Chapter Ten: Catra

“What benefits?” Catra asked again, frantically as Evans came into the suite and locked the room door behind him. Then, reaching into the inside of his jacket, he pulled out a shotgun.

“Evans, what the bloody hell is going on?” The words came out in a sob as Evans turned the gun this way and that, inspecting it.

“The Palace offers special protections to its guests Ms. Catra. It is part of your employee package. It was in the contract you signed. Under benefits.” Evans adjusted the sleeves of his shirt and jacket, before pushing a lever on the gun to the side and looking inside the now separate compartments.

“I am here to help you. Now, we cannot leave just yet because I believe someone you know is on his way up.” Evans brought a chair over to the door of the suite and propped it under the handle of the door.

“Who?” Who was possibly coming here? The only person who knew she was coming to the Palace was… Ryan. “Is it a werewolf?” She asked Evans, her heart lifting as she realized that Ryan had come for her.

“I believe so Ms. Why don’t you prepare to leave as soon as he gets here?”

“Yes,” Catra said distractedly as she considered what they would need to leave.

When she turned to Daniel, she saw that the shirt and trousers she had gotten him into were scorched and smoking. His Angel light was literally burning the clothes off him.

Daniel still looked dazed and moved slowly. All he did was look at his reflection in the mirror, studying it as if he was trying to memorize how he looked. Catra pulled a jacket out of Daniel’s bag and helped him into it, before she pulled all the cash out of his luggage, along with two phones and three credit cards.

“I need to open the safe.” She spoke shortly to Evans, who gave her the code.

She exhaled with relief when she saw that Daniel had stored dragon gold in the safe. If they were going on the run, they would need all the disposable cash they could get.

And, if they were going to fix the problem of Daniel being an Angel, they would need to pay a lot of people a lot of money. She stuffed the gold into the bag, and pulled on her boots, just as Evans stood.

“He’s here.”

The wolf burst through the door just as Evans was pulling it open. It was a large wolf, almost two hundred pounds and tall, with its head coming to Evan’s waist.

It growled as it stalked into the room, looking around at the scene, before it spotted Catra. She had never seen Ryan in his wolf form before, and the large, hulking form almost frightened her.

But then the change happened. It was like watching a fast-forwarded movie and was almost comical, as he went from wolf to human in seconds, until he was standing in front of her, his clothes reappearing on his body. He came towards her, grabbing her gently by her arms and pulling her towards him. Catra let out a soft sob as she fell against his chest but could not control herself as Ryan cradled her. And soon her sobs became a flood of tears.

Her body was shaking when Ryan pulled away and looked down at her. His face was incredibly gentle as he stared at her. She sniffed and lifted a hand to wipe her face.

“What happened?” He asked. She could hear the anger in his voice, though he was restraining himself well. “And who-what- is that?”

He asked this as he stared at Daniel. She saw something, a flicker of red light, flash through his eyes as he looked at the Angel.

They were mates too.

Catra realized it instantly in the way Ryan’s eyes lit up as he looked at Daniel.

How could any of this be possible?

Ryan’s nostrils flared, and she could tell that he sensed something was different about Daniel. But it was clear that the mating bond was not that obvious to him.

“I do not want to interrupt this,” This came from Evans, who had gone over to the walk-in closet. “But you have about five hundred rabid demons coming right here now, wanting to steal all of Mr. Carver’s abilities and magic. You need to leave now.”

Catra nodded and went over to lift the bags onto her shoulder. Daniel was still standing at the window, and in the distance, she could hear the shrieks of the demons as they fought their way through the hotel guards.

“What do you mean?” Ryan demanded. “Why are those demons coming for him?”

“Because he’s an Angel, Ryan!” Catra’s voice broke when she said Ryan’s name. “He is an Angel and I created him, and I f*cked up the entire universe in the process! He was a client who wanted to be transformed from human to demon, but something… something went wrong with the spell, and now there is too much magic in the universe.”

Catra’s spirits lifted when she saw that Evans had opened a door in the back of the closet that opened into a dark passageway. She went over to Daniel, taking him by the elbow and steering him to the passageway.

“Look,” She turned to Ryan, “I know you have a lot of questions, but we have to leave. I need to get him out of here and change him into a demon as soon as I can. Please come with me.”

Catra knew there was no way Ryan would say no, and with a reluctant nod, he followed her. Evans escorted them into the passageway, before he closed the door behind the four of them. Then, with a click of his fingers, torches flickered on. The torches lined the walls of the passageway, and the flames inside them danced merrily.

It was clear that the flames were dragon fire, because instead of orange and blue flames, the flames were as white as Daniel’s Angelic hair. Evans led the way, with Daniel behind him. Catra was between Daniel and Ryan who led the rear.

The noise of the coming demons had fallen away, and the silence gave Catra time to think. She was calmer now, and she knew she had to consider all her options.

Daniel could not stay as an Angel. The Unbalancing of magic in the universe would affect everyone, including Catra.

Before Daniel became an Angel there had been the perfect amount of magic in their universe. But now that there was more magic than anyone could handle and that meant there would be more chaos. And if Daniel remained an Angel, he would have a target on his back for the rest of his life.

No. She had to make sure he became a demon. She would do it because she had to protect him. He was her mate. She had to do what she could to keep him safe, even if she didn’t know him all that well. The universe had already shown her that she couldn’t hurt him.

That also meant that she wouldn’t be able to do the spell that would turn him into a demon. She would have to find another witch to do it.

“We’ve come to the end of the passageway.” Evans spoke. “You’ll go out into the street and from there you can make your escape. Though I would not recommend it. Demons are like bloodhounds and Angels are painfully obvious to their senses.”

“I’ll open a portal.” Catra said decisively, turning and looking at Ryan. “Can we go home? I mean to Ireland?” She asked him timidly. “We need time to regroup and hide.”

Ryan nodded and she smiled gratefully at him. She watched as his eyes went over to Daniel before he darted forward and caught Daniel who collapsed into Ryan’s arms.