All Who Wander Are Lost (An Icarus Fell Novel) by Bruce Blake Page B

muscles
in her jaw bunched. In my experience, Poe’s emotions were
generally limited to happy/enthusiastic or nervous/scared. This
angry thing was new and it kind of scared me.
    “ Do
I have to report every movement to you?” Hide fear with
attitude.
    “ If
you’re going to Hell, yes.”
    I put my fork down
and leaned forward, doing my best to keep my own temper under
control. I’d caused enough scenes in enough restaurants over
the years and I thought the pork plate here quite tasty, so I didn’t
want to ruin it for future visits.
    “ I
told you I’d go with or without you. What did you expect?”
    “ Michael
expects you to do as you’re told.”
    “ Fuck
Michael.”
    Poe’s eyes
widened and I felt the urge to look over my shoulder to ensure the
archangel wasn’t standing behind me. When I didn’t feel
an electrified, gorilla grip on my shoulder, I assumed I’d
gotten away with it. A minute passed in silence. Poe’s gaze
remained steady on mine—another curiosity, she usually found
it difficult to maintain eye contact. She drummed her fingers on the
table.
    “ Would
you like a menu?”
    The waitress stood
beside the table, pen and pad at the ready in case Poe wanted to
order. The guardian angel didn’t look at her.
    “ No,
she’s fine,” I answered on her behalf. “In fact,
she’s just leaving.”
    Noticing the
tension between us, the woman nodded, told us to yell if we needed
anything, then retreated. The fingers of Poe’s left hand
continued drumming: dut, dut dut, dut, pause, dut, dut, dut, dut.
    “ I’m
not going anywhere.”
    “ There’s
nothing you can do. We found Beth Elton and brought her back. She’s
on her way up right now.”
    “ We?”
    I cleared my
throat, suddenly wondering if I’d said too much. I was in no
danger from Poe—it's my guardian angel’s job to keep me
safe, not to hurt me—but might I be getting Piper in shit?
    “ Yeah,
we.”
    Apparently, she saw
no humor in my lack of forthrightness. Her eyes narrowed.
    “ Who
took you to Hell?”
    “ Just
someone.”
    Her fingers ceased
drumming and she slapped her open palm on the table, startling me
and making the salt and pepper shakers dance a brief jig. I looked
to see if the noise had upset our server, but she stood near the
register polishing silverware and glanced away when she saw me
looking.
    “ Dammit,
Icarus, will you tell me what’s going on?”
    Now she swears,
too.
    I sighed. Seeing
Poe angry wasn’t as much fun as I might have thought. In fact,
I felt a little bad.
    “ Piper,”
I said finally. “Piper helped me get there. She’s with
Beth right now, waiting for an escort.”
    “ Piper?
Who’s Piper?”
    “ A
guardian angel, like you. You must know her.”
    The expression on
her face changed, grew angrier, and it occurred to me that telling a
guardian angel you’re hanging out with another guardian angel
might be akin to telling your girlfriend you had sex with someone
else.
    “ I’ve
never heard of her,” Poe said through clenched teeth. “Where
did you find her?”
    “ We
bumped into each other at the park.”
    “ At
the pond where the nun died?”
    “ Yeah.”
    “ I
don’t like this, Icarus.”
    “ Ric.”
    She leaned back and
her expression softened from rageful to angry.
    “ I
didn’t want you going in the first place, I certainly don’t
want you to go with someone I don’t know.”
    I crossed my arms
and bent one corner of my mouth up in an ‘it’s-your-fault’
kind of smirk.
    “ Maybe
you should have come with me, then.”
    “ Maybe
I should have,” she said, her voice so quiet I barely heard
her. She looked down at her hands fiddling in her lap—more
like the Poe I knew. She glanced up at me then away. “I don’t
trust her.”
    “ You
don’t know her.”
    “ Exactly.”
    “ Then
you take me back.”
    She shook her head,
looked back down at her hands. A few seconds passed before she spoke
again, a touch of sadness in her voice.
    “ I’m
going to have to tell