Bloody Angel Book 1

Going into Town

"What the hell are you doing here, Dew?!"

The fire gremlin let out a nervous laugh as he slid off the other ghouls lap to sit on the seat. He jumped with a small yelp as the horn of Aethers discarded mask poked him in the ass, quickly moving it before sitting again.

"It's, uh.. kinda funny actually, boss."

Annie turned in her seat, looking from the man next to her to the short ghoul in the back as her racing heartbeat began to slow. Copia was seething quietly, his ears tinged red as he waited.

"Do I look amused? Spit it out, Dewdrop. Why are you here?"

"Okay okay!" Dew sighs as his shoulders slump. He hated when his boss was mad. "I was shirking my chores! No one ever thinks to check the garage so I may have, uh, hidden myself in your trunk to…to take a nap."

Copia reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose, letting out a long slow exhale as he closed his eyes. "You hid in my car…to take a nap?"

"Yeah. Not like I knew you were gonna go somewhere. Ouch! What was that for?" He flinches after Aether gave him a swift smack to the back of his head, reaching his hand up to rub where he hit.

"What was that for? Seriously, Dew?" Aether crosses his arms and stares down at his friend. "You ignored your chores for a nap. Almost caused an accident with that stunt of yours, scaring the daylights out of all of us. You're lucky I don't drag you out of this car right now and shove my boot up your arse!"

Although his loud tone frightened her a bit, Annie couldn't help the giggle that bubbled from her lips at the last bit. She knew he was more than capable, but she couldn't really imagine Aether actually doing something like that. Dew was turning an interesting shade of red as his shoulders sagged further.

"I'm sorry, okay?" He mumbles, rubbing the back of his neck as he looks towards his feet.

"Double chores for the next week," Copia says simply, opening his eyes to stare at him. "No help."

The gremlin sighs, his shoulders falling more. "Yeah, that's fair."

"Since we're more than halfway to town, you will be assisting Aether while he shops." Copia turns around and steadies himself,  hands lightly gripping the steering wheel. "And you'll unload once we get home. Now sit back and buckle up so we can get going."

Dew nods and sits back in the seat behind the Cardinal, quickly snapping his belt into place. Annie turns to face the road, her stomach rising to her throat as the car merges back onto the driving lane. The feeling is quick to fade as she looks back out the window.

After a few minutes of quiet, the radio having been turned off again, she hears a sigh and rustle of fabric from the back seat. She turns her head and gasps softly as she sees Dew pulling off his balaclava, revealing his full face and blonde hair. She quickly turned to look back out her window. After seeing them all in masks of some kind since first meeting them, to see him without one now felt…. Wrong.

Copia notices from the corner of his eye and lets one hand go from the wheel, reaching over to rest it on her thigh.  "You alright, amore?"

She nods and rests her hand on his. "Yeah. I'm alright."

He glances in the rear view, seeing Dew, now maskless, looking bored as he slouches in his seat.

"Ah," he exclaims softly with a smile, his eyes turning back to the road. "You've never seen them without masks. It's alright, we're away from the church."

"I..I know that." Her fingers brush lightly along the backs of his fingers sending a shiver up his arm. "I'm just so used to the masks."

"We can put them back on if you'd prefer, love?" Aether says from behind her.