When Angels Fall (32 page)

He knew what creatures resided on these other worlds because he’d
seen
them. Dani would be able to see them for herself when her time on Earth came to an end, but that wouldn’t be for a very long time. Gabriel would see to that.

He wondered if Dani would find a human man to love when he was gone. He wanted her to be happy, but he found the idea of her lying with another man disconcerting. It was irrational to feel that way because he wouldn’t be around to see it, but it was how he felt.

Gabriel
knew she would be upset when he was gone, probably pissed at him as well, but she was young
,
and life on Earth
for a human
was long. She would surely find someone else to love. And that man
would
treat her well.

But until Lucifer rose, she belonged to Gabriel and no one else.

He
rolled toward
her and pulled her up against him, “I love you,” he said softly.

“I love you, too,” she said, and kissed him.

He made love to her in the soft grass. He drank in her moans of pleasure. Lightnin
g lit up the clear night sky. Gabriel
was angering his Father, but he paid it no attention. His Father would see that Gabriel’s life would end soon anyway, and so he was going to make love to Dani as often as possible and damn the consequences.

3.

They were lying side by side in the grass awhile later when Dani started to shake.

“I don’t understand it,” she said and sat up. “I feel fine.”

Gabriel sat up and pulled her onto his lap, “You
are
fine. It’s just the adrenaline from the fear of almost dying. It can take a few hours to start to wear off. It’s perfectly natural to get the shakes when it does.”

He was rubbing her back when something struck the ground in front of them hard enough to shake the ground beneath them. Whatever it was left a small crater in the ground. She stood on shaky legs to look into the hole, but Gabriel pulled her back. Michael landed in the yard a moment later.

“I be
lieve you requested the presence
of Sraosha,” Michael said with a small grin, yanking a naked dark haired angel from the hole in the yard. “Ask and you shall receive.”

“You caused
the mayhem today?” Gabriel said.
“I’m surprised, Sraosha. You’re an Angel of Obedience. That means you’re supposed to
be
obedient
.”

“I don’t have to be obedient to you anymore, Gabriel,” Sraosha said bravely, but Dani noticed that he couldn’t bring himself to look Gabriel in the eye. “You no longer hold rank in Heaven.”

“We’re not
in
Heaven right now, Sraosha. And I promise you that your life is about to take a nasty turn,” Gabriel said and turned to Michael. “Take Dani in the house. She’s been through enough today; she doesn’t need to see this.”

“I’m not going anywh…” Dani tried to say.

“Take her into the house whether she
wants
to go or not.” Gabriel ordered Michael.

Dani decided to go with Michael peacefully so as not to upset Gabriel anymore than he seemed to already be. She didn’t know what was going on with him, but she knew
hanging on by a thread
when she saw it; she’d been there herself, and Gabriel was doing just that.

She turned on Michael as soon as they got in the house, “
What
in the hell is going on?”

“Gabriel is pissed,” Michael said. “I thought that was fairly obvious.”

She glared at him, “I can see that he’s mad.
What
I want to know
why
?
”

“Gabriel hasn’t told you what happened after you took your little nap today, has he?”

She listened as Michael told her about the demons at the burger joint and about Gabriel transporting with her.

“And then Gabriel got the idea in his head that an angel had to be working hand in hand with Hell to have pulled off what they did,”

Michael explained,
“And he wasn’t wrong. Sraosha is the one that stepped forward to confess his guilt.”

“How did you get him to do that?”

“If you threaten to kill enough angels, the guilty one will always come forward,” he said.

“One of them will,” she said.

“What?”

“
One
of them will come forward,” she repeated.

“Why would you think more than just Sraosha was involved in this?”

“Gabriel said that Sraosha is an Angel of Obedience,” she said. “To be
obedient
,
you have to
answer
to someone.”

“That’s a good point,” Michael said.

“So who is Sraosha obedient
to
?” she asked. “Find
that
angel and you might get some answers.”

“Damn it,” Michael said, rubbing both of his hands down his face in frustration. “Sraosha is outranked by literally hundreds of other angels. It could be any of them,” he said and looked quickly
back at her. “Gabriel
can’t
know about this. It will drive him insane
,
and I don’t know what he’d be capable of.”

“Do you
really
think it hasn’t already occurred to him?” she asked. “Do you really think he’s this pissed about
one
insignificant angel? And wouldn’t it
have
been easier to just have
you deal with him? Gabriel
wanted
to be alone with Sraosha.”

“Which is why he wanted me to take you into the house,” Michael said, realization dawning on his face.

Dani nodded her head, “How do you think their conversation is going right now?”

Michael turned and bolted from the house. She followed him out onto the porch and was sickened by what she saw going on in the yard.

Gabriel had used his sword to chop Sraosha into several pieces. Sraosha’s arms and legs had been cleanly sliced away at the elbows, shoulders, hips, and knees. There were tears of pain running down Sraosha’s cheeks; he was very much alive, but he wasn’t making a sound.

She was willing to bet what might be left of her life that he
couldn’t
make a sound. She knew for sure that Michael
and
Gabriel were good at taking that particular ability away, and they were quick to do it.

Gabriel was glowing slightly and had what appeared to be a heat shimmer surrounding him. He was
casually
raising his sword to chop off another piece Sraosha.

“Gabriel,
no!
” Michael yelled and launch
ed
himself at Gabriel’s back, knocking him to the ground.

Gabriel jumped quickly to his feet, flung Michael away
,
and turned on him, “This is not your concern, Michael.”

“
You’re
my concern,” Michael said. He started circling Gabriel while still staying well out of his reach. “We’ve done a lot of things in our lives, Gabriel. We’ve both killed our share of angels, demons
and
humans. But we’re
not
Lucifer, brother. The one thing we
do not do
is torture.”

“To tell you the truth, I’m starting to see the allure,” Gabriel said, spitting on the ground near Sraosha’s head.

They were so intent on each other that neither one of them noticed Dani until she stepped in between them. She had to stop this before Gabriel did something he would never forgive himself for.

Michael gaspe
d, “Dani no, don’t touch him! He
’s not safe right now. Just back away
from him
.”

“I’m not afraid of Gabriel,” she said.

“She will never be in any danger from me! I honor her!” Gabriel snapped. “She’s the reason…”

“For this?” she interrupted him. She stepped in front of him and laid her hand on his chest. “Is this what I’m to be remembered for in Heaven? As the woman who led the great Archangel Gabriel into unspeakable acts? This doesn’t
honor
me, Gabriel; it
shames
me.

“This is
not
who you are,” she said. “This is who Lucifer
wants
you to be. Don’t give him that. Even if it cost my life and the life of this world,
never
give him that. End this, Gabriel.”

4.

Gabriel’s anger blew away at her words. He looked down at Sraosha and saw what Dani and Michael were seeing, and he was disgusted with himself. How had he allowed himself to come to this point? Dani was right, this was not who he was.

“You sound a lot like my Father,” Gabriel said to Dani, and walked over and drove his sword through Sraosha’s heart,
effectively
ending what never should have started
in the first place
.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I don’t know how to even begin to explain…”

“You don’t have to,” Michael said. “Just, no more, alright?”

Gabriel nodded his head in agreement, “No more.”

“And for the love of God, would you
stop
throwing me around?”
Michael said. “I’m on your side in this, remember?”

“Of course I remember,” Gabriel said sheepishly. “Sorry, little brother.”

Dani linked her arms through theirs and led them towards the house, hopi
ng things would be less…intense,
inside, “How is he your
little
brother? Weren’t all four Archangels created at the same time?”

“No, Lucifer and I were created first,” Gabriel said. “Then Michael was created, followed not long after by Raphael.”

“They both have more power than Raphael and I,” Michael said. “That’s one of the reasons that Gabriel is the only
one who
can
defeat Lucifer. They were created to be equal to one another.”

“That’s not really good news,” Dani said.

“I said
they were
created
to be equal, but they didn’t remain that way,” Michael said. “Lucifer may have been our Father’s favorite, but I don’t think our Father ever fully trusted him. If he had of he wouldn’t have given the power to smite exclusively to Gabriel.”

“Speaking of our Father,” Gabriel said. “What has He said to you about being down here so much?”

“Nothing,” Michael said. “He hasn’t said a single word to me about it. As a matter of fact, except for the one message He sent to you, He hasn’t spoken of what’s happening now on Earth at all.”

“What message?” Dani asked.

“It was nothing that concerns you,” Gabriel lied easily. “Just a private family matter.”

Michael rolled his eyes. Dani saw it
,
and Gabriel
had
a strong urge to punch Michael in the face.

Dani looked at Gabriel, “Are you lying to me about something?”

“Absolutely
not
,” Gabriel lied again. “Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know, but I
know
your hiding something from me.”

“That’s enough,” Michael said and touched Dani on top of her head. She slumped over on the couch in a dead sleep.

“What did you do that for?” Gabriel asked.

“So we can talk,” Michael said. “Do you want to tell me what’s gotten into to you?”

Gabriel shrugged, “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Yes, you do. I’ve never known you to lie before, Gabriel. About anything,” Michael said. “Now you lie with nearly every breath.”

“Nothing we know will benefit Dani. It would only upset her,” Gabriel said. “Michael, please let our last little bit of time together be as peaceful as possible for her.”

“Fine, I won’t offer any information right now,” Michael agreed. “But when you die,
if
you die, I’m going to tell her everything.”

“I would expect no less,” Gabriel said.

“I said
if
you die,” Michael said with a smile. “I told you I’m still holding out hope.”

5.

“Where’s Michael?” Dani asked when she walked out onto the porch a couple of hours later.

“He left,” Gabriel said. “He’s been helping us as much as he can, but he still has responsibilities in Heaven.”

She sat down next to him on the steps and rested her head on his shoulder, “Did one of you knock me out? The last thing I remember is walking back in the house with the two of you.”