Angels of Darkness

probably didn’t need me at all. Alma was not the one who had requested my presence....
    â€œNo, I’d hate to spend the night there,” I agreed. “The place is so—spooky.” I managed a convincing shiver.
    Judith spoke up, her voice deceptively mild. “I suppose someone will have to take over your shift in the kitchen at night,” she said. “I don’t see how you can do it all.”
    â€œYes, Rhesa will have to go back to night duty for the time being,” Deborah agreed.
    Judith grinned at me behind Deborah’s back—we both hated Rhesa—and Rhesa started whining. “But I hate the overnight shift! Isn’t it somebody else’s turn?”
    â€œStop complaining!” Deborah said briskly. “It’s just for a few days, I’m sure.”
    I was less sure, but I wasn’t about to say so. I was both unnerved and a little excited to think that Corban had gone to such effort to secure my help on a protracted basis. Of course, he really had no one else to ask. It wasn’t particularly a compliment to me that I was the only one he knew in the entire Gabriel School.
    â€œWhen should I go up to the Great House? Now? It’s so late already.”
    â€œShe said you should come no matter what time it was, so just head on over.”
    â€œIt’s not fair,” Rhesa muttered under her breath, but Deborah gave her a minatory look, and she subsided.
    No, it’s not fair, I wanted to tell her. Angels are selfish and high-handed. They don’t care who else is inconvenienced as long as their own needs are met. You can’t gainsay them, so your only choices are to do what they want or to run away.
    But I found that I didn’t want to run away from this particular angel.
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    N ow that I didn’t have to creep to the Great House unobserved, I was able to bring fresh supplies to Alma when I climbed up to the house a few minutes later. She was sitting in the kitchen, sipping tea, and I complimented her on her ruse as I put potatoes in the pantry and a crock of butter on the table.
    â€œSo what’s the name of this place we both worked in Luminaux?” I said. “In case anyone asks me.”
    â€œI actually managed a dress shop there, so we might as well claim that,” she said. “Have you ever even been to Luminaux?”
    I put my hands against my chest in a mock swoon. “The Blue City! The most wonderful place in all of Samaria, as far as I’m concerned.” It was an artisans’ town, full of musicians and potters and jewelers and painters, and I would live there again in a heartbeat. If I thought I’d be safe.
    â€œSo you’ve moved around a little,” she said.
    I nodded. “At various times, I’ve lived in Semorrah and Castelana and Velora. But I was in Monteverde longer than I was anywhere else.”
    I could tell that caught her attention—most mortal women who spend much time near the holds turn out to be angel-seekers—but she didn’t ask any questions.
    â€œJust so you know,” she said, “it was the angelo who requested your assistance. I could have gotten along perfectly well on my own.”
    That made me grin, but I said, “So what did he do? Shout down the stairwell at you?”
    She shook her head. She still looked a little unnerved. “He came downstairs, bringing the dinner dishes with him. That’s the first time he’s been down here since—maybe since he arrived. I was worried he’d bang his head on a door frame or snag one of his wings on a nail, but he managed very well.”
    â€œYes, he’s not nearly as helpless as he’s let himself believe,” I said.
    I read agreement in her expression, but she couldn’t bring herself to criticize an angel. “Anyway, he said he’d learned you were pulling double duty and he wanted that to stop—but he wanted you to keep bringing him his meals.” She gave me a shrewd look. “He doesn’t like strangers, but I suppose he’s gotten used to you.”
    I suppose he likes your company. What exactly have you been doing to charm the angel out of his misery? “I guess I’d better take him his dinner, then,” I said, loading up the tray.
    Alma gestured. “I made enough for both of you. I think it makes him more cheerful if he has company while he eats.”
    Oh, her sharp eyes didn’t miss a thing. But all I