Free Angels of Bourbon Street by Deanna Chase

reassuring, as if I had support in anything I did. “You need to calm down.” I nodded toward Meri. “She’s having issues controlling my gift.”
    Mom jerked her attention to Meri. She watched her friend and then slowly lowered herself to the arm of the couch. Rolling her shoulders, she reached one hand behind her neck and kneaded her muscles. “Sorry,” she said to Meri.
    The tension in Meri’s face eased a bit. She nodded at Mom.
    “If you need a reprieve, you can go outside for a few minutes,” I offered. Sometimes nothing worked but solitude. Experiencing everyone else’s emotions was as physically draining as it was emotionally. If you couldn’t block people out, “emotional vampire” took on a whole new meaning.
    Meri shook her head and stared at me pointedly. “I can’t.”
    Frustration welled in my chest. “Seriously? You’ll be, like, twenty feet away.” Then a sinking horror coiled in my gut. “Are you saying we have to stay in the same room until this is figured out?”
    “No, just the same building. The walls absorb energy, giving you more breathing room. But when one of you goes outside, the other needs to stay close. It’s more of a risk,” Philip said.
    That was something at least.
    Meri got to her feet, waving off Dan, who sprang to her side. Where had he come from?
    “Dan,” Mom said, sounding just as surprised as I was, “you’re still here.”
    He nodded and hunched his shoulders. “I wanted to make sure Meri was okay.” He glanced at her, and I wondered, not for the first time, what kind of relationship they had. It skeezed me out to imagine a romantic one. Meri had been his dad’s mate. I shuddered with the thought. Too gross.
    “I’m perfectly fine, Dan,” Meri said with a slight grimace. “Really, stop worrying.”
    Dan hovered, and Meri turned to him, her gray eyes flashing with irritation. When he didn’t take the hint, she used both hands to shove him sideways.
    “Hey!” he protested, rubbing his arm. “Watch it, will ya? You didn’t need to put any angel power behind the blow. Jeez. You gave me a dead arm.”
    She smirked, something I hadn’t seen her do before. A sense of recognition washed over me. For the first time since Meri had come into my life, she was behaving like a living, breathing human, not a demon or an angel.
    As I watched them, I realized I’d never seen her or Dan touch intimately or share a lover’s glance. No, they interacted with each other much more like the way Pyper and Kane usually did. Fiercely loyal and relentless. Just like brother and sister. A vision of Dan helping Meri find her strength so they could leave Hell came rushing back. I’d witnessed their struggle through a dream while I’d been sharing a soul with Meri. Ah, their relationship became clear. They’d bonded while fighting for survival.
    Meri glanced toward the dining room, where Lailah and Philip sat talking quietly. Philip lifted his head to meet her eyes. Meri glanced away without any acknowledgement.
    Lailah’s lips formed a thin line as her gaze darted between Philip and Meri.
    He abruptly pushed his chair back and stood. “There isn’t anything else to do tonight.”
    Lailah rose, still watching him. “You’re leaving?”
    “I have research to do. Jade should be safe as long as Meri’s here.” He nodded his goodbye to Lailah and strode over to where I sat with Kane and Mom. “I’ll be by tomorrow to let you know what I find.”
    I suppressed a scowl. I didn’t want him around or working on this new development. It was my dumb luck he was still my guardian angel. If it were up to me, I’d have let Kane rip a limb or two off, but that would’ve only gotten Kane imprisoned in the time-warp room and me back in the angel court, trying to free him. Philip wasn’t worth it. The back-stabbing piece of angel turd.
    It was much easier to deal with him when I pretended he didn’t exist. Reluctantly, I gave him a short nod, indicating my consent. Without