested her hand where Daryl had indicated. She closed her eyes and her fingers spread out warmly across Daryl’s chest. Ashley opened her eyes and gave a sigh. “You got hit by a demon.”
Daryl’s huffed. “Why am I not surprised?”
“So who was driving the car when the other one got tagged?”
“Excuse me?” Daryl was confused.
“I spotted demon residue on the front of your car the night we came over. One of you had a close encounter with a demon. Its glitter trail was still visible on your hood.”
“I’ll ask Blythe. God, how much have we been keeping from each other for fear of sounding crazy?” She reached for her cell phone. “And today we both started receiving these.” She held the phone out for Ashley to read the text.
There’s no child for you here. Look elsewhere.
“So there’s no child for you here? Someone obviously knows you’re in line for one. As for the ‘look elsewhere’ part, there’s a nice little warning if ever I read one. You get attacked, Blythe apparently has a run-in while out driving, and now texts.” Ashley seemed to deliberate for a moment then said, “Get your tech girl to try and trace these. But you might want to leave out the details of the hit and run and you being attacked from your DDU guys just yet.” Ashley got a look on her face Daryl couldn’t decipher. “Curious. I wonder why you two are being targeted. This wouldn’t fit the kidnapper’s M.O. She needs to pull you in, not push you away.”
“But would it fit the demon’s?”
Ashley grinned. “Oh, you are smart. I like that in a fellow angel host.”
“It’s the only explanation. Someone also tried to break into our car last night but the alarm went off. When we checked the security footage, all we saw was a black figure. I think we’re being targeted.”
“So why is she trying to scare you off? That’s an intriguing development.”
“Damned if I know. But Blythe and I are both on edge. These are personal attacks, directed at us both. And they started once we were accepted for adopting a specific baby.”
“Let me ponder that for a while.” Ashley was silent for a time until Daryl couldn’t take the quiet any longer.
“What’s it like to be able to shape shift?” Daryl didn’t mean to change the subject quite so obviously, but she didn’t want to think about being attacked by a demon any more.
“It helps me get the job done. I’ve shifted since I was a baby. It’s as natural as breathing is to me. What was weirder to me was having Rafe see right through my glamour. God, that was bizarre. But it was nice too. To know that finally there was someone who could see me and only me.” She nudged Daryl gently in her side. “I bet Blythe makes you feel that way.”
“She’s not fazed by the whole angel thing at all. I’m still having a hard time believing, and she’s so matter-of-fact about it. Like every detective from Vermont comes armed with an angel.” Daryl tried not to sound aggravated about it, but finding out about Virgil had really thrown her life into disarray. Yet Blythe had taken the news a lot more calmly.
“She’s a cop. They’re like that.”
“I’m a cop too,” Daryl argued.
“Yeah, but you’re a cop who’s had angelic Impressor influences in your life. That kind of takes you off the usual ‘just the facts, ma’am’ list and places you higher on the weird and whacky column.” Ashley just shrugged at Daryl’s aggrieved look. “It makes you mysterious. Girls love a woman with a bit of mystery.”
Daryl mused over Ashley’s words. Her mind went back to the scene at the barbeque right at the start of their investigation. “Are Eli and Virgil here?”
“Just like American Express, can never leave home without them!”
“The day of the barbeque….” She stopped as she watched Ashley take on the familiar look of hearing a comment from someone else.
“You saved a kid? That’s cool.” Ashley listened some more. “Oh, you want to know how in the hell you managed to get to the baby in time before he took a header into the pool?”
“I was like everyone else. I wasn’t aware of him until a split second when I focused in. Was that Virgil?”
Ashley nodded. “He did something new that day too. He loaned you his wings.”
Daryl’s jaw dropped. “No wonder I shot across the yard like a bullet.” She couldn’t get her head around the implications. “Well, fuck me.”
Ashley chuckled. “You’re going to have to tell me what that felt like. Eli has never blessed me with that trick.”
“Virgil got me to the pool in time to stop Matthew from falling in. Wow. That’s really something.”
“I like you, Daryl Chandler,” Ashley said. “You are so less confrontational about how your world has changed.”
Daryl didn’t know how to answer.
“Rafe was a major pain in the ass. Actually, she still is, bless her. But she fought and clawed her way around the whole heaven and hell thing until I finally wore her down.” Ashley gave Daryl a saucy grin. “It was worth every minute too. But you’re much calmer, even though I’m sure your brain is still firing off wild neuron firework displays in shock and disbelief.”
Daryl liked that analogy; it was very close to how she felt. Mentally, there was a whole Fourth of July explosion going off in her head.
“And I like that I have finally met someone else with an angel. It’s kind of lonely being the only one.” Ashley’s voice sounded so wistful that Daryl unconsciously moved closer. “And you haven’t done what Rafe would have done had she found out she had an angel. She’d have been compelled to do the whole my angel is bigger than your angel thing. That’s why I think you’re the perfect person for an Impressor. You’re calm. You have a very restful soul, Daryl.”
“Thank you. I wish I felt it at the moment.”
“It will return once you’ve gotten your head around all the angel malarkey, and then it will be back to business.” Ashley peered over the side of the roof. “This demon has two women in her sights picked out for you and Blythe. From what I’ve witnessed, I guess she figured it was easier to look for Blythe’s coloring than yours.”
Daryl pulled at the edges of her lightweight coat and shivered a little. “Is it just me or is it oddly cold around here?” She caught the swift look Ashley gave her. “What?”
“Have you always been sensitive to areas?”
Daryl thought about it. “Not that I’m aware of. Why?”
“It’s cooler here because there is a demon in residence. You’re sensing it. Maybe you’ve never noticed it before because you’ve not been in contact with demons much.”
“I wouldn’t really know one way or another would I? I can’t see my angel, so I certainly won’t see a demon. And whoever hit me seemed very human but with a strength I’ve never seen before. Come to think of it, I did get cold right before they popped out in front of me.”
“I think you’re going to become more sensitive now because you’ve opened your mind to the possibilities of what is really occurring on good ol’ planet Earth.”
“I can see why ignorance can be seen as bliss.”
“You’ve got an angelic guide and a rudimentary knowledge of demonology. You’re way past the ignorance stage.”
“And the bliss?”
“You get that with Blythe I’m sure. What more could you wish for?”
Daryl couldn’t help the smile that escaped her lips and she laughed even while Ashley kept prudently quiet for once.
“By the way, Virgil wasn’t with you when you got jumped, otherwise he’d have protected you. I’m reliably told he’s going to stick a little closer to you now that he’s aware you’re being singled out.”
“I’d rather he watch over Blythe. She’s more precious to me.”
Ashley grinned at something she was told. “He says his wings are big enough for the two of you.”
“I’ll bear that in mind,” Daryl said.
“Here she is,” Ashley announced suddenly, pointing down to the street below.
Daryl squinted in the darkness and tried to sort out Lailah from the few other bodies milling about on the street below. “Let me guess, you can see her sparkling.”
“She’s got a shimmer that is shinier than the Christmas tree on Rockefeller Plaza.”
Daryl brought the binoculars up to get a closer look. She zoomed in on Lailah and followed her path as she walked right past the agency’s main door and instead disappeared into a side door. “Strange she doesn’t use the main entrance.”
“I don’t think they know she lives there. I’d wager she has a nest in the basement.”
“A nest? Like a bird or something?”
“More like a snake. Some demons shed their skins like a reptile. Mostly the lesser demons that have to swap their forms. Some who can remain in character keep their flesh but don’t want the sense of human normality like a home and stuff. Some have a different purpose coming up from hell.” Ashley’s eyes never left the building, and Daryl wondered what she could see that Daryl just couldn’t. “Looks like this Lailah is specifically stealing children for some purpose we just can’t see yet.”
“You think there’s something more to it than her fulfilling Miller’s need to place children with ones she sees more deserving of a child?”
“Demons always have a purpose that is purely selfish. It’s in their nature. I don’t see what Lailah is gaining that is for her own satisfaction in this act. And believe me, demons are all about the satisfaction they receive.”
“So demons are just as hard to figure out as human criminals. I’m not entirely comforted by that thought.”
“Take comfort in the fact you probably won’t have to deal with many demons in your line of work. After all, you don’t appear to have been involved with them before now. Otherwise, I’m sure our paths would have crossed at some point.”
“So Blythe and I get to go back to our own world knowing all this is out there? While you and Rafe do what?”
“We continue seeking out the demons and sending them back where they belong.”
Daryl was uneasy with the knowledge that she was supposed to just go back to her life and pretend everything was normal. Nothing felt normal now. “The New York DDU is pissed at the Chicago involvement.”
Ashley laughed. “And they don’t know the half of it.”
“I just want all the lost children found. I know they are here. I guess I just need Virgil to help me find them.”
“Well, while he’s looking into that, this is for you.” Ashley rummaged in her pocket and handed over a USB stick. “You’re going to need this for your staff meeting tomorrow.”
Daryl held the small USB between her fingers. “What’s on here?”
“Pictures of Lailah in action at the Baby Aid clinics. It’s amazing how easy it is to get candid shots of her eyeing potential victims. I watched her today. Like I said, she’s got two women she’s hovering around like a demonic mother hen. I think one of them will be her target for you two.”
“I hope we get the call soon. I want this brought to a close. She can’t keep taking children.”
“Just this one last time and then we can stop her. Then I can send her back to hell where she belongs.”
“I like the sound of that. Even though I don’t quite know what that will entail or even look like.”
“It will look like a blessed relief to all expectant mothers out there who won’t have Lailah preying on their children.”