Mercy for the Fallen (4 page)

“Nope, I just like to watch you get all flushed like that,” he smirked, slipping out the door ahead of me.  Suppressing a roll of the eyes, I followed after him, but I couldn’t completely hold back the smile.  As infuriating as he could be sometimes, it was nice to have Adam back in small doses. 

Sure enough, there was a guy poking around in the garbage cans on the side of the house.  His aura was mostly green, with flecks of vivid pink.  I could see how Adam had made the ‘homeless’ assessment; the guy was dressed in shabby, second hand clothes that reeked of cigarettes and sour milk.  His dark hair was wild and matted, the scruffy beard dotted with unidentifiable objects.  His weathered skin spoke of a life spent out under the elements, and his hands were calloused, with half-moons of dirt beneath his fingernails. 

But instead of a plastic bag full of stolen recyclables by his side, he was erecting some kind of… an altar, I guess you could call it.  He’d stacked pavers from the back yard (Parker was going to pitch a fit when he noticed them missing) with a damaged skateboard across the top of them.  On the top was a stubby candle, the flame sheltered by a broken bottle.  I recognized flowers from our front garden arranged in a wreath around a single shoe – one of Eve’s castoffs that had lost its mate, making it unsuitable for donation. 

As we watched, he straightened from rooting around in the can, emerging triumphantly with a broken crayon and a half eaten lollipop covered in ants. 

“Eewh… Hey, buddy?  What do you think you’re doing out here?” I asked, approaching him warily.

“Oh… he was right… you shine with God’s favor!  Blessed be thy name!”  His voice was a touch raspy, but deep, as though it could travel the length of a football field without strain.  Or maybe reach the back of a church from a pulpit.  The whole God thing gave me pause – could he see my Grace or was he cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs?

“Um… right.  Listen, you can’t be digging through our garbage.”

“I have come to make my humble offering,” he said with a broad smile, revealing surprisingly strong teeth, if somewhat yellowed. 

“Well, go make it somewhere else, pal,” Adam chimed in.  “This is private property.”

Instead of leaving, he fell to his knees, his face shining with rapt joy.  “
You, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.  You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.  So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.
”

“Um…”  I stared at him, at a loss for words.  What the hell was he talking about?  He might be awake, but he was clearly a few drinks south of sober.

“It’s from Thessalonians 5,” Adam supplied. 

“Super,” I muttered.  So now I had a religious nut to deal with on top of everything else.  “Who are you anyway?  What are you doing here of all places?”  It couldn’t have anything to do with the newscast.  If Eve’s identity had been leaked, we’d have the press camped on our doorstep, not the homeless.

“I am the first disciple.  The chosen prophet.  Address me as your devoted servant.”

“Okay, well, I’m not calling you
that
.  What’s your name?  Do you remember?”  At that point I wasn’t sure if he’d escaped from a loony bin or what, but maybe the cops might help him get back to where he belonged if we knew his name.

“You may call me Archbishop Steve.”

“Archbishop
Steve
… is it?” Adam snorted.  “Okay, look, you’re gonna have to move along.  This isn’t a church, and there’s nothing for you to worship here.”

“It is in the word –
There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.”

“And that’s from Revelations,” Adam added.  “The same end of the world crap these losers are always spouting.”

Steve raised his arms to the sky, spreading his hands.  “The angel of the Lord came to me and he said –
Look to the heavens… the end to all suffering is nigh.  For the light shall triumph over the dark so long as the new Mother brings hope to the pure of heart.
” 

“
That’s
nonsense, it’s not in the scriptures anywhere.”  Adam grabbed hold of Steve’s elbow, hauling him to his feet.  “Look, buddy, it’s real swell that you think you’re hearing the voice of God and all, but I can guarantee you, it’s not Him.”

“I speak the truth,” Steve insisted, puffing out his chest as he pulled his arm free.  “
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil
.”

“More Thessalonians,” Adam muttered. “Okay, I didn’t want to have to do this, but you left me with no choice.”  He extended his wings for maximum effect, and the soft golden glow I saw around him all the time swelled brighter. 

“I say unto thee, you are commanded to leave this place, as it is Holy Ground and you are unworthy.”  The Grace flared under his hand, bright in the darkness.  “Lead not others unto this place, until ye shall tread without fear, knowing all evil has been scrubbed from your soul.”

Archbishop Steve backed away from the holy light, his face a mask of rapture mixed with fear.  Gibberish spilled from his lips as he stumbled backwards to the curb, and he continued to speak in tongues – if that’s what it was – until he disappeared on foot down the street. 

Adam tucked away the wings with a soft rush of air.  “I still got it,” he winked, rolling his shoulders. 

“I’m not so sure you should’ve done that,” I said as we went back into the house.  My coffee had gone cold, and I stuck it in the sink, reaching for a bottle of Baileys instead.

“The guy was a nutball.  Nobody’s going to believe a single thing he ever says.”

“Yeah, but all that stuff about this being holy ground and him not being worthy?  Won’t you get in trouble for abusing your Grace in front of a human like that?”

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it.  That’s probably the least abusive thing I’ve done this century.” 

“God, this has been the weirdest day,” I muttered, taking a healthy drink.  When I didn’t offer him one, Adam swiped the bottle, tipping it back. 

“I dunno, I’ve had worse.  It was nice to see you and the rugrat again.” 

“You could’ve stayed for dinner.”

“I was under the impression Parker didn’t want me around.”

“Since when has that ever bothered you before?”  I let out an inelegant snort.

“Okay, since never.  But he looked pretty shaken up about the events of the day.  I figured he didn’t need me hanging around, showing him up.”

“Don’t you worry about Parker, he does fine.  I don’t think he’s worried about you ‘showing him up’.  He just doesn’t like you.”

“I can’t imagine why.  I’ve never done anything to him.”  Adam actually sounded a tad miffed by the idea.

“Something about you abandoning me when I was pregnant…” I pretended to consider aloud.  “I think that’s the part that soured him on the Adam experience.” 

“And yet he should be thanking me.  If I hadn’t left in the first place, it would be me lying here beside you every night.”

“This is his house,” I pointed out.

“Fine, it’d be my bed you slept in every night.”  His eyes twinkled playfully as he took another swig of alcohol.  “I don’t see what he’s got to be so grouchy about.  So the kid got kicked out of school.  So what?  Sounds like she didn’t need to be in that shitty place anyway.”

“Hey, language!”

“Sorry, did I offend your virgin ears?  The kid’s asleep.”  He capped the bottle and slid it aside, advancing on me like a jungle cat stalking its prey.  “She won’t hear a thing.”

I retreated to the dining room where I had my books stacked on the buffet table.  “That’s right, because you’re leaving.  I invited you to stay for dinner, not ogle me while I study.”

“I could help, you know.”

“Are you serious?”  My tone left no doubts that anything he had to contribute would end up a huge time waster and land me in dangerous territory.

“I
have
been through college a time or two.”

It made sense, but didn’t make him any more of an attractive mentor.  “Sorry, I don’t think it’s the best idea for the two of us to be study buddies.  Thanks for coming today when I called, and thanks for letting me know about Archbishop Steve, and you can come and see Evie whenever you want to, but I don’t think we should hang out together alone.”

“Don’t trust yourself, huh?”  His smug smile resurfaced. 

“Maybe,” I admitted.  It was true, even after all that time had passed, there was still something about Adam that got to me. 

“I’ll take it.”  The smugness disappeared from his smile and he looked light enough to float away as he backed toward the door.  “Catch you later, Merce.”

“Someday, maybe,” I whispered to the empty room.

“Someday maybe what?” Nelo asked, appearing at the top of the basement stairs, Mimsy’s empty food bowl in hand.

“Nothing.  Listen, there’s been a weird guy hanging outside near the house.  He calls himself Archbishop Steve.  Have you ever seen someone like that around here?”

“No, Mistress.”

“I’d like you to keep an eye out for him at night.  Can you please do that for me?”

“Of course.  What shall I do if I see him?”

“If he’s not trying to break in here or do anything that might hurt us… I guess let me know the next morning.”  I didn’t want to start getting middle of the night reports if all the guy did was dig through our garbage.  “But if he does anything scary or messes with the house in any way, come and get me right away.  Do you understand?”

“Oh yes, Mistress.  Serve as your guard at night, and protect the house.”  The little guy seemed happy to have something to do.

“But don’t do anything dangerous.  Like I said, come and get me if something bad happens.  Or call for Adam, I have a feeling he’ll be sticking around.”

“Oh, Adam’s been here for a while.”

“What do you mean he’s been here?”

“He comes to visit Bunny all the time.  Mostly when you’re asleep, at night, but sometimes when you’re at school.”

He’d been stopping by the whole time?  I wasn’t sure if I should be angry about that or not.  I had offered to let him see Evie whenever he wanted to.  “Does he spend time with Bunny then?  Playing with her?”  Why hadn’t she ever said anything?

“Oh no, Mistress.  He only comes in when she’s asleep.  Was I wrong to keep it from you?  Master Adam said you’d invited him in the past and since I’d heard it from your own lips…” he trailed off, worry creasing his features, shoulders slumping.  “It was meant to keep you from worrying and I saw no harm in it.  Master Adam said it would be more troubling for you and Parker to know about his visits.  Did I do wrong?”

He’d been keeping tabs on her this whole time.  I wasn’t sure if that made me feel better or worse.  “No, Nelo, it’s okay.  But I’d appreciate it if you didn’t keep any secrets from me.  Is there anything else I should know?”

“Sometimes Master Adam watches you while you sleep as well.”

Super
.  “Okay, thanks for letting me know.  And don’t call him master.  He’s not your master, he’s plain old Adam.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Nelo, have you ever seen any other angels around here?  Maybe one with blonde hair?”

“No, not since Sam stopped coming to play.” 

“Let me know if you see anyone else hanging around here.  I’m counting on you to be my eyes and ears at night.”

“You can count on me, Mistress.  I am an army of one.”

“Come here then, my army of one.  Let me give you your rations.”  I gathered his slight body to mine, sending him a soft burst of Grace as I rocked him back and forth. 

* * *

Daphne’s call caught me just as I climbed into bed to take my nap.  “I saw the weirdest thing on the news tonight.”

“Let me guess, miracle or myth, right?”

“Yes!  You saw it too?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”  I summed up the incident at Eve’s school, including the bare bones of Adam’s visit and Archbishop Steve poking through our garbage outside too.

“Wow, sounds like you had a busy day. 
What are you going to do?”

“Nothing.  It’ll blow over and they didn’t release her name or picture.  I highly doubt it’ll get picked up beyond tonight.  I’m more worried about the weirdo we found outside the house.”

“I guess it’s a good thing Adam was there to shoo him away.”

“I’m not so sure about that.  I mean, I could’ve easily done the same thing, but… it feels like it’s wrong to go throwing around angelic clout.  Neither one of us has the right to speak for God like that.”

“I don’t know, he’s got a lot more experience with those things than you do.  If he thought it was fine, it probably is.  Don’t you think?”

If she’d been talking about Sam, I might have been convinced.  But Adam wasn’t known for thinking things through before he acted.  What might have seemed like a convenient solution could prove foolhardy in the cold light of day.  “Not much I can do about it now, I just hope it works and keeps that kook away.”

“So… did you guys have some time to talk?  He hasn’t been around for a while now.  How did he seem?”

I decided to leave off the fact that Adam had been lurking around for quite some time, not wanting her to speculate if another fallen angel had tried the same with her.  “You know Adam… same as always.” 
Not a lie
.

“Did he, um, mention…”

“No, I didn’t ask him about Sam.  I thought you were dating that guy, Kirk?”

“No, I know.  I just wondered.”  Her voice got quiet, and my lips mashed together for a second as I debated whether or not to change the subject.

“Daph…”  I’d thought she was over Sam.  I couldn’t remember the last time she’d mentioned him. 

“I’m fine.  I wonder how he is sometimes, that’s all.”