Authors: Stephanie Jackson
Gabriel just looked at him.
Michael looked back at Gabriel in shock, understanding dawning on his face, “You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”
Gabriel nodded, “I don’t want n
either God, nor Lucifer to have any question as to what I’m
really
going into this battle for;
of
what
I’m
fighting for. Lucifer
will not
take her.”
“If I was Lucifer
,
I would have pissed
my
pants in fear when I saw you openly defy God and declare your l
ove for Dani,” Michael said. “
That wave of power you threw out knocked all the angels in Heaven off their feet:
All of them.
I bet it drove all of Lucifer’s demons to the ground, as well.”
And then Michael smiled.
“What?” Gabriel asked.
“That little love scene
was
awe inspiring
, brother
. We may be the only two angels to have ever lain with human women, but I bet they’re all thinking about it now,” Michael laughed. “I’ve
been
with a human woman, but when Dani ripped your pants open with her teeth even
I
had to look away.”
“You should
n
’
t ha
ve come back here, Michael,” Gabriel said. “Our Father may punish you for even
speaking
to me now.”
“I guess we’ll find out,” Michael said, taking a seat next to Gabriel on the porch.
Gabriel looked at his brother and smiled, “Feeling brave?”
“Not particularly, but I won’t abandon you like everyone else has
.
”
Gabriel was pretty sure he knew who Michael was referring to, “Raphael?”
Michael nodded, “Did you expect any less after what you did tonight?”
Gabriel had never expected much of
anything
from Raphael. Raphael had never liked Gabriel, and Gabriel couldn’t honestly say that he cared for Raphael, either. Raphael had always been jealous that God had created Gabriel to be his Might and Wrath. He’d been jealous of every praise that their Father had ever heaped on Gabriel’s head.
Nobody had been happier than Raphael when Gabriel had been banned from Heaven. He remembered the smile Raphael had given him when God had announced what
Gabriel’s
punishment was to be.
”Do I even
want to hear what he had
to say about Dani?”
“I
highly doubt it,” Michael said.
“Let’s just say I don’t think he’ll be rooting for you when you finally face Lucifer in battle.”
“My impending death must be making him happy?”
“That’s not funny,” Michael said.
“It wasn’t meant to be,” Gabriel said. “You’ll need to watch him after I’m gone. Raphael has all the qualities that Lucifer had, without having his strengths. Raphael is weak by nature, but that doesn’t mean he won’t try something after I’m gone.
“Promise me that you’ll watch over Dani for me, and keep her safe. Raphael is a vindictive, ill-tempered, petulant child. Nothing
would make him happier that to destroy what was once mine; to kill what I loved most.
”
“I don’t want to talk about you dying, Gabriel,” Michael said. “We don’t know for sure that you’ll…”
“
I
know it,” Gabriel said. “I knew it from the first moment I entered Dani’s body. Our Father is a vengeful God. No man
or
angel
walks away from God’s fate for them. And do you
really
believe that He will change Devine Providence and allow
me
to survive after all I’ve done
to defy Him
? At least I’ll die fighting for someone I love; never forget that.
“There will be
no
Divine Intervention, Michael. Put those foolish thoughts away now and promise me you’ll watch over her, and all the future generations that will carry her blood.”
“I’ll keep them safe, I swear that to you,” Michael said. “But I’ll also hold hope for your survival, even if you won’t.”
“Thank you,”
Gabriel said, and placed his hand on brother’s shoulder. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go be with Dani before my time runs out.”
“I’ll see you again before this is over,” Michael said and disappeared.
5.
Gabriel climbed onto the bed beside Dani and watched her sleep. Her eyes moved beneath her lids as she dreamed. He couldn’t believe that his time with her was coming to an end. He wished more than anything that he could turn back the clock and spend more time with her, but that could never be
.
He placed his hand over Dani’s heart. She gasped and her eyes flew open, “Shh, it’s only me, love.”
He pulled her to him and wrapped his arm
s
around her, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
He guessed what she’d been dreaming about when she asked, “Gabriel, can you really defeat the Devil?”
“Do you doubt me, love?” he asked.
She looked up at him, “No, but it sounds like
you
doubt you. You keep talking about dying for me.”
“Pay no attention to me,
Mo Shearc
,” he said. “Every warrior gets nervous before a fight to
the
death, no matter how confident he is of its outcome.”
“What does ‘
Mo Shearc
’ mean?”
“I apologize; angels automatically speak in the language of the humans around them. Being around this many Irish has thrown me of
f
a bit,” he said. “
Mo Shearc
is Irish Gaelic, meaning
my love.
”
“I like it. It sounds sexy,” she said and he smiled into the dark. “Gabriel?”
He kissed the top of her head, “Yes, my love.”
“Will you make love to me again?”
“Happily,”
he said and rolled to face her.
“
Tá mo chroí istigh ionat
.”
“What does
that
mean?”
“Ask Michael one day,” he smiled and pulled her against him.
1.
Gabriel smelled the sulfur and decomposition only moments before the mayhem started below the bedroom window.
Demons
!
“Dani, get up!” he yelled and sprang from the bed.
He ran to the window and looked out into the yard. The vampires were everywhere. They were twirling rapidly between the demons in the predawn light; touching as many as they could, and dropping them on the spot. Fighting amongst them was Michael. He was using his sword to stab and chop his way through the demon mass.
The vampires were fast, but so were the demons. And there looked to be hundreds of them. If Gabriel didn’t stop this, this vampire nest would not survive the onslaught. He waved his hand and crushed the entire outside wall of the bedroom.
He grabbed his sword and turned to Dani. He was glad she’d slipped her long t-shirt on before falling asleep or she’d be embarrassed when he did what he was about to do. He grabbed her by her waist and flew from the house with her.
“Michael!” Gabriel bellowed when he was hovering over the fight below.
Michael shot into the air without looking up.
“Get her out of here!” Gabriel said, and handed Dani to him.
“
Gabriel, no
!” Dani screamed as Michael flew away with her.
Gabriel looked back down at the fight and saw the damnedest thing. Wesley was spinning among the demons, stabbing them through the hearts with his sword…and the demons were
falling
. Wesley’s sword was made of silver!
Gabriel landed on the ground and waded into the fray. He circled through the demon onslaught, smiting some with one hand and killing yet others with his sword. It didn’t take long for the demons to realize that Dani was not with Gabriel, and they retreated; sinking back into the ground.
Gabriel looked around to see if any of the vampires had fallen in the onslaught, and saw Wesley
standing toe to toe with Jenny; simply
staring down at her. Then Jeremy,
Harley,
and Leso jumped on Wesley and drove him to the ground.
“You know your brother told us to kill you if you ever came around Jenny again,” Harley said.
“Release him!” Gabriel roared, waving his hand and flinging the vampires across the yard.
Wesley sprang back to his feet, “Thanks, mate,” he said before turning to Jenny. “I mea
nt you no harm tonight, darlin’.
”
Jenny n
odded, and Wesley turned and jogged
back towards the woods that circled the house.
“Wesley!” Gabriel yelled.
Wesley turned around and looked back at him. Gabriel nodded his head to him.
Wesley smiled, nodded his head once; accepting Gabriel’s unspoken thanks, and then turned and disappeared into the trees.
2.
Michael and Dani were sitting at a picnic table at Riverfront Park watching the Cumberland River slowly roll its way through its banks.
“Where is he?” Dani asked Michael over an hour after he’d flown her away from the demons.
“He’ll be here soon, I’m sure,” Michael said.
“I don’t understand why Gabriel just couldn’t have come with me.
You
could have stayed and smote the demons.”
Michael laughed, “I can’t
smite
anything. God granted that power to Gabriel alone. He had the power to save your friends; I did not.”
“But the Bible says…”
“The Bible says a lot of things. Some of them are even true, but there are a lot of misinterpretations and guess work, as well.” Michael said. “The Bible classifies any angel striking down a human or a demon as smiting. What smiting
really
is
,
is the ability to reap the soul of a human while simultaneously vaporizing the body; or in the case of demons, just vaporizing the body.”
“Gabriel doesn’t remove the demons’ souls before he smites them?” she asked.
“There is no soul
to
remove. Demons are just fallen angels,
Dani
” Michael explained. “
And a
ngels have
no souls.”
“What happens if you die?” she asked.
Michael looked away from her
, “When an angel dies…he simply ceases to exist.”
Dani’s heart clenched painfully in her chest. She couldn’t imagine Gabriel just winking out of existence. It was unthinkable that he could ever just
cease to exist
.
“So when Lucifer comes will Gabriel just smite him?” she asked, knowing it couldn’t be that easy.
“
Unfortunately, no,” Michael
said. “Gabriel can smite humans, demons and other angels, but he
cannot
smite another Archangel. When Lucifer rises, there will be a great battle. Some you’ll be able to see, and some you won’t. The power they’ll put off will cause the air around them to sizzle, and the Earth to roll beneath their feet.”
“That sounds terrifying,” she said.
Michael nodded, “It will be.”
A sudden thought occurred to her, “Will Gabriel even be able to find us here? Could he be looking for us now?”
“Gabriel is The Guardian of the last Daughter of God, Dani; he is attached to you in a most profound way. If he needs to find you, all he has to do is dematerialize and he will be able to rematerialize wherever you are on Earth. He may not be able to
see
your soul, but it still calls to him.”
“Gabriel never told me that,
” Dani said.
Michael laughed, “Gabriel isn’t very open about himself or what he’s capable of doing. He’s fairly humble. If you want to know something about him, you’re going to have to ask.”
“Will Lucifer find me the same way
as Gabriel
when he rises?”
“No, only Gabriel can track your soul on Earth,” Michael explained. “Lucifer doesn’t need to be able to find
you
. He can find Gabriel, and when he does, he’ll find you
, too
.”
“So I may not even have to be there for their battle?” she asked.
“You
will
be there, Dani. God demands it,
” Michael said. “They’ll be fighting over
you
and as the saying goes,
To the Victor goes the Spoils
.”