Broken Wings: Genesis (15 page)

“Gabriel.” Sariel’s voice held a
strong note of distaste. She pushed up from the table to face the new arrivals.

The new guy’s eyes narrowed when
they caught sight of her. I thought he’d spit tacks when Ke stood up next. Chaz
was getting up from the table, too, but I saw Gabriel give him a quick,
dismissive glance before turning his attention back to the other two. That
pissed me off. How rude and arrogant and––shit.

I looked at him with dawning
realization. “Gabriel. As in
the
Gabriel, the
Archangel
Gabriel?”

“Yes, Yeshua.” Father David was
uncertain about what was going on, and he was trying to sort through matters to
sort things out. “He came to me, asking about you.” He frowned, looking over at
the two who were stepping closer with caution. “Who are your guests?”

I had to laugh out loud at the
ludicrous situation unfolding in my apartment. Nudging a disgruntled Gabriel
aside, I closed the door.

“Father, meet Sariel and Ke. I’m
fairly certain they’ve met your guest before, so no introductions are necessary
there. It’s turning into old home week for the choir of angels. Sariel and Ke
are both Grigori.”

I watched him chew on that.

“But the Grigori––”

“Father, Father.” I chided,
shaking my head. “You taught me yourself that there are layers to the old
stories we aren’t aware of at the human level. Well, meet layers two and three.
I think Gabriel qualifies as a layer one––since the Archangels do outrank the
Grigori in the hierarchy, don’t they?”

The priest nodded. He was
speechless. Good. I didn’t have to deal with recriminations for the time being.

“What are you doing here,
Gabriel?” Sariel’s voice was tight.

“The same thing as you, I would
imagine.” Gabriel lifted his head.

His arrogance was overwhelming. I
guess angels did come in all sorts of personalities. Well, I didn’t do arrogance.
I didn’t care if he
was
the Archangel Gabriel.

“What––trying to get me to enlist
for this little war that you have coming up?” More likely he was getting ready
to implement a draft in my case, but I was getting tired of being pushed. I
needed some space to work through all of this.

“No.” Gabriel shook his head. His
expression was a mixture of distaste and confusion. I’m pretty sure that
whatever he had been expecting, I wasn’t it. “The Thrones have asked me to
bring you to the Crystal
City. They wish to speak
to you.”

I rolled my eyes upward, throwing
up my hands in exasperation. “Why don’t they just show up at my door like
everyone else?”

“You cannot bring her to the Crystal City,” Sariel snapped, “unless the ban
has been lifted on the Grigori.”

“She is no longer Grigori.”
Gabriel announced. “But if she were, in her case it as been repealed.”

“Yeshua––?”

Poor Father David. I knew how he
felt. But I couldn’t give him answers when I was still confused myself. And I
certainly didn’t want to be the one to turn the older priest’s world upside
down.

“You cannot––”

“It is the Law––”

“We
are
the Law––”

All three angels started in at
once, arguing amongst themselves. I looked at Father David and shrugged,
shaking my head. While they were at it, I left them, going to my bedroom to get
dressed. Then I went into my closet and opened a chest I had stashed in the
back. From inside, I pulled out a carefully wrapped bundle, checking to make
sure I had the one I wanted. I tucked the bundle into the front of my leather
jacket, closed the chest and closet, and went back to the living room.

The three so-called
higher
beings
were still at it. Chaz and Father David watched on in confusion,
trying to catch what they were saying. I didn’t bother. They could fill me in
later. I needed to get out and away. I also had some work to do. A quick glance
back told me that no one even noticed my leaving. Well, maybe no one. Ke’s eyes
flicked my way for a brief instant of contact, but he kept his focus on the
argument. He got a few brownie points for that one. He wasn’t going to give me
away. I slipped quietly through the apartment door and headed out.

My mind wandered as I waited
patiently in the plush outer waiting room of an executive office suite. I had
phoned ahead to make sure the person I wanted to visit would have a moment to
see me. She did, and so here I was. You didn’t drop in on the behind-the-scenes
mogul of the world’s largest software company without an appointment. I was
lucky she’d even take a moment to talk with me.

A hand came up to press against
the wrapped case inside my jacket. Maybe it wasn’t so much luck as it was in
knowing the right buttons to push. I’d been waiting for close to an hour before
a gorgeous young man came out to escort me in to see his boss. He looked like
one of those social-climbing professional types who did whatever it took to
reach the top. It was sad how they never seemed to realize until it was too
late that they were nothing more than a diverting little
perk
for the
powerful.

He opened the door to let me into
a dark office of black and chrome. Heck, even the windows were tinted black to
complete the image. The woman was the only splash of color to the entire
setting, if you could count her deep purple outfit and lipstick as a contrast to
the black. She was beautiful, but in a cold way, with her expression very aloof
and unreachable. Every inch of her was perfectly assembled into place, even
each black curl pinned to her head in a professional coiffure.

Erishkigal was one of the
immortals. I had met her at a party during my brief affair with Morpheus. She
used to be worshipped by the Sumerians as a death goddess, the ruler of their
underworld. There was some sort of scandal in the Sumerian mythos about her
killing her sister. The whole thing is pretty graphic and ugly. But that just
goes to show you the distortion of the facts through the years. Her sister,
Inanna, was now running some sort of health resort for the rich and famous
outside of Miami.
I was pretty certain Erishkigal was a major backer in that enterprise.

Everyone thought the powerful CEO
of the world’s largest software company was some dweeb who had never managed to
graduate from college. Yeah, right. And they say people didn’t believe in fairy
tales any more. Erishkigal was the true, hidden power behind the throne. She
was also known once as a goddess who had control over the demon world. She had
just expanded from demons to daemons. It wasn’t that big of a stretch.

I also knew what Erishkigal’s
little quirk was among the immortals. She liked to make people jump through
hoops, even to come and see her. Trying to get an audience with Erishkigal
could take weeks, or even months. The only reason I was standing in front of
her right now was because I had something that interested her more than games.

“Ms. Star.” The dark immortal
acknowledged me with a nod of her head.

“Yeshua, please.” I smiled. “It is
good to see you again.”

Her eyes gave nothing away, but
she pointedly looked at the watch on her wrist. That was fine with me. I took
the prize out of my jacket and set in on the desk in front of her. A raised
eyebrow was her only indication of curiosity. She took a moment to unwrap the
cloth from its contents. Without even picking it up, she put a possessive hand
on the clay cylinder and looked up to meet my eyes.

“How much do you want?”

My smile was small, but it was
there. I knew that I had her at any price. The clay cylinder was covered in
ancient Sumerian text. It was an obscure relic holding an ode to the goddess of
the underworld. Priceless in museum circles, I knew it was worth whatever I
wanted from Erishkigal. It was a vanity thing.

I told her about my problem with
the dream stalker. Erishkigal had many contacts among the Fallen Ones of the
demon world. I wanted to know who was working with him and how I could get
around the pact between them to shut Black Wolf down.

I saw a flash of fear in her eyes
that was quickly hidden. I hadn’t imagined it. Who could bring fear to a death
goddess?

She shook her head. “I’m afraid
that is something I am not able to help you with, Ms. Star. That pact is beyond
my ability.”

I was surprised. She didn’t like
admitting it. That was pretty clear. But she was a realist, and I respected
that. By the way her hand subtly caressed the cylinder, I knew that if she
could have given me assistance, she would have.

“Do you know of someone who might
be able to help me?”

“Perhaps––” She stared at the
prize on her desk a long time before answering. I could see her trying to judge
its value to her. “The only one I know who might be able to help you is Lord
Marduk.”

Damn. “I haven’t met him yet.” My
face wrinkled with a frown. I also didn’t know a lot about him. There was
something about demon control, but there was a lot more––

Erishkigal lovingly stroked the
cylinder. “I might be able to arrange a meeting––”

“If you can set it up for today,
the cylinder is yours.” I cut straight to the point.

She looked at me for a long
moment, and then nodded sharply. “Done.” She reached for a piece of paper and
jotted down an address before handing it to me. “By the time you arrive, he
will be expecting you.”

I stared at her, trying to judge
the weight of truthfulness to her claim.

She flashed me an irritated look.
“He owes me. I will be calling in a favor. He will be happy that it is such a
simple thing to fulfill his obligation.”

By the way she possessively
stroked the cylinder, I could tell she didn’t consider it a bad bargain, so I
accepted her assurances.

“Thanks.”

“Most certainly.” She
acknowledged, but she was no longer paying any attention to me. Her focus was
completely on the cylinder. “Good luck to you, Ms. Star.”

I hadn’t even reached the door
when I heard her keying into the office intercom system.

“Stephen, get me Lord Marduk on
the phone.”

That was good enough for me.

The address Erishkigal had
provided took me into one of the most exclusive areas of town. You had to hand
it to most of the immortals. They hadn’t squandered away immortality without
planning ahead for their creature comforts. The wide gate to Marduk’s estate
swung open at my arrival. Erishkigal had kept to her part of the bargain. I was
satisfied.

I parked my bike at the edge of
the driveway that swung into a circle at the front door. That door, too, opened
as I stepped up to it. It must have been some favor Marduk had owed. I just
hoped the value carried over to what I needed. A solemn, well-dressed man
offered to take my coat, but I declined. He nodded acceptance and led the way
through an incredible maze of rooms to an indoor pool area.

On the diving board of the pool,
about six feet up, the most beautiful man I had ever seen was launching himself
into the water. With perfect form he sliced the surface and shot into the
crystal clear depths below. Only seconds passed before he crossed half the
length of the pool and broke above the surface. He hit the far end and went to
push off.

“Lord Marduk.” The servant’s voice
rang out to catch the attention of the swimming immortal.

He turned and waved
acknowledgement, climbing out of the pool. A servant I hadn’t even noticed as
being there stepped up with a robe to wrap around his master. The pure, stark
white of the cotton contrasted sharply with the chocolate-caramel color of his
skin. What a shame to cover a body like that. His was the type of perfection to
make a nun reconsider celibacy vows. And I certainly wasn’t a nun.

He toweled his hair and handed the
damp cloth back to the servant. His deep brown eyes caught and held mine as he
smiled and walked toward me. Every step that brought him closer tightened the response
of my body to his. It wasn’t until he was standing directly in front of me and
I was swaying on unsteady feet that I realized I was intoxicated with the power
he put out as naturally as he breathed.

Damn. He was mesmerizing. His damp
hair framed a stunning dark face of angles and lines blended to perfect
symmetry. His long, waist-length hair was a gorgeous deep brown, tied back in
multiple braids from his face. He watched me with amused curiosity, studying my
reaction. He
knew
the effect he was having on me and was enjoying every
minute of it.

I put my hand up to cover my eyes.
It didn’t do any good. His power was singing through every inch of my body.
“L-Lord Marduk, please––”

The vibration lowered, slowing
ebbing away. Its loss made me feel so empty that I almost reached out for him,
wanting the feeling back. The urge was so strong that it took all my
concentration to stop myself. I didn’t even have enough to spare for
irritation. That would come later, when I was far,
far
out of his reach.

“Ms. Star,” his voice interrupted
my thoughts. “Are you all right?”

I nodded, taking my hand away from
my eyes, but I couldn’t look at him. Not yet. “I will be.”

“My apologies. I do not often come
across someone in the mortal world who is as sensitive as you seem to be.”

He sounded sincere. I opened my
eyes. His look was innocent, but there was still a trace of amusement. I wanted
to be irritated, but it was hard to divert my energy from controlling myself in
the face of his power. No wonder immortals had once been worshipped as gods. I
had met a few, and they all had that affect of intoxication on me, if they
turned it up. But even Morpheus hadn’t affected me the way Marduk did. I would
have to tread carefully around this one.

“Please, have a seat.” He offered
his arm to escort me to a conversation pit at the edge of the pool, and then
obviously thought better of it. Instead, he let me walk ahead of him and choose
my own space.