Beyond The Veil (A Paranormal Romance)

Chapter 22

"Professor Morris?!" Emily gasped.

Why in the world would he call Raphael's cell phone, when he knew exactly that Raphael would not be able to answer? There was only one reasonable explanation Emily could think of. He had in fact lied to her. What kind of twisted game was that man playing?

Enraged, she tapped the green button on the screen. "Why are you calling his phone?" she snapped.

"Nice to talk to you to, little lioness." Judging by the relaxed tone of his voice, he was not at all surprised to have Emily on the receiving end. "I take it you have found Raphael's dearest possession. That is, not taking you into account, of course."

Not taking her into account? What on earth was he suggesting? Emily was so mad she could barely control herself. "No, I have not found his phone. We're talking through the aether, Mr. Wise-guy."

"Hey," he cooed, apparently trying to sound charming. "What a sassy little thing you are. Didn't know you had it in you."

Frankly, Emily didn't either. She was as surprised about her uncharacteristic outburst as Professor Morris was.

"Well, you just have a talent to bring out the worst in me."

"Is that so?" His voice was dripping with suggestiveness. "Then I really want to see more of it, little vixen. Are you like that, too, in the sheets?"

Her mouth hung open. She couldn't believe what he had just asked. "Excuse me?" she stammered, completely taken aback by his boldness.

"I see," he chuckled quietly. "Still untouched, aren't we?"

Anger mixed with embarrassment as Emily's face turned a deep shade of red. "I don't know why this is any of your concern."

He laughed. "Why so hostile? We're just having a nice little chat. Among friends."

"You're not my friend." Emily spat out the last word as if it were poison.

"Listen." Suddenly he was very calm and serious. "And listen carefully. I'm the only chance you have to help Raphael, so I suggest you reconsider. If you want him back, you'll have to deal with me. You best get used to it." He snorted, overemphasizing every letter of the word he then added to address her. "Friend."

"What?" Emily was so excited about his statement, her heart skipped a beat. "But you said..."

"It's complicated," he sternly cut her off. "But I'll try to dumb it down for you. They caught him after he sent you back. He was put on trial, and right now the Guardians are arguing over his sentence, which most likely will entail the annihilation of his eternal soul. But there is still hope, little girl. If you care about him, and I mean truly and deeply care about him, we had better be on our way and help him out of his predicament, hadn't we?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed eagerly. "But... wait. Why do you suddenly want to save him? It seemed to me that you were actually quite pleased that Raphael was gone."

He sighed in annoyance. "There are things that go beyond your limited brain, my lovely mortal. I'm Raphael's mentor, so of course, I do care about where he ends up. I haven't invested so much energy guiding him, teaching him, just for him to be executed. You see, he is a pain, especially when you are concerned, since he won't listen to any of my advice. If you ask me, it serves him just right that I leave him to stew for a bit. However, I also feel somewhat obliged to get him out of there, and lending a lady in distress a helping hand is a special bonus. Naturally, I won't do it for free; I expect something in return."

"And what is that?" Emily wasn't so sure she actually wanted to know.

"That's easy. I want you to do me a favor."