Angel Exalted

by C. L. Coffey

  Michael sighed, but clamped his hand on Cupid’s shoulder. “I understand.”

  “You are approving of this behavior?” Zachary cried in outrage. “No wonder this House is in the state that it’s in. There is rebellion and insubordination at every turn. Grace will be hearing of this.” He vanished, but not before sending the large leather chair he had been sat in, flying out behind him.

  As soon as he had gone, I let out a breath of relief, but it didn’t really alleviate the knot of tension in the pit of my stomach. “Cupid, what did you do?” I mumbled.

  Cupid walked over and wrapped his arms around me, enveloping me in a bear hug. “I’m sorry, Angel. It was the only way to stop that level of control. Plus, he was about to throw Ronnie out: I can’t let her be by herself.”

  “I just…” I muttered into his chest, struggling to find the words.

  “I know,” he said, releasing me. “Don’t worry. I have Ronnie. And you have my number. If you need me, I can zip in. I’m not abandoning this House: I’m just helping from outside of its control.”

  “I want to come with you,” I told him.

  “If you leave, Savannah will move in,” he reminded me. “The best way for you to help is to stay. Show Grace that you’re capable of running this House. Or out-wait them until Michael is ready to return.” Without any further words, he and Ronnie vanished.

  I walked over to one of chairs Zachary had brought up at some point and slumped into it, allowing my head to drop into my hands. “What am I doing?” I asked myself.

  “The right thing.”

  I looked up, finding Michael crouched in front of me. With his poker face still missing, I could clearly see the concern there. I sighed heavily. “This was not the right time to have taken that covenant, because I could really do with a strong drink right now,” I told him.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Hiding in Plain Sight

  I had spent the lunchtime going through the motions, helping in the kitchen, but without really being present to what I was doing. It wasn’t until after lunch that I realized I had left the SUV and Christmas tree in the hospital parking lot. On top of that, the ticket I had put on the vehicle had run out hours ago. Feeling the need for space and air, I decided to walk to the hospital. The weather had remained bright and clear, and the hour walk seemed to fly by.

  I wasn’t feeling any more settled by the time I arrived at the hospital, but the walk had made me feel a little better. I wasn’t really an outdoors person, but suddenly the idea of staying in the convent wasn’t as appealing as it used to be.

  I don’t know what possessed me to go back into the hospital, especially because the last encounter with Ty hadn’t gone well, but seeing as I was there, I decided to go in. It was like something was telling me I needed to check up on him: probably guilt.

  The hospital was quieter than it had been, now that it was outside of visiting hours. Although I knew where I was going, no one stopped me from wandering the corridors. In fact, the closer I got to Ty’s room, the fewer people there seemed to be. I rounded the last corner and stopped.

  Just by Ty’s door were two men, huddled together, talking so quietly that I couldn’t hear what they were saying. Before they spotted me, I ducked back out of sight. There was something about their presence which was suspicious enough, but added with the fact that they were both dressed entirely in black, started the mental alarm bells ringing.

  I reached into my pocket, pulling out my sword. Keeping it in its dagger form, I brought it up behind my back. I took a deep breath and stepped out. “Can I help-?”

  They were gone.

  I started to lower my sword, then changed my mind. Instead, I withdrew the second hiding in my boot. Two suspicious men dressed in black, outside the room of a nephilim who had recently been instrumental in the defeat of Lucifer and Beelzebub. My luck was not that good. Moving quickly, I crossed the corridor and opened the door: I was right.

  Inside, on the other side of the bed, Ty was backed into a corner, trying to use the stand holding his IV drip to keep the two men, both armed with swords, away. With the stand resting on his stump, this wasn’t a fight which was going to last long at all. “This is hardly a fair fight,” I declared by extending both of my swords to their full size.

  The two men looked at each other before abandoning their advance on Ty and going for me instead. It was then that I realized that two against one – that one being me – was not going to go well.

  The first swung at me, and I blocked it, twirling to avoid the second sword which was aimed at my head. Doing so backed me into a corner. My back might have been covered, but it left me with nowhere to go and not much room to maneuver. Another blow came at me, and I just managed to block it.

  Somehow, I managed to get my own jab in, but it was with my weaker arm. Doing so also left my side unprotected. I saw the second man thrust the sword at me, but with my balance, there was little I could do to avoid it. I braced myself for the pain… but it didn’t come. Instead, the sword fell to the ground.

  The action had both myself and the other man surprised, and before I could work out what was happening, he was shoved out of the way by the hospital bed. I looked up, finding Ty behind the bed, his eyes wide. “Run!” he cried.

  “What about you?” I demanded.

  “What makes you think I’m staying?” he asked, running around the bed, no longer attached to his IV. He kicked at one of the men who was in the process of getting to his feet and ran out of the door. I was five steps behind him.

  “You’re bleeding!” I yelled as I followed after him: the bandage around the stump of his hand was no longer bright white, but instead quickly turning red and wet.

  “It also hurts like hell,” he shouted over his shoulder, not slowing.

  Hearing movement behind me, I glanced back. The two men were on their feet and chasing after us. I turned my attention in front of me, ready to tell Ty to run faster, but he stopped suddenly. I managed to avoid him as I tried to work out what had stopped him.

  “Lilly!” I exclaimed in relief. Lilly, an angel of death, was a doctor at the hospital. While I didn’t doubt that she knew what she was doing, medically, the job was a cover for her to take souls at the end of their life onto their next destination. My gaze fell on the sword she was holding. I don’t know why it surprised me, but it did. However, I was exceptionally grateful to see it.

  And then she was charging straight at us.

  I grabbed at Ty, pulling him back by his gown and putting myself between him and Lilly, my sword up and braced for impact. It didn’t come. Instead, Lilly charged straight past me at the two men. She didn’t hesitate, swinging and engaging in the fight. “Get out of here!” she shouted.

  I ignored her, ready to jump in and help her, but I was stopped by Ty, his only hand clamping around my wrist and tugging me in the opposite direction. “Ty!” I objected.

  “She’s clearly a better fighter than you. She can handle herself.”

  I glanced back: Lilly was indeed managing to hold her own. “Fine,” I agreed. Silently, Ty took off running again. I was right behind him. We sprinted for the emergency exit, and I pulled ahead of Ty to slam my body into it, rather than his, to open it. It flung open without resistance.

  Making sure Ty was still behind me, I led him down the fire escape to the ground, before finally slowing to a walk so he could catch his breath. “You don’t look good,” I told him. He had gone white, unlike his bandage which was now almost completely red and dripping with blood.

  “I don’t feel good,” he agreed, stumbling.

  I took a step towards him, and then stopped, realizing where we were: right in the middle of an alley, just off the main street, which was still relatively busy. I still had the two swords in my hand. Ty was wearing only a hospital gown and a pair of boxers. Even his feet were bare.

  “Oh fudge,” I muttered. I quickly shrank the swords and returned them to their sheathes. Safely out of the way, I darted back to Ty and wrapp
ed his good arm over my shoulder to help support him. “I don’t want to leave you here, just in case they come down,” I told him. “I have a car across the way. Do you think you can make it?”

  “I’ll have to,” he said, sounding weak, his teeth already chattering.

  I led him over to the wall and pushed him against it to keep his balance, then pulled my jacket off. It was a women’s jacket, and only came to his waist. It was also about two sizes too small for Ty, but it would help a little. I helped feed his good arm through, then draped it over his other shoulder, apologizing as Ty hissed in pain.

  “Let’s just get out of here,” he said.

  I nodded, taking his weight once more, and hurried over to the SUV. It would have been much quicker to carry him, but we were already getting enough attention on the still busy streets. The short distance to the SUV also seemed eight times longer than it was as we wound through the crowd and across the street.

  At some point during the drive back to the convent, he passed out. It wasn’t until I parked the SUV that I thought about what I was going to do with him – he was a nephilim and I was bringing him into a House of angels – most of which thought it was acceptable, and necessary to kill all nephilim. He was also the son of the Fallen who had killed Raphael.

  I closed my eyes, chewing at my lower lip. It was dangerous, but it was also the last place anyone would look. Beside me, Ty groaned. Without giving it a second thought, I pulled out my phone and tapped out a text. Minutes later, Darell was tapping on my window.

  “What’s up, Angel?” he asked, looking past me at the unconscious body next to me.

  “I need your help,” I told him. “I need to get him to my room with no one seeing him.”

  Darell looked at Ty once more, sucking in a deep breath. “Give me a few minutes.” He stepped away from the SUV and hurried over to one of the vehicles his company owned, currently situated in the corner of our parking lot.

  There were eight men, plus Darell, working at the convent. Apart from Darell and another guy, Shane, the other six were all local men Darell trusted. It was lucky, considering there were too many rooms with fire damage to house the angels, never mind the security team too. Darell and Shane were staying in an apartment down the street, but they had made their base in the back of a van. Darell stepped into it, remerging several minutes later with a giant black duffel bag, accompanied by Shane. The two of them moved swiftly back to the SUV, heading straight to the passenger seat.

  Shane looked Ty over before addressing me. “He needs to be in a hospital.”

  “While I agree, we just left the hospital because the Fallen tried to kill him in it. This is the only place I can think of where he will be safe,” I explained, glancing nervously over at the convent. For the last few months, the angels had been restricted with their messenger duties, and were not allowed to leave unless in pairs.

  That wasn’t my worry, however. Since they had been restricted, they spent most of their time in the gym. The end windows, of which, had a good view of the parking lot. In addition, I knew that one side of Michael’s… Zachary’s office overlooked this side too. The last thing I needed was for any of them to spot us.

  Without further instruction, Darell and Shane set to pulling a spare set of their black uniform from the duffel bag and dressing Ty’s unconscious body in it, taking care with his arm. “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “You will not get him in that building dressed as he is,” Darell explained.

  “I think he’s going to stand out however you carry him,” I pointed out.

  “What makes ya think we’re gonna to carry him in?” Shane asked, pulling out a small box from the holdall. He opened it up to reveal a couple of syringes and a bottle of clear liquid.

  While Shane busied himself preparing the injection, Darell reached over, stopping me from taking my seatbelt off. “The angels are now used to us being in that place. They don’t pay us much attention. If you’re with us, all eyes will be on us. Stay here and wait ten minutes before joining us in your bedroom.”

  As I nodded, Ty gasped, waking up. “Right, pal, don’t you worry; that’s just a bit of adrenaline running through you. We’re gonna get ya inside and to safety, and then look at that arm of yours. Then you can rest. You got me?” Shane told him.

  Ty looked over to me and I gave him a reassuring smile. “This is Darell and Shane. Trust them.”

  His expression said he didn’t trust them at all, but he allowed them to help him out of the SUV and walked side by side with him, keeping his head down, as they disappeared into the convent. While I did trust Darell and Shane, sitting in the SUV, waiting, was nerve-wracking.

  I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel as I waited. Sure, the convent was the safest place for Ty at the moment, but he couldn’t stay here. Not for long. Work would be starting on the building very soon, and that would mean even more people to hide him from. And he was still the son of the fallen angel who had killed the cherubim and had a hand in Raphael’s death.

  Now was not the time to think about this. I was exhausted and still concerned about Ty. The first thing I needed to do was make sure he was safe for the night, and then get some rest to think on this in the morning with a (hopefully) clearer head.

  I waited three extra minutes, just to be sure, and then went inside. Thankfully, there was no one in sight as I hurried to my room, trying to keep my pace as normal as possible, just in case I was to bump into any of the others. When I got to my room, one of Darell’s men was standing guard. “They’re in there, ma’am,” he told me, pointing to the room which Xavier had been killed in: my old room.

  The thought of going in there had my stomach churning, but I opened the door that had been pointed at and stepped in to three faces turning to me. Darell, who had been standing guard inside the room, stepped aside, and then, when I was halfway to Ty, stood in front of the door. Ty was on the bed, the brand new, unused sheets already getting spotted with blood as Shane treated the wound.

  “It’s not as bad as all the blood makes it seem,” Shane was saying. “Y’all managed to pull a stitch free.” He reached into the duffel bag he had brought in with him and pulled out a small medical kit, opening it and pulling out a bottle of iodine. “I can sew this back up, but ya need to be careful with it. Outside of the hospital, ya stand a greater risk of it getting infected. That’s going to be your immediate concern. Honestly, if ya start showing signs of a temperature, ya should get back to a hospital, even if that means a few of us have to go with y’all.”

  “You’re here to protect us against humans, not the Fallen,” I told him.

  Shane paused in what he was doing to look over his shoulder at me. “Then y’all should be protecting him.”

  “Precisely why I brought him here,” I told him. There was no need to tell Shane the rest of the reason. I wasn’t close enough to him to know just how religious he was, and I wasn’t willing to risk it. “I… I…” I scowled, wondering why I couldn’t say what I needed to – that I was going to need one of Darell’s men to be on guard at my door, but keep an eye on this room.

  And then it dawned on me. “Zachary, of course,” I grunted, wishing I hadn’t taken the covenant so I could cuss him out and feel a fraction better. I looked at Darrel. “I…” I tried again. “I need to tell you something, but I can’t,” I admitted, feeling defeated. I couldn’t even say the words to dance around the subject. I chewed at my lip and then shook my head and looked helplessly at Darell.

  My eyes widened as a thought occurred to me. “There’s a potential in my room,” I told Ty. “She needs to stay where she is without being disturbed. It would be easy to hide you there too, but if something happens…You’re staying in here and you’ll need to put up with me sleeping on the floor, but at least it’s an extra something between you and the door.”

  “You can take your own bed,” Ty muttered. He didn’t look particularly thrilled at the idea of us sharing a room – I can’t say I blamed him – but equally
, he seemed to acknowledge there weren’t many other options open to him.

  I looked at the bed he was lying on and shook my head. I was barely holding it together at having to be back in this room. There was no way on this planet I was going to ever sleep in that bed again. “Injured party gets priority,” I told him. “Just accept it.” I looked at Darell.

  Darell nodded. “Understood.” He opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped, tilting his head. I quickly realized there was a voice speaking in his ear, about the same time I heard a voice outside.

  There was a knock at the door. “Just a minute,” I called, getting ready to usher everyone into the bedroom.

  “It’s only me,” Pascal’s voice carried through the door. Pascal was the angel who had replaced Cupid on the main desk, ready to fend off any members of the public should they attempt to visit the building which had once been open to the public. “Is there a reason why there’s a tree on one of the Yukons?”

  I blinked, trying to work out what on earth had happened to an SUV before I remembered the Christmas tree. “Oh, that!” I exclaimed. “Yes, I bought it for the dining room. I’m just getting changed and then I’ll be down to deal with that.” I turned to the room, raking a hand through my hair. “I need to go decorate a Christmas tree.”

  “Go do what you need to,” Ty said, though he still refused to look at me.

  Pascal had brought the tree into the dining room and set it on one of the tables. When I walked in, there were already seven excited, yet confused, looking angels staring at the evergreen in front of them all. “You’ve never decorated a tree, have you?” I asked them. Collectively, they all shook their head. A small smile spread over my face.

  For an hour, I allowed myself to be distracted by the angels. I had to keep them away for ten minutes while I set the tree upright and found its best side. Then, to an excited gaggle, I set them the task of reorganizing the furniture so it could fit. At some point they had decided it needed to go in the middle of the room so everyone could see it. As soon as I brought the boxes of decorations out, they turned into a weird hybrid of excitable children and cats. When they had finished, they looked immensely proud, and the tree looked like Santa had vomited Christmas all over it.