Page 56 of Kiss of a Hellish Prince

“Facts.” I nodded. “So, drink your coffee and spill the tea. What’s going on? Murmur said something about a decision?”

Sarah told me more about two strange men coming into the tattoo parlor, two men that she now knew were Darrius and Ulric. Cole, her boss, then told her about knowing her mom and promising to look out for her. What was more concerning was Cole’s warning not to trust angels. Apparently, her mother was hiding from them, Sarah wasn’t sure why, and Cole hadn’t explained that yet. What she knew was that being an angel came with strings.

Lots of annoying-ass strings.

She had a choice—she could embrace her angel side, which meant going to Heaven and being tested to find out exactly what her abilities, if any, were.

Sarah was fine with that. What she wasn’t fine with was depending on those abilities; they could force her to stay in Heaven and work in a position they assigned for the betterment of angels. If they decided they wanted her, then that was it. If they decided they didn’t want her, then she could come home and work as she pleased, but they would still force her to register and check in with the nearest angel outpost.

If she chose not to embrace her angelic side, then they would have to “clip her wings,” which she described as an angelic lobotomy. It would strip her of any angelic abilities or traits. The problem with that was it was dangerous, and there was no telling what those traits could be. It could change her personality, who she loved, and how she loved. Worse, her art was probably a gift from her angelic genes.

Sarah’s art meant everything to her.

As Sarah told me everything, her eyes never strayed from her notebook, her hand constantly moving, drawing bold lines or softly shading. I would never understand how she got so many shades of grey from a single pencil.

“Okay, that is a lot,” I admitted, setting my now sad, empty coffee cup on the table.

“Yup. And then there is the whole Murmur versus Tab thing. Although I am not letting that influence anything.”

“Murmur versus Tab thing?”

“Yeah, well, yesterday at work, Tab came into the shop to talk to Cole. Apparently, they know each other. She is like a pseudo aunt or something? I don’t really know. Anyway, he and I were talking, and he was telling me about Heaven, and we went to dinner. I thought it was just a ‘hey this is a long convo and I need food’ kinda thing. Not a ‘I want to get to know you better cuz I want to see you naked’ thing.”

“Right.”

“But then when we were walking back to the car, he held my hand and then kissed me on the cheek when he dropped me off.”

“That’s so sweet.”

Her hand moved faster over the page. “It was,” she agreed. “But then when I came in, Murmur grabbed me to save me from being roped into an all-night Dungeons and Dragons campaign. We watchedMystery Science Theater 3000and made out like teenagers. So now I feel like a hoe on top of all the other stress. I am a stressed-out ho.”

I tried really hard not to laugh.

“It’s not funny.” She rolled her eyes at me. “Is it just me, or do all these men look like they just stepped off a photo shoot?”

“It’s not just you. And they smell so fucking good. What the fuck? I can’t keep my hands off Rune when he is around. I was trying to spar this morning, and we almost ended up fucking on the gym floor. Who does that? Dude, even their dads are hot.”

“RIGHT!” Sarah slammed her pencil down. “My hormones can’t take this shit!”

We both broke out into a fit of giggles.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“About the whole to Heaven or not to Heaven? I don’t know.” Sarah took a deep breath. “About the two hot guys? That’s easy. I am going to be up front. They don’t matter, not in the grand scheme of things right now. I might flirt, I might do a bit more, but they don’t get to have an opinion or be a factor in my decision.”

“See, that is mature, logical, and just the right way to look at it. Why can’t I do that?” I sat back in my chair, kicking my feet up on the table.

“Because you care about things like relationships and finding love more than I do. I don’t think you have ever been single more than a month in your life.” Sarah picked her pencil back up and continued to sketch.

“That is not true.” I thought about it for a moment. I just dumped Cam a few days ago, and I was already starting something with a guy I just met. “Okay, maybe that is true.”

“So what is going on with you and Rune?” she asked, finally setting her sketch pad down and looking at me.

I loved how she did that. When she was talking about herself, it was easier for her to focus on something else. She didn’t enjoy feeling vulnerable. But when it was about someone else, they had her undivided attention.

“Fuck if I know. The date last night was incredible and would have been better, but we got pulled into that campaign with the girls. I like him, I want him, and that man eats pussy like a starving lesbian, but there is just so much drama with Sif, so much that I need to figure out, and it’s so fast.”

Sarah snorted in her coffee. “A starving lesbian? Wow! So, enthusiasm and skill. Nice.”

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