Authors: Stephanie Jackson
He’d let Dani sleep an hour longer than he’d really wanted to, but the sun had started to rise
,
and it was time to go. He went up to her bedroom to wake her. He had lain with her the night before until she’d gone to sleep, but
then
he’d had to leave the room. Lying in her bed with her was just a little too much; a little too intimate, for him to handle right now.
He would tell her how he felt about her, but now was not the time. It could wait
until he dealt with his brother
and ended this war, once and for all.
He gently shook her sh
oulder and said, “Dani, wake up.
We
have to go.”
She rolled over and stretched. Her body arched on the bed and he had to look away.
“Can we eat first?
” she asked.
“Breakfast is already made; it’s just waiting on you to eat it, but we need to hurry,” he said.
“Okay, I’ll be down in a couple of minutes, just give me a chance to get dressed,” she said.
He turned without looking at her and walked out of the room. He had her bowl ready when she came into the kitchen.
“Did you already eat?” she asked, spooning oatmeal into her mouth.
“Yes, before I woke you; and I had so
me
extra time so I fixed the house too,” he said.
“I saw that; thank you,” she said.
Gabriel smiled at her, “You
’re
most welcome, my lady.”
When she’d finished eating, he hurried her from the house.
“So where are we going?” Dani asked when they’d walked down
the steps
to the street.
“Not far from here, actually; maybe an hours walk,” he said.
“Are you going to tell me what I’m not gonna like about where we’re going?” she asked as they walked.
“Not
quite
yet,” he said.
“Wouldn’t
it
be quicker to fly there?” Dani asked, hopefully.
“Look at you, one flight and you’re ad
dicted,” he said, smiling at her.
“Yes, it would be
quicker
to fly
, but I need some time to think about the crea
tures we’ll soon be approaching.
”
“Creatures?” she asked, and Gabriel nodded.
“Are you expecting a problem?” she asked, trying not to worry about what
kind
of creatures they’d be approaching.
“Not really a problem, but let’s just say you’re not going to be the only one
not
happy about us being there,” he said. “I’m just trying to think of a diplomatic solution, in case one is needed.”
“Should I be worried?” she asked.
Gabriel took her hand and kissed it, “Not at all; they’re going to
do
what I want, one way or another. I’d just rather not have to force them.”
Dani gave him a strange look.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Why have you been…I don’t know how to say it…never mind,” she said, looking down.
He stopped and turned her to face him, “No, not ‘
never mind
’
; ask
me whatever you want.
”
“I’d rather not,” she said.
“
And I’d rather you did,” Gabriel insisted
.
“Okay, why are you so
touchy feely
all of the sudden? When you first got here you looked at me as if I were something you’d wipe from the bottom of your shoe. And when I tried to say thank you to you at the cemetery, you jumped away from me like I had the plague,” she sai
d.
“Now, in the last day or so, you’ve started touching me all the time. What gives?”
Gabriel decided to answer her as honestly as he could.
“I’ve become a
ccustom
ed
to being around you, and
I’v
e come to understand that I’m
…,” Gabriel was saying when he spotted two men at the end of the street.
He looked behind them, and sa
w four more men coming up on
them.
Cambion
. This is what Gabriel
got for not paying attention.
“Damn it,” he said, grabb
ed Dani up and spread his wings.
“Flying it is, then.”
He shot straight up into the air
, and didn’t sto
p until he was a mile up
. He didn’t come down until they had reached their destination.
1.
Dani
looked around, but it took her
a second to realize where they were at.
“This is
River Rd.
,” she said.
“If you say so,” Gabriel said, setting Dani on her feet.
“
I don’t really n
eed street names to find my way.
”
“Lucky you.
So
where do we go from here?” she asked.
He took her hand in his, “This way.”
He led her to the edge of a hidden driveway before stopping to speak to her, “You
will
stay beside me, do you understand?”
“I thought these were the creatures that are supposed to
protect
me,” she said.
“They are, but the
ir very strong, very fast, and they’
re prone to attack before
they ask questions,
so stay beside me, okay?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Come on then,” he said, and led her down a driveway that was lined by deep woods on both sides.
They walked about a half a mile before she asked, “How long is this damn thing?”
“Shh, they’ll hear
you,” he whispered.
She didn’t know what he was worried about; surely he could protect her from whatever was waiting for them at the end of this driveway. But she would admit that she was starting to get really nervous about the ‘
creatures
’ she was about to see.
What would they look like? Would she understand them when they spoke? Did they
speak
at all, or would they use some kind of
telepathic language? All these thoughts were rushing through her mind when they reached the end of
the
driveway and stepped into a large clearing in the trees. She was shocked by what was in front of them. There was a house set back in the clearing, and stand
ing
in front of it were…
“They’re
just people,” she managed to say before several of
the
men pulled the swords that hung down their backs and rushed at them.
They ran at a speed that Dani had never seen before, or had ever even
thought
was
possible.
Gabriel unfurled his wings, and dropped into a defen
sive position. All of the men
that had been running at them came to a sudden dead stop and, all but one, dropped to their knees and pressed their foreheads to the ground; bowing down to Gabriel.
The one man that didn’t bow; he had a red Mohawk and was covered in tattoos, looked Gabriel up and down. He looked thoroughly unimpressed.
“And?” the man said.
“And?”
Dani said, offended for Gabriel.
“An angel with a fifteen foot wing span appears before you, and the best you can come up with is ‘
And
?’ Don’t you have any respect?”
Gabriel released his defensive position and stood up.
“I do respect him, but
that doesn’t
mean I’m going to put my head in
the mud,” the man said.
“Lugh,” Gabriel said to the man.
“Or do you prefer to be called Potter?”
“Whichever feels good to you,” the man said.
“Potter, then,” Gabriel said.
“I need your help.”
2.
Gabriel had no intention of harming these creatures, but had taken a defensive stance to let them know he
could
if had to. Before he had gotten a chance to speak to Lugh Potter; the man he most needed to speak to, Dani had already started in on him. Michael was right; she had no sense of personal safety.
Rather than p
hysically force her to
shut her mouth, Gabriel let the conversation run its course and hoped she wouldn’t start a war that would force him to kill all the creatures here. When he got a chance, he jumped in before Dani could do any real damage.
“You need
my
help?” Potter said, bravely walking over to them. “What could
you
possibly need my help with that you can’t take care of yourself?”
“I need to go somewhere, and I need you and you
r
men to take care of this woman while I’m gone,” Gabriel said.
“Nope; can’t do it,” Potter said, as Gabriel had expected.
“
We have problems of
our own to deal with right now.
”
“How can they
protect me?” Dani asked Gabriel.
“They’re
just
people.”
Jesus! Would this woman never shut up?! He’s trying to get their help
,
and she was insulting them! He watched Potter look at her in disdain, and at her words, all of the men kneeling before Gabriel rose to their feet.
“Excuse us a moment,” Gabriel said, and then grabbed Dani and shot straight up into the air with her until he was high enough that the creatures on the ground couldn’t hear him.
“Is it possible for you to shut your hole for ten
minutes?” Gabriel snapped.
“
I’m trying to get these
creatures to help us and you insulting them
is not
helping!”
“I didn’t insult anybody!” Dani snapped back.
“Unbelievable; we’re two hundred feet in the air and she still wants to
argue with me,” Gabriel mumbled.
“You called them ‘
just people
’. They are far from it
,
and I will explain it to you when we get back on the ground.
“But if you say one more word,
any word
, before I ask you to, I swear before God, I will fucking seal your lips shut. Do you understand me?”
Dani laughed, and Gabriel glared at her, “What, if I may ask, do you find so funny?”
“You said
fuck
,” Dani said, still giggling.
It took everything Gabriel had not to smile, but he managed to bite it back. He needed her to take this seriously.
“Dani,” he warned.
“I’ll be quiet,” Dani said innocently, and Gabriel flew them back to the ground.
“Problems?” Potter asked when Gabriel sat Dani on her feet.
“Not r
ight
at
this moment,” Gabriel said.
“Do you mind if I explain to her what you are?”
“Be my guest,” Potter said.
“I can’t
wait
to see how that works out for you.”
“These men that you see before you are vampire hunters. They were
created
to kill vampires,”
Gabriel said,
and watched as Dani bit down on her lip.
She was trying not to laugh, and that told Gabriel she didn’t believe a word he was saying.
He ignored this and tried to push on through with his explanation, “They are very good at what they do, and as such, they’re more than capable of taking care of you for a few hours...,” that was as far as Gabriel got before Dani started laughing.
“I apologize for her rudeness,” Gabriel said to Potter.
“Did you expect a different reaction? Humans refuse to believe anything before they see it for
themselves,” Potter said, looking down at his watch.
“Which will happen for her in the next two to three minutes.”
“What?” Gabriel said, and closed his eyes to scan the surrounding area.
There were four Cambion making their way through the trees on Gabriel’s left. They had found Dani before Gabriel thought they would. This could only mean that a demon was
feeding
them directions.
“They believe they’re
sneaking up on us,” Potter said.
“Do you want to take care of them or should we?”
“By all means, have at them,” Gabriel said.
“Go ahead and finish talking if you want; we have a few minutes,” Potter said.