With the van packed up and ready, Angel and Charlotte got into the front seats, and he slipped the key into the ignition, firing up the van's engine. As it idled, he opened his phone, checked his email, and saw that Cassie had sent him the details.

"Who's in danger, Angel?" Charlotte had asked when Angel came back into the room.

"A child's gone missing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The parents reported him missing about three hours ago, and search efforts have just started. We're about four hours away."

"A missing child, "Charlotte repeated, pained, "But not kidnapped? That doesn't make me feel any better."

"I know, but the silver lining is how soon he was reported missing and is likely just lost. Sometimes these things resolve themselves before I get there, but I told my source to send every news report she hears, and I turn nothing down."

Charlotte nodded and helped Angel pack up his gear.

In the van minutes later, Angel flipped the phone close, "My source has directions. Let's move." He said as he shifted the van into reverse gear. Carefully, but with haste, Angel backed out of the parking space, turned the wheel until the van was rotated ninety degrees, and put the van in drive.

Charlotte thought for a moment, "How can I help?"

"By the time we get there, it's going to be getting dark. You have amazing eyesight and increased speed, so you'll be best suited to scour the areas that they have set out in quick fashion."

"Smell, too," Charlotte added

"Smell?" Angel glanced at her.

Giving Angel an apologetic look, she explained, "When I cornered the one man in the bathroom, I could smell his fear; it was… sweet and strong. I realized that in my demon form, it's not just my sight that's elevated; it's all my senses. I could hear you outside when you darted him, too."

"You didn't tell me."

"I know." Charlotte's voice sounded distant. "I was so caught up in the moment and then focused on the girls on the way to the hospital, and then…"

"No, it's okay, Charlotte, "Angel assured her, "Things happened so fast, but it's good to know you have these abilities. Do you think if you got a chance to smell something of his, you could track him easier?"

Feeling slightly embarrassed, Charlotte nodded, "I think so, yes. When I first changed in front of you last night, I caught a very strong scent of fear, and like the man, it tasted sweet. It made my insides flutter in a kind of hunger."

"Fear excites you," Angel stated plainly.

"Sort of? With you, I felt shame and fear of being rejected, but I relished the fear I put into those men last night. It was exhilarating and—" She paused, searching for the right word, "—arousing?" Embarrassed, she finished with a frustrated scoff, "I don't understand me."

"We'll figure it out in time," Angel gave her a quick reassuring look, "but right now, our focus will be finding the boy, and it's good to know you have an even bigger advantage going in."

"I'll do my best." Charlotte promised, and then took a deep breath, "You said it's a few hours to the site?"

Angel nodded as they stopped at a red light, "About four hours."

"Then," tentatively broaching the interrupted topic, "will you tell me about you?"

—

As they made the long trek south, Charlotte listened intently to every little detail Angel shared about himself. Things he loved, how he grew up, and his favorite foods, to which she inquired if any of it was from animals. Angel admitted yes, and he received a low demonic grumble from her. He talked about his favorite sports and films, promising to show her many more movies, especially horror, to give her more ideas for any time she could use them. He mentioned his sister, who was two years older than him, who left home at seventeen because of their overbearing Catholic parents and, when she could, joined the military as a communications officer. She now owned a witchcraft shop in New Orleans, as she always had an infinity for the supernatural. Angel had always teased her about it, having never believed in all that stuff—until now, that is.

He revealed to Charlotte that Cassie was his source, sending him intel and directions whenever a case popped up. He explained that when he left the army and told her what he was going to do, she wanted in, and would use her contacts and connections. He appreciated it, and she has been a huge reason for his successes. What Angel glossed over, yet again, was what made him leave the army, but Charlotte was starting to feel it was something incredibly tragic. She also wondered if Cassie might have a way to help her remember who she was, but she was conflicted on whether she wanted to know just yet and if she should even ask him.

Another, more intense feeling followed that thought, and it occurred to her: Did she really want to know? Did she want to risk discovering that her demon side was the dominant of the two halves of her and that she'd become, for real, the monster she created for those evil men? And what of Angel? If she regained her true self, would he abandon her? Would she return to hell? Would Angel abandon her? She was quickly coming to realize that she wanted neither of those things to happen. The convoluted feelings were untangling fast. The led her to ask him something that she needed to know. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

It was such an out-of-left-field question that Angel blinked, "Not since before the military. I dated in high school like anyone else, but there was only one that I was serious with during my senior year."

"What was she like?" Charlotte was curious what type of woman Angel was attracted to.

"Strong-willed, stubborn, sensitive, extremely intelligent, and bold. Traits that I loved at the time but annoy the hell out of me today."

"Why?"

"One thing I've not explained to you about what I do is that while I am on the right side of the law, I sometimes push it to extremes that would get most thrown into jail or have their license as a bounty hunter revoked. In that regard, I've been lucky—I guess I can say that word—to have someone who has my back and gives me more wiggle room than I sometimes deserve. Someone who knows me more than anyone else."

"Your ex?"

"FBI Special Agent Amanda Sims." Angel announced, "A frustratingly brilliant woman."

"But you're not together anymore?"

"No. We had different goals. She went into the academy with the sole desire to work in the bureau, and I wanted to serve my country. She was dedicated and very capable, and I'm glad she realized her dreams. She's a very special lady, but we drifted apart."

Charlotte sensed a bit of regret but also felt a sense of relief. She bit her lip and looked out the window again. She had to reconcile her own feelings, being both sad that he was lonely and glad that he was single? Fuck, what a way to feel. Human emotions sucked, she decided.

The van went silent after that, with both of them lost in their own private thoughts, and the scenery flew by at a quick pace as they neared the campsite. About thirty minutes out of their destination, Angel's phone rang, and he pulled over to the side of the road, parked, and answered.

"Hey, Cassie. News?"

Charlotte's ears perked up, and she could make out both sides of the conversation as if Cassie was in the van with them. She found Cassie's voice to be gentle, soothing, but also commanding. She felt an instant liking for this Cassie person.

"Nothing bad, but nothing good," Cassie's voice carried, "They've covered a few grids right around the campsite with no luck. Choppers are being sent in, as well as tracking dogs, and they're expanding the perimeter. How far out are you?"

"About twenty-five minutes or so. I'm coming in from the Northeast."

"Okay, I have Google Maps up and suggest you go to the point I'll send you. The Frequencies say a group is amassing there to search an expanded area to the north. And Angel?"

"Yes?"

"It's a treacherous area that usually only experienced hikers go to, so if that kid got lost in that type of terrain—" Cassie trailed off.

"Understood. Thanks for the update." Angel said goodbye and hung up, "Shit. If that kid got lost in an area like that, he could be in serious trouble, or worse."

"Get me there." Charlotte's red eyes looked at him.

Angel gravely nodded, put the van in gear, and accelerated to as safe a speed as the twisting roads would allow.