Age of Angels Read online

  “What the hell’s going on?” the manager asked, stepping out from behind the sales desk. He was a buff Latino named Felix, and generally a nice guy. Now, though, Luke was pissed and couldn’t look him in the eye.

  Felix froze at the sight, then ran over to check on the two fighters.

  Gerald removed his mouthguard. “Dude, you must have some serious guardian angel action going on to avoid that. I mean, your head could be mush right now.”

  Luke took out his mouthguard as well, his hand shaking as he did so. “You’re telling me.”

  He stared in shock at the AC unit for another few seconds before realizing that Felix was asking if he was okay, staring at him with wide, frightened eyes—the type one gets when worried about a lawsuit.

  “I’m happy to be alive,” Luke said, then headed for the locker room. He’d only been halfway through his Saturday-morning routine but couldn’t see himself taking much more action at the moment.

  He paused halfway there, glancing up at the ceiling where the AC unit had fallen. Another movement. He squinted, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him. Something had moved up there. Maybe a face in the shadows… a guardian angel? Yes, he was definitely shaken.

  He chuckled nervously to himself and kept going, heading for the showers.

  To his relief, the locker room was unoccupied. It was better this way, having nobody around to see him shaking as he undressed, or see the way he stood under the hot water of the shower, letting it cascade over him, washing his worries and fright away.

  For fuck’s sake, he could’ve died. He had been training for quite some time now, and could take all the punches, knees, and kicks his opponents threw at him. What he wasn’t ready for was AC units falling from the roof. The steam was hot and heavy, making it hard to see around him. Or maybe his eyes were blurry, he wasn’t sure.

  A figure moved nearby, and he glanced up to see who it was. Nobody there. It happened again, but this time he swore the shape of a nude woman moved through the steam. It parted for her, circling her limbs and caressing her perfect form.

  “Excuse me, you can’t be in here,” Luke called, but then rubbed his eyes because he didn’t see her anymore. He stepped away from the shower, eyes scouring the misty locker room, then saw her again. “Oh, shit, am I in the women’s locker room?”

  Luke blinked, staring at the woman for a moment as he lost himself, forgetting that he was naked, but completely aware of her nudity. She was stunning. The steam in the room made it seem like her skin was almost glowing silver. Perky breasts with pink little nipples drew him to attention. Her eyes roamed down, reminding him of his nudity and arousal.

  “No need to apologize. It was a simple mistake,” the woman said. Her eyes rose to his and she grinned wide.

  Luke covered himself with his hands, feeling the warmth creep into his cheeks. “Seriously, I don’t know how I made that… mistake.”

  “Maybe it was fate?”

  He expelled a heavy sigh, nodded to her, and walked toward the exit. Hearing her giggles as he exited, he almost wanted to go back and take her in his arms, kiss her, and ask her name. Instead, he looked around the training room and wondered what he should do now.

  Even more so when he realized all eyes were on him, half the room covering their mouths and giggling. The others were staring in shock and horror. Felix gave him a humored and slightly interested smile. Gerald jogged over, eyes wide.

  “Dude, what are you doing?” Gerald gestured to the locker room that Luke had exited.

  Luke glanced down, realizing he had stopped covering himself and was nude in front of all these people. He glanced back at the locker room. Sure enough, it was the men’s locker room.

  “I… I don’t know.” Luke allowed Gerald to usher him back through the door. Same locker room as before, still full of steam. No sign of the woman, though. “There was a woman in here, I swear.”

  “So, you figured you’d walk into the main room naked?” Gerald asked. “Dude, you must be really shaken up. But still, I mean… You need a drink or something?”

  Luke shook his head, chuckled, and laughed. “No, I don’t think so.”

  “Seriously, if you need a lift or something…” Gerald was staring at him like he was crazy, or needed pity, and it was starting to get on Luke’s nerves.

  “No, I got it.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yeah, I think I need to clear my mind.” Luke grabbed a towel and started to dry himself off as Gerald exited, leaving Luke to glance over his shoulder as he wondered if he would see another sign of that woman.

  He dressed as he mused about what had happened. It didn’t make sense. Could he possibly be that shaken? He’d never hallucinated nude women before, although it wasn’t the worst sort of hallucination.

  He exited when he was done, trying to ignore the glances from everyone in the gym as he made his way outside. The cool night breeze of Bethesda, Maryland hit him like a kick in the face. He hadn’t realized how chilly it would be out here but stuck to his guns as he ignored his motorcycle and turned right to go for a walk.

  However, not two steps later, a bright light grabbed his attention and the scent of burning rubber followed. Someone shouted. A motorcycle slammed into him, knocking him to the street. Pain shot up his spine, through his skull, and spread throughout his body. All he could see was red blotches. He blinked while catching his breath and tried to push himself up.

  Standing, he came face-to-face with a man in a biker jacket who was holding his helmet and yelling at him. The guy was shouting about carelessness and asking what sort of idiot walked the road without looking. Luke was pissed. He had already gone through too much that day to stand there and take that.

  He didn’t issue a threat. Instead, he slammed a punch into the guy’s chest, yanked the guy’s helmet from his hands, and swung it in a strike against the man’s jaw. The man staggered backward, fell to his ass, and groaned.

  Luke dropped the helmet, wondering what the hell he had done.

  Weirder than his loss of temper, he was certain he had seen a screen pop up in his vision. Only there for a second, it had been off to the side, showing an experience point bar like in video games. Damn, after the woman in the shower and now this, he had to be seeing things. Clearly, he needed more rest.

  2

  Luke stared down at the man, rage boiling up within. He couldn’t explain why, but everything about him screamed, his insides feeling like they were on fire. His muscles tightened, his fists clenched, and an overwhelming urge to pummel the man took over. This didn’t make sense! He wasn’t normally this full of rage.

  A glance back showed people from the gym had come out to see what was going on, and Luke was overcome with shame. He reached out to help the man up, but the biker stared at him in horror.

  Luke’s fist rose again, about to smash the guy’s face in, but instead, he ran.

  He kept running, the cool night air harsh against his skin. With each step, his heartbeat thudded through his mind and across his skull, and he tasted bile in his mouth. An overwhelming hatred of himself and everyone else took over. When he finally stopped at a railing overlooking a stream below, he felt the urge to retch.

  Self-hatred reared its ugly face again, and he considered throwing himself over. He laughed at the notion. It was only a little stream, not far enough down to do him any harm and without enough water to drown in. What the hell was going on in his mind?

  “You’re not yourself, are you?” a woman’s voice said from behind him. He spun to see the woman from before, still nude, standing in the darkness. She wasn’t shivering. Even her nipples weren’t standing erect as he would’ve expected on such a cool night. She simply stood there, staring at him with her arms at her side, a subtle, golden glow on her skin. He couldn’t be sure, but it almost looked like she had wings and a halo, but they were translucent.

  “Are you an…”

  “Angel?” She nodded. “You’ll see them more, as you come to know me.
You can’t see my wings that well right now because of your doubt. And you... you’re not yourself, are you?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You have rage within, don’t you?” She stepped toward him, and he didn’t feel the slightest urge to move away. He wanted her closer, wanted to feel the heat of her body against him. He wanted to take her right there—throw her on the ground, and have his way with her.

  “Stay away,” he said. “I’m dangerous.”

  She laughed. “It’s not you.”

  “What do you mean?” He staggered back, hand to his head.

  “The urges, both to fight that man back there, and to… Take me.” She smiled. “You might enjoy that, I’m sure, but the way you see it in your mind right now is an alien thought. Not aliens as in from the sky, but put simply… You’re possessed.”

  He blinked, wanting to laugh. “I’m sorry… but, who are you?”

  “I’m your remaining guardian angel.” She held up a finger and shook her head. “There were three of us, but I’m the only one left.”

  “I don’t understand. First, why would I have guardian angels? Second, why three of them?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know why there were three. I know I was assigned to you, and I know I’ve been watching you since birth. Yes, everything. But something has changed the way everything works. You’re special, so you were assigned three guardian angels. It’s the only way I can make sense of it, but now, everything is chaos.”

  “Everything is chaos?”

  He stared at her for a long moment, that urge to take her still burning within him, causing his cock to stand erect, threatening to burst out of his pants and act on its own. Was he possessed? He couldn’t deny that he didn’t feel like himself. But he didn’t believe in demons, guardian angels, or any of that bullshit.

  He shook his head and turned to go. “You’re gorgeous. Stunning. But you’re fucking crazy.”

  Luke walked away from the woman. Focusing on the moonlight, the cool air rustling the tree leaves, and the sound of the stream… and hating it all. He wanted to climb up that tree and tear off the branches, to stomp on the leaves as they fell to the ground, and piss in the stupid stream. Every ounce of him was filled with rage. His whole body shook, his fingernails pressing into the palms of his hands as he clenched them into fists.

  Whatever was happening, it wasn’t natural. He could almost believe he was host to a demon. Or maybe, he thought, the woman had drugged him.

  He turned back to her, only to find her charging at him with her hands up. She reached him and pressed her hands to his forehead. Unable to move, he stood there, stunned. As she began a low chant, the rage boiled out. He couldn’t hold it in anymore. His hands settled on her nude form as he pulled her close. Then he grabbed flesh, one hand on her ass and the other on her breast, cock pounding with need. He wanted her more than anything, and the horrible screeching voice in his head said he would have her.

  Her chanting grew louder, his vision went red, and he shrieked. Suddenly, a face was between them, not looking at him, but moving out of him. A body flew sideways and hit the ground. She—the form was clearly female—lay there, blue-and-white skin like ice with streaks of black running along the areas that mattered. A woman, but with black horns and a tail, and as she turned up to look at him, her eyes flashed red. The first woman turned on her, kneeling, her hand reaching out. That golden glow seemed to radiate out, pushing the other woman down and keeping her at bay.

  Luke stared in horror and confusion, listening as the first woman chanted. Then the two began to argue. Much of what they said didn’t make sense, aside from the fact that this new woman was a demon, summoned by someone named Rachel.

  As their arguing continued in a foreign tongue, he held up his hands. “Stop!”

  The first woman, who had professed to be a guardian angel, looked up at him. “This is her. This is the demon.”

  “I got that.” Luke stared at them another moment, then shook his head. “No, actually I don’t believe a second of this. What the hell’s going on?”

  “What’s going on, is that one of your guardian angels turned evil. Her name is Rachel. This is the demon she summoned to attack you for some reason, and apparently have you do bad things. The universe is in chaos, and we need to set it right. I mean, I don’t know if we’re able… But, you have a responsibility.”

  “Me? No, you have the wrong guy.”

  “Luke, there’s a reason you were assigned three guardian angels. I’m telling you, you’re special.”

  Luke shook his head and drew a deep breath. “If anything you’re saying is true, then it doesn’t matter anymore. But you’re a guardian angel. And I had another, or two more, but one of them left and went evil? What about the other?”

  “I can’t find her.” The woman turned back as the demon attempted to escape, but the gold light flared and the demon fell back to the ground as if struck. “My name is Naomi, and together we can figure this out.”

  Luke stared at her, overwhelmed by her beauty, and finally nodded. “Where do we start?”

  Her smile warmed him as she extended her hand to clasp the demon’s wrist. She pulled her up and the gold light formed chains around the woman’s wrists, tying them behind her, and then into a leash that extended to Naomi’s hand. “We’ll use this demon to find the others.”

  3

  Luke stared at Naomi, his supposed guardian angel. He glanced back at the demon chained behind her, shapely ass pointed his direction in a way that made him wonder if it was on purpose. He drew a deep breath, then looked back at Naomi.

  God damn, she was beautiful.

  She stood with her hands folded over her perfectly smooth pussy, her perky breasts right there for the taking, and he didn’t wonder that his erection was still strong. Even without the influence of the demon in him, he couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to fuck an angel. Everything about him said to go with her, except for one nagging voice at the back of his mind—the one said that this was all insanity, and that there was no way he had guardian angels. As he let the voice speak, it told him there was no way that this beautiful nude woman in front of him could have anything to do with the heavens, his protection, or whatever weird special purpose he supposedly was made for. He didn’t have some grand destiny, and especially not one that deserved three guardian angels at his side to be able to accomplish it. With another deep sigh, he shook his head, then turned to leave.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Naomi asked.

  “You’re not real, or if you are, then you’re some lunatic who’s probably going to stab me in my sleep after we fuck.” He hesitated, glancing back at her. “While I would likely enjoy the latter, and what a way to go, I’m sorry… I can’t do this.”

  He started walking.

  “We can’t leave the demon here.” She charged after him, then flashed gold before reappearing directly in his path with her hands on her hips, heavenly light shining down on her. It was night, it made no sense that the light would appear like that, a beam cutting through the clouds to form a spotlight upon her. For a moment, every detail of her was visible. He almost couldn’t resist himself—the pressure in his pants too much. And then, the light formed into clothes, wrapping around her body to become a golden Greek toga. It still showed her shape and did nothing to hide her nipples, even the slight coloration of them. He laughed at the idea that she thought this was helping.

  “Is this better for you?” She gestured at her clothes. “Me hiding my true form?”

  “Barely.”

  “There’s a demon right there and I can’t just destroy it. I mean, I need your help.”

  He looked back at the demon, who had been yanked forward with the angel’s movement. She now stood watching him. When she noticed his eyes on her, one of her hands ran up her leg and then between them to massage herself down there, and she licked her lips.

  “You have to be kidding me,” he said. Looking back at Naomi, his sm
ile widened. “Real funny. What is this, some kind of sorority prank? You two try to seduce me, lure me back to your dorm, then take pictures of me tied up and laugh, right? I don’t think so. Not today. I’m not falling for it.”

  “Are you… serious?” She gestured back at the demon. “You saw me expel it from your body. You witnessed the heavenly light dressing me. I don’t understand where there’s any room for doubt. To say nothing of the wings and halo.”

  Luke chuckled, not understanding it himself. “Maybe I don’t believe you’re real. Maybe…”

  With an exasperated sigh, she placed her hand on his cheek. A tingling sensation poured through him. It was as if his mind was flooded with a warm bath, as if any doubt was being locked away, or stepped on and squished.

  “Please…” He took her hand away and shook his head. “Are guardian angels supposed to be so… Alluring?”

  “Stop that.” She was clearly blushing. “No, we’re supposed to be asexual. You’re projecting something onto me, and, as complimentary as that is, it’s inappropriate. I’m your guardian angel, don’t forget.”

  “Are guardian angels not supposed to have free will?”

  “About that.” She leaned in, lowering her voice. “You see, something has thrown off the balance of it all. It doesn’t make sense that the others could’ve left, because we’re not supposed to have free will. And then there’s this. Her hand went up to her ear, moving along it, showing that it was pointed. “It’s weird, but I don’t remember my ears being pointy like this.”

  “Like an elf,” he said, awed and even more turned on now. “But, I don’t understand what that has to do with anything.” Shaking his head, he added, “Listen, even if we were supposed to work together, I don’t see how we could. I honestly can’t stop thinking of…”

  “Making love to me?” This time she didn’t blush, but simply stared at him as she waited for a response.