When Angels Fall

by Stephanie Jackson

  “Do you have the money for new tires?” Donna asked.

  “I can probably scrape enough together for a good used set,” Dani said.

  “I can help you when I get paid...if you need it,” Donna offered.

  “That’s alright, I’ll find some way to take care of it,” Dani said just as a horn honked out front.

  “My carriage has arrived,” Donna said, and they headed back to the house.

  Donna grabbed her purse from the floor in front of the couch and hugged Dani.

  “I had fun last night,” Donna said.

  “Me, too,” Dani said.

  Donna walked to the front door and opened it before turning back around.

  “Don’t think we’re not gonna talk about this ‘cousin’ bullshit the two of you flung at me last night,” Donna said, waving her hand at Dani and Gabriel. “You’ve never lied to me about anything before so, for now, I’m gonna assume you had a good reason to lie to me last night.”

  Then Donna blew Dani a kiss and stepped out of the house.

  “Damn it,” Dani mumbled.

  “I’ll be right back,” Gabriel said, and ran out the front door.

  He jogged down the steps just as Donna was getting in the cab. He handed the cab driver some money before speaking to Donna.

  “I need you not to upset Dani right now,” Gabriel said.

  “I wouldn’t do that,” Donna said. “Not after she just lost her mom. But at least have the decency to look me in the eyes and tell me you’re not cousins.”

  “We’re not cousins; or related in any way,” Gabriel admitted.

  “You could have told me that before I made an idiot of myself last night by hitting on you,” Donna chided. “It wasn’t cool to let me flirt with my best friend’s boyfriend.”

  “It’s not like that,” Gabriel said.

  “Maybe not yet, but you want it to be,” Donna said. “And so does Dani. I’ve never seen her look at a man like she looks at you, so you better take care of her.”

  “Until my dying breath,” Gabriel promised.

  Donna stared at him for a few seconds before nodding.

  “I believe you. There’s something about you; I can’t quite put my finger on it, but you’re…different somehow,” Donna said.

  Donna got in the cab and closed the door. She waved as the cab pulled away. Gabriel watched until the cab was out of sight, and then ran back up to the house.

  3.

  “Why did you stab my tires?” Dani asked when he stepped back into the house.

  “Why do you assume I did it?”

  “Those stab holes are huge. If they didn’t come from your sword, I’ll eat my own tongue,” Dani said. “And I can prove you did it.”

  Dani stomped into the kitchen where Gabriel’s sword was leaning in the corner. She grabbed the handle to carry the sword outside and measure it against the stab marks, but the sword didn’t move at all. She tugged and pulled, but nothing happened. She looked at Gabriel and saw that he was smiling.

  “Really?” Dani snapped. “You’re not gonna let me pick it up?” Dani snapped.

  Gabriel held his hands up, “I’m not doing anything, I promise.”

  She grabbed the sword again, and used all of her body weight to try to yank it from the corner, but it wouldn’t budge. She stopped when she heard Gabriel laugh and spun to face him.

  “If you’re not doing anything, then why can’t I pick the damn thing up!” she yelled.

  “That sword was forged of purest of silver by God Himself. Sliver plunged into the heart of a demon will strike it dead,” Gabriel explained. “Only an Archangel can lift that sword.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me that before I tried to touch it?” she snapped.

  “You didn’t ask me,” Gabriel said, still smiling. “But if it makes you feel any better, you are the first human that has ever laid their hands on the sword of an Archangel.”

  “It doesn’t,” Dani said, and then walked back to the living room and flopped down on the couch.

  He watched her for a few seconds before going to sit beside her.

  “I did destroy your tires,” he admitted.

  “Why would you do that?” Dani asked.

  “Because traveling by way of any vehicle is too dangerous right now,” he said.

  “I’ve been driving for years, and I’ve never had an accident,” Dani said, offended.

  Gabriel nodded, “I’ll give you that, but have you ever had a Cambion step out in the path of your moving car; or have a demon crush it while you’re driving?”

  “They would do that?” Dani asked.

  “They will do whatever they need to do to get you in their grasp,” Gabriel said.

  “You could have just told me that,” she said.

  “I can’t leave anything to chance. You’re too important,” he said, “When this is over I’ll fix your tires.”

  “I can pay for my own tires,” she said.

  “I didn’t say I would buy new ones,” Gabriel said. “I said I would fix the damage I caused.”

  “You can’t fix it. The slashes are too big to plug,” she said.

  “I fixed the window,” he said. “I can fix the tires, too.”

  Dani looked at the window. With everything that had happened that first night, she’d forgotten the window had been broken. The window pane was back in place and undamaged.

  “How did you do that?” she asked.

  “Like this,” he said, and waved his hand at the post he’d ripped from the stair railing. The post rose through the air and knitted itself back to the railing.

  “So it’s not just humans you can repair?” Dani said.

  “No, I can repair anything,” he said, laced his hands behind his head, and laid back on the couch. “I’m just that good.”

  “I’d say you’re arrogant, but you’re really not, are you?” she asked. “You can pretty much do wherever you want, right?”

  “Pretty much,” he said.

  Dani yawned.

  “You’re tired,” he said.

  “I didn’t sleep very well last night,” she said.

  “Come here,” he said, and before he’d realized what he was doing, he’d opened his arms to her.

  Dani was shocked, but didn’t hesitate to crawl into his arms and lay her head on his chest.

  “You can rest. I’ll be right here with you,” he said.

  “Just don’t knock me out, okay?” she asked.

  “I won’t, I promise,” he said.

  4.

  There was no need to knock Dani out. Within just a few minutes of her lying down, she was asleep. Gabriel laid with her in his arms, thinking about Michael’s last words to him. Dani hadn’t known what he’d been talking about, but Gabriel had. He’d been telling Gabriel to make a decision about Dani.

  Telling him to either decide to be with Dani or to emotionally step away from her and just do his job. It should have been an easy decision; all he’d wanted to do for the past four million years was go home. It should have been an easy decision, but being around Dani had changed everything. He shouldn’t be attracted to her, but he was.

  Having her breasts pressed against his side as she slept was driving him crazy. His body was responding to her in a way that it had never responded to a woman; any woman. The smell of her sleep warm skin was driving him to distraction. All he could think of was what his human body wanted to do with her.

  He didn’t even know how she felt about him. He couldn’t just expect her to feel the same about him as he did for her. The only thing he did know was that he couldn’t make this decision with her laying against him.

  “Take a walk,” he heard Michael say quietly from behind the couch.

  “I can’t,” Gabriel whispered, craning his head to look at his brother. “I’ll wake her up if I move.”

  “You can keep her from waking up,” Michael said.

  “I promised her that I wouldn’t do that to her,” he said.

  “I didn’t,
” Michael said, and placed his hand on Dani’s head. “Now take a walk and clear your mind.”

  “I can’t just leave her alone,” Gabriel said, sliding out from underneath Dani.

  “She won’t be. I’ll stay with her,” Michael said.

  “You could get in trouble,” Gabriel warned.

  “It won’t be the first time,” Michael said. “Look; you haven’t really been away from Dani since you fell to Earth. Take thirty minutes; walk, and think, and see how you feel when you get back. I’ll sit with her while you’re gone.”

  “You really think thirty minutes is long enough to make the decision you’re asking me to make?”

  “If it’s the decision that’s right for you, then it shouldn’t even take you that long,” Michael said. “Now go.”

  Gabriel nodded and walked out of the house.

  Chapter Ten

  1.

  Dani woke up when the couch she was laying on flipped over backwards and spilled her onto the floor. She realized that all hell was breaking loose in her living room; the smell of sulfur and decay had filled the house again. She thought Gabriel was fighting with someone, but when she looked closer she saw that who she was actually seeing was Michael; and he was fighting with a demon that had big black wings. This demon was nothing like Vetis; this one was not going calmly to his death.

  The demon was trying everything he could to get around Michael, while still defending himself. It didn’t take Dani too long to see that the reason the demon was trying to get passed Michael was to get to her.

  “What do I do?” Dani screamed.

  “Stay…where… you…are!” Michael yelled back to her while struggling with the demon.

  He used his foot to kick the demon across the room, and then lunged and buried his sword down through the demon’s chest and pinned him to the floor. The demon died just like Vetis; in fire and retched black smoke.

  Dani sat where she was, shaking like a leaf. This was real. All of it was real, and she was probably going to die.

  “Hey, it’s okay,” Michael said, scooping her up off the floor.

  He used his foot to kick the couch back over and sat down on it. He held Dani in his lap and was rocking her as if she were a baby.

  She didn’t mind because she knew he was trying to comfort her. But Michael wasn’t who Dani wanted right now.

  “Where’s Gabriel?” she asked in a wavering voice, trying her best not to cry.

  “I made him go for a walk, but he’ll be back soon. Until he returns, you’ll just have to make do with me.” Michael said with a small smile.

  “Why would he just leave me like that?” she asked.

  “He needs to clear his head,” Michael said.

  “I don’t understand. Why do you keep saying he needs to clear his head?” she asked, barely holding herself together. “What does he need to clear his mind of?”

  Michael pulled away from her a little so he could stare down at her.

  “You really don’t know, do you?” Michael asked.

  She didn’t get a chance to question him any further before the front door flew open, and Gabriel filled the open doorway.

  2.

  Gabriel walked and thought, and he’d made his decision. The best thing for him to do was complete his mission here and hope his Father would allow him to come home. It was where Gabriel belonged. He would step back front Dani before what was happening to him; the way he felt about her, could go any further. And when it was time, he would walk away.

  It was a hard decision, but he would have to become comfortable with it. It was the right thing to do; for both of them. He was at peace with his decision. Or he had been until he smelled the stench of demon from the porch and threw open the door.

  The destruction of the living room wasn’t the first thing he noticed, though the damage was extensive. What his eyes first fell on was Dani curled up in Michael’s lap, and Michael gazing into Dani’s eyes. It just struck his as wrong.

  Not that she was with Michael. Gabriel trusted his brother more than any other angel. It was seeing Dani curled up with any man that wasn’t him that struck him as wrong.

  Michael looked up at Gabriel, and Gabriel knew Michael could read his decision on his face.

  “Are you sure?” Michael asked.

  Gabriel nodded, “I am now.”

  He looked down at Dani just in time to see her burst into tears. He walked across the room and dropped to his knees in front of her. She fell from Michael’s lap and into Gabriel’s arms. She buried her face in his neck and cried.

  “Where were you?!” she sobbed, pounding her fists on his shoulders. “Why did you leave me here?”

  “It was a mistake. I’m here now, though, and I not going to leave you again,” Gabriel said softly to Dani, but was looking at Michael.

  Michael nodded, accepting Gabriel’s decision without further question.

  “This doesn’t change what you have to do here,” Michael said.

  “I know. I have every intention of finishing what I came down here to do,” Gabriel said, picking Dani up and sitting on the couch with her. “What happened here?”

  “Sonneillon happened,” Michael said.

  “Holy God, Lucifer sent Sonneillon? Already?” Gabriel asked.

  “It would appear so,” Michael said. “I believe it’s safe bet to say that Hell knows you’re here.”

  “I wonder how Lucifer found out.” Gabriel said. “I killed Vetis and every Cambion I’ve come across.”

  “Who’s Sonneillon?” Dani asked, sounding a little calmer.

  “He’s known in Heaven as the Demon of Hatred,” Gabriel said.

  “I take it he wasn’t a lower level demon?” she asked.

  “No. Far from it, in fact. He was one of Lucifer’s highest ranking demons,” Michael said, then looked at Gabriel, “It’s time for you to draw him out.”

  “But you already killed him,” Dani said in confusion.

  “He’s not talking about Sonneillon,” Gabriel said. “He’s talking about drawing out Lucifer himself.”

  “It’s not right to make Gabriel fight Lucifer on his own,” Dani said.

  Michael laughed, “You put way to much faith in the words of your Bible. I bet you’ve read that Gabriel’s main purpose is to announce important births and to blow his horn on judgment day. Am I right?”

  Dani nodded and Michael laughed again.

  “It’s a good Sunday school story for children, but it isn’t true. Gabriel doesn’t carry a horn…he carries a sword; and with it the full Might of God. I would fight with Gabriel if I could, but the reality is that Lucifer would most likely turn me into angel bacon the moment he laid eyes on me.”

  “I thought you were the Warrior Archangel,” Dani said.

  “Don’t get me wrong, I do alright, but Gabriel is the only Archangel capable of defeating Lucifer. Besides, he won’t be fighting Lucifer; not yet anyway. What I’m suggesting is just a little show and tell,” Michael said, and turned to Gabriel. “You have to let him see Danielle; dangle the prize in front of his face.”

  “Dani isn’t a prize,” Gabriel said. “Nor is she bait.”

  “But she is, and you know it.” Michael said, and stood up. “And you know what you’re going to have to do next.”

  “I can’t do that. You know Dani can’t be around her; it’s too dangerous.” Gabriel said.

  “Then take her somewhere she’ll be safe so you can do what you have to do. You have to have her blood,” Michael said.

  Gabriel said, “There is nowhere safe for her to go.”

  “There are people that can keep her safe while you’re gone; and they just happen to live right here in this town,” Michael said.

  Gabriel looked at Michael in disbelief, “You cannot be serious.”

  “Get it done. Do your job. Danielle will be fine there with them. I have to go home and as the humans say, face the music for what happened here today” Michael said, and vanished.

  3.

&nbs
p; “We can stay here tonight; you should be safe for now. Lucifer will take a little time to figure out his next move,” Gabriel told Dani. “But we’ll have to leave here in the morning, and you won’t be able to return until this is over.”

  “Where are we going to go?” Dani asked.

  “I’ll tell you when we get there, but I can tell you right now that you’re not going to like it,” he said.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “Then let’s leave it at that for now. There’s no need for you to spend the night worrying about it,” he said.

  “Like that was a calming remark,” Dani mumbled, looking around the living room.

  Her grandmother’s house was destroyed. There were holes in the walls and the ceiling, and the curio cabinet that had sat against the far wall had been crushed to rubble. It made her sad to look at. Her grandmother had put so much care into this home; if she could see it now, she’d be heartbroken.

  “Can you fix all of this?” Dani asked.

  “I can, but there’s no point in doing it now. When the next Cambion or demon arrives, and you’re not here, they’re likely to trash it again out of anger,” he said. “I promise that if we both make it through this alive, that I’ll fix it back up good as new.”

  Dani nodded, and then asked the question that had been weighing on her mind since Michael had said it, “Whose blood do you need?”

  “The blood of a natural born witch,” he answered.

  “Like a Wiccan?” she asked.

  “No, a Wiccan is someone who worships nature; they choose to call themselves witches, but they have no real power. A natural born witch is a different matter altogether,” Gabriel said. “A natural born witch is born without a soul and is already in allegiance with Lucifer; and she does have real power. She can communicate directly with the Devil.”

  “Can you defeat her?” Dani asked.

  Gabriel smiled at her, “Easily.”

  “Then why can’t I go with you?”

  “First; I don’t know where she is, so I have to find her. Second; when I do find her, she’s likely to be guarded by several demons. I’m good, but I can’t kill her, fight off several demons, and protect you at the same time,” he explained.