Page 53 of Destined for Eternity
Joy gave her a reproachful look. “You shouldn’t be here, either. It’s safer in Anchorage.”
For some reason, they didn’t get as much trouble there. Cori didn’t know a lot about the sups in the city, but she’d heard they were governed by a powerful female vampire who didn’t allow any other supernatural races there other than a few select witches to cast spells for her.
“You know I like Fairbanks better.”
Her mother made a clucking noise with her tongue. “You’re hanging on to the past. Surely you and Bartol could move to Anchorage and be more comfortable there. I would get to see my grandbaby more often, too.”
“He’s got a job to do here, and I run a business,” Cori pointed out. “It’s not that easy.”
“What job is he doing now? He wouldn’t say when I talked to him on the phone last.”
She frowned. “When did you talk to Bartol?”
“Oh, it was over a week ago.” Joy set the cut up potatoes aside and moved on to the tomatoes. “It was the oddest thing, but I could have sworn I heard the sounds of fighting in the background.”
Despite being angry with her mate at the moment, she couldn’t help a small grin. “He might have been in the middle of a battle when you called. I’m surprised he answered.”
“I might have kept calling until he did,” Joy admitted.
Her mother could be more than persistent.
Cori threw the cauliflower she had cut up into a bowl. “He’s busy fighting demons at the moment. Only he and his father can kill them, so the two of them have been in high demand.”
“Demons?” Joy’s expression turned stricken. “That’s what is causing all the trouble I’ve seen on the news?”
Cori could have tried hiding that little secret from her mother, but eventually she would have figured it out. Joy could give the best interrogators a run for their money and could make anyone talk with just a look. Cori rarely tried to hide anything from her, except when absolutely necessary. If this topic would keep her mother off of the scent with the situation with Bartol, she’d use it. “Yeah, apparently we didn’t get them all in Europe and more have made it to Earth.”
Joy stood, gripping the bowl of vegetables that would go into the meat already stewing on the stove. “And yet you’re sitting in your home unprotected.”
“I’ll know if they get close.”
“How?” her mother asked.
“As it turns out, that’s one of my new abilities. Bartol’s father helped me strengthen it, so I can be prepared if they get close. If I shoot them with a bit of my blood on the bullet, it will even stun them for a couple of minutes.” Cori smiled. “I’m not totally defenseless.”
Joy dumped the veggies into the stew and turned to face Cori. “You’re pregnant, and you’re talking about spilling your blood and shooting demons. What are you thinking, young lady? Go someplace safe and stay out of it.”
“I don’t think anywhere is truly safe, but I’ve been fine right here. Demons prefer populated areas,” Cori replied. She could see this argument going on for a long time if she didn’t squash it fast.
“You should still have someone protecting you.” Joy stirred the stew. “That idiot mate of yours—who ought to have married you by now—should be here at your side. Your father would roll in his grave if he knew what was going on.”
Cori didn’t want to defend Bartol while she wasn’t even talking to him, but there were some things out of his control. “He’s doing what he has to do to protect our child. Like I said already, only he and his father can kill demons. Is he supposed to let people keep dying when I’m perfectly safe where I am?”
“His father.” Joy started cleaning up the mess on the table. “Wouldn’t he be an angel?”
The last time Raguel had been around, her mother hadn’t gotten the chance to meet him since he was in London. She hadn’t even bothered mentioning him. At the time, the holidays and news of the baby were enough to avoid the subject of the archangel.
Cori nodded. “Yes, he is.”
“I thought angels fall and go to Hell if they get a human pregnant,” her mother said, frowning.
“They do, but Raguel is the only archangel who was made specifically to fight demons. He once led a legion of angels in battles against Hell, so they couldn’t afford to lose him.” Cori went on to explain the stasis they used to keep him down, and what happened after Bartol was born. That he’d been raised by his mother until she died when he was six, never meeting his father until recently. Unless one counted the month Raguel had been able to stay after Bartol’s birth, before the archangel was taken away.
Joy’s eyes grew misty. “That is terrible for him. Punished just because he fell in love with a human woman and then he never got to see her again or spend much time with his son. I can’t believe Bartol didn’t tell me about his father when I talked to him last.”
“He was probably busy fighting demons.” Cori stood and patted her mother’s arm. “It’s not like he can remember to tell you every little thing going on in his life.”
“Where is the archangel now? I want to meet the man who will be a grandparent to your baby,” Joy said, clasping her hands. There was excitement in her eyes. She had a thing for wanting to meet angels and was no longer satisfied with only nephilim.
