Authors: Stephanie Jackson
The demon was trying everything he could to get around Michael, while still d
efending himself. It didn’t take Dani
to
o
long to see that the reason the demon was trying to get passed Michael was to get to her.
“What do I do?” Dani screamed.
“Stay…where… you…a
re!” Michael yelled back to her while struggling with the demon.
He used his foot to kick the demon across the room, and then lunged and buried his sword down through the demon’s chest and pinned him to the floor. The demon
died
just like Vetis; in fire and retched black smoke.
Dani sat where she was, shaking like a leaf. This was real. All of it was real, and she was probably going to die.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Michael said, scooping her up off the floor.
He used his foot to kick the couch back over and sat down on it. He held Dani in his lap and was rocking her as if she were a baby.
She didn’t mind because she knew he was trying to comfort her. But Michael wasn’t who Dani wanted right now.
“Where’s Gabriel?” she asked in a wavering voice, trying her best not to cry.
“I made him go for a walk, but he’ll be back soon. Until he returns, you’
ll just have to make do with me.
” Michael said with a small smile.
“Why would he just leave me like tha
t?
” she asked.
“He needs to clear his head,” Michael said.
“I don’t understand. Why do you keep saying he needs to clear his head?
” she asked, barely holding herself together.
“
What does he need to clear his mind
of?
”
Michael pulled away from her a little so he could stare down at her.
“You
really
d
on’t know, do you?” Michael asked
.
She didn’t get a chance to question him any further before the front door flew open, and Gabriel filled the open doorway.
2.
Gabriel walked
and thought, and he’
d made his decision. The best thing for him to do was complete his mission here and hope his Father would allow h
im to come home. It was where Gabriel
belonged. He would step back front Dani before what was happening to him; the way he felt about
her, could go any further. And
when it was time, he
would
walk away.
It was a hard decision, but he would have to become comfortable with it. It was the right thing to do; for both of them. He was at peace
with his decision. Or he had been until he smelled the stench of demon from the porch and threw open the door.
The destruction of the living room wasn’t the first thing he noticed, though the damage was extensive. What his eyes first fell on was Dani curled up in Michael’s lap, and Michael gazing into Dani’s eyes. It just st
r
uck his as
wrong.
Not that she was with Michael. Gabriel trusted his brother more than any other angel. It was seeing Dani curled up with
any
man that wasn’t him that struck him as wrong.
Michael looked up at Gabriel, and Gabriel knew Michael could read his decision on his face.
“Are you sure?” Michael asked.
Gabriel nodded, “I am now.”
He looked down at Dani just in time to see her burst into tears. He walked across the room and dropped to his knees in front of her. She fell from Michael’s lap and into Gabriel’s arms. She buried her face in his neck and cried.
“Where were you?!” s
he sobbed, pounding her fists on his shoulders. “Why did you leave me here?”
“It was a mistake. I’m here now, though, and I not going to leave you again,” Gabriel said softly to Dani, but was looking at Michael.
Michael nodded, accepting Gabriel’s decision with
out
further question.
“This doesn’t change what you have to do here,” Michael said.
“I know. I have every intention of finishing what I came down here to do,” Gabriel said, picking Dani up and sitting on
the couch with her.
“What happened here?”
“Sonneillon happened,” Michael said.
“Holy God, Lucifer
sent
Sonneillon?
Already?” Gabriel asked.
“It
would appear so,” Michael said.
“I believe it’s
safe bet to say that Hell
knows
you’re here.”
“I wonder how Lucifer found out.” Gabriel said.
“
I killed V
etis
and
every
Cambion I’ve come across.”
“Who’s Sonneillon?” Dani asked, sounding a little calmer.
“He’s known in Heaven as the Demon of Hatred,” Gabriel said.
“I take it he wasn’t a lower level demon?” she asked.
“No. F
ar from it, in fact. He was one of Lucifer’s highest ranking demons,” Michael said, then looked at Gabriel, “It’s time for you to draw him out.”
“But you already killed him,” Dani said in confusion.
“He’s not talking
about Sonneillon,” Gabriel said.
“He’s talking about drawing out Lucifer himself.”
“It’s not right to make Gabriel fight Lucifer on his own,” Dani said.
Michael laughed, “You put way to much faith in the words of your Bible. I bet you’ve read that Gabriel’s main purpose is to announce important births and to blow his horn on judgment day. Am I right?”
Dani nodded and Michael laughed again.
“It’s a good Sunday school story for children, but it isn’t true. Gabriel doesn’t carry a horn…he carries a sword; and with it the full Might of God. I
would
fight with Gabriel if I could, but the reality is that Lucifer would most likely turn me into angel bacon the moment he laid eyes on me.”
“I thought you were the W
arrior Archangel,” Dani said.
“Don’t get me wrong, I do alright, but Gabriel is the only
Archangel
capable
of defeating Lucifer. Besides, he won’t be fighting Lucifer; not yet anyway. What I’m suggesting is just a little show and tell,” Mich
ael said, and turned to Gabriel.
“You have to let him see Danielle; dangle
the prize in front of his face.
”
“Dani isn’t a prize,” Gabriel said. “Nor is she
bait
.”
“But she
is
, and you know it.”
Michael said, and stood up. “And you know what
you’re
going to have to do next.”
“I can’t do that. You know Dani can’t be around her; it’s too dangerous
.
” Gabriel said.
“Then take her somewhere she’ll be safe so you can do what you have to do. You have to have her blood,” Michael said.
Gabriel said, “There
is
nowhere safe for her to go.”
“There are people that can keep her safe while you’re gone; and they just happen to live
right
here in t
his town,
” Michael said.
Gabriel looked at Michael in disbelief
,
“You
cannot
be serious.”
“Get it done. Do your job. Danielle will be fine there with them. I have to go home and as the humans say, face the music for what happened here today” Michael said, and vanished.
3.
“We can stay here tonight; you should be safe for now. Lucifer will take a little t
ime to figure out his next move,” Gabriel told Dani.
“
But we’ll have to leave here in the morning, and you won’t be able to return until t
his is over.
”
“Where are we going to go?” Dani asked.
“I’ll tell you when we get there, but I can tell you right now that you’re not going to like it,” he said.
“Why?” she asked.
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Then let’s leave it at that for now. There’s no need for you to spend the night worrying about it,” he said.
“Like that was a calming remark,” Dani mumbled, looking around the living room.
Her grandmother’s house was destroyed. There were holes in the walls and the ceiling, and the curio cabinet that had sat against the far wall had been crushed to rubble. It made her sad to look at. Her grandmother had put so much care into this home; if she could see it now, she’d be heartbroken.
“Can you fix all of this?” Dani asked.
“I can, but there’s no point in doing it now. When the next Cambion or demon arrives, and you’re not here, they’re likely to trash
it again out of anger,” he said.
“I promise that if we both make it through this
alive, that I’ll fix it back up
good a
s
new.”
Dani nodded, and then asked the question that had been weighing on her mind since Michael had said it, “Whose blood do you need?”
“The blood of a natural born witch,” he answered.
“Like a Wiccan?” she asked.
“No, a Wiccan is someone who worships nature; they choose to call themselves witches, but they have no real power. A natural born witch is a differ
ent matter altogether,” Gabriel said.
“A natural born witch is born without a soul and
is
already in allegiance with Lucifer; and she
does
have real power. She can communicate directly with the Devil.”
“Can you defeat her?” Dani asked.
Gabriel smiled at her, “Easily.
”
“The
n
why can’t I go with you?”
“First; I don’t know where she is, so I have to find her. Second; when I do find her, she’s likely to be guarded by several demons. I’m good, but I can’t kill her, fight off several demons, and protect you at the same time,” he explained.
“I see your point,” Dani said. “How are you going to find her.
”
“Without a soul, I can’t track her. So I’ll have to go up,” he said.
“To Heaven?” she asked.
“No, I can’t do that,” Gabriel said.
“
Plus, I only need to go up far en
ough to look down on the planet.
”
“How will that help?” she asked.
“A natural born witch is the most
evil
creature to walk in your world. Being
that unnatural leaves its mark,” he said.
“
That being the case, whatever area she’s in will hold an unnatural darkness, and I’ll be ab
le to see it.”
“How long will it take to find her?”
“Anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours; it depe
nds on how far I have to search,” he said.
“
She
could be anywhere on the planet.
”
“Will you be okay?” Dani asked shyly.
Gabriel pulled her back into his arms again and hugged her, “Don’t worry about me, love. I’ll be just fine. There is no demon besides Lucifer that could cause me any permanent harm. And if
he’s there, then all the better.
I can end this then and there.”
She rested her head on his chest.
“Are you expecting him to be there?”
“I wish, but no. I don’t believe he’ll
truly
rise until he feels there’s no other choice,” he said.
“Is he afraid of you?” she asked.
“Afraid; no, but he’
s definitely cautious,” he said.
“He’s not going to face me in battle unless he has to. He knows just as well as I do that when we do meet, one of us will not walk away.”
“Can he
really
kill you?” she asked.
“He can, but he’ll have to face me to do it, and he
will
have to face me, whether he realizes it o
r not. Not a single one of his demons is
going to get
past me
and take you. He’l
l have to come for you himself,
” Gabriel said.
“But we’re not going to worry about that anymore right now. Let’s just enjoy what might possibly be the last peaceful few hours we have before the real shit storm
really
begins.”
4.
While Dani slept, Gabriel
had packed what he thought she’d
might need into a big duffle bag he’d found in a closet. Clothes, a few toiletries, and a small photo of Dani, her mom
,
and her grandmother together. He’d also gone ahead and repaired the damage to her home. If this was the last time she saw it, he wanted it to be as she remembered it, instead of the destruction Michael and Sonneillon had left in their wake.