Authors: Stephanie Jackson
“What do you know about Dani?” Gabriel asked.
“I know she’s a handful,” Michael said.
“Meaning?”
“Well, she use
d
to get suspended from school
a lot
for fighting. And when I say a lot, I mean several times a year from kindergarten until ninth grade, and she
never
lost a fight. At least none of the ones I saw happen. She even spent six months in Juvenile Hall for putting a girl in the hospital.
“Her mother, Anne, took her to a psychiatrist who diagnosed her with anger issues; most likely caused by the abandonment of her father,” Michael explained.
“But her father didn’t abandon Dani; he
died
,” Gabriel said.
“True, but the family never knew that. They always assumed that he’d just run out on them. You may want to tell Danielle the truth. It may make her feel better to know her father didn’t
just abandon her,” Michael said.
“Anyway
,
the psychiatrist recommended putting Danielle on drugs, but Anne would have none of that. Instead she enrolled her in a local boxing program, hoping it would help her take out her aggression in a controlled enviro
nment
and help teach her how to manage her anger outside the gym.
“And it seemed to work well for her. She stopped fighting in school; for the most part anyway. There were a few skirmishes with this one girl, but Danielle never started those fights.
“
She
finished
the hell out of them, but she never got suspended for fighting again. As for the boxing, not only did it help her anger issues, but she excelled at it. She was the Montgomery County
Female Golden Gloves Champion in her weight division for three years running,” Michael explained.
“That would explain how she beat the hell out of that Cambion,” Gabriel said.
“Danielle fought with a Cambion?” Michael asked, stunned.
“It wasn’t really
much
of a fight. Once Dani got her bearings, she annihilated the Cambion,” Gabriel said.
“Tough girl,” Michael said.
“So who’s the drunk on the couch?”
“Dani’s best friend, Donna. It was her idea to take Dani out dancing last night,” Gabriel said.
“What does she think of Danielle hanging out with an
Archangel
?”
“She doesn’t know what I am. Dani told her I was a long lost cousin from out of state,” Gabriel said.
“So
,
Danielle fights, drinks, didn’t believe in God
and
she lies. Ni
ce,” Michaels said with a smile.
“You need to keep a close eye on her, though. She may seem fine now, but when she gets angry, she’s prone to snap.”
“I’ve talked to he
r,” Gabriel said.
“Dani
won’t do anything foolish
.
”
Michael laughed, “You keep on thinking that if it makes you feel better
.
But give me a minute and I’ll prove you wrong.
”
“What are you going to do?”
“You’ll see,” Michael said.
Mi
chael stood, presumably to find Dani
, when they heard a gasp from the doorway. Gabriel turned his head and saw Donna staring slack jawed at Michael, who was still naked.
Unfortunately
,
Michael hadn’t spent as much time with humans as Gab
riel had, so his reaction to Donna’s
sudden gasp was a defensive
o
ne.
Michael flexed his shoulders and unfurled his wings. Donna screamed at the top of her lungs, and then dropped to the floor in a dead faint.
1.
Dani was in her room getting dresse
d when she heard Donna scream bloody murder. Dani’s reaction to the scream was to run downstairs
to see what had happened. She’
d only run down two of the twenty or so steps when she tripped and started to tumble down stairs. Halfway down the staircase Dani’s left foot wedged between the railing posts
,
and she felt her ankle snap.
She screamed in pain. She was lodged on the staircase in such a way that most of her weight was hanging from her broken ankle…and she was stuck. Before she could draw another breath to scream again, Gabriel was beside her.
“I’m stuck,” Dani cried.
“I can see that, but I’m going to get you out,” Gabriel said.
He grabbed one of the two posts that her ankle was pinned between and broke the hundred year old post like it was little more than a twig. He then scooped Dani up, carried her down the stairs, and laid her on the couch.
He examined her ankle for a few seconds before he spoke.
“I can fix this, but I have to reset the bone before I can heal it; it’s going to hurt,” he said, and snapped the bones back into place.
Dani screamed again and
felt sweat pop out all over her body. Then Gabriel cupped her ankle in his hands. She felt her ankle get really hot, then really cold, and then the pain was gone. She stood up and put her weight on the ankle. It felt fine, as if it had never been broken at all.
“Thank you,” she said to Gabriel, and even though she knew that she shouldn’t, she wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a hug.
To her surprise, instead of pushing her away, he pulled her tight up against him.
“You’re okay now,
” Gabriel said softly.
She looked up and found he was gazing back at her. The expression on his face was unreadable, but he almost looked like he was in pain. He was brushing his knuckles gently down her cheek when someone cleared their throat behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw Michael; he was holding Donna
like a baby
and his
wings
were spread.
“What should I do with this one?” Michael asked.
Dani jumped guiltily away from Gabriel. She had gotten so wrapped up in looking at Gabriel that she’d clean forgotten what had made her come hurtling down the stairs in the first place.
“What did you
do
to her?” Dani asked.
“She startled me
,
and I had a…mishap,” Michael said.
“By ‘
mishap
’ do you mean you whipped your wings out?” she asked.
“Yes,” Michael admitted guiltily.
“And Donna saw them?” she asked.
“Unfortunately,” Michael said.
“Great,” Dani said, pinching the bridge of her nose, “How exactly am I
supposed
to explain
that
away?”
“Y
ou don’t have to,” Michael said.
“I can take the entire memory away. She won’t remember anything after she passed out last night.”
“She didn’t exactly ‘
pass out
’ last night,” Dani said.
“I thought it sounded better than ‘
She won’t remember anything after Gabriel overreacted and took down everyone in the bar
’
.” Michael said.
“I did
not
overreact,” Gabriel said.
“
There was
a clear threat to Dani’s safety.
”
“It was a bar fight,” Michael said.
“And I ended it,” Gabriel replied.
“Yes, by knocking over a hundr
ed and fifty people unconscious,” Michael said sarcastically.
“
Clearly
not
an overreaction at all.
”
“I di
dn’t overreact,” Gabriel said, looking down at
Dani.
“What are you looking at me for? I
’m good with it,” Dani said. “Plus I got to fly, which was
totally
wicked.
”
“See, she’s good with it,” Gabriel said smugly to Michael.
“That’s good, because
obviously
the girl who put another girl in the hospital for two weeks for spitting in her face has
the
best judgment,” Michael said.
“Oh, you know about that,” Dani said, embarrassed.
“I know about
much
more than that, little girl,” Michael said.
“
That one just kind
of pops to the top of the list.
”
“Don’t call me
little girl
,” Dani said angrily, unknowingly balling her hands into fist
s
.
“You don’t know me.
”
“I know you. Apparently I’m the only one in this room who
really
knows you,” Micha
el said, then turned to Gabriel.
“Look at her, Gabriel. She’s ready to attack an
Archangel
for
what she
perceives
as an insult
. She has
no
sense of perso
nal safety at all.
”
“Why don’t you kiss my…” Dani was saying, stepping towards Michael.
“You hush, little girl” Michael said.
Dani didn’t
want
to hush, but she didn’t seem to have a choice. As soon as Michael told her to ‘
hush
’, she found herself frozen in place and unable to speak. What had she been thinking? Had she
really
been about to punch an angel?
She hated to admit it, but that was exactly what she’d been about to do when Michael stopped her. And she had a sneaky suspicion that Michael had pissed her off on
purpose
, just to prove a point to Gabriel.
“Pay attention to her, Gabriel, or she’s libel to get herself killed. She has more self control than she had as a teenager, but not by much,” Michael said, and then turned back to Dani.
“If I let you go, can you control yourself?” Michael asked, as if Dani could answer him.
All she could do was narrow her eyes and glare at him.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Michael said
,
and released Dani from the hold
he had on her.
“I’m not trying to be mean, but you need to understand t
he situation that you’re now in.
”
“I do,” she said.
“No, you obviously
don’t
, or you wouldn’t have come at me l
ike you just did,” Michael said.
“I heard that you managed to defeat a Cambion on your own, and I’m impressed. But a demon
is not
a Cambion. If a demon gets his hands on you, even a low level demon, the game is over. It’s unlikely that
Gabriel will be able to recover
you before they drag you to hell.”
“Drag me to hell?” Dani asked turning to Gabriel, “What does he mean
drag me to hell
?”
“You didn’t tell her?”
“I told her she would die. I think that’s enough,” Gabriel said.
“No
,
it’s not,” Michael said.
“
How is she supposed to understand what’s happening if you
don’t give her the full scope of
what’s at stake?”
“
Michael,
don’t
,” Gabriel warned.
“She’s scared enough.”
Michael ignored Gabriel and spoke
directly
to Dani.
“If Lucifer get’s a hold of you, you won’t just die; your soul will suffer all the exquisite torturers of Hell. Our brother will roast your soul on the coals of Hell until it i
s unrecognizable,” Michael said.
“Picture the same daddy issues that you have, only on a universal scale. And the only person Lucifer will have to take those issues out on is you. How do you think that’s going to work out for you?”
Dani considered this for a moment. She couldn’t deny having anger issues about her father. Or the fact that it had caused…difficulties in her life. Then she tried to imagine how angry she would be if her father was God himself. What she imagined wasn’t anything good.
She looked back at Michael, and he must have seen the panic in her eyes.
“Exactly,” Michael said, “I think you’re finally starting to see the light.”
Dani nodded.
“I’ll take care of you,” Gabriel said. “Don’t worry about Lucifer; he’s my problem to deal with,”
“And you need to pull your shit tog
ether,” Michael said to Gabriel.
“I see the allure.
I can’t deny that, but you need to make some decisions and make them fast. Decide what you want, and
settle
your mind. If you don’t, you
will
fail. And if
you
fail, everybody on this planet loses.”