Ch. 15: Mal's Vulnerability

September 2 | Day

We spent the morning scrolling Parisienne rental properties, Cherie over my shoulder yelling requirements and Ava, her nose stuck in a book, shooting down our wackiest ideas. Laughter brightened the dining room. My laptop nestled amidst a breakfast spread of fresh fruit, pastries, eggs, and meat. R. Greene, the lizard, scampered over jars of jellies and jams. Tea, coffee, and milk were on offer. Our appetites for soul food wouldn't be whetted for a while.

From the longboard across the room, a duduk resting on a wooden pedestal played of its own volition. The wind instrument was bathed in djinn dust, shimmering golden and brilliant. Its haunting notes evoked the lush green promise of an oasis, or a desert palace, or a haram full of beautiful concubines learning the antidote to slavery was knowing more than the master.

"What about this quaint third-story flat overlooking the Eiffel Tower?" I asked.

Ava squinted at the image that filled the laptop screen. "Hm, there's a dance studio nearby, too. Says the instructor has experience with people on the spectrum. Really?"

"Let me see." I hit the link in the apartment description and read aloud a write-up about the award-winning French dance instructor.

In my periphery, the gilded painting above the fireplace rippled to life, and a woman in a mountainous heap of crinolines slowly turned the page of the book she was reading. My gaze swept to Cherie as my sister skipped out the wide French doors to the porch swing. She pushed it almost past its limits. I eyed the creaking chains.

"That's magnificent!" Ava chimed when I was done with the article. "And if I complete my studies and acquire my law degree in France, we can kiss Louisiana au revoir forever,"

"That's the dream," I sighed amiably.

"What about you, Mal? What do you see yourself doing in Paris?" Ava tucked a plump green muscadine past her teeth and chewed, smiling at me.

I hummed at the high ceiling in thought. Fleeing overseas had always been Ava's dream. Now that the odds of leaving were in our favor, I wanted to accommodate my sisters, even if it meant giving up the firm. Ashivant, Ashivant, & Claibourne had been entrusted to me by our late father, but without him or his original partner, Delilah, I felt no pressing need to keep the legacy going.

"Maybe I'll find a handsome suitor, settle down, and raise some kids," I joked.

From the porch, Cherie snickered. "You can't have babies."

"Cherie!" Ava gasped sharply. The swing creaked to a halt, and Cherie's eyes widened. She bowed her head to let her blond tresses curtain her face.

I smiled tightly as I closed the laptop. "Oh, don't scold her, Ava. She's not wrong."

"Yes, but it's unkind to bring up, and it's..." Ava's scrutiny ricocheted from the youngest to me. "Well, you'd make a lovely mother, Mal."

"I don't even like kids!" I exclaimed as Cherie crept back to her dining chair, forlorn. "Ah, hell, Cher. I'm fine. Both of you, I'm fine. I was joking about settling down anyway. It'd be like The Taming of the Shrew, twenty-first century edition. Whatever idiot falls in love with me will fall right back out once he comes to his senses. I'll happily devote the rest of my life to the two of you."

"That's what worries me," Ava mumbled.

I paused sipping my mimosa at her response, but before I could inquire what she meant, Darcy called. Clearing my throat, I answered, "Let me guess. Phase three?" I folded my napkin and scooted from the table. Ava bit her bottom lip, half-rising, but I shook my head against her following me this time.

I wanted neither her nor Cherie any more involved in this fiasco with Jack than necessary. He wasn't our normal fare. They didn't need that on their consciences. I strode from the bright dining room where the open wall of doors let in birdsong and the scent of late summer wildflowers. The woman in the painting followed me with her eyes. Deeper within the manor, the regular gloom descended as Darcy greeted me.

"Alors, mon ami. Your last report indicated Jack's been complaining of side effects?"

"He wants to know when those regular medical work-ups you promised will kick in," I replied dryly as I headed to my office.

"Make a show of setting up an appointment, but stall him with a gift. There isn't a doctor in the city that can 'cure' him. We're this close to getting that map, and we can't have him second-guessing his commitment to the cause. So, distract him," said Darcy.

"What do you want me to buy him this time?" I asked.

***

An hour later, I knocked on the door of Lois and Jakub's apartment, but no one answered. Surveying the complex parking lot, I spotted Jack's new sportscar. I also noticed a kid in a hoodie watching me, the same one I had seen with Jack and Sunny in the park a few weeks prior. Before I could pretend to be friendly, however, the kid scuttled off.

"Thanks for the help," I muttered.

I didn't blame them. My kind made other Supernaturals uncomfortable. I tugged my phone from my purse, thinking to call Jack. I had a tracking app that secretly monitored his every move, so I checked that first. When I saw where the beacon was flashing, I raised a delicate eyebrow. What did we have here?

"Knock, knock," I called out as I rapped Sunny's door.

There was a pause before he opened it a fraction. "What do you want?"

"I'm selling scout cookies. What do you think I want? Where's Jack?"

I nudged the door wider and zoomed in on details that Sunny tried to block me from seeing. He filled the frame with an elbow against the door jamb, a hand behind his head, the other on his hip, but I had already gleaned enough. Jack's shoes were on the floor by the writing desk, and his pants were on an accent chair. The man, himself, was bare-chested and sexily sprawled on the sofa. He was deep asleep.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you boys had a wild night." My lips twitched as I shook loose an herbal cigarette. Sunny eyed it with distaste.

"Don't be vulgar. He sleeps over every now and then. There's nothing to it," he replied.

I hid my astonishment. Several times a week I called Jack expressly to keep tabs on what the angel was up to, but Jack hadn't once mentioned his new sleeping arrangements.

I weighed the pros and cons of their advancing relationship. On the one hand, it gave Sunny more opportunities to win Jack over. On the other, if Darcy ever found out about the angel, it would be easier to convince the vampire that Sunny was harmless and that the men were lovers.

Because Darcy would find out, eventually. I couldn't keep Sunny away, especially since the Laws of Fate were involved. Better to give myself plausible deniability when the time came.

"Hm, how does it work, Little Light?" I crossed an arm and lifted the cigarette holder. Blowing rose-scented smoke in the angel's direction, my eyes whisked over his flushed face. "How kinky can you get before headquarters puts you on the naughty human list?"

Sunny straightened indignantly. "What you're implying is obscene."

"Yes, isn't it delicious? Nothing lingers quite like the taste of taboo. You lie awake in the night with the memory of his spicy lips burning your skin, hungry for his touch, empty without his fullness ramming you higher." I chortled.

"Is that what passes for intimacy to you?" Sunny yawned. "Maybe you should have gotten more hugs growing up."

I adjusted my hair without looking at his smug expression. "Spoken like a virgin."

"Watch it. Your daddy issues are showing." He glowered.

"Now, that sounds like the pot calling the kettle black. It's okay, Sunny." I swelled toward him with a teasing laugh. "I understand that sometimes you just want to trade in your boring old mantras for some, 'Oh, Jack! Uhn! Yes, harder!'"

"For heaven's sake–!" He shoved me out the door and closed it behind us. "Shut up before you wake him, or so help me!"

"Ah, but I can help you." I stroked his upper thigh, and he batted my hand away. But he trembled with pleasure first. I felt it.

"What's your real concern, Mal? Afraid your sexual deviance won't sway Jack once he learns the value of true love?" He guarded the door with arms akimbo.

"Love?" I brayed with laughter, looking him up and down. "Angel, baby, you've got a lot to learn if you think a few make-out sessions means he's falling in love with you."

"That's not what I–"

"Besides, you're not the only one Jack makes out with. At least, I have the power to go all the way," I taunted. Extinguishing my cigarette, I laid a hand on his chest. "Is that why you're tense? I can help you with that, too."

"Sex is a game to you. You don't even care," he fumed.

I was taken aback by the glittering emotion in his eyes. "Ah," I exhaled, understanding. "It's worse than I'd hoped. You're falling in love with him." I rested my weight against Sunny's stalwart frame, and he didn't move. The door behind him made retreat impossible. I clicked my tongue. "Sunny, I thought you'd put up more of a fight than this. You're losing."

The angel shook his head. "All you see is what you want. You haven't bothered getting to know Jack. You don't know his parents, his friends. You've never witnessed the way his students look up to him. You don't realize the innocent people you'll be hurting. For what, Mal? There are plenty of evil men in this world for you to have your way with. Why choose Jack?"

"What do you think makes Jack different from the evil men you speak of?" I asked.

"His heart!" Sunny cried vehemently.

I stared into his pale green eyes. His heaving chest beneath my hand told the story of a man in too deep. Except, I knew what he meant. Jack teetered between light and darkness, persuadable but not yet persuaded. Jack appreciated what I did for him, which was more than I could say for most of my victims. As much as he hated Zyr, he wasn't consumed by the need for revenge. Jack simply wanted what was best for himself and his family. Perhaps Darcy had chosen the wrong sort of pawn.

But that wasn't my concern.

I almost felt sorry for the angel until I thought of my sisters. Ava's studious face appeared in mind. Ava, who deserved to be the lawyer she had always dreamed she'd be, free from Darcy's insidious demands. Cherie, with an innocence not even this chaste being could comprehend, entered my mind's eye. I hardened my heart against the weakness Sunny wanted me to feel.

"If Jack wasn't supposed to be in this position, then he wouldn't be. This is his fate, no matter how you wish otherwise. Before you ever signed the contract for his soul, he was destined to have to choose between his higher self and his lower," I stated, backing away. I lifted my cigarette. Sunny grabbed my wrist. I hesitated. We locked eyes, and the madness building between us reached a crescendo. I knew he wanted me. I knew he didn't know it yet. I knew I could use it to my advantage,

But I didn't.

"Some people think," Sunny uttered in a hushed voice, "that they should pray that their enemies become their footstool, but I've never understood that. I pray that my enemies get what it is that they crave most so that their energy isn't depleted by hatred and strife. What is it that you really want, Mal?"

There it was again, the echo of exactly what Jack had asked. What did I want? An unexpected ache formed in my throat. Sunny didn't know what I knew. He wasn't aware of the many nights I had stayed up late, listening to Jack talk about how he wished his parents understood his dilemma. He had no idea I was familiar with what it was that drew Jack to a youth like Kato, or to a man like him.

Sunny peered into my innermost recesses as if he cared. As if he'd change the outcome, if he could. My lips formed a straight line. "Freedom," I growled. "Can you give me that, Little Light? No, of course not. You're absolutely correct. I don't care. I don't give a damn what I have to do to accomplish what I need. I'm not sorry that Jack signed up for this. He had a choice, and he chose. Now, step aside."

"I can't," Sunny uttered.

"Then, you'll lose, and you know that you'll lose."

"And you think this is winning?" he asked.

I searched his face. He laid a hand on my shoulder. The brunt of his power arced through me, and I felt an unimaginable calm like never before. Divine touch. I closed my eyes and became attuned to every inch of me. The sun on my back, his warmth at my front, the distance between us, the whisper of his breath across my face, the rise and fall of his chest beneath my hand, the aching and yearning in my spirit.

I snatched away. "Don't ever!" I snapped.

"You feel it," he whispered. Behind him, the door suddenly opened, and Jack stood on the threshold with a grin that tried to make sense of our energy. He looked from Sunny to me.

"My two favorite people! What's going on?" he asked,

I dug up my best smile. "Sunny tells me you've been having trouble getting along with your parents. How would you like your own place?"

"His own place?" Sunny sputtered in dismay.

Jack laughed in amazement. "Well, I'm not having trouble getting along with my parents. I just want them to be as comfortable as possible. But having my own place to give them more room in the studio would be fantastic!"

"Perfect. Get dressed, and let's go check out your condo. Sunny, you can come along, but only if you promise not to be a buzzkill."

"I live for excitement," Sunny deadpanned.

Indubitably. I leered at him. Promises of love and acceptance were no match against standing out from the crowd. Jack wanted to know he was worthy of the lifestyle he had always dreamed was his due, and only I could supply that. His parents would come around. Kato would come around. And if they didn't, why should it bother me?

"After that, we have dinner with our associate, Jack," I went on. He looked at me in askance, and I reassured him. "We'll simply be discussing your progress. Darcy wants to be certain you're ready for what's next."

Jack would be an Alpha before any of them thought to ask how he had come upon such great fortune. The Battle Royale was a month away. Darcy would get what he wanted, and so would the Ashivants. As for Jack, ignorance was bliss. He was on top of the world, as far as he knew.

So, why did Sunny's impression of me matter?