Avenging Angel

by Tamsin Baker

  I stood up and shook the last of my weakness from my bones. There would be no mercy in my quest for vengeance. For Kadie. For Tabitha. For Margaret. For Simone. And for the others.

  “It would be my pleasure.” There was sincerity in my voice. She recognized it too because for a moment, her eyes turned to steal and she nodded her head once, hair fluttering over her shoulder. Then she turned back to Kadie.

  “We should know more in the next twenty-four hours,” she said, “if not sooner.”

  I nodded but I knew she did not see me. Sooner was what I hoped for, but I would stay by Kadie’s side for as long as it took.

  Chapter 6.

  Despite my desire to kill more Demons, I stayed at Tabitha’s house until sunrise. There was still no difference in Kadie despite the physical reaction to what we did. It was better than I could hope for, but I wished more had happened. I wanted to know the recovery process was working in a way where Kadie would be healed as soon as possible.

  Through the night, Margaret and Simone slept on and off, coming into the room often to check on Kadie’s progress.

  She had yet to come back to consciousness, but Kadie’s physical form was improving. I forced myself to remember that that was enough – for now. My impatience was overwhelming. I suddenly understood the human phrase about taking an inch and expecting a mile. Instead of focusing on what had not happened, I turned my attention to the little improvements that had occurred throughout the night. Her skin had a new glow to it. Her heartbeat was strong, and her body was healing all over. The bruises were fading. The cuts were scabbing. This was good. She looked more like Kadie.

  The sun began to creep through the curtains, teasing the shadows before causing them to vanish completely. It had to be sunrise now. We still hadn’t hit the twenty-four hour period just yet, but with every passing minute without Kadie waking up, I started getting tense again. I tried not to, but I had the urge to fix everything now and I hated that I could not.

  “You’re pacing like a teenage girl waiting for a boy to call you,” a grouchy voice said from somewhere behind me. “What’s the matter with you?”

  My lips curled up in relief, hearing Tabitha berate me. I could close my eyes and imagine it was old times where she hadn’t been at risk to die. I stopped my pacing and turned away from Kadie so I could regard my Angel Agent.

  “How much longer, do you think?” I asked Tabitha.

  She snorted. “Your patience has always been an issue for you, hasn’t it?” she asked. She started to cough and I waited for her to finish. I hated the sound of it but because she was conscious, because she was speaking coherently, I knew that she would be okay.

  “I want to know what to expect so I can finish this,” I told her. I wanted to stay by Kadie’s side. I wanted to make sure she was healed. And yet, I started to get restless. I needed to do something more than just dab Kadie with strips of cloth and pace around the room. I wanted to punish. I wanted an outlet to release my violent emotions I had been holding back. I wanted to fly back to Earth and find who had done this. And then wipe them from the face of the planet. I just didn’t want to miss the moment Kadie woke up.

  Tabitha sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with her dainty fingers. “I don’t know, Gabriel.” Her voice was suddenly tired. “She’s almost healed physically, but that doesn’t mean she’s just going to wake up.”

  “I know,” I said, but I wanted her to. Now. “She has twenty-four hours.”

  “That’s just an estimation, remember.” Tabitha’s sharp eyes sculpted my face. “Do not lose your faith, boy, no matter what happens.” I opened my mouth, wanting to know what she meant by that, but she shifted in her seat and cut me off before I got my chance. “Where’s the baby?”

  I decided to not push her. Instead, I felt my shoulders roll back. “With Jasmine.” I began to crack my knuckles. The pop each knuckle let out gave me a sick sense of satisfaction. “He’s safe.”

  Tabitha’s shoulders visibly relaxed. “Good.”

  “What baby?” Margaret’s voice sounded behind me. I hadn’t even heard her come into the room. I whirled around, trying to contain my surprise. I pressed my lips together, unsure of how to proceed. I hadn’t told her of Kadie birthing my child before as I wasn’t sure I could trust her. But now, as Tabitha stood slowly before me healed from her fight with the poison, and Kadie finding her way back to me, it seemed I could trust the Witch.

  I cleared my throat. “Kadie conceived my child less than two months ago, and then, yesterday, birthed him,” I explained. I did not know if there was a better way to say it.

  Margaret’s eyes grew wide. “You must get him,” she said. I was expecting her to ask more questions, so her initial reaction threw me off-guard. “If he is taken by the Demons, then we’re all done for.”

  I turned to face the Witch. “What are you talking about?” My words came out slow and sluggish. I did not like her insistent urgency. It started to make me feel worried, and I didn’t like that I was starting to get worried when I had been under the impression that everything was going to be all right.

  Simone and Margaret shared one of their speaking looks and I slammed my fist into the table. I did not have time for this. When it came to my son, I was furious that there was something I should know that was being kept from me. I would not tolerate that, not after I trusted them. Not after I chose to let them in and help.

  “If you have been keeping something from me...” My fingers curled back into fists and I narrowed my eyes. I did not even bother finishing the sentence. I did not have to. Certainly they were intelligent enough to decipher the intended threat – a threat I would make good on if I thought they were conniving against me. I did not care that they were female or Witches. If any harm came to my son because of them, because they withheld something important from me, I would make them pay and I would have no regrets about it.

  Simone waved her hands. “It isn’t like that,” she insisted, waving off my concern as though it was nothing. As though I was overreacting. “We didn’t realize that she had your child. You didn’t tell us.”

  I held onto my temper by the barest of margins. “Talk,” was all I could manage. She might think I had no cause to be upset, but I disagreed. And until I heard something to convince me otherwise, I would not allow myself to be manipulated.

  Simone stepped forward. Instead of dismissing my anger, she held up her hands, as though she were trying to be more gentle, more placating, regarding this delicate issue. “There have been tales of half-Angel babies since the dawn of time,” she said, her voice soothing. It had little effect on me, though IK was more open to hearing what she had to say rather than her aunt.

  “Yes...” I said, acknowledging that statement with a nod.

  “But within our covens, there is also a legend,” she continued. I stiffened. A legend? “Of a man who will save all of humanity. A half-Witch, half-Angel child, who will be stronger than both.”

  I looked at Tabitha and she nodded slowly. She’d mentioned something like that to me yesterday and I had struggled to comprehend it then. But now that I heard it from Simone...

  I clenched my jaw together and tried to breathe but it did not do much good. Instead, my eyes fell to the ground and I brought up my arms to cross over my chest. I was not sure what to do with this information. Before, I could place it within a realm of possibility. Now, though, it had been confirmed. And if it was confirmed... what could I do?

  “So, you’re telling me that you think this is why the Demons wanted Kadie? And old... wives tale?” I said slowly, trying to work out the logic in my head. I picked up my eyes to look at Simone. Besides Tabitha, her word was the one I trusted. I just didn’t feel as though Margaret knew things the way her niece did, and I did not wish to waste more time. “For our baby? But they were chasing her well before I met her.”

  Margaret nodded. “Yes,” she said, capturing my attention despite the fact that I did not want to hear from her. “But if a good person is te
rrorized, are you not called in to help? Which happens first, I wonder? Were they trying to find the baby, or were they trying to destroy all the women who may conceive such a child?”

  Margaret had an interesting point. I did not like to admit such a thing, but it could not be helped. Nothing was certain in this topsy turvy world—quite the opposite. But I could see how a person who was as strong as Kadie, could bring havoc to all those who inhabited the Hell dimension, which was why they wanted her. And perhaps not just her. Perhaps a slew of strong women who could potentially give birth to this legend.

  Losing this war was not on their agenda, and my child may be the key to stopping them all. It was an overwhelming thought. I dropped my hands to my sides again and decided I needed to sit down again. I dropped to the edge of the couch, careful to keep my own space so no one would touch me. My wrists dangled between my thighs. My eyes went to the wall in front of me. I felt as though I had been punched in the gut.

  “So, how can we stop them?” I finally asked. “Why are they still hunting women like Simone if they know that my child has been conceived?”

  “I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Perhaps they believed the baby to be poisoned also? Could he be dying and you not know?” She looked at me as though I had the answer to everything when the truth of the matter was, I knew nothing. I was more ignorant than Tabitha, and Tabitha wasn’t directly involved in any of this. Once again, I felt helpless.

  Fear slithered through my heart like a rattlesnake. “I have to go,” I said, pushing to my feet. “Will you both stay here until Kadie wakes?”

  “Of course,” Margaret said.

  I headed to the door, my mission clear. I had to check on my son and ensure he was safe. I thought leaving him with Jasmine would protect him. Now, I worried he was in greater danger without me. I had to get to him. I had to make sure he was all right. Kadie would never forgive me if something happened to him. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to him.

  “Thank you,” I said when I opened the door. I turned to regard them over my shoulder. “All of you.”

  I ran outside before any of them could respond and took to the sky, flying back through the portal. I did not look back.

  The sun had risen and its warmth on my skin reminded me that there was still an Earth to fight for.

  It was a new day.

  More than that, I knew my son was still alive. And Kadie would be okay. She was healing. I had more than most. I had people I cared about, people I loved, worth fighting for. And I was ready to do just that. To fight with everything I had, no matter what the cost.

  I flew straight to Jasmine’s home, where my child should be. When I landed, the heat on my spine was like a blow torch. Demons had been here through the night. Some still lurked in the shadows. I paused, trying to gage whether or not some still lingered. I wanted to break down the door and guarantee it, but I withheld my fear and anger. Revealing myself might be worse. I had to wait. I had to be sure they were gone.

  I banged on the front door with my fist and waited. There was movement on the other side of the door before a tentative pause. I imagined Jasmine or her balding husband peeking through the hole to see who was on the other side of the door. I appreciated the fact that they were being cautious. After another moment, the door swung open and Jasmine’s husband revealed himself, an angry expression was one I expected. “About time you came back.”

  As much as I wanted to be polite, I did not have time to waste. I pushed past him and moved into the lounge. “Where is he? Is he all right?”

  “Of course, he is,” Jasmine answered calmly as she walked into the room, holding a tightly wrapped bundle in a blue blanket.

  I turned to face her, relief draining the tension in my muscles, but only slightly. If Demons had been here before, there was a chance they would come back. I always had to be ready – just in case.

  Jasmine handed my son to me and I stared down at his sleeping face. It had only been a day or so, and yet, I felt as though this baby was a different child than the one I left Jasmine with. He already seemed older, his face fuller having gained back the baby weight he lost right after Kadie birthed him. More than that, there was no distress on his face, as though he was content here with Jasmine. My heart swelled with unconditional love and I placed a kiss on his forehead.

  “I told you,” Jasmine said. Her voice was not one that held defense; rather, she was teasing and gentle. Her aura was so calm that it began to relax my fears, but I asked my questions anyway.

  “You haven’t seen any signs of discoloration, or poison?” I asked her as I unwrapped him and stared down at his perfect hands and little blue outfit. I mentally counted his fingers and removed his socks so I could do the same with his toes.

  “No of course not, why?” She crossed her arms over her chest and peered up at me, her expression perplexed. “Gabriel, is everything okay?”

  “What did you bring into our house, devil?” her husband shouted at me. My son stirred in his sleep, his light eyebrows pushing together before settling down once again and emitting a contented sigh. I turned to glare at him. He’d always been an asshole. I had no idea why Jasmine married him. I was glad she took my child without having to ask him first. I knew he would say no immediately.

  “Jasmine, I suggest you ask your husband to leave the room before I do something we will all regret,” I said. I did not want to threaten him since Jasmine did care for him and she had done me a favour, but I could not contain my frustration at his hostility with me, but most of all, with my son.

  Although, I could not help but ponder my odds at what would happen if I did do something to keep him in line. I was already serving an eternity. What was a few more years for permanently maiming her husband, especially when he deserved it?

  Jasmine went straight to her purple-faced husband. “James, please.” Her voice left no room for argument. “Can you take Zhara to her room and change her? I won’t be long.”

  Her husband glared at me with all the venom in his tiny heart and stomped from the room. I was surprised he actually listened to her.

  Jasmine came back to me, unzipped the baby’s outfit, and checked his pale skin. There did not seem to be anything of consequence on him, not even a birth mark. There was no discoloration. No rash or bumps or anything troubling. He looked... fine.

  “He looks fine, Gabriel,” she pointed out, reiterating my thoughts. “Why? What’s happened?” She looked up from the babe, her eyes filled with confusion.

  I shifted under her vulnerable stare. She was yet another person I had not discussed things openly with. I asked her for a favour and she agreed without questioning me as to why I asked for it in the first place. It was then that I realized just how much I did not trust those, even the ones I claimed to care about. I did this to protect myself, to protect my son, but now I was forced to waste time, explaining things that I should not have to explain. However, Jasmine deserved to know what she had gotten herself into and I wanted to try to be more trusting of those who deserved it.

  “His mother was poisoned before she gave birth, and I was afraid it might have gotten into him,” I explained.

  I should have thought of it earlier. I did not know why such a thing had not occurred to me. I’d had so many things to focus on when he’d been born. Feeding him seemed like the main priority, and I was already going to track down whomever was responsible for what happened with Kadie. It slipped my mind that my son could be affected by this poison as well. I was glad to rectify that mistake and make sure he was all right, however.

  I stared down at his round tummy and assessed him again. “Has he grown a lot since yesterday?” I asked.

  Jasmine laughed softly. “Definitely,” she said. Her eyes dropped to the baby, her gaze filled with warmth and love. I did not understand how someone who did not birth the baby could look at him in such a familiar way, but I was glad. Jasmine was the correct selection to feed him. “I don’t know how, but he’s grown dramatically in only one
night. I’d like to think it was my milk, but my daughter is under-sized for her age and I seem to be feeding her more than I’m feeding him.”

  With his gestation being less than a few months, I wasn’t surprised he was continuing to grow at such a rapid rate. I was not certain if this was the norm or if this should trouble me. I wish Kadie was here – and by here, I meant cognizant. Even if she was not able to give me a definitive answer, at the very least I would not have had to bear this burden alone.

  “How is his mother now?” Jasmine asked, cutting me out of my thoughts. She picked up her eyes to look at me, though her fingers continued to caress my son’s hair.

  “Doing much better, although still unconscious.” So still unable to feed him, and he needs human milk to grow strong...I let out another breath. “Are you able to keep him safe for another day, Jasmine? I know it’s asking a lot, especially with your husband -.”

  She waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t worry about him,” she said. “He’s protective of our daughter and thinking any milk given to another child is less for her. He doesn’t quite understand how breast milk works.” She began re-dressing the sleeping baby. “Of course, I can. It was hard last night, though. I have to tell you. They’re everywhere. In our backyard. At our windows. We’re lucky we live in a house like this one. We all slept in the nanny’s quarters last night. There are no windows in the cellar.”

  I looked away, guilt seeping through my body. “Oh, Jasmine, I’m so sorry.”

  The fear and panic they must have gone through. All for me. All for my son. Perhaps her husband had a reason for his hostility. I’m sure I would be the same way if some stranger put me and my newborn child in danger.