When Angels Fall (9 page)

Gabriel lifted her back to her feet and raised her chin unti
l she was looking into his eyes.
“I’m sorry about your son, but I have to go now.
”

Gabriel nodded at Dani
and vanished.

5.

“I’m sorry about Buddy, Mrs. T.,” Dani said, standing to leave.

“I can’t imagine how hard it was for you to c
ome here today and tell me this,” Mrs. Thompson said and gave Dani a hug.
“
My son is in a better place now because of you. Thank
you so much, Dani.
”

Dani hugged her back, and then walked quickly from the house before she started to cry. She thought it was strange that Mrs. T. was at peace with Buddy’s death just minutes
after Dani had told her
he was dead
, but
she
was happy that was the case. She looked around for Gabriel but he was, again, nowhere in sight.

She thought about walking home, but she really didn’t want to be there right now. She decided to walk to the cemetery instead; not really to visit her mom’s grave, but to find the mark that Gabriel had left when he hit the ground.

She believed what he’d told her, but she wanted to
see
the evidence
for herself. Out of respect, Dani
visited her mother’s grave first. Afterward she walked, in ever widening circles, looking for the spot where Gabriel had lande
d. She found it about twenty yards
away from her mom’s grave.

Gabriel had underestimated his landing. The dip in the ground was closer to
two and a half
feet deep
and over six feet in diameter. At the bottom of the dip
,
she saw a clear imprint of
Gabriel’s left foot. Next to that
was a dent that
Dani
assumed had been made by his right knee.

She could see the outline of his left hand where it had slammed into the ground be
side his left foot. She could
now
clearly
picture what position he had landed
in. She was walking around the
perimeter of the depression wh
en she caught the scent of decomposition
on the breeze.

She turned to run, but found she’d turned right into the
Cambion’
s arms. Before she had a chance to cry out, struggle, or even
try
to fight, the Cambion was ripped away from her.

She watched in horror as a fist c
ame through the Cambion’s chest.
The
fist was holding a
human
heart. The ha
nd jerked back through the body
,
and the Cambion fell
to the ground.

Gabriel tossed the heart aside and grabbed Dani by the arm
with his bloody hand
.

“You
can’t
be here!
” Gabriel snapped.
“
Don’t you remember what happened the last time you were here?”

“I just wanted to see where you landed; I was curious,” she said, looking d
own with nausea
at the dead Cambion at her feet.

“They will be looking for
you here. The Cambion
expect
y
ou to visit your mother’s grave,” Gabriel said.
“
They know here is their best chance to find you.
You can’t come back here again,
ever
. Do you understand me?”

“Fine,
yes
, I understan
d you, now let me go!” she said.
“And maybe, just
maybe
, if you’d stop disappearing, I wouldn’t have been here alone!”

“I thought it would be pertin
ent to obtain clothing,” Gabriel said.
“
You seem to ha
ve a problem with
the
sight of unclothed skin.
”

For the first time, she noticed he was completely dressed. He had obtained a shirt and shoes to go with the jeans she’d given him. She didn’t bother to ask him where he’d gotten the clothes. She was sure that she didn’t want to know.

“Do you
not
understand that if even one other Cambion were to see you here that you would again be in mortal danger? And what’s worse is that, if another Cambion saw what
just occurred here then he would’ve seen
me as well. We could soon be dealing with another demon; and the next one won’t be a
low level demon like Vetis,” Gabriel said. “W
e’d be dealing with a demon that will be much str
onger. A demon that would
have much more power.
”

“Could a demon like that defe
at you?” Dani asked.
“Could he kill you?”

“No, it wouldn’t be able to kill me. Just because demons
were created as angels doesn’t mean they can kill a higher ranking angel. If it’s on
e of Lucifer’s higher r
anking demons; say one of his top four, it’s
slightly
possible for them to damage my body for a few moments and render me unable to defend you.

“But the only angels that can take my
life
, and not just damage my body, are my brothers, the other three Archangels: Michael; Raphael; and Lucifer,” Gabriel said. “Michael’s not quite as strong as me and Raphael is…well, he’s something else, but he can’t defeat me. The only real threat to my life would be Lucifer. And we’ll soon find out if he’s as capable as he
thinks
he is.
”

“And you really call each other
brothers
?
”

“We were the only four angel
s made from God’s Heavenly body;
we
are
brothers,” he said.

“And
Lucifer?” Dani asked. “
Do you still call him
your
brother?”

“Yes, he is and always will
be
my brother. Nothing he’s done can change that,” he said.

“But all the evil he’s done! How can you still claim him as family?”

“Because he’s
my
brother, and even though I
will
strike him down, I still love him,
Dani.
”

Dani shook her head in confusion,
“How can you love him after all he’s done?”

Gabriel looked at her coldly, “I could ask you the same question. How could you love Buddy after all the evil things he did to you?”

“That’s not the same thing,” she said
.

“It absolutely is the same thing. You can’t explain love. If you can tell someone why you love a person, then it’s not
really
love.” Gabriel said.
“
Love doesn’t care if you
understand
it,
it just
is
.”

Dani wasn’t in the mood to start another argument with
him, so she changed the subject,
“Thank you f
or talking to Mrs. Thompson.
”

“I wouldn’t have done it if she hadn’t have thr
own that vase at you.
”

“It’s not like it was uncalled for. I should have known that she’d think that I’d killed Buddy,” Dani said. “After everything Buddy and I have been through, me killing him was a logical conclusion. I wouldn’t have believed me either.”

“You were
telling her the truth,” he said.
“I
did
kill him.”

“I know that, but you’re a ‘
see it to believe it’
kind of person. People
say
they believe in angels, but it doesn’t be
come real until you show them proof,” she said. “You were my proof.
”

“People used to take the existence
of God and His angels in faith,” Gabriel said.
“No proof was required.
”

“Yeah, well times change,” she said.

“Obviously,” he said.

“That was a nice thing you did for Mrs. Thom
pson, fixing her hips like you did.
”

“I figured it was the least I could do,” he said. “I did just kill her son, after all.”

“I didn’t know you could heal people,” she said.

“What did you think when you woke up in that hotel room?” he as
ked. “That your fractured skull and broken nose
had healed themselves?”

“I knew I should have been hurt; I
remember
being hurt.
I just didn’t know
why
I
wasn’t
hurt,” she said.
“It just
didn’t occur to me at the time
that you
’d
had anything to do with it.”

“Well I did,
” he said with a smile. “And you’re welcome.
”

“Thank you; of course, thank you,” she said, and
then
stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

She was startled at how fast he jerked away from her. She hadn’t meant to offend him. She was just trying to say thank you, but she’d apparently crossed an invisible line.

Maybe you weren’t supposed to touch an angel, or maybe he just didn’t want
her
to touch
him
. Either wa
y
,
she’d have to be more careful.
She
didn’t want to run off the
only thing standing between her
and death.

1.

“We should leave,
” Gabriel said.
“I
t’
s not safe for you to stay here.
”

It was tru
e; it was very dangerous
for them to stay in the cemetery any longer, but he would have said anything that would have given him a reason to step away from her. She made him feel…something. The brush of her lips on his cheek was too much for him to take. Was this part of God’s punishment for him?

To put him with a woman who kept him off balance; that made him feel as if he were spinning in circles? He didn’t know, but he knew he would somehow have to find a way to keep his distance from her, without ever leaving her alone. He couldn’t let whatever it was he was feeling
for
her
distract him from
protecting
her. He
could not
fail.
There
was too much at stake.

“Um, sure, where do you want to go?” Dani asked.

“It’s your city,
” he said.
“You decide.
”

“
Clarksville
’s a
small college
town,” Dani admitted.
“
There’s not really a lot to do here except shop, eat
,
and drink;
and it’s way too early to drink.
”

“Alcohol?” Gabriel asked. “Do you
drink
alcohol?”

He hadn’t watched her during her life up to this point, so he didn’t know what she did or didn’t like to do. He wished he’d have paid
more
attention to her when he’d had the chance. He couldn’t see her soul, so he was at a loss when it came to her.

“Sometimes.
I have plans tonight, actually. My friend, Donna, is taking me out to go dancing a
t
Kicker’s. She thinks it will make me feel better after losing my mom. But you already made me feel better, didn’t you? That’s why I haven’t felt any grief since I woke up at the hotel, right?”

“Yes, there’s no r
eason to grieve for your mother,” he said.
“
She’s in Heaven, so there is absolutely no r
eason for you to be sad anymore.
”

“You did the same thing for Mrs. T, didn’t you?
” Dani asked.
“
You took her grie
f away when you healed her hips.
”

“I did,” he said. “Now
can we get out of here?”

“Right, sure,” she said.
“Let’s
go.
”

“Lead the way,” he said.

“Can’t you just zap us home?”

“Not unless you want to be vaporized,” he said in horror, “Human beings weren’t made to withstand that particular mode of travel.”