Angel Eclipsed (The Louisiangel Series Book 2) Read Free Page B

still.
    Releasing a hesitant breath, I finally looked down at Joshua. He was peering up at me, his blue eyes wide with a mixture of fear and relief. He started to climb to his feet, but I shook my head. “I can still hear him,” I hissed at him, as something clattered outside the room. “Stay where you are.” Admittedly, it didn’t sound like he was right outside of the room, but I wasn’t going to take a chance.
    “Are you alright?” Joshua asked in a low voice. His eyes raked over me.
    I shot him a glare. “Are you?” I asked.
    Joshua, not showing any interest in listening to me, kept low, dragging himself to me. “Karl is high. If we wait for him to settle, we can wait him out.”
    I frowned at the suggestion. I didn’t trust Karl to settle. Equally, I didn’t think it was safe to try to leave the room just yet. “You’re a cop,” I pointed out.
    “And I know enough to know we’re both unarmed and it’s not safe just yet, darlin’,” he drawled.
    “I’m not questioning that,” I told him, rolling my eyes at him. “I’m asking where your backup is? What are you doing here in the first place?”
    Joshua sighed, shaking his head, his lips pursed together grimly. “It’s not important.”
    I narrowed my eyes, shooting him a confused look. “How is it not important? What the heck are you doing here?” I asked, gesturing to the dump of a bathroom as though it wasn’t obvious where I was referring to. I stared at the tiles which may once have been white, but were under so much dirt, it was impossible to say for certain. I held back a shudder as I spotted a roach scuttle under the bathtub.
    “Now is not the time, Angel,” he told me.
    “Perhaps we should just make a run for it,” I suggested: I could take Karl, right?
    Joshua glared at me before finally releasing a breath and shaking his head. “He only fired six rounds. That Glock is still loaded.”
    I folded my arms and glowered at him. “We’ve just established we’re not going anywhere any time soon; might as well pass the time with something.”
    “It’s not important,” he shot back firmly, his face becoming stern.
    “We have just been shot at, Joshua,” I pointed out, feeling my anger build as my hands curled into fists. “How am I supposed to keep you safe if I don’t know all the details?”
    “You don’t need to keep saving me,” Joshua snapped. “I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself.”
    I snorted. “Yes, excellent case in point right here.” I pointed at the cut on his forehead, without jabbing at it like I was tempted, to carry the point home.
    “What do you care anyway?” he asked. “It’s not like you’ve been around recently.”
    That was fair: I deserved that comment. That didn’t stop me sucking in a breath as an explosion of pain flashed through me, like a bolt of lightning to my chest.
    “Angel?” Joshua exclaimed sharply, seemingly not caring that the volume could attract Karl’s attention once more. He brought himself into a crouch as he grasped at my shoulder.
    “I’m fine,” I said, forcing out the words through gritted teeth.
    “Bullshit,” Joshua spat, his eyes once again looking me over, trying to work out where my injury was. When he couldn’t see it, he started to run his hands over me, but I pushed them away. My pain didn’t come from a physical wound.
    I closed my eyes and ignored him, tensing my muscles. This was not the time to be incapacitated. It took a few minutes of me being unable to move, but the pain eventually ebbed back. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes, finding Joshua watching me, his earlier anger replaced with concern. “I’m fine,” I repeated.
    “And I again call bullshit on that,” he informed me, becoming more impatient as he shook his hand over me.
    “I can’t talk about it here,” I relented. “We need to get out of here.”
    “Might as well pass the time with something,” he shrugged, repeating my earlier words.
    “How about we start