Fallen: Part 2

by Tamsin Baker

  Just like at the castle.

  “Fuck!”

  I ran up the stairs after Jasmine, still gripping my sword hard.

  “Where are they?” I shouted, looking around for any sign the Demons had followed Jasmine above.

  But Jasmine was mute. Clinging to her screaming daughter and my son as though she’d never let them go. Her whole body shaking. Her face white.

  My heart was pounding so hard it sounded like I had the rush of an ocean in my ears.

  I took several breaths and consciously told my hands to relax from their death grip on my sword.

  “Everything’s okay now, Jasmine. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  Jasmine trembled as she stepped closer to me. “Take him. Please.”

  I took my son who was now crying softly.

  Jasmine began rocking her daughter, shushing her in that way that all mothers did.

  Mothers… yes. It was time to take my son back to his mother.

  But I had to ask a few questions first.

  “Jasmine, what happened? How could they come into your house? During the day?”

  She wiped at the tears still streaming down her face. I’d always admired Jasmine’s ability to stay calm, even in the most adverse situations.

  “I don’t really know. My husband refused to stay home today. He had someone come… work on the furnace downstairs…”

  She glanced at the shattered door to the cellar. “Do you think he let them in somehow?”

  Maybe… but that wasn’t the whole story.

  “Humans helped kidnap Kadie. They took her to the Demons. Perhaps the Demons have hired more humans to do their dirty work now? I’m going to check it out.”

  I slid the baby into my shirt, keeping him safe against my chest. There had to be a way that these Hellish creatures were transferring into the day. A portal or key perhaps?

  “The light switch is at the top of the stairs.” Jasmine called out as I moved through the door to investigate. I flicked it on.

  The globes barely lit the room below, but there was enough light to see the ash I’d reduced one of the Demons too. There didn’t seem to be anything else around. No portals. No objects out of the ordinary.

  I’d have to get Jasmine down here to see if there was anything she could point out that shouldn’t be there. She’d know much better than I.

  But not today.

  I took the steps back up to the landing three at a time. This place needed to be cleansed. Burnt down if necessary.

  “We need to get you somewhere safe, Jasmine.”

  “And where is that?” She asked, looking at me through red rimmed distrusting eyes.

  “The Hotel.”

  We had a hotel in central Manhattan where we took people who needed the ultimate protection.

  I’d very rarely used it as a refuge for anyone I was protecting, as Demons tended to only have one target. And once I’d killed all the Demons that had been assigned to my target, the attacks stopped.

  But that didn’t seem to be the case now, and Jasmine needed round the clock protecting. Because of me, a tiny niggling voice said in my mind, but I ruthlessly shoved it aside. I’d allow myself to feel guilt later.

  “What about all our things?” She asked, glancing around at her beautiful home.

  “Don’t worry about the house. Just pack what you need and I’ll take you there now.”

  She nodded and headed up the stairs to where their bedrooms lay.

  I’d put Jasmine, her arsehole of a husband, and their beautiful baby girl in the Hotel for months if necessary. It had round the clock surveillance and no dark corners for Demons to hide.

  I brought my son out into the light and stared down at his perfect face. He slept now. His cupid bow upper lip trembling with each breath.

  A tear slid down my cheek without warning and I wiped it away.

  What magic was this? This tightness around my chest? This need to grip my baby to my heart and never let him go.

  Anger pulsed in my blood. I ignored the urge to punch walls and take down buildings Kill anything that stood in my way.

  All because this baby existed. A perfect miracle.

  I kissed his nose and made an oath to my God.

  I will keep him safe. No matter the price. Whether I get back into Heaven, or you send me down to Hell itself to fight. No one will have him.

  My thoughts were interrupted by footsteps on the stairs. Jasmine coming back down with two bags and the baby in a carrier.

  “Okay, Gabriel, let’s go. I’ll call Harry when we get there. I can’t wait to be somewhere safe for a few days.”

  I didn’t tell her it may be more than a few days. I simply took her in a taxi to the skyscraper in the city that Tabitha owned and checked her into the penthouse.

  I owed her my sons life. And in a way, mine as well.

  A debt I could never repay.

  Chapter 5.

  Once settled into their new rooms, Jasmine thoughtfully changed my son and gave me two bottles of milk for him.

  “If you need me to feed him still, you can leave him with me,” Jasmine offered as she stroked his head.

  The fondness she felt for my son was still apparent, despite the fact that he had put her daughter’s life in jeopardy. I would always admire her for that.

  “Thank you for the offer, Jasmine. But I’m hoping his mother will be awake by the time I get back.”

  I tucked him into the carrier Jasmine had given me to wear while I flew. It would be handy if I needed to fight with him in my arms.

  I swallowed hard as I prepared to make my apologies. “I don’t know how to thank you enough, or apologise fully for the danger I placed you in, Jasmine. I should have brought you to the hotel earlier. But I honestly had no idea that the Demons could get to you inside your home.”

  I ran a shaky hand through my hair and Jasmine gave me a soft smile of understanding.

  I’d never had to use Tabitha’s hotel before to save a target. Never. I fought hard and long against the Demons, and they never returned once I’d vanquished them.

  But something had changed.

  Dramatically changed.

  “It’s all right, Gabriel. As I said before. I owe you my life. Nothing is too much for you to ask of me.”

  Jasmine stepped closer and put her arms around me, squeezing tight while I kissed the top of her head.

  So much affection.

  Such a strange year I was having after so long without human touch.

  I tried to step away, but she held me tight.

  “I need to go, but you know what to do. There are Angels and well-trained humans everywhere in this hotel. If you see even a glimmer of fire, you scream your head off. Got it?”

  Jasmine finally pulled away and wiped away a tear that had slid down her cheek.

  “You know I’m kinda jealous. Of Kadie and you.”

  A ripple of unease ran through my chest.

  “What do you mean?”

  She wiped at the air with her hand as though to dismiss what she’d said.

  “Oh, I know I’m happy now, and I have my baby girl. But I had such a crush on you when you first saved my life. I wanted you to need me, as I needed you, but it didn’t happen.”

  “We aren’t allowed to have relationships with our targets,” I recited.

  She raised one eyebrow and glanced down at the baby in my arms.

  Heat raced up my cheeks like a fiery flood. I didn’t know what to say. How could I tell the beautiful human in front of me, that Kadie had been the first woman to tempt me in five hundred years?

  “Kadie is part Witch. I don’t think I had much of a choice,” I managed to choke out.

  Jasmine frowned. “Part Witch? Is that how she managed to conceive your baby? I would have thought it to be practically impossible, since you’re immortal.”

  She sat down on the couch and I stopped a minute to speak to her. Perhaps she’d have a point of view that I hadn’t seen before.

  “Yes.
It is possible. Because no one has ever heard of a half-Angel baby before. What are your thoughts?”

  Jasmine was extremely clever, empathetic and slightly clairvoyant. Some of the many reasons she’d been a target of the Demons.

  She rocked on her seat for a little while and I waited for her to say something.

  “I knew something was different about him. Not just the Angel-Dad thing, but there is a magic about him. A fate that will not be denied,” she murmured, almost to herself.

  “I know. Is there anything you can tell me to help me in this quest Jasmine?”

  She turned her head to look at me, her eyes focusing on my face in a strange way.

  “You can’t go to them, Gabriel. You’ll die. You have to get them to come to you. Take them all on. With the woman by your side. You need to kill the uprising.”

  “The uprising?”

  Jasmine’s gaze fell away and she moaned a little as though in pain.

  “Are you all right?”

  “I have a headache.”

  “Lie down then.” I gestured to the couch she sat upon and she slowly lay down, her daughter already safely asleep in one of the cots provided in the guest room.

  “I’ll go, but will check in on you guys tomorrow.”

  Jasmine’s hand snaked out and grabbed me as I turned to leave.

  “Be careful, Gabriel. You and your son are the only things standing in their way.”

  Her eyes slid shut once again and I placed her hand back on her stomach so she could rest peacefully.

  So, there was an attack coming? Of course there was.

  My path had been determined from the moment I was born.

  I needed to stop it. I had assumed as much, but hadn’t really put it all down to one final battle. Until now.

  Did that mean I couldn’t call on the other Fallen Angels? Or I shouldn’t? And if I failed, did that mean the war was over and the Demons won?

  I bloody hoped not. We hadn’t battled it out for millenniums for the good side to lose while I was still standing.

  There was a glimmer of silver in the black clouds surrounding me.Jasmine had said that Kadie would be there, fighting by my side. Hopefully she was right.

  I flew to Tabitha’s house with my arms wrapped around my sleeping son. The moment we landed he woke up.

  His bright blue eyes seemed far too alert for an infant as he tried to look around.

  I took him out of the carrier and held him up to my face where he reached out a hand and stroked my cheek.

  Love blossomed inside my heart like the desert flowers under the moon.

  My throat closed up and tears tingled at the back of my eyes. How was it even possible to love someone so much after such a short amount of time?

  “Gabriel.”

  Tabitha was waiting for me on the porch.

  “How’s Kadie?” I asked, though I could see the answer in my Angel Agent’s face.

  “She’s alive and doing well, though not yet conscious…. Oh, is this him? Let me hold the baby who has been foretold to save us all.”

  I chuckled at Tabitha’s tones as she reached into my arms and gently took the baby from me.

  She stared down at him in the way that Jasmine had. With total adoration.

  “Don’t put the world on his shoulders just yet, Tabitha. He was only born yesterday.”

  She lifted him up and down for a moment and unwrapped his blanket to look at him properly.

  “He’s grown a lot in only a few days.”

  “Yes. His growth is quite accelerated if Jasmine is to be believed.”

  Tabitha nodded, her mouth twisted with thought.

  “Let’s take you to see your mother, shall we beautiful?” Tabitha cooed at the baby who was reaching out for her long hair.

  “What are you going to call him, Gabriel?” she asked as we walked into her house and made our way to the bed where Kadie still slept.

  I moved over to the other side of her bed and ran my hand along Kadie’s arm. She was warm, and felt strong. But she didn’t move, nor make a noise as I touched her.

  I tried to ignore the twinge of disappointment that ran through me.

  I wanted her to wake up and I needed her to recognise me when she did.

  Although not a fan of the fairy tales told to humans about true love and destiny, the sleeping beauty tale was weaving through my mind. I couldn’t get the idea of kissing Kadie out of the mantra in my mind.

  “He doesn’t have a name yet?” she asked again.

  I looked from my Kadie’s face and up to Tabitha once again.

  “I think his mother should have a chance to name him. Don’t you, Tabitha?”

  She nodded quietly, then did something strange. She pulled the blanket down to expose Kadie’s breasts, then lay our child on top of her.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, slightly alarmed. Wouldn’t he roll off?

  “Just watch,” she said.

  The baby began to softly cry, his head coming up and bobbing around as though looking for something.

  Kadie didn’t stir, but the baby kept looking for her breast.

  His head came right up and he seemed to be looking at her face, before continuing to bob around. He moved sideways, his mouth on her skin as he licked her. Tasting her.

  He came closer to my side of the table and I offered Kadie’s breast to him.

  He dove on the nipple like a starving man and made grunting noises as he suckled.

  Then the sweetest sound came into the room as he began to swallow.

  “He’s feeding,” I said, to no-one in particular.

  “Kadie’s coming back to us. She is. I’m sure of it,” Tabitha declared.

  I put my hand on my son’s back to make sure he didn’t roll off, and bent my head to kiss Kadie’s lips.

  Her breath caressed my mouth as I pressed my lips to her warmth.

  When I pulled back I saw a flutter of her eyelids. I blinked. Surely, I’d imagined it.

  “Kadie?” Tabitha asked, grabbing for her arm.

  Obviously, it wasn’t just me who’d seen the movement.

  Simone came rushing into the room with a mug of steaming hot water that smelled like the bottom of a sewerage pond.

  “Damn. Get that away from me,” I said.

  Simone shook her head and gave me an intense look. “Trust me, she’s going to need this. Get the baby off her and get ready for the fight.” Simone instructed and without thought I grabbed for the mewling baby and placed him safely in a basket on the floor.

  Kadie sat bolt upright and began swinging her fists at me, screaming in a vicious tongue.

  “Hold her down. She needs to drink this.” Simone yelled, coming forward with her sewer water, a look of grim determination in the lines of her young face.

  “Get away from me! You all deserve to be thrown into hell! You do! Oh, you fucking do!” Kadie screamed at us all, grunting and laughing as she scratched at my arms with her sharp nails.

  I grabbed her wrists and held on tight, pulling her arms above her head and tugging her backwards so she was lying down again.

  She writhed and screamed and spat at me.

  “Do whatever you’re going to do, or I’m going to have to knock her out,” I told Simone, my heart cracking as Kadie fought me.

  The baby was crying for his mother and I could see none of my beautiful Kadie left in the woman who now fought me like the Demons that had tortured her.

  Simone came forward and Kadie kicked at her.

  “Tabitha. Get her legs.”

  Tabitha lay across Kadie’s thighs using her body weight to hold Kadie down.

  Simone walked forward, clinging to the mug she held for grim death.

  Margaret came up next to Simone and gripped Kadie’s tormented face.

  She pried open Kadie’s mouth by pulling down her chin and Simone dumped the black muck on her face.

  It went up her nose and in her mouth and Kadie screamed in outrage.

  Damning everyone in the roo
m to a Hell most horrible.

  All I could do was hold her tight and cling to the hope that the woman I knew was strong enough to claw her way back to us.

  “More,” Margaret said.

  Simone threw more of the water into Kadie’s mouth until the mug was empty and the room was filled with a pond like stench.

  Kadie’s screams began to slow and then she was no longer fighting us.

  Simone took a step back, but continued to watch Kadie with expectant eyes.

  “Tabitha? Gabriel? What’s going on here?” Kadie’s eyes were now clear and she looked at me with utter confusion.

  “Oh, thank you, God,” I declared to the sky and let go of Kadie’s arms.

  Tabitha came forward with a towel and offered it to Kadie. She sat up and wiped at her mouth, pulling at the blanket to keep it up over her nakedness.

  Bit late to be modest, but she didn’t know that.

  I came around the table and pulled her into my arms, holding on as tight as I dared. I knew that all my prayers had been answered and now I would have to pay the piper for bringing home my girl.

  “You came back,” I whispered, my heart knitting together stronger and brighter than before.

  Kadie softened in my arms and pulled away so she could look up at me.

  “Where’s my baby?”

  I smiled down at her and touched her face with my fingertips for a moment in reverent prayer before I bent down to scoop up the helpless infant.

  “Here he is.”

  I gave him to his mother and he began to cry louder.

  “He’s still hungry,” I said at her confused smile and she dropped the blanket to offer the baby her breast.

  “Here you go,” Tabitha said, arranging a pile of pillows behind Kadie so she could rest back a bit.

  The baby attached hungrily once again and Kadie gasped at the pressure.

  “What happened?” Kadie asked, absently stroking our sons head. “And what on earth is that smell?”

  I looked towards Simone and Margaret who stepped forward. They were looking at Kadie with a strange awe like wonder, which I wasn’t sure I entirely understood.

  “I’m Margaret, and this is my niece Simone,” Margaret said. “Gabriel found us and asked us to come here and help you pull through.”

  “Was I badly hurt?” Kadie asked, her gaze shifting to me, a lack of understanding clear in her gaze.