Shattering Halos

by Sunniva Dee

  The enormous heap of scrambled eggs she served up made my hunger disappear the way a certain angel tended to do.

  Between the pungent smell of breakfast and Gabriel’s sphinx-like expression, my stomach began to roll. His arms slid around my waist, warning me. He sank his chin into my shoulder to anchor me, and for a short while, it worked.

  Sweet Jesus, the insignificant gibberish a single, little group of people could indulge in. He chattered on with my family, seemingly without a care in the world. How much longer? The turbulence inside me reared.

  Gabriel, you love me, right? I’m dying here!

  A quick glance at the eggs made me gag. They were coagulating! To top off the misery, Mom wouldn’t be happy if I walked out the door without breakfast. I knew she’d notice my inner chaos soon. It was time to close the presumed windows to my soul.

  Seconds before all pretenses took off running, his fingers curled around the back of my neck in a cool hold. Gabriel quelled the ants crawling under my skin.

  He turned me toward him, my jittery gaze flew to his, but his focus remained steady on the others. The story about some sailing adventure poured from him without a hitch. It was sprinkled with Luna’s thrilled “no ways” and “oh, reallys.”

  The strangeness of the situation finally got to me. My down-to-earth parents were permitting a man they’d met twelve hours earlier to swathe their daughter entirely in himself. In front of them. In their kitchen.

  Didn’t they find it odd how he nestled my face against his throat? I was secluded from them, mute, and out of the conversation. Wasn’t it utterly surreal? Despite melting into him, even I was beginning to wonder.

  “Where did you say you’re taking her again, Gabriel? Up north?” my dad asked with a serene smile.

  “Yes, just for the night, sir. My family has literally summoned her.” Gabriel laughed.

  “Oh, that’s nice. Are you sure they have room for her?” My mom added, all sweet and accommodating. For good measure, Dad piped up.

  “Gabriel, I had no idea you don’t have family in town. You could have used the guestroom last night. Your folks live hours from here, you said?”

  I felt Gabriel shrug against me. “It was fine, Mr. Samuelle. I got to stay with a friend.”

  Despite my turmoil, I couldn’t suppress a snort at his knack for avoiding the truth.

  Soon, I was calm in his arms. I was going to meet his family. What on Earth—or what in Heaven—did that mean?

  Hours later, I took a look at myself, then at us, and shook my head. From the center of his bed at Shimmer’s Edge, we stared up at the glass dome as it opened petal by petal like an immense flower.

  Wrapping me in his cotton candy duvet, he made sure only the tip of my nose protruded. As soon as the air flowed unobstructed from the ceiling, he shot up through the roof with me crushed tight.

  The powerful flaps of his wings caused my stomach to drop when he hoisted us into the air. I swallowed, coping with the rush of wind dancing against my face. Sooner than I’d imagined, we soared beyond the layers of clouds surrounding Earth.

  Gabriel aligned his body with mine. He gave of his heat and formed every limb and angle to me. Now and again, he covered my nose with a cupped hand to check that I wasn’t too cold, and it made me smile.

  We plummeted through the clouds on our way down. Instinctively, I closed my eyes. As we braved the first slivers of white haze, I realized I didn’t have to keep them shut.

  If it weren’t for the circumstances, I would have enjoyed the damp touch as cottony clouds brushed my face. They blurred my vision with shades of white and gray. Suddenly, we broke through and floated into the azure again. I found myself squinting at the sun.

  Dipping toward the endless snow, we landed at the foot of a mountain. I was bursting with questions, but read the warning in his expression and waited. Who knew I had a patient streak?

  In front of us, the granite creaked as if in pain and split open. The light washing over us from inside was so beautiful that my legs buckled. Gabriel caught me. Numb, I watched him free me of the blankets.

  The giant gates groaned shut behind us as he turned me to him, his hands settling on my lower back.

  “Wait, Gaia. Just a moment.”

  “What?”

  He jerked my hips against him and pressed me to his body. The unexpected contact left me breathless.

  “I needed you like this. Close,” he whispered.

  Gabriel watched me drink in his lips. When I met his gaze, bright irises drifted from aquamarine to emerald as he listened in on my shallow breathing. Then he dipped down and seized my mouth.

  Not the right time, not the right place. The words he’d used what seemed like centuries ago rang more true than they had back then.

  “Is your grand plan to divert me and keep me in the dark?”

  His lips curved skyward at my question.

  “No, sunshine, it’s not. Welcome to Glittertind. Michael does want to see us both. You were right.”

  Passion retreated to the back of every cell, leaving fear and awe to mix in its place. I broadened my gaze beyond him. The walls shimmered in billions of tiny, white pearls that rippled and flowed. They resembled living creatures of light.

  Waterfalls cascaded off every wall. Little birds in more than the colors of the rainbow chirped, sang, and bounced in the air. They posed like sentient decorations on golden pieces of furniture.

  I glanced up and didn’t find the rock ceiling I’d expected inside a mountain. In its place, an endless sky greeted me, and white puffs of clouds weaved in harmony with the blue above it.

  “I couldn’t share what happened this morning until we were hidden from the Grigori.” Gabriel’s voice was gentle. “At sunrise, I met with Michael. I informed him of the preparations in Galdhopiggen. I wanted an answer regarding us too, but instead of responding, he demanded our presence here in Glittertind.”

  “What is this place? Does Michael live here?”

  “No, this isn’t Heaven. Glittertind is one of the main seats of Celestial justice on Earth.”

  “Oh…Do you think we’re here to be judged?” I swallowed.

  “Honestly, I’m not sure what’s going on, sunshine. With you, everything seems to be different.”

  Gabriel straightened and stared past my shoulder. Suddenly blank-faced, he shifted my body under his arm and squeezed me to his side. His free hand leaped from my waist to curve around the back of my neck.

  “So this is she, then?”

  Tranquil and serene, the voice trilled and flowed. It whispered and hummed through the inquiry, claiming our attention with no need to demand it. When my gaze flicked up, I saw him.

  Michael.

  Holding me up, Gabriel pressed me close, and I didn’t collapse in front of the archangel.

  “Yes, this is my Gaia.”

  I let my eyes trail up, up, until they finally met a luminous stare high above me, and I squinted at Michael in wonder.

  “Hello,” I croaked.

  “Thank you for seeing us, Michael.” Gabriel’s solemn expression made my chest compress with the magnitude of the moment.

  “Gaia, Gabriel. Please have a seat.”

  “Humongous,” Marina would have called him. His eyes were incandescent and his entire being shone like the sun.

  I should have brought sunglasses.

  The perfection of Michael’s face and body were as replete as Gabriel’s. I was scared and confused, and yet in the middle of the swirl of emotions, heat formed in my thoughtless body.

  Crap, he’s freaking sexy.

  “There’s no need for sunglasses, Gaia. Your eyes won’t hurt from me.”

  Michael’s movements were flawless. Unconcerned with his over-presence, he gestured to a circle of armchairs in the middle of the ballroom.

  “And you shouldn’t be alarmed. The sensation you got is just a side effect of your love for Gabriel.”

  His dazzling stare zoomed in on me with clinical curiosity. Gabriel swept
over my face. I watched realization spread across my angel’s features and hid my burning cheeks deep into his chest.

  “Uh, it’s like he’s a giant version of you,” I muffled.

  Gabriel pursed his lips while he led me to the chairs. “Hmm, you. Can I ever keep you satisf—”

  “Shush! For the love of God!”

  Gaia, the laughing stock of not one, but two angels. This was like being in the presence of my boyfriend’s very hot dad, and the last thing I wanted was for him to think I was…I was…

  Forget it. Mortifying!

  Thankfully, the archangel had already lost interest. He was ignoring our exchange. Oblivious to how he came off to a regular girl from Planet Earth, he draped himself over an ornate wingchair. At ease, he stretched a long leg in front of him. I exhaled. Pulling myself together, I purposely paid no attention to his bulging quads.

  No. Is that a gold throne?

  “Ah, you humans and your need to pin words on everything. Entertaining. ‘Gold throne’ should cover it, though.” Michael smiled indulgently.

  Yep, so archangels don’t even have to touch my heart to know what I’m thinking. Neat.

  Michael’s shoulders rose in an oversized shrug, a velvety laugh rushing from him. I sent Gabriel a wary glance. Ramrod straight and with legs crisscrossed on the cushion, he reached out to me. His hand touched my knee and eased my nerves.

  “You wondered about the walls, Gaia. What you see is not pearls, but love. When there’s enough love, it solidifies,” Michael said.

  I groaned, hung up on my own petty tribulations despite the amazing, stupefying, mindboggling fact he just divulged. “That’s nice.”

  For as long as I remained in Glittertind, I’d be deprived of all privacy, even that of my brain. I was already sick of the situation. “So what’s going on around these parts besides mindreading?”

  “Your human is quite sassy.” One of Michael’s eyebrows arched at Gabriel, who shrugged noncommittally.

  “Very well. As you know, the Grigori have been mustering. Thanks to you, we learned of the chosen seat for their insurrection early. Glittertind and Galdhopiggen are both massifs in the Jotunheimen mountain range, so we’re in a good place here.

  “My scouts have kept an eye on them since we got to Glittertind. They report that the Grigori have sequestered all seven of the purest souls on Earth.”

  “Why are you letting them?” I interjected. “How come you’re not saving these poor people?”

  Suddenly expressionless, the archangel’s stare held mine. Then, he moved on as if I hadn’t spoken.

  “The last human is now being flown in from Tibet to join the others in Mount Galdhopiggen. This day has been coming for over two thousand years.”

  With his eyes trained on Michael, Gabriel outlined my cheek with the back of his hand. Michael’s voice gushed on, smooth as liquid silk.

  “Tonight’s eclipse will coincide with the largest volcanic eruption in millennia. The Foundation Seamounts, one of Earth’s main clusters of submarine volcanoes, will awaken. They haven’t erupted since the creation of Adam and Eve. The group stretches over nine hundred miles of ocean floor.”

  “Oh, my God!” I burst out, making them both smile.

  “The impact of this outbreak could be devastating all over Earth, but we won’t permit another Flood of Noah. We’re going to sway its power. At the same time, I’ll need our legions against the Grigori.

  “The Grigorian numbers have grown, as have ours. Still, they have a chance at taking over the Heavens if they can convert and kill the Purest Ones during the eclipse.”

  My angel nodded, “We weren’t aware of the eclipse being part of the equation.”

  “Gabriel, an explosion of lava of this magnitude will create enough atmospheric dust for the moon to turn scarlet as it eclipses. It’s the last sign Kakabel needs to instigate the creation of seven million demons.”

  “Kakabel? The Angel of the Stars has fallen?”

  The archangel returned Gabriel’s shocked stare with such grief that my heart shattered.

  “Yes, ever since the War in Heaven, they’ve been after him. They caught him a little over two years ago.”

  I could have sworn a rhinestone tear formed at the corner of his eye.

  “He was the key to their plan. When Kakabel fell, we had no choice. We had to make our move—we needed a catalyst.”

  Gabriel’s brow furrowed, but he remained silent, waiting for more. As Michael continued, it sounded like he, the commander of the Celestial army, was apologizing to Gabriel, a mere guardian angel.

  “We ran out of options, Gabriel. I hope you understand.”

  The explanation ended abruptly, the blatant scarcity of it confusing me. Gabriel’s expression clouded over, and his eyes narrowed in black regret.

  What the hell’s going on?

  The angels bolted out of their seats so fast they were wisps of glowing smoke. Gabriel’s chair shot across the room and splintered against a far wall. Swarms of rainbow-colored birds fled from their perches and swirled in twittering hysterics toward the sky. In front of me, the angels stood too close. Immobile, they sized each other up.

  “Gabriel?” My voice sounded choked.

  Statuesque and golden, they were taut muscle flexing and ready to pounce. Terror mixed with the sheer beauty of them left me breathless.

  They remained face to face, frozen in attack position. Michael loomed four feet taller than Gabriel, whose glare held no fear.

  “Later. This is not the time.” Michael’s low warning had no impact on Gabriel. Instead of replying, he slid into a half crouch, preparing to leap. Dread sifted in and poisoned me like quicksilver.

  Why are you so upset?

  Gabriel didn’t react to my thoughts. I considered the worst possible outcome. It was crystal clear that the archangel could destroy Gabriel in the blink of an eye.

  Acting on instinct, I jumped between them. I slid my arms around Gabriel’s neck and pressed my body against him; I needed him to snap out of this self-destructive fury, but his eyes were unseeing, inflexible.

  “Whatever it is, let it go,” I hummed.

  Pressing closer, my heart thumped stronger, faster into his chest. Gabriel’s gaze remained fixed on his adversary.

  “Please? For me?” My voice cracked, already giving up. My body melted against Gabriel’s, and behind me the archangel waited as my imperfect, human will prodded, trying to reach past his shield.

  Finally, a hand skimmed up my back. Hesitantly, it moved to my shoulder and locked over it.

  “Sunshine, don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

  His voice was husky with bridled anger and didn’t sound “fine.” My fingertips touched his face. I kissed his mouth over and over again. Gabriel didn’t move or respond, but he didn’t push me away either. Those eyes, fixed so forcefully on Michael, didn’t give an inch. What the hell had Gabriel understood?

  Little by little, my efforts paid off. Lips became soft pillows that curved into mine. When his eyes slid shut and blocked out the trancelike stare-down, air rushed back into my lungs. His muscles relaxed one by one as I kissed him.

  If only…If only he hadn’t almost sobbed against my mouth.

  Michael’s words reached us. “I have much to prepare, and only hours left. I will summon you when it’s time.”

  A swoosh behind us made me pivot to find a set of shimmering doors glide open.

  “Please, be my guests.”

  The archangel’s hand opened in a gesture of out-of-place hospitality. Gabriel’s pupils blistered with barely contained rage. Instead of inviting another conflict, he avoided the other angel’s gaze.

  With his chin tipped up in defiance, he clutched my hand and strode past Michael through the doors. They closed behind us, converting the parlor beyond into a spectacular prison cell.

  The drifting ceiling of the ballroom stretched into this space too. The way flora and fauna obeyed the divine was mesmerizing. Hanging, hovering, and crawling plants and
vines swathed the room. Their colors ranged from a glistening, light yellow through an assortment of greens to the darkest purple.

  The center of the room contained a massive sectional strewn with enormous pillows. It reflected the light blue of the mid-day sky above. Water trickled somewhere in the jungle surrounding us, and the fragrance of fresh roses and lilies of the valley teased my nostrils.

  Gabriel didn’t take it all in. Instead, he settled me into the pillows and raked a hand through his hair. I had another one of my distinct déjà vus as he gloomily began.

  “Gaia, we need to talk.”

  Chapter 29 — Bait

  Gaia

  Gabriel’s back hit the cushions. The impact sucked the air from him in a soft whimper. For a moment, I watched him sprawled out, eyes deeper than an ocean. Then, I listened as his whimper morphed into a groan.

  The showdown in the ballroom had jellified my legs, but I still managed to crawl on top of my sweetheart. I straddled him and splayed my hands around his face.

  “What the hell was that?”

  “I lost it, sunshine. Just lost it. Sorry.”

  “Do you realize how I saved your ass out there?”

  “Yes, I know. God.”

  “Who’s the guardian angel?”

  “What do you mean? I am.”

  “So me saving you?”

  “Sun, please.”

  I’d already passed his limits; he was squirming with discomfort. Silky, black lashes crumpled over his eyelids like an embarrassed child’s.

  Kisses. More kisses.

  “Gabriel, what happened?”

  “I finally got something I should have understood from the start.”

  “Which is…?”

  “What occurred two years ago, Gaia?”

  “Some earthquake, probably. Seems to be the big thing around here.”

  “There’s always an earthquake.” A sad smile curved at the edge his mouth. “Anything else?”

  “I don’t know. All I can think of is the accident and running into you for the first time.” My innards went gooey at the thought.

  “Bingo.”

  “Really. ‘Bingo?’ Do you even say that?”