“The only thing that has more power than me is God Himself,” Gabriel said. “And I highly doubt my Father had anything to do with your unexpected release.”
Dani asked nervously, “Who are they, Gabriel?”
“How rude of me. Allow me to introduce you,” Gabriel said politely. “This is Abaddon, an Angel of Destruction,” he said, pointing to a tall angel with long blonde hair. “Gadreel, an Angel of War,” he said, pointing at a short, bald headed angel. “Mastema, an Angel of Hostility,” Gabriel said, waving his hand toward a slim angel with tight brown curls.
“Bernael, an Angel of Darkness and Evil,” Gabriel said, pointing out a tall dark-skinned angel. “This is Semyaza, another Angel of
War,” he said, nodding to a very muscular angel with shoulder length, straight light brown hair.
“Orobas, the Angel of Beasts,” Gabriel said, pointing to a beautiful golden angel with short jet black hair.
“And this is Mephistopheles,” he said, nodding at an angel who’s beauty nearly equaled Gabriel’s. “His name literally means He who loves not the light. Which is ironic, seeing as how he escaped from the darkness of Tartarus to come out into the light.”
“Why do they have swords?” she asked.
“Because we are warriors,” Semyaza said. “And we’re here to kill the Archangel Gabriel.”
“What?” Gadreel said in surprise. “That’s not what I agreed to. I was told to come and collect the last Daughter of God.”
“And how did you think we were going to accomplish that?” Bernael asked. “You knew Gabriel was protecting her.”
“I was told that he’d be willing to hand her over.”
“And who told you that?” Michael asked, appearing in the yard behind the angels.
“Rashnu,” Gadreel said.
Mephistopheles roared, “Gadreel!”
“What? If you want to go against Gabriel you go right ahead, but I didn’t sign on to die today,” Gadreel said and then turned to Michael. “Take me back to Tartarus.”
“Do you want him to leave or would like to kill him, as well?” Michael asked Gabriel.
“I’ll allow him to live…just for the act of showing some common sense,” Gabriel allowed. “Take him back to Tartarus.”
Michael vanished with Gadreel and Gabriel turned his full attention back to the angels, “Are you sure that you want to continue with this?”
“We know you no longer have the power you used to have, Gabriel. Rashnu told us you lost your power to smite. That means you’d have to defeat all six of us with only your sword,” Orobas said. “Just accept your death.”
“Right…Rashnu,” Gabriel said. “He paid me a visit three days ago. You won’t be seeing him again. But just to set the record straight, my powers to smite are fully intact.”
“You killed Rashnu?” Mastema asked with fear rising in his eyes. “That’s not possible.”
“I’d tell you to ask him for yourself, but he’s dead,” Gabriel taunted. “I took his head with one swing.”
“It matters not, Gabriel,” Abaddon declared. “There are six of us and only one of you.”
“You seem to think that matters, Abaddon,” Gabriel said, holding his sword in his right hand. “You are foolish.”
Gabriel held his left hand out and beckoned the angels forward.
All of the angels rushed him at once. This did not concern Gabriel in this least. He made sure to keep Dani at his back as he laid waste to the angels. Not one of them got the opportunity to reach out for her.
It was over in a matter of seconds. Orobas, Semyaza, and Abaddon lay headless on the ground. Bernael and Mastema were simply gone; smote by Gabriel’s hand. The only one left standing was Mephistopheles.
“You will bow down before me, Mephistopheles,” Gabriel commanded. “As you were created to do.”
Mephistopheles threw down his sword, dropped to his knees before Gabriel and touched his forehead to the ground.
“Who is sending the angels of Heaven down to Earth to interfere in my business, Mephistopheles?”
“Raphael,” Mephistopheles said softly.
Gabriel nodded, “I thought as much.”
“Forgive me, Gabriel,” Mephistopheles begged.
“I forgive you,” Gabriel said, and then drove his sword through Mephistopheles back and into his heart.
Mephistopheles fell dead at Gabriel’s feet.
5.
Gabriel and Dani were sitting on the newly repaired front porch when Michael returned from returning Gadreel to Tartarus. Michael listened in disbelief as Gabriel told him what he’d learned from Mephistopheles.
Michael shook his head, “You can’t be serious. I knew Raphael didn’t care for you, but to do this? I just can’t believe it.”
“Be happy, brother,” Gabriel said. “I had moments when I thought it may be you.”
Dani was surprised by this. She had never seen any signs from Gabriel that he’d doubted Michael’s allegiance to him.
Michael looked surprised as well, “Me? Why would you ever think I’d turn on you?”
“I had my first suspicion when the demons converged on the restaurant.” Gabriel said. “Then again when Jehoel and Rashnu made their appearances. I didn’t say anything to you then because those events could have been brought on by any high level angel.
“But when Mephistopheles and the others showed up here from Tartarus, I knew that I was dealing with an Archangel; or God himself.”
Dani interrupted him, “How did you know it had to be an Archangel and not Rashnu?”
“Because only God or an Archangel can open the entrance of Tartarus. God could end all of this at any time if He so chose to do so. There would be no reason for our Father to release Warrior Angels onto the Earth,” Michael said. “The only other option was an Archangel.”
“I didn’t want to believe it was you, but the only other two options were Lucifer and Raphael,” Gabriel said. “Lucifer is locked in the pit until he rises to fight me, and I just didn’t believe Raphael had the stones to pull something like this.”
“So what saved me when I showed up in the yard today?”
“It was that you showed up that saved you,” Gabriel said, smiling at Michael. “I could see on your face that you had no idea how those angels had come to be here. You were ready to kill them all if I asked you to do so. You wouldn’t have come down here if you had been the one that set them free.”
Michael laughed, “Well then I’m very glad that I came down.”
“You know what you have to do, don’t you?” Gabriel asked Michael.
Michael nodded and stood up from the living room chair he'd been sitting in, “Yep, I have to go find Raphael. Do you want me to kill him or would you like the honor?”
“Bring him to me,” Gabriel said. “I don’t want you to have to kill one of your brothers.”
“After what he’s pulled, I wouldn’t mind killing him one little bit,” Michael said.
“I already have to kill one brother,” Gabriel said. “I might as well make it two.”
Michael nodded again, “I’ll try to find him. I’ll bring him to you when I do,” he said and vanished.
6.
“What does he mean he’ll try to find him?” Dani asked after Michael was gone. “I thought you said you could find anything in Heaven.”
“No, I said we could find anyone on Earth from Heaven,” Gabriel said. “Finding an angel in Heaven is a bit more difficult. Heaven is the size of the universe, but that’s not really the problem. It’s usually easy to find the angel you’re looking for because other angels are willing to point the way.
“But that gets more difficult when the angel your looking for is powerful. In that case, most angels aren’t willing to get involved for fear of repercussions from the angel they helped you catch. And in this case, Michael is looking for an Archangel.
“Very few angels will be willing to help Michael. Raphael may be a weak Archangel, but he is still an Archangel. If
an angel pointed him out, and Raphael managed to defeat Michael, then it would most likely cost the angel that helped Michael their life.”
“It sounds kind of like trying to find a witness willing to testify to seeing a violent crime here on Earth,” she said. “People are just too afraid for themselves and their families to get involved.”
Gabriel nodded, “It’s exactly like that. Even the highest ranking angel in Heaven wouldn’t stand against Raphael.”
“If the angels know they don’t stand a chance against an Archangel, then why do they keep coming down here to stand against you?”
“There wasn’t much said at my trial before God except I was to be banished. Some seem to be under the impression that my Father somehow reduced what I am. That he changed what I’m capable of, Gabriel said. “He did not.”
“But Michael said that you are what God created you to be. That if you were created as an Archangel that you will always be an Archangel.”
“And that’s true,” Gabriel corroborated. “But the angel’s in Heaven don’t know that. Most of their knowledge pertaining to Archangels is that we are the ultimate weapons of God and that we are something to be feared. It’s all they need to know.”
“But won’t they keep coming?”
“I don’t expect to see anymore. Not after they saw me smite some of the angels today,” he said. “But if they want to keep coming, then so be it. I’ll just keep killing them until they realize that I’m every bit the Archangel that I always was.”
“So what happens now?”
“Things will happen pretty quickly now,” Gabriel said. “Lucifer will soon realize that he’s lost his Heavenly assistance and be forced to make his final move.”
“So he could rise at any time?”
“Yes, it could be now or a few days from now, but it will be soon.”
“I don’t know whether to be relived or terrified,” she said. “It would be nice for this to be over so we can get on with the rest of our lives, though.”
“Soon,” Gabriel repeated. “One way or another, this will be over soon.”
Chapter Twenty
“I can’t find Raphael anywhere. No one will even talk to me about him,” Michael said when he returned later that evening and flopped onto the couch. “Wherever he is, he’s dug in like a tick.”
“Gabriel said you’d have a hard time finding him,” Dani said.
“That’s an understatement,” Michael said. “It’s more like he vanished from existence.”
“He’ll turn up eventually,” Gabriel said. “He can’t hide forever, thought I bet he wishes he could.”
“Will he show up when Lucifer rises?” Dani asked.
“I highly doubt it,” Michael said. “If Gabriel sees him he can pin his feet to the ground. Raphael would have no chance of escape.”
“Let me guess,” she said. “Pinning angels to the ground is something else only Gabriel can do?”
Michael winked at her, “You got it, babe. He’s also the only Archangel that can bind another angel.”
“What does binding an angel do?”
“It just freezes them,” Gabriel said. “But I have to touch them to do it. I’ve only done it to a few angels. I bound all of the angels that I killed today. That’s probably why Raphael chose them. He knew they’d be really angry at me for leaving them that way once I got them to Tartarus.”
“If only you can bind them, then how did Raphael set them free?”
“Only I can bind them, but any Archangel can unbind them,” Gabriel explained. “It was nothing for Raphael to walk into Tartarus and release them.”
“How did Michael get Gadreel back to Tartarus if he couldn’t bind him?” she asked.
“There was no need to bind Gadreel,” Gabriel said. “He wanted to return to Tartarus.”
“He wanted to do anything to get away from Gabriel,” Michael said. “Gadreel became very talkative on his trip back to jail. He told me that Raphael had released all seven of them separately four days ago.
“They had talked to Rashnu after their release, but had no idea that Gabriel had killed him. The poor thing was honestly shocked when he found out that he was expected to kill Gabriel.”
“Damn it!” Gabriel hissed, and grabbed his sword from where it leaned against the chair.
Dani jumped to her feet, “What now?”
“Demons,” Michael answered, “A fuckton of demons.”
Gabriel ran from the house. Michael and Dani followed closely behind him.
Dani was terrified by what she saw. There were demons for as far as she could see, many more than she’d seen that night they’d come to Potter’s house. Michael never hesitated. He ran out to fight the demons and Gabriel grabbed Dani and shot into the air with her.
They rose so high and so fast that she felt pressure pop excruciatingly in her ears, and it was hard to catch a breath. Gabriel didn’t stop until he reached what she thought must be the approximate cruising height of jetliners.
Gabriel gave her a quick kiss…and vanished.
“SHIT!” Dani screamed, but there was no one around to hear her as she fell, at terminal velocity, towards the ground.
2.
Gabriel rematerialized next to Michael and started killing and smiting demons at fast as he could, keeping in mind how long Dani had before she hit the ground.
Michael caught Gabriel’s eye for a brief moment and Gabriel shook his head. He didn’t have time to explain where Dani was. It would take Dani approximately forty-five seconds to fall from the 30,000 feet he’d released her at. He had about twenty seconds left before she struck the Earth.
With five seconds left, Gabriel shot back into the air, caught Dani five hundred feet above the yard, shot back up to 30,000 feet, and released her again. Then he teleported back to the ground and started the countdown again.
He repeated the process four times before all the demons that had risen had been killed.
“Where did you put Dani?” Michael asked when the last demon had fallen.
Gabriel raised his hand at Michael and shot back into the air to catch Dani, this time bringing her back to the ground. She was holding her hands to her ears.
He sat down on the grass with her in his lap and placed his hands over hers to remove the pain from her ears, and then wrapped his arms around her trembling body. She was freezing. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms and back, warming her skin.
“I’m so sorry about that, honey,” Gabriel said. “It was the only way to keep you safe while we killed the demons.”
She didn’t say anything. She just continued staring at the ground and trembling. It took a few minutes for her shaking to slow. When it finally stopped, she got up, grabbed Gabriel’s sword at the hilt and tried to pull it off the ground.
Gabriel looked at her in confusion, “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to fucking kill you!” she yelled.
“Dani, I said I was sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” she shouted at him. “You dropped me from 20,000 feet four Goddamned times and all you can say is you’re sorry!?”
“It was 30,000 feet and you’re overreacting,” Gabriel said, getting to his feet. “You weren’t in any danger.”
“You shut up!” she screamed and punched him in the face. “You’re a douchebag.”
She turned on her heel and stormed off toward the house.
She turned back to them when she got on the porch, “And just in case you’re wondering why the front of your legs are wet, it’s my piss you…you…asshole!”
With that she stormed into the house and slammed the door.
Gabriel looked back at Michael, but he was no longer standing where he had been. He was lying in the grass, laughing so hard that he couldn’t breathe.
“I’m so glad you’re enjoying yourself,” Gabriel said scornfully.
“She actually hit you,” Michael cackled, gasping for breath. “If she could have lifted your sword, I believe she really would have kil
led you.”
“Shut up, Michael,” Gabriel said. “Go home.”
Michael disappeared from the grass and Gabriel followed Dani inside the house.
3.
Dani went into the upstairs bathroom and turned the shower on. She was pulling her wet shorts off when she had to stop to vomit. She could feel all the nerves in her skin crawling. She’d never been as petrified in her whole life as she’d been when Gabriel had vanished, leaving her to freefall through the air.
And she was still freezing. She wiped her mouth, finished undressing and stepped into the spray of the shower. She stood there and let the hot water warm her skin and thought about what Gabriel had done to her. She knew he thought he hadn’t had a choice, but Dani could see one other thing he could’ve done.
He could have run with her. He could have just picked her up and flew away. They could have found another place to stay. He had chosen to let her fall.
When she felt warm again, she washed her body and stepped out of the shower. Exhaustion hit her as she was drying off. She could barely hold her eyes open while she brushed her teeth. She left the bathroom, walked down the hall to the bedroom and fell across the bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.
4.
Gabriel waited for Dani to come back downstairs, but she never did. He was keeping his inner eye on the whole house. If anything entered the house he could be by Dani’s side in a millisecond. When he finally went upstairs to check on her, he found her asleep on the bed.
He wanted to wake her up to apologize again, but he knew she needed the sleep. He should have warned her of what he was going to do before he’d released her, but there just hadn’t been time. He didn’t think she’d be this angry about it. She’d acted as if he’d tried to kill her.
All he’d been trying to do was keep her safe. Her life was just as important to him as it was to mankind’s survival. He had to admit that she had a good right hook, though. If he’d been human he was almost positive that she would have broken his jaw.
He almost felt sorry for the Cambion she’d gotten a hold of in the street the first night Gabriel had met her. If she kicked as hard as she punched she probably would have killed that Cambion if the other Cambion hadn’t have come along.
When Angels Fall Page 22
