There was a soft knock at the door and I stiffened, my heart going from zero to sixty in a millisecond. I crept to the door and pressed one hand against it, holding my body as far away as possible, lest I get another door-in- the-face visitor.
“Who is it?” I hissed.
“It’s me, Lawson, open up.”
I peeled up on my tiptoes, squinted through the peephole. Alex stood in my hallway, arms crossed in front of his navy-blue T-shirt, jeans cinched with a brown belt, lips pursed and looking slightly annoyed.
My hand hovered above the knob. “How do I know you’re Alex and not Ophelia pretending to be Alex?”
I could practically hear Alex’s eyes roll through the front door.
“I don’t know ... because I know you like to eat marshmallow Pinwheels in the bathtub.”
I crossed my arms, considering. “Lucky guess. What else?”
“Um, okay. I know you have a heart-shaped birthmark on your—”
I threw the lock and tugged the door open, snatching Alex by his shirtfront and pulling him into the apartment.
“Are you crazy? My neighbors already think I’m nutso enough; I don’t want them to think I’m a slut showing off my naked body to the world, too.”
Alex chuckled. “Your naked body.”
“Grow up, deadso. What are you doing here, anyway? How did you even know I would be home?”
Alex followed me to the kitchen. “Nina told me what happened. I’m really sorry about the job.”
“Me, too,” I said, pulling a box of frozen waffles from the freezer. “Want one?” I shook the box at Alex and he declined, but I popped two in the toaster anyway and stood by with peanut butter and jelly.
“It’s going to be okay, though, you know,” Alex said, patting me awkwardly on the shoulder.
“Right. Did Nina tell you I was going to be a doctor?”
“Don’t you need to go to school—”
I shot him an icy glare.
“You know I would help you out if you needed any money,” he said.
“Get an advance on your heavenly paycheck, did you?”
Alex rolled his eyes.
“So, what are you doing here?” I wanted to know.
“Frankly, I’m worried about you being here alone.”
My waffles popped up and I slathered them with peanut butter and jelly and slapped them together, sandwich style.
“I have a gun,” I said, mouth full of peanut-buttery-waffle goodness.
“I know,” Alex said, reaching out for my peanut-butter waffle-wich. He took a big bite. “Your gun smells like grape Hubba Bubba.”
I was indignant and snatched my waffle back, then pointed at him with it.
“Look, buddy, living in the city affords me a lot of opportunities where going in packing heat would solve a lot of problems. Like parking during the Christmas season or trying to make a left turn off of Market Street. You should be thankful that I keep the gun in a safe and non-emotionally charged place.”
“And the bullets?”
“When I’m stressed, I can reach for bullets or ice cream.” I polished off the last of my waffle and licked my fingers, satisfied.
Alex scratched his chin. “I think I’ve been earthbound for way too long. That’s actually starting to make a lot of sense.”
I grinned, vindicated.
“But that doesn’t mean that I feel better about you being unprotected—frozen ammo or no.”
“I told you, I have a vampire, too.”
“And Ophelia has the hounds of Hell and an entire army of the fallen behind her. Plus her Nephilim goon squad.”
“I have a dog, now, too,” I remembered. “Nina got her for me as a lovely parting gift.” I pointed to ChaCha in the living room.
Alex looked at her, snoring away in her Nina-furnished little pink doggie bed, rhinestoned PRINCESS inscription sparkling above her splayed furry belly.
Alex looked unimpressed. “Ophelia has Cerberus and you have ...”
“ChaCha,” I supplied with a smug smile.
“ChaCha. Excellent. Well, despite your obviously ironclad protection system”—again Alex’s eyes scanned my crime-busting paraphernalia: the bubble gum–scented, unloaded gun, the three-pound Chihuahua-terrier mix in her pink leatherette collar—“I think you should have this.” Alex produced a hard-sided black plastic case, just a bit smaller than a shoebox. He slid it across the table to me.
I popped the lock on the plastic box and opened it, staring at the device inside, encased in its own red velveteen–molded casing. I took the black-handled device out, and frowned. “You want me to shave Ophelia’s legs?”
Alex rolled his eyes. “It’s a stun gun, not an electric razor.” He cocked his head, taking the gun from my hands. “Although I can see where it does look a little bit like that.”
He used his index finger to depress the side trigger and the two metal tines shared a hairline-thin electric blue charge. I involuntarily jumped as the jolt of electricity crackled in his hands.
“That would definitely give you a close shave.”
“Do you know how to use one of these?”
The electric current crackled again and my saliva went metallic. Little pinpricks of cold sweat budded on my upper lips and palms and I felt myself go stiff. “I’ve had one used on me.”
Alex squeezed my hand softly. “Even more reason why you need to be prepared.”
I took the stun gun from Alex and felt its weight in my hand.
“Flip the trigger,” Alex suggested.
I licked my lips and slid my finger over the trigger button without depressing it. “I think I’ve got the picture.”
Alex reached into his pocket and produced two extra cartridges. “Don’t keep these in the freezer, okay?”
I nodded and Alex took the stun gun from me and slipped it into the smaller carrying case in the box, then handed the whole thing to me. “And for the love of God, this time, if something or someone comes after you, use the stun gun on them.” He raised one brow. “And that doesn’t mean throw it at them.”
I nodded curtly and slipped the gun case closer toward me. “Noted.”
Alex grinned. “Good.”
I crossed my arms and glowered. “I still don’t see why I need all this. Shouldn’t I be okay if I’ve got you around?” I waggled my eyebrows in an effort to look suggestive and adorable. “Like my guardian angel?”
The muscle in Alex’s jaw jumped and I watched his lips purse, nostrils flare. I don’t think Alex got either my suggestive or adorable vibe.
“Don’t you see, Lawson? That’s just it. I’m not always going to be around to protect you. I wanted to stick around here today to look in on you, but the department has me working on a case today out in Hunter’s Point.”
My heart swelled as I considered Alex’s sweet, protective side—but then the nag of anger overlooked it when I thought about Alex’s need to “look in” on me as though I were a charge he was babysitting.
“I’m fine, Alex.”
Alex ignored me, seemed to be lost in his own thought. His eyes were focused on the table as he mumbled, “You can’t ... you can’t just depend on me all the time.”
I was taken aback. “Oh. Right. You mean because you’re a fallen angel. And you guys are inherently unreliable.”
“I mean because I won’t always be here.”
I swallowed thickly. “You want to go home.”
Alex looked at the ground. “That’s what this is about. That’s what this has always been about.”
