Twenty minutes later, Angel navigated the silver Toyota Prius into the narrow space between his sister's shop and the neighboring building, guiding it into the small back parking area and squeezing into an empty spot beside his van. He cut the engine, and the sudden absence of road noise made the silence between them feel deafening.
The ride home had been quiet—both of them retreating into their own thoughts, wrestling with what had happened in the warehouse. But now, sitting in the stillness of the parked car, that silence transformed into something heavier, more oppressive, pressing down on them like a weight, thick and suffocating.
He glanced at Charlie, who sat motionless, staring blankly out the window. Seeing her in human form eased some of his worries, but he wondered if spending so long in her demon guise had somehow affected her. This was another issue they needed to look into, or tonight's events could happen again. And despite feeling sympathy for her finding the dead girl and the regret she felt for forcing him to kill to save her, what he had to do next was going to be tough, but it was necessary.
"Charlie." He paused, wondering for a split second if he should even bring it up, but ultimately, he knew he had to. "We need to talk."
Shifting in her seat to face him, she brushed her dirty blonde hair away from her face. Her red pupils appeared dull against her golden-yellow eyes, and her voice sounded weak and exhausted. "Is it about what happened in the warehouse? When I messed up the plan?"
"Yes. Do you recall the last time you went off-script? We nearly ended up with the same outcome. You need to learn to manage your emotions during a mission, Charlie."
"I know!" She groaned, slumping against the seat. "But when I saw the girl and how she had been tortured—" Her eyes flickered as the image of Chloe's dead body returned. "I suddenly felt helpless, lost, as if I'd failed her!" She sniffed, her chest trembling as she released a shuddering breath. "And I wanted to follow your orders, but when I reached the storeroom and saw what was happening through the window—after what I'd seen with the dead girl—I snapped."
He closed his eyes, rubbing his temples. "And that's the problem, Charlie." Shaking his head softly, he continued, "When you decide to just take action like that—going against the plan—you leave me blind and vulnerable, forcing me to make quick, rash decisions. I can plan every detail for myself when I go on missions alone. But with you, I have to trust that you will follow my orders to the letter. This way, I don't have to worry about you and know you will be there when I need you."
Pouting, she slid deeper into her seat, sighing. "I know. I'm sorry."
He sensed she understood, but didn't quite grasp the seriousness of the situation. "You put me in harm's way, Charlie. The missing sentry caught me. If Amanda hadn't shown up when she did, he likely would have put a bullet in my head."
Her eyes widened as she reached out to touch his arm. "I didn't know."
Frustrated, he shifted away, causing her to flinch as she dropped her hand onto the center armrest. She could feel his anger rising, which triggered her own defenses.
"No, because you didn't listen!" His voice was rising in the confines of the car. Control was slipping as their shared stress and anger filled the void. "You agreed that I would lead, and you would follow. If you had, we could have discovered where that missing sentry was." His anger stemmed more from his next admission than from her recklessness. "I had to kill, something I swore to myself I would never do again."
She knew this about him, but her defenses were rising faster than her empathy. "I'm sorry about that, Angel, but you told me to do whatever I needed to save the girls!" She snapped back, her own voice gaining volume. "And I didn't see any other way."
Pausing, he acknowledged the order. "You're right, I did." However, her dismissal of his turmoil fueled his response. "But that's only because all the other options had been taken off the table when you failed to follow my commands!"
Feeling cornered, her temper flared in response. "I'm not a soldier, Angel, and I'm not your demon bitch!"
Shocked, he spat back, "Charlie! That's not fair! You said I could ask for anything I needed from you, and I needed you to follow the plan! I know what works best in the field."
"4D Chess," she jeered, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "You always remind me of strategy! This isn't some fucking game to me, Angel. My soul breaks every time I see any of them hurt, and we were running out of time. Besides, you just said it yourself; you wouldn't have been able to help me anyway!"
"It's not a game to me, either!" He shook his head in anger, his knuckles white as he gripped the steering wheel. "But your emotions are going to lead to one or both of us being killed someday. It almost got me killed tonight. How would you have felt then?"
He tensed, immediately regretting his words as he heard a low demon growl rise in her throat.
"How dare you!" Her voice rumbled with supernatural undertones. "You know how much I care about you!" Anger soaked her next words, and though they tasted bitter on her tongue, she spat them out anyway. "More than you do about me, it seems!"
"Jesus Christ!" He slammed his fist on the steering wheel, the sound echoing in the small space. "I thought we agreed—since you might be the daughter of Lucifer—to put us aside until we could figure this shit out?"
"Not because I wanted to!" she hissed, her eyes beginning to glow faintly.
"Neither did I!" he shot back. "I can't lose you, Charlie! You're too important to me!"
"You mean as a weapon. A tool. All you care about are the missions." She slumped back in her seat, folded her arms over her chest, and stared out the window, her eyes watering. "But fuck taking a chance with me. With us!"
He took a deep breath, trying to regain control of the situation. "I take chances with you every day, Charlie!" he countered. "But every time you change, your power grows, and you become more and more demonic. Earlier tonight, when you dropped down on me, I felt for a moment that you'd lost control and were going to kill me."
"You don't trust me." She dropped her chin to her chest, which heaved with silent sobs.
"I do trust you, Charlie!" A tight ache gripped his throat. "I've trusted you since that very first night, when you promised never to hurt me. But I can't ignore what's happening to you, how your powers are constantly evolving, and the possibility of you losing control of yourself. I can't take a chance on us until we figure all this out." He gripped the steering wheel, trying to focus his emotions. "But until we do? Charlie? I need you to work with me in the field, not against me!"
The last line broke her, and grasping the handle, she pushed her door open and slid out of the car seat. "Fine!" Her fiery eyes fixated on him through the open door. "I'll be your fucking slave and follow all your orders, 'Sergeant'!"
Slamming it shut, she stalked toward the back entrance, her demon form spilling out with her tail twisting rapidly behind her in a furious swirl.
Quickly, Angel jumped out of his side of the car, rushed to her, grabbed her arm, and spun her around to face him. "This is exactly what I'm worried about," he hissed, pointing at her tail. "You need to control yourself better—temper your emotions! Because if you can't? If you're seen by anyone? Don't you understand what would happen?"
Charlie angrily snapped her arm free from his grip, but her eyes flickered with doubt, and she swiftly reined in her power. Nervously, she looked around at the small lot, the few cars parked, then her eyes drifted to the windows of both buildings, and she saw no lights on anywhere. Thankfully, her outburst seemed to have gone unnoticed by anyone except for Angel.
Dropping her gaze, she conceded his point, whispering, "Everyone would be after me."
"And I would lose you—I swore to be your protector, to keep you safe, but I can't do it alone. I need you to listen to me when we're out there, Charlie. Not as a tool, a weapon, or bound to me, but as my partner."
Sniffing, she backed away and held up her hands in defeat. "Maybe I'm not good enough to be your partner!" Her eyes flickered demon-red as the rage she'd tried to quell returned unfettered. "Maybe it's just best that I get my memories back and find a way home!" Her fury fueled her final words to him. "Maybe we shouldn't try to be anything anymore."
Leaving him stunned, Charlie spun around, flung open the back door, stormed through, and slammed it shut behind her, with the sound echoing across the empty parking lot.
Alone and in disbelief, all he could do was utter one last quiet curse into the night air. "Shit!"