by A. Catherine
His eyes drifted to Kale’s. Another silent conversation I couldn’t hear. Kale moved from the window, bracing his hands against the back of the couch.
“We should get going. You should take some time to pack a few things,” Gabriel said to me.
I straightened. “I have to leave?” He nodded.
“The vetala knew where you were, which means your apartment may not be a safe location. Protecting you here, in the middle of the city would be more strenuous than if we moved you,” Gabriel explained.
I looked at both of them. “But…I have finals, I can’t just leave.”
Well, one final, but still. I had responsibilities I couldn’t just walk away from.
Gabriel stood, confident and poised.
“We’ll take care of it. Hopefully, you won’t be away for long.”
Clearly I had no choice in the matter. What was the point in resisting? I mean, after all they were supernatural entities, and they were keeping me safe. Those thoughts didn’t shake the anxiety churning in my gut.
I huffed, standing, my legs feeling wobbly.
“Where are we going? That warehouse mentioned earlier?” I asked.
Gabriel grinned. “Good memory. It’s one of his safehouses. Big enough to accommodate all of us, and not crumble to the ground.”
I gulped at that. Crumble? They were that powerful?
Kale once again answered my thoughts. “We’re all among the best of our breeds. That much power doesn’t bode well for small, fragile structures. But don’t worry, we’ll point that energy towards each other, not to you. Wouldn’t want your small and fragile structure to break down, would we?”
He gave me his signature smirk, like in the library, it made my heart skip a step. I hadn’t realized he had made his way so close to me.
Gabriel cleared his throat from a few feet away, breaking me from my trance. I stepped away from Kale and walked towards my bedroom.
The door was open, and I could see the outline of my bed. Little light now coming from the windows. I remembered seeing Lillith perched on it, her eyes glowing red, her sultry gaze paralyzing me in place.
I swallowed. “Are the others going to be there?” I asked carefully.
Gabriel exchanged a glance with Kale then nodded to me. “Jade is…preparing a dinner, to ease the tension,” Kale snorted.
“Who’s Jade?”
Gabriel offered me a sympathetic grin. “You’ll see.”
PART TWO
STEEL & CONCRETE
FOURTEEN
Heather
“WE’RE GOING TO WHAT?” I uttered.
Kale secured his dagger behind his back. Gabriel was facing me, with his arms slightly outstretched towards me. My left side heavier from the small gym bag I packed with a few days’ worth of essentials, hopefully a few days would be enough.
“Winnow. It’s what you saw the others do when they came in and out. It’s the fastest way to where we’re going,” Gabriel clarified.
“And how does this work exactly?” I asked.
Gabriel stayed still, trying not to push me.
“We shift into the Ethereal realm, and from there we can go from one place in the mortal realm to the other in seconds. You’ll have to hold onto me. The first time is usually pretty jarring. Once you’re used to it, you will only need to have physical contact with one of us who can do it.”
I peered at his open stance. Welcoming, warm, inviting. I glanced over at Kale who met my stare.
Kale shrugged. “If you’d prefer I take you, I’d be happy to sweep you off your feet.” He winked.
I swallowed and returned my glance to Gabriel, carefully waiting for me.
“How far are we going?”
Much to my dismay, Gabriel shook his head. “Unfortunately, until we know your mind is secure, we can’t tell you much about the location. It will only take a few seconds. You can even close your eyes if that will make it easier.”
I nodded and moved closer to him. Suddenly unsure of the right way to hold onto him. I moved my arms and hands around awkwardly, trying to find the least uncomfortable position to take.
He must have sensed my discomfort, he took my hands and placed them on his chest. His hands then wrapped around my waist and he lifted me slightly until my feet rested on top of his. His arms finally wrapped all the way around waist, overlapping behind my back.
My face was beet-red being so close to him. The muscles underneath his shirt were firm and sculpted. His entire body warm.
He smelled faintly of sea salt, and roses.
My attention went to Kale when he clicked the light switch, turning out the last light in the living room and turning to us.
He smirked wickedly and stood next to us. “Heather and Feathers, sitting in a tree,” he sang quietly.
Gabriel snapped his head towards him. “Grow up.”
I merely hid my face, not wanting them to see my flushed cheeks.
Gabriel whispered closer to my ear, “We’re going to go now. It’ll feel strange, but don’t let it scare you. We’ll be there soon.”
As if on cue, the ground beneath us disappeared, and the air around us was warped. A cocoon of gold and white light in thin vertical lines surrounded us. It felt like we were dropping, but my hair barely moved an inch. No, it was my heart, it felt like it was rising into my throat much like it did when on a tower drop ride at a theme park.
Before I had a chance to adjust to it, it was over. The ground met our feet softly, and the air around us stopped warping, the light falling away.
Now surrounded by concrete and steel pillars and arches.
I hadn’t realized I was clinging closer to Gabriel until he cleared his throat, lowering his arms from around me.
I took a step back, planting my feet on the solid concrete floor. Looking around the warehouse I saw it was large and wide. The windows were spray painted with black and brown paint, artificial lights hung down from the ceiling of steel, giving the place a low warm light.
Further in there was a collection of workout equipment as well as a wall of various weaponry. And in the center, a better lit area, there was a square sparring space, outlined by the thin, muted blue mats on the floor.
Turning, I saw behind us was a large staircase leading from the warehouse floor up to an open archway, light leaking through from the space beyond it. A digital clock hung above it.
12:16 AM
When we left, it was just after nine. So we were in a different time zone, the other side of the country—if we were even in the same country.
A pillar of dark smoke with churning orange flame and lightning appeared for a moment a few feet from us, and then disappeared, leaving Kale standing there. His winnowing looked much different, not as bright as Gabriel’s. He immediately began walking towards the staircase, paying us no further attention.
Gabriel gripped my elbow tenderly. “Are you hungry?” he asked.
A whiff of garlic and oregano hit my nose, making my stomach groan. Gabriel must have heard it because he grinned. He gestured to the stairs. Kale was already halfway up them when I gripped the handle to ascend.
“Your Guardian Master can actually cook right?” Kale asked, still not turning towards us.
Gabriel followed me up, keeping a couple feet away. “She’s probably the only one who can out of all of us.”
Kale snorted. “My father would have her beat, his culinary skills almost rival his affinity for cruelty,” he mumbled.
As we got closer to the top of the stairs I could hear more voices, some familiar, some not. Kale disappeared through the doorway, his voice joining the others. Before my feet could reach the last step, I paused.
What am I doing here? This was all happening extremely fast, only a few hours ago I was simply planning for the end of the school year. Now, it all felt upside down.
“You alright?”
I forgot Gabriel was behind me. I angled towards him slightly. My facial expression must have given my thoughts away.
&n
bsp; “I know this is a lot,” he said, “but it’s necessary to keep you safe. As soon as we figure it all out and fix it, I’ll personally make sure you make it back to your normal life.” I nodded.
The air in my lungs was heavy. Laughter sounded from the open archway, drawing my focus.
“This is overwhelming.” Was all I could manage.
Gabriel raised a couple steps up to better face me. He didn’t touch me this time, he only offered me comforting eye contact.
“At any point during this dinner, if you feel like you need to step out or take a break, no questions asked. Okay?”
I returned a smile and turned back to the archway, reaching the top of the stairs.
The large open room had an industrial kitchen against the back wall, and a large metal dining table to the far left of it, surrounded by different styles and colored chairs. In the other corner there was a dark blue sofa, a black futon, and a huge dark green beanbag chair, all surrounding a block of wood that served as a coffee table. Hanging on the wall was a large flat screen tv and two speakers suspended on either side of it. More of the hanging lights surrounded the space.
Hallways on both sides of the room leading to other locations. The walls were made of concrete and rusting steel beams. Some of the walls had faded graffiti written on them.
In the kitchen, behind the island counter, a small pale brunette had her back turned, stirring a pot heated on the stove. She wore a light-denim blouse and black leggings. Her hair was swept up in a messy bun, with strands falling out. She swayed when she stirred, humming slightly.
Another female sat on one of the island stools. She was really tall, had to be taller than Gabriel even. She wore a halter-top, sleeveless mustard pantsuit, finished off with peep-toe black heels. The yellow brought out her umber skin and jet-black hair that was swept all to one side.
Her eyes were big, dark as her hair, and she had a long clean nose with large lips. Her face was beautifully symmetrical, her arms sculpted and long like her legs and torso. Her expression broke through the beauty with disdain and contempt.
Duma, the angel I briefly encountered in my apartment was carefully setting the table for dinner. Kale had made his way over to the futon, sitting next to the ginger-haired demon who had a controller in his hand and was playing some kind of video game on the tv.
Lillith was nowhere to be seen.
Gabriel still hung back a foot or two behind me, as if he were waiting for me to decide if I wanted to leave.
The brunette cooking turned from the pot to pull out a couple bottles of wine from the fridge. Her skin was pale, but her face was covered in freckles, and she had bangs that reached below her eyebrows. Her eyes were light blue like her top, and she had a petite nose and lips. Her figure was also petite and almost prepubescent. But her square jaw and defined cheekbones were mature.
She went to open a bottle when she glanced upwards and caught sight of me. Her mouth instantly turned upwards into the most welcoming smile I’d ever seen.
“You’re here! Come in!”
The other female on the stool looked towards me as well. Her eyes scanned me up and down, assessing. But the cook simply walked around the island and came straight up to be, holding out her hand.
“I’m Jade. I’m an angel, more specifically I’m the Guardian Master. Would you like something to drink?” she asked.
Her tone and demeanor were very maternal, I almost felt like I was meeting a friend’s mom or something.
On instinct I took her hand and shook it.
“Heather. Nice to meet you. Um, sure, what do you have?” The words felt robotic, a human who had met loads of people and, as a result, introductions turned to muscle memory.
She held my hand tighter and brought her other hand to hold it too. The gesture was warm and familiar.
She used our hands to lead us over to the counter. “We have wine, chardonnay and even some merlot if you prefer. And of course, water, beer, even some apple juice I believe. It’s entirely up to you,” she explained.
She let go of my hands only to grab a wine glass from the cupboard.
I swallowed. “I’ll take some chardonnay, thank you.” She smiled, popping open one of the bottles on the counter.
I looked behind me, Gabriel had moved to the table to help Duma set the remaining tableware, keeping a side eye on me. The other female was only a couple stools away, and she was still watching me like a hawk.
“So, Heather, I’m sure you have loads of questions. But why don’t you tell me a little about yourself. You are going to school, right? What are you studying?” Jade conversed.
I got the feeling she might know all the answers already, but I appreciated the casualness she was trying to offer.
She placed the filled wine glass in front of me and went to open the other bottle. I tore my eyes from the other female to take a sip.
“Anthropology mostly, with a specialty in ancient religion and symbology,” I answered. Jade nodded.
“That’s really interesting, if not a bit ironic,” she mumbled the last part. She glanced over at the other female, who was still staring intently at me. “Jophiel, would you go fetch Iaoel and Lillith? Dinner is ready.”
The female, Jophiel, stood without a word and departed down the left side hallway. Jade waited until she was out of sight to speak again.
“That’s Jophiel, she’s Gabriel’s sister, another archangel.” My eyebrows raised at that.
I hadn’t realized…her aura wasn’t as strong as Gabriel’s, I assumed she was a lesser-angel.
“We should probably go sit at the table now,” she said. She turned to the boys at the tv. “Hey! Dinner time!” They rose from the futon in unison.
The table was large, it had four chairs on each side and one on each end. I walked towards the table, Gabriel had seated himself in the chair at the corner, so I followed suit and sat in the empty chair next to him, leaving two seats empty next to me.
Jade and Duma set the food down on the table. Kale sat in the head table spot, two chairs down from me, and the ginger sat on the other side of the table in the middle.
Jophiel re-entered the room, with two others in tow. She sat in the head chair opposing Kale, to the right of Gabriel. Lillith sauntered in, sitting next to the ginger male.
The other that came in with them looked female, she was half a foot shorter than me, her hair was pitch black and cut short, combed back. She looked Eastern, dark hair, dark eyes, and light skin. She wore black skinny jeans, a white button up dress shirt and a black blazer with the sleeves folded up her forearms. Her whole ensemble was very androgynous, making me question her gender a bit. She sat next to Jophiel and Lillith, across from Gabriel.
Jade put down the final dish and plopped down in the seat next to me, Duma sitting in the last seat on our side. Leaving one seat remaining between the ginger and Kale.
“Where’s Seere?” the androgynous female asked. Kale smirked and simply pointed towards the right-side hallway.
On cue, an even smaller female walked in. The first thing I noticed was her platinum blonde braids, tightly woven and coiled, with the sides of her head buzzed. Her skin was a dark bisque tone, and her ears were pierced from the lobe all the way up the arch. She had a nose piercing as well.
She wore a black oversized t-shirt that was cut into a crop top, torn denim shorts with a flannel top tied around her hips and combat boots. Her arms, waist and legs had various tattoos covering the skin.
She was emanating major stoner-goth vibes that made me reminisce of high school.
She sat in the last remaining seat. Making direct eye contact with Kale. Kale nodded slightly as if they communicated mentally.
“Alright, we’re all here! Dig in!” Jade said.
The demons didn’t hesitate, but the angels restrained, watching them with various expressions of disgust, aversion, and hatred. Once the demons had their plates filled, then angels gracefully put various items on their plates.
The demons’ plates w
ere covered, versus the angels’ were light and little in quantity. I watched in surprise as these ethereal beings dished and ate like they were humans at Thanksgiving. I hadn’t realized they needed real food.
I hadn’t moved and jolted when Jade nudged my arm with a plate of broccoli in her hand. I took it and put a couple of pieces on my plate. Taking the opportunity to put a couple other things on it as well.
A chicken breast, a scoop of pasta, a piece of bread. Even as I took a savory bite, I couldn’t even taste it, my attention fixed on the people at the table, watching them, baffled at the casualty I saw.
