Wings on Fire ~ Falling (Book 1)

Chapter 17

"You can't love me!" I half-shouted, even though his love was what I longed for more than anything.

"I can, and I do," Daniel responded, in an annoyingly calm voice. His words held finality, like there was nothing that could be done about the fact that he loved me. As if proving that point, he abruptly changed the subject. "Don't you want to hear about what I did while I was gone? I learned something very interesting."

It was enough of a tease that my curiosity was piqued. I knew that I needed to convince him to leave me, but I wanted to know what he discovered during his absence. My desire for details won out, so I asked, "What did you learn?"

Smiling like a cat that just caught a mouse, Daniel leaned forward. "Well, I think you were right about the fire that killed Macy's parents being arson. There's some kind of fishy cover-up going on there."

I felt touched that he had followed up on my hunch while he was away. I had assumed that he was taking care of his own business, not mine. Intrigued, I leaned forward, "How did you find that out?"

"Sometimes the ability to be invisible comes in handy," Daniel said.

I nodded in agreement that it would be nice to sneak about undetected, but didn't speak because I wanted him to answer my question more directly.

"Did you know the fire chief stopped the investigation into the fire and ruled it an accident before the forensics were even complete on the case?"

"It seemed like the ruling that it was an accident returned too fast," I agreed. "Do you think there's some corruption within the fire department?" I hated to even contemplate that. The child inside me longed to believe that all firemen were heroes to be admired.

Daniel scraped a finger along his firm jawline, lost in thought, and completely unaware how sexy he looked. "It's definitely a possibility," he decided before adding, "But I think there's more to it."

Continuing, without further prompting from me, Daniel said, "Something is up with the fire chief, but I can't quite put my finger on it. While I was there, one of his men came in to ask a question about the traces of accelerant that were found on the scene, but the chief shut him down almost before he had the question out of his mouth."

"Why would he not want to investigate every last shred of evidence––especially something related to an accelerant?" I wondered aloud.

"Exactly." Daniel nodded. "Something isn't right there. We need to look into it more."

I liked how he had said 'we,' but it didn't change the fact that being with me could get Daniel into trouble. That wasn't something I was willing to accept, even though I wanted nothing more than to spend time getting to know him. "I need to look into it further." I amended his statement before adding, "You need to get back to being a big, bad, important angel."

I had hoped that my string of flattering adjectives might distract him from the fact that I was trying to send him away. It didn't work.

"Trying to get rid of me already?" Daniel asked, keeping his voice light, even though his eyes were rimmed with insecurity.

The last thing I wanted was to make my sweet angel feel unwanted, yet I needed to get him to see reason. "We both know that it's best if you go back to being invisibly by my side." I tried to put on a convincing look, even though my words were directly the opposite of my true desire.

"You really want that?" The hurt look in Daniel's gaze almost did me in. I ached to tell him that I wanted to see him and be with him every moment for the rest of my days, but fear of the punishment he might face kept me from blurting out my feelings.

"It's what is best," I dodged his question by repeating my previous phrase.

"How about if you let me worry about what is best?" Daniel's tone had taken on an angry flare. "Tell me what you want," he demanded. "Forget about what you think you know and your fears about any punishment you'll face. I'll make sure nothing bad ever happens to you. Just tell me what you truly want." Giving me an earnest look, he added, "If you can honestly tell me that you want me to go away, I'll disappear and you'll never see me again."

His offer made me gulp in a breath. Even though it was exactly what I had asked for, not seeing Daniel again was the last thing in the world that I wanted. The look he was giving me was challenging, almost as if he was begging me to give him permission to stay. He remained silent while I quietly hyperventilated and tried to determine what I should say.

Not having the strength to say goodbye to him, I mumbled almost to myself. "It's not my punishment that I'm worried about."

Proving that angels have fantastic hearing, Daniel responded. "You're worried about me?" Taking my hand within his enormous one, he didn't bother to wait for my answer. "Don't. I'm a big boy, and I can take care of myself."

I longed to believe him, but Serafina's warning echoed in my ears. "You'll be tortured for having a relationship with me." My voice sounded squeaky as I regurgitated Serafina's warning.

"Tortured?!?" Daniel spat the word out as if it were the most preposterous thing he had ever heard. "Serafina always did have a flare for the dramatic," he rolled his eyes. "If and when the time comes for me to go before the Tribunal, I will handle it," he assured me before adding, "And they haven't been big on torture for centuries." He had the audacity to grin.

Was he actually joking about this? "It's not funny," I pouted and picked at an invisible thread on my blanket. "I can't stand the thought of you being hurt, especially not for me."

Turning serious, Daniel said, "The only thing that can hurt me is you. Please don't send me away."

And with that, our fate was sealed.

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