Early to Death, Early to Rise - Kim Harrison [50]
The almost-sound of spilling broken glass slid through my awareness, and a softball-size haze of light darted into the room from the open window.
“Grace!” I exclaimed, and Shoe looked at me as if I were nuts. Either something had gone really right with Barnabas and Nakita, or it had gone really wrong.
The globe circled Ace as if getting a scent, then went to perch on Shoe’s monitor. “Grace?” I questioned, suddenly unsure.
“Guardian angel two-T-four-five taking on a new charge, you lamebrain, dark-winged dark reaper,” the light said snidely. “You lose.”
My mouth dropped open, and I turned to the window when I realized what had happened. “No!” I cried, and my anger peaked when I saw Paul, smug and satisfied, standing in the bushes, his head level with the window.
“You idiot!” I exclaimed, and both Shoe and Ace turned to the window to see him. Damn it, this was my own fault. He must have been at the school, then followed us, waiting until I gave away who the mark was before assigning an angel to Ace.
“Done and done,” Paul said snarkily. “You lose, Madison. I saved this one.”
“Saved him for what?” I asked. Angrier than I’d ever been, I lunged to the window, grabbing his tunic and dragging him in.
“Ow! Hey!” Paul exclaimed, hitting the floor in a graceless pile. From the ceiling, the guardian angel was shouting, but no one but me could probably hear it. Shoe and Ace had drawn back, and I stood over Paul, wanting to give him a good kick.
“You stupid idiot!” I said, pissed. “I told you I was taking care of this! And you come in and muck it up! Why don’t you find out the entire story before you start making choices for people! Thanks a hell of a lot, Paul!”
From outside in the hall, I heard Shoe’s mom call out, “Honey? Is everything all right?”
Oh, crap!
We froze. Paul got up off the floor, his eyes wide. Ace was standing with his head craned back as his nose bled.
“We’re fine, Mom,” he called out with just the right amount of irritation, flexing his hand, which was now swollen from having hit Ace.
“Swell, swell, we’re all good here,” the angel chimed out.
“You guys want a snack or anything?” his mother asked, clearly concerned.
My estimation of Shoe’s mom went higher. She hadn’t burst in even when things were clearly not right. She was a cool lady for letting us work this out ourselves.
“No, Mom! We’re fine!”
Fine, fine. We’re all just spiffy keen.
No one spoke as her heels clicked away. Finally the guardian angel sighed, and Shoe put his back to his door, clearly frustrated. “Okay,” he said, looking at Paul. “This is my room, and I want to know who you are and what’s going on.”
I couldn’t tell him everything, but I stood in front of the window and crossed my arms over my middle. “This idiot just gave Ace a guardian angel!” I said, furious.
“Saved your scrawny butt,” the guardian angel said, and I gave it a dark look. It sounded different from Grace, but I doubted that I’d be able to name it and break the hold Ron had put on it. Not a second time.
Ace brought his head down and sniffed back his bloody nose. “I got a guardian angel?”
“Him?” Shoe yelled. “He just framed me for crashing the hospital computers tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I know. Ironic, isn’t it?” I said, uncrossing my arms and turning to Ace. “You can’t see her, but you just got a blessing from heaven—idiot. Nothing will touch you now until your scheduled death.” Turning to Paul, I couldn’t help myself and shouted, “Thanks a lot!”
This just wasn’t my day. Here I was supposed to be impressing the seraphs that dark and light reapers could work together to save the lost, and I had failed spectacularly. At least Barnabas could make everyone forget the last twenty-four hours. If he was okay, that was. The guardian angel buzzed me, and I wasn’t surprised as her wings came to a halt with the soft sound of sliding glass.
“You’re not a dark reaper,” she