The Bound Angel (Sacrilege Rising: Book 1)

Mike’s phone buzzed, but he ignored it. Too early for that.

Then it buzzed again, and he wondered why it was pressed against his ribs. Why wasn’t it on the night stand? By the third buzz he was starting to wake up, and noticed the room was filled with sunlight.

What time was it? Why was he in the living room? Shit, he would be late for class. Then it came back to him. Was Lana still asleep? She was pretty banged up last night and looked like she could use the rest.

His phone was full of texts and missed calls. The first few were from Emma.

“Hey, I saw there was a fire at Grammy’s church. Were you there? Are you alright?”

“Checking in again, let me know you’re okay please.”

“Mike?”

Double shit. What would he say to her? The next one was from his boss at work.

“Was that church that burned down last night the one you were booked to?”

Triple shit. It would be impossible to explain. The cops were probably tracking down leads right now. How long until they caught up to him? Should he tell them he was at the church? The truth certainly wouldn’t work as an alibi. Would he go to jail for arson, or murder?

The bedroom door opened. Lana stepped out in her golden armor.

“Good morning, Michael,” she said. His pounding heart began to slow. She moved hesitantly, with one hand on the wall for support and the other holding her side.

He quickly helped her to the couch. “How do you feel?”

“About the same, though the rest was welcome. Thank you again for your hospitality.”

“Of course,” Mike answered. “It was the least I could do to thank you for saving my life and everything.”

She smiled, and it was like the sun peaking out from behind the clouds. “It was genuinely my pleasure.”

His phone buzzed again. “What am I going to do?”

“About what?”

“People are already asking questions. I told work that I would be at the church last night. My friend, who set me up with the job, knew I was there too. How do I explain to everyone what happened?”

Lana said, “It will be alright.” For some reason, he believed her. “When supernatural matters spill into the mortal world, people tend not to pry or become suspicious. Consciously or not, they can sense when something should be left alone. Do not overly concern yourself with explanation. Yes, you were there. When you left, the church was fine. You did not see anything. It will be alright.”

She made it sound so simple. Her confidence eased his nerves.

“I need to shower and get out of here, but how do I just go on with my life after everything that happened?”

“The mortal mind naturally shies away from these matters, Michael. Go on with your day. Before you know it, last night’s events will feel like a lifetime ago, as if they happened to someone else.”

He didn’t necessarily like the sound of that. “What will you do?”

“I will stay. I am not quite up for venturing out just yet.”

“You’re okay hanging here all day?”

“As long as you approve. This is your home after all.”

Mike was already looking forward to seeing her when he came back. “Sure. I mean yes, you’re welcome to stay as long as you want. There’s pizza in the fridge if you get hungry, and I might be late getting home. A few people from work are going out for drinks.”

Her amusement was barely contained. “I am quite capable of entertaining myself, Michael. Your consideration is appreciated, but I will be fine. Do not concern yourself.”

“Okay then. Fair enough.”

He texted Emma to let her know he was okay and that they would catch up later. Then work, to tell them he was at the church but didn’t know anything about the fire and that he was coming in that afternoon. He showered and definitely didn’t think about Lana in her shift, and the amount of skin she showed, and how her eyes looked in the room’s dim light. Not at all. Then he was out the door.

Owning a car in the city was more hassle than it was worth. So he didn’t. But UBalt’s campus was on the other side of town, and he hated the bus, so he became a bike rider. It was decent exercise, got him where he needed to be, and was refreshing when the weather was nice. Which, today, it was. The breeze kept him cool under the sun’s warm heat, and the traffic gods looked upon him with favor, which meant he would make it to class on time, barely.

He felt lighter than he had since he heard that first moan in the church. There was a little spring in his step. Economics wasn’t his favorite class, not by a mile, but it wasn’t all bad. When he stepped into the classroom he was struck by how… normal it felt. Like it was any other Friday. Like he hadn’t just witnessed the impossible the night before. But he listened to Lana’s advice and tried not to think about it.

The desks were set up in a U shape, creating a semi-circle around the professor. Mike sat on one end of the U, mostly to keep from getting distracted. But, purely by coincidence, it also gave him a clear line of sight to the other end. More specifically, to a girl who sat on the other end.

She had dark hair, darker eyes, and a deep tan. Not Lana’s sun-kissed skin, but the natural caramel of someone with Mediterranean heritage. Her name was Allie, and her family was from somewhere in Greece. Mike knew that because they graduated from high school together. But they didn’t really know each other.

He tried to pay attention to the professor. He needed this class to graduate, and there were so few graded assignments that each one was weighted heavily. This information would definitely be on the next exam. So he tried valiantly to concentrate on Professor Anders’ opinions on monetary policy and inflation, but his thoughts kept drifting elsewhere.

Anders’ droned, “… of recessions is that they are periods when gross national product, adjusted for inflation, declines for two quarters consecutively. During the financial crisis…” Mike sighed. Another thrilling day in the world of economics.

Allie crossed her legs and drew his attention. One sandaled foot bobbed in the air, bouncing to a beat only she could hear. Her legs were the same smooth caramel, reminding him of senior year, when she wore sinfully-short shorts to school as soon as the weather warmed up.

“…as you can see, the first period shows a more significant decrease in GNP, but, according to the definition, only the second period qualifies as…”

Allie took off her jacket. Underneath was a simple black tank top. Not exactly scandalous, but without the extra layer she was even more distracting.

“… meaningful trend is that recessions have been getting shorter and expansions longer, as seen in the chart…”

Her dark hair spilled down her shoulders and over the top of her chest. Her mouth…

She was staring back at him.

Mike looked away and re-focused his attention on the professor.

“…are not as severe as they used to be, they can still have significant impacts on people’s lives in certain occupations or industries. Regionally, also. In some areas of the country…”

To his surprise, Anders’ words triggered a memory.

When he was a kid, the market crashed and the economy went to hell. He remembered his mom watching the news more often and picking up a second job, but he was too young to understand how bad it really got. She sold her car and started taking the bus to work. She started skipping dinners. At the time, he believed her when she said she’d already eaten at work. Now he knew better. The few times he brought it up, Mom played it off like it was no big deal, but her face did that thing it always did when she was lying to not upset him. That carefully neutral look gave her away.

He glanced at Allie again.

She lifted her pen to her mouth, deep in concentration as Anders prattled on. Clearly unaware of what she was doing, she began gently tapping the pen against her lips while her dark eyes focused on the screen. It captured his attention. The way it patted to a gentle rhythm, drawing him in like her bouncing, sandaled foot. His eyes wandered lower, over her caramel skin and the tank top straining over her impressive chest. When he looked back up, she was staring back at him, and their eyes met. This time she raised an eyebrow, and a little smile played at the corners of her mouth.

Mike felt himself blush as he turned back to the professor and poured all his effort into following along. Eventually, mercifully, class ended. His bag was packed in an instant as he tried to be the first one out.

“Hey!” a voice called from behind while he walked toward the exit. But he kept going, not eager to face the wrath of Allie. She was notoriously… prickly.

“Mike!” she called again, and hurried footsteps were getting louder.

Shit. He stopped and turned to see Allie walking up to him. “Uh, hey,” he answered smoothly.

“You going this way?” She nodded towards the door right in front of him. No way out of it now. Time to face the music.

“Yeah, grabbing some lunch then heading over to Angelos.”

“Cool, I’ll walk with you.”

She’ll what? “Uh, right. Sounds good.”

“It is Mike, isn’t it? I knew I recognized you from high school but couldn’t remember if we had any classes together.”

Algebra, world history, physics… “I’m not too sure either. And yeah, it’s Mike. Allie, right?”

“Yup. How are you liking UBalt?”

“Love it, actually. Growing up here made it feel like home. I can’t believe this is our last year already.”

“I know, right? Sometimes it feels like we just got here. Graduating isn’t all bad though. It’ll be nice to not be broke for once.”

“Definitely.” Mike worked at his cousin’s garage the last few summers and knew there was a spot waiting for him once he graduated. “Econ isn’t my favorite though. Anders reminds me of the teacher in Charlie Brown.”

“So true,” Allie laughed. “He’s a dork too.” He noticed she hadn’t put her jacket back on even though it was cool in the shade.

“Where are you headed?” he asked.

“To the library. My roommate has a new boyfriend so I won’t be getting much work done there for a while.”

“They taking up a lot of space?”

“No… well, yes. But that’s not the problem. You know how these cheap apartments are. Let’s just say the walls are way too thin.” She gave him a knowing look.

“Ah. Roommates are tough. I’m working on the side so I can live by myself.”

“Nice. So you and your girlfriend can be as loud as you want then.” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Not exactly,” he laughed. “Single at the moment.”

“Ooo, so a whole apartment to yourself.”

“Yup, living the dream. Well, this is my exit.”

“Cool, enjoy. Oh, hey,” she said, putting her hand on his arm as he turned from the path. “Do you always get lunch after Econ?”

“Yeah, usually.”

“I have a break now, too. Maybe on Monday I’ll join you.”

“Sure, that sounds great.” They went their separate ways and Mike grew more confused each time he replayed the conversation in his head. It was more than they’d talked in four years of high school and three years of college. But he could still almost feel her hand on his arm.

The rest of his classes weren’t quite as boring as Econ, but they weren’t far off. By the time he was finished, his brain was mush and he was looking forward to drinks.

School wasn’t for him. He’d rather work with his hands than sit in a classroom, but a college degree was important to Mom, so he was doing his best to grind it out. The sun was beginning to set by the time his classes were over and he arrived at work. The little bell on the door jingled over his head, and the receptionist greeted him with a cheery, “Hey, Mike.”

Meredith was a year older, and cute, in a she’ll-make-dirty-jokes-then-smile-innocently sort of way. Her dark hair fell in curly ringlets to her shoulders, and her laugh was infectious. But just now she was twirling her finger at him and grabbing her things. “Turn that ass around. We’re late.”

“Mike!” Tom’s booming voice announced as he stepped out of his office, accompanied by his customary wide smile. It was his family’s business, and his hair was more salt than pepper these days. “Come on in. Let’s chat.”

“Tommm,” Meredith whined. “Don’t you see what time it is?”

“The kid was in a fire,” he answered. “Don’t you want to make sure he’s okay?”

Meredith deflated a little. “You okay, Mike?”

“Fine, actually.”

“Great!” Her smile made Mike smile back. “Let’s go.”

“Whoa there,” Tom interrupted. He made a show of inspecting him, turning his head from side to side, looking for signs of injury. “You’re good? Really?”

Tom was good people. Mike liked lying to him only a little more than explaining that actually, demons did it. This was it. Moment of truth.

“Yeah, really. When I left around midnight, everything was fine.”

Tom searched his face for a long moment, ignoring Meredith tapping her imaginary wristwatch, then said, “Alright. Must have been electrical or something.”

Mike let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Lana was right. That was surprisingly easy.

“Great. Time to go.” Meredith’s tone accepted no arguments. She had that effect on people.

The phone rang as they were walking out the door. Tom hesitated, torn between his instinct to put the business first and the call of happy hour.

He sighed, “I’m right behind you.”

They gave him apologetic looks, and the bell jingled again as they left.

“He never really gets a day off, does he?” Mike asked as he took a long step. The sidewalk was cracked every few feet, with tuffs of weeds sprouting through, making the walk precarious.

“No,” she sighed. “He really doesn’t. Should we go back?”

Tom looked out for his people, which meant they tried to look out for him. But still. It was Friday.

“He did say he wouldn’t be long. Probably not much we can do, anyway.”

She smiled and took his arm. “I’m glad you said it, because I need a drink.”

“Tough week?” he asked.

“Tough month,” she corrected.

“What’s up?”

Meredith looked at him sideways. He liked her, but they were more coworkers than friends. Their conversations had never gone much deeper than weekend plans and work complaints. Finally, with a sigh, she admitted, “I broke up with my boyfriend.”

Mike was a little ashamed at how much that perked him up. “Ah, sorry to hear that. You doing okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll oh!” She stumbled on a crack, but he managed to catch her by the waist before she fell.

“Thanks. I’ll be fine. Anyway, it’ll be nice to blow off a little steam. You know how the guys can get.”

She gave him a little smile, and Mike couldn’t help but return it as they walked arm in arm the rest of the way.

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