Fallen (Seven Deadly Sins #2)(70)
Author: Erin McCarthy

“So, that name you gave me—Marguerite Charles—was in the court records of the trial of Jonathon Thiroux. And Rafe’s girlfriend is named Marguerite too. So it’s all completely strange and doesn’t make sense. The print matching is just crazy. Obviously it’s not the same person.”

“But that’s where you’re wrong.”

Sara almost dropped her wine when she turned and saw Marguerite standing in the kitchen of Jocelyn’s apartment, leaning against the column dividing the kitchen from the dining area.

“I am the same person. You would think you would have figured that out by now, but you’re not as bright as Gabriel or Raphael gives you credit.”

“How the hell did you get in here?” Sara asked.

“Demon trick. It’s not hard, really.” Marguerite was wearing a yellow sundress and heels and her shoes clicked on the tile floor as she moved forward.

“Demon . . . What are you talking about?” Sara was angry that everyone was talking in circles and riddles. Who was Raphael and what did demons have to do with anything?

“Oh, are you kidding me? Gabriel hasn’t told you? That’s interesting, very interesting. I would be pissed off about that if I were you.” Marguerite was right in front of them now, and she reached out and snatched out of Jocelyn’s hand the cell phone Sara’s friend had picked up off the coffee table. “You don’t need that.”

Sara was sorry she had dragged Jocelyn into this mess, whatever it was exactly, and she turned to reassure her friend, only to find Jocelyn staring vacantly into space, features and body frozen. Sara let out a scream. “Oh, my God, what’s the matter with her?” She touched Jocelyn, and she was warm to the touch, but completely still. “Jocelyn, are you okay?”

“She’ll be fine. I just thought it would be better if she takes a little nap while we have our chat. This way she won’t remember anything and you don’t have to feel guilty about involving her.”

“Involving her in what?”

“Involving her with demons. That’s what we are, you know, Gabriel, Raphael, and I. We’re immortal demons, though technically I’m only half-demon. But Gabriel and Raphael are full demons. They’re fallen angels. How sexy is that?”

Sara was still holding Jocelyn’s hand, and she was glad for the contact, even if Jocelyn seemed completely out of it. Gabriel had been right to warn her about Marguerite. The woman was totally insane. She was saying they were all demons.

“You don’t look like you think that’s sexy. And yet I know you have the hots for Gabriel. It took you about a minute to move in with him and start drinking his absinthe.”

Sara felt an icy fear slide across her, her heart pounding and her breathing shallow and rapid. “You left the bottle outside the door, didn’t you?”

Marguerite gave a small smile. “That was funny, wasn’t it? Gabriel has always been so aloof, so untouchable, so sure of his superiority, of his talent, yet he has no reason to be. He can’t function with other people for more than a minute, and he’s a total drunk. It’s fun to f**k with him. It’s too bad he was acquitted for Anne’s murder—that would have been the ultimate joke. But Raphael was too nice. He testified for Gabriel and got him off.”

Marguerite was blending past and present, talking about the men as if they had been involved, alive, for the Anne Donovan case. It was making Sara’s skin crawl and she wanted Marguerite gone. “What do you want?”

Sara was sorry she asked. Because Marguerite’s smile grew wide and maniacal.

“I want you to stay away from my boyfriend. And to make sure that you do, I’m going to kill you.”

Gabriel was exhausted and worried sick that he was too late. Sara wasn’t answering her cell phone, and neither was her friend Jocelyn, whose number she had given him as a contact. It had taken longer than he had expected to secure a rental car at the airport, and the whole process of traveling had been unnerving. He’d never flown on a plane before, and it had felt claustrophobic, agitating. He had found he was actually grateful for Raphael’s presence, guiding him through the whole check-in and security process. He didn’t want his own ineptitude to delay getting to Sara.

At least he had good computer skills. He had found and mapped the route to Jocelyn’s apartment, and with Raphael driving since he had lived in Naples, they made it to her complex with no problem. It was dark and they missed her building initially, but Raphael backed up and parked and they were out, Gabriel running.

Only Alex stepped in front of him on the walkway to the building. “Gabriel. Raphael.”

Shit. Gabriel stopped running. “Alex. What the hell are you doing here?”

“You know, I’m starting to get the feeling you’re not as fond of me as I am of you.” Alex put his hands in the pocket of his dress pants. “I feel highly insulted.”

“I think you’ll get over it. Now I’m going to assume that Marguerite is in there with my girlfriend, so step to the side please.” Before he lost complete control and ripped Alex’s face off. He was completely out of patience, and his fear was choking him. He couldn’t handle finding Sara like Anne had been. He wouldn’t survive that.

“Oh, now she’s your girlfriend? A week ago she was just someone you were working on a project with.”

“Just drop it.” He started to brush past Alex, but the demon grabbed his arm.

Alex had a gun in his hand, retrieved from his pocket. “One moment please. I need to talk to you and Raphael.”

“What?” The barrel of the gun was in his face, but Gabriel stared it down. Alex wasn’t going to intimidate him.

“Marguerite is unhappy and I can’t stand to see my daughter so upset. She’s had a harder life than her sister Rosa, because she’s always been insecure. And she’s always had a thing for Raphael—I have no clue why, it’s not like he’s all that great of a catch—but there it is. She wants him.” Alex turned to Raphael, who was behind Gabriel on the walkway. “So I guess this is what they would call a shotgun wedding. I want you to go in there and tell Marguerite you’ll marry her finally, because I’m sick to death of riding the crazy train with her. I’m too old for this shit.”

Gabriel couldn’t believe Alex was so nonchalant about the whole thing. Didn’t he realize his daughter was insane? That she had killed at least four women? And there was no way Raphael would agree to marry her.