Angels and Misfits Part Two

Nora   “Alex! Watch out!”   Okay. It probably wasn’t smart bringing the twins with them on this job.   Alex turned just as the nasty little vampire-demon hybrid—Mystic, was it?—lunged at Alex’s back. He had Evander in a carrier on his back and that hellish woman nearly got Evander. Although, it wouldn’t be the first close call this week. Evander was strong enough to block the woman from getting at him.    Mystic—Nora was pretty sure that was her name—already had the blood dripping from her lips of the human cowering in the corner of the room. Her nails were long and jagged, her hair was a long, black tangled mess. The whites of her eyes turning green.   Mystic wouldn’t be in any beauty contests anytime soon.   Alex grabbed Mystic at the throat, his hands glowing just slightly with this newfound strength—his festering rage from the memory Eden shared of Lucifer taking their daughter. He maintained that fury just enough to use it when needed. Her nails thrashed at his hands, but he healed himself with each cut of the jagged black and grey edges of her nails.    Mystic was a perfect example of why species shouldn’t mix without some type of emotional bond. Mystic was basically a science project that broke loose when Bernard’s empire began to fall apart after his death.   As it turned out, after Bernard was killed, all hell broke loose on his little minions, experiments, and other beings under his…care.   Mystic was on a feeding frenzy in the city, leaving bodies on every corner with throats ripped out and some body parts missing. Usually the eyes.   The vampire in her fought for blood.   The demon part in her wanted to hurt her victims.   The mixed part…wanted pandemonium. It was what made Mystic so messy and easy to follow.    Alex glared into her eyes. “You almost got my son.” He shook his head slowly. “Bad idea.” She screeched in his hold until Alex’s hands burned through her flesh.   Orion patted Nora’s shoulder and she turned to see Mystic’s mate charging them. She may have been Mystic’s mate, but Nora had a sinking feeling that these science projects didn’t have predestined mates. That they, perhaps, were selected or were possibly given the choice to pick their own mates.   Vega, Mystic’s mate, was an Alpha wolf with something inside of her that Nora and Alex didn’t understand. Something that made her eyes glow with an unnaturally bright orange and gave her a mouthful of fangs. She couldn’t shift, but parts of her counterpart stood out. One of her legs being her wolf’s leg, causing Vega to walk unevenly. Her hands were nonexistent. Vega had paws. One wolf’s ear.   Like her human part and wolf part were put into a blender and this strange concoction was what came out.   Vega, like Mystic, left her very own trail of bodies, except she was becoming a bit more public with her meals.   Yes, meals. She may be a wolf, but that other part of her had a hunger for humans. Namely, livers.   Nora grinned with each hobbled step Vega took toward her.    Behind her, Mystic’s last gasps of breath were strangled cries before Alex killed her. Vega watched Mystic hit the floor, and Nora took her shot.   She lunged toward Vega, pinning her against the wall. Once Alex finished with Mystic, he came up behind Nora. She felt his hand pat Orion’s head, as he stepped up beside Nora. Vega thrashed against Nora’s hold, but she wasn’t quite as strong as she should be.    “Vega…” Alex tsked. His hand found Nora’s hip comfortably. “We know you’ve been in contact with Manic. We know you’ve been working for him.”    Vega spit at Alex, barely missing him. He didn’t flinch. “Now, that wasn’t very nice.”   “f**k…you,” Vega spat at him.   “Nora, baby, you wanna show her what happens when you don’t cooperate?”   Nora smiled sweetly at Vega. She brought a blade up to the pulse point of her throat. It was that same blade she used on her father when he guided her to push it into his own heart. It was Costas’ personal blade.    His final act was giving it to Nora.    Thus, she used it more than anything else.    Nora pressed the sharp tip of the blade just slightly into her throat. Vega’s face twitched just barely, but enough to give away her discomfort. “You want to try that again, sweetheart?”   Vega growled. Nora drew blood.   Alex leaned in closer, his breath fanning the sides of Nora’s face. “I’ve always loved seeing you like this.”   Yes. Even with two demigods strapped to their backs like koalas, hybrid science project serial killers in front of them, and Alex chose that exact moment to admit his feelings.   What else would he have done, really? It was so Alex.   “I don’t know what you’re talking about—”   “Bullshit,” Nora said.   “Baby, language. We have the boys.” His hand shifted under the back of her shirt, his warm fingers brushing the skin just above her jeans ever so softly.    Nora rolled her eyes. “Bull…crap.”   Alex kissed her cheek. “We’re getting there.” He turned to Vega, “We’re still getting used to having kids, so excuse us for our little sidebars, Vega. Surely, you understand.”   Vega’s face morphed into a brazen mix of confusion and frustration. Her wolf leg kicked out at Nora futilely. “What the f**k is wrong with you people!”   Nora kneed her in the stomach. “Did you not just hear my husband? Watch your fu—dam—dang mouth!”   The two had been hiding out in an abandoned warehouse in the city while they went on their little hunting spree. From what Nora and Alex were able to gather—and what Lou, their mutual vampire contact who was on the run from the Council—Manic sent them in search of humans that had children. Single parents, mostly. Parents that had no family nearby. People who could easily get lost and then their children would disappear into whatever black hole Manic would take them into.   Bad s**t, and these two bitches were profiting off it somehow. “Where’s Manic, Vega?”   Eden took away Nora’s specially chosen power. Instead, she gave Nora back some of her old powers and her essence. Nora requested the laser eyes, but Eden said no. Alex gave her one of his absolutely not answers when he heard her ask.   So, Nora would wait and figure out laser eyes on her own.   “You may want to answer her, Vega, she can be a bit brutal.” Alex’s fingers brushed just under the top of her jeans.    Multitasking had to be a rare find in a man, but Alex was there doing just that. Holding one of their sons on his back, interrogating a colossal b***h, reminding Nora to watch her language, and so slightly feeling her up.   If Nora didn’t know any better, she would add he was probably figuring out what to make for dinner, too.   “I’m not telling you anything,” Vega hissed. “You can kill me, because I won’t share s**t with you.”   Nora slit Vega’s throat and held her up until she lost enough blood.    The life drained from Vega’s eyes and she dropped to the floor when Nora released her.    Alex gave her a look. “What?” Nora shrugged. “You and I both said to watch her language. She didn’t.”   “You didn’t have to kill her yet.”   “She wasn’t going to tell us anything. She said so herself.”   They started the cleanup process for Vega and Mystic. One had vampire bites all over her body while the other had claw marks that didn’t exactly look like they were from any sort of pleasure. “You could have at least given her another chance.”   “Are we debating this?”   Alex grinned while picking up Vega’s body. Nora grabbed Mystic and piled their bodies on top of one another.    “No. You’re probably right, anyway. Her soul was so tainted.”   “I think we may have another lead after this. Lou said there were more out there and he’d try to get us more. Hopefully ones closer to home.”   The three-hour drives were nice for family time, but Nora and Alex agreed they didn’t like having to keep the boys strapped down more than needed.    But babysitting wasn’t exactly easy to get, especially for two demigod children with some forms of post-traumatic stress disorder.    Alex lit the match and dropped it on Mystic’s body lying limp over Vega’s. “How many more of these things do you think are out there?”   “Probably a lot. Bernard had a lot of secrets and alternate business practices. Who knows what other monsters were unleashed when he died.”   They made sure to clean up the scene after themselves, leaving no trace of their being there. The boys got fussy on their backs, so Nora unzipped the pouch on Alex’s carrier and pulled out the snacks he packed for the boys. She handed each one the weird energy ball thing Alex made. Peanut butter, oats, flaxseeds, chocolate chips…it wasn’t Nora’s thing, but the boys liked them and Alex was happy to make them.   “I was thinking a nice roast would be good for dinner tonight,” he said while handing one of his snacks to Evander on his back. “What do you think?”   Nora was right. Multitasker.    “That sounds good, but you know what sounds even better?”   “Nora, if you say Kermit, I’ll give you the burnt edges.”   Nora threw her head back in a laugh. “Fine. Yeah, that sounds good to me.”   Once the scene was cleaned up, Alex took Nora’s hand, linking their fingers and led them back to the not-Prius. “Thanks for the warning when Mystic got close,” he said. He brought Nora’s knuckles to his lips. “Not that she would have got him, but still. Scares the crap out of me when they get close to the boys.”   Alex went to his side of the car while Nora went to hers. Normally they had Phoenix too, but he was with Gabe on his own excursion.    They each strapped the boys in from opposite sides of the car. “You think your brother would be open to Katelyn helping watch the boys if he supervised or something?”   Alex shrugged. “We could try it. I don’t have high hopes, but he could surprise us.”   Once the twins were strapped in, Nora and Alex each got in their sides of the car and Alex drove out of the city and back toward home. He reached over and clasped his hand with Nora’s. “You know I love you, right?”   “Of course,” she smiled to herself.    “Okay.” He glanced in the mirror to check on the boys. “You think we can get them to bed earlier tonight?”   Nora grinned. “Maybe. What did you have in mind?”