Accidentaly Divine by Dakota Cassidy (best large ereader .TXT) 📗

I said, it splits my focus. They don’t much like that. But I can’t give this up. I won’t.”

“And you’re focus being split has to do with me, right? Because pathetic George can’t get it together enough for Dex to consider her a job well done and move on to the next assignment? Am I the one who’s keeping you from getting your permanent wings?”

He looked at her then, his dark eyes deep and swirling with intensity. “It doesn’t just have to do with you, George. There are other factors at play.”

“Like?”

Just then, Nina banged on the window, a two-legged black French bulldog in her arms. When Dex rolled down the window, she snuggled the dog under her chin. “How the fuck could you keep this baby from me? Why the fuck would you act like this place—this mothereffin’ wonderland of babies in fur—doesn’t exist?” She held up the dog, who looked at her with lovesick eyes, and kissed his wet nose. “Why would he do that, Waffles? Why is Dex such a meaniebutt?” she cooed in the tone she reserved for animals and children.

Marty held, of all things, a tiny goat tucked into her jacket, and she dropped kisses on the animal’s head. “Yeah, Mellie Vanellie, why didn’t bad Dex tell us about you guys?” she taunted, using Mellie’s paw to punctuate her question before snuggling her close.

Dex chuckled and gave in. “Okay, okay. You should come inside and I’ll explain, but first, how did you guys find me?”

“I didn’t mean to. I didn’t even know you had anything to do with this. I heard that voice in my head. It was Morgan Freeman this time, and he said someone named Justin Daniels needs my help, only this time, he provided an address.”

Dex looked worried for a brief moment, and then he asked, “And you decided to come handle it on your own, even after I asked you to let me help this time?”

“No. No, sir. I came on a recon mission. A mission of discovery, if you will. I had no intention of approaching the assignment without you. None whatsoever. I just wanted to see what I could see without engaging. That’s it. Swear. Ask the vampire and the werewolf. They can confirm.”

“Tell stupid Dex that’s the fucking truth, Waffles, and then tell him Auntie Nina wants to see the babies. All the babies.”

Marty cocked her head, a smug smile on her face. “So does Auntie Marty. It’s not like Muffin couldn’t use a friend in her old age, and Hollis would love it. Plus, had Auntie Marty known, she would have offered, at the very least—besides her amazing volunteer skills, that is—a very generous donation.”

He grinned at them. “Then by all means, please come in.” Pushing his way out the passenger door, he came around to George’s side of the car as the women headed back into the farmhouse, and gave her a look of regret.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t forthcoming about the rescue. I’ve been so afraid I’d be found out, I guess I became paranoid.”

“Are you seriously telling me no one upstairs knows about this? I thought they knew everything?”

His looked was filled with guilt. “There are ways around it, George.”

She looked up at him as the snow began to fall again, leaving wet splotches on his green vest. “What happens if you get caught, Dex? Or what do you think will happen if, as you said, you get caught ‘splitting your focus’?”

He looked over her shoulder toward the distance. “They take this away from me and make me go back upstairs and clean toilets, and you best believe I’d never see my permies. Not for a very long, long time.”

That made her heart ache. He’d worked so hard to get her to this place—even if she was still on shaky ground. That ratcheted up her guilt a zillion notches.

George gripped his arm, her eyes searching his. “Would they really make you leave this, Dex? Leave the animals and kids who need you so much? How is that at all justice? How is that even a little like what an angel is supposed to stand for?”

“Well, this isn’t my first infraction, George, and I knew before I became involved that I shouldn’t, but I did it anyway. Not following the rules…well, that’s frowned upon in our circles.”

She nodded. “Note to self: don’t break the rules. Still, I can’t believe they’d rip this out from under you. But I promise you this. I won’t say a word. Not one. Now, the biggest question of all.”

He smiled as if the work he so clearly loved wasn’t on the line. “That is?”

“Why was I sent here, and does that mean someone knows about Furry Gates and you?”

“No. At least, I don’t think so. But it does mean you’re supposed to help someone I know very well.”

“Justin Daniels,” she replied.

“Yep. He volunteers here. His mother’s an alcoholic and as dysfunctional as they come. She’s really torn his life up with her addictions to not just booze and men, but a host of other things. And when CPS comes calling in the hope they can catch her, he lies to protect her. Justin lies every single time. To hide his shame. To hide his pain.”

Well, she certainly knew a thing or two about hiding things, and her heart ached for this boy named Justin. “And you know that how?”

“That he lies to the police and CPS? Because his school counselor told me he does. I try not to get too involved in that aspect of their lives, simply because it’s really frowned upon by the people who let me run the school program. I’m not a certified counselor or, in the eyes of the school and the law, for that matter, capable of doling out that kind of mental help. But I’m apprised of their situations so I know what to look for, and Justin’s got some serious baggage with no one to help him but his grandmother, who’s unwell. It’s