Read Online Devil's Paw (Imp Book 4) by Debra Dunbar - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Debra Dunbar
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The stretching became painful, and I felt a tear at the edge of my being, where the scars from my fight with Haagenti would always remain.
I’ve got you.
And he had. My panic subsided, leaving me shaky and drained. I wouldn’t be doing this again. No fucking way. I’d almost died. If he hadn’t been here to catch me, I would have died. Whatever it was I was supposed to have learned, I hadn’t. I’d failed, and I just wanted to go home, out of this fire, to where I could remain safely in a flesh form, as I had for centuries.
Try again. His voice was gentle, but I heard the firm command behind the softness.
No. I hated to disappoint him, didn’t want to admit to my failure and my terrible fear to try again. I just couldn’t. Couldn’t. For a moment my panic returned. What if he forced me? Pulled away and threw me over the edge? There was nothing I could do to stop him.
Hush. I won’t make you if you’re not ready.
He rubbed against me, gently smoothing my new scars and shielding me from my surroundings. Feeling safe again, I opened my senses. I was gathered against him, joined in a strange combination of ecstasy and comfort. He felt like home — warm, powerful, and safe. I had a longing to join with him all the way, to swirl our spirit selves and make him part of me, but I was curious about the flame we shared. It wasn’t truly fire. It was some kind of strange energy source I’d never seen before.
What are you? I asked.
An angel, he teased. What are you?
Your Cockroach.
It just came out of me, an involuntary response. The derogatory name he’d always called me had turned into a strange endearment, and I’d just formalized it, honoring him by making it part of my official name. Not only that, but I’d made it clear this was a private name. Only he could call me this, only he would know this name and its significance. I was his Cockroach.
I felt his surprise, and an explosion of emotion, like water bursting free from a dam. It was overwhelming, sweeping over me with its intensity. The humans always saw angels as a loving, happy bunch, dedicated to singing praises about the benevolence of their deity. Not the angels I’d met, and especially not Gregory. He always appeared to be serious, grim. He rarely laughed, and in the ten months I’d known him, he’d never seemed happy, but suddenly he was. He was more than happy.
He curled himself even closer to me, increasing the sections where we were joined, and stirring up all sorts of sensations. My thoughts blurred, all thought of the forest fire vanishing along with my fear of death. I relaxed and enjoyed the feel of him in and around me.
Give me magnesium, chlorine, oxygen, sulfur and carbon.
Huh? I shifted against him in confusion, and felt him brush against my store of raw energy.
Create it, and let me share it.
That was a new one. He’d asked me to create things before in what had become our private lesson time, but never when we were semi–joined like this.
How do you want them? And how much? This was important. Chlorine wasn’t the most stable atom in the periodic table. This I knew from personal experience.
I felt him wince, as if he’d shared my rather explosive memory. Four oxygen on one chlorine. The others standalone. A few ounces. I can dispose of any unused.
Safe in his embrace, I used my raw energy to create a few ounces of each, carefully combining the chlorine atoms with the oxygen ones.
Without a physical form to hold it, I expected the chemicals to just drop to the forest floor, which, given the fire around us, would have been a rather violent disaster, but the angel held it aloft. His flame changed, and suddenly the lot ignited, in a sizzling ball. He launched it, and it exploded just above the tree line, sending fireworks of silver–white to the sky in a burst of light and color bright enough to penetrate the thick, dark smoke. I knew he watched for my reaction, and I felt his pleasure in my delight at his trick.
Calcium
I’ve got you.
And he had. My panic subsided, leaving me shaky and drained. I wouldn’t be doing this again. No fucking way. I’d almost died. If he hadn’t been here to catch me, I would have died. Whatever it was I was supposed to have learned, I hadn’t. I’d failed, and I just wanted to go home, out of this fire, to where I could remain safely in a flesh form, as I had for centuries.
Try again. His voice was gentle, but I heard the firm command behind the softness.
No. I hated to disappoint him, didn’t want to admit to my failure and my terrible fear to try again. I just couldn’t. Couldn’t. For a moment my panic returned. What if he forced me? Pulled away and threw me over the edge? There was nothing I could do to stop him.
Hush. I won’t make you if you’re not ready.
He rubbed against me, gently smoothing my new scars and shielding me from my surroundings. Feeling safe again, I opened my senses. I was gathered against him, joined in a strange combination of ecstasy and comfort. He felt like home — warm, powerful, and safe. I had a longing to join with him all the way, to swirl our spirit selves and make him part of me, but I was curious about the flame we shared. It wasn’t truly fire. It was some kind of strange energy source I’d never seen before.
What are you? I asked.
An angel, he teased. What are you?
Your Cockroach.
It just came out of me, an involuntary response. The derogatory name he’d always called me had turned into a strange endearment, and I’d just formalized it, honoring him by making it part of my official name. Not only that, but I’d made it clear this was a private name. Only he could call me this, only he would know this name and its significance. I was his Cockroach.
I felt his surprise, and an explosion of emotion, like water bursting free from a dam. It was overwhelming, sweeping over me with its intensity. The humans always saw angels as a loving, happy bunch, dedicated to singing praises about the benevolence of their deity. Not the angels I’d met, and especially not Gregory. He always appeared to be serious, grim. He rarely laughed, and in the ten months I’d known him, he’d never seemed happy, but suddenly he was. He was more than happy.
He curled himself even closer to me, increasing the sections where we were joined, and stirring up all sorts of sensations. My thoughts blurred, all thought of the forest fire vanishing along with my fear of death. I relaxed and enjoyed the feel of him in and around me.
Give me magnesium, chlorine, oxygen, sulfur and carbon.
Huh? I shifted against him in confusion, and felt him brush against my store of raw energy.
Create it, and let me share it.
That was a new one. He’d asked me to create things before in what had become our private lesson time, but never when we were semi–joined like this.
How do you want them? And how much? This was important. Chlorine wasn’t the most stable atom in the periodic table. This I knew from personal experience.
I felt him wince, as if he’d shared my rather explosive memory. Four oxygen on one chlorine. The others standalone. A few ounces. I can dispose of any unused.
Safe in his embrace, I used my raw energy to create a few ounces of each, carefully combining the chlorine atoms with the oxygen ones.
Without a physical form to hold it, I expected the chemicals to just drop to the forest floor, which, given the fire around us, would have been a rather violent disaster, but the angel held it aloft. His flame changed, and suddenly the lot ignited, in a sizzling ball. He launched it, and it exploded just above the tree line, sending fireworks of silver–white to the sky in a burst of light and color bright enough to penetrate the thick, dark smoke. I knew he watched for my reaction, and I felt his pleasure in my delight at his trick.
Calcium
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