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charge up there. Like he’d ever completely hand the reins over to his little brother.”
    She knew my angel very well for a woman who’d never actually met him. “Okay. Irix will have permanent immunity. But he needs to follow the rules, or the angels will revoke it.”
    Amber smiled, and I caught my breath at her beauty. “Then we have a deal. Let me know the exact date and time, and I’ll be there. Irix’s immunity begins immediately.”
    “Deal.” It’s not like I had much choice. Gareth had me over a barrel with my bare ass in the air. I needed to get this done. I needed to owe him and Kirby less favors. This would satisfy my debt to Kirby. One down. A dozen or so more to go.
    I left soon after Amber. Eighteen inadvertent side trips later and I finally managed to make it home. Well, in the general vicinity of home. Luckily I was able to carjack some poor sap and get him to drive me the remaining forty miles to my house. My less-than-stellar ability to teleport meant I’d wasted the whole night trying to get where I wanted to go, arriving at my door sleepy and irritable right as Nyalla was pouring cereal and making coffee. She smiled as I came in the door, but her cheerful greeting seemed forced.
    Oh no. I was leaving for Hel in a few hours. Although Gareth could wait if my Nyalla needed me.
    “So, how are things with you and Nils?” I took the cup of coffee she handed me, trying to keep my voice casual and upbeat. Inside I was fuming, my fuse especially short after my teleportation disasters earlier. I swear, if that Fallen Angel had hurt her, I’d hang the bastard from my rafters.
    Nyalla wrinkled her nose. “Some things are really, really good. You know.” She wiggled her eyebrows. Yeah, I got it. “But he’s got a lot of baggage.” She laughed. “Not that I don’t have my own baggage, but Nils has four-million years of it.”
    Shit, that was a lot of luggage. I nodded sympathetically. “Trust me, I know. I’m partial to angels myself, but maybe you should stick with humans.”
    Nyalla shrugged. “Like the guys on that dating site? I don’t know, Sam.”
    I set my cup down. “Okay, spill it. Something is bothering you, and I don’t have time to waste weaseling it out. Do I need to smack Nils around a bit? Do you need me to buy you a puppy?”
    I had no idea what made young human women happy, so I held my breath and waited for her reply.
    “Maybe I should swear off sex for a while, give Nils his marching orders, and concentrate on other things.”
    Shit. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like Nyalla’s definition of ‘other things.’ “Like hanging by the pool and going to the beach?” I asked hopefully
    She winced. “You’ve been wonderful to me, Sam, but I need to work. I can’t sit by the pool and play in the surf the rest of my life. Well, I can, but I have to do something meaningful too. I need a job.”
    Well, that wasn’t too bad. “Candy hired your friend. I’ll bet Michelle can find something for you. Or you could waitress down at the Eastside Tavern.”
    “I don’t want to waitress or file or take rental applications. I want to do what you do.”
    Every bit of air left my lungs at the thought of Nyalla doing what I do. As Amber had said, I was sort of the unofficial queen of Hel. Nyalla was a young woman with her whole life ahead of her. “How about college? Or...?” I didn’t know what else to suggest. The only human jobs that came to mind were ones she’d already rejected.
    “I can help you with stuff,” she pleaded. Damn, I hated it when Nyalla got that hopeful look in her eyes. Once she started down that path, I ended up agreeing to anything she wanted. “I understand demons and how things work in Hel. I know werewolves. I’ve got my gift. I took out a ghoul, restrained an angel.”
    What the fuck did she think she was going to do for me? She was a human, soft and squishy. I couldn’t put her in harm’s way. “Nyalla, I don’t think that’s a good idea.