Beloved Purgatory (Fallen Angels, Book 2) by Katherine Pine Page A

this city," Oz continued softly, "because
animals can't see angels."
    My attention turned to Camael. He didn't look
different. The sun hit the bottom half of his face. Though he cast
no shadow on the ground, I could see thin, wispy shadows of his
hair on his cheeks. They looked like the shadows of puppet strings
awkwardly moving about on a white stage.
    The cat circled through his legs again. He didn't
appear too long to touch her, or to need her to recognize him. How
could he stand to live in a world that was not even aware of his
existence? Where he was made to watch but disallowed to feel--where
everything thrived with life and change except for him?
    Princess raised her puffy chin and chirped.
    Oz slapped his thighs. "She makes that sound when
she's seen a bird. It's time to stalk pigeons."
    He offered me his hand. I grabbed it and stood. "Uh,
stalk pigeons?"
    Oz shrugged. "She's a cat."
    Princess squinted and made another chirping
sound--the same sweet sound she probably made before ripping into
her unsuspecting victim. I suppressed a chill as her little pink
tongue flicked over her canines. It was so wrong how cute cats
could look while they schemed to do violent, horrible things.
    "Don't worry," Oz whispered. "She sucks at hunting.
All the treats I've given her have made her complacent and
fat."
    "That's a pretty demonic plan," I murmured.
    He grinned, and Princess, tired of waiting, began to
walk down the street.
    We got half a block before she stopped to sniff a
tree for five minutes. "Is this that amazing part you were telling
me about?" I asked as she started to circle the trunk.
    Oz chased after her so the leash wouldn't get
tangled. "One of them."
    Princess then sat down on a grate, looked up at us,
and meowed.
    "What do you want now, sweetheart?" Oz cooed.
    Meow.
    "I think she wants to sit there and watch you fawn
over her," I said.
    "Well, that is her favorite thing to do. Actually,
make that her second favorite thing--right behind watching me clean
out the litter box."
    I laughed. "How charming."
    "I just made her seem really evil, didn't I?"
    The air felt heavy. Tense. It mirrored the tightness
in my chest. I didn't understand what he was asking anymore, or
know why goose bumps flared over my bare arms on such a warm day.
"Well, being a little evil isn't such a bad thing."
    His shoulders relaxed. The uncomfortable sensation in
my head dissolved.
    And then the angel ruined it. "Devi isn't wearing
her necklace."
    "She's with me," Oz whispered. His hands flexed at
his sides.
    The angel continued, unaffected. "She's outside. If
she doesn't wear it and someone traces her--"
    "Fine," Oz interrupted softly. He stuffed his hand
in his pocket, then held out his fist.
    I shivered. "I can't put it on by myself," I
said.
    "It's alright, Devi," the angel murmured as he
uncoiled the silver chain from Oz's grip. The demon didn't move or
look at me--not even when the angel looped it around his
fingers.
    The angel stepped behind me and parted my hair so it
fell over each shoulder. The sun warmed the bare skin on the back
of my neck. Then I felt his fingers, even cooler than the
chain.
    He fastened it. Oppressive weight settled over my
body. I hated how familiar it was beginning to feel--how Oz still
wouldn't meet my eyes, like I'd gone against some unspoken
taboo.
    Then Oz looked up at me, and gave me his signature,
crooked smile. I didn't care that it wasn't as big as it usually
was, or that his eyes looked somewhat guarded. I smiled back at
him, grabbed his hand, then squeezed it so tightly that it almost
banished the lingering fear that things between us had irrevocably
changed.
    ***
    Walking Princess was kind of like being in a
celebrity's entourage. The crowd parted. The people gawked. The
celebrity in question randomly stopped to lick herself.
    Alright, maybe it was a little unusual for a real
celebrity to do that last bit in public--or at least I hoped
so--but I'd never received so much attention while out