Keepers: A Timeless Novella (2 page)

“
Where food’s involved, we
don’t need an occasion,” Jenna said. “Just ask Joseph.”

“
It’s true,” I agreed.
“Eating should always be an affair.”

After we ungraciously
stuffed our faces with Jenna’s delectable meal, I excused myself
from the table. On the guest bed were three wrapped boxes. Gabby
had poked fun at me for owning one of these since we first met, so
I thought it only appropriate she be given the chance to own one
herself. Everyone went silent when they saw the gifts. Jules
bounced in Firen’s lap as if it were her birthday.

“
What’s this?” Gabby asked,
looking skeptical.

“
Just a thank you gift,” I
said.

She shook her head. “That’s
not necessary.”

“
Yes it is.” I shoved a box
in her hands. I handed the second one to Andrew, and his eyebrows
rose in surprise. “I owe you my life,” I told him. “So don’t look
so surprised.”

Andrew accepted it with
grace, just as Jenna predicted. I placed the third box in the
middle of the table.

“
Who’s that for?” Jules
asked, still bouncing excitedly.

“
If you eat everything on
your plate, you can have it,” I said, grinning. I knew it wasn’t a
wise idea to bring gifts without giving Jules one too.

Jules shoveled food into
her mouth, giving herself a tomato sauce mustache. Gabriella still
held the box, checking it over and shaking it.

“
What is it?” she
wondered.

“
Open it, Aunt Gab-ella,”
Jules demanded through a mouthful of food. Firen held up a napkin,
but Jules ignored it.

“
We don’t talk with our
mouths full,” Jenna scolded her. Jules was too busy scarfing down
the rest of her food to say another word. Jenna rolled her eyes,
something she and Gabby both did quite often.

Gabriella pulled the
strings of the bow and ripped open the wrapping paper. Andrew
followed her lead. She stared at the box for a few seconds, then
her eyes found mine.

“
No,” Gabriella said in
disbelief. She suspiciously watched my expression to see if this
was a trick. “No,” she repeated. “What’s really inside this
box?”

Andrew twisted his box
around, reading the outside. His face was so serious that I worried
I’d offended him. Then his lips twitched. He glanced up at Gabby,
and they had another one of their mind-to-mind
conversations.

“
Hey, none of that,” I said
and stepped between them.

Gabriella tore through the
box and pulled out the shiny phone still wrapped in plastic.
“Joseph.” Her voice was awed. “You shouldn’t have.” She stood and
hugged me.

My breath left me in a
whoosh of air. “Can’t. Breathe.”

“
Oh, sorry.” She backed
away. “Thank you so much.”

“
This is the Miracle
Phone?” Andrew asked from behind me.

I laughed.
“Allegedly.”

“
This is a generous gift. I
do not deserve it.”

Jenna mouthed, “I told you
so,” from behind Andrew. He held his hand out, and I
accepted.

Andrew and I weren’t
exactly sharing bunk beds like best of friends, but he’d proven
himself a true warrior in Italy. Plus, he tried to save my life
when the Soul Stalker had gutted me, even though Gabriella was hurt
too. I knew he mostly did it for her, but who was I to complain? A
hero was a hero, no matter his motivation.

Gabriella turned on the
phone. I’d already had it activated with a blocked number to help
protect her from the media. The only reason her house wasn’t
swarming with news vans and tourists was because I had the title of
the house transferred into the fake identity the FBI had given her
in the fall. Now that all the bills were also being sent to her
alter ego, I hoped our visit would remain an uneventful
one.

“
I have thirty messages
already!” she exclaimed.

That pulled me up short.
Had the media already figured out her number? There was no way. I
made sure of it. Before I could dwell on it for too long, Gabby
held the phone to her ear and listened to the voicemails. She
grinned, rolled her eyes, and shook her head as they played. Andrew
had a similar expression on his face.

“
They’re all from Chris,”
Gabby explained, noticing my questioning look.

I grinned. Of course! Chris
was an Empyrean Guard who’d gone rogue. After Gabriella saved his
life by healing him, he’d made it his purpose in life to protect
her. He’d wanted to come to Oregon with us, but he was already
conspicuous enough considering his massive size and Greek god
choice of clothes. Gabriella politely asked him to stay behind
until she returned, and he reluctantly agreed. Before we left D.C.,
though, I gave Chris the number to contact her. I warned him she
wouldn’t answer until I gave her the phone, but that clearly hadn’t
stop him from trying.

“
Nothing’s wrong, right?” I
wondered, worried about the number of messages. Andrew had a direct
mental link to all the Halo of the Sun and Guardians, so we’d know
right away if something were wrong. However, Chris was neither of
those and therefore couldn’t mentally warn Andrew. I’d decided not
to give Chris my number, knowing he would call every five minutes
to check on Gabriella. Had I made a mistake?

Gabby shook her head. “He’s
just worrying about me, that’s all.”

With how overprotective he
was—more than any of us—I wasn’t that surprised he’d called. But to
leave thirty messages? Gabriella had more patience than me, that
was for sure. Andrew never said a word about it, at least not that
I’d heard. He learned quickly, as had I, that you don’t argue with
Gabriella. Well, you could, but why? She could argue any point and
make you believe it. She could probably sell ice to an
Eskimo.

“
Out of thirty messages,
two were from Mom and Dad. The rest were Chris,” Gabriella said as
she lowered the phone.

“
They called me too,” Jenna
informed.

“
Yeah? I should probably
call them back.” Gabriella excused herself from the
table.

Firen had stayed quiet
during our exchange, though that was normal. Jules sat in her lap
as Firen wiped her tomato-stained mouth.

“
I ate everything!” Jules
exclaimed. “Can I have my present now?”

“
Of course.” I handed it to
her.

Jules ripped into it and
held up the plastic DVD case. “Charlie Brown!” she squealed.
“Momma, momma, momma! Can I watch it now?”

Jenna looked amused. “Sure,
sweetie.”

The rest of the night was
uneventful until about three in the morning. The doorbell rang.
Firen and Andrew beat me to the door. It was a reporter. I feared
this might happen, even though the house wasn’t technically
Gabriella’s on paper.

Here we go.

CHAPTER 2: PUT A SOCK IN
IT

It was official: I needed a
larger house. When I moved to D.C., I knew one day I would want a
family, so I made sure to keep that in mind when I went house
hunting. However, I had not predicted that a group of immortals
would be taking up residence in my extra bedrooms for a few days.
Exhaling a heavy breath, I collapsed onto the couch in my living
room. Next to me, Jenna smiled. She looked just as exhausted as I
felt. After a quick trip through a portal from Oregon, thanks to
Lucia’s gift, we’d spent the majority of the day dividing bedrooms
and trying to find enough blankets for everyone.

From down the hallway, a
voice shouted, “Who used all the hot water?” This was followed by a
snicker.

My water and electric bill
for this month was going to cost me a pretty penny. Maybe my boss,
Tom Morris, the director of Paranormal Investigations at the FBI,
would reimburse me. I shook my head and pinched the bridge of my
nose, feeling a headache coming on. This place had turned into a
circus. Angels, Fallen Angels, one of the Empyrean Guard, and my
fiancée and her daughter were all staying here for a few days to
discuss the current angel situation with Homeland Security and the
FBI. Though, if anyone were to blame, it would be me. Yes, you
heard that right. I had stupidly offered to let them stay here.
What had I been thinking? I must have been out of my mind to agree
to this. Sometimes it sucked being the good guy.

Andrew came into the living
room then, wearing one of my old T-shirts and a pair of pajama
bottoms. “Joseph, do you have any of those bubbly drinks?” he
asked.

Jenna and I exchanged a
look. “Champagne?” I wondered, taken aback by the question. Why
would he be asking for that? “What are we celebrating?”

Andrew shook his head. “No,
not wine.” He paused, looking thoughtful. “Did you know champagne
used to be called
le vin du
diable
?” The way it slipped off his tongue
in a perfect French accent surprised me, though many things about
the angels had.

Again, Jenna and I looked
at each other and back to Andrew.

“
The devil’s wine,” he
clarified.

Gabriella came in from the
kitchen and tossed Andrew a soda can. He caught it with ease. “He
wants a Coke,” she explained, grinning.

Andrew and Gabriella were
sickeningly in love. He saved her from dying in a horrific plane
crash, and the rest was history. He saved my life too, so I had no
right to complain. If it weren’t for Gabriella and her love bunny,
I would have never met Jenna. Maybe that was why I had offered my
home as a place of refuge. Or maybe it was because I believed in
their cause to protect mankind. Seemed important enough.

“
Thank you,” Andrew said
gracefully to Gabriella. “Is this the same drink I had before?” He
turned the can over in his hand, analyzing it.

I had no idea what they
were talking about, but I could only guess Andrew had experienced
his first taste of soda while with her. Gabriella nodded, amusement
tugging at her lips.

“
Just be careful opening
it,” she added.

“
He’s never had Coke out of
a can?” Jenna asked cheerfully.

Andrew shook his head while
flipping the can around, trying to figure out how to open
it.

“
Shut the front door!”
Jenna exclaimed.

Andrew disappeared into the
foyer, and when he returned, his eyebrows were furrowed in
confusion. “The door is shut?”

He was truly confused by
Jenna’s remark. I bit my cheek to stop from laughing. Jenna and
Gabriella, however, didn’t bother holding in their mirth. They
giggled until they turned red in the face. This was typical for
them, as they usually found everything hilarious. And yeah, okay, I
might have occasionally joined in; it was hard not to.

Andrew stared at us as if
we’d lost our minds. He smiled too, but it was clear he didn’t get
that the joke was on him. The thing was, Andrew didn’t understand
most common sayings. To make a long story short, he died in Italy
around 1750 and came back to life in 2009. He learned faster than
anyone I’d ever met, but slang terms were still new to him. This
made for some entertaining conversations.

“
Oh,” Andrew said suddenly,
his golden eyes lighting with knowledge. “I understand
now.”

He shared a look with
Gabriella, and I knew she’d explained telepathically why we were
laughing. While in Hawaii last year, they bonded, and now they were
linked. I pushed the thoughts away, not wanting to picture
Gabriella and Andrew doing the naked tango. Some things were better
left unseen. Regardless, it still unsettled me when they
communicated like that, but it was useful during battle, as was
Andrew’s mental connection with the rest of the Guardian
angels.

Taking a seat, Andrew
finally figured out how to open the can. His first sip gave him an
expression of disgust and delight all rolled into one. He continued
drinking, reveling in the taste. To be appeased so easily . .
.

“
So Andrew,” Jenna started,
leaning forward conspiratorially. “Are you as head over heels for
my sister as Joseph lets on?”

Andrew stared down at his
feet, then desperately glanced at Gabriella. They did the silent
conversation thing again before Andrew answered, “I love Gabriella
very much. She’s my kindred soul.”

Jenna went slack-jawed and
turned to her sister. “That was cheating.”

Gabriella sat on the other
side of Jenna, crossed her legs, and pointed at herself, all
innocent eyes. “You asked it that way on purpose,” Gabriella
accused.

“
Just because you’re
bumpin’ uglies with him doesn’t mean I can’t have a bit of fun.”
Jenna grinned. I swore she looked this stuff up just to tease
Andrew. Once he figured out the slang, he usually got a kick out of
it. I’d even heard him a time or two using some common
phrases.

Gabriella leaned back and
waved a hand. “All right, get it out of your system.” She made a
motion as if zipping her lips and then her head as if to close off
their mental link.

“
It’s no fun now,” Jenna
griped.

“
Joseph, you’re out of
clean towels.” Lucia poked her head into the living room, the rest
of her hidden behind the wall. Her red hair dripped water onto my
wooden floors.