by J. T. Hardy
Daniel cringed again. It really was cute. Annoyed as I was about his holding that little tidbit back, I could almost forgive him when he did that. Man, I must be tired.
"Yes," he whispered. "But...there's more to you than just her blood."
"Well, sure, considering how diluted it must be by now."
"No, it's what you've done. You should never have been able to kill Kokabiel. Even banishing a seraph is impossible."
I almost blamed the knife again. Or the cross. But I'd killed him with nothing more than a stake of old wood and a lot of unresolved anger.
"Suriel is the same level angel as Kokabiel, right?"
"He is."
"So he'll have minions of his own working for him."
"Yes. Seraphim don't usually work together, but pairing with Suriel was smart of Kokabiel. He'd know what to look for in the blood."
"He's got a genetics degree from Johns Hopkins?"
"Suriel is an angel of death."
There were some things a girl really didn't need to know. "He's the Angel of Death?"
"Not the, a. Suriel is merely one such angel." He smiled and leaned closer, near my ear, and whispered, "Still want me to find him for you?"
He was getting way too comfortable with me. I cleared my throat. "I'd like him gift wrapped, please."
"If I find him, I'll let you know."
He seemed sincere, but angels were excellent liars. "Thank you. We should, uh, probably check Kokabiel's room now."
Kokabiel had liked his luxury. Here was the king-sized bed, the thick carpet, the fancy and gold-plated everything. The room could have come straight from the palace at Versailles.
"I bet he and Louis the Fourteenth would have gotten along great."
"They did."
I sighed. Either Daniel needed to learn to recognize sarcasm or I had to keep my quips to myself.
"Aside from gaudy, it looks normal in here." Still no laptop or earth-shattering evidence of an evil plan, but he had left behind his e-reader. I picked it up and flipped through it. "There's nothing but religious texts on here."
"What did you expect?"
"I don't know. Erotica? Westerns? Something unbecoming of an angel."
"He's a single-minded individual." He paused and shook his head, brow furrowed, avoiding looking at me. "Was. It doesn't seem possible that he's dead."
Considering what dragged him down underground, he might not be. Another thing to add to my long list of what not to dwell on. "Um, what did you mean before when you said I'd punished him?"
Daniel faltered, needing a second try to shut the drawer he was looking into. "I misspoke."
"Stop lying to me."
He sighed. "Only the divine can punish us. You cast Kokabiel into Hell, which requires judgment that deems one unworthy to enter Heaven. You're human. You shouldn't have been able to do that, even if you are of Her blood."
"Does this mean I'm a superhero?"
"Must you always joke?"
"I thought you knew me."
He smiled and stroked my hand. "Not well enough."
Oh boy.
"Um, I don't see anything valuable in here either." I kept the e-reader in case Cavanaugh could find something useful on it. The interests of a fallen angel might give him some insights to what Suriel might do.
Daniel glanced about the room. "No."
I doubted we'd find anything else, but it didn't hurt to be thorough. I helped search the rest of the angel dorm, then helped Cavanaugh with the last of the human quarters. They held even less than Kokabiel's room.
I walked with Daniel back to the entrance and ran into Dad leaning against the wall just outside the cathedral. He stood straight when he spotted me. "Got a minute?" he asked softly.
"I'll be, elsewhere," Cavanaugh said, then vanished fast as a fangel.
I stared at Dad, feeling weird. I wanted to talk, needed to, but I had no idea where to start or what to say. I knew one thing, though. I didn't want to do it in this damned lair.
"Why don't we go outside?"
He smiled. "Sounds good to me."
Outside seemed a good spot for a heart-to-heart. Quiet, dark so we could avoid looking at each other, but within sight of a strong reminder why we needed this conversation. We sat on the tailgate in the truck bed, swinging our legs in unison to keep warm in the midnight chill.
Dad chuckled softly. "I hadn't realized I'd raised a vampire slayer."
"You know they're not vampires." It came out harsher than I'd intended, but I was tired, and frustrated, and pissed at things I could do nothing about.
"I know." He sighed and rubbed his face with both hands, then sighed again. "I was never sure, you know. Daniel doesn't like to talk about himself."
"Not without bribery."
"I did think they were vampires until your friend told me otherwise."
I glanced at him, eyes narrowed. "For real?"
"For real. Maybe not like the movies made it out to be, but close enough. Names are just what we call things."
"A Pretty Boy by any other name is still a pain in the ass."
He laughed again, and some of the tension in my shoulder loosened. "I've missed you," he said.
"I've missed you, too." It would be so easy to just forgive him. It must have been hard, trying to keep us safe and not scare the crap out of me. I'd seen Mom die. I knew the truth, even if I'd been too young to understand it.
"I'm sorry, Grace," he said softly. "I never wanted this to affect your life more than it absolutely had to."
"You should have told me about Daniel."
He twitched as if I'd surprised him. "That's what you're upset about?"
"Well, not just that. But you were regularly talking to a Pretty Boy and didn't tell me. He could have answered so many questions."
"Sweet Potato, you've spoken to Daniel more than I have. He'd show up every few years, tell me we had to go, and I'd go. We weren't drinking buddies."
"No?"
"No. Every time I asked him a question he'd give me some cryptic bullshit answer."
I grinned. "I'm familiar with his bullshit."
Dad looked at me, his concern bright even in the dim light from the cave. "A little too familiar."
"Really? You're going to play the overprotective father card?" He'd been protective my whole life, but not like that. We'd never lived anywhere long enough where he'd needed to chase away interested boys.
"He's obsessed with you."
I shrugged. Fascinated was more likely. Intrigued maybe. "I defy his expectations. You know how men are."
"He's not a man."
"I can handle Daniel." How I wanted to handle him was another story.
He hesitated, lips pursed, then nodded slowly. "I suppose you can. Doesn't mean I won't worry about you."
We watched our feet a while, not saying a thing. I sorted through my questions, discarding the ones I knew he'd not be able to answer if he was telling the truth about Daniel. Setting aside the ones I wasn't ready to ask yet.
"Where'd you get that cross?" I said. "The one with the amethyst?"
"You have it?" He blew out a breath. "Good. I thought I'd lost it."
I shifted on the tailgate. "I, uh, gave it to Cavanaugh to study."
"You need to keep that. It'll protect you."
Apparently he hadn't noticed I could protect myself just fine without magic crosses. "He'll give it back. He's a good man."
"But this cross is special. Daniel gave it to me."
Of course. "Did he tell you anything about it?"
"Only that it was old and powerful." He huffed and shook his head. "You shouldn't have given it away. Can you get it back?"
"Yes, but we'll learn about it more if Cavanaugh studiers it. He's a priest and a decent investigator. If anyone can figure out what it is and what it does, he can. He's seen it work first-hand."
Dad's head snapped up and he looked at me, eyes wide. "Work how?"
Oh crap. I'd forgotten he hadn't been there for that. "H
e used it against Kokabiel and Suriel. Exorcised the bastards and sent their angelly butts running. It puts on quite the light show in the right hands." My fingers tingled and I shoved both hands under my legs. Okay, fine, it was hypocritical of me to lie to him, but I didn't know what any of what happened meant. Until I did, anything I said would just worry him, and he'd had a hard enough life as it was.
"A priest, eh?" Dad cocked his head and reconsidered.
"Catholic and everything."
"All right, as long as you get it back, I guess that's okay."
I put my hand on his arm and squeezed. "He will." And hopefully when he did, he'd know what I'd done with it and how. Speaking of miraculous healings...
"How are you feeling?"
His legs stopped swinging and he tensed again. "Good. Clear, though I feel like I've forgotten things."
"You were pretty fuzzy the last six months. Mixing up what year it was."
More silence. "I'm sorry I put you through that."
"Wasn't your fault."
"Still. I'm supposed to take care of you, not the other way around."
At least he didn't have to worry about that anymore. I elbowed him. "Hey, I bet you can get on all the morning talk shows about your 'miracle cure.' You could be famous."
He chuckled. "The ladies do love a celebrity."
"Wait until your hair grows back."
"Are you kidding?" He ran a hand over his smooth head. "Bald is sexy."
I made a face. "Ew."
Still laughing, Dad pulled me into a hug and squeezed me tight. I hugged him back hard enough to make up for all the hugs I'd missed.
"It's all going to be okay, my Radish," he said. It probably wasn't, but for now, I'd believe him.
By the time the lair was looted and explored, it was almost dawn and I was close to collapse from exhaustion. Dad and Roberto had found some dynamite in the shed, and had the charges ready to blow this joint. We moved the party outside. The pale skies looked clear, promising a nice morning. Chilly, but not as cold as yesterday. Ivy had fallen asleep in the truck, and Anita kept triggering an avalanche of yawns in all but Zack and Daniel.
"Who wants the honors?" Libby asked, wiggling the end of the fuse. The truck was parked out of range, and everyone else huddled down behind some boulders for safety.
"Me," Wil said, his arms tight across his chest. Libby handed him a lighter and held the fuse out for him.
Wil lit it, glaring as the spark sizzled its way into the lair. A less impressive explosion this time around, but enough to shake the ground and put another dent in the Arizona landscape.
Wil sighed and let his arms drop. "Will they be back?"
"I don't know."
It was quiet until we turned onto an actual road, and everyone heaved a collective sigh of relief. Civilization didn't equal safety, but it felt better than being in the desert. I sat with my back against the cab, Daniel on one side, Libby on the other, cataloging the vast number of sore muscles I was going to have before day's end.
On the other side of the truck bed, Dad and Cavanaugh spoke in low tones. A serious conversation with serious expressions, much more intense than any conversation at this time of the morning had a right to be. Maybe Dad was trying to get his cross back.
I stretched my neck and rolled my shoulders. Sunlight had finally crested the mountains and chased away some of the chill I'd carried since the mine, and the warmth felt good.
I jerked straight. Sunlight. Zack was driving, but the truck's windows weren't tinted. He and Daniel were going to get mighty crispy awfully fast.
"Do we have a tarp or anything?" I asked.
Roberto shook his head. The others just stared at me. "What's wrong?"
"The sun."
Daniel sucked in a breath and flinched away, but he'd been sitting in direct sunlight, same as I had.
"Daniel?"
He laughed and held up a hand in the sunlight. "It doesn't burn."
I held up both hands. "It's not me. I'm not touching you. Zack? You doing okay up there in the sun?"
The truck jerked left and swerved a bit, but he got it right back under control. "I'm...unhurt," he said, awed.
Daniel kept staring, alternating between his hands and the sun. "A miracle." His gaze darted to me. "Some of us think redemption is possible, though I never believed it."
"But you helped us. Protected us."
He nodded. "That's what I was sent here to do. There's no reward for doing your job."
"You sure?" I thumbed at the sun. "Because you should be on fire."
His wonder and delight said he wasn't sure, but didn't care. "We have to tell the others. They think they've been abandoned, but they haven't."
"That's...good?" Daylight had been one of the few things restricting Kokabiel's actions. If Suriel now had free reign to plot against humanity...
"It's good if we can earn our way back into His favor." Daniel laughed again and slowly wiggled his fingers in the light. "Perhaps He will let us come home one day."
"The slow way home?"
"The worthy path home. This proves it's possible."
For his sake, I hoped so.
Chapter Thirty
The sun was officially out by the time we pulled up to St. Mary's, and neither Daniel nor Zack had burst into flames once.
"You sure you want to do this?" I asked them.
Daniel nodded. "We need to know." He hopped out of the truck bed and slowly approached the edge of holy ground. Zack stayed in the truck.
We must have looked like lunatics, the whole group of us leaning over, watching a grown man tiptoe up to a parking lot.
Daniel stepped off the sidewalk and onto church grounds. Sparks danced across his skin, though not as bright as the ones that sizzled off Kokabiel and the others.
Hissing, Daniel jumped back. Zack sighed, but Daniel smiled. "It's better," he said. "Still stings, but not as painful."
I grinned back. "So go save a few more humans and test your sparkability."
"Can we go home now?" Ivy grumbled. "Or should I run to the police?"
Anita shot her a disgusted look. "These people saved our lives. Be grateful."
"If you can't be grateful," Jerry added, "then think how you'll sound to the cops. You'll be under 'psychiatric observation' by lunch."
Ivy muttered, but settled down and went back to staring at her feet.
Cavanaugh cleared his throat. "I've been investigating most of your cases," he said, looking over Anita, Ivy, Jerry, and Wil, "so why don't you four come with me. Father Dandridge and I can help you with any questions you still have, and we can figure out how to explain all of this to the police and get you home."
Jerry huffed, but agreed. "I think we ought to stick to Grace's cult story."
"I second that," Anita said. Wil nodded. Ivy grunted.
"Okay, good, good." Cavanaugh looked at me and Libby. "You two want to sit in on this?"
Not particularly, but he'd need back up. "Lead the way, Padre."
Dad waved us on. "I'll take the boys out for breakfast and meet y'all back here," he said, then leaned in and whispered to me, "That Dandridge priest is a bit of a dick."
I held back my snort. "You've no idea."
Although shocked to his core, Dandridge handled it better than I'd expected. He seemed genuinely concerned about Kokabiel's victims now that they were in his office, and had even managed to find his compassion under all that ambition. Of course, now that he knew the truth, he was even more curious about me and my link to the Pretty Boys, but I'd deal with that when--and if--I had to.
"He's not going to stab us in the back or anything, will he?" I asked Cavanaugh as he walked us back out.
"No. Finally understanding what we're fighting helped reset his priorities."
I huffed. "You heard him. He thinks they're devils now instead of demons."
"Theologically speaking, he's not wrong."
"Lucifer does set precedence," Libby added.
I shivered. "Please t
ell me he's not running amok in the world, too."
"Probably not." Cavanaugh chuckled. "He wasn't one of the Watchers."
Whew. "I'm still not comfortable with Dandridge knowing about Daniel and Zack." We couldn't exactly tell our stories without mentioning them, but we'd left out the part about them tossing back breakfast sandwiches with Roberto and my dad instead of proving their divine powers to Dandridge. The less contact he had with them the better.
"I'll take care of it, Grace, don't worry. He's an excellent and knowledgeable researcher, and he can help us find Suriel and the others."
We reached the lobby. Dad and Roberto were on the far side, chatting next to the holy water basin. Roberto had a backpack slung over his shoulder. I guess Daniel and Zack had taken off, though they could have said goodbye.
"You sure about moving here?" I asked Cavanaugh as we walked over. During our meeting, he'd announced he was leaving his church in Florida and transferring to Sedona to work with Dandridge tracking down Suriel and the others who'd escaped.
"We'll need a base of operations, and Aaron has done a lot of the preliminary work. He tracked them here, remember? If he found them once, he can do it again."
True. Dandridge still hadn't told us exactly how, though, which bugged me.
"We also have a lot to read," he continued, patting the box containing Kokabiel's Bible and e-reader. "Plus all the hospital research to go over, and it's too much for one person to comb through quickly. Now that I know what to look for, it'll be easier to track any leftover minions of Kokabiel's."
"Let us know if you need help with that."
"He has help," Dad said. "I'm staying, too."
"What?" I said a tad too loudly.
Cavanaugh shifted uneasily and scooted a few steps back.
"Hear me out before you start yelling," Dad said, chuckling. "Nate and I discussed it at length on the drive back. Between the two of us, we have a stack of puzzle pieces to what the--what did you call them again?" he asked Libby.
"Fangels," she said.
"Right. What the fangels are doing. Grace, you said it yourself--Suriel isn't going to give up, and we're the best people to find him."
